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When people ask for "realistic/mature" shows, recommend them this.

Mobile Police Patlabor is one of the OG mecha seires. The original OVA has a movie trilogy and its second instalment shines the brightest. It's ambitious, it's well written, it's sublime.

Patlabor Movie 2 is more densed dialogue and political drama centric neatly crafted story about betrayal, terrorism with philosophy and a pinch of Mecha action. Mamoru Oshii's direction was phenomenal.

The movie shows how politics, power and manipulation works from the ground level to the upper echelon. How much effect it has on the country and its people.

They put so much care and attention even to the slightest ... of details. They laid bare the thematics of the army and police forces, the govt agencies. How they operate, the battle field scenarios. The threats of war. Even the terrorist attack was so well written.

On to the characters. Among the main Patlabor crew this movie chose to focus on the big dogs. Gotou, Shinobu and also Shinobu's former lover Tsuge. The rest of the crew gets less attention here but the whole team joins in the final action.

The philosophical aspect of the film was intriguing. "Just war and Unjust Peace".
The conversation between Gotou and Arakawa on the boat was excellent. The movie is pretty dialogue heavy and it keeps it that way till the end.
Also, near the end the moment of Shinobu and Tsuge was nicely executed where they had conversation and Shinobu was in conflict with her personal feelings and her line of duty.

Animation and character design was much more refined and the fact that the whole crew have matured and gotten older was present in the character design. Solid cinematography. Soundtrack was amazing too.

This is as real as it gets. Intelligent storytelling.
9/10
I'll just stop here. You go and watch this movie (but do watch the OVA and movie 1 before this) ^.^

At one point in our life I guess almost all of us for at least once wanted to do adventures or go to places unknown, wether it be with our friends or complete strangers.
Well, A Place Further Than The Universe is an anime just like that.

It's been a while since I have liked and emotionally grown attached to an anime like this. Honestly speaking I myself have always wanted to do adventures. I do have some sweet memories of going on trips with friends but I wish I had the chance to experience something like this. Well it just might happen in the future. ... Who knows right? Fingers crossed :3

Okay, so enough of this personal gibberish. Now let's talk about this amazing 13 episodes full of emotion, adventure and friendship. This is a tale of four best friends embarking on the best journey in their life.


◼️ Synopsis- A place further than the universe is an Original anime made by Studio Madhouse in 2018.
It starts off with one of our main characters Tamaki, who is a sophomore in highschool. Tamaki thinks that her youth and time of having fun is fading away. So she needs to make the most of it while she can. But while she harbours such aspiration inside she's also afraid of making mistakes which might lead her to regret later. In the midst of dealing with her dilemma one day she bumps into one of her school mates Shirase. Who's mother was part of the first civilian expedition team to Antarctica, who didn't make it back from her expedition. So, Shirase is working her butt of to raise fund for her trip and determined to go search for her mother in Antarctica. Seeing Shirase like this Tamaki got the courage she needed to take that final step. Things happen along the way, they meet the other two and four of them set sails for a place further than the universe.


◼️Plot and direction- This is a pretty realistic adventure story neatly packed with drama and comedy. The narrative of the show is simple yet compelling. The plot progression for the overall series was adequate given the run time and number of episodes. That being said it does give the viewers time to get a grasp of the story, to understand what actually is going on, and to know the motives of each character or their reasons behind this trip.
The direction of the story was pretty good. The way the reasons behind each of the main characters' boarding said trip unfolds, is amazing. It didn't get off track to show other plot points. The show manages to catch the attention of the viewers pretty fast. The overall quality of the show remains unchanged for the most part.


◼️ Characters- Characters are the fun part of this series. The main characters have their own different personalities. They each come from different backgrounds. They are intriguing to say the least. Not just them but the whole crew member of the Antarctic expedition team was amusing. They are all like a big family. Gin and Kanae play an important role in the later half. They were partners and friends with Shirase's mother in their last expedition. The crew members play somewhat of a decent role in their (the main four) growth. Each of the main four gets decent development through out the series although Tamaki pretty much stays the same as a person.

Okay so at first all four of them were total strangers. They didn't just meet each other and became all buddy buddy. Gradually they come to terms, understand one another, share joys and sorrows. The bond they forge is one of the best things to watch.
The growth that their relationship gets is excellent.


◼️ Animation and sound- The animation and osts are good, nothing ground braking but overall good. Goes well with the show. The visuals are one the strong parts. Some of the moments in Antarctica was mesmerizing.
The ending song was good. I liked it personally.


⛔ Negative Point- Let's talk about some of the down sides of the show. I think that the show could've been a little bit longer or maybe they could have had the characters spend some more time in the Antarctics. I mean they reach their destination at episode 9. It would've been more fun to watch them spend more time there. BUT the time they spend on the ship/ journey suffice for that.
Also side characters like Tamaki's childhood friend didn't get that much screen time. Well she wasn't a main character but she did play an important role in Tamaki's life.
Honestly speaking their isn't much to nitpick about.


Overall this show is a gem. If you think it's about cute girls doing cute things, going on adventure then you're WRONG! It's more than that. The journey they make before reaching their destination, the hardships and struggles they face, the ups and downs they go through the bonds they create, the memories they make is something to remember. The show has its fare share of comedy but the emotional aspect is darn strong. Let me make myself clear that this IS NO WAY a tragedy but when the emotions hit they hit hard! The anime overall manages to deliver what it wants to in this short period of time.

*I'll be damned if I don't give this one a 10*

I am writing this review from a holistic perspective (because of the manga). This show truly is a GEM (pun intended) It's like a breath of fresh air.

➡️Synopsis- Land of the Lustrous (Houseki no Kuni) is an anime about immortal jewels/gems. It takes place in the distant future after the earth was ravaged by meteorites which led to the extinction of all life form. Over the vast period of time a new life form emerged resulting in these gems in humanoid form that now reside the land of the earth. But these gems or rather "Jewel People" are at war with Lunarians (People of Moon) ... who come down from the moon to hunt down these gems and take them away for their personal desires.


➡️Plot- For the most part this a character driven show but the core story itself is remarkable. The story starts off with our main character Phosphophyllite in short Phos, who is one of the 28 gems that live on earth under the care and supervision of a fatherly figure known as Sensei. Very little information is disclosed about sensei except for the fact that he has lived for over thousands of years.
Besides fighting the Lunarians these gems do their daily jobs assigned to them by Sensei. Phos on the other hand has no work to do because he is a fragile gem and isn't suitable to fight the Lunarians either. So he is constantly in an urge to change himself to find a purpose for living. Although all the gems live in fear of being hunt down by the Lunarians they don't seem to question anything and live the way Sensei has shaped their daily lives. Phos, however, wants to know more about their existence, the Lunarians and upon pondering and wandering around he meets a different creature and finds out a big secret that no gem has ever found or heard of.
There is a lingering mystery to the core of its world . Slowly the mystery starts to untwine (only a little bit) and the viewers get to know a bit about the world of Houseki like where did these gems come from, who are these Lunarians etc.
This show is heavily influenced by Buddhism, there are lot of references of Buddhist religion subtly integrated into the show.
Proper attention was given to the direction of the show. It also stayed faithful to its source material.


➡️Characters- The characters or rather gems are based on minerals from the real world. They all have a hardness of 1-10 on the "Mohs Scale". Characteristics of these gems mirror some traits of these minerals. For instance the mineral Cinnabar is known to have toxic elements which is why in the anime the character Cinnabar is ostracized as shown or Bort which has a hardness of 10 is very tough and consequently is the powerhouse of the gems in the battle against Lunarians. These gems don't have a specific gender but are referred to as "He" even though they are feminine in appearance. However, they are referred to as "they" in the manga

Phos's character is the cornerstone of the show. It revolves around him and his actions. Phos is in a constant struggle to change himself due to his incompatibility with the other gems, to earn himself a place among them, to be useful to them, and to have a purpose altogether and the way his character is explored is truly amazing. Ideas like existentialism, individualism and the process of self awareness, self acceptance Ichiko Harukawa depicted these through Phos and his dynamics with the other characters meticulously. Unfortunately this season isn't long enough to be able to shed light to all the characters properly.


➡️Animation & Sound: The animation is CGI for the most part and boy did studio Orange do an excellent job! But there are some 2D elements crafted with the CGI that blends so well with the animation. The actions and fight scenes are amazingly choreographed. The use of CGI gave the animators free reign . The soundtracks are also very good.
Let's not forget about the best part. The visuals. This show is visually marvelous.


➡️Overall: This is one of a kind show and may not cater to the larger audience. The world of Houseki is shrouded with mysteries yet it has a serene and somewhat of an utopian ambiance. The show tells a tale somewhere between fantasy and sci-fi. This season serves as a great introduction to its world and teases the viewers about the undiscovered secrets. Hopefully studio Orange will adapt rest of the source.
If you want to experience something unique then this right up your alley (and please read the manga) Hope you'll find something to your liking.

Canaan was an okay anime too me. The first few episodes were intriguing as the anime tries to draw the viewers attention. As the series progressed the quality started degrading.

Story: The story of Canaan stroke as something interesting at first glance but aftert a certain point the plot became kinda obvious and felt a bit generic. And by the end of the series it was all over the place.
For instance- A terrorist organization creating a virus to use people as biological weapons. The P.O.T.U.S being taken hostage. The close friend of the protagonist searching for her purpose and wanting to ... be self-dependant for being able to stand by her friend's side and in the process getting caught up in commotion and making things harder for the protagonist bla bla..

Characters: The characters didn't get much development through out the series. The motives of the antagonist was not clearly shown. Well the protagonist and the antagonist both were raised and trained by the same man. The protag possessed superpower where as the antagonist didn't. So it was kinda like the latter wanted to fight the former at her top level although she outmaneuvered her many times and purposely spared the former's life many times inorder to let her become stronger. Many questions remained unanswered also the protagonist's backstory didn't fully came to light as there were more and the post credit scene seemed like there might be a another season which would be able to cover the remaining story.

Animation: This is the redeeming department of the series. The fight scenes were well executed. The animation was very good.

But the enjoyment was quite good. The majority of the characters were female and they were hot, specially the antagonist If you want to watch hot chicks fighting around, shooting and dropping karate moves to kick ass then go for it. Not just that, you might end up liking the show yourself, despite it being an average one.

It's an overview, so I'll be quick.

When it comes to comedy, Hinamatsuri is a very good anime. It is such a fun and interesting series. The other aspects are also good. The comedic relief in this show is very neatly handled. The over the top expressions of characters also compliment the whole comedic aspect. Nothing felt forced or something like that. You'll easily get invested in no time.

Characters are intriguing, they're the strong part of the series. Despite being 12 episodes, I think it's safe to say that most of the characters got their fare share of screentime. Also they got good development through out ... the series. Specially Anzu.

I'd like to add the fact that the character monologues in this show were great. I prefer dub so, I don't know how much change they made between the sub and dub but the dub scripts were great and the punch lines were pretty much on point. The voice actors nailed their roles.

Hope they'll adapt the rest of the manga in the future.

Overall- 8/10