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In the world of long-running romance manga, harems and misunderstandings that critics refer to as "forced drama," it's hard to find romances that are neither completely dependent on angst (the staple of most "serious" male-oriented romances) and emotion nor the at times overly formulaic stories of female-oriented romances. Boku to Watashi no Henai Jijou (the Circumstances of our strange love) manages to avoid both of these, coming across as a simple and unexceptional but warm manga.

=Story - 7=

Boku to Watashi no Henai Jijou's story starts out not with the start of a love affair, but the end of one. Aspiring lead singer ... of indie band Notorious Orphan Jin announces his decision to break up with his girlfriend and aspiring baker Tamami Tamagawa, who quietly accepts. However, neither of them leave satisfied, and their attempts to adapt to their separation proves to be a difficult journey. To be really honest, the story is not something stunning. While hardly formulaic, the ending is stunningly predictable, the plot twists simplistic. The jokes are not stunningly funny nor are the details well-fleshed out. Boku to Watashi no Henai Jijou is neither a groundbreaking manga nor one that will likely top any charts

And yet, the story is cute in its simplicity. It's a very simple love story--not without drama, but not to excess; not brilliant, but far from inane. Even while largely guessing the end result, the seventeen chapters in Boku to Watashi no Henai Jijou are all heartwarming, both in the way Jin and Tamami struggle with the obvious fact that neither accepts their breakup, and the way both of them try to live on without each other. While the story is hardly an exercise in worldbuilding, the story is sufficient in its level of detail. We never find out how Tamami and Jin met, nor how they started their dreams or how Notorious Orphan came to be--and we don't need to. This story is about Jin and Tamami and their time after their breakup, and author Amano does not indulge in the worldbuilding often necessary in far longer-running or serious manga, and it's satisfying in its own way. Where breakthrough/"brilliant" series such as Code Geass or Clannad or FLCL or Gurren Lagann are satisfying in the same way you feel after crossing a marathon (sweaty, exhausted, gasping, sometimes wet with your own feces and piss), Boku to Watashi no Henai Jijou is satisfying in the same way you feel after a relaxing walk at night. It warms not in a burst of fire like anime that make your heart race, but in the weak but steady glow of a candle. It might not be something every reader is looking for, but in my opinion, Boku to Watashi no Henai Jijou's subdued but constant sense of warmth is just as good as an emotional rollercoaster such as Clannad.

=Art - 7=

In reflection of the story's simplicity, the art style of Boku to Watashi no Henai is straightforwards--neither spartan nor elaborate, just sufficient. The backgrounds are always pleasant, but the amount of detail is limited, which goes along very well with the story's directness. An overelaborate art style would have made that series seem unnecessarily pretentious.The art of the characters is, like the story itself, unexceptional but always enjoyable.

=Characters - 7=

As before, the characters of Boku to Watashi no Henai do not have much depth. We know almost nothing of either Jin or Tamami's backstories, and certain characters such as Tamami's bakery coworker whose name I forget, or Hotaka the deliveryman come off as a little two-dimensional. However, it hardly interferes with the focus, after all, is on the romance between Jin and Tamami, and while the side characters are necessary, they are the props that hold up the stage onto which the show is mounted. Even though one knows very little about Jin or Tamami, the latent love that remains between them makes itself clear. While the authors may not have put much effort into the scaffolding, Boku to Watashi no Henai's characters are more than in-depth enough where it counts.

=Enjoyment and Overall: 8=

Boku to Watashi no Henai is one of those manga whose individual aspects you may consider lacking, but add up to be greater than the sum of its parts. Its story is not stunning, it's characters not extremely well-fleshed out, the art functional but far from elaborate. nevertheless, I intensely enjoyed all 17 chapters which I read instead of studying for my Stats exam. While it's not going to be a breakthrough anywhere as far as I know, it was simply and solidly good throughout, keeping the reader emotionally invested in spite of the lack of detail. To an extent, the way the Mangakas managed to put together such a sweet story from so little is an expression of a skill just as important as the ability to come up with revolutionary new manga and anime.

One of the most common ailments of VNs-turned-anime is that it's easy for the romance to overwhelm the story. Integrating a game with multiple routes with multiple leads into one single storyline often ends with a anime that, at best, seems like a harem anime that lacks the courage to actually make it a harem (Clannad) or, at worst, a mess of routes that fails to flesh out characters well and butchers the plot (i.e. Studio DEEN's adaptation of Fate/Stay Night). Koi to Senkyou to Chocolate manages to find a tenuous, if workable balance, between plot and characters in this adaptation of the ... original Eroge.

=Story: 9=

At the beginning of the season, Koi to Senkyou to Chocolate started out near the bottom of my priorities list, fulfilling the spot of stereotypical-harem-with-a-plot that just manages to stay good enough to avoid being dropped. The first episode certainly reinforced it, with a club with seven females and two males, one of whom is also apparently heads-over-heels over the other, the protagonist. The originally chilling prologue of the first episode seemed to have been completely forgotten, and the whole election was going to be a happy but uninteresting frolick of cuteness and relationships. However, KoiChoco (Koi to Senkyou to Chocolate is a bit too much of a mouthful) does in fact develop from a harem with a plot.

As is the case with apparently all Japanese High Schools, the Student Council holds vasts amounts of power. In the case of Takafuji Private Academy, an academy whose finances are almost completely managed by the students, the Student Council controls the (as mentioned in Episode 11, "tens of billions of yen-strong") expenditures of the school. The Preisdency usually is fought over by three major factions within the school: the Finance Committee, the General Affairs department and the Public Safety Commission. With the current incumbent plagued by allegations of corruption, the projected winner, Finance Commissioner Satsuki Shinonome, campaigns on a platform of austerity, starting with the elimination of clubs that do not appear to be doing anything productive with their funding. Into this is thrown protagonist Oojima (often mistaken as Ooshiima due to the Kanji) Yuki, who is nominated by the members of his club (the Food Research) to run as a third-party candidate in order to save his club, all the while confronting the many interpersonal issues that emerge through the course of the campaign.

Don't get me wrong, KoiChoco does not neglect the character-side of the story--much of the election (and much of the routes in the VN) are bound to interpersonal relations--the past traumas of Election Manager, Club President and Childhood friend Chisato Sumiyoshi, the family struggles of Finance Commissioner Satsuki Shinonome, the personal struggle of Isara Aomi, a beneficiary of a controversial financial aid program, and the enigmatic motivations of Yuki's backer and incumbent president, former Public Safety Commissioner Yakumo Mori. However, what makes KoiChoco an exceptional adaptation is its focus also on the main plot. Through the story, Yuki and the Food Club must confront many of the problems faced by Third Party Candidates in a field dominated by large, well-funded parties, while also delving into the behind-the-scenes politics behind Yuki's backer, the Public Safety Commission, and the two other commissions. Sometimes I found that the actual story at times seemed more appealing than the interpersonal struggles of the characters, though the opposite also occurred. Overall, KoiChoco's best point was its ability to both bring out the interpersonal interactions of the cast while also maintaining an interesting and absorbing main plot.

=Art: 7=

While nothing bad can be said of the art--it is certainly cute, and there are no major drops in animation quality, the art comes off as unexceptional--good but not much different from anything else out there. The anime frequently uses soft, pastel-like colors that help maintain a warm atmosphere to the anime in general, which does contribute to the atmosphere, but not in any noteworthy way.

=Sound: 8=

KoiChoco's Openings and Endings start out generic, but grow on you very quickly. Signal Graph, the OP by Annabel, a departure from the generally soft, rather quiet Ending themes the Artist usually does (as in Sankarea, Canaan and Another's Endings), is an upbeat, enjoyable song that conveys the mood of the anime quite well, while the ED, Kaze no Naka no Primrose by Ceui, is also pleasant, but not quite as noteworthy. The soundtrack music is certainly good, with a lot of synth, string and piano themes that would be expected of a romantic anime. While nothing is lacking in the OST, there is nothing that would really come out as exceptional.

=Character: 8=

The main issue with many of the characters in KoiChoco is that they seem underused. Many of them (Chisato and Yuki's friend Mifuyu, Michiru, Satsuki), while itneresting and well-fleshed out characters, do not seem to be used to the best extent they could, for the very reason that adapting their whole route into an anime of only twelve episodes would be difficult. Other characters that probably held much more potential (i.e. the abrasive and strange Moheiji Tatsumi, whose mask apparently only Yuuki can see, Satsuki's sister and Yuki's adviser Hazuki, and Aomi) are also left seemingly without much elaboration. Once again, the limits of a twelve-anime show should be brought into consideration, but the underutilization of some very interesting characters was a bit of a disappointment that reduced the score from 9 to 8. On the other hand, other characters seemed pointless and unimportant--the cutely generic child genius Non-chan, Ai Sarue and her other-colored-twin Kii Monzennaka all seemed forgettable, with no seeming purpose apart from filling the club with people. While that, too, should be expected of minor characters, they could have been replaced with less generic characters.

=Enjoyment: 9=

For me, KoiChoco was a pleasant surprise in that it simply broke my expectations of a generic harem show and turned out to be a not-quite-riveting but certainly very interesting story that combined both interpersonal relationships with some of the actual politics and pressure behind an election. The fact that at times my heart did race is certainly enough to elevate it to a 9.

=Overall: 8=

KoiChoco should honestly be deserving of a 9 - I really do want to play the Visual Novel now, and its plot probably covered most of the spots that made me dissatisfied with the anime. The characters were pleasant, the story was excellent, and though the arts and sounds were unexceptional, they were certainly not detrimental to the story. The only obstacle to getting a 9 in my book would be unavoidable specter of the 12-episode limit, which probably prevented many of the scenes from being employed to their best effect. Overall, though, I thoroughly enjoyed KoiChoco in its 11-episode run, and look forwards to the last episode.

When I first read Magi, I assumed from the cover that it was of a cute little boy doing cute things, something to read to pass the time between weekly updates of other manga. However, Magi has been a charming surprise with the depth of its storyline and the efforts it puts into its setting. While it is, to some extent, a manga of a cute little boy doing cute things, Magi ambitiously tries to reach out on social issues such as politics and slavery while maintaining some humanity on every side of the issue.

=Story (9)=

Magi begins as an episodic story ... of the individuals affected or touched by Aladdin, an enigmatic child with a headless djinn/genie and an omnipresent childlike innocence. Yet author Ohtaka Shinobu's ambitiously aims to weave the characters of these short stories together on a setting that ranges from the Middle Eastern Coast of what is clearly an allegory of the Roman Empire to Arabia, the Central Asian Steppe and as far East as the Chinese Kou/Huang empire. Characters present in each story remain present, returning to later relevance far later into the story. The main focus of the story, though, is on Aladdin and Ali Baba, a boy who starts out as a low-ranked merchant but slowly discovers his potential as Aladdin's candidate for the Heir to King Solomon. Based loosely on the Thousand and One Arabian Nights, Magi's story is primarily based in Arabia and Persia, but explores locales such as Balbadd (an allegory for India), the nomads of Central Asia and hints to later inroads into Africa and the Chinese Huang Empire, exploring issues such as imperialism, internal politics, economics and slavery. The strange thing about Magi is that many of the issues are not in fact resolved through fighting. Though many of the plot resolutions can be shounen-esque, there have only been one or two truly Shounen fight scenes, with many conflicts resolved through politics, mediation or economics, all of which play a role in the many nations of the continent. Plot strings seemingly left behind are in fact picked up later, and Magi's narrative flows smoothly and logically while providing an ample amount of humor. If there were any problem to the story, it would be simply that the mangaka seems to be either too afraid or unwilling to sometimes let go of characters, even when their death would be expedient for the plot. Overall, Magi's plot, while stereotypical in one or two instances, is gently surprising and shows a shounen manga that nevertheless does not always try to resolve every insurmountable problem with hot bloodedness and fighting.

=Art (10)=

Magi's artwork comes off as deceptively cute on the onset. The characters are drawn gently in a style that comes closer to that of a slice of life manga than an anime that seeks to confront serious issues. Yet Mangaka Shinobu has demonstrated the ability to draw out a darker tone while preserving the overall artistic integrity of the text. While Aladdin always retains his usual adorableness, the increasing grimness of characters such as Ali Baba serve to show not only their increasing maturity but also the results of the crises that they have been forced to confront. Magi's Art is endearing and charming when it wants to, but serious and grim when it needs to.

=Characters (10)=

Based loosely on tales from A Thousand and One Arabian Nights, the characters of Magi are, while outwardly similar, quite different in execution. Aladdin, the cherubic "magi," comes off not as either the confused boy of the original narrative or the mildly immature man-boy of the Disney adaptation, but a talented boy whose initial lack of skill never affects his immovable faith in the goodness of humanity. Ali Baba, meanwhile, changes from a greedy boy who exploits Aladdin for his gifts to a tortured individual both haunted by the past he has left behind and inspired to improve the futures of those around him. Other characters, such as legendary hero Sinbad, stick slightly closer to their original counterparts, with Sinbad's tendency to lose whatever he gained in his last adventure sometime before his next illustrated in a comedic light. Author Ohtaka, however, bolsters her story with a host of original characters, all of which have their pasts and motivations, from Balbaddian street urchin (and Ali Baba's childhood friend) Kassim to the two aesthetically similar but ideologically divergent princesses (the highborn, idealistic pacifist Hakuei and the politically unsteady and pragmatic Kougyoku) of the Huang Empire. Furthermore, the mangaka makes an effort to humanize even those who are clearly in the wrong, keeping them from simply becoming caricatures--a slave trader is revealed to once have been a slave him/herself (I really couldn't tell); a cruel master whose innocence was once subverted by his master; the Dual Salujas, kings of the oppressed citizenry of Balbadd. Each individual in Magi's narrative comes off as their own character, with stories that the average reader can sympathize with, even a little bit.

=Enjoyment and Overall=

I was absolutely surprised by the depth of Magi's narrative and characters and liked it immensely. After reading realistic seinin manga full of grimdark suffering and gore and reading idealistic shounen stories of hotblooded (but improbable) problem resolutions, Magi's idealistic tone but realistic mindset was a welcome alternative that really allowed me to keep smiling from chapter to chapter. I do not often rate 10s for enjoyment, but Magi definitely deserves this praise. An underrated manga that is willing to confront real issues without giving up its optimism.

Mangaka and Anime artists love to play mix-and-match with Technology and magic. Hot Springs and swimsuits find their way into every Shounen anime, because everyone loves watching female characters in convenient coincidences; Japanese culture manage to ingrain themselves right in the midst of a European Fantasy World; Ninjas live in a modern world of electricity and ninja magic skills, but apparently nobody has heard of cars or gunpowder. Usually, the result of these bastardized settings come off as ridiculous and patchy. Yet, somehow, The Arms Peddler Avoids this. Somehow, Arms Peddler weaves together magic, zombies, modern weapons, medieval warfare and a ... postapocalytpic background together and still emerge as a dark, gritty, provocative, and ultimately postapocalytic story that manages to showcase everything at once and yet hold together.

=Story: 10=

Think about every improbable or ridiculous technology / magical / Fantasy crossover you`ve ever seen (Constant in Ichiban ushiro no daimaou, which managed to depict ninja ashigaru shooting machine guns in a city where the Hagia Sophia has been transplanted right next to traditional Japanese buildings; Bleach and its insistence that the whole afterlife be completely japanese and pursued in the most archaic fashion; Naruto, which actually TRIED to be racially diverse with the Cloud nation and the most awkward cultural crossover in the history of manga). Imagine melding them altogether, and somehow still having a coherent, readable, enjoyable plot. That would be the best way to describe The Arms Peddler. The Arms Peddler takes place in what could vaguely be interpreted as a postapocalyptic world, usually a good excuse to meld archaic technology with the forefront of modern weaponry. And that`s exactly what happens. The secondary protagonist, the Namesake Arms Peddler, uses a sword, but she drives a truck filled with everything from rifles, heavy machine guns, shotguns, sniper rifles, grenades and god knows what else. And the same holds true through the story. While the vast majority of people use archaic swords, spears and axes, there are knights with bulletproof shields, greek warriors with sniper rifles, and ottoman soldiers with Gatling Guns. There are Zombies and Necromancers, Magic and mythical beasts such as Guraaga and his race, the half-man and half-beast warriors. There is a heavy element of Wild West, just as there are hints to the old fashioned fantasy genre and references to DNA Manipulation. Each chapter brings a seemingly new facet to the story, moving from an old-fashioned sword and gun cowboy manga into much, much more. The story of Yuuki Souna, as expected of a seinen manga, is also quite gritty. There are moral issues: Slavery, revenge, and warfare, each of which adds to the plot. Though the plot seems ambitious in its many, far-reaching goals, so far it has managed to satisfy my expectations and then some.

=Art: 9=

The Art of The Arms Peddler is noticeably dark and gritty. Within the first few pages we have a whole family massacred, in apt (but not overdone) detail. The art style, which is closer to realistic than it is cute, fits the seinen nature of the story perfectly. While the appearance may be repugnant to younger readers, it helps characterize the grimy nature of the whole story. While I do not like talking much of art, I do say the Arms Peddler`s Art style is perfect for the story, and is not lacking in any way.

=Characters: 8=

The Arms Peddler`s two protagonists, the young and somewhat idealistic Yuuki and the pragmatic Garami, fit the traditional world-weary master / Hopeful Disciple trope, but they are far from cookies out of the cookie cutter. Yuuki`s whole spiel is not part of a flashback but actually shown in detail, and though there hasnt been too much development, almost all of the characters within the manga thus far have come off as three-dimensional and well-fleshed out. The dynamic between Princess Aily of Kaladia and Yuuki seems to be developing, while under Garami`s cold exterior there seems to be some kind of deeper past that will inevitably be explored later on. I do hope the author gets to it.

=Enjoyment / Overall=

I picked up this manga expecting just another wild-west seinen Desert-Punk kind of story. Perhaps good, but not spectacular. But I was hooked, and i never quite noticed that the setting had went from expected to what someone who had never read the manga would have found ridiculous. By then, I had been totally immersed within the story. Though the manga is barely scanlated, I have great hopes in The Arms Peddler.

The historical genre of manga has focused (almost exclusively) on China (particularly the three kingdoms period), Japan (around the Sengoku period) and Europe up to the late renaissance (though the Japanese authors tend to insert hot springs, panties and random modern or uniquely japanese appliances into some of the more light-hearted evolutions of this genre). Shokoku no Altair departs from this traditional theatre and brings us instead to the Ottoman Empire, once the greatest power in the Mediterranean and an empire that lasted well into the 20th century. Shokoku no Altair is, at the root of it, a shounen manga, but brings a ... fresh face to semihistorical manga through a new setting and a promising plot.

=Story (8)=

The intentionally thinly-veiled nation of Turkeye (I will not bother typing up the accents, though I assume that it is read as Turkey anyway) represents the Ottoman Empire--but not the Ottoman Empire at its peak. A stratocracy ruled by military generals, Pashas, Turkeye is faced with the threat of the growing Baltein Empire (a reference to the Ottoman Empire`s Archrival, the Austrian Holy Roman Empire of the Hapsburgs), which is aggressively expanding and escalating tensions with Turkeye. The Stratocracy is divided between the War Hawks (led by the young Pasha Zaganos Zehir) and the Doves (led by the aged Pasha Khalil Sehir). Into this is placed Mahmut Tughril (Referred to more often as Mahmut Bey), the main character and one of the youngest Pasha to ascend to the General`s Council. Demoted from the council, Mahmut Bey travels through the nations of the Mediterranean (Phoenicia, the representation of Greece, and Venedik, the representation of the thousand-year Venetian Republic), learning more about the world outside of Turkeye and the expanding might of Baltein all the way. 19 Chapters in, we`ve seen at least one war, a few battles and a lot of political maneuvering. Shokoku no Altair so far has served to be an interesting look at politics, a look into the 17th century world of the Mediterranean and a fresh look at the Middle ages from a new perspective.

=Art (6)=

Perhaps it is the quality of the scans (which in no way I blame on the translators), but the main weakness of Shokoku no Altair is the art. At many points, the mangaka seems to take exceptional care with dra wing eyes, to the point that they seem way to delicate. While I cannot say that the art is bad, it simply isn`t to my taste. Yet, there is quite a bit of attention to detail, though there are few inconsistencies (as the translator notes, the Temple to the Water Goddess in Venedik is in fact filled with Christian Imagery when Shokoku no Altair does its utmost to keep religion outside of the story. Given, this is necessary as christianity has dominated European culture for most of the time period, and this is hardly a plot hole a casual observer would notice, so it detracts little from the story), but there is nothing bad per se about the art.

=Characters (7)=

The characterization of the characters in Shokoku no Altair vary from excellent to shallow. While some characters are implied to have far more depth (there is a suggestion that the friendly Pasha Khalil is not quite the happy santa claus he makes himself out to be, and the development of Mahmut Bey continues, there are characters that seem to have been abandoned by the author, such as the Magistros of Venedik, Constantinos, whose considerable role in the second volume ends abruptly. Overall, though, the main characters are always kept in perspective, and I do look forwards to whatever else comes up.

=Enjoyment / Overall (8)=

Overall, I really like Shokoku no Altair. As a fan of historical manga and not simply the traditional Three Kingdoms / Sengoku / castle and princess manga (that, as good as some of them are, get really repetitive really fast, something Dynasty Warriors and Koei have yet to realize), Altair brought a fresh note to the genre and provides a slightly more realistic view of historical politics. Moreover, Altair is not as uniculutural as the average historical manga, with a great deal of depth put into describing the nations already visited. Though the translation is slow, I would say that Shokoku no Altair is more than well worth the read.

Bluntly put, Carnival Phantasm is not an anime for people who are unacquainted with the world of Kinoko Nasu (Fate/STay Night, Tsukihime, and to a lesser extent Kara no Kyoukai). Bluntly, it is a series of shorts commemorating the 10th anniversary of Type-Moon and Kinoko Nasu`s works. If you have never watched either of the two, you will only be confused by the characters who phase in and out with no explanation whatsoever. That said, Carnival Phantasm will bring a smile to your face if you are a fan of Type-moon, and confusion to anyone who hasn`t.

-Story-

...what story? Carnival Phantasm, as ... a piece for Type-moon fans, assumes that all the viewers are fans of the Nasuverse and assumes they are acquainted with the many characters involved. The plot consists of a bunch of vaguely related segues that are only linked by one event involving a rocket ship. Much of the plot references around abilities and the personalities of characters from Fate and Tsukihime (Gilgamesh`s gate of Bonk Hammers will be completely indecipherable to anyone who did not watch Fate/STay Night, for instance, and unless you have played Melty Blood or read fate/side material, you will not recognize vast swathes of the Phantasmoon segues) That said, the plot, for those who know Type-moon, is amusing, adorable but at times confuzzling (The Back-alley alliance segues, for example, consist of a Japanese style of Comedy that American audiences may not be used to.). Overall, though, Carnival Phantasm injects a lot of humor into two anime that were severely lacking in that aspect (both of whom are based on games that suffer, to a lesser extent, from the same flaw. Remember Shirou, the reddish-brown-haired kid? In one ending of the game he ends up being beheaded and left alive while constantly being impaled. By Ilya. Cute, eh?).

-Art-

The art style of Carnival Phantasm is simple and light-hearted, as should be expected of an anime simple and light-hearted, especially compared to the anime they hail from. The drawing style manages to render even the archvillians into fairly cute characters (Kotomine / Roa / Nero Chaos). I won`t say that the art is amazing or groundbreaking, but its certainly appropriate.

-Sound-

The sound and opening quality is cute, but not exceptional. The opening is adorable and well-made, and I personally love the ending song. However, the soundtrack itself presents nothing that is particularly amazing.

-Characters-

The thing about Carnival Phantasm is that it is shown under the assumption that you are fairly well-versed in the Nasuverse. And this does not simply include Tsukihime and Fate/Stay Night: this includes fate/side material, Kagetsu Tohya, Melty Blood and various other side stories and games. Even people who have watched and/or played Tsukihime and Fate/Stay Night will likely be incapable of recognizing characters such as Riesbyfe Stridberg, the gray-haired woman in the back-alley-alliance segues and Miyako Arima, the well-intentioned martial arts loli. All the serious from the series has been vacuumed out of even the worst villains, and though most of them are true to their basic outlines from their original works, they are mainly comedic in nature. Regardless, the only real Original Characters showcased thus far have been the Neco-Arcs (the cat-like blonde blokes that go around doing...well, who knows what they are doing). If you liked the characters of Fate/Stay Night and Tsukihime, you will continue to like them. If you haven`t watched, prepare to be a little confused.

-Enjoyment-

Personally, as a big fan of the Nasuverse, I loved Carnival Phantasm. It was cute and it was funny. Carnival Phantasm isnt meant to be taken seriously, and in that context it is perfect. Bluntly, you`ll like it if you know your Nasu. If you don`t...well, you may like it too, but it`ll seem more random than Nichijou.

-Overall-

If you truly wish to enjoy Carnival Phantasm, it`s best that you watch Fate and Tsukihime beforehand--either way, watch Fate and Tsukihime beforehand, as they are quite noteworthy in their own right. This anime is one big inside joke. If you`re not in on it, it will seem like a bunch of disjointed episodes with little or no connection.

After reading Yumekui Merry as a manga, I am struck by a sense of loss. How in God`s name did the people behind the anime take such an amazing story with such amazing characters and proceed to fail spectacularly with it? Having found the anime to be plagued with plot holes, inconsistencies and pointless characters, I was somewhat amazed to find that the Manga demonstrated none of these failures. Merry, easily one of the cutest badass characters in anime and manga alike, is enough to keep the story going. Combined with a plot that was (to my shock) both coherent and ... interesting, Yumekui Merry is an excellent example of a manga trumping its anime adaptation. Chizuru Kawanami, the soulless empty shell of a character that occurs in the anime, does not appear (though this is accompanied by the absence of mysteltainn, who I quite liked), and her forgettable appearances are replaced by the character development that the Anime truly needed. Isana, something of a side character in the Anime, takes on a far greater role in the manga that seems set to get bigger as time goes on. The manga style is cute and natural, showing the characters at their best. Yumekui Merry as an anime was a mediocrity. As a manga, Yumekui Merry is a masterpiece.

The first thing that jumps out about Mawaru Penguindrum is its animation. With its unusual flashbacks, cutscene sequences, and Ringo Production Cutscenes (easily one of the cutest/oddest/funniest approaches I have seen), Penguindrum brings something fresh to the table, the most innovative animation scheme since Bakemonogatari. The plot is quite...unique, to say the best. A combination of mild shounen, mild shoujo, a big dose of cute in the enigmatic Penguins, and an *initially* novel transformation theme (that I skip nowadays. The Apollo 11 spouting out two kidrobot bears gets old reaaaaal fast), the storyline of Mawaru Penguindrum continues to keep me on ... my toes, particularly because it releases its plot points only reluctantly. The appearance of what appears to be a new subplot with Double-H further deepens my interest, especially when the two Double-H girls have been almost omnipresent in the plot (which, for some reason, takes place largely in largely empty subways, a prevalent theme seen in the animation scheme). The characterization thus far has been incredibly extensive, especially concerning Ringo, the 30% cute, 50% disturbing, 20% pitiable but 100% intriguing character who seems to possess the enigmatic Penguindrum. The dynamic between the pragmatic but womanizing Kanba and the soft-spoken and idealistic Shoma has not yet been explored, but if its anything like Ringo`s backstory, I`m hooked. I have not a clue where this plot is going, but I`m content with being dragged along by the penguins (which provide a welcome relief to the talking, sassy penguins that for some reason have plagued G-rated movies since Madagascar.) Mawaru Penguindrum, like the Penguindrum itself, remains enigmatic--but Im content with unraveling the mystery just a little more once every week.

Hanasaku Iroha has managed to surprise me throughout its run, even up to the 24th episode. Most of the surprises have been good--but not all of them. Hanasaku Iroha attempts to weave together many stories at once - short, more trivial arcs interspersed with plot-specific points. Some of the arcs were a bit underwhelming. The arc about Tomoe seemed to hint to some great developments, but ended with one episode, leaving a sense of unfinished business. Yet, notwithstanding the less important arcs, the overarching plot manages to touch the heartstrings, especially concerning the awkward, bumbling but touching relationship between Ohana ... and Ko, the unrequited love of Minko and within Ohana`s family--the family interactions that have built up and threatened to tear apart the hot spring of Kissuiso. Sadly, some of the characters are not quite as likeable as we would like to think - Minko consistently irritated me and continues to do so -- but it only proves that the characters within Hanasaku Iroha are merely human. In fact, the way in which the perhaps more-despised characters come to become likeable is quite a plot development. The last arc of Iroha`s four-month run seems to be wrapping up all the loose ends that have been so artfully woven into the fabric of the piece--and, if the show follows the trend of these last episodes (and the prior arc), Iroha will end a masterpiece. Hanasaku Iroha has consistently surprised me--mostly positively, occasionally negatively - but one thing is clear, I wouldn`t miss those last 2 episodes for my life.

The first thing that I would say on Ao no Exorcist is that the Soundtrack Music is A-list Hollywood quality. I fell in love with the soundtrack around episode 4, and since then, the music has never ceased to amaze me. The composer and arranger, Hiroyuki Sawano, has managed to make a soundtrack that varies from tear-jerkingly beautiful to Hans Zimmer-quality Epic. But, before I bore us all making love with a picture of Mr. Sawano, onto the rest of the story.

If only the rest of Ao no Exorcist was as amazing as the music. The premise is quite ... Shounen - You`ve got the son of Satan and a talented Twin - the typical rash sibling / calm sibling duo seen in everything from Fullmetal Alchemist to Clannad. That said, the first few episodes stayed true to the manga, and seemed to be departing from its notably shounen premise. That said, Ao no Exorcist`s plot, for the majority of the season, seemed quite reasonable, with a good pacing that seemed to suggest an ending similar to the manga and perhaps a sequel. Yet, after around the 17th episode, things get weird. Odd characters appear out of nowhere, and seemingly mundane characters return for odd cameos. By no means is the plot bad - but it has long since lost the coherence of the first 10 episodes. Instead, the plot has become something of a train wreck - still enjoyable by all means, but rushed and confusing. The show is nearing its end now, with 22 out of 25 episodes under the belt--and though I look forwards to the ending, I am afraid it will be something that is so clearly cobbled together (As this last arc seems to be) that it will disappoint me.

The art is nothing special - it is perfectly competent, and overall, the quality is never bad, but it brings little new to the table. The characters as well are not deficient in any way, but they are nothing really revolutionary--as in most shounen anime, the focus is clearly more on the plot, which, in this case, does not help Ao no Exorcist`s case.

That said, I continue to enjoy Ao no Exorcist--but only as a typical shounen anime. It`s not bad by any means--but it just seems to fall short of the greatness it seemed to suggest in its first half.