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Chihayafuru 2: Impassioned Series

After the groundbreaking success that was Chihayafuru, an anime that introduced us to the world of karuta, it was only natural that we would see a second season. Personally, while I found the original series to be unique, it suffered from two major problems...character focus and pacing. While the second season still suffered from pacing problems, I really feel like the writers got things going in the right direction with its character focus. As an end result, I would without a doubt say that the second season is by far better than its first season...and that's not a slight at the first ... season.

The strength of this series revolves around its animation in regards to the characters. When I say "impassioned" in the headline, what I mean is the writers, the animators, and the seiyuu do a wonderful job of capturing the passion that this series has to offer. We can certainly feel the emotions each player from Mizusawa has for karuta, as well as the other important characters to this series like Arata and Shinobu. The best way of putting it is that everything about this series had such great chemistry. The story set the tone, the seiyuu put their heart and soul into each character's performance, and the artwork of this series carried that passion.

Where this series significantly improved over its predecessor was in the aforementioned character focus. This series focused much more on the three protagonists, Chihaya, Taichi, and Arata, as well as the rest of the members of Mizusawa's karuta team. In the previous season, it seemed like the writing staff put more focus on the other karuta players and there were times where it felt like supporting characters were getting more screen time and development than the series leads. This series also put a lot more focus into Arata and Shinobu, which I found to be important since they are much more important characters to this series than, let's say Yumin from season 1. Not saying Yumin isn't an important character, but when she's getting more development than Chihaya, the series lead, then we have a problem.

Speaking of problems, this series does still have a few and they are pretty much carryovers from the first season. The anime's pacing is horrifically slow. Well, I will say this...it isn't nearly as slow as the first season. The first half of the series seemed pretty well paced, but the second half tends to drag at times, with some matches lasting as long as three episodes. While I do find the players thought processes during these matches interesting, it had me saying "would you please just advance the plot? I get it already." Another problem I have with this series and this was also a problem with the last season...it has a recap episode. I am going to come out and say that for both seasons of Chihayafuru, they can be deemed the most pointless recap episodes of all-time. The way the series is paced, it isn't necessary. Everything that happened in the first half of the series is still fresh in the viewer's minds. It's a major beef for me as a viewer because I'm also considering that this is practically a waste of the viewer's time and the producer's money.

At the end of the day, I will say this about Madhouse's Chihayfuru 2. The first season caught my attention, the second season completely immersed me into the characters and story. I went from barely wanting a 2nd season to completely looking forward to a 3rd season. As far as a recommendation, I would recommend this series if you do like slower paced anime with more of a character focus much like Spice + Wolf, or sports themed but not really anime like Capeta. I would also recommend watching the first season before taking this one on. While I know there are some anime you can pick up on and I'm sure Chihayafuru 2 is a series you can pick up on if you skip the first season, this series is strongly connected with events that happened in the first season and ends up being a driving force throughout the series. Even if the first season becomes tiring and mundane at times, I recommend you stick with it because it starts paying off in season 2. Overall, I will say Chihayafuru 2 is so far one of the best anime I've seen in 2013 and I'd give it my highest recommendation.

Kakumeiki Valvrave: A Liberating Viewing Experience

Okay, I'm going to take off my reviewer hat for this one. While I usually base an anime off of its overall plot, characters, and production elements, I'm going to have to break the mold with this one. This series, I dare say, is so bad, it's good. It's like watching a Michael Bay movie. You know it's bad, but you just can't take your eyes off it.

Kakumeiki Valvrave is perhaps one of, if not, the most cliche mecha anime I've ever seen. You name a mecha anime trope and this series has got it. I'd even call it ... the love child of Code Geass and Gundam Seed because it steals so many elements from both. Military members sneak into a neutral country to obtain overpowering weapons? Check. High schoolers learn how to use a mecha on a whim? Check. High schoolers obtain a mysterious power that gives them an advantage? Check. An uprising takes place in the middle of a war to create a 3rd party consisting of the protagonists? Check. Overpowering lead character? Half-check. Love triangle? Check. I could seriously go on-and-on, but I'll just leave it at this. What makes this series so great despite it's cliche as hell story? The fact that the writing and production staff give us the impression that this series is self-aware. It's supposed to be aesthetically pleasing and cliche and for some reason, it made this series a fun watch. I'll be honest, this was probably the most fun I've had watching a bad anime in a long time.

The story is about as Gundam Seed as it gets. L-Elf and a special ops group from Dorssia sneaks into Module 77 to obtain secret weapons known as Valvraves. However, their plan is thwarted when our series lead, Haruto Tokishima becomes enraged by Dorssia's invasion and the assumed death of his high school crush, Shouko Sashinami and as a result of it causes him to crawl inside the Valvrave and use it against Dorssia. It seems he is successful, but he learns that the Valvraves are not ordinary machines, granting him a power that even gets him to question his own humanity. Generally speaking, it's an okay story...but it's been beaten to death by prior mecha anime. The only new element this series introduces is the element of immortal, vampire-like abilities for these would-be mecha pilots. An interesting element to say the least, but I would argue that vampire stories and mecha anime are two subjects in the media right now that are beaten to death and are getting old.

I will say that the characters for this series are pretty damn likable. In fact, I'd even go so far as to say that Haruto is actually one of the least likable characters in the series and he's not even that bad of a character. I really enjoy L-Elf's calm and scheming demeanor, Shouko's quirkiness, Saki's downright celebrity craze, Akira's adorable as hell NEET-like personality, Raizou's "It's Thunder!" badass personality...and that's only a few of the characters. It's an interesting mix and even while some are lacking development, their personalities shine through to make for an interesting watch.

The production elements (animation and music) I would say are solid, but not breathtaking. I will admit though it is nice to see T.M. Revolution back doing anime theme songs again. He's really damn good at it and his song Preserved Roses, the OP song for this series duet style with Nana Mizuki gives this series the upbeat start that gets me looking forward to each new episode.

Overall, Kakumeiki Valvrave is a downright enjoyable series. Sure, it's story is extremely cliche, but this is one instance where I can somewhat overlook it due to how fun this series is with its cliches. I'm almost willing to say this series is self-aware of this and takes advantage of it. I also have to give this series some credit, it had an event in a later episode that ended up sparking one of the funniest anime memes I've ever seen. I'd highly recommend this series to anyone that enjoys Sunrise's mecha anime like Gundam and Code Geass. I'd also recommend it if you can enjoy a series that doesn't take itself too seriously. However, if you're looking for an original mecha anime with a heavy story like Neon Genesis Evangelion, I'd say give this a pass. All-in-all, while I will say I've seen better anime this year, I don't think I'll see an anime that is as fun as this one to watch.

Devil Survivor 2: Dubious Massacre Too

After Seiji Kishi's wildly successful anime adaptation of Persona 4, it was only natural we would see him tackle another popular Atlus video game franchise, right? That's what we got with Devil Survivor 2, a 13 episode series produced by a relative unknown in the anime industry, Studio Bridge. Considering the success Kishi had with Persona 4, we could expect the same great things with Devil Survivor 2...ah expectations...how you never cease to fail me.

This series is the very definition of the phrase "all style and no substance." Devil Survivor 2 is a GORGEOUSLY animated series with production values through ... the roof. However, Kishi faces the same problem he had with Angel Beats...he tried to cram way too much into too little of space. Devil Survivor 2 is supposed to be a character driven series with well fleshed out characters to drive a dark, horrifically bleak plot. However, since Kishi only had 13 episodes to work with, this series felt rushed in its character development (or lack there of) and it resulted in the series not having the "impact" it should've had. I will warn you right now (as if you couldn't tell from the title), there is a lot of death in this series. However, like I stated, due to the characters not being fleshed out, their deaths have very little impact, at least not as much impact as they should've had.

As far as the story is concerned, it revolves around a graduating high school student named Hibiki Kuze, who is hanging out with his best friend Daichi Shijima after college entrance exams. While hanging out, Daichi shows Hibiki a phone app that shows people their faces when they die. While waiting for their ride in the subway, they encounter a girl from another class named Io Nitta, someone Daichi has a crush on. While waiting for their ride, they all get messages of their dead face clip of the train derailing and killing all of them, and all given the choice by the app if they want to live or die. By choosing to live, they avoid a near death experience when the train does derail, but their worlds will never be the same after this event as they discover that the end of the world is at hand and they'll have to fight to survive. Overall, I did find it to be an interesting plot that at least kept me interested in how this world was coming to an end. However, in my opinion, a story is only as good as the characters that drive it...and that's where this series took a turn for the worst.

The characters were so underdeveloped that it was sad. While I don't think the cast nor the characters themselves were necessarily terrible or unlikable, the problem was ALL of them were underdeveloped. After the first few episodes, Kishi gives us the impression that we need to be invested in Hibiki, Nitta, and Daich and their growing friendshipi. However, other than learning about all three of them trying to get into college, we learn next to nothing about them. We don't learn anything about what shaped their personalities or their motivations, and other than a short flashback later on in the series, there is absolutely nothing displayed about Hibiki's back story. That's where the problem with this series lies. The nature of Shin Megami Tensei games for the most part, is the choices you make to develop your character. However, when you have a contained anime series, the choices need to be made by the production staff...but in this instance, Kishi didn't make any choices and left the characters open for the viewer to make their own interpretation about them. That sort of practice works fine for a video game, but not when you're telling a story, especially in an anime series format. It was an odd choice because in Kishi's prior work (Persona 4), Yu Narukami, the series lead was fleshed out and the production staff did choose how to develop him. I'd say this is one instance where Kishi should've followed his own prior example. While I mentioned it earlier, this series had way too many notable characters to completely cover in a 13 episode format. There were 14 notable characters that were either main characters or incredibly important supporting characters. However, when you only have 13 episodes to work with, it's impossible to flesh out every single one and when you have a story as active as this one, there just wasn't enough time to cover both bases. I'll give this series a little bit of credit though. Alcor was one hell of a memorable character due to his bizarre appearance and unorthodox behavior...but even that feels like a drag considering how forgettable all the rest of the characters are.

The MAJOR saving grace for this series should come as no surprise. It's the animation and music. The production value of this series was incredible. The animation was crisp and provided a dreary setting and the high-quality music provided a bleak mood (even if the characters didn't). While this series only had 13 episodes to work with, I'll at least admit Studio Bridge went all out with it. I found the demon designs and the fight scenes to be incredibly fascinating and certainly does justice to the wonderful universe Shin Megami Tensei has to offer. My one complaint (albeit minor) is I found the character designs, primarily the costume designs, to be rather silly for a series of this magnitude. While I know it's probably derived from the series directly, I found some of the character costumes to be downright hilarious, from Kuze's rabbit eared hoodie, to Hinako's breast flop top, to Fumi's swimsuit with a full-length cape. It's pretty sad when a series this ominous can make you chuckle from just mere costume designs.

All-in-all, I can't help but feel disappointed by this series. This was one series I was looking forward to the most when this season started and it left me feeling discontent. When a character driven series has really shallow character development, you have problems. It's just hard to get invested in a series where there is such little development between the characters throughout. I will say this series did have a pretty strong finish with its last two episodes, however, by then, the damage was done. While I thought the final episode was a strong finish to a weak series, some people might get a little turned off by its Mai-Hime-esque conclusion. I'm not sure how this series works as an adaptation since I've never played the video game, but as an anime series, it failed to deliver in a lot of ways. Now, the question is, who would I recommend this to? Well, I'd say if you liked other video game adapted or inspired anime like Persona 4 or Persona: Trinity Soul, you might enjoy this. However, a viewer that loves being invested in character over plot is more than likely going to find this to be a difficult watch. I hate to say it, but I have a feeling that I'm going to say by the end of the year that Devil Survivor 2 was unfortunately one of the more disappointing anime of 2013.

Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge: What's Your Fetish?

What happens when you combine Rapunzel and Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni with a generic moe romantic comedy? You get Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge, one of the most awkward anime series I've seen in quite some time. Awkward and campy are the best ways to describe it since trying to put this series into one genre is a damn near impossibility, on top of the odd elements this series tries to explore.

The series revolves around a rather strange junior high student with a hair fetish named Kiri Haimura, a possessor of a pair of scissors known as ... a Killing Good. These Killing Goods are murder weapons for killers in the past and are passed down to their kin throughout the ages. Kiri isn't the most accepting of his Killing Good, but his opinion quickly changes of it when he encounters a sheltered girl with extremely long hair named Iwai Mushiyanokouji. Upon meeting her, he learns that she is cursed and her hair cannot be cut. She is known as the Hair Queen and that she is the target of a group named Gossip. Since he possesses a pair of scissors with a unique circumstance, he attempts to cut her hair with it...and their adventures begin from there.

Overall, I found the strongest aspect of this series was the atmosphere built from the great animation and music. This series did a masterful job of balancing out the comedy, romance, and thriller elements to make for a strangely intriguing series. The "awkwardness" of this series is actually what I thought to be its greatest strength. It's rare to find an anime that tries to blend the genres like Crime Edge attempted, and to some extent, it succeeded. While the atmosphere was fantastic for Crime Edge, it had a lot of flaws.

Generally, the characters I thought were good, but underdeveloped. Kiri was an interesting lead as an awkward, but likable protagonist. However, considering his background, I wanted to know more about his back story as well as his relationship with his father. It's a subject that's barely touched upon in the first episode and we don't ever see it again throughout the series. We do see some interactions between Kiri and his grandfather, but it doesn't do much to develop Kiri's character. Unfortunately, Iwai's character suffered the same problem. She is a likable character, but unfortunately her back story is not very well developed even though the series does give some general explanations early on and also later on in the series. Even then, it was still lacking. In my opinion, the relationship development between Kiri and Iwai was extremely awkward, almost seeming as if the director wasn't sure if he should be more aggressive or passive in their development...and in the end, it turns out being just awkward. The supporting cast I found to be okay. I wouldn't say there are a lot of memorable characters, but I will admit there are some that have interesting personality quirks. A few examples include Yamane with her awkwardly serious behavior, Emily's rather bipolar behavior, as well as the intriguing duo of Seigi and Kozakura, an Author with a jaded sense of justice and an Instead on a mission to keep him inline. Don't get me started on Kanae either, a mysterious character with...oddly enough, a lolita complex.

While I did think the animation was the strongest aspect of this series, the direction of it was a bit off-putting. There are some anime out there that you can consider ecchi...and then there's Crime Edge...which beats you over the head with a 2x4 of ecchi and fan service. While I don't mind the ecchi at times and found it to work in some instances, it seems like this series went WAY overboard with it. It's one thing to have ecchi with older, high school characters or adults, but it's a completely other thing when a majority of the ecchi is revolving around children that are 14-years-old or younger. There were times I seriously felt dirty for watching this knowing the characters were so young and are being so exposed. Like I said, there were times when the ecchi and fan service worked in the context of the series, but the producers seemed to hammer it in when they didn't need to. I'd even go so far as to call the production staff behind this series downright perverts.

As far as the plot and story are concerned, I did find it interesting, or at the very least, interesting enough to hold my attention. However, I felt this series didn't quite do enough to cover the bases in regards to explaining the Murderer's Game. It's explanation is extremely fragmented and round-a-bout. While it's explanation does make sense, it seems very impractical and I found myself groaning at just how stupid Gossip's logic was concerning the Murderer's Game.

My general thoughts on this series are...meh, it's okay. This series has an interesting aura about it with a nice blend of lighthearted atmosphere with extremely dark moments. It's animation (when taking the story seriously) is very good and the soundtrack is haunting at times. However, for everything good the atmosphere does with this series, it manages to always seem to take a step back with its horrifically padded fan service and unnecessary ecchi...thus, also resulting in some underdeveloped characters. This is a series that really had me hooked early on and kept me interested throughout, but as the series wore on, so did my patience with the director's antics. This series had the potential to be really good and it turned out being just average. On top of that, it left us on a mini-cliffhanger for a 2nd season. While I wasn't blown away by Crime Edge, I'd be interested in checking out a 2nd season if it does happen. Recommending this series to anyone would be difficult though considering how blended the genres are in this series. If you liked a show like Tasogare Otome x Amnesia or Sankarea, you might enjoy a series like this. Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge, despite its flaws, is a rather unique series. Overall, I'd call it average though. You can certainly do better than this series and you can certainly do worse as well. Still, it's at least worth trying out a few episodes to see if it is your cup of tea.

RDG: Red Data Girl: Too Much Data And Not Enough Storage

I have to say that this might be the first time I'm genuinely disappointed with a P.A. Works anime. After creating some wildly successful series like Angel Beats and Another, I had reason to believe that P.A. Works could be developing into a strong production company. Unfortunately, I have to chalk RDG up as a dud in their repertoire. I thought with the plot that this series had, it had to the potential to be really good but fell flat in the two biggest aspects...it's story and it's characters.

The biggest problem with this series is ... it tried to tackle way too many sub-plots with not nearly enough episodes to work with. It causes some extremely choppy pacing as well as several unresolved plot points. I found it's "ending" to be rather ironic since I was feeling the same way Miyuki was when I completed this series. For all the sub-plots going on in this series, it sure did find a way to bore me to sleep. Going back to the limited episodes, this series seemed to set itself up for a sequel and that could be the reason for unresolved plot points. However, I still feel P.A. Works left too many open. This series didn't have the closure it should've had, even for a series that would plan on continuing.

I found the characters to be another huge weakness to this series. Their actions and lack of development left a lot to be desired. Still, I do believe the lack of character development does span from this series trying to introduce a ton of sub-plots. Really, the best way I can describe it is that this series suffered from an identity crisis. It couldn't decide if it wanted to be a plot-driven story or a character-driven story and as a result, it ended up being neither. I found it difficult to get invested in Izumiko and her "plot" because it was so damn confusing. It seemed like even the writers were having difficulty trying to figure it out. That's not to say it wasn't "good" because I found some aspects of it to be interesting. However, its progression and explanation is so choppy and so poorly explained that it strongly detracted from the overall quality of this series. Miyuki was one character I really got a bit of a laugh at because there was one episode later on in the series where I called him a male tsundere. You just don't see that in anime very often. I can't say it really did anything for the series, because the development between him and Izumiko was so hacked that I just couldn't become invested in their relationship (if you can even call it that). For the most part, the characters are fairly forgettable. I can't say there is one memorable character at all in this series. Maybe Masumi, but even that's a stretch.

While I did find the story and the characters to be big weaknesses, there were some things the series did rather well. I really loved the artwork as well as it's traditional Japanese themes. The one thing I'll give P.A. Works is that they are very good with their animation and artistic design. While I did rip this series for having so many sub-plots, that's not to say it didn't have good ones. I did think the main plot was interesting albeit confusing, but it just seemed so rushed and choppy due to having so many sub-plots. I did find the sub-plot revolving around Masumi to be interesting as well as the one behind Wamiya. The sub-plots in themselves were "good" but suffered from choppy pacing and lack of strong progression due to having way too much going on in way too little amount of time. The atmosphere for this series was REALLY good and was what had me coming back week-after-week.

All-in-all, it's such a shame to see this series fall flat. P.A. Works is one of my favorite smaller animation companies and they've produced some really good anime in the past. However, much like it's most popular series (Angel Beats), this needed to be 24-26 episodes in the worst way. It had a good plot and good sub-plots, but it was so overly ambitious with how much this series tried to accomplish. It didn't have a smooth-flowing narrative and that in itself, caused some VERY underdeveloped characters. That's not to say I didn't enjoy watching this series because I did. It's just that after it was all said and done, it left a bitter taste in my mouth. I knew P.A. Works had something good going with this series but got overambitious with it. They tried to make it bigger and deeper than it had to be. It needed more of a focus on it's main plot and developing its main characters with that plot. It's extremely sad that I thought the Souda siblings got more development than the series' lead characters. I would only recommend this series to those with an interest in ancient Japanese traditions and lore. I found those aspects to be pretty good for this series. However, if you're looking for an anime with an excellent story and well-developed characters, it just simply doesn't have it and I'd say give this a pass if this is what you're looking for. Even if you're looking for a good romance series, this series is poorly advertised in that regard and doesn't have a good romance in the least. In the end, I feel its time P.A. Works really starts putting more of a focus on making bigger anime series because the 12 episode format is just not quite getting it done anymore, especially when it came to RDG: Red Data Girl.

Shinsekai Yori: From The New World of Great Anime

I have no qualms in coming out and saying Shinsekai Yori (From the New World) was not only one of the best anime of 2012, but it was one of the best anime I have ever seen. Very rarely does a series come along and floor me with its overall quality. The story, art, music, voice actors and characters were all downright fantastic. I still can't get over much this anime consumed my attention, so much so that I finished all 25 episodes in less than 12 hours. I can honestly say that this series was an ... emotional roller coaster that left me depressed and moved at the same time. It takes a powerful writer and a great production staff to pull that off.

For those of you unfamiliar with Shinsekai Yori, it is a story about a group of 5 children with psychic powers growing up in a Utopian society in the far future. In this society, only people with psychic powers exist and strict laws govern what the children can and can't do. While out on a school excursion, these children come across a strange creature that is actually a robotic device considered to be a "library" that provides them information and insight on the past and what had happened to humanity over the past several hundred years. After learning this information that had been kept secret, their world is turned upside down and their lives will be at stake as they have to learn to live in a world that is not as it seems. I'm aware that's a very vague description, but it's difficult to explain this anime's plot without going into heavy spoilers. This series is extremely dialogue heavy and takes several twists and turns, with each line providing a crucial piece of information toward the story.

I could go on-and-on about the strengths of this series because it does everything right. I loved it's cast of characters with a lead character that is a bit out of the ordinary from your typical series. Saki Watanabe is a girl with not a great intellect and she's not a powerful psychic user, but her pursuit for the truth and her emotional resolve make her an interesting character to follow. The rest of the group is made up of Satoru Asahina, a fiery boy that likes to pick on Saki, Shun Aonuma, a cheerful boy that is talented with psychic powers, Maria Akizuki, Saki's closest childhood friend, and Mamoru Itou, a quiet, cowardly boy that keeps to himself but has a deep affection for Maria. I really loved how this series explored each character's personalities and feelings, also going into the realm of how their feelings change for each other as the series progresses.

The plot and story is one of the best I've ever seen in a series. The way everything played out, the way it was able to tell such an immense story in just a 25 episode series was amazing. It took many twists and turns along the way and really played at your emotions with the way it unfolded. One thing I have to come out and say about this series' storytelling is that I was amazed at how brilliant the foreshadowing was. I am not a big fan of foreshadowing in anime but this series did such a brilliant job of implementing it without completely giving away what was going to happen in future episodes. On top of the foreshadowing, I was also quite impressed with the subliminal messages and social commentary that was portrayed in this series. There are several different messages I felt could've been taken out of the series. The securities of mankind, blocking education, inhumane treatment, racism/biggotry, and manipulation are just a few of the subjects this series delves into, with the main topic being basic human principles and society. I found the messages that this series portrayed were wonderful lessons for people in general to learn and understand how a society should work (P.S. that's not a statement supporting the society from this series).

The artwork was downright gorgeous. While I wouldn't say the character designs were great, I absolutely loved the shading, the artistic expressions, as well as the human emotions and facial expressions, especially eye contact. I was especially a fan of how well eyes were drawn in this for particular situations when you could feel the characters were in a dramatically tense situation. I will admit though, this is perhaps the first full length anime series I've ever watched that actually doesn't have an OP...but man, oh man, the EDs sure make up for it. The first ED was so beautiful and breathtaking that I'm almost speechless from it. I could watch it a million times and still appreciate something from its artistic splendor.

The music was downright gorgeous and fit the tone of the series extremely well. While I will admit that it doesn't have an overwhelming variety with its soundtrack (be prepared to hear repetition with the BGM), the way it sets the mood makes it incredible. Going back to the ED, I found the song Wareta Ringo by Risa Taneda to be a remarkably captivating song. How it went with the visuals made for a pleasant viewing experience. While I didn't quite like the 2nd ED, Yuki ni Saku Hana by Kana Hanazawa to be quite as good, it was still a gorgeous ED regardless with a pretty good song to boot. I'll give Kana some props for being the lead seiyuu and singing a series ED as well. Speaking of the seiyuu, what remarkable work. This series had a top notch cast that sold me with each and every one of their performances.

While I can't say there are many negatives I can take away from this series, I will note a few minor complaints. The first actually isn't so much a complaint, but rather a warning. If you're watching this series, pay attention to EVERY piece of dialogue, no matter how mundane it seems. It's amazing at how much every detail plays an important role and sometimes ends up being a major plot point. I will note that the time jumps were pretty alarming and abrupt at times. There are two major time jumps in this series and how things "change" right off the bat might catch you off-guard. I know it did for me, but at least it was easy to adjust to the time jumps. I will also say the "sexuality" that is explored in this series can be a bit off-putting for a few, but I will implore you to stick with it because there are reasons for it and it doesn't last particularly long throughout the series. However, I will warn that it does sort of jump out at you out of nowhere.

All-in-all, Shinsekai Yori is one of A-1's best. While I am not the biggest fan of A-1, they somehow manage to produce exquisite gems for anime series from time-to-time and Shinsekai Yori was definitely one of them. If you're a fan of futuristic Utopian type anime or stories, I would give this a strong recommendation. Hell, I would recommend this series to anyone that's looking for an excellent story with great characters. I will warn that the mood for this series is extremely heavy and if you get easily depressed, be weary of this series because it gets quite depressing at times. However, despite that, it's still a very emotional series that is quite moving with its messages. Again, I have to say, in my opinion, Shinsekai Yori was the best anime from 2012.

Azumanga Daioh - Azumazing Show!

It's hard to believe that 11 years have passed since this breathtaking series came along and became the staple for anime comedy for the past decade. You can tell that shows like Nichijou, Lucky Star, Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou, Acchi Kocchi, and many other anime comedies were built around the realistic high school sketch comedy that this series has inspired. Going into this series, I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about it since I didn't particularly care for the animation style, but I soon learned that this series goes far beyond it's cheap animation.

Azumanga Daioh's plot is ... rather simple. It revolves around the everyday lives of six high school classmates and their misadventures together as well as with their high school teachers. However, what really makes this anime go is the characters and scriptwriting. This anime is a staple of how to create great characters. Of the six classmates, you have Chiyo, the adorable, cheerful child prodigy that skipped five levels right to high school, Sakaki, the tall, athletic, and quiet student that secretly loves cute things, Ayumu (Osaka), the airheaded transfer student from Osaka whose mind always seems to wander, Tomo, the eccentric personality of the group that seems to cause trouble, Yomi, the smart, childhood friend of Tomo who's the brooding sense of reason, and Kagura, the athletic rival of Sakaki who seems to always misunderstand Sakaki's thoughts and intentions. Overall, it was a hilarious group to watch interact with each other because of how radically different each character was. Even the supporting cast was downright hilarious with Kaori, the outsider with an enormous crush on Sakaki, as well as the three teachers Yukari, the selfish, self-centered teacher, Kurosawa, the thoughtful, caring teacher, and Kimura, the creepy, possibly pedophiliac that creeped out many of the female students (especially Kaori and Yomi). The adventures that all these characters shared together was a delight to watch and constantly made me laugh...while at the same time, would become emotionally touched toward the end of this series as it came to a close.

I found the last three episodes to be extremely well done for this series, doing a great job of expressing the emotions all of these students went through as their high school lives came to a close. I found Chiyo, Kagura, and Sakaki's arcs to be remarkably emotional during this stretch.

It's hard to believe that this is a J.C. Staff production considering how remarkably well done its storyboard and characters are developed. Although, I'll admit the animation was far from great. While it fit the mood of the series, it still felt a bit lazy and cheap at times. Still, I can hardly complain about the production since I'd call it one of J.C. Staff's best works.

As far as the weaknesses of this series, as I mentioned, the animation is nothing notable. Luckily, it fits the tone of the series so it isn't a big weakness, but it is still glaring at times. Personally, I wish it would've done a little more in developing some character back story with each character. For example, Tomo and Yomi are childhood friends...but we never really got to see why they act the way they do with each other. Or perhaps delve a little bit more into each character's own traits. Another example being Osaka sleeping during class and the friends mentioning that she must not sleep much at night. She never really does say "why" she doesn't sleep at night so I'm curious as to what her late night hobby is. It was little things like these that bugged me at times and wish the series would've went more into this rather than repeat a lot of comedic gimmicks like the sports festival, culture festival, or the summer home visits. Another one of the unfortunate bits about this series is, some of the comedy is EXTREMELY hit-or-miss. One example being the dreaming episode. Not to spoil too much, there's an episode where the series jumps into the dreams of some of the characters. I found it to be a pretty acid trip filled episode that generally wasn't all that funny. It wasn't the only episode, but it was the one that stood out the most. Some people will enjoy that style of comedy while others might be a bit turned off by it.

Overall though, I have no qualms in saying Azumanga Daioh is one of the best anime comedies I have ever seen. I absolutely loved the character interactions of this series and I'd even go so far as to say it was one of the best written scripts I've heard in an anime, as well as the seiyuu work to go with it. I was remarkably sold at how well both these production elements went hand-in-hand. I am really a huge fan of Azumanga Daioh's style of comedy and as I stated, it was really nice that this was the series that paved the way for high school sketch comedy to become so popular in the mainstream. If you really like the aforementioned Nichijou, Lucky Star, Acchi Kocchi, or high school sketch comedy in general, I highly recommend this series.

Armitage III: Where's Armitage 1 and 2?

Okay, so let me get this straight...it's 1995. There's this anime about a hot, skimpily dressed cybernetic police officer with her large, strong as hell partner trying to stop a terrorist that's trying to shake the political scales of the world in the distant, but not too distant future? Oh, Ghost In The Shell, right? Well, you're half-right, but the anime I'm referring to is a 4 episode OVA called Armitage III...which in all actuality came out before Ghost In The Shell.

At any rate, the plot revolves around a former Chicago police officer named Ross Sylibus, who is ... transferring to a police department on a Martian colony after his partner on Earth was killed by a robot. However, it doesn't take long for Ross to get thrown into action as a country singer that was on the same flight to Mars as Ross is murdered. While in the baggage claim, Ross runs into the murderer and his new partner at the MPD, Naomi Armitage. When Naomi tries to stop the murderer, they discover he's transporting the body of the country singer in a suitcase. The murderer gets away, however, Ross and Naomi discover that the singer was in all actuality a robot that is labeled as a "Third," a model of robots that are illegally produced and indistinguishable from humans. Through an illegal broadcast, the MPD (Martian Police Department) discovers that the "murderer" is a man known as Rene D'anclaude and his objective is to kill all of the Thirds since they aren't real humans. It is up to Ross, Naomi, and the rest of the MPD to discover D'anclaude's plot and bring a stop to his reign of terror.

I can honestly say that the best part of this series was its plot. This plot was really interesting, especially if you love cyberpunk anime. This series seems to have a lot of sci-fi elements reminiscent of Phillip K. Dick's "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" (which inspired Total Recall), Isaac Asimov's "Robot Series (inspired I, Robot)," and even a little bit of William Gibson's "Neuromancer." Getting back to the plot though, I can get invested in a good futuristic cyberpunk cop drama, and that's definitely what we have here with Armitage III. As I watched, I wanted to know more about this environment. This series throws at us a Martian colony, robots and cyborgs, and explosive action to go with its investigative mystery. The more I watched, the more I wanted to know about this environment and its characters.

On the whole, I was really intrigued about the characters. Of course, this series shows off its lead female the most. Naomi Armitage is...well...flashy to say the least. She's a cop with a feisty attitude and a rather unorthodox getup (which Ross comments on the first time they meet). However, underneath her rough and rigid personality is someone who is facing an emotional breakdown and suffering from an identity crisis due to her in all actuality being a Third. Ross on the other hand is a level-headed officer that tries to keep Naomi in line, but also deals with his own inner demons as he has a hatred for robots due to his dark past, but also has to come to terms with it when he realizes Naomi is a robot. (P.S. While I know this might rub off as spoilers, these events take place within the first half-hour). Even the antagonist, Rene D'anclaude was an intriguing character with a sadistic personality. It was interesting to see how his character unraveled...although the series still left us with a lot to be desired from all of these characters.

The best way I can describe the overall production from AIC was...well, good, but not great. The animation is solid, but not breathtaking...at least not in comparison to something like Ghost In The Shell that came out that same year. The seiyuu work I thought was actually pretty good. Yasunori Masutani (Guseong from Psycho-Pass) as Ross, Hiroko Kasahara (Magdalia from Rurouni Kenshin) as Naomi, and Ryusei Nakao (Freiza from Dragonball Z, Mayuri from Bleach) as Rene played their roles extremely well. I really bought into all of their characters. The support work was decent but nothing too memorable. I was actually pretty impressed with the music for this series even though I did feel the main theme did get a little repetitive (which I personally didn't mind since I kinda liked the song). However, the one thing I will say is it's a fairly "techy" soundtrack, so if you're looking for a more refined, artistic soundtrack like you would hear in Ghost In The Shell, you won't find it here.

Unfortunately, this OVA's biggest problem is it's way too condensed. This series has a massive plot and it has a fairly rushed feel to it. When the series was over, I wanted to know more about the setting. Why there is a Martian colony, what is the political scale of this colony in regards to Earth (which is looked at a bit in episode 4), what is the Earth's stance on robotics, etc. Those are just a few of the questions on my mind that lingered and I wanted to know a lot more about Ross and Naomi as well. They both had interesting back stories but neither was properly hashed out due to time restraints. This series would have worked so much better as a 12-13 episode series because it had a lot of ground to cover for a 4 episode OVA. Even Rene's character motivations seemed confusing because it didn't seem like they had enough time to touch upon it completely. Even when Asakura was introduced later in the series, I was still confused as to what the connections were between him, Rene, and Naomi. That's another one of my complaints. I hate saying this since it's usually an ugly label to give a series, this OVA had some plot holes and unexplained or unclear character motivations. This series takes a twist later on that I was baffled by because I couldn't figure out the complete reasoning behind it. By the time it was all said and done, I was wondering why this series took such a steep political twist and then didn't properly develop the reasoning for it. I wouldn't say it completely detracted from the viewing experience, but I couldn't help but ask these questions as the OVA came to a close.

All-in-all, Armitage III is a pretty fun viewing experience. I can't say I'm the biggest fan of the older, cell animated series out there but I still enjoyed Armitage quite a bit. While yes, the plot holes and unexplained character motivations bugged me a bit, I was still enthralled with it due to having a well-played pair of protagonists and a intriguing, sadistic antagonist with a mysterious motivation. I came for the plot and the characters made me stay. While I know this did get a summary movie as well as a sequel, this is one OVA series I'd really like to see turned into a full series because there is a lot of material here to work with that can be properly hashed out over 12-13 episodes. Still, if you're a fan of cyberpunk anime, especially something like Ghost In The Shell, this might be worth a watch. I wouldn't put this on the same artistic plane as GITS...not by a long shot. However, if you're looking for a few hours to kill, Armitage is certainly not a bad way to kill it.

One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e - True Stories: Completely Fictional

This title is a lie! These are not true stories! On top of that, One? There is not just one love interest. There are three. Get it right, Arms! At any rate, wow...I'm reviewing TWO hentai in less than 24 hours? It's times like these that I ask myself, "are you lonely? Are you desperate?" lol, I'm only kidding. In all honesty, I wanted to knock these out before the spring anime season hits hard. For those that are wondering what I'm talking about, I watched and reviewed Suika before watching this and I mentioned on my ... list that I'd at least want to try seeing at least a few hentai with a decent story and decent characters.

Anyway, back to the review. One: True Stories is an alternative re-telling to One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e, which in turn is an adaptation of the visual novel of the same name. If you haven't played the VN or watched the prior OVA, you're not missing much. In fact, you don't need to watch those at all if you want to pick up on what's happening in True Stories. Don't be deceived by the "sequel" listing on MAL either because...well, that's a lie. Calling this a "sequel" would be about the equivalent of calling Kanon (2006) a sequel to Kanon. It's not, plain and simple.

The story of One: True Stories revolves around a high school boy named Kouhei Orihara. Kouhei seems to be your normal goofy high schooler who has an obsession about sleeping wherever he can and often teases his friend Mizuka Nagamori. However, he has daydreams and realizations that he is in a world in which he shouldn't exist and he becomes troubled by the thoughts that he will disappear someday and those closest to him will forget about him. As the series progresses, Kouhei develops a few relationships, but at the same time, the relationships he forms will only bring him more heartache to his apparently fading existence.

I found the strengths to True Stories was in its character design and script writing. If anyone goes into this wondering if the characters might seem familiar in their design, well...you might be right. The original character design is by none other than Itaru Hinoue. The same Hinoue that brought us Air, Clannad, Kanon, and Little Busters. I actually have to be honest, I thought One was actually one of his better design works, which is somewhat comical considering how renowned series like Clannad and Kanon have become. The script was written by Tetsuro Oishi, who I have to wonder if he's using a fake name because this is the only work I saw him accredited toward. I found the script to be very good and I'd be amazed if this is his only script work. The overall direction and writing for this story was surprisingly good, one of the best I've ever seen in a hentai. I found this series had a nice mix of comedy, romance, and drama. In my experience, it usually seems like most hentai series have a hard time being able to mix the genres as well as this series did. Hell, even if you're going into it for the sex, the scenes are still pretty good in that regard. At least they are romantic sex scenes and I wouldn't say there is any forced rape (Thank God for no tentacle rape! Hallelujah!).

Where One: True Stories falls a little short is unfortunately, also within the writing. While I commended how well this OVA was written, I also felt the writing staff didn't do a good enough job of explaining who or what Kouhei is and I found his daydreams only made the OVAs more confusing than clarifying. Then again, I'll give True Stories this...it did a much better job than its predecessor. Another area I found True Stores to be a bit lacking in is that it seemed to rush the relationships a bit. Maybe not so much with Mizuka since the two built a rapport through the series, but it definitely felt rushed with Misaki and Akane. Of course, it's only natural since we're dealing with a three episode OVA based off a VN, but I didn't feel the transitions within the relationships to be handled quite the best.

I never thought I'd say this, but I actually found this to be one of Arms best works...and that's coming from someone who has seen Elfen Lied, Maoyuu Maou Yuusha, Mezzo Forte, and Kite. I'd even go so far as to say that its highly underrated. It makes me sad that something like Queen's Blade gets higher ratings than this. Then again, it's pretty hard to get invested in the MAL ratings in general since they seem highly inflated for some series and extremely deflated for others. For those who are concerned about the "hentai" or "pornography" title in regards to this series, it's pretty short and to the point. The sex scenes in each episode generally last 3-5 minutes of the 30 minute episodes, so it doesn't interfere with the story too much. With the exception being the last episode, they don't occur until at least the 20 minute mark of each episode, so it's not like your typical "oooh, I see pretty girl, let's screw" like you see in many hentai. They do actually try and build a relationship with the leads before going that route...although, like I said, it does still feel a bit rushed at times.

Now the question remains, who would I recommend this to? Well, anyone that likes a series like Clannad, Kanon, or Air that is looking for something a little more hardcore. It's sort of natural to say that since it comes from the same character designer...and in fact, Itaru Hinoue's designs for this actually lead to his works for Key. It's actually a little hard to believe that his work for One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e were followed by Air, Kanon, Clannad, and Little Busters. Strange how this world works, huh? While I wouldn't call this a classic like Clannad or Kanon, I will say that this is one of the best hentai OVAs you could watch. The story is pretty good, the characters are pretty likable, and it isn't watered down with horrendous amounts of sex and ecchi. There does seem to be an honest to God effort put toward this, which is more than I can say for hentai in general and hell, it's even better than its "prequel"/alternative re-telling, One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e. How often do you see a hentai alternative re-telling fair better than the non-hentai predecessor? That's rare...REALLY rare.

If you're going into this just out of perversion, I'd say you could do better. However, if you're looking for a decent romantic story to go with your perversion, than I'd call this a solid watch. If you're just looking for a good romantic drama, then I think you would be better off watching the aforementioned Clannad or Kanon (2006) series if you haven't already. However, this isn't a bad waste of an hour-and-a-half if you're looking to try something new.

Suika: Not Your Typical "Watered" Down Hentai

Am I reviewing a hentai? Well, yes...yes I am...and I'm not sure why I feel a little embarrassed about that. Since I am a pretty big fan of Key's animations and KyoAni projects, I decided to try something a little more hardcore. You know, something like Clannad except with a little more sex. Well, I can honestly say in all my years of watching anime and yes, even hentai, Suika is probably one of the closest I've found in the hentai genre that's been able to follow the same mold as a Clannad, Kanon, or ef-a tale of memories/melodies.

While ... yes, this is technically a hentai, I will warn you right now that this isn't a "typical" hentai. What I mean by that is its not porn for at least 12-15 minutes an episode with a million different relationships going on at once. For only being a three episode OVA, it does a nice job of capturing three compelling stories in a short period of time, and the sex scenes are fairly short and to the point. This OVA series, with the limited time it has, does a nice job of developing its characters and relationships.

If I had to use a statement as to what Suika is about, I'd say imagine ef-a tale of memories, except its relationships are episodic and has Kanon-esque supernatural elements. It's much like ef-memories with how all of the relationships tie into the same universe (Tokiwa Village), even though they aren't directly connected. It's supernatural elements, especially in the second and third episodes are quite similar to Kanon and a little bit like Clannad: After Story.

The first episode revolves around Souji Kamishiro, a young aspiring painter that is under the tutelage of Ritsu Shirakawa and is good friends with his daughter, Sayaka. Souji and Sakaya's relationship becomes stronger as the episode progresses and especially after Sakaya reveals the tragic past revolving around her mother's death. The second episode revolves around a young man named Akira Kazama, who returns to Tokiwa Village to visit his grandmother after leaving the village six years prior. Upon returning, he runs into an old friend at the shrine named Itsuki Minase, who is working at the shrine as a shrine maiden. The two meet several times in the episode and discover they have feelings for each other, but a tragic past rears its head when the memories of Isuki's twin sister Sayo come into the picture. The third episode revolves around Hiroshi Inaba, a young man who returns to Tokiwa Village to attend his father's funeral and to visit his sisters, Chitose and Kako. Chitose is his younger sister and is suffering from an illness and Kako is his older sister and is rarely seen due to handling the family matters after the father's passing. While visiting the shrine to pray, Hiroshi meets a young girl that goes by Ojo hiding underneath the shrine and runs away when Hiroshi addresses her. By coincidence, the two meet up again later on and Hiroshi and Ojo start to develop a relationship with each other. However, Hiroshi starts to become suspicious of Ojo when he realizes only certain people can see her and he gets the suspicion he has met her in the past.

Each episode is fairly unique in their own right and each character seems to face their share of tragic moments. I found the first episode to be the strongest of the three since it seemed the most clear cut and the most realistic (and I use that term loosely) of the three episodes. I also thought it had the most fundamentally sound relationship of the three couples introduced in this series.

As far as the positives, I can say that each story was fairly unique and the writing did a nice job of capturing each character's motivations. It was also interesting seeing the little nuances of how the stories tied into one another through random cameos. The animation was pretty good if we're going by "hentai" standards...in fact, it reminds me a lot of the ef series with its character designs, but also seems to have that "KyoAni" feel with its animation.

When it comes to the negatives of this series, I found some of the episodes had some loose ends that the writers didn't do a very good job of explaining. While episode 1 seemed pretty decent with its writing, episodes 2 and 3 were somewhat confusing. Episode 2 was confusing in regards to Sayo and her "status" in the episode...as well as Itsuki's wish which seemed just as confusing and the payoff was somewhat nonsensical. Episode 3 in particular didn't make a whole lot of sense, especially in the explanation as to who or what Ojo and Chinatsu were. I'd say these two episodes and their vague explanations are a big reason why I didn't love this series as much as a Clannad or Kanon. I just had a hard time buying into Itsuki and Ojo's characters as well as their motivations. There is a "bonus" episode, but unless you're looking for more gratuitous fanservice, I'd say avoid it. It's a prequel to the series and essentially adds nothing to any of the plots. To be honest, I don't even know why Kitty Media poured their budget into this 15 minute short when they could've added 5 minutes to each episode to make them a little bit better.

Overall, I really can't complain much about Suika because if we're going by typical hentai or OVA standards, it's pretty damn good. I'd even go so far as to say it's the best hentai I've ever seen or at least one of the best. This series could fair a little better if it had a few more episodes to work with. I'd say if they spent two episodes revolving around each story, they would have a very solid OVA series. However, it's fairly rare for a hentai series to have more than three episodes. The only ones that do seem to be the higher budget series like Bible Black. It's a shame Kitty Media didn't put a little more effort toward this series because it did have some potential. Although, I will say it's a shame more hentai aren't done like Suika, because I think there would be a little more respect for the industry if there were more OVAs like this. It's one of the few hentais I'd say captures more of a "romance" than "gratuitous sex." I know I've made several references, but I think if you enjoyed a series like Clannad, Kanon, or ef, I do think you'll at least get a little bit of enjoyment out of this OVA series. I honestly can't put Suika on the same page as something like those, but if you're looking for something in the hentai genre that at least comes close, than Suika is the closest you'll find. Even if you're not a fan of hentai but still like the aforementioned series, I don't think you'll be too bothered by it. In my experience, it never hurts to try something new. The sex scenes aren't too gratuitous and don't interfere a whole lot with the series as a whole. Sure, they could've spent that time developing a little more character and clearing up a few of the holes, but I still feel it would've taken at least another whole episode each to completely explore each story. If you're like me and like some of the Key anime adaptations and are looking for something a little more hardcore with its romance, I'd say give this a shot.