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Ahhh, it is so good to finally have K back and studio GoHands to return back to it's former greatness. Hand Shakers was an absolute downgrade of everything GoHands has created.

But let's get back on topic.

Story

It has been several years since the last K anime came out and I got to admit I missed it a lot. Seeing how it all started with Suoh and Munakata really made me reminiscent. Making us the viewers understand Each of their ideologies just in one hour episode is usually hard to accomplish, however the studio and director do a good job of that. A very exciting story, ... which by the end of movie 1, makes me want even more.

Art

The art in K is TOP NOTCH, I would compare it to the quality of the Fate series and OPM from Madhouse. The atmosphere is vibrant and the character design design is really well made, the fight animations are fluid and I cannot see any flaw in this department. You can see the love of the studio for this anime.

Sound

What can I say about the sound, this anime has an incredible OST, but the first thing that made me watch it, was the Seiyuus. I mean are the best seiyuus in the industry, aside from Ootsuka Akio and Kamiya Hiroshi, you have Tsuda Kenjirou, Sawashiro Miyuki, Sugita Tomokazu, Miyano Mamoru, Jun Fukuyama and the list goes on with indrustry heavyweights. As always the music is provided by Angela.

Enjoyment and Overall

It is a definite must watch, if some people nitpick they can find a flaw in something, but for me the only downside was that it was only 1 hour. It felt like five minutes, the incredible visuals, godly voice acting, story progression and characters really hood you in the world of K.

Another magnificent anime has come to an end, however we will receive a SECOND SEASON. The hype is REAL.

Now to start off, I am a fan of the manga, and I can tell that a lot of love has been put into the development of this anime. It didn't miss a single important event, and you can feel the love of the creators every week while watching it.

Story

It is a magnificent story, although I can't be certain that it is a unique one. What makes this experience incredible, is that the characters in it, are historical figures, from different eras, dating back to ... 1500's and earlier. Every character is done with insane attention to detail, and once you start watching it, if you are not familiar with these characters, you are inclined to google them and get to know their stories, because they are so incredible to watch.

Art

The art can be described as STUNNING. I don't know what the budget is, but if every anime can have that quality it will be a godsend. Buildings, backgrounds, character designs, everything is marvelous. I can't really find nothing bad about the quality. Also you get ZERO censorship, which makes the experience even more enjoyable, as you lose track of time, while getting engulfed in the story, which has incredible pacing. There is no rushing in this adaptation.

Sound

Very good, great OP and ED. There are some instrumentals during the episodes which fit perfectly in the premise of the story. Everything through the sound of the sword to the shots of the gun is how it should be.

Character

I have already a bit for the characters, but nevertheless here are some of the figures that are in it: Toyohisa Shimazu, Oda Nobunaga, Nasu Yoichi, Saint Germi, Abe no Seimei, Rasputin, Dark King (you will find out who he is), Hijikata Toshizou, Joan of Arc, Guilles de Raimes, Anastasia Romanov, Hannibal, Scipio, Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid ... just to name a few. It is an incredible watch.

Enjoyment and Overall

I have looked forward to this every week. It is truly a worthwhile anime that is for everyone who enjoys incredible visuals, historical figures, great fighting, strategies of war and most of all a satisfying story. Watch this, because you will be sorry if you don't.

Berserk is my favorite manga of all time, if no one knows, and when I found that there would be a new anime, I was the happiest man alive. I knew that if done right, for example get the treatment Hellsing, HxH 2011 or Drifters got, that it would be the best anime ever. Nevertheless since the first episode started, I felt like crying blood, because it was HORRID.

Story

One of the major issues was this. The creators skipped not one, but two whole arcs, and thanks to that, I knew that things will not be going in the direction that we the fans deserve. ... It tried to overwrite the first episode from the first anime, while still not being as it was in the manga. Characters that should've been killed, died ahead, and our MC was made very weak in the beginning, which if you are familiar with the source material, Guts (MC) is the most badass character in manga. After they skipped all this material though, they followed (kind of) one arc, even though it was still underwhelmingly executed.

Art

The animation was THE WORST I have ever seen in my life. I am not a huge fan of CGI, nevertheless I have watched CGI shows, and compared to them, this looked like it had the Food Fight rendering, it was so horrible that I could barely watch it, to make things worse, where there a group of people, they drew them with the same design, it felt like the animators didn't care about the show at all. What was most shocking though, was the fact they used 2 D animation for some portions of the show, and it looked phenomenal. Why didn't they do it like that ? I mean, if you want to keep your animation quality poor, then stay consistent, don't add great animation for a second, and then for 15 minutes use crappy one. If this anime had used the animation from the original Berserk anime that was almost 20 years old, it would've still be better than, the art we got here.

Sound

What can be said about the sound, it was almost as consistent with the art. Whenever there was a fight, you could hear a *CLANG*, like Guts' sword is a frying pan. It was disgusting. Don't get me wrong, I would understand if there is a sound like that, if he fight opponents with armor. However there was no such thing. The only redeeming quality though, is probably a little bit of the voice acting. Some of them were trying, the others were like emotionless puppets.

I can't say that I would recommend this to any Berserk fan, but people that are not familiar with the story, and want to lose some time, can give it a shot, and if they resent it after the first episode, than watch the original anime and the movies, they are far superior in quality and production value than what we got here. I am surprised that we will get a continuation of this anime, and I hope that they will mend their ways and give us a far better season, than what we received with this. Albeit I am sure that we will suffer again with the sequel. At least the manga is a GODLY experience.

People say that the anime industry is in decline, and that a lot of stupid anime series come out. Well this anime sends that thesis into oblivion. This show has been such a breath of fresh air, and in my opinion one of the candidates for anime of the year. What makes me sad the most is that a lot of people are not even wathing this, because they think it's IN YOUR FACE Yaoi, without any redeeming qualities, which is so wrong, that it's not even worth my time to explain. So I plead that people would give it a shot with open mind. ... It really is a gem.

It is a figure skating anime, which is a sport that not a lot of people are familiar with, and not very popular except for mostly in Russia and Japan. However the thing that separates it from other sports anime out there, is the fact that it is a very character driven story. Every episode we learn something new about our characters, and they evolve through their interactions with others. The beauty of figure skating, that is portrayed in this anime, is that the characters are dancing based on their emotions. Every movement, every glare has a significance, and you can't help but get closer and closer to them as the story progresses. It does not follow a linear path, where the only important thing is the victory, they struggle through their performances, there is doubt, exaltation, suffering, and most of all there is no one that you can hate. Everyone has their own reason to want to win, and there are no cheap shots. The other thing that makes this anime a true diamond is the artwork. Studio MAPPA has went all out, to present to us an eye candy, with which you lose track of time, and every episode feels like it is five minutes long. All throughout these 12 episodes, there has never been bad frame, anything to suggest that they didn't give their 100 % to make this into a groundbreaking show. The music as well is stellar. Since you hear the opening, titled History Makers, you can expect greatness. I have never seen Yaoi, because I am not a fan, however if every Yaoi is as good as Yuri On Ice, than I will watch everything I can get my hands on, nevertheless I don't think that there will be something as good as this. The music during the performances is incredible as well, in a way that it makes you stand up and dance as well. I have enjoyed this anime a lot, and I will be the happiest man if there is another season. It has been a hell of a ride, hopefully, this is not the end, but a see you soon.

I now understand why a lot of people are saying that anime movies are in good hands after the retirement of the great Miyazaki. Mamoru Hosoda brings us yet another masterpiece. Yes, I am calling it a masterpiece, because it has been a long time, since I have seen such a good anime movie.

Story

This is the thing that caught my attention the most. The story is great, I can't remember of anything similar, maybe there is, but in this movie it was executed perfectly. From start to finish, with every passing moment you are getting more engrossed by the world and characters. Our two ... main characters are Ren (Kyuuta) and Kumatetsu. Ren is a human boy whose mother died, and it appeared that his father left him and his mother. He was to be taken in by relatives, but he ran away and angry he said that he will make them pay. That's where the symbolism comes in. When he yelled that line, people were startled and he started to run, while the darkness inside of him, was reflected in a mirror. That's where Kumatetsu comes in, he is trying to become a grandmasted of the beasts, because there is a world where beast live and there is one grandmaster who leads them. But in order for him to become one he has to have a disciple, and due to his temper and rotten behavior no one wants to train under him. So he sees in Ren a possible student. Unknowingly Ren follows him and enters the world of the beasts. And that's where the story really kicks off, but that's all I am going to say, because I don't want to spoil more about the story.

Art

The art was great. The portrayal of Shibuya and the Beast city was very vivid. Backgrounds were done with amazing quality and colors. I didn't any derpy moments as far as the art goes.

Sound

I can't really say. I was so captivated by the movie that I can't remember if there were any songs, except for the ending song, which was perfect to complement the entire story.

Character

The character development for our two MCs and other supporting cast is done in a way we can relate. Kumatetsu for example grew up alone, and learn everything by himself and even though he is one of the strongest beasts, he is still rough around the edges, and when he sees that Ren decides to stay and be taught by him, his happiness is indescribable, but because of the reason I stated earlier, he doesn't know how to teach, that's why Ren watches him and imitates his movements. And that's where they both learn from one another. Ren teaches Kumatetsu to analize his opponent's moves and in return Kumatetsu teaches him how to fight. The supporting cast also provides instances for our characters growth.

Enjoyment

I literally loved this from beginning to end. It definitely surpassed my expectations. There are some valuable lessons that can be extracted from this story, which makes it even better. I give it a SOLID 10. I recommend it to anyone who wants great storytelling, narrative, character development, amazing seiyuus and loveable characters.

What can I say about the Phenomenon that is One Punch Man which hasn't been said before. I am referring to it as a phenomenon because it really is. One of the evidence to that, is that in IMDB it surpasses shows as Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones in of the charts ... It literally took the world by storm with its unique brand of humor and lovable characters.

Story

The story is very simple, our main character's name is Saitama and he is the STRONGEST MAN ALIVE, there can be no other opinion about it. And we see how he struggles to get excited for ... a battle and go all out since, he ends everything with one punch, and that's why most of the time he is bored. At some point in his life he wished to become a hero, and now that he is one he looks like he lost all his joy. But the thing is that he is drawn so plain, that no one can believe that he is the strongest hero in existence, and he always gets looked down upon, but it does not bother him in the least, even when people see he beats monsters left and right no one believes he really does it because he is strong. There is a Hero association where there are ranks and the funny thing is that even though he can be in the strongest S class he is a C class hero ... The truth is that this anime shows that everyone can be a hero, doesn't depend on what you look like or what you can do. What's important is to never give up.

Art

The art is BREATHTAKING, Madhouse studio at its finest. And when I learned that they are doing this anime with an average budget even though it looks like it has unlimited budget, but the people that are making it are dedicated because they love this story it's a completely different feeling. When you see how the battles are drawn and how fluid the animation is, the color pallets and how there is absolutely no CGI, or even if there is it's so good that you can barely guess it's CGI can really change your perspective on how animation should be handled.

Sound

One of the other things that make this anime one of the best is the soundtrack. MY GOD, this OST is beyond words. The music is so good that it literally transports you into this anime and the battles. Don't even make me start about the Opening song from Jam Project. Probably the best OP song ever. It gets you hyped as hell before the anime starts, and that's really important in a great anime. Also the Seiyuus are one of the best. In every episode there were some of the best seiyuus of our time, be it for a small role or main role they really raised the bar of the overall quality.

Character

I can't really say that there is a lot of character development, but most of the characters get their time to shine, and we see their resolve as to why they decided to be heroes or villains. Our MC Saitama shows what a hero shoud really be. He saves people, but he doesn't care about popularity or how they look at him, as a matter of fact he never takes the credit for what he does, because for him being a hero is a hobby at first, but after that it becomes his job that he loves, but not to a point where he would change himself as to make the people happy. We also see here that even if you save people they will not be as grateful as you think, but he doesn't care about that at all.

Enjoyment and Overall

Every episode of this anime was one of a kind for me. One of the highlights of my week. It was so good, that you just don't sense how the time flies. Every episode for me ended in a flash. Incredible execution of an incredible manga. And YES the hype was worth it, because it withstood the hype and even surpassed it. That's how good this anime is. It was worth it to wait for months to get this greatness. A 10/10 for me.

I will start by saying that the Berserk manga is my favorite literary masterpiece. And it's not only for me, but for a lot of people. You can't understand why, if you haven't read even a few pages of it. I fell in love with it after reading 3 pages. I don't think that I am biased, just because I can't find anything wrong with it. If I have to say anything is wrong with it, I would have to do a lot of nitpicking in order to find something. And also I would like to point for all those gamers out there who love ... the game Dark Souls, that the character designs are inspired by Berserk.

The Story

The story in this quite complex, but let me start with the setting first. It is set in medieval times, where there were knights, kingdoms and honor. Our main character's name is Guts, and my god once you read his back story you will be crushed. There is no other character with such tragic past and life. I don't know if I will be able to keep this without any spoilers, but I will try my best to keep the to a minimum. Guts basically has everything taken away from him, in front of his eyes, by the person, he trusts the most. The moment where this happens is called the Golden Age Arc, which is regarded by many people as the epitome of writing in manga and it is said that no manga out there can reach the quality of this arc. And honestly, once you read this arc you will really need a lot of time to recover. And that's where things pick up. A quest for revenge, but don't get me wrong. You have never seen such a revenge driven story. The deep meaning behind the actions of our characters are incredible, and also this manga delves into religion, the inquisition ... Something that not every piece of literature dares to even raise questions about it. So if there are people thinking that it's just another revenge story, than you are dead wrong. There is a lot of meaning in everything.

The Art

Well the art as the story is breathtaking. The designs of the characters, the demons designs, the gory deaths, the torture scenes from the inquisition, the backgrounds, the castles ... Honestly it is godly. You can probably say that it is like you are watching an anime. That's how amazing it is. It is so fluid, that the crazy battles look like in a high budget anime. Also you can easily tell when time passes how the character designs change and age. It's like you are in real life. You can clearly see the main character and his companions change through time, like facial features, bodies. Everything is incredibly detailed. And don't get me started on the monsters. There are even rumors that the mangaka Kentaro Miura went to the hospital because he was having nightmares due to his work, and you can easily understand why when you see it.

The Character

This story has a lot of character development. And it's not forced character development, where you don't know how it happened, but every event, every conversation leads to some great changes in the behavior of our characters. And the important thing in Berserk, is that not only our MC Guts gets his time to shine and to develop his own personal traits and beliefs, but the other characters get their time to shine, and get the development they deserve. That's another thing that makes this manga a masterpiece.

The Enjoyment

I haven't enjoyed any other manga, or book for that matter to the extent that I enjoy Berserk. There is literally nothing out there that can compete this greatness, and I know that a lot of people are saying that after the Golden Age Arc, the manga is not that good, but for me it is perfect and still stays true to the quality and reputation its built throughout the years.

OVERALL

It is a must read, for anyone who wants to experience something that is hard to describe with words unless you experience it yourself. It is a masterpiece in every sense of the word. The only thing that I don't like about Berserk, is the Hiatuses and the irregular releases. People who are reading Berserk for years, will know what I mean, the others who are just about to start it, will feel the burden of being a Berserk fan soon enough.

What can I say about Vagabond to explain it's greatness. I can say with complete certainty that this manga can be compared to masterpieces like the Mona Lisa. Before you start wondering why I say this, I will explain when I talk about the art.

Story

This manga is based on the masterpiece by Eiji Yoshikawa, about the life of the Japanese Sword saint Musashi Miyamoto a.k.a Shinmen Takezo who is the creater of the Niten Ichi-ryū (二天一流) in which you use your Katana and Wakizashi ( the short sword ). Whether all the things that are inscribed in this book are real or exaggerated, no ... one can tell, but this work shows you how important honor, being able to use a sword, and be the best is. The story in Vagabond is very deep, so probably not everyone will enjoy it to the fullest at the first read.

Art

Now we go to the part that has me completely Mesmerized. Takehiko Inoue is known as a mangaka who really puts everything into his art, but BY GOD, in Vagabond you are completely engulfed from the first couple of pages. You can really see what the characters feel, just by looking at their eyes and expression. People say that the eyes are the window to the soul, and damn they were right. The color pallet in this manga is exceptional, and how he uses I believe brushes for the color pages is insane. The designs of the characters are great, you can see in every panel their emotional state, which is not an easy thing to do and not everyone can do such a great job of it, only with pictures. So yeah, that's what I meant about it being close the Mona Lisa, because for me, and not only me, it has the best artwork in manga history.

Character

This manga is mostly about the character growth of the main characters, and if you read it from the start and get to where the manga is, you will be completely shocked at the growth of our main character Musashi due to the circumstances he has gotten himself into. There a lot of philosophical debates and question throuhout this masterpiece, and the most recurring one is the question of Being the best under heavens and what does it mean in reality, how do the people interpret this phrase. It is stunning to say the least how these questions are answered through certain events.

Enjoyment

I honestly can't get enough of this manga. The first thing that caught my eye was the Art, but when you get into the story as well, you have a lot of great time ahead of you by reading this. It is so deep, that probably some chapters would have to be read a lot more times than just once in order the grasp the complete meaning of the things that traspire and that are said.

Overall

Vagabond is a once in a lifetime experience. It makes you respect the people in it a lot, and the important thing is that these people really existed, whether the things in this manga happened for real or are exaggerated I don't know, but either way it is one hell of a masterpiece.

This anime is and always will be one of the best Shounen tragedies ever made. It all starts after the world has suffered a nuclear war, and almost all life on earth is destroyed, there are no rules, no laws and the strong prey on the weak. In this era you can only rely on your will to fight and martial arts. Our main protagonist Kenshiro is the biggest bad ass in anime history. Although he bears an extreme burden and his fate is to fight, he doesn't throw his humanity like most of the characters in the story. He's the inheritor of the strongest ... assassination style martial art called Hokuto Shin Ken, this style has 2000 year old history and he is chosen as the successor despite of him being the youngest of four children. He has to fight his brothers in order to imply the law of Hokuto which is that those who are not chosen as successors must have either their memory erased or their fists sealed (killed). The thing that struck me in this anime was the aftermath of the battles, no matter how much you hate the bad guys in the end you forgive them. I cried a lot of tears in this anime, I can't say why because that would reveal a lot. Also the soundtrack is amazing. It left a huge impression on me when the strong moments happened. So if you wish to enjoy a cult classic, a thrilling ride with one of the best characters in Shounen History, then go right ahead, you will not regret it.

This movie for me is the best work of Makoto Shinkai. The first thing that caught my eye was the animation quality, it was so vivid and fluid that if you didn't knew it was an anime you would've thought that you were watching a movie. The way the rain drops were falling in the river or even on the streets was made so relaxing and beautiful that it was just such an amazing experience to see how the story unfolds in this amazing piece of art. The soundtrack was very good, and the song at the ending had an amazing lyrics. The pacing in ... it is really nice, I can say that if you ever feel tired or sad, and you just need something to help you relax, this is an anime that can transport you in a better place for fifty minutes, and you will lose track of time while watching this masterpiece. It story depicts the feelings that start growing between two people : one's a student and the other is a teacher. They didn't see each other and didn't even speak in their first encounters, but soon after all they wanted was for the rain to never stop, so that they can just see one another, both of them had problems and difficulties, that they learned to overcome thanks to the special feelings they started to share. It's something that you have to see, to understand the nature of this majestic movie.