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Bardock: Father of Goku, is a 40 minute 'movie' that shows some backstory into Goku's father, Bardock (in case you didn't get that from the title). It begins in the aftermath of Bardock, a low level saiyan, and his squad, conquering a planet long desired by Frieza. As the saiyans celebrate there victory a final enemy appears and grants Bardock psychic powers before dying.

However this was meant as a curse for destroying his home, as Frieza is threatened by such low-level saiyans performing as well as his elite soldiers. Bardock must now watch horrifying visions of his own planet's destruction as punishment. However his ... visions of the future also show Kakarot's (Goku's) future, giving Bardock hope as he believes Goku will be the one to defeat Frieza.

Bardock as a character is one of the most 'real' characters in the entire Dragonball Z series. As he is portrayed as neither particularly good or evil. He initially shows little interest in the birth of his son and commits genocide in the name of Freiza like any other saiyan. But later on shows clear concern for his squad and his home planet. He's not a saint like Goku, but neither is he as ridiculously evil as saiyans were portrayed early on in DBZ.

If that isn't enough of a reason to watch the movie, there's also kawaii Vegeta and Nappa with hair. But no Raditz, because seriously who gives a fuck about Raditz.

The movie is definitely worth the 40 minutes it takes to watch it. The movie could technically be watched at any point in Dragonball Z, as it is set before the beginning of Dragonball and contains no spoilers for the rest of the series. However I would recommend watching around episode 43 of Dragonball Z (episode 20 in kai) as it acts as a good introduction to Frieza, Dodoria and Zarbon.

STORY [9]
It's difficult to describe the genre Mushishi would qualify as, the best I can do is a kind of 'Shamanistic Medical Drama' but even that doesn't really do it justice. The story follows a travelling 'Mushi-shi', an expert in the ways of mushi; spiritual creatures that often gather and manifest symptoms similar to diseases in other life forms. He travels rural japan treating the ailments of those negatively effected by the mushi.

Each individual episode is it's own independent story, and as such the show could potentially be watched in any order. (A big plus as some of the volumes of the dvds ... are unavailable)

However some may find the episodic nature of the show formulaic and repetitive or even a little dull. This show definitely isn't for everyone, particularly those seeking lots of action or romance should look elsewhere.

CHARACTER [7]
Yes not characters, character. As Ginko, the travelling Mushishi is the only recurring character throughout the series. He takes a very non-judgmental approach with both the Mushi and the "patients" he meets focusing only on saving lives. This, in my opinion, preserves the more philosophical aspects of the show from pretentiousness. As it allows the viewer to interpret how right or wrong each character's actions were based on their own moral/philosophical views rather than have the "right" answer shoved down our throats like we seen so often in other anime (particularly shounen). Episode 22 in particular had a huge impact on me because of this.

On the downside I felt he was a little to passive at points, even in the event of other character's deaths he showed little to no emotional reaction.

ART [8]
The real star of the visuals in this series is rural japan itself. The beautiful backdrops that make up this show, be it huge forests, mountains or rocky shores create an atmosphere for the show that I've never seen done so well anywhere else, even in Miyazaki films. The colour pallet is soft and the show carries a certain elegance purely from the art style, similar to how shows like 'Usagi Drop' pull off a simple yet sublime style.

On the downside however many of the side characters look almost identical, particularly the men and boys as they all have short dark hair. This is because the art doesn't have the rainbow of hairstyle colours that other anime have relied on to differentiate the characters. Also some of the mid-distance shots do not have faces drawn on the characters which becomes very noticeable later on. The opening and ending visuals were also too plain in my opinion, particularly the latter.

SOUND [9]
One of the true tragedies of this show is that it has such a fantastic soundtrack, but most people will miss it almost entirely as it is so subtle throughout most of the show. For example each episode has a unique song as the ending theme that fits the tone of the particular episode perfectly (though the viewer is likely to deep in thought deciding their own take on the events of the episode to notice) This soundtrack combined with the aforementioned art style create an atmosphere I've never seen done as well elsewhere.

ENJOYMENT [9]
The show currently holds the number 7 spot on my all time favorite anime list. It is a must see for fans of shows like "Kaiba" and "Kino's Journey" (with those two being my alternate anime recommendations for those who have seen Mushishi)

OVERALL [8.4]

I'm well aware this isn't going to be a popular review, so go ahead and downvote it just because I gave it a 5/10, but at least listen to why first, because someone has to shatter the illusion that this was actually a good show.

The basic premise of the show is that the overlord of the demon army and one of his generals are attacked by the hero during a large scale war to take over 'ente isle'. They attempt to temporarily retreat to an alternate dimension, but find themselves trapped in modern day japan and are unable to return. So must work menial ... jobs to survive while they attempt to find a way to recover their powers and return to ente isle. It's a solid premise that's fairly original and had a lot of potential, but ultimately failed in its execution.

I know what your thinking, the main character of the show is a demonic overlord trapped in human form, working in McDonalds. So we'll get an evil anti-hero with dark tendency's who goes on to become good, accepting human values, and seeking reconciliation for his dark past. But instead we get your typical self sacrificing "emiya shiro" right from the get go. He becomes your generic harem/action protagonist, and never displays any regret over his past actions despite this. As such Maou gets no concrete development over the show, and the fact that he is a demon has no relevance to his personality whatsoever.

The show then goes on to introduce more and more female characters to the point where it becomes a slice of life harem with a little action and comedy scattered throughout. We also see scenes from ente isle but bizarrely there are no demons present at all, despite being on the verge of conquering the entire world before Maou left they apparently just got up and left.

Most of the "plot" starts feeling like filler after each of the characters is introduced which ultimately meant they ran out of time to develop any real closure on the romance side. Making the ending feel like a half season break, rather than a satisfying end to the show. So you'll have to wait at least another year for season 2 to get any closure.

The comedy starts off okay but there was never really enough of it to sustain the show purely on laughs, and as the show goes on the comedy becomes less and less frequent and much more repetitive (oh we are so poor, that's still hilarious the 1000th time we've heard it)

The opening isn't present for the first two episodes, because when it is finally introduced it just recycles footage from the first two episodes. The music in the show isn't awful, but it certainly isn't a selling point for the show. The art is of the same high quality we've come to expect of modern anime but doesn't do anything exceptional in that regard.

Overall I believe it is a very overrated mediocre show. Whist its premise is fairly original its poorly executed and there's nothing here that hasn't been done much better elsewhere.

Wow the Evangelion Rebuild Duology was awesome, right guys? What an ending! Kaworu piercing Unit 1 with the lance of longinus, preventing the third impact and saving the world for good. Full credit should go to the writers for ending the series in a way that satisfied everyone this time.

For some reason some people have started trolling us by pretending that a 3rd film for the series has been released called "Evangelion 3.0 You can (not) redo" But I can confirm this is all lies. It was a two film series that ended.

Repeat after me everyone: "There was no Eva 3.0, There was ... no Eva 3.0, There was no Eva 3.0, There was no Eva 3.0, There was no Eva 3.0........."

*Cries himself to sleep* "What did you do to Eva?" *sobs* "Why?, Why?" *Sobs*

At first I was extremely tentative to start watching this show, expecting mindless fanservice, a half-arsed plot and a full baking tray of cookie cut characters. But I'm pleasantly surprised with what I've seen in the first 5 episodes.

By far the best feature of the show is the comedy. The extreme bluntness of the main characters speeches have me laughing my ass off in the first couple of episodes. "So I offered up my dutch wife and all my lust disappeared like I'd just had a fantastic fap!"

The character interactions are incredibly interesting for an anime of this genre. They each have ... there own unique characteristics that really help differentiate this from just another school harem. From the violent but gullible Tsukushi, to the emotionless, unreactive Tsukiko and the fantastic rants from Youto.

On a side note I think this show may be trying for the award of "most unpronounceable character name of all time" With "Tsutsukakushi Tsukiko" (Try saying that 5 times).

On the downside, while the fanservice isn't excessive it is still prevalent in the series, particularly in the very moe openings and endings (though this may be a plus for many). There are also several very generic plot scenarios in the series, such as the old "walking in while she's changing/washing bit".

The soundtrack isn't mindbogglingly good, but there are a few catchy tunes buried in there.

In summary the show has started strong mainly due to its strong character relationships and hilarious comedy (at least to me anyway) the series looks set to become my 'guilty pleasure' of this season, I'm hoping it stays this good for the full series and doesn't try and become more serious and through away the comedy aspect.

Oh god here goes, I seriously hope no one I know in real life finds out I saw this show, let alone reviewed it.

Boku no Pico is the "Two girls one cup" of anime. It's gained some viral popularity mainly through its pure shock value for those not expecting it. It's also occasionally described as "the worst anime of all time" by fairly popular reviewers such as Arkada and HoldenReviews however they provided little information as to what it is actually about. As such I watched it with no context as to its actual content, just to see what everyone was on about. ...

To make this crystal clear to those who are not aware this is Shoutacon Hentai, meaning it is animated homosexual pedophilic pornography (for art purposes only according to the show :P). Around 60% of the run-time of the episode is purely sex scenes.

The relationship between the two characters is creepily believable and realistic. The older man seems lonely and in denial about his bisexuality, even going so far as to dress Pico up as a girl, he never acknowledges he feels any romantic attraction to him or that the relationship exists for anything other than his own sexual satisfaction. Pico on the other hand is clearly infatuated with him.

But perhaps the most disturbing thing about this show is the same reason I can't give it a 1 even though I have no interest in yaoi. This isn't some shitty dojinshi, the animation is of the same standard you'd expect from an average anime of its time. It's even complete with an opening and soundtrack. So this cannot have been cheap to produce and judging by the fact that multiple sequels were made it may also have been a financial success. What I'm getting at is that a lot of people were actually willing to PAY for this.

The show really isn't all that bad at achieving it's intended purpose but there are really only a couple of reasons to watch this, if you are genuinely entertained by shoutacon hentai. To troll your friends, or just to know what the hell everyone is going on about when they talk about this show.

I went in to Evangelion with the assumption it was an overrated anime exclusively loved by pretentious hipsters with a deep hatred for 21st century anime. But by the end of it I can honestly say it is in my top 5 shows of all time. This anime definitely isn't for everyone, but i'll try to explain why I loved it so much.

PLOT (8/10)
The basic plot follows a "monster of the week" style, in which a new giant more powerful angel levels the city on a weekly basis and is then destroyed by a screaming 14 year old in a giant robot. (Not ... the most appealing premise I know, considering this is considered an "intellectual" anime by many). There are also plenty of ridiculous moments, such as sniping a giant cube with all the country's electric and synchronized dancing (yes really)

However the show has some very good action scenes as you would expect from the genre. There is also a good element of mystery in the series as the characters begin to question what the eva's and angels actually are. The show has many shining moments and continually improves as the show goes on, with my personal favorites being episodes 13, 16,18, 19, 23 and 24. The film "End of Evangelion" is also necessary to watch after the show is over in order to get full closure on the plot (it's awesome to).

CHARACTERS (10/10)
A lot of people will hate the characters of evangelion because of how flawed the pilot's personalities are (i.e. they're whining little shits) However it was just how flawed each character was that really made me love the show. Each character is a psychological mess, clearly suffering from a complete cocktail of mental disorders including: Post Traumatic Stress, Parental Issues and a self esteem level in the third floor basement. Watching each of the characters scrape together their shattered psyche and stay sane just long enough to delay the apocalypse another week was incredibly interesting, particularly towards the end of the show where they truly begin to totally break down.

ANIMATION (6/10)
This is arguably the weakest point of the show, the series came out in 1995 so naturally the art style is very dated and unappealing to those not used to older anime. The quality of the animation varies a lot, with the fight scenes being amazingly fluid, especially for the time. But as the budget runs out we're left with long still shots descending into basically audio only.

SOUNDTRACK (7/10)
The opening song is very good and suits the anime well with its fast moving visuals. The ending however is a still shot and an "engrish" song that doesn't suit my personal tastes. The rest of the OST is fairly decent (even if a certain song was a james bond rip off)

ENJOYMENT (10/10)
Not much more to say here as I hope I've explained why I personally like it so much, I hope you do to.

Based on most reviews of this "masterpiece" you might be deceived into thinking this is the greatest of anime of all time, that it's so good it's awesomeness cures cancer, however in truth....
I can't stand it . One of the most formulaic shows I have ever seen, the same thing happens every episode. Simon screams loudly, his magical spiral thingy goes round and he pulls a drill shaped dildo out of laganns ass and beats the enemy. Next week the same thing happens but the enemy is bigger, so he has to scream even louder and drill a bit harder. Congratulations you just finished ... the first half of gurren lagann (with the major spoiler omitted)
Now admittedly I've only seen half of it but I can't see it changing that much given how formulaic it is. Sure what seems like a major upset happens a quarter of the way in but it only changes the show for the worse and it has very little effect on the direction of the main plot.
On the plus side the art and music are fairly decent and a few of the characters aren't stereotypical for the genre but it doesn't make up for the boring, repetitive plot.