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Please keep in mind, for the majority this review is going to biased due my tastes; you've read my Excel Saga review, you'll know I don't particularly like over-the-top humour/parody.

STORY: So. This really has no linear plot line. You'll be fine watching this, if you want something that's ridiculous, light-hearted and colourful. You know, a lot of hyperactive characters, monsters randomly falling from the sky, and a crap attempt at trying to insert some fan service in, /subtly/. Oh, and you know, random references from other anime, manga, and things outside of that. Instantly, we know that there has to be some sort of relation ... to the Negima series (same director), when we're introduced to a class full of whack-job students, taught by a child prodigy who is younger than the students. Notice anything else similar to another anime? So then, I'll move onto the art part.

ART: Moon Phase. Once again directed by the same director. Notice those scenes out of both series, and Negima, where the setting is a cross-section cut view of a building or room? You can even tell by the colours used. I know that the colours were what attracted me to this anime, which is weird. I really don't like the character designs in this, they all look kind of chubby. As expected from the same director as Moon Phase and Negima, animation is lovely and smooth, although more smooth in the opening sequences. Again, with PPD!, Moon Phase and Negima!?, their openings and ending tend to be artistic and experimental.

SOUND: The music was alright. Nothing much to expand on that though.

CHARACTER: Aaaah.. Nothing like an anime where almost all the characters tick you off. Only Rebecca and Rei didn't annoy me; Rei didn't annoy me because of her serious nature and that she's voiced by Shmion's seiyuu. The most annoying being Himeko, her personality, behaviour her seiyuu and how she uses 'Maho' and 'Omega'.

What was really off-putting, was throughout the series, because I was watching it subbed, there were a lot of notes about the different references from anime, manga and such. It was so hard to actually keep up with both the notes and subs, and I ended up not being able to read all of the notes or the subs in time. Then further into the series, the fan subbers stopped putting the notes in the actual episodes, but made a separate .pdf for them. You really need the patience for this anime, not just because of the notes/subs, but with it in general.

I guess really what this series is trying to spell out, is that anyone - no matter what gender, race, physical appearance or disability - can achieve what they want, when you can put your mind to it.

STORY: What was mentioned above applies to everyone. It's brilliant to come across an anime series that has morals and such within it (and/or role model characters), that can be used in our everyday life. Apart from that the storyline is fairly bland. This has a tournament theme to it, so expect something along the lines of Pokemon and Beyblade. Also expect predictability. I think we can all ... start guessing what's going to happen in the end, once we're a few episodes in.

ART: The overall art is actually quite clean and bright for something made in 2001. We can all recognise that CLAMP is behind the character design, since it's so distinguishable. Animation is average as well, although it does prove to be impressive in some Angel fighting scenes, particularly the last one. Similar to Rozen Maiden, I feel that the humans haven't been benefitted by the same detail given to the Angels. All the Angels have unique designs, usually expressing the way they're controlled, and what their deuses are like.

SOUND: The sound was quite nice; orchestrated music during serene scenes, since this is a light-hearted anime, and upbeat modern music, during some of the fighting scenes between Angels.

CHARACTERS: There is a kind of blandness and unoriginal feeling about them. Although in particular, the main character, Misaki Suzuhara. I'm not quite that familiar with the whole 'Mary-Sue' complex, I have read about it, but in some way, she does appear to almost be one of these 'Mary-Sue' characters; she is almost always victorious in her Angelic Layer battles and just about everyone around her loves her.

I guess really the fans of CLAMP would be interested in this, along with anyone who has the time for something tournament-themed and light-hearted.

I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that this series was not completely littered with ecchi/fan service scenes. From what I had seen of it before watching it, it seemed like it'd be full of panty shots, top heavy girls and erotic scenes. This anime seems to be one of those average series, that doesn't often appear on peoples' anime lists.

STORY: If you're into those high school drama and romance genres, (like the ones used for almost every eroge) you may take an interest in this. In fact, Tsuyokiss (or CoolxSweet) was originally an eroge, although with a slightly different storyline compared to the anime, ... or so I've read. Now, although I'm glad they put it in, the creators have 'tried' to be original, by 'sugar-coating' that high school drama/romance crap with Sunao's passion and determination for a drama club in her school. I like that, yeah, it does make a change, but it doesn't cover it up completely. Some of us anime fans are teenagers, and as a personal opinion, I see and hear enough drama at my high school, not to mention having to deal with some myself currently since April. (I'll be glad to go since this is my last year.) You don't really notice that high school drama until about 3/4 in. Honestly, Tsuyokiss would have been without it.

ART: I think the bright colours may have been what had attracted me to this anime, and I don't think I really cared about anything else. I'm thinking this was about 2007 though, when I decided that I was going to watch it at some point in my life. Right, well. Overall art design is pretty average. Animation is pretty average. It's an average, for-the-hell-of-watching-it anime, so don't expect anything outstanding.

SOUND: Both the ending and opening are annoying. I can't really remember much about the sound though. Must be, wait, wait - pretty average, if I can't remember it or it doesn't phase me.

CHARACTERS: Characters are cliched slice of life characters (expect for Noriko. ... certainly... unusual..). Oh my God they're annoying. Especially Erika, Kinu and Otome. Could kick them all in the teeth.

The reason why this anime cannot rise above its current ranking can be understood after watching it. Average. However, the most enjoyment I got out of it, is Sunao's perseverance for a drama club.

There are probably not many who actually DON'T know of the Rozen Maiden series, even if they haven't watched it, there is no way they could actually not know about it, because of its popularity and 'Lolita' styled characters. I always feel awkward when I watch popular anime, probably because I feel like some sort of brainless, chatspeaking weaboo.

(I actually had to delete a huge chunk that was just a rant about the lack of decent local anime fans who aren't weeaboos, where I live. I should be shot sometimes, when I go off topic. Such a bad habit.)

STORY: Series that have that servant/master, fighter/user, ... etc thing going on, like Loveless, tend to make me want to smash my head against something. Freak sakes, they're so unoriginal and boring. There is just something so lame about them. I guess the plot is a little cliche; one bad guy, good guys need to defeat them, main good guy is the one who defeats bad guy, with the help of the 'fighter'. It felt like there was no depth in the story whatsoever. The only good thing about Rozen Maiden, is that the humourous atmosphere created by the characters makes up for the fighter/user theme.

ART: Peach-Pit is (apparently) well known for their splendid art, which I happened to see for the first time in Ookamikakushi. The design, in both, are good, but, nothing really to get excited over. Peach-Pit definitely is the best for character designs for dolls/doll-like characters though. A lot of effort has been put into the designs for the dolls, but I feel that the human characters had been left out, because they look so... plain. As for Jun and Nori (particularly Jun), they look like they're supposed to be out of something silly like Digimon or Beyblade. Actually, Jun reminds me of Hiroshi out of Ookamikakushi, which I thought was ironic. Even their seiyuus almost sound the same. As for animation... animation was good, no more no less. It was clean, so no complaints.

SOUND: Sound was pretty good. I adore the Victiorian instruments like the harpsichord, mixed with violins and such, because of my love for Emilie Autumn. Sorry I can't expand much on this.

CHARACTERS: The real charm out of the anime. You really can't not love the dolls. Each one has their own individual personality/traits, yet all of them are naive, to the point where they all act like young children despite how elegant they look, including Shinku. I hate children, but even I would love to have the around the house.

Overall, pretty happy about series. Even if the story was perhaps a little bland, the characters and art helped me overlooked that, and give a final score of 7. I'd even be tempted to by the DAL/Pullip/Blythe Rozen Maiden dolls and the DVDs after watching this.

Excel Saga is definitely not your normal parody anime, or at least from what I've watched of parodies, it's something unusual, and something quite clever.

STORY: There is in fact no linear plot in this anime, and I can admit that this was a turn off at the beginning of the anime. For a while, I didn't understand how this series was a parody, but just under half way through, I realized. I guess the reason why most people actually love this anime, is because of the way each episode is structured into a particular type of genre from visual/written texts (such as a musical, police ... drama, science fiction, etc.), and in some shape or form, pokes fun at it.

ART: It's oldish. So don't expect the nice clean designs you see in series created in today's time. However, other than the perhaps grainy appearance, you do on occasion come across detailed scenes (usually close ups of the characters) such as the opening. It's a shame that the quality of these character designs aren't throughout the whole series, because I probably would have given it a higher score. Another disappointing factor, was the animation. I mean okay, oldish anime /doesn't/ normally have the insane animation in series created today... BUT same with the design, there were some parts in the series well animated (again the opening in particular) but again, not through out the entire series.

SOUND: It's hard to write about the sound for a lot of anime, usually because I don't pay attention to it most of the time. I can't really write much about Exel Saga's, but I believe it was pretty average. On a side note, I'm pretty sure there was some music played for Pedro, that sounds like an actual old song? Actually earlier today, I'm pretty sure it was played on a disc in our house, but I have no idea who sings the song or what the song is called.

CHARACTERS: It's interesting to come across characters from completely unrelated series that look almost identical to each other, and on the rare occasion, behave almost in the same manner. I wonder if you've realized which two characters I'm talking about. Sonsaku from Ikki Tousen and Excel. Both are fang-tans, both pretty much have the same coloured hair, same bangs, same coloured eyes, and both have a loud personality about them. Anyway. Thought I'd just like the point that out since that's what I'm going to do from now on with other characters. Moving on... I will say they are all a different bunch of characters, all having some sort of bold personality (including Hyatt; dying over and over again along side her refined, shy personality, perhaps a little over the top like every other character?). Some may annoy you, some may not.

I'll say it now. I'm not someone who's into over-the-top 'humour'. I'm not someone who's into the parody genre. So watching this was painful, although it became less and less painful further on, as I got used to it. I guess I was dragged into watching this after watching the trailer on one of my anime DVDs. I'm thinking it was the art and animation that attracted me to it, and I was let down by the art/animation and story. Now that I think about it, I should probably be giving this anime a 5.5, only because of the cleverly thought up structure.

The .hack animated series is certainly something that is difficult to understand if you haven't played the games. Even after watching all the .hack anime series, I still sit there, and go:

what.


.hack//G.U. Trilogy is one of the more confusing ones. Watching this reminded me of watching Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children; never in my life have I played a Final Fantasy game, and I can say that actually with some shame.

STORY: The typical story line of the .hack series; something within The World is causing players to go into a coma. I can't really remember much from Roots, since I watched that in 2008, but ... I'm thinking Trilogy goes into further detail about this 'AIDA' infection that's spreading in The World. This is something that probably shouldn't be watched if you haven't watching Roots, or played the games, since the movie actually goes straight into where Shino is 'PK'd'. Regardless of lack of .hack information while watching this, I felt that the story was still deep.

ART: I didn't actually read the description of MAL on Trilogy until I was just about to watch it. The CG was a biiiiiiiig turn off, well, that is when you compare it to something like the Final Fantasy merchandise. I realize that the CG style was probably supposed to be similar to the .hack game graphics but either way, the lack of detail made me want to cry. Haseo's face just did not look right compared to the design in Roots, but for some silly reason, all the other characters looked fine. Some parts of the movie were well animated, but overall, it just seemed like average CG animation. I did however liked some of Haseo's psycho facial expressions, along with Tri-Edge's.

SOUND: Congratulations to myself! I've finally realized where most of the sound effects and sound clips in DJ Sharpnel's 'Terror Of Death' are from now. Even though it was pretty obvious by the song's title, and I never picked it up while watching Roots. ANYWAY. Sound as always in the .hack titles is lovely, actually I've already forgotten what they sound like since this review has been written two days after watching Trilogy.

CHARACTERS: Main complaint with the .hack series is the ridiculous seriousness of a characters, obsessed over a game. If you find out it's going to harm your actual physical self, then stop playing it immediately and not try to live up to the saying 'curiosity killed the cat'. I honestly have no idea who the crap is Atoli, and what kind of relation she has to Shino and the other characters.

The reason why I gave this a 7, rather than a 6 (would actually be 6.5) was because of one particular scene. This would be the scene with Haseo and AIDA Atoli in the classroom. Oh. My. God. Animation, design and emotion looked like it had been carefully thought out well for this scene, I'd have to say it was mind-blowing. I even had a want-to-cosplay moment when I saw AIDA Atoli, despite the complexity.

Moving on, this is definitely something for the .hack fan, especially someone who is a fan of the games. I must stress again once more, not to watch this, along with the other .hack series, without having a robust knowledge about the .hack world and/or already having played the games.

Once again, be aware that just like my .hack//Intermezzo review, I cannot talk much about this anime because it's so short. I may have written more info that can be shared between Intermezzo and Unison, so please refer to the Intermezzo review if you wish - http://myanimelist.net/reviews.php?id=26094

Pretty sure I've actually already seen this, but I re-watched it again because I wasn't sure.

STORY: This special is basically a feel-good episode for the main SIGN series, and really only shows the anime in a light-hearted manner, compared to SIGN's typical dark themes. This was definitely a nice, enlightening way to end the series, (even if I had ... watched SIGN in 2007.) and has a mixture of SIGN and Legend Of The Twilight characters meeting up for a celebration, and interacting with each other. Even Sora who is portrayed as a devious character, took part in the celebrations and enjoyed himself.

ART: Simply bold and smooth, and the animation is fairly well done in this, like the rest if the SIGN series. (Best if you referred to the Intermezzo review of mine, since I'm being lazy here.)

SOUND: The .hack series sound has always been good, whether it's background music/insert music or opening and ending theme songs.

Characters: Rather than the ridiculousness of the players taking The World so seriously and deeply, we don't actually see this in this special. As a personal opinion, because the actual players and their seriousness isn't shown, I actually enjoyed this a bit more than the main series and Intermezzo.

Best suggested for .hack fans, and I know that they will enjoy this special either way, if they just want something easy and relaxing.

I actually had watched .hack//SIGN in 2007, and didn't find it too crash hot. I don't think at the time, I had realized that there were more .hack series apart from Legend Of The Twilight and Roots, so I never got round to watching Intermezzo, and the others.

STORY: Couldn't really remember much from the main SIGN series, and I was reminded today about how. .. average the story line was. Of course this is only a one episode special, so there wasn't much to it; Mimiru drags along Bear to check for something in a temporarily re-opened dungeon in The World. I mustn't have been ... paying attention because of the overall story line, because I hadn't realized that majority of this episode is made up of reminiscent scenes, and it became a surprise to realize that the small, un-named 12 year old girl in the reminiscent scenes is actually Mimiru in the past. That made no sense to me, but whatever. Another turn off would be the MMORPG theme, and that would be probably because of the characters which I will discuss later.

ART: .hack art, well, character designs remind me of Angelic Layer's and I honestly can't be screwed looking up whether it is designed by the same person. Anyway. The overall design is pretty smooth and bold, however the noses are a bit of a bother sometimes. Animation was par, apart from some parts, typically involving bright, flashy scenes, oh, and the opening.

SOUND: The sound has always been good in the .hack series, even if I do have to strain my brain to remember. Same goes for both the ending and opening themes, especially the opening. I guess the 'chanting'(?) used in the series is appealing to me.

CHARACTERS: I'm sorry but, do any of these people who play in The World actually have a life? If you completely ignore the fact that the players seem to be almost always online and how serious they play the game, I think I would probably give the overall series a 6. In Intermezzo, the audience is introduced to three 18 year old girls, taking turns to play a single character called Mimika. The three of them go on about how that they can be appreciated in The World, and not in actual life, suggesting that they are 'incompetent' and 'plain'. Sure, on the odd occasion I play MMORPGs, but only for fun when I have spare time and I feel like it. I don't take it very seriously, and I only play at my own pace. But is it really necessary to take a MMORPG, or any game, so seriously that it almost blends in with your own life offline? Many times during Intermezzo, and the other .hack series, I've wanted to remind the characters that "it's just a game."

This special was fine, and I honestly can't expand any further on it. Definitely something I would suggest to a .hack fan, and if you're not interested in MMORPG themes or you didn't really enjoy .hack//SIGN (however I'm the type of person who HAS to watch every series' special, movie, ova, etc, and I don't normally drop anime.), I do not suggest watching this.

This anime actually has a special place in my heart. There is something about the setting that makes me want to live in Gile or Old Home; the simple, carefree lifestyle is appealing, particularly with the lack of advanced technology, and any anime that can make me feel like that has done well. The only other anime that has managed to do this would be Gunslinger Girl.


STORY: Normally, it's a strong turn off when it comes to anime that hasn't had things in the beginning explained. To be honest, it would have been nice to have known about why Haibane are born and where they ... originally came from. Is this new 'world' some sort of After Life? But amazingly, the way the anime has been constructed, I haven't been bothered about this. It can usually be a hit or miss when it comes to Slice Of Life anime, and this was a hit for me. Probably because of the large insight into the setting of Gile and Old Home. What surprised me again, was how I didn't dislike the anime once the second half of the anime started. It's dramatic, and we do see a dark side of Gile that may answer the viewer's questions. However, the only disappointment was the ending, which did seem a little rushed to me.

ART: Art and animation are so-so, however I didn't think it was too bad for something that was made around the early 21st century. I'm usually attracted to anime with bright colours, but I suppose the dullness used fits well with the story and setting. There is nothing to complain or praise about the character design, with the exception that the designs are made well enough so the characters don't look too deformed on different angles, which I've noticed in other series. The animation seems fairly simple, however I think the animation was well made in parts such as the opening, the moment when Rakka's wings sprout and some scenes in the last episode.

SOUND: The sound seems fitting and appropriate for the series, and I enjoy both the opening and ending songs. I can't really expand much on the sound, but it was generally good.

CHARACTERS: In the first half of the series, the 'enlightening' side, each episode focused on one of the main Haibanes living on Old Home, both for Rakka and the view, and what they did for a living. In each of these episodes you could see how Rakka and the other Haibane character interact with each other.
Actually what I found interesting, was how the Haibane and even the humans treated the crows. Some of them complained about how the crows picked at their 'left-overs' and (can't quite remember if this was said) how the crows can only depend on us to survive. Really when you think about it, Haibane are like the crows; taking what ever is not wanted by the humans, and how they probably would not be able to survive themselves without depending on the humans.


Overall, it would have been nice to have given this anime a 7.5 if it wasn't for the restricted scoring system, and it does not quite meet the demands of an 8 score; if the series had been made around this time, I think it would have superb animation and design, and I would have given it an 8. I can't really pinpoint who would enjoy this anime, however, if you enjoyed any of Yoshitoshi Abe's other work (Serial Experiments Lain, Texhnolyze, NieA Under 7), you may enjoy this.