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Anime: Excel Saga

Title: you either passionately love it or fervently loathe it.

About the Anime: F City, F Prefecture: the battleground where good and evil have finally chosen to decide once and for all who will rule the world…or at least that's the general idea! Neither side seems up for the task, as surviving the brutality of everyday life is enough of a chore. On the side of evil is the organization of Across, its only member the loudmouthed and abrasive Excel who struggles just to put food in her stomach; on the side of good, three disenfranchised, unemployed bachelors whose only pursuit in life is ... romance. Add in alien invasions, jungle warfare, and Mexican immigrant laborers to Japan, and this war doesn't seem likely to be ending soon!

Story 7/10: "Are there any questions?"
"I've got way too many, but I'm not sure they're questions I should even be asking..."
And that, ladies and gents, sums up Excel Saga (to a tee) in its own words. If you're like me and a fan of random humor, this series will go down in your books as one of the greatest anime you've had the fortune to set your eyes upon. While not the funniest or most clever comedy to be produced, it boasts an incredibly unique flavor that you will either passionately love or fervently loathe.
The core of Excel Saga's humor revolves around a number of individual storylines that loosely tie into each other. These include:

The ventures of Across with Ilpalazzo, Excel, Hyatt, and Menchi in their quest to conquer the F City, F Prefecture.

Pedro, the immigrant Mexican worker to Japan with an adorable son and sexy wife, and his struggles against Gomez.

Nabeshin, resident director and epic superhero who happens to have deep connections to every event that occurs in one way or another.

The city service crew headed by Watanabe and their attempts to purge the city of all evil.

Menchi, the cute little dog who can't seem to escape her fate as Across' emergency food source, and her longing for freedom.

Many random others who make appearances throughout the course of the series.

Trying to predict the direction the series will take is virtually impossible. Even with a repeating theme such as Excel being dropped down a hole, each occurrence is distinct; something new always happens when she hits the bottom, ranging from wrestling alligators to popping out of manholes in American sewers. Yet, oddly enough, everything flows together with a surprising level of coherence -- it's incredibly hard to get lost despite the constant chaos flowing across the screen.

Animation 8/10: With all that said, Excel Saga's animation is fairly well sophisticated for its time, but nothing spectacular. However, Excel Saga is entirely self-conscious of its flaws and doesn't give mocking itself a second thought. For instance, there's an episode where all the male characters are given no screentime and the females are given a "30% increase to shading and highlights." It uses its low-budget animation quality to its advantage, which is a definite plus.
By far the least commentable (is that a word...? Is now!) of the categories; not too much else to say here.

Sound 7/10: Moving on, the sound score is much more commentable. The opening theme fits the series like a glove, and probably even better considering it's sung by the seiyuu who voice Excel and Hyatt. On the other side is an ingenious ending theme, sung in dog barks regarding the manner in which Menchi would choose to be eaten should the time come. Sandwich a great OST inbetween and there's not much to complain about. Each of the tracks capture the moods of their respective scenes with finesse, and despite their obvious lack of great production quality I quite enjoyed them. Even better, though, top it all off with an outstanding Seiyuu and you're good to go. The voice actor for Excel is especially impressive, as capturing that energy and hype is certainly no easy task. I also loved Pedro and his Spanish-accented Japanese.

Characters 8/10: If you've seen Azumanga Daioh, you probably have a good idea as to how Excel Saga executes most of its character designs. Every character has at least one trait that's exaggerated in the extreme, whether it be Excel's non-stop ranting or Shioji's knack for having little girls appear and assist him in every possible circumstance. Despite having a massive caste of characters, I found each individual to have a distinct and memorable flavor.
What really stands out in this category, however, are the interactions between the characters. Where they personally lack depth, their relationships are weaved with amusing complexity -- the quartet from the civil service agency are perfect examples. The constant sparring between Iwata and Onigunse is particularly notable, as the two are constantly at odds over everything save women; quite ironic considering the two spend the entire series chasing their respective love interests.

Overall 7.5/10: All in all, Excel Saga boasts some hilarious random humor that parallels its parody well. As I mentioned before, however, it polarizes itself in such a fashion that it becomes an anime you will either adore or despise. The content is much less an issue than the presentation; being able to tolerate Excel is probably the sole defining factor as to whether or not you'll enjoy the series. If you can, this will probably become a classic in your anime collection; if you can't, it will probably become a classic on your black list.
~WhiteBakemono

Anime: H2O ~Footprints in the Sand~

Title: not the worst anime I've seen but close to it.

About the Anime: After a series of unfortunate events, the young Hirose Takuma was rendered blind. In an attempt to reverse his condition Hirose moves in with his uncle in a rural village, and upon his arrival he quickly begins to make new friends. However, Hirose soon discovers that one of his classmates, Hayami Kohinata, is being harshly bullied by her peers for reasons that neither she nor anyone else wants to explain. Even the seemingly honest and gentle Hinata Kagura, who had been doing her best to be friendly ... and helpful to Hirose since his arrival, acts harshly towards Hayami. Once a mysterious girl bequeaths Hirose with a life-changing gift, he takes it upon himself to help save Kohinata from her loneliness while working to uncover the truth of the situation.

Story 4/10: While not the worst anime I've had the misfortune to poison my mind with over the years, H20 ~Footprints in the Sand~ certainly deserves its spot as the worst I've seen in a long time. The viewing experience was analogous to a game of paintball gone horribly wrong; think of it like getting pelted incessantly in the groin for four and a half hours straight, without relief, followed by a long period of puking blood. Now envision the horror of H20 in precisely the same terms, but replace the excruciating bombardment of paintballs with clichés and the subsequent puking with actual, physical vomit straight from the bowels of your stomach. Ordinarily I would have dropped shit like this after ten minutes, but a friend's suggestion that it got better toward the end kept me going. While this, indeed, might have very mildly been the case, it certainly did not merit suffering through the horrendous amount of tripe that comprised the entirety of the series' beginning and middle portions. As such, it manages to stand above ordinary, crap-filled harems, but just barely.
If anything, at least H20 starts out as if it's going to be something original. Our fabulously sophisticated and intelligent male lead happens to be blind, and his naiveté initially seems somewhat believable - the kid can't see, after all. Within the first ten minutes of the series, though, he has managed to plant his face between the legs of every girl in the school at least once (lots of accidents happen to blind people, you know!) and grope at least one set of boobs a minute. This trend continues until the beginning of the second episode, where our brilliant hero somehow wakes up no longer blind. After this, of course, the face-between-legs and groping events continue, but they rely on the usual "misunderstanding" situations to occur (like when our male lead walks in on a girl taking a bath, slips on a bar of soap, and falls into the bathtub with his head smack dab between her legs underwater!) Now, I've seen these sorts of events in harems time and time again, but few dare rise to this level of mediocrity - every single fanservice shot is so utterly contrived it's laughable.
Oh, but here's the best part: H20's primary harem female is a masochistic emo girl who likes being abused because she has a guilt complex. As can certainly be expected, our resident Prince Charming tasks himself with "rescuing" her from her plight, but her constant walking in on him during his perverted mishaps make this a complicated issue. Just for good measure, the writers then insert ten episodes of pseudo-dramatic, fanservice-packed garbage for her to subsequently fall in love with him in for no explicable reason; and, of course, these episodes come with the usual array of harem events such as the bikini beach scene. By the time the "serious" events of the last two episodes arrived, I could have cared less for any of the characters, and found myself laughing at instead of feeling pity for the girls.

Animation 4/10: For a 2008 production, the animation, in relative terms, is atrocious. While not absolutely awful, its flaws make it seem incredibly dated while still aiming for the colorful, vibrant feel most modern series possess. Above all else, there is a very noticeable lack of movement, which becomes apparent right of the bat and persists all the way through. Character dialogue tended to be accompanied by an unusual amount of stills, and the inanimate backgrounds carried a very rigid, late 90's feel. To make matters worse, it seemed as if two different art teams worked separately on the characters and the backgrounds, as the two appeared vaguely congruent at best. This resulted in an overall droll and plain atmosphere, and given the horrendous quality of the fanservice, I was not impressed whatsoever.

Sound 4/10: It certainly didn't help H20's suffering aesthetics, either, by having shoddy voice acting and a poorly composed musical score. The main guy's voice is decent at best, but all the girls are either horribly high pitched or whiny and nasal. Although, surprisingly, there was one song I actually liked, it seemed way out of place when followed by this one bile-infested piece of crap track that seemed to get played four times an episode; it's as if the series intended to keep hinting that it could be good, but wanted to definitively prove that such was not its goal. I'm not even going to bother going into any further detail, as H20 shouldn't be touched regardless of the quality of its sound, but it borders on painful at times.

Characters 3/10: If you're still reading and must truly know, there are three primary characters in H20: Dumbass A (the guy), Dumbass B (the blonde chick), and Dumbass C (the emo girl.) I think their names were Takuma, Hinata, and Hayami respectively, but I honestly wasn't concerned enough about any of the three to actually pay them too much attention. As I mentioned before, Takuma is completely idiotic, and his inability to keep his head out of a pair of breasts completely ruins the respectability the writers tried to force him to possess in the later episodes. Hinata was the only tolerable character, mostly because she actually had some semblance of depth, but even then only slightly garnered my interest. Regardless, for the most part the writers reduced her character to revolve around the fact that she had the biggest boobs out of the all the girls, so she's not really worth any more mention.
Again, though, Hayami was by far the most "interesting" character, probably because none of her reactions to any events in H20 made much sense. One moment she begs for Takuma's affections, the next she's pissed off at him and cries to her classmates to kick her ass to get back at him. Seriously, what the hell? I get that she was supposed to have had a rough life, but her complete inconsistency in personality did absolutely nothing for her character. She seemed to be nothing more than plot-driven tripe, and given how downright abominable the story was to begin with, I hadn't the slightest bit of empathy for her.

Overall 3.5/10: For those looking for a recent, relatively serious romantic drama, check out Myself; Yourself and steer clear of H20 all together; aside from its fringe harem attraction, this crap isn't worth one iota of anyone's time. If for some reason completely unbeknownst to me you find yourself still interested, try coming up with different names for the series like "HYDROGEN DIOXIDE: TARSAL IMPRINTS IN THE SILICON" instead of forcing its mediocrity down your throat. Seriously, there are so many other more productive things to do with your time that there is absolutely no reason to give this crap consideration. For anybody not specifically obsessed with shallow harems, heed my advice: do not touch. Ever.
~WhiteBakemono

Anime: Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine

Title: It's Lupin, what can I say?

About the Anime: Fujiko Mine: a woman so beguiling that the greatest thief on earth, Lupin III, has vowed to claim her as his most prized quarry. And while men lust after her, she only has eyes for one thing – all the beautiful treasures in the world that she can possibly steal. From the haunted opera houses of Japan to the boobie-trapped pyramids of Egypt, Fujiko uses both violence and sex to manipulate those who stand in her way. But with the tireless Lupin intervening in every situation to 'take' her, ... and the skilled rogues Jigen and Goemon entangling their own personal vendettas with hers, how is a woman to realize her wildest desires?

Story 7/10: Looking back at the various incarnations of Fujiko Mine, any observer will recognise a mere handful of common traits, most of them incidental (sexy, traitorous, gunslinger), rather than grasp fully who she is as a person. So, perhaps it helps to focus on what she isn’t: definable, fathomable, consistent. The enduring allure of Fujiko Mine across generations and several reinterpretations is that she rarely lets us see into her soul. In some past incarnations this was because of lazy characterisation or sheer necessity of the plot – Fujiko Mine turned up to steal and cock-tease and left before we could ever get even a glimpse of her personality. In this reimagining, courtesy of Sayo Yamamoto, the dazzling creative mind behind 2008’s Michiko to Hatchin, that very opacity in Fujiko’s personality is no longer an accident but rather the point. In that sense, like many great anime, The Woman Called Fujiko Mine is about a mystery; just that the mystery is not external to the protagonist but the protagonist herself.
This focus on the main character is what stabilises what otherwise remains a disjointed set of episodic adventures comprising the usual Lupin pick’n’mix of comedy, violence, drama, and action. In any given episode something must be stolen, there will be gunshots and stunts, possibly explosions, the infamous thief Lupin will try to seduce Fujiko, and Fujiko will try to seduce whoever is left. This is one of the more violent and explicit additions to the franchise, adding decapitations, frequent nudity, and blood splatters. Often the violence worked for me by imparting a grittiness that offset the more bizarre flights of fancy and became the bitter complement to the erotic sweet. I found the bawdy humour, which operates on a level similar to that of corny British soft core porn, much less appreciable. Broadly, though, this is a faithfully kitschy adventure spanning, in the manner of Indiana Jones, from the pyramids of Egypt to the fertile gardens of a girls’ boarding school and offering the kind of storytelling borrowed from the 1960s when people still believed in such unlikely crap as master thieves.
On the other hand, despite performing the usual motions, The Woman Called Fujiko Mine is not about what it seems to be about. That is no small feat. So much of the content would have suffice for mere entertainment, and indeed, I’ve seen anime fans lap up much shallower fare with baffling relish. However, beneath the lewd flirtation and lovingly contrived action sequences, The Woman Called Fujiko Mine attempts to smuggle in some finer detail for those who care to look for it. Much of the series involves subtle sleight of hand, from the way we perceive characters to the direction in the action. Take Fujiko’s and Lupin’s dialogue for example, it is only vaguely about flirting – rather, it is always about one-upmanship. During a pool-side scene in episode five, for instance, Fujiko asks Lupin if he’s trying to get her, and the infamous thief responds that once he sets out to steal something, he always gets it. He may simply be talking about desiring her, but, more meaningfully, his boast lays bare his prowess at stealing while declaring something else that becomes more obvious towards the end. So pervasive is the script’s subterfuge that even when we finally come to the truth about Fujiko, it’s actually hard to say we really have it.

Animation 8/10: Style is not over substance here; rather style is inherent to substance. The retro comic book art, with its thick black pencil lines for shadow and simplistic colouring, props up the host of kitsch adventures. Any overt beauty to be found here radiates mainly from Takeshi Koike’s (Redline) design for Fujiko. His imagination elevates her to the status of a goddess, pure and simple, a saucy minx with hints of divinity who exudes childlike sweetness in her smile as easily as she does vengeful menace in her grimace.

Sound 6/10: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine delivers frenetic music that chops and changes as rapidly as its scenery. Brief tribal interludes will turn into chaotic jazzy refrains, only for the latter to melt away in waves of haunting solo vocals. The opening theme, intriguingly, consists of spoken prose over a tuneless instrumental while the end theme comes the closest resembling a marketable pop song. But for all its eclecticism, the score remains rather unassuming, so that I fear no-one will come away remembering much of it.

Characters 8/10: In a delightful twist that brings to mind Revolutionary Girl Utena and Brother, Dear Brother, Yamamoto transforms Fujiko from a victim of patriarchy to a symbol of complex female sexuality. Here is how I see the difference. In most shows Fujiko is defined by her sexuality. This happens, for instance, both in the exploitative first TV series as well as in the family-friendly Hayao Miyazaki classic, Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro. In the original, Fujiko’s sexuality is all there is, and being a sex kitten becomes synonymous with being a bad person not to be trusted. The message is simple, women who screw also lie and cheat and are not believable. They are certainly not heroes. In the tamer movie, Miyazaki falls into the same trap by divorcing sexuality from virtue, so that in order to be a likeable hero, the woman must be stripped of her sexuality. She’s strong, she’s convincing, and she can be trusted to help because she does not get naked with men. But in Yamamoto’s version, what can we make of Fujiko? Here Fujiko is sometimes a hero (saving a revolutionist from certain ruin) and other times a deviant (seducing vulnerable teenage girls for their loot), all the while remaining a sexually free individual pragmatic about her carnality rather than being trapped into using them as means (see 99% of episodes). Sex is part of her but it does not define her either in presence or absence.
But for fear of committing the ironic act of discussing Fujiko purely in terms of her sexuality while denying her objectification, I’ll add the following. This show offers an impressively thorough explanation for her character without spoiling her for everyone. Through most of the episodes I thought of Fujiko as a woman in search of a past, but coming away from the show, I am convinced she is merely a woman enjoying life as it befalls her. Her mystery is that there is no profound internal dynamic driving her: she is not torn up with angst, she is not ablaze with all-consuming hatred, but neither is she a cheery shoujo princess wanting to save the world through self-sacrifice. She challenges this great need we have for (anti)heroes with grand purposes and denies that life for anyone – especially for a woman – must play according to scripted rules. Above all, Yamamoto’s Fujiko is a mystery because she fits none of our preconceptions, and that makes her frightening, aggravating, bizarre, and above all, fascinating.
The director’s approach to the thief Lupin also impressed me (a bit like Miyazaki’s version of him, but not to the same level). Abstracted from various interpretations, I find Lupin an inherently deplorable concept – all selfish acts and lewd thoughts, a banal hedonist. He’s just a hungry Id made manifest, grabbing whatever he wants, whether it be treasures or titties. In The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, this aspect of him is not so much toned down as given a human twist. He still just wants things, however, his desire for Fujiko stretches beyond animalistic libido to sincere admiration of her fierce independence. Moreover, his lewd gestures arguably take on new meaning in a context where Fujiko is dominant, so that I could see his crass advances as an old in-joke between two equally autonomous beings who know when not to cross the line. In fact, it might very well be the case that, with this mingling of lust and admiration, Lupin might actually be in love and not just in lust. Sharpshooter Daisuke Jigen, samurai Goemon Oshikawa, and frustrated detective Koichi Zenigata, are more straightforwardly likeable than Fujiko or Lupin but also predictable for veteran fans of the franchise. They show up and perform their shtik and then get out of the way again. One exception may be Zenigata’s sidekick, Oscar, whose dark beauty and coy homosexuality make him an intriguing extension of the show’s eroticism.

Overall 7.5/10: Fujiko Mine remains indefinable but that is precisely what we love about her. So malleable is she as a concept that Yamamoto has been able to transform her from a traiterous sex object to a powerful, autonomous person while never betraying the Fujiko tradition. Fujiko is also successful here because she manages not just to captivate other characters, but to break the barrier of the television screen and entrance us, ensuring we follow her into fire and back. I offer reassurance, though, that fans will not just like this show for what it does anew, but also for the nostalgia it delivers. Experienced fans will savour the little homages to previous shows strewn throughout the story and recognise the boldness and vivacity of preceding Lupin works mirrored here. This ensures a caper that is, though light on the common sense, still utterly satisfying. To those who argue that the sex is still too much, I recommending closing your eyes and imagining Fujiko as clothed throughout the whole show. Still a fantastic character, no?
~WhiteBakemono

Anime: Sekirei

Title: Meh..... That is all.

About the Anime: Minato Sahashi was living a normal life; he had just failed his college entrance exam for a second year in a row, and lived a quiet life in a single's apartment. That is, until the busty Musubi fell from the sky on top of him! She is a Sekirei, one of 108 that are destined to fight each other until only one remains; and he or she will ascend to heaven with his or her chosen one known as an Ashikabi. Minato soon finds himself in the embrace of Musubi, becoming her Ashibaki - but his life ... will only become more complicated. Musubi isn't the last to claim Minato as her Ashibaki, and what's worse, plenty of other Sekirei and opponents stand in his way!

Story 4.5/10: If I had to choose a moniker for Sekirei, it would probably be, "The Little Anime that Couldn't". It offers ecchi fan-service without being racy, peddles action while failing to be engaging, and sports an interesting setup that the show never puts to effective use. While it's possible to read the series as making fun of itself, the harem genre, and tournament-focused shounen shows, a second look reveals that the show means everything it says--much to my dismay.
A quick summary of the series reads like Pokemon, but with tits. The first installment follows the hapless protagonist as he bumbles and sweet talks his way into acquiring of an increasingly powerful and scantily-clad team of humanoid aliens called Sekirei in preparation for a tournament sometime in the near future (read: second season). Thankfully, the parade of buxom woman in various states of undress meshes well with the show's simplistic focus on escalating confrontations. When two Sekirei meet for the first time, they fight. When Minato encounters new potential teammate, there's a fight. When MBI (the evil corporation behind the whole thing) seals off Neo Tokyo, the gang finds an excuse to fight. These high-energy smackdowns, which increase in frequency, participants, and outrageous displays of power as the story progresses, take a good deal of the pressure off the flagging narrative.
The show does demonstrate on occasion that there might be a decent yarn hiding behind all the cheesecake, but then refuses to follow up on any of these more interesting tidbits. For example, the first episode introduces the Sekireis' extra-terrestrial origins, but the subject gets dropped once MBI enters the picture. The dealings between Ashikabis (this world's trainers) also receive cursory treatment due to the series' singular focus on Minato, squandering an opportunity to provide him some character depth by comparison; and glossing over subplots that could have held the viewers' interest between battles. In the Kuu-chan mini-arc, the presence of another girl-wrangler and his cohort add tension and conflict to what would have been a boring meet-and-greet. But where the anime could have used the greedy antagonist to draw out the hero's underlying character traits, the remainder of the series chooses to leave this antagonist as a shadowy figure.

Animation 6/10: Sekirei's visuals sport modern coloring and finishing techniques, but lack the consistency of more polished anime. For every excellent water, fire, or lightning effect associated with the fighters' powers, there's a scene where the animation turns blocky or the characters look odd. Additionally, combat sequences cut a lot of corners; the chase scenes or jumping receive the lion's share of screen time that should have gone to the use of the Sekireis' impressive powers or dramatic hand-to-hand fighting. The show also hamstrings its own dramatic buildups by dropping into an unattractive deformed style during important interpersonal moments in a weak attempt to add levity where none is needed.
Additionally, the artists spent their limited imaginations early in the design process, leading to a plethora of derivative cuties. The lead's harem consists of four over-developed beauties in each of the four normal hair colors (blonde, brunette, redhead, raven-haired) and an adorable loli-girl who barely talks. While one character's interesting kimono and another's attractive black dress certainly provide some good eye-candy, two of Minato's girlies basically wear bedsheets, and a third wears an equally-unimaginative purple frock. The remaining cast coughs up such original creations as an outfit cribbed from Kill Bill, a guy dressed up like Neo from The Matrix Reloaded, and a set of twins in matching two-piece zippered cat suits (use the non-furry definition of cat-suit). Since the characters' costumes don't reflect their powers, each design merely allows the viewer to tell Sekirei apart at a glance and nothing more.

Sound 5/10: Starting with the bland OP, the series' soundtrack does not disappoint, but also never surprises. Most of the incidental music follows in the grand synth tradition of middling anime, sounding familiar and hitting all of the "right" notes at the expected times. Accompanying an unapologetic fan-service slide show, the bubbly ED ends each episode on a sonic high note--assuming listeners ignore the coyly submissive lyrics ("The truth is I want you to hold only me / I'm feeling turned on / Is it ok to show signs?"). Sadly, the voice acting doesn't deviate from the standard set by the score. None of the characters miss their cues or offend the ears, but the readings add no nuance to the broadly drawn character stereotypes. The only memorable performance comes from Seki Toshihiko as the MBI Chairman; his over the top mannerisms and showman's shouts add much needed camp, but receive tragically little time in the limelight. Be warned, this series also includes a mewling youngster in the form of Kuu-chan. The little girl's cooing would have rapidly gotten annoying save for the fact that her seiyuu makes some entertaining non-speaking sounds.

Characters 4/10: Sekirei combines a stereotypical cast with pathetic characterization to fall flat on its face where it could have shined. Given the show's ecchi pedigree, a hollow male lead comes as no surprise, but where other shows provide an interesting harem to make up for a lackluster main protagonist, this series coughs up a laughably generic group for Minato. As the female lead, Musubi's naivete brings in a few good chuckles as she wrestles with modesty, but her eagerness to please and penchant for violence quickly grow stale when she does not develop at all during the first season. The rest of his Sekirei come straight out of central casting: Tsukiumi fell of the truck on the way from the tsundere factory, Kusano follows the textbook definition of imouto to a "T", and Kazehana presents like Shakugan no Shana's Margery Daw with all of the interesting parts removed (but all of her lady-parts intact). Furthermore, the series substitutes mystery in the place of complexity at every opportunity, purposefully obscuring characters' histories so that they can act in unpredictable ways. Luckily, the low episode count both provides a convenient excuse and mitigates the characters' lack of development and unoriginality.

Overall 5/10: Far from being painfully average, Sekirei entertains so long as it remains on the screen, but doesn't rise above the low bar it sets for itself. Watching the show for the first time, the viewer can applaud himself on recognizing moe archetypes and marvel at the nifty super powers on display, but the unoriginal premise and middling execution means the show hardly warrants a second viewing. Bouncing along like the chests of its female leads, this anime shoves to the side any and all plot threads that don't directly concern Minato and his coven of comely combatants. Straightjacketed by the supposed demands of its target demographic, the series remains unfailingly true to its setup and modest goals, and in so doing loses a shot at being something memorable.
~WhiteBakemono

Anime: Death note

Title: My expectations have been satisfied.

About the Anime: Have you ever felt like the world would be a better place if certain people weren’t around? Such grim daydreams might occur when watching the dismal daily news, but on one fateful day, Yagami Light finds that these daydreams can become reality. By pure happenstance, he comes across a black notebook entitled "Death Note", whose text within states that whoever's name is written on its pages will die. With the aid of the death god Ryuk, Light takes it upon himself to rid the world of its corruption, ushering in a new era of purity ... one death at a time. But as Ryuk foretells, Light's actions will not go unchallenged...

Story 9/10: Ordinarily, I make a point to avoid series plagued by fanboyism, as they generally suffer from pitiful characterization, flimsy storylines, and sub-par aesthetics. Yet, Death Note carried some strange allure and managed to pique my interest, so I decided to give it a shot. I would not be disappointed. It's one of those gems that graces the anime world only every so often and certainly deserves a considerable amount of respect.
At its core, Death Note is an anime that captivates you with a story fashioned around logic, wit, trust, and betrayal. Filled with deep characters and weaved with intensity, it grips you from start to finish with amazing vice. It traces the story of Yagami Light, a young college student who has become disillusioned with the pervasiveness of crime and corruption spread throughout the world. Purely by accident, he stumbles upon a book called a Death Note, which allows its author to kill any person of his or her choosing by merely writing their name inside, given that they know the person's name and face. Though at first skeptical, Light decides to use its powers to cleanse the world of evil, and thus begins his quest for justice.
What immediately follows, however, is a conglomerate struggle of ethics and morality. Death Note presents a surprisingly detailed scenario in which the definition of absolute justice is blurred and the true nature of morality is put into question. Unlike other pseudo-intellectual anime that attempt to provide naïve approaches to such tough subjects, though, it does not step lightly around any of its subject matter. The script writers do a fantastic job at presenting the storyline in dramatic fashion without drowning out its substance in philosophy. There are a number of such elements that the series touches upon, but each and every one is seamlessly streamlined into the anime.
Due to the nature of Death Note's story, however, it's incredibly difficult to present an accurate, detailed reflection of the plot without giving important details away. The drama is presented in a very cumulative fashion, with each individual episode building upon the intricacies and complexities of the last. For a series built so strongly around logic, this is definitely a strength rather than a weakness. You'll find yourself gripped from the first minute until the last, carried on by numerous twists and turns that keep the story both fresh and intriguing with each installment.

Animation 10/10: Death Note takes the liberty of incorporating some of the best shading effects to date. Grasping emotions and moods with unrivaled precision, detail pervades every inch of every scene. One of Death Note's greatest assets is its ability to immerse the viewer into the anime itself, and the animation here definitely plays a major role in making that happen. Camera angles are taken to accentuate facial expressions, shadows fashion character designs, and the scenery defines moods. Death Note's aesthetics reflect the essence of the storyline itself, and are awash with metaphorical splendor that can be appreciated on a number of different levels.

Sound 8/10: Oddly enough, two of Death Note's lowest points are the average quality opening and ending themes. Though they certainly capture the mood of the series well enough, they aren't too impressive as individual tracks. Aside from these songs, however, the vast majority of the insert music is above par; save for a very few select pieces, it's surprisingly well orchestrated. The voice acting is where Death Note's sound score really shines, though, especially with Light -- I felt his actor captured his personality and expressions with pinpoint accuracy. By in large, this same standard of quality assumes itself in all but one character, so be prepared for a treat in this category.

Character's 9/10: Again, commenting on the characters is hard because Death Note continually builds upon itself the story progresses. Though I didn't particularly care for some of the development of a few side characters, every person to appear throughout the series has a distinct purpose. The number of extraneous characters is kept to a virtual minimum, and those who serve little purpose only appear for as long as they are needed; you certainly won't find a plethora of useless fluff here. The writers went through the series with a fine-tooth comb to make sure that each fills his or her respective role with the utmost of precision, making sure only to assimilate those who are necessary for the dramatic elements of the plot.

Overall 9/10: To conclude, I'm incredibly impressed with Death Note. While, like any other anime, it does have its flaws, as a whole they are relatively minor. There are a few ups on downs throughout the course of the thirty-seven episodes, but the vast majority of time is spent very wisely. To its fortune, the series is constructed in such a way that it has a nearly universal sense of appeal, and as such should not be passed up. Most definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience, so make sure to check it out if you have not done so already.
~WhiteBakemono

Anime: Welcome to the NHK

Title: Will have you in fits of laughter

About the Anime: Tatsuhiro Sato is a university dropout and a "hikikomori" – a person suffering from social withdrawal. To Sato’s dismay, his self-imposed exile from the world is rudely interrupted when a mysterious girl knocks on his door. She has charged herself with the task of curing Sato of his hikikimori ways! Now, as new problems ranging from hentai games to internet suicide spring up, can Sato manage to overcome his hermit-like ways, or will the imaginary N.H.K conspiracy force him to remain a hikikomori forever?

Story 8/10: Note: Nope, haven’t read the manga ... yet.
Almost nothing is better than watching a show that exceeds all of your expectations. I jumped into this series expecting a polished rehash of the same old theme that almost all ecchi shows have: namely, one (or more!) cute girls inexplicably falling for an insultingly spineless Keitarou-clone loser. However, this GONZO work is not, by any stretch of the imagination, your average nerd-meets-girl. On the contrary, Welcome to the NHK! is a remarkably strange series – one that happens to be among the best of the year.
What makes the series so excellent is that it manages to work well on not one, or two, but three levels.
The first level is the one most people will enjoy the show for: namely, a witty romantic comedy involving quirky characters in unusual situations. Most of the laughs in the show come from the protagonist, Satou, a loveably dysfunctional shut-in whose tendency to fall headfirst into social problems is tempered only by his relentless paranoia. Most of his personality is developed through internal monologues, which, as with Kyon from The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi, quickly flesh him out into a likeable, albeit bizarre, protagonist. Coupled with some equally strange but equally appealing supporting characters, Satou leaps from one anti-social obsession to another in rapid-fire succession. The bizarre situations Satou finds himself in, coupled with his strange personality, make for plenty of laughs and give the show a good deal of charm.
The second level is less immediately appealing, but is nonetheless fascinating. Alongside the comedy, NHK provides insightful commentary on Japans many societal problems. By unwittingly finding himself in the middle of some of Japan’s most dysfunctional circles, Satou acts almost as a medium through which the audience can see usually distant and abstracted problems up close in frightening detail. From the internet suicide chat-rooms to the NEET shut-ins, the anime gives faces, motives and reasons to these important and alarming statistics. In the end, in addressing real-life problems in Japan, this is probably the most honest and believable anime out there.
Finally, there is a third level that surfaces most near the end. Put simply, NHK is in part a desperate search for meaning in a vast and lonely world. One of Satou’s most telling lines is, "I am alone in the universe." His inability to relate with society almost forces him to be what he is – a lonely, emotionally neutered husk of a human being. This theme carries over to the supporting characters as well; each troubled soul searches endlessly for some hope, some iota of meaning, and always comes up short due to his or her own insecurities and idiosyncrasies.
While this anime could have been good with just the first two “levels” of entertainment, the third level is really what makes the show. There is an underlying sense of poignancy running through the entire work; even as I laughed at Satou’s numerous shortcomings, the sad truth is that I saw a lot of myself in his exaggerated character. As individuals who necessarily live at least somewhat on the fringe of society, I suspect other anime watchers will have similar thoughts.

Animation 7/10: I was a little apprehensive to see GONZO helming this series. However, unlike other anime by the studio, GONZO doesn’t allow over-produced animation to interfere with the show. While at times the show is quite visually innovative (particularly when Satou is in the throes of some wild personal fantasy), for the most part the studio plays it straight. The result is a visual look that seldom wows, but provides a solid backbone for the story to rest on.

Sound 8/10: The sound, on the other hand, is great. An impressive array of seiyuu performances is led by Koizumi Yutaka, whose fevered and thoroughly erratic rendition of Satou borders on transcendent. For music, I particularly enjoyed “Purupuru Pururin,” a deliberately inane JPop song that pokes fun at the musical taste of anime-watchers. The rest of the soundtrack is suitably zany, with a solid OP by Round Table and a hilarious ED.

Characters 9.5/10: As mentioned in the story section, Satou really steals the show here as the loveable anti-hero. The other characters usually just act as foils to him, but are generally interesting in their own right as well.

Overall 8.5/10: As a whole, Welcome to the NHK! is a landmark achievement for the year. Besides the fact that some people may find the transition from comedy to drama awkward, I’d recommend this to just about everyone. No other anime this year has appealed to me in so many different ways.
~WhiteBakemono

Anime: Higurashi no Naku koro ni Rei

Title: Lost all faith in this series.

About the Anime: Several months have passed since the horrific events in Hinamizawa came to an end. Little by little life returns to normal, with Rika and her friends doing their best to put the past them and mend their old wounds. All seems to be going well until one day tragedy strikes again as Rika is unexpectedly involved in a bloody traffic accident that shatters her short-lived peace. As she wakes, she finds herself thrust back into the nightmare summer of 1983, and sets out to once again correct Hinamizawa's twisted killing ... cycle. Rika soon realizes, however, that such a task is more difficult than she first imagined; this Hinamizawa is drastically different from all those in the past, and now more than just her own life is at stake...

Story 3.5/10: Hey there, boys and girls, it’s time again for everyone’s favorite gameshow: Does This Anime Suck?!
So, time to play – let’s start with the first question! Which of the following is a more intelligent decision: watching Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei or skydiving out of a plane without a parachute? Hopefully you guessed skydiving, because that’s sure what you’ll feel like doing after wading through this OVA’s attempt at a plot! If you thought Higurashi Kai’s mediocre attempt at concluding its story was bad, be prepared for a whole lot more of the same. Watching Higurashi Rei waste its potential is on par with throwing puppies on the street, and we here at Does This Anime Suck?! do not approve of abandoning puppies – always have your pet spayed or neutered!
Time for the next round! What is Higurashi Rei’s worst quality: a. its bumbling story with anticlimactic ending; b. its inability to be funny due to atrocious animation quality during worthless “comedic” parts; or c. the fact that nothing at all happens in two and a half hours? And…hidden answer e (all of the above and more!) was the right choice! Few OVAs, save for Kimi ga Nozomu Eien: Next Season, manage to piddle around and waste as much time as this. Plus, as if the viewer needed to be explicitly told after wasting so much time, Higurashi Rei is generous enough to openly inform its audience that all the story’s intrigue served no purpose. Despite the initial and captivating return to a non-standard 1983 setting, the show manages to let every one of its potential high points blunder around like a drunk clown in a circus tent, and spectaculary fails at providing any sort of satisfaction. Whereas before the viewers were given only a bare minimum to piece together major events and revelations, in Higurashi Rei every important revelation is insultingly spat out in a silver platter that utterly ruins both the mood and the story.
At last we’re at the final round, so here’s the third and most important question: should Higurashi Rei be watched by fans of the series? I think the answer is already clear. While the middle portion may seem somewhat intriguing at the time with Rika's induction into a radically different and seemingly-hostile environment, just remember that if you decide to stick with it to the end you’ll end up like the nerdy kid at prom whose date ditched him midway for the douchebag on the football team. This botched attempt at a second conclusion ends up being on par with taking School Days’ two crack-job OVAs as legitimate sequels, as the story has no idea whether it wants to be humorous, serious, or outright stupid. Fortunately, even if the show can’t make up its mind about how to properly present such spurious content, the answer is already clear: Higurashi Rei is definitively stupid.
And there you have it, folks, this concludes another tantalizing episode of Does This Anime Suck?! – make sure to stay tuned for Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch and You – A Beginner’s Guide to Decent Voice Acting. With that, congratulations for getting the way through the show; you’ve won a spared viewing of Higurashi Rei! Cherish every moment you would have spent on this anime by doing other things with your life, like fishing with your elderly grandfather or volunteering to feed poor orphans at the local homeless shelter.

Animation 4/10: If
I
typed
like
Higurashi
Rei’s
framerates,
it
would
look
like
this.
At times the animation can be godawfully poor, and really there’s no excuse for such a shoddy level of workmanship for a 2009 (or 1996, maybe?) production. At its worst moments, Higurashi Rei’s on-screen presentation was comparable to a movie composed of flipping through sticky tabs. Sure on occasion some scenes like Rika’s shiny communication orb look great (yes, she has a "communication orb"), but skipping down the quality as a whole to animate the series in a non-painful way would have done leaps and bounds for improving this score, as just…my pupils. They burn.

Sound 6.5/10: At least something about Higurashi Rei is acceptable, and by that I mean “of the quality I’d expect from the original series.” Despite the music being proper and fitting for the writers’ desired level of suspense, there ends up being nothing for it to build up to. Hell, even the lowliest of Rika’s potentially dramatic decisions ended up about exciting as watching noodles boil in a pot. Had something – anything – happened in this OVA to merit this use of music it would have no doubt been great, but underperformance is Higurashi Rei’s second name. What’s the point in emulating the mood of the first Higurashi if none of the content is the same? Your guess is as good as mine!
Oh, and Keiichi? Shut the fuck up. The synthetic Windows voice laughs better than you.

Characters 5/10: Considering that Higurashi Rei is composed almost exclusively of Rika’s monologues and trying to piece things together, it’s hard to comment on the other characters. Except Keiichi, because he’s an annoying piece of shit – probably because he’s animated so poorly that I wanted to take an axe to my screen about fifteen and a half times during the first episode alone. Be that as it may, the characters' comedic stupor does drift away fairly soon, allowing the middle portion of the series take on a more serious tone. As such, it proves a bearable watch, allowing for the story to feign an interesting premise and presenting the original cast in a new and intriguing light. Yet, given that Rika’s incessant monologues turn out to be as meaningful as a lame duck on a telephone pole, all this development ends up being little more than extraneous fluff. Ultimately, this degredation of both the story and the characters does little more than salt the old wounds left by Higurashi Kai, and boy does it sting.

Overall 3.8/10: DOUBLE SHOCK AND TWIN WATERFALL OF TEARS! How did this OVA even get consideration for Anime-Planet’s top horror series of 2009? Seriously, Higurashi Rei is about as horrific as my grandmother baking delicious cookies. Which she does, by the way. Damn delicious cookies at that. Really now, I can’t fathom how this OVA could even land itself in the ballpark of any sort of achievement – such a feat would be comparable Konomini winning most intelligent story of 2004. When all is said and done, the closest this poorly constructed OVA comes to horror is being a horror to watch.
~WhiteBakemono

Anime: Higurashi no Naku koro ni Kai

Title: Losing faith in this series.

About the Anime: It is the year 1983; and in the village of Hinamizawa, on the night of the cotton drifting festival and in the days following it, a series of deaths occurs. The only hope for the village and its inhabitants is the shrine maiden Furude Rika who, with the help of her invisible partner Hanyuu, is able to travel back in time and alter the events that led to disaster. Unfortunately, regardless of what changes are made, each voyage ultimately ends with the death of Rika and many of her friends. But ... when Rika’s friends start remembering things that happened to them in previous worlds and take steps to avoid the same outcomes, Rika realizes that their chances of survival have never been better. Can she really challenge and defeat fate itself?

Story 4/10: Imagine everything Higurashi no Naku Koro ni was not, and you've got Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai. While Higurashi Kai certainly ties up a number of much needed loose strings causing incoherency issues within the first season, it ultimately degrades the series into meaningless tripe. It seems that the first season followed the original games/manga to the tee, but the second takes on extremely, and I emphasize extremely, watered down adaptations of the original storyline's ending. There is no gore or horror present save for perhaps one or two very light scenes, and the violence is toned down substantially as well, as most of what's present is almost comical in nature.
Needless to say, I was immensely disappointed with Higurashi Kai, as it ended exactly like most anime intended for young children rather than an honorable, intellectual dramatic masterpiece. Save for perhaps one or two minor incidents, all the duplicitous aspects of the main cast of characters' personalities vanish, and it becomes a real chore to convince yourself you're watching the same show. The final two "answer" arcs also happen to be twice the length of the prior six arcs in season one, and are subsequently packed full of filler-esque material which really causes the series to drag in many places - completely opposite of the first season, where constant angst and tension kept you on the edge of your seat and constantly looking over your shoulder while you watched.
Ending and conclusion aside, the sole purpose of Higurashi Kai is to provide the viewer with the story behind everything that occurs in the first season, and on that note it succeeds. Rika takes a much more central role in the second season, explaining many of her mysterious talents such as her vast score of knowledge and her prophetic capabilities; which, in essence, explains who Oyashiro-sama is and what his curse entails with rather great detail. Again, though, the enormous, anti-climactic ending dwarfs the importance of such revelations, as it sucks the very life out of the drama they were supposed to be explaining. While it provides closure, this closure is quite poor, and as such I have a hard time swallowing the series as a whole.

Animation 6/10: As far as color vibrancy goes, Higurashi Kai got a substantial boost in quality, but that's about the only noticeable difference in quality. I made a point not to increase the animation score, though, since the total lack of dramatic emphasis took away the first season's exemplary use of facial expressions to convey morbid atmospheres. The additions really didn't do much for me, especially with the huge abundance of stills in most of Higurashi Kai's action scenes.

Sound 7/10: Without a doubt, my favorite aspect of Higurashi Kai is its second, absolutely superb opening theme. Aside from that, though, the musical score remains virtually identical as the first season, and the voice actors again do a great job, though their roles are made less intensive.

Characters 6/10: I was really quite flustered with how the characters panned out. For obviously having severe paranoia issues, Keiichi seems perfectly normal for most of Higurashi Kai, a far cry from the neurotic xenophobe who has quite a difficult time distinguishing reality between the varying Himizawa worlds in the first season; Rena's random, sporadic violent tendencies disappear entirely, and I hardly see her lift a finger during the first half of the series; Shion displays one instance of her blood thirst, but it's tamed rather quickly and her character immediately seems to revert after with no future signs; the list goes on. The characters simply didn't carry the same feel, and that really gave me pause when trying to rationalize them in the context of the second season. In the first season each of the characters suffered from very fragile and delicate personality problems, and the fact that these problems cease to exist in the latter arcs is simply baffling.

Overall 5.2/10: Unfortunately, because of how Higurashi's first season pans out, Higurashi Kai is a must watch to understand the progression of the story. Perhaps I'm overreacting a bit to how much I disliked Higurashi Kai, as I did enjoy the first fourteen episodes, but the last arc was simply atrocious. All in all a settling sequel to the first season, but don't expect to have your brain played with in any sinister fashion - you'll just end up utterly disappointed.
~WhiteBakemono

Anime: Higurashi no Naku koro ni

Title: Cute girls with cleavers scare me. D:

About the anime:
Maebara Keiichi, an ordinary high-school boy, has transferred to a new school in Hinamizawa, a small rural village. At the outset everything seems peaceful and Keiichi becomes friends with a nice group of schoolgirls with whom he spends many idle summer afternoons. Suddenly violence encroaches upon the blissful peace of the village and Keiichi becomes entangled in an endless cycle of fear and death. The inconsistent, but inevitable horrors of Hinamizawa are told and retold becoming an endless and inescapable nightmare of insanity. Will it end even if the mystery ... of Hinamizawa is solved?

Story 7/10: Cute girl with a cleaver; that carries a nice little ring to it, does it not? While not fully accurate, it rather clearly depicts Higurashi no Naku Koro ni's brooding mixture of drama and horror. As I generally make a point to avoid anything that possesses senseless slaughter with a ten-foot poll, I was quite surprised when I found myself drawn in to a show that appeared to have such elements. To my elation, however, Higurashi quickly turned out to be anything but senseless, and actually relies on an intellectually involving storyline rather than flying limbs for its appeal. While there is an undeniable plethora of violence and gore, it tends to be a product of the story and not so much a focus, perhaps shifting its appeal to an older, more mature demographic who doesn't usually find gore to be a favorite pastime.
That said, it's important to know that the anime follows an unusual pattern of storytelling and doesn't really make such information privy to the viewer at first glance. Higurashi is adapted from a novel/game series in which the presentation starts with four "question" arcs and concludes for four "answer arcs;" the first season here covers the first four "question" arcs and two "answer" arcs. While the individual arcs have related back story, characters, and the like, they are not chronologically sequential, which tends to throw viewers for a loop if they are not previously familiar with the franchise. In fact, this happens to be one of the most interesting aspects of Higurashi, as, while still coherent, it makes the plot very hard to piece together in a logical fashion. While trying to put together the pieces of the puzzle proves a rather daunting task, the series ends rather abruptly to lead into the second season; it was quite clear by that time, though, that the series was fully intended to be continued and concluded in additional season, so it was not much of a surprise.
As for story specifics, the fact that not much is really clear by the end of the first season and that the story follows a cumulative rather than a linear plot makes it difficult to really talk about the details of what happens. The basic idea, though, is that a string of serial murders start occurring in a rural Japanese village every year on the night of the Watanagashi festival. A boy by the name of Keiichi moves to the village a few weeks prior but knows nothing about the killings, but once he learns of the history he finds himself involved in the killing cycle as well. From there the stories diverge, with each of the arcs having the characters react slightly differently to certain events which result in drastic differences to the overall plot.
Perhaps the most intriguing part of Higurashi, though, is that the story is presented from a supposedly objective, narrative point of view, but never comes across that way. I found it very difficult to trust what I was watching as the truth, which certainly provides for a very intellectually tantalizing experience. In fact, this pans out to be the case for quite a few scenarios, as paranoia and fear run rampant throughout, and sometimes one character's delusions can twist the story to appear one way when it in fact is quite different. This surreal, twisted atmosphere really plays tricks with the mind, and I definitely found it to be Higurashi's greatest appeal.

Animation 6/10: Unlike most anime that aim for a combination of a scary/dramatic mood, Higurashi doesn't use many special lighting effects. Instead, a coupling of voice acting along with character facial expressions tends to do the trick, and quite well at that. Rena is especially disturbing in that one moment she's cute as a button, friendly, and open, yet the next, based almost exclusively on her face, she becomes a believable, cleaver-wielding sadist with a thirst for blood. It's fairly obvious that the animation budget for Higurashi was rather poor, but this adaptation works quite well in conveying the moods so I can't really complain.
Though I haven't (and refuse to, for that matter) watched Elfen Lied, I get the feeling Higurashi carries much of the same graphic intensity. There's an extraordinary amount of violence and gore, ranging from bludgeoning death to torture, so this is most definitely not appropriate for younger children or those who have a weak stomach. A bit of dismemberment is also present, but none is shown physically onscreen, and that's generally where I draw my line when it comes to watching such things.

Sound 7/10: I loved the opening theme, especially since it so dauntingly fits the series. The subtle, demi-human nature of the singer's voice, along with the phantasmal echoes behind it, really capitalize on the essence of the series, and provides for a very fitting introduction for each episode. More importantly, where the series lacks in visual quality the voice actors pick up the slack, as it's certainly no easy feat to able to make your character sound both empathetic and terrifying at the same time. Expectedly, there's an abundance of screaming and yelling, but it's kept to specific scenes and only where it's fitting, which showed a level of professionalism in the scriptwriting that is not often found in anime. For a series that relies so heavily on the duplicitous personalities of its characters, the seiyuu did a fantastic job, and I'm nothing but pleased.
The insert music, unfortunately, left a bit to be desired, as it didn't really do much at all. While it wasn't detrimental to any of the dramatic scenes, it was neither helpful, and for such a mood-oriented anime I would have preferred otherwise. With such stupendous voice acting, a stronger emphasis on the musical score would have done wonders for heightening the emotional vibes within the series' many dramatic environments.

Characters 9/10: Remember the old saying, "Never judge a book by its cover?" It had to be written in preparation for this series. Depending on the circumstances, all of the characters, at one point or another, shift between sanity and insanity, and it provides for a rather chaotic environment that continues to grow in complexity as the series progresses.
Take Rena, for instance. She's the typical warm-hearted, compassionate, friendly girl with a love for all things cute; simultaneously, however, she's a cleaver-wielding fanatic with a penchant for violence and bloodshed. All the characters take on similar roles in some respect at one point or another, but it's important to note that it tends not to be random in nature - i.e. Rena just doesn't go around pointlessly hacking people up with an axe. Each of the four "question" arcs takes on a "what if" role where the characters make different decisions at different points in time, and this generally results in one character being pushed beyond his/her mental breaking point in some fashion.
As the series progresses, the characters are continually expanded upon, which makes it refreshing from the typical horror flick. Many of the characters, Rika especially, carry very strange and mysterious auras, and carry an uneasy sense about them throughout the different arcs. Characters initially appearing innocent and naïve pan out to be anything but, and I found the series continually playing tricks with my brain when portraying them. Perspective plays a huge role in influencing the viewer's feelings toward any given character, and as such I found myself continually surprised from scene to scene. There's much more to each character than meets the eye, and the constant, consistent layering of their personalities over the progression of the series is nothing to scoff at; I can only imagine how much more warped my perceptions of each will be after I get through the second season.

Overall 7.5/10: Because Higurashi is an adaptation from a set of games and novels, it should be noted that the first season does not provide any sort of conclusion to its events. While the first and second seasons must be watched in concurrence, I made a point to write this review before delving too far into the second installment. Because the first season presents four "question" arcs and only two "answer" arcs, it's hard to pass final judgement on the series based on a matter of completeness. Even so, by itself Higurashi certainly stands as an above-average horror anime that is backed by tangible, substantive drama, and should not be characterized as some sort of mindless gore-fest; nobody dies "just because." Keeping in mind that I'm not really a fan of the genre, I might have scored this a bit low, but if you're into a somewhat intellectual mystery piece coupled with a lot of violence, I'd definitely say give it a shot.
~WhiteBakemono

Anime: Casshern Sins

Title: Satisfying But it's missing something.

About the Anime: In a dark future, the world is in ruin and everything is slowly crumbling away into dust. Humanity is almost extinct, while robots desperately seek out new parts to replace their rusting bodies. Their only hope for survival is to devour the one known as Casshern… or so they believe. Meanwhile, Casshern himself has lost all memory of his past. Why are these robots attacking him? Did he really kill the one known as Luna; the Sun that was called Moon? And why is he, alone, unaffected and undamaged by the ruin?

Story 5/10: Despite ... being a remake to a kitschy 70’s anime “classic,” Casshern Sins begins promisingly. In the first few episodes, the creators lay out a post-apocalyptic setting that manages to feel both unabashedly retro and grimly bleak at the same time. The resulting mix of camp and angst is weirdly intriguing, especially when the solid supporting characters and mysterious titular protagonist are factored in.
Sadly, Casshern Sins fails to live up to its initial promise due to its unfocused overarching narrative. Rather than develop any core theme in the early to middle stages, the series meanders among flavor-of-the-week plots and half-hearted attempts at a main story. After countless thematically tangential episodes, the anime barely has room to resolve its main plotline and is forced to squeeze a half-hearted conclusion into the final few episodes. The final episodes seem to assert that death is needed to make life worth living. However, the distracted narrative and conflicting themes beforehand causes this moralizing to feel hollow and unconvincing by the time the creators decide to tack it to the end. At the end of the series, Casshern Sins doesn’t feel like it was ever actually about anything, and this is perhaps its greatest flaw.
The anime’s plot is further diluted by lame fight scenes that lack context or relevance. In many occasions, a group of mooks will simply appear in the middle of an episode to suicidally impale themselves on Casshern’s foot. These scenes appear to have been inserted to please the action junkies, but the problem is that Casshern Sins tries to be something more than just another shounen action show. By mixing mindless action with serious science-fiction, the anime fails to appeal to fans of either.
Still, in spite of all these weaknesses, the series is not without merit. Casshern Sins’ main strengths lie not in the actual meat of the plot, but in the assorted one-shot episodes that pepper the overarching narrative. While they disrupt the flow of the actual story, many of the disjointed plotlines are well-written enough to be entertaining in their own right. Granted, not all of the self-contained stories are good, but others are genuinely compelling. This alone prevents Sins’ story from being an outright failure.

Animation 8/10: Fortunately, Casshern Sins has an excellent idea of what it wants to look like, if not what it wants to be about. Put simply, the style of the series' dystopian setting is wonderful. Casshern Sins uses carefully chosen color schemes and crisp animation all to great effect, and the final visual package is one of the most impressive I've seen this year. A particularly impressive aspect of the visual package is the dramatic use of light in just about every scene. It's not Makoto Shinkai obsessive, but the shadows drawn across the hero's face do a lot to darken the mood.

Sound 7/10: Voice acting as a whole is uneven. The protagonist’s seiyuu is so hideously terrible that I genuinely wondered if he was trying to sound wooden on purpose, while some of the supporting roles turn in excellent work. On the other hand, the background music is almost universally excellent. The music grimly underscores the anime’s bleak mood without ever becoming a distraction. The soundtrack’s one flaw is its frequent repetition, but this never becomes too much of a problem.

Character's 3.5/10: In addition to the haphazard plot and the hamfisted ending, the creators botch the characterization on nearly every major player in the show. Casshern himself is the most egregious example; his deadpan voice acting, terrible dialogue and unconvincing development combine to form one of the most ineffective protagonists that I've ever seen. Dio and Leda, the two main villains, are almost as bad; not only are their motivations left woefully unexplained, they're just flat-out boring characters.
Fortunately, some of the supporting characters fare better; Lluyze in particular is a welcome exception to the bad characterization. Casshern Sins dedicates an entire episode to dissecting her psyche in a weird and decidedly Freudian fashion, and the result is arguably the highlight of the show. Sadly, she is a comparatively minor character and simply can't carry the show on her own.

Overall 6/10: Overall, I enjoyed myself as I was watching and in particular liked the one-shot episodes, which at times evoke the amazing work done in Kino's Journey. However, the turgid overarching narrative, the bad characters and the incompetent ending make me wonder if these scattered episodes were enough to make the series actually worth my time.
~WhiteBakemono