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Noein is a piece with an unusual plot and setting when seen by almost all angles. The series portrays the concepts of time travel and multiverse in a very original way for its media, with lots of cool quantum physics inbetween. There's lot of "technobabble" to articulate all these concepts toghether. Whether this language is good or bad for the viewer, I think it can be kind of polarizing: the most nerdy sci-fy enthusiasts will love it whilst people who's not so much into this will most probably find it boring, so being the aforementioned really subjective, I'll limit myself to say that all the ... technical language is well used to build up the set of rules by which the mechanics of the world work, in a sense that even if we know it's all theories or even speculative fiction, the story turns to be plausible, really consistent and refreshing. Lots of creative technologies and visuals are used to accompany this, and just as the plot, the artwork is really atypical. The character design is pretty minimalistic with thick strokes and have great contrast with the more soft and detailed backgrounds and scenarios, but just as all the machines and other visual effects, the animation as a whole is very diverse and fits perfectly to the odd atmosphere of the series. This applies also to the CGI, being this last really well done to a point in which it "camouflages" into the 2D animation. And just as the visuals, the music really sets very well.

You'll see a bit of everything during the course of the episodes: superpower fights, mystery, drama, comedy. The combat and action sequences are really fluent and bombastic, the amount of frames-per-second is sometimes just absurdly high and there's an excelent job with the "camera" movement and angles. Now add an orchestra with a chorus and you get some of the most epic, and even mystical, action scenes that you can find around there. My main complain about the artwork is that you can find some obvious quality downturns once in a while, and that a couple of episodes have a drastical change of style (most likely because of transient changes on the director), making it a bit inconsistent. Another flaw this anime has is that it invests too much time on their juvenile cast. Sure, they have sweet traits and interactions, and we see them plenty of time so they turn to be really lovable, but there's much more potential in the adult part of the cast, many relationships between them and lots of emotional conflicts that lack enough development and could be way more interesting that they actually were. And, when the environment is turning more and more serious, having the kids acting completely... well... childish, it can be kind of tiring at times. At least I can say that the most relevant characters have a good approach and progression through the story. One more issue that's wasted potential, is a lack of a thematic. Just think about it: multiple universes, perception of reality, lots of other cool concepts. Imagine now the massive ammount of implicances this could have, yet we only see some (if any) interesting and deep topics being touched just superficially. Also the storytelling sometimes feels like out of focus; yes, there's lot of stuff happening constantly not giving you time to get bored, but at times you can feel that the story isn't really going forward, which I think is kind of an anchor for a series as short as only 24 episodes. This has to do with the main antagonist being absent for a great part of the show, and perhapts this also created a lack of time to explain how the hell this villain became what he is, a heavy plot hole here. I can appreciate though, that the villain's concept itself is really original, that he's got good dinamics with other characters, and that the story didn't end with a time paradox, a thing that's almost omnipresent in works that involve time travel. Instead, we have an epic ending that makes sense into the world's mechanics previously mentioned. The creators really put a lot of effort in the writing of the plot.

In summary: Noein is a very unique experience, really unrepeatable because of all the genres and tools it combines, and of course because of how well excecuted these are. It's a pity that they wasted a significant portion of its potential. Yet, this anime is entertainment from start to finish. Even if loaded with some notorious flaws, it's totally memorable and you should give it a chance. You most surely won't regret it.

7/10.

A curious series and, sadly, a little known one. The uncommon format of 15-minutes-per-episode might sound as a potential barrier to it, but surprisingly it wasn't the case. In fact, the creators were highly efficient in the use of the time and this allowed a great narrative flow. You have enough time to spend watching the characters, which are definetely the series' main asset because of this. Every single of them is really memorable, be it because they have their own personalities and particular traits, or because they have a more deep background which is explored throughout the episodes. The exploration of their conflicts also ... contributes for them to develop really organic, and also charming interactions, leading this to the creation of great drama. The series conveys a melancholic feeling but at the same time an optimistic message, that despite dificulties like loneliness you can still find companions and happiness, if you accept them. The series never makes their characters to play as victims of their circumstances but instead it shows the viewer how they overcome their situations. Also, a great detail is that even the antagonist has his own (and perhaps) subconscious, personal conflict. You never justify his actions but you understand why he does what he does and this is synergistic with a theme of the story, which is: will against programming.

The second most important asset of this anime is without a doubt the music. Every track (even though there aren't that many of these) is really strong and well used, making even more emphasis on the feelings that each scene wants to convey and creating a heartouching atmosphere, or a really tense one depending on circumstances. The animation is almost as well conceived, in the range from pretty decent illustration and character design to amazing fluency on movements and action when the moment requires it.

There're inconvenients, though. The first "defect" is wasting the potential that the story itself provides. The setting is just perfect for explorating more existential and deep issues about artificial inteligence, but no questioning nor morals on IA is ever put on the table as other works (contemporaries to Kurogane Communication) have done. I mentioned the contraposition of will to programming but in a practical sense it is touched really superficially. The other "defect" (yes. also with quotation marks) is that some key points of the story's background are left almost adrift; hard to explain without spoiling, but I could say that a lack of information in the environment forces the viewer to assume what these points are like, based on external stuff. I mean, the conclusion of this happens to be of common sense IF you've watched other stuff about humans and machines. Like Kurogane lacks of independence on this matter of the storytelling. At least I personally consider it as an unproper manner to understand the story, when the producers could've dropped at least some subtle pieces of info, for the series itself to make one elucidate, with more certainty, the events that led the world to be like it's shown. Would've been even better if the topic was also more original. Oh, and finally, some robots have a couple of traits that are too humane for themselves; I don't think that putting IA and humans at an equal emotional level is bad, but there's a line beyond which having some specific humane behaviours makes little sense for a machine (like literally crying, for example).

Anyhow, the previous paragraph is not really to point out conceptual flaws but to describe how this anime could've been more original and better. YET, it's surely good. A truly enjoyable and memorable experience, you shouldn't miss it. 7/10.

Scrapped Princess presents an outstanding setting and plot. As the writer Arthur Clarke says in one of his laws: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic". This concept, alone, is enough for two genres as disparate as fantasy and science fiction to become completely compatible, but also, the transition from a medieval, magic-filled world into something more complex, with such an harmonious and right pacing, gives this anime its own style and a feeling that might be imposible to replicate in any later works. In other words, this series is simply unique in this way. The world is also vast, consistently built and explored ... in detail: the viewers will travel through several places and, if paying proper attention, will find subtle tracks about the background story, which creates a great feeling of immersion and intrigue.

During this adventure, different groups of people with diverse beliefs (not only in a religious sense, but also in the livingstyle and even personal values) will be shown, as well as the inherent conflicts that come along with the opposition of different ways of thinking, and here comes the main thematic: What's best for mankind, for a human being? To be protected from dangers and live comfortable, but at the price of being privated from their free will? Or to be free to decide their own fate, but assuming the risks of chosing wrong, perhaps even facing one's own destruction? This debate is heavily present throughout most episodes, and as well as several other secondary topics, will be properly developed and reach a conclusion.

The main character, Pacifica Cassull, is an extremely passive, comformist and carefree person for most of the time, which might make her unpleasant at momments, but she's designed like that in order to explore the aforementioned subjects. She will slowly learn about different perspectives and grow to give the story a closing. Truly tri-dimensional, she has many traits, both negative and possitive: she's also kind, worries about others and strugles with the suffering that her existence causes to others because of a fate that others decided for her. She's got behaviours that might seem contradictory but that's always coherent in the end. All this makes her realistic, mostly well-balanced and the perfect protagonist for this anime. The rest of the main cast is way more simple, but also remarkably well designed since they all have properly defined personalities, their own motivations, have dinamic and organic interactions and keep the plot moving into the right way. Bassically, few to none character go to a waste.

Moreover, Scrapped Princess is not only rich in philoshophical content, but is also diverse possessing drama, comedy, and exciting action. The series just has enough stuff as to be entertaining just as much as it is artistcal. Everything referred to the audiovisual section is just impressive for the time this series was aired. Animation has a great use of colour for every situation and a truly high level of detail (both for characters and landscapes). The action scenes are really fluid, which, alongside variable camera angles, make them epic and memorable. The viewer can really feel the magnitude of the battles. As for the soundtrack, it is in my opinion one of the best around there. Every track has a lot of emotion and fits perfectly every scene, making drama and action really intense, at the same time contributing to the series' identity. In short, this anime is pretty ingenious with its plot, its scenerey, its concepts, its character writing and the way in which it exposes and develops these four sections, plus amazing artwork.

This anime has some little defects, though. In specific moments, the subtle narrative will be replaced by perhaps oral exposition, thus becoming a little dense at times. Also, even if the conclusion of the story is plainly epic, the conclusion for the main theme is kind of weak, since I think the final message needed a little more clearness. Yet, these trifles pale compared to the good job this anime does, and for that reason, it is nearly a perfect show.

Scrapped Princess gets a 10/10 from me. A masterpiece as few I've seen.

It was inevitable for me to get a little excited to start this series. The hostile post-apocalyptic scenario, the presentation of the premise, its aesthetics and the mystery surrounding it generated expectations just during the first 10 minutes of episode one, expectations that wouldn't be (by far) reached by Chrome Shelled Regios during the rest of the show, as the development of the real plot was quickly replaced for non-contributory, mostly-boring side stories with a coarse harem inbetween.

The turn-off caused by that was comparable to that of our simpleton Layfon who is more accompanied by an insipid crew of females than by revelations about the ... world he lives in and serious battles, thanks to him being disproportionately powerful because of the simple fact he's the main character. So you better don't only forget about watching plot progress, but also about watching the protagonists (or anyone else) growing nor making something destacable with the advancement of the chapters. At least the artwork is proper.

The bases of the series are very contundent and the first episodes are really compelling, but the immature and meaningless way in which the rest of the story is dealt makes you think 'meh, this is just one more anime', and even among the average there're better things to watch. 4/10.

Gantz (both first and second season) is a proof that no matter how attractive and original an idea is, it's condemned to a monumental failure if the execution is not proper. I don't know about the manga since I've never took a look on it, perhaps it is a masterpiece without any comparison, but regarding the anime, I couldn't have been more disappointed.

First things first: the series tries to show a distorted and exaggeratedly negative view of society on which is based a great part of the storytelling, which consists of the saddest and poorest attempts of plot devices. Seriously, the vortex of stupidity wherein ... becomes the argument is massive, and that is seen in the senseless acting of the whole cast under any circumstance. "Wow, this green monster just severed that man's head with its bare hands, I've got a gun right here but I'm not going to use it nor will I run away either, I rather grab the monster from its jacket and yell at it right on its face". That's an humoristic (yet quite literal) interpretation of one of the many stupidities that occur during the first chapters of season one. From the beginning, most of the troubles the characters get into and the subsequent deaths are the result of their apparently NULL common sense. Because of the good reviews I read previously, I kept watching Gantz hoping that nonsenses would eventually come to an end and things would get better. Boy, was I wrong, the absurdities had NO END.

Secondly we have all these 'tension and suspense' scenes when you see people aiming their guns at the aliens they must defeat whilst inwardly saying stuff like "I've got to shoot, I'm going to shoot" but you can leave the chapter playing, go for a snack with a coffee, and then take your sit again only to find out the guy hasn't shot yet. This is not suspensive at all, it's just boring and stressful, I wanted to get into the show through the screen to grab the gun and shoot by myself... not at aliens, but AT HUMANS! Not only are they completely incoherent about their decisions and behavior, but also they lack of any trace of personality. All of them are characterized by basically one or two traits, and are depressing beings mostly for the sake of being depressing. No personality, no credible personal conflicts or desires, no initiative, just hollow animated figures that won't pull the freaking trigger until half the team or so is already dead.

After having tolerated all this torture (and I still don't know how did I make it) to the final arch of the series, I realized that I was not going to get anything similar to a proper ending. The reward for my patience was an abrupt change of the storytelling, with some empty and pretentious tone of intellectuality and not a single issue about the plot answered. Serioysly, 20+ chapters and you won't get any close to at least a hint about what the hell is going on here, you simply don't know what the main topic of the story was supposed to be, if it ever had one.

Besides the relatively detailed animation (thanks to which we can at least get a handful of well conceived action scenes), the fluency and variation in the approach angles and the intriguing of the plot, I can't say nothing in favour to Gantz and I'll never understand why so many people think so high of this show.