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Haruchika tries to be too many things. That much is apparent if you've seen just the first episode alone. But what is rarely mentioned are the few things that it does do well, which I think have plenty of merit. They make the show at the very least worth watching to anyone who can find some level of enjoyment in them. This is less of a review and more highlighting some of the show's good points.

The characters as a whole are underdeveloped and underwritten. Most of the side characters like Narushima or Maren get maybe an episode on them, and then fade into the ... background only to say a line or two each episode after. While the two leads, the titular Haru and Chika, are not fully fleshed out either, I still very much enjoyed their time on screen. Chika is spunky, energetic and passionate about everything. The rest of the brass band club feeds off of her vivacity. Haru, by no stretch of the imagination is he unique, but he is not generic. Uncharacteristicly as the male lead, he does not have every girl falling in love with a nice guy persona, and he's...blonde! He's also in love with his teacher, whether in a romantic way or in admiration. The simple fact that he isn't the 1784th generic anime dude I've seen is a breath of fresh air.

It is unfortunate how short this show is, as I feel that if they just had more time on them, the characters could've really been expanded on. Serizawa in the second half got some development, but along with her it would've been nice to just get more from everybody. It's Angel Beats syndrome. PA Works has done this before, introduce 20 characters and only lean on maybe 3, but even less so in this show.

As said earlier this is a show known for trying to do too much. It's a brass music show, a semi episodic mystery show, a Slice of Life school club show, too much. But within that too much is what some of these mysteries entail. There's one about a girl suffering from depression after her brother died of cancer, and how to fix her. There's one about a girl trying to find out what's wrong with her grandpa, only to find out he's suffering from PTSD from the Vietnam war that he was dragged into. There's one about an adopted guy struggling with his identity after finding that his birth parents from China want him to visit. There's one about a girl slowly going deaf and another about a girl slowly going blind. One about a dude trying to steal a little girl's Tibetan Mastiff to sell for millions of dollars. Absolutely crazy one episode plot lines that you never see in an anime. Interesting to watch, although baffling at times.

The art is above average, and while it won't touch PA Works best stuff, it's still quite good. The backgrounds look great especially in that sunset it brings in so often. They ditch the classrooms and spend most in school time in their club room, which is nice to see. The characters themselves look striking (for a high school brass band anime) with Chika and Haru contrasting, and everyone's crazy looking eyes. The soundtrack does a better than average job conveying the emotion in any given scene.

My enjoyment of this show was carried by Chika and her attitude. She's oftentimes ditzy and arguably completely useless to the current objective at any given time, but it's her enthusiasm that gets everyone else moving forward, and any kind of character like that is a joy to watch in action. I really enjoyed Haru and Chika's relationship. They were not into each other at all, just simply best friends with no romantic implications. That gave their relationship a unique feel, rare to see compared to most anime like this. The show is too short for what it tries to do, often times skipping forward in time so much that you don't even notice they just went through a whole year of school. The latter half of the final episode does everything well, and feels like it deserves more. It kind of sequel baits itself at the end, and honestly, I hope it gets one someday. Because for what it is it is nothing short of an interesting watch. If not for it being marred by issues, I think there's a gem hidden somewhere in here. But I doubt it'll ever be fully realized.

I, like many other people, had never heard of this anime for the longest time. An obscure Gainax comedy show about a talking hamster? Never would've found that one. That was until a friend of mine showed me the famous scene from the show on YouTube, simply titled "Manko" https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AAP1tmTn6tE . I don't know about you, but that was enough to sell me on adding it to the PTW. About a year and a half later, and I finally sat down and gave it a watch. And I'll tell you right now, it's a shame I hadn't found this sooner, because it is one of ... the funniest comedy anime I've ever seen.

Of course what caught my eye was the off the wall vulgarity in a show that appears to be a cute little slice of life about an adventurous housekeeping hamster. Consisting of an assortment of sexual comedy and somewhat violent slapstick humor. This show pushed the boundaries big time. The simplistic art style was probably the only reason I can gather as to why they were even allowed to show this on television. There's both explicit sexual scenes, as well as Ebichu getting absolutely decimated in the most comical way (if that makes any sense) by her OL Master or the "Useless Bum". It also shows the highly dysfunctional relationship of Ebichu's Master and her "Useless Bum" of a boyfriend. Portraying an incredibly real looking relationship that is so against the norms of most anime.

And through all that, this show remains impeccably charming, and adorable most of the time. Throwing adult themes into something that for all intents and purposes looks like a children's show, you can't find this stuff anywhere else.

The housekeeping hamster in question, Ebichu, is voiced by Kotono Mitsuishi, famous from her days as Misato Katsuragi from Evangelion. The story of how this show came to be was an interesting one too. Mitsuishi would read the Ebichu manga in between recording lines for NGE. She would often burst out laughing and that caused people to go up to her and ask what she's reading. After some time, they at Gainax, including Hideaki Anno (what?), decided they wanted to animate it, and thus made Mituishi the titular character of Ebichu. I just found it very interesting, both that the studio sees a manga and goes "what the heck let's give it a shot", and that Mitsuishi eventually got the chance to provide a voice for the character she'd grown to love. And what a voice it was. Never was there a break in character, Ebichu has an unmistakable voice and speech pattern that I can't compare to anything else I've ever heard before. Mitsuishi did an unbelievable job portraying her.

This show is a gem. However, it is a relic from the year 1999 that almost nobody ever talks about. And that's incredibly sad. I'm not someone who particularly loves straight up comedy anime, but this show hooked me from the start. It was a riot. It stayed true to itself the whole way through, and brought new things to the table that I'd never seen in comedy anime before. You won't find many shows where a character fantasizes about having an intimate relationship with a hamster. It's truly something unique for both its time and now and is something most everyone should at the very least check out. If you haven't seen it, I recommend doing so immediately by any means possible, and then feel sorry that you hadn't watched it sooner.

I haven't written a review in a long while. Mainly due to the fact that MAL got rid of the "Not Helpful" option for reviews, but I digress. Watching this fucking show enraged me so much that I couldn't hold back from throwing all of my pure, unadulterated hatred at it by writing a review. So sit back and enjoy my review of this shitty Sunrise show from 2014 called Cross Ange.

Hope I'm not too rusty.

[There's spoilers all over this review]

I went into this with whatever can be considered less than no expectations. Really I can't even remember why I wanted to watch it ... in the first place. Maybe it was that I heard the main character was kind of a bitch (she is), or that I wanted to get my monthly dose of bad fanservice mecha series, fuck if I know. Now despite all that, I watched the first 3 episodes, and was pleasantly surprised. It set up this princess girl Angelise as an idealistic prim and proper dunce who would kill a child if it wasn't like the rest of them, only to tear down everything she believed in, and make her change her ways. Violently forced away from her utopian world, and taken to the unfriendly Arzenal. She was beaten, harassed, defiled, and left with nothing but her self left in the world. With nothing left to believe in, she decided that she indeed would change. She cut her hair and turned into Ange, a straight up bitch who takes no shit from nobody. Now whether you believe that to be good character development or not, it's something at the very least. And it's more than I'd seen in a long while from a protagonist. There was actual change there, and I respected it for happening.

Continuing on now, there's a bunch of lesbian sex scenes, ass shots in the mechs, censored tits and whatnot, blah blah blah, and then Ange wants to go back home. Because her bratty bitch of an Imouto calls for help. She doesn't go back alone though, along with her comes Hilda, fiery redheaded twin tails girl. Another bitch who takes no shit from nobody, but has a goal of her own. She wants to get back home to see her mom who she was separated from years before. They both set their differences aside and set out together, then go their separate ways. When both of them realize that they were fools for even thinking of going back, they get captured, beaten, mocked, nearly die, and then go back to Arzenal. I don't know whether or not that whole sequence was like some kind of social commentary on how society becomes moronic and conforms to whatever they're told to no matter how stupid it is, or like how we insult and degrade those who aren't the same as us, I don't know. I feel like the show was accidentally making sense. Anyway, Hilda and Ange are thrown in a jail cell for a week together for deserting Arzenal. Now, these two really hated each other. But being confined in this tight space together for a long period of time would make them have to connect with each other to make sense of all that has happened. They had both gone home, and befell similar consequences, and they were able to flesh themselves out with each other in that jail cell. I'll sit here and say that was the best scene in the entire show. Then, they go and make a promise to each other that they'll destroy this awful world, this world that has wronged them for so long. And then episode 11 ends. And so ends everything good about this series.

I'll be honest. I loved the first 11 episodes. I really did. Sure there were tons of things that were just all over the place, but I found a way to really like it. Every character put on screen had some kind of genuine motivation to them, and they felt like real characters for once. They all developed in some ways, no matter how subtly, and it was very interesting to watch. They even began touching upon a possible relationship between Hilda and Ange, which would've been very very interesting, due to how they originally acted towards one another, and how they're lives had intertwined since. But alas, everything I could've wanted to happen, just, well...didn't. And there's one man to blame for it.

Tusk.

Tusk, I wanted him dead the entire show. This guy, this fucking guy. He comes in early on and helps Ange out of a jam, and I'd hoped I'd seen the last of him, but knew that couldn't be the case because he was so prominent in the Opening. I knew that he would drag this show down. There was no doubt in my mind. And low and behold, he did. The basis of his character can be summed up in few words. He's a guy (there's only really 2 in the whole fucking show), he falls in love with Ange after meeting her once, he inexplicably falls on her crotch 1534289069 times, and...nevermind that's it. He comes in as this living, breathing, infectious pile of generic blandness that single handedly destroys everything good in this show. Ange had new found morals, a new found goal, and was bound to turn into a regular ol anti hero we could all get on board with. But no, Tusk comes in and ruins everything. If you remove him from the show entirely, it wouldn't make a single difference. If you just replace everything he did, with Hilda doing the same, or Ange just being alone, it would've made the show much better. Rather than delve deeper into this budding relationship between Hilda and Ange, they throw Hilda away for a while in order to "strengthen the bond" between Tusk and Ange. Every time he was on screen I was filled with anger. He could not be more generic, and I've grown to absolutely disdain generic male characters in anime. There was no effort made towards making him into a decent character. If he wasn't so generic I probably wouldn't mind as much.

My main issue with him is the relationship between he and Ange. See, Ange comes off as this strong, independent, fearless girl who can do anything she wants and get anything done. But once she meets Tusk, all of that is thrown out the window. She completely changes her goal, and completely forgets about everything that's happened to her along the way. "Oh I've been beaten and spit on and psychologically damaged and possibly raped and nearly died at the hands of all humans, but I met this one guy so everything is okay now". It shouldn't have gone this way. It could've been something special, but no. Leave it to anime to add generic bullshit to something that was getting interesting only to ruin everything they set up. Fuck. Anyway, later HE DIES. He fucking blows himself up (or at least that's what was implied). All of my prayers were answered. But then, of course, for no explainable reason, he comes back, without even a scratch. Doesn't even tell us how he got back to his house, he must've just teleported there or something I don't fucking know.
And then they have 12 hours of intercourse.

Tusk ruined this show. And, while I may be overstating how good I think the first half was, it still was really captivating, even if for all the wrong reasons. If this had just stayed true and turned into a yuri fanservice mecha series throughout, with Hilda as best girl, than this would've been something I'd hold near and dear. But no. Fucking Tusk. Not only the worst character in this show, but I'd argue one of the worst in anime period. Never have I seen one man bring down an entire show just from his mere existence. Just tragic. I don't know if I'm the only one who feels this, but, whenever a romance happens on screen that I really don't like, it like, genuinely hurts to watch it unfold. Like, you know it's going to happen, and you know you can't do anything to stop it. I don't know man, it was painful. Shows that need no romance and yet have romance thrown into them just to appeal to more of a dumbass audience that appreciates these contrived relationships really irk me. I really wish romance could've just stayed out of it completely to tell you the truth. This originally felt like Akatsuki no Yona without Hak for a while (they both cut their hair too). Though I liked it even more when they isolated Ange as opposed to giving Yona a shoulder to cry on. Ange was left alone, and had she stayed alone, it could've made for better storytelling.

Oh well.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading my review (If this can even be called a review). I was more so venting my steam ranting than trying to make a compelling argument but I hope you had fun reading nonetheless. This felt like by far the most elitist I've sounded in a review, I guess I'm evolving. I'm becoming more and more aware of how bad the anime coming out are, and am starting to lose my faith in the industry as a whole. This show did not help with that. I never drop anime, which leads to me torturing myself with bad shit a lot. And this show just teased me, made me think it was good for a while, only to crumble under itself later. If I ever quit watching anime, I'll look to Cross Ange as the show that really did me in. If that is ever reason enough to tell you not to watch a show, well, then I don't know what is.

Goodnight everybody.

"I'd forgotten
That living
Meant losing" -Naoe Riki

Coming of Age is a really tough genre to pull off, especially in recent anime. You have to establish characters, and as the story progresses, force them to endure certain events and cause them to grow up, whether from a child into an adult or grow as a human being. Little Busters pulls off coming of age as good as I've ever seen an anime do it. And it does it while adding such emotional power to the story that only enhances the impact that the story will leave on you. This is thanks in no ... small part to Key, of whom the original Visual Novel was originally conceived. Key knows how to touch your emotions. And some would say that they've been hit or miss with some of their stuff. But when it comes to Little Busters, which I just finished rewatching, the messages they convey are on par with their best.

Many people dislike the first season of LB (For reasons other than adaptation decay). And I can't really blame them for doing so. When you watch this anime, you'll see season 1, and you might feel a little disappointed. Because to be completely honest, it is exactly what you'd expect from a Key Visual Novel adaptation. Protagonist meets an assortment of girls, and helps them out with their problems, which tend to have a lot of sad moments sprinkled throughout them. It also consists of a lot of moe characters doing moe things. And has a few stand alone episodes that at first, feel like they aren't really important to the overall plot, but in the end, are integral. But don't let that ruin things for you, the first season is vitally important to the success of this show. I for one loved the first season, it had many lovable characters, hilarious comedy, some very good story arcs, and subtle nods to "something more" that was yet to come. Season 1 establishes all of its characters, it gets you attached to them. Which will make the emotional jolt the story takes in season 2 much more meaningful to watch. This anime succeeded where the incredibly similar Angel Beats didn't, in its length. Angel Beats threw at you 15+ characters, and tried to make you get attached to them in just 13 episodes, which, is almost flat out impossible. Little Busters as a whole is 39 episodes. It gives you an immense amount of time to get invested into these people's lives. More comparable to Clannad, season 1 serves as pretty much the 26 episode prequel to let you know who everyone is, what they're like, and attempts to prepare you for the much bigger and better sequel.

When season 2 rolls around, it will begin to take a turn. A turn down a path that's quite unlike season 1. It introduces things into the story that you hadn't seen before. Those nods to "something more" in season 1 all come to fruition here. All your questions will have answers. Your opinions will change. And, unlike most anime that have come out within the past 4 years, you will see the growth of a character. This is a Key anime. And as said before, some Key anime are hit or miss. Some of them, like Angel Beats, exist only to make you cry. It's not trying to tell you a good story, nor is it trying to throw out real character depth. It exists solely for the purpose of pulling at your emotions. And if you're like me, that won't work, because you can't become emotionally invested in a story and characters in only 13 episodes devoid of meaningful development. LB isn't just some melodramatic tear fest, forcing you to cry is not Little Busters' one and only objective. This is a show that's going to tell you a story. A story that you can become easily invested in, and if you cry along the way, so be it. Little Busters Refrain takes the Clannad After Story method of establishing characters in a first season, and putting them to the test in the second. Really forcing them to do what they are capable of doing. No longer is our protagonist just a protagonist, he is, in Clannad's case, Tomoya Okazaki, a man who has lost everything, a man who has given up, but a man who still finds hope, and must fight his hardest to regain the things that he once held dear. Little Busters, has Naoe Riki. A boy who is young, naive, and not ready for the real world, Relying too much on others to do what they think is right rather than what he thinks. Throughout Refrain, he has to grow stronger, not particularly physically, but stronger as a person. Grow into someone who can deal with loss, and overcome hardship. Little Busters conveys the theme of growing up insanely well. Saying that you can't rely on your friends forever. Your going to have to deal with very bad and awful situations, and your friends won't always be there for you. You have to become independent. You have to grow up.

As I said earlier, I just finished rewatching Little Busters. Now, I've rewatched a lot of anime now, and while Little Busters is one of my all time favorite anime, it is not my absolute favorite. But I can say that it was definitely the most rewarding rewatch I've ever experienced. I never knew just how much season 1 references things that have to do with season 2 that you won't understand until you get there. You're able to more knowingly understand certain character motivations, and some things they say will make a lot more sense knowing the overall outcome. My opinion on the characters was different the second time around, and it made for an incomparable rewatch experience. Originally, I had thought that I just loved LB, not that it was a great show by any means, but upon seeing it a second time, I can objectively say that it's one of the best anime I've ever seen to date, season 2 specifically. It is something that will grip you, attach to you, and emotionally drain you. Something I feel takes what both Anohana and Angel Beats did, and does it 10x better. With a coming of age story that will surely blow you away from start to finish, it's something that I'll wholeheartedly recommend to anyone and everyone who either wants a great story with great characters and character development, or if you just wanna sit back and cry a whole days worth of tears.

Little Busters ~Refrain~ is a masterpiece among modern day coming of age anime.

Thank you for reading.

Aishiteruze Baby is an anime that I feel has gone almost unnoticed in the 11 years that it's been around. I've never actually met a single person who's seen this little shoujo. I'd only found out about it a year ago when I wanted to find a shoujo anime that had a male protagonist, and this title showed up, along with Kure-Nai and Natsume Yuujinchou. Since then, I'd held off on the show and hadn't watched it until just a few days ago. What can I say about this series? Well in short, if you haven't seen this anime, I highly recommend that you do ... so when you have the time. Because it is something that I think any anime fan can really get attached to.

STORY: 10/10
If you've ever heard of an anime called Usagi Drop, then you should know what this story is about. It's essentially the same setup except instead of having an adult taking care of a child, it's a high school student, named Kippei Katakura. He is a playboy who is always trying to find a girl to talk to. He eventually is thrust into a situation where he has to care for his 5 year old cousin Yuzuyu, who was abandoned by her mother. The story in this anime works very well. It does a lot of different things that will almost always keep the viewer interested. It deals with many different themes such as lonliness, depression, child abandonment, child abuse, etc. And one of the things I loved most, was that it was able to implement a romance that was not the main focus of the series, but still got all the development that it needed to satisfy the viewer. But at this show's heart, it is about the growing relationship between Kippei and Yuzuyu that is reminiscent of a child and parent, or rather, child and older brother relationship. This anime has a story that does many different things, and is able to seamlessly mesh then ask together without ever missing a beat, and the end result is a wonderful story .

CHARACTER: 10/10
From start to finish, every character in this anime changes. They have had many trials and tribulations that have affected them internally and externally. They all developed from what they were and were extremely fleshed out and likable, and to an extent were even very relatable. For me, the best character in this anime is none other than Yuzuyu. She felt like a genuine 5 year old. Incredibly real and still extremely adorable. From beginning to end, I feel she developed the most of all. She had to go through being abandoned by her mother, constantly being talked about behind her back, having to basically start her life over when she was left at the Katakura household. The relationship between her and Kippei was absolutely wonderful.

ART/ANIMATION: 8/10
Nothing to complain about here really. Granted, this anime isn't new by any means. This is Toei Animation in 2004, 11 years ago now. It does look a tad aged, but I don't think that's a problem by any means. I liked the art style as well.

SOUND: 8/10
The soundtrack for this anime was very nice. Nothing too flashy, it went well with the story and enhances the overall feel of the show, and that's all I could've asked for. The OP and ED were good as well. Now, if I had to complain about ONE thing from this anime, it'd have to be the voice acting. I didn't particularly have a problem with it, but I could definitely see times when the inexperience showed on the actors. Particularly that of the children, even more particularly for Yuzuyu. Miyu Tsuzurahara, at the time, was only 10 years old. I love the idea of using an actual child to voice a child in an anime. Usagi Drop did the same thing for Rin. However, it worked really well in Usagi Drop. In Aishiteruze Baby, it did not work as well. Again, I liked her portrayal a lot, and I wouldn't have wanted it any differently, but I know flaws when I see them and there were many in her performance. But hey, she was 10, what can ya do eh? As a whole though, I think the voice acting was very well.

ENJOYMENT: 10/10
OVERALL: 10/10
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Aishiteruze Baby was an anime that I was really excited to watch. I saw Usagi Drop in November and flat out loved it. I wanted more things like Usagi Drop, just not more Usagi Drop. (If you've read the manga you know what I mean...) Little did I know that I'd end up loving this anime even more than Usagi Drop. I loved everything that this show had go offer. It has been a while since I've seen a show that affected me in a way such as this, and it was a breath of fresh air from start to finish. I highly recommend seeing this anime as soon as you can. It is one of the best shoujo anime I have ever seen, and is something I feel all anime fans can enjoy. Aishiteruze Baby is a truly heartwarming experience.

Not much needs to be said here. This is Mushishi. One of the most respected and revered anime to ever grace the medium. And like the rest of the series, this 47 minute special (episode 11/12 of Zoku Shou) is a treat to watch.

Story and Characters
As with the usual format, this story shows us another one of the Mushishi Ginko's encounters with Mushi, but this time, we find ourselves ANOTHER Mushishi, named Kumado. Kumado is from a clan of Mushishi who have been researching a way to deal with a certain "forbidden" Mushi. (For the sake of spoilers, I'll stop there) The story is great ... as always, and the characters get even more fleshed out then they normally would with the addition of 20 extra minutes.

Art/Animation and Sound
Mushishi is Studio Artland's crowning jewel from a production standpoint. It is incomparable to anything else they've ever worked on. And this special is no different. It looks downright fantastic. The designs of the characters, the designs of the Mushi, the look of the nature, the colors, everything looks beautiful. As for the sound, it's still incredible. The Mushishi soundtrack has always had a unique kind oh sound to it, and this special is no different. I'm also glad that they still kept the Opening theme of "Shiver" by Lucy Rose. It's a beautiful song, and one that I really loved listening to over the course of the Zoku Shou installment.

Final Thoughts
Mushishi will never cease to amaze me. It's an absolute treat of an anime that is the perfect kind of thing to watch whenever you just want to relax. You can watch it whenever you want, with its episodic nature, and it will always give you the same calming and soothing feel whenever you need it. It's not a show for everyone, but I definitely recommend it to everyone to try. This special gave me everything I could've wanted. And I am very glad I decided to get back to it.

In 2011, director Akiyuki Shinbo teamed up with Studio SHAFT and writer Gen Urobuchi to create an anime by the name of Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Prior to Madoka, Shinbo was known to have only directed one other series from the Magical Girl genre.

That series was Seven Arcs 2004 anime, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha

Now, why do I bring up Madoka you ask? Well its because they are extremely similar (as most anime directed by Shinbo are). Heck, if it wasn't for Gen Urobuchi turning Madoka into a deep dark pit of death and despair, I'd think they were the same show. But Nanoha, being a ... lot less psychologically intense, gives it a lot more of an audience to appeal to. Then again, that also hurts the anime. As many "mature" anime fans would think, "Why would I want to watch a show about a 9 year-old magical girl searching for Jewel Seeds?"

Well that's what I'm here to tell ya

STORY: 7/10
(Short Summary) The story of Nanoha, starts off with 9 year-old Nanoha Takamachi, living her daily life, when suddenly, she discovers an injured ferret on the side of the road. She is worried about this ferret and wants to help it. But it turns out, that the ferret is a shape shifting mage that was sent to Earth to complete a specific task. This ferret, being injured, cannot complete this task, therfore he bestows upon Nanoha magical powers enabling her to transform into a Mage and fight off impending danger and collect items known as Jewel Seeds.

Now, that kind of a story doesn't sound like the most unique and interesting kind of story, but it's how Nanoha builds off of something so simple and turns it into a very interesting journey headlined by the characters and how they develop moving forward. It uses some run of the mill magical girl themes tied with uncharacteristically dealing with real social problems throughout the series. It ends up turning into a very unique series that is fun and awesome to watch.

CHARACTERS: 9/10
The characters in Nanoha go through many trials and tribulations throughout the series, in which they must find ways to deal with. Our lead Nanoha Takamachi is a bright and cheery young girl who's easy to love right from the start and became one of my more favorite female lead characters in anime. She starts off as anyone would in her situation, surprised, scared of what may happen, and hoping that she is able to do all that she is asked to do. And eventually comed to terms with her situation and finds that she now wants to do this instead of being forced to.
The other characters are memorable, and very well fleshed out. None more so than the second female lead, Fate Testarossa. Fate develops almost the most in the show, and is a really cool character to see go through her obstacles.
I found every character very enjoyable to see on screen, and was very happy with how they all turned out.

ART/ANIMATION: 8/10
I honestly loved the character designs for this show. There was just something about them, blending classic animating styles with new age ones, paired with wonderful use of colors and lighting. Considering this show was made 10 years ago back in 2004, by Studio Seven Arcs, I was impressed. It was an unexpectedly very well done.

SOUND: 8/10
The soundtrack gets the job done, and it gets it done well. It knows when to be serious, it knows when to be intense, and it knows when to be sad. And the tracks fit the show well. The Opening Theme was very good as well. The OP, like the soundtrack, fit the show near perfectly.
As for the voice acting, I also thought they excelled for every role. Nanoha was portrayed very nicely by the wonderful Yukari Tamura. But the best voice in the show, would be of Nana Mizuki's portrayal of Fate Testarossa. She hit that feel of dread in Fate's character perfectly. All the voice actors left nothing for me to complain about and did good jobs all around.

ENJOYMENT: 10/10
OVERALL: 9/10
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha is an anime that at first glance, probably doesn't look like something you'd enjoy, but underneath the surface, lies an underrated anime from the Magical Girl genre that I feel is absolutely worth seeing by anyone who feels they'd like to see it. For me personally, I loved this anime. I loved every second of it. From the first minutes of episode 1 to the lasting minutes of episode 13. I had been holding it off for a while and after finally watching it I can honestly say that it met all of my expectations and excelled in every category. It is truly an anime that I won't soon forget.

Bleak.

If I had to use one word to describe Now and Then, Here and There, that word would be bleak. The definition of the word bleak is not hopeful or encouraging; unlikely to have a favorable outcome, and that is exactly what this show is. While watching, you start to think "Is there anyway things could possibly get better?" When in truth, the answer would almost certainly be no. In this anime, we explore war, torture, rape, survival, senseless murder, etc. All having an effect on one boy named Shu. Shu, who's attitude is far from bleak, has to deal with all of these hardships, ... all for the sake of finding one girl: Lala-Ru.

STORY: 10/10
Now and Then, Here and There begins with Shu seeing a girl on a smokestack, and wondering what she's doing up there. When he eventually gets to talk to her, he is transported to a world which is consumed by war, a lack of water, and a bat-shit insane dictator. This anime's story's pacing, progression, themes, and execution are all done near to perfection. There was not a single moment of time when I was disinterested in the story. I was on the edge of my seat wondering what could possibly happen next. This story, is paired up with quite possibly my favorite setting of any anime I've ever seen. It's hard to put into words exactly what the setting is, but, I'll just say that the picture that MAL uses for this anime is basically everything I love about it. Standing on a smokestack, with the dystopian city bathed in sunset on view for all to see. Outstanding

CHARACTERS: 10/10
With the characters, we have Shu, who is probably one of the toughest kids ice ever seen in an anime. One minute he's walking home from kendo, and the next he's in a strange place being beaten, tortured, ridiculed, and nearly killed on many occasions. With all that he goes through, you'd think he wouldn't be able to handle this right? Your wrong there. He doesn't cry or do anything that would make him seem weak. He would get beaten nearly to death but would not go down without a fight. He has an attitude of, no matter how bad things get, if you keep on going, good things are bound to happen. As a whole, he is a very memorable character and the image of him standing on the smokestack shielding Lala-Ru from oncoming danger will live in my head for as long as I live.
Lala-Ru is a tricky case. I don't know if she even said 100 words in this show. I've yet to see a more stoic character. Not to say she's not a good character though. She is the key to human survival after all.
I'll also mention Sara, who was taken to Hellywood completely by accident as she was mistaken for Lala-Ru. The things she goes through are unimaginably tragic and I felt so bad for her and was just hoping that she would be able to survive.
The last character I will mention will be Hando...This guy...THIS FUCKING GUY...He puts the Dick in Dictator. At times while watching this anime I was genuinely frightened. He was the source of this. It was unsettling when he was in screen and you just never know what he's going to do next, you just know that whatever it is, it's going to make someone else suffer. Oh and if I didn't mention before, he's bat-shit insane for good measure.

ANIMATION: 7/10
AIC has done many anime, and frankly, they have been quite average. Not to say that this anime looks amazing, because for all intensive purposes, it doesn't. And that should be expected since it was made back in 1999. What I really liked was their use of the color orange, particularly in the sunsets. And if I have to say one thing about this shows animation, it would be that this is an anime that transcends it's own animation. There is no reason to not watch this show for it looking a bit older. Because the phenomenal story allows you to ignore the animation and just focus on tacky good storytelling.

SOUND: 8/10
The music used in this show is also quite good. Many of its tracks giving off a vibe of emptiness or sadness. Which really fit with the themes of the show. And I will also say that the Ending Theme to this anime "Lullaby" by Reiko Yasuhara is absolutely breathtaking. It just sounds beautiful. The voice acting is solid on both dubs as well.

ENJOYMENT: 10/10
OVERALL: 10/10
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Now and Then, Here and There is in my humble opinion, a masterpiece. But at the same time, it's a gem from the late 90's that too many anime fans will never get the pleasure of seeing because it just does not get the exposure it deserves. Few anime I see give me completely unique feelings that I could only feel from watching that particular anime. Only one other had done that and it was Mawaru Penguindrum. This anime was able to achieve that feat as well.
So, if you have not seen Now and Then, Here and There, I strongly recommend you go see it as soon as you can. I look at it as an absolute classic that really shouldn't be missed. And while it is one of the most depressing and heart-wrenching anime you could possibly find, the affect it will have on you will be truly unmatched by any other.

Because ten billion
years' time is
so fragile,
so ephemeral...
it arouses such a
bittersweet,
almost heartbreaking
fondness.

Thanks for reading.

Going into Ga-Rei-Zero I didn't really know what to expect. All I had really heard about it was that it was an urban fantasy action series directed by a Mr. Ei Aoki, whom previous to this, had only directed...Girls Bravo? However, after Ga-Rei-Zero he went on to direct Wandering Son (which I think is brilliant), the first Kara no Kyoukai film, Fate/Zero, and most recently, a show I recommend everyone go check out called Aldnoah.Zero. I consider Ga-Rei-Zero as Ei Aoki's first attempt at Fate/Zero. Ga-Rei-Zero is a good show. But it's obviously not on any level close to Fate/Zero. It has many good qualities ... about it, and now, I'm gonna go over those good qualities!  

STORY: 7/10
The story is about vanquishers who are essentially spirit detectives who try to keep these ghosts from terrorizing their city. The story holds up, but comes off as pretty confusing at times. This series is a prequel to the manga that it was adapted from.

CHARACTERS: 8/10
I thought the characters were portrayed very well. A few character motivations weren't entirely made clear but that's alright. Yomi and Kagura's relationship is one of the best that I've seen from two female characters. A sisterly bond unique to this show that separates it from many other anime.

ART/ANIMATION: 8/10
The animation is above average for its time (2009). Action scenes looked really good, and the character designs were good. Ga-Rei-Zero was animated in part by Asread and AIC Spirits. Asread has recently worked on the Corpse Party adaptation and the ever polarizing Mirai Nikki.

SOUND: 9/10
I thought the soundtrack was fantastic. Each track played throughout the show is just great. Whether it's during an action scene or not, the music just fits perfectly. The opening and ending themes were great. They both really pump you up and make you want to continue watching. In terms of voice acting, I'll recommend the Japanese Dub over the English Dub for this one. It's one of "those" FUNimation dubs where they use those same 10 people that they always used to use to voice each character. Nothing really wrong with the English dub but it's average at best.  

OVERALL/FINAL THOUGHTS: 7/10
Ga-Rei-Zero is a good show. It has many good action sequences, great character interactions, and a fantastic soundtrack. Some confusing plot lines but they can be overlooked. I was told that this show had a really good first episode, and I was not disappointed. It's really intense, and it'll really grab your attention. I will say that I really dislike how they ended this series. You can't end a show like that if your not gonna make a second season. It seems unlikely that another season will be made, as it was made 5 years ago, and we've heard nothing since. I recommend this show to you if your in the mood for a good action series with a great soundtrack and a great bond between female characters. I will also recommend the currently airing Tokyo ESP, which was written by the same mangeka and takes place in the same universe as Ga-Rei-Zero.
See ya !

Ahhhh NieA_7. If you've never heard of this anime I wouldn't blame you. As it is not one of Yoshitoshi ABe's most famous since he is one of the masterminds behind the ever talked about mindf**k that is Serial Experiments Lain. If I had to compare NieA_7 to anything that ABe has done it would be more appropriate to compare it to that of Haibane Renmei as it's not all dark and philosophical, but rather, very calming and easy to take in. This show would best be described as the crew who worked on Lain taking a little break. This show is a very light-hearted ... comedy that is honestly a joy to watch. I would say I watched it at the perfect time as I got exactly what I wanted out of it since I had watched a lot of anime recently that consist of heavy drama and very compelling storylines. (It was Fate/Zero if you were wondering)

STORY: 8/10
Some would argue that NieA_7 lacks a constat story, I would disagree. As this anime is about a world where it is the year 2000, the turn of the century, and Aliens live amongst humans. And among those aliens is a girl (an Under Alien) named NieA. She freeloads at the Enohana Bathhouse. The main protagonist of the story is a Cram School student named Mayuko Chigasaki, who works 3 jobs just to get by. She lives at the Enohana Bathhouse with NieA and must deal with NieA crazy shenanigans or just have to deal with NieA constantly complaining about being hungry. The part of the story that I really resonanated with was that it was about Mayuko really trying her hardest to get by and showing all of these overarching depressing themes that ABe throws out there. But at the end of the day, the show is a fun to watch light-hearted comedy.

CHARACTERS: 9/10
I'll start with Mayuko Chigasaki
Mayuko is a down on her luck Cram School Student who has to work 3 jobs just to get by as she does not want to bother her parents die money. She barely makes enough to have dinner at night, much to NieA's dismay. While she doesn't make much, she is a very hardworking girl, and never complains about what is asked of her. She constantly is butting heads with NieA wanting to eat all the time or building random UFOs or other contraptions bringing junk into their room. She has another friend named Chiaki (named after Chiaki Konata) whom she hangs out with from time to time. But Mayuko is a generally socially awkward person who would rather stay at home and study than go out with friends. Mayuko came off as a very relatable character and one that I really connected with. While I am not at the same age as her, I just could really feel what she was going through. A lot of the themes presented in this anime are quite depressing and very real. All in all, Mayuko has become one of my favorite female anime characters.
Now there's NieA
NieA is an Under Alien (Under 7) who lived in the Enohana Bathhouse before Mayuko got there. She is constantly causing trouble, by gathering random junk in order to make UFOs to sell so she can pay for food that she so desperately covets. When she's not causing trouble, she can be found sleeping on the roof or just being lazy somewhere. She is a very lovable character who just wants to have fun. Her relationship with Mayuko is one that I really enjoyed watching.

ART: 7/10
The animation was done by Triangle Staff who obviously did Serial Experiments Lain. The animation is what is to be expected from an anime that was made almost 15 years ago. Though the animation can hit some really high points that are very noticeable.

SOUNDS: 8/10
The sound consists of pretty normal set of tracks with acoustic guitars in the mix. Very calming little soundtrack that fits with the show very well. The opening song features the raspy voice of SION. The OP is an acquired taste but it's up to opinion. Solid voice acting on both ends. In the Japanese dub, Mayuko is played by the same voice actress who did Saber of the Fate/ series.

I would very much recommend this anime for anyone who would like to just take a break with a good light-hearted comedy. Though it is pretty old and the age shows from time to time, if you can get past the older animation, you'll find a real gem of a series.