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Having had watched and kept up with the anime since the beginning; I enjoyed my brief time spent in the fandom. I was absorbed in it as a series, but it was more for its idea than anything else, and my own interest in the themes shown throughout it. However, the dark atmosphere mixed with mecha/sci-fi that I love above all other genres was, in part, what had me overlooking quite a few flaws. I'll go into detail, but before I begin, I'll just note that this is one of the first series I've ever been conflicted enough about to write a full review ... for.

Story: 7/10

The concept overall was unique and quite interesting-- a species almost mirrored in looks to humans, yet drastically different in nature. When I read about what this anime's main focus would be, I found myself very interested to see it. The themes presented throughout the anime, and also the likelyhood of the viewer to side with the humans instead of the Martians through the simple observation of all the character's experiences was what stood out to me. At times, there was a few scenes where the viewer had to conclude their own findings and try to understand for themselves what just happened, this helps the viewer get pulled into the story. Even though this anime was thematically powerful, emotionally evoking and thought provoking, Aldnoah.Zero has a weakness, and that would be the writing behind the anime.

The main reason I'm giving the story a 7/10 is because it's mediocre at best. There are many questions left unanswered due to the sudden, disorganized and very rushed ending; however, I will talk about the ending further later in the review.

If asked to explain the plot of Aldnoah,Zero, how would I? A handful of Humans go to Mars, they discover a special force called Aldnoah, they turn into "superior beings" and are later called Martians. A war breaks out between Martians and Humans. There's a fake assassination thrown in there, then even more war breaks out. All ending with a real assassination. There's seriously a lack of natural flow from each of these events. It feels like each conflict is pulled out of nowhere and not thoughtfully put together to help develop the story or the characters. There is no driving force to propel the story forward, it's just one event after another - put together to make it exciting enough for people to keep watching it without knowing or understand exactly what they're seeing on the screen. It also doesn't help that many of the characters were overall very bland and unimportant.

Onto the topic of character development itself, there is little to none. There is no big event that changed any characters for the better or worst because the only big event that happened in this anime was in the last 5 minutes of the entire series. There was changes in characters from event to event but there was no overall character development. No one grew from these events-- their attitudes or their overall judgement. Through simple, skillful development and writing skills, there could have been amazing character development. We could have seen how Inaho feels about his comrades, instead we're left with this empty shell of a main character, that's almost too calm to be natural; Maybe we could've understood why Slaine was so attached to the Martians besides the lame one or two sentence explanations that don't really fit.

As for the ending of Aldnoah.Zero. The ending to this anime was what made me realize the amount of poor writing I'd been overlooking previously. In short, Inaho finally makes an emotional decision, and instead of using common sense he goes against Slaines order to stay away from the princess (who was just shot by Sazzbaum). Inaho instead started crawling towards the princess. When Slaine continued to say stay away from her, Inaho ignored him, instead turned over and pulled his gun on Slaine. That part of the scene ends with a gunshot and we're left not knowing whether Inaho is alive or dead but we're lead to believe the latter. This ending just overall felt very rushed and unpolished. We're left asking more questions than necessary. It's one of the most terrible endings I've seen in awhile. Only added to the unanswered questions and unresolved conflicts left throughout the latter half of the story-- each of these only added to how terrible the ended really was.

Art: 8/10

Moving on to more positive things, the art was actually something that I enjoyed. It was a bit clunky at times but they used various techniques to make the mechas blend into the background; such as camera angles, colors, smoke, lighting, etc. It was overall very visually appealing.

Character: 7/10

This category can be a tad foggy, the characters in and of themselves are not bad. However, they are poorly developed. Their base characters are interesting and are a bit realistic. Each of them is unique and designed around their own personal role and personality. If there was more character development throughout the anime I would have given a higher score.

Enjoyment: 7/10

As I have said earlier, I did overlook quite a few flaws throughout the story. Perhaps if the anime had been longer (the first season in and of itself), it may have redeemed itself by answering a few more questions and resolving a few plot conflicts. It came to a close too suddenly to be enjoyable. This series was easier to enjoy closer to the beginning rather than the end of it, which is odd enough to say. However, the overall concept and idea of the anime is keeping me from rating it below a 7.

Overall: 7/10

Aldnoah.Zero can be considered an example of what could have been amazing. If perhaps there had been more time or guidance it could have risen higher, and had a better chance to shine with such an interesting idea. However, due to the characters being hardly developed, their plot in general was left with holes towards the end, and the events left in disconnect; I feel lost. I probably wouldn't recommend someone to watch this.

Love gives birth to sacrifice.

It's one of the trinity of most popular animes, which includes Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece. All far into the hundreds and hundreds of episodes. I finished the first Naruto series, and I'm close to catching up in Naruto: Shippuuden. So, Let's just jump right into my review, may turn out to be a long one.

Story: 6/10
I loved this story, at first. The reason it didn't get a 10/10 is the fact that it's not necessarily an original story, the concept of a ninja based anime is not at all an original concept anymore. Also, there's been reoccurring issues with the ... plot as of lately with the manga ending and the anime still in a filler arc. But basically, the story follows along Naruto's life as a shinobi, but to take it a step further, there's added a ton of drama between characters, love interests, and how it's done throughout the series makes it such a great anime. It's an anime that I couldn't stop watching for long periods. However. The one very LARGE issue I had with Naruto as an entire franchise, and I think that all the Naruto watchers agree with, is the darn FILLER. If Naruto had little to no filler, I'd be a very happy camper.

Art: 7/10
It's pretty good, the graphics of it have improved a lot between Naruto and Naruto: Shippuuden. They've changed for the better and I love it even more now.

Sound: 9/10
I loved most of the intros to Naruto, but not so much in Naruto: Shippuuden. I loved the background music that was in the fight scenes or just random scenes all together. It was great to finally see an anime that understood how to choose music for specific scenes.

Character: 10/10
This anime brought out some of the best examples of characters I've seen in awhile.
Naruto: Immature, hard headed, strong willed, cocky, I could go on. He is a great character, he went through so much crap when he was younger, that I sympathize with him. However, I still get tired of his immaturity. His parents were killed while trying to save him, and he was sealed with the nine tails beast. The people in the village didn't take the time to understand Naruto, and they didn't see how hard it must have been for Naruto to live with that thing, or live without any friends or family. He lived by himself! It makes me mad how ignorant people were back when Naruto was a child. Naruto had to save their village from being destroyed before they really acknowledged him.
Sasuke: I know a lot of characters also misjudge Sasuke as well for being too cruel. However, he is a very strong individual who has his mind in place, and is very determined to finish whatever he has started. He feels like a very misjudged character, but he's just a very hard person to read; you never really know if you picked up on the right notion or if you were completely off base.
Sakura: She's a very strong willed individual. She knows what she likes and she will not stop till she gets them. She's a very determined young lady and she is very powerful.
Kakashi: He was Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura's mentor and really liked to pick fun at Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura. He's a very mysterious character, but in this series we got a very lengthy but interest flashback to when Kakashi was younger and in his own team. It was very informative and very traumatic to see how sad and heartbroken his past was.
Pain: He is my favorite character out of everyone. And by Pain I mean, Nagato, and the 6 Pains. Hence the first quote on this review. It was a Pain quote said to Naruto, in the fight at the leaf village. Nagato was part of the Akatsuki. I love that group, I wish they would base a new anime on just them, and how they came about more in depth, because they explained, Nagato and Konan, and their story but they didn't really explain the rest of them, nearly as much. Anyway, Pain is just my favorite character, I can't express it in words, just his actions, his speaking, and his quotes, all just come together so perfectly.
There are so many more neat characters I could have mentioned but I feel like the review would go on forever.

Enjoyment: 7/10
My overall enjoyment of this anime was an 7. I loved the plot of the story, and the different battles, but the overall enjoyment was brought down by the whole filler aspect of the show. I realize it's a small portion of the anime, but for me I just want to stick with the main plot of the story and not drift aside. I know I can't change it, and I know that's not the only problem with the anime..

Overall: 7/10
My overall has been updated to a 7 out of 10 because of the characters in this story. They were all awesome, and well played out. The characters in this story really saved the over all rating, because if it was just based on the story and the plot I don't know if it would be that high. Now I'm not saying that the filler was the ONLY big problem in Naruto, not by a long shot. There's issues I have with some of the plot holes that seemed to have formed as of lately (seeing as though the manga finished and yet they're still showing filler that's unnecessary). I'm becoming more and more lost as the series goes on. And now it's just become a nuisance to have to keep up with it..

*I love criticism! Please feel free to write on my profile the pros and cons of my review, I know some of these sections were short, but that's because the characters were the only thing that I really liked about this anime. But anyway please feel free to write on my profile, I want feedback!

"To succeed in deception, you must mold your own mind, into believing your lies are true, subsequently if you believe your own lies, then in some form you are not a liar, but a speaker of what you believe is true. Ultimately it is the perfect deception, for you get to deceive without lying, and thus there is no guilt. That is, if you’re a deceiver with a conscience." -Anonymous

Deceit. Lies. Love. Lost. Gods. Power.

Shinsekai yori is the type of anime that makes you confused, fall in love with it and then stabs you in the back as soon as you think you ... understand. Shinsekai yori is a horror drama with a supernatural twist. It's the perfect mix of every one of those genres. This anime is definitely a psychological anime as well due to how many problems each character faces and has to deal with each of them. You see them work through their fears and their happiness.

The main character is Saki Watanabe, she's a high school student who has many male fans who are seeking her company. The other supporting characters play a major role in Saki's life are Satoru Asahina, Maria Akizuki, Mamoru Itou, Shun Aonuma, and Reiko Amano. They all struggle together and help each other fight through school to harness their powers. However, rumors start to spread about a mysterious cat that starts haunting students for unforeseen reasons until Saki and her group of friends go out hunting for the answers.

During the entirety of the anime, it follows Saki and Satoru, mainly, and their fight to save their friends who become hunted by the cat. To find the answer to win, they have to go through a lot of trouble and in the end did they win? What did they really accomplish? Through deceit, Saki achieves what she's after, but what she has lost along the way is very tragic. Although the ending seemed to be a happy one, one can only wonder how much she could be suffering on the inside after such a loss.

8/10 Overall. Would recommend for those who like a good psychological, slightly horror, thriller.