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~Review~

Anime Information
Anime Production : AIC
Director: Tsuneo Tominaga
Episodes: 20 episodes
Genres: Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi, Shounen
Duration: 25 min. per episode
Original Run: 9 October 1999 – 25 March 2000

... Synopsis
Cacao, a student at Micro Grand Academy, wakes up one morning to find a girl made of wood sleeping in bed with him. She is Hinano, a tree spirit who possessed the body of a wooden puppet after Cacao messed up his magic teacher's spell. Having taken an instant liking to Cacao, Hinano enrolls in his school. Between Hinano, monsters, two strange twins and their four-eyed cat master, a demon boy, odd teachers and students, and the fact that he may have the potential to be one of the greatest magic users of all time, Cacao's life seems to have taken several turns for the worse...and the weird. Meanwhile, the city is being threatened by alien monsters which take the form of trading cards that are packaged into chocolate bars. They show up at random times for the school defense force S.M.A.T. to battle and ... ahhh I give up!

Storyline: [7/10]
Trouble Chocolate series features Cacao, a student at Micro-Grand Academy studying magic. One day, while his magic class teacher, Ghana, is performing a spell to summon a tree spirit, Cacao finds and eats some chocolate, which turns out to be 200 year old magical chocolate. After eating the chocolate he becomes drunk and causes a wreck. During this, he interferes with Ghana's spell, letting the spirit, Hinano, escape. She inhabits the body of a marionette, who then moves in with Cacao.
Subsequent episodes of Trouble Chocolate have little connected storyline. Maybe in the last 2 or 3 episode they back into storyline but rather than that, the show itself is a gag-parody of other anime. For example, two other characters, Murakata and Deborah, are constantly shown professing their love to each other, set to absurdly explosive special effects and backdrops, as is common (to a lesser extent) in many anime. According to what I heard and read, ToroChoco is a funny blend of Urusei Yatsura and Saber Marionette J but in the end, I can’t even see where the blend is. This anime tried to blend the element of trading card collectible which is probably in that year is popular, magic and sorcery like Harry Potter, sci-fi robot like Terminator and super sentai like Power Ranger show, and supernatural love comedy like Twilight movie (maybe not exactly like that but Bella loves The Vampire Edward and Living Tree Fairy Marrionette loves Cacao, got the catch!) resulting the weird comedy-gag combination ever.

Art: [7/10]
The animation is average for modern TV anime, with crisp computer coloring and animation. The character designs are cute and appealing, and would make for some great cosplay. However, pretty packaging can't cover up the fact that the rest of the show is lackluster.
While the show was released back in 1999, this anime looks as good as recent titles. The colors were vibrant and fit well with the overall tone of the show. The picture was sharp and provided some great detail for the characters and backgrounds.

Sound: [7/10]
The background music sounds like the piano riff from "Daydream Believer" played over and over again. The opening is stock J-pop, and not worth mentioning except to make fun of the way they spell 'Choco' (shi-ecchi-oh-shi-oh!). I found it the opening music is amusing and funny but clearly not the one you hear over and over again. The first ending, Ne, Nande... by Yoshizawa Rie is so-so and the second ending, Anata ni Aitakute ~Missing You~ (Millennium Dance version) by Sakura Tange and Kyoko Hikami is so techno remix, I really like that. Try to hear it, it’s fun.

Character: [7/10]
MOST of the characters was named after plant or food, like Almond, Cacao, Guana, Ham-Ham, Mackerel, Papaya, Sardine, Truffle and Wheat. ALL of the characters are simply hollow archetypes of anime (and non-anime) icons. Cacao is a tame wannabe Carrot Glace (Sorcerer Hunters), Hinano is a catchphrase-dropping wannabe Lime (Saber Marionette J), Professor Guana/Ganache is a surfer dude wannabe Gilderoy Lockheart (Harry Potter), and Truffle is a wishy-washy wannabe Mendou Shuutarou (Urusei Yatsura). The ONLY original character in this whole mess is Professor Big Bang, the bipolar transsexual Frankenstein monster. (Which in and of itself is a great big WHAT THE HELL!?!) In the end, ALL of the characters can make you laugh and I really give both the Japanese-language cast and the English-language cast a credit because they success delivering the jokes through out all episodes.

Enjoyment: [8/10]
Most of the gags and parodies were recognizable but were just not that funny. There were a few bright spots most notably the giant lucky kitty statue that attacks the school. Matcha and Azuki desperately want to be idols, but they lack any semblance of talent. After each of their acting scenes, a cold wind freezes everything in sight.
In the last 3 episode showed me what this series could have been. It drew me into the story and made me care about the characters. It was engaging and finally made the romance between Cacao and Hinano believable. The writers really found their stride with this episode. I really enjoy this anime and whenever I watch this anime, I can always laugh and that was all that matter. This anime isn’t great anime but isn’t worse either.

Overall: [7,5/10]
Trouble Chocolate is not the worst anime I've ever seen–I didn't totally hate it. I have seen far, far worse anime. But it is also nowhere near as good as I was led to believe. Originally released in 1999/2000, Trouble Chocolate is a good recent show that looks to be one of the ones that was going completely digital and not quite mastering it all that well. The show has a lot of bright colors, almost too bright in many instances, but they all retain a good solid feel here.

Personal message and opinion:
I can’t say much about this anime but I grew up with this anime. I was about 10 years old when this anime aired in my nation TV channel. For short, this anime really something for me. Trouble Chocolate has been very popular on the fansub circuit for a long time, and I've heard nothing but good things about it. This anime has a hard time deciding what audience it is trying to target because they trying to blend together elements from so many genres yet not quite finding the right mix. But once you watch this anime, you’ll always remember this anime.
Well, the fact that this anime was quite popular in overseas in United States by given a good score and professional comedy writer, Pamela Ribon actually helped with English dubbed Trouble Chocolate makes this anime somewhat interesting.

~ Review ~

Anime Information
Anime Production : m.o.e
Director: Yasunori Ide
Episodes: 12 episodes + 3 OVAs (Total 15 episodes)
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Ecchi, Harem, Maids, Romance, Slice of Life
Duration: 14 min. per episode
Original Run: 8 April 2001 – 29 June 2001

... Synopsis :
After losing his mother, 12-year-old Taro journeys to Tokyo to live with his grandfather. But he gets the biggest surprise when he discovers that his grandfather’s home is a huge mansion with hundreds of beautiful maids ready to serve him. Making matters worse (at least for Taro, but not for our viewing) is that not only does he inherit the Hanaukyo mansion, he gets the services of all of the maids 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. A sudden change in his life, can he manage it?

Storyline: [7/10]
Basically, this anime talks about Tarou Hanaukyo’s life after he lost his mother in which he was told by his mother will to live with his grandfather. Without ever knowing who his grandfather, Tarou set his journey to stay in his grandfather house as a final tribute to his mother. But Tarou was shocked after learning that his grandfather was a wealthy man and his house is not even a house. It is a mansion in the middle of forest somewhere in Tokyo. Tarou also learn that his grandfather was already long gone and left him a video stating that he is now the head of the Hanaukyo family and inherited not only his entire fortune but also his home with many personal maids that would serve him 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Honestly, if you’re not really a true anime lover then you will quickly feel the boredom in this anime. This anime storyline is flat course. Furthermore, this anime is also a slow pace anime. You can barely feel the climax and anti-climax in this anime. No significant confict that arise. If there is any conflict then it will be finished in that episode. For me, it eliminates all the meaning and importance of the conflict in this anime. In terms of drama, just a few episode that I find have an interesting drama but alas, the drama itself was also wrapped with a less attractive way. Finally, this anime does not have something that really stick in the minds of the watch. And that’s what makes this anime could quickly turn into boring anime.
One of the advantages that this anime has is a comedic side with the right portion through entire episode. The comedy itself was a fresh comedy. This kind of comedies can make you smile and laugh while you watch this anime. The concept of anti-master/enslaved-maid that this anime bring is also one of the advantages this anime has in his time.

Art: [6/10]
The whole character of both men and women, both the main character and supporting character have a cute and sweet character. They also have a cute and funny facial expressions.
The weak point of this anime is almost all the character in this anime does not leave strong impression for me. No special uniqueness is given to all of the character except for the clothes and the color of their clothes.
For an anime who release in 2001, this is a common so-so art anime in his time.

Sound: [6/10]
I can only say that both OP and ED fill with OST befitted in their time. You can enjoy it but don't compare it with anime OST nowadays.

Character: [7/10]
This anime, generally, gives each character a standard personality for main character. Tarou with happy-go-lucky, kind, hardworking and cannot-see-people-suffering personality, Mariel with mature and motherly sense personality, Ikuyo with witty personality and a natural prankster and Konoe with strict attitude and silent type. A bit let-down for Tarou to have this women-touch allergy. For an anime with ecchi/harem theme, this is really no good.
But for this 2001 anime to have a bi-personality character, Chyntia dan Grace was a great plus this anime have in his time. Chyntia is a pure and innocent kid. A kid with cheerful, easy-going and playful personality. Basically, Chyntia is a common kid in her age. Grace is genius kid. A kid with serious, hard-going and a bit tsundere personality. Basically, Grace is a polar opposite of Chyntia.

Enjoyment: [6/10]
Well for some anime watcher, you’re going to run into trouble in finding some little pleasure in watching this anime. Flat course storyline with a slow tempo progress anime. But despite it all, in a few episode of this anime episode gives some common knowledge and words of wisdom. Each story in this anime episode contain life lessons meaning in the end.
For me, this anime shows us a 12-year-old boy’s journey into manhood. How does a boy become a man? How can a boy who for all his life just became the master for himself, must now become the head of the huge, wealthy and respectful family? What kind of leader he become? And what kind of master he become for all his maids? This anime is filled with many life lessons.

Overall: [6/10]
Fan service is so-so. The comedies is in the right portions, but the drama is almost have no bite at all. This anime tempo was also slow and each episode has a different set of story so in the end, this anime doesn’t have a clear purpose and something is missing on the ending. This anime has a tendency to quickly turn into a boring anime.
Interesting point is to see changes in the main character, Tarou Hanaukyo in personality and life. During the whole episode, we can see Tarou began gradually learn and understand some of the realities around him. Tarou learn to respons to situations with a cool head attitude. Sometime Tarou also said some words of wisdom and wise remarks that take him closer to maturity and the more worthy to be the head of the Hanaukyo family. Another interesting point is that this anime bring a concept of anti-master/enslaved-maid which is quite a populer issue in that time.

Personal message and opinion:
I like anime with a life lesson in it and even more with maids themed anime combine with ecchi/harem theme. For me, I quite enjoy old anime and the fresh comedy inside this anime. Although, to be honest, I watch this anime quite rarely. But nonetheless, I am grateful to have this anime and this anime became one of my most valuable anime that I ever got. In the end, for me it’s a good anime to watch.
And..
Do you know about the rumors that this anime once was originally planned for more than 12 episodes? Do you also know about the rumors that this anime once was having financial trouble? Did you know that in fact this anime once was a highly awaited anime? Did you also know that in fact this anime get a remake? You know for an anime to get a remake then it proves that that anime was a successful anime. For an example, just take a look for Dragon Ball and Hunter x Hunter who get a remake. Well, I leave back to you guys to decide if this anime worthy to watch or not!

~Review~

Anime Information
Anime Production : m.o.e
Director: Takuya Nonaka
Episodes: 12 episodes
Genres: Action, Comedy, Drama, Ecchi, Harem, Maids, Romance, Slice of Life
Duration: 23 min. per episode
Original Run: 4 April 2004 – 20 June 2004

... Synopsis
After losing his mother, 12-year-old Taro journeys to Tokyo to live with his grandfather. But he gets the biggest surprise when he discovers that his grandfather’s home is a huge mansion with hundreds of beautiful maids ready to serve him. Making matters worse (at least for Taro, but not for our viewing) is that not only does he inherit the Hanaukyo mansion, he gets the services of all of the maids 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. A sudden change in his life, can he manage it?

Storyline: [8/10]
Well, first of all we need to know is this is an anime was a remake of the anime ‘Hanaukyo Maid-tai’ that release in 2001. With 4 years gap, this anime have many significant improvement in many aspects. This anime storyline is still the same as original, that’s for sure, but of course with some change and improvement. Frankly to say, from storyline perspective, this anime greatly exceeds from the original ones.
I can tell this anime undergo such a heavy improvement. What lack from the original ones, this anime completes it. This anime storyline is not flat course and also not a slow pace nime anymore. There is a ‘real’ conflict now in this anime. You can now feel the tension and the conflict built up from first episode through the end. Some of the episode from original anime appears again with a few adjustment. In terms of drama, this anime now have a deep drama story and also wrap in much more attractive way.
All aspect from action, comedy, drama, ecchi, harem, maids, romance, slice of life now balance in this anime. Life lesson storyline still there. Although, for me, there is some ‘twist event’ part from the storyline who become a bit of a question and strange to connect but I have to say, WTH! Just go fo it!

Art: [8/10]
This anime is also undergo so much improvemant in terms of art. The whole character now seems has a unique attribute beside their hair, their clothes and the color of their clothes. Mariel in the original have a purple hair, now she have a blue one and somehow remind me of KOS-MOS from Xenosaga series. Somehow the whole character have all this mature face but of course, they still not lose their cute and funny facial expressions.

Back in the original anime, the art was so-so for me but in this remake, the art was great. Many detail in this anime greatly focus and what more great is that some specific art that come from original anime is carried on in this anime without any change. For me, that’s what make this remake special.

Mariel still have that soothing eyes. Konoe still have that serious eyes. Ikuyo with her big round glasses and Chynthia still have that innocent look back in the original anime. It’s a great thing to see.

Sound: [7/10]
I like the OP very much. It have the same feeling from original OP so it is a very nostalgic, for me. The ED is so-so for me. Back in original ED and now, they still using the 'three stooges' maids as a concept for ED.

Character: [7/10]
There is no big change in character from main character to supporting character, which is good for me and also because this a remake so they shouldn’t mess up too much in this part. The great thing is now Tarou doesn’t have a woman-touch allergy back in the original anime. Mariel became much more mature with more showing his motherly nature sense and much more appealing in term of the ‘perfect’ maid now rather then back in original anime. It is a bit shock for me that she is actually 16 years old.
Konoe who in original anime only show that she is strict person with little sense of womanhood, in this remake, Konoe show that she actually have a feminine side and a soft spot for dogs but rarely show to the other.
Ikuyo still have her smiley invention thing with now more and more witty and prankish than Ikuyo from her original anime was. There is no big change in Chynthia and Grace personality. Back in original anime their name was Ichigo, Ringo and Sango aka Strawberry, Apple and Maple but now their name is Lemon, Marron and Melon with no big change either, at least they still lust for Tarou as ever.
And there are also Yashima Sanae, a new character who make her first appearance in this anime with her jump-on-to-conclusion type. She highly adore (close to love, I think!) Konoe and sometimes this often lead her to daydreaming up various lesbian fantasies with Konoe. This is a good thing for me because back in the original anime, they already have this ‘unique’ and in this remake, they strongly make this ‘unique’ more appealing. Which is wonderful!

Enjoyment: [8/10]
It is really fun to see this anime and much more exciting if you watch from the original anime. There still life lesson in there, some words of wisdom and wise remarks also. I personally rather difficult to choose which word should I quote because in this anime, there are lots of it.

This anime is really giving a new different aura from the original. You can still see that this is all still about the journey of Tarou Hanaukyo life. Back in my earlier post about the original anime review, I said there are this question who become a base of this anime such as how does a boy become a man? How can a boy who for all his life just became the master for himself, must now become the head of the huge, wealthy and respectful family? What kind of leader he become? And what kind of master he become for all his maids? Back in the original one, this question seemed to be unnotice to regular eyes but in this remake, this question is actually ask to be notice by us and somehow that gives me much more pleasure and enjoyment to watch this anime.

Overall: [8/10]
Fan service is better than before. All aspect of this anime and genres is in the right portions. This anime tempo is steady not slow like the original and although each episode still have a different set of story but now this anime have a purpose, have a conflict that which makes this anime interesting. Although only in small portion but the action itself is great and fun to watch.
Interesting point is beside from all this change and improvement, this anime doesn’t lose touch of the original anime. The struggle, the sacrifice, the joy and the happiness of the journey of Tarou Hanaukyo life seem more appealing than before. We can see much better change from a boy of Tarou Hanaukyo into a man of Tarao Hanaukyo, a family head of his family. For a remake, it's a success for them because they have managed to remake this anime so well.

Personal message and opinion:
This anime basically excel from his predecessor. Although you can see this anime without seeing the original first but there is much satisfaction, pleasure and enjoyment watch from the original. We can see the history of it, the different of it, the same of it, the unique of it and many more. It is really so much enjoyment for me.
Back in my earlier post about the original anime review, I said there is something is missing? Now I know what missing. Although the original anime have those kind of feelings but something seems empty, hollow. It turns out though the original anime has feelings but those feeling is empty, it lost his heart. In this anime, they seems to correct that in a great way.

~ Review ~

Anime Information
Anime Production : J.C.Staff
Director: Shinichiro Kimura
Episodes: 24 episodes
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Ecchi, Magic, Romance, School, Harem
Duration: 24 min. per episode
Original Run: October 14, 2003 - April 6, 2004

... Synopsis:
Kazuki Shikimori is a 17 years old student who attends Aoi Academy, a prestigious school for elite magician. In this world full of magic, each magician has a set limit of spells, and performing more spells than the limit allows will cause the user to turn into dust. Thus normally for many people, their set limit of spells are about around hundreds or thousands but for Kazuki Shikimori, he's got to be the unluckiest guys around. In this case, the number of magic Kazuki can use is far below the average in his school. Then one day, a huge twist of fate come. all of a sudden, three girls: Yuuna Miyama, Kuriko Kazetsubaki and Rin Kamishiro, appear before him. But of all the things that they are after, it is his genes. Why? And for Kazuki, the girls’ appearances may also spell his doom, as he soon realizes that his magic count is decreasing ever steadily due to the fact that he can’t resist using magic to help them. Is it really doom for Kazuki or maybe not?

Storyline: [8/10]
This is quite a straight forward anime from first episode to middle episode. Well I like an anime with suitable and considerable amount of plot, not always into the main plot but also not many diversion plot from the main plot. I will only touch a sneakpeak of the synopsis but, from the first episode, you will find out about the world and what the story main theme is. It is world of magic thus doing something with magic is regular to use. This a world with a ton of possibilities can be happen.
Interesting point is about Kazuki Shikimori's very, very, very low set of spells. Wonder if you became one-of-a-kind person with a limited use of magic spells and you surrounded by many people who can use many magic spells? How do use your limited magic in your life? How do you run your life knowing that your usage of your limited set of magic is as same as decreasing your lifespan?
I personally think this is one of my favorite anime because it has a good storyline, great drama and strong main plot and. Not many anime have a great storyline, great drama and strong main plot especially ecchi and harem type. You will get that feeling if you watch through all episodes.
As I stated before this is a world of magic where a ton of possibilities can be happen. Frankly this is a world full of miracle. This anime have great main theme and many room to expand and develop into many season.

Art: [7/10]
Each female character from main character through supporting character have their own characteristic and trademark that makes them become so alluring and eye-catchy. Yuuna with pink hair, Kuriko with blonde hair and huge boobs, Rin with purple hair with a unique miko dress and always carry a sword, and Yamase with brown chocolate hair.

Despite all of that, for me this anime didn't give much unique characteristic for male character and focusing only to female character. Supporting character didn't leave a strong impression for my eyes but then again, they have a cute and funny facial expression which can make me laugh and that is a good one.

For an anime who release in 2003, this is a good art anime in his time.

Sound: [8/10]
This anime have a good OST and BGM. I find it fit with certain situation in anime. OP and ED in great and can capture the meaning of this anime.

Character: [9/10]
This anime director gives each character a unique personality for main character even down to supporting character which is a great plus for this anime. Kazuki with happy-go-lucky, pure and kind personality, Yuuna with cheerful and jealousy attitude toward Kazuki, Kuriko with mature and motherly sense personality and Rin with sincere personality and a slight of tsundere type.

Enjoyment: [7/10]
I will be straight about it the main enjoyment about this series is for those who are lovers of harem/ecchi and drama themed anime. The plot for this is rather interesting especially as the story progresses further in to the series. Seeing the various magic and drama behind of it. It have this kind of memorable and tear-jerking drama scene which is make this anime great.

For me, this anime successfully delivering the meaning and feeling contained in it. I won't deny there is fan service but then again for a series which is a harem/ecchi themed it is to be expected.

[B]Overall: [8/10][/B]
The main aspect overall for a series such as this although it consists of mild ecchi content the story line itself was developed rather well especially when comparing it to other harem/ecchi series. What's more is that this series is has quite the interesting character development even though its generic in the type of main character most people would expect for an anime series such as this the point is when comparing how he undergo's his personality and his life. Through half episode story began to develop into climax. After that, half of the rest episode is somehow cooling down and began to develop as anti-climax but still enjoy to watch. Nevertheless the drama in this anime is great.

[B]Personal message and opinion:[/B]
This is a good anime with a great drama, main theme and strong storyline with colorful character. It is one of the first harem/ecchi series anime that I ever got so this anime really gave something in my heart. I still hope that this anime can get their second chance to have a remake and continuing season. After all, they make the ending to show to us that this anime will get another season so I think they (J.C.Staff, I mean) must at least take responsibility for that. I personally wish to all animation production out there (prefer Xebec) to give this anime a second chance to get a remake and continuing season. If it does, I'm surely will watch it again.

For me, this anime successfully delivering the meaning and feeling contained in it. I won't deny there is fan service but then again for a series which is a harem/ecchi themed it is to be expected.

Overall: [9/10]
The main aspect overall for a series such as this although it consists of mild ecchi content the story line itself was developed rather well especially when comparing it to other harem/ecchi series. What's more is that this series is has quite the interesting character development even though its generic in the type of main character most people would expect for an anime series such as this the point is when comparing how he undergo's his personality and his life. Through half episode story began to develop into climax. After that, half of the rest episode is somehow cooling down and began to develop as anti-climax but still enjoy to watch. Nevertheless the drama in this anime is great.

Personal message and opinion:
This is a good anime with a great drama, main theme and strong storyline with colorful character. It is one of the first harem/ecchi series anime that I ever got so this anime really gave something in my heart. I still hope that this anime can get their second chance to have a remake and continuing season. After all, they make the ending to show to us that this anime will get another season so I think they (J.C.Staff, I mean) must at least take responsibility for that. I personally wish to all animation production out there (prefer Xebec) to give this anime a second chance to get a remake and continuing season. If it does, I'm surely will watch it again.