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From the time we are young, are parents all/ teach us certain things. No matter what these deal with, there will usually be a very common theme: what society wants us to do.

Yes, from a very young age, most of us will be told to continue the flow of society's ideas, and to never question them. But, what makes these ideas right?

This is the question that we are faced with while watching Arakawa Under the Bridge, a story about, well, living under a bridge. A bridge under which almost no laws will ever reach you, with the possible exception of public indecency...

We see a romance ... that blossoms under this bridge, as Ko, a man whose parents who have installed far beyond just the rule that society is always correct, is pulled into entering a relationship with Nino, a person who claims to be a Venusian, on his belief that anything that anyone does is solely for gain and must be repaid. This belief that his father installed in him, however, quickly begins to fade as he subconsciously begins to reject the notion that society is always correct, and slowly embraces his new life under the bridge.

Our story continues, with him continuing to meet more people under the bridge, and slowly coming to realize, yet again, that he can't really know what exactly is "right" and "wrong". Indeed, our story continues to progress in this vein, with Ko growing to accept the actions of the others all living under the bridge.

All of the residents of this area also have to have a job (with the acceptation of a couple), and they all help each other in whatever sane ways they can, before their actions degrade into insanity, one of the real main sources for comedy in Arakawa Under the Bridge. Indeed, one of the most enjoyable elements of the show was all of our unique characters interacting in unique ways.

All of these unique characters served to bring something special to the show; they all served a function for the community, while also bringing interesting elements the the show. They all have some kind of eccentricity that is very much ingrained in their character, or at least something that would render them unable to live in a regular society. These eccentricities were again, the source of nearly 100% of the comedy for the show, and the main thing that kept it interesting.

However, what really disappoints is how often the characters are left completely untouched in terms of development. We don't get any back story on some of the characters, and on others, we only get tantalizing hints. This is, for some, the most irritating element in the entire show; we can almost never figure out the pasts of some of the most unique characters that we have ever seen. It is truly disappointing.

If lack of characters development holds down the show the most, the next most irritating element is the art style. As it's shaft, we can really expect to see insanity in the rat as well, and so we do. It's really quite irritating to those who don't enjoy the Shaft animation style to b subjected to these incredibly well drawn scenes being forced down to mediocrity by terrible illustrations, which can really limit and interfere with the show for those who are not true connoisseurs of the Shaft art style.

Sound also was only a slight break from the weaker elements of this show. It was really fair: there wasn't anything that really weighed it down , but there wasn't anything that really aided it in this department either. The voice actors were average, the sound effects were average; everything really failed to go beyond the average bound. Our opening and ending were also really, well, average, leaving the anime with average sound.

While sound did not contribute to my enjoyment of the show, it certainly didn't hurt it. This show was highly enjoyable to anyone who liked the style of comedy, wasn't valued away by Shaft's art, and in general likes comedies and romances. I had a great deal of enjoyment from this show.

So, now the question is, will you enjoy it? The best way to determine that is, especially if it sounds interesting, watch a couple of episodes. By that point, you will have gotten a good taste of the random art interferences and random characters that contribute to the general eccentricity of the show. You will have also seen the types of jokes told; if they seem like they'll get old, then you should leave. The jokes will often repeat, especially if the are part of a character's intrinsic personality. In other words, you will like this show if you like the first couple of episodes, aren't thrown off by the random art you see there, like the characters, and don't mind the general premise of the show in this regard. If it sounds interesting, give it a try.

So long Arakawa Under the Bridge. It's been awesome!!

What do you get when you mix a lolicon, a loli, a violent androphobic (man-phobic), a sadist, a lesbian, a lazy manager, a run away, and a bully( for lack of a better word).

Apparently something really funny, because that's what we get in Working!!, a show about... well these eight characters working at a family restaurant.

Before I get into the rest of the review, a small warning: if you do indeed decide to watch this show, and get specifically annoyed at the interactions between characters, especially Takanashi and Taneshima or Inami, stop. You almost definitely will hate the show.p It's the main source of ... comedy in the show, and you will see it repeat over, and over, and over....

So Working!! is really a hit or miss; try at least 2 episodes (3 is better) if it sounds promising.

Now on to the actual review:

So, we're at the family restaurant Wagnaria, where most of the early story will take place. It's overall a fairly good story. It's not really what you watch the show, and very little happens over the course of the show, but it still is, in the end, a fairly good story..

So, what is the story? Well basically, it's just developments between all of the character (with very little else changing)so again, stay away if you end up not liking them. We see, as we get to know all of the character, different sides of them, and we see these sides interacting, pushing their relationships forward.This show is not about conquering the world, or even a city; it's a simple interaction between some... interesting character, as we watch their bonds of relationships (not all romantic) bloom.

As you can see, the real strength of this show lies in the characters. We get to see very many different characters, and we learn about them as the show moves along. In this regard, the show is outstanding: we get to see a lot of characters, whose types are often quite original, interact in very believable ways. While I won't say all of the characters are miraculous creations, they all really bring something special to the show and are able to complete its full comedic scene.

The characters were all also played very well: their voices matched up perfectly with the emotions that you would think that they would feel in any situation. This was another great aspect of the show: all of the voice actors were able to capture the complex emotions that some of the characters would have been feeling for moments, and then were again able to change back instantaneously, as if they were actually in the scenes themselves. The sound effects weren't quite as good, but we do still occasionally here a shattering plate, running water, or the expected chorus of murmurs that would fill a restaurant.

If we combine these aspects of the sound with what I think is one of the best OPs of all time, and an ending amazing in its own regard (though not as good), I think the sound is great.

Moving on to the visual part of this audiovisual feast, the art was, well good. There wasn't anything that really set it leaps and bounds apart from other anime, but at the same time, the characters were well drown, and our scenery usually had believable people in a restaurant, acting, well believably. So, overall, the art wasn't great, but it defiantly was still good and did not detract from the general experience of watching Working!!

Speaking of general experiences , mine was great! I personally thoroughly enjoyed all of the characters, their interactions, and everything about the show. You'll probably be similar to me if you like the first couple of episodes, or like the character types.

So, in summary:
if you don't like the characters after the first few episodes, DON'T WATCH THIS. I can't stress this point enough. But at the same time, don't can this show if anything in it sounds at all interesting. There's a huge chance you'll really love this show if you don't get annoyed by the characters. So, give it a try, watch a few episodes, and see if you find the characters interesting: it's a really well done anime, and again, if you like the characters, you'll like the anime.

Briefer Summary
Story: Good (7)
Art: Good (7)
Sound: Great (9)
Characters: Outstanding (10)
Enjoyment: Great (for me) (9)

Bye Working!! I really want to see more of you!!

At first, I was extremely skeptical of this movie: Would it even be worth the time to download and to watch it, the 7 gigabytes it still takes up on my hard drive? After all, I watched the original series, and didn't know ow they could make it better.

Looks like I missed something

In Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance, we get to see a retelling of our beloved Neongenesis: Evangelion. This, however, is not really a 100% retelling of the original story: it truly diverges a great deal from the original story, with only really the basic framework staying the same. This costs Evangelion: 2.0 ... You Can (Not) Advance one of the most important elements from the original Evangelion, what made it truly ground breaking: the psychological development of Shinji.

I think that it's a real pity we can't see this facet to its fullest throughout the movie, and many of the changing set ups question the original psych of Shinji, and just how deep his beliefs end up running. That being said, this was still quite the great story line, and a very worthwhile watch.

Our other characters haven't had their circumstances changed quite as much as Shinji: we still mainly most of the same development in Misato, Asuka, and Rei. What really ended up bothering main this department, however, in that Rei was made to seem less psychologically damaged, to have more of a humanist personality, and to, in general not fit the character type that was projected in the first Evangelion, although this was not that large of a change. I still feel that this lack of psychological damage detracts from the characters and the originality of the show.

That being said, Asuka was made into a much more believable character, with whom we were more able to sympathize and empathize. She indeed showed us more human reasons for her personality, and we no longer had to think of her as a naturally spiteful human, indeed we weren't even once really led to do so. Combining this with a rather static Misato character (in relation to the first Evangelion), and we have quite a great panel of characters.

Another great aspect of this show is is its art: it's not perfect. The art often left me breathless, at how well everything was drawn. However, there were also moments when I felt, even in the 1080p that I watched this movie, that the art was slightly fake looking or did not fully convey the full splendor that the scene could have had. These moments, however, were few and far between, and hardly detract from the great art of this movie.

On the audio side, the sound in this movie was really... indescribably good. It's probably the strongest aspect of this movie, from voice actors who were able to carry out their job fully, capturing difficult emotions perfectly, to literally hearing typing in the background while you saw someone typing, or even as an indication of typing. The sound was really spectacular, and really contributed to my enjoyment of the movie.

My enjoyment of the movie really can't be easily described either.I thoroughly enjoyed getting to see a very much so remake of the Evangelion series, and not because it was the Evangelion series either: I enjoyed it fully for itself.

So, you're probably asking yourself, "Why did this still get a 9? Like half the review was hating on it..." or something of the nature. The reason why this gets a nine is because my objects are far and few between to this great movie. The bottom line is that you will like this movie if you're a fan of the original series, as long as you didn't watch it solely for the psychological elements that were slightly reduced in this movie. Even if you did, they still are there, and I would still highly recommend it to you.

Goodbye, Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance. I can't wait for more of you!

Your school has a president. She hates guys but she goes to a nearly all guys school.

You decide to follow her one day, to attempt to decode what the heck's going on with her. And she enters a... maid cafe??? She must just be a lesbian right? WRONG. She works there.

This is the basic premiss for Kaichou wa Maid-sama: the president, Misaki is secretly a worker at the local maid cafe, but her secret is slowly exposed.

This leads us further into the story, a fairly average shoujo rom com, although the frame is original, so it's better than the average, Not great, but better than ... average.

What really makes this show are the great characters. Between Misaki (the diligent and genius president) and Usui Takami (the one person who can ever beat her), it's really a place where only one notable rom com comes to mind (special A). Also, what makes this show stand out far above the average rom com is that both the supporting and main characters can both play a full role in the development of the story, and really make it interesting to watch, even overriding its episodic nature.

The art is too, fairly good in this show. Although I was thrown for a bit of a spin at the beginning of the show by the paling effect of something that looked like a film over the screen, I soon realized that the characters were much better drawn than average, and that the art stands out from other shows, with my only, small complaint, being the lack of bright colors.

The sound too is very good. The actors do their jobs, and are able to capture the teasing-flirtatious/ angry-embarrassed relationship between Usui and Misaki, something that is not often done. Throw on a great op and ending, and we have great sound for this anime

So, at last, the coup de graw, was this show enjoyable? The short answer is a yes: for a very large portion of the show, it is extremely comical, and everything is drawing me to keep on watching Kaichou wa Maid-sama, with only a couple episodes not really appealing to me.

The bottom line is that if you want to watch a shojou romantic comedy that's still very good, avoids sappy elements, and in general will keep drawing fans of the genre in for more, I highly recommend Kaichou wa Maid-sama. It just goes beyond the general call of duty for a show of the genre, despite it's average story line.

Kaichou wa Maid-sama, it has and hopefully will continue to be, udderly enjoyable :).

You wake up. You can't remember what just happened or where you are. Hard night on the town?

I doubt it; you look around, and the only thing that you can see is a girl holding a... sniper rifle?

You go to investigate, She tells you , in more wards, that you're dead. And you're at risk of being erased if you don't do anything, and that you have to fight against god, through his vessel: "the angel".

What would you do?

Angel beats is an anime about Otonashi Yuzuru, a guy about the age of a student who wakes up in the above described scenario. Angel beats follows ... his journey through the "Shinda Sekai Sensen" and how we should feelabout disapearing. Is it really a bad thing? Should we fear this unknown world that could emerge before our very eyes?

Angel Beats deals primarily with this issure, as these rebels against god continue their fight, to not fall in to the trap that they believe has been set for them at the end of their life, in this strange afterlife.

Otonashi continues his fight in this strange world that exists, along with Yuri, the leader of the rebels, Hinata, a figure who grows to be his closest friend, and countless other amusing characters that proliferate the story. However, it is precisely all of these characters that are the main weakness of Angel Beats. Because of the sheer number of characters that there are, it is impossible to develop all of them, and because of the fundamental structure of angel beats, development often is unable to further contribute to the story, with only really the aforementioned three characters development having any real notable contribution.

That being said, the characters' interactions were constant amusement, keeping the show fun at all times. Again, my only real complaint is that they are quite simply an unharnessed potential, with some of the potentially best characters going completely undeveloped throughout the series.

Art is a much stronger point of this show, however ,with surprisingly large amounts of attention to detail, giving a very rich, colorful, and pleasing look. The characters were all drawn well, and this aspect added greatly to the story.

Sound was another strong aspect in Angel Beats; the voice actors were all very good, although there were also a few points in which emotion did not fully come across. Overall, however, the sound was very good, but not perfect

Finnaly, we get to the category that trumps all of the above ideas: how enjoyable was it? Did it provide a fruitful use of my time. Yes. It was a great use of my time, the mix of comedy and drama, the constant shifts in the story, everything allowed for me to have a great experience with this anime.

Again, I would just like to stress that this is far above the average anime in almost all aspects, and it's not really something that I have ever seen before. My only complaint that should really be noticed is that there was not enough character development (beating a dead horse, I know) , although the characters had enough interactions still to bring out some more of their character occasionally, and these also kept the show interesting.

So long Angel Beats. It's been great!

Imagine that you live in a world where heaven and hell have merged with Earth, and that there are no longer any barriers to travel between the three.

Indeed, in this world, Gods and Demons are best friends, magic is common, and, as a high school student, you have to sit through a class on the history of all three worlds. As if regular old world history wasn't boring enough.

Now, in this world, you are suddenly given the chance to either become God or Satan. Which would you pick?

Well, there's got to be a catch, right? You're right: you have to marry either the daughter of ... either one. Now, would you still pick one?

This is the basic premiss of the anime Shuffle; Tsuchimi Rin is given the choice to pick becoming either god or Satan. Or will he decline both choices and go or another member of his harem, be it his childhood friend, his always happy and energetic senior, or the newest member of his family?

Shuffle's story is about all of this: a very stereotypical magic world harem type anime. However, there are enough twists and turns to set it apart from the average magical harem anime. It unfortunately, however, fails to impress in a very big way: it's story is not really extremely captivating and I really disliked the lack of humor in for large parts of the story. It falls short of my expectations in this category, but it really was a good story overall.

As I mentioned earlier, Tsuchimi Rin is the protagonist of this story. He is a fairly regular male, but at points, his emotions are extremely dampened and unbelievable. This may not have been the intention of the creators, in fact it probably was not, but he often lacked responses that would be natural for any human put under the enormous emotional burden that these given scenarios would generate.

We also have our five heroines in this story. Although each character brings something nice to the story, none of them are really extremely exemplary. These characters are, however are all more realistic and just in general better characters than the protagonist.

Ah, at last we move on to the supporting cast. They are, unfortunately, the virtual sole source of comedy in this show: we lack any other comic relief. They also, however, can provide very important insight into the story, and in general, are the best characters in shuffle.

While the supporting cast were a strong point of Shuffle, I feel that one of its weaker points was in its art. Sometimes, the art was fantastic, the characters well drawn, and everything done perfectly. Other times, however, the art lacked any real finesse. The inconsistency of the art style brings it to an average level, not worthy of praise, but not requiring condemnation.

Along with the art was comes another disturbingly weak thread in this anime's tapestry: its sound. Quite honestly, at the beginning, it was dreadful: the voice actors and actresses could not really get the emotion of a topic across, and could not portray anything like it might be handled in a real life situation. One of the biggest surprises in this show, however, was the surprising increase in quality in the voice acting, to the point where the actors could be considered good by the end of the show. Combining this with an amazing opening and general sound track allows for me to say that the sound, overall, was decent.

Now, the most important part of this review: how much and why did I like Shuffle. Well, I actually liked it more than the average anime, and it gave me a fair amount of pleasure, especially as it approached the end. Although I would have typically dropped this anime after a few episodes, I'm glad that I stuck with it, and enjoyed it quite a bit, although it loses for the beginning.

So, all things considered, Shuffle was definitely an above average show, and is worth watching if there's not much else to do, but it would have been significantly better if the voice actors had started off as well as they ended and if the main cast was more involved in the development of the story. But if you start, finish through the end, which is definitely the stronger part of the show.

So long Shuffle!

"Hey, you're a virgin, right?"

What kind of person would you have to be to ask someone that after they met in a bookstore for the first time, right after a glance at them?

Hearing this and reading the brief description of a girl who wants to have sex with 100 people nets you a vision of probably the most explicit ecchi anime ever, and, if you didn't know better, you would think that this was actually a hentai. Well that's just WRONG.

This anime is actually just a cute little romance between two people who have absolutely no experience in love. It's this story of trying to ... create a functional relationship, with lots of humorous mistakes along the way . It's a story of chasing a goal that you have no idea how to reach, that others think you can't reach, yet you still try to reach it, despite your doubts, and fight towards this goal with everything that you can muster, trying to ignore failures along the way.

This is our Yamada (given name withheld), an incredibly beautiful girl who is, rather unbelievably, a virgin. And she has to search out a fellow virgin to rid her of the curse of a looking strange "down there". So, now, we only have one problem: how can we get Kosuda (the male lead and fellow virgin) to sleep with her?

Well, we run into the problem from which most of the hilarity in this show emerges: neither Yamada nor Kosuda know a thing about sex, and are both completely incompetent and very embarrassed when dealing with the topic.

These two obviously aren't our only characters. We have a large supporting cast who serves to add to the humor of the show, although they aren't very good at their job. This cast often fails to add a significant amount of humor, and, unfortunately, for a good portion of the show, almost all of the humor emerges from the interactions between the two leads, although there is still a fair amount of humor that emerges from the interactions with the supporting cast, and this grows as the show continues and new characters are introduced.

The art in this show is really quite cute and compliments the overall cute nature of the story. It's not a perfect attention to detail, or anything of that level, but out is still a very cutesy art style, that never really feels out of place, and allows for you to feel at home with the anime.

The voice acting and songs also fit this image perfectly, with each character being matched perfectly with a voice that would match their characters, from a falsely superior voice for Yamada to a dopy voice for Kosuda, to a perfectly seductive voice for the opening. The Sound is quite superb, and one of the strongest points of this anime

I also have the unfortunate duty of reporting shortcomings in this show. One I already mentioned is the lack of humor emerging from the supporting cast. Another minor problem I have with this show is it was not always extremely humorous. Some episodes were slightly boring or simply to painful to watch in one sitting. That being said, both of these objections were remedied as the series approached the ending; there was constant humor and it was often brought out by the supporting cast.

So ,in summary, B Gata H Kei was indeed a very good anime; it brought out humor in all situations, even turning relatively serious problems into big jokes and it got better as it went along. I strongly recommend that you watch in at least a few episodes before considering dropping it.

Farewell, B Gata H Kei, or as I have also heard, The B-cupped Slut. I will seriously miss your udder ridiculousness.

P.S. This is my first review, so I apologize if I did something wrong :)