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I really wanted to like this series. I really did. I'm a fan of "a girl with sword fights monsters", and because of it, I usually am quite forgiving, but this is a truly dreadful show.

It starts innocently enough - the characters are pretty to look at, and the setting, a small town, a high school and a temple, pleasant enough. The first couple of episodes fool you with a promise of goods that will never be delivered.

The characters are pretty flat with no development to speak of. I could not bring myself to like Saya, who, as the protagonist, too many times just ... stood there, watching people, even her friends, die. We can forgive a hero the deaths when they try hard and fail, but watching and not acting is simply indefensible.

It seems like there was no story to tell - most episodes are repetitive, filled with a battle scene and piling up dead. There is a touch of mystery, as Saya tries to remember some vague promise, which, at this point, just seems like a poor attempt at creating drama.

In the end, there are two things I enjoyed - the art is the only redeeming feature of Blood-C and Saya's song, catchy, but abandoned after the initial few episodes. Both not enough to save the show as far as I am concerned. With just 3 episodes left till the end, I can't imagine anything Blood-C can do to change or improve.

Mononoke is a collection of horror fairy tales, a thrilling blend of mystery, murder and the supernatural. The main and the only recurring character is the Medicine Seller, a laconic man of whom we learn almost nothing, and who, throughout the series, only using his knowledge and a handful of tools, battles the various Mononoke.

The team at Toei Animation accomplished something quite unique - they brought a painting to life. The stationary, ever-present texture of marbled paper, reinforces the illusion of a canvas across which the characters move, in all their watercolour glory, somewhat reminiscent of Ukiyo-e prints. The art is highly stylised with ... its unique character design and rich, breathtaking backgrounds. This visual feast should be savoured and experienced again - it's hard to soak in every detail, particularly if you have to read the subtitles at the same time.

Perhaps having a peculiar taste for darker stories, where the horror is implied rather than shown, here paired together with exceptional style of the animation enabled me to tremendously enjoy this series. And, hence the high scores I gave.

Despite being a fan of Studio Ghibli, this release somehow passed my by. Today, I'm adding it to my "re-watch" list, somewhere near the top. Whatever you may think anime is, throw it out the window, this is not a typical show.

You watch the first few minutes thinking that it's the credits and you wait until you realise, this isn't the credits, it's the story! The unique style of animation throws you in for a loop, but it's not bad. Yes, it's simple, more like a moving comic strip than animation, but simple does not mean sloppy. Each line and curve of the drawings ... is thought out and perfectly placed and the motion smooth. You can't help but like the characters, the director perhaps explores their stereotypical side - the salary-man dad, slightly lazy stay at home wife, reluctant student son, cute as a button younger daughter and grandmother with a sharp tongue - but that's what makes it funny.

The story is told in snippets, sometimes interrupted by metaphors or one of the character's recollection of an event past, all wrapped up neatly by humour: sometimes a great belly laugh and sometimes a gentle smile. The movie leaves you feeling good and, somehow, cuddled. Perfect family viewing; I suspect that one appreciates this movie more as the time goes by.

Normally I'd wait until I've seen all of a series before voicing my opinion, here I'm making an exception. Once in a while comes an anime that pushes all the right buttons for me; Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei does just that.

It starts with the music: more to my taste, a little harder than your usual cutsy jpop. I often find myself skipping past the opening songs, I hardly ever watch the ending credits and quickly move onto the next episode; here, the music with the animation creates an awesome visual I watch each and every time. I'm sure it's partially due to the style of the ... art, more manga-esque, more poster art than anime. This style continues throughout; you could say that compared to the rich backgrounds and detail of, let's say, Gendo Senki, Sayonara... can't even begin to compete. But you don't miss the detail, the simplicity and the style of drawing only makes it more graphic and more "punchy".

Then there is the story and the characters; it's probably the wackiest bunch you'll ever likely to encounter, if you thought a teacher constantly on the brink of overwhelming despair is strange, you haven't met his students! Each takes a personality trait and blows it completely out of proportion. This is where the fun comes in; I love the self-referencing jokes parodying pop-culture both Japanese and American, the patterns that don't move when the character does, the photo cutouts, and the unexpected, over the top behaviour.

Sure, the series isn't perfect, but it gets damn close. All I can say is that I thoroughly enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to the last 5 episodes.

Having read the manga first, I can't help but compare the two. And, boy, does the anime score low. It's a classic case of good idea badly executed.

First thing I noticed is the sloppy art. In the manga the boys are beautifully drawn; in the anime, the artists seem to run out of steam by the time they finish drawing Kyohei and Takenaga - Ranmaru often ends up looking like a drag queen and Yuki grotesquely cute. The backgrounds are so simplified they are almost nonexistent and the constant use of chibis is distracting and annoying after a while. The characters we get to know ... fully are only Kyohei and Sunako, we get flashbacks of their earlier years and how they became who they are.

The story does not follow the manga copiously, which in itself takes away nothing from the anime, if anything, it makes it new and surprising for the manga fan like me. However, I was almost taken aback by the "perverse" scenes - this is, after all, a story about boys so beautiful that no girl can help but throw herself at them - but while they were more suggestive and just hinted at in the manga, here, they are on vulgar display. One scene comes to mind, where 3 girls rub themselves on a mannequin thinking that it belongs to Kyohei. Although scenes like this one aren't many, it still left me with bad taste in my mouth.

Despite its shortcomings, I did enjoy this series somewhat (maybe through sheer will power?). I suspect that if I hadn't been exposed to the manga first, my final score would have been higher. As it stands, I can only give it a 6.

Frankly, I'm surprised anyone would bother translating this; if you aren't familiar with Pinky:st, I don't know what interest or pleasure you'd derive from watching these two episodes.

These short movies, not even 15 minutes long, were released singly on DVDs, each coming with a Pinky:st figure. And that was the sole reason for making of these movies, to plug the merchandise and appeal to the fan-base. The animation is decent enough and the 3D well done and cute, but the recycling of certain footage got old and made me roll my eyes. There is no time to develop a proper story or characters, hence it ... leaves you wondering why they even bothered. At least, the opening song is catchy and I find myself humming it often.

I would only recommend it to Pinky:st figures' fans, and my score is really for them only; everyone else is better off looking elsewhere for entertainment.

An epic story of a young prince with a dark side, a wise old wizard and a mysterious, scarred girl. I was so full of hope for this one.

At a first look, it looks like what you would expect; the art is very familiar, especially the character design; the detail of the latter Studio Ghibli movies present, with grandiose scenery and breathtaking settings; the music appropriate, ushering us into the right mood; yet... something is missing.

This is very serious movie, gone is the usual playfulness and humour; there is a strong lesson being taught throughout, not unlike in Mononoke Hime, warning us about how ... we treat the Earth and our lives. However, that plays almost a second fiddle to the characters, saving of the world doesn't seem as important as their own adventure.

Oh, I'm so torn. I've always been a big fan of Studio Ghibli and they can do no wrong. Almost. This time round, I wasn't "wowed". Don't get me wrong, this is not a bad movie, not by a long shot, but it just isn't Hayao Miyazaki. Off I go to re-watch Tonari no Totoro or Hauru no Ugoku Shiro.

Excuse me while I gush over this series, it's almost too cute to bear. I, perhaps, would have overlooked it if it wasn't for the 3 volumes of the Ichigo Mashimaro manga I have sitting on my shelf. I often find myself not liking the art in the anime if I was exposed to the manga first, but in this case I was pleasantly surprised; the characters in both were drawn very similar, almost identical. The backgrounds lack the detail of other anime, but I can't say that it bothered me much.

(If you've read the manga, you'll notice the shuffling of the chapters, the ... anime certainly does not follow the manga faithfully, but that does not detract from the story.)

The premise is quite simple, we follow 5 girls - Nobue the oldest, her sister Chii, their friends, Ana, Miu and Matsuri - but not continuously, mind you, but rather, we drop in and out of their everyday lives. And what cute lives they lead! Don't expect complex plot here, each episode is filled with the every day things we all have done, the girls go to school, enjoy cake, shovel snow, get lost and play sports. But it never gets boring, because mischief is just right around the corner and it will have you giggling to yourself over the silliness.

The simplicity of the plot is the anime's strong point but also it can be its undoing. If you appreciate the innocent, stress-free and, dare I say again, CUTE things in life, you most likely will love this series, I certainly did. Otherwise, you may find the cuteness tooth-rottingly sweet.

I\'ve been a long time fan of the manga so I decided to finally check out the anime as well. This OVA is not everyone\'s cup of tea, or should I say coffee?

After watching, I prefer the manga. This is probably due to the fact that it\'s in colour and to me, they\'re ill suited. Also the art in the OVA looks dated by now, yet the manga manages to avoid that.

It\'s not easy to rate, never mind describe the story, to give it justice. And perhaps that was the idea, to make you feel things rather than tell you a story? It is ... not unlike sitting and looking at a sunset or watching a field of grass swaying in the wind. The slow pace, simple story line and gentle music help reinforce a feeling of relaxation and watching the world go by. If you\'re a person who can\'t appreciate things like that, Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou may not be for you.