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I'll be very clear with you right from the start. This anime short is an ADVERTISEMENT for you to go play the visual novel. This is the ONLY reason for you to watch this show, so DON'T watch Wagamama High Spec if you don't plan on playing the visual novel. You WILL be wasting your time.

For me, as an avid visual novel gamer, I've already heard about WagaHai getting an English translation from Sekai Project before the anime short was even announced. I watched this show just to check out the girls and the premise before the English patch is released for the game and ... expected nothing more.

And guess what? I got what I came for. Just from these short skits, I got a clear idea of which girl will be my favorite girl in the game (Toa-chan, of course). I got a feel for their personalities, their quirks, and what to expect when going through their routes in the game. I'm not even surprised when the main male character never showed up throughout the series. It costs more to hire a voice actor for a character that was voiceless in the game, and it's simply not worth investing in one for a simple commercial. Therefore, I can understand them teasing you about the main character in the show and never actually revealing him. In fact, never getting to see the main male character actually made me want to play the game even more! This is what you call good advertising.

I repeat. Wagamama High Spec is NOT an adaptation. This show is an ADVERTISEMENT. This show is for a very narrow audience, and if you're not within that group, then you will not find much value in investing your time in WagaHai.

For those of you that are expecting romance in this anime, don't expect any. There is ZERO romance in the anime. Don't get your hopes up if the romance aspect is all you care about. You have been warned.

Now, Ao no Kanata is adapted from a visual novel. And I am a big fan of visual novels. This will means several things.
1: The adaptation will almost guaranteed to be unfaithful to the original source.
2: A 12 episode adaptation will NOT cover all the story lines and routes.
3: My expectations will be kept low.

That's just how 99% of most visual novel adaptations go, so I wasn't ... surprised when the anime changed the main character from Hinata Masaya to Kurashina Asuka. Right from episode 1 they were already taking a different approach to the original source content, from a romance filled story to a slice of life version.
I can see where they were planning on going with this. Cut out all the romance in the anime, keep the anime PG-13 (visual novel is an eroge, after all), and leave the romance for those who want more after the anime to play the visual novel. The anime is ultimately an advertisement for you to go play the game. Smart idea, but if you're going to do that, TAKE THE STUPID ROMANCE TAG OUT OF THE ANIME, MYANIMELIST PEOPLE. If there was no romance tag in the first place, there would be a lot less salty people running around the forums right now.

But enough about romance. What about the anime in general?

Pros:
-Great soundtrack (some of it was completely taken from the visual novel ost). The opening is probably one of my favorites this season. Shame that Mami Kawada retired. You will be missed.
-Great background artwork (water and skies were nicely done)
-Core of the story was very straightforward and easy to follow
-Great moe moments (the part I liked most about the anime)
-Slice of Life elements were done extremely well (as expected of director of Non non Biyori)

Cons:
-It is clear some of the characters got shafted from this adaptation. Rika, for example, is listed as a main character, yet she barely had any screen time. Same goes for Masaya, who was completely pushed off to the side as a supporting character (even though he was THE main character in the visual novel). Even some of the side characters could not hold their positions as side characters and just simply vanished from the face of the earth as the anime went on.
-The Flying Circus battles have CGI elements in them. While at times they do look very nice (last episode was a great example of good CGI), most of the times the animations look very stiff and artificial, making some of the action scenes somewhat lackluster and uninspired.
-They did a poor job explaining some of the rules and tactics for the Flying Circus sport. Sometimes some things would happen in the anime and you would scratch your head and wonder "Was that move even legal?" or "Wait? You can do that?"
-The lack of romance was really disappointing. They missed a lot of great heart wrenching moments from the visual novel that could have added an extra layer of depth into the anime.

If I were to rate this based on adaptation, I would give it a 6. This anime is an inferior version of the visual novel in every possible aspect. However, my enjoyment for this anime is a 7. They kept the core of the story from the visual novel and kept it fresh with comedy and wonderful slice of life elements. It was passable as a standalone, I suppose.

Would I recommend this to anyone? If you desire romance, STAY AWAY FROM THIS anime. If you like moe, sports, slice of life and drama, this may be worth checking out. It's a very chill anime that does not really break any new grounds. There is a sequel visual novel confirmed, so there may also be a sequel anime as well.

I encourage anyone who finished the Ao no Kanata anime to play the visual novel. The anime only covers roughly ONE FOURTH of the visual novel. There is a LOT more story to tell. Also, you will get your fix of romance once you play the game :)

The concept of wanting to fly has always been a dream in many of our hearts, and this anime explores what it would be like if a flying sport existed. For that, I am thankful to Studio Sprite and Gonzo for bringing our childhood dreams some hope.

For other recommendations related to Ao no Kanata, I have heard many people compare Ao no Kanata to Air Gear. For my own recommendation, I would recommend Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate. KoiChoco and AoKana are made by the same visual novel studio (Studio Sprite), and they have the same joke character running around both series.

Rakuen Tsuihou: Expelled From Paradise (Final Thoughts):
It's a decent movie! Before I begin my FIRST REVIEW EVER, let me explain my reasons for watching this movie.
I wanted to watch this movie for 3 reasons. One is that the screenplay was written by Urobuchi (or Urobutcher if you prefer). Two is that I heard that the main female character is voiced by Rie Kugimiya (one of my favorite voice actors!). If you don't know her, she voiced a crap-ton of tsunderes (Taiga from Toradora, Shana from Shakugan no Shana, Louise from Zero no Tsukaima, etc etc). The third and final reason why I wanted to watch ... this movie is through Animenz's piano cover of one of the soundtracks of this movie (he's a great pianist, youtube him!).
So, without further ado, let's begin!
Pros:
-Great fight scenes!
-Great main male and female characters/voice actors (come on, how can you not love Rie Kugimiya?)
-Great soundtrack! (GO ELISA!)
Cons:
-Plot is pretty predictable
-Some of the dialogue gets pretty overwhelming, a lot of talking in this movie
-The message at the end is a little weak imo, you can interpret it however you like (I thought it was just alright, nothing too amazing)
Neutral:
The animation is just a toss-up, so it's really up to the viewers themselves to determine whether they like it or not. While I did notice that the animation was CGI for the most part, it didn't really bother me nor impress me.
Final Score: 7/10
If you like Sci-Fi, Mech, Action, and a tad bit of Psychological, you may enjoy this movie.

Also kind of random, but there is this one specific scene in this movie that made me INSTANTLY think of Summer Wars. I think you'll know which scene I'm talking about when you see it!