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A highly under-appreciated show. Maybe because it's in Chinese? I'll never know, but do stay with me and try to give it a shot.

Plop, plop, plop... water droplets echoed through a dark basement hall with chain laden wooden bars across each side. The scene carries us the sounds and smells of rust, dust, must. Empty cells with spooky roars coming only from the last cubicle scares away our last patrol on duty. There's no one left to guard this monster. Is it a prisoner? a caged lion? some type of demon? It's actually a cat. Well not really. It's a human-cat, or is it a ... cat-human.

Story/Character
We'll need to add bit of setting to this story. We're actually at a period of the Tang Dynasty right after the Li clan rebellion was eliminated, leading to mass execution and imprisonment. Chen Shi, our friendly country bumpkin protagonist, decides to move to the capital in search for his long-lost brother. But he's stupid, poor, and in desperate need of a job. Without knowing much he ends up working on guard for our human-cat. With certain power shifts happening in the Tang empire, this cat-human who is also a part of the Li family becomes officially pardoned and no longer needs to be imprisoned. He becomes tasked to work as the senior official head of the Dali Court (a government bureau similar to the Supreme Court). Chen Shi who was able to persist as the prison guard to our cute cat humanoid is suddenly promoted as secretary to the senior official. This mysterious and comedic story then follows Chen Shi, Li Bing (the cat-human's name) and a few other members as they work in the Dali Court to solve crime cases and deal with the political struggles within the Tang dynasty. As the story progresses we get glimpses into our characters' backgrounds, slowly revealing fragments of how this human-cat came to be and who Chen Shi's brother really is.

Art
The art of the series is well drawn. There is an explicit character design choice where our simple-minded characters have beady-eyes reminiscent of Kirby, and the more intellectual characters have actual eyes. Don't ask me, I have no idea why this choice was made. More than the style of art (which is largely subjective), the attention to where simplicity and detail are used should be applauded. There are fluid and high production quality animations that continue throughout the series and a grand finale fight scene that is most pleasing to the eye.

Enjoyment
The comedy, characters, and mystery are what kept this show going for me. Characters were very likable, funny, and interesting. There are a lot of questions left unanswered from this season, so supposedly there is a continuation.

Overall
"A diamond in the rough." There are quite a few bits that need polishing, but for me it was at least a great experience 9/10

This 4 episode prequel reveals a weighty depth in Kenshin's past that was never achieved through the long and blithe 94 episode main series. It is only in the the darkest ravine where light can shine with its brightest color and beauty. In the same way, this story about Kenshin lusters as a masterpiece because it accentuates the brilliance of romance and life in the darkness of bitterness and death.

The stability of Meiji era seen in the mellow main series of Ruroni Kenshin was founded only after a warring period of political strife and economic crisis: civilians were impoverished, bloodshed was commonplace, and assassins were ... abundant. Himura Kenshin, as one of the trained assassins, embarks on his journey to become a human cutting legend (Hittokiri) during the dark and bloody Bakumatsu of edo Bakufu. An iconic piece I would recommend to anyone who wants to understand the history that Kenshin often hides through his carefree attitude in the main series.

Story
This is a character-based story revolving around the past of Himura Kenshin. Themes of emotional purity entangled with strength and humanness are often metaphorically alluded to throughout the plot. Every time he cuts through flesh an unconscious emotional toll takes place, slowly chipping away his awareness. The glint in his eyes becomes dull as he plunges away from humanness and becomes more of a killing machine, only to be rekindled by the passion of love. But the highest emotional jumps can also lead to the greatest falls.

Art
The fluid artwork is masterfully montaged into beautiful scenes that consist of exciting battles and exquisite choices in color representing the mood of every shot. The older style art doesn’t detract from the work but enhances it as a timeless piece that is fitting for the series. Quality has not been spared in this work where every aspect of color, shadow, and framing has been used to create mis-en-scene symbolic to the story and character development of Kenshin.

Sound
Great realistic sounds. All episodes employ a good use of silence and the sound of nature at appropriate moments, mixing it up with non-intrusive music that adds to the tension and mood of every scene.

Character
You won't find any major characters that don't have background stories. And you won't find any annoying characters (like Kaoru) - all the important characters are well rounded with realistic and interesting personalities.

Enjoyment
I enjoy dark and bloody stories :D

Overall 10/10

This show is a hidden gem. Having always avoided shows with lengthy and seemingly boring settings, I found some extra time on my hands during the summer break. So I decided to use it and pick up the first few episodes of Space Brothers without expecting much. I was immediately proven wrong, thinking again and again that you should truly “never judge a book by its cover”. (I try not to but it still happens. I can’t help it when there are too many choices ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

Story
My first thought after reading the synopsis was why the hell are 99 episodes dedicated to these random siblings trying ... to go to space. Not to mention the fact that one of them has an afro. Is this entire series a joke? The sci-fi genre with “space” in it is so commonplace that we often associate it with aliens, laser beams blasting out of gigantic humanoid robots, or imperial planetary empires attempting to take over galaxies; we often forget that astronauts/cosmonauts in reality are one of the most dangerous and strenuous professions in the world. As a requirement, all astronauts must be genetically and physically healthy all around, have to dedicate their minds to proficiency levels of engineers, and have to work long hours to maintain the fitness ability of athletes. Even then, only the very few with exceptional abilities are the ones that are accepted as those that are able to go to space. Forget the ridiculous afro for now. This is a truly inspirational journey about the challenges that the siblings overcome to fulfilling a persistent passion (mostly just about the guy with the afro though).

Characters
It’s always very challenging to express characters realistically in anime but this one has particularly done an outstanding job. The depth of the characters continued to grow and develop throughout the series. The background stories of every character along with the inflections of tones and conversations entwines into their personalities and career pursuits as astronauts or engineers. The mini-stories also added gravity to each character's dedication.

Sound
La di la di la. Amazing classical music when needed :)

Enjoyment
Some pretty good comedy alongside the inspiring story of our friendly afro dude.

Art
The scenes and color are framed well and appropriately montaged, giving decent mis-en-scene. Symbolic coloring and framing or artistically beautiful shots are not the highlight of this show. I would say this has a lot more going for it in the story and character development than anything else. The style of art is “meh” but that is largely subjective.

10/10 Overall a hidden masterpiece.