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Spice and wolf review.
Spoilers may be in this review
Spice and Wolf is a show which isn't impressive on any front. It isn't bad, it isn't good, it just is. It exists and that is all there is to the show, story and characters. Existence and that is. Whilst I say it’s so unimpressive that it deserves no more than 6/10.
The graphics aren't terribly impressive, the art style is typical the sound is okay and the voice acting was fine. But it’s so so. It won’t leave a bad taste but just a slightly sweet taste.
I’d probably be inclined to give it ... more if it had finished the story. Some people like the whole just existing thing, and I can understand the satisfaction in that, but if there is no end you find no closure.

Story
What can I say, the story is unique in terms of settings and occupation of the characters, but other than that it was bland. The most engaging thing about the show as all the talk about economics.
The romance and drama was so predictable that I didn't find allot of enjoyment in it. The story is so boring, but the setting, characters, and economic talk and it’s relation to politics made up for it for me a bit. Because of that I wasn't bored and did enjoy the show somewhat.

Tech
Nothing much to say, it’s so average it hurts. There wasn't anything really impressive about this except for the background art. This links to why the setting was so interesting. But there really isn't anything more to say. Music was fine, art was fine, and animation was fine everything was fine. Nothing to complain about only one thing to praise. It’s kind of depressing.

Characters
Lawrence was an interesting character to me. Holo started interesting and fun but then in the second season descended into a spoiled Princess, but regained some of her former self towards the end.
Lawrence was too good willed for Holo’s own good. Other than this there were other characters which were interesting on the way, don't expect me to remember their names. The woman who was a bird was a good character, she seemed charming.

Conclusion
It was an anime which is just there. Not impressive but not a disappointment. Even though it’s just that I think it’s still worth a bit of a watch. I am kind of regretful that there wasn't an ending, but kind of happy that they didn't continue producing it. After this point I think the show would have ended up repeating itself. I think maybe an epilogue movie would be in order just to give it a good ending.

Hajime No Ippo Review Review
There are no spoilers in this review
Never have I ever thought that I could find an anime which has ever got me as pumped up as my personal favourite, Initial D. But it's happened. Hajime No Ippo impressed me greatly and got me so pumped up for a sport I had no interest in. I've come out of it with a respect for fighting athletes of all sports. I think highly of this.

Story
The story is pretty average once you think about it. A rise to the top from someone unexpected. It's important to make such a person ... likeable otherwise people will despise him and his ideals. I have to say they really hit the nail on the head with Makunouchi. A really charismatic character in his own way. They really focused on what was important and that was Makunouchi's fighting spirit.

This coupled with some of the most cringe worthy humor and romance and great fighting scenes made for a blood pumping anime that could get any testosterone driven male excited. It's a simple formula but effective.

I'm glad I took a chance on watching it. It was well worth the time.

Tech
With a badass opening sequence and a classic artstyle I love Hajime No Ippo's tech side really appealed to me. The older style visuals are something I greatly enjoy. The visual quality was superb, the animation was smooth and the audio wasn't bad. Some of the sound effects were lame but the music made up for it and created the atmosphere well for the fights. Good visuals and audio complement the story and the characters well and served great to their purposes.

Characters
The characters were all well done. Some of the designs impressed me greatly. I was disappointed with some of the females. Allot of the females in the show looked similar to each other. Maybe that's more realistic or not, who knows?
As to the fighters of the show, they all were interesting to see. From the point fighter Kenta to the hard hitting Ryo there was no shortage of variety. DIfferent styles, different strengths, different appearances, different levels of intimidation each character made each fight more interesting. I think this was one of the stronger points of Hajime No Ippo.

Conclusion
Not much else to be said other then if you're willing, give it a try. You might be surprised. I found myself unable to stop watching it after I saw episode 1. It did well to keep me hooked. It's a bit long and you won't be able to get it all in one sitting but if you like it, you will just speed through it.
The last fight of the show was absolutely amazing.

Score 10/10

Puella Magi Madoka★Magica Review
There are no spoilers in this review
Puella Magi Madoka Magica was an interesting anime to watch, it was a type of anime I avoid normally. That being focused on Magical Girls. I have to say this was quite a shock on what I expected. But it wasn't anything too drastic. I found myself confused at the end on exactly what I felt about the show.
I do have to say early on much of it was spoiled for me so when certain scenes came on they didn't have the same effect, which means for a good portion of it I ... was bored watching it.

Story
The story was interesting. It started out slow and was difficult to pay attention. I found myself enjoying the first 3 episodes better before the show turned into the depressive state of a teenage girl. This wasn't particularly bad to view, but wasn't that interesting and I've seen similar happen plenty of times before; Neon Genesis Evangelion anyone?
The show really picked up at episode 8 and so the ending played out well in my books. The most important aspect, the story was enough for me to boost up my score as it did improve my enjoyment of the series.
This show was quite good for a show about selling your soul to the devil.

Tech
Well this was the area which this show struggled the most. The artstyle was poor for most of it, with some pretty shocking style for the characters design. The witch fight sequences where interesting with the art direction, but those gave me the unofficial title which I had been referring to the anime; being "The dangers of Gas leaks, the anime".
I have no real complaints about the background art, the designs of the characters, the prop art, music and sound. I did watch the english dub so the voice acting wasn't that good, but it wasn't that distracting from the story. I did cringe a little however.
The opening sequence really didn't suit the show well but the song was good; the credit sequence really suited the feeling of ths show well and I really liked that song and I listen to it often.

Characters
The characterisation of this show is the strongest point. The designs where all good and the personalities the characters had were well emulated. I didn't really find myself liking any character particularly more than the others however. I think I did like Mami more then the others, but not that much.
I did think that they perhaps focused a bit to much on Sayaka for a while and her relationship with Kyousuke, which did steal away from who should have been the main focus, being Madoka.

Conclusion
Overall I'm happy with how this show turned out. I enjoyed it and the only real negatives are from a bit of nitpicking. I was surprised how much I liked it in the end even though the ending was a bit lame. I think it earned the score which I'm giving it of 8/10.

Score: 8/10

Tsukihime Review
There are no spoilers in this review.
Tsukihime is one of those anime's based of a visual novel. Like with most of them, the fans of the Tsukihime visual novel didn't like the adaption. But for myself, someone completely new to Tsukihime I enjoyed it greatly.
Which means I think I could finally answer the question which was put to my by lawuser, about whether or not I would have liked the Fate/Stay Night anime if I had not read the visual novel and that is I think now that I would. With that out the way let's start with the review.

Story ...
This was in my opinion brilliant. I really enjoyed the Mystery themes to it, as Tsukihime struggled to learn about his past as he is fighting. The information was present in a way that it was easily understood which we needed to know for the story to make sense and briefly so they could focus on other parts of the story besides the background.

I have to say I was a bit suspicious watching this considering it is basically a story about a teenage boy falling in love with a vampire. I can confirm indeed, that it is a better lovestory than twilight. I really say the story was well executed for it to be enjoyable for those who are new to the Tsukihime visual novel.

Of course now I wish to play the visual novel for myself so I can make a proper comparison between the two. I have a feeling that my opinion on the anime might change after reading it. But I have not been able to find a working copy yet. So I may not be able to find out.

Tech
This is probably the weakest point of the anime. Which is primarily due to it's age. Being released in 2003 it makes it 10 years old now. The animation quality was fair and the art style was pretty good. The sound was average and the music was very good. Basically nothing really amazing here. Just average.

But I have to say something despite this, the tech of the show actually helped my enjoyment of the show. It managed to set up an environment of the show which increased my enjoyment greatly, as in I suppose the atmosphere.
The music and visuals used for both the scenes and intro/outro helped build for me an excitement to watch the show. It felt mysterious and dark which amplified my enjoyment of the story in particular. It kind of reminded me of an old mystery movie.

Characters
The characters were all likeable and suited well for their roles. In particular I liked Arcueid Brunestud, the most. Despite herself being a bit too clingy. It was interesting seeing all these characters interact with Tsukihime, even though it's probably a bit typical nowadays how they did in modern day Harems. The voice acting in the Dub wasn't bad, wasn't bad at all which means the characters images weren't really damaged unlike Fate/Stay Night with Gilgamesh's, english voice actor.

Conclusion
Overall this show left a positive effect on me. With no really seriously big flaws. Of course my opinion would be different if I had read the visual novel, but I have not. I honestly think that it deserves the score which I will awarded and I'd recommend it in a heartbeat to anyone.

Score: 8/10

Fate/Stay Night Review
There are no spoilers in this review.
Fate/Stay Night I had some mixed feelings coming into it. I've heard of it's bad reputation many times, but I was a Fate/Stay Night fan (Via the Visual Novel) before watching it.
I already knew the story and characters so I had hope that it wouldn't disappoint. I am both happy and annoyed at how it turned out. But overall I was happy on how it turned out and I cried at the ending just like I did in the Visual Novel.

Story
The anime series follows the events of the Fate route of the ... Visual Novel. Now it's important to note that the Fate route was meant to be the training route of the Visual Novel and it wasn't the main event and it certainly wasn't my favourite of the three. But it was the one that did move me the most.

The story panned out much as predicted being I already knew it but their were things that annoyed me about how it was executed. First thing allot of the small details where a bit messed up and where not how they were in the Visual Novel. Such as Sakura didn't always cook, and she didn't always cook alone, when she was at Shirou's house. This is a small thing but it was an important detail to me. It just needed to follow the visual novel better.

My main other annoyances was the fact that important finale scenes from Heavens Feel and other important scenes from Unlimited Blade Works [The other routes in the Visual Novel] where integrated into important points in the story. I think it was a foolish action to do this and it did take away from the real story of Fate a fair bit and if an anime adaptation of Heavens Feel was ever to be made, these scenes would probably ruin it for those who watched this anime before watching the Heavens Feel adaptation or playing the visual novel.

But I do have to say that they followed the path of the Fate route well in all other areas staying pretty true to the story. It most definitely could have been executed allot better and more closely to the visual novel and should have. But I do give props for how the ending and epilogue where handled. Even though I knew how it was going to turn out it managed to make me cry again. This meant that I finished the series on a high note and enjoyed it greatly despite some of the flaws of it.

I think that this anime deserves a reboot to take it to it's full potential as it hasn't reached it yet.

Tech
I think that the biggest flaw in the anime was the tech side. The animation was good for the time it was made, but I've seen better. That being said the action scenes where quite good and it was good to see some battle scenes play out that we didn't in the visual novel.

My biggest disappointment was the sound effects. They where bad and dated. I've seen much older anime with a better sound effect set and I think if they used the ones from the Visual Novel it would have sounded better.

They seemed fond of using the sound of a blaster deflecting off a lightsaber as the sound for jumping and deflection. The OST was average but suited the scenes well. But both of these points I think are effected mainly by the time period in which they where made, more so than negligence by the makers to be fair. I didn't like that they changed songs for the intros someway through the series. The second one was just unfitting and bad.

The art style was a bit worse than expected. I honestly think the art quality from the Visual Novels animated intro was better. But again this is a point due to the time it was made. I think this anime suffered so much by being made when it was made. I think this is another important factor why this anime needs a remake.

Characters
The characters in this where handled pretty well. They stayed true to the visual novel very well. Of course I loved all the historical characters as I do have an interest in such things. One thing is they did lack the in-depth look that the visual novel format offered of them so people who haven't read it do lack out a bit on the characters.

I did decide to watch the anime in the English dub after much thought. As I had already heard the Japanese voices allot I was used to them and they sounded better. But in the end I decided to go with the English Dub anyway. I have to say you should probably go with the Japanese voices with English subs if you watch it. They suit the characters personalities better and English Gilgamesh was a joke. Kotomine's English voice actor was good though.

Conclusion
There are allot of positives and negatives about this anime. The anime failed to match up to the standards set by the Visual Novel. It's mixing of the different story lines, the execution of the details and the tech side of things where the biggest down points of the show and did take away from the feel of the story how it should be.

But this format did have advantages of the visual novel and the action was allot better and more involved than the visual novel. My thoughts are that you should read the Fate route of the visual novel before watching this anime.

You will enjoy it allot more than people new to the Fate/ franchise do. Enjoying the story in the Visual Novel format will allow you to enjoy the story more in the Anime format and playing or watching either is critical to do before watching Fate/Zero the recent prequel anime to the events of Fate/Stay Night.

Overall Fate/Stay Night was a positive experience for me.

Score: 7/10

Girls Und Panzer Review
There are no spoilers in this review
Girls und panzer is one of those anime's like Initial D or Broken Blade which are highly appealing to my interests. When I first herd about it I heard it compared to K-On! What I am glad about that it ended up not being like K-on! at all. It was it's own show in its own right and I liked it allot.

Story
When it comes down to story you are probably going to find Girls und Panzer a bit predictive. But frankly what made this show great in my eyes wasn't the story. ... It was the action and it was the preparation for the action which peaked my interests the most.
Don't get me wrong I enjoyed the story allot as well, but it was predictive.
The strong points about the story where the details and not the big picture. The small details where the social interaction, the talk about tanks and the action whilst the overall view was the plot of the story.

I came to this show for the tanks and cute girls and it certainly delivered. The small amounts of technical talk and tacit/strategy talk was an added bonus which added to my enjoyment of the show.

I remember at certain points thinking to myself, you should move your tanks in this way if you want to win and I was glad to see sometimes that's what happened. It made me feel competent in my own knowledge base but it was equally as exciting to see them [Miho and her team] do something unpredictable and pull off great feats.

My admiration of all these things may be a bit childish I admit but I feel no guilt or shame enjoying this and I certainly won't take back anything I have said. Basically I enjoyed the story greatly and I think this will be one of those anime's which I will re-watch allot and stay in my top 5 favourites.

Tech
I'd like to keep this section short, but I don't think it will pan out that way. Anyway, the technical side of things. I overall found the animation, art, sound, effects and CGI to be of high quality generally speaking. But it's not perfect.

I found again being annoyed by the under detailed faces and profile shots which seem to be allot more common in more modern anime. It's not a trend I enjoy and I appreciate a bit more detail, which is one of the reasons I like the 90's art styles the most. It sure is a little thing to pick at but its one of those thing which some of us don't like.

But other than that I was impressed with the art of the show. The CGI was of quality and suited the show well. I'd even go to say the CGI and 2D animation blending was almost flawless. The visual special effects I think could have been been better I think. Besides the noses I think it's the lowest factor about the art of the show. Which at this point is probably just knick picking.

The audio and sound selection was much to my liking. No complaints about them from me. The Opening www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDfETl1WrX8 and Endings www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ369DarcIY had great music to them and the OST was highly enjoyable for me.

Characters
Characterization in this show was good in my opinion. Their are allot of characters in this show and I think allot of them developed well. It was enjoyable seeing friendships being formed on the field and off the field, and it's always good seeing members of different teams getting along and being good sportsmen.

It's one of those anime's where I don't think there is a single despicable character in it. There are some which are unpleasant at times but it seems to be a very sort of lovey dovey kind of world. I know this alone would be enough for some people to not enjoy it as much but for me it made the show all that more enjoyable.

Conclusion
I just have to say this is the longest review I have written for a single show and that alone is an achievement in my books. I just had so much more to say about why I liked this show than anything else I watched. That being said it's a show with flaws. It isn't perfect and they are the most obvious in the story. But if you can get past that I think you will enjoy it.

If you have a thing for tanks this is the show for you. Their is allot more tank action then there is to be expected. The last battle went for around 30-40 minutes and was divided up between 3 episodes. The action is not lacking and it's refined. This is a great light-hearted show about determination and fighting spirit in a sportsman like fashion.

My enjoyment of the show and the relevance to my interest did bump up my score for the show.

Score 9/10

Initial D Fourth Stage Review
There are no spoilers in this review
Well what can I say? I enjoyed it allot like I have with the previous instalments. It felt different though. They fixed the biggest flaw that I though there was but another one came up which just messed with atmosphere of the show. My enjoyment was somewhat less because of that but I'll explain in detail later.

Story
What can I say, it's typical Initial D fashion. Absolutely immersion for a car fanatic like me, with them layering on more and more technical talk about the mechanics and the techniques used I enjoyed ... it allot. I have to say my favourite battle was the AE86 vs the Cappuccino, it was a truly thrilling race.

I have to say this series move the story along quite well and it was interesting learning more about some of the side characters stories allot more than just the main characters. The Third Stage focused more on Takumi, probably because it was a movie. As usual I can't wait for the next stage.

Tech
Now this is probably the section where I saw the most change in the quality and atmosphere of the show. I said in my Third Stage review that the art in it had increased in quality but wasn't up to how I wanted quite yet. I was happy to see in the Fifth Stage that the art is finally where it should be at. The CGI was a massive improvement and really makes the series greater.

The animation quality and sound quality both improve really well to and is note worthy to mention. The sound effects where also better and generally the show felt allot more developed than previous seasons.

This is all good. But unfortunately it isn't all a jolly good time. The biggest new floor to come from the changes is the sound track. The Eurobeat music which Initial D is famous for is gone and replaced with more typical OST music.

This I think damaged the atmosphere of the show and the thrill factor the most. It was one of my favourite things about the show and the loss of it has prevented Initial D getting a 10/10 in my book. Which is a shame because it's such a great show. But overall I am mostly happy with the improvements to the show.

Characters
The characters developed nicely and we saw a bit more about some of the side characters and their love interests. It was interesting seeing a certain best friend spending time with his interest from Stage 2, but it was unfortunate how it ended.

I feel sorry for the guy but I doubt we have seen the last of that. I do think I missed out on a bit of character development by not seeing Extra Stage 2 yet. It hasn't been translated officially yet and may not have, so we don't see any more of Mako and how she's doing. Hopefully she surfaces in the Fifth stage.

Conclusion
Fifth Stage increases the standards the rest of the series has set and is a vast improvement overall. Some changes to the music did take away the thrill factor of the battle scenes somewhat but it can't be helped.

Unfortunately I can't give a stage of Initial D 10/10 status yet but I have high hopes for the Fifth Stage. I have to say my love of cars has become somewhat increased due to Initial D and I am thankful for that. I'd highly recommend Initial D to anyone who is a car fan like me. I think it's the best of it's genre and it's reputation amongst fans mirrors that.

Score: 9/10

School Days Review
There are spoilers in this review But the section with potential spoilers is marked as such.
I just have to say I really enjoyed it. It was painful to watch throughout but that ending was brilliant in my opinion. I appreciate the whole thing reflecting on it now. I'm really glad I watched it in the end.

Story
The story is about High School life and the relationships between boys and girls and how they interact each other and the consequences of your actions.
It also demonstrates that people on the sidelines get hurt to when someone makes a mistake. In this ... story allot of people get hurt. It may not be the best written anime out there but it's certainly well executed in my opinion.

I think the story itself is important to see if you are Harem fan. I dare say their isn't probably many harems like this. Although I haven't seen that many myself. I'm just basing that on what others have said about the show.
I do think that this show get's allot more flak than it deserves.

Tech
Lets start with the art style. To me it seems rather depressive. Now this isn't really a bad thing as I think it helped set up the story well in the direction the director wanted to go with this. It all looks dark and that suits the style of the show just fine.
The sound was in good quality and the voice acting was also well done too. Of course there are always moments when you cringe but that's to be expected.

Characters
This is the interesting part for me. The characters are what make this anime. They all show their weaknesses and reasons to dislike them well. This I think is important in the characterization of this show. The whole point is basically to demonstrate the weak points in humanity.
I found that Makoto wasn't as bad as everyone claimed and really wasn't the one responsible for how everything turned out. I think he copped the flak because he was the guy. Rather Sekai is the one to blame. But not to many people realise this or accept this.

Characters **Potential spoilers in this part**
At around the middle of the show I found allot of the characters annoyed me. They all seemed to be against Kotonoha for no good reason other than their own selfish desires. The reason I believe she liked Makoto obsessively was he was one of the first people to treat her kindly. Because naturally Makoto is kind, whilst he is quickly brought out of this by Sekai and her selfish actions. I'm not excusing Makoto he didn't do right by what he did, and he made lots of poor choices; but he was dragged there by a temptress.

Conclusion
School Days is a unique viewing experience. Its frustrating, painful to watch and makes your blood boil sometimes. But it also makes you weep and causes you to reflect upon yourself.. It's a unique rollercoaster. I think it's a ride not soon forgotten and I think everyone should experience it, even if they don't like rollercoasters.
I think we could all learn some valuable life lessons from this.

My favourite part was the ending. To me it was what made it all worth watching. If I wasn't committed to finishing it I would have dropped it and would have hated the anime. But I came out of it appreciating it for what it was and was satisfied with it.

Score: 8/10

Burst Angel Review
There a no spoilers in this review
I just completed Burst Angel and the OVA Burst Angel: Infinity. I have to say I really enjoyed it, but it won't win any prizes for story telling. But it's an interesting show.

Story
The story consisted of several side stories linked to the finale. I think they were all important to learn more about the story but I found I was a bit confused on how it all linked up at some points.
Their are some minor filler episodes but I think they did link up to the story enough not to take away ... from it. I found it was very much like western animation in this regard for younger audiences.

I do think it relied on the characters being good to much.
But I found it really interesting and the world they built was quite good to. I liked the whole futuristic Tokyo wasteland setting. It was well done.
Like Martian Successor Nadesico this anime lucked out because it needed a second season, but it is never to be.

Tech
The visual were quite good for for the time and the sound effects to being 2003. No real complaints there. Some of the special effects where bad near the finale which was disappointing.

The voice acting wasn't that good either. But these few negative things didn't take my enjoyment of the show away. I think it's more of a reflection of the time it was created rather than carelessness on the makers of the show.

Characters
I liked them all, the main characters were well thought out and had interesting stories and developed fairly well. I think the biggest thing I liked about this show was Jo. The main character. She was a cool headed badass who knew how to like others.

Meg was pretty good to although pretty much useless. She was an important supporting character though and she really didn't get to shine in the series. I think the plan was to have her be the lead of season 2, but since it got canned it could never be.

Sei and Amy where great characters to. Sei was well developed and had a more important part than Amy did. Her backstory was pretty solid and her design was good. Amy's was good to but she didn't feel like a main character but a supporting character like Kyohei, who was the chef.

Conclusion
When it comes down to it, the show is about Jo being badass. I enjoyed it allot and the action was good. The Mecha component of the series I also enjoyed and they were an important part of the story.

To me it felt like the story was more about gun fights and less about Mechas. Which I liked. It's good seeing Mecha's just being a part of the story rather than one of the main focuses.
It's a good show and I'd recommend it highly. I can't give it a better score than I did though, It's simply good and not much else more.

Score: 7.6/10 MAL Score: 8/10 [Rounded up]

Nichijou - My ordinary life Review
There are no spoilers in this review.
I just finished Nichijou I have to say I enjoyed it allot but it's not something which is fantastic in every aspect.

Story
The story is about the life of 3 school girls and a robot. That's it. Nothing more to it, nothing less to it, just 26 episodes about life set as a comedy. What made this enjoyable wasn't the story but the comedy.
It would be foolish to think of this more than a comedy. I found myself enjoying it less later in the series as it became less random ... as it seemed they were trying to wrap things up in a shorter time frame.
That feeling of being rushed does take away the enjoyment sometimes.

Tech
I think my favorite part of the show was the art style. I really liked it, simple but effective. It's not overly impressive compared to other shows, but it really suits the feeling of Nichijou. If the story was more serious I don't think the art style would have paid off.
The sound quality was good, and the sound effects where fun.

Characters
The characterization was pretty well thought out in general. There were no useless characters and they all fulfilled their roll in the show, which is to entertain us. The designs fitted the art style and there wasn't a bad design amongst them all.

Conclusion
An enjoyable comedy with plenty of gags. I found allot of the screaming gags to be a bit much though and took away from me enjoyment a fair bit. But overall it was fun. I don't think this show would be a big prize winner for anything though.