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As much as I loved Oniisama e..., and loved how it was such a groundbreaking story for it's time, I felt there were many unanswered questions left, and the ending was just not satisfying for me.

Characters (10/10):
I'm going to start my review off with discussing characters first, because that is the part of this anime that I think the most highly of. Most of the characters in this series are just phenomenal, and unlike any characters I've seen in other anime (and I've watched over 200). First we have Rei Asaka or "Saint Juste-sama," and her character is amazingly well written and interesting. ... She's strange, but not a stereotypical like strange that would come to mind when thinking of what constitutes as so. She is very oddly obsessive, and shows her love and affection bizarre ways. This makes it so hard to actually tell what she is thinking, and when she makes confessions as to what she is thinking or how she is feeling they tend to be shocking. And what makes this even more important is the fact the Rei does not even know what she is thinking herself. She is always split between feelings and thoughts, and it is almost like us viewers have been placed inside her mind whenever she is on screen. I have great admiration for the creator of this series for being able to pull off something like that, where the audience is feeling the same emotions as the character. Despite all of this she still remains very mysterious to me, and she is a character that I will never forget, as I have never seen a character like her.

Next there's Fukiko Ichinomiya, and just like Rei she has odd ways of showing affection for people. She has problems with anger, but her anger is very subtle. She shows her anger by acting out, however this acting out has no foreseeable emotions upon her face, almost as if her actions are accidental and not predetermined. This also gives the audience a difficult time assessing her character and emotions at first. However, as the series goes on she begins showing her emotions more, and the audience is able to tell what she is feeling and thinking more. A lot of the reasoning behind her actions has remained unanswered to me, but I just feel like that's how questions concerning Fukiko should be. She's not someone who opens up to other people, therefore her feelings should not be "opened up" to or explained to the audience.

Nanako Misonoo, the main protagonist in this series. She is a little bit more basic compared to a lot of the other characters, but in a good way. Someone like her is always needed in a show; someone like her is needed to create balance between extremes. Though while she appears to be a basic character she will do anything for the person she loves, even if that person is not as affectionate back. Nanako represents the average viewer watching Oniisama e... I think it's safe to assume that everyone can relate to her in some sort of way. She is a very strong girl; Despite being heartbroken throughout most of the series, she has always come out stronger and has never tried taking measures that some of the other characters in this series have tried taking. However, there were some things about her that I did not feel were fully addressed by the end of the series that I think should have been addressed.

Those are the only characters specifically that I wanted to talk about in this review, however there were a lot of supporting characters that I think were very well written. Even if they just had a little bit of screen time, I feel like some of these characters had well developed personalities and seemed unique despite being minor. The ones that stood out to me in particular were Komabayashi ("Mona Lisa-sama") and Ogiwara ("Borgia-sama").

Story (7/10):
Here is where I give my lowest rating, and I'm going to explain just why that is. Aside from the unanswered questions I mentioned in the beginning, I feel like there was one trope that was used a tad too much in this anime, which I'm not going to say in order to avoid spoilers. However if you know what I'm talking about, I feel like that was overused and the author could've come up with some better tropes than that. Next, I feel like the ending was rushed. There was a whole story that they tried to wrap up in 3 episodes, which I felt was completely unnecessary. I feel like this story should've been incorporated into the series way earlier than it was, because putting it at the end just made the series worse. Because of this so many questions were unanswered. They tried to add this story at the end so it would make the ending seem satisfying, but it did just the opposite of that for me.

Now, for questions I feel were left unanswered. For one, we never got confirmation of a lot of characters' feelings, and I feel like the whole Shoujo-Ai aspect of it was just completely thrown out the window. At the end, it just felt like none of the girls who had feelings for other girls had those feelings anymore, however there was no way of knowing that. For one, after certain characters confessed their feelings it was as if they didn't have feelings anymore, didn't feel jealously and didn't feel much pain from being rejected. It's like afterwards the story just moved completely on, and their feelings were never addressed again. This was the number one reason why I have only given this anime an 8/10. More and more things just kept coming up, and it felt like their feelings were being ignored.

It felt like the author was trying to forget that they made some of the female characters fall in love with other female characters, so they just stopped the development completely. And in the end as the girls got older and developed more it started to seem like they were more into men, which just felt like the creator was trying to say that homosexual feelings are just childish, and that the characters' development caused them to no longer be interested in the same sex. Now I may be wrong about this, but that is just how it felt to me.

Another thing I don't like is how there is a prominent antagonist in the beginning of the series, who randomly disappears for a long period of time but randomly makes a comeback in later episodes. I feel like this antagonist should've just completely disappeared from where she did in the beginning, because just making her come back randomly made me question what she was doing the whole time. This character was in the same vicinity as the main characters throughout the whole series, so why would she stop messing with them for so long but then come back and start again like no time passed from when she was there before? I don't know, but this just didn't make sense at all to me.

Also, there is another thing about the story that I think should've been changed, and changing this aspect would have made the story more memorable and more like this aspect/event had a purpose. What I'm talking about is a certain characters' demise, and how their demise was handled. With how it was handled I think this character's demise was pointless, however with a different cause I wouldn't have minded it (I know the wording of this sounds a bit weird but I'm trying my best not to say any spoilers). I think the cause should have had to do with this character's prolonged addiction/obsession, and that it should not have been accidental. I feel like that would have been much more meaningful to the story, and with the messages the author is trying to present.

Art (10/10):
Honestly, I love love love the art style of this anime, and I love all of the stills throughout the episodes. The vibe of the art just perfectly matches the vibe of the series to me, and for 1991 I think the quality was pretty good. And the animation for a Slice of Life/Romance anime like this doesn't need to be over the top, it just needs to have good art because we are focusing on how the characters themselves are individually drawn, because most scenes are of characters talking to each other.

Enjoyment (9/10): Despite my complaints about the plot holes in the story and everything, there is always something going on in this anime and you always want to keep watching the episodes. At some points it can feel boring, but even with that you'll always want to know what happens in the next episode. That's because the characters in this series are so lovable and interesting, you just can't stop watching until you understand what they are thinking or until you know what they do or know what happens to them. It is very easy to get attached to the characters in this show, which will want you to keep watching more and more! I very much enjoyed Oniisama e... :)


OVERALL: 8/10

"You reap what you sow."
That is the one platitude I thought of while watching this anime. It definitely holds strong.

(I'm referring to the characters here as either "protagonist" or "antagonist" as an attempt to avoid spoilers)

Story/Plot:

In this anime, we have two completely different individuals receive identical powers. We have no idea about the origins of these powers. There are many theories that could be discussed as to where these powers came from, but that is not very relevant to the story. It's not about where these powers came from but how the powers are used. The fact that one individual uses his ... powers for good and the other uses his powers for evil is proof of this. Now if both of the main characters were working together, maybe it would be a good idea to explain how these powers came about. A concrete understanding of where the power came from would encourage teamwork, but that simply is just not needed throughout this anime until the end. Simply put, explaining where the powers came from would not add anything to the anime and is frankly just useless information.

Since the beginning of the story, there was a stark contrast between how each character chose to use their respective powers. There is a clear "right" and a clear "wrong" side, and I think that this anime did a fantastic job at establishing that. However as the story goes on, that line of contrast becomes thinner and thinner as I started to feel more sympathy for the antagonist. There weren't really two sides anymore; it felt as if it was both the protagonists and antagonists against each other and the state. It is obvious that the protagonists did not agree with the state going after and attempting to kill the antagonist, and obviously the antagonist did not want to be attacked. So what seems as a dispute between the protagonists and antagonist was actually a dispute with a third party.

And with all of that, there was still a fourth dilemma that needed to be faced.

Characters:

Here is the portion of this review that made me want to write a review for this anime in the first place.

I have noticed that many people who have reviewed this anime or have spoken on it have failed to acknowledge the complexity of the characters in this anime. It is very easy to just call the antagonist a heartless killing machine without giving it a second thought. But let's face it, he is very far from that.

In this anime, the antagonist is shown as a person who only cares about those close to them, and is willing to kill everyone else. He gets pleasure out of killing people, and his only motive for killing is that it makes him feel "more alive." Yes this is very true for the first part of the anime, but what about the second half? Why did he really continue to kill people? Did he actually want to still kill them? No, but why did he? Because he knew there was no way to make up for the crimes he committed. Even if he tried to save all of the people in the world, it would never make up for all of the people he killed. That's because the people he would be saving were never dead in the first place. He knew that, so he took solace in continuing to kill. There was no way to change his image, so what was the point of him stopping? If he got caught then he would not be able to protect the ones he loved, but if he stopped killing and protected the ones he loved he would be caught. He was tangled up in a catch-22 situation, where he ended up being somewhat of a tragic hero in the end. But then again, he did that to himself. He should have known where his recklessness would take him.

Let's move onto the protagonist, who is obviously very atypical for an anime. Most anime have a protagonist who is in middle or high school, but Inuyashiki decided to insert a 58 year old man who looks to be in his mid 70s married with two kids and a dog. I find this very meaningful and hopeful. You can drastically change your life no matter what age you are. Whether you're 15 or 55, you have the power to change the world. People like to think that changing the world is for younger generations, but the older you are the more things you have to look back on and change about yourself. This anime does a great job at spreading that message. The main characters are nearly 40 years apart but they both managed to have a huge impact on their world. Name me another anime that has managed to do this. I bet you can't.

Enjoyment:

I really enjoyed this anime. I binged it all in one night, and so many emotions coursed through my body. Fear, anger, sadness, remorse, and sympathy are just some of the ones I felt. I cried twice, which I do not recall ever happening to me while watching an 11 episode anime. This was truly something else.

Humans can be evil creatures. They will do anything they can when their heart is filled with lust for power.

It hasn't been since I saw Death Note that I sided with the antagonist of an anime series. Over time, especially towards the end, I saw myself siding more and more with the Count.

Story: 10/10

The story of this anime was amazing. Normally you'd think a show that "futurizes" an old story would be utter garbage, but this one turned out to be very well. There were sci-fi aspects in the show, but they had nothing to do with the overall understanding of the ... plot or story line. We knew certain technology was there, but we didn't need to know why it was there or how it functioned. I feel that if they tried to go in depth about the technology then it would have done great damage to the anime. The story was deep (well at least for me), but not deep enough for you to have to use all of your brain energy to understand it.

Art: 9/10

When I first saw the art looking into this anime it kind of threw me off a bit. If I didn't watch this anime, the art style would have been the main reason for it. However, when I first started it I fell in love with the art and animation. I loved the overlay designs and prints that went on the characters' clothes and hair; I thought that was very unique. For the animation, they went the more CGI route for fight scenes and ships which I think was the better decision for this anime. I liked the art style, but looking back I don't think the space ships and armor suits would look very nice in this art style.

Sound: 10/10

A lot of people say the music for this anime was pretty mediocre, but I happened to love it. I loved all of the classical pieces that were used as background music. I just feel like classical music matched best for this anime, as it was so chaotic yet so peaceful at the same time. Let me explain. Classical music is soft sounding which is peaceful and calming to most people, but it can also be seen as chaotic as many classical songs tell a story through the various instruments and sounds being used. It is up to you to figure out what that story means. The same can be said with this anime. It can be seen as peaceful because, like I said earlier, trying to understand this story does not put much strain on your mind. However it does encourage a lot of deep thinking. I don't know if what I said makes any sense but that's why I feel classical music was a great choice for background music in this anime.

Characters: 8/10

My lowest rating is in the character category. Here's why:

I don't feel the female characters in this anime had much power, and all of them were way too emotional and never used logical reasoning to solve their problems. It was either a man saved them or they cried it all out. I'm not saying that this is exactly a bad thing, but it is a stereotype we see on females way too often. We are seen as either just a love interest or the center of emotion in a lot of stories. However, I can somewhat excuse these stereotypes because this was based off of a book written in the nineteenth century where women had little to no power and couldn't show that there was more to them than just emotions.
Moving on from the stereotypical depiction of women, I do feel that many of the male characters were realistic. Albert's father and his cohorts were obsessed with gaining power, so they performed malevolent actions. They didn't care about having to sacrifice a person or two in order to get to the top. In the end they all became powerful and yet were still obsessed with fame and fortune. Now that they had it they were too scared to lose it, which ultimately led to their downfall. Once you become rich the greediness doesn't go away, it just takes a different form. It is first a desire and then a fear.
Okay, now let's discuss Albert. He was an annoying MC to say the least however I can't help but think the anime would be terrible without him. He ends up going through so much development. He goes from the oblivious protagonist in the beginning to a somewhat of an idealist anti-hero all in just 24 episodes. Nearing the end of the series, he really wasn't on any side except for his own. He cared for everyone, no matter who they were or what acts they had committed.

Enjoyment: 10/10

All I can say here is that I really enjoyed this series! I didn't get bored one bit, and each episode really left me thinking. I highly recommend! Oh and also, don't let the sci-fi tag throw you off because it really isn't much of a sci-fi show, it's just set in the future.

Overall: 9/10

At first, I just started the Plunderer series when it came out as an anime, not thinking it could have any potential. After around 6 episodes I considered dropping the anime but stayed for the comedy. At around episode 10-11 I started seeing great potential for the series, and after the last episode, I could not resist and continued where it left off with the manga.

And holy cow, let me just say I was far from disappointed. Plunderer really is a masterpiece, the only thing I had wrong with it was the random comedic relief moments that had no overall effect on the plot. ... The overabundance of these moments in the first few chapters of the manga/episodes of the anime is really what threw people off and caused them to drop the series. However, the more I read the more those moments became smaller and just enough to ease the pain I had while reading this (don't worry though! It's intense but not exactly saddening).

I don't know exactly how to explain how great this series is without spoiling it, so I highly recommend checking it out for yourself! You won't be disappointed! After watching the latest episode of the anime I read the whole rest of the manga and didn't get bored one bit! The scenes can go by pretty fast, but I did not feel as if anything was being rushed.

I just completed Hunter x Hunter today and all I can say is just wow. This anime is so amazing, and I mean genuinely amazing. HxH has such an original plot and storyline, and if I hadn't been busy with schoolwork and such it is likely that I would've finished it in a week because I was so hooked. I especially admired Gon and Killua's friendship, which is one of the most powerful anime friendships I have ever seen, and their friendship isn't generic either. It is extremely evident that they deeply care for each other and I have never seen such passion in any ... other anime. The characters of Gon and Killua in general just make their friendship all the more valuable as well. Next, the antagonists in this series are especially interesting. Again, they are very unique individuals and do not just stand as people to defeat. Hisoka, Chrollo, and Meruem, for example, each have their own personalities and showed great development over the series. Also, with characters such as Meruem, there were many dilemmas at play. For example, the idea that humans were worse than Chimera Ants (I will not go further into detail because I do not want to give spoilers). Hisoka, everyone's favorite magician, is particularly very unique for an antagonist throughout the series. I have seen that many villans, even in many other outstanding series, feel no need to keep their enemies alive. However, it is shown that Hisoka shows a level of care and respect for the people he wants to fight, such as Killua and Gon. He may see them as mere "toys" but it still takes respect and hope to believe that a target has potential, something that many antagonists do not like to consider when looking at the protagonists. I don't want to make this review too long so, overall, I 10/10 recommend HxH and it is sure to stir up many emotions, maybe even some that have laid dormant inside you. I hope that phrase doesn't make you think anything weird, but, I know you'll be sure to enjoy it. Thanks for reading my review and enjoy watching Hunter x Hunter! :)