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I have a feeling that there will be those who want to give this anime a perfect 10/10 but perhaps will shy away because of the great divide in the community. So, here I am. Writing a review for an anime which I thought not only needs to be properly addressed as to why it should be considered a masterpiece but demands a standing ovation in the way it has executed almost everything to perfection.

I won't bother writing the synopsis because those who have already seen the first season would know the premise of the story and how it unfolds to the viewers through our ... protagonist — Oumae Kumiko's life changing experience.

This will be rather long so bear with me. It's been forever since I last wrote an anime review. This review contains SPOILERS.

The story apparently may seem like a very ordinary one, a rookie school concert band trying to achieve something otherwise would seem a pipe dream by hurdling through all the obstacles thrown at their path as they overcome them one after the other. It may start looking like it because that is how we see it throughout the story, starting with the whole fall-out of students from different years, to a student dropping out, then the selection of the solo-player and so on. This continues into the second season as we see the Mizore-Nozomi conflict surfaces, and finally Asuka's situation is thrown into the mix. However, the inner story of all these conflicts were supposed to serve the purpose of the growth of our protagonist that may go unnoticed.

I will just give an example of the least favourite conflict that everyone seems to shrug off as redundant. That is Mizore and Nozomi's conflict. Apparently it doesn't serve much purpose and it may seem overblown than it should be. But the significance of that conflict is that it opened Kumiko's view on her surroundings. She started to realize her surroundings matter, the people around her matter. This conflict showed us Kumiko wanting to change, wanting to get involved with people around her. A girl who was shown she can befriend almost anyone at will and has this aura about her that makes people want to open up to her unbeknownst to herself, formed a wall which wouldn't allow her get to too involved with others. Perhaps because she believed getting too involved will ultimately get her hurt.

However, she experiences from the front-row seat on how Yuuko confronted Mizore that allowed Mizore to become honest with Nozomi. And through her own situation with her sister — Mamiko that taught her things that are important are worth getting hurt for as she allowed Asuka to peel off her fake skin of the goody-two-shoes. It was the first time she became honest with her real feelings. But that really worked as a double edged sword and peeled off Asuka's mask as well. Her confrontation with Asuka is one of the most well executed scenes I have come across in any anime that served the purpose of character growth of two characters simultaneously.

Then we come to relationships. Unfortunately, which resulted in the great divide. The thing about the relationship is that most of the fans took it for how it has been presented to them without them trying to explore the subtle things in it. Kumiko's relationship with Reina is one of the most beautiful relationships I have seen in anime. But is that romantic? Absolutely not. To me, it's more powerful than a romantic love.

Kumiko's relationship with Reina starts off with her admiration for Reina — who wants to become special. Kumiko saw Reina as an idol, someone she aspired to — someone who is determined, straightforward, a better musician, beautiful and like a grown-up. Reina on the other hand was attracted to Kumiko on how she can be blatant at times yet could withhold her emotions when she wanted to at will, something Reina couldn't do herself and might have been struggling with. However, once they start to become closer as they spend more time together, Kumiko realizes that Reina is just like an ordinary girl, has her own troubles and seeks for advice from time to time. That was when she started to see Reina as a true friend instead of someone she was idolizing. KyoAni put them on top of the hill twice. When they were there for the first time, Kumiko was shown sitting on the steps and Reina standing in front of her. In that magical moment their physical positions were exactly the way Kumiko's mind worked back then, that Kumiko saw Reina as someone on a higher ground than she was, someone worth idolizing and wouldn't mind being swept off of her feet if it was by Reina. The second time we see them on the same hill, she stood next to Reina, holding her hands and telling her words of encouragement. At that moment of time, they were equal. Kumiko didn't idolize Reina anymore. She truly formed a relationship with Reina that would become eternal.

Kumiko's relationship with Shuuchi is one of the most deceptive relationships ever. This is because Kumiko is too real for an anime character. She isn't like those three hundred and fifty seven tsundere characters in anime who will show their affection by being mean to the person they like and then start blushing when the moment calls for it. This became more evident later on when she reconciled with Mamiko who she was outwardly in a confrontational relationship. Assessing Kumiko's relationship with Mamiko gives us a better understanding of her relationship with Shuuichi. Of course, she is only ever cold to those who she has been really close with.

Our second protagonist in the story, Reina, had her share of moments in the second season but were overshadowed by the emerging character of Asuka. What we learned from her character though is that she too was willing to change. She is shown spending more time with Hazuki and Midori. A loner from season one, she finally started to show that she was willing to accept others. Perhaps the most notable ones were when she encouraged Hazuki before the station-concert and shown thanking Yuuko for looking out for her. The thing that worked against her character for many fans was her immeasurable affection for Taki-sensei. Reina being an intensive character as she is, everything she does are out of her conviction and sudden impulses. Everything from demanding Kumiko's absolute submission to their relationship to her public confession make Reina — Reina. That is how her character is created and that is why she found solace in Kumiko's character and in the end in Kumiko's company. Reina's character is one of the most fascinating representation of adolescence. And she shines brighter than any other character in the story.

Kumiko's relationship with Asuka is the most important relationship in the second season. Asuka was a character Kumiko didn't really think nicely of in the first season. She always thought Asuka tried to distant herself from others and doesn't want to get involved with others. From not giving a damn about why Midori seemed down in season 1 to not giving an opinion on Mizore and Nozomi's situation and all the way to showing how she would push a crying Riko away from hugging her to not enjoying Kaori showing her affection by tying her shoe-laces. Everything had a meaning and it was done on purpose to make us understand her personality. Later on, when she got her own mask peeled off in an attempt to unmask Kumiko, we see a new Asuka. Blushing at Natsuki welcoming her with an angelic smile which the previous Asuka would not take as a sign of goodwill. Asuka's character is easy to understand but difficult to explain. She really took the second season by the scruff of the neck and became a protagonist of her own right. Her relationship with Kumiko eventually became the flag-bearer of Hibike! Euphonium that emphasized on human-relationships.

All the other characters are distinguishable but at the same time they can be seen as mirrors to one another when it comes to relationships. This is what makes Hibike! Euphonium a story that is so much character-driven. Be it Kumuko-Reina, or Nozomi-Mizore, or Kumiko-Mamiko, or Kumiko-Asuka, or Kumiko-Shuuichi, or Natsuki-Yuuko, or Kaori-Yuuko, or Kaori-Asuka. Each and every relationship is very well defined but none of them are entirely unique as they tend to blur at some point when one wants to compare them with one another. This is one of the many beauties of Hibike! Euphonium as a story.

I will try to give an insight of the characters we see in this anime. We have Shuuchi. A good-looking boy who is very observant and with a lot of conviction and probably more mature than those who are of his age. He is kind and considerate most of the time in the little screen time he has had in season 2. He is not flawless though as we see him trying to get his feelings for Kumiko across to her despite being shot down time and again. We have Hazuki. An energetic girl but lacks in confidence with her playing that one would expect of her for being one of newer ones going into music. However, she is not to be taken lightly as she was one of the few who realized Kumiko might have feelings for Shuuichi. Her recovering from the heartbreak of being rejected by Shuuichi is another page added to this wonderful story of youth. We have Sapph— let's call her Midori. A girl who seems to know a lot about things that others around her age wouldn't. Insert "Italian Whites" here for an example. While she is seen as an otaku when it comes to music, she also has this curiosity to sniff out romance. We even see her trying to be the cupid for her friends — for Hazuki in season 1 and then for Kumiko in season 2. She is even seen placing her interest of love-relationships over the announcement of their school's results! We have Mamiko. A girl who didn't want to take the responsibilities of her decision to follow her parents' chosen path yet complains on how Kumiko had it easy. But in the process of growing up, she perhaps forgot what she once held so dearly. We have Yuuko. A childish girl almost everyone disliked in season 1 because of her confrontation with Reina but eventually wins a large section of the fans over through her development as a character over the second season. We have Natsuki. A girl who epitomizes the fact that people can be simple and people with goodwill exist. We have Haruka. A girl who lacks in confidence yet she has been the president of the brass band. She exemplifies that people without leadership can still lead through dedication. We have Kaori. A kind senpai who wouldn't mind bowing her head down for the sake of others or let her affection known by being open to others. We have Taki. A very talented conductor but fails when it comes to being an advisor. We have Michie. A very strict teacher but shown crying every now and then seeing her students growing up. The range of characters with varying personalities, their qualities and their shortcomings make Hibike! Euphonium a truly dynamic story. But what makes it more impressive is the development we see of some of these characters over the course of the two seasons and how their developments influence our protagonists as the story progresses.

I thought it would be fine to just touch upon the art and the animation as I think those who have seen previous KyoAni shows could come with an expectation that it would be better than most of the other anime out there. But I really want to emphasize on this aspect. The attention to details is unmatched for even for KyoAni standards. It is better than their previous work on Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!, Clannad After Story or even Hyouka. Until I saw Hibike! Euphonium, I always thought Hyouka set the bar a bit too high. But it seems that there is no such bar that can be set for KyoAni when it comes to art and animation. All the episodes had such beautiful use of shades, attention to details, neatly drawn characters, stunning background visuals, use of motion blur and use of proximity blur that it truly became a show worth watching for the visual spectacles alone. I don't think I have to mention the attention to details they put on the instruments. Scratch that. The way we see them playing the nodes exactly like they should in real life makes me wonder how much passion can be poured into a work to achieve this level of perfection.

The music of this anime has been outrageously good. One can probably tell that musics were played by non-professionals as we know they were performed by freshmen from a college in Japan (Freshmen of 2014 Senzoku Gakuin) to keep it unpolished to represent a school brass band. The use of sound depending on the place they were played at — be it at the corner of the school building, or on the river bank, or in a large concert hall or in the small closed space of a classroom or in an open-air environment in front of the station was fantastic. The acoustics were handled so brilliantly that the distinctness of each sound based on the surrounding made it almost too real.

Anime has been a medium that always go an extra yard to capture the imagination of the creators. Be it adapted from a manga, a VN, a novel, an LN, a game or something completely original. But very few of them can actually manage to capture everything that they wanted to convey, and even within those very few, even fewer manage to go beyond. Adapted from Takeda Ayano's novel of the same title, Hibike! Euphonium falls under those extremely rare ones. Director Ishihara Tatsuya insisted that Hibike! Euphonium is the anime he has enjoyed working on the most as a director in his entire career. Even going as far as revealing that it improved his directing ability significantly because of the nature of the story. Coming from a director of his caliber who has been involved with so many of KyoAni's biggest franchises speaks volume of the story itself.

Hibike! Euphonium season 2 has been an absolute treat. While a majority of the fans sought romance in it, it is actually a story of coming-of-age. A story that upholds human relationship. It celebrates our very ordinary life the way it should be. It shows us how human relationships evolve over time. It shows us how they influence our lives. What Hibike! Euphonium tried to establish is that every encounter has a meaning to it no matter how short they are. All of them make us grow up as a person and some of them make us go through life changing moments or at the very least, changes the way we see our lives. It would be an understatement if I were to say "Hibike! Euphonium nailed it!"

If we can identify that very aspect of the story we are told through this anime which otherwise may seem mundane, I am sure we will really unearth the gem that is Hibike! Euphonium.

Thanks for reading!









Post Review notes:

There are some amazing moments in the second season. Some of my personal favourite scenes are:

- Kumiko and Reina's conversation under their futons followed by both of them smiling, facing each other,
- Kumiko finding Asuka playing her Euphonium in the morning on her own,
- the performance in the Kansai competition and the result announcement,
- the conversation between Kumiko and Taki-sensei during a typhoon,
- Haruka looking at Asuka's direction before starting her solo,
- Kaori tying Asuka's shoe-lace,
- Mamiko reminiscing her pestering little sister thanks to Shuuichi,
- Asuka playing for Kumiko on the river bank,
- Kumiko crying on her way to school thinking about her sister,
- Kumiko's outburst towards Asuka,
- Reina asking Taki-sensei about his deceased wife,
- Shuuichi's smile when Kumiko ran after Mamiko,
- Kumiko's confession to Mamiko and the two sisters shown standing afar, one standing on the bridge, the other just at the edge of the bridge, and
- finally Kumiko's final scene with Asuka and revelation of the title of the piece Asuka used to play.

The moment I heard that there was a new movie from Hosada Mamoru due in June 2012, I literally jumped with joy and could barely suppress my excitement. Those tingling sensations while watching Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo and Summer Wars immediately returned. And after watching Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki, if there was any doubt I wouldn't feel the same way, completely washed away. I will truly cherish the two hours of my life I spent watching this masterpiece.

Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki, which translates to “The Wolf Children Ame and Yuki”, is not about the legend of the werewolves. It is not ... about human becoming wolf in the night of the full moon, going berserk and killing people. It is an absolutely adorable story of a single mother, Hana, and her struggles, and the hardships she overcame with smiles and determination to bring up two children, what more, in secrecy, because of the secret of her family she could not share with the society. And that is not the entire story. It also tells the story of Ame and Yuki, the two siblings, brought up in secrecy by their mother, learning their way to accept their lives as wolf-children and making their own choices of what they would become as adults.

The two hours story is told by Yuki as a narrator which spreads over thirteen years. Everything started from 19 year old college student Hana getting to know Ookami, and then falling in love with him, and then getting to know his secret, and then falling in love with him even more. The first fruit of their love arrived when Hana gave birth to Yuki and then, their second, Ame, a year later. The young parents were looking forward to a loving family... until everything fell apart in a fateful rainy night. Ookami never returned back home. From thereon, Hana’s struggles begin. It would have been too much for a young woman at her age, but for Hana, as a mother, she decides to overcome anything and everything for her Ame and Yuki. And thus we enter one of the most endearing stories ever told. I leave the rest to you to find out!

The characters portrayed in the movie have great depth and development over the span of just two hours. It is simply amazing how the characters, particularly Ame and Yuki showed their depth and development in the little time the movie had to show for. Small yet profound details were put at the right places where we could see the reasons behind their changes in character, their development in personality and in the end, the path they decide to take prior to entering their adulthood. The most amazing thing of the movie is found in Hana however, as a young lover in the beginning, and as a remarkable mother in the end. She is at the epitome of a heartwarming reminder of what a Mother is all about.

The characters are designed by Sadamoto Yoshiyuki. He was associated with Mamoru’s previous two full length movies Tokikake and Summer wars, too. While those who are unfamiliar with his character designs, may find the character drawing a bit too bland initially, but as the movie progresses, the characters will definitely grow in them. It happened to me the first time I saw Tokikake, but for Summer Wars and Ookami Kodomo, I could really enjoy the movies from the get go because I was already aware of the designs after seeing Tokikake. It honestly made it more enjoyable, at least for me, because I could really see how I could find the character designs absolutely fantastic and overwhelming as the story progressed.

The animation, done by MADHOUSE Studios, is visually stunning. The motion pictures are of the top quality and the environment and the surroundings portrayed such that you are actually seeing and experiencing just as the characters in the movie are. Okudera Satoko did an amazing job yet again in her role in the screenplay. The drawing angles of the animation, the placement and positioning of the characters, and the views seen by the characters, of both their surroundings and while interacting with one another have been brilliant. They are so good as if you are exactly in the same place and situation with the characters, in the process, making you feel the same as the characters.

Another fantastic feature of the anime is definitely the sound. The background music, a blend of orchestra in some segments, and traditional in the others, gives the feel of the given situation, and most importantly, makes you feel the emotion of the characters in those situations. The ending theme song “Okaa-san no Uta” (My mommy’s song) by Ann Sally is really lovely. The lyric is so beautiful! If you are the type who skips over the credits of anime movies, my request to you will be to at least listen to the song once. The voice acting has been equally impressive. Both younger and older Ame and Yuki seiyuus have been exceptional. Hana and Ookami's seiyuus have been excellent as well. And all other seiyuus of the side characters did wonderful, too.

Overall, this has been the best anime movie since Hotarubi no Mori e in 2011. Hosada Mamoru is undoubtedly an amazing director. This has been yet another of his movie masterpieces. If you manage to get two hours out of your life despite of how busy your life may be and give this movie a chance, I can guarantee you that you won't regret a minute of it!

No less than a fairy tale, more than just another romance story, Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki will be cherished by fans for many, many years to come.

CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS.

With so many reviews with a huge standard deviation all around MAL for SAO, let me join the bandwagon of SAO review writing competition! Actually I am copy pasting one of my forum posts that got buried under 30+ pages. Yeah, SAO hit 25-30 pages on average in MAL forums per episode during its run. This anime drew attention of both admirers and haters alike.

I don't really hate it. Rather I would say I disliked it. Not because it is overly hyped and I am one of those who hate things which are liked by the mass. If you see my anime list ... you'll probably notice that most of the highly rated anime in MAL and in other anime db sites have pretty good scores from me. So why SAO got a 5/10 from me (and I was being generous for an anime that gave me unwanted lols)?

SAO is a mess. Yes. The proper words for it. A MESS. The only good points of the anime are the animation of the surrounding, the environment, the background details, and the music. It makes you want to be in those fantasy worlds. The idea of realistic virtual world pulls the people into the anime and death in the game is death in real world, pretty much the scorers for the anime.

Everything else, the hollow characters, the ridiculous character interactions, their out of screen development, the randomness of the storytelling, the bizarre pacing of the anime, every single female character having a thing for the main guy, the male side characters being pansies, everything that I seek in an anime to give it a decent score is at shambles.

This anime could have been a great anime. The plot had an enormous potential to make it one of the best anime in years. But what we got instead? If anything other than a mess, I would say it has been a comic relief, just that it wasn't meant to be funny. I ROFL in so many incidents while in others, I did facepalms. Something you really don't expect from an anime that gives the vibe of a very serious story line. Ironically, it tried to be funny at times, but those moments were far from anything funny.

So here is a new take on writing a SAO review. Let me break it down to the genres that it acclaims since no one has done it.

Original Genres:

Action: Half-assed most of the time, overly glorified at times, like someone blowing up when struck by a sword for instance that didn't go unnoticed for many during the ALO arc. Also, A1-Pictures and the facial expressions during high frame-rate action scenes. You probably already know the rest. Score: 5/10

Adventure: Jumping from here and there, more specifically, from level to level. Oh yes, bloody amazing adventure: you just get to know which level they are at, and that's bloody that. No way someone's going to show all 75 levels, right? But hey, why not just do that in such a way that the coherency of the story is there or at least try to make it free-flowing? Score: 2/10

Fantasy: A definite plus of the anime. Maybe the only true genre it has covered properly. SAO arc had some of the best landscapes drawn in an anime made for TV broadcasting. Even though the landscapes lacked creativity, completely ripped off of other fantasies, just that they were animated vividly, which were definitely a plus for the anime. Score: 8/10

Game: Fair enough. They were indeed playing a game. A life threatening one too. Just saying. Score: 7/10

Romance: Okay. It is somewhat proven that when people are at loss, they seek comfort, strive for human warmth. They just want to know that there is someone who would care for them before losing their sanity. I really don't care how Asuna and Kirito started liking each other since I believe falling in love can take years, or just a matter of moments. I think the most romantic moment of the anime was when Asuna cried and said she wanted to grow old with Kirito in the real world. At that point of time, anything simple would have been pretty good for a romance substance but to do that, the animators pushed everything they could think of to make Asuna look a bit too dreamy. She is beautiful, comes from a good background, loving, caring, considerate, good at cooking, good at fighting, and add another twenty things as you wish, and she is basically the most flawless female character you need to make a successful romance story. Like seriously? In an attempt to oversize the romance, an attempt was made to look Asuna a bit too perfect and in the end making her a weak character who was initially shown as quite the dependable and strong character. Asuna pathetically became a tool for romance. And subsequently...*(continue reading or scroll down to asterisk) Score: 3/10 (And I am a fan of romance in anime too.)

Genres it conveniently overlooked:

Harem: Every single female character out there is going after Kirito apparently because he is the gameliest of gamers. Oh wait! I forgot about this character named Yuriel who actually had someone else she liked other than Kirito. And what did we get? Just because she is not meant to be one of Kirito's harem, she has a face of Nizuma Eiji. Score: 9/10. Definitely a Harem anime.

Shounen: Overcome every single obstacle by powering up from God Know where from because Kirito happened to have played the game before as a beta tester and have better reflex (my arse). What the fuck have the rest of the gamers been doing throughout their miserable lives? They just get pawned out of nowhere every time because they are just some random gamers. Score: 7/10

Comedy: Why? Because the anime is full of craziest comedies even though you probably wouldn't want to watch them in an anime set with such serious tone. Even in the final episode when the rapist of rapers missed Kirito by half a meter, he didn't forget to mention that his eyes were playing tricks on him. I literally ROFL. If they make a sequel, which is very likely to happen, I, if for anything, will watch this anime for all the random LOLs. Score: 9/10.

Incest: Okay. Yeah she is a cousin so it doesn't really matter. But they grew up together as siblings even if they are not blood related. It is understandable that suddenly knowing that the one you have lived with wasn't your sibling may result in unsettling emotional state of mind. So I would have stroke it out for decency's fuck. But I didn't. Know why? I never say bad things about female chest. But the way they emphasized on Sugu's BOOBs was annoying to watch as a human being but enjoyable at the same time being a guy. Score: 8/10.

Ecchi: Scientists given tentacles in their avatars in the game? LIKE WHAT THE FUCK? But if you think logically, it all makes sense. They really need to grab Asuna in way that would make you drop a bit of your manhood. But from the business point of view, I say A-1 picture did fucking brilliant. (Continued from the asterisk from above!) *They even ended up making Asuna a raping bag. I am sure every otaku is buying 10 pieces of this crap using their parents' money. No, it wasn't meant to be a racist comment, but that's how they portray the otakus in general, so take my sincere apology for saying such an obnoxious thing. Score: 10/10.

When an anime drifts away from its original genres and scores higher on other *hidden* genres, you must know that the anime if anything, is a complete train wreck.

And thus the anime gets a 5/10 from me.

I haven't read the Light Novel, so it is pointless to judge it from the LN's point of view. No matter how good the LN may be, the anime is probably just a very bad adaptation if anything.

If you have tons of anime to watch in you list, you should avoid watching this anime unless:

1. You really don't have anything else to watch (your list of completed anime is touching 4 digits).
2. You crave for popular (not necessarily good) anime.
3. You are a Masochist (deciding to watch an anime that is bombarded with low scores by majority of the reviewers).

I was quite reluctant to write a review on this, but after seeing this anime getting so much hate which it truly doesn't deserve, at least not until someone has seen at least first few episodes of an anime which is expected to have a 4Q run (50-ish episodes), I decided to write a review on much hated Gundam AGE to share my takes on it.

What the synopsis tells is, the story begins with the death of Flit Asuno's mother. Flit's mother, and probably his entire family became a victim of an attack by Unidentified Enemy, or UE as they are referred to in short. ... Flit, a genius, carrying the bloodline of Asuno family, often regarded as the geniuses who have been the creators of previous models of Gundam, creates the Gundam AGE and develops its AGE System to protect everyone from further attacks from UE.

Lame the whole story synopsis sounds I know, and I was myself reluctant to watch this anime after seeing Gundam 00 franchise ending up being a complete trainwreck with 'aliens' in the movie 'A wakening of the Trailblazer' courtesy of Director Mizushima. ALIENS! is a NO NO for Gundam. Dare I say, we have Macross for that. So I was expecting pretty much similar failure of 'Aliens in Gundam' which never would work out. But after seeing the first three episodes, I can humbly say, it would have been a mistake to not have followed this series. Because so far, it has had a very steady but nicely paced development of a story that is expected to improve much more from here on out!

So here are my few takes.

Flit is our 14 year old protagonist, although looks more like a 10 year old. Yeah, he is a couple of years younger than Setsuna F. Seiei and Kira Yamato, which is a BIG MINUS(!) for most of us. I seriously don't know why though.

FIGHTING against ALIENS? Did they ever once show that the opponents are aliens? If you have asked me, they look more like mobile suits in Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari. And there is no way to tell they are 'alines'. At least they gave hints that those could be piloted by men's worst enemy. If you are smart enough, you might as well assume the rest. It's alright for Flit though, as long as he keeps thinking he is fighting aliens. No level headed 14 year old would keep his cool aiming his DODS Beam Rifle and destroying mobile suits being piloted by a species you would rather not aim at.

As many have stated already in their hatred, this is a matter of fact, a Wonderful KID'S ANIME(!), I will assume it is to be one, since it just showed nothing more than a little girl holding a teddy on one hand and her mother on the other and crying her eyes out seeing the place she was born being destroyed right before her, a helpless young boy unable to save his mother as she dies right in front of him, an entire space colony being destroyed with countless lives lost and lots of blood.

The characters are matured, despite some of them just being kids. Fourteen year old Flit is actually more matured than Setsuna and Kira ever became in their twenties. Emily is your 'simple' girl as many gundams had in their run, but unlike most of those, she seems to be the main heroine of the anime. Although Yurin, a mysterious girl, have grabbed my attention the most so far. The rest of the side characters so far have an air around them, which makes them not just another side character, two of them who stood out are Aynor Grudech and Aloi Miles. However, the character designs follow the old Gundam, and Gundam Zeta franchise, which might not be taken lightly by some fans, who actually loved the more matured and detailed character designs in newer gundams like Gundam SEED and Gundam 00. Don't get me wrong, since I am one of them too.

The background details and the background music in Gundam AGE are nothing short of brilliant. I am really impressed with the level of animation quality they have put in an anime that is expected to run a whole year! The OP by Galileo Galilei is good, but the ED by Kuribayashi Minami is one of the best of all the OPEDs of anime airing at this moment of time.

The only thing probably I am really trying to overlook is the Gundam model itself, which is not as detailed as the gundams we have seen over the last decade or so. I cannot agree more with those who think the Gundam AGE design is mediocre and lacks originality, because I thought the same way too. But what gives? I already think the anime has huge potential and could be one of the better shows this season, or might even become one of the best shows in the whole calender year. You just never know. Into episode three, and it has shown much more promise than Gundam 00 managed in its entire first half of season one. There you go. I have just said it. I hope you didn't judge Kemono no Souja Erin by its cover, and I will request you not to do so for Gundam AGE too! We are definitely going to see a few time-skips!

Ano Hana follows the flashbacks of six teenagers. Well, to be exact, five of them.

Honma Meiko (Menma), Yadomi Jinta's childhood friend returns after many summers. Jinta, annoyed by her childish attitude, tries to ignore her with everything he's got. But Menma is so persisting, Jinta can't overlook her anymore.

Jinta, who has been an all energetic boy from his childhood now finds himself to be a lethargic teen, uninterested and unmotivated to absolutely everything, ignores people around him and a complete shut-in. As he merged himself to video games over the years, his grades dropped and couldn't even make it to a reputed high school.

Anjo ... Naruko (Anaru), one of the six childhood friends has grown interest in make ups and dresses, like most of the teenage girls of her age. But she has become more distant and snaps pretty easily. She is not the all shy "Anaru" Jinta and Menma used to know anymore.

Matsuyuki Atsumu (Yukiatsu) and Tsurumi Chiriko (Tsuruko) are different. They are now students of a very good high school. Both got themselves absorbed in school and are taking life more seriously as anyone should. But in the process, they have become distant too.

Hisakawa Tetsudo (Poppo), who was the smallest of the childhood friends, is a big guy now. He has grown interest in 'erotic' stuff, well, any teen of his age should be interested in stuff like that.

With everyone drifting apart from each other over the years, Menma is left with shock as she met her childhood friends after so many years. She thought everyone would remain the way they were during those colourful summer days. And now, she insists that everyone should get along just like before. A wish she has unfulfilled and wants Jinta to grant it for her. Just that, she has no idea that her childhood friends have all drifted apart because of none other than herself, ever since that day in a summer she left them. For all eternity.

Despite being in its very first episode of an 'Anime-Original' story, Ano Hana caught me off guard as I wasn't expecting such a sad story to unfold.

As the name translates, "We still don't know the name of the flower we saw that day," it is understandable after the first episode that the "We" is the five of them and the "flower" is Menma, their childhood friend who was the slowest of the lot, but was an inseparable member that kept them together. Only after she was gone, they realized it as their bond fell apart.

At the beginning, I was kinda annoyed the way they started the anime thinking it will be yet another loli-chara anime. But it all made sense after I realized she is an existence made by Jinta's imagination, the Menma who died so young, that everything she does is nothing more than the shards of memories Jinta has. She might have a physical appearance of a teenager, but everything about her remains exactly of the Menma Jinta got to know, making her the only one unchanged after so many summers have come and gone. But is she really an existence made by Jinta's imagination? Her existence around Jinta is so profound, that I was unable to tell.

The characters are so brilliantly portrayed in the very first episode, you can already tell them apart. You can already see their inside like a mirror. Despite all of them showing they have moved on since that summer day, their facial expressions say otherwise.

The story is so nicely paced and gently told with flashbacks and fond memories, I don't see places where it might improve to get your attention, yes, it is that good. Noitamina at their very best.

The character animation style is nice. Exactly like Toradora. The background is very detailed and it is one of those shows you wanna see in glorious 720p resolution at least.

The OP and ED are nice and the lyrics go wonderfully well with the storyline so far.

If you are a fan of nice slice-of-life anime or in general, looking for a very good anime, then this should be your auto-pick of the spring season. Ano Hana left me with an impression powerful enough to make me write a review just after completing episode 1.

[Edit Part A: This original review was written on the basis of what I have seen up until episode 18 and around that episode the anime had two options 1. stick with the original novel, which has a sequel to it and continue with it or 2. going for an "anime-only" ending with 8 episodes to spare (26 episodes). I would recommend not to read Edit Part B at the end of the original review, unless you want to.]

Okay I admit, the title is a bit... I mean it's really something that can put you off. Add to that, a very very ordinary first ... episode definitely led many to have a thought such as "Oh! Okay. Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu (Legend of the Legendary Heroes). I will watch it later." or most likely, 'Meh, it's definitely not my type." And yes, I can tell that with the number of people actually dropping it after first couple of episodes, let alone placed it in their 'on hold/plan to watch' list which is staggering.

Regardless, before you even read this review, I would suggest to watch the first three episodes (you can seriously do without the FUNistreams, since it is actually nicely animated) and drop the show if you like, well its more like I dare you would drop it once you've seen episode three.

So much for an introduction, here goes the real deal:

Legend of the Legendary Heroes is based on a novel of the same title which goes back some 8 years from now (first published in 2002). The anime is almost an exact adaptation of the novel. The novel and its anime adaptation are based on a feudal European setting, just that, blended with Magic and Monsters.

As for a brief introduction to where the story picks up, Ryner Lute (Fukuyama Jun), a magician of the Empire of Roland goes on a journey to find what they call the 'Hero Relics' scattered all over the continent. He is partnered with Ferris Eris (Takagaki Ayahi), a beautiful, arrogant and insanely skilled swords-woman. Both of them have been dispatched by Sion Astal (Ono Daisuke), the young Hero-King of the Roland Empire. If it wasn't for Sion's slave-running, as what both Ryner and Ferris see him to be, Ryner would have been enjoying countless number of days taking his afternoon naps while Ferris enjoying her share of dango, and only dango in all of her meals. Everyday!

To give an insight, Hero Relics are assumed to be sources of immense power that can overthrow an entire empire, something Sion desires to have available at his disposal so that he can make his empire a force to be recognized. You can easily understand Ryner and Ferris wouldn't be the only ones on the hunt. As Ryner and Ferris keep searching for the relics, putting his absolute faith on both of them, Sion follows his dream to make an empire where everyone would have a wonderful life. Something that comes with a price indeed; Coup d'état followed by numerous assassination attempts from time to time from power hungry nobles and their followers. I won't say anymore than this. Rest are for you to find out, because it goes far beyond anything as simple as it might seem as you've just read.

The story is surprisingly good. I always tend to enjoy anime with lots of flashbacks, past happenings which often help a story to grow. Denyuuden, as what it is called in short, really is impressive on that regard. While the first episode is more like an introductory episode that goes to show the main characters involved in the anime, the following couple of episodes show flashbacks from where it all began, why Ryner set for the journey to find the relics, why Ferris has been appointed as his companion, and how, young Sion came to throne. These two episodes (2 and 3) are basically the foundation of the story that will take so many turns here and there as more characters are blended in while making the anime all too enjoyable, that when you will look back, you will be thrilled to realize how simply it all started. The story has unimaginable twists and when you think a character was included just for the sake of it, they will surprise you with the role they are going to play in the development of the whole story. Story wise, this couldn't be any better. And I dare say, I have seen lots of anime already to make such a rather bold statement.

The anime can be seen as from both the characters' point of views, as well as from the political aspects involved, which makes it a very intelligent anime. For example, the decisions Sion makes as a King often conflict with his philosophy, but he shoulders everything as a King should, refusing to give in to his ideals. At the same time, the conflicting nature of the characters within themselves makes it a very heartfelt anime. Like Ryner, who has been through enough, shows lack of emotion, although he cares for every living thing around him, ironically though, he puts threat on those around him just through his very existence. Ferris, who is always mocking Ryner doesn't falter to hold him dearly when he really needs it the most. And the anime translates a society that is ruled by the so called nobles and their hunger for power, and a society where everyone brands certain people as 'monsters' for the inhuman power they possess, ironically again, something they wish they never have possessed, something they were born with in the first place.

The characters are nicely depicted. From the absolute loyalty of the subordinates of Sion, for instance General Claugh Klom, to the emotional involvements of the members of the Roland Taboo Hunter team, (yeah, you have to know Milk Callaud (Fujita Saki) and her reverse-harem :P) everything makes sense. Characters making their entrance halfway through the series, for instance, the Hero-King of Gastark, Riphal Edea (Nakai Kazuya), or even the late, very late introduction of Tiia Rumiblue (Sakurai Takahiro) has been intensifying. And there are mysterious characters like Ferris' older brother Lucile (Sugita Tomokazu), Sion's right hand Miran Froaude (Suwabe Junichi) and Milk Callaud's second in command Luke Stokkart (Hino Satoshi) will make you ponder to understand their every move and their motives. You must have been really annoyed by now to see all those seiyuus in the bracket. But the reason behind putting them there is to show the number of popular voice-casts have been working on this anime, justifying the weight of the characters being portrayed overall.

The animation quality is really of top notch. The backgrounds are nicely animated and gives you the feel of a feudal European setting coupled with magical terrains and mysterious plains. The actions are simply put, stunning. From the magical circles that Ryner draws before unleashing the commands, to Ferris' sword fights are animated smoothly without any glitch. Like I warned before, watching online streams, or stream-rips will kill half the real enjoyment. The fierce battles, magic circles, blood gores; you really cant enjoy them over low quality streams. This is not an anti-FUNi claim, just a fact which you can clearly confirm if you google the anime's screenshots/screencaptures. I would rather you buy the DVD/Blu-rays when they are out.

The sound, particularly the BGM of the anime is really good. They change and merge so nicely with the mood that it makes the anime vibrant. One of the major contributions of BGMs is to propagate the emotional state of mind of the characters involved and Denyuuden scores a perfect 10/10 in that aspect. I would also like to say that the OP/EDs are really good, and grow into you as you continue the anime.

The only downside of the anime is probably every time it wants to pull a comedy. I would say it failed miserably to make me laugh even once.

[Edit X: the following bits under [Ignore][/Ignore] was a conclusion I came up at episode 18. So they don't carry enough significance for my overall entertainment of the anime up till that point. Of course it changed after episode 24. Regardless, it was a nice watch and I found the anime quite good compared to many other shows that came out in Spring 2010 anime calender.]

[Ignore]I hope this review helps you to pick an anime that gives you a negative vibe when it actually is one of the real gems out there. I am enjoying this anime like nothing else from the Spring 2010 season and the reason behind writing this review is to make YOU find out what you've been missing out!

Again a reminder: Please do watch the first three episodes at least before coming to any conclusion. And if you still think its not your plate of dango, I would rather see you finding this review I took my time to write on 'Not Helpful'. [/Ignore]

[Edit Part B: The anime decided to stick with the original novel and follow it until the final episode. Which left the Anime highly open ended and a lot of things to be answered. According to forum reads, twitter feeds and blogs, I have reached to a conclusion that unless there is a significant improvement of the market of DVD/Bluray Disc, which is really poor at the moment, a sequel is highly unlikely. So if you don't intend to read the sequel novel, which is still ongoing, this anime is definitely not for you. Other than that, I would just say that there were bits in the original anime trailer which were never shown in the 24 episodes run of the entire show, leaving a bigger question, why those bits were there in the trailer when they were never in the anime series at all. Of course, I am referring to the bits that directly showed parts that collaborates with where the anime ended and giving a glimmer of hope to a sequel of the anime. You just never know.]

PLANETES is set in the Year 2075 A.D. when mankind have started fledging their occupancy into the solar system. However, constant travel to and from, between earth and space have started generating debris in the earth and moon's orbits. A space accident caused by the debris, which lead to the deaths of many passengers traveling in a space-shuttle lead to many concerns and for the first time the debris has been considered as a threat in space. Thus 'Debris Section' is made. Debris Section, as the name suggests, is assigned to collect debris to prevent any such tragic incident in the future.

Hoshino "Hachimaki" Hachirota, ... a Japanese, works for the Debris Section of Techonora Company, one of the giants in Space Investments. Yeap. Hachimaki works as a 'space garbages' hauler. You read it right, the protagonist is a garbage-man. And to keep it short, a good enough reason to keep anyone away from this anime. But is that all to it? If you have had enough experience with anime, surely this short synopsis won't hold you back to give this anime a try.

The plot, set in 2075 A.D. looks amazingly realistic, which many anime relating to space have thus failed to set up. PLANETES leads the whole bunch by some leagues. The whole concept of going frontier and making habitat for mankind in the moon and carrying out research works on Mars, will let you correlate the current advancement, achievements and discoveries mankind has made thus far. One of the likable things about the anime is probably the way probable life in space has been depicted. But the best part remains the way it showed how this living style would have impact in human beings, their understandings of space and beyond, their motivation to help it spread, their thoughts of space advancements and the despairs and depressions which are ignited by socio-economic hierarchy, political influences and monopolized space resources shared between a handful of Nations.

The story, as it begins with Hachimaki being assigned as an instructor to Tanabe, a new recruit in the Debris Section, starts slowly. Tanabe Ai, a cheerful girl, ready to give her best in everything she does, and just as her name 'Ai' which translates 'love' in Japanese, believes everything can be solved through love. Despite the efforts she puts, Hachimaki seems unmoved and acts like as one tough senpai as one could be. Tanabe doesn't lose heart though, she starts putting more heart into her efforts and tries to win her senpai's acknowledgment, but as the story goes on, through many ups and downs, finds that it's not only the acknowledgment she seeks in him, there's more to it she sees in him. And just when you start to think that love is about to take over, the story takes a turn that involves the future of all of mankind.

As the anime progresses, during the first half of the anime, we go through the people in the Debris Section and their friends working in Techonora, their reasons to work in space, their thoughts resonating with life in space and their inspirations that keep them living their lives, which help Tanabe to mature from a young girl to a responsible woman. Every single story of the people surrounding Tanabe and Hachimaki is portrayed so nicely that after every episode, you will find reasons and inspirations to keep on moving forward. While the stories involving the people surrounding Tanabe helped her character to develop, her development plays 'the' role in the anime as Hachimaki realizes his reasons to become an astronaut was insignificant. He overlooked something more important, what should be the first and foremost reason for everything this lifetime has to offer.

The artwork is great. This was probably one of the very few anime during 2003/04 with such depth in artwork. Considering we didn't move into true HD anime during that time, it amazes me the level of details have been put in this TV series that time. The environment and the backgrounds are drawn carefully. You can actually get the feel of the environment, be it on the surface of the moon or inside a closed compartment inside a spaceship. Somehow you can imagine the vastness of the space through the artwork. Also, the characters' facial expressions are portrayed so lively that you can actually see their happiness, sadness, anger, worries lying on their faces which help you to understand them and where their feelings are coming from.

The sound has been superb. Both the opening theme "Dive in the Sky" and the ending theme "Wonderful Life" are nice to listen to. Hitomi's "Planetes" the theme song of the final episode and "A Secret of the Moon" used as background music in number of times are really soothing. All the other background musics, the sounds of the environment like noise coming along with transmissions, hatches opening, spaceship launching, roar of engine thrust and everything else is done with almost perfection which made the anime a whole lot more enjoyable.

That pretty much sums up the anime, considering the small number of members actually went through to enjoy this anime with such high ratings, my review will remain as a reminder of what you have missed, nothing more. There are times when I finish a great anime, I take a long sigh and say to myself, "It's sad to think that it had to come to an end", but there are also times, when I feel total contentment of what I have experienced, it gives me such joy that it makes me kinda sad of the completeness I have seen through it. PLANETES is one of those anime. A must see for those who love the power of storytelling.

Shoujo Lovers! This is something you can't afford to miss out. As for the rest, you might think twice if you are going to overlook this anime, just because it's, you know what, "Oh! Another shoujo anime. I will pass."

A couple of my female friends (blu-chan, hagumi_honey) have been pestering me to watch this anime. I was quite reluctant as the story seemed too iffy when i read the synopsis. And then, I recommended the anime to my sister, since she is a crazy shoujo anime fan, and decided to overlook the anime myself.

I was just recently having the time of my life, with Hayate, ... Ippo and Spice and Wolf II all rolling week in week out, until they all ended. I was looking for a replacement but was not sure what to pick. Then I checked my HDD and thought "okay. there is skip beat! there, I copied from my sister's." I thought lets see whats so good about it, as my sis has been ruining my life wanting me to see that.

And here I am, fell in love with the anime. It actually amazed me to find out later on that the original manga started way back in 2002, and has been really popular ever since and still ongoing.

Anyways, thats me and Skip Beat! Now for the review:

Here is your synopsis. Kyoko (Marina Inoue), an energetic and devoted girl, gave up school and decided to follow her prince-charming Shoutarou 'Sho' Fuwa (Mamoru Miyano) to Tokyo as Sho has set his dream to become the next big thing of Japan. Yeap. His aim is to become the number one Idol in Japan. But there is this big problem. The current heart-throb of Japanese Entertainment line, Ren Tsuruga (Katsuyuki Konishi). Sho goes out of control whenever there is anything about Ren, and throws his frustration and whatnot to Kyoko. Kyoko, as a result has been hating Ren for ruining her love-life. And she badmouths Ren all the time to show her support for Sho. Kyoko, giving her all to Sho, decided to follow Sho through and through, until she overheard that Sho thinks lowly of her and the only reason he keeps her around is for household chores. Kyoko's world shatters. She throws her hatred to Sho and promises him vengeance, that she will take him on in the very world he wants to rule over, the world of showbiz.

Story: 10/10. One of the most lovable of shoujo stories out there I can tell you. Its right there in the ranks of the best. The story is simple but powerful, gives you the "what will happen next" and full of unpredictable outcomes that will keep you entangled and without knowing, you'll definitely get absorbed in no time.

Throughout the entire anime, you'll find the determination and dedication runs through Kyoko and how she without even knowing herself, affects the people surrounding her, the obstacles she is about to overcome to reach her goal, and add to that, doing things which are irregular, if not insane.

And of course, there is love to bloom. Kyoko, dejected through Sho, has closed her emotions of love and decides to never fall for anyone again. Ren, whom she has been badmouthing while with her days with Sho, she finds him also cold and lacking heart. But the reason behind Ren's coldness towards her, is something she doesn't know. But soon, she finds out that Ren is, deep down is not what she usually thought him to be. Will her heart finally skip a beat for the Japan's Number One? Find out yourself!

Art: Okay, I will be honest here. Most of the shoujo anime sucks in drawing when it comes to surroundings. This one isn't an exception either. I hate to tell this, but every time I saw Ren's Porsche 911, I really wanted to redraw that. So yes. 5/10 for artwork of the surroundings.

What covers up for the lack of details in the surroundings is of course the character drawings. There are lots of lots of chibi scenes, i would say every the other scene is probably drawn with chibi characters, but that goes so well with the mood and makes the anime even more lovable. But the best part about the drawing will remain the expressions when the mood is serious or needs attention. The eyes, eyebrows, the lips, the facial shadows everything is drawn so lively that you can actually not only feel the emotional state of the character but also the atmosphere around them. 10/10 for character drawings, which in whole gets an 8/10 overall.

Sound: The BGM and the OP/ED are really superb. The sounds actually help to change the mood and the sounds change often as the animation hovers between serious expressions and chibi drawings. What makes it even more enjoyable is that the sounds are nicely blended with the screenplay. There was not once I felt that the BGM didn't go with the screenplay. As for the OP/ED, I fell in love with both the ED songs and I am sure anyone will too. The second OP is also very nice. Sound gets a 9/10 from me.

Character: This is where the anime is probably reached its best. Kyoko, instead of falling apart, decides to take on Sho from the very instant her world is crushed. Her determination, dedication and ambition mixed with her softness and kindness, make her character one of the best female characters I have come across so far. Her self-declaration of not falling for anyone ever again, shows only her emotional state and although she believes her emotion of love is long dead, she does things for others which shows, deep inside, her heart is still capable skipping a beat or two. This is probably Marina's best performance as a seiyuu after Kasahara (Toshokan Sensou).

Sho, performed by Mamoru Miyano, is already a legend in seiyuu world (Light Yagami (Death Note), Setsuna F. Seiei (Gundam 00), Tamaki Suou (Ouran Host Club), Death The Kid (Soul Eater) and many more). There's nothing much to say about his performance as his character amazingly swindles when he is in the public and when is in private. His shift of voice has always been a class above regular seiyuu and thus making him arguably the best in recent times. Sho is just another addition to his illustrious seiyuu career. He performed so well, you will definitely hate Sho.

Ren Tsuruga, performed by Katsuyuki Konishi, (other major performances: Kamina (TTGL), Komui Lee (D.Gray-man), Haji (Blood+), Tooya (Ayashi no Ceres) Ozma Lee (Macross Frontier) etc.) has been amazing. Ren doesn't show his true emotion in front of everyone. His true personality remains a mystery to Kyoko as she can't compare the Ren who can be both cold and warm from time to time. Konishi performed the character as it should be, Ren, the number one Idol in Japan, who is professional to the last and always puts his works as priority one, shows the reason why he is the most successful man in the world of entertainment. As the anime progresses, Kyoko starts to understand Ren bit by bit, and without knowing herself, starts to admire him as her senpai.

And the anime character list is rounded up with other interesting characters Kyoko is set to meet as she is about the find out that 'revenge over Sho' is not the reason anymore as she takes every step to become an actress. 10/10 for characters.

Enjoyment: You bet I want moar! This anime is absolutely a masterpiece of entertainment. Seriously, I can't but have to say I will love to see they are making a 3 or 4 seasons of it. For now, I will be hoping that the anime gets a well deserved Season 2. And I will be getting the first release out online, because not having Skip Beat! in my watch list is almost hurting. 10/10 for enjoyment.

Overall: I will rate it 9/10, as a whole. This anime has given me so much entertainment that I can rewatch this anime over and over again and will never, ever get tired of it, that I can assure.

I am not sure whether my review will be enough to encourage more people into this anime, but I can guarantee one thing, you wont be able to drop this anime once you've started it ;)

And man wasnt I being left out, since i didn't see d.gray-man after 2006, when i stopped watching at episode 6.

well i covered it for my sake in this summer as i have watched all remaining 97 episodes in less than 3 weeks. so Banzai me and Banzai D.gray-man.

First of all: After watching it, looked all over the net and the conclusion is, No. there isn't any Season 3 announced for D.gray-man and as it stands, episode 103 is the final episode.

The brighter side: Yes. The manga is still ongoing after the Ms. Katsura (Original Manga Creator - D.Gray-man) started to resume the manga which ... the anime more or less followed. She had a wrist injury from an accident and had undergone treatment for months and finally restarted her story from March 09,2009.

We Hajime no Ippo fans are having one hell of a season after waiting 9 years since it last aired and aren't we enjoying. Let me give you guys a piece of advice, wait for proper episodes and not week in week out fillers. For now, I have all the reasons to believe there will be a season 3 in a year time, when the weekly manga gets a breathing space for the anime to pull off. we want more dark order exorcists in action, not to mention a start of potential love triangle between allen, lenalee and lavi. you never know. and then there are the other noah we are yet to be introduced, and kanda and allen becoming new marshals.

Anyways, its more or less news rather than a review i guess, but all i can say that it was worth spending my hours (minus few fillers midway) and this anime is worth time spend at, if you are not into longer anime anymore being fed up with bleach or naruto, just give d.gray-man a try, you will definitely enjoy it.

waiting for S3, which should be a blast, and ending with komui: LENALEEEEEE!

Well i was just bored at only watching ongoing shows for a while and just wanted to give a marathon of a random anime and then i picked this anime i dont know why.

the synopsis and the original plot was absurd enough to ruin my interest, however, i kinda liked the main girl shizuka and ryo's sister akane from the first episode and decided to stick with it.

in the end, i am glad that i finished it and its way way better than stupid anime like akane-iro no somaro saka. if anyone compares this anime with akane-iro, then they have pretty bad anime taste.

tonikaku,

plot: one ... word. stupid.

story development: the anime started with stupid child birth issue forced by government, midway became an unasked for love triangle and ended up close ended and if it hadn't, i would have given this anime a 5/10 after all the affections she showed for him, did i just spoil you, i think i didnt, because from the start you can tell there was only one girl for him. unlike ichigo 100%/ urgh. i had to remember that sub per anime.

characters: 13 eppys x 12 mins runtime wasnt enough to focus on all the characters in the anime but they did great job making them kawaii and at time going chibi-forms which was the best part of the entire anime. the love triangle seemed to be unnecessary but somehow helped develop their feelings for each other on the closing episodes and unlike many anime, ryo isn't a total jackass nor a pervert, which makes him different. and shizuka is like...can i have her for myself?

seiyuu: 10/10. this is where the anime scores the maximum. i loved the way they carried their emotion and feelings, as well as their expressions with their voice, two thumbs up!

art and sound: i watched froth-bite fansubs xvid release and from the medium video quality, i have to say the aniime is neatly drawn and although the BGM wasnt to be found in many cases, the OP and EDs were good enough to give it an overall 8/10.

enjoyment: 9/10. despite having a weak plot, i have to say i loved the last few episodes around the climax. overall the anime was really funny and i had my share of laughing doses and went through romantic labu-labu moments. i wish there was a shizuka popping up in my life, i would have taken her as my wife anytime. she is probably one of the cutest heroins in anime :P

well there ends my robotic regular review, overall the anime gets an 8/10 from me. i wasnt being generous. i have seen many love comedies, and this one falls in the better half. that sums up the overall reaction for you. too bad to see that the average score is below 7, when this anime deserves at least 7.5/10, if not better :/