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Wow, what can I say? I do enjoy a good slash 'em up manga, but this was disappointing. The plot was so thin, it might as well have not been there at all. It's not because I'm picky. I even liked Dendrobates, which had a pretty thin and predictable plot, but the supposed "surprises" and "plot twists" in this manga were...cliche, absurd, and annoying. This story brought nothing new to the table. NOTHING! I really did want it to be good. The artwork was so enjoyable, and a main character was named Alligator Nichol and wielded one of the most badass weapons I've seen in ... a manga! How cool is that? I honestly hoped all the way through for something to change to make the plot interesting, but in the end the setting, the characters, and the artwork all deserved better from the plot. There was way too much exposition. It was like the author explained everything to you without you getting the pleasure of mystery and discovery at all, and the author relied on little "character bios" at the end of volumes to make up for lack of actual character development in the story. The pacing was all too fast and didn't allow for any real moments. It was as if this story was written by a ten year old, while the mature setting and the violence, gore, and very good action sequences were trying to be more. If I could have one wish, it would be for a better author to take these characters and redo the entire thing with an actual story.

Not saying this is the best manga ever or trying desperately to get people to read it, however, I think if you enjoy Seinen, action, and movies like John Wick, then this manga could be right up your alley.

Story=7 Yes, the story is predictable, but don't you just want to see bad guys being bad and then getting their asses totally handed to them without too much complication sometimes? What this manga lacks in ingenuity it makes up for in just plain satisfying action like shooting, explosions, stabbing, oh, and did I mention shooting?

Character=10 While the story is pretty basic, the character is actually ... quite a wonderful creation. His origins, the symbolic relationship with the frog (just look up Dendrobates), his superhero duality, and his psycho-killer demeanor make for a fun combination. Yes, Sengawa is a hero, but he's more an anti hero in the line of Dexter, probably a sociopath and certainly murderous, but somehow ends up in the right.

Art=7 The artwork is, however, sadly up and down. Some panels are superb, 10 out of 10, which was what attracted me to the manga in the first place. The thick use of black color blocks and interesting angles make for tantalizing stand alone pieces in many of the chapters of this manga. But the art doesn't always keep up throughout. With some weird proportions and messiness that sometimes can even lead to confusion as to what is actually happening in the scene, I had to give it a 7.

Overall, though, at only 58 brief chapters, this wasn't too long of a commitment, so why not give it a try? Enjoyable, fun, and satisfying (did I mention the shooting?), I would recommend this to anyone looking for some action-packed distraction.

Oh yes, good ol' bloody gore and horror. When that is what you crave, this will do the trick.

Good enough to have my Dad sit through it. When you can get a non-anime person to sit through twelve episodes and not feel lost or the loss of time, that's saying something.

I would recommend this anime to any of my friends who, like me, have an occasional (or not so occasional) hankering for absurdly gruesome but totally enjoyable deaths (there's one in here that I particularly liked). Add in a little mystery, a creepy curse, ghostly dolls, and a very weird bird, and you will have ... Another. And the ending was a bit of a surprise, which was nice.

Although, I will have to say, this is not the goriest or scariest anime I have seen. It doesn't top the list, I'm sorry to say. But it seems to me like the creators of Another were doing their best to appeal to a wider audience, which is a good thing, in my opinion. Can't always have it both ways, you know?

If you've got the itch for ghosty-school-curses, eye patch wearing girls with a pretty eerie collection of dolls, and the chance to see character after character get killed off in a bloody fashion, then you can't do wrong by giving Another a chance.

Ah, so sorry! It's been a bit too long since I've seen this anime to give it a proper review. But just for my own notes, and for the benefit of my friends, I will try to at least cover the impression I had of this anime.

First of all, I liked it and I would recommend it. It has been said to be one of those animes with the power to really hit the feels and pull the tears right out of you, and, for the most part, I would have to say that this is true. It seems very surreal and hard to pin ... down at first, but this anime is hiding some pretty good secrets, and I would definitely recommend you watch it all the way through even if you aren't really hooked at first. It's not very long, so you'll get payoff soon enough. Pretty likeable characters, like Yuri, who is a no-nonsense strong girl you can't help but like. The power in this anime lies in the backstories, though, so be prepared for that.

I don't know if I would watch it again, though. Either it's just too sad for me to want to revisit, or its that I'm afraid the spell that it cast would be broken by a second watching. Once you know all the answers its just not the same. But if you haven't seen it yet, definitely watch it. Go. Right now. Watch it. =D

Just a short review, I'll do a better one later.

I liked this anime a lot. It was at a time when I didn't have anything on my list that was really grabbing my attention (I watch several anime's at once) and it was so fun and lovely that I watched it straight through without moving to another story. To me, that is usually a sign that this story has good entertainment value *nods.*

It has romance, yes, but it's not rushed at all, nor is it too much in your face, if you know what I mean. It feels more like an historical drama/ mythology, ... but done pretty well (I've had some bad experience with historical dramas, like Night Raid). A lot more going on here than romance. Political upheaval, survival, loss, war, friendship, and a coming of age story.

I really liked how strong Yona is as a woman and as a character. She has a definite arc throughout the story, and I found myself really cheering for her by the end. And even better than that was Hak. He makes the story. His strength and loyalty are almost beyond belief, but instead of being turned off by the absurdity, I ended up really admiring him and rooting for him in his struggles and romantic endeavors. He makes a good straight man to some of the more comical characters, too. There seemed to be a pretty good balance between action, romance, drama, and comedy in this story, a thing that is pretty hard to pull off, I know. I think part of this strength lies in that it doesn't try to do too many genre's at once. It doesn't try to mix in sci-fi or slice of life. It just sticks to its points and fills them out pretty well.

But I didn't give it a 10, because it didn't have the WOW factor. It was great, I would definitely recommend it, but it needed just a little bit more to really knock your socks off. The ending does leave you hanging, though, so I see a second season in the works. I'll be there when that happens.

P.S. I also happened to like the opening theme songs. Just sayin.

So, small disclaimer, I'm just gonna wing a review for now and write a better one later.

Overall I have to say I would not recommend this anime. It was incredibly disappointing and drawn out. It promised so much in the first episode, but it did not deliver. I struggled through the entire thing and was so relieved when it was finally over. And both my sister and I felt like we had just wasted a colossal amount of time. The first episode was full of action and beautiful gore in the style of the 300 film franchise, and presented a city so rife with crime ... and debauchery that we were looking forward to total destruction and a purge akin to the ending of Sodom and Gomorrah, full of action, darkness, and drama. This did not happen. Underdeveloped characters and a weak story that failed to have any forward motion or pull (too much repetition) caused this anime to drag. Save yourself the trouble and watch something else.

So, small disclaimer, I'm just gonna wing a review and write a better one later. It's been a while since I've seen the anime, sorry.

I had read the manga first, so I'm not sure if that biased me for the better or for the worse. But, in my opinion, the major selling point of both versions of this story is Frau, without a doubt. His character makes the story, and without it there isn't much else to really hang this anime on. Although based on a Shoujo story, it feels pretty action filled (with some hints of bromance). The anime version only hints at ... bigger things with Teito, and makes much more of his friendship with Mikage, which is actually to the anime's benefit. Although it doesn't complete the entire story as presented in the manga (which is to be expected) they do a pretty nice job of wrapping up at the end of the anime. I liked it pretty well. Very entertaining, but not my favorite.