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Anime Review



I have loved anime for a really long time.  I have been watching a bunch lately, so I thought I would write down my thoughts on all the ones I've been watching without too many spoilers.  If anything, I can see how my tastes change over time.  I like a wide variety of animes, but the love stories are usually my go to ones to watch.  I hope you enjoy my once sentence summaries.

My absolute favorites:
Free!  Iwatobi Swim Club: 
Summary: Bunch of dudes start a swimming club at their school.

My Thoughts: I started watching this because nothing else seemed even slightly interesting.  I'm not into sport animes, but I thought that the guys were good looking and really that was the only reason why I started to watch.  Wow was I surprised that this anime was so much more than muscles.  This anime grew on me quickly.  It's a lot more than just swimming.  It's much more about friendship and their personal growth.  I have to say, even the way the swimming is drawn is really interesting. For an anime without a love story and sports based, this is really great and has a really good ending.

My Love Story!:
Summary: A less than attractive dude with a fabulous personality falls in love.

My Thoughts: I noticed the main character was not your normal good looking kind of guy, so I thought that it could be interesting and kind of refreshing to watch.  I was right.  This anime is adorable and funny.  I laugh every single episode.  It's hard for a show of any kind to make me laugh.  In fact, this might be the only show that has ever made me laugh.  I always feel upbeat after every espisode.  This anime is still going on, so I hope that it continues to be a joy to watch.

Yona of the Dawn:
Summary: Princesses' father gets murdered by her crush so she escapes from the castle for her life with a good looking dude and gathers a bunch more good looking guys with handy abilities along the way as she tries to find her purpose in life.

My Thoughts: This has become my favorite anime and I've rewatched this a few times.  I like the more historical animes.  I was initially interested in the love story, but this anime is so much more than that.  It starts with a lot of drama, but quickly turns into a story that has a lot of depth and is really well thought out. The characters have so many levels to them.  The only down side is it needs a lot more episodes.  I've been reading the manga because the story is still going on and I want to know what happens!  I really hope they make more episodes in the future.

Worth a Watch:
Blast of Tempest:
Summary: Guy falls in love with his best friend's sister who ends up dying and the two guys end up on a journey that involves a lot of magic.

My Thoughts: I watched three episodes and stopped watching.  So why am I rating this so high?  Well, after a really long break, I went back to watching it. I quickly became really invested in the characters.  I totally had stopped watching one episode too soon.  So, the first few episodes are rather depressing and a bit violent, which really turned me off at first.  Plus, the magic thing is really confusing and a bit much at times, but it does get better.  I can't say all the violence goes away, but all the characters end up being bothered by the violence and ultimately are trying to stop it.  The characters develop at the perfect pace and have a lot of depth.  For a long time, I wasn't sure where it was going, so I wanted to see what was going to happen.  And sticking it out is worth it, because it does have a satisfying ending.

Blue Spring Ride:
Summary: Boy and Girl like each other in middle school but boy moves away and they reunite in high school.

My Thoughts: Ah another high school drama with an awkward kid and love battles.  I do think this one is cute.  It has some fairly deep moments and I think it flows well.  If anything, I want more love story!  It has a lot of potential moments, but I want more.  I wouldn't mind another season.  And while the ending did tie everything together fairly well, it wasn't totally the ending I was wanting.


The Devil Is A Part-Timer:
Summary: The Devil is trying to take over a magical planet, but ends up in a portal that takes him to Earth where he ends up getting a part time job at a fast food restaurant to make ends meet until he can regain enough magic to send himself back.

My Thoughts: This is a rather silly anime, but it is well done. The characters are all very cute and lovable. I just wish there was a few more episodes, because I think that there is enough substance for it. I just wasn't ready for it to end.



Golden Time:
Summary: College dude gets amnesia and falls in love.

My Thoughts: The college setting really helped with the characters and led towards some more interesting mature moments.  I expected things to turn out differently.  When it didn't go how I wanted it to, I thought I was going to be bothered, but I ended up kind of liking how it ended and that really surprised me.

Kimi ni Todoke- From Me To You:
Summary: Friendless girl makes friends and likes a dude with lots of miscommunication along the way.

My Thoughts: This is my favorite high school drama that focuses on a friendless character.  It's the best executed out of all the animes of this type. What makes this one so much better is that all the characters are really well developed so it becomes much more than a high school love story.  The level of innosecness is very honest with the main character and continues throughout the entire story.  She doesn't really change but becomes much more aware of her surroundings and that definitely makes it different from all the other dramas.  Plus she has the cutest parents and they get lots more screen time then most anime parents.  If it wasn't for a few too many miscommunication episodes in a row that made me yell at the screen this would have been in my absolute favorites category.

Kyokai no Kanata (Beyond the Boundry):
Summary: Girl is trying to kill boy.

My Thoughts: I wasn't expecting how awesome this would be!  It shows you the story from one perspective and then you see it from another side and feel really enlightened. It also really plays with your heart in the process and does it amazingly well. It also is a show that is really hard to talk about without spoiling anything!

Listen to Me, Girls, I'm Your Father:
Summary: College dude takes care of his sister's three daughters after she is killed in a plane crash.

My Thoughts: It kind of is a depressing start to the story, but it really is a good anime.  It takes a few episodes before the plane crashes.  I knew it was coming and I thought I wasn't going to be able to handle it, but it was really well executed.

Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun:
Summary: Girl tries to tell a guy, who is a manga artist, that she likes him and it goes very differently.

My Thoughts:  I really like this anime and it's almost one of my favorites.  It is so cute, upbeat, and funny.  It's fun to see Nozaki's way of making his manga.  There are lots of crazy characters and that's what makes this anime so much fun.  I do hope they make more episodes!

My Little Monster:
Summary: comming
My Thoughts:


My Teen Romantic Comedy Snafu:
Summary: High school drama where dude is willing to take the blame and be the hated character and a love triangle develops.

My Thoughts: The pace in some ways seems a bit slow, but I really like how the main dude's character is developed.  I keep wanting to know what happens but it ends without much conclusion so I hope more episodes are in the future.



Noragami:
Summary: Girl gets hit by a bus and gains an ability to enter this half dead state and becomes friends with a minor god.

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this anime even though it has a lot of weird to it. It has some really fun music and that plays a huge part into a lot of the moments. The fate of some of the characters can be a bit difficult to tell, especially in the second season, so it can really keep you on edge at times. I really just liked the overall feel of this anime.
Saiunkoku Monogatari:
Summary: Girl is hesitant to fall in love and wants to pursue her dream while Emperor falls in love with her.

My Thoughts: So, I'm actually still watching the second season, but I was very happy with the first season.  It starts strong, has a bit of a week middle, but gets better again and is worth sticking it out.  This show has a lot of moments that I never saw coming, but it does take a while to build up to them.  It has a bunch of characters that get developed really well.  Some of them are very odd, but many are fairly normal.  It's the odd ones that I really love and strangely identify with...not sure what that says about me. lol.  Many characters are not what you would expect them to be.  Some of the politics annoyed me a bit and at times the story can be a little hard to follow, but it is one of the better feudal stories out there.  I just hope the ending of the second season doesn't disappoint me.

Say "I love you":
Summary: Friendless girl ends up liking dude.

My Thoughts: For a high school drama, it definitely is geared toward a more mature audience.  I really liked the characters and it was interesting to see what happened.  It's mature tone helped set it apart from other similar animes.

The World is Still Beautiful:
Summary: Girl with the power to call the rain is arranged to be married to the sun king.

My Thoughts:  I had really low expectations, but it turned out to be surprisingly good.  The Sun King's age is a little weird at times, but the overall development of the two main characters is kind of cute.  I thought the ending really worked and some things I didn't see coming.


Take It Or Leave It:

Durarara (First Season):
Summary: The headless "horse woman' is looking for her head.

My Thoughts:  This is a weird one that I'm still watching, but I wanted to write down my first impressions.  I kind of felt like I wasn't getting anywhere for the first 10 episodes and the animation is less then thrilling.  I was really ready to drop this one, but I finally got to a point where now it is very interesting.  I just wish it didn't take so long to get to this point.  Some things seemed really messed up, but now I realize things aren't as messed up as they first seemed.  It's kind of violent at times and some characters are so strange I can't really understand them.  I find it a little weird that the headless character seems to be the most normal of them all.

The Irregular at Magic High:
Summary: Guy has magic abilities that saves Japan.

My Thoughts:  Part of me really enjoyed this anime.  I liked the concept and how the magic worked.  It kept me engaged and I wanted to watch to see what would happen. It was the last third that kind of dragged it down.  It became a bit too political for me.  I don't mind the fate of the world resting on one extra special character, but there were too many 16/17 year olds acting beyond their age in this show and that got kind of distracting.  It should of been a magic college instead of a high school and it would have been better and more believable.  The other aspects that dragged it down for me was the bit too close brother and sister relationship and it got a bit too gory at the end.  Expect to see limbs chopped off and that type of thing.  I think it needed a few more episodes at the end to help explain things and not feel so rushed and incomplete.  Some characters never get the development that they deserve.

Fairy Tail:
Summary: Characters with magic battle lots of other characters with magic and there used be dragons but something happened to them.

My Thoughts:  There are a lot of episodes to this anime.  Some arcs are really good, others not so good.  I would say the older episodes are better than the newer ones (fairy tail 2).  It's the newer ones that drag this anime down on my list.  If only all the newer episodes were all more like the episode 413 days.  That one was really good.  Considering that it is on it's way towards 300 episodes, I would have expected a bit more depth to some of the characters, but what usually ends up happening is that you just get more characters.  If you are looking for an anime that can pass the time than this one is fine, just don't expect too much out of it.

Harukanaru Toki no Nada de:
Summary: Girl and two dudes get transported to ancient land and girl ends up priestess and all the dudes fall in love with her.

My Thoughts:  This anime is very similar to Fushigi Yuugi, but I think it is much better.  Not great, but better.  It has a more serious tone to it.  It's was a video game first and then turned into an anime so it does have a few issues.  I guess the game let you choose who you want to end up with, so that is kind of difficult to translate into a show, but I think they did the best they could.  It makes kind of a week ending.  It also is a little slow paced in some ways, but at least I don't want to strangle the main character.

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon:
Summary:  It's like a video game turned to an anime where a character actually levels up and weapons can be enchanted and monsters regenerate over time.

My Thoughts: It's a bit silly just like its title and that is why I like it, but it has the potential to get old.  With only 13 episodes so far, it is still all fresh, but it could get old plot wise if they make too many episodes.  Only time will tell.   Characters have room to grow and get developed, but I'm worried that they might never see any depth. It's clear that this is geared toward boys with all the boob shots, but I'm willing to watch more episode in the future.

Ouran High School Host Club:
Summary: Girl gets mistaken as a boy and has to participate in host club to repay a debt.

My Thoughts: It's cute and a bit silly for most of the episodes.  It does have a few heart warming moments that really made me enjoy it, but some of the characters are a bit too weird or I wasn't really into their backstory.  Towards the end it takes a big shift and becomes very drama dense and a lot of the silly disappears.  I didn't mind the drama, but it could have been paced a little bit more evenly.

Starmyu:
Summary: Boys go to a school and want to join the boy band music club/department

My Thoughts: It really is a bit silly plot wise. It is entertaining on some levels, but it really lacks a special something about the show. I just didn't really care about the characters much. It is a lot like Uta no Prince Sama, but without a girl in the way and with less catchy music.

Uta no Prince Sama:
Summary: Girl composes music for a bunch of boy bands.

My Thoughts:  This is my guilty pleasure anime.  I secretly love this anime and I'm afraid to admit it, but a lot of people wouldn't care much for it.  I would rank it higher, but it doesn't have great plot and I could care less about the main character, but the music and the boys are amazing!  I loved boy bands and anime boy bands are even better!  It's an anime that I can let my daughter watch with me without having to worry about what might appear.

WataMobe:
Summary: Weird girl wants to be popular.

My Thoughts:  This is a strange one.  The main girl has a vivid imagination and it often becomes a bit perverted.  It can be a bit much at times.  Yet, I still can't help but feel bad for her because she does have great determination and things just don't work out for her time and time again.  It doesn't take the same route as other high school animes, so story wise it is a bit refreshing.  It just has a lot of inappropriate moments that often I could do without.

Wolf Girl and Black Prince:
Summary: Girl pretends dude is her boyfriend and dude decides to play along.

My Thoughts:  A bit predictable and there are a lot better high school drama stories out there.  The guy is a bit of a jerk and a few times I was rather uncomfortable with how he treated the girl.  The last episode felt very different from the rest and I think the ending could have been better.


Don't Waste Your Time:
A Dark Rabbit Has Seven Lives:
Summary: Monster girl falls in love with human boy and a lot of weird stuff happens that makes no sense.

My Thoughts: I started watching this because the artwork looked cool.  It is a very beautiful looking anime.  I love the way the character's hair is colored.  That's all it has going for it.  After watching it, I still can't figure out what the story is about.  It really has no story.  Plus, it has too many underwear moments and some characters are treated too violently.  Definitely for a more mature audience.


Comet Lucifer:
Summary: Guy finds rock that turns into a guardian being for the planet that he lives on.

My Thoughts: The first two episodes were interesting and promising, but it quickly went down hill. It is very predictable, so plot wise it gets boring quick. Then the animation is just awful at times. A lot of effort went into making the machines look good, but the people are drawn so awful at times that I can't stop from cringing! If the plot is weak, then the animation needs to at least be tolerable.

Cute High Earth Defense Club:
Summary: Group of dudes fight evil at their highschool.

My Thoughts:  The first episode was actually very entertaining.  I'm a huge Sailor Moon fan, so its satire on it and other similar anime was amusing for the first episode.  It got old fast.  I never made it past episode seven.  The jokes got old and characters never got any development.  This anime had some potential to be a lot more than it ended up being.  So, the first episode or two are worth the watch, but forget the rest.


The Fruit of Grisaia:
Summary: A dude goes to a small private school with a bunch of really messed up girls.

My Thoughts:  This anime gets dark really fast.  The girls have really messed up lives.  I couldn't even watch the one episode with the girl and the bus crash.  It's way to violent and has way to much sexual moments and plain old disturbing moments that makes Game of Thrones look tame. Unless seriously disturbed is your thing, skip it.
Fushigi Yuugi (Mysterious Play):
Summary: Two girls get trapped in a book that takes place in an accent land and a love triangle forms.

My Thoughts:  This is definitely an older anime, but it hasn't aged well.  I recently re watched this and was ready to strangle the main character from the get go.  The main girl is way to winy and really has no good qualities.  The whole love force thing was ridiculous.  The last three or four episodes finally are well balanced with action and drama, but it isn't worth suffering  through 48 episodes to get there.  The opening is really the best part of this anime.

Glasslip:
Summary: Sumer time highschool love web drama.

My Thoughts:  I started to watch this anime because it had glass blowing in it and I had recently made a bunch of glass beads.  The main issue with this anime is that it moves too slow.  I know it takes place in summer and that is a slow time, but it still is way too slow.  It's slow enough to be a distraction.  I couldn't keep my concentration long enough to know what was going on.  I simply couldn't care about the drama and the character's relationships.

Love Stage!:
Summary:  Guy thinks he falls in love with a girl but it turns out to be a dude.

My Thoughts:  It started off kind of interesting and cute and a little funny, but after four or five episodes it got creepy and lost all of its charm.  The creepy then turned into kind of disturbing and it went way farther than most animes do.





Owarimonogatari:
Summary: Show with two completely different plots, but both involve the same guy who is trying to remember or make sense of his past.

My Thoughts: Where do I even start with this mess?  The first episode seemed interesting, mostly because the animation style was different.  It had an artsy feel. I liked the weird angles and things, but after a few episodes it gets really overdone and annoying. I never really understood who the one creepy chick was, but man was her voice so annoying! It was like nails on a chalk board. Every time she spoke it was like torture. My next big issue, was that it was trying to be more clever than it really is. I best describe it as a predictable detective mystery story. There is this famous envelope problem that couldn't be described any more boringly if they tried.  It was like it was read from a textbook. It also was so predictable. I just kept hoping that something interesting would happen, but it never did. Then the show completely stopped and the second half of the season was a new story. It went from being a mystery detective story to a show about crazy vampires.  Thats right, vampires. Jealous vampires that come back from the dead to be precise. Need I say more?

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