Ranked #1300

Monochrome Factor

If this show were a video game it would be terrible. Thank your Wii's it's not. Basically the story revolves around a typical guy, Akira, as he and his friends try to stop the onslaught of "Kokuchi" or shadow monsters from invading Japan and ultimately the world. As you can guess, it can get pretty repetitive. That's not to say, however, that you won't enjoy it, as humor seems to substitute for plot most of the time, which, in this case was a good thing.

Story- 4

Let me first say the pacing of this anime was awful. As a common rule enemies are supposed to get stronger as the show goes on, but halfway through it I realized that nothing was going to change- thus my video game analogy. Sure, there's plenty of action to go around if you're okay with transformation sequences longer than the actual battle. There were a few interesting battles scenes though the enemies were very, very generic.

Like I said humor plays a very big role. Expect to laugh even when Akira is slicing and dicing some Kokuchi. Unfortunately, the humor does nothing to further the plot of the anime, though it does make up for it. You would hardly guess that it was time for the finale to come around because of an utterly humorous go-lucky ending from the episode before it, which again is due to horrible pacing. Luckily, the story, when it finally did pick up, was pretty satisfying and DIDN'T have me thinking "I waited twenty-somethn' episodes for this?"

Art- 6

Nothing special. Kind of generic. There isn't a lot of blood and the effects are mostly an embellished digital. I found some of the transformations laughable, but for the most part the art is consistent and mostly simple. The character designs are okay, though you really have to decide for yourself if some characters are really that beautiful or if you're okay with Akira's mullet (IMO- I just wanted to chop it off!).

Sound- 6

Hits and misses. Some pieces seemed like they belonged in the 90s while others conveyed the scene very well through piano.

Characters- 7

A very enjoyable bunch of character, albeit, shallow. The basic characters are here: the bossy girl, the dumb blond, the ambiguous guy, the badass, the genius kid, the guy who can do everything, I could go on. If you're annoyed by ditzy horny and/or violent women with high pitched voices you shouldn't watch this- but then again you're an anime fan so it's like you practically signed up for that kind of stuff anyway. Still, the characters try their hardest with chibi scenes to put a smile on your face, so you can live with them.

The series is also very ambiguous with relationships. They had it all almost- shounen-ai, shoujo-ai and even shota. Though none of them were expounded upon a great deal most of them had something to do with the plot, which can't be said for many other anime with these types of relationships.

Enjoyment- 9

Chances are you'll either be bothered by the pace or the character's antics, but that's exactly what makes this show fun to watch. It's a fun little ride for fans of the actions genre (and doubly fun for those who squee at shounen-ai). I found myself fully enjoying it and in the end humor won over the weak story. That can't really be done for most action anime which take themselves too seriously, so consider this a rare treat- at least where enjoyment is concerned. Overall, it's a fair 6 for me. read more

Oh goodness where to begin with this...

When I first learned about this anime, I was hopeful. During the episodes, I still waited for something--anything at all to make it a good series. The only good thing about it is Shirogane. He was the only one in the entire series that had potential to be the shining gem. However he just became annoying along with the rest of the shallow and unpolished characters. I have to admit though, for making such uninteresting characters, they sure did know how to make them all equally annoying.

The novelty of BL in this show would be the only reason it might attract a few viewers but the actual content of it (none) irks many away unfortunately too late as they are usually mostly through with the series.

The actual story is the old classic: "This is a complete accident but hey you're the chosen one anyhow so it's okay!". Oh and guess what, some of the characters get their own 'transformation sequence' and I guess the producers wanted you to damn well know how they do it because it happens in each episode all the way through. On a side note I would like to say how utterly pointless the scenes before the actual story line (a few episodes in, you'll understand). They are neither funny nor amusing, or anything close to having wit.

Now, the opening and ending credits are actually very beautiful. They were very well done and it may have been the only thing keeping me going throughout the series, that along with the soundtrack. For those of you fans of music, you may want to look around for the OST.

Last but not least, the art. As I mentioned before, the opening and ending credits are beautiful, and I can actually say that the art style was fairly decent, however, side views are still--erm--odd. In front view, none of the characters have noses.

Overall the series gets a 2. Instead of watching this series, I would suggest watching (or re-watching) Loveless. read more

genre: action, fantasy

Synopsis: monochrome factor is the story about akira nikaido, A young school boy with slim amount of friends who thinks he has a normal life, until a he meets a man by the name of shirogane. later that night he meets shirogane again after being attacked by a shadow monster! akira becomes a "shin" (a powerful monster from the shadow world) to protect the balance between the two worlds!

Review: Monochrome factor is a great anime, full of action and comedy. its a must see for fans of bleach and yuu yuu hakusho. within a few episodes i fell in love with it, the plot is kinda old, boy gets/has powers and has to use them to save the world. but, its done a whole new way and whole new set of powers and people.

The characters are probably my favorite part of this anime, the way they interact with one another is great, from a serious talk to being attacking each other with a sword in a matter of seconds. within the first few episodes you see the bond of friendship between two of the main characters, and it really makes you wish you had a friend like that.

the voices in this show fit perfectly with the characters they play as, the main graphics are nothing new and out of the ordinary, but are still very well done. At times it cuts to a chibi-ish style of graphics that makes the comedy even funnier.

I find this show to be one of the most entertaining animes i have seen in a while, and i watch alot. its one of those shows you wanna sit down and watch all at once.

My ratings for this show would be.

overall - 9

story -8

animation -8

sounds -8

characters -9

enjoyment - 9 read more

It's my first time writing a review so i apologize if it's vague and not of help to you. :|

Story (6):
The story has got two main characters that is somewhat like loveless; Akira and Shirogane, sharing a bond to fight off evil and with Shirogane carrying unconditional love for Akira. Both of them, together with Akira's peers, fights to defeat darkness which are mostly in the form of kokuchis. However, It's somewhat predictable as to what might happen in the first 15 episodes of this anime?
[spoiler]A character will appear in that particular episode. Wallow in sadness for their whichever reasons. And suddenly, taking advantage of their situation, someone will appear and plant kokuchi(s) in their body hence, making them transform into a monster. However, they'll definitely transform back to normal with the help of Akira and Gang.
There was a twist to the story but unfortunately, the most exciting part of the story came to an abrupt halt at the final episode. It kind of leaves you hanging there. Perhaps, there might be a second season to this. [/spoiler]

Characters (6.5):
Don't get me wrong that the characters are boring. The reason as to why I'd give the characters a 6~7 score is because i felt that there was a lack of development in relationship between Akira and Shirogane. If you're a yaoi/shounen-ai fan like me, you will most probably be disappointed by this anime. Yes, I'm here because I'm into shounen-ai/yaoi and therefore, I'm here to warn of those who might be cheated to watch this anime cause of its genre.

The main character, Akira, is surrounded by a group of friends that's got extremely interesting personalities. They've got really laughable actions that gives this a Humour level of (7) to me. Watch this anime not for the un-promising shounen-ai genre but more for the foolish things that these group of youths will do and how they will save the world from "darkness". (-. -) I felt that the bond between all of them as friends were much stronger than that of ShiroXAkira. As for the Antogonists, there was only a small amount of them. Therefore, I was hoping for them to posess more powers. I was also looking forward to more actions and less setting up of booby traps (kokuchis. kokuchis. kokuchis.) to defeat Akira and gang.

Overall (6.5)
I'd give it a 6.5 in overall for the humorous studs & cranky female characters and the drawings of the character. The sound was okay - nothing amazing in particular. If you're those that's for light-BL anime, you can go for it. Don't expect too much of this anime but just enjoy the humor and see how this group of friends come together to save the day from being engulfed by darkness. read more

I was entertained by watching this series. At first i thougt that it would be only fighting, but there's more to it. In the series there's some episodes that are alike, when they just have to fight the shadow monsters, but the ending was very good. The character Shirogane was the most interesting person. I think it's a good story, allthough in the middle it gets boring, but you just have to watch it till the ending.

I enjoyed this story, but it may not be for everyone.

It takes a few episodes to gain momentom into the story line, as well as devoloping characters, but over all its a really good anime.

The way the charaters interact with each other is a way that ive never seen before and seem to be completely different for each other. The basic plot follows a person getting possesed and the team find ways of destroying them.

Story- 9
Art -10
Sound-9
Character-10
Enjoyment-10
Overall-10