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In depth review #9 - Angel Beats

Angel Beats is one of those shows that falls under the “controversial” category of anime. Shows that also fall in this category (Tokyo ghoul, Sword Art Online, and Future Diary) always find themselves the subject of a pointless argument online. Usually if the anime in question is overrated or not. The thing with these type of anime is that most of them are overrated monstrosities while the rest of them are actually worth watching.If you were wondering, Angel Beats is one of the better ones in this category. Angel Beats has an interesting plot, nice animation, and was enjoyable ... enough to make me watch the entire show in one sitting. HOWEVER, something that is true about all of these shows is that none of them deserves the praise they always receive. Angel Beats isn’t an exception. This became apparent once I really analyzed the series closely. I started noticing questionable things that made this anime slowly lose its luster after each revelation. It also sucks wondering how much justice a mere 13 extra episode would have had done for this short anime.

Story: 6.25 (Fair)

The Good – The plot for Angel Beats, in my opinion, was really interesting. The story follows a bunch of teenagers who were sent to a high school after they died. Since they haven’t gone to heaven or hell, the people who are sent to this place are in some type of purgatory. The reason why this kids are here is, because none of them have had a good/fulfilled childhood when alive. The way I perceive this purgatory is that it’s a second wind for these people to truly enjoy themselves, and to have fun with others their own age. I thought this was an amazing concept to dwell into. This show’s interpretation of the afterlife was unique, and kept me thinking along the way. It started thinking about life in general. Was my life fulfilled? What scenarios would warrant someone to be sent here?? Is there a god? Once obliterated, do you go to another distant realm in the afterlife, or be reincarnated as someone else? These are the questions that conjured in my mind when watching this show. Angel Beats take on the afterlife is very thought provoking, and is what kept me watching the show. I just had to find out more about the world these people are stuck in.

The Bad –Despite how much I feel about the plot, the show as a whole felt unfinished. The cause of this was due to this shows large cast, and how certain episode were set up. The shining moments this story were illuminated during the episodes that went into the back stories of people at the school. The episodes that features the main character's, and the lead singer’s back stories were hands down the best part of this anime. These episodes gave you got a glimpse of the crummy lives these kids had, and why they were here in the first place. These episodes were deep, engaging, and very emotional. Instead of following this formula though, and going through everybody’s back stories, the show goes on a tangent. They dwell more into the battles between the SSS, and the angel instead of the character development. Towards the end of the show – they only managed to reveal 5 peoples back stories from the 18 characters in the show. This is Angel Beats biggest flaw. The story could have had been an amazing journey of getting a second chance at life; about getting justice for how unfair life is, but it wasn’t. The worst thing about all of this is that there were episodes that were completely unnecessary, and could have had been used to acknowledge the people in the show. All I can say is that this story was wasted potential.
In addition to my feelings on the state of the show, Angel Beats had pacing issues. This is usually the case for most anime that try to portray a story in 13 episode. This wasn’t the case for this anime in the beginning, but towards the end of the show, everything went by ridiculously fast. There was this one scene during episode 12 where they jammed 6 episodes worth of content in it. This scene had something to do with a couple of kids moving on at once. It has spoilers so I won’t say much about it. They tried to mask this though by using emotional dialogue and circumstance, but it felt too haphazard and rushed. If you need further clarification, just compare the pacing of the first couple of episodes with the last 3. They tried to do too much in this anime, and ultimately made it worse in the process.

Animation: 8 (Very Good)

Just by looking at Angel Beats, you can tell that it’s nicely animated. Most of this praise comes from the characters though. All of them were drawn nicely, and move around fluidly on screen. There was never a time, that I can recall, that the characters looked awkward. Since this show has a lot of action in it, the scenes where the characters where fighting actually look realistic. The body/hair movement, the reaction times, and even the moves certain characters used looked natural instead of being cartoony. Angel Beats also has a couple of scene with explosions, and supernatural effects going on in them; all of which were also nicely animated. This is where most of the appeal for the show stems from, and with good reason. As for the backgrounds, all of them felt stagnant. They were all made using a bright color pallet, but nothing moved in them at all. It was like looking at a painting, and watching the characters in the show move within them. Actually, the only things that moved on screen where the characters. This made certain parts of the show feel empty. The only exceptions where the rock concert scenes which were visually stunning. The last thing I want to talk about is the opening theme. Angel Beat’s opening is one of my favorites. The animation for it was really good, and had meaning. Every episode had a slightly different opening which had scenes from that specific episode in it. I just thought it was cool.

Sound: 8.25 (Very Good)

While listening through the OST for Angel Beats, I didn’t have any complaints about it. All of the songs in it were really good actually. The majority of the music in the OST were piano solos. Some of them were intense, some of them had vocals, and some of them were softly played & atmospheric. None of them sounded the same which I thought was interesting. As far as recommendations go , “My Most Precious Treasure “, “Brave Soul”, and obviously the opening theme where good imo. As stand-alone tracks – they all hold their own, but they all shine when they played in accordance with their intended scenes. As for the voice acting, the subs where very good. The emotional scenes is where these actors really make you believe their characters are real. As for the dub, it’s just best to stay away from it. The voice actors for the kids weren’t symbiotic, and felt off (except for Yuki, her voice actor was good). Most of the male supporting mains had zero emotion in their voices, and failed to personify their characters. Some of them even sounded like they were well into their 30’s which was distracting. Overall, the sound was one point.

Characters: 5.75 (Mediocre)

Angel Beats, honestly, had one of the weakest casts of main characters I've seen in a while. Most of the people in the cast were poorly developed, and/or had no purpose, but to be used as comedic devices. For an example, one character in the cast literally says one phrase the entire anime, which is “you’re an idiot”, and that's it lol. There was another character, who was an American stereotype that couldn’t form a single coherent sentence anytime he talked. At first these characters seemed interesting, but it became clear to me, while watching the show, they are just poorly design characters. This is sad because this was true almost for everyone in the main character lineup. They were presented as a diverse interesting group of people in the beginning, but later turned into background characters that didn’t get a chance to be developed properly. Even the main character, who does get a chance to develop wasn’t that interesting. He is a dull, boring protagonist that just seems to be going with the flow rather than leading the story. He has amnesia during half of the show, and does get better after he recalls his memories, but not by much. Angel started off interesting, but she turned out to be just another Rei clone from NGE.
The only exceptions I can think of would be Masami Iwasawa, the original lead guitarist for the SSS, who managed to have more depth, and personality than almost everyone in the show in only 1 episode. Besides her, Yuri Nakamura (the leader of the SSS group), Hinata Hideki (the guy who like baseball), and Yui (the bubbly girl her replaces Masami) are the only passable characters in the show. If you haven’t noticed the pattern yet, these are the characters that had their own dedicated episodes. The characters that Angel Beats actually acknowledged of being main characters where the ones who were the most developed, who would of guessed? I talked about how the black story specific episodes were what made Angel Beats special in the story section above. Seeing how the more interesting mains are the ones who did have back story only proves my point. It’s just sad though that out of a cast of 15+ people, only around five of them were worth caring about. It’s worse when that doesn’t even include the main character.

Enjoyment: 8 (Very Good)

Dismissing all of the in depth analysis I made for this anime, Angel Beats was very enjoyable. While watching the show, all I wanted to do was see more of what this show had to offer. There were times when I laughed, and others where I had mixed emotions. The ending was a little tear-jerky, but I watched sadder shit that. I held it together. Angel Beats was an anime with a cool plot, nice animation, good music, and a lot of action. Basically everything that was done right, was great. After it ended though, I kind of felt empty. I thought this anime was going to have more than what I got. It was so hyped up that I thought it was going to be a masterpiece, but instead I got Angel Beats. Anyways, this show is definitely a good short anime to binge through. If you can look past the blatant flaws, and enjoy it for what it is, go for it.

Score: 7.25/10 (Good) - Overhyped?, yes - Worth the watch?, yes

In depth review #8 - Durarara!!

Durarara was definitely an interesting anime to experience. The plot, the writing, and the characters contributed to this, but this feeling mostly came from the fact that Durarara fell inside its own genre. This show was made by Ryogo Narita who is responsible for creating Baccano in 2007. Both of these anime really can’t be compared to anything (besides each other) since both of these anime created their foundations from the ground up. The only way to interrupt these shows from the perspective of someone who hasn’t watched either would be to dissect their names. Baccano is an Italian word ... for noise, or rowdiness; the perfect way to generalize that anime. Durarara is similar to that by being the Japanese onomatopoeia for “vroom vroom”; the sound a motorcycle makes when being revved up, and that’s the best way to describe Durarara. It’s an anime that builds up its energy with each consecutive episode until the story kicks up its brakes up, and let loose. I thought this was a unique way to convey an anime’s story, but this made the first couple of episodes a tad slow. After all the “vroom vrooms” were done though (during episode 11) this show turned into one of the most enjoyable anime I have watched in a while.

Story: 8.5 (Very Good)

Durarara is an anime about the interesting inhabitants of Ikebukuro, an urban Japanese city that always has something interesting going on within it. The people that make up Durarara’s large cast is the main focus of the story, and are the people who contribute to making the main conflict of the show. The revelation of what Durarara is truly about is slowly revealed as the story continues. However, the story introduces itself by telling the story of a headless dullahan that rides a jet black motorcycle, following the lives of the most dangerous people in the city, giving the viewers the perspective of three high school freshman in the city, and revealing bits of information about a mysterious online gang called the dollars. With each passing episode, more and more people are introduced, and more of these obscure plot device pop up. With time though, all of these interrelated instances comes together and makes up the overall main story of the show. It may seem like Durarara is some sort of weird mashup of random people’s lives, but it isn’t. Everyone plays a role in a bigger scheme that takes place in this anime.

Moving away from the synopsis, the feeling you get when watching Durarara is kind of mixed. Durarara at times can be a bit of a dark anime. There are subtle tints of supernatural aspects, suicide, guilt, manipulation, murder, and gang violence in this show, all of which contribute to the anime’s story heavily. However, Durarara cancels most of this out with a lot of comedic relief, and slice of life tropes. It should be said that Durarara is a very funny anime and does a good job at balancing the two extremes.

Animation: 7.75 (Good)

As for the animation, it was very distinguishable. It has that style that you can glance at, and instantly know its Durarara. The art overall was ok, but a large part of time that went into it was focused on the atmosphere. The setting, the backgrounds, and the city were nicely animation. It looked like what I would think a modern day ikebukuro would look like honestly. It also made the show livelier from either the color pallet, or how much was on screen at one time. The detail for the characters in the show was ok. There’s nothing to say about the main characters designs but what caught my attention was the background characters. These people are represented as greyed-out humanoid. The people void of color are those who aren’t essential to the plot and story. I just thought it was a cool way to distinguish the important characters from the masses. This became apparent in certain scene where the main characters are in the midst of a crowd. This was cool, and I understand the purpose of it, but it not something I would say, “Wow, this is nicely animated”. Certain scene stood of from the rest like the scenes that involved the small supernatural aspects this show has, and the fight scenes, but everything else was average. Overall, the animation was good.

Sound: 9 (Great)

Man, I haven’t heard such a great soundtrack like Durarara’s in a while. Even if this review somehow doesn’t convince you to watch Durarara at least listen to the amazing OST. What a piece of art. Not only is the OST riddled with those soft jazzy mixes that made me fall in love with Baccano, but it also has those mellow down-tempo bass music, and piano solos that were amazing. My favorite songs from the OST are “Ikebukuro West Exit Five-way Intersection” and “Butterfly by ON/OFF”. As for the placement of these songs in the anime – they were very memorable, and made the scenes they complemented what they were. I remember thinking to myself while watching some the scenes was how amazing the background music was. Its soundtrack germinated so much energy for the anime as a whole, and made it feel more alive. The actions scenes had those intense drum solo segments behind it, the eerie supernatural events had those suspenseful tracks, and the lighthearted scenes had the smooth unimpressionable music behind it. Everything just had a place. The team who made this OST did a great job.

Characters: 8.5 (Very Good)

The entirely of this show can honestly be judged by how interesting the characters are. This show thrives off the back stories, and actions of these characters since the story is all about them. The more interesting, funny, or cool they are, the better the show will ultimately be. Durarara, for the most part, nailed this. Most of the characters in this 20+ cast were all interesting. I wanted to see more of them on screen, and dwell into their lives more often. This is especially true for the Izaya, and Shizuo who in my opinion should have been the main characters. Even Certy, and Kyuohei’s posse was something I wished we saw more of. Instead, we got to follow the three uninteresting high-school freshman, Kida, Mikada, and Anri. Mikada, and Anri were dull, and boring characters. Their back stories were epic all hell, but their lackluster personalities were too shitty to make me care. The only salvageable main character was Kida, but he as well didn’t come close to being as interesting as the other supporting main characters in this show. Like seriously, there is a girl who rides a horse that transformed into a motorcycle who is also headless, and she is a supporting main, lol. This was a big letdown in my eyes. Despite this, I do have to give credit to Durarara for making so many interesting characters for this show. Even though they weren’t the main characters, it seemed that every one of them were on screen for a more than reasonable amount of time. Compared to other anime that have casts, Durarara made sure to make these characters relevant to the story, and to give them all their own unique personalities. This was yet another aspect of the show that made everything more realistic and lively.

Enjoyment: 9 (Great)

I’ll just come out and say it. I absolutely loved this anime. It was one of the most enjoyable anime I’ve watched in a while. There were things that I would have had changed but the overall feeling I got from this anime was the best. I would say most of my enjoyment stems for 3 major components. The story, the characters, and the references from other anime. I voiced my opinion on the story, and characters above, but the references was the icing on the cake. There had to be a least a dozen references from other anime in this show, while the most notable ones being from Baccano. This is why I would highly recommend watching the anime Baccano before watching this series. One of my favorite scenes in the show was a cameo from Baccano, and I thought it was amazing when I first saw it. Also, the familiarity you get from watching the openings, and listening the jazzy music in the background adds a unique layer to the overall feeling of Durarara that people who didn’t watch it wouldn’t understand. Durarara was definitely a motorcycle ride of an anime, and I’m thinking of watching it again soon.

Score: 8.55/10 (Very Good) - You'll wish your life was this interesting :D

In depth review #7 - Parasyte: The Maxim

Parasyte, without a doubt, was an amazing experience. Anyone who had watched the anime can agree with me in saying that this show was very entertaining. The brief but appropriate action scenes, the frequent cliffhangers at the end of every.....episode, and the amazing character development kept me coming back for more every week. However, the way the anime concluded left me a little disappointed. A show literally oozing with potential in the beginning of the show, felt rushed towards the last 7 episodes. Its also worth mentioning the scope of the story was very isolated. They could ... of done so much more with this story, and answer so many more unanswered questions, but what can you do. It was good for what it was.

Story: 7.75 (Good)

A story about alien organisms taking over to the bodies of humans sounds awesome, but how exactly did this anime execute this premise? Well, to put it simply, it was ok. Yes, the journey, our main character, Shinichi, experiences was great, and the struggles between the duo and other parasytes where also well executed, but the scope of the story was just too small. The story is about Shinichi, but the anime is essentially about an invasion of organisms taking over humans in a modern society. The story could of had been so much more expansive and robust. Also, it's worth mentioning that the anime was heavily rushed around episode 18. One minute there's a fight, then the next minute there's scene with the government , then there's a sex scene. The pacing during this part of the show was just too haphazard for my liking. If i hadn't bashed the story enough, the ending was kind of lackluster. Not because the ending didn't make sense, or that it was bad or anything. What i didn't like about it was that there wasn't enough closure. One of the biggest questions i have about this anime was where did the parasytes originate from? I would of had thought that would be an obvious topic to cover in this show, but apparently i was wrong. At this point, you may think i hated the story, but i didn't. It was interesting, and a breathe a fresh air. I just had unrealistic goals for this anime since it was just so good in the beginning.

Animation: 6.75 (Fair)

The animation for this show was also average. Nothing more and nothing less. Most of the animation wasn't memorable but there were a couple of scenes where they used some interesting facial expressions to convey serious emotions, and drastic tension. These scenes either had me lean back a bit in my chair and say WTF is wrong with your face, or made me widen my eyes a bit and say Shit's getting real. The fight scenes between parasytes where also animated nicely. The blades clashing into one another, and the slight blood splatter was realistic and pleasing to the eye. Besides these entities however, nothing really stood out. I'm currently trying to think of a couple of scenes that i can put in this section but nothing is coming to mind. I guess this fact explains what i am trying to get at more accurately.

Sound: 8.5 (Very Good)

I admit it, i am a sucker for dubstep in anime. I personally listen the liquid dubstep and other dubstep variations, so i am extremely biased on this subject, but the music was amazing. The fact that i tried to find certain tracks after i watched to anime should give you a sense of how good the music was. If you don't like this type of music, this aspect of the show probably wont mean as much to you as it does to me, but regardless the music fit well with the anime. It was subtle, but it complemented the action, and stressful scenes very nicely. I honestly couldn't imaging certain scenes without the dubstep in the background. This anime is proof the edm can be properly implemented in anime successfully, and won't completely suck like most failed attempts did in the past. Other than the music, the voice acting was on point. I loved Migi's melodramatic tone of voice throughout the anime. Shinichi, Murano, and the other supporting characters voice actors also did a great job of realistically portraying their characters voices. I came to this conclusion after hearing there characters speak during the emotional scenes. Hearing there broken speech while crying, or while scared adds the element of realism which isn't always present in certain anime. The same can be said while characters where arguing with each other. There tone and the intensity of there voices made things seem as if i was watching an argument in real life.

Characters: 10 (Outstanding)

This anime has the best character development i have ever seen in an anime to date, hands down. It's almost shocking seeing how much a character can gradually change, and grow in only 24 episodes. All of the characters in the cast experience some magnitude of character development in the show, but the stars in my book go to Shinichi and Migi. The show introduces an interesting bleeding effect between these two characters. Since Migi and Shinichi are living in the same body, certain aspects of each other is inherited between each other. What this means is that as the show went on, Shinichi started acting more like a parasyte, and Migi started inheriting emotions like humans do. The way they introduced this and how the changes got more noticeable every episode was perfect. This was definitely the best thing that this show accomplished during its run. Something that annoyed me though was how Murano didn't stfu about Shinichi's changes for about 15 episodes straight. She was so annoying in the beginning omfg, but she did a 180 towards the end which was an improvement. Besides the main characters, there was clear character development between both species in the show (human, parasyte) which had unique changes for both. Quick examples could be seen in Shinichi's dad, and in Tomea Reiko. Overall great cast, a lot of variety, and unique character development techniques.

Enjoyment: 9 (Great)

I really enjoyed watching this anime. It wouldn't be a stretch in saying that this was one of the best anime to come out during the winter 2014 season. A lot of people can agree with me on this to. Just go on any forum or video are read the posts explaining how Parasyte > Tokyo Ghoul. What got me hooked on this show was that it kept me on the edge of my seat literally every episode. No, i don't think you fully understand. There was a cliffhanger every episode. Sometimes i was left there huffing and puffing since i came to the realization i had to wait an entire week to watch what would happen next. I really enjoyed watching this anime. The only thing that was wrong with it was that it wasn't ambitious enough, which really isn't a flaw, just my imagination running rampant. Either way, MUST WATCH anime right here. It was a roller coaster, i would recommend anyone who enjoys good anime to ride it.

Score: 8.4/10 (Very Good) - Must Watch

In depth review #6 - Golden Time

Oh man, this anime hit too close to home way to many times. The relationship problems these characters had was just so familiar that I just had to be amazed by this show. The thing that got me though was the whole clingy stalker persona Koko had in the beginning of the anime. All I could do was laugh. Golden Time is that unique anime in its genre that actually portrays REAL relationships. Usually romantic animes have their show setup like a whore house. There is always one guy and 5 girls and he chooses one of them the ... fuck at the end. Golden Time however throws that cliche bullshit out the window and paints a vivid picture of how fucking crazy real relationships can get. I'm pretty sure most people can relate to this anime to some degree but if you can't then you will just be confused about why these people are acting like maniacs.

Story: 7 (Good)
The story follows a kid named Banri who just started college in Tokyo. He would of had been a second year student at this point but he had to be hospitalized from a head injury. He fell off the side of a bridge and lost all of his memories prior to that point. His family, his friends, his girlfriends, and his childhood where all lost, so he decides to start anew and become a new person. However as the story progress Banri starts have an internal conflict with his past self and the new person he become in college with causes a lot of problems with his current relationships. The overall setup of the story is nothing special but the storytelling of the show is where Golden Time shines. The dialogue and the situations the main characters go through each episode is what makes this show. I wouldn't say Golden Times is episodic but at times it feels as though it is because there is always something different going on every episode. They don't dwell on problems for too long (except for the main psychological conflict) which i like. What really stood out was just the relationships ups and downs rather than the overarching story.

Animation: 9 (Great)
After watching Golden Time and other anime that came out this year, its clear that animation is getting better each year. Golden Times animation is sooo good. I used this phrase before in another review but the animation was so clean i could of ate off of it. The amount of animation in the setting alone was amazing. The city, inside of buildings, the school, and any setting the main characters were in had a considerable amount of detail in them. Even small things like water movement, barber poles, leaves, and even blinkers on cars were noticeable and moved naturally. The character designs were also on point. All you have to do is look at Koko and your mouth will drop. All you can say is that Mitsuo is an idiot for not wanting her because she..is..hot (even for animation)

Sound: 9 (Great)
The sound for this anime was also good. I listened to the OST after i watched the show and there was a couple of tracks i liked alone. However most of them were eclipsed by the opening/ending themes. With hat note, the songs in the themes where amazing. They grew on me even though its not really my style of music. I liked the songs in the first opening and the second ending the most. As for the sound in the show, they mostly used mood setting chords, and sound queues. They where subtle but where notable during memorable scenes. The sound queue i remember the most was the sound that Koko's breast made whenever they did a close up of them (yes I'm a pervert). It was a sound that reminded me of moving a sheet of hard plastic around lol.

As for the voice acting, i didn't expect it to be so good. The actor in the Japanese dub had a lot of talent and fit there characters very well. They also managed to used English in part of there speech which got me confused during certain scenes. All of this was insignificant compared to the emotional scenes however. As the characters started to yell and argue with each other you can feel the amount of emotion the actors had in there voices. It wasn't overpowering or unrealistic which i thought was amazing. Also during the sad scenes when someone would start crying, their voices sounded so realistic that you get completely captivated by the scene. The cast did an amazing job.

Characters: 8 (Very Good)
All of the main characters in this show had great synergy with each. This is mostly due to the fact that this show is so realistic but i thought that its worth mentioning. The relationships everyone had with each other was different for specific reasons. Everyone weren't just friends with each other because they knew each other like in other animes. There were ups an downs between all of them. As for character development, I thought it was well done for most of the characters. There was one character in particular that just pissed me off after a while but everyone else developed nicely as they had to face numerous situations. As for the character i was talking about earlier, it is the main character Banri. At first i though his development was great. He starts off as a clean slate and then gradually changes as time goes on. Towards episode 17, i thought Banri as a main character was at its all time high. He changed so much from the first episode. Then towards the end of the series he did a 180. I don't want to spoil anything because his change is caused by how the story is set up but he changed for the worst. He pulled a shinji from NGE out of nowhere which i just didn't like at all. That part could of had been executed better imo. As for Koko, i thought her development was the best throughout the series. At first she was just a crazy stalker then she turns into a character with so much depth and emotion. This only gets better towards the end while Banri development get worse. Linda developed in a similar way as well.

Enjoyment: 10 (Outstanding)
I loved this anime. It painted a realistic picture of how crazy real relationships can be at times which I appreciated a lot. Seeing something so familiar in anime pushed all the right buttons on me and made me laugh and smile whenever they came on. The blatant eavesdropping on my phone calls, blowing up my phone when I'm away leaving me with 65 unread messages, and the failed attempts at setting the mood made me burst out laughing during these scenes. Also the scenes that were actually meant for humor was well done and also made me laugh. The emotional scenes and the arguments almost turned on the waterworks but i managed to stay composed. There was just so much emotion in these parts that i found myself glued to the screen. I don't usually watch these type of anime but this one was worth it.

Score: 8.6/10 (Very Good) - Watch it Now

In depth review #5 - Selector Spread WIXOSS

When comparing this season to the first one, I felt that Selector Spread WIXOSS fixed all of the problems I had with the storytelling. It actually made a compelling story on its own without using themes or plot devices that were blatantly ripped off from Madoka Magica in the first session. The story also wasn't as predictable. Despite this however, the creators didn't do as good of a job at developing the main characters this time around. I’ll go in depth with my reasons down below.

Story: 8 (Very Good)
Selector Spread WIXOSS is the continuation of Selector Infected ... WIXOSS. It starts off around a week after the events that transpired during the first season's ending and continues with the overarching conflict of the series. During this iteration, the main character Ruuko focuses more on trying to find a way to save her LRIG Tama, coping with her battle addiction, and dealing with her new companion Iona. Compared to the first season, I think the story was slightly better. The major problems the series had where fixed when they focused more on the premise of the game WIXOSS, and focusing more on Iona and Maya's predicament. There was a lot of good things going on at once in the second season that I enjoyed instead of only recycling Madoka Magica themes in the first one. As for backstory, many of the random unimportant characters in the first session are extremely relevant now and play a huge role in the story. One example being Ulith.

Animation: 8 (Very Good)
The animation during both seasons of this anime where relatively to same. The only exception would be the setting of Maya's world that I thought had a unique style to it. I made a review of the first season so I might just repeat what I said in that one which was that the animation was at its peak during the battle scenes. The atmosphere, the battleground, the LRIGs, and the magic used during battle sequences were amazing. The atmospheres in particular is what gave this anime so much life. During the battle scenes, the background, and the overall mood of the setting changed according to the characters personalities, and deck color. As for the general setting in the real world, it was unimpressive and lackluster.

Sound: 8 (Very Good)
The OST that was used in this session had a couple of standalone tracks but for the most part was exactly the same as the first. They used several catchy Tech based songs with orchestrated rhythms in it as well as DnB and Dubstep. The music that played during the transition and in the opening/ending themes were changed to correspond to this session. Compared to the first opening theme, I liked the opening of this session more than the first one. In regards to the casual scenes, this session faced the same problem it did in the first. There were barely any song playing in the background. There were a couple of typical sound queues throughout the show but that's about it.

Characters: 7 (Good)
The three main characters that we've followed in the first session are still here but they aren't the main focus of the plot anymore. The story swifts most of the time for character development towards Tama, Iona, and Akira. Even though these characters develop nicely, and are essential for the plot to progress, I feel as if the main characters Hitoe, and Yukuzi where left out. Their significance in this session wasn't nearly as impactful as it was in the first 12 episodes which was a letdown. The main character Ruuko however develops nicely throughout the entire series. There are also additional supporting characters that join the mix this time around. Ulith, Chiyori, and Mayu where all introduced in the first session but they all got little to no screen time. Now they are important components to the story, and almost quadruple in the amount they are on screen compared to before.

Enjoyment: 8 (Very Good)
If you ask me if this series is worth continuing then I would say it is. This session treated the Madoka Magica identity crisis syndrome it suffered from in the first session and improved on lot of subtle things throughout. I liked it slightly more than the first season just since we actually got to see how this card game actually works. It was kind of weird to me that a card game anime didn't even explain the rules of the game properly but after watching so many battles, I got the hang of it. I enjoyed this anime because it was unique a unique spin on the card game genre and was just different from what I usually watch.

Score is Rounded: 7.8/10 (Good) - Worth the Watch

In depth review #4 - Selector Infected WIXOSS

Before getting into this review, I just want to get the elephants out the room first. Selector Infected WIXOSS is really similar to Madoka Magica. The dark themes and the situation these girls where in is just too similar not to mention. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing though since I enjoyed watching both of these anime. I just felt like I was watching something I already seen before. Despite this, I still wouldn’t say Selector Infected WIXOSS is a Madoka Magica clone. This series does a lot of unique and ambitious things right on its own like ... actually making a card game anime watchable so don't worry. Its also worth mentioning that there are a couple of incest themes in this anime that some viewers might not be comfortable with but i honestly think they handled it maturely. The show goes in depth about how someone might feel in this situation rather than.....well you know.

Story: 7 (Good)
Selector Infected WIXOSS follows the story behind a girl named Ruuko Kominato, and her friends as they play WIXOSS, a popular trading card game among young girls. At first glance, this is just a harmless game until Ruuko gets a pack of cards from her brother. When she opens it, she finds a card that has a personality of it own called an LRIG. The people who are able to see these cards are called selectors. Selectors have a chance to make any wish they want come true by battling other selectors. This seems like an amazing opportunity until these girls find out the dark truth behind this game. Like i said above, the setup for this show is very similar to another show I've watched but the plot is definitely interesting. You won't find another card game anime as fun to watch as this one. Its interesting and enjoyable but not unique.

Animation: 8 (Very Good)
The animation for this anime was good, but nothing really stood out during the scenes inside buildings and in the city. The characters animation was also good but nothing special. Just standard animation throughout. However, the battle scenes went to an entirely different level of animation. To say it simply, it was stunning and it's where the animation shined in this show. The LRIGs trapped in the cards turned into nicely detailed avatars. Even the atmosphere changed drastically to correspond to the people battling each other. The color pallet had a wide range of vivid colors to corresponding to each characters deck color. And i cant forget about the attacks. The magic used by the LRIGs looked amazing and made me yearn to see more of the LRIGs move sets.

Sound: 8 (Very Good)
Similar to the animation, the sound really popped out at you during the battle sequences. During these scenes, the music really punched you in the face from how epic they where. They used several catchy Tech based songs with orchestrated rhythms in it as well as DnB and Dubstep. Any show that has Dubstep in it i was most likely fall in love with.The music that played during the transition and in the opening/ending themes were also good. I especially like the ending song. During the casual scenes however, i can't remember an songs off of the top of my head i liked. This probably happened since there wasn't many playing or they weren't that memorable.

Characters: 7 (Good)
All of the main characters in this show made me feel differently about them corresponding to their situation. The way the behaved and how there personalities developed over the course of the show made me think about how i would act if i were in their shoes. This was extremely relevant in Ruuko, Yuzuki and Hitoe's case. I don't want to spoil anything but i genuinely felt bad about how things were turning out for these innocent girls half way through the series. As for Akira, she was a bitch, but liked her at the same time. She is like the character you don't like but enjoy seeing them mess with someone else.

Enjoyment: 8 (Great)
I went into this anime not knowing anything about it. All i knew about that anime was that a lot of people weren't expecting it to be as good as it was, and i can see why. This anime was completely overlooked by the more popular anime this session but i enjoyed it about the same and ever more than those anime. It was a unique spin on the trading card game genre that i just have to applaud for since most of them aren't that good, Cough..Yugioh Zexal..Cough. It was interesting and made me remember how good deconstruction show actually are.

Score: 7.6/10 (Good) - Worth the Watch

In depth review #3 - Baccano!

You know that one show you were planning on watching for years now but never got to it yet. The same show that you heard amazing things about, and saw showing up on everyone’s “Best Animes Ever” lists? Well for me, Baccano! was that show. I knew I was missing out on something great, but I never had the drive to actually sit down and watch it. Maybe it was because the setting was based in the 1930’s or that I didn’t know much about it. Either way I started this anime yesterday from hearing about it 5 years ... ago, and after finishing it I feel like an idiot. I can’t believe I missed out on such an ambitious unique anime for so long. To put it simply Baccano! was amazing. It isn’t my favorite anime but by critiquing the story, animation, music, characters and my personal enjoyment of the show, I just can’t give it anything less than a brilliant score.

Story 9: (Outstanding)
Before I explain what this show is about, I just need to point out that Baccano has the best story development and writing I have ever seen in anime. This is due from how the writer perfected the art of storytelling through multiple perspectives. A writing style that displays a centralized event and shows us the point of views of everybody involved with it. This type of writing style in used in shows such as Lost or Heros. Moving on, the overarching story of Baccano revolves around the events that occurred on a transcontinental train called the flying pussyfoot in 1931. The events that transpired on this train is shown through the eyes of different significant people on this train. The story also gives us frequent time skips into the future and into the past. This is done to get a clear understanding of everyone’s motives for getting onto the train, everyone’s agendas while on the train, and everyone’s back stories. It is worth mentioning that the beginning will leave you with a lot of questions but i assure you all of your questions will be answer by episode 4.

Animation 7: (Good)
The animation was good considering how old this show is. However, compared to other anime such as Fate/Stay Night unlimited blade works, the animation isn't really anything special. Don’t worry though, I never had a single problem with the animation while watching this show. Even the darker scenes were nicely lit and visible. In addition, the animation of the setting was surprisingly realistic. I went to New York, and Chicago a couple of times in the past and some of the scenes included landmarks that i recognized. It actually looked like an older version of the real places. Even the characters looked like actual people. For Baccano being the show it is, the animation fit well.

Sound 10: (Outstanding)
There are only a couple of shows that I would give the sound in a 10/10. I only do this for shows that have literally the best OST in all of anime, or OST that makes me like an unfavorable genre. The last show that did this was Samurai Champloo. That OST was absolute perfection even though I hate rap music. Baccano did the exact same thing with jazz. Besides the jazz music in Fallout 3 I don’t usually listen to the genre but man, this OST had me replaying each song a thousand times. No one can tell me with a straight face that Baccano’s soundtrack isn’t good because they would be lying. Something that is also unorthodox is that I enjoyed several tracks more than the opening theme. Usually I like the opening theme song the most but a lot of effort and time went in to each song. Baccano deserves a perfect score for this feat alone.

As for the voice acting, I was in awe while these people talked. I can’t say anything about the Japanese cast but the English cast was ridiculously talented. The accents sounded genuine for a story based in the 1930's. It went to a whole another level when a character changed their accent to a french one in certain flashbacks in 1711. It was probably different voice actors but it did add to the realism dramatically. Also the voice actors for Ladd Russo, Jacuzzi and Isaac where the best I heard in a long time. Everyone else was also amazing but these three went over the threshold. Even the voice actor for the furor from Fullmetal alchemist brotherhood was in the cast. Probably the best dub i have ever heard.

Characters 10: (Outstanding)
If I had to pick one thing that I liked the most about this anime, it would be the characters. The characters in my opinion is what made Baccano, Baccano! It was very ambitious to have so many characters in the cast but I enjoyed everyone’s time on the screen. There were 2 to 3 characters I really didn’t care for like the little girl looking for her brother but this didn’t matter since I really liked the 12 other main characters in this anime. I can talk about each character for days but this section would be 18 paragraphs long. The ones that are worth mentioning though is Issac and Miria. This couple had to be the best interpretation of comedic relief I have ever seen. Their clueless attitudes and hijinks brought a new light to this anime and made me grin and laugh whenever they came onto the screen. Even the characters in the show loved them. They did what Mako from kill la kill couldn’t, becoming an appropriate tool of comic relief, and is why they are one of my favorite characters of all time. Also Ladd Russo and Vino have to be some of the coolest characters in anime. The personalities, and philosophies are expressed through their crazy actions which made me like them both a lot. After you watch this anime, I guarantee that a least one character from this cast will become one of your favorite characters of all time.

Enjoyment 9: (Great)
Baccano! was a roller coaster ride in the form of an anime; one that I honestly never wanted it to end. I would of had loved to see this anime continue but that would have been selfish. This show ended the series perfectly. Even though I had a couple a questions I needed answered after it ended, everything was covered in the show at some point. I even willingly watch the entire thing again because it was just that good. Seeing the story start the way it did after watching the whole thing was actually kind of fun. This was the case probably because the beginning was a bit crazy. The creator just kind of throws its viewers in the middle of a storm, and makes us wait it out to understand what is going on. After episode 4 however most of your question will be answered. Besides this small instance, I enjoyed Baccano! a lot more than I initially thought I would. The story, the characters, and the OST was absolute perfection and if you have working eyes, you HAVE TO WATCH Baccano!

9.0/10 (Great) - Must Watch Now

In depth review #2 - Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis

Shingeki no Bahamut was exactly what i wanted it to be. An epic battle fantasy anime with good characters and a unique universe that blended everything together. And DRAGONS, beautifully animated hardcore FUCKING DRAGONS! Most shows with dragons in it makes their dragons look like shitty play-doh statues but this show did i right. All you need to do is see the first scene of the show and you'll know what I'm talking about. If there are any gamers reading this, imagine the game Darksiders mixed with the opening cinematic trailer of Final Fantasy XIV and that ... is basically Shingeki no Bahamut in a nutshell, epic.

Story: 8.25 (Very Good)
The story revolves around Bahamut, an all-powerful dragon's rebirth into the world. When this dragon was alive, It's cataclysmic rampage nearly ended all life on the planet. This truth forced humans, angels, and demons to form a temporary trues to seal this dragon away forever. From the backlash of the battle, the god Zeus and Satan himself had to sacrifice themselves by sealing their spirits in two pendants to stop him. If the two keys where to merge again, then Bahamut will be reborn and fuck shit up again. The show start off with a girl how steels one of the keys from the angels and begins the process of Bahamut's inevitable resurrection. I personally thought the story was amazing. It wasn't super convoluted and was easy to understand. Yes, its kind of a genetic (seal to big bad dragon before we get rekted) story but the journey, and back-story behind the characters separated this one from the rest.

Animation: 9 (Great)
The animation was so clean i could of ate off of it. Nothing but stunning. The atmosphere and backgrounds are well flushed and polished. Details can be seen in the smallest of the things on the scene that most people wont even be looking at. In addition, things such as particle were shy of perfection. The sparks that flew of off swords as they clash, the radiant illuminations that where emitted from angles and demons eyes and bodies, the smoke and stones that flew threw through the air during a huge battle. All of these entities were beautifully animated. This is what initially got me watching the series in the first place. The production value for the animation was one of the best of 2014; up there with Fate/Stay Night and Nagino no Asukara.

Sound: 8 (Very Good)
The sound that played in the background of certain scenes set the tone of the sequence. They did a good job at doing this since some of the less notable scenes in the anime also made me feel a certain way. It wasn't what was going on, on the scene but was the music that complemented them them gave me the intended anticipation, or unease. For the epic fight scenes in the anime, all i could say it that the music was great. The heavy orchestrated tracks made the battle scenes even more epic then they already were. It's apparent that a lot of time and work went into developing this OST and i wanted to listen to the stand alone tracks but i couldn't find them.

Characters: 7.5 (Good)
I'm happy to say that the creators didn't play a mindless game of (spin the wheel of generic character archetypes) when making theirs. Almost all of the character's personalities and designs felt new. The main characters were at there very peak when they interacted with each other (Favaro x Kaiser) (Favaro x Rita), however as stand alone characters they weren't as memorable as they could have been. The only exception this this would of had been Favaro. Speaking of, the main character Favaro the most unique person of the bunch. His mindset throughout the show generally stays the same but his own resolve and personality makes him like no other. Not only is his personality unique but his design is to. Favora is actually rocking an AFRO MULLET. I'm not joking here, this is a thing now. For the other main characters, Kaiser is the epitome of a knight. We will do anything to keep his vows and restore honor to his families name. Amira is kind of simple minded but has a goal that she want to achieve. It seems that's all she wants to do; that and eat food. All of the other supporting characters is also well developed.

Enjoyment: 9 (Great)
I really enjoyed watching this anime. I binged through the entire thing in a day and wasn't dissatisfied. The beginning is a tab slow but shit gets real around episode 6 & 7. If you pass this threshold, you wont be disappointed at all. It an anime that truly shocked me and i believe to be one of the better amines of 2014. If you like action animes, then this is a must watch because you will be blow away.

Score: 8.35/10 (Good) - Must Watch

In depth review #1 - Shinsekai Yori - From the new World (No spoilers)

Plot/Story:
Shinsekai Yori follows the perspectives of 5 young children (Saki, Satoru, Maria, Mamoru, and Shun) in a dystopian society set a millennia in the future. The main character, Saki, starts the story off by acquiring her powers at the age of 12. The power i am referring to is psychokinesis PK or just telekinesis. Saki then joins up with the 4 other characters in the main class where they develop their powers. While here, saki and her friends stumble upon forbidden knowledge of the past they shouldn't of had. The now have ... to deal with the stress of knowing the truth and the consequences their society has in store for them from knowing.

Genre:
Shinsekai Yori is a supernatural dystopian thriller anime. It may seem like this anime is a little too ambitious with it use of genres but the creator blended them together perfectly with his comprehensive plot.The supernatural elements in this anime comes from the mystical creatures that dwell in this universe and from how certain humans acquire the ability of PK (psychokinesis) when they are young. The dystopian element of this anime is the main focus throughout the show. The society that was created in this show is a bleak, strict and cautious one but there is a reason for it. Whether or not the actions that where carried out in this society is justified is debatable, which is theme tackled by many other animes in this genre. Something that was done differently in the anime however was viewing this dystopia from a child point of view. The thriller aspect of the show comes from how each episode leaves you on a cliffhanger. Shinsekai Yori captures the moment of suspense through each cliffhanger perfect and i would say is the show better attributes. Also the events that occur involving the 5 main characters leaves you worrying about their well being in this society most of the time.

Maturity Level:
If you are planning on watching this anime and want to truly enjoy it you are going the have to be somewhat mature. This is because this anime expresses many mature and dark themes throughout it such as loss, sacrifice and death that will make you think about how it corresponds to our reality. It may seem simple but it requires some form of critical thinking skills to understand the severity of the actions that happens in this dystopia. I wouldn't recommend to kids. Also for some reason, many people believe this anime to be confusing. Honestly it really isn't. All you need to do is pay attention to blatant foreshadowing and to the dialogue and you are good. There are some episodes that will purposely try to confuse you though, which i thought was a cool mechanism, so don't get discouraged if you don't know everything off the back. Everything is perfectly explained as the anime progresses if you didn't understand it already.
As for gore and blood and sex there is a couple of instances that are worth pointing out. For blood and gore, there are scenes where people experience gruesome and bloody deaths. Don't worry though, this isn't the focus of the show. These scenes are mainly used to signify dominance and power and nothing more. As for sex, there isn't any nudity but there is a couple of kissing sequences that made the show a bit controversial. There is a gay kissing scene in episode 8 and people thought that this was enough to drop the show. I ensure you this is not a yaoi or anything close to one. It was just one scene that portrayed a theme used to described their dystopian society in an earlier episode. This is why you need to be somewhat mature and not be so simple minded when it comes to this anime.

Characters:
The story focuses around 5 characters (Saki, Satoru, Maria, Mamoru, and Shun). They are all friends in the same PK class who were paired together in group 1. The story tells the story behind each characters memorable moments with each other and how they react with the realization about their existence in this world. At first they are just regular kids but when they all find out about what happens in the past, they each develop differently corresponding to the level of shock they endured from the news. Most of what happens to their development would spoil somethings so ill just leave this segment at this point.

Animation/Production Value:
I personal loved the animation but ill try to be as unbiased as possible in this segment. The animation team was very ambitious during their time animating this series. They hired a couple of different people to make certain episodes throughout the show. Usually there is just one animation team in animes so there were a couple notable consistency issue throughout the show. The most memorable change being on episode five where the quality in the animation takes a nosedive. It stays like this so a couple of episode which turned a couple of people off from the show sudden change in animation. The first four episodes however are visual stunning and catches back up later. As for use of color, this anime can look like a radiant painting in one scene and a gloomy mystical realm in others. There color pallet is wide and is illuminated in almost of there dramatic scenes. They also managed to light darker lit spaces like caves and nights well, something other animes struggle with sometimes.

Sound /Production Value:
As for the sound, i believed it to have a very high production value. The sounds and tunes that played in the background of the show were subtle but noticeable enough to be memorable. They also complemented the tone of the animation very well while the creator was stressing a specific mood. Transitioning to the OST, i believed it to be one of the better ones i heard in a while. I usually don't bother listening to the OST in anime but i just had to for Shinsekai Yori. I have around 7 songs that i am in love with, including the ending theme song. Overall, the sound production gives off a feudal Japanese area vibe that is filled with mysticism. I though it fit well with the series.

Opening/Ending:
Something that i thought was really unique in this anime was that it didn't have an opening theme. While watching the show - I didn't feel as if i was missing something without it. While analyzing the series after watching it, i would say it was better off without one since it wasn't needed. It reminds me of the anime Mushishi where a flashy 1:30 opening would alter the pacing and the aura given of from the show. As stated earlier, Shinsekai Yori did have an ending theme which was extremely catchy. When i first heard it i though i was lagging but after i realized that it was part of the song it grew on me. It had a certain refreshing atmosphere to it that made me listen to it every time it came on. I usually skip past ending themes but not through this one.

Final Thoughts: I would say that is anime was amazing. I heard about it from a video titled "unrated anime in 2013" a couple of days ago and it definitely is a hidden gem. The style of the anime and the most unique plot i heard in a while left me speechless while watching it. This is especially true for when everything i was thinking about unravels and comes to fruition. 8.4/10

General Overview: Steins;Gate is a anime that tells the story of a group of friends in Japan who creates a device that allows them to send text messages back in time. The contraption that allowed them to accomplish this feat was ingeniously named futuristic gadget #8 Phone Microwave which is literally a cellphone attached to microwave. As the story progresses, we see how these text messages (D-mails) sent back into time using this devices affects the future and the characters lives. Something that is definitely stressed in this show is the re-precautions of blindly affecting the past using this device.

Characters: This is probably Steins;Gates most ... redeeming quality. The characters in this show are simply amazing. Weather you love or despise a certain character in the show, you will eventually care about them to some degree. This show gives us a rough stretch of a character in the beginning then develops their emotions, goals, and humanity through the obstacles the have to face from time travel.This is true for the 4 main characters and all of the supporting characters. No one feels like they are just "filler characters" or follow a specific character archetype. As a side note, some of the characters were so lovable in this anime that literally cried during a couple of the emotional scene with them; something i never done before over an anime character.

Art/Sound: The art definitely was great. It was clear and crisp during 90% of the scenes. There were a couple of lighting issues during some of the night/dark scenes but nothing to drastic. The use of facial expressions in this anime is another thing that they did well in this anime. Facial language and emotions were realistic and not cartoony. As for the sound, the OST was well composed. This is illuminated in the opening and ending scenes. BTW the opening has to be one of my favorites in a long time. The animation for the opening is amazing and the song is catchy. The song is also relevant to the shows plot. Usually anime openings are just amvs with songs that don't make sense behind it. The lyrics in this one however fits the anime perfectly. The dramatic scenes was also complemented well eerie and futuristic sounds.

Dub v Sub: I can honestly say that i enjoyed the dub more than i liked the sub. There is nothing wrong with the subs but i personally felt the dubbing was more robust. I felt this way since the vocabulary used in the dubbing was insanely sophisticated compared to the Japanese dub. The big words and the intrinsic language used by Kurisu and Hououin when they argued gave them more personality and showcased how smart they truly are. In addition, Itaru Hashida's English voice actor had the best English dubbing from the entire cast. He reminded me of an actual pervert computer nerd then a sluggish hippo in the Japanese dub.

Overall: I loved this anime.The character development and the relationships the characters had in this anime left me vulnerable to many emotions throughout the anime. There was also a fair amount of shock value to occurs in this anime that made my jaw drop. It was a roller-coaster and i would recommend anyone to watch. Score 9.0/10 (First Review :D)