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Time of Eve is a rather peculiar show to review. For one thing, it is only six episodes long, clocking in at around 15 to 20 minutes each, but the finale extends for about 30 minutes. Usually, short anime are not able to properly convey the right combination of character development, plot, and conflict.

Time of Eve, however, does all that and more. I must say that it is probably the best science fiction anime since Planetes, and definitely worth your time.

Let's start with the art animation. Those familiar with Yasuhiro Yoshiura's previous works, such as Pale Cocoon and Aquatic Language, will find themselves quite at home with the animation style. Striving for an elegant sense of simplicity, Yoshiura's character designs are pretty and easy on the eyes. Every character has their own distinct quirks. Yoshiura also uses quite a bit of CG, from coffee makers to ceiling fans, but the CG is not at all overbearing or overwhelming in any way. In fact, they are very detailed without distracting the 2D character art. As for the animation itself, it is very awesome. The characters blink cleanly, running animations are buttery smooth, and the robots are made to be convincingly real, in a cute type of way. One thing worth noting is the clever use of camera CG work. Yoshiura uses a panning effect to great effect, allowing certain mundane actions (such as walking down a hallway) to look quite epic.I have to say that if this show ever gets released on Blu-Ray, I'll buy it in a heartbeat.

While there aren't many songs played during the course of the show, the limited OST is still impressive. Insert songs fit nicely, as do the finale ending song. What makes up for the limited soundtrack is the voice acting and the sound effects. Rikuo is voiced by the talented Jun Fukuyama (you might here some Code Geass Lelouch vibes). Sammy is voiced by Rie Tanaka, who creates a timid character but with a firm resolve. Nagi is voiced by Miki Ito, who brings to life a character that stands true to her beliefs. Other talented voice actors round out the cast, from Yukana as Akiko and Tomokazu Sugita as Setoro. All in all, I have no qualms with the sound quality of this show, other than the fact that there aren't a lot of background music tracks (That is understandable, since this show is only 6 episodes long)

The story and the character development together provide the strongest parts of Time of Eve. Every episode is essentially a one shot on a visitor (or two visitors) to the cafe, Time of Eve. While that may sound mundane on the surface, the screen play reveals each character seamlessly, precisely, and engagingly. This is done through peppery, fast, back-and-forth dialogue and tight pacing. Although you may not know everything about a certain character, you will know just enough to understand their conflicts, their hopes and fears, and how their lives intertwine with each other. While watching, you will laugh, cry, jump up in bewilderment, and open your mouth in shock. And that's just for one episode. Yasuhiro Yoshiura has learned from his previous work, Pale Cocoon, and concocted a show that does not waste any time or a single line of dialogue. You will find yourself attached to each and every character, human and android.

Time of Eve came out sporadically, about one episode every two months. That means by the time I finished all the episodes, one entire year has passed already. How a show can keep me up at the edge of my seats and only come out once every blue moon is a testament to the directing skills of Yoshiura. I enjoyed every single episode and the wait for the succeeding episode was plain torture. Now that it is all over, I will watch it again. Rewatchability for this show scores very high.

One thing that did bother me was the lack of a true, proper closure. Yoshiura teases the viewers with a ? at the ending scene, suggesting perhaps a second season is in the works. Oh, how I hope that's true.

This review might have sounded rather dry. Well, if a show is this good, I can't find anything sarcastic or sardonic to say. Just go watch it now on Crunchyroll. You will not regret it. read more

Rideback tells the story of Ogata Rin, a ballet prodigy who, due to an injury, was forced to stop practicing ballet. Rideback also tells an alternate future story about a world government, the GGP, against the terrorist group BMA. These two seemingly unrelated plotlines come together and quite possibly make Rideback one of the best show to come out of the Winter 2008 anime season.

The first thing that caught my eye when I saw Rideback was the quality of the animation. The CG work in this show is amazing. From the very first episode to the very last episode, the Ridebacks were given extremely fluid animation and modeling, almost to the point of realism. I found it very neat to not have to suspend my disbelief too much at the Ridebacks, since they were animated so well. The character designs and movement were also done quite nicely, and having the show air in HD helped a lot. Madhouse did a fantastic job of creating a living, breathing, alternate universe Tokyo in the year 2020.

The second thing that caught my eye, or in this case, my ears, were the sound and the music. Music composer Takafumi Wada went all out, mixing techno, classical, and heart-thumping action pieces throughout the show. The music really coordinated with the scenes, especially during the action sequences along with the soliloquy sequences. The opening song is a jumble of Engrish, but once you figure out the lyrics, it creates a nice motif to the show. The ending song is a slow ballad, which goes nicely with the slideshow of solemn redemption scenes.

The characters, given the time constraint of the show, were given enough development for the audience to care for. We get to see Ogata Rin's desires and motivations, the BMA's desires and motivations, and we are able to empathize with them. However, many secondary characters were one dimensional and only appear in the show to create plot devices. Sadly, with only 12 episodes, these characters were unable to become fully fleshed out. We can only see the police chief as only "the police chief," the reporter as only "the reporter," and the Rideback club members as only "the Rideback club members."

The story is also a mixed bag. Frankly, Rin's soliloquies were much more fascinating than the game of cat and mouse between the terrorists and GGP. Madhouse, however, did a fantastic job to meld the two storylines together. I can see why some people would scoff at sudden climax in the last episode, or at the disregard for physics in some of the action scenes. But all in all, the story provides a nice tinge of sentimentalism, which is not overbearing or underwhelming. The allegory between Rin's Fuego and her desire to continue ballet is done very well, I must say.

When I started watching Rideback, I didn't know what to expect, other than awesome animation. After finishing it, I found out that it had a little of everything: political intrigue, amazing action scenes, intense ballet, and lesbian tendencies. On Anidb's comments for Rideback, some people have complained that this show is all animation, no quality. I must politely disagree. Most shows hit you over the head with repeated symbolism. Rideback, however, does it with style, by layering the symbolism with multiple story backdrops. I recommend this show highly to those who enjoy action and mecha series in general, and to those who like to see quality coming-of-age stories.

I forgot to mention that the voice acting in this show is superb, especially commendable is Nana Mizuki as Ogata Rin. I want to end by imploring whoever is reading this not to get discouraged by Anidb comments, and give Rideback a chance. I was quite glad I did. read more

This show completely blew me away. Usually when Maceart suggests something to watch, it's some harem melodramatic crap or moe moe crap. But Hyakko is a different beast altogether.

Hyakko is about the lives of students in Kamizono Academy. The cast numbers around 20 well-fleshed out students, mostly high school students and two elementary school students. The series is fairly episodic, and goes into each of the characters one by one.

The characters make Hyakko golden. No other show in recent memory was this funny. The plot synopsis, a group of girls and guys hanging out in this high school, may sound like the most boring thing ever. But it is not. You get the classic hyper girl, the quiet girl, the glasses girl, the scary girl, the tall airheaded girl, the girl who never opens her eyes, the bisexual girl, and many others. To make the show even better, Hyakko introduces a few key guy characters at just the right moments. You get the angry homeroom teacher, the lovesick guy, the bully, and the photographer dude. By the end of 13 episodes, all the characters will be etched inside your head like jam on toast. That analogy was pretty bad, but you get my point. What I mean is that everyone will find at least one character that they like. For me, I loved the lovesick guy and Tatsuki. They are amazingly awesome.

Hyakko has situational comedy defined down to the atomic level. For example, when Torako and the gang visits the cafeteria, you get such classics as COMBO CARDS and BIG SERVINGS. Hyakko can create comedy out of the most mundane things. Thought dodgeball isn't funny? Well you haven't watched Hyakko. How about art class? Well, Hyakko has got that covered too. Hyakko also does not resort to tired conventions such as fanservice to get its comedy across. In that aspect, Hyakko rises above Toradora and Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. Looking for beach episode? Hot springs episode? Not in Hyakko, nope.

As if the characters and situational comedy aren't enough, Hyakko's music is also awesome, to boot. I'm a classical music buff, and when I heard Vivaldi's 4th Season used as effective background music, I couldn't help but stand up in shock. Shocked in a good way, I mean. All of Vivaldi's work is presented in Hyakko, from Spring to Winter, and it is used so perfectly.

People have asked what kind of animation you should expect in this show. Well, the show airs in HD. Expect orgasmic clouds and super sharp trees in the background. The character designs need some time to get used to, but I love them. Sometimes Hyakko uses the technique of speed lines to animate scenes very well that usually don't require awesome animation. For example, in episode 1, the scene when Ayumi chases Tatsuki and Tatsuki turns around. That must have cost bundles of yen to animate. Like all anime, the animation quality dips during the middle but not to the point of pure QUALITY. It got fine in the end though.

As for the voice acting, Hyakko is littered with an all star cast. Aya Hirano is here. So is Yui Horie. So is Keiji Fujiwara. All the voices were superb. Even the two existential brats were awesome.

Are there any bad things about this show? Well, only episode 2 was kind of on the weak side, as they stretched 18 pages of manga across 24 minutes. But even a weak episode had its golden parts. DREAM TEAM, anyone?

Don't miss this show, please. I implore you not to. If you are looking for references and parodies, there are plenty. Hyakko covers Tetsujin 28, the Ring, Slam Dunk, and the Stonehenge, all within 13 episodes. Looking for lesbian tendencies? Hyakko has also got that base covered. If you are a fan of comedy, watch this show. If you like to watch pretty girls do surrealistic things, watch this show. If you have siblings, watch this show with them. My sister loved this show too.

Hyakko is so good, that I spent the last two days translating the last three episodes. (Sorry Mayu-subs) That's six hours of my life right there, and rightfully spent.

PS: This is more of a final impression/rant/giddiness rather than an objective review. The very long review by tehnominator is more level headed. I hope you still enjoyed reading it, though.
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Girls with Wooden Swords

Man, what a ride. Bamboo Blade has it all; comedy, drama, romance, all rolled up into one. By making fun of itself at random places and with the help of very fabulous characters, this show rises from its shoddy animation to join the elite group of anime this season that deserves your time.

I should get the not-so-good things out of the way first. The animation is pretty bad. No, not like Musashi Gundoh bad, but repeated animation, laziness supreme kind of bad. Up until the last two episodes, the same kendo swings from episode one get repeated over and over, with only the costumes changed. The backgrounds are nice watercolor pastels, but sometimes the characters look very funky. It`s hard to believe and oxymoronic that this show actually airs in HD.

But looking beyond the badness of the animation, Bamboo Blade is golden. The characters are a riot. Their voice actresses fit them perfectly. My favorite character out of the entire bunch is Kirino, with her happy-go-lucky attitude and her beautiful relationship with Saya, the hilarious redhead. Seriously, every time Saya opens her mouth, her voice cracks me up so much that I am left on the floor laughing. Kudos to her voice actress for providing her with such an amazing voice. The other characters also pad the show with relevant humor. You have acorn head/pimp Dan, his gay buddy Yuuji, the master kendo practitioner Tamaki, the klutz Azuma, the bipolar Miyako, and their failure of a teacher, Kojirou. As added bonus and hilarity, Kojirou is voiced by the ever-so-manly Kamina from Gurren Lagann, with all the same intonations and vocal gestures. It`s great.

The plot starts off as a standard shounen tournament fest, but midway through the anime branches off from the manga. Unlike most cases which this happens (cough cough Naruto filler hell), the director took very interesting directions in the plot. New characters that are just as cool as the original manga ones appear. Plot points are generally well paced and the comedy is well timed too.

The music is another strong point, with epic orchestral pieces to hot-blooded insert songs. I love the songs that play when the random Bravers appear, and I also love the clack clack sounds of the Kendo fights. I wasn`t very interested in Kendo before watching Bamboo Blade, but now I check out matches on Youtube. They`re even more intense than the anime itself.

Tamaki is sometimes too strong to the point of boredom, but Bamboo Blade always find ways to not fall too deep into that trap. Parodies and references are abundant. Facepalms, sweat marks, falling down in unison, everything`s there. You will definitely laugh at some point while watching, with the sudden bouts of unexpected humor.

The force of lesbian tendencies is strong with this one. Don`t miss it. read more

All good things must end, as the saying goes.

All good things must end.

Man, I hate that saying. I hate it for how true it is. Kozue Amano, why couldn't you keep it going? Did you run out of ideas? Was five and a half years enough? Did you already plan this out? Wait, what am I saying? Of course you planned it out. Month after month, you crafted chapter after chapter of this masterpiece.

Jyunichi Sato, thank you for taking this work and running with it. For three separate seasons, each one improving on the last, you dealt the manga justice. You even added a new character that Kozue retconned into the story. And she was fabulous.

I should probably stop the ranting and the gratitude-giving and get to the review. Although this is under Aria the Origination, this will be a review of all three seasons plus the OAV.

Aria is a bloody masterpiece.

Yes, you heard me right. "All 10's will make you untrustworthy and prejudiced, and people won't pay attention to your reviews anymore!" Blah blah blah, whatever. I don't care if no one ever reads my reviews again. ARIA is that good. I savored each and every episode of the anime, along with each and every chapter of the manga. Whenever I watch ARIA, I have this stupid grin on my face. I can't help it.

So why is Aria that good?

One, the magic of the characters. You start off with Akari, the cheery protagonist, arriving on Aqua (used to be Mars) to fulfill her dream of becoming a master gondolier, an Undine. There, she meets her mentor, the perfect Alicia, who teachs Akari the ins and outs of the trade. Along the way, Akari befriends Aika, the heir to one of the biggest gondolier companies on the planet, Himeya. She also befriends Alice, the genius gondolier from Orange Planet. Aika also has a mentor, the ever-so-awesome Akira. Alice's mentor is the ever-so-clumsy Athena. Akari also meets Akatsuki, the apprentice Salamander who controls Aqua's climate, Albert, the Gnome who controls Aqua's gravity, and Woody, the Sylph who makes deliveries by aircraft. Akari also meets Akino, the mentor of Alicia, and Ai, a girl from Manhome (Earth). Yes, all of the characters have names that start with A with the exception of Woody, but there is never a time when you are confused between who's who. Character introductions and development are handled impeccably well.

Two, the complete lack of an overarching plot. Yep. Every episode is basically a one-shot, providing a glimpse at the utopian society of Neo-Venezia. Some episodes are character driven, while others are setting-driven. There are no antagonists, no final boss fight, and no conflicts. Therein lies the terms "healing anime" and "slice-of-life," which both describe this show perfectly. Now, that does not mean that ARIA fails to invoke emotion. Some episodes will make you cry manly tears. Some episodes will make you laugh out loud. ARIA is a show that you can sit back and watch every night before you go to bed. It improves the quality of your sleep. I guarantee it.

Three, the progression of the animation throughout seasons improves leaps and bounds. I'll admit that some scenes were full of QUALITY, but by Origination, there is none of that. Origination is even in widescreen, giving everything a more epic sense. I loved the water animation, the chibi faces, the epic gondolier rowing, everything.

ARIA has something for everyone. Lesbian tendencies? Oh yes. Epic boat rowing? Even more yes. Heartwarming just to the point of sappiness? Triple yes. And there are much, much more: a soothing soundtrack, amazing vocal insert songs, fabulous opening and endings. The sound production is just perfect. The openings are different for each episode too, allowing you to immerse yourself into each episode seamlessly.

I cannot pinpoint a favorite episode, but I loved the 11th episode of the first season, when Akari waves to Aika and Alice from the bridge. I also loved the snowball episode, the four-leaf clover episode, and the well episode. My favorite character is Akira, by far. Her spunkiness and her awesome chibi-face won me over.

But alas, all good things do come to an end. As I sit and watch the final episode of Origination again, I cannot help but close my eyes and feel them tearing up. I'll miss each and every character immensely.

Good work, Kozue Amano. Good job, Jyunichi Sato. I salute you for making me sleep better at night these last five and a half years.

Sit back and enjoy.

A.D. 2301 - The Voyage from Neo-Venezia. read more