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It's taken me a bit of time to get around to doing this but seeing as how this anime aired so long ago and is still the topic for a lot of debate; I thought I'd write a review on it. Reason being I feel that alot of the people who have watched this and show alot of hate for it is simply because they didn't want anything unexpected.

Story: 7/10

This is where alot of people have the hangups when it comes to this anime. Personally I think the story is pretty decent. However the first few episodes are slow even for what looks like a shallow boy meets girl anime. As the plot gets in to the mid point, it starts taking a darker turn which seems to be the main complaint from people. The thing that alot of people don't realise when it comes to a situation that the characters find themselves is sometimes there isn't an ideal solution. The characters are teenagers after all and at "that age". By the end, things spiral out of control but it's not an unbelievable turn of events. Hate and jealousy are powerful emotions which can drive even the happiest and carefree person to things they never thought they were capable of. I won't spoil the end but you will either love it or hate it.

Art: 7/10

The art is nothing special, the characters have decent designs on the whole and the dingy backgrounds on some of the scenes are quite fitting, especially as the story draws to it's inevitable conclusion.

Sound: 6/10

Once again, it's nothing special but it does the job. There are no real memorable tracks in the OST. The voice actors are pretty good though, Setsuna's in particular stood out to me. How she didn't get more work seems to be a mystery though.

Character: 8/10

This is the other main part where people have hangups. Plenty of people believe all the characters should have been torched in a house fire. However what you have to take into account is the age and mindset of the characters at that age. Makoto despite being almost universally hate-able is not unrelatable. Many teenagers who are the same age in reality would do everything he did and more given the opportunity...I probably would have been the same myself in his shoes to some extent. It seems to be an unforgivable sin for a teenage boy to have commitment issues in an anime which is something which confuses me no end. I think most people have cheated in their lives at one point or another yet we don't get alienated by everyone for it. However I digress...

The other characters are also topics for discussion. Kotonoha in many people's eyes seems to be nothing more than a victim throughout the series. In my own opinion, if she wasn't so sheltered and abit more aware of things around her instead of being so unrealistically clueless she wouldn't have been as hurt as she was. However, there are people who will consciously blank out things that will hurt them so I suppose the attitude is not without merit.

Sekai I feel is the most real of all the girls in the show. I had friends that were just like her when I went through high school (A while ago lol). It's typical of girls her age to have a hard time expressing themselves romantically and still be bubbly and spontaneous. Many people blame her for warping the plot but I don't believe that at all. All of the characters in some shape or form are guilty of pushing the plot to the inevitable conclusion.

Enjoyment: 9/10

Yes, I enjoyed School Days, once the drama started it was hard not to watch to the end. Sure you want to punch Makoto for hurting people. I wanted to give Kotonoha a good smack and tell her to let him go. But it's things like that that add to the enjoyment of a show. It's originality is where it's strength lies. Whereas most anime in the romance category will give you male leads too scared to even look at a girl let alone anything more. School Days delivers a breath of fresh air to a very overused genre. It's also one of the most conclusive as well as infamous endings in anime history which alone makes it worth looking at.

Overall: 7/10

I rate it a high 7 overall. If it wasn't for the slow start it would be a bit better. I would have loved a couple of OVA's showing endings which were a bit happier as the game the anime is based on has over 21 different endings. It would have been really nice to see some of the others animated.

In retrospect, I feel this show has WAAAAAAAAAAY too many haters who simply want some "feel good harem fluff" instead of something darker and more real. If you want to watch an anime riddled with despair then give this a shot. You won't be disappointed. read more

Right, it's been a while since I did a review and I felt this one evoked a bit of a response from me by the end of the story.

BEFORE YOU READ ANY FURTHER, KNOW THERE ARE MAJOR PLOT SPOILERS ON HERE SO DON'T READ UNLESS YOU EITHER HAVE SEEN THIS OR DON'T MIND BEING SPOILED!

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I watched this series over the last couple of days and my initial thought was "this is Amagami SS without the arcs," and even by the end I still thought the same. I scored Amagami higher than this as it allowed everyone to be happy as this anime seems to be notorious for disappointing people with how the pairings worked out by the end.

Story: 6

This is the biggest flaw in the whole anime if you ask me. The plot starts out quite nicely as many anime of this genre do. You have three main characters all starting out in relationships with various degrees of success. However over the course of the series, instead of things being all sunshine and rainbows which I can accept wouldnt be realistic. Things take a turn for the worse where it feels like no one is happy with their partner. Characters evolve throughout the series and I accept that. However the final pairing with Mao and Kouichi is predictable but for most people who watched this, you will be facepalming when it happens. The story pretty much shows Kouichi happy with his girlfriend Yuumi for most of the series...even in the second last episode, he is still smiling and laughing with her even though things are happening round him. The other main relationship in this is unusual, but not worthy of some of the praise it seems to receive. For most of the series we see Kazuki running about chasing after what seems to be an unrequited love and spending most of his time moping about it. It's not entertaining to watch and the fact he hurts a clearly nicer and better matched girl in Sakino really made me wonder what the writers were thinking when they wrote it. Could they make a plot more ignorant to what real highschoolers would be thinking?

Art: 8

As I have stated in the story section, this is like Amagami minus the arcs. Even the art style is very reminiscent of it. The fact that there are two characters in this which later appeared in Amagami SS alone tells that story. The backgrounds were nothing special but then this is more of a character driven anime so more basis was put on expressions and emotions depicted by them rather than on the town and school they were in.

Sound: 8

The sound was ok, the opening theme had a catchy beat to it which though not an uplifting track, was nice enough to listen to. The Ending themes were not memorable at all and I found myself simply skipping to the next episode as soon as the episode ended rather than listen to it. Character themes, specifically for Futami were appropriate but then considering this anime came from a Visual Novel, I would expect nothing less.

Character: 7

The characters are the main point of this anime and I would like to say they were great. However for the most part, they were notably average. The male leads (Kouichi and Kazuki) were as clueless as could be, but then I expect that from an anime of this type. However both are terrible people generally. I'll start with Kouichi who I think is one of the worst characters of the genre since Makoto of School Days infamy. Minus the sexual encounters Makoto has, Kouichi is exactly the same in my eyes. I cannot stand an indecisive male lead, especially one who KNOWS he is being indecisive and seems oblivious to the people he is hurting throughout the course of the series. Kazuki is guilty of this as well but in his defence at least he doesnt lead anyone on and doesnt harbor thoughts of cheating on his love.
Coming onto the women (Ooo..er) we start with Mao who has to be one of the most selfish characters ever devised. She starts out by seeing a classmate named Kai and spends alot of her time with him. This is all fine and good until she sees Kouichi with Yuumi...all of a sudden she changes from a caring big sister figure to a jealous love rival with no real lead up. It made no sense for her suddenly to stop caring for her boyfriend just because her childhood friend suddenly got a girlfriend. It seemed eventually that she was going out of her way to break them up by continually trying to "support" their relationship as it drove the wedge between them further. It confuses me how she somehow won Kouichi over in the end as there was no personality match or real chemistry between them at all.
Yuumi was a character I quite liked and I dont normally like that type of character, (She reminded me of Kotonoha Katsura quite alot) but she was quite nice throughout the course of the series. My one grievance I had with her character is instead of speaking her problems, she would simply hide away and say nothing was wrong which probably caused the ending indirectly.
Futami is a character that seems to have a fair bit of love on these forums, however from what I saw, all I saw was a character that was simply toying with people's emotions to see what would happen. I felt for the first 20 or so episodes, she was an absolutely despicable character. Admittedly I kind of warmed up to her after that but it took so long that I still dont really like her as a character.
Finally we have Sakino, who is "clearly" in love with Kazuki (See Clueless Male Leads) and was always helping him with advice and how to improve his Soccer game. As characters went, I felt she was the most real and certainly the strongest of all the heroines throughout.

Enjoyment: 7

This anime was nice and laid back to me, at least for the first 10 or so episodes. The drama was then laid on a bit thick and I found it quite hard not to facepalm as the ending became more and more predictable. This is a rare anime where I don't like the canon pairing (Ok well that isnt true) and ALOT of others share the same thought as me. Because of the last few episodes, I simply didn't enjoy it as much as I should have. It felt like a very weak ending as well which didnt help.

Overall: 7

A 7 is as generous as I can be with this, with only a couple of characters worth the time of day, average art and sound (For it's type) and a mediocre poorly written story, I simply cant rate it higher. I went into this hopeful to watch something to maybe the standard of Amagami or maybe even Toradora(Fat Chance) but I was left disappointed.

Essentially if you want something where you dont have to think whilst watching then this would be fine for you else I would suggest you dont bother. There are far better Rom/Com/Harems out there than this. read more

Right, it's been a while since I wrote a review but I literally just finished watching this series so it's fresh in my head.

Yosuga no Sora is another anime based on a visual novel that has followed the Amagami SS way of doing things. Every girl gets a short arc and timeline where they get their spotlight. Personally I really like this concept as it stops people complaining about who the protaganist winds up with. My own personal complaints being with Clannad for example. However I digress.

Story: 7

The story begins like pretty much any other anime of the genre where the protaganist (Haruka) and his sister (Sora) move to a place they used to live as kids minus any parents/guardians. There are a few interlinking features between stories and the final arc with Sora is wonderfully provocative. The thing is though, I have never seen an anime with the Twincest twist to it and never thought I would ship it but when you see for yourself, I'm pretty sure you will feel the same as they do about it all as they fight with morality. The story would score higher but the other arcs are fairly cliche, the saving grace being that Haruka isnt a gibbering idiot and can actually get somewhere with the girl in question.

Art: 9

The art is very crisp, especially during Ecchentai (kinda half and half) scenes. It would be quite hard not to look at Sora in a lustful way if she looked like she does in her scenes. Even the ending ministories which are drawn mostly in a chibi style have a distinct cuteness to them which makes them appealing.

Sound: 8

The OP was fairly average as I only listened to it for the first 2 episodes. However the ED is a bit more catchy and will probably be on my download list soon. The music is fairly atmospheric and captures the mood well and of course the VA's in both ecchi and non ecchi scenes perform admirably. Crap VA's would probably have ruined this.

Character: 9

There is a character for everyone in here depending on what tickles your fancy. Tsundere, the Big Boobed Childhood friend with added glasses, a Miko, a Maid, a rich girl and even a prude in the background. Whichever your preference is, I guarantee at least 1 arc will appeal to you. In my case I had 3.

Enjoyment: 9

Scenes were executed really well and some things made me cringe whereas others made me laugh. The miniseries that is tacked on to the end adds a light heartedness to what could be considered a mostly serious romance. The Huge head on Akira never ceases to make me laugh. One of the funniest things I've seen in ages.

Overall: 8

Overall I score this a solid 8 as there was room for improvement, perhaps an arc with the class president would have been possible. I feel a more conclusive ending would have been a nice thing to add as well.

All in all I view this anime as more than just a fapfest, its actually a close up view of morals and standards in todays society, at least from the last arc. That's what I take from this anyway. read more

Well this is my first anime review that I have ever written and felt that if anything, this had to be the first one I'd write. Kanon 2006 has a special place in my heart that no other anime could hope to fill. Clannad tried but fell just short in comparison to this masterpiece of emotion.

Right I'll do this commenting on each of the bits it told me to rate.

The story is nothing short of astounding, it may seem a bit cliche or predictable at points but that is half the fun the anime provides. I guarantee if emotional anime is your thing you will find yourself laughing and crying as the story progresses. Two points in particular spring to mind but you will see these as you watch. So I had to rate the story a perfect 10.

The Art in this like all of Key's more "recent" work is very polished and pretty to look at. If you watched Kanon 2002 first like I did and was sucked in by that plot, then this will make your eyes water as it's so much crisper. The characters and backgrounds look very good and not out of place. It fits the mood of the anime well and adds to the impact of the series very well. So I give it a 10 as well, it really couldnt have been animated any better.

The sound as in the emotional soundtrack really plays on the feelings of the watcher as the story progresses. Alot of the series soundtrack is a direct lift from the Visual Novel which was released in 1999 so some of it perhaps sounds a little dated. However some pieces in this anime, you will never forget and can provoke a tear or two with too much intense thought. I rate the sound a 9!

The characters, especially the main female ones are all very well played and unique in their own way. I've seen many anime where a catchphrase said repeatedly by a character is extremely annoying (Naruto and Believe it anyone lol) but this doesn't happen here. The VA's for the characters are pretty much bang on perfect with Yui Horie performing what I rate as her best character in Ayu Tsukimiya. You will find yourself loving and sympathising with each of the characters as the story progresses. So the Characters get a 10.

You string the above things together and you get a very enjoyable anime, this is the best in it's genre and Key have done a fantastic job creating this masterpiece. It's one of those anime that if they re-adapted it again with the same basic plot, I would still watch it again. I find myself rewatching specific episodes if I want to do something like force myself to cry or something. Hey it works too, so much that I love this anime. Enjoyment gets a 10.

So there you have it, a godly piece of animation that all lovers of a good story and characters should defintely set aside some time and some Kleenex for. Take my advice and watch this show, you will NOT be disappointed.

My Rating Overall: 10/10 read more