infinity's Anime List | infinity's Manga List

infinity's Profile

--- [ Cage of Eden / Eden no Ori ] ---

Note that Cage of Eden is a new manga, and only a few chapters are out. The review is based solely on those chapters, up to the latest (10 at the time of writing). If there are updates, I will change this review accordingly. Also, Cage of Eden is very new, and there is not much to say yet. Consider this review as a preview instead.

One-liner: For a starter, this manga looks promising overall. Nice art style. Interesting storyline. Average-y characters till now.

Total Rating: 7 / 10

Quick Synopsis: A plane full of students crashes on a mysterious island, and there are survivors. The island at first seems deserted, but strange things happen there. You are thinkling Lost, right? That's correct. Cage of Eden is Lost with weird animals and fan-service!

- - [ Story: 7/10 ] - -

Can't really say much about story when only 10 chapters are out. For now, I can say that the story resembles that of the TV series, Lost. Survivors on a seemingly deserted island, where strange things occur. Whereas in Lost, there are strange occurrences, in Cage of Eden, there are strange animals. Well, for now. I don't know what will come later in the series. Up to the current point in the story, the characters are still trying to get to know the island, and try their best to survive. There is also some fan-service such as lots of panty-shots, but not much apart from that. The story has a good enough flow, and at some points you do feel the sense of urgency and danger, but still not very heart-thumping. But that's only 10 chapters. I believe that the story will progress nicely if allowed, and offer some nice twists. Cage of Eden does make a nice read if you like survival-mystery type.

The part about the animals is good too, and there can be lots of development here. I'd just like to see them discovering some friendly animal, instead of just meat-eating angry ones that only want to harm or eat them.

- - [ Art: 9/10 ] - -

The art in Cage of Eden is alright. You have good enough details in the backgrounds that represent the trees and plants of the island, the characters are well made and pleasing to the eye. There are not much to say about Art for now, considering the small number of chapters and scenes already seen, but it's good enough. There are better arts out there, like in Berserk, but Cage of Eden manages to hold its own against others, and is certainly better than other manga. The characters look realistic enough, as manga characters of course. The animals depicted are well drawn, considering their nature. (I cannot tell you more without spoiling.). Overall, nothing to complain about here.

- - [ Character: 7/10 ] - -

We haven't seen many characters yet. If I were to compare it with Lost, I'd say that you have the Jack, Kate and Locke equivalents at this point. For those not familiar with Lost, you have the main male lead which acts as a leader, the main female character - I think she'll be the main female, not sure, and the other guy/geek that seems to have an idea about what's happening around. I liked the fact that not all the survivors were seen immediately at first, and that we are getting to know the characters better at a good enough pace. There is not much background story given yet, so I cannot comment on character progression just yet. Unfortunately, till now, they don't seem to have particularly interesting backgrounds. They look like normal students to me, so maybe their whole stories will develop on the island. There are, after all, just school children. There are some (one, till now) adult character in the cast, but they are mostly just following around the kid-leader which is a bit weird.

One thing I don't like is that only one character is getting the airtime, while the others are just having secondary roles. It's as if everything revolves around the main male lead. The female lead seems to be just a scared little girl that needs protection at every turn. She's not been of much use lately, except when considering her panty-shots and chest-shots. I don't like it when the female characters are just there for show and fan-service. Too bad. I hope this changes soon.

- - [ Enjoyment: 7/10 ] - -

I like series about mysteries and strange happenings, so I am enjoying Cage of Eden. I also appreciate good art styles in Manga, and Cage does provide me satisfaction here too. Not much to say about the characters yet. Cage of Eden makes a good read, in between the normal releases.

- - [ Overall: 7/10 ] - -

The series has potential to grow into a good mystery series. The art is certainly there to back it. There is also ecchiness to fill in the void in the boring parts, but not much till now to cause concern. Character development is still limited but that's ok considering the recency of the series. Overall, I can say that Cage of Eden makes a nice read and will be worth your time everything goes as it should. It's a typical shounen, including the usual fan-service, big-chested girls and panty-shots, but it does offer interesting mysteries and good action scenes. For now, let's wait and see what happens.

Thank you for reading! :P read more

- - [ Soul Eater - 8.5/10 ] - -

One liner: "One wacky anime you really got to see, just for the non-confirmism in it"


- [ Story - 7.5 ] -

Soul Eater revolves about the Weapon named Soul Eater and his (yes, it's a guy) technician called Maka. Weapons usually have a human form, and transform into the weapon form when required. Soul Eater is in fact a scythe. The point of the anime is that Technicians use Weapons to hunt down evil souls called Eggs of Kishins. These evil souls are then absorbed by the weapons. After 99 souls + 1 witch's soul is consumed, the weapon turns into a Death Scythe which is more powerful. The Technicians and Weapons are students of Shibusen Academy, headed by the grim reaper, Shinigami-Sama.

As you will see, there are some resemblences to Bleach. Zanpakutou, Shinigami, Hollows are replaced by Weapons, Technicians and Kishin.

However, in my opinion, Soul Eater is much better than Bleach. There is much more humor, and the pace of the story is slower and better. In Bleach for example, fights can last for episodes on end. Not in Soul Eater. There is also less seriousness and the fights are a bit toned down. The blood is still there though.

The good points is that Soul Eater contains its fair share of action, suspence and fun. Also the plot is not very linear, and not always fights-focussed. I appreciated the breaks, eg. the Excalibur episodes really makes you laugh. Each episode contains a bit of everything, even echiness. Overall, Soul Eater is a well balanced series I should say.

There is also some innovation like human-form weapons, the concept of witchs, Shibusen and some other things that you haven't probably seen in animes before. So it's worth checking out Soul Eater.

Apart from those, the story is a bit generic, Bleach-like "people with weapons chase souls". Nothing overly special. There are also some plotholes, which I hope will be filled as the series goes on.


- [ Animation - 9 ] -

That's where the unconformity begins. The style is anime all-right, but not your general kind of anime. It seems more comical in fact. The weapons are less frightening. The characters, backgrounds and everything else looks a bit cartoonish. Goofy you might say. Not grotesquely toons, but there is some similarities.

Take for example, the sun with a big smile on its face, or the moon with a grin, with what looks like blood dripping from its mouth. Even the Shibusen building has a funny look with candles popping out of Shinigami's masks!

Due to this style, you can't really expect highly detailed backgrounds full of tiny elements. I'd say the backgrounds are full of creativity.

I liked the non-conformism in the animation style. The way the characters were illustrated is good too, and makes a nice change from your general run-of-the-mill anime. In fact, this style accentuates the light-heartedness of the anime, and makes things better. Come'on, a laughing sun is fun! Thumbs up to the artist!


- [ Characters - 8 ] -

This is the strongest point of Soul Eater according to me. Its cast of characters is totally awesome! Each and every one of them has a very unique personality, and are totally unpredictable. Take for example Kidd. He looks formal, polite and outright classy. Just show him something not symmetric and watch the reaction! These people are awesome. I never liked a cast of characters as I liked those of Soul Eater. They are all so lively and varied that it's a real pleasure to discover them all.

Shinigami, the oh-so-powerful shinigami has a pleasant and easy-going personality. Maka's father, Death Scythe, is overly protective, and his actions (and reactions) will give you laughing fits!

Those characters have rather unique properties too. Many of them allude to legends and stories. Like Gorgon Medusa. Or Jack the Ripper in the 1st episode. The best part is the attacks. Kidd uses revolvers in reverse position, firing with his pinky finger! That's un-conformism for you!

That's something I truly liked about Soul Eater. It doesn't copy what other animes before it did. It does things that no anime before it did, and does these magnificently.

Why 8 then? Because there are some elements about the character's background that should have been cleared. What are weapons actually? Where do they come from? What about the Technicians? Are they normal people? Who is shinigami? These are some questions that should have been answered by now. Or at least some hints give. Soul Eater lacks some character development, so I decreased the rating by 1 from an otherwise 9.

- [ Enjoyment - 10 ] -

Straight 10! Soul Eater is one of the rare animes that really makes me laugh, or at least gives me a smile. The action is great. The humor is ever-present. The art is a delight for the eyes. The story has a good flow, not too fast, not too slow. There is no time-wasting a-la-Naruto-Shippuuden. It's your perfect anime, if you want to watch something and really feel good after it ends, and eager for the next episode to air next week.

The action is really catching, but really funny at the same time. In the middle of a fights, some totally unpredictable and wacky things can happen after a relatively long pause, and really get you laughing uncontrollably. Nothing is really predictable, and this makes the real beauty of Soul Eater. A perfect blend of everything you'd want in an ideal anime.

Yeah Soul Eater, you own!


- [ Sound - 8 ] -

Not much to say here, except that I love the opening and closing scenes. The music there is superb, coupled with a good animation and presentation style. It even gives you snippets about what will happen later. The music is good. The music just fits in well and augment the scenes appropriately, and the voice actors are ok. 7 is ok, but 8 for the great opening which I like! 8 too for the catchy music tracks here and there in Soul Eater, which makes nice hearing.


- [ Conclusions ] -

You absolutely need to see Soul Eater. The characters and animation deserve your view! And I guarantee that you will laugh at least once (minimum!) per episode. Seeing the trend of Soul Eater, overall I give an 8.5 for now, though it might fluctuate to 7 or 9 depending how the series goes.

As you know, Soul Eater is still airing, so if there are changes, or if the series unexpectedly starts turning bad, I will edit my review. For now, it's totally worth it. read more

-- [ Berserk ] --

One line: "Highly detailed scenes. Very impressive and complex plot. Lively and varied characters. Berserk rules!"

- [ Story - 10 ] -

Berserk is about Guts, an exceptionally skilled swordsman and his adventures with The Band of the Hawk, along with its leader, Griffith, and other characters like Caska. After a betrayal, Guts is branded as a sacrifice by the God Hand and loses all his friends and his love, set to be killed during The Eclipse. He fights like an insane, becoming an Eclipse survivor. Following this, he is cursed and always attracts evil spirits and violence around him. He now devotes himself to fighting God Hand, his betrayer and all evil accumulating around him, even at the cost of whatever he came to cherish in life, accumulating scars after scars, and risking the lost of everything, including his life. All for revenge.

Berserk is a dark, violent series, definitely targetted to an adult audience. It also contains significant amount of nudity and sex, even rape. Ok. now you are warned.

The plotline is extremely detailed and complex, going from the present, to Guts' background story extensively, before returning to the present and moving on. This is makes very good chracter development and background story elaboration. You are told about most of the characters, how they are related, and why they behave as they do in the present. I felt that no detail lacked. Very very well made!

The story is very captivating too. There is no humor, since it's almost a tragic story, about real suffering at the lost of loved ones and dear friends, because of the betrayal of somebody held in high-esteem. A superb plotline, which views the classic "man fights demons" from a very different angle, as if you were inside the story. The problem is that there is no "good side" to balance the evil powers, so Guts is all alone in his fight for revenge, with no help at all. Berserk takes another look at religion and its concepts, at god and the foundation of faith, at friendship, love and betrayal. Overall, Berserk packs an incredibly complex plot, which is definitely worth discovering.


- [ Art - 10 ] -

The first volumes have quite poor art, with simplistic toning as shading. Even the characters are sometimes weirdly drawn, with wrongly positioned facial features and some other things.

The artist, Kentaro Miura, shows his true skills as the story goes. As the volumes go on, the level of detail, the quality of the drawings and shading increases exponentially, making Berserk a true piece of art. It's definitely one of the best illustrated manga I've seen till now. The characters and specially environments are magnificently detailed. You will see pages dedicated to picturing the environment, on which you will maintain your stare!

Just give a glance to the armor of Griffith or even Guts. It's extremely detailed, down to the nearest mail. Plain impressive. The art is sometimes "heavy" with shading, but this weakness is compensated with detail and intricate shading.

Miura excells in depicting complex fight scenes, with Guts surrounded by enemies, and in great, gory details. Those spread pages are a real pleasure for the eyes. Specially when you get to see the environment too. Miura is definitely the details-man!


- [ Characters - 9 ] -

This manga takes character development to a whole new level. You are given every small detail about all the major characters, and how they are related to all the other characters. The development is made at a great pace, not too fast, not too slow. You will be given details just when they are required. You won't be complaining about lack of details about characters in Berserk.

There is nothing very extraordinary about the characters. In fact, they all seem normal! Guts looks kind of evil and loveless at first glance, and Griffith, seems to be kind-hearted. That's just at first glance though, because the characters have incredible depth. So much that the reader can almost feel the emotions of the characters. You will even pity Guts at time, telling yourself "poor guy...".

The characters are driven by their emotions and ambitions. Guts wants revenge, and channels all his anger and frustration in his fights, even hurting those he cares about in the process, literally becoming berserk. Griffith has ambition and will stop at nothing to reach his goals. The God Hand is pure evil, despite the word god often associated with good in their name. Such a lively and varied cast of characters makes Berserk great.

Interesting enough, Berserk is one of the few series where the main character is not always present and hogging all the action. Sometimes, Guts is not even doing anything great, save for some talking. This gives other characters some role, which makes Berserk even more interesting, since you get to discover side characters. An example would be the Farnese/Serpico arc.

Then why 9 and not 10? Because in my opinion, Griffith gets too much attention. It's just my opinion though! :P


- [ Enjoyment - 9 ] -

Berserk is not something you are going to enjoy, considering the violence and dark theme. You are going to appreciate it, if I may say. That, I did!

The detailed art, the non-lacking story line, the varied cast of characters and the plot twists make Berserk totally great, unsurpassed in its genre in my opinion. You will get to admire, hate or even support the characters as Berserk progresses. As I said earlier, you will become part of Berserk.

Why 9 for enjoyment? Because I didn't like Guts getting trashed incessantly for nearly 25 volumes by overwhelming force and not getting any powerups! It was plain unfair, specially considering all odds are against the guy.


- [ Overall - 9 ] -

If you can handle the violence, gore, fighting and sex, you will want to see Berserk, simply because there is nothing better than Berserk when it comes to those themes! :D

I am not convinced about the re-read value yet. I find it difficult to go over all those dark plots again. It's going to be a once-off-love-it series I guess. For me at least. read more

-- [ Flame of Recca Manga - 33 volumes / 329 chapters ] --

One line: "Good art. Good story. Ok characters. What more to ask?"

Flame of Recca (FoR) is one manga where you will see the evolution of a mangaka's style clearly. It has a good plot, interesting characters, and a good bit of ecchiness. It definitely makes a good read.

- [ Art - 9/10 ] -

In the first volumes, the art was no good. The eyes were exaggerated, as well as the various body parts. It was plain old-style manga drawings. However, as the volumes move on, you see the style of the mangaka changing. The drawings, toning, shading and everything else becomes better. The level of detail increases from almost nothing to extremely detailed scenes. Nobuyuki Anzai's style is now among my favs. Even at the end, it's still exaggerated (hairstyles!), but the drawings are just great, specially in detail-level.

- [ Story - 8/10 ] -

FoR has a good plot, and a good flow. The story is about a boy named Recca who has the ability to produce flame from his arm. He is a ninja in a modern world, and has sworn to protect Yanagi, his "hime" (princess). There is also Recca's friends and rivals in fights, Domon and Fuuko.

At the other end, we have Kurei and his Uruha band of bad guys, led by Mori Kouran, the head of the bad-guys.

As you might expect, there will be a clash between the two groups, centered around weapons named Madogou which have special powers each. Like there is a wind-controlling madogou.

The flow is great, with almost no plot-holes. The details are conveniently explained to the reader, so there is not much mind-work to do. There are also some unexpected twists, and revelations that really make you like the characters and want you to read on and on.

Some complaints now. Sometimes, we are not well told the reasons why the fights are actually taking place. Next, we are not told the backgrounds of some of the characters at all. This is understandable, considering the sheer number of characters, but just 1-2 bubbles would have been enough. Example? Fuuko's background is never mentioned.

The story is divided in 2 parts: the ura butou satsujin tournament and the "Recca saves the world" part. The themes from one arc tends to get repeated in the other arc. Even in the world-saving arc, there is a semblence of a tournament going on. Definite deja-vu, earning story 8 from me, instead of 9.

- [ Characters - 8/10 ] -

The characters are definitely likeable, and really funny at times, even making you laugh. The character development is slowly, but well made. I did notice the lack of elaboration for some of the characters, specially the main ones. We readers could have used some more details, particularly about Domon, Fuko, Mikagami and even some of the bad guys. Unfortunately, it's not there. Not enough, at least.

Each character has its own individuality and behavior, which makes discovering each of them interesting. From the muscular toughie to the cute tomboy, from the pretty boy to the anti-hero, they are all there. Also, each has a definite role to play over the course of the plot and the value of none of them is to be under-estimated.

The Flame Dragons which appear later on are even more interesting, specially their back stories. Or even Kurei's story is impressively detailed.

The problem is that the bad guys are a bit generic, and tend to get defeated by the same ways. It's a bit repetitive after a while. Also, the presence of recurrent minor characters is sometimes annoying.

- [ Enjoyment - 9/10 ] -

If I had to name one thing I enjoyed most, it was the exaggerated expressions, and the unexpected humour. In the middle of a fight, you might see some exaggerated expressions, like bulging eyes and jaw-dropping. BIG jaw-droppings. Or teeth pictured as very sharp. I liked that exaggeration, specially with Joker (character).

The art in the later volumes is great too, and I enjoyed that. I tend to liked detailed scenes. Recca cannot beat Berserk's level of detail, but it's great nevertheless.

The fights were well illustrated, but a bit too short sometimes.

- [ Conclusions ] -

FoR makes a good read, with well-made art and a good cast of characters. You might want to check it out if you want an adventure/epic/fighting genre. It's old, but still holds some value. read more

-- [ Vexille - 2077 Nihon ] --

In one line: "Awesome graphics, very Appleseed-like. Nice OST. Unimpressive characters in a very much cliché'd story."

Overall rating: 8/10

The story revolves around a hardened military girl named Vexille who is a member of S.W.O.R.D, which is some kind of high-tech military force. According to the plot, it has been 10 years that Japan has withdrawn from the U.N and became a loner, completely sealing off its frontiers, using high-end technological wizardry to filter incoming and outgoing transmission. It literally vanished off the world map. Then, the S.W.O.R.D is assigned a mission to infiltrate Japan and see what's going on there. When they reach, they find a land devoid of all humanity.

- [ Animation - 9/10 ] -

Animation and graphics is definitely Vexille's strongest point. The graphics, à-la Appleseed, is pure CGI and cel-shading. It really matches Appleseed's quality and fluidity. The level of detail is simply outstanding. I thought Appleseed was the sole ruler, but now it has a rival! A real feast for the eyes by all means.

I must say that the Animation is so "perfect" that the characters look too artificial. Like painted dolls. I attribute this to the sometimes excessive shading and lighting effect. Not too noticeable, but still it's there.

- [ Sound - 9/10 ] -

Sound really got my attention in Vexille. The OST is really good, with pumping music that really brings renewed vigor to the action scenes. Really gets your heart pumping at some moments. I also appreciated the Orient-sounding instruments, which brings a nice touch to the general sounds. Overall, I liked the choice of music. It really befits Vexille.

Nothing to complain about the voice actors too. They performed resonably well. Nothing too special, but it works.

- [ Characters - 6/10 ] -

The characters are unimpressive. This is because there has been no extensive character development in Vexille. They are just plain generic Military personnel. They are not particularly likeable, and you will definitely not be identifying yourself with any of them! "Emotionless." That's the word that describes the characters best according to me. I'm sure that in a week's time, I'll forget all of them. None of their backgrounds are overly interesting or touching, nor are their actions during the course of Vexille. Just plain automatons.

To illustrate my point: if one character dies, you are not going to be missing them, since they are not very likeable. Most plots have you totally like a character, then when they dies, you feel sad. This sadness is nowhere in Vexille. Remember Kamina from Tengen Toppa? Nothing like him in Vexille.

Another flaw. Only 2 or 3 characters get most of the screen-time. Vexille, Maria and some others. There is almost no male lead in Vexille. The main male character, Leon, vanishes from the screen at the start, and appears at the end, with almost no role to play in the plot! That's bad use of characters in my opinion.

- [ Story - 7/10 ] -

First the good points. Vexille's plot brings a number of new elements to the Sc-fi genre. I liked the way they showed a completely new Tokyo. We usually know Tokyo as a tech city. Not in Vexille. I won't spoil, so go see yourself. There are also the Jags which are an essential part of the plot. I liked the change from plain "bad cyborgs, good humans" stories. The story also has its points of suspence, which really keeps you stuck to your screen. There are not many of them, but they are evenly scattered, so it's satisfactory. You'd probably not believe, but the story will also give you some things to ponder on, about humanity and immortality. Unexpected by all means!

Briefly, expect to see cyborgs, humans and some weird things like Jags. At the start, and ending parts, you will get some fast-paced action scenes which accelerates your heart-beat. Not bad actually.

The bad? The second part of Vexille and the ending are totally cliché. I'd go as far as saying that it was rushed! Basically? Rebels vs the bad guys. Lost love, then re-found. Loss of friends. You get the idea. That's what you will see in the second part of Vexille. You can actually predict what is going to happen after a while. Forget suspence, there is hardly any in that second part.

The plot-line actually held some potential if it was correctly exploited, but it was rushed, not paying enough attention to details. There are some plot-holes like what Jags actually are. Instead we are just told "failed experiments", nothing more. Another example? There is nothing mentioned about the Japan government. Everything is about Daiwa industries. What is lacking is the detail elaboration, making the story somewhat mediocre.

- [ Enjoyment & Rewatch - 7/10 ] -

Here, I'll be biased. I'm a CGI-animation lover, so I really liked Vexille. Just for the high-quality CGI and the good OST, but not for the characters and the story. The story is not that bad in fact, but the characters are no good.

If you like good quality CGI animation, see Vexille. If you want character development and story, keep off Vexille, and go see Appleseed or similar.

- [ Conclusions ] -

Vexille is a good CGI animation movie, comparable to Appleseed in terms of animation, detail-level and quality. The music is good too.

The bad part is that it severely lacks in character development and a good, non-generic ending. It's again the plain "good guys win flat out" kind of ending, so nothing special here.

Again, if you want to see a well-made CGI animation, see Vexille, but don't expect too much from the story and characters. read more

-- [ Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann ] --

In one line: "A fun trip with a fabulous crew, from start to end, and back to the start for another go! Nia is cute!! ~Nyaaaa!"

Overall rating: 9/10

Briefly, the story is about Simon, a driller. Pretty boring till now. It's also about Kamina, Simon's brother, and a lot of other people. The story is also about Spirals, Beastmen and the Anti-Spirals. A story about hippopotamus made of grapes. About mecha battles. About love. About tragedy. About courage in the face of adversity. About unfaltering determination against all odds. And specially, about huge mega powerups that make Dragon Ball characters seem sooo weak. Well, basically, it's ONE anime which you will really enjoy if you watch. Definitely recommended! Pardon me for the long review. :P

-[ Animation - 8/10 ]-

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (TTGL) has one of the weirdest animation types I've ever seen. At the same time, it's also one of the most interesting I've got to watch. The characters are very well drawn, and the action scenes are always depicted with clarity, and are made to give you the feeling that everything is going very fast. There's also some shots which depict the characters as in manga drawing types. This adds to originality, since the only other anime I've seen that was in FLCL (Furi Kuri). The mechas are also well made, but they have kind of funny shapes. Like a starfish mecha? A worm mecha? A foot mecha? A hand mecha? You get the idea. They are more comical than realistic, but they are fun to watch. The mechas are almost living things. It's difficult to describe here, but it's not your generic artificial mecha type. There are not many landscape or cityscape scenes, but if they appear in TTGL, they were well detailed. The space shots later in the anime are particularly well made, with galaxies and stars being represented. It was... colourful!


- [ Sound - 8.5/10 ] -

I don't pay much attention to music in anime most of the time. I focus on the story, characters and action. TTGL does not disappoint in terms of music. The ones used in action scenes are fast and add the necessary punch to the action. The sound effects, particularly explosions, are not very realistic but they do the job. Characters are appropriately voiced, but for some of them, it does not reflect their characters very well. Like Kamina deserved a more powerful voice maybe. It's no major problem. Overall, the sound is ok, and works as it should.

- [ Characters - 9/10] -

Frankly, I've never seen such an interesting crew of characters since Eureka Seven. Each character plays a major role in the story. There are NO superfluous characters. Even the mole-pig has a role to play!! Each of the characters has a detailed background story, and each get an appropriate conclusion. The stories unfold at a very good pace, showing you the characters little by little, with some unexpected turns. Like the unfolding of Simon as Kamina's shadow, to Simon the universal leader. They also have very distinct personalities, that make a very good blend when added together to make TTGL. The mood-swings are there too!

All the main characters fit in very nicely in the story, and all the secondary characters add up to make a wonderful show out of TTGL. Even the villains are likable! I enjoyed going through the story with the crew, of that I'm sure. And well, Nia must surely be the cutest character ever shown in anime! :P

- [ Story - 7/10] -

The story is a very good one. There are only very few plotholes, or parts that were not much elaborated on. It also has a good flow, and there are no fillers, except for a recap episode. You will get a fair share of action, tragedy, romance and suspence (unfortunately, these 2 don't last very long). The series is basically divided in 2. I call the first part, the Beastmen arc, and the second arc is the Anti-Spirals arc, following a time jump of 7 years. Each arc is well structured and well developed. Another feature which I liked is fore-shadowing. You will always get to see a tiny bit of what will happen in the future. Just like a spiral, it starts small, and ends up really big. Without spoiling, you will see somewhere that population level is being controlled in a village, and in the end, it's the whole universe population level that is controlled. That's the spiralling I was talking about. Starts small, ends up big! Reeeaaall big! Basically, it was a satisfying story.

But why the 7? Well, because the story is a bit too exaggerated. The main character always seem to output more power than a nuclear reactor. Saiyen 4 is nothing in comparison to Simon! They always seem to win, whatever happens. There is usage of some weird science concepts that would make the likes of Einstein and Hawking faint. Like somebody being converted into Spiral Energy to form a drill by quantum explosion?? Space jump just by thinking about your destination (here, a loved one)? W..T..F, it just can't be!

The series is a bit weird at the end, just like Eureka Seven. Use of weird concepts. Very weird happenings and similar events. Also the fights are sometimes just too unrealistic! Come'on, a million opponents, and you seem to kill them en-mass? Hell, there's even a mecha that resists the energy blast of the big bang, and another that releases that kind of energy!! It becomes real difficult to understand what's happening after episode 25. The concepts used are just too... strange! Like messing with probabilities, and so random shots actually hit all enemies. Can somebody explain how that happens? >.<

That's just not realistic. 3 points lost to lack of realism, over-boosted good guys and because there is not enough long-lasting romance in the anime. It starts well, ends up real fast. Too fast. This series needs some more romance among main characters. However, the story is not too complex, not too technical, so you can just kick back and watch leisurely.

- [ Enjoyment & Rewatch - 8/10] -

The series was definitely enjoyable. The plot was non-linear and full of unexpected twists. Like a villain not being a villain? This makes things enjoyable. The action scenes are worth re-watching, as well as the character development. I personally enjoyed the anime, since I found a good blend of humour, lightness, ecchiness, tragedy, romance and action in it. I would say the anime has a rewatch value, probably to better understand the story, and the characters. 2 points lost because during the rewatch, you will still get that "OMG! This is just overkill!" feeling. It's just too exaggerated, trust me.

- [ Conclusions ] -

It was a great trip through TTGL. TTGL really got me stuck to my chair from the start to the end. The story was good. The characters were interesting and almost lovable. The action and plotlines were consistent. I've got nothing much to criticize about TTGL. So if you want an anime that has loads of action, huge character power-ups and is light at the same time, go for TTGL! Definitely worth it, and no regrets! :P read more

--> Intro:
Appleseed (AS) tells the story of Deunan and Briaeros, mates on the battlefield. The story revolves around battles, mechas, utopian philosophy and some romance. You will also know about Bioroids, which are cloned humans, but with distinct identities.

--> Animation: (10/10)
Really, earning a 10 from me is tough, but Appleseed really amazed me in terms of sheer graphic quality. It's a perfect blend of traditional animation, coupled with very well made CG. The backgrounds and environments are extremely detailed and well done. The same quality can be found in the character designs. Just see how detailed Deunan's hair is, or how the general mechas are done. At one point, you see Deunan resting on a bed. As she drops, you can even see the bed sheets crumpling in very realistic ways. Or the various water and nature scenes, specially rain. They are truly magnificent. AS's animation really deserves applause.

--> Sound: (8/10)
Not much to say here, since the music score of AS is not really that varied. The action scenes have their BGM and I can say these were well selected. They really highlight the action. Dramatic scenes too have their appropriate music, and here too, it's ok. Not much to say, nothing bad, nothing absolutely noticeable. Character voices are well done. However, Deunan's voice is kind of too "feminine". Ok, I know she's a girl, but still, after seeing her fight? I'd put a graver voice on her. xD

--> Story: (9/10)
The story too is really awesome. The plot is consistent, and has lots of twists and turns, until you are told of the final secret, which you really don't expect. The plots flow smoothly, giving details as they flow, and not just flood you at the end. It's an interesting story, very sc-fi like, peppered with a good dose of action. You won't be bored watching it. Maybe at the beginning, when there is quite a lot of talking, but it does not last long. It's a nice story about humans, bioroids, how an utopia functions, how humans can be intolerant, and how the desire for total utopia can be bad. It has some subtle philosophy too, mind you! Overall, I liked.

--> Characters: (7/10)
Maybe, this is the only point AS deceived me a bit. The characters themselves are interesting to follow, and learn about. Their stories and backgrounds are very plausible. But what I didn't appreciate is Deunan and Briaeros hogging all the screen time. They are present in almost every scene! What about the side characters? In my opinion, they didn't get developed enough. We could have been given more details about their lives and backgrounds. Consider Hitomi. At the end, we still don't know much about her. About her life after work, her relationships and stuff, even if she's the secondary female lead! Even the main characters Deunan and Briaeros didn't get that much of elaboration. The developers of AS should have included a bit more of character elaboration.

--> Enjoyment: (8/10)
It's not really a light film to just sit there and enjoy. Barely any humor in it. The enjoyment comes from the great storyline and the well-made action scenes. I, personally, really enjoyed it. AS also has a good rewatch value. I have rewatched it 3 times, just for the battle scenes and the story.

--> Outro (Overall: 8/10):
AS makes a good story, combined with well-made animation and ok-type characters. Therefore, it makes a good watch. Go check it out, you will probably not regret it. read more

--> Intro:
A generic, so Bleach-like story about blanks, a random girl getting kidnapped, and Ichigo going rambo one-man-army to save the poor kid. And yeah, expect to see the famous "we-hog-screentime" team, which is Hitsugaya, Renji, Matsumoto, Yumichika and Rukia. Byakuya makes a 1-minute appearance and Zaraki even gets cut!! Righhhhttt..

--> Animation (7/10):
Personally I found nothing really great in Bleach: Memories of Nobody (MoN). The animation is not bad, but it's not extremely good too. The backgrounds are well drawn and somewhat beautiful to look at. The character design and environments are well done too. There are some issues here and there about badly drawn things, specially body parts. Like ridiculously small feet for example, or ridiculously small hands. Nothing very serious, but who strike out at you if you are careful.

--> Sound (8/10):
As always, I never really pay great attention to sound in anime. I didn't find anything bad here too. The sounds fit the storyline. The action scenes are ok, although sometimes the music lacks the energy, or the punch to really highlight the action. Character voices are satisfactory. And SFXs are used in the correct places. Nothing to complain here. Complaining comes afterwards.

--> Story (6/10):
Now, I am gonna complain! I'm going to avoid spoilers, but I need to say it: The story is extremely predictable, if you have ever watched Bleach (anime) before. In fact, according to me, it's just the same as the Soul Society arc. Swap Rukia with Senna, swap Soul Society with the Whispers Canyon or whatever it was called. The 3/4 of the time of the movie is plain boring. They just elaborated on Senna and why the "Dark Ones" are around. No great details are given before the very end of the movie. You'll just sit there, and say "Why doesn't it go faster?". And yes, if you are careful, you can know from the beginning itself what role Senna plays in the story. As you might guess, since she's the main female lead, she's got the principal role. Same as Rukia in S-Society arc.
The ending of the movie, frankly, was expected. You have all the great battle scenes of the movie crammed in the last 20 minutes of the movie. Just Ichigo and the usual team fighting the bad guys, and a soul society intervention at the very last moment. Sometimes, you ask yourself what the hell these guys of S-Society have been doing all this time.

--> Characters (8/10):
The characters, if you have watched Bleach, have no secrets now, excluding Senna. If there was one thing I liked about MoN is the character development. It was well done, slowly and feeding you the details droplets by droplets. It's kind of nice, and keeps you stuck to your screen till the end of the movie. Even at the very end, there are some more secrets revealed. Check the end of the credits too. A few seconds of video, just to ease up on the dramatic ending. Senna is a fun character to know about. A nice blend of humor, suspense and action makes her a cool character. Only negative point: She completely loses her fighting role at the end of MoN.

--> Enjoyment (7/10):
Since the story was sooo predictable, I didn't really enjoy it. However, I appreciated the last battle scenes and the elaboration of the story. I've learnt not to expect too much from Bleach. Usually, the plots are very predictable and often mimic the Soul Society arc. MoN makes a good watch if you have nothing better to watch at that time (eg. no episode of your fav anime out).

--> Overall (7/10):
I gave 7/10 for some enjoyment value, beautiful backgrounds and good battle scenes at the very end. The story line is ok, although very predictable. And the Senna character is fun to watch evolve. Now, go check and rate for yourself. As always, thanks for reading my review! read more

-- [ Full Metal Panic :: Eps: 24 :: Overall: 9 ] -

Full Metal Panic. Now, this is something which you will want to see! It's a very good mixture of humour, action and suspense. In fact, it balanced everything very well so that the anime is neither too heavy, nor too light. It's serious, without being too serious, if you see what I mean. Well, there aren't many things to criticize about Full Metal Panic (FMP), rather there are many things to compliment. Up to now, I found nothing particularly bad. Save perhaps for the lack of details here and there. But if you think a bit, or rewatch it, everything becomes clear. In brief, Animation is great. Sound is very satisfactory. Story is great. Characters are very detailed. And the enjoyment is ever present! What more to ask for? Let me start the detailed review then.

- [ Animation = 9 ] -

FMP was one of the first animes I saw. It must have been like 5 years before. But when I started watching, I found the animation extremely good. The colours were vivid, the play on lights was well made, the choice of colours rendered the moods well, and the overall animation was fluid. FMP is about mechas and other machinery. These were well detailed and very well designed, in terms of futuristic ideas and components. The characters too were well drawn, the eyes a bit too big sometimes which ruins the realism. However, they are cute, specially the girls. There are hardly any frame-reuse or things like that. The scenes too were good, although they are hardly animated (if you compare to the likes of Black Lagoon). However, FMP has a good standard. And also, note the use of CGI here and there, specially for the Dannan submarine and underwater scenes. For once, the CGI is good, and not bizarre like some animes portray. There are hardly any glitches in the animation, earning FMP a 9 for animation.

- [ Sound = 9] -

Sound rarely gets my attention. Here is was worth it. The music used is lively and suits the moods well. They can switch from heavy to lively in an instant, and through the use of sound effects, the transition is smooth. They did a good job on the soundworks for FMP. The OP and ED are good, although I have a preference for the OP's music. There are not much in-episode music, but when they come, they are good!

The voice actors too did their job, and did a great work at displaying the various emotions of the chracters, from the stern Sagara to the lively Chidori. It might just be me, but sometimes, I found the tones just slightly exaggerated. (However, this seems normal since all of Chidori's moods are exaggerated!)

- [ Story = 9 ] -

FMP packs a great story. I've seen animes revolve around mecha, displaying a wide array of fights and explosions, without a really good story. However, FMP did well again here.

The story is that of Kaname Chidori who is one of the Whispered, but who lives as a normal schoolgirl, unknowing of her own powers. The Whispered have special abilities that allow them to interact with machines and possess enormous amounts of knowledge on various things. They can design extremely complex machinery with their knowledge. Now, other organisations are after the Whispered to gain access to their knowledge, for the development of weapons and such. Sagara Souske is given the mission to protect Chidori, along with his comrades Melissa Mao and Weber Kruz. Sagara is a millitary expert and extremely proficient at his trade. He works under the command of Mithril, a high-tech mercenary organization.

The mission seems simple, but for Sagara who is foreign to normal school-life, things can get pretty dirty. Chidori things Sagara is stalking him, whereas he thinks he's protecting her. Expect lots of humour, ecchiness and fan-hits. Yes, paper-fan hits!

As you see, the story is quite complex and lively, and it ends beautifully. Not only that, there are 2 sequels afterwards, and 3 OVAs! If you want more FMP afterwards, check out FMP: Fumoffu (Joke episodes and fun) and FMP: The Second Raid (The second volet of FMP). The OVAs are pretty much humouristic than story-oriented.

I gave it an 8 because sometimes, the plot can be just a bit difficult to understand due to a lack of clear details.

- [ Character = 9 ] -

The characters in FMP, although not many, are very diversed. Sagara is too stern. Chidori is extremely lively. Weber is too relaxed. Mao is a perv. Tessa is an all-out Sagara admirer. Sagara? He lives in a nutshell like a hermit! :P

The characters and their behavior are very varied, and through interaction with each other, they evolve (no they are NOT pokemon!) and become better. It's quite fun to see this evolution, specially the haphazard one of Sagara!

Their respective backgrounds are also well introduced. Nothing is rushed and we are given enough details about them. Not too much (since the rest comes in the sequels). We also get to see the strange behavior of Sagara, like carrying a big arsenal of guns wherever he goes, and being over-protective of Chidori, who doesn't know she's protected. All these add to the fun!

- [ Value and Enjoyment = 9 ] -

FMP is really funny sometimes. The constant blunders of Sagara will always get you laughing. However, if you are looking for suspense and mystery, you'll also find it in FMP, when the stuff about Whispered comes up. If you are looking for mecha action and fights, you will be satisfied too!

There is also a fair bit of ecchiness for those who like it.. Also, expect violence and fights.

The rewatch value lies in going back to the fun parts of FMP, and also to check the mysteries again, just to get a better understanding.

- [ Conclusion ] -

FMP deserves a watch. It's a good anime, and well balanced at that. It's sequel too are good. So give it a try and you will not regret it IMHO... read more

- - [ The Third - Aoi Hitomi no Shoujo :: Eps: 24 ] - -

The Third - Aoi Hitomi no Shoujo, or The Third - The Girl With The Blue Eye, revolves around Honoka who is a jack-of-all-trades. She will accept any job except human murder. The Third is a race of humans, with a third eye on their forehead, allowing them to interact with machines and turn into semi-computers with huge data-processing abilities. Honoka is accompanied by Bogie, a tank with a bio-brain, or an artificial personality if you want. This is the gist of the plot of The Third (Refered henceforth as T3rd.).

I started watching it, after seeing its cover which seems quite interesting. A katana-wielding girl, followed by a super-armed tank. Quite nice. However, it was quite a deception for me. Maybe I set my standards too high, but I didn't find it too interesting. Animation is kind of strange. Sound was ok. Plotline was quite inconsistent. Characters lacked development. And there was not much value. However, it does make a great watch because there are lots of action scenes. To maintain a balance, I will grant it a 7/10.

But a word of advice, keep off if you have got better things to watch...

- [ Animation = 7 ] -

To tell you the truth, I was going to give T3rd a 5/10 or a 6/10 for animation. But considering that it has a fair amount of CGI, i gave it 7/10. Mind you, the CGI is not that great, but it is satisfactory. It truly cannot compare to the likes of Appleseed, but it does give another touch to the animation.

Personally, I didn't find T3d's animation great. The characters are bizarre and not very life-like. Sometimes, they seem to have chibi-like expressions (eg. a simple curved line for a smile). Lower eye-lids are curved upwards and things like that. I could call it traditional animation style.. but here, it's more unnatural animation style.

However, the action scenes were well done. Fast paced with enough details to make it fun. Otherwise, there is not much scenery. Most of the time, you will see lots and lots of deserts. Yes, deserts, with sand and all. It becomes quite a boring scenery after a while. On the rare occasions you will see cities, they are quite well-done. Overall, there are not much scenes to look at. The CGI does make The Third (the race)'s vechicles quite good to look at. But even then, the vehicles are not very realistic, nor very pretty or cutting-edge. Even Bogie, the tank that follows Honoka everywhere is quite disproportionate if you ask me. It's so very big but we never saw why it was that big! Even The Third's vehicles, supposedly highly advanced, are quite undermined. We never get to see much, apart from the blank white interiors. The same applies for their buildings. What I mean to say, don't expect lots from the animation, drawings or CGI. It's there and it does its job. Nothing more.

- [ Sound = 7 ] -

As always, sound does not get my attention. In T3rd, it was satisfactory. The action scenes used fast-paced music, and the OP and ED were ok. However, the music variety is kind of limited, if you ask me. Most of the time, you get to hear the same music, over and over. And sometimes, I really believed that I was listening to a loop.

I found some solace in the voice actors' performance which was great. At least, they did their work well, and did well at relaying the various emotions. Even the robotic voices were good.

Nothing more to say here.. Except, don't expect to find much music here. The OST is not as diverse as Eureka Seven's or even Samurai Champloo's.

- [ Story = 5 ] -

Lemme say it here, fair and square: The Third's story was bad! I've never seen something so inconsistent and lacking details! The last episode was really really bad! It seems the producers wanted to compress a whole arc inside one episdode! It was really a poor job!

Now let me start the real ranting! The story really lacked details. We are not told anything about how The Third race came to Earth. Coming with another character, Iksu, we are not told how or why he came here. We are not told about any of the characters' pasts, except for Honoka. We do not know why Honoka came in possession of such a huge tank such as Bogie. Ok, we know that Zankan gave it to her. But how the hell did she pay for that? No answer. The other characters seriously lack depth. They are here like puppets, just doing what they want. And sometimes, they look real stupid.

But the thing that really got on my nerves is the voice that tells us the story. Or if you want, it elaborates on the scenes! Damn! I really hated that voice. I think I'm big enough to watch a movie, and understand what's happening without having somebody telling me everything. "Honoka did that, then that happened, then this, then that, then it became really annoying to hear me everytime!". I really really hated that. If they wanted to give more details about the series, they should have included in the characters' dialogues, or even the scenes. But using a voice to elaborate on the story is really poor.

Another annoying thing. The things that happen in T3rd are really insane. Sometimes, the powers of a character (yes, one) are really really godlike. You've seen Bleach. It's even worse! One example? Conquering an army of mechas, with more than 100,000 units, mechas, tanks and everything, with the single swipe of a katana! Now, this was insane! The other people are just there to see, and mind you, nobody is amazed! What kind of world is that! A single swipe! :s

Talking about exaggerations.. Things happen way too easily in T3rd! It's as if everything is doomed to go well and have a happy ending.. I can't say more without spoiling though. You will notice it by yourself. Most of the time, one of the characters (usually Honoka) wants something, and miraculously, it happens after some time and scenes! :D

To finish burying T3d's plotline completely, there is *no* plotline. The story is really really jumpy. At one time, the characters are doing that, then the next, they are doing this, with no logical link with the past arc. At episode 22, I really thought that T3rd's semblance of a plot was ending, and that we'll get to get a good finisher at the characters, polishing things afterwards in 2 episodes. That would be great. How much I was mistaken!!

The producers truly compressed the content of a whole arc in 1 episode! There was so much to see that you can easily get lost. Don't even try to understand what's happening. It's so Evangelion style! And what's really disgusting is that the arc seems really out of place. Really really badly done. That last episode really grossed me out. And mind you! Even in the credits, they were still trying to explain things! They even wanted to create a mini-episode out of the credits (involving romance)! Now, that's what I can call compression! :D

- [ Characters = 6 ] -

I think I don't have to say much here. The main character hogs all the action. The secondary characters just sit there and see. That's what you call monopolizing the scene. Honoka here, Honoka there, Honoka does this, Honoka does that. OMG! Is she omnipresent and omnipotent?

No character development. We are given very few details about the characters. Take for example, Paifu. We are not told much about her past. Just like her, every character is introduced quickly. Call it, introducing them just to get them up and running just to get on with the series. Really, there was no great elaborations. Just like we are not told why Honoka's grandfather was so great of a sword wielder.

Now, another thing to hate is the way characters seem to come and vanish. One example is the sporadic appearance of Blue Breaker. It seems the producers tend to forget the characters existed. Again, coming to that 100,000 mecha army, Blue Breaker was nowhere to be seen! And he (it) was supposed to be really really powerful. Where the hell was it? Don't know. Perhaps drinking tea somewhere. Oh yeah, it's worth noting that Blue Breaker reminds me of the mechas of Gundam Seed Destiny. At least his way of fighting does! :D

Similarly, Joey appeared in the previous-to-last episode, ranting about Technos Taboo. Then, Honoka went single-handedly to challenge the Third for Joey's sake. Then? Joey vanished! We are not told what happened! Perhaps an after-effect of compressing a whole arc in one episode!

- [ Value and Enjoyment = 7 ] -

Frankly, I was annoyed at T3rd's defects. So I was not really enjoying it. I really enjoyed the first 10 or so episodes, afterwards, it got really bad. Perhaps a lack of budget?

But it does contain some things that are worth a watch. The action scenes are an example. The sword actions, and teamwork were good and deserve a watch. The CGI too deserved a watch.

I'd say it has a rewatch value if you want to understand things better (or at least try to understand). But even then, I think I would skip that last episode!

Personally, this much is all I've got to say. If you want to give it a try, go ahead. I don't know, maybe you might enjoy it better than I did.

- [ Conclusion ] -

The truth is, I didn't enjoy T3rd on my first watch. I may give it a rewatch, just to see if it's worth it. If so, I might consider amending my review. The first 10-15 episodes were fully worth my time. The action were good. And the power of the main character was not that insane. It was pretty well balanced, and characters didn't disappear for nothing. That's up till the series went off-track.

Overall, it's not that good. You can watch it if you don't have anything better to watch. Or if you are really curious. Or if you've got lots of time and a great internet connection or a good supply of finance.

In my opinion, it was not that great. There are better things out there to watch.

Sadly, I really had high hopes for the series after seeing the first 10 to 15 episodes. I still have. Maybe it was me. So I'll have to go for a rewatch just to see. If anything changes, amend this review... specially after reading that Faust721 found the story fun and interesting...

That's all. Thanks for reading. read more