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Though not exactly a foray into the unknown, Eden of the East does just enough to make it unique and memorable. Combined with near perfect technical execution, Eden of the East is a solid anime.

I was already thoroughly impressed with Eden of the East after about five minutes into the first episode. There is this cool edgy feel to it as soon as you start watching. The series begins in Washington D.C. when Morimi Saki (cv. Hayami Saori) meets a stark naked Takizawa Akira (cv. Kimura Ryohei). The first thing that really stood out was the conspicuous lack of engrish. Production I.G. seemed to have the good sense to cast people who actually speak English for the American background characters. While this takes away from the hilarity factor, it adds a sense of realism to the series. Contrary to shows like Baccano! where everyone speaks Japanese despite being 1920’s Americans in New York, the distinctive language barrier adds a sense of internationalism.

Despite being a short 11 episodes, Eden is paced extremely well, leaving the viewer excited for what’s going to happen next, but not drawing a plot over too many episodes. Characters are in abundance and each character, even relatively minor ones, have distinctive personalities and objectives. A highlight of East of Eden is the very earthy, intriguing yet realistic relationship between the two protagonists: Saki and Akira. Akira is off on his own adventures and investigating the reason and mysteries behind the other wielders of that magical phone. While Saki’s curiosity of the origin of this mysterious boy leads to an intresting plot structure of Akira investigating other people like him, and Saki investigating Akira. The other Selecao (people with money phones) each have different agendas and wildly different personalities, including a hedonistic corrupt detective and a sadistic serial killer.

Thematically, Eden is very strong. This anime addresses concepts like terrorism or security in a manner that is easily related to by today’s society. Feelings of duty, service, and power are all addressed on several levels. Eden of the East often contains striking imagery to reinforce thematic or plot elements. The anime centers around a key phrase known as noblesse oblige, the concept that with great power and prestige come even greater responsibilities. The actions and demeanor of various Selecao provide very fruitful deep analysis into many meanings, variants, and interpretations of the concept.

As said earlier, Eden of the East is nearly perfect technically. The background art and animation looks superb. English rock band Oasis provides the music for the opening theme with their single Falling Down. Noel Gallagher’s striking vocals fit perfectly with an incredibly unique and eyecatching opening sequence that makes the OP the iconic feature of the series. school food punishment’s ending theme is also very good. While character design is not the most appealing thing in the world, its subdued, almost bland nature almost seems to fit the series.

In conclusion, Eden of the East is exactly what it brands itself as, an action mystery thriller with bits of humor thrown in and sci-fi elements. Not much is actually resolved at the end of the series and the last episode will leave you with tons of questions unanswered. Movie sequels have already been announced. It’s not exactly groundbreaking or genre-defining, but it’s exactly what it bills itself as. read more

Apocalypse Zero is an anime that lives up to its name. Zero merits, zero reasons to watch it, zero out of ten.

The rating system thing doesn't allow me to assign zeroes and I don't like numerical rating in general because I don't believe that a complex opinion such as a review can be properly simplified with math. However, I will talk about numbers and reviews here. Numerical ratings of anime are approximately earned with merits. Everything the show does to advance its entertainment purpose raises its number. That is why my real overall rating for Apocalypse Zero is zero. This show literally goes nowhere. I gained nothing but despair in watching this, and I would have better spent my time looking at a blank monitor, which would have earned the same score (so shouldn't the rating really be -1/10?)

Apocalypse Zero is an anime without a purpose. Every show ever made, no matter how poorly, should at least have a purpose, a direction that the show explores into. Some way of entertaining its viewers. Make them laugh, cry, scare them, tell a story, give them suspense, have them relax, something cathartic so that people want to watch. The only purpose that I can even guess at for Apocalypse Zero is to make the viewer close his or her media player.

I will be able to give more insight into the show if I cover everything that the show is deficient in. First, Apocalypse Zero is without reason. There is some kind of plot, involving two siblings and the premise that the world has ended and people have to survive. The lack of elaboration about why or how the world has ended intends to add some mystery into the show. The biggest mystery, however, is how they managed to get the likes of Yamadera Kouichi (Spike Spiegel) and Ogata Megumi (Shinji from Neon Genesis Evangelion) to star in this show. This already shallow plot is poorly developed because of paper-thin characters that do not possess a shred of believability. It's hard to care about plot or themes or things dying when you literally do not give a scrap about anybody that appears in the show. Apocalypse Zero is also without mercy. Have you noticed that when you watch really good anime, the episodes feel like they are 5 minutes long? Apocalypse Zero is the longest hour of my life. I swear, dentist appointments just breeze right by compared to watching this anime, which manages to start absolutely putrid and somehow become astronomically worse. Why? Because most importantly, Apocalypse Zero is an anime without shame. Pointless gore for the sake or pointless gore. Ugly, eye-killing vulgar nudity for the sake of, what I suspect, making the viewer suicidal. It becomes quite evident after the first episode, and mindblowingly obvious by the end, that Apocalypse Zero's directing lacks discipline in any form. Elfen Lied was gory but it contributes to the anime. You can even say the same for things like Dokuro-chan (it adds to the silliness and humor, I guess). Apocalypse Zero screams terrible choices when it comes to design, directing, storyboards, plot, pacing, and art. This anime is far beyond terrible. This anime is insulting.

Let me take a brief tangent and talk about an anime called Mars of Destruction, the lowest ranked anime on MAL. I appreciate it much more now. It's fun to watch. It's fun to point out the cliches and mediocrity. It's funny to laugh at the near comical miscues in directing. Clowns are funny because they act silly. They splash pies on themselves and fall off unicycles, a la Mars of Destruction. Clowns are not fun when they attack you with a sledge hammer and try to rape you, a la Apocalypse Zero. Mars of Destruction is the lowest ranked anime on MAL because it doesn't do anything right. In comparison, Apocalypse Zero not only doesn't do anything right, it seems to go out of its way to make sure everything it does has to be so overboard, so nonsensically inane, that one would suspect making terrible anime is a competitive art. You know what? Apocalypse Zero wins. read more

On a complete whim, I decided to check this series out this winter. 2006 is the year of the remake. The year featured remade versions of Demonbane, Kanon, Nobita's Dinosaur, Youkai Ningen Bem, and of course, Kujibiki Unbalance. Unless you truly watch way too much anime, you've probably heard of only two of those titles. Kujibiki Unbalance (2006) is a reincarnation of the OVA which itself is a realization of a fictional TV series in the series Genshiken. While the OVA was a lot of fun in paralleling the Genshiken universe, the 2006 series focuses on establishing the show on its own right. I went in expecting a typical third rate romantic comedy full of stock characters and a plot on the wrong side of the line between silly and stupid. What I got was a quite surprisingly enjoyable show with a satisfying ending and only occasional mishaps. The biggest surprise for me is that the story actually functioned and delivered a smooth, natural ending. I guess good things happen when you watch a show with low expectations.

Kujibiki Unbalance takes place in the fictional prestigious Rikkyouin High School, whose student council (and even admission) is selected by lottery. This apparently works well since Rikkyouin is the top school in the nation in every way and its student council's power rivals that of some countries. Lo and behold our main protagonist Enomoto Chihiro (CV: Takimoto Fujiko) draws the lot for President and you can read the rest of the plot synopsis up top. Chihiro is a pretty unlucky guy and his motley crew of lucky future council members must essentially intern for a year before their inauguration.

Kujibiki Unbalance works because it doesn't take itself too seriously and it's not afraid to have fun. This is undoubtedly a fun anime. Everything about the school, from its size, to its amenities, to the power of its council is absurd. The situations and assignments the future council members deal with are equally ridiculous, such as foiling an assassination attempt or breeding pandas. The show does not shy away from fan service, which is perfectly fine. The key is that the show did not overdo fan service and shift attention away from its other merits. By establishing a precedent of silliness and half-parody, the show is able to execute its plot to a believable extent.

The student council candidates is a well balanced group of characters that complement each other nicely. Chihiro is the guy that is pretty dumb and untalented but has a good heart but terrible luck, Akiyama Tokino (CV: Nonaka Ai) is his childhood friend who is always positive and has incredible luck. Asagiri Koyuki (CV: Kojima Kazuko) is a sweet little good girl that everyone tends to overlook and Kamishakuji Renko (CV: Nishihara Kumiko) is a mad scientist and the attitude factor of the new student council. The current student council is equally well composed with Ritsuko Kettenkrad (CV: Koshimizu Ami) portrayed as cold and calculating. As the series progresses, this anime develops its characters and explores their pasts and their relationships. Wonders happen when a show does these things, especially if you have interesting characters.

Kujibiki Unbalance has very simple cartoonish art. Regardless, the characters are well animated and brought to life. I personally like the character design better here compared to the OVA by Genco. The different art style plays a major role in differentiating this series from the OVA related to Genshiken, and minimalizing this show's relationship with Genshiken in general.

The characters are well voiced, with a very strong cast led by Ai Nanoka (Fuura from Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei and Fuuko from Clannad), Ami Koshimizu (Tenma from School Rumble), Nogami Yukana (C.C. from Code Geass) and Yuko Goto (Mikuru from Haruhi). I enjoyed both OP and ED; specifically, Ai Nanoka and Ami Koshimizu do a great job with the ED, Harmonies*.

Not without error, Kujibiki Unbalance can become blood curlingly cheesy or cliche occasionally, especially near the end. At times characters annoy you or act pointlessly. Regardless, Kujibiki Unbalance is solid. It's a simple 12 episode series with a simple plot and simple conflicts. It's not very ambitious but it knows what it has to work with. The romantic aspect of it is surprisingly not that bad, even well done, I would claim. All in all, this is a recommendation for people who enjoy some silliness and some fun with their schoolkids anime. read more

Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka is an anime that hurts itself by raising expectations and failing to meet them like clockwork. It goes out of its way to repeatedly build from mediocrity only to plunge itself back down to the point where you wonder why you even gave it much of a chance. It's someone jumping out of a 3 story building and landing on concrete, only to climb back up and jump over and over again. Until the person's bones are mush and the series limps to its god-awful ending.

As a series in general, Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka (from here on, Akasaka) is passable, I would go as far to say it's decent and occasionally enjoyable. Its gaping flaws are grossly magnified, rightly, by its constant, flagrant disappointment of its viewers. Basically Akasaka is not pure bad (far from it) but the parts that are actually good makes the parts that are bad look really bad.

Akasaka is based off Feng's visual novel released back in 2007. The plot revolves around a boy by the name of Jun'ichi Nagase, who attends a prestigious high school and seems to bear some kind of tough reputation from middle school. Think typical harem school comedy male protagonist. There, I just developed the character to the same degree 12 episodes of Akasaka did. Anyhow, a naive aloof rich girl, Katagiri Yuuhi (CV: Kugimiya Rie), transfers to Jun'ichi's school and Jun'ichi, out of some act of divine inspiration kisses her, causing unspeakable chaos. Then, to close out a rather promising first episode and establish a quite original premise, it turns out that Yuuhi is Junichi's fiancee due to an arranged marriage.

Akasaka's female cast is chock full eye-catching and potentially interesting characters. Expectations: high. The series proceeds to do nothing with all but two of the girls. Expectations: failed.

Like many similar anime, Akasaka's plot (the plot is essentially just the premise) takes a back seat episodes 3-10 for some good unrelated episodes of fun. That's fine! It's a structure that has worked countless times. And by all means it can work here. But instead, Akasaka is filled extremely cliche situations solved in extremely cliche ways. For example, Jun'ichi's sister Minato (CV: Hirano Aya) takes Yuuhi shopping in a supermarket to make dinner. Six minutes of pointless dialogue about how amazed Yuuhi is of instant curry follows. We get it after the first few lines! Yuuhi talks about how she eats at home as Kugimiya Rie butchers French Japanese transliteration. She's rich, naive, aloof, we get that. Is it supposed to be funny that Yuuhi doesn't know about instant curry and thinks that her cooks and servants don't either? How overblown does the reaction and enlightenment need to be? There are lots of girls in this anime, some who look pretty interesting. Are we going to get episodes about them? With curry? That actually would be pretty awesome...

Watching anime should never be physically painful, but that's what I felt as this series slowly killed itself. It's the pain you feel a promising show wastes all the good things it had going for it and falls into mediocrity. Akasaka occasionally strikes silver (no gold in this show, sorry) with a few lines of interesting dialogue and good animation, but after every good or decent episode or plot development the series feels as if it has some obligation to make up for it by spewing crap at our face. It's like you're at an amusement park and every time you have some fun, a burly security guard has to give you a swift punch in the gut. The ending begins suddenly in the last 3 episodes and was likewise promising. Too bad the conclusion of the series was so predictable that I might as well have drawn the storyboards myself and the things that you didn't predict either have no relevance to the plot or are so cheesy and/or wrong you're better off not predicting it.

I'm a little harsh on this series because it really is a shame. Akasaka goes to show you how bad writing can absolutely destroy a series with everything else going for it. The art is good, the characters and landscapes are well drawn and fun to look at. Akasaka has a voice acting cast that would remind you of the New York Yankees, with the resulting mediocrity to match. When we have Kugimiya Rie (Shana, Louise, Taiga), Inoue Marina (Chiri from Zetsubou Sensei, Yoko from TTGL), Aya Hirano (Haruhi, Konata, Misa from Death Note) and Tanaka Rie (Chi from Chobits, Sugintou) in the same anime, we're going to be excited. I had my eye on this series ever since voice actors were announced and some art was available.

In the end, the voice acting was pretty good but by itself it cannot save a series. The music (besides the terrible OP) is good. It better be good when you have five voice actors with best selling seiyuu albums on your staff. Should there be an OVA about the supporting characters I would most likely flock to it with expectations held high. I've heard that the game this is based off was really cool. Too bad I can't say the same for the anime adaptation. read more

Puni Puni Poemi is a spinoff of Excel Saga with even shoddier directing and even more cheap fanservice. The entire OVA felt like Episode 26 of Excel Saga except bad. The art at least is passable and hasn't changed from Excel Saga. The sound and characters are regurgitations from Excel Saga. Poemi is basically a clone of Excel minus Excel's awesome voice actor that basically made the character. Poemi's voice actor (ironically enough) pretty much failed to make Poemi funny or enjoyable.

Characters in this series are either slightly entertaining or annoying. Visually and literally, many characters completely unoriginal compared to Excel Saga. Character design in the series was very weak.

Despite this, Puni Puni Poemi delivers a moderate dose of fun and a supercritical dose of fanservice. The series is inundated with innuendo and sometimes straight out sex scenes (nothing is shown as this is not a hentai). The absurdity of the series delivers funny in a similar way as Excel Saga, which is one of my favorites.

All in all, Puni Puni Poemi is many steps down in every way from Excel Saga. The premise of Puni Puni Poemi is similar to that of Excel Saga it just isn't executed very well. read more

H2O, Footprints in the Sand is a powerful and dramatic series that is definitely not for everybody. Regardless, H2O delivers; with great power, excellent storytelling, and strong depiction of a complex plot.

H2O as an anime is extremely up and down. The series is very powerful throughout and hooks different people in different parts of the series. The story revolves around Hirose and Kohinata. In the beginning of the series Kohinata is treated very poorly by the village. The story begins with the meeting of Hirose and Kohinata and how their ensuring friendship changes the village and reveals much more. The plot is very complex, with all kinds of crazy plot twists. As the series progresses the plot enriches itself. The problem in H2O, however, is the incredible amount of cheesiness. The anime is full of cliche and scenes that will just make you facepalm. when the storytelling isn't awesome, it's usually really forced. However, H2O does feature perhaps the best filler episode of all anime and as a plus, it actually connects well with the story.

The art in H2O is crisp and clean. Character design is nothing new, but very passable. Some characters look extremely underdeveloped visually, though.

The sound in H2O is sufficient and serves the series perfectly. The soundtrack isn't huge, but the OP and ED are both very good. The instrumental overlays during touching conversations are unique and fit a very natural and colorful series.

Character change is an important theme in H2O. The main characters are interesting with their own stories and conflicts. Each character has good personality and serve good roles in the series. The trials and tribulations of the characters really contribute alot of power to the series.

I'll be honest. For much of the anime I did not enjoy watching the series. A combination of cheesiness and plain sadness really was a letdown. The series is powerful but sometimes just too goddamn depressing. The series ends decently with a resolution and all. This is a watch if you like deep, serious drama and the like.

H2O is a great example of a very good anime that is just missing a few bits. And it's pretty sad. read more

Here's the most important thing you need to know about Serial Experiments Lain: give the series 5 episodes before you drop it, otherwise you would have missed a truly unique anime experience.

I get scared very easily, and some parts of this anime freaked me out. If you're the kinda person that likes mildly creepy sequences and that weird stuff, replace that 5 for enjoyment and give it a 10. That's just from my perspective. I didn't enjoy watching the anime, but my was it cool.

Serial Experiments Lain delves into the question of reality, existence, time, and memory. The anime starts out crippling slow and is rather hard to follow. Though this would usually bore the viewer, here it intensifies the abnormal events that literally drown the series. Every episode will leave you hanging with questions, and the questions will get better and better. Let's get this straight here: Serial Experiments Lain is weird. Hence the name if its first episode. Certain plot elements and sequences are scary, unorthodox, and sometimes downright bizzare. Watch this anime with your thinking caps on, as there's tons to be learned from here.

The characters in Serial Experiments Lain are different from your usual anime characters. You basically have to watch for yourself to find out. Lain's character development is very pleasing and one of the features of this anime.

The sound is limited to the OP, ED, and ambient sound effects. Well done, but this anime isn't worth watching for the sound effects. OP is good and siuts the anime well.

The art consists of hard lines, but has a very dull feel. Several key scenes are repeatedly emphasized and visual motifs such as shadows literally jump out at you.

In conclusion, Serial Experiments Lain is an intriguing anime that everyone should at least try. The series ends well and leaves the viewer with many thoughts and questions in his/her head. read more

Pani Poni Dash is easily one of the best comedy anime I've ever watched. The background story is interesting but the "genius girl" thing has been done before. However, Pani Poni Dash takes an approach much different from other schoolkids anime like School Rumble and even Azumanga Daioh.

Pani Poni Dash is chock full of fun parodies, cameos, and tidbits. You'd better have your finger over the pause button to read all the footnotes and references in Pani Poni Dash. The plot is very loose but present enough to give the anime a framework to works its humor off.

The art in Pani Poni Dash is very colorful, cheerful, bright, and humorous. Of the many things Pani Poni Dash parodies is the anime art, and the parody is visible in every episode. Pani Poni Dash does chibi perfectly, perhaps the best chibi I've ever seen in anime. Besides that, the normal art is very well done and slightly softer than conventional anime.

The music in Pani Poni Dash is very good. There are many songs as OPs and EDs. Great episode scoring and sound effects. I've grown to like all 3 OPs and the 2nd ED.

Character development in Pani Poni Dash is unique, which is saying a lot in the schoolgirl-comedy genre. Rebecca Miyamoto is the perfect balance of kawaii, attitude, sternness, and little-girl... ness. The anime explores different character archetypes in the various students of Peach Moon High School, resulting in a uniquely balanced cast of personalities. It even parodies overkilled character types such as "magical girl" with Behoimi, and plain, underdeveloped characters like Kurumi.

In conclusion, Pani Poni Dash is a definite download for anyone who likes comedy anime. The anime gets off to a great start but kinda winds down near the last five episodes. It's definitely an anime I can watch over and over again. read more