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On my demand of watching all BoysLove anime and related I came across Graduation M. And I consider this the worst BL I've ever watched. EVER. This is starting to become hard, you see... On any case, let's see why even the most dedicated of the fans should avoid this thing.

A story, unlike the synopsis seems to claim, does not really exist. Five good looking men are presented through the first 16 minutes of the series and then engage into crossdressing for a theatre play, because "kawaii". One of the characters is show playing Graduation M game, that's by far the most interesting point of the story... The rest rolls slowly, filling in the screen time with absolutely useless conversation that does not add anything to the story. As for the characters, that sometimes may make up for te story, are cut off cereal boxes. Each one is a stereotype, but so horribly stereotypied that it's not even fun. It's like a proto-Gakuen Heaven, but worst.

Now, this could be compensated if we had these 40 minutes f animation just for the eyecandy. It was done before, it will be done in the future, I personally have nothing against it... But the art... It's not even pathetic... It is... Miserable. Horribly amateurish, as well as the animation. Everything is crooked, it looks like Neopets fanart done by a 12 year old. The most basic laws of shading, perspective, anatomy, colouring, anything you can remember.. Even the most basice IS WRONG!

Most likely the only positive point of this piece of "bizarre" animation is the voice acting. It is clearly well done and all the actores match ehtir characters perfectly. The background music is common of the genre but not less annoying. Cheery and cute songs intercalated by rock instrumentals that may fit perfectly in games but just seem out of place in anime riddle these 40 minutes. For a moment I even considered each character would have a theme song.

In the end, a really dreadful experience. A cheap OVA created without any care or skill. Avoid it for best results. read more

Maiden Rose is a very resumed compilation of a manga that has much more into it than what we could expect at first sight. We have two countries in a war, a prince from a country that has a knight from the other country. A Shakesperian plot, that - due to lack of film time - was never explained. And this is the main flaw of this anime. However, it counters for having a plot. This by itself is already a great achievement for a BL animation, where they often forget about plotlines and characters to please the rabid fangirl.

The art was cared and clean, pretty but not amazing. The animation can't be considered a master piece, but it's skillfully done. And that's enough. The same can we say for the OST and effects, not to mention voice acting. For something supposedly sensual these actors seemed rather shy.

However there is something that counters this, which are the characters. They are solid and suffer development, even with the 60 minutes of screen that they were allowed to have. The designs are gorgeous and even though we may consider some actions flawed according to what we know of them I believe that it is part of their personal achievements to surprise the viewer.

Overall, a very good work. We were needing something like this into the genre. Sexually tense, violent and creepy sometimes, but very sweet in the end. Highly recommended to the rabid fangirls. read more

Mononoke appears as the continuation of the adventures of a certain character of the last arc of the series Ayakashi. To complement our viewing pleasure, some more arks were added, using an original art style and ingenious storytelling with the sole and honest objective of telling us about stories that could be our own.

The art is, by far, the most impressive part of this series. An explosion of colour that reminds us of the artistical epitome of ancient Japan, intelligent use of mixed media and a careful design for each theme make of Mononoke a treat for our eyes. Each detail is worth of admiration, like a painting in motion. The animation is simply superb, constantly adapting to the new styles and themes that are used for each story.
The characters end up being a part of their background, in an almost absolute bidemensional existance. However, they are still highly detailed, especially considering all the intricate patterns of clothing and body styling that decorate their personality.

In continuation, the characters may be well designed in visual terms, but what makes this all unique is the way they were made emotionally. Each character has a distinct existance, even though some of them appear in later occasions. The characters of each art are truly dependable on the story they belong to, but would still make sense as indivituals outside of it. However, the astounding element from this crowd is the main and recurring character, Kusuriuri. Unnamed, unrevealed and, from the beggining to the end, an unknown creature. This mysterious man is the tool that makes the anime go further, within the same stories and from story to story. He does not have any kind of characterization however he appears to the viewer as the most palpable of characters. For some reason, he steps from an (eventual) imaginary or mistic being to someone that exists.

Kusuriuri, the mysterious medicine seller, moves from arc to arc solving strange occurances that assault the other characters. The only thing common between all of this is that every problem is provoked by a monster, a phantom or a spirit, something created to specifically haunt that group of people. As he discovers more about the occurances, the events behind the appearance of the haunting unveil themselves. And the result is, most of the times, something of extreme beauty. The narration is very basic in the sense that characters reveal their actions and the chronology of the story, but each story is treated with so much care that even the most simple event is turned into poetry.

The Opening theme and the Ending theme are less than memorable. However what marks Mononoke is not the music, but the sound. The use of the correct effects at the right moments give an effect of mistery and fear. In a sense, it may be inspired in kabuki plays*. It is original in this sense but, otherwise, rather average.

A series of amazing tales that touch every theme of the Japanese folklore, leaded by one of the greatest characters ever created and crowned by a truly original art. A masterpiece in artistic terms. Watching Mononoke is like reading a poem from the Heian time: small, sometimes even simple, but so rich in detail that we can't help to "let the dew wet our sleeves"
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When I came across this my first thought was: "oh great! Some medieval adventure with Eastern traits full of hot guys and eventually tons of tasty slashing!" Yes, I think like this most of the time. And usually I'm never disappointed. The only exception is Koutetsu Sangokushi.

At first, I thought the story would be interesting. You know, reader, most of BL and slashable anime stories are not very interesting. So when I read the premise of this anime I was glad. It announced an adventure full of political drama and some magic here and there. However, it all seemed half-baked, incomplete, created by an incompetent with too many ideas without any solid base. The premise was interesting, but the story telling was dreadful. Dragging such a story for 25 episodes, adding some forced encounters, rushed sollutions for random cliffhangers and a unoriginal central elements to the party, was one of the most boring - not to say horrible - experiences of anime watching.

Then I thought the character designs looked good. They look good. That's the greatest part about this anime. The characters are gorgeous. When they are still. A Flash amateur could do better than this, in terms of animation. Random utilization of CG elements that took away any beauty left to the backgrounds and horrible sloppy animation. Repeating frames all the time, trying to make awesome action scenes with a low budget and low talent... It did not work well.

Finally, I thought that the characters themselves could save it. An anime filled with beautiful man, frolicking around the whole anime, nothing can be better than this! Except, of course, when we absolutely need to have all the stereotypes for "hot" inserted randomly and without reason here and there. The development was nule for most characters and, when it existed, it was unoriginal.

Music was only memorable for being misused.

In the end, it was a terrible experience and it let my expectations and hopes for the future down. It is the anime made for the average fangirl that is happy just by seeing hot guys running in something very similar - but not quite - to a plot. Unfortunately, I'm not the average fangirl anymore. read more

With the time that was taken to conceive and release this short OVA... I was expecting a lot. It was with great disappointment that the spin-off of Kimi ga Nozomu Eien aka Rumbling Hearts turned out to be a poor crafted and rushed piece.

The story was kept neatly, and that was its greatest point as spin-off. Taking some scenes from the original series as retrospective, it gave a very consistent view of the whole plot. More than the current relationship between the characters it briefly explained their past and their reasons. The story could be taken from a soap-opera, but unlike most anime it has a very mature view about it. It's set at a grownup world with grownup problems, from casual sex to the part-time job distress, with some hints to the economic recession of Japan. One can believe that the story can actually happen. But that's also about the original season...

The characters kept their strong personalities, even though they were not as explored. The mysterious Haruka (the dumb-cute girl that says "ara" sometimes. And that is the minor main character, if that makes any sense) was better revealed and turned out quite interesting. As for the others, it was weird to see them without depressions, despairs and other mental problems. Even anime characters can be cured with some therapy a spin-off.

However... The art was terrible. Not to say it was horrible. I was expecting something cared, detailed, soft... And I see computer generated highlights in a sloppy animation. It had everything one does not want to see in animation, from broken movements to slow mouth motion... The sound was also a disappointment. I don't know what happened to the Voice Actors this time, but they did not do a good job.

Overall, a good watch to an appreciator of Rumbling Hearts. The theme is real and the resolution is pretty. Just do not expect too much. read more

Passed during a mysterious parallel thought of Edo period, Amatsuki is a very interesting anime that explores the relationship between the basic religious classes of Shinto: Demons, Humans, Kami and the Heaven.

The first thing we have to remember to be able to fully enjoy this is that these "classes" are completely unrelated to anything you may find in the montheist Western religions we're used to. Demons, Humans and Kami (the spirits of things, if I am allowed to simplify) live in unrelated worlds, bounded by thin bridges, while the Heaven is a higher place where everything belongs. It is in Heaven (Ten) that the destiny is forged and inserted in matter. Everything is ok in Amatsuki, the Edo mirror, until this young man Toki appears. Happens that young Toki also has the ability to forge destiny! Which dwells into the desire to change it.

The story is absolutely interesting because of this setting. Some of the characters know what the destiny will be and will want to change it, while the main character is driven through a madness of a world that he does not know, trying to fit himself, please everyone and keep up with the people he loves.

The art is not refined, but appropriate, and the portrays of demons are very amusing. It fits well the characters: an assortment of hot guys (for my fangirl pleasure), original designs for the paranormal beings and delicacy of clothes for the girls. The personalities of the characters are also very interesting, from the lazy demon boss to the shy and short tempered possessed girl. However, the main character fails them. A boy that never had any problem, has no reason for being kind, accepts everything just because... Too ideal.

A beautiful world surrounded by a beautiful musical score, with the great defect of being too short. The secondary story (heart-taking and inspiring, for what matters) took all the time, while the primary was left open with a declaration of war to the Heavens. This outrageous ending makes Amatsuki deserve its fair score. All we can hope is that a second season is written in our destiny. read more

Eyeshield 21 is an essay in 145 episodes about... American Football! A game that I don't know, like or understand, portrayed in anime! A game that we always believed that was only played in America... In anime! Conclusion: Must Watch.

The story is as simple as "sports anime": a team and its players, represented by the Speed-Light Running Back Kobayakawa Sena as main character, must overcome stronger teams and players by evoluting physically and spiritually in way to get to the ultimate victory (participating in the Christmas Bowl). However, this team is not like your average! They are below the average! In the end, this is the fight of an underdog team composed by untalented members that had to generate their talent through train and hard work. Very heart warming for people that, like me, don't have talent and have to do everything through hard work.

Adding to this, the characters are pretty much... Brilliant. Each character design is a caricature from the corresponding personality. With this fashion, characters that had not much of a content, turned into people that you are willing to support and even identify with. You find all the stereotypes, but you also discover that they are real and have their reasons.

The animation is quite good, as well as the art overall, but this series suffers of a disease common to most long anime: repeated animation sequences and loss of detail quality through the series. Of course that if you watch an episode a week like you should and not 15 a day like I did, you will most likely never notice this. However, the slow paced games hook you up to the point of wanting to watch them as soon as possible. Even the filler episodes held enough fun.

A great comedy, with its inspirational and touching moments, and above all a tribute to American Football. read more

The one word about SoulTaker is "colours".

Colours, colours everywhere!

The art of this anime is simply astounding. It breaks all the rules about colouring patterns, uses innovative games of light and shadow and the overall achievement is a confusion of bidimensional planes: awesome!

But... While the art is original and superb, the rest is pretty much mediocre. We can't really ask too much from a plot that mixes winged monsters, aliens and shotguns, except for high doses of bloody entertainment. They give it to us and, somewhat, the amazing art is appropriated to the flow of the events. The characters don't have any especially original trait: they "work for the story".

Amazing for the eye-breaking art, you should not hold any more expectations about SoulTaker. It's still a very enjoying and easy to watch series (except if you have epilepsy, of course, then it would not be recommended) read more

"Close the Last Door" is your average BL story, but very entertaining and curious in its own way.

It all starts in the usual desperation: "I am not gay and yet I love this man. Also, he just got married." From here, the story twitches amongst the groom, this unfortunate best man and one of the bride's friends.

What makes everything fun is that the situation is actually possible. The characters are also very real. Their trouble is actual and the ways they use to solve it are also expected from real humans. This is what turned an average male-on-male romance in an entertaining piece. The light humour and the pace of the speech also contribute to this.

The great annoyance of "Close the Last Door" is the diminute and almost forced love scenery, that doesn't seem to fit in the whole light-hearted mood. They are stuffed in the middle of other scenes and don't even show what I would have liked to see (and most fangirls, for what matters)

Still, it brings out some good laughs. read more

"Fake" roams around the troubled relationship of two American cops while solving a complicated case.

As great fan of the manga I held up my expectations for this OVA. This anime adaptation of "Fake" focus on the Act 5 of the Manga, published on the second volum which, by itself, reduces very much the potential of the story. The flashback trick of the manga is explored here, but it was still disappointing not to see more.

The manga story holds many detailed complexities, that were basically left out in the anime. However, it's still a great action and mystery tale.

The characters were prefectly characterized: many hints and a lovely flashback are presented for us to know what is going on between them. However, for those that have not read the manga, a mistery remains: who the hell are Bikky and Chal and what are they doing there?

Special kudos for the voice actors, a great cast that worked their job perfectly. Only Dee's voice seemed "not quite right", but after some minutes I got used to it and now I can't imagine him differently.

This is very enjoyable, much more for the adventure and mystery than for the BL (which, being near to none and not explicit at all, is well done and realistic). read more