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When news about this series was launched, I somewhat had mixed feelings; the original Fate/Stay Night was so horrible, I pity myself for watching it, while Fate/Zero was absolutely fantastic, plus Ufotable, responsible for Fate/Zero, were producing it.

That brings me to Fate/Stay Night UBW.

In short, I'd say that this series was absolutely stunning. I'm so glad it didn't turn out like the 2006 one.

Story- 8
Granted, the story was not as compelling as Fate/Zero. However, I was deeply surprised by the dark elements that were introduced. The 2006 one felt like a sad piece of shit, where viewers are supposed to feel sorry for Shiro throughout, ... for being the absolute dimwit he is. Rather than a hopeless romance that Stay Night (2006) was, UBW is more focused on progress and action sequences. UBW might not have an extremely good story line, but it is fairly entertaining, without the presence of any loopholes.

Art- 10
One word. Beautiful. Ufotable probably produces the most beautiful and amazingly stunning visuals I have ever seen to date. If Fate/Zero amazed me, this has managed to surpass even that in terms of animation.

Sound- 10
Both opening soundtracks, especially Brave Shine, have found themselves cemented on my playlist. Sound effects, outstanding.

Character- 7
If this anime has even a small flaw, this might be it. Obviously, this was a HUGE step up from the 2006 version, but it did lack character depth. Characters like Kirei, Ilya and Saber could have added more to the show, and I would have preferred slightly more prominent roles (but then again, it might not have been that way in the visual novel). The apparent lack of a distinguished antagonist didn't help the cause. Kirei was the perfect antagonist in Fate/Zero, so I was expecting quite a lot from him in this as well (as this was supposed to be a direct sequel). Nevertheless, the annoying character of Tohsaka Rin has had a huge improvement, and she is pretty likable now. The most significant change I've seen in terms of character, is Shiro's. The hopelessly pathetic sorry piece of shit in Fate/Stay Night (2006) has turned out to be full badass in UBW; I hated him in the 2006 one, and was quite disappointed that he wasn't killed off by the end. However, his UBW character is the definition of a shounen anime/manga protagonist; it's as if his UBW character was finally provided with some balls, which the original clearly lacked.

Enjoyment- 9
It's one of the few anime I've really enjoyed in 2014-15.

Overall- 9
Give it a watch if you're in for a ride.

(P.S. Some of the subs don't make even the slightest of senses, so bear with it, or wait for it to be updated with better translations)

Uchuu Kyoudai (Space Brothers) is one of those anime that will leave you glad after having watched it. It is not merely a story of an older sibling having fallen behind, but is much more intriguing. The challenges of realising your dream, working hard to achieve it, finally fulfilling it, and even some of the difficulties that arise for you to sustain it, all of these are beautifully depicted in this anime. Sure, it is almost 100 episodes long; but, by the end of the anime, you would merely treat it as another number.

Stunning visuals and voice acting are probably the best aspects of this ... anime; you can completely understand the emotions in dialogue. The characters are a joy to watch, and the story itself is decently paced and interesting.

If you do decide to give this a watch, you will not be disappointed. I honestly hope there's a continuation, as there are several things that can still be explored with the series.

CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS

Death Note, Death Note, Death Note. I can't even remember the number of people who had suggested this anime, and claimed this to be the best of them all. Fair enough, I gave it a watch. Dropped it the first time after 20 episodes, can't really explain why. That was a few years back; maybe I wasn't ready for such genres yet, as I, like every other adolescent boy, was happy watching typical mainstream shounen.

So, after improving my anime knowledge over the years, I finally decided to give it a second chance. This time around, the impression it has left me is slightly ... better.

The story tells us of Yagami Light, who obtained a supernatural notebook, the Death Note, to kill the evil and crooked, in order to establish a perfect world free of crime and suffering. The protagonist, or rather antagonist based on how you see him, is pit against this genius mysterious young detective, L, who had never failed to solve even the toughest of all cases. So Kira (Light) vs. L , who will come out on top?

PROS:
1. The concept itself is pretty appealing and new. I mean think of it, a Death Note, which can kill people by simply writing a name in it!

2. Shinigami (God of Death). 'nuff said.

3. Yagami Light and L. Both the protagonist and antagonist (or vice versa depending on personal opinion), are great. Smart, ruthless, with a strong sense of justice, it can be said that they are two faces of the same coin. Brilliantly sketched with amazing voice acting, you will come to appreciate the sheer brilliance of these two characters.

4. Pace. Neither too fast, nor too slow, each episode has a lot of material to be absorbed.

5. Story. No loopholes whatsoever. Be prepared to get your mind fucked, with the sheer amount of plot twist after plot twist. It will make you curious, and wanting to watch the next episode.

6. Sound. The opening and closing soundtracks were absolutely stunning. Apart from that, the sound effects throughout the anime gave it an eerie atmosphere.

7. Suspense. It's full of it. Even till the end, the mysteries surrounding L have not been fully revealed.


CONS:
1. Some characters might have needed a bit more to them, as they felt empty, and served mainly cameos.

2. The story fell off in the second arc. Felt slightly rushed, with the plot becoming more apparent and less interesting. A bit disappointing, honestly, especially because of the way it had built up the first part.

3. Following the time skip, Light's smart acumen seemed to have had a major setback. You'll begin to question some of the decisions he makes later on. You can say he had become careless.

4. L's successor(s) were not that intriguing to watch. They could have used a bit more development, if they were to be projected as successors to the almighty L.


Overall, the anime was fairly decent, and a joy to watch. Was it a masterpiece? Not in my eyes; I can name a fair few anime that have been better, from my limited knowledge of anime so far. Is it overhyped / overrated? Maybe, maybe not, depending on how you view it, and how you enjoyed it. For me personally, Death Note was unique, but not epic.

Tokyo Ghoul and Tokyo Ghoul Root A has turned out to be disappointing so far.

After the disappointment of the first season, where the story pace felt vastly off, making it difficult to follow, I was expecting Root A to work on some of the deficiencies which held it back. Sadly, it didn't turn out that way.

There are two main points which I disliked about Tokyo Ghoul so far. Character and plot. Forgettable characters, with unmemorable plot, combine to deliver a, rather, average anime, despite its brilliant sound and art.

Out of all the characters that have been introduced so far, none of the them have ... had a decent development. Almost all anime has at least one character you can relate to. Sadly, this has none. And another problem is, too many characters. A new character is introduced almost every other day, with no significant background to support them. As a result, I could name only a few of the characters.

The plot has major loopholes. Transitioning between each episode has been a real pain, with either the plot abruptly changing, to never finding the initial path after it had branched off, or the characters being omitted altogether, as if the producers have forgotten about their existence. The story felt rushed as well, as there was a lack of proper buildup, or even efforts to show a little consistency with progress. Just when I thought that I'm beginning to follow the plot, it abruptly jumps to a new scenario, with no mention of the former.

This anime is extremely difficult to follow. The producers honestly should have taken more time to tell the story, and develop the characters more meaningfully.

Overall, it has been yet another disappointing Tokyo Ghoul entry, but I hope the franchise improves in the future.

As I write this review, I sit beside a bucket full of the manly tears that I shed.

Clannad, Clannad: After Story, what an emotional rollercoaster it has been. You made me laugh like a fool, then cry my heart out, all in the blink of an eye.

I really wish the writer(s) got a Booker for the story. Everything from the start to the end was beautifully planned out. Each and every episode felt relevant, adding more quality to the characters and plot.

Individually, Clannad was good; it depicts the life of a high school delinquent, till he meets the love of his life. Typical high school ... plot, with a lot of take on humour (so much that my roommate probably thinks I need professional 'help'), with a few tear jerking moments. Each episode serves a meaning. In fact, Clannad is not as emotional as After Story, but it builds up the story. The characters literally have life injected into them; you will come to not only fall in love with the characters, but project yourself into a few of them. This part might appear over hyped, but it is rightly so, especially because of what's about to come; it was downright necessary.

After Story, where do I start. The first half of the series continued on from Clannad, and depicts the remainder of their highschool lives. Once again, lots of humour, meaningful episodes and nostalgic reminders of school life (I graduated quite a while back, so it does serve as stigma to hidden memories).

Come the second half. I seriously question the legitimacy of my manhood. I cried like I had not in years. Each of the issues that were appearing throughout the series will eventually be answered with the most heart wrenching of conclusions. If you had had a good laugh till now, cherish it; you will be dropped in a well of despair.

But fear not, as the ending will pick you up, and shine a ray of hope. It does end on a happy note, which I felt was extremely necessary, given all the tears that I had shed. The story is gripping, with the viewer becoming more curious everyday as to the fate of the characters (I binge watched half of After Story in a day, especially when it reached its climax)

And FYI, I had read a few of the spoilers beforehand, to prepare myself emotionally, but it still managed to drain the fluids from my body.

Will I give it a rewatch? I fear not, as I am not emotionally prepared to face these turmoils again. A must watch, definitely.





Now I need to go watch some shounen/seinen to man myself up again.

THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SOME SPOILERS

Firstly, I apologise for the strong use of words in this review, but there is no other way to describe this anime. Next, for reviewing purposes, I'll divide this entire anime into 2 parts- the SAO arc and the ALO arc.

From the beginning, this anime has been overhyped, so much that I actually spent my valuable time watching it. Since this was also the first game-based anime I had watched, and since I was a gamer myself, I was curious about how they represent a game in anime terms.

The first SAO arc was quite enjoyable, honestly. Well, things happened, ... people got trapped and killed, yada yada; Kirito the OP-est fuck eventually won. The animations were good, sound was okayish, plot was commendable. Though, some of the useless fan-servicing romantic sub-plots in between was total BS. The pacing was decent, though it was a bit slow at times. Still, I'd give this arc a solid 8/10.

Now, the ALO arc. HOLY FUCKING SHIT, WHY THE FUCK WOULD ANYONE MAKE THIS? For some reason, there's this other evil dude who wants to control the world through a game. Yes that's right, a FUCKING game which does not trap people inside and does not kill you if you virtually die (unlike the first arc). And this dude is sick, like necrophiliac sick (well not completely, but close). And for some other frigging reason, there's this useless piece of shit younger sister (not actual siblings, but first cousins nonetheless) who completely falls head over heels for his brother who was in his sleep for 3 years, 3 FRIGGING YEARS! No 'Oniisan, how are you? You've been asleep for 3 years', but straight to 'Hey Oniisan, wanna be the otou-san to my akachan?' I mean, seriously, INCEST in an anime which was turning out to be decent? Just when I thought this anime couldn't get worse, they paced the fuck out of it, faster than Eminem could rap. The plot itself was pathetic and felt rushed. I'd rate this arc in negative numbers if that's possible.

This anime is a big disappointment. It could have turned out to be a decent experience, but ended up disgusting me to the core. And to make matters worse, this has subsequent seasons.

Recommended for viewing? ABSOLUTELY NOT. If given an option to re-watch this anime or sleep with an ape, I'd bang the monkey any day. This is like the Twilight of anime. Please, do me a favour by not watching it.

This review will not give detailed explanations about how good / bad this anime is with respect to FMA:B, but it will highlight why it has stood out as another independent masterpiece.

As most of you know, this version, the older version, largely deviates from the manga after a certain point, as the manga could not keep up with the anime.

FMA:B, on the other hand, follows the manga to its core.

Having said that, many would assume that the 2003 FMA would be worse than FMA:B, as it deviates from the manga. This is not the case.

FMA and FMA:B are both enjoyable.

I have viewed FMA twice (the ... first time when it first came out in 2003; I was merely 10 years old that time, but I did find it amazing)


Story- 10/10

FMA is a much darker anime with respect to FMA:B, while FMA:B is more hilarious.

Not even once did I get bored while watching FMA. Even the filler episodes are highly enjoyable, and adds more to the story. Before FMA:B, this anime was considered a masterpiece, and that was rightfully so. It stands out as an independent piece of class, doing full justice to the alternative story and setting.

Art- 9/10

FMA came out in 2003-04. That was more than 10 years back. Comparing it to the other anime of that era, FMA was leaps and bounds better than most. Even if you are new to the series, and will be watching it soon or in the future, be not afraid; its animation will continue to amaze, unless there are major changes in the animation technology.

Sound- 10/10

For some reason, the only thing that comes to my mind while mentioning the sound effects / quality, is that one scene involving Nina Tucker and the Elric brothers. I will not be giving out spoilers, but that scene, combined with the sound effects, voice effects etc., still sends chills down my spine.

Character- 10/10

I feel the character development for this is better than FMA:B. Characters were covered more in details, each character serving a major purpose in the build up of the story. You'll begin to sympathise with most of the characters, even some of the villains. You'll laugh with them, get angry, annoyed, and even cry at some of the events (them onion cutting ninjas).

Enjoyment- 10/10

I enjoyed it thoroughly, so much that I cannot exactly pinpoint the reasons for the same. The entire anime overall was a piece of art.

Overall- 10/10

This anime, along with its alternative FMA:B, are both amazing. It takes you through a priceless journey (2 journeys in this case), and it was a memorable one.

Recommended for watching? Hell yes. This anime will never cease to amaze you. Watch both this and FMA:B to fully appreciate the FMA universe. Each has its own unique story, and are equally enjoyable. FMA (2003) is a masterpiece in its own right.