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I have to say that this is certainly one of the most inconsistent anime series I have ever seen. Its almost like it isnt sure where it wants to go and keeps switching between all sorts of anime types, its almost like Excel Saga only the changes are not done tongue in cheek and they are not as drastic. Ok maybe thats a bit of an exaggeration but I am not kidding you when I say that there are a few fight scenes in this anime...yeah ill try not to spoil anything but its gonna be hard.

Story: 7

Although inconsistent the story is interesting, in fact it is so interesting that I spent the entire series asking what the heck is going on. Seriously, so so many questions are left unanswered. We never even find out how the whole time traveling thing with the three sisters (who incidentally look nothing like each other but in between Ai-chan and Mai-chan im not complaining...). We also are not given much of an idea of exactly why they are traveling which leaves the characters without a solid motive for their actions but ill get more into that when I talk about the characters.

Despite the fact that we are never given much of an explanation for the plot, the story is still very solid and the last few episodes WILL tug at your heartstrings (id say more but its says no spoilers). All and all I think the story would have been alot better if they gave us some kind of backstory but instead we get an elementary school boy running headfirst into a naked woman's cavernous-cleavage...which isnt really that bad of a swap for some people.

Art: 6

Whoever drew the characters also liked to draw naked girls apparently. I am not kidding when I say that every single main female character in the series shows up bare chested on multiple occasions (granted most of which are bath scenes and the absence of any main male characters keeps them from being what I like to call "Love Hina bath scenes") That being said he (or she) did a pretty good job. Each character looks unique and there is no possibility of getting any of them confused (like I said the sisters look nothing like each other). The scenery did seem a bit dull though and the whole magic flower in the sky that makes the house dissolve and travel through time thing (which no attempt is ever made to explain) also looks a bit stale.

One last point to note, if you are like me and want to watch this anime because of the (in)famous MeMe with Caramelldansen, they never actually dance like that in the show itself.

Sound: 6

Like with the art, the best sound in this series involves the characters. Each of the voice actresses do a good job of conveying the proper emotions and give the characters a character all of their own. Also like the art, the sound was pretty stale on anything that didnt involve the characters. Now it wasnt bad but halfway through the series I found myself just skipping the opening song and I dont recall any times when the sound effects or music really added much to the scene but I also dont remember any times when they seemed off or inappropriate.

Character: 7

Ah the characters. As another reviewer mentioned, each of the main characters is basically an anime stereotype: Ai is the VERY well endowed mother-like gentle elder sister (who can talk to plants which is never quite explained). Mai is the athletic tomboyish type (and my personal favorite) who grapples with deeper emotions on the inside while looking cheerful and positive on the outside. Mii is...well Mi is the hyperactive little girl/magical girl character (complete with a "magic" hammer which she waves at people for the duration of an entire episode). Despite the stereotypes the characters do not fill two dimensional at all. The emotions are portrayed and dealt with very well and you really cant help but feel sympathy for them (especially around the end of the series).

Ah right I forgot to mention there is a android maid (actually I dont think its ever actually revealed that she is an android even though it says so in the intro on MyAnimeList. There are several occasions where the maid does bathe herself and also eats (alot) but based on behavior and appearance its a pretty safe assumption that she is in fact an android).

There are several reasons why I only gave a 7 for characters. One of which is that unlike the 3 sisters, most of the other characters really do seem two dimensional and sometimes they act almost spontaneously and inconsistently (example is the silver-haired guy who shows up in the second half of the series. His role is never explained much at all. The only thing he seems to be there for is to provide a fight scene or two using enhanced speed and strength which again is never explained.)

Enjoyment: 6

As I keep saying, this show would have been alot more enjoyable (probably up to an 8 overall or at least a 7) had they given us at least some explanation of why the girls are time traveling, how the whole thing got started with the house, who/what exactly is _____ (so many characters can go in the blank), how can Ai talk to plants (And for that matter, why?), etc.

Im the kinda guy who likes to at least be given a hint as to what is going on, I kept hoping that we would get some plot explanation at some point but it just never happened which left me with sort of a hollow feeling. Yeah the show was enjoyable, it made you grin alot and made you think a few times too but all that is lessened by the fact that at the back of your mind you are saying "What the heck is going on?" at least you are if you are me.

Overall: 6

Its not the best anime out there but there are alot worse ones out there. If nothing else it is certainly unique. Maybe if you go into it knowing ahead of time that you will never be given much of a hint as to the backstory then you may have more fun with it than I did but all and all I dont regret watching it. read more

For a series that is only 12 episodes long (at the time this was written I have heard nothing of any plans to make a second season) Shigofumi is an Anime with amazing depth and a very well written story. It is one of the best anime's I have seen in a long time, certainly one of the best anime series I have seen with less than 20 episodes.

Story - 9

As I said before the writing in Shigofumi is amazing in itself, even more amazing is the fact that it is presented gradually over the span of 12 episodes at a perfect pace. I have seen many short anime's try to rush the plot to make it fit but Shigofumi's story fits so well that it would be madness to have more than 12 episodes. The story itself is filled with multiple plot twists and it really pulls at the heart strings in many parts. One of the hardest points of any story is nailing a good ending in the resolution. Shigofumi does not get a perfect score since it does leave some of the more supernatural elements of the series and the late introduction of a few characters unexplained/undeveloped but in the end these elements only play a minor role in Shigofumi so they hardly take away from this Anime's memorable plot.

Art - 8

Nothing really special to mention about the art in Shigofumi. Its well above average and I have not complaints about it but I have seen a few anime's that manage to top it (Clannad for example). I wouldnt call Shigofumi eye candy but it is still far above the art found in most anime. Character design in particular is excellent, each of the reoccurring characters have a unique appearance so the viewer should never get them confused.

Sound - 8

As with the art, the sound in Shigofumi is far better than most but not the best by any means. Everything from the voice acting, to the music, and even the subtle sound effects are very nicely done though they simply do not stand out as much as the story or the...

Character - 9

In the span of only 12 episodes, Shigofumi not only managed to do an incredible amount of character development (without relying too heavily on flashbacks) for the main characters, but it also even managed to provide some background info on some of the minor characters. Even more so almost all the characters are likable (except for the few who are not meant to be) and you will find yourself sympathizing with more than one of them at at least one or two points in the series. Each character has a specific personality which they follow extremely well, in fact I dont think any of them ever "broke character" in the series. To give you an idea of how well done the character's are in this series, at the end of episode 12, while the credits are rolling, some of the more prominent reoccurring characters are shown. As each was shown I found that I instantly remembered each of them, not for what they did, but for who they were. I can say the same for only a handful of other animes.

Enjoyment - 8

If you want an action packed anime, Shigofumi is not what you are looking for. If you want an anime with lots of boobs, Shigofumi is not what you are looking for. If you want an anime that will make you laugh so hard that you need a friend on standbye to shock you back to life, Shigofumi is not what you are looking for.

But if you want an anime with an absolutely amazing story, well developed characters, and all in the span of only 12 episodes, Shigofumi is certainly what you are looking for. Even if you are just looking for a good anime to watch, you could do alot worse than Shigofumi.

Overall - 8

Truth be told, I debated giving this anime a 9 (the same score I gave Clannad, Death Note, and both seasons of Code Geass) but I finally decided to settle for an 8 for the reason that Shigofumi does do a few things wrong IMO. First of all it never goes into much depth about the supernatural elements of the story, we are just given the bare basics of it which is really all we needed to know for the main plot, still it does leave a bit of curiosity on the part of the viewer. The other thing that Shigofumi does wrong is that it does introduce about 1 to 3 new characters in the last few episodes that are presented in a way that implies that they are important or that we should know who they are but then we are never told who they are or their character is never developed at all. The main example here is the woman/women who Chiaki talks to in episode 11. It is implied that she and Chiaki have some sort of friction between them and that she is related to the supernatural element (which as I said is underdeveloped) but other than that, nothing else is revealed about her.

Despite these tiny mistakes, Shigofumi really is still an absolutely amazing story and I highly recommend it to nearly all anime fans. read more

Just finished watching the series and I have to say that it was pretty interesting and unique. Having said that it didn't exactly impress me but it did manage to hold my attention for 24 episodes which is always a good thing, anyway on to the review.

Story (8): The plot was unique alright, the whole premise was pretty zany after all. Overall all it was pretty good but I couldn't bring myself to give it more than an 8 because the plot was inconsistent and didn't really flow all that well in some places. Sometimes it seemed as if NHK couldn't decide if it wanted to be a comedy or a drama but in the end it managed to do a decent job of both.

Art (7): The art was acceptable, well above average but hardly noteworthy. There were no flaws in animation or art that come to mind but neither were there any scenes that just dazzled me with their artistic design.

Sound (7): I noticed a lot of repetitive sounds and even some public domain sound effects thrown in from time to time and the music was about average but the voice actors did their jobs well enough. Not the best by any means but they made their characters convincing enough.

Character (8): Having only four main characters means that there is a lot of time for background and character development. There are lots of animes that seem to forget about this and toss it in at the last moment but NHK does a good job of giving us back story in nice manageable bits and pieces and intermingles it well with the current plot line. The characters themselves were fairly deep and believable MOST of the time but there were a few instances where their actions didn't seem to jive or make sense so they were also inconsistent sometimes. Most of the time however the characters were very well done and could easily be identified with.

Enjoyment (7): All and all this Anime was worth it. I have seen better comedies and better dramas but NHK did an acceptable job of making a comedic anime with some dramatic elements in a way that balanced to two genres fairly well. Some parts of the story arcs like the offline meeting and the MMORPG arcs were very enjoyable while others seemed to flounder around until they moved on to the next arc but all and all I would recommend this anime. It wont blow you out of the water but it is worth a look. read more

I watched the first Kara no Kyoukai last night and wrote a review for it in which I complained about the lack of back story. This second movie really should have been the first movie since it does give you some character introduction (it takes place before the events in the first movie I believe) although it is still not much. Anyway on to the review:

Story (9): Like the first movie the story was engaging and made you eager to find out what was going to happen next. Unlike the first movie, Satsujin Kousatsu had a story that did not feel like you should already know whats going on. That being said the story itself did leave a lot of unanswered questions which I suspect will be explained in later movies (partially explains pseudo-cliffhanger ending I guess) but as a stand alone movie I cannot give it a perfect story score.

Art (10): The art style of the second movie was just as good as the first if not better. The attention to detail is staggering with especially in terms of light and reflections. During the katana sparring scene the detail on each beam of light poking through the window slits was enough to take my eye away from the fight if only for a moment. The lighting of the bamboo forest scene was also memorable. Character design is well above average too.

Sound (9): Once again the voice actors do their jobs well and the music matches the tone almost perfectly. There were a few sound effects that seemed a bit off but you have to listen very closely. Also the variation in Shiki's voice between her personalities is done well.

Character (8): As interesting as the characters seem to be we only know a little bit about the main characters and virtually nothing about everyone else. Even though we did finally get some back story on Shiki and Kotoku, there are still mountains of unanswered questions and Kotoku's background is still virtually unknown. Also there are some character aspects that in my opinion just didn't seem realistic but I cant give examples here because they would be spoilers but lets just say no sane person would trust a person THAT much. Other than that though the characters were very deep, almost too deep but its better than being too shallow.

Enjoyment (9): An engaging story, an art style that is pure eye candy, a haunting soundtrack, and deep characters make this a very enjoyable movie, Its nice to finally have some clues about what is going on but now it has me begging for more. read more

Before I start let me just say that I went into this knowing absolutely nothing about this series. After watching this movie I still know close to nothing about the series. I understand that there is a deep complex plot based on some novels here but I would still expect at least an intro narration or some other form of back story to kinda help newcomers like me get into the plot. Anyway moving on.

Story (7): As I said before the movie offered almost know background information. I could tell that there was a highly complex story going on and what I did get was very good but it just felt like I was supposed to already know what is going on from the get go. I should not have to read a wikipedia page in order to understand the background after having actually seen the movie. There were a few parts were the story seemed to drone on and other parts where the subplot of the movie did not make sense at all but for the most part the story I did understand was pretty good.

Art (10): Let me tell you that this movie has some of the best visual effects I have seen in any Anime. Everything from the expressions on a characters face to the water splashing was amazing (the latter actually made my jaw drop during the fight scene). Some of the character and scenery art was not consistently up to snuff with the level of other character and scenery art but now im being nitpicky. This movie is eye candy.

Sound (9): Although it didnt wow me like the art did, the sound was almost flawless in everything from the characters' voices to simple audio effects. The music in particular was perfect for setting the appropriate mood.

Character (7): Much like the story I kinda felt like I was already supposed to know all the characters which made it difficult to become attached to them. Kudos to Shiki for wearing a kimono and wielding a katana (technically it was a Tanto or Wakizashi) which is something I havnt seen since Sakura Wars. Still when the main character's hand turns into a puppet's hand making me believe that she is some kind of animated doll halfway through the movie...yeah. Ambiguity aside the characters were engaging enough to make me curious to see what happens to them next so good job.

Enjoyment (8): This would have gotten a 7 if it were not for the fight scene. After spending the first part of the movie demanding to know what the heck was going on it was nice to have a spectacular fight scene thrown in to make me forget that I still had no idea how the main character had the ability to kill ghosts but then I didn't care. Even without knowing any back story I enjoyed this movie. read more

I just finished watching this anime and it really is a tragedy. I was all set to give Blood + a perfect 10, a honor which only Evangelion has received from me before (excuse the tongue-in-cheek ego) but while the series was great for 40 or so episodes it just couldn't land the ending. I will try not to reveal much but I need to get this off my chest. To me its almost as if the original writer died before the series was finished and didn't tell anyone how it was supposed to end. So some guy who has only seen a few clips of the previous episode comes along and writes an ending based on limited knowledge. Other than Haji's kick ass fight scenes in the final episodes (I wont spoil much but any fight scene in which someone is impaled on the Chrysler Building and then is struck by lightning kicks ass). Also in the last five episodes when it started to have semi-political undertones and started to portray Americans as devious scheming bastards who nuke something whenever the shit hits the fan also turned me off. Read my lips; POLITICS HAS NO PLACE IN ANIME! The last episode was for me a let down and a pain to watch after I had such I hopes for the series. Blood + really is good but in retrospect it never should have gotten a 10 to begin with.

Ok on to the review:

Story:
Up until the final quarter of the series the story is pretty engaging and there are some story arcs where you find yourself almost forced to watch the next episode in order to see what happens. There are several twists and turns, several "I did not see that coming" moments and a fair amount of mystery and revelations for the majority of the series. The only reason I give the Story a 7 is because as I said the ending was just that much of a disappointment for me.

Art:
The graphics were stunning. Ive only seen a few animes with better eye candy than in Blood + which is surprising because usually these kind of action/adventure animes are not known for their graphics. Character Designs are pretty good for the most part as well. 9 out of 10.

Sound:
I could be wrong but I think Hans Zimmer was involved with this Anime. Even if he wasnt the music in Blood + tops that of any anime I have seen except maybe for Kanon and possibly Clannad. The voice actors did a superb job as well. I cant think of anything wrong with the sound in Blood + so perfect 10.

Character:
For an anime that takes 50 episodes to reach its conclusion you really would expect more from the characters. With a few exceptions among the top few characters, Blood + offers very little in the way of background story for a large portion of the major characters. We learn very little about most of the villains and we only get a taste of many of the protagonist's stories. Also the characters feel one dimensional near the end of the series so their development and behavior is very inconsistent. Normally I wouldn't complain this much because they did give a sufficient amount of back story for the two main characters but since we are stuck with them for 50 episodes I kinda felt like the characters around Saya seemed a bit too hollow (nothing to do with Bleach). 6 out of 10

Enjoyment:
What can I say I watched an anime that was 50 episodes long so I obviously enjoyed it, at least episodes 1-40. Ok I admit I first started watching it because I saw Saya wielding a Katana in a school uniform and so Blood + joins the the long list of Anime that have lured me in with such tactic but it is one of the few that I have seen to its conclusion, granted the conclusion was a bit of a let down but still. I recommend this Anime. Even though it doesn't warrant a 10 or even a 9, it is still an overall enjoyable experience. 8 out of 10

Overall:

Blood + is much like Saya's acrobatics in the first episode. It makes the most amazing jump and dazzles us as it flies through the air but it simply cannot nail the finish. 8 out of 10. read more

I'm probably the only one here who didnt really like this movie but im sorry I just didn't get it. I am a harsh critic so bear with me. The whole time traveling thing was neat but...well lets break it down:

Story:

Basic "Don't screw around with stuff you don't understand or bad stuff happens" storyline. Been there done that but havnt bought the t-shirt just yet. One of my rules is a good story will leave you with your mouth hanging open and saying "No Way". Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo only did that twice during the whole movie (want to say what they are but it says I cant do spoilers). The story had about two twists two it and that was pretty much it. It was also fairly inconsistent, going from being interesting to tedious fairly frequently...and it spent more time on tedious than interesting. It was slow and in the end just didnt make a whole lot of sense so 6 out of 10.

Art:

Well I cant really say much for the art style but it, like the story, kind of seemed to vary from average to just above average. What I mean is some shots show wonderful detail over a great depth of field while others look like the video of astronauts playing golf on the moon...well ok the quality never got that bad but still the character artists seemed to be having a pretty bad day. The main character to me kinda sorta looked like a more girlie version of Shinji from Evangelion, which I didn't believe (or want to believe) was possible, thank God she (yes I am well aware that part of this was that Mokoto has more x chromosomes than Shinji but still...) wasn't as annoying as he was. ("Bad dad I dont want to pilot the giant robot!" "Son this is an anime, NOBODY turns down an offer to pilot a giant robot! Now get in and shut up!")

Animation was what really brought down the Art score here. The animation had a bad habit of being choppy, especially for slow character movements like walking. Fast movements were an improvement but even then there were a few "barrel roles" that didn't look right. One particular gripe was the un-realistic way character's clothes or hair moved while they were running or riding a bicycle for example. On exception was the flying fat guy. (Only time I laughed the entire movie)

Sound:

In my opinion the sound saved this movie, the sound effects were fairly well done and the music was impressive. The character voices were alright, I dont have any complaints to make there. Only wish they would have had more music.

There was however one 90 second loop of the main character breathing loudly as she was running which just sounded really odd since it lasted so long.

Character:

As a writer one of my rules is that at the core of every good story are good characters, in this regard Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo almost failed. None of the characters were developed well and you weren't really able to distinguish between most of them until the very end of the movie. The main character herself was often annoying and had a bad habit of being an "emotional basket case" more than I would have liked. The most important failure of the characters however was they just didn't get me to care about them. If a character cannot do that then he or she is not a good character, thats my opinion anyway. I would have given this category a much lower rating but near the end of the movie one character revealed something that even I didnt see coming so it gets a 4 instead of a 2. (I hate the no spoiler rule).

Enjoyment:

Well it is hard to enjoy an anime where you really dont care about the characters and when you can pretty much predict what the conflict will be. Most of it was very confusing and it almost seemed like the movie was trying to go back and explain what it forgot to explain earlier. There were also several events that had no real significance what so ever. When the thought of not finishing an anime crosses my mind, it means I am not enjoying it.

Overall:

Like I said people are going to hate me for this but I am a brutal critic, of my own work as well as others mind you. So lets recap: Meh Story, Average art with mediocre animations, exceptional sound quality, one-dimensional characters, and a confusing and somewhat pointless plot. Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo gets a 6...out of 10. read more