Katekyou Hitman Reborn!

Hitman Reborn was initially recommended to me by my friend. However the story looked dull and uninteresting to me, and I was also not sure if I would like it (I watch anime like Bleach, DGrayMan etc.) Thus I started off with the manga. The first thing I thought when I read the manga was "WTH is with that stupid looking baby? The main character is also so badly drawn!" However, after reading a few chapters, I got hooked and finished 100+ chapters in a day. I decided to give the anime a try, as I wanted to see how well the characters could be ... brought to life.

Story:
The only thing that prevented me from giving a 10/10 was that the story took waaaaaaay too long to start! Sure, the first 20 episodes were amusing and had me cracked up, but there was no real storyline to it. The anime was also inferior to the manga in my opinion, as they had more fillers and also took out the guns and knives (and Tsuna's reactions to them) that would have made the whole thing even more hilarious. However after that the real action starts, which had me hooked all the way! The storyline is extremely unique, and Tsuna's irritating underwear transformation thing became less frequent, and finally disappeared altogether :D It is also way different from most shonen anime, which usually only consists of blind fighting and no development at all. In all, an amazing storyline! (After the first 20 episodes, that is, but don't skip till there, have a look at the characters!) :DD

Art:
I would give it an 8/10, as the characters in my opinion were not very well drawn. The characters usually look fine, however weird if shown from different angles. However the animation was okay, the fighting scenes were well animated, and I especially enjoyed looking at Tsuna's weird faces whenever Reborn is up to his antics again x)

Sound:
In my opinion the OPs were the BEST! Drawing days (First OP) had me addicted the first time I listened to it. Except for OP3 (Jumping Days I think), I just didn't like it at all D: The voices for the characters in my opinion were well matched and I just loooooooove them, but Tsuna's voice is still a little weird to me (Too high I guess). The BGM, however, was AMAZING. It totally brings out the mood in whatever is happening and will have you paying attention to it in spite of the action going on! Each character's theme was also awesome, especially Hibari and Gokudera's theme.

Character:
In all, the characters were what makes Reborn a kickass anime! :DDDD It is amazing how some characters who only appeared for comic reliefs could get so serious and awesome whenever they needed to! The way the characters have matured is the main factor that kept me hooked onto the series. The transitioning is so subtle, you wouldn't even notice how much they've grown until you think back and remember how they used to be (Remember whiny old Tsuna?) The different personalities that match each of the characters and the way they follow such an unlikely boss is truly cool! :DDDD

Enjoyment:
I enjoyed Reborn as a whole, except for the first 20 episodes (It's TWENTY hello) but the storyline and arcs later on made up for it, and also the character's ridiculous antics which really give the series a light feeling, yet serious when needed.

Overall, if you're looking for a new anime to watch, try Hitman Reborn! It may seem boring at first, but persevere on! Until the main story starts, there is a good chance that you'll be hooked too :D And the storyline is amazingly unique, I've never seen any anime like it before xD

Katekyo Hitman Reborn is an outstandingly well made anime. I definitely recommend that you watch it if comedy and action applies to your genre of choice.

At first glance, Katekyo Hitman Reborn may seem boring. The major flaw of the anime is that it absolutely misleads you, and it completely deceives you into either a) dropping the anime or b) thinking the anime is lame, when it isn't!
The first 20 episodes may mislead you to drop the anime, just like it misled me, because of its fillerlike episodes. You will most likely tell yourself "Wow, this is really lame. What's the point of all this?" ... That's what I thought, but I gave it a chance. (And I'm SO glad I did. Katekyo Hitman Reborn is now my absolute favorite anime.)

The beginning is kind of slow and different from the rest of the later episodes, because apparently KHR was initially meant to be a gag anime - it was supposed to be something funny and comedic. The anime took a different turn as you progress to episode 20 into something more serious.

The first 20 episodes is merely a /long/ introduction to the anime. It's worth watching though, because you get to be familiar with all the characters. They are all likeable! If you decide to watch Katekyo Hitman Reborn (and I hope you will!) you should decide whether you like it or not, after 25 episodes or so. It's only fair, right? All animes have their flaws; and it's flaw, in my opinion is that they don't give it a decent start. If you do not have the patience for that, then this anime may not be for you.

Storyline:
Katekyo Hitman Reborn deals with the mafia. Tsuna, the *main* character, is in the next line to be the 10th boss for the Vongola Family~ (one of the many families in the mafia.) Reborn, a hitman, and also a baby (hehe), travels from Italy to Japan to tutor Tsuna to become a worthy boss for the Vongola Family.
From then on, Tsuna's adventures and what he experiences are endless-- but they're all interesting. Over the course of the anime, Tsuna grows and matures, and becomes really strong; fighting his enemies and getting stronger each fight he experiences. The fights he encounters are well made, and they WILL keep you at the edge of your seat. Tsuna isn't the only one fighting, though-- he also has a "family"-- his comrades, if you will, and the battles they encounter are endless.

Art:
The art is well made; I don't think there is much to complain about it.
It isn't outstandingly good, nor is it horribly bad to a point where you have to shield your eyes. The characters are wonderfully drawn and are all unique in their own ways. The art progressively gets better as you further get into the anime.

Sound:
The sound is absolutely AMAZING. It deserves an 11/10, as opposed to a 10/10.
I loved all of the openings, and endings-- I never once had to skip it; and that's kind of rare, considering the fact that I'm absolutely picky with my music.
The soundtrack is amazing as well, there is a couple of them for EACH character (well, the main characters, anyways.)
They have a soundtrack for every different scene in the anime, and it is absolutely positively pleasing to the ears. Everything about it is EPIC!

Character:
The characters are very well portrayed; you can't help but love all of them (well most of them anyways.) They change greatly over the course of the anime and it's worthwhile to watch them grow up.

Enjoyment:
I love Katekyo Hitman Reborn! I love everything about it; it makes me laugh until I fall off my seat and look like a loser, it makes me sad as they go through their hard times, it makes me happy as they overcome their obstacles-- and so on.
I can ramble on forever about how much I love the anime, but I'm going to end now, before I end up typing a ten page paper.

Overall:
Katekyo Hitman Reborn is an AMAZING anime as I mentioned a billion times (well not really, but let's pretend.) I highly suggest that you go off and watch it right now, but I can't tell you what to do. It's ultimately up to you.
Everything about it is amazing- it's storyline, (although it may seem boring at first) it's art, it's sound, it's characters-- it's everything!

Story - 8

Hitman Reborn is a pretty unique anime in my opinion. There is one major flaw in the story that prevents me from giving it a full 10. The first 20 episodes or so have no real story arc. While each episode is interesting and helps develop the characters it takes way too long for the story to truly begin. But I will say this. The story arc in this anime is top notch. Once you get to episode 20+ you will be watching the episodes one after another after another. I am anxiously biting my fingernails waiting for the next episodes to be ... subbed!

Art - 8

The artwork in Hitman Reborn is decent. The lame underwear morph on every episode for a while is what brings the grade down a bit, but Tsuna begins to look awesome about 25 episodes in, when the underwear morph becomes not so common and is replaced by something else. The other characters are also drawn very well.

Sound - 9

The soundtrack for Hitman Reborn is awesome both opening and ending songs. The japanese voices all fit the characters as well. The only reason sound isn't a 10 is because of Tsuna's voice in underwear mode. It gets so annoying during the few long sequences.

Characters - 10

The Characters are all unique, with a wide range of personalities all following an unlikely protagonist. Quite frankly i'm jealous of Tsuna. Hes got the perfect range of friends all with flaws that fit the characters as well as strong loyalty to him. The characters couldn't be more enjoyalble. (Save for Tsuna in underwear mode) (Lets face it Underwear mode sucks >.> Thankfully it practically disappears entirely once the true story arc starts.)

Enjoyment - 8

Unfortunately Hitman Reborn loses 2 points here because of how long it takes to get rolling. It seriously has much too long of an introduction phase. If I were to rewatch Hitman Reborn I would start around episode 15 or so. That way you can get a memory of the characters before the story starts. You wont miss practically anything and you'll be loving Hitman Reborn from the start.

Overall - 9

Overall Hitman Reborn gets a 9. It truly is an awesome anime that will keep you hungering for more once it gets rolling.

“WHAT THE HECK IS WITH THAT LITTLE CHIBI DUDE?” I thought to myself when I watched the first episode of Kateikyoushi Hitman Reborn! aka Katekyo Hitman Reborn. What was with the really silly protagonist? Why was he such a wimp and loser? And what was with his weird “transformation?” It’s so bloody revolting and crazy. I thought that the anime was on crack… Seven months later, I took the advice of a friend and decided to give this anime a second chance.

After the second episode and a bit of my own research for random other information and media of the series, I fell in ... love. I also was VERY addicted. I became current with the series in four days; I even endured a rough night and watched 20episodes in one sitting. Anyways, arhem. Let me go into further detail of how my fanaticism for this series began.

Okay, well, I actually thought the first few episodes were rather ridiculous, still. I kept on watching them, though. I mean, who can turn down a Mafia-based anime, anyway? Episodes, nevertheless, turned out to be so incredibly ridiculous that I just had to watch more and more because of the hilarity and comedy I found within the first twenty episodes. To my surprise, I really could not give up on any of the “Filler” episodes or beginning episodes because I was already hooked on the craziness of the series. And although the beginning got way too episodic and “lame” (e.g. like Bleach, D. Gray-Man, and Naruto), I did not give up hope for the series to improve and for the story to develop. The beginning helped create a very fine atmosphere and background for the lifestyles of the protagonists. Once the plot began to reach its first “arc,” or main story, I was amazed by the sudden turn of events. It was a very pleasant surprise to find the main characters undertaking actions to carrying out a rather “dangerous task.” After the arc finishes, there are a couple “Filler” episodes but, they do not entirely intend to act as such because they do develop towards the next arc. The second arc is full of great action and thrill. As of right now, it is still underway. And, as I write this review, I am very anxious to watch more!

EDIT: Wanted to revise this a bit... since I've watched 42more episodes... my impressions of the anime have slightly changed... I'm still a die-hard fan of the series, I have to say... the storyline has indeed slowed down after the second arc, and well... Filler episodes became a bit more trivial and useless... Regardless, it's been on track again to a third arc for the last few episodes. And yet the annoying thing is that, as some people have said, there's always a flashback to what's happened so far... Like from in Bleach. And so, the plot has slowed down tremendously... The characters are still very original and entertaining to observe in developments, though... All other aspects are still very true, though. :P So be sure to keep with this series for it's uniqueness in many other aspects and well general theme. :P

Another reason why I love this series is obviously because of the character development and portrayal. The characters are all just so amazing and cool in their own special ways. Each character possesses a unique and different personality from every other character. From the first impressions of each character, I was rather disgusted. But upon learning more about each character in time, I grew to love each and every character because they each had a special charm or trait that seemed very personal and almost real. I felt very connected to several characters. Furthermore, the character development was not slow at all. Okay, there were a couple cases where the character flash-backs got a bit tedious to watch, but there were sufficient amounts of information to obtain in the meanwhile, so I was not too frustrated with them. Then, information given about the characters were developed into the story in a rather formal and thorough manner which I felt was effective for letting me know about each character. As for a few characters, I have felt (and sometimes still feel) a bit irked by them and their funky and somewhat “naturally” irritating personalities. However, as the story has progressed, I want to say that the characters have grown on me. And now, I appreciate the existence of every one of the characters, and hope to watch (and read) more about them all.

What also helped me get more into the anime was the animation. Initially, I found it a bit funky, but I watched more and began to realize it was actually pretty impressive. The graphics have been, for the most part, to my standards at least, above par. Everything was quite thoroughly illustrated and never too flashy, abrupt, and messed up. Action scenes were detailed and well scripted and screened. The art styles were well designed, too. I found that the characters and settings did not lack too many details from the original artwork.

Now as for the music… I loved all the sounds! <3
As in, I have listened to the soundtracks and opening and ending theme songs of the series so many times that I think it may be too excessive. I don’t recall too much insert music, but that does not take away from the series since the other sound effects and background music have suited well for all the situations and scenarios of the anime. Sometimes, the music gets a bit wacky, but those are obviously for the funny situations that are in the anime. For the fight scenes, there is more than reasonable usage for action music. Thrills and suspense are well built into scenarios due to the special styles of background music used. Special other sounds are also very appropriated “placed” throughout the series. From the countless times I’ve listened to each and every theme song used, I still cannot get enough of the fabulousness of each song. I enjoyed the opening theme songs so much that I had to watch them all for every episode that I watched in the last four days. Now, yes as much of a waste of time that might have been, I could not get enough of it. The “shot” selections used during the theme songs were neither that great nor that terrible, but I found that they worked fine. And, as long as the songs are good and the shots used are not that revealing nor weird, I could deal with it.

Altogether, I found that the animation company that produces this series was able to pull through every episode very well. I did not feel like they wasted much of my watching time at all because everything seemed at least 25% relevant to the story if not also sparked my interest in watching more. Really, I felt that the plot has moved at a very steady pace that still stirs anxiety and curiosity because of major cliffhangers. I cannot get enough of this series. This is one amazing manga series that has been adapted into an anime that has lead me to enjoy the story in a very wonderful and exciting way. For a load of laughter, adventure, and action, be sure to give this anime a try.

Amazing anime. Will make you laugh, smile, shout and cry..
Just DON'T judge the anime by the first 20 episodes. Watching till 20 I was ready to quit a few times, but i read some good reviews so i kept watching. If you cant stand them at all, DONT skip em! Just be patient. These episodes are to introduce some of the characters, and of course make you laugh a lot!
The only drawback of this anime (personal opinion) is it's art. Sometimes characters' and backgrounds' art aren't good at all, since the detail is too low.
"So why should i watch it then?" you ... may ask, the answer is simple: Just give it a try and you will understand why I'm giving it a big 9/10 no matter the drawbacks mntioned above!

Reborn is a generic shonen people may tell you it’s more than that but really it isn't the story is pretty interesting for a shonen a mafia story sounds cool right? Sadly we have a terrible protagonist which whines a lot characters like shinji and kamille do this a lot as well but their reasons are justified in their series. As they do have actually mental issues tsuna does not show this yes you can say it’s a fucking shonen but hunter x hunter had a psychologically distraught protagonist as well.


Tsuna is a generic high school teenager which has the hots ... for some girl and doesn't have the balls to do anything about it standard shonen cliché’s. The art is fairly mediocre as well the action scenes look alright for a shonen but everything else looks so bland and generic especially the character designs.


The soundtrack is very forgettable as well nothing really stands out except for the openings they are pretty great l think l like all the reborn openings which is really rare the last one is my least favourite though.


The characters god fucking damn it the characters l think l already talked about tsuna enough he is a standard generic shonen protagonist which wants to protect his friends also he dosen't want to become a Mafioso even if it runs in his family's tree his character is just so infuriating the other main characters are fairly forgettable as well only character l really remember fondly was hibari because he didn't give a shit about anything that happened none of the characters get a huge amount of significant development for a 200 and something episode series.


There is also quite a lot of filler in reborn especially in the future arc with the girls cooking food and going on strike and it all feels quite pointless for a shonen to have it was probably there to save money because l don’t remember the filler scenes going for as long as they did in the manga.


While l do have a lot of complaints with the story and the characters l did enjoy myself with the show it was a fun cheesy shonen just don’t bother with the manga it gets even worse especially with the manga ending which l won’t spoil.
Overall Hitman reborn is a fun generic shonen it does hold a special place in my heart though because it was one of the first shows l ever watched when l first got in to anime.

In the last ten years, there has been a significant decline in the style of shonen action anime. I went from growing up with gritty titles like Bio-Booster Armour Guyver and Fist of the North Star, to over-marketed fan service like Bleach and Soul Eater. I'll put the "old anime guy" rant aside for sake of this review, which is a show that isn't too different from the aformentioned titles.
Katekyo Hitman Reborn is not a very good anime. It isn't, but it's also not the worst I've ever seen. This anime had potential to be moderately decent, but suffers from most of the same ... problems that hindered Bleach into a tailspin. I wanted to wait until I reached the future story arc before I wrote my review for this show, as this was apparently the money storyline. Admittedly, I wanted to see just what this was about. Now that I'm about halfway through KHR, I have just what I need to write a proper review for this. I'll break it into the good and bad of Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

[THE BAD]
THE ACTION: While it's not as bad as Bleach, the fighting is just as obnoxious and probably sillier. Battles used to mean something in action shows, now they have dissolved into the method of following in Dragonball Z's footsteps: forget about subtext and just make your fight as loud as possible. It's bad enough that the skills these characters use look completely ridiculous, even by shonen standards, but they could've been utilized on a level that wasn't brain-numblingly stupid. I'll fix some of the stupidest ones right now.
1. Bianchi's Poison Cooking: Would it have been that hard to just have her vex someone's coffee with arsnic instead of producing plates of food out of thin air and shoving it in someones' face? It's hard for me to take this even remotely serious when you model a fighting style I've seen in Looney Tunes.
2. Get Rid of the Boxes: Really? Amano was so out of ideas, he had to rip a bit from a 13 year-old kid's show that already spawned a generation of Pocket Monster knockoffs? This gimmick was incorporated to increase it's female fanbase, because it's cute when Hibari summons a spiky hedgehog. That's fair game in my book; you need to increase your demographic, fine. But what's infuriating is the fact that every cast member that fights already has an established fighting style. Adding this only makes the fights more overbooked and complicated than they already are. It's such a cheap plug for a card game, I was expecting a starter deck to pop out of my C drive.
3. XanXus' Jet Handguns: Ben 10 is calling, and Heatblast wants his powers back.

THE COMEDY: Comic relief doesn't work when every single character has a satirical shtick. By trying to make every character funny, the jokes don't bounce off anyone, and you just have method actors reading catchphrases.
"Gotta....stay...calm"
"ROMEOOOOO!!!"
"TO THE EXTREME!!"
"I'll bite you to death"
"I'm the Tenth's right hand man"
"Ku fufu"
"I have to deliver these noodles"
This is overkill. These jokes are repeated anytime one of these acts are on the screen, and they are long past being fresh. Actually, to call them jokes would be insinuating that they were at some point funny. Without a balanced set of personalities (a catalyst, the butt of the joke, an instigator, and a straight man), humor doesn't work. Since there's no set up or punchline, the characters just scream at each other all day, and it's grating. How many times does Gokudera need to double over in agony after seeing Bianchi? Dr. Shamal wasn't funny back when he was Master Roshi. And Ipin's forehaed bomb is about as amusing as a root canal. The only character that truly makes me laugh is Haru Miura. More on her later.

THE PLOT PACING: The story(s) are slighty better than I would expect, but nothing above moderate. In fact, the plot could be a lot better if everything wasn't so drawn out and uninteresting. I won't harp on the endless amounts of filler (it's become almost a necessary evil in anime today), but rather the parts where things are supposed to be happening, but it prolongs simple development to the point where it grinds to a halt. Not a spoiler, during the Millefiore raid, Gokudera actually wants to STOP THE ATTACK so Yamamoto can talk about the Arcabaleno. Top it off with the fact that everything seems like it's kept a secret from the audience when it's just another new character reveal. Byankuan (I think I butchered that name) is supposed to be the main antagonist, but they have not given me a reason to hate him. It's becoming a pet peeve of mine when bad guys now just sit in chairs and LOOK evil instead of doing villainous deeds. They told me he runs a very powerful Family that can crush the Vongolas in 23 seconds, but has failed to alluminate on that, instead telling me how animals kept in boxes can turn the tide in a battle. On a side note, I think the Black Spell and White Spell guys look too much like Soul Reapers and Arrancars for my taste. It's just another stark reminder as to how little thought gets put into these franchises when four sets of cast members in two different shows dress exactly alike. Pitiful.

[THE GOOD]
TSUNAYOSHI SAWADA: I never thought this would happen, and it took awhile, but Tsuna is actually a pretty acceptable main character. He's no Gon Freeces in Hunter X Hunter, but in today's age of shonen leads being just completely intolerable jackasses and ignorant A-holes, Tsuna is a significant upgrade from Ichigo Kurosaki and Ryoma Echizen in Prince of Tennis. Yes, he's whiny, whimpy, and seemingly "no-good", but the real lighting-in-a-bottle of a character like this is watching them grow up before your eyes. it's what I loved about Gohan, though the saiyan's road is far more memorable and cohesive, Tsuna's metamorphosis into an independent pillar of valor is a something I can take away as a mild success from this. He's incredibly down to earth as well. All he wants is to win the affections of Kyoko, yet his own fantasies about marrying her and impressing her are so low-barred, it's like his brain is actually telling him he can't do it. I find that a little refreshing. To grade him on a letter scale, I'd give him a C average.

THE GIRLS: I always get the impression that shonen authors don't like to write female characters, what with the way they all follow the familiar pattern of being completely bitchy, nagging, hostile shrews like Bulma, and good ladies in shonen like Rukia get shelved and taken out of the show for episodes on end. The female cast of Hitman Reborn has been one of the reasons I made it as far as I have. While this mainly pretains to Kyoko and Haru (Lal Mirch and Chrome aren't presented enough at the point I'm at. Especially poor Chrome, she's the worst treated character in the whole franchise), I really like Tsuna's mother and even Bianchi has moments when she plays the big sister to the others. But man, Haru Miura has become one of my favorite supporting characters ever. Her off-beat wackiness, unpredictable sense of style, and unbridled enthusiasum picks me up everytime I got the urge to drop this show and became the heart and soul of KHR for me. her cheery theme music is like a Phoenix Down being dropped on my head after one of those silly box battles. The only other character to breathe this much life into something that didn't seem that good at first was Hime in Princess Resurrection last year, and that's now one of the best titles I'm currently reading. The ladies in KHR are always a healthy break away from the stupidity of the fighting and hackneyed dialouge, and are the best girls going in shonen for me today.

NOSTALGIA: While the humor fails and a good chunk of potential character development gets lost in the mundane battles, KHR has a certain feel about it that hearkens back to the classic days of shonen action series. The characters, while paper thin for the most part, are seemingly vibrant and full of life, like Yu Yu Hakusho or Power Stone. The setting and envoirnment isn't always dark and gritty like in Naruto or Bleach, and stays lighthearted enough to be a tongue-in-cheek action show, even if it is a little bit long. The intensity of the plot kind of picks up when a villian shows up, even if they lose steam halfway through the arc. If this show had come out in 1998, heck, even 2002, I would've fallen in love with it because it retains a glimmer of the spirit that most shonen titles lack nowadays, and that all I ask from this genre. Not Shippuuden.

IN CLOSING: This was long winded review, and I apologize. I can only hope the readers understand my frustration with thinking out a meticulous review for a show that's almost down the middle, it's not a "bad" 5. This was a mixed bag for me. There's a lot I really hate about this show that I can relate to other shonen title mentioned in this review and probably rant about for another eight paragraphs, and while the bad outweighs the good, it comes down to quality of the good over quantity of the bad, and those elements have kept me watching KHR for over 100+ episodes, and is a testament to doing just enough right to keep me entertained. I can't say the same for Bleach and Naruto, which I'll never finish.

STORY: 4
ART: 7
SOUND: 6
CHARACTERS: 3
ENJOYMENT: 5
OVERALL SCORE: 5 out of 10

PROS: Solid voice acting, most Hibari scenes, music is catchy
CONS: Cast is way too big, terrible fights, lackluster gags, 5 minute recaps every episode

Katekyo Hitman Reborn, commonly referred to simply as Hitman Reborn, is the comedic story of Sawada Tsunayoshi (Tsuna) and his training in fulfilling his duty as the 10th generation leader of the famous Vongola Mafia Family. Though this is a story about mafia families and such, by no means is it all dead serious as you expect mafia-themed plots to be (i.e. Gungrave). Quite the contrary, this is a comedy anime and is a very hilarious show.

Tsuna is trained by Reborn, a very well-known hitman throughout the mafia world, but the catch here is that Tsuna is your everyday klutz who ... has no good qualities about him, hence his nickname, "No good Tsuna," and also not to mention, he wants nothing to do with the mafia. While he meets many new friends throughout his journey who eventually join ranks with him to become his "mafia family," there are of course people who want to see him dead so they can take his place.

The story, while very unique as you don\'t see too many mafia-based anime shows out there, definitely had more potential than what the final product has showed us so far. The big reason that I state this is that there is a bunch of episodes, while not fillers, can be seen as stand-alone comedic episodes that don\'t really have too much of a plot line to them. The episodes that do have a plot, while they are extremely interesting, are unfortunately, go by rather quickly. However, don\'t let that be the reason to stop you from checking this out.

The artwork of Hitman Reborn isn\'t all that bad, but isn\'t anything special or spectacular. Sometimes the animation just seems kind of plain, and many times during a few scenes you\'ll undoubtedly notice how bland it is, but its bearable.

The sound is also on the same degree as the artwork, nothing special, but not disappointing.

I believe what separates Hitman Reborn and makes it special from other shows is its characters. They creators have done an excellent job in creating fresh, very unique and hilarious characters that will have you laughing at their antics in every episode (especially Lambo, who is just too cute). The biggest, and probably the most surprising thing about the characters is how some of them are literally, baby-sized characters. Reborn himself is no bigger than Tsuna\'s head and while this fact may make you stray away from this anime, let me advise that it only helps in the comedy department, because the creators were able to use this aspect so creatively well.

If you\'re looking for a hilarious anime with very unique characters and some interesting fighting, look no further than Hitman Reborn. This anime contains its fair shares of battles, action and romance to go along with the many laughs you\'ll inevitably have.

KHR is like any other long shounen series; For someone relatively new to anime, it can be very fun and addicting. If you are too familiar with the tropes used in this genre, it can become a real chore and way too predicable.

Story: The plot progresses in the usual shounen way: The weak and optimistic protagonist trains, and starts fighting enemies who seem much stronger than him, and once he defeats them they often become his allies. The first 20 episodes were fillers, but since I found them funny I didn’t really mind. The battles drag out a bit sometimes, but they are well ... done in general and there’s enough suspense to keep the viewer interested. The biggest problem however is the filler episodes; they were initially funny, but the same jokes keep getting repeated again and again and it becomes annoying fast. Even without talking about the recaps, some episodes were just completely unnecessary, like before each battle they have at least one episode where the characters just encourage each other and talk about the upcoming battle.

Characters: The cast seems pretty diverse, but all the characters can fit in an archetype in some way or other. They gain maturity and confidence during the battles, but it seems to revert once the battle is over, and they are back to repeating the same catchphrases again and again. Many of the jokes are based on character antics, but after 200 eps, it becomes really predicable and repetitive. Another thing that really bothers me is the female characters; even though some of them are strong, their strength is nothing compared to the male characters, they hardly participate in battles, often can’t do anything without help from the males (Chrome, cough* cough*). And while it is important to have a female character who can’t fight but serves as moral support, having two of them is way too much especially when one is portrayed as very annoying and immature. Many of the characters who don’t fight are very uninteresting; Despite tagging along for 200+ episodes and getting a lot of screentime, they don’t get character development at all. Hibari Kyouya was especially poorly written; he is some lone wolf who practically wins every battle in 1 min without effort or remarkable injuries, and he doesn’t have character growth at all. In other words, he can be easily qualified as a ‘Gary stu’.

Art: While the character designs are interesting, the art is very inconsistent. It improves through the series, but was never really detailed and every once in a while it is still possible to see poorly drawn frames without pausing the video.

Sound: The osts were decent, but they get kinda annoying after being repeated 98343981 times, especially when you can easily predict when they will be played. Most of the openings and endings however were pretty good and original. The seiyus’ voices fit the characters well, but some of them may annoy you, like Haru and Lambo’s.

Katekyoshi Hitman Reborn! is an excellent example of how intriguing shounen manga can be with the right mixture of comedy, action, suspense and the flawless integration of the mafia and fantasy themes. The main protagonist Tsuna, at first glance, seems to have a defeatist attitude and comes off as pathetic, failing about everything, his studies, sports and even romance. Then our reluctant hero meets a mysterious infant hitman called Reborn who is recuited to be Tsuna's tutor because Tsuna is the 10th boss of the Vongola Family, a powerful and influential mafia family to much to Tsuna's dismay!

Story:
The Story is one of the best I ... have come across in a while with the plot initially having large amounts of comedy and stupidity but goes on to include much darker themes later on. The anime starts of slowly introducing each character and establishing the bonds between them. It then goes on to have one the best concepts and plot I have come across. The plot was fairly consistent with the action and comedy sequences that keep the audience entertained and with just the right amount suspense, leaving the audience eager for the next episode. There are well thought out powers and weaponry that Tsuna and his guardians use to face challenges and save the day proving that though the mafia may be considered criminal syndicates but the Vongola are different.

Art:
The art is excellent and the hero looks extremely cool while defeating villains. The equipment and weapons, pets, clothing and characters are well planned, well drawn and unique. I especially loved the Vongola Coat of Arms and Tsuna drawn in Hyper Dying Will Mode. Unlike most shounen manga, The character's clothing changes which is a fact that I love! Even the irritating underwear scene had him don a different pair each time...Though he does have the tyipcal shounen hero's orange color scheme, a popular trend with shonen manga. (I refer to Naurto and Goku's clothing and Ichigo's hair)

Sound:
The openings and the endings were quite good. I failed to notice any character specific battle music which is a change from normal anime which has music for each character. Tthe music is subtle and suitable to the situation and does not overwhelm the senses and distract. Tsuna's seiyu does an excellent job and Tsuna's voice in HDWM is slightly more mature than normal.

Character:
The characters are well developed and realistic and the hero forms a buffer between egos that may otherwise clash, a valuble leadership skill. Tsuna dislikes vilence but once provoked is a deadly force top be reckoned with. Gokudera with his Zeal, Yamamoto and his calm and laid back nature, Ryohei and his Passionate, Kyoya with his Aflooness, Lambo and his Cowardice and Mukuro and his claim to have a personal agenda is understood and is held together by Tsuna who forms the "glue" that holds his guardians together.

Enjoyment:
Negative points:
I have enjoyed every episode. Though there were things that annoyed me.
1. Tha actual plot starts after 20 episodes.
2.The lead is irritating for the first 20 episodes with his dying will underwear scenes! I must say it was extremely funny but watching the same sequence for over 20 episodes makes you annoyed at Tsuna! I do not understand the point of it. Tsuna goes on to nbecoming super cool later on.
3. The Recap and Omake sections take up too much of the episodes time not to mention recap episodes!!
Despite this, the story arcs are well connected and the balance between action and comedy well maintained.


I strongly recommend this series to shounen fans!! I give this series a 9/10 and inspite of the drawbacks, it was excellent and entertaining. The plot, characters and art are strong points!

I'll be honest since most of the reviews in my opinion are usually really long and I end up generally skim-reading it so in light of that ill try to make mine as short and concise as I can.

Let me just start of by saying I give the anime an overall of 10. My total experience left me completely satisfied although I wish the anime and manga continued since the ending was a bit blunt, however due to financial reasons on the companies behalf I understand that it didn't meet the funds required.

Moving on, the story and characters were a solid 9 for ... me since I (***really slight spoilers***) found the idea of the ring aspect, 10 year bazooka, and future ark really cool entirely. Especially the few plot twists that actually surprised me occasionally here and there. The character development on a few characters are a bit poor I will admit, but some characters like Gokudera and the Arcobalenos i really enjoyed knowing their origin and how everything happened.

Next we have the art and soundtrack, both I would give both of them around an 8 since it was made between 2007-2011 for that year and time, especially with their budget i'd say was pretty enjoyable since I harbored no complaints and there weren't any sudden drops in quality. I personally was indifferent about my opinion on the outro but op's were really catchy and I did enjoy them.

I'd definitely recommend this to people who enjoy some comedy, action, shounen or any of the above. While Tsuna is an annoying wimpy crybaby at the start believe me when I say he gets alot cooler later on. I think its widely known that the first 19-20 episodes can be basically considered filler, I did watch them but on two times speed because I wanted a basic grasp on the characters. I'll also add that the story gets genuinely interesting after those 20 first episode and then by around episode 80 you'll be 100% attached like I was.

Okay, I feel like this review is going short and sweet but straight to the point. I decided to pick this up since my friend was going on about this like he does with One Piece. So I decided to give it a shot. The first 20 episodes are a real killer, since that's were a lot of people are like "okay... what is this? Can we get to some sort of story/action already?!" It has its little humor here and there to keep a little smile on your face.

However, for me at least, I did not get interested in until the future arc. That's ... practically more than halfway through the series. There were a FEW decent fights here and there before than but nothing too captivating. I guess what really had me was that they consistently dragged some parts out. It's noticeable in every arc and because of that, I had to put this series on hold and start a new series just so I could have my "anime fill" for the day. Sure there are plenty of anime that does this, but Hitman was really bad with this.

This show loves to put fillers within the arc and loves to have recap episodes and tries to play it off like it's really part of the story (though it's not as bad as Naruto). So occasionally, I would say something similar to this, "Really, that was an episode? C'mon it should be better than this." Of course other anime do similar things, but with Hitman just really irked me the most. You will know which episodes will be recaps and you can skip them if you so choose to. For me, I have to watch every single episode, special, ova, movie and etc of a series.

So as my first review comes to an end, let me just answer a few more things:

Is this one of the best anime series that I have watched to date? - definitely not
Is this worth a re-watch? - only less than a handful of episodes so basically no
Would I recommend this to people looking for a new series? - nope
Would I recommend this to people looking to kill some time? - maybe
Could you take a pass on this anime? - yeah, you are not really missing anything

However if you are interested in Hitman Reborn, I would have to say that, stick with the manga, the anime definitely does not do this series justice unfortunately. Though a few OP/ED's were pretty decent :-)

Not trying to bash the series out there for those out there who likes/loves it, but I'm just obviously voicing my opinion on how I felt about this series. It's definitely not the best nor the worst anime I have watched. I'm just sort of disappointed that my friend hyped it up as much as he does with One Piece, so I probably was expecting too much from this. Hmm... what do you know, my review wasn't all that short lol.

When i first came across KHR, it was a toss up against Gintama. I watched the first episode of KHR and was put off by Tsuna's underwear mode thing, thinking it was completely ridiculous and stupid. So then i chose to watch Gintama instead, however, i'm SO glad that i did come back to KHR eventually, or else i would have missed out on such an AMAZING anime. After episode 20 or so, i found myself completely hooked, i probably even loved the underwear mode by then.

Story - 9/10
Once the real storyline kicks off, KHR turns into something amazing and unique. ... At first glance, the mafia based story put together with superhuman babies may seem a disaster but the plot eventually becomes something far from that and everything just seems to fit into place. The only reason why i would not give it a full 10/10 is because (as mentioned before) it takes a long time for the real storyline to kick in, but if you pull through the first 20 episodes, you'll definitely find yourself addicted and watching episode after episode. On top of that, KHR has considerably less fillers than other shounen anime.

Art - 8/10
The anime begins with bad character art, but as it goes on, the way the characters are drawn do get better. The action scenes were well done to begin with IMO, and they also get even better further into the anime :]. I particularly liked the clothing style of some characters *cough* Gokudera *cough*, scenery wasn't bad although i didn't pay much attention to that, but at least houses looked like houses and trees looked like trees. x]

Sound - 9/10
I loved nearly all the OP and ED themes, they fit the anime really well and got me addicted to Cherryblossom and Masami Mitsuoka's voice. The character's voices fit perfectly and were very unique, although Haru's voice tended to be quite annoying at times with her "dangerous desu!" thing.

Characters - 10/10
I loved all the characters by the time they were all introduced, they all have unique personalities and the amount of support and loyalty they give the protagonist is almost heartwarming. Each character has something unique to them which stands out from the rest of the people Tsuna knows, whether it be a saying or a style, there isn't any two characters who are similar really (unless you count fringe characters...)

Enjoyment - 9/10
By the time i reached episode 40 or so, i found myself watching it non stop, struggling to slow down so i don't catch up so fast. It became one of my top favourite anime by that point, i usually don't judge anime before i finish them/catch up, but this one became an exception by miles. Once you reach the real storyline you'll be completely hooked wanting to know what happens next.

Overall - 10/10
Despite it's flaws at the beginning (taking too long to start, fairly bad animation etc), for me, KHR makes up for it all with its awesome storyline and unique characterisation whilst keeping typical shounen elements for it to be categorised in this area. I'd recommend it to anyone who is looking for a long running shounen anime without having to sift through 50+ episodes to reach the real plot. KHR is definitely an addictive anime worth watching, you'll find yourself waiting for the new episodes to be subbed before you know it. :]

Since Reborn! aired a while back, I doubt anyone will look at this review, but I shall write it anyway. I watched this the beginning of this year, but I never got the guts to submit a review, he he. ;')
Here we have Sawada Tsunayoshi, a middle school student, who by not much luck, is nicknamed 'Loser Tsuna' by all his classmates, assumed to be a failure due to the fact that he's not good at anything. Now, all that may change when he meets the obscure, mafia hitman, Reborn!
WARNING: THE FIRST 20 EPISODES WILL MAKE YOU WANT TO DROP THE SHOW, BUT DON'T, JUST ... DON'T.
Story: 8
There have been many Mafia animes, and still some are coming up, but what I liked about Reborn! was that it puts its own twist on things. The first 20 episodes are basically like 'daily life' episodes and may make you want to drop it, but don't. I promise you you'll regret it. I dropped it after the first 13 episodes until my brother told me "Don't drop it, it'll get so good after so don't drop it." And I'm glad I continued to watch it. After the first 20 episodes you'll get an action-packed, adventured filled, expedition, I promise you.
Art: 7
Because this is a slightly old shounen, it wasn't in HD when it aired, and the art style was past decent but it wasn't fantastic if you understand what I'm getting at. It does later on get way better quality, so I wouldn't worry very much about the art.
Sound: 10
Aside from the story line, this is where Reborn! DOMINATES. The openings and endings are some of my all time favorite songs. You will not be disappointed at all with the soundtrack. The sounds with the fights and the voices are all very good quality too.
Character: 9
The character development here, in my opinion, was fantastic! But i can't say how without giving out spoilers so, I'm sorry. Just take my word for it.
Enjoyment:10
It's a really funny series to watch, I fell off my bed once to how much I laughed and I cried when I got to the end of this series. Not because of the ending itself simply because you get so attached to the characters, you just love them. I wanted more, but I never got it. *tear*
(I feel like overall and enjoyment are like the same fricking thing, but whatever ;') )
Overall: 10
Overall, Katekyo Hitman Reborn! was a rollercoaster of an anime that I will never forget. Just give it a shot. Its 203 episodes worth watching. Don't overlook it if you ever come across it. When I got the average of my scores, it was a 9, but I added the extra point because I just loved this serious too much to not call it a masterpiece.

Now this anime is one i don't think i will ever understand the fascination with. I have reached ep 65 so its not a complete review, but how many eps should it take for an anime to get good? Considering how popular this show is, i think its time to balance it out with a negative review.

Ok, its pretty well established in the anime community that the first 19 eps or so are garbage.

But they are not garbage because they have no story and a basically filler episodes. They are garbage because some of the characters are so annoying they want to make you ... pull your eyes out. The cow and egg baby are horrid and the main character, tsuna, his japanese voice acting is more annoying then shinjis dub voice from evangelion. These eps are so bad they make naruto filler eps 136-220 look good! :(

Ok, now thats out the way, to the real review.

Most people are like watch from ep 20 where the first story arc is. However that too is a let down with boring, short and badly constructed fights. Its also just bog standard shonen fare that you have seen a million times before in high school fighting shows. Then after this short arc...more horrible filler.

To be fair, the second arc is ALOT BETTER, and i would recommend just watching as much of the beginning as you can cope with, and then jumping to ep 34.

The fights are alot better, story picks up and becomes a more solid shonen fighting show.

However it still in no way matches the hype. In NO WAY, can this show even come close to Naruto, One Piece, Dragon ball or even Bleach.

The fights so far are no where near as good as the above shows. Storyline wise its ok, better then bleach and dragonball but no match for naruto and especially one piece.

However its lack of emotion, character development and drama seals its fate. Because the start is so bad i feel nothing for any of the characters and the main character kills the show dead. He has to be the worst main character ever.

Even Bleach has better character building and emotion then this and Bleach sucks in that area.

I know there are alot of people who hate the Naruto anime, and thats fine. But if any of those ppl like Reborn then i honestly think they are not using any logic. Naruto CRUSHES Reborn with ease. Narutos fights, story, characters and especially emotional scenes destroy the first 65 eps of Reborn.

And to compare Reborn to the king of the shonen fighting animes, One Piece, is like comparing The Empire Strikes Back with Attack of the Clones.

I know its possible that Reborn goes super after the Varia arc but how many eps can an anime stay mediocre?

Even Bleach got good from ep 15, Naruto was good from ep 1 and went thunderous after ep 19. Naruto Shippuuden is wasting some of the potential the show had but is still fabulous. Dragonball was great from the off, Dragonball z started with one awesome fight and One Pieces first season is still prob the 2nd or 3rd best one piece season with amazing character development.

For reborn to start off with filler is crazy and even the varia arc is not up to par.

Reborn might have been the 5th legendary long running shonen fighting anime, but alas it was not to be.

So... I never thought about reviewing or something but I'm reading so many prejudices about this really great anime lately, so I really have to review it. My English is bad as hell, don't mind it.

Story: 10
If you've watched the first episode of Katekyo Hitman Reborn!, you're certainly thinking "What the hell." Well, you're not alone. At first glance, the plot may sound ridiculous. The first 20 episodes don't have anything to do with the rest of the story, it may get boring at first and you don't want to watch it because it's just farcical since it doesn't have anything to do with the ... "real" mafia (don't get it wrong, the episodes are funny, though). But if you keep up and watch the episodes, you may think this is the best plot ever. You won't find another storyline like this outside.

Art: 9
Well, I really like the art. The animations are smooth & conclusive, the fighting scenes as well and the characters are well done, too. Sometimes, I really think the characters look f*cking (Pardon my French) badass and accordingly they really look like Bishounen. I hear fangirl-screams in my head. Duh.

Sound: 8
I really think the openings and endings are well done. Some of them stuck in my brain for about two weeks and won't vanish. The OSTs & sound-effects fit every situation and the seiyuus did a very good job. I have to say, it's nothing outstanding.

Character: 10
You won't find many different, outstanding and unique personalities like in Katekyo Hitman Reborn. They mature in every episode. But the character I admire the most has to be Tsuna. He's just hopeless, so he really stands out of all shounen-heroes I know since now. But still, he has real friends who accept him just the way he is. I think he's the character who matures the most out of this anime.

Enjoyment / Overall: 10
I really enjoyed this series. I was sad when it ended because I got really addicted to this anime and I hadn't anything to watch anymore since then. If you should ever start watching this anime, don't let yourself be fooled! The first twenty episodes may look ridiculous but since it's only twenty, it's not the end of the world. ;D
I'd recommend this anime to everyone who likes shounen with a lot of comedy and an unique background story.

Ciaossu.

Today we will be taking a look at Hitman Reborn, which was not quite as popular as some other shounen jump titles and it was sort of forgotten a while after it ended.

This is a spoiler free review.

*Story*

The story centers around Sawada Tsunayoshi, an unpopular Japanese junior high-schooler who's one day forced by an Italian baby and his shape shifting pet chameleon (I don't know, just roll with it), to train and become the next head of a certain Mafia called the 'Vongola family'.

First off, you wouldn't expect a shonen anime (which is mainly aimed at kids) to contain a subject matter such ... as Mafias, would you? And that's why the term 'Mafia' in this series is very loosely connected to the real world definition of it. Are they involved in pedaling drugs? Prostitution? Wait, do they even break the law? For what purpose do they organize exactly? The answer to the last question is not very satisfying, as you can imagine. They're just presented as organizations with strong people in them that fight other such groups. It seems to me, this term is used mainly to sound exotic for a Japanese audience. So from the get go, this makes the story feel almost aimless, besides Tsuna becoming a 'Boss' of a Maifa with no clear purpose, aside from fighting other Mafias. I don't think the author thought this idea entirely through.

In the first 20 episodes the story sets out to introduce the characters through episodic comedy with little to no action in them. In this sense, it's different from the usual battle shonen and it might turn some people off immediately. Bleach (a series I'm not too fond of) also used its first 20 or so episodes for a similar goal, but did it through monster of the week with plenty of action. So I guess I should applaud Reborn for being different and taking certain risks. Even though, I'd personally prefer action, honestly.

After its introduction episodes, Reborn goes on a route that's within the boundaries of the shonen tradition and starts its actual story through various arcs. The first arc was a pretty small scale battle against some street gang and it didn't last very long, but it did manage to spark my interest in what's to come. The second arc was a battle against another branch within the same family, which was a decent arc, but it lasted longer than it needed to.

The pacing in this series becomes especially slow in the third arc that's actually a saga which ended up taking most of the duration of the show and contained fillers within that saga. Granted there weren't that many fillers, but some weren't even action oriented and actually contained more episodic comedy. Meaning, the introduction episodes come back to haunt us later in the series.

The story itself, is pretty basic shonen stuff, but despite having no clear end goal it did manage to throw in twists along the way that kept me interested. It wasn't mind blowing or anything, but it did use its own plot elements and the side stories it threw in surprisingly well.

Unfortunately, the end of this big saga is also the end of the series and it left things open. Though I haven't read the manga, I've heard that nobody liked where it ended and that the upcoming arc was pretty bad anyways. So I guess it might as well have ended there.

*Characters*

Tsuna, the main character has a good heart, but is basically a spineless individual who's in need to become stronger. This also demonstrates how the author wanted to do something different from the usual shonen. You see, in most long running shonen we already get a character who's fully developed to what is necessary for a shonen protagonist. They're strong willed, positive and never run away from a fight (Goku, Luffy, Naruto, etc').. So all that's left for them to develop, is their physical strength, not their personality. In this case however, the protagonist needs to strengthen his personality, adapt to the Mafia life style and become skilled in battle. This is excellent, and it also distracts you from the fact that the story doesn't have much of a goal beyond that.

Unlike the main character, the rest of the cast don't develop and are your basic two dimensional shonen characters with very silly quirks…. But! They are also very likable and their chemistry together is quite good. The thing that seems to be consistent among them is that they all take their personality quirk or hobby to an extreme. For example, Gokudera will protect Tsuna to the death if necessary, Hibari will discipline his school mates by any means , Yamamoto will always be the positive moral booster no matter what, etc, etc. This might sound cheap but this is exactly what makes them so well defined and fun to watch interact.
Even a lot of the villains have somewhat interesting quirks and personalities as well..

After the introduction episodes though the amount of comedy in the series drops significantly until there's almost none at all and there was very little use for the characters' quirks from a point on. The tone of the show changes completely in the big saga and it obviously didn't know how to balance it out. This shift in tone becomes especially noticeable when the episodic comedy fillers come back later in the series in the middle of the saga, reminding you of what the show used to be like.

Another thing about the rest of the cast, despite being very quirky (and having interesting and funny quirks, not half assed ones) none of them seemed to get a proper backstory, with one exception being the fans favorite, Gokudera (admittedly, he's also my favorite). Don't get me wrong they all have some sort of background, but none of them get an entire episode flashback of a tragic backstory dedicated to them, if I recall (you may correct me if I'm wrong here, it's been a few years since I've watched it), which is strange since nobody in the cast seems to be more important than someone else as far the story is concerned.

In addition, much like in Bleach, the amount of characters start to pile up from a point on and it feels like there were way too many for the show to handle. This is problematic, but I don't think it was handled that badly, all things considered.

All in all the characters are kinda like characters out of a Saturday morning cartoon (which is what Reborn is, in Japan, heh heh) and I don't mean that as an insult, it's actually interesting to have such silly characters in a semi serious story. It's too bad their lighthearted nature wasn't fully and consistently present and that most lack any kind of depth.

*Art*

The character designs demonstrate that this is a female mangaka more than anything else. Every male character looks like a super model. The designs style is somewhat original though, since I immediately recognized it on a cover of a completely different anime (Psycho-Pass). So I guess it's not that bad.

The animation though is pretty simplistic and despite being an action anime there isn't all that much action to look forward to either. There are decent battles in it, sure, but not that many. And most of them aren't that great. You can even go back more than 20 years and find better battles in both DBZ and Yu Yu Hakusho, to be perfectly honest (both in quantity and quality).

Not to mention, In the last quarter of the series, the fighting's style changes into… something else that I can't reveal, because spoilers… But it will depend entirely on your preference whether you like that change or not.

*Sound*

I don't know Japanese, but I think the voice acting is quite good with a bunch of distinct and funny voices that fit quite perfectly with the characters.

The sound effects are pretty basic though and the soundtrack is ok, I guess, but it isn't the most memorable one, despite being used throughout 200 episodes. Some of the tracks sound a little like Rocky knock offs as well.

The opening and ending songs are mostly pop songs and boy bands. Granted, some are decent, but others take Engrish to levels that make it sound completely retarded. So this might be distracting and/or hilarious, assuming you speak English.

*Enjoyment*

I did enjoy it for its characters, but I was watching it while it was airing, so the terribly slow pacing really got to me at points. Especially since there were a lot of (canon) episodes where almost nothing happened.

*Overall* 6/10

Heck, maybe this score is a little generous considering how much I trashed it, mainly since I still kinda liked it somehow.
If there's one thing you should know about Reborn is that it's definitely not soulless. There are certainly much better shonen out there, but there's also much worse, in my humble opinion. And I'm sure the author really was trying her best.

Thanks for reading.

My first impression of Hitman Reborn is that it is a very annoying anime. There are 3 little kid characters in the anime that have voices that are so high pitched and irritating. Imagine hearing those sounds on your noise cancellation earphones. But i was soon to be proven wrong.

Story
The story progresses quite slowly in the beginning 10-15 episodes. The first part of the series shows the relationship between Reborn and the protaganist, Tsuna. And it also gives an idea on the training that Tsuna will go through later in the series. These are mainly repetitive and give us a feeling of lame fillers. However, ... i must urge you to bear with the first few episodes and continue on. Because later on in the series (when Tsuna and pals begin their training), will the real story begin. The real story includes boss fights and show how bonds later in the arc are formed, and make for me a very interesting watch. Later on will be a few more filler episodes, then towards the next arc - which has yet to complete its airing - but promises to not disappoint.

Art
Many of the characters in the series are 'babies' or kids, so the art tends toward chibi styled characters. For the rest of the characters, the art is quite simple but very likable.

Sound
Nothing much to be said in this section, but the first op was nothing to rave about. But the second and third op were much better, and so were the ending songs.

Character
The series follow through the experiences of the main protagonist. And it shows how he grows from a friendless useless boy to one with a 'family' and a will to protect them. Later in the series, the irritating kids i referred to in the beginning prove themselves useful and become likable characters. Tsuna (main character) is developed very well in this series, but i must express my disappointment that other characters are not developed that well yet. Especially Hibari and Yamamoto. However, this may be due to the series not having been completed, and we may see more of their development in the future.

Enjoyment
Aside from being slightly annoyed in the beginning of the episode, i feel that the main arcs of the story were very enjoyable. I do not encourage forwarding of episodes, or skipping episodes, but for the bulk of the first few episodes you may choose to do so.

Overall
I liked this anime quite a lot. It is not my favorite anime out there, but I most certainly did not regret picking up this series.

This series was initially shown to me by a friend. While the first episode was quite...interesting, I soon became hooked to this series.

Story: I think that the plot line was very unique. Compared to other series, Katekyo Hitman Reborn takes a nicer outlook on the mafia, and glances over the darker portions of it. While this may be both good/bad, the different outlook helped to build an interesting plot centered around the main character.

The anime took a long time to start up (I enjoy anime like Darker than Black), but once the action started it had me hooked. ... I personally do not enjoy watching gag/comedy series, and as such the daily life arc was rather boring. Even so, I would rate the overall plot a 10/10 because of how the plot escalates and twists as the series moves on.

Art: Compared to the manga, the anime's art is much neater and nicely drawn. Although there are few moments (Gowadera) that the art is a little...off, the art was very nicely done. As the series progressed, the art level improved, and by the end of this series it was great.

Sound: The soundtracks and OPs are great. The soundtracks were able to bring out the mood of the scenes very well, and the character songs are also very fitting.

Character: The characters in this series are simply amazing. Every character has a unique personality, one that fit both the gag portion and the action portion very well.

Enjoyment: Aside from the first few episodes, I loved the series. The plot and the arcs were nicely crafted, ones that could hold a viewer's attention for long periods of time.

Overall I rate this series a 10/10.

Rarely are you fortunate enough to find an anime that truly brings you into their world and keeps you on edge throughout a 200+ episode series; Katekyo Hitman Reborn seemed to do the trick for me.

The story revolves around a loser of a middle schooler, Tsuna, who is bad at everything and has little friends. One day, a baby home tutor suddenly shows up at his door and informs him that he is a candidate for the boss of the strongest mafia that exists: The Vongola. That is where the fun begins, as Tsuna begins to learn new moves to commence in battle and ... forms precious bonds with new friends that eventually end up playing a huge part in his mafia. There are many arcs throughout the series, and as the series progresses, Tsuna and his friends battle stronger and stronger enemies that become allies later on. KHR contains many mysteries that end up unraveling in a way you would never expect; this includes the reason Tsuna’s home tutor is a baby, what happened to the first Vongola mafia boss, and much more to fill your heart’s content.

The storyline was well thought out, with a very unique plot that sets it apart from your average action anime. I was kept guessing the whole time, and found myself thinking about the show first thing when I woke up. The action scenes were amazing as well; the characters always pull out new tricks that you would never expect. In addition, Katekyo Hitman Reborn portrays a fascinating cast of characters that are both original as well as lovable and really start to grow on you as the series progresses. I found myself crying in certain parts seeing how much the characters have grown, which is a rare occurrence for me. Each person has their own little perks that make you love them more. Comedy also plays a huge part in the anime, and there are some hilarious filler episodes that really calm me down after a high tension fight scene. The comedic scenes are really what make KHR such a memorable anime in the end, which is also what makes the fillers much more enjoyable than the ones in Bleach and Naruto.

It was hard to find critiques for the show, as KHR is one of my all-time favorites. I did find the show to lack some seriousness, as deceased characters always come back to life, box animals in arc 3 seem very childish etc. This would probably help the show target a wider range of audiences if improved, typically those 16 and older. The first 20 episodes also lack plot, but keep persevering as the show has some pleasant surprises in store later in the story. All in all, KHR is definitely an anime you should try out if you’re into a good action/supernatural/comedy/shounen!