Katekyou Hitman Reborn!

I have mixed feelings reviewing this show. On the one hand it is hands down one of my absolute favorites. On the other hand it really isn't what I would call amazing. Initially when I first started watching it, I was bored half to death and dropped it after two or so episodes. I got back into it after encountering a few reviews praising it, so I decided to give it another shot. After making it past the first grueling 20 episodes, the plot went into high gear and sucked me in like a kid discovering candy for the first time. For many years ... I praised it as my favorite anime, and while I still love it, I can't fairly give it a score higher than 8.

Story: The story is very intriguing and very unique which is why I give it so much credit. The problem with katekyo hitman reborn, or KHR for short, is the execution. Up until the third major arc, there weren't many things that I could complain about. The ending to the third arc is where my problem with this series begins. The whole ending sequence, leading up to the fourth arc but that isn't covered in the anime, is nothing short of a deus ex machina. It really rubbed me the wrong way and while I still harbor lots of love for this series I couldn't forgive it. The plot is clever at some points, although the later plot holes counteract the good parts about it.

Not regarding the story but the show's pacing, there were times when the pacing was rocky, some parts seeming too short and others entirely too long (i.e the first 20 episodes) some arcs being comprised entirely of fillers(more towards halfway through the series and it seems very oddly placed and very easy to identify even without prior knowledge from the manga) and while I know this is because of the anime catching up to the manga it really doesn't excuse it for the bad quality pacing.

Sound: The voice acting was great all around, the voices very distinctive and easy to identify. They all showed their character's quirks very well and I can't really think of a single person who didn't stand out when they were on screen.

Art: The art starts off lackluster, not very good but not very bad, and in some parts absolutely terrible, but the gradual increase of quality is very evident as the show goes on. By the end of the series I thought it to be some of the cleanest art I had seen in a while. The only gripe I have with it is that many of the female characters look way too similar to each other.

Character: This is the category in which KHR shines. The characters are lovable, fun, and more importantly, well done. Even the villains have a certain quality to them that made it impossible for me to hate them. This can also cause a problem because I could never truly feel hatred towards the villains. Despite not getting too much information on a lot of the characters, you still feel like you know them well and hardly any of their actions come as a surprise. There is one major flaw in the characterizations. The way women are portrayed, although not all of them, makes them seem pretty useless. While I didn't have any problem with this at first since I mostly focused on the guys anyway, it became really apparent later on in the series. I know for all intensive purposes that they were never the focus of the story but I would have preferred it if they didn't have the girls around whatsoever instead of having them there as liabilities. Chrome is the prime example, whom somehow manages to get herself in dangerous situations and always has to be saved. For this reason I can't give this category a higher score.

Enjoyment: I really enjoyed this show, having watched it at least three times in a few years time which is almost unheard of from me. It was always fun to watch it back then and it still is, even if I don't take it as seriously as I once did.

KHR is one of those few rare series that can capture your heart despite all of its imperfections. It isn't a show to be taken too seriously, even if it has its serious moments it doesn't feel as threatening and dangerous as shows with a much darker mood, but it doesn't detract anything from the enjoyment. If anything I would say it is a series to be watched for the sheer fun of it and not for the plot. If you're looking for a show with action, comedy, crazy characters, and something that's just all around fun, then this is something you should definitely watch. Otherwise you might not enjoy this much. It's best to watch this anime without thinking too deeply into it or you may find yourself raging a bit at the ending.

So i wanted to watch KHR for a long time but something was stoping me and one day when i was sick and had nothing to do i decided to give it a go, and my only wish is that i could have done this earlier as KHR is one of the best and unique shonens out there!

As im writing this review im listening to the KHR ost called Tsunas awakening. The soundtracks and openings of this show is a huge reason that people wanted to watch Katekyo Hitman Rebon. The soundtracks are beyond amazing and works so well with the actuall story and moment. ... The openings and ending are one of the most consistent of an anime up til date.

Diffrent people tend to argue over the art style of KHR, as for my self it did not bother me so much. If you can get over the first few episodes then the art style will only get better and better, nothing that should bother you'r enjoyment.

The story is very unique. It's about a boy who has been a loser his whole life and suddenly one day a 5 year old (adorable) hitman called reborn barges in and tells him that he is choosen as the 10th boss of the mafia family: Vongola. The vongola are the strongest mafia in the world and all of this seems like a joke at the start but will get really serious. I love this story so much cause the whole mafia concept is new and exciting and you get to see Tsun(the protagonist) go through alot during the story. He does not want anything to do with the mafia but have to get stronger in the end to protect his friends from diffrent threats.

Some characters tend to get annoying like the baby lambo and some time the main girls kyoko and haru, but mostly it alright. The main guardians go through alot of character development which is really good and enjoyeble. But the most intresting character is still Tsuna who goes trough alot of change and development. He's not you'r typical protagonist who is strong already and wants to get stronger. He is actually really weak but gets much stronger as the serie progresses.

203 episodes of pure awesommness! It has it's flaws but it definetely one of the best shows out there. The only real problem i have with it is that the show was cancelld and ended before the manga, and the manga also ended before he could become the boss which is really annoying. The producers stated that it was not as popular as they wanted it to be which was not true. But we can all hope for a continuation! (:

I really hated that the show was cancelled, but I started to come to like the show enough to watch the anime and then read the manga.

Protip: If you wanna watch this, READ THE MANGA. They sugarcoat a lot of shite about the characters in the anime, some for understandable reasons and some for pointless ones.

That aside, I really love this show. It incorporates everything I love about anime in a manner that is 10x better than how the big three did it: shady and funny asf anti-heroes, shy, no good protag, OP, superpowered fights, bishies, bishous, fights, oh my!

Just watch it.

Just recently I finished watching the 'Katekyo Hitman Reborn' anime. This is an Anime that has the reputation for being a late bloomer, and I certainly agree with this notion.

When I started watching the show the episodes were funny at first, but it got repetitive pretty fast after the main characters were introduced. The story and the character development slows down and the episodes are the same thing over and over again. (could be filler though)
I even dropped the anime for a while. But I kept reading stories about how it gets better in later episodes, and it did!

Story: 8
I can understand that someone ... would drop this anime if he or she would only watch the first 20-something episodes. The story has a really slow start. But slowly it will get better as the story progresses further. It even gets pretty awesome after a while, but sometimes the references and the comparison too the First Vongola boss an his group were a bit too overwhelming for me.
The ending was also disappointing and unsatisfying. I guess the show was canceled or something.
I would have given the story a 9 if it wasn't for these minor irritations and the weak ending.

Art: 7
I'm really not the one to notice small changes in the animation details, so don't expect me to be to critical about the art.
I would say 'Katekyo Hitman Reborn' has an average looking animation for an 200+ anime. There were no real high or low points, the show was pretty consistent with its animation. I give it a 7.

Sound: 7
The voice actors and the SFX were on point. There were no real moments in the show for the voice actors to shine, but they remained consistent throughout. The SFX did his job of providing extra impact to what was happening in the show.
The overall sound quality is what you would expect from a TV show, good, and nothing less.

Character: 8
I loved the design and personalities of most of the characters.
I already explained that the references too the first Vongola where a bit overwhelming. This is especially the case with the character design of Vongola I, and his guardians. I get that the main protagonist could look similar too his predecessor, because of family ties. But it bothered me that everyone of the Vongola X guardians look similar to their predecessors.
But besides this minor irritation, the characters were awesome. I especially liked the characters, Yamamoto Takeshi and Fran/Flan from the Future Varia.

Enjoyment: 8
I enjoyed this show greatly when it got serious. But because it took a while, the start was very poor. At first the jokes were fun. But when you have seen a joke multiple times, it isn't that funny anymore. Later on in the show, it creates better moments for itself to use some comical relief. The seriousness causes a better mixture between the humor and the action, with some hilarious moments as result.

Overall: 7
Because the later episodes are still more fresh for me than the beginning ones, I originally wanted to give this show a 9. But I most not forget the things I didn't like. Things like the slow story development in the beginning and the sloppy ending brings down my "original" overall rating. I soon came to the conclusion to give this show a 7. It had the potential to be very good if hadn't such a slow start. And it could have been a great one if they had wrapped up the show with a more proper ending.

Despite having intriguing moments, great climatic shōnen battles, amazing cast of characters and quite the interesting plot, it's still a hidden gem and is definitely one of those anime that deserves way more attention (although the series is still popular in Japan to my knowledge but I digress).

One of my favorite aspects about the series is how the story takes it's time to flow, of course this does happen commonly in most anime in my past experience, most of them however often get to the point rather quickly, but with Reborn! it does take way too much time throughout the course of it's first ... 20 episodes. There are plenty of action scenes like explosions, boxing match, running around with nothing but boxers but above all these elements what really captured my interest is how peaceful and comedic it is.

I while admit though: Just because I enjoyed it, doesn't always mean other people will do and that's acceptable. The Daily Life Arc does not sit well with other people as much as I adored it.

Now for the character designs:

While it may not compare to Akira Amano's manga art style, I still think the anime art style were pretty solid (imo) it was drawn by Masayoshi Tanaka, the same designer who designed characters from animes like Toradora, Your Name, Anohana and High School of the Dead. Still, not as good as Amano-sensei, but it was still pretty solid for me, I also love how it drastically grows the more you watch.

Speaking of characters, the series also has a huge step up in terms of character development progression, there are plenty of them to go for, plus, I believe most of them are well received for the most part, but I'm going to go for the one that the series constantly sets the main focus on (and the one that people seem to hate the most) which is the main protagonist Tsuna, I think a lot of people would disagree but try to hear me out:

Most people would often say that his character evolution is VERY slow and gradual, that it takes like 203 episodes in anime form and 300 chapters in the manga form in order for him to actually become brave (which btw it's only in the last arc and the anime didn't even adapt it).

I believe his character development technically started from episode 2 of the anime; it was during the volleyball match when Tsuna saw that all of his volleyball teammates were trying so hard to win the match even despite them being injured. Rather than running away like he does in the first episode/chapter, He actually decided to give a genuine effort without relying on the dying will bullet from Reborn.

Throughout the entire series, Tsuna wants almost nothing to do with the mafia in general, mostly because he disagrees with the violent history of the organization, he does his best to live a normal life with every chance he can get, compare this to most shōnen protagonist at the time and even now such as: (Izuku Midoriya, Naruto and Luffy) whom three of them had set of specific goals that they are determined to reach and are willing to fight for that said goal through whatever means.

In contrast, Tsuna is actually a pacifist, like he is a merciful person who always worries about the safety of others including the inner turmoil of his opponents even more then his own safety. His level of empathy may actually fuel his determination which is why he gets stronger and stronger, not to mention that he actually threatens his foes first and if they didn't comply then he will take action (example would be his fight with Byakuran).

Overall, There are so many things I loved about the anime, but i'm just going to make it partial, If you enjoy traditional 2000s classic shōnen action anime, Katekyo Hitman Reborn might be worth picking up - Sure you could debate if it legitimately holds up all you want when compared to other shōnen that are mainstream nowadays like Attack On Titan, Promised Neverland, Jujutsu Kaisen and My Hero Academia etc. But:

1)- While it may not appeal to modern audiences, Katekyo Hitman Reborn is a 2006 anime so they should be aware of how decades old the anime is (despite somewhat being ahead of its time)

2)- Being a fan of the series since 2012, I can come clean and say that it has its flaws but I still enjoyed for what it is, although I can admit while there are a couple of shōnen anime (mostly the ones that are beloved and popular) are universally praised, I have to say.. I think I like Katekyo Hitman Reborn more, it is a weird spot to be in but it just so happens, there is something unique about it...

All that said, I'm hoping for the anime to return in this generation and should adapt the rest of the unanimated arcs or a reboot.

Maybe I'm just crazy about Reborn, but here is my Review.

I'll start with The Story:
The story is soo Great that you can't wait, it a rare Anime that makes you want to see it again, the first 20 episodes is introduction, and that's why it may seem a little "Boring" BUT, we all know that introductions is always boring, STILL, Katekyou Hitman REBORN makes it very funny and Enjoyable, after the 20 episode The young Mafia Boss, Sawada Tsunayoshi have to Face a scary part in his life, and that makes him Grow, That is made in the most exiting way,
There are things ... you thinks are nonsense and unreasonable, Like the Chibi Home tutor, but everything have a Reason in Hitman Rebon, beleve me,

Hitman Reborn is LIMITLESS, it keeps get better and better ;d

This story mainly focuses on mafia! where Sawada Tsunayoshi known as Sawada or Tsuna is the next boss of the Vongola Family's 10th generation,the Vongola family is the strongest mafia family in the world.Tsuna is a total failure,a wimp,seriously and honestly weak, and when i first saw him in the first 10 to 20 episodes i thought he was just pathetic! PATHETIC! weak and PATHETIC! and im like saying to myself " omg how can this wimp be the next boss of the strongest mafia family in the world! just impossible..hes a failure in school with failing grades , he cant fight , cant play ... any sports and is called no good tsuna in school(dame tsuna).
Then comes along Reborn known as the strongest hitman in the world, hes that small infant and is strong!hes also known as the seven strongest infants in the world known as an Acrobaleno, hes that tiny chibi guy with the hat.Later in the story u will come to find that he was turned into an infant for some reason.He comes as Tsuna's kateikyoushi(tutor) and trains him to be the 10th boss of the vongola family but tsuna really doesnt want to be part of the mafia but he has no choice. Reborn trains tsuna with this special bullet called the dying will bullet.When u are shot with this bullet u must have a dying will and will come back to life in the dying will mode and fullfill ur dying will no matter what(this will be introduced and explained in the first episode itself) if u dont have a dying will when shot u will just die , as u go further into the story u will come to find that many problems start to arise and Tsuna has no choice but to fight.the first 20 episodes are all fillers introducing the characters and their personalities but after that you'll really get to see some action! XD

Art:i have to say that i reli like this kind of art ..its good , not too simple and the characters are good looking :D(especially a guy name hibari,hes one of the main characters)

Sound: the sound is good as well i guess,im not so sure what sound im supposed to tell u about but about the voices and the way they talk is reasonable except for the way this girl(kyoko) laughs.Her laugh is so freaking fake it disgusts me lol(sry to all kyoko fans)no offense :D

Character: i reli love the personalities of the characters...they're all so funny and lovable and i have to say personally that Hibari Kyouya is my favourite..hes reli cool~! and his favourite phrase is "kami korosu"(ill bite u to death) haaha

Enjoyment : i reli enjoy this anime and drive my sister nuts talking bout it everyday

well..this is all i can tell u i guess..enjoy! hope i helped u atleast a little

(very minor spoilers involving ep. 74+)

Reborn is a series that starts out with filler. Absurb, badly written, yet sometimes decently funny. That's right, the series STARTS with filler. The filler is used to make the characters seem developed, creative, and awesome by the first, SIX EPISODE story arc. Then, there is more filler. This filler is largely just there to keep the comedic stuff of the first season going. It fills the niche NORMAL filler does, in the sense that it's kinda cool to see characters we just saw in a serious conflict, have fun with random hilarity.

Then the first REAL arc starts, one ... that actually is a huge chunk of episodes. The character development and portrayal is still bang-on. But the story is horribly weak and filled with holes. Giant, pot-holes that like on a highway almost DARE you to slow down at risk of falling into them. And that's where the series kinda fails. If you think, even for a minute about the plot, your brain will melt. It's not a bad plot, there are worse *cough*naruto*cough* but it's just.... cliche despite the mobster theme and just kinda meehhhh.

Then, we get MORE FILLER. But at this point, if you have made it this far, your brain will have melted, and you slog through it soaking up granules of entertainment with your mind wiped tendrills.

And then finally, we get to where I am now. Essentially, like taking the characters from filler, to a standard shounen fight arc; we have taken the characters, and thrown them into a standard "Shounen+" anime. For a quick definition, I consider shows like D.Gray man, FMA, and Soul Eater, "Shounen+" Basically, I mean it's still shouneny fights and all that, but the tone, storyline(kinda), and characters are those you see in what anime fans would call "Real Anime." And, so far, it seems really interesting. It's almost like 73 episodes were just leading up to the real series. It's a 10 year time skip, but over half the cast are from pre-time skip, which is actually a very unique dynamic.

I won't really discuss the characters, but they are all actually fairly well written and developed. It IS a shounen though, so don't expect FMA or Trigun level personal trauma or anything.

So overall, the series is about taking Shounen Characters who exist in a filler comedic world, and inserting standard fight-manga plot devices at them at random intervals, followed by shoving them into a show which seems like something out of Shakugan no Shana or a *good* My-hime or something.

So, would I recommend it? (Warning: The below may not be anywhere near a proper review in subject matter, tone, or writing in general)


ABSOLUTELY NOT


73 episodes to get to something awesome?! Go watch Soul Eater if you havn't it's like the greatest thing ever, and it doesn't have creepy babies which you are forced to love. Reborn is a HORRIBLE HORRIBLE curse. You hate it, and hate it, but then you watch a bit more, and then you watch more in the hopes that something will happen. You don't know why, but you do. Stay away, keep your time and energy for better series, hobbies, raising your social links, hell, even h-games i don't care. Just don't make the same mistake I have unless you really don't mind all the issues I said, and you just LOVE super deformed super babies and shounen fight characters.

At first, I thought Katekyo Hitman Reborn would be just like Naruto or Bleach. It looked like some cliche', shonen anime and the scene where the main character appeared in nothing but boxers disgusted. Soon after though, I learned that the first 19 episodes were only for character development, so I skipped them. Skipping these episodes completely changed my outlook on the show. Immediately, the show gained an interesting plot and it all got better from there.

Story: For the story, this show gets a 9. Though sometimes boring, it usually keeps strong interest. Every episode ends in a ... suspenseful ending as well, which keeps you watching. :3 If you like cool weapons, mafia, and really bad ass characters, this show is for you.

Art: The art is pretty good, and it's definitely bearable (unlike some animes I've seen). All the characters are unique, and the guys don't look too girly. P=

Sound: I LOVE the music in this anime. The theme song/ending song is always fantastic, and each character has a really cool theme song as well. There are good noises in appropriate places. If something is supposed to seem creepy, it will give off a scary/creepy feeling.

Character: The characters are also something I love. Everyone develops well, and they are all unique. You'll connect with everybody, and really grow to love them just like the show.

Enjoyment: Basically, I really enjoyed this show. Even though there are fillers...doesn't every show have those?

Overall: Overall, this show is highly enjoyable! If you want something different, yet still shonen, check this anime out~

- Spoiler Free-

Katekyo Hitman Reborn! is an awesome shounen and one of favorite animes. I am someone who loves shounens and KHR is my second favorite to only hunter x hunter 2011. rather than writing long blocks of text for story, art, sound, etc i will give you quick pros and cons for each.

Story- KHR starts off as a slapstick style comedy for the first 20 episodes and then turns into an awesome shounen (although 27-33 are also comedy daily life). this is the main problem which draws people away from this anime. The first 20 episodes deceives people into to thinking that KHR is ... a comedy, but its not. While it was funny at times its definitely not great. After the daily life episodes is when the story gets good. Theres no need for me to write a synopsis but its a loser middle schooler (tsuna) find out he is the 10th boss of the strongest mafia family. He goes on his adventures with his chosen guardians in order to protect his friends and the Vongola family. Lots of twists and great fights.

Art- Animation at beginning its rather weak, but gets better as the series progresses. Overall its okay

Sound
+ The sound is amazing. Almost every opening and ending are great and the character voices are all awesome. Not much else to say here, but the sound is on point
- some voices may be annoying to some (but very few, and they are not mcs)

Characters
+ there is a lot of variety in the characters so i sure you are ought to find one you like
+ they all change to a great degree and its cool to see how former enemies become great allies
- Tsuna still kinda a loser at the end only gets strong by taking pills/getting shot. Don't get me wrong Tsuna theres a lot of change is Tsuna's character but most of that is in strength and when he is dying will mode (when he gets shot by dying will bullet or takes pills, you will know what i mean after seeing first episode). that fact that he can only fight in dying will mode and has to take pills to achieve is my main gripe with the characters.

Enjoyment
+ a lot of fun to watch. I love this anime. I'm not a big fan of comedy in anime but this show adds in a good mix of humor with shounen. Its a blast and you should be watching it right now
- first 20 eps little slow and not shounen. Still funny though

Overall - Katekyo Hitman Reborn! will go down as one of favorites animes of all time! Its epic and a great shounen that gets overlooked because of its first 20 episodes. You have to watch right now! you wont regret it.

Holy fuck I just realized I'm considering legitimately re-watching this for the third time.

I know the scores I gave it above probably sound like that of a fanboy who is highly biased, but please, let me prove you wrong.

Story: 10
I adore the story. I am weak to mafia related things, so that was a plus right off the bat. The first twenty episodes weren't too much of a bother, it was generic comedy and such. Nothing special, and the dying will boxer thing was weird. But trust me, the story picks up. And it only gets better and better until you gush over it and ... fall in love with this absolute masterpiece. It takes twists and turns and all the characters have their own story and represent what they're supposed to as does Tsuna. There is only like two filler recap episodes, but I STRONGLY advise watching all the episodes (apart from recap) in your first run through the stories.

Art: 8
I personally loved the art at the end, but early on it wasn't the greatest. It did get significantly better. And I mean a LOT better.

Sound: 10
A little off topic, but I have a playlist I listen to of songs I like. Five of the eight (I think eight or nine) of the opening songs from KHR are on it. I never once skipped the openings, and the graphics that went along with them were absolutely fantastic.

Characters: 10
Like I said above, each character has their own backstory and own battles that pertain to them as a character as opposed to everyone versus everyone. While that may be a turnoff, they are executed very well, I would say nearly perfectly since I've never seen anything to the level that KHR accomplished. The characters all metamorphosize into characters that you will become attached to, each and every one of them.

Enjoyment: 11
It's very rare to find an anime that doesn't just get a ten, but raises the bar for everything else. I absolutely adore this series, it is so great. I don't know why but I keep coming back to it, now for a third time. It's the only anime I've ever re-watched and probably ever will. I hate to re-watch and re-read things, so it says a lot that I am re-watching this. It was simply that great. From the character development to the battles, everything was amazing.

Overall: 10
Of course I probably sound like a biased fanboy now lol. But really, if you watch all 203 episodes, I guarantee you will feel the same way. There is so much to love about this series and so little to dislike. The only real thing I dislike is that it had to end. However the manga does go on, so I'm reading that now.

I have nothing bad to say about this anime. This is literally by *far* the best anime I have watched yet, being so ahead of its time. The character design for Tsuna and the antagonists are great and... well was ahead of its time. This is most underrated shounen I have ever watched yet and I'm about to tell you why.

First let's talk about the audience, actually. Literally any age audience can watch this and still enjoy it. The extreme lack in perverted moments make this anime suitable for audiences under the ages of 16. There is mature and ... harsh language but there is never any vulgar language, such as sex jokes, explicit swearing and in my opinion is really good for those who want to watch a clean, amazing anime. I could even let my 8 year old brother watch it in my religious household on our large screen TV and even my parents would enjoy it. The content and subject matter, although, is complicated and may be harder for children ages under 12 to understand so that itself would bring the age rating back up to PG-13. There are no insanely gorey scenes so that brings down the restrictions to 13+. Anyways, in my opinion, having a large audience capability makes an anime really good and I think that these features make this anime perfect for the ages 13 and above and even those older than 18 would still enjoy the content and plot this story provides us with.

Now, on to the storyline and plot writing. The first few episodes seem to push a lot of people away because they *seem* like filler episodes, but that's just half the truth. I would say that 80% of the filler episodes is just pure filler while the 20% is actually information you need that is crucial to the story, being a 100+ episode anime. The great thing about the fillers is that they aren't long, boring and dragged out tediously, rather they're more of our comedy break times. Nevertheless, theyre still worth watching especially if you like a bit of comedy. Throughout the series, though, you will get good comedy. As for the plot, the beginning arc may make the anime seem like a lame show with inferior storyline but I'm going to tell you right now that the story really advances later on to a reasonable rate. Our main protag learns very quickly because of his charisma and excellent motor skills so his character development comes along well throughout the show. He is the most typical shounen character but he still manages to capture my heart because of his character development in this show.

As for character writing, I would say that most of the characters' personalities remain stagnant throughout the series but that isn't always a bad thing because there are many positive effects to the plot from their character writing, if that makes sense. The only character we dwelve the deepest into would be Tsuna, some of the villains and *some* of his friends, but I wouldn't put too much expectations in understanding characters more because they aren't written *too* too deeply but written so that you can still lightly emotionally connect and feel character development.

Overall, this anime is just a straight up 10/10 for me and for people like me who enjoy watching a time-worthy anime with the fam.

Basically, Katekyo Hitman Reborn is one of the best animes I've ever seen and it has the most original storyline in my opinion. I've rewatched the anime over 6 times from the first episode right on to the final 203 and I just can't help to feel like watching it again!

It's not everyday you see an anime starting off with a little baby mafioso coming to the doorsteps with an adorable shapeshifting chameleon or a mafia that compiles members from the age 13 (5?!) to 16 and uses rings and box weapons than just guys in black carrying guns in fancy shiny black cars. ... I enjoyed KHR more than I enjoyed other animes that have gone over a hundred episodes (Naruto, Bleach etc...).

Now, let's cut down the parts bit by bit aye?

Story;
I've seen many comments, reviews and discussions about KHR and basically, everyone is talking about the downfall of KHR which was the first 20 episodes. Yeah, I actually dropped the anime after watching 2 episodes but I couldn't help to feel that there was something much more afterwards so I persevered and continued watching and I found the 20 episodes HILARIOUS! It's hard not to laugh when a little baby assasin dressed up in a cow suit come jumping around with pink grenades and stuffs in a bazooka, rocket launcher and tons of candies in his afro. (Lambo FTW!) After 20 episodes, the story begins loosening the comedy and the actual seriousness begins. From here, I asure you, you won't be able to stop watching. The transitioning from a simple comedy to a serious action is still filled with a few funny scenes but you can see the development and it will hook you up.
9/10 for me!

Art;
Yeah..yeah... For most art-obsessed anime viewers, KHR may not have the best art and the characters may look weird at some angle or so but I don't think this is a problem to keep you from watching it. During the Future Arc and all, I actually find the characters all quite decent and after rewatching it a few times, KHR has quite the number of hot guys from looks to personality. The action scenes are very nicely done and I find it 8/10 in my taste.

Sound;
Don't let me BEGIN with the soundtrack...it is EPIC! I love all of the opening songs and the character songs! The second opening really got the feel of the Varia Arc and it also shows the great development of the characters since the arc houses the time where most of the characters go through a change in ability. I have nothing to complain about here so it's an all 10/10!

Character;
This is probably the main strong point of the entire anime. The characters are all amazing in their own way! Let's see...Tsuna first started out as a whiny no-good kid whose fate is turned and twisted to become a big mafia boss only at the age of 14. I guess, Tsuna's development is the main thing in KHR and I absolutely love how he journeys through the story and when I reached episode 203, I realised on how Tsuna had changed so much but still has the same normal aura around him. This doesn't change with the other characters. They went through a lot but they still had their own orginal personality strong and his gives out a concrete character. They changed, heck yeah, but they're still who they were right in the beginning; Hibari being the bloodthirsty kinky character I love so much, Lambo being as annoying as ever, Yamamoto being as easy-going he could be and Ryohei going all to the extreme!!! x'DD I love all of the characters...except for a few but I've got nothing to hate about them... 10/10 to the EXTREMEE!!!!!

Enjoyment;
do I NEED to elaborate on this? Well, I can't give it a 10/10 since there were flaws but I can live with them. I enjoyed it enough to rewatch it fully for 6 times and I'm still up for another round! What more can I say about this?

Overall;
a total MASTERPIECE. I'm currently catching up on the manga which is just twice as awesome with the new arc and all. =3

NOW GO AND WATCH KATEKYO HITMAN REBORN! The storyline is epic and the characters are to die for! (Hibari =

My first reactions to this anime were quite standard. "What's with the baby? Why does he rip his clothes off everytime?" and of course "whoa, there's a different pair of boxers every time his clothes rip." I watched it without reading the manga first, so I cannot give you a comparison of the two. Nevertheless, the characters caught my eye, and after getting a few episodes in I was basically hooked.

Story: 10, easily.
It was unique enough to keep me interested the entire way through, and it has a quick pace to it, which I found quite refreshing. As others have mentioned, the first few episodes ... can be a bit of a drag as the characters are introduced one by one and we settle down into the main action, which essentially progresses through multiple arcs. What really got me was the later half of the series, as all the characters have progressed and been revealed, giving them a lot more depth. It was much better than finding out everything there is to know about a character right at the beginning of the series and not having anywhere to go from there (bleach would be a good example of that)

If you're tired of slow shounens or ecchie's with little or no story holding them together, I'd definitely recommend this anime.

Art: Only an 8, for me.
Watching it in decent quality, 480 or 720p for me, I picked up on a lot of drawing errors than when I initially watched it by streaming. Up close, or from a direct view, the characters look fine, and actually quite good. But when drawn from a different angle, or in the background, they seem slightly misshaped and distorted, especially during the beginning of the anime. Later on into the series the drawing picks up, especially the character design, and they look absolutely fabulous, which is the only reason I gave this an 8 instead of a 7 or six for the initial mediocre art.

Ignoring the characters though, the art was great. Not perfect, but definitely above average. The color palette was picked nicely and suited the overall feel of the anime extremely well. Graphics exist to serve the aesthetics, and the overall aesthetics were definitely above average for me.

Sound: A nice large 9.
I'm going to break this into a few sections for clarification...
The opening and closing music in almost all the episodes were great, making this one of two animes I've watching which didn't make me want to skip the beginning songs, the second being Fairy Tail. There were never any songs that didn't feel like they fit with the anime's theme, they weren't completely memorable, but definitely good to listen to.
The background music was perfect, in every sense. A light almost funky feel for most of the non-serious stuff, and a deeper, but not "dramatic," music for fighting scenes and drama sections. Again, it fit the aesthetics of the anime quite well, and helped contribute to the structure and mood without being too in the way.
The character voicing was the only average part for me. Most characters were voiced well, however Lambo and Haru pained my ears to no end, especially the prior. None of them had especially remarkable or notable voices, you wouldn't be able to pick them out if you heard them by themselves, but you would definitely know who's talking if you knew it was from this anime only. Again though, Lambo having an annoying voice was the biggest downside on that one for me, especially since he is a major character

Characters: 9
The characters were all unique, and each had recognizable attitudes and interests that set them apart from each other, in fact, quite a bit of the anime is based on the attitude difference of each character, something you notice from the beginning, and lasts until the very end. Each character was easy to remember, visually different, and had a great overall design to go with them, from their clothes to their weapons and attitudes.
I should note here that the only thing stopping this from being a 10 is the annoyance of Lambo. As a character I found him very irritating, not just with his voice, but his actions and attitude as well. I do understand that he was meant to be seen as annoying, and is pointed out as such in many, many scenes, but that still means he is an annoying main character, and if you're not too fond of kids, will likely push your tolerance a tad as well. Especially considering the frequency with which Lambo is a part of the anime, being a main character in a very large fraction of the episodes at least once.

Enjoyment: 10~!
Despite a few flaws, the anime was extremely enjoyable and refreshing. It kept me hooked all the way through, and had that little gleam of "promise," even in the slow episodes that can be quite boring and easy to drop out on. It's definitely a growing anime, the more you watch the better it becomes, and the final arc will have you on the edge of your seat until you're too tired to stay conscious.

Overall, this is one of my favourite animes to date, not the best anime by any means, but it's definitely up there with other great shows. Watching between the lines was also quite rewarding, as you pick up little extra details, like Tsuna wearing a different pair of underwear every time his clothes rip. It's not that important, but hey, the small things still count.

Side note: it wasn't the focus of the anime, but it did seem to be slightly sexist, whether on accident or on purpose. Virtually every non-fighting female character is weak, extremely dependant and emotional, saying lines like "It's our job to clean and cook good meals for them, so they can fight at their best!" Even the female characters that do fight enjoy cleaning and cooking when they get the chance, and seem weaker in general compared to the male characters. Mind, it's not something that will detract from the anime, and it usually slides by without being noticed.

At first I was reluctant watching this knowing the theme is about mafia and seeing the number of episodes it's quite a lot, 203.. (well I'm not really following anime with hundreds of episodes, as it is tiring to catch up). but thanks to a strong persuasion from a good friend of mine, I ended up watching it. Honestly, Katekyo Hitman Reborn! (or I'll write later as KHR) exceeds my expectation. There are many things to love from this show.

Story 9/10
It has strong idea, good, flowing storyline about mafia. Despite its seemingly serious theme, KHR managed to address it in fun and lighthearted way. ... Even though KHR may stray from the original mafia culture, I can feel the strong bonds they usually have in mafia families.

It introduces new concept of power - the dying will flames. The dying will flames are somewhat like the 5 elements, just this is related to the sky. It has exciting battle scenes and powers, fast paced and guaranteed not making you bored. To add in, there are episode recaps after arcs so you won't forget what was happening before. Each of the battles are relevant to the progress of the story as well as the development of the characters. The story progresses to be darker and more serious, but still maintains its humor and jokes we love so much from this show.

Art 8/10
The art (character design, background, animation) here is improving. At the beginning of the series it may look quite simple and flat, however it progresses as the story goes. It gets better and more amazing, especially the Choice battle!! The animation for the last few battles is so fluid for its year I love it so much!

The character design, while typical shonen, is memorable and unique, differ from each character to the extent you can spot who is it even from the shadow / silhouette.

Sound 9/10
The OSTs are remarkable, it feels Western in relation to the mafia theme yet still maintains Japanese feel. There are memorable theme songs too (the epic Tsuna Awakes and those piano tunes every time Hibari enters..) adding more plus points to this show. The opening & ending songs are nice to listen and if you notice, also have fitting lyrics to its respective arc.

Character 10/10
There are a lot of lovable characters with a great range of personalities that make you remember them. I applaud the remarkable seiyuus who portray their characters really well.

The character development here is one of the best among anime in my opinion. The initially dame-dame-no-dame (literally hopeless) main character Tsunayoshi later progresses and grows into a reliable leader along with his famiglia (mafia family) members. Not only they receive power-ups to their unique abilities, their characters mature and it feels like growing up with them.

The bond and friendship between the characters is so strong with trust. I realize this is why there are so many pairings & ships in KHR fandom.

Enjoyment 9/10
Warning!!! KHR is highly addictive with cuts at the right moments & sometimes gritting cliffhangers at the end of the episodes. I advice you to get your hand on all of the episodes before you watch because YOU JUST CAN'T STOP.

One bad thing about this anime is... they didn't make the whole manga into anime. I wish someday they will make the continuation of the anime.

If you like action and comedy, along with superpowers and inclusion of slice of life and friendship, then this anime is for you. It is quite light show, fun, although progressing to be darker towards the end, yet still maintaining its comedic and heartwarming scenes.

I am just writing a quick review for those who don't really want a 900 word review to read to find out how it actually is. To be frank, the anime starts of not that great, the first 20ish episodes are fairly boring and the characters are plainly weirdos. At about 20, the anime becomes one of the biggest masterpieces plot, action and music wise. Honestly, the content is way better and the small amount of fillers present are actually soooo entertaining unlike naruto for example, which get monotonous like 20 per fight at least. The musics, I am shocked that they are not in ... the top 10, for me the tsuna awakens is probably the best music ever battle wise. I can agree that some other animes have excellent slightly better music in itself however reborn did the best job so far of fitting the music into the anime, it starts and stops when it needs to, its just perfectly pin point adjusted to make it perfect. So:

Plot:
1-20: Kinda boring
20-203: I adored it, was just sooooooo good couldn't stop watching, whether it's Tsuna or the others

Music:
10/10 and it is a pity i cannot grade it higher

Action:
10/10 so fitting thanks to the good animations and the perfect music which enhances it

When I started watching the show the episodes were funny at first, but it got repetitive pretty fast after the main characters were introduced. The story and the character development slows down and the episodes are the same thing over and over again. (could be filler though)
I even dropped the anime for a while. But I kept reading stories about how it gets better in later episodes, and it did!

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.

REEEEBOORN!! Super hax for 20 seconds!!! Impossiburu! The! Strongest! In! The! World!!! But at all other times he's a useless cry-baby that's attractive to the most popular women! Why! I don't know!
Katekyo Hitman REBORN! is an episodic anime about a useless kid named Tsuna (it's not his full name) who gets a home tutor named Reborn. Reborn is a baby. A baby who is the most intelligent, best, and deadliest hitman in the (Italian) Mafia who went to Japan to find a new Mafia boss, Vongola X. He went to Japan to find a new (11 y. o.) Italian mafia boss. Makes sense? This ... is only the beginning. Every couple of episodes a new character is introduced; all of them better than Tsuna. Because he's a tuna. And tuna is not very successful in life, though it may have more success as a dish. Tsuna has a crush for the most popular girl in his school, and she seems to like him as well, especially after he shows his super hax his home tutor has learnt him. Well, how original is THAT?

The everyday life of Tsuna & co. is doing implausible things while the MC breaks his clothes every couple of minutes for deathperation mode. He seems to have an infinite supply of clothes. And the amount of people that ends up living at his place is ridiculous; but don't worry, momma doesn't care (I wonder if Tsuna's family is rich?). Your reaction to what I have written here will be: 1) Sounds kiinda interesting, or 2) This will be quite boring.
The correct answer is 2.

So, yeah, Katekyo Hitman REBORN! is very boring and should definitely not be ranked that high.

Thanks for reading. Now you may just drop this series.





...Or that's what the first 20 episodes make you think. Do not worry, for after that lame and long introduction finally an interesting arc appears (though it has a length of only 5 eps). Tsuna is still a weakling, but, it becomes a bit more interesting due to what happens. This show is made out of battle arcs, and in between them there always are episodes to relieve the tension, which is not bad. It seems to become the typical shonen, in which you get the usual "become 20x stronger in 3 days", and "beat the strongest, most experienced people even though you have started fighting a couple of weeks ago". Oh well, it's quite fun because there are times at which you think: "I'm sure he's going to win", but then you get a surprise; he does NOT win. Sometimes. Sometimes.

The second arc is quite well done, since it is much more entertaining than the first, despite the before mentioned typical shonen elements. In this arc the powers that everyone has are explained quite convincingly (at least there IS a reason why it works like that). The villains that appear have their reasons to do what they do; it's not that they are doing mad stuff on a whim.

And after that arc you may prepare to cry... because we get around 40 episodes in which nothing notorious happens, after which the longest battle arc starts (I think that the rest belongs to this arc). One thing that I personally did not like at all was that the screen-time of the people who don't go to battle is ridiculously big. This typically consists of 30% of the episode in which we see a screen (our TV or PC screen) in which people are looking at another screen in which they see their friends doing something (sometimes); or something about the daily worries of a house maid. A lot of doing nothing, in short. I think it would have been a bit more enjoyable if this time was reduced by, say 20%. MOAR ACTION!! Special mention: episode 132, with an astounding 40% of story and rest filler!
That aside, villains have good reasons to fight; in this arc I even thought that it would be plausible to act like that, given their circumstances.
In this arc we get to see new mysteries that are really interesting and well transmitted; again the superpowers and their origin are explained quite convincingly, adding to the overall enjoyment. This arc is where I found the first obvious plot holes and incongruencies. I think it is best to not touch this subject further since it would make everyone who hasn't seen it hate me. Besides, spoilers aren't allowed anyways.
Though the fact that our gang of kids wins against people with way more experience than them is still going rampant in this arc, it is done in a way that is much more believable than in previous arc (though this is not obvious at first).

All these events, powerups and fights culminate in the final 15 episodes, where asspulls are rampant and battles are very intense. The author didn’t even try to hide the cliffhangers since there were more here than in all of the other episodes combined. Now, this doesn’t mean that it is something bad; it’s almost the opposite, since the battles are highly entertaining and keep you on the edge of your seat.
Finally, the conclusion. It is very rare in series to have a satisfying conclusion, as nearly all shows end in episodes that are like “Our fight has just begun!”, or every character is shown as if they still have some unknown objective. This kind of conclusion leaves me (I don’t know if this is true for everyone) an unsatisfying feeling, as I will never get to know if there really was something else. Katekyo Hitman Reborn!, however, is different. The conclusion is neatly wrapped up and no loose ends are left, making the conclusion, however cliché it might be, very good.

Okay, that's the end of the story part; let's delve into the characterization.

First off, Tsuna. Loser Tsuna is a failure in absolutely everything, which apparently makes him a normal kid (for real?). He does nothing well until he meets our favorite baby, Reborn. That meeting is a turning point in his life, after which he all of a sudden gets a heap of very very loyal friends and gets two girls who love him. He's a kid everyone has high expectations of and he's supposed to become Vongola X because his latent abilities. Will those expectations be met by our protagonist?
Our main character undergoes some character development, but it is not something spectacular, since his beliefs don't change during the anime. His way of acting does change a bit, though. And since there was no real mystery surrounding him, there is not much more that can be said.

His gang is made out of a few incredible people that decide to join our protagonist because... Tsuna is fun? Anyway, these people are not failures in life, since there is the rebel tsundere genius Gokudera (a hitman), the baseball pro Yamamoto (he's dumb), the apathic and mysterious and invincible Hibari (a madman), the EXTREME boxer Ryohei (noisy man), the illusionist C.D. (who doesn't do much but moan) and I can't say more since that would be huge spoilers. The fleshing out of these characters is done quite well, though some characters are more interesting than others.
Gokudera deserves special mention, mainly due to the mystery surrounding him: Where does he come from? Why is his personality like that? All these questions are answered later on, adding to the overall satisfaction of the show. But all these characters are interesting in their own way, and though character development is not much of a thing here, the fleshing out of them is done well.

The supporting female cast is made up by about 4 persons; of which one is the mother of Tsunayoshi. She is your typical nice and young house wife, and nothing else. Then there are two girls, called Haru and Kyoko, who have their unique quirks (Haru, at least); these go to different schools and are best friends. Furthermore there is a young woman called Bianchi, who is a charming woman that throws food at other people.
I see one major problem with these characters, though. They are portrayed stereotypically as housewives. This means that the only thing they do is house chores, cooking, and doing very dangerous and totally useless stuff ("Let's run straight into the open arms of the enemy :D"). The sole purpose of the weird things they do is making the male characters, though mostly Tsuna, worried. It is no real problem in itself, but in my opinion it was waay overdone in this show; they have no deep purpose, they only serve as "mental support". My only reaction to this was annoyance.

Another notorious character is Reborn. Reborn is a baby that belongs to the Shichibukai Arcobaleno, which is composed of the 7 strongest babies of the world (this probably means that they are stronger than every other person, not amongst only babies). Since Arcobaleno means rainbow, and the rainbow supposedly had 7 colors, it's very fitting, is it not? These babies all have fancy nicknames which actually are their real names, and they all look equally ridiculous. They all have an air of superiority that's kind of annoying, but anyway that makes it funny at times, so it isn't bad.
There's other babies, like Lambo, the one, the best, he whom everyone will love because he rules. He has that oh-so-catchy phrase: HOLD IT BACK!!! Another one is I-Pin (this name...) a chinese fart kenpo hitman, who turns out to be a girl and has constant wars with Lambo.

As for the sound, I think the music is quite fitting; epic battle music is reserved for epic moments, and calming music is used for mundane moments. Nevertheless, some tracks are overused, which may result in irritation. Some of the openings have a nice ring to them, which is quite an achievement, in my opinion, since I usually find openings not worth listening to. The voice actors are good as always; but I personally liked the voices of Tsuna and Haru, just because Tsuna's isn't your typical MC voice and Haru's voice is done in a, let's say, unique way.

The animation quality is not bad, but your widescreen is useless for watching this, since it's done for 4:3 screens. Well, not quite, since at episode 102 it is adapted to widescreens. The battle scenes are well done and transmit all the information you need to see what's going on. Another plus point is that the faces are not all the same, which is not the case for many other anime.

The last section is enjoyment. As you might have noticed, my enjoyment varied a lot during the watching of KHR, since there are many ups and downs in this show. The downs were the episodes focused on the jokes, which would get boring after being reused throughout the entire series (though there were some very funny moments) or the ones in which nothing happened. The most enjoyable parts were mostly the battles, though some of them were not that well done. And as I mentioned before, I really liked the conclusion; and the combination of all I have written gave me my final score: 7.

So now the final judgement; the question everyone will want to see answered: do I recommend this? Yes… and no. You see, there are many people who are totally not prepared to wait 20-40 episodes to see things become more entertaining. These people should definitely not watch this show. For those who may want to wait that long, you also need to like shonen anime, because this IS a shonen, in the end. If you can meet both requirements, I would say: give it a shot! (pun intended).

Thanks for reading, and I appreciate any feedback.

This is my first time reviewing and also one of the first anime that I truly enjoyed so far so I decided that it certainly deserves a review! First off, even though I haven't completed this yet, I'm already aware of alot of details (because of my bad habit of reading spoilers) and I think that it's really a shame that it's already ended. Anyway, I almost gave up on this anime because of the dragginess at the start, but once I got to the main plot I was pulled in slowly and got addicted.

Story:
Like many others, I'm going to agree that the first few ... episodes did not have much action going on (like action-action) and was just full of comic relief. It's fine, though it set my impression on this anime and I thought it was going to be like this forever so I almost gave up on this until my friends told me that it would get better. Anyway, the story only comes in later and I like how it slowly gets better and better with every coming episode because it draws me in quite well. Also, the idea of a mafia is unknown to me and I think that the story is pretty interesting and uncommon.

Art:
I'm not going to lie, the first few episodes the characters didn't look very good, and the art at first turned me off abit, but I was glad because after that as the story progressed the art got better too. The battle scenes lasted long enough, not too long and not too short. Character designs were also quite cool, especially for the main characters but I'm not going to reveal anything so you'll have to slowly watch for yourself.

Sound:
The sound! The background music fits with every scene, especially the comic relief! I've never actually gotten any goosebumps from animes before, but this is the first time I've gotten it and it's when they fight. The soundtracks in the background somehow makes the character super cool and stuff and it makes me kind of awe-struck by the characters.

Character:
My favourite part. The characters are just so special in their own individual ways, and there flaws are also balanced with their characters, so it doesn't seem like they're too perfect. The protagonist has an unexpected personality that I don't usually see alot because protagonists are usually cool and all that, but this protagonist gets better as time passes. You can see the characters developing as well, and sometimes if I were to look back I'd go "wow, they've really been through alot!" because that's exactly the kind of feeling it gives me.

Enjoyment:
I enjoyed it thoroughly, especially at the later parts! The comedy relief helps alot, especially when in serious situations! I personally love comedy myself, and the comedy has scored alot of points with me. This anime also knows when to be serious and when not to be, which also makes it more enjoyable. The fillers are also not very shallow and boring like the ones I see in some other animes and in fact I like them alot. I think through the fillers I get to see the characters' different sides (cute ones especially).

Overall:
I'd say I really love this anime! And I'm going to watch it slowly so that I will get to end later. I'm really glad to have persevered and if you're planning to watch this, please persevere like me and don't give up! Because as it goes on it gets better and better :D

When I first watched Reborn I was a little here and there. I didn't really like it, I guess because during the first 20 or so episodes they just introduced characters and had it more on the comedy there. But then after that the first arc and villian comes. and it starts to get more of a drama, and comedy theme. it also gives you a little bit of a comedy site of the mafia and hitman. aka stinky martial arts, posion cooking, and clarinets as weapons. it also brings mind wonders and scientific stuff like Box weapons, rings, flames, ten year bazoka, and time ... travel. it also shows friendship and getting stronger during battles. I would recommend watching it till the end. im glad I continued to watch it. it shows a different twist style of the mafia.