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This anime is obscure to the point that I wasn't able to track down a high res version of it. I was able to get a decent one, though, so I believe I was able to embrace the experience in its fullest. Was it worth the search?

Yes, at least for me personally. First thing you notice when you start watching is that, yet again, the synopsis is deceiving to say the least. It promises an action-packed adventure full of chases, shooting and all that cool stuff. Well, it isn't. Don't get me wrong, this big chase is the main plot and does set up ... the situation but it's not really the focus. The events move at an extremely slow pace most of the time, heck, most of the show fells like a normal TV series with each one having a separate plot. But despite that, the anime manages to make it interesting to watch, most of the time at least.

I am not 100% sure of the reason but at least half of it comes from the stylistic choice. The exact time and place of the events are never specified, the best I was able to figure out is that it's probably the south of the US or even Mexico sometime in the middle of the 20th century. This makes for a pretty unique setting, and the show takes full advantage of it, whether it's the use of authentic guns, wardrobe choices or the music, which just so happens to use all the instruments that I adore. It's spanish guitar, flute, mouth organ - everything's simple but still very effective and is great for the scenery shown here: the desert, lonely villages, classic southern cities and so on.

The leads are another huge part of this show's appeal, and it once again shows that originality isn't always what you need to create a likeable and believable persona. Nadie is a light-hearted and honest bounty hunter, Ellis is a clueless innocent girl unable to hurt anyone. We've seen this a million times, even those two characters as a main couple, say, it's one of the romantic lines in the Mass Effect trilogy (now that's an out of place reference). It works, though, mostly because the writers had 26 episodes to work with and were able to show their relationship's development in detail. It had a great sense of progression and was believable, for which I'm willing to forgive the less than intriguing plot. No, actually, it is pretty intriguing but it's predictable and rather disappointing in the amount of answers we get. That's the main reason why my score is highly subjective: I couldn't care less for the plot as long as I see genuine character interactions, and those are plenty here. Also, to conclude praising the leads, the designs are great. Both I couldn't help but like from the getgo and up till the end.

Other prominent characters are, sadly, less impressive. Let's start with the villain. He's the as generic as you can get - you have the glasses, the snarkiness and, as it turns out in the end, an overcomplicated and, in my opinion, stupid and strange plan. And it's sad, too, for screen time is constantly wasted on his interactions that do nothing to build his obviously boring character or move the plot forward. There are also a lot of people who we don't know much about even by the end. There's a bounty hunter named Ricardo who's looking after a mute girl Lirio. It's genuinely heartwarming to see, it's made obvious that he cares about her in a way that a good parent should. But that's all there is to it: there is no development whatsoever, even by the end. That was a huge disappointment, as these two had potential. Then L.A. Oh, god, L.A. I'm still not certain what his purpose was. He was creepy as all hell, that I'll give you, and at one point I felt great sympathy for him but ultimately he's underdeveloped. Again, could have done that instead of some of the more pointless episode plots.

Of which, to the show's credit, there are not many. Most serve to deepen the relationship between Nadie and Ellis or flesh them out a bit more and, seeing how they are extremely likeable, it works. This is a difficult thing to pull off but they managed to, partly due to most of the people met in single episodes being actually believable and interesting. They usually have a point and are well-written. It makes me sad the same amount of effort didn't go into some of the supporting characters, say, Blue Eyes, who is ultimately pointless. I am literally not prepared to answer why she even was there.

The art was consistently good throughout the series, not much to say here. It got simplistic during one fight but it's the only time I noticed it and only for a brief second. Not surprising, since this anime mostly relies on gunplay, which is done well. I liked the fact that they weren't afraid to show blood. Don't get me wrong I don't lke (to put it lightly) pools of blood and constant gore and believe it's disgusting, or it should be, anyway, since "horror" movies have taught me to just ignore it most of the time. I'm just glad that the show isn't trying to censor every bit of blood like modern action movies that try to be PG-13 or not draw it at all, like, say, Noir (which was constantly bugging me throughout that otherwise nice series). It appreciate the decency. As for the actors, some are merely adequate, for example, the villain, Rosenberg; to be honest, there's not much to work with. Some are really good, lidethe leads and L.A, even though he's chewing scenery like crazy half the time. Well, actually, partly thanks to that, as he makes it really enjoyable; not surprising if you recall the seiyuu voicing him also did Okarin and Light, who were both great at hamming it up.

Overall, it's a mixed bag. On the one hand, I loved Nadie, Ellis and their relationship, as well as the score and the setting, so I enjoyed it, hence teh rating - when this show focuses on something, it does it very well. The problem is that many of the elements usually important to most people are underplayed: the plot and the villain are lackluster, there is little to no development for most of the supporting cast. It might, no, it will turn many people off, and if you're expecting an epic adventure with big revelations in the end, it's not for you. If, however, you want a mild and enjoyable trip with charming leads who are well-written and have great chemistry, sure, give it a watch. You will get exactly that.

As per usual, I walk into the side story or adaption without any knowledge of the other entries in the franchise. So I had no knowledge of the world or the characters in the beginning. The anime does a good job introducing them though, so I believe I haven't missed anything important.

The show is arc-based and features two of those, however its structure is somewhat more complicated than you'd expect. Both arcs start off with a bunch of episodes not really connecting to the main plot, featuring side stories, character exploration or good old padding but do get to the point approximately five episodes before ... the climax of the current plot. What surprised me was that most side episodes actually do tie in to the main story in one way or another, the buildup can be felt throughout most of them. An interesting way of telling a story; it has its advantages, most importantly it allows for a deeper exploration of the world (the city, to be more precise) the events are taking place in. And the explanations we get surprisingly bother to actually bring the real world science into it, to a certain extent, of course, but the effort is appreciated.

And the main idea, although seen before, is interesting: people now have super powers (let's call things by their names, shall we?), which can have levels from 0 to 5, 0 meaning no powers and 5 meaning Superman levels. Naturally, people with 0 start to envy those with abilities, and this is consistently explored throughout the series. All possible attitudes, from acceptance to frustration and rivalry are featured and talked about, although the correct thing to do is repeatedly stated, which I always dislike, the real world is pretty darn ambiguous. One of the four main characters even has an arc devoted to her dealing with hero 0 level, which is the best character arc in the show, in my opinion (I'll get to that later). Overall, the world this anime is set in felt surprisingly believable, and I have even caught myself thinking of it as a possible precursor to the events and the whole setting of Shinsekai Yori. This idea, however, had a downside of making me compare the treatment of the whole "powerful and powerless" relationship problem, which predictably ended in finding Shinsekai Yori far superior.

But the setting is only as good as are stories and characters existing in it. And both these elements are a mixed bag for me. The plot felt utterly mediocre: while it had a couple of twists and fake outs, it was ultimately predictable, for me at least. There are two major "villains", one for each story arc, and the first actually turned out to be pretty identifiable. The character was well-developed, all of the motives were clear and there was even an interesting emotional parallel with Misaka. And the revelation was a good one, I had thought about this but only as of a cool idea, so I was pleasantly, if mildly, surprised. With the second one, however, I really didn't get the idea: the identity of the villain is revealed in what should have been a twist but it had been specifically hinted on several times beforehand, so it wasn't surprising in the slightest. And it still comes completely out of left field, since this person has no significance to any of the leads, there is no connection whatsoever. And as soon as the twist happens, the character goes completely berserk, complete with evil laugh, narrating all of the plans to helpless enemies instead of just killing them, all the boring villain stuff that has been done to death. Same goes for the story arcs themselves: the first one actually was a clever scheme, the second one is just generic, mostly saved by extensive character development. Overall, I liked the first half a lot more storywise.

Then there are the characters, namely the four leads. Misaka, one of the city's most powerful, is mostly your typical high school girl protagonist: bold, good-hearted, if a bit overconfident, which is only natural if you have ultimate control of electromagnetic powers (and she is Electro and Magneto combined in this, which is, simply put, awesome). The stuff with her is what you'd expect: of course she makes mistakes, she can be egotistical at times but comes off as a good person in the end. I had no problems with her. Her roommate Kuroko, however, was ungodly annoying to me. I am dead sick of writers who think that sexual obsession is funny because it goddamn isn't (No Game No Life, for example, tried to bank on it, too; at least it had actual jokes). A lot of time is wasted on her harassing Misaka and the "hilarious" wacky antics that are sure to follow. I have never seen it outside of anime, and for a good reason: this won't fly in the real world, you'll just be found creepy and/or crazy. The only funny pervert I have seen PERIOD is Itaru in Stein's Gate but his lines are actual jokes and he wasn't a stalker. And it's a shame, too, because her power of teleportation is actually cool, and she uses it well. She is a policeman of sorts, and you know what? A pretty responsible one, too, she's pretty enjoyable when she actually does something other than harassing Misaka. I couldn't bring myself to like her, sadly.

The other two are Uiharu, who's a pretty generic girl who gets some development in the second half but is mostly your usual computer expert, and Ruiko, who's by far my favorite. Funny, that, seeing as how she's the one who doesn't have any powers, which makes her a lot more interesting, since it allows for a character study with a focus on her coping with that, which is very well-executed. She's not perfect, she makes mistakes but is still likable; she even gets her moment of glory in the climax. By far the best out of four. The supporting cast is okay for the most part, they have their moments. Some of them are more interesting (the first villain), some of them are pretty cliched and pointless (for example, there's the inevitable high school bitch who is, of course, a good person on the inside). Overall, the cast is enjoyable to watch save for those stupid harassment interactions between Misaka and Kuroko.

The art is, well, adequate, nice but nothing special. Same goes for the voice acting and music. It never took me out of the experience but it didn't amaze me at any point, either. Which is more or less how the whole anime felt. There are good things in it, I enjoyed watching it for the most part but it wasn't able to really grip me. Shinsekai Yori is partly to be blamed for it, since the same issue of powerful-powerless relationship was discussed much more seriously and deeply there. Overall, it's a good anime, even stuff I didn't really like wasn't all that bad, just mediocre. Except for these stupid interactions with Kuroko.

I'm still not sure why this works. If you try to analyze separate elements, honestly, they're mostly not that impressive. How's writing? It's okay. How's art? Again, okay. All, right, the sound is pure awesomeness, you can have this one, but still. The story isn't all that interesting and unpredictable, moreover, a lot of episodes added virtually nothing in terms of it. The characters get surprisingly little dialogue (for a 26-episode series, anyway) to develop themselves. Even gunplay feels underwhelming because of the absence of blood, not that I'm a fan of gore. But somehow the ending felt very intense to me, there was never ... a moment where I was bored and, overall, it worked for me.

And I sincerely believe I have the directors to thank for it. As I have sad, there's not as much dialogue even between the leads as you would expect, yet the bond between them doesn't come out of nowhere, as it usually is in bad movies in such cases. The connection is established largely through their interactions: poses, glances, smiles, even battles. There are a lot of silent scenes which set the mood and allow you to see the characters' reactions instead of listen them talk about it. Honestly, that felt pretty refreshing, nowadays everybody loves to put in a ton of dialogue to explain all the details that could have been shown in a single shot just as easily (looking at you, Christopher Nolan), depriving the characters of any realistic emotions. You aren't writing an essay, you are working in a visual media! The "show, don't tell" idea comes from literature, for crying out loud; Noir is a nice case of following this principle. This approach has, however, a downside to it: you can't be sure of the feelings people have, you see their reactions but not their thoughts, therefore, the story has a sense of ambiguity to it, you have to analyze what you see. Some might have a problem with this. Personally, I like it for two reasons: firstly, it's not treating the audience as morons, it allows me to use my head, secondly, that's how real life works! You don't see the insides of people's heads unless you're Hannibal Lecter. So it makes the show feel more realistic, though a bit challenging to watch.

This storytelling concept has to rely on visuals and not dialogue, that's where music comes into play. It's extremely important, since it can actually help resolve the ambiguity I mentioned, transferring the emotions for the writers. Well, this is part of why this anime works: the score is simply amazing. It incorporates a lot of different styles: there's your usual electronic part, then it's suddenly piano with flute, then it's a church choir, you get a violin, even an acoustic guitar joined by an accordion at several occasions. Not to mention the opening song by Ali Project, not my favorite one, that title still goes to the opening of Another, but still a pretty good one. The music always matches the moment, often I found myself just admiring what I was hearing, also at several points I remember my opinion on what was even going on shaped by the music more so than by the dialogue. Not such an uncommon case, really, it was the same even with the original Star Wars trilogy; if you think about it, Darth Vader doesn't come out as that menacing of a villain through the writing alone, at least in the first movie; the score had to make him seem that way.

Another thing that I really liked about this anime is the realism of it, which has many levels to it. As I have mentioned, its approach in showing emotions feels very realistic; the characters, admittedly, aren't that complex but are believable. It's actually pretty important, since getting this wrong means the personalities can't be relayed through the reactions and, therefore, they will ring false. Not the case here; I get these people and their motivations, even though I can't agree with some of them. Again, there is a downside to it: none of them are all that original, to the point where one of the leads reminded me strongly of Ein from "Phantom", while the villain at one point turned into pretty much the goddamn Emperor from the sixth episode. Not that it bothered me, though, even things you have seen done can work if effort is put into making them feel unique, which is apparent with Noir. Said villain, for example, is wonderful: he doesn't do or say anything typical for an antagonist until the very last episodes, he's shown as kind and nice as you can get; we are told things about him, though, and we do learn his intentions and the reasoning behind them. The buildup he gets is so smart that I don't remember myself hating any villain as much in a long time, even though his motivation is something I've seen thousands of times. Overall, it's well-written, the story and the ideas themselves are simply not that original.

The shootouts, which are very prominent in the series, also have a realistic feeling to them. I am not a big fan of guns in general, I am much more into Medieval combat with bows, swords and all those good things. This show did not convince me to change my mind but it managed to make those battles somewhat interesting to watch by taking away the main characters' invulnerability, for the most part, at least. At several points the leads still stand in the field without anyone being able to actually hit them, hi, action movies from the 80-s, but most of the time they can and do get hurt. And the injuries aren't gone in a second or taken care of by a single bandage, they actually stick around for several episodes and affect the ability to fight. This decision, rather unique, sadly, helped the battles feel more intense. That said, yeah, don't expect miracles, it's a lot of people shooting; if you enjoy it, great, it's just not really for me. There were a couple of moments filled with genuine awesomeness here and there, like bullet time on one occasion and even a grandma with a shotgun (for a very short time, unfortunately). There's no blood, though, so it may take some people out.

These elements are what I felt to be most important in this anime. The story isn't focused on a lot and is pretty predictable; there's but one major twist, and even though it's good, some may see it coming (I didn't). The individual subplots aren't all that interesting most of the time, though some allow the leads to have some development, which is always nice. The issues explored are revenge, forgiveness, and there's some good commentary, so much so that it will make you think about your own views on the subject. This show is surprisingly good at making the audience think, actually; quite surprising, for an anime about two girls-assassins. The artwork is a mixed bag for me; while by no means bad, it is strangely too rough and too smooth for my taste at the same time; I didn't hate but it didn't do much for me. Overall, Noir has a realistic feeling to it and is extremely well-directed, more so than it is well-written. It also features a wonderful music score, making for a satisfying experience despite its flaws.

It takes a lot of talent to make a pure slice of life interesting. In order for it to have a unique feeling, the characters and their interactions have to be compelling, while the dialogues need something to keep us wanting more; that's the trickiest part, it can be done in multiple ways but is at the same time hard to get right. The conversations can be humorous, dramatic or just intelligent but they have to offer something to the audience. Does Kanon (from this point on I'm going to refer to it by title only, I always mean the 2006 version) capture manage to ... pull this off?
In my opinion, it doesn't. Luckily, it really isn't a slice of life.

Admittedly, in the beginning it is, which is exactly why I find the first 6 or 7 episodes to be rather underwhelming. I get that there are several characters that must be developed and there are events to build up to but there's far too much padding and mindless cute banter for me not to fall asleep. The same could be accomplished in two or three episodes with little missing. It is a prime example of what many people think when they think "slice of life": it's cutesy, pretty stupid and annoying. This part I didn't like, even if I do understand the writers needing it to set up mysteries and introduce us to the cast. It didn't help that half of the plot relies on amnesia, which befalls like three out of six main characters; the anime was even honest to enough to straight up comment on that.

However, the rest of Kanon is by no means like that. It gets dramatic quickly and never drops the ball, resulting in a complete and touching story. Even though the series is arc-based, the parts are tightly connected and almost all come down to the lead's past, which is the main intrigue, as expected with amnesia as a main plot device. One of the arcs doesn't, really, it seems to be an issue the writers just wanted to comment on, possibly a tribute. It could be written out easily but is still identifiable and intense enough, so I didn't mind it. Speaking of amnesia, surprisingly there are good explanations for each character having it, not just for the sake of moving the plot, like this plot device is often utilized. Kudos to the writers on that one.

Overall, the anime is very well-written once the story actually gets going. So much so that, while with 3 out of 5 main girls magic is directly involved in their subplots, there is never too much of it, just enough to justify the situation. It is used only as a means to make all this possible, and there is no explanation whatsoever but it is kept promptly out of focus and doesn't feel as a cheap writer's tool, just as a starting point for the plot. It's done in a pretty clever fashion, for example, at one point the show features a demon fighter, and, although the entities are real, they are invisible, so they feel more as a symbol of a threat than actual demonic beings. There is a surprising amount of symbolism later on, practically on the subject of dreams and acceptance, all well-handled.

The characters are, in fact, not all that important here. The lead, Yuuichi, is a pretty boring "good guy", even though he has an interesting past. Most of the girls he interacts with don't have that much of a personality either, just a trait or two to make them stand out. Some are pretty unique, especially Mai; Shiori's case has been seen countless times but is interesting because of the angle they have decided to take. Others are mostly your typical "cute anime girls". The only thing that's important about them and what makes them so different is their relation to Yuuichi's past. So, we have a unique case here: a slice of life which, in fact, isn't character-driven. Which is why it doesn't work that well in the beginning.

The art certainly doesn't help the characters stand out. Kyoto Animation is often criticized for making everyone look the same, and while I normally don't agree (say what you want about Haruhi but it's definitely not the case there), it is sadly true here. All the female characters look the same; the only two things that differ are hair and eye color. I'm also not a big fan of the eyes that take up half the face. So, the job of making the characters memorable falls on the voice actors, who, thankfully, were up to the task. With this kind of animation, they are responsible for conveying the personalities, and they do a good job. None sound generic, I never had trouble telling one voice from the other.

Overall, I'd say Kanon has a great and compelling story, everyone's problems seem surprisingly real despite supernatural constantly being mentioned. The characters, if generic, are identifiable, partially because they fall under the "Every man" category because of it. For me, the show was held back by its slow start and art style but I still enjoyed the hell out of it. Easily an eight out of ten, nine if you don't mind this kind of animation.

It's one of those shows where my opinion on them and my thoughts on what it is about in the beginning and in the end are completely different. And yet, in a sense, are both correct.

It starts out as nothing that unusual: the two main characters are a usual boy and a girl who is super smart but socially awkward. They start solving mysteries together and their relationship progresses. "Oh, it's another one of those. So, they'll continue being friends, there probably will be a pseudo-love triangle and in the end they'll admit their affections. Hope the detective subplots are interesting, at the very least". ... These were my thoughts. Not entirely wrong, since show seemingly is arc-based and there even is a kinda-sorta-love triangle. Much to my surprise and joy, it turned out there's much more to this anime. Resolved mysteries come into play later (not all of them but most surprisingly do, one way or another), the characters evolve throughout the series, which applies not only to the main leads but also to a good chunk of the supporting cast. The relationship between the two is focused on but there is a surprising lack of padding. What I liked is they didn't really discuss it or explore it; they knew it was real and acted on it, which made it feel very believable and unique.

Which, again, surprised me, since the two leads aren't all that original. Victorique, say, looks exactly like Shinku from Rozen Maiden, save for her hair being a different type of blonde and the eye color, and even has a similar know-all attitude but, of course, actually cares for Ju- I mean Kazuya. He, on the other hand, is your typical kind and nice guy willing to sacrifice himself for others and so on. Most of their interactions involve her treating him badly on the surface while secretly caring for him, which is obvious to the audience and himself, really. He doesn't get it immediately (again, kudos to the writers for showing character progression) but pretty soon he stops complaining and just goes along with it, so this attitude, instead of resulting in a tedious and unfunny comedy routine, serves as a means to express Victorique's feelings indirectly, making the dialogues interesting to listen to. This is the soul of the anime, it builds up the bond between the leads while keeping things engaging, and I won't go into spoilers but boy, does it pay off!

None of the other characters are as developed, though most feel complete with just enough attention paid to them. I wish there was more of Brian Roscoe (I think the writers really like Christopher Nolan's movies; you'll get it when you see the twist with him) and less of Avril, who ended up being mostly pointless and rather cliched with her stereotypic girly personality. She's not prominent enough to become annoying, thankfully. The main villain, despite having no clear redeeming qualities, is good in that he has a realistic and a terrifyingly noble goal, making him, in the end, very believable and real. That goes for everyone in this anime, the baddies included - none are all that implausible and most of them are even identifiable. Again, not everyone, but most do have a legitimate reason behind their crime, be it passion, grief, friendship or fear.

The crimes themselves are what I was concerned about at first. A detective seems to be the easiest genre to write; well, it's also the easiest to screw up. The answer can be too obvious, too complicated, too implausible or just plain impossible to guess. Not the case here. All the solutions are comprehensible and well-explained, none rely on mystical forces, in fact, the point that there's no such thing, instead, the science is what moves the world is made more than once. The creators make a point of showing all the details required to solve the mystery, so Victorique doesn't come out as a genius who spots things others don't: we know just as much as she. For me, it is an essential part of a good detective. So, even though they aren't what the show, in the end, is about, the subplots are entertaining to watch thanks to the intrigue.

Gosick has a rather unique atmosphere to it, most of it coming from the setting. The story takes place in a fictional country between France and Italy in 1924, which means shortly after the end of the first World War, which is acknowledged and referenced. This fact is interesting in itself, you don't see that much media attention being paid to the FIRST World War now. I also liked the architecture and the fashions which aren't modern yet but also don't feel entirely archaic. Speaking of the first World War, politics plays an increasingly important role in the show, so much so that the final episodes don't even have any mystery stories to them. Instead, they take a rather grim turn to show the second World War (in 1925; yeah, this part I still don't get), though mostly from the perspective of the main characters. Historic events are intertwined with their fate, which serves both as a story catalyst and a means to develop them. Overall, what starts out as a bright tale about a detective girl turns into a rather dark story deeply connected with the setting.

The music and the voice acting are consistently good, nothing to be said here. I especially liked the actress portraying Victorique, she did a great job keeping her appealing despite her rough attitude.

To sum up, it was a surprising and fantastic experience. A seemingly arc-based generic romantic comedy turned out to have a great plotline and discuss both World Wars, ultimately resulting in a satisfying experience complete with two great leads with believable chemistry. I can't find anything that's wrong with this anime.

Fantasy isn't quite like it used to be nowadays, or at least it doesn't want to be. Tolkien-like stories of great heroes and their adventures in the world inspired by Medieval are considered old news; now fantasy likes to be dark, edgy and bitter, showing the "true rough nature" of the world. There are good examples of such "mature" fantasy, the Witcher, for example, much as I dislike its focus on angst over substance. Often, though, it just comes down to buckets of blood and a lot of sex scenes (yeah, so mature) with no depth to it.

This anime's take on modern fantasy and overall ... Medieval is different and much more appealing, to me, at least. Oh, it doesn't hesitate to show how rough it can be but it chooses to introduce economics into its world. The premise is that demons are at war with humans, and finally a hero with three sidekicks gets close to stopping the war (of course he does, it's the plot of any party-based RPG ever) and heads off to kill the Satan. Who turns out to hate war herself and, in turn, tells him she actually wants to stop the war. He agrees to help her, and the rest of the show more or less focuses on her plans and their consequences.

Most of these plans revolve around reforming agriculture, economics and so on. In the beginning it felt similar to Spice and Wolf: there are two main characters falling in love, the female is going to introduce some clever schemes, the atmosphere is equally warm, even the two leads are played by the same actors. However, Maou's ideas are all pretty simple, the intrigue comes not from the plans themselves but from the effect they have on people and, ultimately, on the country. The plot is coherent but seems to be episodic at times, partially because of the inevitable time jumps, as such reforms require time to actually take effect.

This one is difficult to talk about, for it's really hard to point out one single element that makes the anime good; it's mostly the little touches. For example, I really enjoyed watching the Hero for many reasons, one of them being that he asks an interesting question: what is there for a hero to do after the war has concluded? He won, awesome, so what's next? This character seeks peace to begin with, and his interactions with Maou only serve to keep him on this path, while he actually can only function in times of war. The question of what war means to different people is an interesting one, and it's explored from different angles throughout the show. There is no clear answer, though, which might irritate people; me, personally, I hate when such questions get a clear answer, ambiguity is what makes the topic interesting to begin with. Many issues are addressed, some in a rather unusual light; for example, merchants tend to place profit before everything else - is this bad? Not necessarily, as this series suggests, one character was turned from an obvious and boring "heartless douche" type almost into someone to root for without any real change whatsoever. I have actually thought of a thing to praise here: the writing.

The characters are good when they are given enough time to shine, I'd like to see more of the Mage with her split personality (for once, it's not a villain who has it), for example. Maou is interesting in that she's clearly wise and cunning but still childish and innocent, which overall makes her all the more appealing. Yuusha is pretty lighthearted and not that smart, though intelligent enough to understand his problems and limited usefulness; to his credit, he doesn't fall into angst, he always tries to help people. So, yeah, he's the Hero, no real surprise there. There obviously is a romance between these two (as usual with the characters voiced by these actors - Lelouch and Kallen, Lawrence and Horo), there is even a love triangle with the Knight lady, though this is the weakest part of the show. Don't get me wrong, the main couple's interactions are mostly nice but it leads to many unnecessary moments, like, say, discussions of boobs, which is always classy. It doesn't feature fanservice, though.

The supporting cast consists of a variety of characters, some of which evolve throughout the series, others are interesting as they are. There are, of course, those who mostly serve as a throwaway joke or are ultimately pointless (the Old Man, the little servant girl, the Dragon Princess) but they almost always are there to complement someone else's personality, so it's not distracting. In the end, they do reflect the world they live in and present interesting possibilities for the writers to take advantage of. More than enough for me.

The art and the score both serve to reinforce the aforementioned warm atmosphere and yeah, they work. It's not the sharp drawing style I usually enjoy but it's justified here. Everyone looks unique, particularly Maou, who is not drawn like your usual anime nice girl but instead opts for a more mild kind of beauty, which is refreshing in a female lead. The voice acting is awesome: practically all significant characters are voiced by someone whom I have heard and liked before (be it in Code Geass or Rozen Maiden), and they do a good job here too.

Overall, I really enjoyed the show. Yeah, it doesn't really pay off in terms of the romance, and the story can feel somewhat unfinished, particularly with the ending being only semi-happy but I really like to see real world economics and serious issues like cultural diversity being brought into fantasy world. It makes for an intelligent plotline with believable outcomes for all actions and allows the creators to show how Medieval actually progressed. This is what I'm going to think of now when I think "Modern Fantasy". A great anime.

I went into this anime without any knowledge of it whatsoever. After seeing the first couple of episodes, I began to wonder: is this going to be really smart or really dumb? The answer, as usual, is none of the above.

Akuma no Riddle starts off with a simple yet intriguing premise: there are 12 assassins in the Black class and one victim. The killers, of course, need to kill her, the target wants to survive. So, after hearing this, I thought the show was opting to be mystery: you can't trust anyone, everyone is suspicious and so on. This can be done and has been ... done to great success but there is one obvious and serious problem here: unlike, say, in Another, you don't have many usual people trying to find one special person; instead, only one is normal. Therefore, there is no reason for the target to check anyone, thus every suspicious or ambiguous bit of dialogue immediately exposes the character as an assassin. Handling that for 12 episodes and still maintaining the intrigue doesn't seem to be possible, and the anime wisely takes a different turn. The target is revealed very early on to everyone; instead, the hunt has rules, which basically mean everyone makes their attempts in order, and the goal is to be the first to succeed.

The synopsis is a bit misleading, though: Tokaku develops feeling for Haru, sure, but not that gradually. To be honest, it comes out of nowhere, really; what surprised me is the fact that it is actually explored later on. The number of killers (12) isn't coincidental, it basically means each episode has its villain. There are deviations from this rule but it's more or less true. So, everyone gets a chance to shine, even though it means there isn't much of a coherent narrative. The only question is: is one episode always enough for the writer to make a character interesting and memorable? At first, it seems like the answer is no, first attackers are not very interesting: there are either no redeeming qualities whatsoever or they are as boring and banal as you can get. Their methods can't be called cunning, too.

It does improve, though, some characters are actually compelling and easy to identify with, their resolutions well-handled. Ironically, those who actually didn't want to kill Haru all that much turned out to be most interesting. Their episodes are mostly around the mid point of the series. After that, however, the focus is more on Tokaku, Haru and their relationship rather than anyone else, so the killers serve mostly as a means for character development. As a result, they aren't that memorable but allow the leads to shine; thanks to that, Haru doesn't come out as a complete damsel in distress, and Tokaku is affected by these experiences, which makes their personalities more interesting. Which is good, since in the beginning they are more (Haru) or less (Tokaku) two-dimensional. The ending changes this radically, although it is pretty strange and, I'm certain, didn't appeal to many. It's probably happy, all things considered, but strange and surprising. I liked it, unsure as I am of how plausible the events were in terms of established relationships.

The art really worked for me, it's rather unrealistic but has a sharp feeling to it, making the atmosphere seem surreal yet not exactly threatening. Overall, the show looks and feels pretty energetic, helped by the score often choosing electronic music, though also utilizing traditional instruments. I also liked the decision to make everyone except the students of the Black class black and white, it just looks awesome. The character designs are great, no one looks the same and practically no one looks generic, too. The voice acting was great, I especially liked Tokaku; the voice is unusual but works well with her.

Most of my problems with the show I have already mentioned: while SOME characters I liked, some were boring or were only there to develop the leads; and one of the students is completely pointless and has little to no personality. The big revelation in the end (and of course there's the big answer to who's behind this and what do they want) is only good for the effect it has on Haru and Tokaku's relationship, it's not that interesting or surprising, for that matter, and ultimately comes out of left field and amounts to nothing. The anime, in my opinion, suffers from it only having 12 episodes; otherwise, character arcs could have been more explored, the ending built up better, so that it could make more of an impact. As it is, not everything is great with Akuma no Riddle but it is enjoyable, contains surprisingly little padding and fanservice and at least half the class consists of interesting characters. Overall, it's good. I just can't shrug off the feeling it could have been better.

First and foremost, I haven't played the original visual novel. I have, however, seen Fate/Zero before this (going by the simple logic of it being a prequel), which certainly influenced my experience. Not sure if it was the right thing to do but it happened.

And this show is certainly different from its prequel, mainly in terms of the story perspective. It does have a protagonist, Shiro, and the story centers on him and his relationship with his servant. And he is a good lead, if a tad boring at first, as his motivation, although admirable, does make him come out as your typical bold hero ... type. He changes throughout the series, so he isn't boring to watch even despite his original attitude. Overall, he is a decent character I was able to root for and was clearly supposed to.

Than there's Saber. To be honest, one of the few Servants that is actually interesting; to be fare, she has far more screen time than the others. Her personality seems to be that of a generic noble knight but is actually deeper than it seems and continues to change throughout the series. Her arc is what makes the show: it's well-paced, for example, her name isn't revealed until the middle of the series; her relationship with Shiro is very believable, clearly focused on and, in my opinion, wonderfully resolved. She is hands down the best and most important character in this show.

Others are generally good. Most tend to get at least some character development, practically no one is presented as just a generic villain or hero. Some, though, were clearly not important for the writers and are present only to move the plot forward. Illya has little to no personality and is pretty annoying, the main villain is just The Villain, no redeeming qualities. Most have their purpose and their moments but are ultimately in the background like, say, Rin and Archer, who are by no means main but are still well-developed and relatable. There is only one character I genuinely hate; not surprisingly, she is the comic relief. She's not up there with Jar Jar, partially because she is not that prominent, but she is not funny, not entertaining and entirely pointless to the plot. She is the only one like that, thankfully.

This anime is a nice mix of character-oriented and plot-oriented styles, although less so than the prequel, focusing more on the main leads, yet still presenting the audience with a solid story. Despite having every possibility to be a combination of several stories (there are 6 servants to battle, each one gets his arc, everybody's happy), it manages to avoid it, at least the most obvious route. Events fall logically into places, motivations are believable and revelations are well-done. Unfortunately, most plot twists can be easily predicted by someone who has seen the prequel. Say, Saber's name is revealed in the very second episode of Fate/Zero, so it wasn't a surprise to me, as well as the actual villain's identity. It goes both ways, though: I was extremely pleased to see one of my favorite characters of the prequel return by the end of the show but he would probably seem to have come out of nowhere to those who haven't seen Fate/Zero. Also, it was nice to see that the creators were able to make Saber's personality evolution throughout both series seem natural.

The art is great, particularly the battle scenes. The animation is consistently good, only being reduced to sketchy style (which I detest) when (what a coincidence!) the comic relief shows up. The fights are well-thought out, never boring and always beautiful. The music is your average good score, nothing special, though I did like the second opening song. Voice acting is great, all the voices match the characters being portrayed. Overall, the anime feels well-produced, effort is obvious and appreciated.

To sum up, the show has its problems, namely some of the characters are underdeveloped (Lancer, for example, or, again, Illya) and are only there to serve the plot, and the lead is pretty boring, in the beginning at least. Despite that, some are extremely good, the story felt intriguing enough for me and the artwork is awesome, and that's after Fate/Zero, which spoils some of the twists. More than enough to call it a very good one, as far as I am concerned.

This is one of those cases when the synopsis, while being absolutely correct, seems to promise a completely different experience from the one you're about to get. I went into this series expecting a plot driven show where most of the intrigue comes from the world itself, which seemed the case early one, since the beginning of the show focuses on the world's rules, people being unable to die, the Gravekeepers and whatnot. Later on, though, attention starts being shifted to character exploration and eventually Ai, the lead, just flat out says she has completely forgotten about her role as a Gravekeeper.

So, if one were ... eager to get a coherent narrative filled with mysteries and coming to its ultimate resolution in the end, they'd be pretty disappointed to see this show consists of a number of subplots connected mostly by Ai's determination to save the world, no less, which leads to a road trip of sorts. Luckily, these subplots and characters they focus on were more than enough to keep me invested in what was happening, also helped by the fact that there's little to no filler, all the episodes feel as an essential part of the story. In the end it resembles Cloud Atlas done right: the subplots are similarly connected by one main theme, namely, dreams and wishes, but there's no obvious message that can be clearly tracked through most of the parts, in fact, different points of view are represented and, in the end, none are completely discarded.

Surprisingly for a show that consists of a handful of pretty much separate stories, there are not so many significant characters here but they are well written and none feel unidentifiable, although there is a guy who's simply boring. Some are straightforward, some evolve throughout the series (Ai, in particular), some end up being not quite what they seemed - all that good stuff is here. The twists (and there are a couple) are genuinely well done and the stories are interesting, each shedding some light on what did God abandoning Earth really mean and the consequences of this event. The ending gives somewhat of a conclusion to Ai's desire but leaves many things open for interpretation, which I always like.

The artwork is simply gorgeous, it's drawn in clear lines and colored beautifully. There are some effects, particularly later on, which also look fantastic. The main character managed to look as a generic young girl yet still be unique at the same time. Hell, the chief animator's other credits include working on Death Note, which, although extremely controversial, is also extremely beautiful, so it figures. Bottom line - this anime looks great. Voice acting is also very good. Nothing much to say here, it's just good. As it usually is with this particular aspect, there isn't much to comment on except if there are some unusual tricks, flaws or just very-well recognizable voices. That's not the case.

This anime explores an interesting and, to be honest, underutilized theme of dreams and wishes (at least I think it does). Seriously, it was mostly covered in Disney animated movies (and knockoffs of those but that's a sad story), and in a largely stupid way. They promised that dreams come true. This show, in return, asks: "Well, is it good?". A fine question with no clear answer; add some great animation, interesting plots and identifiable characters and voila - you get Sunday Without God (English title). A cocktail I was happy to try out, might I add.

While watching this movie, I couldn't help thinking, bizarre as it may sound, of Christopher Nolan and his style of movie-making. You know, complex stories with multiple twists that try to intrigue you up until the end credits (and sometimes beyond). For the most part, they succeed, yet my problem with his movies is a consistent lack of believable, living characters, all I see are puppets who are there for the sole purpose of letting the puppeteer tell his story.

Well, Wolf Children is a complete opposite of Nolan's style. The story is very basic with but one unusual twist to it which is revealed ... even in the title. This anime, however, features a whole cast of characters who are practically leaping out of the screen. Some may consider it a flaw; personally, I don't require a sophisticated story to make the experience enjoyable for me. And, you know, since Star Wars and Lord of the Rings movies are considered classics despite having the most basic plots imaginable, I believe it's true for a lot of people.

This anime is a perfect proof that sometimes you don't need to make up a story, you don't really need to force conflicts. There are even no antagonists here. What I consider this title to be is a genuine representation of life. And it is really all you need: life has conflicts, life is difficult as it is. You don't really need to invent anything else, you just have to make it feel real.

This movie manages to do just that, in no small part thanks to its pacing. It has a very unique feeling to it, despite covering a big period of time, it still manages to take its time. There are a lot of still and slow scenes, sometimes silent or practically silent to allow the atmosphere really sink in. I tend to admire movies that successfully utilize this storytelling tool since it really shows the advantages of visual media. Yes, i am a confident proponent of the "show, don't tell" idea.

Speaking of "show", the art was kind of a mixed bag for me. The movie looks a bit like a sketch, yet it stays consistent with its style. In the end, it doesn't come out as lazy artwork but instead as a choice to make the atmosphere soft. It took a bit for me to get used to it but it was never able to take me out of the experience. I guess that's just my personal attraction to detailed and perfect art instead of the hand-made feeling the creators are going for here.

The music is often absent, it only comes in at truly dramatic moments to make sure they leave a desired impression. It's not used to reflect the characters' feelings, this title uses it only to supplement its narrative, not to replace it. For what it's worth, it's adequate. The voice acting was, again, adequate. Just your standard set of good actors doing a good job.

Talking about characters themselves would mean spoiling the show, since its narrative mostly has to do with exploring their personality, so I'm not going to do this. I'm just going to say that they all feel like real alive people, and are very relatable; especially the mother, she is just all around a wonder of a human being.

Overall, I wouldn't call it a masterpiece, mostly because of its tone being not for everyone and the artistic choice but it's definitely great and one of my favorite anime movies from now on.