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If you just found out about this anime are are thinking: "OMG!!! Final fantasy anime~ this must be the best thing in existence!111!!!11" Think again.... Besides references to a few summons and other final fantasy lore~ the story feels like nothing resembling final fantasy at all. Its not a sequel or connected to any other fantasy universes in any way~ If anything it just felt like a diabolical anime company decided to add "final Fantasy" to the title to brainwash fans of the franchise to buy their series... a very inhumane marketing tactic indeed...

Story: Kids from the "real world" looking for their lost parents in ... a "fantasy world"... run into trouble because they have no powers to protect themselves from the crazy monsters running about. They are saved by a few people in the world who decide to help them find their parents.

The flow of the story is VERY VERY slow...Alot of cheesy jokes and talking that no one really cares about. The fighting scenes are not the best, but because the Fighting Protagonist "Kaze" is just so awesome, and the rest of the plot is so slow, you just pray a fighting scene will come soon to save you from misery. ohhh... and the fighting relies on summoned beast fired from guns... Some sword action would have been nice.

Art: Its not a masterpiece or anything~ but for the time it was rather good. Kaze and his main antagonist have a very unique presence that makes them shine compared to the rest of the cast.

Sound: Nothing stands out about the sound for the most part, it wasn't very memorable. One of the endings was very upbeat and nice, I still listen to it occasionally.

Characters: Nearly all character attributes are stereotypical shounen roles... Nothing stands out barely at all. The two siblings Ai and Yu were supposed to be the main characters, but they're just so boring and predictable its not even fun.

Kaze, the "fighting protaganist" was the only real reason I could even bare the show~ and even then he's the stereotypical "Silent hero" type, and gets little to no attention unless its a battle. If not for Kaze and his antagonist my rating would have been a 4 overall...

Enjoyment: I honestly felt betrayed watching this series. If Final fantasy has made alot of mistakes on its path to glory... but this series takes the cake. When the show was over I wished I had a time machine to go back and delete this series off my hard drive before I had the opportunity to waste a good 7-8 hours of my life on this show.

Rating: 6/10
The only thing you'll get from watching this series is bragging rights that you didn't commit suicide in the watching of this series.

Dead leaves was made by the same people as Furi Kuri~ which if you saw that series should give you a hint of how messed up this movie isXD
Because its just a movie~ they kind just threw out any attempt to make a comprehend able story~ and instead just threw action/Sex/And freaky Mutants in a blender and created this movie. Don't try to make sense of it~ just turn your brain off and bask in the craziness of the movie.

Story: There's a story some where, but its not really the focus of the movie, and half of it makes no sense at all; not even ... the main characters them self seem that interested in whats going on~ as long as they can have sex and shoot everything=D

The plot is more action oriented, with occasional lolz. Its very fast paced, so much so that there's no point trying to figure out whats going on.

Art: The animation... is original at least. It has a very "post modern" look. Most of the characters themselves aren't even "human" looking. The animation style kind of feels like a comic book in color scheme and the use of shading and shapes.

I can't really say much else about it, but some of the character animations look gross or disturbing lookingX_x

Sound: Nothing stuck out in my mind~ it kept with the feeling of the movie, but wasn't a masterpiece.

Characters: Only two of the characters are really delved into, and even then not very much. They like to have sex and kill stuff, and have amnesia~ thats all you really need to know. And the girl tends to be slightly more intelligent.

There are a few more characters... like a fellow inmate at their prison that has a drill thats supposed to be his... ... ... and a female villain thats 1/2 naked that wants revenge against the female protagonist.

Enjoyment: Besides the feeling of loosing braincells by the end of the series I really did enjoy the movie. The pace never really left you bored, and the fighting scenes were just so gory and raunchy its hard not to like themXD

Be warned it is rated R for Nudity~ and lots of sexual innuendos.
But it is definatly a fun watch.

I wasn't going to write a review for this, but I felt something less Bias than the over reviews were necisary.

Claymore... simply is an anime about blond haired chicks with bigs swords cutting up demons... or other women with big swords. Lots of decapitations and blood and action. The protagonist Clare is a "Claymore" or a 1/2 demon 1/2 human demon hunter. If these claymore use too much of their demon power they themselves will be engulfed by their dark side never to return.

This anime began as a potential masterpiece, but my expectations were crushed half way. What had started as a unique story ... line and an awsome character was Infected by stereotypical MAIN STREAM elements that nearly destroyed this anime.

Story:
I already gave the Main Plot~ As already said its starts off great and goes downhill in the end. It also has an even pace in the beggining, a perfect blend of plot of battles~ But in the end plot is thrown out the window just for constant battling, Cliche plot twists and complete disregard for story.

Art:
I was rather happy with the animation^.^
Mostly darker earthy hues~ but it makes a good contrast with the Claymore shiny swords and armor. The character animation was ok till you find out 90% of them look the same, it becomes hard to tell alot of them apart towards the end.

Sound:
Both the opening and ending were good, especially the ending "Danzai no Hana" which is perhaps one of the best ending themes of 2007. It completely matched the feeling of the entire anime.
The OST itself is rather good, but it didn't stick out very much when I watched it myself.

Character: As already said, the series starts off with very good characterizations, but in the end throws out their development and makes most of them into stereotype roles that were completely without motive. Besides the protagonist there was hardly any attempt at character development to begin with and they messed that up.

Enjoyment: I can honestly say I did enjoy 3/5 of the series. It had me on the edge of my seat, engrossed in the action and plot twists. The ending 2/5 were a total let down and nearly destroyed the entire anime~ but perhaps someone less picky than me could enjoy it? If all you like is battles and fireworks you will enjoy this anime~

Overall~ I've said all that needs to be said~
This anime is acceptable... but far from a 10/10...

This is one of those anime you really can't judge from the cover!!!
Its animation and music weren't spectacular, and its starts off like many other steryotipical "out of this world" Shounen development stories; but it is infact much more than that.

The basic plot of the story is; A young boy named Shu meets a mysterious young girl named Lala Ru, and is sucked into a mysterious choatic world that is engulfed in an Apocolyptic war. In this world, even small children are kidnapped from their villages and forced to fight in the armies. The mysterious girl seems to have a mysterious power the enemy ... is after; if she is captured any hope for the future will be gone.

The basic plot summary seems standard right?
You could just watch Inuyasha if you wanted to jump to different times and worlds. And little kids fighting wars; what about the kid ninja's in Naruto; thats serious business right! Don't be fooled by the simple plot summary; Now and Then, Here and There offers something most anime don't; a Serious reality check. The characters in this anime are very human, they have no real powers. They're personofied as normal children, not super heroes. The story abounds with death, violence, rape (insinuated), and general hopelessness, and the characters react to their situation in a realistic manner.

This series is explicitely violent. It does not sugar coat war honorable; just as an unending cycle humans choose that results in hatred for one another. This is perhaps the most brilliant anti-war story since Ghibli film, Grave of the fire flies.

Story: 9/10
The story is relatively quick paced; it rarely drags on. It does try and hang on by the nails to the general steryotypica "Shounen" plot, but just a hair. Overall the story is very Origenal, and unpredictable. Almost every episode has another shocking development, and leaves the veiwer anxious to watch the next episode because of cleverly placed cliff hangers.

Animation: 7/10
The scenic animation, of the backrounds and buildings are very detailed. Even though the world they are in is practically desolate, there are many vibrant colors and interesting details everywhere. The character animation was slightly lacking. Their character art lacked much detail, and many just didn't seem "unique" enough to be main characters. The largest problem with animation, that repeats in many episodes, are very long pane shots that focus on characters. Sometimes for 30 seconds nothing will happen, the focus will just be on a character thinking, or the sky. These are sometimes placed appropriately at parts where something very sad just happened, but it happens so frequently it becomes tedious.

Sound: 7/10
The music was also less than pefect. The opening theme didn't really match the feeling of the show as a whole, and while I have nothing against Openings without vocals, but this one was particularly boring (especially in addition to any real opening animation either.) The music in the series was very good I thought, but there wasn't enough different songs, or songs that really stood out at all. The ending theme was suitable for the anime though at least. It was very calming (also with out vocals).

Characters: 8/10
There are many very interesting characters in the series, and a good amount of character development in many of them. I took one point off because some of them, specifically the main character, have a very "reused" feel to them. Its not that they weren't origenal in the series in their action, but their overall ethos seemed typical. Naive, but proud and brave main character, Mysterious Girl type, and several others. I took another point off because while there is a decent amount of character development, some other interesting characters never really were delved into. The main villain for example is immediatly portrayed as paranoid and slightly nuts, but we never get much of a backstory to his personality. There are several other side characters that very strong personalities, but little screen time. Overall though, there is a diverse and relatively large group of well developed characters for such a short anime.

Enjoyment: 9/10
This isn't an anime that you just sit down to entertain yourself with. If you just want a quick laugh, or some heart racing action and gore this isn't the right anime for you. Most of the story is extremely depressing, and most people I know have cried at least once while watching this. I rated my enjoyment on my overall desire to watch the series. After nearly every episode I wanted to continue watching. It does a fantastic job manipulating your emotions and really drawing you into the story. Because the characters are so human its easy to connect with what they must be going through. I finished the series with a sense of satisfaction at the end.

Overall: 8/10
Not a "perfect" anime; its technical aspects have alot of flaws, but the story and characters are what really made this anime worth watching. This probably isn't an anime for everyone~ It looks a little older (even though it was made in 2000), which may chase some people off, and there's very little comedy, and even though its about war there is very little "action" that can be enjoyed. (most of what is shown is the after math of war.) But it so perfectly captures your emotions, and the story plays out creating so much suspense its a truly enjoyable anime.
It falls Short of "Masterpeice," but the elements for a truly awsome anime are here.

This ongoing manga is basically a story about the life of 5 year old Yotsuba and her day to day experience. For those who have seen or read Azumanga Daioh I'd expect you'll immediately be able to make the connection between the similar story plots and artwork, and you'd be right to make this connection because its made by the same mangaka, Kiyohiko Azuma. Like Azumanga Daioh there is no real "plot progression" (it lost points for story), but thats not really a bad thing if you like this style. Unlike Azumanga Daioh, where stories are told in short panel strips, Yotsubato! is complete chapters, ... and occasionally several chapters for one story.

Story: As I already said there isn't much of a "story," but each experience she has is cute. Many of the stories are extremely humorous. If you're looking for drama or action this definitely IS NOT the story for you. Most gags are based on Yotsuba's lack of understanding because she's just a little girl or her overactive imagination. There is a small plot somewhere; "She was adopted from somewhere far to the "left." Thats pretty much it...

Art: The art is simple, but perfect for this type or writing in my opinion. Its not a master piece, but it doesn't need to be. As longing as you get the cuteness across its fine.

Characters: While Yotsuba is in my bias oppinion is the most interesting character; there are many other humorous persons in the story, such as; her dad, her dad's friends, and neighboring girls. Unlike Azumanga Daioh!, where there isn't really a main character, Yotsuba is definitely the central character of this story.

Enjoyment: If you like cute stores like this I'm possitive you'd love this. Most stories are 100% enjoyment.

Overall: I don't know why I'm giving it an 8, it would be a 10 in my book~
Its not "perfect," but as far as the genre goes its pretty close. Its one of those espically cute, ironic manga that most people, even not interested in this genre would love.