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There goes another short but awesome romance anime. True Tears. It's a simple, yet outstanding combination of romance, drama, comedy and slice of life.

Story
The story is simple at first. One guy, three girls, seems like your average gotta-catch-'em-all harem, but this one is different from the majority. It starts lighthearted, explaining the relationship between our male lead, Shin, and the three girls in his life, Hiromi, Noe and Ai. What starts as a random encounter turns to be the ignition key for a beautiful story. No Deus-Ex-Machina, no things that seem out of this world, just a simple story about love, sadness and the ... tears that one sheds, the true tears that one cries only when the heart is wavering.

Art
The animation is very good. As series pass by, it seems like the animation process becomes greater and greater, resulting awesome artwork like in True Tears. The characters are very well drawn, eye-candy almost everywhere, the background scenery is awesome and the scenes that matter most are those that are drawn the best. One thing that attracted my attention was the activity of the show. The backgrounds are filled with life: students passing by and discussing, birds flying around, the waves of the sea, it all seems so real. Hats-off to the True Tears artists that worked on the project, it's really something.

Sound
The opening song is one of the best songs I've ever heard, in my opinion. Eufonius is a great band and the song's rhythm and lyrics can make me speed up my pace and even sing along.
The background music is very good, as with all the recent anime. I love the piano and violin music they use most of the time as it fits the mood perfectly. It's without flaws yet it can always be better.

Character
The characters are one of the strong points of this anime. They're human. Their emotions really get to you because they're human. The girls really stand out for a harem show, especially Noe, who's like a torch in the middle of the cave, you'll forever recognize her unique character after watching it. Then there's Hiromi, the sweet and kind girl with a bit of a troubled past, nothing our male leader can't handle, and Ai, the onee-san type that's fun and out-going.
Shin, our male leader, is quite normal. Seems cool male leaders are popular these days. Well, he's anything but cool until the moment he finally decides to set things right. He might not be the smartest bean in the jar but he's a good guy. The one small thing that I didn't like was the lack of background story for the secondary characters (like Miyokichi or Tomoyo), the rest is awesome. I really loved the characters overall.

Enjoyment
I usually don't write a review if I don't enjoy it and this my proof. I liked this anime from the first episode and it really moved me towards the end, it was an awesome series and it was worth every minute. I'm sad it ended, since I wanted to see more but you can't help it, all good things come to an end.
Bottom of the line is that if you're into romance shows (like I am), you'll love this one. It has it all and much more and 13 episodes was too short to satisfy my hunger. Nevertheless, I'll keep this series in my "top romance anime" list.


Final Overall Grade: 8.6, rounded up to 9

Wow. Just wow. After watching the last episode of Kimikiss, I can say that this was one of the best romance animes I've seen in a long while.

Story
The story is so simple ... it's about true love. We all chase it, but not all catch it. And that's what our two main guys are doing as well. Revolving around the typical high-school environment, two events of the first episode put a whole romance story in motion, a romance story you probably won't forget that easy. It seems so simple and human that you easy forget about this world and live the feelings of the ... characters involved in this story. As in all romance animes, the drama can't miss out, and you'll find many moments when you'll actually feel like crying if you put yourself in a certain character's situation (like I do, usually). One thing I didn't like was the ending, since I hoped I could see a bit of a "1 year later" story but it ended kind of abruptly. Well, nevertheless, the story is probably the greatest thing about Kimikiss.

Art
I've heard some people don't like the artwork from Kimikiss and I certainly don't know why, because I consider it pretty good. The characters are drawn good (even though it has a different style than other animes), the background scenery is pretty good as well so I see no reason why I shouldn't give it an 8. Plus, in episode 20, when they changed the art for the Kazuki-Eriko scene, it was very interesting to see that depth in the eyes, that facial expression that few animations can give, even for one episode.

Sound
Not much to say about this part. The OST is very good and the background music fits the anime like a glove. Not to mention the great OP/ED songs that can really make you sing along with 'em. "Aozora Loop" is one of my top 5 songs since the anime started airing due to the exciting feeling it gives you if you're actually in love. It's one of those songs that make being in love a happy, cheerful and awesome thing, like you forget all the bad parts.

Character
Character was one of the things that caught me from the first episode. The variety of girls fits a harem anime, yet one of the main elements here are the guys. It's the first romance shows I've seen that actually has 2 main guys, so two main stories at the same time. You can see them throughout the anime how they become from the inexperienced, lonely bums to guys that know how to face the facts and have the guts to get past the obstacles in their way. They fall in love, and that's what makes them stronger. I really think the characters made this show more worthwhile.

Enjoyment
I loved it. From the first episode that aired in the autumn of 2007 to the last episode in spring 2008, I loved this anime. Back then, when I saw the first episode, it captured me and didn't let me go. I still love it even now and I'll keep it because I'll surely watch it again someday, probably when love strikes me. Here's one anime that deserves a hats off. Good job, Lantis, Bandai, J.C. ... good job.


Final Overall Grade: 8.6, rounded up to 9

The anticipaded CLANNAD movie turned out a bit less than I thought but I don't regret watching it. It wasn't a waste of time, in my opinion, but it could have been better.

Story
Basically, the story is about the sole relationship of Tomoya and Nagisa. It stars just as in the CLANNAD anime, with them meeting on the hill towards the school. The main thing I liked about the story was that it changed the lines and the events. The secondary characters didn't get too much time to actually have a story but that's normal in a movie (take a look at AIR the movie) and ... I'm honestly not bothered by it, the story about Nagisa and Tomoya was enough for me. Even though I was expecting a bit more drama and touching moments, I think it was pretty much great, not to mention the last scene was very touching for me.

Art
Well, the art was fair, they kept the original movie drawing they got from AIR the movie and it's not that I don't like it, but it's a bit bland. Could have been better, if you ask me, and I wish they put a little more effort in the backgrounds and scenery. Well, maybe I'm just used to the KyoAni awesome animation, who knows.

Sound
Not much to say here, it was good but nothing more. The one thing I enjoyed at full was the ending song (1st one) that's a different version of the CLANNAD Tv ending "Dango Daikazoku", sung by Eufonius, and I love that band. The one thing that really bothered me was the change of the Tomoya seyuu, I would of liked it to remain the same since it took a good 15 minutes to get used to it.

Character
It kind of lacked. I'm honestly giving it a 7 out of good will. Let's just say that I was expecting a bit more character development from the others but that's just the way it is. They kept the original personalities for most of 'em except for Sakagami Tomoyo. She seemed a bit different, and being a Tomoyo fan it was a bit of an eye-twitcher. At least they changed Sunohara to the real punk he is in the game (haven't played it but I know he was tons tougher than the Tv anime).

Enjoyment
I enjoyed it. It has it's bad parts but I can't say it wasn't good. I was expecting a bit more coming from CLANNAD but I think I'm too much of a Key/KyoAni sucker. Key should stop making movies and go directly to Tv anime from now on. Don't expect TOO much if you want to watch it.


Final Overall Grade: 7.4, rounded up to 7.

Blue Drop is one of those anime series that are good but could have used a bit more work to make them great. When it first aired, I was looking forward to this series since I'm a bit of a shoujo-ai-fan (as 80% of male anime fans) so I gave it a shot. Here are my thoughts after finishing it:

Story
The story is interesting and original, thus I gave it an 8. I would have graded it higher but there are some parts that for a shoujo-ai/sci-fi anime, it just don't add up. There were times when I would have wished a more sci-fi story than ... the slice-of-life they're showing. Basically half the anime is about the (almost) normal life of Mari and Hagino. The drama is there, of course, and I admit I didn't see the ending coming but most of the story I could read along. The original idea was good yet the content were a bit bland for me. Still, it gets an 8.

Art
Well, the art is Blue Drop's strong-point. I really like the way it's drawn though I can't say I like all of it, it's normal for every person to like/dislike some things. I gave it a straight 9 for the awesome design and concept of the alien ships, especially Blue, that looks like one kick-ass battleship from modern times with a bit of a whale DNA. Even the battle scenes between ships were impressive compared to other anime series I've seen.
I wished the character design would have been a bit more special since some of the characters really look like grabbed from the bookshelf and added another color of eyes and a lock of hair. The only character that looked out of the ordinary was the dorm leader.

Sound
Nothing much to say about this, as usual. The OP and ED are sung by Suara (lovely voice) and they fit the anime in my opinion. They're really worth listening to once in a while. As for the background music, it fit the scenes but it was pretty average. Nowadays the producers don't spend so much time creating quality, touching BGM. Anyway ...

Character
Apart from the art (mentioned earlier), I liked the characters. Sure, their personalities seem to mix here and there with other anime characters but I have no complaints, pretty well done. The one thing that annoyed me was that the whole action happened on Earth, yet we see only 3-4 males through the entire show. I know it's SHOUJO-ai but I would have liked to see a bit more male activity along the way, could have added some flavor to both the characters and the story.

Final Thoughts
Even though it wasn't the greatest shoujo-ai I've seen, I enjoyed it. I has it's good parts and it has it's bad parts but who am I to judge it. It's not a waste of time but don't expect anything too special. Off to fight some hot aliens ... IMMA CHARGIN MAH LAZERZ!


Final Overall Grade: 7.5, rounded up to 8.

Kaze no Stigma is a fun anime if you're interested into this genre. Battles, magic, comedy, kick-ass moments, KnS has it all.

Story
The story is fair, not really impressive since for me it was predictable towards the end. The "main" plot starts later in the series as the first 3/4 is filled with random missions and somewhat fillers like hotspring episodes and so on. Even though the lack of main plot overall disappointed me, I found the story overall satisfying.

Art
The characters are very nicely drawn, you can clearly see this is a 2007 anime. Effects are good, from flames to wind and other unleashed powers; plus ... the characters are drawn good enough for any fan to enjoy the art. Even though it's no better than other 2007 animes, it clearly has it's own attractiveness for me.

Sound
Not much to comment on this area, the sound is fair enough, soundtrack fits the mood all of the time and the opening song is quite catchy once you listen to it. I liked the idea of two ending songs/sequences since it changed with the atmosphere of the episode. Overall it was fine with me.

Character
The characters were great, I loved them. KnS has it all: the tsundere, the athlete, the rich lady (from America, though speaks English like hell), the lolita and so on. To my surprise, the guys have cool personalities as well, the main lead taking the title of one of the most kick-ass characters, you're gonna like his style. Nothing else to say here, the characters are probably the strong point of this anime.

Enjoyment
Well, as I said, unless you're into magic, combat and ecchi shots from time to time, you're probably not gonna find anything interesting. However, if you like magic battles you'll find this anime cool, plus the characters and some of the situations make the 24 episodes worth the time. I really enjoyed this anime.

Overall I rounded up to around 8. I think it was pretty great and I don't regret seeing it. The main lead remains one of my favorite characters. It's a good thing they have an open end so I really hope for a sequel. That's about it.

Zombie-Loan was quite a fun anime even though it was too short for my liking. Eleven episodes is just too short for a series, considering most have at least 12 episodes.

Story
It's an interesting story, very original if you ask me, and it has it's good and bad parts. It's somewhat predictable from time to time and there aren't many plot-twists that could surprise you. Plus, I really would have liked more action in it, sometimes it just takes too long for the fighting to start even though it would look like an action anime first. Aside from that, it was pretty good. The worst ... part is that it ended abruptly in episode 11, just when the REAL action seemed like it would start. Just the producer's way to say "read the manga if you wanna know what happens".

Art
I really liked the art, it was quite new to my eyes. The characters are each drawn in their own style and it was interesting to see how the male leads were tall and athletic, with almost no muscles on them and so on. Considering their "status" it suits them well. For the fans, it has some chibi scenes and stick-art scenes some fo the time to add to the fun. The art for the combat scenes was good but not the best, I enjoyed it nevertheless.

Sound
Well, the soundtrack was good, nothing much to say about it, each song was fit for the scene. The only thing that bothered my ears was the opening song. Sure, the off-vocal was totally awesome, I really liked the guitar sounds, but when the singer started "screaming" in I would immediately skip forward. Ending song was fine, though not the best, with a great off-vocal.

Character
The characters were very well made, though most didn't have such a detailed background. Each had it's own unique personality and you could easily start liking one of them. Too bad some characters didn't have enough screen time (even though I liked them more than the main characters) and some had more than they really needed.

Overall I enjoyed this (too) short series. I'd give it a 7.8 as a grand total (but I rounded up to 8).
If you're into action, comedy, zombie related things and some drama here and there, watch Zombie Loan. Even though it's not one of the greatest anime out there, it's not a waste of time either.