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Stella C3-Bu starts off on the wrong foot, rubbing me the wrong way and giving me the presumption that the series would amount to nothing in the end.

The first episodes started alright enough. It’s the typical under-dog story, nothing special, nothing new and it was entertaining enough with its little spouts of gunplay.

I should mention that gunfights in Stella C3-Bu are certainly far less entertaining than old-school Gainax, lacking the brilliant execution and delightful animation of an episode like Brittle Bullets from FLCL. The editing tends to be clumsy. Girls jumping and barreling from one spot to another can feel choppy and jumpy and it ... doesn’t help when obvious shortcuts are taken due to a lack of budget. Camera angles close up and remain positioned on the face or on a gun firing so we never actually see the results of the action.

But while gunfights are visually lacking, they’re made up for fun, genuinely clever tactics and a good amount of charm. Sure, there are girls running off the walls and shooting machine guns upside whilst in mid-air, but fights are well thought out unlike something, like say, Jormungand where fights are played out like they came from the mind of a 5th grader.

But even with its entertaining action, Stella C3-Bu was losing my interest fast. A lot of screen time was given to the cast, but Sono was the only character remotely interesting while everyone else felt like they were just there to fill some space and honestly our female lead, Yura, was grazing on my nerves with her wimpy “ERMAGERD! AIRSUFT GUNS!” attitude.

It was episode four when Stella C3-Bu finally showed its real color. In just that one episode, Yura, was both well fleshed out and we got strong personal development as she became a whiny girl afraid of guns, to finally manning up and begin her journey with finding her true self. Unfortunately, I had fooled myself into thinking that this episode would be the game-changing episode when in reality the next two episodes were so below par that I had dropped the series.

Bear with them though, after the hump, Stella C3-Bu is a fantastic watch the rest of the way through.

The series takes Yura’s development farther than I initially thought it would. One second, she’s this wimpy girl and then she’s the cold bad-ass Omega wolf of the pack. Her development is handled flawlessly and her change in character never feels inconsistent or altered on a whim just for the sake of the story. Everything comes gradually and naturally.

We’re given a character who just wants to fit in but is soon corrupted by power and a need for vengeance, and the series carefully places each event that lead up to her ultimate downfall with firm direction, interspersing everything with small segments of the female lead’s own “delusions” and conflictions, all free of any plot devices.

While heavily revolving around Yura, she brings out the best of the rest of cast finally giving us a feel for the rest of the characters. We get to see clashing and drama, and in the final two episodes, we see sincere reconciliation and touching heartfelt mends.

The second half was so good. Seriously, what was up the first half?

Final Verdict:

Story – Starts off with a rock first half, but becomes a simple, but very well told, coming of age story in the second half

Characters – Yura is fantastic female lead. Side characters take a while before we finally get some characterization. Chemistry is well handled and even touching at some points

Setting – Typical high school for girls, but the “battle fields” and gun fights are creative

Production Values – Artwork looks good, but the animation is lacking in a lot of areas. The jazzy soundtrack is simple but effective and catchy

Do I recommend?: Stella C3-Bu doesn’t have a stellar start, but there’s just enough hints of brilliance and charm, so stick with the series and you’re in for a fantastic second half. Just don’t except this to be up with Gainax’s classics.

Rating: 7/10 (Good)

Seiji Kishi is an interesting director. But rather than go into a couple paragraphs about him, all you need to know is that he’s a great director when it comes to comedy and a pretty poor director when it comes to everything else. However, as of late, Kishi’s really hit a new low by taking a really interesting story and slaughtering it with his poor directing. With his half-assed video game adaptations being his biggest felon, it’s no surprise that people have been panning him.

Aura’s a different story though. This time, Kishi takes a not-so interesting story and actually brings it to life with pretty ... great direction... and it's not a comedy either... it's a drama... (Say whaaaat?)

Being a film with only 80 minutes, I believed this shaped Kishi up just a little. There’s no random sidetracking, no rushing to try to get to the meat of the story, no chopping transitioning and none of those odd “gaps” we often see with Kishi’s series. Aura is deliberately paced and the direction is dead on with what it wants to achieve. I might argue that the direction is a little too dead-on; some small breathers to focus in on some smaller moments would have been nice.

But overall, Kishi’s directing is great from the beginning to the end of the film and it’s his directing which brings Aura’s generic story to life.

There is honestly nothing we haven’t seen before about Aura. It’s a more mature look at what a victim of chuunibyo suffers from, but everything plays out like a typical highshcool bullying story. There are no twists or turns. Everything can be seen coming from a mile away. Yet the story still works well and it’s not simply due to the directing.

First off, the dialogue is certainly well written as there’s this genuine sense of realism in which the main characters speak that many will be able to resonate to.

But secondly, the drama is simply well done.

I was expecting the drama to either be Kishi’s usual lifeless crap or something along the line of Mari Okada’s overbearingly blown out melodrama. Instead, Aura’s drama falls perfectly in the center. Everything feels natural. Angst and conflicts are perfectly and realistically presented instead of a cheap means to manipulate the viewer's emotion. The drama is sweet, it’s sincere, it’s heartfelt and it’s heartbreaking.

Unfortunately, the drama could have been more powerful too. Whether it was simply the writing itself and simply because the film was too short – I take blame with the latter – Aura felt just a little lacking. It takes its generic story much further than most and turns it into something great, but not amazing. The characters are likeable and easy to sympathize with, but are far from being anything spectacular. Its major themes and the romantic relationship between our lead couple did hit many notes with me but ultimately they don’t feel fully developed to truly became powerful and thus it just misses the mark of being truly remarkable.

Because honestly, I found the final scene where the male lead confronts the female lead at the tower of desks to be absolutely brilliant and it would have been more so if we were given just a little more development.

Final Verdict:

Story – Generic but is brought to life by good directing, unfortunately due to the length of the film the story does not feel fully developed

Characters – Likeable and easy to sympathize with, but like the story, they lack full development

Setting – A nice theme that would have been stronger with more time to develop

Production Values – Far from being outstanding, the artwork and animation are still both pretty. The music, on the other hand, is pretty damn good

Do I recommend?: I was contemplating giving this an anime a 7 or an 8 and while technically speaking, I believe Aura only deserves a 7, I’ve got to take my own personal enjoyment into account with my reviews and give a 8 (yeah, yeah I'm a sucker for this sentimental bullying kind of stuff). Regardless, I’d recommend to give Aura a try. It’s short and sweet, and while not as profound as it could have been, Aura still tugs lightly at the heart strings and it sure left me with a big smile on my face after the film finished.

I was all over this series when it first aired. Coming from someone who was in similar positions with Tomoko; its depiction of social reclusion and anxiety was perfect. Even with a blatantly cheap budget, the series is able to vividly and impeccably flesh out Tomoko’s character. Props to director Shin Oonuma as she makes the best out of her limited budget to use creative, well-directed visual tricks, that aren’t simply used for show, but to further our understanding on Tomoko.

Another great factor about this series is that when it comes to depicting Tomoko, it takes us into her life without trying to conform ... the viewer to a certain mindset. All the humor that stemmed from Tomoko’s situations were funny, but in a cringe-worthily pragmatic manner rather than in a form of mean-spiritedness. And all those serious scenes of Tomoko were just to reflect on the quiet and heartbreaking moments of her instead of simply trying to force the viewers to sympathize with Tomoko.

Contrary to what many people claim, you don’t have to have to relate with the female lead to enjoy Watamote. Yeah, it has its clever references to certain anime that casual viewers of anime won’t get, but overall Watamote presents itself in a manner that anyone can enjoy.

Because of this, I was thoroughly impressed with Watamote at the start. The problem, as the series progresses, is that Tomoko’s charm began to fade. I understand that the message the series conveys isn’t about overcoming social anxiety, but how for many, it’s a serious issue that may never be overcome. And though I like that message, it doesn’t translate well into something I want to see for 12 episodes. Watching Tomoko monologue about her everyday life, even with all the novel and different situations she gets herself into, became stale. Even if I could still relate to Tomoko, it just wasn’t of interest to keep watching and it didn’t help that there was no firm direction or hint of what the series wanted to achieve in the end,

Luckily, Tomoko isn’t the lone character in the whole series, there are side characters like her only friend Yuu, her brother and a couple of other characters that make an occasional appearance. Yes, whether it’s Tomoko trying to mirror what’s popular or bickering with her older brother, Watamote is at its best with those moments and not when Tomoko’s alone in her room. Because quite frankly, the show started feeling oddly empty and that didn’t rub me the right way.

Final Verdict:

Story – Non-existent, it’s episodic story-telling didn’t work for me and there’s no set direction of where it exactly wants to go

Characters – Tomoko is a fantastically depicted recluse, but her development is quite static. Side characters are great and bring out the best of the series, but lack more show time

Setting – Its themes of recluse and social anxiety are well presented, but don’t translate well into a vastly entertaining series

Production Values – Cheap, but is well made use of with incredibly creative and well-directed visual tricks

Do I Recommend?: Overall, I enjoyed Watamote for how it depicted a social recluse and I certainly enjoyed Tomoko’s interactions with the real world, but in the end - with static development, scenes of monologue that felt empty and no real sense of direction - it was just another episodic comedy that didn’t leave much of an impact on me. I commend the series for being open to viewers whether or not they relate to Tomoko’s problems, but it’s a very black and white series for the ones that do. You’re either captivated by it or completely turned off by it.

Sunday Without God, is a story-arc series formatted a little akin to Kino’s Journey. There is no over-arching story, rather it follows our female lead, Ai, as she travels from one metaphorical town to another, and that’s the beauty of this series. Each story arc is beautifully layered with symbolism and allegories showcasing the significance of the line between life and death in a nihilistic world. There’s a lot to ponder about and a lot to relate back to the real world.

Ai Astin is the perfect character to take us through the world of the series. Rather than simply acting as a catalyst, ... Sunday Without God does an incredible job fleshing out her personality and capturing that child-like innocence. Props to the dialogue, because whether Ai’s disapprovingly questioning the morals the current world has adopted or claiming the obvious, everything that comes out of her mouth feels so real.

But with a brilliantly imaginative setting and a loveable female lead, Sunday Without God is not free from flaws. Its problems lie with its execution.

Rushed and hasty to get from arc to arc, emotional attachment is nearly void. A certain character’s death put a nice, unexpected twist to the experience, but preceding scenes were too glazed over to evoke any emotions from me when the actual scene occurred.

Side characters that accompany Ai on her journey are well-characterized but any development feels stilted, especially romantic relationships such as the one between Juliet and Scar.

This leads to another problem where yes, the ideas presented are brilliant but because of the rushed pacing, it’s bound to leave many confused and inevitably frustrated. As much as I loved the setting, there are some major elements that the series pulls right out of its ass, even leaving me staring at the screen asking what the Hell I’m suppose of make of it.

The series ends on a rather unsatisfactory note, putting a halt to everything after a rather so-so arc. A whimper rather than a bang, a final lasting impression didn’t come through to me. Rather I was left irritated.

So yeah, whose decision was it to set this for one cour instead of two?

Final Verdict:

Story – Formatted in story-arcs and with no definite story was a good idea, but the execution is weak and rushed, causing a lack of the emotional punch that the series aims for

Characters – Ai Astin is a fantastic female lead, and the rest of the cast is likeable enough, but due to rushed pacing. Development and relationships feel stilted, causing emotional attachment to be nearly void.

Setting – It’s imaginative and immersive, chocked full of brilliant ideas and symbolism that work for the most part, but would have been far more effective with stronger execution.

Production Values – Solid throughout. The music is qutie nice, but the gorgeous background art is the strongest factor

Final Thoughts: Most people dislike this series and for good reason. Its execution is weak and the series is rushed, but for me at least, it was still quite an enjoyable experience.

Rating: 7/10 (Good)

It fills my heart with joy whenever I see a horror series like Shiki.

It’s atmospheric, it’s subtle and furthermore, it doesn’t rely on jump scares and copious amounts of bloodshed to shock its viewers. Instead, with masterful utilization of a remarkably eerie soundtrack and deliberate pacing, Shiki captures what makes a good horror series… good.

Of course, Shiki is also aware that a good horror needs more than just well-executed music and pacing. It needs good characters.

Why should I care if Bob and Joe are ripped apart by werewolves? Why should I care if little Timmy is decapitated by one swift swing of a chainsaw? Why ... should I care if Mary Sue trips down the stairs and impales herself on an umbrella?

These are all questions we ask when watching a subpar horror flick and Shiki takes heed to those questions.

Shiki may be void of any real character development, but in similarities to a series like Baccano, it makes up for a lack development with strong characterization giving each character a distinct role, a personality and their own set motivations. But while Baccano’s cast is remarkable for being a Hell of a lot of fun, Shiki’s cast is remarkable for the amount depth implemented within them.

It’s worth noting that Shiki isn’t really just a well-crafted horror series. It may start out like that in the beginning, but bit by bit it becomes a psychological drama delving into human morality and rationality.

Which side are you on? Humans or Shiki?

Questions regarding how far someone would go to survive, uphold justice or maintaining one’s own humanity come into play and Shiki delivers these questions with fantastic intricacy.

Its view - multifaceted and free of bias - goes beyond simply showcasing a black and white territory. It digs deep to expound on the question, grabbing perspectives from every angle, bringing in a grey area.

And never is Shiki pretentious or underwhelming. It constantly keeps the viewer both engaged with pondering over the morality of a character’s action while building up to the perfect – I’d rather not spoil it for you - ending.

Its earlier half might be deemed too slow for many, but with episode 14 comes one of the most haunting scenes in the story-telling medium and from there on out, Shiki is flawless.

No episode left me without goose bumps tracing along both my arms and no episode left me without a couple shivers down the spine. Every episode rendered me speechless and aghast. Every episode had me at the very edge of my seat.

There were impeccably wrought twists and turns around every corner. Scenes of heart-breaking brutality and merciless murders haunted me. Acts of unexpected kindness and tenderness in the worst of times hit me straight in the heart.

Shiki clicked with me in a way few other anime have; Shiki… is phenomenal.

Do I Recommend?: Without a second doubt. If you’re looking for a compelling horror series, look no further. Have some patience with the first few episodes, the pay off is well worth it. Whether it’ll leave an impact on you or not, I can’t say, but it sure as Hell did for me.

Oh boy, where should I start? Should I start with how the pacing of this show is as consistent as a drunk driver? The shallow characters? The terribly executed plot twists? The pointless shock value? The stereotypical meccha fights? Does it even matter where I start? It IS Valvrave that I’m reviewing.

So how about we start off with talking about the dialogue? Normally I don’t focus too much on the dialogue unless it stands out as being really good or just really bad and Valvrave, you guessed it, falls in the latter. The dialogue was honestly the first thing I noticed when I started this ... show because of just how generically delivered it was. Sometimes the dialogue was trying to way hard to be inspirational and it made for a lot of cringe-worthy moments. But then again, I actually laughed at how outlandish the dialogue could be some time so I will cut the dialogue some slack as the writers probably did try to make it as stupid and inexplicable as possible.

Now as for the characters actually delivering the bad/good dialogue, I wouldn’t categorize the cast as dull, but they’re far from compelling. Our male lead, Haruto, is definitely the worst characterized out of the bunch. He goes from being your incredibly typical meccha lead, to suddenly becoming Liam Neeson (except not as well-acted or energetic) then back to the boring typical male lead… but this time as a vampire. In a nutshell, Haruto is one bland inconsistent character. Even when he’s angry, he’s boring to watch and there’s really no passion put into him.

It’s rest of the cast that’s a bit more interesting. As characters, they’re shallow and nothing we’ve seen before; I could have cared less for them. It’s really the outlandish antics that made them entertaining throughout, especially Saki.

Now while I’ve criticized the dialogue and the characters, neither of those elements are what really set me off.

It’s the plot and what an absolute trainwreck it is.

Yeah, I get that the show is suppose to be ridiculous and over the top and I’m glad that the writers recognized that fact. But since does that make it okay for a show to do whatever the Hell it wants? The direction is way too over the place, the pacing is botched, plot twists are poorly executed, and it’s full of stupid plot points that never amount to anything in the end and the sad thing is, Valvrave actually tries to bring some of its themes together. It’s so fundamentally and structurally sloppy that it just becomes an ugly mess.

Even with all that said people still try to push the argument that “Yeah, but it’s suppose to be structured that way. That’s what makes Valvrave over the top and fun!”

No, no, no.

First let me make this clear that Valvrave is not special or unique or groundbreaking. This “over top” formula has already been done countless times and much, much better in fact. Look at Jojo’s Bizzare Adventure and FLCL. They have compelling characters and though their plot is completely absurd, it’s still well executed. There’s actually thought and great timing put into when plot points and twists are brought up and that’s why those two shows are brilliant and why Valvrave isn’t.

Finally, how could I not finish up without talking about the shock value in this show? I already wrote a whole spiel on the sexual assault, but I’m going to briefly go over the matter again. The shock value in Valvrave is just played out for senseless shock value. That’s it. Does it add to the characters or the plot? Nope. Like I said, the shock value is just there for shock and I HATE senseless shock value. It's distasteful.

This is suppose to be a stupid over the top show, right? Then why do we have a completely pointless scene of Haruto sexually assaulting Saki? I just don’t understand why Valvrave threw in pointless shock value, oh wait I do… to try and take itself seriously.

Why, just why? Did the writers honestly think I was going to take this show SERIOUSLY?! Don’t make me laugh, just stop it.

I’m done talking about this show. There are probably a bunch of other flaws about the plot that I didn’t cover, but I think I’ve trashed it enough. I will admit, even with all the hate I’ve given it, that I was mildly entertained by what a train wreck this show was and just how sappy and energetic the show could be at times. The show does pack a punch and at least it knows how to have fun with itself… some of the time…

Do I recommend?: At times, Valvrave mildly entertained me with it’s absurd antics, but in the end the plot was a complete mess. If you’re looking for some outlandish, over the top entertainment, there are much better shows. I’d suggest FLCL, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Aquarion Evol and even Highschool of the Dead. Though, I suppose if you completely, and I mean completely, turn your brain off, then Valvrave will satisfy your outlandish needs.

Crime Edge was definitely a pretty trippy experience. It takes the typical “people battle to the death” concept that we’ve seen with Fate/Zero and Mirai Nikki and makes it unique. Whether that’s bad or good has completely polarized the few people that bothered watching this. Though the viewers who would argue that Crime Edge is a “bad” show have taken majority, I take my place with my minority.

I’m not going to argue with the majority because Crime Edge really is chocked full with flaws. Regarding the plot, well, it’s essentially pretty poorly told. The story is full of rushed and vague plot points that are ... never fully explained, let alone even made use of. It brings up seemingly important characters and scenes that never amount to anything in the end. Essentially, the writing for the story was pretty lazy and it left a lot to be desired and not in a good way.
The show also gets way too caught up with its own fetishes. It’s not Highschool of the Dead bad, but it’s just up there. It breaks a lot of the tension and it’s quite uncomfortable watching whole scenes dedicated to them. I don’t want to see couples licking whips or girls licking syringe wounds alright?

So even with that said, why did I fall in the minority? Why was I able to finish this show?

Because everything about the show, aside from the plot, is so oddly enthralling. The atmosphere is ambiguous and mystifying. The delicately crisp animation, the beautiful dream-like artwork and use of monochromatic color palettes, the edgy cinematography and an absolutely gorgeous soundtrack drew me in. Every character intrigued me with their own quirky feats and Kiri and Iwai certainly made a very charming couple. Antagonists and side characters are well characterized and given enough depth to draw them away from merely being plot devices. The action scenes are also really well choreographed and they never last longer than they need to. The show is loaded with a lot of energy, a lot of charm and a lot of heart.

From what I thought would only be mindless entertainment, it had much more substance than I thought and some truly beautiful moments.

Do I recommend?: Crime Edge suffers from a very weak and underwhelming story and it tends to get too caught up with its fetishes. However, the show has enough charm and heart and it never has a dull moment. If you can tolerate a weak story and fetishes then Crime Edge is worth watching.

I went into Hataraku Maou-Sama with some pretty low expectations, because in hindsight it’s the basic tried and done fish-out-of-the-water formula filled with clichés and try-hard humor. Instead, when I started, I was pleasantly surprised by colorful characters energetically bouncing off of each other, witty dialogue and fantastic comedic timing. At the same time Hataraku told a strong story that progressed quite well and perfectly kept its balance with the comedic aspects.

So it’s unfortunate for me to say that after episode five, Maou-Sama failed to hold up with its preceding episodes.

Not that it was downright awful, but episodes started ranging from really clever to really ... not-so clever. It lost its consistent quality and it lost a lot of its charm. Characters, while given strong characterization, were never given any real development and eventually became a mixed bag of like and dislike. Maou, Ashiya and Lucifer remained quite entertaining to watch, but Emi’s animosity and irrational anger grew old, Chiho’s infatuation with Maou grew annoying and Suzuno… well, she was quite generic and stale from the beginning.

The plot progression was thrown under the bus, and while the climax itself was incredibly well executed, the lead up itself was awful. The perfect balance between comedy and serious story telling was immediately tilted over to comedic side and it was almost as if the writers lost interest in trying to tell a genuine story. By the end, it was almost as if the writers forgot that the show needed a conclusion and so they just tossed in a climax.

No build up, no nothing and instead I had to endure some pretty bland filler episodes. Yeah, the McRonald/Sentucky rivalry was actually quite hilarious, but every other filler played out generically and it completely went against what made Maou-Sama a fun show in the first place.

There are two things I admire that Maou-Sama keeps consistent throughout the whole series. The first one is the fact that Maou-Sama actually makes use of its characters and setting its joke. Too many comedies fail simply because they don’t see the creative elements eagerly waving their arms right in front of their eyes. Instead they pull their jokes out of thin air and I appreciate that Maou-Sama avoids this mistake.

The second one is the fact that Maou-Sama always has a great sense of comedic timing, no matter how stupid the jokes, and I also applaud that.

So to summarize, the show starts and ends really, really well, but it’s plagued by a lackluster middle. Overall, I’d still have to say that I did enjoy the show. There were more high highs than low lows and if you can tolerate those low lows, then I would recommend this as a comedy.

Teenage angst, love triangles, and melodrama are all really tacky aspects for a series to handle, but if there’s one series that does a near impeccable job handling these aspects, it’s Aku no Hana.

The pacing is slow. It’s really, really, really slow, but it works. It works brilliantly. It was a little jarring at first with how slow events were taking place, but then it became clear that this show just would have never worked if it paced itself faster. Aku no Hana takes its time building up the atmosphere, beautifully fleshing out the characters and bringing them to life. Aku no Hana doesn’t like ... to make scenes snappy, instead it takes as much time as it wants drawing them out.

While watching Aku no Hana, I didn’t feel like I was watching ordinary anime anymore, but real life events unfolding right in front of my eyes. I felt like I was actually a passerby standing right in the scene, observing everything that was going on. I wasn’t in my room anymore, I was there. That’s how immersed I was with the whole experience.

And an ugly experience it was. A beautifully ugly experience.

Aku no Hana never once showcases the beauty of human nature, society or the world we live in. It doesn’t even end on a hopeful note. Aku no Hana throws you out of your comfort zone and blatantly tells you how cruel and cynical our world can really be at times, that sometimes there really is no hope.

Aku no Hana achieves this bleak theme with the main cast who no longer feel merely as characters, but as actual human beings. They’re fantastically well-acted and far from likeable in a believable way. Kasuga isn’t a terrible person, but he makes rash decisions and digs himself deeper and deeper into a hole by running away from his problems. Nakamura is so insecure and broken down inside, that she instills this narrow mindset where people are either deviants or not. Saeki is foolish and completely driven by her infatuation for Kasuga.

By the end, all three characters wore me down so much that I was yelling at their naivety and ultimately putting my face in the palms of my hands, but not because the decisions they made were poorly written and delivered, but quite the opposite. Every character mirrors reality perfectly, so much that’s it’s almost terrifying.

Aku no Hana screwed with my perspective on life the same brilliant way Aoi Bungaku and Welcome to the NHK did as I watched it. But alas, there are just a few flaws with the series. Yes, it was a little uneventful at first, the series ends on a major cliffhanger, but more importantly the series just became so abrasively dark that I eventually grimaced through the final episodes.

Do I recommend?: Aku no Hana is a rare anime that captures the atrocious side of life perfectly, but it’s hard for me to recommend a series like this. The fact that the show is so downright cynical will turn people away as well as the incredibly slow pacing. If you like dark psychological drama, give this one a chance and see for yourself.

Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo started off quite brilliantly and so it’s a shame that the second half couldn’t live up to its first half.

To start off, the one thing that remained absolutely solid throughout the show was the fantastic direction. Scenes transitioned smoothly to the next, everything was set up in a logical manner whereas many romantic comedies seem to go from scene to scene doing whatever’s best to explain the story and I was pleased that Sakurasou didn’t walk down this path.

It was the first half that really kept me interested in Sakurasou. It set up the main cast really well, distinguishing each ... character and giving them a lot of vigor. The chemistry between all of them was great, especially the love triangle between Sorata, Mashiro and Nanami and it was really nice to see everything unfold.

And so I was quite disappointed when Sakurasou decided to go down the path of being a generic romance. The anime started using elements we’ve seen over and over again. Now using generic elements certainly isn’t a bad thing if it can present it in a way that feel fresh, but Sakurasou failed to do that. The energy it once had in the first half suddenly turned into a slow melodrama. But the ending was by far the most disappointing, as it was sappy and very unresolved.

That being said, that second half isn’t as bad as I make it out to be as there were still a couple of powerful and heartfelt moments. But overall, it was still quite lackluster compared to the first half and mediocre at best.

So overall, starting off with a bang and losing speed at the end, Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo was still a fairly enjoyable anime to watch and I really wished they could have kept it solid throughout.