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A perfect example of an attempt at horror gone wrong. Ousama Game: The Animation is in short, a train wreck and easily the worst anime to premiere this season.

In all 12 of its episodes, there is very little to be said about what the show accomplishes. If anything, the more you watch, the more you will hate every passing moment.

The anime starts out somewhat promising and quite typical with regards to most horror anime. There is a lot of disbelief and confusion at the beginning, typical of anyone that receives random text messages from an unknown sender. This quickly turns into madness and ... chaos ensues as people begin to die suddenly.

The anime does a bad job of making an interesting, cohesive story that can capture your attention for 12 episodes. The anime relies heavily on flashbacks, and we only ever get them from the main Nobuaki Kanazawa, who happened to survive the last game that he played. This the only character they give so much attention to during the run of the show and yet in attempts to frame him as the potential hero, albeit heavily damaged, and yet while he may have redeeming qualities, these flashbacks just take up space rather than helping propel the current story forward. There is a lot more that could have been done with the present story and depth that could have been built that was lost in trying to ground the story in events that have already come to pass.

My other gripe with the story is that it just feels weak in general. There is an attempt to put an end to it, as the characters try to find the origins of the game and “solve the puzzle” so they no longer have to play, but like the show, their efforts are pointless in that there is no bigger picture to solve. We never get an understanding of where the game really comes from, who is running this game, or if there is a way of winning that is truly satisfying. Whether the point was to illustrate a winning game of a game you are meant to lose is not the issue, the issue arises from the fact that neither matters and it seeks to show us pointless and ridiculous deaths while the characters act just as ridiculously.

The worst part of the show is without a doubt all of the characters we are presented with. This has to be the shallowest, most naive, unconvincing characters I have seen in a while. They see the events unrolling around them and yet are still unwilling to accept that this “game” they are a part of is real. They run around like chickens without heads and their motivations and actions are all meaningless and nonsensical beyond the simple desire to survive. We get around 30 or so characters throughout the 12 episodes, many of which die, but many also who the show focuses on and yet is unable to develop them beyond the worst typical traits present in a high school drama or horror film.

Ousama Game The Animation was underwhelming all around. From the undercooked characters to the nonsensical deaths that fell upon them. This anime just felt like it was thrown together with little care for detail or desire to be enjoyed for any of its 12 episodes. I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone and am surprised I watched for all 12 episodes. I was hoping it would somehow flip the script and become enjoyable, but week after week Ousama Game simply dug its grave deeper and deeper.

The anime many seem to love, but seems to fly under the general populace’s radar. Hunter x Hunter, your seemingly proto-typical shonen anime coming from a manga that started in 1998, does a good job at entertaining but like many other long form anime series, have trouble dealing with the pacing and monotony that comes with the long story.

Beginning as a light hearted, humor filled, coming of age story, Hunter x Hunter does a very good job in setting up the stories descent and shift to a darker, more mature tone as the show progresses. With 148 episodes in its 3 year run, the ... story follows several arcs, which feature a grand display of versatility, range of plot lines, character development, and overall enjoyment.

Hunter x Hunter starts with a typical shonen setup, with Gon setting out on his journey, forming a sort of party with a few other key characters he meets along the way. This is the general run of all the arcs that occurs in the anime. Each arc is more or less seeing Gon and his partner in crime, best friend and friendly rival, Killua Zoldyk, encountering new obstacles, training to get stronger, and interacting with new characters that are relevant to that arc. All the arcs feel episodic without any real connection between. It is however important to see each arc in sequence because they build up on each other but only in the sense that the previous provides a subtle background for what is to come. This leads to one of my gripes with Hunter x Hunter.

Besides Gon’s main mission of finding his dad, there is no other plot line that carries through to the end. The simplest of tasks is stretched over 136 episodes or so and we only get relief in the form of the side tracking and tangential events that happen in each of the arcs. The arcs serve no other purpose than to some what add thrill to Gon’s journey, albeit with lots of character development and plenty of excitement, but that is about it. Many times through the anime, as you can imagine with 148 episodes, things get drawn out for much too long. Conversations end up taking up the bulk of many of the arcs, and a few of the arcs feel utterly useless and out of place in the overall narrative. Hunter x Hunter attempts to cover a lot of bases by offering many characters in each arc and attempting to give every single character some sense of depth and personality, which I must applaud the effort, but made watching it at many points such a chore. There is definitely some thinning and editing that could have happened to Hunter x Hunter to make it easier to digest and allowed for other characters and elements to grow to even higher levels.

Something I would have wanted to see more of is a deeper dive into the darker elements that were brought up as the series ended. The Chimera Ant arc, which is more or less the second half of the anime, is by far the best, most thrilling, complex and overall fulfilling of them all. In this arc we see some of the most brutal displays of existence and are presented with real questions of what it means to be strong, what desire will do for and to us and even the lengths one will go to in efforts to save the ones they love. We are also given some of the best music in the entire anime. The scores were superb and added immense levels to the gravity of the circumstances. This arc also held arguably the best fight sequences and animation of the anime thus far as well. The Chimera Ant arc is lauded by many as an epic and I agree with every praise that it is presented with. I will say that it does have pacing issues and tends to give a little too much attention to some aspects that eventually fade away later. Like the rest of the anime, there were points that feel like chores to watch and I found myself skipping through episodes because the filler became unbearable. I will say that at this point in the anime, the structure is so ingrained in how the anime operates that we wouldn’t have been able to reach this point without everything that happened prior, but that doesn’t make it any more pleasant.

Hunter x Hunter is an enjoyable anime that may be a little overrated. I will admit that at its best, Hunter x Hunter is simply amazing and stands up against any other anime I’ve seen, but it’s low points take up too much space in the grand scheme of things and it makes me question how others are judging the anime. I would recommend this anime to anyone with time on their hands as it is thrilling, but you won’t lose anything if you happen to skip a few bits along the way.

Hunter x Hunter has a lot going on that is a bit difficult to cover in a short review. There is a lot to unpack and it’s evident in the amount of deeper analysis that exists on the internet, so that speaks a bit to how dense and multi faceted the anime is, but that isn’t to say it is all good.

One of the more interesting and emotionally driven anime I’ve seen this season, Inuyashiki is a concentrated look into the psyche of two individuals at two ends of the spectrum in attempts to see what i means to be human.

Inuyashiki is the anime adaption of the manga by Hiroya Oku, some may be familiar with his previous works such as Gantz. Like Gantz, Inuyashiki provides a brutal insight on people’s motivations and desires, and I think that leads to some of the show’s interesting moments.


Beyond the first episode, we don’t get a background of the aliens or any other understanding of the how ... or why the two characters become cyborgs. At best, it was all chance, and I think that allows for the anime to dive into other ideas and gives much more depth to the story they do push.

Immediately after the life altering event occurs, the anime begins to split the story as the two individuals, Shishigami and Inuyashiki don’t remember seeing each other the night the aliens crashed into them. We get two perspectives of how the characters are adapting to their lives and how they wish to use their new bodies. On one hand, we have Inuyashiki going around trying to save as many people as he can and stop crimes, while Shishigami uses his body to begin murdering people. It comes to a head when they confront each other, facing off for the first time. It is a strange encounter since neither of them recognizes the other or the fact that they are both cyborgs. This sets up the rest of the show as we see Shishigami fall deeper into is mania and Inuyashiki continues to find meaning in his life by helping others, and the inevitability of the two meeting again for a final clash is what drives the story to its end, for the most part at least.

The two characters have great depth and are interesting to watch. We see Inuyashiki as a broken man who finally has a chance to make his life matter, and that really pushes him. This simplicity to his motives is pushed by his supporting cast. His family doesn’t really appreciate him and he is really just trying to do something that would make them proud, despite hiding his truth from them. His other support comes in the form another teen who ends up becoming his sidekick as Inuyashiki navigates all of his powers tries to save the people of the world.

Shishigami is another case altogether. There is very little motivation to what he does, and one of the questions that failed to be answered as the anime progressed. There are hints that he feels human when he takes lives, but it never goes deeper than that. The sheer brutality of Shishigami is offset a little with his interpersonal relationships. He has a love for his mother that seems honest enough, and we see his actions get more radical when his mother dies. His other relationships in the show come from a classmate who confessed her feelings for him, and he ends up living with her and her grandmother, which again tries to humanize Shishigami a little and it seems to work for a bit, but not for long. The efforts to characterize Shishigami as a troubled individual only works to make the show more interesting in that he becomes an unpredictable entity that lingers over humanity and can only be undone by someone who is the same and at the same time the complete opposite of him.

The anime is full of action from the beginning to the end. The sequences are well put together, flow well, and are quite dynamic with a crazy amount of depth and layering to them. This all is possible and possibly set back by the heavy use of CG for these complex scenes. It was strange to the anime switch between traditional and more nuanced forms of animation but I think the creators used it to their advantage and we were given a cohesive anime that can stand up to most of the other anime of the season.

The music didn’t stand out much from the show. If any, it probably fit in, it was very much a backseat element to everything else that was going on with the anime. I will say that the opening song and sequence were one of my favorites this season. It is a really great composition and sums up the show perfectly.

I really did enjoy Inuyashiki, despite little bumps in the art direction somewhat strange characterization of the protagonist and antagonist. It was an immersive anime and surprised me week after week. It progressed pretty fast, but each episode held just the right amount of storytelling to make it feel balanced. I will say that the ending, like everything else, came out of nowhere and it kind of disappointed me, just because it wasn’t where I saw it going. We even get a cameo of Donald Trump cameo with a spot on portrayal of how horrible of a president let alone a person he is. Inuyashiki also had some of the most uncomfortable crying I’ve seen in an anime, but nonetheless, this anime had everything necessary to make it enjoyable and one of my favorite of the season.

The predecessor and big brother to Ryohgo Narita’s Durarara, Baccano is an experiment in storytelling that falls victim to its own devices.

Baccano is an unconventional story told from multiple perspectives, while also jumping back and forth through time. At just 16 episodes, this anime is in some ways a breeze but also capable of losing you in its whirlwind of trying to beef up a not so interesting story with a wild delivery.

This is an anime that is lauded by many in the community as a special one. The storytelling is held in high regard and is well liked by so many, so I decided ... to see what the hype was about.

I’m all for an unorthodox approach to story telling, and I was half expecting it as I started watching Baccano. I also didn’t know that it came from the same author, studio, and director as Durarara which might have helped prepare me, but either way, I sat and waited to for the show to unravel and show its true colors. It’s clear that this was a guessing game for them and their first attempt at putting together an anime of this sort.

Overall, I was disappointed by the delivery of the multiple storylines as the anime progressed from episode to episode. The first 5 or 6 episodes are there to help set up the stories, the characters in each and give us inklings of how they may come to be related to each other. The anime never really follows through with the setup. This may be the director and author’s intent, but the anime comes off as several chapters of several different books being shown simultaneously, leaving us to piece it all together and form the cohesive narrative. I found myself lost and then found, and then confused at what the stories had to do with one another. None of the timelines ever really feed into the others directly. The separate chapters instead serve as backstory and give some sort of context to the others which makes the anime a little difficult to watch. It is stuck between wishing to tell a series of short stories and having an overarching plotline drive the show. This indecisiveness really made the show hard to enjoy.

Within each of the timelines and separate narratives, there were interesting events and action sequences that drew me in, but they all get cut too short and there is no real chance to dive into them, appreciate them, and speculate on how they can progress.

This same flaw is applied to the characters. There are quite a few characters introduced in the anime. Some occur in all the different timelines and narratives while some only occur in one. It becomes hard to understand any of them or even feel and stand behind any of them. Their appearances and interactions are so fleeting that they come off as nothing other than props used to make the anime that much more convoluted.

I tried to read a little bit the way the story was assembled to understand a little, and the anime even ends with the characters almost breaking the fourth wall, telling that the story they are apart neither begins nor ends, so it could be seen that this messy, incoherent method of storytelling is built into what the anime is, and a part of what makes Baccano, Baccano.

I think the biggest downfall of this anime is that it isn’t long enough to see the threads come together to form the cloth it is hinting at. At the end, it left the feeling of dissatisfaction and had me wondering what exactly I had just watched.

There are good moments of the anime that stick out a little when compared to the plot. The music and art are surprisingly nice. The music is fitting for the time and a nice departure from the soundtracks of most anime. The art is clean, with subdued colors that fit the narrative. The animation is pretty spot on as well. For an anime coming in the mid 2000’s, it’s very crisp and lively. The voice acting is pretty great as well. Having watched a few episodes in Japanese and then the rest dubbed, I may say the dubbed adds a little authenticity to the anime. The accents and ways of speaking just feel right when it is in English, especially when the setting is considered.

I wouldn’t recommend this anime to just anyone. You have to be very willing to sit, pay attention, and not mind being lost the entire way. Some may really enjoy that sort of story, but I found it hard to enjoy even the most basic plots in the show. If nothing else, this anime is a radical display on how to tell a story, whether it be done in a good way or a bad way.

4 years later, the juggernaut returns. The anomaly that is Attack on Titan premiered in anime form 2013 to worldwide acclaim. It saw a meteoric rise to the forefront of the anime world, and rightfully so. There was so much hype, whether for good or for bad, and no one could talk anime without bringing up AOT, and then it vanished, more or less, discounting recap movies, live action movies, spin-offs, and every character imaginable cosplayed at conventions. Still unsure whether it was because of budget issues, or timing and keeping in line with the manga, it exited the way it entered, until now that ... is. In 2017, we received the highly anticipated and much awaited second season of Attack on Titan. This is a season many thought would come sooner, many thought would never come, and one we had been promised for so long. It’s safe to say that with season two of Attack on Titan, they delivered.

For those that are unfamiliar, you REALLY SHOULD go and watch the first season.LIKE GO RIGHT NOW. You really won't regret it to be completely honest.

Picking up more or less right where the first season left us, we are thrown right into the action yet again. The humans are faced with the realization that there are other humans with the capabilities to turn into titans and there seems to be a larger conspiracy at play.

Some of those fears come to fruition as we learn of 4 other humans capable of turning into titans, there may be a group of humans that wish to see the downfall of humanity, and new powers and histories of some of the human-titans also come to light.

This season takes us a little deeper into the characters that weren’t focused on in the first season, and we see many learning how to come to grips with this new reality. We also see several season 1 characters completely omitted or granted very little screen time in this season. The show’s producers and director learned from the first season and are showcasing success with brevity, in that, so much more is done with much less. This season is very focused and really only showcases 3 or so major events, which is an effective strategy. We are uncovering lots of little secrets and details and to allow those to unfold over 3 or 4 episodes each works well. It starts off trying to reassess the current status before diving head first into the action that drew us all to the anime in the first place. It’s half the length of the first season, but it cuts away monotony and pointless sequences a great deal.

It goes without saying that the art and animation is just as amazing as the first season, if not better? The dynamism is at an all time high, and some of the mechanics have been turned up a notch. It seems the 4 years they took to work on the anime was put to good use, in some respects at least. With regards to the manga, there is no comparison. The jump in the art between the manga and the anime is part of what propelled the anime to such heights. One gripe I have is with, like MANY other anime in recent seasons, is the use of CGI that sticks out like a sore thumb in one particular part of the show. I can understand why it was used, but man do I wish they’d lay off of it or just find a way to make it seamless. The scene I’m talking about is with regards to the colossal titan. We see it’s true power and get to experience it move in many directions seamlessly in ways the first season never was able to. It works for to heighten the suspense and thrill of the scene, but it is noticeable.

The music has remained the same for the most part. Hiroyuki Sawano is back with the classic tracks that were perfect the first time around, and he’s even thrown in a few new ones. Some of the old tracks, THE battle song (if you have seen the show, you know) for instance even gets a bit of a remix, for the better of course.

I can’t say it was worth the wait but I am definitely glad Attack on Titan has returned. It delivered and then some and even did a lot of what we loved in the first season even better. The feels are are deeper, action a little more dynamic, and the death is as gruesome and brutal as ever, maybe even a little excessive? It’s a great follow up and it has already been announced that season 3 will return in the spring of next year 2018.

Who knows if that date will be honored, but we will have to see. Either way, it’s a show that is its own enemy, but if it continues with the momentum that has resurfaced, it can really be one for the ages.

If a detectives evidence board were to come to life, this anime would be it.

Set in a somewhat fictionalized Tokyo, Durarara is a masterclass in multi perspectival story telling. Durarara or DRRR chronicles the daily occurrences in the district of Ikebukuro. Being the first of 4 seasons, these 26 episodes do a lot and very little to set us up for the rest of this epic.

The show has an interesting setup in that the episodes are sequential, but they focus on pieces of main events and even go as far as taking several episodes to show a singular event from multiple perspectives. In some ... ways, you don't have to pay attention to every single detail to get the big picture, but you almost have to pay attention to get a better sense of all the intricacies of the story. It's a very deliberate way of giving the characters their necessary depth and presence. It's a very true to life version of storytelling in that it's easy to chalk up certain events to being caused by 1 or 2 people, but in reality, there are so many factors, and that's what DRRR gives to us.

With regards to the characters of the show, that could be a whole other post considering the just how many there are. The set base of characters begins at around 10 or so and grows as the season progresses. There aren’t really any main and secondary characters, but rather, the hierarchy of the characters changes with each episode. Some episodes we will get all of the characters interacting with each other simultaneously, while in others we only get 2 or 3. There are standouts however, whether they be prominent figures in the city, mythical beings that inhabit the city, gang leaders, etc. A “family tree” of the characters, their associations and relations would be a real treat to see. There is so much overlap that they all seem to work as one big character.

The show progresses at a steady rate, it’s never too fast, sometimes a little slow. It is a series of sequential steps, but it comes back on itself and weaves around its own stories as it moves forward. The past is the present and the present is the future. Things are happening one after the other and all at the same time. It may seem overwhelming, but the show does a good job in tying up its loose ends and clarifying things at the end.

The animation and art are crisp, spot on, fluid, and overall sensational. It’s very well put together as far as the visuals are concerned. It’s very concise and does a lot with being very clear with the visual representation that it stands out even more and helps hammer home the overall storytelling. It matches well with the plot and is as eccentric and diverse as the characters and scenarios they get into.

The music of the show is also surprisingly diverse and will always catch you by surprise. From jazz to rock, to ominous horror music and even hip hop, the music jumps around like the story does.

Durarara is a really quirky anime and this first season really opens up the idea for what anime can do and how it can be a vehicle for incredible story telling. It’s packed full of funny moments and even moments that aren’t exactly funny but will make you chuckle a little. We see characters grow as people and even see them rise and fall into the depths of themselves. There are layers of darkness and super bright moments as well. Durarara is about everything and nothing and it’s an incredible display of enthralling entertainment. I’d recommend everyone add this to their list at some point.

Coming halfway through the Manga’s 13 year run, Claymore is at its core a revenge tale full of action and sword play with medieval aesthetics, i.e. the name of the anime, a reference to the medieval sword.

Over the course of 26 episodes, we get a well paced narrative that somewhat ends with a bang and then fizzles, with lots of backstory, self discovery, and conspiracy along the way.

The art is clean enough and typical of the time. It makes the somber setting believable and adds to the overall dark tone of the show. The colors are subdued, there is lots of blood spraying ... and dismembering happening in the show as well. It isn’t spectacular, but it is entertaining enough. The animation is efficient and really plays well in amplifying the fight scenes. They are dynamic and pretty smooth as each action passes into the next. The high energy is put on full display and it is represented well.

There isn’t much to be said of the music overall, but it is fitting and a little creepy at points. The soundtrack isn’t that diverse but the music only comes in when necessary and it works to the advantage of the anime.

As far as the characters are concerned, we follow Clare, but we do get to meet many more other Claymores. There is even a point in the show where 20 or so team up to take on a large group of powerful youma. We get a little background on some of the other Claymores, but that is about it. The anime never dives deep into the most of the characters so it’s easy to keep track of them all.

Overall, the anime was enjoyable to watch. Rooting for Clare as she journeys along, sitting in high anticipation to see what the next foe will bring, it’s engaging enough that the 26 episodes come and go like the wind. There aren’t too many moving parts, and the anime has sort of a one track that we follow to the end. It’s clear, concise, and gives just enough to stay on track. The plot does begin to fall apart towards the end, as it throws us into new territory with very little setup. It takes a hard left and I find myself wondering how we got to a point where there is an army of claymores fighting an army of youma, and I will say that the ending was rather lackluster. Claymore ends in an anticlimactic fight that has no clear victor, and yet it was kind of a satisfying moment? The ending felt strange in part to being released when only half of the manga had been published. It feels like there should be a second season or something more to cap off the anime, but what they have given is more than sufficient.

An intriguing display with a mix between stereotypical anime elements and new ideas thrown in, Claymore is an anime fit for anyone looking for something a little darker and more mature than the bulk available for view. It is also a good choice for anyone looking for something that was released prior to the 2010′s.

School drama, plot to save the world, assassins, what more could you ask for in an anime.

Assassination Classroom is a unique combination of several genres under the guise of a goofy, cheery school life anime.

The anime’s story is pretty fun to watch as it evolves over the 2 seasons. We are watching the students grow as people, but we also see them grow as assassins as they learn of how to possibly kill their teacher at any open chance they get. It’s a great mix between very well directed action scenes/animation and typical high school activities and issues the students deal with over ... the course of a year. At around 50 episodes over 2 seasons, the pacing works well, although there are a few filler episodes, they all leave you feeling good at the end. It’s enthralling and captivating but at the same time a pure joy of a watch.

The characters, besides the teacher, consists of all the students in the class and a teaching assistant provided by the government to teach the kids how to be assassins. Although there are around 20 or so students, the anime does a good job of giving them all unique personalities and making it easy to distinguish between them. They also work together to almost seem like one big character. They grow personally and as a class and school anime’s don’t get better than this.

There are a few standouts in the class and they help propel the plot and bring in some of the most climactic and thrilling episodes. They all become characters you stand behind and want to succeed, you even end up liking Koro-Sensei despite the fact he plans on destroying the world.

The art is bright and fits the setting and mood well. There are darker moments and the art definitely helps to amplify it. The animation is sharp and spot on, it all feels clean and pristine from front to back.

The voice acting in the subbed version is great and the soundtrack to the show is amazing as well.

Assassination Classroom is a complete package that doesn’t drag along and doesn’t feel like a chore to watch. It’s an amazing story and written and directed superbly. I consider this a must watch and one that you won’t regret once you start.

Berserk, Berserk, Berserk… what more can be said about Berserk? I figured one more review couldn’t hurt.

This is for the Golden Age arc movies released from 2012-2013. I never watched the original anime series nor have I or frankly ever will watch the latest series to be released, but I have come to understand that the movies serve as a bridge between some of the evens in the original anime and the latest anime to air.

Off of first impressions, the anime is beautiful. The art and cinematography are amazing, much better visually than the original anime, which isn’t difficult considering the anime first ... aired in the 90′s. The animation is modern and they even utilize CGI and Cell Shading in some moments which are a bit strange but don’t take too much away from the overall vision and flow.

The art direction amps up the mood and really puts the darker tones on full display. Even the scenes in full daylight have a certain heaviness and weight to them. The colors are soft and the palette is nice on the eyes. Some of the stills from the movies have been some of the most beautiful moments I’ve seen this year.
We get to witness an interesting relationship form between Guts and Griffith, being that both come off as seemingly unable to love or care for others and are solely motivated by their personal endeavors, but with each other, they form a deeper bond. We see this at a point in the second film where Guts, hoping to grow as a person and become Griffith’s equal, leaves the group after defeating him in a duel, and this defeat is much deeper for Griffith. He ends up lost and dejected, in shock to being rejected by Guts, and acts out accordingly.

It all comes to a tail when they all end up in another dimension during a Solar eclipse and we see Griffith transform into a demon. It’s a magnificent display of love, betrayal, and the descent of man. But it doesn’t go without saying that although these themes may seem quite poetic and enthralling, their presentation and the overall story is incredibly bleak, dark, and chaotically grotesque, especially the last 20 minutes or so of the last movie. It all ends with a bang that is fit for any heroic tragedy.

It is an anime that will really stick with you, and from my brief research, the manga is worth the read. It’s stunning, captivating, action-packed, and will most definitely leave your jaw on the floor as you continue to watch.

Sometimes some of the material feels rushed, but I think the movies were well put together and display a certain brilliance in brevity. I’d highly recommend the movies to anyone that wants to jump into the series or as a refreshing revival of the original. You won’t regret it.

Slow, slow, slow, BOOM, slow, slow. There can't be any other way to describe the overall feel of this anime.

This anime is said by so many to be one of the greatest of all time, a must watch, a necessary part of any fan's journey in the anime world. I, however, have trouble understanding how anyone, after sitting through all 74 episodes could consider this such a masterpiece or at least as high of a rating everyone seems to give it.

I enjoy the plot and it is a nice story overall. The realism is felt throughout and the true darkness of people is extremely ... captivating. The chase between Tenma and Johan, Tenma trying to clear his name, Nina's following closely behind both of them. It's layered, complex and full of twists and turns. I do feel that the story was rather dragged out far too long. At 74 episodes, the number of location changes, additional subplots that were added to the story, the side stories that were just thrown in to add fuel to the plot. It felt like so much more was trying to be drawn out that didn't need to be there. I can' t even begin to speak on how lackluster the ending turned out to be. With a story that seemed like it was heading to end with a climax, I was let down and given instead an allusion of how the anime began, with a few scenes that crept along and faded into the dark.

The characters have immense depth as well. What motivates them, their pasts that they hold on to as emotional and mental baggage. They play off of each other well and add to the story. One of my few gripes with the anime, however, is the sheer number of them and how often they appear and leave as the show progresses. At times, the number of different characters makes the story confusing and leaves you wondering if any of the parts are even necessary.

The anime started out strong and felt like it was reaching for something bigger than itself, but then it changed direction and turned in on itself to focus on themes of love, loss, identity, and lost childhoods. The human psyche was a great theme and yet it was sort of a cop-out in the end. It never really went all the way "THERE".

The music and art direction definitely added to the anime. It was one of the creepiest and spookiest without being about a supernatural entity or even remotely close to a horror anime. The environment and mood carried well and lasted throughout, one of the few redeeming qualities in the anime.

I don't think Monster was bad overall, I just think it went on a little too long. If this were cut down a bit, refined a little, ended with a true bang, have the protagonists and antagonists really pushed to the edge of their humanity, we might have something different.
I can see how and why so many enjoy the anime the way they do, but I feel it was almost a chore and so strenuous to make it through all 74 episodes.