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Last month, this would have gotten a 9/10.
A number of recent circumstances bring it down to a 6/10.
Though I admit I could see from the start that this series was going to be very predictable, it started off good for what it was, however, the events that occur now will only have the more impressionable (new to anime, new to the demegraphic, very young etc...) of us gripped.
I'll explain further...

Stroy...
We have a Battle Royale style, supernatural story inwhich characters duke it out in game complex game of life and death which will eventually leave one person standing - death is enevitable.
Where it goes ... right...
There are a number of charactes present withiin the competition, so the pace isn't likely to be slow and there are a range of potential favourites.
The methods in which the game is played are complex enough to gain and maintain interest - each character has a different tool, so it is importiant to follow what is going on.
Many people don't like gecko endings - seeing as the manga finished, this is unlikely to have one.
Where it goes wrong...
Two main characters are pushed forward at the start, they're working together; it's all against them - where does this leave the oposition?
All oposition seem to reside close by, when there's little reason for them not to recide on another part of the world.
The two mains both being schoolchildren of the same age, in the same class.

Character...
We have Yuki - a quiet, nervous, passive teen boy who displays little personality and little interests.
We have Yuno - an unhinged girl who is is in love with this boy for no particualr reason I recall.
Delving further...
Yuki is pretty much pathetic - the type who is ment to represent the common writing tools 'underdog' and 'normal school kid', yet his out-of-place self is highly inconvenient within this story, he's the type who'll hide behind the strength and/or skill of others, this is where Yuno comes into place - the 'highly intelligent' and 'very athletic' popular girl in school who turns to be a yandere, in love with the leading male, she now has the convenient task of 'being the one to protect her love', thus, giving them reason to be around one another.

Enjoyment...
It is good; one of the best of the year, yet personally, I think I'm a tad too old for this - everthing is predictable if you're a veteran like me.
This is a great starter anime - years ago, I may have given this a 10/10.

Overall...
I have the ability to predict what will happen next, dispite having NOT read the manga.
Good story - something different which is definetely worth the watch.
Decent characters excluding a few, yet certian cliche's are hard to avoid these days to be fair.
Depending on your anime intake, predictability is high; this series displays key example of plot armour and character sheild.
6/10 - a fair series that, at the moment, is at a stage (8 episodes) where it can only get better?

I'll make myself clear before I finish...
I knew of the manga a few years back, yet never got around to reading it. It was announced last year that this was getting an animated series, thus, this adaptation was highly conveinent for me. :P
Basically, I was and still am, optimistic - I want to like this series, but so far, it's just OK.

Texhnolyze is a mature series - it isn't mature down to:
- sexual content
- swearing
- masses of gore
- taboo subjects
Instead, it's mature simply down to the high psycological element that requires the audience to commit full attention to every factor of what's on screen.
This is very diffeent series - an odd, cyberpunk, apocolyptic style, partial conspiracy that still confuses me a tad.

Story...
This series really is a great example of a psycological mind mess. It leaves a great deal up for discussion an it offers little information.
The story pretty much starts at episode one; backstories aren't too importiant and events that occur during the run of the ... series are the only ones that require explainations.
The tone is eerie and the pace is very slow - delibrately, just to ensure the audience gets a full insight into just how bad a situation is, in favour of simply skimming over the uncomfortable and featuring a character re-adapt in no time - these characters are a gloomy as it gets, the detail to their desperate prediciments makes can easily lead a viewer to yearn for answers just as much as the character in question.
Story comes before character type within this anime and as stated, the delivery is purposley slow, so this isn't for everyone, some viewers should avoid, some may have to put effort into pushing threw a few early ep's (it picks up as time goes by), whilst others may simply accept and enjoy the pace (it is something rare afterall).

Characters...
This series features loners; the deeply depressed, the disturbed, mystery workers and mystery travelers - some suffer in silence whilst others are calmly sadistic - basicaly, nobody is extrovert; characters in general don't feel the need to fill a slience, yet they get their points across.
It becomes clear that the characters are all fairly complex, possibly the headlining male lead in particular, who appears to be an anti-social loner who you could easily assume to be a selective mute - he's set in his ways, yet he undergo's a journey - his journey in particular is one you must really follow carefull, as; he hardley speaks, he has no friends or family speaking for him, no narration on his thoughs and past and no clear enemy.

Art...
The scenery in general is eveerything, as in this series, actions speak louder then words (litterally;the characters hardly speak, easy job for the voice actors?) - the scenery is pretty, quite realistic looking and constantly changes - the colour tone witin the series fits in with the mood - anything from dull to misty; generally eerie.
The characters are well illustrated; reaslistic looking in comparrassion to most modern animes, where the characters are very 'cute' and animated looking - this looks a little like some of the animes popular in the 90s.

Overall...
It seems as though this isn't really one of those things you're suppose to sit and 'enjoy' as such (i.e. not entent to get the audience too excited); you're suppose to simply take in what you see and watch what unfolds - it's not loaded with action scenes or clear info'; it's one of those each individual watching may percive differently.

Enjoyment...
Brilliant, well though out, mature material - much reccomended!
Very different; not normally my thing - being into; high energy, fast pace, action tales with quirky characters - this is the polar oposite; a purposely slow pace, moody and suprisingly realistic story I'm not even sure you're suppose to enjoy.

I'm not enclined to be bias towards the original - I simply search for a good story.
IMO, this is a good story - a rear example of a decent gecko ending.

Story...
A vampire working for a human organisation rescues and recruits a young police woman whilst maintaing composure; facing off against vampire threats for his human master.
This could have followed a number of cliche's, such as; the 'tough guy' looking after the 'little girl', which I half expected, as I for one have seen too many cases of a 'vampire guy' taking a shine to the impressionable young girl, but no; the girl is undergoing a ... learning experience, yet still establishes herself, she was already motivated in her career, doesn't cling on to the main and simply does her job.
What stands out about this story is it's formality; the mains are always busy, they don't hang around eachother when they don't need to, character progression is importiant and enough information is left to the imagination to leave the viewer interested in the 'Hellsing' franchise in general.

Art...
Nice - dark and mellow, plenty of gothic scenery (the scenery changes enough) and great visuals in motion.

Characters...
The characters are generally great - the likeable mystery 'cool' supernatural male, the 'masculine; organisation leader, the skilled and knowledgeful butler and the hard working not-so-clueless rookie to the situation - all pretty likeable indivuals who receive reasonable spotlight.
Decent characters don't simply stop with those who headline, it would be easy to smply focus on the mains, yet numerous characters get their fair share of attention; the dodgy news reader, Victoria previous team, the snipper teacher who worked alongside Victoria, Integra's army - pretty much minors; they have some place within the story and we get to view the what the main(s) think of them.

Enjoyment...
I personally enjoyed this series as it's characters were pleasant; they didn't fit the 'typical' character traits we come across regular and their stories were put forward in a suttle manner.
Furthermore, we aren't spoonfeed information the average viewer could otherwise figure out on thier own.

Overall...
Definately worth the watch - a short series with its fair share of action, mellow drama and well developed characters.

These youths need to learn how to cook!
- Seriously

This series is about people getting into scraps in the evening over reduced priced boxed meals - the supermarket being their battleground.
The plot is as simple as that; no tradgedy, no love story - this is were Ben-To sets itself aside from other anime's; like a 'random' anime, you can't take it seriously, yet it does have plot and is, in some ways, realistic?

There is a level of 'generic shounen fighter' within his series; being that this is one of those 'gender savvy fighting' anime's were girls and boys could fight as equals as skill is the ... key component to victory - however, contradiction steps in - man vs woman is then only acceptable when the female is beating the crud out of the male.
Though this ^ is common within anime and conbined this with the word 'harem' - the fight scenes are what you would expect.

The art is fine - nice and bright and the fight scenes are quite beautifully illustrated, however, you may find (I do) that a number of characters pretty much look the same; a certian fight scene towards the begining, IMO, was quite confusing down to this element.

The characters are pretty much your typical harem type to be frank;
- passive 'nice guy', 'typical highschool student' male main who has been wrapped up in a new situation
- 'moody' females, high energy chaotic females and moe girls
though the 'types' aren't overplayed as often as they could be - we see the male mixing with more then one face and the major female lead fits the more 'kuudere' region of type A tsundere - which makes a change.

Overall, this anime is something different - there isn't much like it around, it's short, silly and has a balanced tone of seriousness and hyperactivity - the seriousness being funny when it shouldn't be, as the plot is simply 'half price meals'.
Worth the watch 100%.

If you're new to anime, you may like Phi Brain?
If you are able to pride yourself on your patience, you may like Phi Brain?
Perhaps you are just an eternal optimist - you have the ability to see the best in any situation?

I see myself as quite an optimist...
Someone who doesn't like feeling dissapointed and thus, only ventures into the interesting, holding has high hopes and wanting to enjoy - Phi Brain is a test!

Characters...
The typical 'popular' types that are slotted anime's on a regular basis.
Writers knowing that the audience will see familiarities this character shares with a number 'highly popular' characters from other ... anime that have massive fanbases; the 'clone' is instantely accept.
Though often, ittle effort has been made to take a 'type' and make it stand out from the thousand of others of that 'type', this lack of individuality easily equals 'generic'.
Here are a few examples:
- a passive male main, the hero central to the plot; he's of school age (a schoolboy infact) who is hailed a 'genious' - this is his ability, though he doesn't partical stand out; he isn't popular or awkward, he's just a modest medium who fits in, displaying little personality as he's he's 'all-work-no-play'
- his tsundere, stroppy, tomboyish childhood friend female sidekick who assaulted him for reason upon her debut; doesn't seem to have any reason to be around and doesn't seem to hang around with anyone else, her only reason for being present appears to be; love interest and occasional damzel in destress
- the token smug starter rival
- the unhinged, eccentric 'bad boy'

Story...
The story has every potential to be decent, it's simply about a boy who's a genious and can solve complex puzzels, puzzels in many sences of the word; the series has went from getting out of booby traped ruins, to solving a conspiracy - this story could cover a lot of grounds, yet unfortunately, like many series's out their, the story takes a back seat; in order to providen 'funny' entertainment, the priority order of material is; character type>tried-tested-and-approved scenario>current plot.

Art...
The best aspect of the series - the characters are very pretty, the scenery is well detailed, the colour pallet is very bright yet mellow and the characters in motion look very fluid.

Enjoyment...
None too enjoyable for a veteran like myself; even lowering my expectations didn't work - it makes one think 'If I want a mystery, I'll watch '...' instead' and 'I'll turn to '...' to view 'that' character type played out in a decent manner'.
Unless this series does a dramatic 180 some time very soon, 25 ep's is honestly too long.

Overall...
Mediocre - though many generic anime's do 'generic' better then this.

This series is something different...
One of those rare series's that comes along once in a while and manages to entertain without relying on the same old acceptable writing tool - infact, it actually turn the conventional up-side-down.
How often do we have:
- Comic violence dished out on a female by a male?
Pretty much never, but we do within this
- How often is comic violence nessessary to a plot?
Rarely - yet in this case, it is very nessessary (training from hell)
- An anime that doesn't hype up sexualisation to keep the viewers interested?
Rarely, yet within this series, there's - no ecchi and ecchi ... related missunderstanding, no romance in general actually and no drilling into the viewers heads that 'This character is attractive!' - characters are respected for their acheivements and actions; such as the beautiful idol who has managed to sell 3 billion records going further into the 'unconventional'; the two key mains in the series are; a very petite school girl with short hair and a well dressed, uncharming guy who litterally has two unpleasant faces.

Story...
A demon named Neuro has left Hell and came to Earth in order to seek out 'myseries' - to be more specific, the evil entent behind secretive offenders, as this 'negitive engergy' is his source of food.
He selects a schoolgirl named Yako, who's dad as just died under mysterious circumstances to be his assistant, as he picks up on her drive to get to the bottom of her 'mystery' - he's basically just using her and her vunerable position.
From then on, the series is a combination of comedy and seriousness; some horror and quirky comedy with character development and plot progression threwout (litterally, each episode); characters 'learning' new things and becomeing wise is a key component within this story - nothing is insignificant.

Art...
Very pleasant; nice and colourful, changing sceneries, abstract, darkness when needed and neon lighting at times.

Characters...
Not the usual type.
We have a troll as the main who is known for obscure acts of sadism, though he's actually on the planet for selfish, his agenda isn't 'do as much harm as possible' and infact, his presence proves beneifical to the public.
We have a teen girl who has been threw a recent tradgedy, yet is suprisingly optimistic; a possitive person with her head screwed on right; she's accepts her new lifestyle, she's egar to learn and can be quite fearless; her relationship with the above seems to be vary from; partner, to friend, to student to hostage.
These two (above) are the basis on the series and what makes the 'character' aspect stand out.
The two of them are accompanied by a irate yakuza guy who is pretty much, like the feamle lead, in a hostage situation.
We also have a cool, calm police officer and his bubbeling, newbie young partner.

Enjoyment...
Very funny - Scooby Doo style mysteries; the best part is waiting to find out who the offender is and hearing the explianation - the offenders in this are truely bonkers.
When serious - As stated, we find out that pretty much everything that happens is improtiant; from the comical tourture, to the 'horror' rich tourture dished out on the badies.

Overall...
Very balanced and possibly, one of the few anime's out there that could be ranked 'unique'.
This is worth watching even if you have read the anime, if you have not read the anime, that's worth reading too, as the two actually complement eachother - though the anime has a 'Geko ending', the ending is still, on a whole, good, whereas there are enough slight (not drastic, but slight) changes to justify starting both from scratch - neither should appear boring.

A highly odd series.
However, being unusual is the major factor of it's charm.

Story...
The series starts with a teen girl, who has actually encountered her 'Prince Charming' earlier on in life, yet instead of simply growing up a lustful fangirls waiting upon her dream guy, she infact decided to follow his lead and become a 'Prince Charming' too.
She's the knight in shinning armour who goes to great lengths to protect an odd, dispondent girl who's role is a mere trophy (of great meaning however) handed to those who defeat the previous person who won ownership of her in a bizzare, fantasy type areana were people swordfight.

Art...
90s ... anime, so it may look dated, but still, the characters are generally pretty, their outfits are detailed and the scenery is well though out.

Characters...

Very different, the type you don't see too often these days, from the very begining, we have:
- a female playing the strong, balanced and sensible hero
- a girl who openly, yet innocently fangirls over the female lead
- a mystery female who is quite, yet isn't a moe or a snob
- a possessive, openly abusive obsessed boyfriend

Enjoyment...
This is very different, which in itself deserves respect - the characters in geneal don't really fit the 'typical' types, the series tackles social subjects that aren't often highlighted in other anime's and has a balance of - mystery, peril and comedy.
This type of anime isn't really my thing, but I enjoyed it and can see that a lot of hard work went into it.

'Index features a boy who's suppose to be 'unfortunate' and weak, yet he's the main of the series and is the typical created-to-be-loveable type who'd do anything to help a friend or those in need; a tsundere 'strong girl' loiters around him and a mystery, fairly happy-go-lucky magic girl falls into his care.

This anime is a very safe option if you're; fairly new to anime, don't have high expectations of the series (things can only get better type of disposition) or you're confident you can't get enough of the; superpower anime with a basic plot, layback male lead, tsundere female, moe girls - type of ... series.

If the above sounds familiar, yet not in a good way, then avoid this series, as many well-used wirting tools are present:
- passive male we're suppose to belive is the 'underdog' dispite being the main quickly proves himself
- a tsundere female who behaves in a bratty, irratic manner for no particular reason
- a cute magic girl with a mystery past who is in need of protecting
- there's always a method in which a writer can avoid killing off a character who should be dead
- though the girls aren't entirley defenceless, they must become damzels in distress in order for the male to protect them
- good over evil - you're in the wrong! + power of love/friendship + "I'll protect her"
Though I'm aware many people find the above traits cute, so if this appeals; tune in.

Again, great starter anime, yet nothing too special IMO.

My spelling is awful by the way. ;)

Shojo is not my genre of choice - I had to announce that first.
Peach Girl is not too original - something else I had to announce.
(also, I can't spell)

Why would I give this a 9 out of 10?
Simply because it's hysterical...

Though this isn't catagorised as comedy, it should be, as there are roughly 12 cliche's per episode and possibly the most indirect-dope of a female lead you will ever see, but for some reason, it works:

Plot...
Momo, an innoffensive teen girl is being picked on at school down to her appearance; she's resembles members of a particular social group that are viewed as unnattractive down to ... their repputation, Momo is therefor unfair pre-judged, ontop of this, someone is ruining her reputation further; someone close by.
Momo has decide she's in love with the popular sports-type boy, the popular joker has fallen for Momo = love trianlge.

Character...
Dispite the story not being too special and the characters seeming like the typical 'youths of school age who are in a rush to grow up', the characters are highly effective, we have:
- The female lead - Naive isn't the word, she falls for mistakes anyone with an gram of common sense wouldn't, then falls for virtually the same mistake again, ontop of this, she's; selfish, quick to jump to conclusions and quick to over-react; bad combinations, however, we are always bought back to the fact that she's non-malicious; her heart is in the right place and unlike many other anime girls, she aknowledges her faults, she's allerted to her mistakes and the author hasn't sculpted the story to make her look like the victum every time things don't go right for her
- Male love interest 1 - A male who is just as naive as the female lead; no real personality or atributes apart from being the typical 'strong silent' type. the 'jock' and bishounen(?)
- Male love interest 2 - The joker who is suprisingly wize his surroundings; not naive like the two above, but bessoted enough to do anything for the female lead; litterally, lap-dog
- The other 'woman' - a highly calculating big bad bully who could possibly be one of the best anime villians ever; she manages to be; highly passive aggressive (using ever aspect of passive aggression there is) aswell as confrontational, whilst looking like the innocent party; she's the type to make or break a person

Why watch...
As stated previous; the cliche's (I'd say is the number one reason).
They aren't the typical anime related cliche's such as ecchi related missunderstandings (guy falls on girls cheast or guy walks in on girl naked), they're the type of belivable and highly inconvenient type, such as; one character catching their partner with another woman/man and not asking questions, or character from the past showing up at a crutial moment etc; it's actually a fun activity in itself sucessfully predicting what's going to happen in the next few seconds.
Predictability aside, I suppose the love tri-angle is played out quite well; it may not be too obvious to some who the leading girl would end up with, also, the ride to finding 'the one' wasn't a smooth one; others have came into the scene.

As I stated previously; this may not be a comedy, but it is funny.

First impression based on ep' one - The intention of this review is to highlight elements of the story you may like or disslike, depending on your preferances and possibly, the time period you have neen watching anime in general...

This series features a set-up which is quite familar:
- tsundere galore
- characters are school age
- fight scenes that consist of neon coloured magic
- cutsie, somewhat bratty loli who need looking after
- overly passive male tsundere-victum type who accepts his lousy life
- family issues - in this case, family conveniently out of the picture
- unnessessary female sidekick who doesn't seem to have anything else to do
- supernatural ... being who's human appearance is a cute girl for no particular reason
- humor in the form of ecchi related missunderstandings
- unluck guy; the female('/s) are there to bring about a change
I know that some of these factors above can easily attract or repel, as the familiar is great for some (who I could reccomend to) yet tedious for others (I wouldn't reccomend to) and if this is pretty much a starter anime for someone else, then go for it. ;D