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SUMMARY

This is a wonderful show. It's wholesome, sweet, romantic, realistic, and overall a kind of surprising show coming from the anime industry today. There's no fanservice, no characters that are little more than tropes or cliches, and no formulaic plot. It avoids all of those pitfalls of anime and manages to combine great elements of drama, romance, and slice-of-life and packages them into a very rewarding 12 episode length show.

DETAILS

Story - 10

This is the selling point of this show. It's a romance about two middle school students in Japan. It's their first relationship for the both of them. They ... are young and inexperienced; they are maybe a bit naive and embarrassed with the whole situation, but they also learn to really care about each other and are willing to work through the difficulties of being in a relationship. I found it to be surprisingly relatable despite the characters' very young age. It's a show you can probably learn something from. And I like that it's a good-natured, wholesome show, and that it's not cynical. It succeeds in its realism. If you think about the fact that the characters are basically plain and realistic people and that the setting is as mundane as possible, then you can really appreciate how the writing and directing for this show are so phenomenal.

Art - 8

This show won't wow you with its art or animation, but it doesn't need to and it's not trying to. It looks slightly low-budget for anime in 2017. There's nothing unappealing about the art, and I think the characters do look cute. Actually, I think the show hits a sweet-spot and uses its resources well. The somewhat plain presentation is appropriate for the nature of the show. It complements the characters and the setting well. This is why I score this category as high as 8. But you also can't really give a 9 or 10 to a show that looks like this, no matter how appropriate the visuals might be. Don't let the art or animation stop you from watching this show. It does exactly what it needs to do to present the story.

Sound - 8

Basically the same level of quality as the art and animation. The character voice acting is good and, again, exactly what it needs to be for this show. It's not going to wow you or anything, so it's not like it can earn a 9 or 10. But it's probably the perfect level of performance for this show. I thought that the acting for the female lead was particularly good in the last few episodes during the more dramatic moments.

Character - 10

Same as the story category. The characters are so great because of the writing and directing. Each of the male and female leads are likable and you want their relationship to succeed. Other side characters involved in love-triangles are also well realized. The heartbreak some of the characters eventually feel has weight due to the character development and the depiction of the relationships. The things the characters try in order to either win someone over or to protect their relationship all feel like things kids might do or try.

Enjoyment - 9

Obviously, kind of subjective. The reason I don't give it a 10 is because the first episode was kind of slow, and I honestly thought about dropping the show at first. But I decided to give a few more episodes a shot, and I'm glad I did. Once the ball gets rolling and the relationship between the lead starts, the show really settles in. So overall the show is a slow-starter, but becomes engaging and earns your attention later on. The show will take you on a roller coaster of emotions, along the ups and downs with the characters. If that's not what you're looking for out of drama and romance, then I don't know what to tell you.

Overall - 10

Everything about this show from the writing, characters, art, animation, sound, etc., seems to come together perfectly in the presentation of the story. In that sense, it's harmonious, and in that sense I can't find very many faults with the show. It did exactly what it needed to do in order to be a wholesome, good-natured, and realistic romance between very young people. If that's the kind of show you're hoping to find, then what are you waiting for? Watch this show.

Summary/Overall - 7
This show is the ultimate guilty pleasure. It succeeds as a parody of shonen fighting tropes, and as a comedy with a mostly straight-man style of humor. Silly people are doing silly things--but with a completely straight face the whole time. And it's hilarious.
The show is actually pretty creative with its premise, and has moments of great animation. There is some needless and tasteless fanservice in the show, but I'd say that at least 85% of the sexy stuff actually serves a purpose and deserves to be in the show. It's really easy to just laugh ... at some of the ways the characters use their boobs and butts, rather than be put off by it.

Story - 6
The story is serviceable--nothing more than it needs to be to get the show running. Girl enters a Keijo training academy, starts training, and faces off against strong rivals. That's it. That's all it needs to be, but it's also unambitious. Because of this, the show can start to drag sometimes in the more "serious" scenes, due to the novelty of the premise wearing off after a while.

Art - 8
The fight scenes are animated surprisingly well. The art does a good job of conveying what's going on at all times, and serves the humor well. The main downside in this category is that the character designs are very plain and unmemorable.

Sound - 7
Nothing special. The voice acting is pretty good and can sell comedic moments. It's funny listening to the characters talk so seriously about their butt combat sport. Sounds effects can make some of the impact moments funny as well, like when a character has a squishy butt or a butt of steel. The opening and ending themes are basically forgettable.

Character - 6
The characters are mostly as plain as the character designs. They are basically shonen fighter tropes and pretty one-note. The creativity displayed in their individual powers, as well as the voice acting, is where all of the charm comes from, which is still fairly limited.

Enjoyment - 8
This show is funny, and not too bad to look at either. There is genuine creativity in the execution of the completely silly premise. I was impressed that they varied the platform in the middle of the pool between battles--they could have easily just kept it as a generic platform each time. And the variety of attacks the girls hit each other with is also interesting and hilarious. They even change up the swimsuits quite a bit.
The writing of the jokes is really solid. The typical shonen banter in the middle of fighting is usually a drag on fights in other shows, but in this one it's genuinely hilarious to hear characters say stuff like "I'm getting my butt kicked" or "you have yet to understand the true nature of my butt!".
The show starts pretty strong but can start to weaken in later episodes due to the novelty of the premise and the jokes starting to wear off. I would imagine that this show was probably more fun to watch once per week while it was airing, rather than in a one-sitting binge session. I also think the show probably doesn't have great re-watch value because of this.

SUMMARY

-Interesting groundhog day time loop mechanic which is central to the story
-Characterization is pretty heavily reliant on tropes, but is still executed well; very good character development for a few characters
-Writing and dialogue is inconsistent. Sometimes it's cliche, but in a few episodes there are moments of greatness.
-A few weird directing choices which made the show feel tonally inconsistent
-Pretty violent, but still pretty heavy on dialogue overall
-Decent opening and ending themes; very good voice acting; a couple of very interesting standouts from the soundtrack
**NOT A REAL ENDING. The anime ends at a story arc, but it's not even close to resolving everything in ... the story. Lots of dangling plot threads which may or may not eventually get an adaptation.
-Overall, makes for a solid, fun, action adventure story in a fantasy setting

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FULL REVIEW

STORY - 8

The story is interesting and gripping from the start with the Groundhog Day style of time loop. Despite the fact that you often witness events multiple times, they are able to keep it interesting and fresh.

The writing is often quite good. They explore the time loop mechanic in ways that make sense, and they rarely leave you asking "why didn't they do X or Y with this time loop mechanic?"

There are some times, however, where the drama feels over the top and forced. Sometimes it feels as if characters behave in uncharacteristic ways, and it can be frustrating. They sometimes try to milk a scene for more drama than it's worth; in this way, it sometimes feels like the writing does not show any proper amount of restraint.

The most blatant problem with the story is that it does not end. This is a problem with anime generally in the past several years. We rarely get proper endings to stories. Just because this is common, it does not excuse this show. I might have given story a 9 if this show had an ending. Despite my complaints about the drama, the writing is usually interesting and engaging, which is more than can be said of most shows.

ART - 7

The art is serviceable. It's another show that has this modern simple and clean style to it. Not much shading, not too many details in the character's faces. The show essentially looks like most other shows out there today (circa 2016). The animation is pretty good for the action scenes. There are a few moments where the art and animation are bumped up for scenes wherein they go for that higher level of drama. I would probably give the art an 8 if not for the fact that I think the modern, simple art style in anime doesn't look that great.

SOUND - 9

This might actually be the best part of this show, technically speaking. The voice acting is great, perhaps top tier for anime in 2016. One of the antagonists (my brain trembles!) in particular is really good. The voice completely sells the character.

There are a few great pieces from the soundtrack which are very memorable. The opening and ending themes are fine. Sound effects are good but probably not much better than industry standard today. Given that it's an action series there is more work to do in this regard than a typical high school show, and as far as I can tell they do it fine.

CHARACTER - 8

The characterization is fairly heavily reliant on tropes, but it is executed well. The main character does feel like his own person, instead of a bland self-insert character. Supporting females leads are quite good.

The best part of the characterization is the character development of two characters in particular, one of them being the main character.

However, one of the worst parts of the characterization is also the main character. There are times in this show where he acts like a complete idiot in a way which seems out of character and which is forced for drama. Nonetheless, this eventually resolves. It's only a problem for a few episodes.

ENJOYMENT - 8

There are some weird choices made with the directing that sometimes made this show feel inconsistent. There are some episodes where they try to go for a more cinematic feel which I thought was a very strange choice. The emotional tone in this show is practically schizophrenic at times. Nonetheless, the writing is usually engaging and you want to know what's going to happen. The character development is occasionally frustrating, but the resolution to certain characters arcs is usually very, very satisfying. The lack of ending is a big problem though. I would have left the show feeling more of a sense of enjoyment if it had a proper ending.

You can definitely have fun with this show, and it is occasionally thought-provoking.

OVERALL

This show is fun, it's more thought-provoking than your usual action adventure show, and the characterization is above average in quality. The fantasy setting is interesting, but most of the time the feel is actually more mundane and character focused. There are some gimmicky trope characters that are probably just in there to bait otakus. But overall, there's not a lot to complain about in this show.

There's not much fanservice. Overall, this might make for a good 2nd or 3rd anime. I don't think I would pick this show as a first anime to recommend to someone.

The re-watch value of this show is questionable, since a decent amount of the fun comes from the suspense of not knowing what will happen next. Additionally, the character development was a nice surprise to watch as it unfolded. You lose the sense of discovery on a repeat viewing. I could still see people enjoying this on repeat viewings though.

SUMMARY

-Shonen elements are typical; fairly well-executed
-Lots of fanservice (not really the point of the show, but it's definitely still there)
-Good, interesting, detailed writing about food and cooking food
-Very good, clean, attractive art; good character designs
-OP/ED themes are meh; tracks in episodes are good and exciting; very good voice acting; good sound effects for food and "action"
-Enjoyment will vary greatly with the viewer, depending on preferences regarding fanservice, plot progression, resolved ending, and interest in the subject matter (cooking, food)
-Overall very solid and well-made anime; definitely better than your average throwaway junk anime that clutters the seasonal rosters regularly
-Widely watched show; important to know/watch if you ... care about being conversant in popular anime

FULL REVIEW

Story - 8

This is a shonen show about cooking. Main character goes to school to learn about cooking. Makes friends. Learns about cooking. Has "battles" based around cooking. You get to see the characters grow and mature.

If you have a particular interest in cooking or food, this show will probably interest you with the writing alone. There are plenty of distraction, like fanservice and whatnot, but the actual writing about the cooking is very solid. Sometimes, it goes so fast that it seems like the writers don't expect you to keep up. Nonetheless, it's clear that the writer/original mangaka is very knowledgeable on the subject of food and cooking. You will learn a lot if you pay attention and try to keep up. You might even find some recipes in the show that you want to try for yourself. I was able to find a video recipe on YouTube where someone makes a dish that appears in the show. Pretty cool stuff.

This series is over the top in many regards. If you like stuff like Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, or FLCL, or Kill la Kill, then this show probably has your style of humor and entertainment.

The setting is interesting. Elite cooking school with many interesting characters. The main character must survive (not get expelled) and compete for prestige among his peers in the various contests involved in the educational curriculum at the school. The setting isn't super well-developed, though. Not a ton of world-building. This show is mostly character-driven, "battle"-driven, and to some extent food-info-dump driven.

**Important**
The story does not conclude with this season. There is going to be a season 2. Season 1 ends at the end of an arc, but many questions are left unanswered. Not really any resolution for the characters. Some people might not like this, but it's a pretty standard way to do anime these days.

Art - 9

J.C. Staff is the studio. Very colorful art. Very visually appealing character designs; many of the characters have interesting visual distinguishing features. The animation gets decently fluid in the "action" scenes.

There's a lot of visual metaphor in this show. There are what's known as "foodgasms"; people react *very* pleasurably to eating food in this show. This is where much of the fanservice comes in. Fair warning: this has the potential to be awkward when watching with others. Be sure that anyone watching with you is fully aware of Japanese anime culture and how sexualized characters in anime can be at times. If you have a liberal sense of humor, this probably worn't bother you.

The art style shifts at times during comedic scenes. Some chibi and whatnot.

I thought about giving this category a 10 since I can't think of what more I would want or expect from a show in terms of art. It's hard to have high standards knowing how the industry works. I'm happy that I can see shows with this much quality, knowing how busy people in the industry are. Nonetheless, I guess I'll just leave it at a 9 since I have seen better.

Sound - 8

There are some interesting and exciting tracks used regularly throughout the show, which are successful in making me feel hype for the food battles. The opening and ending themes are probably forgettable for the most part.

I liked the voice acting. Every character made sense. They did a good job. No complaints, but I'm not going to write home about it, either.

There are a lot of good sound effects for the food. It helps bring the meals to life, as much as the visuals. Very well done in this regard.

Character - 8

Lots of interesting characters. Souma works fine as a main character. He's likable. Many characters fit some cliches, though they are executed well. Erina-tsundere with mostly tsun. Megumi-nice, friendly, likable, "traditional" kind of girl. There's the cool dad who the main character is chasing (in cooking skill).

Large array of supporting characters. Perhaps too many. But most of them are still interesting. Many of them have time to get a decent back story. Nothing amazing; you won't be crying over anything (in all likelihood). But it's enough to get you interested in the cast and what they are all doing. It's a character driven shonen, but it's not serious character drama (at least, not in this season). You watch this show for the characters having fun and interesting battles, and for developing the power of friendship. Not for serious drama. There are some characters with touching backstories, but these usually fit into a time span of 10 minutes. So it's not like real serious drama with a long build up and payoff.

Enjoyment - 8

This will vary greatly. It depends on what you want and what you can tolerate. Enjoyment will be greatly diminished if you don't like fanservice. There is a lot of irreverent humor that goes along with the fanservice. You have to be able to enjoy that to really enjoy this show. It's one of the main selling points. If you can enjoy over the top humor, with a bit (or a decent amount) of fanservice thrown in, then you will greatly enjoy this show. This can be really fun and funny if it doesn't put you off.

You have to get investing in the cooking to some degree. Many episodes have long expositions about how a meal was made. If you can't enjoy that, you won't be able to consistently enjoy this show.

There are standard shonen elements of battle and friendship and the pursuit of skill and greatness. You've got to be able to enjoy this stuff for this show.

Episodes can get a bit repetitive. After a while, people getting excited about a dish can seem overdone. They do a good job of keeping it fresh, mostly, all things considered. If I knew more about food and what people were saying during exposition, it probably wouldn't feel repetitive. But for the layman who wants the plot to progress, all of the talk about food might feel slow or hard to understand, and thus feel repetitive.

Overall - 8

This is a solid show that clearly had above-average effort put into making it. The show made me want to binge-watch it, which for me is a sign of one of the better shows of a particular year. It left me wanting more, which is a good sign for the quality, but also it was bittersweet due to the full story not being adapted yet. We'll have to see how far season 2 takes us (season 2 will be coming out in summer 2016).

SUMMARY/Quick Observations
-Time travel, mystery, suspense
-Interesting premise and setup
-Once it gets going, decent suspense
-After a few episodes, we get character arcs and less immediate focus on plot
-"Love it or hate it" payoff in the end
-Animation and sound are serviceable, average, forgettable

-Overall: Memorable, but not going to be a classic like Bebop or the like; worth watching for most, especially if you're the type to just watch a few of the best shows of the season / year. It will be talked about; it will be one of the defining shows of anime in 2016.

... FULL REVIEW

Story - 6 (Fair)

The premise of the story is that the protagonist is thrust back in time by some mysterious power. He has to relive his childhood, and he also knows that the reason he went back in time was to solve a murder mystery involving people he knows. The suspenseful elements are knowing that a killer is about and active in his town during his childhood, and wondering what the protagonist will do to change fate.

Overall, this is a pretty interesting setup/setting/premise for a story. Once this setting is established, the anime goes into character building story arcs. The main one involves a girl named Kayo. This is fairly compelling. The protagonist hopes to save this girl from abuse by her parents. It's a heartwarming story about love (not necessarily romantic; more like "I desire to care for your well-being" love) and friendship. It got pretty emotional at times, and much of the time the emotion is justified, and it "works". If you're the type to get emotionally invested in characters, this should be a pretty investing story arc for you, and you'll probably enjoy it. Especially if you haven't been watching anime for many years (I say this because the emotional payoff feels a bit familiar, as someone who has seen a lot of anime).

One potential negative is the payoff of this series (the last few episodes). For the sake of no spoilers, I will say this: It's kind of "love it or hate it". This is why story only gets a 6 even though the setting is interesting. If you're really particular about story details, and you're very "nit-picky" and critical of anime in general, this show has the kind of ending you might not love. If you're easy-going, can forgive potential storytelling flaws easily, and just want to have fun and experience some "feels" then I think this will be no problem for you. You can definitely enjoy this show.

Another potential negative is that the moral or the "point" of this show ends up being pretty unoriginal. It ends with the typical shonen trope of "friendship saves the day; trust your friends! THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP." This wasn't really doing anything for me. I've heard this a thousand times before from anime. There are some worthwhile character stories here; they barely manage to stand apart from this overdone theme of friendship.

*I decided to have a spoiler section at the end of this review to discuss how I feel about the ending, in case you want to know my thoughts.


Art - 7 (Good)

I don't know much about art, but I know average and serviceable art when I see it. This art is nothing fancy; definitely no KyoAni level of quality here. This is your standard SAO / K-On! art here. Simple looking characters, not-full animation, serviceable backgrounds and whatnot. Except there's also not really any action, so they didn't have to spend extra money for combat or music scenes. The character designs are decent but nothing particularly memorable. The characters look average, like real people but anime.

It's basically good enough to tell a story. But this is not a show you watch for the art.

Sound - 7 (Good)

Much like above, I give this category a 7 simply because the music is good enough, there are no glaring flaws, and it gets the job done. The voice acting is good; there's nothing wrong with it. The voices make sense for the characters. There is something interesting they do with the voice of the protagonists thoughts as opposed to his actual speaking voice. It's a nice detail, but not amazing enough to bump this up to an 8 or anything. It's just an extra detail you can appreciate.
Also, the openings and endings are basically fine but not really memorable.

Nothing about the art or sound categories should be make or break for you. Unless you want to watch a show with amazing art or sound: you'll not find that here. This is a show you watch for the story and characters.

Characters - 8 (Very Good)

This is the best aspect of the show, and the main reason one would watch this show. The characters get pretty well-developed for a 12 episode show. If you're the type of person who can easily get attached to characters and you come to like them, you will enjoy these characters and consequently this show.
The main character is in an interesting predicament, and we get to know him through his thoughts, internal monologues, and his actions. He's a likable guy who wants to help his friends. He's clever.
The protagonist's mom is also likable, and her relationship with the protagonist is interesting and heartwarming. She's smart and also a very good parent.
Kayo is the protagonist's childhood friend, and she basically steals the show. She has the best story arc. She's very sympathetic since she's being abused by her parents, and she tries to have a good, tough attitude about it. She has a good and heartwarming relationship with the main character.
There are some other friends who are fine, but not as memorable. The above 3 are the main characters who make this show.

There is one character who has the potential to be a negative for this show. I still have an 8 for this section on the merits of the other characters. I talked about this one character in the spoilers; here, I'll just say that if you tend not to be very critical of shows and you can easily just enjoy yourself, this guy probably won't be too much of a problem for you. If you are easily critical of shows, this character will probably be a problem for you. It could potentially make the show not worth watching. Or maybe it is worth watching, but you'll just not care about the ending. I'm kind of in that boat, personally. Even with this controversial character, I'd say the other characters make the show worth watching for me.

Enjoyment - 7 (Good), Overall - 7 (Good)

Obviously, subjective. It will probably depend on how forgiving you can be of a "love it or hate it" ending to a mystery/suspense story. If you're a hyper-critical person, this will be low for you. If you're a happy person capable of not spoiling the fun for yourself, this section will be higher since this show is still basically a good-quality show. I ended up with a 7 because I'm kind of a balance of these two personality types. I enjoyed the suspense while it lasted. I had problems with the payoff. I still enjoyed the character arcs, which are still very good and basically the whole point of this show.

I recommend this show if you want to watch anime and you're not a critical, negative, pessimistic person. It's a decent mystery and suspense story, probably worth experiencing. It's a good character story, worth experiencing. This will probably end up as one of a handful of shows which will define anime in 2016. If you care about watching the "most important shows of the season" this is probably one of them, and you should watch this show. It attempts to be a more serious and worthwhile anime than most anime nowadays. It's not a fanservice show, and it's not one of those slice of life shows that ends up being basically worthless. It at least attempts something greater, even if it doesn't quite succeed in being worthy of "classic" status. It will end up being memorable, but not classic like Bebop or Dragonball or The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (or, more recently, like Attack on Titan / One Punch Man / Fate Zero).


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*Spoilers below* - skip if you're the rare person on this site who is (1) reading my review, and (2) hasn't actually seen this show

I want to have a few spoiler words regarding the climax of this show. Yes, the reveal was completely obvious. I happen to think it isn't good writing, which is why I rate story with a 6. Anyone with half a brain could write this reveal. The teacher was literally the only person who fit the profile of the killer: adult male, not in jail in the future (looking at you, Yuuki), black hair, same voice. Not to mention the foreshadowing that's as subtle as a jackhammer: red eyes, camera lingers on teacher at the ends of scenes and his eyes aren't showing (basically cinematography lingo for "look at me, I'm suspicious!), the candy in his car, always being involved in everything.

The story had a rather banal progression. Obvious killer is obvious. They try to make him a red herring, but then he's the real guy. Ohh, how original. This is like that old American cartoon, "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo". The show literally had a character named Red Herring in it. In every episode, he's never the bad guy--he's always just a red herring. But, of course! They had that one episode where he REALLY IS the bad guy! EVERYONE knew it was coming. It didn't take a genius to write that episode. That's what the payoff for this anime felt like. The teacher's name might as well have been Red Herring. The progression of the show is basically "oh, look at this red herring. He's obviously a red herring, so it can't be him! But....psych! It is him! Fooled you!" No, you didn't. I knew in the Scooby-Doo show that Red Herring would be the bad guy at least once. And I knew that the teacher being the killer was an obvious way the story could have gone. This isn't good writing. A standard mystery with MANY plausible killers would have been better.

One last gripe: The teacher's motivations are weak, don't make sense, and frankly I don't think he behaves like a real person. I just wasn't convinced, and I basically don't care about him.

-Summary-

Story: 8
Art: 10
Sound: 9
Character: 10
Enjoyment/Overall: 10

This show is everything I want in an anime. Stunning visuals, awesome/catchy soundtrack, great story, and some of the most likable and interesting characters to ever appear in anime. Please, Japan, make more shows like this one.

... -Details-

Story: 8
Genres: Action, Adventure, Shonen, Superpower
Themes: Friendship, Aloof/Badass/Mysterious father, Coming-of-Age, Individualism (Natsume Soseki) vs serving the group first, Human nature, Good vs evil

The basic premise of this show is not too different than other shonen fighters. The main character, Gon Freecss, was abandoned by his father who wanted to pursue his own adventures as a hunter rather than raise a kid. Now Gon wants to become a hunter in order to understand why being a hunter is apparently so great (that one would even abandon their kid) and also so that he can become strong enough to find his dad.
Thus the story unfolds. Gon takes the hunter exam, gets stronger, and makes plenty of friends along the way. Standard shonen stuff. Now that I think about it, there isn't much more to the actual story than this. Every arc before the chimera ant arc is directly related to finding Gon's dad. The chimera ant arc is a bit of an aside, though it does take up about half the story at this point due to its length. So, as a story, it's pretty simple. I'd say the main reason why the story seems so good is because pretty much every other aspect of this anime is amazing, and so those aspects help turn a simple, somewhat unconventional, story into something truly worth remembering.
There is no filler. However, the aforementioned chimera ant arc is rather long and is probably stretched a bit too much. Other than that, the pacing is very good. After the chimera ant arc there is one more arc, and then the show basically stops without really ending. Many people would probably find this frustrating. It's possible that one day Madhouse will add another season or 2 of this show but that depends on the manga actually getting somewhere, which many people despairingly think will not happen for a while. Thus, don't come into this show expecting complete resolution. You get some of that since it stops between story arcs, but it's still clear the story isn't done.
The most prominent story telling technique is the action earlier on, and later it becomes a combination of action and drama. The story starts out rather light-hearted with fun fights and such, but starting with the Greed Island arc the story starts to show where it's going. Darker themes begin to emerge with eviler villains, and more graphic violence is shown on-screen. One of the best parts of the show later on is the drama pulled from character development, intense fights, and some episodes which actually feature pretty decent philosophical discussions. One of the more apparent themes the show discusses is whether individualism or a group oriented disposition is more conducive to individual growth and group growth. So, it takes a little while before this becomes apparent, but this is definitely a show that both entertains with action but also gives you something to think about.

Art: 10
Studio: Madhouse

Madhouse does not fail to impress. Earlier on the art features bright, fun colors and is very clean. The animation is generally good and only becomes great during action scenes. But later on, in the chimera ant arc, Madhouse shifted into another gear and made the visuals really amazing and stylized. The source of the superpowers in this show, "Nen," is the perfect excuse to start making scenes look really awesome. Nen is one's life force, which one can focus into a useful offensive or defensive force. Nen can manifest visually, thus when someone is angry their nen can look darker and more intimidating. Madhouse portrays this phenomenon by adding swirling black currents of whispy air/gas substances around a character, for example. This looks really cool during some of the more dramatic scenes and is the kind of stylization that can really only be done with anime. And personally, when I find an anime that makes use of the fact that it is an anime and does something only this medium can do, I love it.
Another thing I like is the CG is used sparingly, and when it is used, you hardly notice it. It is mostly used for things like cars or planes, which I find is probably the best way to use CG in anime. All of the action sequences are done with beautiful, stylized traditional animation, and I love Madhouse for that. I've re-watched episodes just for the visuals.
Various character designs are updated and improved from the 1999 version of the anime. Overall I'd say that the visuals are of this version are superior to the 1999 version in pretty much every way. The opening and ending themes all look great too, especially opening themes #5 and #6.

Sound: 9

I'm never very good at judging a soundtrack, but even I know this one is good. The opening and ending themes fit very, very well with this show. The biggest gripe I see with this though is that the opening theme is basically the same each season (only a few lines of lyrics are ever changed--basically, the opening theme doesn't ever change, though the visuals do). But this isn't much of a problem for me since I love the opening theme and it really does fit the show well. As far as I can tell, every track is great and fits with both the combat scenes and the down-time. Later on, there are some classical pieces added to the soundtrack, which are always awesome, and there are some darker tracks that really enhance the intense scenes you get later on in this show. I can't sit here and describe them because spoilers.
Sound effects and voice acting are also very good. One voice I especially love is Hisoka's. His creepy, perverted, blood-knight personality is captured perfectly by the voice actor. Gon's adorable childishness but also his anger at various points in the story are also done very well. Really, I have no complaints. This simply is high quality stuff all-around.

Character: 10

The characters are all amazing. Hands down. Gon may seem to be another Goku clone--young, innocent, with prodigious fighting talent, but he really is his own unique character. The development he gets later on, especially in the chimera ant arc, is amazing and actually quite surprising. At this point in the show, he practically seems like a different person when compared with his initial appearance. Killua and his family of assassins are all very interesting. One of the things I liked the most early on was the friendship between Gon and Killua. They are actually shown doing things that two 12-year-old boys would do, like messing around, having pillow fights, running around and exploring islands and their surroundings, etc. The compatibility of their personalities and the strength of their friendship is something that is very touching at points, and I would go as far as to say that it is an ideal friendship.
Another thing that is so great about this show is the sheer number of good, interesting characters with interesting character designs, as well as the complexity of their personalities. It is hard to say there are any straight-up good or evil characters--things aren't that simple in this universe. A character you start out hating, you might end up loving by the time their story is through, and vice-versa. The power system in this show is highly personalized and so it is always fun to see a new character's powers; there are still some that haven't been revealed, and guessing what they might be is also fun.
If you like shows with a large, fun, and diverse cast of interesting characters with an aesthetically pleasing set of character designs, then look no further.

Enjoyment/Overall: 10

This show is just plain fun. It's fun to see the characters grow; it's fun to see them develop their powers and guess in what ways they will grow; it's fun to accompany Gon and Killua on their big adventure, etc., etc. It is hard to find faults with this show. The art is beautiful, the soundtrack is awesome and catchy, the characters are highly memorable, the story is solid and interesting. Only one arc--the chimera ant arc--could be said to be longer than it needs to be, but it is also the most well-written, interesting, and visually stunning story arc so far. I have already watched all of the episodes twice so far, and I already want to watch it all again. This show is a classic.
The only reason I can think of why you might not like this show is simply if you don't like fun adventures for the sake of being fun. Note that this is not a criticism--everyone's tastes are different. I have a friend at school who tends to only like literature that is more academic in nature--stories by the likes of Dostoevsky and such. Sure, this show isn't a novel and it isn't going to appear in your literature class at university. But it doesn't need to. Chances are that if you watch anime, you don't care about a show's value as literature or a novel story in the first place. Very few do. I only bother to bring this up for the 0.01% of you who actually care about this, like my friend.
One last point: I do believe that relative newbies to anime could enjoy this too. There is almost no fan-service and a relatively low amount of anime weirdness. If I had my way, I'd make everyone watch this.

Millennium Actress is a movie that shows us that remembering the past and reliving the past might actually be the same thing.

Story: 10

*THIS SECTION OF MY REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS. Here I'm going to mostly do some hardcore analysis of the themes of the movie, so if that's not your thing then feel free to skip this section. Just leave knowing that I think the story is hard to follow on a first viewing, but if you like stuff that makes you think, then this movie is definitely for you. If you want a movie to relax and watch mindlessly, then this is ... not for you.*

In a way, there are two stories in this movie. The first is the surface-level story. The surface-level story is that two guys approach the titular character in order to make a documentary about her life as a famous actress. She tells them the story of her life, which seems to come alive to the viewer. The theme of her life is that she loved some guy and was basically chasing him for her entire life. She did this all the while becoming Japan's most famous actress.

The other story, the "meta" story, is the one that only the movie-watcher has access to (and the characters when they are, in a way, breaking the fourth wall). The meta-story is actually more of a reflection on the nature of recollection, and one's relationship with the past. The key to understanding this story comes from Chiyoko's statement near the end of the movie, when she thanks the interviewers for asking her about her life; she says she enjoyed talking to them, and it felt like her younger self had come alive again.

That last idea is the key to this movie. One can speak poetically about the nature of recollection, that one "relives" one's past, that one feels "alive again" when one remembers the past, etc. It seems that in this movie Satoshi Kon (the director) gives these phrases a visual meaning. If I had to guess what it is the audience is seeing when they watch this movie, I would say it is the content of Chiyoko's mind as she tells her story. In her mind, her life and her career as an actress are one, and overlapping in many places. In her mind she can freely jump from one place in time to another, as she recalls each movie she was in and each major event in her life, and see how they all relate. What further confirms this for me is how, in her past, she sees her future self, all old and withered (with that spinning wheel), which appears as a ghost. This ghost did not really exist in her past, which confirms for us that we are not seeing the actual past, but the past as it has been constructed by Chiyoko who is currently telling us a story. The ghost appears in the story to represent Chiyoko's current feelings about her past. That is why the ghost is able to say "I hate you more than I can bear, and I love you more than I can bear." Chiyoko hates her past self for dwelling on an unrequited love and suffering for all those years, for basically no reason. And yet Chiyoko also loves her younger self for her capacity to love, and to feel alive because of it.

At the very end of the movie, Chiyoko basically says that she didn't really love the man, she loved chasing after him. The basically resolves the tension in Chiyoko, and makes for a basically satisfying ending to her character development. This amount to self-acceptance: coming to terms with her life and being okay with it. Her life was basically chasing this man. In saying that she loved the chase, she's saying she can finally love herself. One can almost imagine the old hag with the spinning wheel disappearing in a cloud of dust after Chiyoko makes this statement.

So in the end, I think the meta story is this: the movie provides a visual representation of Chiyoko's phenomenological experience of recollecting her past. She feels alive when she remembers, and so her memories actually come to life in the film. When we recollect, we are also telling a story to ourselves. I think this is the significance of Chiyoko being a movie actress. Making a movie is telling a story. So when Chiyoko tells the interviewers about her life, she is doing something very similar to acting. This is another way in which she is reliving her past. This is why her movies mix into the story as well. Thus what the audience sees is a mixture of Chiyoko's memories, her movies, and her actual life. The key Chiyoko owns is the key which unlocks her memories, her past, and her love. That is why the key is the key to the most important thing. It is essentially the key to her heart, which includes her memories and love, etc.

Art: 8

The art is very colorful. If you like more abstract and surreal kinds of art, then you will probably enjoy looking at this movie. It has a slightly older art style, being made in the early 2000's. It also uses limited animation, so less than 24 fps and there are times when only the mouths are moving, fore example, and some of the backgrounds are pretty simple. But overall this is still higher quality than a lot of older animes. There are times when the fps seems to get better and the art improves as well. So overall I'd say the animation is better than average but not stellar. The beauty of the art can make up for what is lacking in actual animation.

Sound: 10

This movie has an awesome OST by Susumu Hirasawa. Really great stuff. The music really matches the visuals in the sense that both are kind of fantastical and surreal and magical. The voice acting is also good. No complaints here. I also remember some specific instances where the sound effects sounded particularly good as well, like when a character is running and slips, or when a key hits a glass or something.

Character: 8

The characters are interesting for the most part, though they aren't super-likable in the way anime characters are in a lot of other shows or movies. They aren't super cute or over the top or anything. They are basically normal old people. I think you will like them to the extent that you are able to identify with people who are unlike you. So for instance, I'm a young American guy but the main character is an old Japanese lady. How much can we possibly have in common? The viewer will be able to identify with her to the extent that he/she realizes that Chiyoko's experiences are very human and transcend cultural barriers. The film does say something about human nature in general. If the viewer is able to appreciate that, then he will start to identify with and love the characters. So, the characters aren't exciting in the sense that they are living super extraordinary lives or that we have a lot in common with them on the surface level. They are interesting because of their life experience, they are fairly well-developed, and what their story/dialogue tells us about ourselves.

Enjoyment: 8

I mark down this category simply because I think this movie works more as an intellectual exercise more than straight entertainment. The first time I watched this movie, a lot of the themes went over my head. It's stuff that you will likely miss on a first viewing. In that sense, the movie is really hard to follow, and so it loses a lot of entertainment value in that respect. It is still possible to enjoy the surface level story, the art, the music, its overall artistry, etc. The romance is enjoyable enough though not super original. What really makes this movie unique is its meta story and its themes. But like I said, this can really go over your head. Without the meta story, what remains is a better than average romance movie which can only entertain one so much.

Overall: 9

In terms of creativity and themes and all that, this movie approaches the level of masterpiece. The more I think about this movie, the more brilliant it seems. It is put together so well. The whole idea behind the meta story seems quite brilliant to me. The only flaws are perhaps a limited budget, and the fact that it sacrifices entertainment for complexity to a certain extent. And yet this is subjective. There are some who straightforwardly enjoy complexity, but there are others who don't. So really what I'm saying is that this is a movie which will probably never have universal appeal in the way that something like a Miyazaki movie can have universal appeal. It is too complicated for universal appeal. But it is not so complicated that it can win the hearts of a fairly wide audience. Again, this is near masterpiece level stuff here, I think. Give it a shot if it sounds like anything else you've ever liked.

-Summary-

Story: 7
Art: 9
Sound: 8
Character: 10
Enjoyment: 8
Overall: 8

This show is a good and realistic romcom/drama with an amazing and enjoyable cast of characters. The realism is contradicted by the ghost haunting the main character and the contrived memory problems the main character deals with. These factors however do not ruin the show but do perhaps prevent it from being something great and classic. The art and character designs are beautiful and the sound gets the job done.
...
-Details-

Story: 7
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Themes: College Life, Memory Loss, Personal Identity, Coming of Age

This show has a continuous narrative, and the story is mostly about interpersonal relationships and romances. This is a show where the story goes beyond the point where the main guy asks the girl out; the story mostly explores the challenges that come along with dating and opening up to someone else and letting them learn everything about you: the good, bad, and ugly.
One thing that sets this show apart from other romcoms/dramas is its attempt at realism. While there is some reliance on typical anime romcom/drama tropes, the uniqueness and personality of the setting and characters is actually pretty refreshing. This anime takes place in college, not high school, and this difference actually shows, is significant, and does indeed give a different feel to the show than if it was a high school anime. The wildness and relative freedom of college life is captured well, whether that be in the adventures/dates of the main cast, or whenever they get pulled into the shenanigans of the crazy tea party club. This show is mostly about the romantic relationships between the main characters, and this seems to me to be much more realistic than other romance anime. Realism isn't necessarily a virtue in itself since many people, including myself, enjoy the wackiness and unrealistic feel of anime quite a bit. However, the upside of a realistic romance is that it isn't done as much since it's hard to write. In that respect this anime can be refreshing, especially for people who do actually value realism and want to see it more in anime.
I think the realism of this show comes across most in the character interactions and in the dialogue. What I love most about this series is that the love that develops between characters in this show makes sense and does not happen for no reason. The hero is legitimately attracted to the beauty and playful personality of the heroine, but he also does not mindlessly pursue her and is willing to give up the relationship if she is not willing to see him as more than just a friend she can be real with. He doesn't let himself get used and thus is a strong and pretty respectable male character. The heroine starts out with some emotional-dependency issues and is a little immature, but she grows in a realistic way. She goes through difficult times and sufferings, learning that people are not simply who she wants them to be. She learns to love people for who they are and learns how to get along with other people who have their own freedom and desires and learns that she can't just control people based on her plans. She gains a lot of self-confidence and matures into someone who can truly support and love another person. In this show we get to see this process of maturing and the suffering that can go along with it, which I think really adds to the realism. The dialogue between characters in these kind of situations makes sense and is not just rehearsed anime dialogue. I felt like these people were real and were having real life dialogue when they were trying to work through their problems and disagreements. What they said made sense; they were people and they tried to stick up for themselves and tried to communicate their own real thoughts to another real person. This was probably the strongest part of the show and its story.
The reason the story gets a 7 from me is because this attempt at realism is completely contradicted by the main plot device: the main character's amnesia. Amnesia and memory loss in itself is not unrealistic of course, but the way it's handled in this show is pretty unrealistic (it seemed to me at least; I don't know how regaining memory works so if this show actually does it right then feel free to contact me about this). I'm going to avoid end-of-show-spoilers so I unfortunately won't be able to get into the details of why I believe this to be true. I will say that the thrust of the plot later on in the show is whether or not the main male character will be able to live a stable life and have a stable romance despite the memory problems he has. There is this bizarre narrative choice taken in the show where the main character seems to be one person, and the person he was before losing his memory seems to be another person who has come back as a ghost to haunt the new person. At first I thought this was just a narrative choice and so I was fine with it, but then the ghost actually started to interact with the real world and curse the main character, like making it rain when they try to go to the beach. Furthermore, the main character seems to switch between these two personalities every now and then, and when he does so it seems to come at arbitrary times. I don't know if this is how memory works or not, but when he reverts to his pre-memory loss self, he loses all the memories he has made since then. This seemed pretty weird to me.
I can't give away the ending, but what I will say is that it did not make all of this memory stuff seem any more realistic than what I have just described, and is in fact probably even more fantastical. The main character's relationships with the supporting cast are also not very satisfying by the end.
In summary, there is a great amount of realism in this series in the characters, their interactions, and in the romance, but this is contradicted by the memory loss plot and the whole thing with the ghost haunting the main character. The realistic parts are very enjoyable and refreshing and make me want to give this show a higher score, but this incongruity with the memory and ghost stuff really hurts, and thus I think a 7 is appropriate for the story.

Art: 9
Studio: J. C. Staff

The art in this show is very good and consistent throughout. I never noticed any drop in quality and I don't remember there being in shift in art styles. The art is an attractive, modern anime style. The character designs are all quite appealing, especially the main female's design. The characters are fashionable and attractive. Backgrounds look pretty good; there is some CGI, but I think this is mostly used for cars and stuff like that. There was nothing jarring and frankly I think CGI for stuff like cars actually works pretty well. Overall I think the art worked well with the story; I give this category a 9 simply because nothing really blew me away or stood out as simply amazing. I don't think a more realistic art style (like in shows like Monster or Space Brothers) would have aided the realism since these are still college students. I find that realistic art styles makes the most sense in shows with a primarily adult cast. So again the art in this show is attractive and appropriate, but not groundbreaking.

Sound: 8

The sound/music in this show gets the job done but is nothing to write home about. The opening themes are quite good and appealing; the second opening theme is actually very unique and I like it a lot (it's not a typical j-pop song; frankly I don't know how I'd classify it, but it is good). I don't have any lingering memory of the OST apart from the opening and ending themes, so it doesn't contain anything that you'll like remember and listen to a bunch. The voice acting is very good though. Yui Horie as the female protagonist is probably the standout role; she does her very well and makes for an attractive tsundere voice. I had no problems with any other voices but I don't remember them too well either. So as far as sound goes in this show, there are a few memorable qualities; overall it gets the job done well but isn't too memorable either.

Character: 10

This is where the show really shines. All of the characters are very good, well-developed, and for the most part realistic and in that sense refreshing. The main character isn't just some average, shy, romantically-unaware bimbo. He has a pretty distinct personality and is quite aware of what is going on around him. He is level-headed enough to be able to help to main heroine grow and mature as a woman. He knows when she is just using him to make herself feel better and doesn't let her get away with it. He is patient and forgiving with her sometimes overbearing personality which makes him a pretty respectable guy. I've already talked about his memory issues in the story section; this is perhaps the most unrealistic and bizarre part of his character, but I would say this is more a problem with the writing than the character design. Honestly I think the inner struggles we get to see with him trying to figure out who he is now and who he used to be are pretty interesting. The ghost that haunts him--his "former" self--can come across as a whiny little brat that gets in the way of the current protagonists' life, but I consider him to be another character entirely. He is probably the weakest character in the show (and as a mentioned in the story section, I don't even understand why he is there at all).
The main heroine is an amazing character and practically makes this entire show. She starts off as a extremely overly attached girlfriend and is pretty immature as far as her relationships and plans for life are concerned. Early on she realizes this and starts to change as she is dumped by her old boyfriend and starts dating the protagonist. She learns how to be less emotionally dependent on her boyfriend and becomes her own person. She becomes a devoted partner--one who is not too overly attached. She is able to make decisions which are healthy for her and she is able to look out for herself. As much as she loves the hero, she is able to take a step back from the relationship when she is unsure whether or not his memories will settle; this is the healthy decision and shows how much she matures over the series.
The supporting cast is not nearly as vibrant as the main characters but they are still pretty unique and get some development. The hero's childhood friend gets plenty of screen-time and is quite well-developed, and she is very likable and responsible. The rest of the cast includes the other law students (including the main character's best friend and his love interest, who both get a good amount of screen time), various club members, and other students and teachers. There are enough characters in this show to really make the setting feel like a vibrant and busy college campus-town.

Enjoyment/Overall: 8

This is always a pretty subjective category. I think if you enjoy romantic comedies and dramas, this should suit you nicely. The ride is certainly enjoyable--I think the biggest hit-or-miss factor is the ending. Honestly I would have given this show a 9 had the ending been better, even with the strange stuff with the ghost haunting the main character. The ending is simply confusing and contrived. However, I would say that the ending does not utterly ruin this show. I still see my experience of watching this show as a positive one and I'm glad I did so. The ride is plenty enjoyable and the characters a still amazing despite the occasionally poor writing (mostly the ending and the ghost thing--otherwise the writing is actually very good).
This show is decently accessible given its realism; I think it's possible for a non-anime fan to enjoy this show and not find it weird. There is the occasional fan-service, but there is actually not much. The most I remember there being in the show is during the beach episode, but even that is not in your face with crazy camera angles. Overall I think there is about as much fanservice in show show as there is in average real life (if that makes sense).
I think the characters alone give this show some good re-watch value; however, if I were to re-watch it, the ending is not something I would look forward to. Despite that I would still very much enjoy the ride and the characters along the way.

-Summary-

Story: 8
Art: 10
Sound: 10
Character: 8
Enjoyment: 9
Overall: 9

-Brilliantly absurd comedy with amazing art and sound supporting the comedic timing, and no fan-service to potentially detract from enjoyment in any way. A great cast of characters for a comedy with one potential scrappy that sometimes detracts from the comedy, but not enough to derail the show. Highly enjoyable and memorable with great re-watch value.
...
-Details-

Story: 8
Genres: Comedy, School, Slice of Life
Themes: Absurdity, Sketch Comedy, Moe

The overall structure of this show is episodic, and the episodes themselves are very sporadic. You'll often see cuts from one scene to another rather quickly and sometimes randomly. The show also has many elements which act as 2-5 minute short segments, like "Helvetica Standard," which is basically animated 4-panel comics which uses different characters than the main cast to tell quick jokes. These are often interspersed with the main events of the episode and seemingly appear with completely random timing.
I think this way of constructing episodes works well for this series. The main selling point of this show is that it is absurd sketch comedy and the near absurdity of the scene transitions themselves reinforce this feeling in the show. Sometimes in the middle of a scene the camera will simply cut away and show some random building, and then cut right back to the original scene, all of this occurring for seemingly no reason, and yet it works as a transition for this show and can even be funny in itself.
This is a slice of life, so there is mostly no plot. The only thing which might be called a plot is the robot girl, Nano, wants to go to school and basically live the life of a normal girl. The main thing holding her back is the professor who designed her, who adds all sorts of crazy things to Nano's design, like a large screw in her back, or rocket toes. The irony in all of this is that Nano is one of the most normal characters in this show and everything around her is absurd. As far as I can tell, this is the only element of the story which moves things along, otherwise this is mostly just absurd comedy set in high school.
One last comment on the structure of this story: for the first half of the series it is largely divided into two parts, the school lives of: Mio, Yuko, and Mai, and the home lives of Nano, the professor, and a cat named Sakamoto. These are mostly separate but start to converge about halfway through the show. The convergence doesn't change the feel of the show too much so that's all I will say about it.
In my opinion, most of the comedy in this show is pure gold. I happen to like absurdity and find it amusing. If you do too, then you really shouldn't miss out on this show. The main reason I take off points for story is that some of the scenes with Nano and the professor really shift the feel of the show temporarily. They tend to focus more on moe and less on comedy and thus can be kind of boring if that's not your thing. This show succeeds most as comedy, so when it kind temporarily departs from this in these scenes, it doesn't work as well. However, it is not a game changer. You might find yourself wishing these scenes would just go away, but only because the rest of the show is so brilliant and hilarious by comparison.

Art: 10
Studio: Kyoto Animation

If you're familiar with Kyoto Animation, then you're probably aware that they tend to have high quality art and animation. This series doesn't look the same as many of their other popular works, like Clannad or The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. In fact, the art in this show is fairly unique among KyoAni anime. Overall it is very high quality art and animation. Motions are often very fluid, especially in scenes where they play up intensity and over-the-top reactions for laughs. It is a delight to watch. The character designs are pretty simple, but effective for this kind of show, and the characters themselves look unique enough to be easily identifiable. The supporting cast has some really amusing character designs, including a character with an absurdly large afro, and another guy with a crazy blonde mowhawk. It's also pretty clear who is a teacher/adult and who is a student. I was especially impressed with the designs of the principal and vice principal because they actually look 50-60 years old.
Backgrounds, building architecture, and such other things look good. Since this show mostly focuses on characters, these things aren't always crucial. Nevertheless, care is given to them and they typically look very good, better than they need to. No complaints here.
One thing that definitely stands out with this show is how much the art shifts based on the situation. In intense scenes, there are more intense colors and more sharp lines to emphasize something like an intense emotion or intense pain. Sometimes the character designs will temporarily shift to effectively portray a feeling like a stone-faced look or something of that sort. What surprised me is that there is actually no use of the chibi style even though that is pretty common in comedies. Whatever art-style is being used, it is all very high quality. In my opinion, every shift of the art style is highly effective and I was very impressed with how much the art enhances the comedy and mood of the show.
Overall the art in this show is extremely appealing to look at and is very memorable. High quality stuff here--even if you're not necessarily a fan of comedy, you could probably watch this show for the art and still enjoy it or at least get something out of it.

Sound: 10

I can pretty much sing the same praises of the sound as I did the art. The voice acting is brilliant overall. Mio and Yuko sound over-the-top when they need to, they sound cute when they need to, etc. Yuko's voice actress in particular did this thing where she lowered the pitch of her voice when she was either freaking out or surprised by something. You yourself would be surprised how much this adds to the comedy. Mai is the straight-man of the group and her voice suits this role well, mostly being monotone but having enough inflection and emotion to be effective. The professor sounds like a little kid, and she is, so overall her voice is appropriate. The voice actress did a good job of having her sound whine-y when she needed to. Similar things can be said for the rest of the cast. There are no bad performances here.
The sound effects are also really good. These mostly come into play when there are things like collisions, usually between some character and the ground, and also when things are dropped or hit other things. Whenever they are needed, they sound realistic and aid in immersion. There is a scene at a shrine where many sound effects come into play, like wood breaking, stepping in something soft and gooey, coins dropping on the floor, etc; these all sound good and I have no complaints.
The music probably aids in the comedy as much as the art style does. There aren't any tracks that I would necessarily go back and listen to just for the sake of listening to music, but this is no problem. The music aids in the comedy in a way similar to how music helped a show like Tom and Jerry. Timing is everything and in Nichijou they have the timing down well. Moments of intensity have appropriately intense chords in the background, things like that. Additionally, the opening and ending themes are very good and very memorable. See them for yourself. They are some of my favorites from a comedy series because they simply work so well, especially the opening themes, for a comedy series.

Character: 8

This show has a cast of characters well-suited to comedy. Yuko fulfills a funny-man role, Mai a straight-man role, and Mio is sometimes one, sometimes the other. Each character is designed well for the roles given to them. The characters aren't realistic or super fleshed-out/developed or anything, but they don't need to be. They have extremely likable personalities and succeed as comedic characters. Mai in particular is somehow able to be the straight-man while simultaneously contributing to a lot of the absurdity of the show. The rest of the cast is full of amusing characters as well, who don't get the most screen time but can nonetheless really stick out and be memorable, like the afro guy or the mowhawk guy or some of the teachers/the principal.
One character in this show has the potential to be the Scrappy, and that is the professor. In general she is not a funny character, and seems to mostly be there for moe instead of comedy. She does have some amusing moments, and the design choices she makes concerning Nano are often pretty funny, but most of the time she acts like an annoying child and this is intended to be cute. It is also perhaps supposed to be funny, but I personally think the professor does not succeed well as a comedic character. She feels out of place in the absurd atmosphere and sometimes derails the feel of the show. If you're not a fan of moe, this character could potentially detract from your enjoyment quite a bit whenever she gets on screen. But if you're okay with occasional breaks from the comedy and moe is enjoyable to you, then maybe this character won't be a problem for you.
Overall this cast is full of strong personalities who are enormously funny. The only exception is the professor who is pretty hit or miss; and whether you end up liking her or not, there is no denying that her character in a sense the oddball of the group in that she isn't as funny as the others and is more of a moe character than a comedic one.

Enjoyment: 9 / Overall: 9

Of course everyone's taste in comedy is different, so this is pretty subjective. However, I would say that this show succeeds spectacularly in what it is trying to be, and that is absurd sketch comedy. If this is something you have enjoyed in the past, then there is no reason why you wouldn't enjoy it in this show. In my opinion, the only thing about this show which deviates from this general description are some of the scenes with Nano and the professor. It sometimes feels like the comedy comes to a halt in order to make room for some moe elements which really don't need to be in the show from a comedic perspective. However, these scenes, which really aren't more than 5% of the show tops, are not enough to derail the show--overall the show is still a great success in the comedy/slice of life department.
One thing that I greatly appreciated is that there is no fan-service/sexualization of the characters. This is decently popular in comedy but this show is able to succeed without that, which is a big plus for some and definitely a big plus for me.
It's hard to say if I would recommend this to a non-anime fan or not. There is definitely a lot of weirdness, but the weirdness isn't necessarily Japan-specific. I would say that if you know a friend who is a fan of comedy then this might actually be something they can enjoy even if they haven't seen a lot of anime. This show also has a high re-watch value. There is such great diversity of comedy that even on a re-watch most of it still feels fresh and hilarious. Overall this is a very memorable comedy series and in my opinion it contains some of the best comedic elements of any anime I've seen.

-Summary-

Story: 10
Art: 9
Sound: 8
Character: 10
Enjoyment: 10
Overall: 10

-Details-
...
Story: 10
Genres: Drama, Seinen, Slice of Life, Sci-fi, Space

As far as slice of life anime go, the pacing of Space Brothers is slightly slower than average. It has a continuous narrative, mostly told from the point of view of one of the two main characters/brothers. The story is slightly non-linear in that there are many juxtapositions of the main characters' past and present experiences. You get to see the main characters when they are about 12 or so and see how those experiences shaped who they are at the present, in their late 20's-early 30's. One of the only things that stuck out to me as negative was that almost every episode opens with one or two minutes of recap, even when it didn't seem necessary. There were also a couple of recap episodes along the way.
The story itself is mostly about the process of becoming an astronaut and the setting is earth/NASA for most of the story. A major appeal of this story is seeing the "behind the scenes" aspects of becoming an astronaut, which is something you don't always see in stories about NASA and space. The story seems very realistic and is very character driven. There are moments of comedy and drama sprinkled throughout the story; both the comedy and drama elements are well done and work well. Overall the story is simple and straightforward, and you can easily sit back and enjoy watching the main character work towards becoming an astronaut.
Another aspect of this show is that it is set slightly in the future--the main part of the story takes place in the 2020's. Thus there is a bit of a sci-fi element involved in predicting what kind of technology we will have at the time. Overall I think the predictions seem very reasonable and it's actually very cool seeing stuff that we might actually have in the near future.
The anime was catching up to the manga at the time it ended. Rather than coming up with some alternate ending, the anime basically just stopped at a point that seemed reasonable to stop. So the ending doesn't really wrap things up like a true ending; it seems like another season could potentially be tagged right onto the end of it in the future. The ending doesn't seem like a negative aspect per se but it will leave you wanting more and hoping for more adaptation of the manga in the future.

Art: 9
Studio: A-1 Pictures

The art is good and clean, and the style of rendering the characters is realistic. Every character looks unique and is easily identifiable (even by their hair, which the series itself pokes fun at). The quality is fairly consistent throughout the whole series; there are one or two arcs where it gets a little better during more dramatic parts of the series. Overall I would say the art does what it needs to do in order to tell the story effectively. It's not super amazing but it's not bad either. It gets the job done. The openings and endings look good as well.
There are times when CGI is used for things like airplanes and rockets. The CGI is done quite well and I think it works well when used and doesn't hinder the effectiveness of any specific scenes.
I've never been to NASA but many fans say the backgrounds are rendered very well and very realistically. If you've been to NASA then you might feel like you're there again while watching this show. Things like the rockets and space-suits also look really good. Overall there really isn't anything bad about the animation.

Sound: 8

The openings and endings are pretty good--for many fans the first opening theme stands out as a favorite. They capture the mood of the series pretty well.
The voice acting was well done and posed no problems. The voices all work well for the realistic setting. There are moments of comedy and when those occur the voice actors do a good job of making it funny as well. There were no stand out negative performances. I think the voice actor of the main character did a particularly good job, which is important for this show since he gets a ton of screen time. I can still remember what he sounds like in my head, and I personally really like his voice.
Sounds effects are good. Nothing ever stuck out to me as out of place. They are good enough to aid in the immersion factor.
The mood of the OST fits with the show well. There is some good slice of life music. The show itself is also quite inspirational at times and the music usually reinforces that feeling quite well.
The OST didn't really have any stand out tracks that I would feel compelled to go listen to for fun. But it's not like there was any terrible music either. One thing which is pretty noticeable is that many of the tracks repeat quite a bit--I think there's even one piece which appears in nearly every episode. This is something you will very likely notice especially if you tend to binge watch shows. It's not a bad track so this isn't necessarily a negative, but I would have liked more variety.

Character: 10

This show is meant to be very realistic and the characters end up feeling like real people so that is a big plus. There is no narrator except for recap moments/episodes. Characters in this show are all in their mid 20's or older. No high schools students.
Given the name of the series it's not surprising that the two main brothers get the most screen time, and of those two the main character, Mutta, gets by far the most screen time. This story is really all about Mutta trying to grow and become an astronaut while he chases his brother Hibito who is already an astronaut. Mutta is a very likable guy. He starts out a little depressed because he was recently fired from his job, but things start to turn around for him as he begins the process of becoming an astronaut. You gradually learn more about him--why he's qualified to become an astronaut, what his personality is like--and you see him grow in confidence quite a bit. His character development is realistic and you get to see him in all sorts of life situations, like at parties, at home, etc, so you get to learn a lot about him, and personally I got really attached to him and he is one of my favorites characters from anime. I cheered for him every step of the way because he is a genuinely likable and good guy.
Hibito is energetic but he also seems a little more reserved, so you don't get to know him as well as Mutta. He is still a likable character though and, at least to me, he felt like a genuine little brother even though career-wise he would be Mutta's "senpai" so I think they got this balance down quite well. Hibito gets two arcs in the spotlight and they are two of my favorite arcs for spoiler-y reasons, so I'll leave it at that.
Another important character is the brothers' "aunt" Sharon, who isn't technically their aunt but is like a mother-figure to the boys. She's a well-known astronomer and helped cultivate the boys' enthusiasm for space while they grew up. It's very cool to see scenes from their past and present juxtaposed and how Sharon helped them grow into who they are. Later on Sharon becomes more important to the actual plot of the story as well.
The supporting cast includes the brothers' parents and mostly other astronauts. There are many different personalities and they are all quite unique and stand out in my mind. I remember most of them really well and fondly. The diversity of the cast and the skill with which their personalities are crafted and developed are comparable to works of Naoki Urasawa if you happen to be familiar with those works.
There isn't really a main antagonist either. Sometimes there are higher-ups in NASA who potentially pose a threat to some astronauts' career advancement but there is no character that everyone is working against or anything. Basically like real life.

Enjoyment: 10 / Overall: 10

A big factor in enjoyment is whether or not you tend to like slice-of-life, highly character driven stories. I do so I was all over this, especially since I really like space and science. I think that anyone who can enjoy slice-of-life and has an interest in space or science would definitely like this show, since you get to see a lot of cool "behind the scenes" type things at NASA, as well as some cool space travel. The cast of characters is pretty amazing and I enjoyed spending time with them. This anime can also be inspirational and awe-inspiring, which I really appreciated and enjoyed for myself.
I think that this series would be something a non-anime fan could enjoy, but only if they would be okay with something slice-of-life and slower paced. I say this mostly because of how realistic the series is and that there is no anime weirdness and no fanservice, so it is quite accessible.
I'm not sure this show has the best re-watch value since it's so long and kind of slow paced. I'm not sure if that will be my final verdict though since I haven't re-watched it yet.
I would definitely like to own this show at some point if I am ever able to do so, and overall it's a very memorable show. Details of this show definitely stand out in my mind and left a positive impression on me. Overall I highly recommend it to anyone who thinks this show sounds like something they've enjoyed before.