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Without a doubt, Barakamon is one of the most relaxing anime out there in existence. If I had to describe Barakamon in short, it would be that it has been, a true panacea.

Barakamon's story isn't anything groundbreaking or intricate, in fact, it is the authentic simplicity of the show, that truly permits one to adore this show to its utmost. With a soothing atmosphere and a refreshing cast of characters, Barakamon is one of those shows that rewards anyone from an arduous day of work.

The story revolves around Handa Seishuu, a young and enthusiastic calligrapher with pride and talent. Despite this, after having ... his worked criticised against him, he punches and old man, and thus, has been exiled to a rural country-side island to take some time off and reflect from his actions.

Transformation, no, it is not transformation that Handa receives throughout his time here, but rather, it is the collective experience and memories forged on the island with the villagers that truly allow Handa to grow not only as a calligrapher, but as a human being.

Barakamon is very subtle and implicit in portraying its underlying messages, and although the change of Handa is not colossal, it is the journey itself and the time spent on the island that tackles and exhibits the implied themes of resilience, hospitality and companionship.

Naru is a noisy, boyish and talkative 7 year-old girl who accompanies Handa throughout the majority of the time and is another vital asset to the cast of the show. A lot of the show's comedy and humour derives off from Naru and her comical behavior and actions, making her an essential character in the series. What makes her so enticing and adorable is her infinite amounts of energy, as well as the content and cheerful atmosphere she emits. She finds almost anything, and everything hilarious and her relationship with Handa, somewhat subtly resembles a father and daughter relationship - bittersweet, beautiful and irreplaceable.

Barakamon also has a large cast of supporting characters as it encompasses the villagers from the island, and does a great job in fusing infants, children, teenagers, adults, and even the elderly in one whole setting - an embodiment of a bonded family. The villagers don't just feel like people from a village, but instead, people from a large family who bear a variety of personalities and care for each other.

Regarding the music, the outgoing opening song 'Rashisa' by Super Beaver immediately sets off with a lively atmosphere as the show begins, and puts the audience at ease and relaxation. The ending song 'Innocence' by NoisyCell is indeed amazing, a great way of ending each episode with a heartwarming feeling and soothing sensation it emits. Both pieces are undoubtedly superb choices of music and fits the show perfectly.

Not just the music, but Handa's voice actor, Ono Daisuke, does a phenomenal job in depicting Handa's emotions and has a great versatile voice, being able to elicit sympathy in the more sentimental and emotional scenes, bring out humour though a sarcastic manner of speech, and is also capable of conveying a frustrated tone of voice when required.

Regarding the art, in all honesty, although it is nothing groundbreaking or extremely well-animated, it does not hinder the enjoyment or presentation of the show at all as it is after-all, a slice of life comedy show. The art itself, is intrinsically compelling to begin with and is consistent throughout, definitely suiting the rural setting of the show and develops a heartwarming feeling to the viewers.

If there's something I did not expect from Barakamon, it would be the laughs it has given to me constantly, and with great voice acting, this comedy is enhanced to a whole new level. In Barakamon, even the tiniest of the most trivial of things can make you laugh, and make Naru roll on the floor laughing in tears. It's the things that these characters do and their reactions that allow us to adore them and laugh alongside.

Barakamon is an equilibrium between humour and emotion, none outclasses the other and they are both perfectly portrayed. One can argue that the world of calligraphy and its industry could have been explored more profoundly, but as a slice of life comedy and heartwarming series that focuses on its experiences, moments and its subtle themes more than a concrete and complex story, this show certainly has exceeded my expectations and comes out as a triumphant gem - and it's shows like these that I truly have no regrets in watching, and will definitely hope to see more in the future of anime.

So the first cour of Owari no Seraph has ended, and I can say with clear confidence that this show, is without a doubt, an utter piece of generic troupes amalgamated and fused together into one entity. Was it amazing? No, not even close. And was it horrible? No, it hasn't reached that low of a tier yet, fortunately.

The story in a nutshell involves kids, and adults stuck in a post-apocalyptic setting with two sides, the vampires and the humans. So what happened? Honestly, nothing much. The story itself progresses at the speed of a snail for the majority of the series and drags out ... too much, in which I personally hope the second cour will be faster paced and utilise suspense more intelligently for the benefit of the show.

The first episode was without a doubt, somewhat suspenseful and does a semi-good job. However, the opening song does a great job to counter this semi-well done job and reveal that Mika is indeed alive by showing his grown up self which would have been much better if it were to be revealed unexpectedly later on in order to create some sense of suspense.

Nevertheless, in this "post-apocalyptic" setting, the second episode starts off with the orthodox and conventional, overused school setting which already makes it hard to take the "post-apocalyptic world" seriously, and minimising any genuine sense of danger and threat that left off with the premiere episode. Fortunately, it then derives off this school setting but the ambiance still does not skyrocket in terms of suspence, tension or intensity as the main cast is composed by a group of children, not adults, but children.

The male central protagonist is Yuichiro Hyakuya and his friends from the Moon Demon Company, a group of freedom fighters formed to extinguish vampires in the harsh and dejected reality. Here on, it sets up two sides, the humans fighting against the vampires in this war-like battlefield. Although the main cast is a bunch of children, surprisingly they can pull off wicked stunts with their cursed gear, weapons specialised to exterminate the vampires, and are portrayed centuries stronger than the other adult looking soldiers from the army.

If I had to pick the best character, it would be Shinoa Hiiragi, also, she is one of the reasons I was able to enjoy the show to some degree. Her comical expressions and satirical manner of speech is what makes her as a character stand out more than the rest. Her design also stands out more than the others with her purple hair and ribbon attached. I applaud Hayami Saori for her splendid voice acting in portraying Shinoa's cheerful voice and sarcastic approaches and mannerisms, which pulled the show to a better level.

Sound-wise, it was definitely one of its stronger aspects, but also may be considered pretty incompetent by some because from a Hiroyuki Sawano standpoint, it was "just more of the same". The ost could have also been utilised better throughout the series and was not extremely memorable besides the orchestral version of the ending song. Both the opening song and ending song are pretty compelling though and definitely stand out.

The art is a hit and miss, some can say it is a manifestation of the show's lack in budget, and some can say it is for artistic and creative purposes, but I think, it's both. The animation was nothing ground-breaking or topnotch and was particularly below average for a shounen action series which is definitely disappointing.

The action is in particular, extremely weak and incompetent in terms of an action anime and there are many better shows that execute action and its choreography in a much better fashion with more fluid animation and well-directed choreography. Hopefully, as the climax is in the second cour of this series, one can only hope for improvements in these areas. Even if the second cour depicts improvements for the animation or action sequences, the show as a whole still will not have consistent good quality, but rather, fluctuations in its inconsistent quality.

Luckily, this is only the first cour, and certainly, if this was how the show ended, it would have a much lower score, but since it is merely the first part, that's somewhat forgivable and may perhaps be redeemed later on with improvements.

I can't say I did not enjoy the show, because I definitely did to an extent. But was it amazing? No, not even close. And was it horrible? No, not to that tier yet - but from here onward, I expect better from the second cour. The premise in itself has been done countless of times before and does not bring anything new or groundbreaking, but it does allow room for improvement, in both its presentation and execution in which the second cour will be pivotal to in order to judge the series as an entirety.

Undoubtedly, the second cour should expand on the story more, reveal more of the implied secrets, and hopefully develop the characters in a profound manner because right now, this show has not entirely finished and has ended in an open fashion for the second cour and until then, nothing in this first cour of Owari no Seraph will be complete.

“Assassination is education. The sensei of the Assassination Classroom becomes stronger as he teaches.” – Koro-sensei

In Assassination Classroom (Ansatsu Kyoushitsu), education is assassination, and assassination is education, to learn is to assassinate, and to assassinate is to learn.

Class 3-E is not an ordinary clichéd school classroom, instead of pencils and calculators, we get knives and guns. Yes, Assassination Classroom is not your ordinary school comedy anime. It diverges and expands through the norms, and it transforms into something of utmost originality and uniqueness.

(Disclaimer: this is going to be quite a long review, so hopefully you can bare with it!?)

The setting of the show revolves ... around Class 3-E, a group of students of a prestigious school named Kunugigaoka Junior High School, and is perceived as inferior, being the lowest class of the institution. However, at the same time, Class E is also the location of the government’s confidential assassination scheme on Koro-sensei, the monstrous looking octopus-like being who has threatened to destroy Earth after teaching Class 3-E for a year. Being able to move at a speed of Mach 20, Koro-sensei is almost able to do anything at will, travel anywhere and even teach his students effectively individually with his speed. His advanced capabilities and powers make assassination a difficult challenge for the students, and ultimately show the indomitability of the human spirit, the resilience of the class, and their increasingly strengthening determination of the students to strive for success after experiencing defeat and failure.

Assassination Classroom has one of the most unique and original stories out there amongst the anime and manga industry, and is able to utilise its main theme of assassination and education to its utmost benefit, to achieve development and characterisation within its particularly large cast, and to manifest as well, many other notable themes such as the value of friendship, class and discrimination, failure and defeat, and human perseverance.
Most of the episodes in Assassination Classroom contain many underlying didactic and moral powerful life lessons, and these are not only in the form of motivation, but also inspiration. With Koro-sensei helping the students out in both their actual education, and in their assassination attempts, the students are able to learn many values and life-changing lessons from their “teacher” and “target” whilst conducting the assassination attempts as well, and as this exchange benefits both parties, the relationship between both the teacher/target and the students/assassins are able to strengthen and develop. Many of the students have their own problems, be it their personality, or their background and upbringing, through assassination and education, Koro-sensei is able to aid these students individually as well, to seek out their troubles, and to bring good into them and show them the beauty of their lives and the bonds they encompass.

Without a doubt, with assassination as the central theme of the show, it is this that allows immense room for the characters to learn and understand more about each other, about Koro-sensei, and ultimately, permits characters to grow both individually and together collectively. Not only do the students learn from Koro-sensei, but at the same time, Koro-sensei is also able to learn from the students, forging trust and bonds between the two in Class 3-E.

The show however takes a very risky step regarding its diverse and large cast with more than 20 students, and 3 teachers. With limited screen time, it is inevitable that not only some characters are unrecognizable, but also some of the characters will lack the necessary screen time to properly convey their backstories and personalities and may thus be deemed as “less important” or trivial. Despite this noticeable flaw with the enormous cast, it is not only each individual that compose the cast, but instead it is all of the characters collectively that the characters are able to grow as a class. Unless specific students are the central focus of an episode and in the assassination attempt, they are left forgettable and are overshadowed by the more noticeable and outstanding characters such as Nagisa and Karma.

Shiota Nagisa is the central protagonist amongst Class-E and is often a calm and friendly person. Perhaps, it is also necessary to point out that Nagisa is the best trap. He occasionally takes on the role of an observer and narrator and is cautious in every situation. He is also very meticulous and diligent to exploring every detail of Koro-sensei’s himself in order to aid future assassination attempts. Although calm on the outside, some scenes showcase Nagisa’s inner-assassin potential and it is his calmness that makes him unique as an assassin as he is shown having the innate ability to hide his bloodlust.

Akabane Karma is another prominent student within Class-E and is not only one of the most intelligent, cunning and witty in the class, but also one of the smartest in the entire school. Although he has a rather sadistic personality and likes to torture his opponents, Karma has a positive mindset, and also has good morals behind his intentions. He is known for being a delinquent and troublesome violator in the school, and has lost respect for adults after being betrayed by his most trusted homeroom teacher prior arriving Class 3E. However, it is because of his inner-caring personality and moral mindset that he was placed in Class E as he rescued a senior from being bullied by students of the main building. Even though he may seem to be extremely smart and a genius in assassination, he has a tendency to be overconfident, arrogant and lazy at times, hindering his ability to develop further. However, Koro-sensei realises this and after Karma received a “defeat” in their confrontation with Class A, and fell in the academic rankings, Koro-sensei made it clear to Karma that he needs to abandon his overconfident self, and accept improvement because defeat ultimately incites growth, unlocking Karma’s potential as both a student and an assassin.

It's these simple didactic and inspiring lessons that allows us watchers to also feel sympathy for the characters and at the same time, allows us to comprehend the true meaning of defeat, perseverance and the relationships the characters share together. Although reality may be harsh and dejected, one must always work his way through and persevere in order to achieve improvement– that is the glory and advantage of mankind.

Although only glimpses of Koro-sensei’s past have been shown in the anime, it is this enigma of his character that allows suspense to fill the watchers’ minds, and keep watching further to truly understand Koro-sensei’s underlying motives behind “destroying” the world after a year of teaching. Koro-sensei is extremely humble, talented, and funnily enough, quite perverted. He cares for his students, not only about their education, but also their skills in the field of assassination as well as their own personal individual lives. It’s truly teachers like these that these students are able to grow so fast and so much both academically and as an assassin, and have a widened outlook on their lives. Although Class E may be ostracized from the main school and the higher-up classes, there is no discrimination in Class E itself after all, the class itself is almost like a family, with close bonds interconnected through each other being peers of another in a group of assassins. Even as the students love Koro-sensei and understand that he genuinely cares for them, they know that they have to still carry out their assassination because that is the initial reason of Koro-sensei joining the class, and also, the planet is being threatened to being destroyed.

Karasuma, is another one of Class E’s teachers, a highly skilled agent sent by the Ministry of Defense. He is strict but also aids into developing the assassination skills of the students, and eventually become bonded with the class as well despite his stoic and dense personality, and suppressing his emotions because of his profession. It is also undeniable that there is a small degree of fanservice appeal brought by bitch-sensei, Irina, but again this revolves around the whole theme of assassination and is also manifestation of her assassination skills. Nevertheless, she also grows along with the rest of the students as well as Koro-sensei and Karasuma-sensei.

The comedy is extremely well done. Ranging from Koro-sensei’s ridiculousness and his admiration for erotic magazines, to Karma’s sadistic torturing methods of sticking chilli and spicy paste into someone’s nostrils, the majority of the humour derives from the main central plot of assassination, and just goes to show how immense of a theme this is and how much it can develop the show.

Unlike the bland special of Assassination Classroom that was animated by Brain’s Base in 2013, Lerche takes Assassination Classroom to a whole new level through its distinct art style. The art style makes use of conspicuous shadows, bold borders and outlines to highlight and define each individual character. The backgrounds also look nice and are vibrant when it needs to be, and dark when it needs to be as well. The details of objects look precise through the neat and clear art. Ultimately, the anime is able to bring out the manga’s great art to life, if not, even better, taking it to a new level. The animation involved in showcasing Koro-sensei’s super speed and the subsequent surrounding environment looks phenomenal and very fluid, bringing Koro-sensei to life.

Sound wise, both openings ‘Seishun Satsubatsu-ron’ and ‘Jiriki Hongan Revolution’ fit the show perfectly. Being upbeat and lively, the music itself pumps you up for the episode before it starts and brightens up the atmosphere. Visually, they involve the introduction of the characters of Class E and feature the characters dancing in a very comical manner which I definitely love and find hilarious. The soundtrack is also used appropriately most of the time, using suspenseful music at suspenseful moments, sentimental tracks at the more sympathetic scenes, as well as a short electronic/techno sounding track during thrilling moments such as when Ritsu analyses the floor plan during the hotel infiltration.

The ending song itself ‘Hello, shooting-star’ by moumoon is a masterpiece and depicts a more emotional approach to the show with its lighthearted and sentimental tone. The visuals are stunning utilising a chalkboard and chalks to visualise the ending song with its characters. For me, every time this ending plays I never skip it, and instead, I envision what it would be like if Koro-sensei were to actually be killed, and how emotional it would truly be.

With a second season confirmed in production, we can expect to see more intriguing arcs, more suspenseful moments, as well as increasingly more characterisation and story development as the show unfolds itself.

Undoubtedly, Assassination Classroom diverges from the ordinary anime, and transforms norms into a show that is original, unique and creative. Through the central plot, the show is able to merge both assassination and education to develop the cast as a whole, manifest individual growth and exhibit the interlinking bonds of the class. Not only this, but this is a show that truly allows you to learn from its many underlying didactic messages as well, both subtle and explicit. And I certainly recommend everyone to try out Assassination Classroom at some point because this is a show that has shown me both inspiration and motivation.

Saekano, at first glance, may seem like a typical harem/fanservice filled series where the main otaku character can flourish himself in. However, it honestly took me by surprise and vastly exceeded my expectations, especially how the show knows how to subtly and implicitly convey its awareness of the current anime industry and its current clichéd trends.

The characters of the show is one of its most entertaining aspects. In a mere 12 episodes, the show is able to characterise its characters and develop them to a satisfactory extent, In particular the girls, and their distinct personalities are the foundation of the show itself. There is ... Eriri, the hotblooded tsundere blonde twin-tailed girl who manifests the clichéd childhood friend troupe. She is the doujinshi artist of the group, and can't let her pride lose. Then there is the seductive (potential fanservice ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)) girl who is considered a master at scenario/story writing called Utaha. Michiru, the purple-haired tomboy musician-like girl who also is mainly there to aid fanservice, is also another childhood friend of Tomoya...since birth. Its ironic because she only did really appear in the final few episodes (lol~). There is also the unique monotonous cute girl, Kato, who is just so clueless a lot of the time, but in a hilarious and original way. Her voice acting is also worth noting as it is one of the best monotoned voices for a female character in recent times, and its not boring in anyway, but compelling. She may have trouble being expressive, but she is one of the girls who understands Tomoya well, the main central protagonist. Finally, you have Tomoya, the otaku with a strong enthusiastic personality and passion for producing his dating sim with his circle of friends (haremm). His drive to successfully produce a dating sim allows the story to progress and its his determination to create a great one that makes him entertaining to be with. All the voice acting for the characters undoubtedly aid the characters personalities and their traits, and make them not only a great interacted cast, but one with synergy.

The art is definitely, a great addition to the show's substance and makes it visually pleasing to look at in contrast to most shows of the similar genre. A-1 without a doubt made Saekano a hit, rather than a miss with the stellar, standing-out artwork and visuals. The character designs as well is a major plus as the females of the show all look different from one another, and are ineffably, just nice to look at. The near-shaft level art carries the show if you don't really enjoy the characters, but as the cast is so diverse with each unique girl, you probably will have one "best girl" (team kato??? team utaha? no? no?).

The soundtrack isn't really that unique or stellar, its just there to suit appropriate scenes and juxtapose the silence. The OP song however, I found it quite suiting visually as it depicts each character in the works, and the song itself 'Kimiiro Signal' by Luna Haruna sounds pretty nice and is addicting for me personally.

Overall, Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata was without a doubt, a very fascinating and entertaining show to sit down, and watch. Although the story wasn't anything spectacular or original, the melange of characters with their varied personalities is what makes the show truly enjoyable, and along with their thrive to successfully construct a dating sim, the audience is able to connect to the cast and feel their ecstasies, and struggles. The fanservice is not the main focus, the characters are, and if you can get past that major intervening obstacle, you will certainly enjoy this show for what it is.

Black Bullet is amazing, an amazing failure of a series with decent potential at its start.

Black Bullet is an anime, an anime with great potential that ultimately transformed into shambles of disappointment. Many have been comparing Black Bullet to Attack on Titan but of course, Black Bullet is intrinsically different and distinct in its own right.

The story revolves around humanity and their suppression due to the dominance and superior existence of viral parasites named Gastrea. As humanity is left with no alternatives but to be exiled into small territory and to coexist with terror and despair, the world should evidently be indeed ... a dark and tragic place to live in. To survive, the loli army, I mean the cursed children are prime and vital to combat the Gastrea and are humanity’s ultimate weapon born from women who have been infected by the Gastrea.

The characters are merely bland and tedious to be the main focus of the show. Satomi Rentarou is the archetype of an indomitable, well preserved and determined male character which has been utilised throughout anime history in countless of shows. Having the best plot-armor possible, he’s pretty strong in combat too. Another character in the harem, I mean cast, Enju, the notable orange hair little loli girl is energetic to the max and does not know when to keep her mouth shut at times. Enju constantly mentions her wish to marry Rentarou, that being said, it is only normal for her to have a few rivals. One of them is Kisara Tendo, the president of the agency Satomi works for and also apparently is Satomi’s childhood friend, a good use of the childhood friend cliché to add a woman with a big chest to the crew. Another main character is Tina Sprout, another loli in the group of friends who fight against the Gastrea, with sniping skills of a God and the body of a 5 year old girl, she also takes a hinted liking to Satomi Rentarou. And for the rest of the loli cursed children army characters, let’s just say, never mind.

Despite each character containing different personalities and traits, one factor largely affects the seriousness of the show, and that is the constant implementation of forced humour. The show is just ineffective in setting its own atmosphere, coming into the series; a person looking at the synopsis would come into Black Bullet believing that the show is serious and dark heavily. Scenes can be tragic and upsetting at times, leaving the audience to feel and express sympathy to the characters; however these sentimental moments are easily hindered and obstructed a few seconds later with unnecessary comedy. Being on the brink of extinction, the vibrant and lively atmosphere the cast give off does not blend in well with the plot.

It’s like mixing sugar with salt. It just doesn't work well.

Being a one-cour show, the show evidently suffers from lack of character growth and development and is bound to leave out some scenes from the original source material. The pacing transcends too quickly after the first episode and near the final few episodes of the show, it is amazingly obvious how rushed and butchered Black Bullet has become. No justice served for the source material.

The art is vibrant and bright most of the time despite the supposed dark tone the plot gives off. Despite the contradiction, it is enjoying and nice to look at. However, honestly it makes the viewers hard to take the show seriously because of the liveliness when humanity is on the verge of extinction. The animation and visuals during action scenes do not make the show stand out amongst other shows with decent action scenes. The CGI utilised alongside the Gastrea are used awkwardly and are not pleasant to look at which I believe sometimes fits their design well as they are not meant to look aesthetically attractive and appealing being viral parasites.

The music in the show is probably the single best aspect of the show. Having the OP sung by fripside and the ED songs sung by Yanagi Nagi, personally one of my favourite Japanese female singers, they added a new substance to the show and made it more enjoyable. Sadly, the background music being catchy is used too many times and not always at the most appropriate moment, losing its uniqueness, style and substance.

Overall, if you want a serious and tragic show with a dark atmosphere, I do not recommend touching Black Bullet. However, if you love little girls, sure, dive in. Or if you just have lots of time, sure, dive in. Besides some decently executed moments, don’t go in with expectations as high as the Eifel Tower as you will only come out as the world’s shortest skyscraper.

If three words can be used to sum up No Game No Life (NGNL) in a nutshell, the three words would be games, strategy and girls. No Game No Life, despite enjoying it highly for its suspenseful ambiance, has its set of flaws like any other existing show.

This anime fills in the void for those relatable to the main characters, it built an imaginary euphoric world where the audience can enjoy No Game No Life’s high excitement and enjoyment rate.

Set in a fantasy world after having the two main characters Sora and Shiro transported there by a boy god named Tet, the seemingly ... virtual world immediately becomes the apparent reality. Being the hardcore shut-in NEETS they are, they utilise gaming for a sense of escapism where gaming is their reverie and their space of euphoria.

In this alternate fantasy based world, everything is based and decided by games. A fitting and suiting world for Sora and Shiro who spend most of their time gaming, almost as if the world was made just for them. In a world with sixteen known races and only ten rules to abide to, the siblings eventually play to save their inferior race, the Imanity. Only having one city left, Elkia, they aim to save Imanity and create a better place for Imanity.

Known as the legendary gamers, "Blank", together they are an unbeatable duo. Sora, brother of Shiro, the central protagonist is also a manipulative, scheming, intelligent, strategic and extroverted boy adolescent in the field of games. Despite his status of a shut-in, he speaks better and is more outgoing than the average perceived and archetype NEET. Instead, he is depicted almost as the paradigm of an omniscient and omnipotent commander in games. On the other hand, Shiro the sister of Sora is just as omniscient and omnipotent in the field of games. She is shown as a loli prodigy who also uses fanservice to appeal to the masses. The two cannot live without each other and need to be close to each other, a certain distance, in order to remain sane. Both characters implement a lot of comedy and humour into the show, giving the show a very lively and vivacious atmosphere.

An aspect that makes NGNL so intriguing and distinct from many other stuck-in-the-virtual-gaming-world anime is that instead of attempting to escape back into the real world, Sora and Shiro choose the opposite, to stay in this alternate fantasy world evidently built for the siblings, a world better than the "crappy game" reality they live in prior being sent, a world they can truly enjoy as committed hikikomori gamers.
Despite the ecchi tag on NGNL, fanservice is not prime and does not cause much of a bother, instead it appeals to a number of viewers. Be it panty shots or oppai shots, the already-98%-female-composed-cast blend humour and fanservice together to create substance to the show. To any male, especially Sora the openish pervert, this is a paradise. That being said, NGNL’s excitement and enjoyment level isn’t heavily hindered ad obstructed by the implemented fanservice scenes and this is a facet worthy of praise.

The art is medicine for the human eye. The art utilises bright and vibrant colours to make the fantasy world distinct from the real world, a smart move by Madhouse. Being bright and vibrant as it is, it lights up the mood and portrays how this fantasy world is a much better place for the main characters Sora and Shiro, a surely fitting place where the gamers can enjoy, instead of the dull reality as it is simply a “crappy game”. A unique extract from the show worthy of mention would be Episode 9 and this episode explores Shiro and how broken her world is without the brother she loves so much. Madhouse utilises black and white visuals for various extracts in the episode to add on to this effect, showing how much her life is composed of Sora, her dear brother.

The sound of the show is superb; it is sexual pleasure for the ears. The opening song “This game” by Konomi Suzuki is a great piece of music that prepares the audience with its fast pacing and high vocals. The fast paced soundtracks pump the audience with adrenaline circulating throughout the body into a powered-up mechanism of charisma, adding on to the excitement and exquisiteness of the show. The ending song is a piece of music I personally have been attracted to since its first use. The song leaves an episode with excitement and prepares the viewers for the next episode of enjoyment with high pitched vocals and catchy tune. The background music in the show was evidently outstanding especially during each game, it pumps up and fires up the audience as well as the characters in the show and creates suspense and tension. Sympathetic and emotional soundtracks were also incorporated into the show during appropriate scenes and helped delivered the necessary emotions the main characters were feeling.

One of the main issues I have with the show is that it could have been better with more episodes dedicated to show the siblings’ back-story and how they deal with their daily life in the real world so that we as the viewers can understand and sympathise with them as to why they despise reality so much. Moreover, another crucial point to consider as a flaw is the ending. Despite that the ending leaves hope for a season 2, it deters off viewers who do not like unsatisfying or incomplete endings. As the ending leaves off hope for subsequent sequels, it is satisfying to a number of people as being a one cour show definitely meant the story would not be able to end properly without rushing and butchering the source material which I am glad it did not. This allowed the pacing to be done properly and appropriately. As there are other races left to be screened, hoping for sequels is only natural as the show does the source material justice by leaving the ending in a cliffhanger state.

Overall, No Game No Life is a pleasant and enjoying ride, a lovely sight, and a beautiful and thrilling experience. If you want something that will keep you leeched to your chair, this is your meal. No Game No Life is definitely a show that will be remembered, not because of the hype, but because of its intrinsic uniqueness and value.

“Let’s begin the game!”- Sora and Shiro~

#gamerlyfe

"Chant these words three times in your mind!"
"Hero kenzan!" "Hero kenzan!" "Hero kenzan!"
"Do that, and I'll come to you!"

From time to time, a show will be despised by some for the unorthodox and uncommon mediums of presentation and execution. I hold the notion that Ping Pong The Animation truly uses its unorthodox way with great triumph and success.

Ping Pong The Animation is set in a local Japanese town and portrays the lives of two young boys in the local table-tennis club. Having an innate talent for the sport, Makoto Tsukimoto, nicknamed Smile, and his close friend Yukata Hoshino, nicknamed Peco, are depicted ... as two ordinary Japanese males with hidden latent potential in the sport they play derived from their distinct and individual traits and personality. Both these characters have their own unique play style differing from another and is manifested clearly throughout the course of the show, whether they be panels popping up on the screen in sync with the sounds of the ping pong balls colliding with the table or the motion of their movements in matches.

Both Smile and Peco have their own memorable characteristics and qualities. Smile is shown invariably depressed and has no interest in the sport itself whether it be for competitive of leisure play. Instead, his raison d'être for being in the club is to merely kill time in his depicted pathetic life. Be it the monologues of Smile to the stoic and emotionless quality of his, he is still shown as a likable character with genuine qualities. Despite hiding away his emotions, it is made evident towards the audience that he does in reality portray a sense of morality and his own set of beliefs and attitudes especially during and after the match against Wenge Kong, an extremely skilled foreign table-tennis player from China recently abandoned by his home team in China. Nicknamed China himself, Kong is another unique member of the cast in Ping Pong The Animation as it gives a national sense of diversity towards our main Japanese cast. Not only this, but we are also able to have an insight of players from foreign countries besides Japan as well as their individual used play styles and capabilities. Despite coming from China, the country where table tennis plays a fundamental role as one of the country's highly-acclaimed sports, Kong is not displayed as the archetype of overpowered-ness. Instead he is more or less portrayed as a tragic hero, as he comes to learn that there are many other great and exceptional players throughout the world and this adds on to his development as a character. Peco dreams to be a champion in the sport and is portrayed as an arrogant and talented player, as well as the epitome of liveliness as he is constantly engaged and is energetic in the sport he loves. He is almost portrayed as the antithesis foil of Smile as unlike Smile, Peco has a true passion towards table-tennis and tries his best. Other supporting characters worthy of mention would be the coach who constantly supports and drives Smile to play to his best knowing that he has a growing innate and hidden talent for table-tennis and will not realise it until he conquers some of his prime weaknesses, holding back against opponents and hindering the definition of true sportsmanship.Not only do these characters amaze me, but so do the support characters. Obaba, or the Tamura Lady is Peco's sensei from the table-tennis hall. As Peco repents and changes as a person who wants to regain his dream of becoming a ping-pong champion, both of them develop their relationships too and more memorably by the line of "love ya" till the point even Peco says it to Kazuma, also known as Dragon.

Dragon, or Kazama is a well-known champion and paradigm of hard work and strength throughout the show. Represented by the mythical specie Dragon, Kazama portrays strong intellect and hard work with extreme effort devoted into table-tennis. Despite all of this has contributed into his overall power and making him stand as number one, he does not understand one thing about table-tennis. That one thing is having fun or just enjoyment in general, and because of this, he does not have the potential Peco has to become everything he wants to or can be.

Akuma is another great side character who has underwent extreme change. After always tailing behind Peco in their childhood table-tennis life, Akuma finally regains more of what he wanted to be when he played against Peco. He acts as a symbol for hard work, while Peco at first is a symbol of talent, until Peco also attains hard work and having fun in the latter half of the anime as he understands that they are necessary components for success. KAs the anime progresses, all the characters, Smile, Peco, Kong, Kazama, and Akuma undergo heavy amounts of character development and mature as human beings, changing the way they act as well as their mindsets and just shows how much ping-pong as a sport can bring to anyone.

Now regarding the art and animation, this is where critics place there hands on. Arguably having low budget visuals, many don't know that the manga's art is similar in its own essence and that the adaptation is attempting to be faithful to its source material. Taking this into consideration, the visuals can be seen as amazingly stunning and captivating to say the least. I think that this artwork is what brings the best execution from the show itself and using other high-budget and more modern and common forms of artwork would not bring out the same excellent effects this unique art offers. Backgrounds are detailed and facial expressions are clear most of the time. Specific camera angles and pop-up frames are used to their best extent during matches and the pop-up frames in sync with the music and the bounces of the balls all amalgamate to show synergy in its execution. This realistic approach from the art is what truly makes Ping Pong The Animation such a great success thus far. Getting used to the artwork is in fact not difficult at all, a few episodes and I'm almost entirely sure one can get used to it and understand its intrinsic beauty.

The sound in the show is the paradigm of excellence. The opening song itself sets the stage for the incoming episode and circulates adrenaline around the viewer's body, wanting the music to last forever. The ending song closes each episode well, and leaves the watchers ready for the incoming previews as well as setting the scene by showing visuals of the town itself. The ost is phenomenal, it utilizes the rock genre to its pinnacle especially during the matches. Likewise, the ost also manages to regularly captivate the audience by matching with the animation during the games. Regarding the voice acting, a worthy mention is definitely Kong, or more known as China. The foreign voice actor is an aspect that also contributes into making China such a remarkable character as not only is it realistic, but not many anime you see nowadays utilize voice acting to the point where foreign voice actors are hired for the job. As the story progresses Peco's voice becomes a great voice to just hear into your ears. His enthusiasm and motivation and even his raison d'être is shown by his vehement voice actor and I am well sure that Peco and Smile's persona would be different without the utilisation of the same voice actors. Smile's voice does not change as the story progresses, but his tone does as he changes as a person.

Ping Pong The Animation is definitely worth the watch as I enjoyed every minute of the show. The show utilizes innovative and unorthodox mediums and amalgamates the visuals, the sound, the story, as well as characters to their zenith. Give yourself the opportunity to engross yourself into the successful show Ping Pong The Animation is of today.

There's nothing to lose and regret for watching it, but by not watching it, you lose the experience to touch upon this intriguing and exquisite show.

Ping Pong The Animation has taught me many prominent values in life. Hard work....talent....and having fun.....these three constituents are all important ingredients that some people will always have more than others and no one can become the best player out there in the world with merely heavy amounts of hard work but having no fun at all. If you want to do well in something, you have to enjoy it. Don't envy those who significantly have more talent and power in them, strive for that power yourself by hard work and effort. But most importantly, remember to have fun and enjoy the time you spend in the sport.

This is Kill la Kill. This is the anime where hype is the definition of anime itself, where fanservice creates action and where music circulates the blood (pun alert) in your body into a powered-up mechanism of sprawling adrenaline.

Being created by the makers of the highly acclaimed and recognized Gurren Lagann and FLCL, Kill la Kill is brought by the newly formed Studio Trigger. Kill la Kill tells the tale of Ryuuko Matoi, a vagrant school girl wayfaring from location to location who's raison d’être is to search for clues behind the mysterious truth of her father’s death. Wielding a scissor-sword, Matoi arrives to ... Honnouji Academi to look for her father’s assassinator. However, this is where the journey truly begins as standing in her way is the Student Council President, also known as Kiryin Satsuki as well as her personal four divas, or more commonly referred to as the Elite Four of the academy. Along the journey, Ryuuko finds beneath her house, Senketsu, a Kamui which is an outfit in which the host is provided with near god-like abilities in exchange for their blood. This power gives her the opportunity to overcome her enemies, hindrances in her journey for finding the answers she wants.

When watching Kill la Kill, it is vital that the audience understands the fact that the laws of physics, common sense and logic does not apply in this show. This show de facto requires you to turn off your thinking caps and your brain itself, because if you decide to decipher and analyze this show intrinsically, you will find countless amounts of flaws and problems. Hell, you can even say that Kill la Kill has its own laws of physics and definition of common sense. Despite having a predictable plot at the start, the execution is what makes Kill la Kill stand out alongside Gurren Lagann. Every episode contributes to the overall plot and there is little to no filler, even so if there is filler, it would not really be considered filler as in Kill la Kill, they develop intricate relationships between our characters and grow bonds of brotherhood, kinship, fraternity and solidarity. Exaggeration is brought out to the utmost extremes and this is where the hyped-up and epic action derive from.

In the early stages, Kill la Kill’s visuals may seem a tad deterring and lacking from the average modern eye-candy anime viewer. It utilizes a range of colours and a firmly toned set of strong outlines to refurnish the fact that logic does not exist within the anime, thus brings out an art style similar to the chaotic. Studio Trigger manages to take short turns and exploit the animation aspect to the degree where some scenes are extended with single frames longer than usual. Giant red text is presented here and there to furthermore add to the epic explosive action and over-the-top, unconstitutional and unorthodox setting and ambiance of the show itself.

Having the main characters being females, Matoi is depicted as the archetype of fortitude, the paradigm of grandness and the epitome of any strong women. Not only does she stand for herself, but after enduring suffering, adversity and defeat for countless amounts of times, the word ‘giving up’ doesn’t seem to be in her dictionary. You can even say that Studio Trigger is trying to promote equality right now and right here if you look deeply, rather than shallowly. Members of the main cast are diverse and each have their own unique backstories told, for the Elite Four, throughout the first cour of the series, the tale of how they met Satsuki is told as well as why they deeply respect and honour Satsuki as the President. Comedy is also embedded into the characters, such as Mako, arguably the comic relief as well as utilizing comedy within the Elite Four to ultimately make them likable. Satsuki, playing the role of the villain is portrayed as the paradigm of badassness and being fierce as she is, she is the reason for the continued development and bringing of Matoi’s perseverance and indomitability of the human spirit. With underlying and hidden ulterior motives, Satsuki utilizes Matoi to the full extent and eventually develops Matoi as a character. There is also a depiction of the theme of family within Kill la Kill and is heavily emphasized on. Spending time with Mako and her family ultimately develops Matoi as a person as well and allows her to experience what she does not have, a family. Likewise, Mako besides being a comedy aspect in the show is also another reason for Matoi’s growth. As time passes, their time spent together acts as ingredients of amalgamation into developing Matoi’s personality as she shows care towards the family and even fights for their sake, especially during the episode where they were captivated by material interests and money. Another prime character would be Senketsu, her sailor uniform. He acts as voice of conscience and reason whenever Matoi goes overboard or is emotionally hurt, he provides advice when he can.

The music? ITS EPIC.ITS GOOD. AND ITS AMAZING. This might even be an understatement at this point. The music is abundant and has a diverse range of tracks used throughout the 24 episodes. Composed by Hiroyuki Sawano who also composed music for well-recognized shows including Attack on Titan, Guilty Crown and Blue Exorcist, the soundtrack is outstanding and simply makes the show even grand than it already is. Sawano produces music of excellence that is addictive and energetic in order to get the audiences’ body moving and blood pumping. Kill la Kill also used euphonious, emotional and sympathetic music such as ‘I Want To Know’ during emotion provoking scenes. Joyous scenes also utilize music such as ‘Light Your Heart Up’ at the most appropriate times. Now to the action scenes, one of the most memorable soundtracks used would of course include the popular ‘Before My Body Is Dry’ or more well known for its tagline “DON’T LOSE YOUR WAYYYY”. This track is used throughout the course of the 24 episodes predominantly during action scenes when Matoi does something especially badass and where ‘epic’ is the only word you can bring your mouth to say. Ironically enough, she loses her way invariably but this is what develops her as a character. This track is arguably used a bit too repetitively some say, but I personally opine that it’s what makes action scenes have its own essence. Another action based track used would include ‘Suck Your Blood’ which fits especially well during adrenaline packed action scenes. In addition, ‘Sanbika’ sang by Aoi Eir, is another addictive and energetic track that would get you on the edge of your seat. Both openings, ‘Sirius’ by Aoi Eir and ‘Ambiguous’ by GARNIDELIA prepares you with eagerness and anticipation for what you are going to experience in the subsequent episode, it can be best described as a catalyst to amaze and make the episode shine even more. Both endings are also used decently as closures for the episodes more notably during the final 2 episodes as a calm remedy for the audience to recuperate from all the sheer action taken place. Other memorable tacks include Satuski’s dictator-like badass theme as well as Nui Harime’s theme.

By this time you would probably be wondering why ‘Blumenkranz’ isn’t mentioned yet. Well, it deserves its own little paragraph you see. ‘Blumenkranz’ is used throughout the series as a villain theme and has been one of the best villain themes I have ever heard. It adds on to the entertainment value of the series and is definitely one of the most memorable tracks of KLK.

In short, every episode brings out anticipation pumping and circulating your ‘blood’ (pun alert) to its zenith. Kill la Kill definitely excels at the enjoyment aspect and every episode plays out to its pinnacle and despite the simple plot, the execution is brought out perfectly. The characters are likable and all have their own inherent worth and value while the animation despite being seemingly poor with a low budget, is utilized amazingly. The sheer epic-ness of the anime alone is enough of a reason to rewatch the show any day, any time and even anywhere.

So what are you doing? Go watch Kill la Kill now and get your body movin!

10/10

Disclaimer: This review is solely based on the first season and not taking into account AS.

Clannad. Oh Clannad. Being a highly acclaimed and well-known show for its capability to bring out its emotional aspect on board alongside the genres of comedy and romance, the prime question remains…does it work? My answer is simply, no.

One of the main issues regarding the harem genre is that the harem genre has never been a proficient or innovative genre when coincided with plot and characterization, and has never been delivered synergistically. Mixing these together just does not work well. The vast majority of the harem genre shows suffer ... from having poor characters, most notably, bland protagonists slaying all, if not, 90% of the girls in the show. With poor characterization, it also comes with ineffectually written over-emotional and melodramatic scenes to accompany the lackluster story.

Given the fact that this anime was based on the original visual novel plot, there was not much plot to progress with. The anime attempts to blend together characters with a somewhat different back-story, despite this, they are predetermined and preordained to follow the harem-lets-stick-to-the-main-guy-character-route. All in all, this deems them nearly impossible to determine their own futures regarding romance and their love relationships.

Despite having Kyoto Animation working on the visuals with a high budget and great production values, a studio that has always lived up to my expectations and impressed me vehemently kept me impressed especially with the beautiful and neat design of the ambiance and environment the anime revolves around. Contrastingly, the moe-designed looking characters, fundamentally the female cast, ended up being a defect to the stunning art of the ambiance and environment.

At first, it was extremely difficult for me to get used to this different design. The character designs are also repetitive and uncreative to the point where 3 of the female casts (the 2 Fujibayashi sisters and Ichinose) have the same coloured hair, purple. Not only this, but the 0_0 design of eyes for every character disregards any possibility for any character to have their own unique distinguishable features. Let’s have everyone go bald, can’t tell who is who now huh?

And it’s at this point where I think, there are a lot of better shows out there that would be superior and more sublime with this amount of budget.

The characters are also as bland as milk and you could even call this an understatement. First and foremost, we have your typical archetype generic harem lead Tomoya. He is also known as a juvenile delinquent who is best friends with Youhei Sunohara, the guy who gets his ass kicked everyday with a known fixed 0% chance to end up with any girl ever, forever a virgin. The amount of domination and pain experienced towards Sunohara is more than superfluous, is it really necessary for him to get beaten up all the time to the point where a ridiculous number of montages of him getting beaten up can be created? Surely, all the austerity and sternness, most notably from Sakagami, is not necessary?

Also, why would a delinquent, Tomoya, be motivated at the start of the series to help all the other girls? For example, why would he help a girl he just met with a project? After all of this, it is completely evident that the story is just a overused concoction of plot conveniences and harem clichés. Few of the characters receive much development to be frank. It’s especially difficult to find this show emotional at all given that most of the cast, notably Ichinose, Fuuko and Nagisa sound roughly half their age. Being the lolis as they are, they try to exhibit radiant qualities and traits, but only end up failing miserably.

The music was to say the least, decent. Emotional musical pieces, mainly dominated instrumentally by piano were used during tragic scenes while relaxing music was used during joyful scenes. The ending song “Dango Daikazoku” resembles to the theme of family and friends, something that has changed Tomoya into a better person. Some of the osts were used too repetitively, making them less memorable than they should have been. Osts such as roaring tides were also used well evocatively to strengthen emotional scenes but only being hindered by the monotonous character designs. As a prerequisite to every episode, the opening is beautiful solely for its visuals, portraying all the participants of the Tomoya harem one by one consecutively along the well-sang evocative and euphonic music.

Clannad could have been a much better show without the use of unrealistic, unoriginal, and monotonously designed characters to fit into the exemplar generic harem lead. All their insecure and childish natures deem taking these characters seriously or by heart entirely impossible. If you are a fan of harems and moe, I can ensure you will have a higher chance of enjoying Clannad.

However, if you come into here with the thought of being evoked or touched with realistic drama here rather than over the top melodrama occurring, you probably will have little enjoyment. If you think Clannad is realistic in anyway, you will probably end up unable to stay sane. Despite all this, ultimately, Clannad does show more of a intrinsic and natural warmth that many near-harem type shows do not have.

Shingeki no Kyojin, is simply like weed. It circulates your body, into a powered-up mechanism of charisma dwelling from the sprawling adrenaline of anticipation pumped into the human body. A constantly hyped anime viraling throughout the anime community, and whether or not this anime is critiqued or loved, an anime is an anime and thus will forever be ingrained firmly into anime history and Japanese culture regardless. Question is, is this a masterpiece? or is it merely an over-hyped and generically produced show of the 2013 year? or perhaps, is it ambiguous towards every individual?

Primarily, Shingeki no Kyojin (will refer as snk from now ... on) at first with exceptional hype was seemingly latent. Meaning, just from the first episode of Snk, the potential of Snk was already evident towards the audience, and you know, it is going to be a well-recognized and decent anime.

Story 9~

Snk portrays the world of humanity in an almost dystopian state where humans are on the verge of extinction, where humanity is engraved within walls and restrictions, and where humanity is deemed into living with fear and agony as inferior existences amidst the superior entity also known as the 'Titans'. Although humans being more intellectual, the titans excelled in their large physical state. The show conveys how much despair humanity is left to face in order to strive and thrust for their freedom and entrapment. Definitely a marathon-able anime to say the least, it is addicting and extremely entertaining to say the least, and this addiction will only you make you strive for more when the show comes to an end.

The pacing is fine throughout the anime although a bit slower in the middle, the effects are brought out nicely as our supporting cast receive more screen time, such as Levi and Jean. Eren, after witnessing grief and despair, finds himself with the need to achieve a change for humanity, a change where humanity will be free from the walled city, a change where humanity can see every individual with smiles on their faces, and a change where mankind will be able to explore the rest of the unexplored lands awaiting them.

After years of training, Eren, Mikasa and Armin pursue their inevitable goal of protecting humanity and as for Eren, "to kick the Titans' ass".

Art 9~

I would summarize the animation and art with three words. Pretty top notch.
Animated by Production I.G, a producer known to have previously released other several high quality works and excelling in animation, from characters to the backgrounds to the action scenes, I can definitely claim this superb. The characters are well highlighted with thick black borders, making the audience able to easily distinguish the backgrounds from the characters while helping us understand these characters more as well.

The titans are depicted comically and uniquely, their faces are indescribable beauty and it is hilarious to the extent you would feel like bursting with laughter or at least laughing within you. However, a potential problem for some viewers would be that these crudely drawn faces can cause serious action and intense scenes into becoming scenes of where humour is seemed to be forcefully implemented into. Nevertheless, these faces kept us entertained and ultimately did not ruin many viewers enjoyment and expectations including me and did not have that much of an impact.

Sound 9~

Likewise, to say the music fits the anime at times is an understatement. Sound is excelled in Snk and is superb, having appropriate music to approach their required scenes in order to acquire and release their full wanted effects. Snk used euphonious, emotional and sympathetic soundtracks to hit on the dramatic and emotional scenes our characters experience. Ranging from a fusion of electronic, orchestral and rock type music, soundtracks such as "Bauklotze" and "Call your name" are examples of highly recognizable soundtracks of rock erupted adrenaline embedded into our veins and pumping our eagerness to watch the show. It keeps your feet on the floor, and your body sitting up straight. With Guilty Crown, Kill La Kill and Ao no Exorcist soundtrack composer Hiroyuki Sawano, I can ensure you that you will be leeched tightly onto your chair.

The opening prepares you with eagerness for what you are going to experience in the episode while the ending leaves that experience as a memory forever stained into your mind, wanting to see more.

Character 8~

One of the three main characters in Snk is Eren, the "boss" or "shounen leader" of the crew consisting of Mikasa and Armin and Friends. He is placed on a vocation to pursue the retribution on the titans due to the death of his loved ones and for humanity's thrust for freedom. This boy can be considered a raging nuisance, but that being said, this is what makes him intriguing as a character as throughout the show, we are put into his shoes to experience his physical and psychological pain he endured throughout his journey.

Next, Armin, at first being depicted as a pussy who would never takes the initiative and stand up for himself, having no absolute or firm resolve, he is shown to be weak and looks up to Eren his best friend from childhood. As a result, after walking the same path as Mikasa and Eren, he is shown to grow and develop as a character in his areas of determination and bravery, excelling and being of much use in the tactical and strategical field in battles.

Lastly, the one and only Mikasa. The epitome of flawless perfection, one of the reasons why I watch this show is simply Mikasa. She is "Shingeko no Kyojin" in a nutshell. Being physically strong and intelligent in combat, she is also notably and essentially one of the reasons why Eren wants to conquer the titans and she wants to ultimately, protect Eren as well, being her adopted loving brother and taking care of her when she did not have a home.
In pure opinion, I believe these characters were developed quite well, but it was possible to develop them to a deeper extent, exploring their personal background. The supporting crew of Snk is phenomenal, why? There is Levi and if I were you, lets just say if you piss him off, you won't have a very bright tomorrow. :D

Enjoyment 9~and Overall 9

The show to conclude kept me leeched, and It definitely has a gripping and well written story to accompany the fluid animation, art and epic soundtrack, all contributing into driving your blood inside your veins around your body. After watching Snk, I really have no idea if I am human anymore, the thrill of Snk has made me sub-human and so I will have to stop writing now. Snk will always be remembered when the anime community reflects on 2013 as a year, and we will then recognize how much anime has changed throughout the years, be it years, decades or centuries.