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Characters 3/10

I thought all the characters were annoying with one-note personalities and confusing motivations. If I had to pick a favorite character, it'd be Rubette only because I thought she was the least annoying.

Gokudou is an adventurer who only cares about money and women and doesn't think twice about stabbing his friends in the back to help himself. I've seen other anime where the protagonist is a selfish jerk, like Ataru from Those Obnoxious Aliens as an example, but the difference is Those Obnoxious Aliens was a comedy that relied on slapstick and Ataru was always punished for being a selfish jerk which isn't ... true for Gokudou which just leaves him feeling unlikable. Also, Gokudou isn't just a jerk, but he's also a coward who always runs away when things get tough which makes even more unlikable.

Furthermore, I don't understand Gokudou's motivation. He says he wants money and women, but when he becomes a prince of an entire kingdom (which includes a harem and a vault full of treasure) he gives up his thrown because he'd rather be an adventurer. Don't say you want something than change your mind as soon as you get it!

Rubette is Gokudou's love interest and a fellow adventurer. First, I really don't understand why Rubette and the others follow Gokudou around. They even start crying when they think he's dead even though he's repeatedly betrayed them and left them for dead! Also, I hate how Rubette is such a self-righteous hypocrite; she chastises Gokudou for stealing treasure even though she stole treasure too.

Jinn is a magical genie. He doesn't have much of a personality outside of being another voice of reason and I think he's meant to be just a plot device for when the writer's want magic stuff to happen.

Niari is a prince with magic powers. He's just as big a pervert as Gokudou, but is slightly less annoying.

Story 4/10

I once heard another critic say that a sign of good characters are ones that advance the story instead of the story advancing the characters. Gokudou is the latter kind. It just seems like every story arc in the show is just the characters cleaning up another mess they made.

Also, I thought every story arc was too convoluted making it difficult to follow and filled with plot holes.

For example, there's an episode where these two new character are introduced only for it to be revealed later they were actually snakes disguising themselves using magic. So animals in this universe can use magic too? How are they being snakes relevant to the story?

In another episode Gokudou's sword gets stolen, but its never explained how it was stolen? Why it was stolen? When it was stolen? And it wasn't even made clear who stole it?

Sound 8/10

The English voice acting was average, but one thing I will say is that this anime has a really good opening.

Overall 4/10

The characters are all unlikable and annoying, and the story is riddled with plot holes and inconsistencies. I don't even know if you can call Gokudou an anti-hero or a villain because that implies he has some goal he's trying to accomplish when really he's just fixing his own mistakes and never helps anybody, but himself.

My recommendation is just don't watch Gokudou and watch Slayers instead because they're basically the same only Slayers is much much better.

**Spoiler Warning**

Story 5/10

I had high expectations for this anime going in because I thought it had a really cool premise and I'm a huge fan of Mobile Suit Gundam, and it's painfully obvious this show was heavily inspired by Gundam. I mean Macross premiers in 1982, Gundam premiers in 1979 and both are about giant robots in space.

My biggest problem with this anime is it feels sappy and too sentimental. For example, there are several episodes where the aliens hear Minmay singing and than suddenly decide they don't like war and want to stop fighting. They explain how Minmay's song is the first music ... they've ever heard, but in despite of that I just find it impossible to believe that trained soldiers will just spontaneously change sides like that all from hearing one song. I mean maybe if they heard Minmay's songs repeatedly over a long period of time, I could see that happening, but not that quickly. Seriously, is Minmay a witch or a goddess or something? It borders on the line of deus ex machina.

Another big problem I have with this anime is its world building. A future where every country on Earth puts asides their differences and forms one centralized global government sounds wonderful, but its too idealistic and almost childish to believe. I mean you're telling me countries like Israel and Saudi Arabia actually worked together. Seriously?

Also, I feel like there's too much focus on Minmay and her story. Seriously, this anime feels less like a scifi action anime and more like a rags to riches story about Minmay becoming a star. Of course, I guess I should've predicted that with titles like "Do you remember love?" and "Lovers again."

Characters 6/10

Now, Hikaru may get more screen time than Minmay, but Minmay is definitely the protagonist of this story. Even when Minmay isn't in an episode, Hikaru won't stop talking about her.

I can't really think of anything I dislike about Minmay, but I'm not really a fan of love stories so I didn't really care about this love triangle that forms between Misa, Hikaru, and Minmay. Oh, and also there's Minmay's COUSIN Kaifun who she becomes romantically involved with and talks about marrying. HER COUSIN!!

Unfortunately, besides Minmay, none of the other characters have much personality or are that memorable. At first Hikaru is unsure about becoming a soldier and feels guilty for killing the aliens, but it doesn't really affect the story or change Hikaru's character.

We learn Misa has a complicated relationship with her father and she's still grieving over the death of her old boyfriend, but, again, it doesn't really affect the story or create any conflict.

Art 7/10

This anime had some talented animators working on it, but they still could've done a better job.

Even though the giant robots the characters fight with are prominently shown in the anime's opening, they don't actually appear as often as you'd assume in the anime. Whenever there's a fight, the characters mostly just fight with their planes instead. So if you were looking forward to a lot of giant robot fights, I'm sorry to disappoint you.

Also, I'm not really a fan of the Macross's design. It just looks kind of weird with it having two navy battleships for hands, no head, and this two towers on its shoulders. Plus, the Macross's special attack is just it punching an enemy ship which is kind of lame.

Sound 8/10

There are a variety of songs that Minmay's sings in this anime and I thought they were good.

Fun Fact: Minmay's voice actor also sings all the songs and she went on to become a J-pop idol in real life.

However, besides the music, whenever one of the aliens talked there was this really weird kind of synthesized echo and they made a ton of noise every time they took a step. I guess that was to emphasize how the aliens were giants, but it was kind of annoying and unnecessary.

Overall 6/10

I would not recommend this anime. There are so many other great mecha anime to watch like Gundam, Gurren Lagann, and Code Geass so I'd recommend one of those first. Also, if you're a fan of romance anime, again, so many better anime to choose from.

Ultra maniac is a rare kind of anime. An anime that's so bad it's funny. It fails in every category, but it fails in such a hilarious way that it's just so much fun to hate.

Story 1/10

The most obvious problem with this anime is it has a really unoriginal premise. Seriously, I can name at least a dozen TV shows (not just anime) where it's just another fish out of water story that has a main character whose a witch (or an alien, a robot, a goddess, a vampire, etc.) whose going to a school for humans and has to adjust to her new ... surroundings.

Of course, even if your story has an unoriginal premise that doesn't necessarily mean the story as a whole is awful. A good example is Kiki's Delivery Service which is also about a witch moving to a new home. However, while Kiki tells the basic fish out of water story, it tells it in an interesting way with great characters and beautiful animation. Ultra Maniac has none of those qualities and instead relies on overused cliches and tropes.

Every episode is just so predictable. For example, there's an episode where Maya creates a potion to make things shrink, but instead the opposite happens and it makes things bigger. Wow, who could've seen that coming (rolls eyes).

Another problem is that the show's world building is convoluted and makes no sense. For example, in order for Nina to do magic she first has to transform, then search on her personal computer for what kind of spell she wants, then she has to plug a cord from her computer into a magic box, then she has to put a random object inside the box, then she has to type the spell into her computer, then she has to say "practice", and then the spell happens.

From a writer's perspective, wouldn't it save like ten steps to just give Nina a magic wand like every other witch in popular culture? Oh, no wait, a magic wand is too old fashioned as Nina explains to Ayu.

Another problem with the world building is that witches and wizards seem to have this godlike power to just make matter materialize from nothing. For example, we see characters several times just wave their finger in the air and make something like a four course meal with a set table appear from nothing.

That raises so many questions. Can witches just make literally anything out of nothing?!

Art 2/10

The character animation looks stiff with not a lot of movement or detail and the effects animation is even worse. Whenever a character does magic they just use the exact same animation every time which is just white sparkles covering the screen.

I don't like the character designs much either. Nina's witch outfit just looks boring and isn't cute or eye catching at all.

Character 2/10

Every single character has a one note personality and doesn't go through any sort of development.

One things that confuses me about these characters is why are Nina and Ayu even friends? Seriously, all Nina does is cause trouble and make things worse for Ayu. I know everybody makes mistakes and nobodies perfect, but there's a limit as to how many times you can forgive a person before you just have to cut your losses.

Another thing I don't understand is the character's motivations; why is Ayu in love with Kaji? There is nothing interesting or unique about him yet Ayu thinks he's this embodiment of perfection.

Some characters I did actually like, however, were Sebastian and Luna. Unfortunately, for some strange reason, they only appear in one episode each.

Overall 8/10

Ultra Maniac is a train wreck of an anime that is full of one note characters, cheap animation, unappealing character designs, and an unoriginal story. I absolutely love to hate this anime.

Story 6/10

To tell a great superhero story, a great hero needs a great villain to fight, but that's where this show's problem lies.

Black Ghost is a great villain; he's ruthless and doesn't even care if his own henchmen get killed. He's also smart and devious which are all great qualities in a villain, but the problem is, despite being the main antagonist, Black Ghost only appears in a handful of episodes leaving all the other episodes just feeling like filler.

The cyborgs do fight other villains besides Black Ghost with some cool fight scenes, but the other villains are all just forgettable with nothing ... that interesting about them.

Characters 6/10

While all the cyborgs do have some cool powers (009 having super speed, 006 breathing fire, and 007 being a shape shifter) that doesn't make them great characters.

It's not that I don't like any of the MC's, but they just all feel like tokens with 009 being the token leader and 003 being the token girl and 007 being the token comic relief character.

It doesn't help that the characters don't have the best chemistry either or demonstrate the best teamwork. Good team members should compliment each other and work together, but whenever there's a fight it's like everyone splits up and does their own thing.

Art 5/10

The fight scenes are well animated and I do like this 1960's SciFi aesthetic they use for things like the ray guns and giant robots. However, the character designs are another story.

There are some characters that look fine like 009 and 003, but then there are other characters like Dr. Gilmore and 007 that just look plain ugly. Gilmore's nose is the size of a watermelon and 007's eyes are way too close together.

I understand that this what the characters looked like in the 1968 version, but, in my opinion, they just look ugly.

006 is even worse, however. I understand that 006 is Chinese and anime artist like to draw Chinese people with weird looking eyes like Brock from Pokemon, but seriously, what are those things? Those aren't eyeballs! They look more like little mouths!

I know it may seem like I'm making a big deal about it, but it's an understood rule of character design that it is extremely important that you get the eyes right because, as they say, the eyes are the windows to the soul.

Sound 5/10

I don't want to use the word robotic to describe the voice acting, but I does sound like the actors aren't putting much emotion behind their words which really hurts the characters.

Also, I can't really explain it, but I feel like there's too much silence in each episode. What I mean is there's too many moments where there are no characters talking and no background music playing or a character is talking, but with no background music. I know that may seem like a nitpick, but I do think it hurt the quality of the show.

Overall 6/10

I'm glad I watched Cyborg 009, if only because it's such a classic anime in the same way Astro Boy is, but I don't know if I'd recommend it to anyone. If you want to watch some good superhero anime, One Punch Man and My Hero Academia would probably be a better choice.

Story 5/10

The worst part about this anime is just how predictable and straight forward this story is. It almost feels like watching a "let's play" video of a fighting game where each episode should be titled something like Jingoro vs. Gyoubu or Nenki vs. Hotorubi.

This anime definitely has a cool premise, but where it fails is its execution with every episode just being another long fight scene making the story feel like mindless violence. There are a couple of scenes where we see the characters not fighting and just relaxing together, but it just feels like an intermission between the fights that adds nothing to ... the plot.

Furthermore, another problem with this anime is its lack of world building or exposition. All of the ninja have these crazy powers, but it's never explained where their powers come from or how they work. For example, Kazamachi is like this half-human half-spider thing that spits acid and eats people's brains, but it's never explained why. Was he bit by a radioactive spider? Is he possessed by some spider demon? Is he a mutant born with those powers?

Characters 7/10

Not just the story, but the characters too feel like they're right out of a fighting game where all we learn about them is their name, what attacks they can use, and nothing else.

Part of the reason for this problem is this anime has such a big cast of characters and they all get such little screen time. A character maybe in one or two episodes and then they die. This problem is made even worse by the fact every character has the exact same motivation which is revenge. Why do the Kouga hate the Iga? "Because the Igga killed our ancestors!" Why do the Iga hate the Kouga? "Because the Kouga killed our ancestors?"

The only characters who we learn anything about and go through any kind of development are Gennosuke and Oboro, but they're both far from ideal protagonists.

While I do like the drama of this forbidden romance Gennosuke and Oboro have, it's undermined by how quickly Gennosuke turns his back on Oboro when he learns the peace treaty has been dissolved and how little emotion he shows. Seriously, it looks like he doesn't even struggle with his decision; it's like he hears "we're at war with the Iga" and then says "well, I guess the weddings off. Bye."

Oboro is even worse with how it seems like she's trying to best Sakura from Naruto and steal her title as the WORST NINJA EVER! Oboro is such a burden to the other characters who constantly risk their own lives protecting her. Furthermore, I don't know if you can call it taking the moral high road to just do nothing and close your eyes as your friends and family are dying and you have the power to help them.

Art 8/10

While the story and characters maybe unimpressive, one thing that does stand out about this anime is it's art.

The fight scenes are really cool with the ninjas having all kinds of different powers and the ninjas themselves having interesting character designs like Jingoro is like a human-slug and Josuke being a human-blob.

Another aspect of the art I liked is the backgrounds. While other anime like Naruto are set in their own unique world, the animators clearly were striving for more realism here while doing a good job depicting 17th century Japan with the clothes the characters wear, the architecture of the buildings, and other things like the boat and the palanquin.

Overall 7/10

While I do really like the idea of a ninja war, this anime really should offer more than just have one fight scene after another while leaving no room for character development thereby making the story just seem like mindless violence.

However, the fights scenes are really good and there is some character development between Gennosuke and Oboro. Also, while the story was mostly predictable, I was surprised by the ending.

Story 6/10

As a slice of life anime, there isn't that much focus on the story with every episode just being the man characters average daily life at school and their club meeting after school. By the way, none of the three girls know anything about data processing and they just spend their club meeting Googling random words.

What I liked about the story was it filled me with a lot of nostalgia from remembering when I was in high school and the pointless conversations me and my friends had like if Batman only fights crime at night, then wouldn't all the criminals catch on to ... that eventually and just commit crime during the day?

I think what would make the story better, however, would be if they shortened each episode to about 11 minutes in length because I often found myself checking the time to see how long each episode was.

Characters 7/10

Yui is the straight-man of the group who karate chops Yuzoku's head when she starts to get too hyper.

Yuzuko is the carefree extrovert that likes to blurt out whatever random thought pops into her head.

Yukari is more introverted and mostly just goes along with whatever crazy thing Yuzuko is doing.

If I had to pick a favorite character it would definitely be Yuzuko because she did make me laugh a few times with just how random she can be. For example, there's an episode where, for no reason, she tells Yui she's going to die in 5 minutes therefore, if she has any final words, she should say them now.

Another character worth mentioning is the girl's teacher, Ms. Matsumoto. I just love how agreeable she is like for some reason Yuzoku insists on calling Ms. Matsumoto Ms. Mom and she just goes along with it. If I did that in real life my teacher would suspend me.

Art 6/10

The art is average. One thing I did like was the different reaction faces and whenever Yuzoku got crazy eyes like whenever she asked Yui if she could play with her boobs.

Overall 6/10

I know some people like anime like this because it creates an opportunity to turn your brain off for a little while, but I don't think it's for me.

Personally, I'd recommend Lucky Star over this. They're pretty similar in terms of story, but Lucky Star has a much faster pace with funnier jokes.

First, I want to point out that in the first episode there's reference to both Steins;Gate and Chaos;Head, but they're never referenced again so you don't have to watch either before watching Robotics;Notes.

Characters 3/10

Aki is the president of the Robot Research Club and her dream is to build a fully functional real life giant robot. Aki has a lot of energy and passion for robots and she's determined to make her dream come true despite what anyone tells her. Unfortunately, this makes her seem annoying and childish, partly because Aki's motivation for building a giant robot is to prove her older sister wrong that she ... isn't mediocre. Seriously, every time Aki mentions her sister, I just want to grab her by the shoulders and scream "stop caring what your sister thinks of you!"

Kai is also a member of the club and Aki's childhood best friend. Overall, I just found Kai boring. He almost never does anything except play some robot fighting game on his phone and it really makes me angry when he says thing like "we built this robot together." What's all this "we" stuff about? What did you do to help build this robot? Did you even pick up a wrench once?

Subaru is another member of the club and the pessimist to Aki, the optimist. The only problem I have with Subaru is that I agree with him. When he argues with Aki, he doesn't say things like "you aren't smart enough or determined enough to build a giant robot" instead he says "it's scientifically impossible for robot with a body that heavy to move." Subaru is part of the reason I found Aki childish.

Kona is definitely my favorite character. It's so funny how she's such a pervert and I love how she talks like she's sending a text message with a lot of acronyms.

Story 4/10

For the most part, this anime is a slice of life story, but the problem with that is in order to tell a good slice of life story you need good characters which this anime doesn't for the reasons above.

Something that would make this anime better is if I had more reason to root for Aki and to want to see her succeed, but I hate how her motivation is only to prove her sister wrong abut her.

Also, throughout the story, there are hints that some larger conspiracy involving the end of the world is going on, but we don't get the full picture until the last 4 episodes. Until then this anime is just a slice of life anime about the members of the Robotics Research Club.

There's a plot twist when it's revealed who the real villain is which I liked, but the anime also ends with some unanswered questions. What happened to Kona's mom? Where did the monopoles come from?

Art 4/10

Something else that would make this anime better would be if they sensationalized robots more and gave a reason for the audience to get excited. There's an episode where the characters enter a robot fighting tournament and at first I was excited because I imagined this would be like Gundam Build Fighters, but then I was very disappointed. It was so lame watching these toy robots push each other over like school kids on the playground.

Some things I did like, however, were the giant spider robot the villain uses at the end was cool looking and Airi, the AI, had a really cute design with her silver hair, black dress, and the big bow on top of her head.

Overall 4/10

I just found this anime boring and I wouldn't recommend it.

Story 3/10

When I first started watching Chaos;Head I was intrigued and it got my attention because I thought it was setting itself up to be a psychological thriller akin to Paranoia Agent, but then by about episode 6 the story takes a sharp left turn and becomes a typical action shounen story where the MC learns he has these special powers that he has to use to save the world from this evil organization.

I could see this working as a straightforward "good guys vs. bad guys" type story, but there are a few reasons why it fails at that. First, the MC, Takumi, is ... not heroic, in anyway; in fact, he's such a jerk I don't have much reason to root for him. Second, an action story needs good...well, action, but this story doesn't. There's rarely any actual fighting and when there is the choreography is just awful; it just looks like the characters are swinging their swords without thinking and without skill or strategy involved. Third, so if the MC's have the power to make anything they imagine real, doesn't that make them ridiculously overpowered? Seriously, why fight with swords? Imagine a tank or a heat seeking missile or even a Gundam.

Another complaint I have with the story is how confusing it is. Even when they provide exposition it doesn't explain anything; I'm still confused about what EG rates and anti-particles are and how that translates into them making swords appear from nothing.

Characters 2/10

Takumi a horrible protagonist. He's selfish, cowardly, perverted and instead of being punished he's rewarded with a harem of supporting characters. As an example of what a jerk Takumi is, there's a scene where Takumi is walking up the stairs at school and a girl in front of him trips and skins her knee. What does Takumi do? Walks around her. Seriously, he doesn't ask if she's alright, helps her up, or even registers her existence because if it doesn't effect him he doesn't care.

Also, if you listen to what Takumi says, almost every sentence he says contains the words "I","Me",or"My" and keep in mind he's suppose to be the hero of this story!

As for the other characters I don't have much to say.

Genichi was your typical egomaniacal villain with a God complex.

Rimi is Takumi's best friend who is in love with him for some reason.

Nanami is Takumi's bratty little sister.

Not really anything memorable or likeable I found about them.

Overall 4/10

I wouldn't recommend this anime to anyone; it fails as a mystery, it fails a psychological thriller, and it fails as an action story. Overall, it was just boring and I want to punch Takumi so much!!

Story 3/10

The thing that I hate most about this anime is the way it changes tone so spontaneously. For example, the characters may be rehearsing for a play one second, but a siren goes off and a voice says "Unit 5121 prepare for battle" then we see the characters getting in their giant robot suits to fight the aliens. What if an anime like Toradora did this? It's like the anime goes from being this slice of life anime to an action scifi anime at a moments notice.

However, what makes it worse is that it fails at both being a slice of life anime ... and a scifi action anime. To tell a good slice of life story requires strong characters, but these character are all dull with nothing interesting to say about them. This anime also fails as an action scifi story because literally every fight the characters have with the aliens is the same. The characters kill a couple of aliens, jam a bomb in the head of the "brain" alien, retreat, detonate the bomb, and the missions over. It's cool the first time, but the not the 12th time.

Also, can someone explain why the aliens pop like balloons after being shot once?

Sound 1/10

First, the music.

For an anime about teenage soldiers fighting in a war against alien monsters this anime has a very upbeat and positive opening which really doesn't introduce the show well. Furthermore, for some reason, whenever the characters are doing normal school stuff military marching music plays. Why?

Second, the voice acting.

The voice acting for this anime's English dub is awful. The VA's put so little emotion into their voices; it's so robotic that it almost sounds like the animators just used some text-to-speech program to voice the characters. Also, there are some characters like Mai who yell everything they say and others like Hayami that have this super annoying stutter.

Characters 3/10

All of these characters, with the exception of Mai who is the only character that goes through any kind of development, all feel like tokens with nothing memorable or likeable about them.
Takayuki is the ladies man who flirts with every girl he sees.
Matsuri loves money and is always trying to make a quick buck.
Tadataka is the level-headed leader.
Mio is clumsy.
Nonomi is cute.

The real tragedy is I feel like all these characters have the potential to be great, but none of the them get fleshed out enough or get enough focus.

Overall 3/10

Another anime that Gunparade reminds me of is Gundam Wing. Both anime are about teenagers fighting in a war and both have giant robots. However, what makes Gundam Wing superior is it doesn't just depict being a soldier as some part-time job you do after school, it shows that people aren't exaggerating when they say war is Hell. The life or death uncertainty of a battle field, the physical and psychological trauma it can cause, and even the gray area of morality that soldiers operate in. Gunparade is like "Hurry guys, let's finish our mission so I can be on time for my date."

If Gunparade was less serious like Girls & Panzer or more campy like a magical girl anime then I could understand, but because this anime goes from being super serious to being not serious at all so suddenly and it fails at both being a slice of life anime and a scifi action anime I'm giving it a 3 out of 10.

I really like the idea of a high school in Hell and I can think of a lot of other great movies with similar premises like Pixar's Coco and Tim Burnton's Corpse Bride, but what ruins this movie is its execution.

About at the 30 minute mark, it's like the writers just completely abandoned their original premise of a high school in Hell and the whole movie falls apart. There's all this talk about the madness of Able, God appears but doesn't really add anything to the story, and the movie's ending doesn't even make sense.

On top of that, the movie is full of anime ... cliches like how Rinne is constantly late for school, the student council being the antagonists, and Rinne having this genki girl personality where she's so happy go lucky and optimistic all the time.

Also, a lot of the conflicts in the movie are resolved through deus ex machina. For example, a character loses his arm, but Rinne just tells him to believe in himself and magically the arm reappears because all you have to do is believe you can do something and it'll come true.

The only good thing about this movie is the art. I really like the design of the school and the demon students that attend it. It's interesting how each demon is designed after a different monster like a mummy, a witch, a werewolf, and Frankenstein's monster. However, while the designs are good, the animation is another matter. It's painfully obvious that this movie was made on a small budget; there's one scene that lasts for over 10 minutes where all we see is a clip show of still images.

Overall, I'd recommend do not watch this movie. It seems like some talented people worked on it, but it's so disorganized and poorly executed that I recommend avoiding it.