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Metro Survive takes place in the middle of the city, Tokyo. As the name describes the entire plot, there's a lot more to uncover from this. Metro Survival brings up emotions from the bottom of the heart, uncovering the true heart of a human being. People in despair, people that have totally given up all hope of life and people struggling for their life.

The story's main protagonist is a person called Mishima Shogo, a young man with a wife and a little kid working at the brand new paradise of entertainment. The Expolis Tokyo where the entire plot is unfolded at. It's a paraside of ... glass, having anything you desire. It was built fast, for the sake of the grand opening to be commenced as soon as possible which left a lot of weaknesses to the structure. This leaves the repairs and security to always be the top priority, which also strucks the employees who is working. Mishima is one of them, and he always finds himself working overtime having to time left to spend with his family.

Mishima is quite the lackluster person. He's a coward who is always running away from problems, never wanting to face them. He never talks back even though his chief lets him the go earlier in advance, only to tell him that he needs to work overtime. He always accepts this even though his minds tells him different. In reality, he would like to destroy the life he worked so hard to build up for the sake of his family.

The story starts to takes place in the subway, on the very day of his sons birthday. Having bought a present, being told to work overtime even though the chief did tell him that he could leave earlier in advance, missing his sons birthday totally and leaving for home at around five AM Mishima sits on the train which have just departed the disaster strucks. A earthquake scaled seven (!) strucks Tokyo. And it strikes hard. The train jumps off its tracks, and the electricity dies. With two elders, two bums, two parents with their son, the conductor of the train and the heroin Sachi, Mishima now must face the problems he for so long have run away from.

The story is quite simple, and it's not that interesting. It's straightforward, and it's easy to figure out what will happen next. But then, it's not the story who drove me to keep reading it. It's the characters, which each one of them have a unique role in the manga. I'd say it's the characters that makes the manga. Each one of the characters are built the way to serve their role, with astonishing results. They are real, I compared some of my friends (yes I have them) with a couple of characters in it. Add a slice of despair to it, and what will happen? You get the true heart of that person. And once again, with a astonishing result. Their personalitys reflects deep and best of all, realistic. People in despair shows a totally different face than people living normally which is drawn well. Talking about drawing, the art. No, it's not bad. It's in fact good. Not great, but good. Not generally my type when it comes to drawing but I still liked it. Emotions are put well in faces, the faces of despair. The faces of happiness (you think there is any in this manga?) and the face of a person who have totally given up all hope. It's reflected, and it's done well.

Too long didn't read version:

A short, but enjoyable manga which deals with the true nature of a human when facing despair. With great characters, a lacklusting story which the art makes up for it's a manga worth checking out. It won't leave you with a taste of wanting more, nor will it leave you disappointed.

7½/10 (stupid MAL not having half point scores).

Blue Drop ~Tenshi-tachi no Gikoyku~ (The Angels Play) is the adaption to the manga Blue Drop (which I haven't read). One of my friends sent me a link to it, and I decided to check it out which I'm grateful for.

The greatest assets in this anime is the art. The art is superbly smooth and well done, details couldn't have been more and everything just looks so realistic. Already from the beginning you can see it, the beauty in the art. It is sparkling and dazzling and leaves a taste of wanting more.

The storyline can be a bit hard to understand first, it's more ... like a Slice of Life in the beginning. Introduction to the environment, all the characters and lots of new stuff appearing all the time. But despite that, it all goes in a very smooth and calm pace which leaves plenty of room for one to enjoy.

Characters are rich and engaging, they interact with each other a lot and are very detailed. Their personalities are flawless and make good spots for humor in their own way when making mistakes.

The OP and ED are both made by same artist, Suara and are very good. The OP leaves a trace of sadness and beauty, and the ED gives a calm feeling. But the rest of the soundtrack aren't that astounding but it fits well into the scenes.

In my own opinion, there ain't many drama animes that has this mix of emotions in it. Happiness that makes them laugh until the fall asleep, hate that constructs an aura around you strong enough for others to feel and sadness so deep that the body they live in feels like a vessel for hell. Emotions in this anime are really bunched up in a mix that makes you taste all the flavors one by one strongly.

For those who like Slice of Life's and drama, here is a perfect anime for you. I strongly recommend this, from the very bottom of my otakuheart.

Before reading this recommendation, I want to notify that I have been quite rough in setting out the points. This is because of if I would set out the points the way I saw Madlax on, they would all be 10. But then again, not everyone have my taste of anime, since I'm a dramaholic and like these kinds of slow animes. Therefore, I set out these points the way I think an average watcher would rate it. But still, ofcourse there will be my own opinions in it.

Story; 7
Yes, the story is a bit confusing from time to times. And it proceed slowly, showing ... lots of their personal life and repeating memories often. But still, it's a quite interesting story showing from a normal life to a supernatural journey. The two protagonists lives in totally different countries, living completely different lives but are connected to each other in a quite complicated way.

Art; 7
Yes, the art has not anything specific. It looks like any average anime. Can't really tell so much, but you know what I mean if you have watched anime from 2000 or something. Actionsequences looks cool, but there are things in some episodes that shouldnt be where they are.

Sound; 10
This is one of the mainreasons why this is one of my favorite animes. Just as from Noir, Yuki Kajiura is the composer for the soundtrack. And all those who like Yuki Kajiura, yeah you get a picture of it. It's lovely, and it fits really much. Even though they may repeat some songs often, I couldn't care less since I love the soundtrack. Just hearing it makes me feel like a new human.

Characters; 8
The characters are interesting just like in any of Bee Train's animes. All of their animes have at least one of those calm and complicated protagonists, which I tend to like. Madlax is kind of hot, and the rest are quite enjoyable to watch.

Enjoyment; 6
Yes. It's a 6. As I wrote in the beginning, I tend to like these kinds of slow animes who makes you want to think a bit for understanding the plot, their feelings and such stuff. But I know that not everyone like this, in fact this anime is FREAKINGLY slow and I know many who have dropped this because of that. Also, there are really many repeats in memories and such stuff, which could get on your nerves. Neverless, IF you liked Noir I think Madlax could be something for you. But be aware, it's even deeper then Noir.

Overall; 7
Most of the points comes from the soundtrack and the characters. I wouldn't recommend this anime to people who didn't liked Noir or El Cazado or doesn't like drama at all. This anime got so much drama that the humans ego couldn't even be compared to it. But I loved it, and if you like drama here is the anime for you. It got beauty in it too.