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Ah, Ars Nova. One of my favorite show in Fall 2013 anime's lineup and definitely my favorite anime in the field of action genre. Despite the CG animation, which I really don't mind, it is one of the anime with good story even though it became somehow less serious after Makie's episode (e.g. Hyuuga being dere on Iona) but regained seriousness before it ended. And being a nano fan, I enjoyed Ars Nova's opening as well as its other OSTs. You can say it's a horrible anime maybe because of the CG animation and/or the story but one thing I can say is that Ars ... Nova is unique in its own way and that what makes it special.

Now, going to the story..

So what's Ars Nova is about? Well, you can say it's like Code Geass which has a protagonist that came to meet a not-your-normal-girl type and has gone to become like fugitives who is an enemy of both government and "Fleet of Fog" and encountered other Mental Models in the series. Besides that, another story in Ars Nova is how Mental Models, take Takao for example, have started to have emotions and feelings for humans like Chihaya Gunzou and with those traits, caused them to be "defective Mental Models" and become an enemy of the Fog.

Those said, one might think the story is boring and bland but it is not. Well, there's few non-serious scenes like the Hyuuga thing but overall, it's as great as it gets. The battles, which the series is full of, are top-tier action in Ars Nova way because obviously, it is not like Reborn or Fairy Tail which have constant clashing and fighting everytime whenever there's battle but Ars Nova is more of a Code Geass type that has strategies in between battles. Regarding the being defective Mental Models part, there's nothing much I could say but as we know, things are developing and most of the time, copes with the environment they are on and that said, I think it's normal to them to develop such traits and be defective. And lastly, the ending. Like most endings, what happens after is short but well done. Overall, Ars Nova's story makes it worth a watch and clearly deserves a high rating.

For the art... Like what I said before, Ars Nova is full CG animation and probably many people would find it bad but in my opinion, it actually suits the anime well. That said, because it's a CG anime, the emotions of the characters are overall not that good as there were many times when they are emotionless and doesn't fit the scene but aside from that, the ships, the battles, the designs, all were superb and that's why I gave it a rating of eight.

Moving on to soundtracks..

As what you can see on my profile, nano is one of my favorite people and she's one of my favorite singers due to her capability of singing in both English and Japanese and with that, obviously I would say the opening as well as the fourth ending was great but seriously, it is great. The background music during battles were doing what exactly their job is and it is to give the action scenes more intensity and make it more exciting and great. Other background music is also as great as others and they compliment the scene well.

For the characters, basically, the supporting characters like Kongou and Takao did get the most changes. I'm not going to say what change they had throughout the show but I guess those changes made the story flow. For our main characters, Chihaya Gunzou and Iona, there's not much development except for Iona understanding the humans and that's it. They pretty much stayed the same as well as their colleagues which didn't have that much screentime. With those said, I guess you can conclude that antagonist got more changes and Mental Models are one of the focus of the story (like what I said).

So overall, Arpeggio of Blue Steel: Ars Nova is one good action sci-fi anime. The CG art should suffice and this aspect is the one to decide whether you'll watch it or drop it but look at other aspects first before doing so. There are less serious scenes which make them breather scenes if you are having a hard time because of the actions that are happening throughout the show. The show was enjoyable at the very least. It couldn't be entertaining like other anime for it being only a 12-episode anime but I think it can be enought to show how good and enjoyable this show is. So if you are looking for an action/sci-fi anime, why not try Ars Nova? Trust me, it's worth as it is unique in its own way.

One short film, one old man, one home, one masterpiece.

If I'm about to write a description about Tsumiki no Ie, that's what I'll say. Even if this has it's just 12 minutes long, even if the animation is bad for some people who prefer those modern anime art, and even there are no voice, narrator whatsoever and it's just pure background music, this short film is too good despite those things. Don't get me wrong though as I don't rate anime by those factors alone.

Remembering the past is always a good thing even if some of them are sad and bad, it's still a good ... memory because they also made what the present you is.

Now, Tsumiki no Ie's old man recalled the happy and sad memories of his early days and this is where the story of Tsumiki no Ie is about. For a 12-minute long movie, the story is too good for that length. Imagine, you don't have to watch a 24-minute long anime with 12 episode just to get a good watch. You only need 12 minute for that good anime to watch. The story also gives you those nostalgia that can make you say "Man, I miss those days." So yeah, this is good.

Before, when I see these kind of art, I refuse to watch them. But I came to realize that you don't really have to have what most modern anime art to have good anime. Tsumiki no Ie's art is probably not everyone's cup of tea but this shouldn't be underestimated for its art is unique in its own way. After all, this won't have an Oscar award for nothing.

From what I said before, lack of voice isn't that big of a problem. Its background music is enough for this masterpiece and the bgm compliments with the story pretty well. It helps to set up the mood of the anime and it did its job done.

For the characters, well... The old man is the only character in this short film but even if he's the only one, he's lovable and the him of his past is heart-soothing.

Well, what more can I say? I think all I did is say this is good, it's a masterpiece all that jazz. But you can't blame me. It really is a masterpiece of a short film.

So for those who haven't watch this short film yet, I really recommend you to watch this. It'll only take 12 minutes of your life to finish this and I'm pretty sure you won't regret that you watch this.

When I first played Valkyria Chronicles 2 (I don't have PS3 for me to play the first one), I got addicted to it because for me it's well done and since then, I have become a fan of the franchise.

Here, I'm about to write a review about Valkyria Chronicles 3, set in the same time of the first game, and since this is my first review and I'm not a native English speaker, expect it to be somewhat meh.

When it comes to the same series with different setting type, Valkyria Chronicles is no exception to it for it having a Valkyria and a group or ... squad fighting the Empire and because of that, people may feel disappointed because of the repititiveness. In a way, I sometimes can't help but to feel the same.

An OVA composed of only two episodes, I must say that Valkyria Chronicles 3 is rushed because you just can't fit the whole game into an anime with two episodes but I can't say that it's that bad. Valkyria Chronicles 3 still gives you the goodness of the game and despite of it being rushed, the action scenes and how it's done is pretty good imo.

As for the art, it's the same as the first anime, neat and clean and fitting for the theme. Every uniform is well detailed and the color combination is appealing and the equipnments and tanks as well.

Valkyria Chronicles 3 isn't far from the quality of the sound of its predecessors, it's still as good as before. From the voice actors to the background music, the OP and ED, it doesn't give you a tiny little bit of annoyance at all. Every voice actor's voice suits the character they are playing pretty well. As for the music, I listened to it for like 20 times and unlike some of the new songs being used in new anime, the quality of the music is far better than today's.

Because of the series being short, you may not quite get the personality of every character in the series. You may have known a little of their personality but for me it's still not enough and therefore it shouldn't have been an OVA but a 12-episode one or like Valkyria Chronicles, a 26-episode one and because of this, I'll give the character rating a 6.

tl;dr Valkyria Chronicles is a short and rushed series and the overall goodness of it comes from the art, sound and on how the fight is done.

If you're looking for a short OVA that has action, Valkyria Chronicles 3 isn't the best but it can give you the action you're looking for though Valkyria Chronicles is better and can satisfy you in all aspect or you can just play the game though VC3 is only in Japanese.