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Back in 1998, I was only 2 years old, and it wouldn't be another 3 years until I was introduced to anime. So I never got to watch the Trigun series, and to this day I have yet to watch it. Its been on my to do list, but I just haven't gotten around to it. However, now that I have Netflix, I watched one episode of the series, and then went straight to the 2010 movie. I know, a really strange decision, but I did it anyway. And honestly, I don't regret that. Not in the slightest.

Trigun: Badlands Rumble is one of those ... rare anime films that harkens back to the pre-moe days, and a time when a lot of anime were quite original. This is of course due to the fact that the original series came out in 1998. The art style was also reminiscent of a late 90's/early 2000's anime film. It reminded me of Cowboy Bebop and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, just to name two. It was a refreshing feeling honestly. And it made me feel like a kid again.

Speaking of feeling like a kid again, I just couldn't help laughing at Vash throughout the movie. He's a hopeless womanizer, and quite comedic. The comedy is further reinforced by the fact that he is voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch, who captures every aspect of the character perfectly. All of the other characters were also portrayed accurately, and the dub of the film is leagues better than the original series. What really intrigued me though, was learning that Johnny Yong Bosch also voiced Vash in the original dub of Trigun. It was shocking to see how much he's improved since then. It isn't often that a role is reprised more than 10 years later by the same actor.

Next to the characters and art of the film, the soundtrack also captures the originality of the series. It isn't your standard anime soundtrack, and sounds like it belongs in a Wild West film. And that isn't a bad thing. It was refreshing change of pace from what I was used to hearing, and it fit the film like a glove.

To be honest, there isn't much to say about the story. It was great, and it had quite a bit of comedy which gave me quite a few good laughs. I found myself drawn to the characters and wanting to know more about them. What makes them do the things they do? And that question is mostly answered by the end of the film, even if it wasn't really intentional.

Despite having jumped into the film before I could really get into the TV series, Badlands Rumble has sparked an interest in me. So, following the submission of this review and good nights sleep, I'm going to continue watching the series, even if I have to put up with a hokey sounding English dub. At least Vash's antics should keep me thoroughly entertained.

In this world, there are many kind of stories. Some are quite serious, others are far from serious, and then there are the stories that meet in the middle and provide you with a very serious story that at times may also seem quite ridiculous. Durarara!! is one of those middle series.

The story of Durarara!! takes place in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. Ikebukuro is filled with many rumors and mysteries. It's an interesting place, and so is the story. The story carries quite a few serious tones through its run of 26 episodes. Mixed in with the seriousness is a very nice comedy seasoning with a side ... of ridiculousness that'll have you bursting out into laughter at regular intervals. The comedy serves as a breath of fresh air amongst the seriousness. The story itself is split up into 3 separate arcs. And while the first arc is pretty good, the second and third arcs fail to live up to that first part. The OVA episodes, 12.5 and 25, are good in their own right since they don't fit into any of the three story arcs. Episode 25 in particular is hilarious and a refreshing ending to the first season.

The art of Durarara!! unfortunately is somewhat of a week point. It's clear at most times that the budget wasn't exactly the largest. As a result, the backgrounds look stunningly beautiful as are the use of colors, but the characters themselves are not extremely detailed. However, one plus side is that the main characters stick out from the rather large crowds. Most background characters are colored a solid gray, while the main characters are fully colored and given detail. This makes them stand out amongst the city crowds and nameless characters. To make matters even better, the show has what are called Color Gangs. Each gang is represented by a color such as Blue, Red, Yellow, Green, and even Colorless. Some background characters are shown to wear colored pieces of clothing. These colored bits are in contrast to the rest of the character which is colored gray. So even though the characters tend to lack detail, this is more than made up for.

The sound of Durarara!! is yet another strong point. From the sounds of the city to the actions of the characters, everything has appropriate sounds. The soundtrack is bombastic and loud, sometimes not even seeming like music, and yet it goes very well with the chaotic nature of the series and almost always fits the scene its played in. So no complaints there. Yet another upside to this series is both the sub and the dub. Aniplex of America licensed the series, and while it's nearly impossible to get it on Blu-Ray because they demand an extremely high price for it, the quality of the dub is well worth the added expense. Many famous actors round out the cast such as Crispin Freeman, Johnny Yong Bosch, Yuri Lowenthal, Steve Blum, and Kari Wahlgren among others. Not one character sounds out of place, and I can say that after having also watched the subbed version at the exact same time. Both versions are equally good, so if you prefer one over the other, there should be absolutely no problems in the voiceover department.

Durarara!! is filled with a colorful cast of characters and not a single one of them will disappoint you. Every character gets some kind of development over the course of the series and each one of them has a unique personality that sets them apart from everyone else. They standouts are obviously Shizuo Heiwajima and Izaya Orihara whose antagonistic relationship has led to many a fanfic and shipping. I found it extremely hard to dislike any of the characters in the series which is a really good thing. Means the author did something right when creating these characters, especially with how many of them their are.

In closing, Durarara!! is a series that should definitely not be overlooked by anyone. If you loved Baccano, you'll love Durarara!! as well since it was written by the same guy and animated by the same studio. I even think it has the same composer. There's a lot to like in this average length anime, and in my opinion, it's worth a watch for the characters alone. So as far as a recommendation is concerned, this is recommended to everyone. And if for some reason you don't like ANYTHING about this series, please don't shoot the messenger. I like living. It's fun.

Corpse Party: Tortured Souls is an anime spin-off of a horror video game series. This OVA series lasts 4 episodes, each episode running approximately 30 minutes in length. And with the runtime of a single film, this is not a series that should be passed up.

The story of Corpse Party is your normal horror story, but with some mystery mixed in to give things a bit more flavor. This is a good thing because if it wasn't for the mystery part of it, the horror part would just be an excuse to watch people be brutally murdered in glorious 720p HD. And while I'd normally ... prefer more story with my anime, this series still managed to satisfy me because it kept me entertained for two whole hours and actually managed to make me jump once or twice, something most horror series have trouble doing because they're so predictable. And while I wouldn't necessarily say that Corpse Party isn't predictable at times, it at least tries to keep you guessing at to who'll die next and in what way. The only true negative I saw however, was that its video game roots were clear at times.

The art design of Corpse Party fits very well with its horror theme. Most colors were muted so that darker colors such as green, red, and white stuck out far more than others. At the same time, the art was almost constantly highly detailed. The production spared no expense making this series look beautiful. The gore is also draw with quite the attention to detail. They pretty much had everything including the kitchen sink. Eyeballs being ripped from sockets, shiny pink intestines with trails of blood running off of them, fists punching through heads, hearts, brains, decomposing flesh, and of course, no corpse would be complete without maggots. This kind of detail is rare to see, and I can only really think of a few examples that have gone that far.

Corpse Party features an amazing sound design that really speaks volumes to its horror lineage. Creaking floorboards, a clock striking midnight, the sounds of body parts being ripped off, other gore related sounds, spooky voices, evil laughter, etc. It's all there and does not disappoint. The soundtrack also goes nicely with the series speaking to both the horror and mystery of it. Need a horror cue? It's there. Need something to spice up a mystery scene? No problem. Now, that's not to say the music is perfect. It's just fitting and works nicely. Since there's no dub, I obviously watched a subbed version of it. The acting, as far as I'm able to tell, is quite good(Though the quality of the subs I used was questionable at times.). The actors convey the horror quite nicely with screams, moans, laughing, anger, etc.

Corpse Party features no fewer than 15 characters, but only 11 of them are prominent. Nine of which are the actual cast of protagonists. Well, actually, after a while it becomes hard to call some of them protagonists. They at least stand out from one another during their on-screen time. However, I found it kind of hard to really care for any of the characters, in part due to the shows relatively short length and the fact that most of the characters don't get any development whatsoever. Again, mostly due to the short run time. Brief bits of character development show what could have been promising characters, but it is otherwise short lived and just about nothing comes of it. Moral of the story: You probably won't get attached to any of the characters. And if you do get attached to one, you might want to say some prayers or whatever it is you decide to do for their soul just in case.

Overall, it wasn't a bad series at all. It's enjoyable and horror fans will probably get a kick out of the gore and scares, while mystery fans should be pleased with the mystery solving portion of it. However, the series really could have benefited from a longer running length and more character development. Possibly even more of a story could've helped as well, but the basic framework of the story held up on its own well enough. So I definitely recommend this series to anyone with a strong stomach. If you don't have a strong stomach... you might want to keep a bucket or trash bin on hand.

Halo: Legends is a collection of 7 short stories set in the Halo universe. Each story is separate from the others and produced by a different anime studio. Each episode lasts approximately 15 minutes for a total run time of nearly 2 hours.

Halo: Legends has a total of 7 stories, technically 8. The first story is Origins, which is a recounting of the Halo universes history from the distant past to present day. It's entertaining to watch and it can catch anyone who isn't familiar with the in-universe history up to speed in about half an hour. It also presents possible plot points for future ... Halo video game titles. The second short, The Duel, is set in the distant past not long after the formation of The Covenant. It explains how the rank of Arbiter became a mark of shame. This is a critical piece of Halo lore that should not be missed, even if it can be a bit over dramatic. The third short is Homecoming. It's a side story that follows a Spartan II named Daisy. To be honest, this one, while self-explanatory, was also a bit confusing. It sheds some light on the Spartan-II project, but otherwise doesn't do much else in terms of story. Though it does have a nice bit of fan service at the end. The 4th short is known as Odd One Out. This short is the only non-canon episode of the Halo: Legends collection. It's a parody of sorts that makes Halo seem more like Dragon Ball Z. It's hilarious to say the least. It's a nice change of pace from all the seriousness I'll admit. The 5th short is Prototype. This one is one of the more serious episodes and tells a more Human story than the others, revolving around the Marine known as Ghost. The tagline BE HUMAN is constantly brought up, whether through dialogue or other means. Best to keep that in mind while watching if you want to truly understand this episodes purpose. The 6th short is The Babysitter, which follows the ODST's of the 105th on a mission to assassinate a prophet with the help of Spartan Cal-141. This episode is entertaining and at the same time serious. It shows just how dangerous the job of an ODST can be. The last short is The Package. Unlike all of the other episodes in this collection, The Package is entirely CGI rather than hand-drawn animation like the rest. It follows the series titular character Master Chief John-117 as he leads a team of Spartans to recover an important package. It's an action-packed episode and has no real meaning other than to be entertaining.

The art style varies from episode to episode due to the change in production studios. Origins has a very fluid art style and at times looks slightly reminiscent of something out of a Miyazaki film. The Duel trades in traditional animation for a cel-shaded animation style with a watercolor overlay. This gives it a distinctly unique appearance in contract to the rest of the episodes, but it is quite beautiful to look at and is by no means out of place or unwelcome. Homecoming features a simplistic art style that rarely has many details. The quality of the art increases at times for important scenes, but other than that, it looks kind of low budget. The same can be said for Odd One Out, which does not feature heavily detailed art, again having a more simplistic art style. The greatest amount of detail can be seen in the only scene where it rains, which is quite beautiful. Anyone who has watched the Dragon Ball series will instantly feel at home with this art style as it was made by the same production studio. Prototype has the highest detail out of all the hand-drawn episodes. Being more gritty and realistic in terms of art style, there is a lot of detail in the appearances of the characters, the explosions, vehicles, and environments making this possibly the most visually appealing out of all of them. It adds character to the episode and goes along quite nicely with the tagline "BE HUMAN". The Babysitter on the other hand goes back to a somewhat simplistic style. The characters are often low-quality while the backgrounds are extremely detailed, and to be quite honest, this is actually a nice trade-off as it really brings out the character of the environments. The Package is a completely CGI episode, making it appear more similar to The Duel in terms of art style, minus the watercolor effect. The models are all very highly detailed and the effects go quite nicely with the action. Though I do have to take issue with the physical depiction of one specific character who is portrayed as far younger than they actually are.

The sound design remains mostly consistent between episodes, reusing sound effects and soundtracks between each of them with some unique tracks and effects to make them stand out. This was likely a budgetary issue rather than a lack of creativity. The dub is unfortunately a Sentai dub, however, they at least did a decent job at casting characters and they don't quite feel lifeless. David Matranga plays Ghost quite well. However, it was kind of disappoint that none of the voice actors from the video games reprised their roles for these anime shorts. The actors that replaced them fit well with the characters, but it just seemed out of place.

Because all of the shorts are separate from one another, there is no lack of new characters between them and very rarely is a character shared between episodes. The physical depiction of Master Chief John-117 varies between the episodes he is featured in and he seems to display more emotion than his video game counterpart. In fact, he seems closer to the Master Chief depicted in the novels. Cortana narrates the entirety of the Origins episodes, acting as a historian of sorts. She also appears in Odd One Out albeit briefly. Ghost is perhaps the most realistic depiction of a broken soldier in the series and while many may find him bland or unlikable, I personally found him to be the opposite and easily one of my favorite characters. Spartan-1337 provides quite a bit of comic relief in the parody episode Odd One Out. Being a parody, he can get away with a lot of things that normally wouldn't happen. He is also the closest thing we'll get to a Spartan version of Goku. Dutch from ODST is also present in the episode The Babysitter, although his voice actor did not reprise the role. And just to clarify, the Arbiter seen in The Duel is not the same Arbiter as Halo 2 & 3. This Arbiters name is Fal' Chavamee, while the Arbiter in the games is named Thel' Vadamee. Or in the case of Halo Wars, Ripa' Moramee. Sorry about that quick diversion.

Overall, this series was a phenomenal collection. I thoroughly enjoyed the anime take on the Halo franchise. And as a Halo fan and an anime fan, it was a dream come true for these two to be thrown together and I honestly hope a Halo: Legends 2 is produced at some point in the future, perhaps as a full-fledged television series or feature film. If you're a fan of Halo, or looking for a good sci-fi story, Halo: Legends is a pretty good watch and I highly recommend it, though the varying tones between episodes may not be for everyone.

While the first season of Clannad was merely an introduction to everything, Clannad: After Story, the second and final season, is a well written continuation that needs no introductions of characters. Its length runs about 21 - 22 episodes and is quite the ride from beginning to end.

The story of Clannad: After Story picks up directly after the first season, and while you'd be correct in assuming that his season is best watched after the first season, it could also be watched as a standalone series of its own and will still pack a powerful punch. It continues the story of Tomoya Okazaki and Nagisa ... Furukawa not long after the end of the first season. It focuses exclusively on them and their relationship, with characters from the first season taking a backseat and for the most part disappearing from the story almost entirely. Characters such as Yosuke Yoshino become far more prominent in the second season. He takes on a sort of mentor role to Tomoya and gives some great advice. After Story contains the real meat of the Clannad story and it will pack multiple punches throughout its run. Expect to have your heart broken and then given back to you, only to be violently ripped out again and given back to you one last time. I was left speechless when it was all said and done.

The art style of Clannad: After Story is nearly identical to its predecessor with high quality art and animation throughout. As with the first season, the moe art style is ever present, especially when younger characters are introduced later on down the line. You really can't help, but think they're cute with those big eyes.

As with the first season, the soundtrack is a re-orchestration of tracks from the original visual novel, and they are quite well done and worthy of multiple listens. The dub is just as good if not better than the first season, with a lot of emotion on display from Tomoya Okazaki played by David Matranga among other characters.

As mentioned earlier, a lot of the characters from the previous season take a backseat to the story and became pretty much non-existant. Akio and Sanai Furukawa as well as Yosuke Yoshino became even more prominent than they were before to fill the absence of the other characters. The story focuses squarely on Tomoya Okazaki and Nagisa Furukawa so it's understandable that the story focuses extremely little on other characters unless it's something really important. This season also introduces a few new characters who are all interesting and lovable in their own right.

Overall, this season was a masterpiece and can be rewatched multiple times over. This particular season of Clannad made me question a lot of things about myself. Questions I had thought answered were suddenly left without answers. It was truly an eye opened for me as I'm sure it has been for others. This series made me happy, I laughed, and I almost cried multiple times over. Very few series have brought me close to tears, but Clannad did it multiple times, a new feat. This is one series that I can highly recommend to just about anyone, not just fans of romance anime and adaptations of visual novels. Watch either the dub or the sub, you won't regret it either way.

Clannad was originally an all ages visual novel released by acclaimed visual novel developer Key. It was adapted into a full fledged anime in 2007, which is what this review focuses on. I watched this series on a recommendation from a friend, and I gotta say, I was not disappointed at all.

The story of Clannad is standard fare for an adaptation of a visual novel. You have the protagonist, his goofy best friend, and his 5 female companions. And as with most adaptations of visual novels, one of the female heroines is chosen to be the primary heroine while the others are relegated to background ... duty. In terms of story arcs, the background heroines go first, exploring their individual backgrounds and problems. By the end of the season, as expected, all the background heroines have been taken care of and it is the turn of the primary heroine. This love story does not disappoint, but it does feel like one big introduction. The entirety of the first season introduces you to the town, all of the colorful characters that inhabit it, and their struggles. However, it does come to a nice close and can be considered standalone if you really wanted it to be.

The art style of Clannad is strikingly beautiful with very few average quality scenes. There is a lot of shine and polish to this series and Kyoto Animations trademark moe style is ever present throughout. the large eyes of the characters can at times be off putting, but you'll eventually get used to it, and as with most moe series, you will start to find the characters to be cute.

The sound design of the series is also very well done. There isn't much to say on the sound effects as those are standard anime fare. However, the soundtrack is well worth the praise. Most of the tracks are re-orchestrated versions of their visual novel incarnations with some original tracks. The soundtrack is just strikingly beautiful and not a day has gone by since I watched it that I haven't listened to at least one track from it. And while Sentai dubs are usually sub-par in terms of quality, Clannads dub is definitely watchable. The characters definitely do not seem emotionless, and the voice actors do their best to keep up with the moe way of speaking that honestly isn't easy to do in the English language.

Clannad features a very tight knit group of characters that blend quite well with one another. From the lazy protagonist Tomoya Okazaki and his dimwit best friend Youhei Sunohara, to the various female heroines of Nagisa Furukawa(And her awesome parents Akio and Sanai.), Tomoyo Sakagami, Kyou and Ryou Fujibayashi, Fuko Ibuki, and Kotome Ichinose. Each of their personalities differ from one another greatly and the interactions between them all can become quite hilarious at times.

Overall, I found this to be a very good series and is worth at least one rewatch. It also stands as a fairly decent Sentai dub, proving that not all of their dub work is excruciatingly bad. I highly recommend this series to anyone looking for a good romance story. However, by all means, stay away from the film version. It removes a lot of the good parts of the story, ruining the point of it all.

I ended up watching Shiki when I went on a Vampire binge one week. And don't worry, that's not a big spoiler or anything, it's actually fairly obvious to the point that it is impossible to miss before it is blatantly stated. I binged this series in give or take two days with barely any breaks to speak of. That's how invested I became in this series. The full 24 episodes, that includes the two specials which are very important, run half an hour each and the story continues to unfold with each new episode. So lets break this down like a normal review.

As far ... as the story is concerned, it's phenomenal. Sure, it starts off slow for the first 5 episodes, but that's because those are the introductory episodes. They introduce you to the many characters that populate the isolated village of Sotobamura, introduce the village itself as a character of sorts, and then introduce the main plot to you. After the 5th episode, the story kicks into high gear and never lets you get off until its over. By the end of it, the story will have you asking yourself a simple question: Who are the real monsters?

The art is also extremely appropriate for this horror/mystery series. The art is dark and dreary, but colorful when it needs to be. The characters are drawn with anime hair syndrome, but it does add character to them, makes them stand out from one another. On the other hand, the characters are all like sticks. Tall, lean, anorexic to a point, and every female character(Well, almost everyone) has fairly large breasts. The gore level is also to not be taken lightly. While it will be fairly rare to see guts or anything, decomposing flesh is a constant, and the dissolving flesh of vampires that get caught in daylight is particularly gruesome.

The music is quite fitting, with most tracks featuring gregorian chants as well as an organ. The music tells of death, sadness, loneliness, hopelessness, and heartbreak. All wrapped up in a neat bundle. I can't tell you how many times I've put the soundtrack on repeat, just listening to it as inspiration for my own stories. To go along with the art, story, and music, the sound effects are also quite fitting. Most of it is constant ambient sounds that are common from one end of the village to the other. Then their are the more common sounds that are standard fair for an anime series such as footsteps, crunching grass, cars, etc.

Going in with sound, there is the English Dub. Funimation managed to obtain the rights to Shiki, and I am very grateful for that. Funimation put their dub pedigree to very good use with this series. No character seems wrongfully cast and each character displays the necessary range of emotions at the proper times. There weren't really any cases of generally bad acting so I really don't see anything wrong at all with this dub. I strongly recommend that if you're not fond of reading, the dub is definitely worthy of a look.

Characters are abundant in this series, and quite frankly, it helps a lot. A majority of the characters present in the series are background characters. And as background characters in a horror story, many of them are picked off one by one as the story progresses. But we're not talking a handful of characters. Oh no, we're talking about an entire village worth of background characters. Some of them return later in the series, but most are never seen again. So unless it's a main character, I'd recommend not getting particularly attached to any one character, otherwise you will most likely suffer heartbreak.

Overall, I found this series to be a masterpiece, worthy of multiple viewings. I found next to nothing wrong with it, and so can highly recommend this series to anyone who is interested in it. Just give it 5 to 6 episodes and you should be hooked. It needs time to rev its engine, but once it starts moving, for the love of god fasten your seat belt.

Another is a Horror/Mystery series that starts off strong. I found myself wanting to continue to the next episode every time, even if I wasn't particularly enjoying the story, just so I could see what would happen next. As I said, the story starts off strong, but as it goes on, things become even more blatantly obvious as to where it's heading. By the end of its 12 episode run, I found myself not at all surprised anymore by what was happening. It was interesting while it lasted, but there were a lot of story flaws that could have been fixed easily, such as a ... major gaping plot hole the size of China. Then again, if they fixed that plot hole, the story wouldn't have happened and there wouldn't be a point to telling it.

As far as the characters were concerned, it was easy to tell which characters were the important ones and which ones were just background characters. And as we all know, the background characters of a horror story will always be the ones to die in droves, while the important characters all have immunity. This classic horror formula doesn't change with Another. Even then, there are very few likable characters among the important characters, making it very hard to get attached to any one of them.

The art on the other hand is something to be admired. It definitely gives off that dark vibe that horror should have, and puts a lot of color into the blood and gore, making it stand out from the rest of the scene. However, the art style is also not very consistent. At times, the art will look sort of average, while the high-quality art is typically used in death scenes. It is actually understandable to an extent, so you can't really fault them for it. Gotta make those death scenes as beautiful as possible, right?

The sounds were also fairly appropriate for a horror series. Lots of ambient sounds as well as eerily quiet scenes and dramatic pauses before something big happens. On the other hand, there's the voice acting. I watched the English Dub, and I can safely say, don't watch it unless you actually care for the acting. I have a philosophy when it comes to English Dubs. If Aniplex gets it, the dub with be flawless, but expensive. If Funimation gets it, the dub will be good and affordable. But if Sentai gets it, the chances of the dub being good are 50/50. Unfortunately, Sentai got the rights to this series and the dub was quite sub par. A lot of the acting felt either forced, out of place, or just plain bad. For example, Yukikibara's grandfather, who is constantly mourning the death of his eldest daughter that happened 15 years ago, is crying in one scene. However, if you were actually watching and listening, you'd easily notice that even though the grandfather is crying, indicated by his bodily motions, the acting makes it sound as though he is talking with absolutely no emotion or even a hint of sadness. It's off putting. Greg Ayres, who voices the main protagonist, is easily the best acted character in the series, followed closely by David Matranga who voices the Class 3 homeroom teacher Mr. Kubodera, and David Wald who voices the librarian Tatsuji Chibiki. Therefore, the dub is only slightly passable, and mostly forgettable. I honestly wish I had watched the sub instead.

Overall, I do have to admit that I still enjoyed Another, if only because I like these kinds of stories. They keep me on the edge of my seat and wanting to see what happens next. I think the series would have been more enjoyable had I watched it subbed rather than dubbed. So I can really only recommend this series to you if you need something to watch on a rainy day. Other than that, your time might be best spent watching something else.