Back to Omfgakitten's Profile Omfgakitten's Profile

So, Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin (or Nanana's Buried Treasure) came to its climax just yesterday so I thought I'd review it.
So let's just jump straight in there!

Story - 8/10.
Nanana, a girl who was murdered 10 years before our story, was collecting treasures with particular powers (known as 'Nanana's collection') on Nanae Island. She is currently bound to the room she was murdered in, which is where Yama Juugo comes in - he is assigned to this room, which sets us up for his adventures to find the Nanana's collection treasures.
A decently original idea, told pretty well - the show had plenty of running gags, ... some got old quickly and some remained pretty funny (at least for me), sometimes it was unnecessary but most of the time, when it needed to be, there was a more serious feel.
So the story basically revolves around Juugo's quest to find Nanana's collection and the adventures he has during that search and the people he consequently meets.

Art - 8/10.
Although the character design was nothing hugely original, and the style quite common of contemporary anime, it was animated well nonetheless. The scenes were set pretty well, especially those in the ruins (which is where Nanana had hidden the treasures from her collection). Each ruins was different and had a unique style to it which was interesting to behold.

Sound - 7/10.
To be honest, as with most anime I watch, unless it's outstandingly atmospheric the music in the background is mostly just more of a scene-setter, so I don't notice it unless it stands out - I don't remember thinking any of the sounds were out of place or anything but nothing outstanding. The scene was set by sounds well when it came to the ruins though, I thought.
The voice acting was pretty on-par, nothing really stood out to me though. Emotions were portrayed pretty accurately and it didn't make me feel like it was being forced, which is always a plus.
The OP set us up for a nice relatively light-hearted episode of adventure and fun which was fitting.

Character - 7/10.
Nothing hugely original in the character department. You have your main male and female leads and the Adventure Club (mostly).
Juugo is a pretty standard perverted male protagonist, though his development especially in his relationship with Nanana is portrayed well - at first they merely tolerate one another but their relationship develops quite well throughout the series. Nanana is a little unusual of a character - she's a ghost, but she's not the standard vengeful type - instead, she has NEET tendencies and loves pudding. As previously stated her relationship with Juugo develops quite nicely throughout the series as they come to harmonise more with one another.
Tensai is a character I couldn't really stomach. Although she was admittedly clever and helpful, she was pretty far up her own ass, so it was hard to appreciate what she was doing as more than a way to confirm her own opinion of herself. She had a couple of tender moments but for the most part I didn't really enjoy her tsundere-ish tendencies.
Daruku was a token trap, and the source of the majority of the running gags in the show (along with Juugo's pervertedness). Doesn't really play much of a role in the show other than to provide aforementioned gags, so I didn't find he/she added much to the story.
Other than that, the antagonist is worth a mention though he only appears in the latter few episodes, he spices things up a little.

Enjoyment - 8/10.
Though this series was short, it was decent overall and I did enjoy watching it every week to see what our characters would get up to. The ending left quite a lot to be desired, though, and no loose ends were really tired - this gives rise to the question of another season.

Selector Infected WIXOSS is a show which both exceeded my expectations and disguised itself as a 'cute girls playing a card game' type anime. For the most part I thought this outshined most of the other anime airing this season.

Story - 9/10.
The story revolves around the shy and unassuming Ruuko (or Ru-chan), her associates (particularly Yuzuki), and the card game WIXOSS. The first interesting idea that is presented to us is the idea of the 'Eternal Girl'. Let me explain; certain cards which can only be heard by certain girls (known as 'LRIGs' and 'Selectors' respectively) allow the user to battle other Selectors in order ... for the LRIG to fulfill their wish and the Selector to become an Eternal Girl. Sounds relatively generic so far - girls battling to fulfill their wish - however the show throws so many darker twists into the story (I won't expand on this point, as I think spoilers would ruin the experience of this show) which surprised and intrigued me.
I enjoyed the way the show handled the reactions of the girls to their new situation, it wasn't shoved under unnecessary fanservice or comedy which made it hit home a lot harder, and it made me feel a lot more for the characters.

Art - 8/10.
The art of this show is well-executed. I enjoyed the different battle environments, and the general setting of the anime added a certain something to the atmosphere and later even added to the story. The backgrounds were always nice to look at, too. Character design was decent - nothing hugely original and intuitive here, but one plus is that each character actually looks like a different person - none of them looked like a carbon copy of another with a different style or colour of hair stuck on top. I also enjoyed the fact that each character wasn't defined by the colour of their hair - they all had relatively neutral hair colours, so you weren't left thinking of them as "the one with the pink hair" or "the one with the green hair". But I digress. The only small issue I had with the art was the nose, the shadow of the nose seemed to be outlined rather than the actual nose which gave the characters an unusual look.

Sound - 8/10.
One of the first anime I've really 100% been engaged with listening to the sound in. They are engaging and fitting to their scenes, and they really set up a very intense environment when it is needed and a lighter environment when it is needed. The OP is also worth mentioning - killy killy JOKER - it is catchy and I found it intensely addictive. Also great as a standalone track.
The voice acting was good - each girl's emotion was portrayed in a very believable manner, it didn't sound forced, contrived, or flat.

Character - 8/10.
Ru-chan was probably one of the most intriguing characters here, although she has been compared to Madoka (she's not sure of her wish and whether or not she wants to participate as she doesn't really have a strong wish) I thought her development was unique. She struggles internally with feelings of doubt as to whether she wants to battle and take away other girls' dreams, and the thrill of battle, which is portrayed very well in her interactions. Yuzuki is worth a mention here - although incest is a BIG thing in anime (she is infatuated with her twin brother), which may make her seem a little generic, I enjoyed the way she developed, and how strong her wish actually was (which in turn made Ru-chan a little more reluctant to battle, as she could see how fervent her friends' wish was).
What really made the characters, for me at least, was their interactions with each other. Also worth mentioning is their development, which for a 12-episode series, was handled very well.

Enjoyment - 9/10.
I thoroughly enjoyed this series, and hope the second season lives up to the high standards set by Selector Infected WIXOSS. It was an emotional rollercoaster when it hit its stride, and it left you wondering and rooting for the characters.

Overall - 8/10.

Miss Monochrome is a short anime of 13 4-minute long episodes. Let's dive in, shall we?

Story- 6/10.
Not much to this story as you'd expect, as the total viewing time of the entire show is about an hour maximum.
Miss Monochrome is an android whose only real motivation is to become an idol, to be able to meet Kikuko, another idol.
Although the "story" was practically nonexistant, they did a decent job - I found each episode charming and laughed a fair few times at the way it was told. They also included a little backstory between Miss Monochrome and Kikuko, which I thought was a nice touch. ... 6 may seem a little high for the story aspect considering there wasn't much of one, however I personally didn't mind the lack of it.

Art - 8/10.
Well-done, good quality animation, not much to say here as not that much actually happens. Character designs were okay, but nothing startling.

Sound - 8/10.
I really enjoyed the ED to this small series (Poker Face, by Miss Monochrome herself!). Voice acting was good and often added to the comedic moments. Miss, being an android, had a very fittingly monotone machine-sounding voice.

Character - 7/10.
7 may seem a little high as you don't really learn anything about Miss other than the fact that she is an android who wants to become an idol to meet Kikuko and she is a little naive.
However I thought she was charming and although there is little to no character development (she continues throughout the hour runtime to act naively and restlessly pursue her goal to become an idol) I found it satisfying to watch.
Also, Run-chan is amazing.

Enjoyment - 8/10.
Short and sweet. Nice little series to watch if you don't have much time, want a couple of giggles and 'awww's.

Overall - 7/10.

This review will contain non-explicit spoilers.

Akuma no Riddle is an anime which I looked forward to viewing every week. It is an overall enjoyable experience if you bear in mind the short running time. I personally found the end disappointing, however.

Story - 6/10.
I enjoyed the premise of this show - a kind of Danganronpa-esque survival game within the "Black Class", a class of 13 students. It wasn't totally butchered; there were some interesting plot twists here and there and the pacing was okay for such a short anime, however because of its shortness, it did feel a little rushed at times, for example some of ... the battle scenes could have been expanded on a little more, and similarly to Danganronpa we lost a character per episode on average, which didn't allow the watcher to fully connect with the story.
I also did not enjoy the ending. I don't understand why the show went through killing them each episode for that to happen at the end. Maybe I missed something.

Art - 8/10.
Decent character design, I enjoyed the animation generally. Thought the battle/action scenes were eye-catching and didn't leave you wanting.

Sound - 7/10.
I really enjoyed the soundtrack to this, Soushou Innocence by Maaya Uchida fit the theme of the show relatively well and set up a mostly fast-paced action-filled episode each week. The voice acting was good, the only voice that really irritated me was Haru's, but that's personal preference as opposed to bad seiyuu. I thought for the most part the voices fit the characters.

Character - 5/10.
This is where the show tripped itself up a little - though this is mostly due to the short run time of the anime, only 12 episodes. Each character was relatively unique from one another, though I didn't think any character really screamed originality this didn't really detract from the anime as their interactions were still interesting.
However you never really get any chance to get attached to any of the characters, their backstories are briefly outlined but because they tend to disappear rapidly we don't get a chance to root for anyone, to really appreciate why they are here and why they became an assassin.
The relationship between Ichinose and Tokaku was never properly expanded upon, which is a shame, it would have added another dimension to the anime however this again suffered from time constraints.
As a result we get quite one-dimensional characters with no chance to really learn about what their true motives, drives, etc are.

Enjoyment - 8/10.
I did enjoy this anime, although the last two episodes left me with a "meh" feeling. It looks and sounds good, no glaring errors there, and the story itself is a good watch, and it does get quite gripping at points.
I would recommend this to those who like anime which will have them on the edge of their seats at times, however don't expect a masterpiece.

Very much wasted potential with this anime. Started out decently, with an interesting premise then devolved into something it never should have become.
So without further ado, let's begin...

Story - 4/10
What was an interesting, though not original, concept soon turned sour. At first it comes across as quite intriguing - what is the Red Night? Why are these kids transported into it? Why are they different? All this is answered, though I had to watch the last couple of episodes more than once to make sense of what in the world just happened. After the original introduction of the story, things take a turn for the ... worse, story-wise. It becomes more of a "look how useless these females are in comparison to the male lead" type affair and seems to discard actual logic in favour of butchering the other characters to make the lead appear better.

Wat?

Art - 6/10
Nothing special, just slightly above average. Caters to people who like the "moe" style females (big eyes and whatnot). The mirror world is just the normal world but red-coloured. Missing potential here I feel - could have been taken further as it was a decent concept. The black knights' design is pretty good, but poorly done. I found the fighting scenes awkward to watch for the most part, they seem pretty mediocre, as if not much effort was expended to make them awesome.

Sound - 7/10
I really enjoyed the OP and the ED of this series. The OP sets us up for what could be an epic, action-filled 20 minutes, however at some points I enjoyed the OP more than the actual episode. Use of sound outside the OP and ED was nothing special really, it was mostly unnoticed by myself but managed to set the scene. Probably the best thing about this anime.

Character - 4/10
Really obvious cut-and-paste archetypal characters. I think there is one of most of the -deres here, which annoys me to no end. Character development went out of the window when they decided everyone was useless except the male lead.

But I digress, let me give character a proper review. At first it had the potential to be interesting. Kakeru and Yuka react to the red night with realistic confusion and fright, and have to be protected by Misuzu, a feisty swordswoman. There was potential here for a great character development, as I hoped we would see Kakeru fight to become strong enough to protect Yuka, which was his aim in the first place, helped by Misuzu. But, sadly, my hopes were too high and instead he suddenly becomes the strongest of the group, whereas the other characters who started out sort of interesting become a pile of quivering jelly in comparison.
The devolution of the characters was the most frustrating part for me.

Enjoyment - 6/10
The first little bit of the series was interesting for me. It's a relatively new concept for me personally, although it isn't original, I enjoyed how the characters acted and interacted. Then the frustration began as the series seemed to let go of any logical sense. Enjoyment gets a 6 - it started well, but the latter half of the series was difficult to enjoy a whole lot.

Overall - 5/10
A lot of wasted potential in this anime due to bad writing and a very thin plot. The only real saving grace, for me, was the sound, and the first couple of episodes were decent.

I wasn't sure what to expect upon starting Inu x Boku SS, but as it was recommended to me by a friend I decided to give it a go. And I am glad I did.

I enjoyed the story of Inu x Boku SS, at least what there was of it. It was relatively simple - a teenage girl, who has difficulty interacting with others, moves to a 'special' academy in order to be alone, where she meets her mandatory S.S. agent, who is a very self-depreciating but sweet man. The story really revolves around their interactions and the development of their feelings toward each other, ... and the consequent changes that happen to them. Of course there is a decent amount of filler, however personally I found most of them pretty entertaining, but by the time the last few episodes rolled around and the story progressed a little more it was getting a little tiresome to be watching constant filler.

The art of Inu x Boku SS was very clean and well-animated. I really enjoyed the art of this series (I gave it a 10). I thought that the exaggerated chibi style and facial expressions for comedic effect were great, often they produced a laugh from me where otherwise I probably wouldn't have. The art of the characters was very crisp and each of them was easy to recognise however the designs themselves weren't overly original.

The sound did what its purpose is - setting the scene in certain situations. It was well placed and nothing sounded out of place, though it wasn't hugely memorable. I enjoyed the OP, but I don't really recall any of the EDs. None of them were awful, they just weren't particularly amazing where I would commit them to memory. I thought the voices were very good though, which saved the sound score from more than a relatively average score (It got an 8 from me) - they all fit well with their characters and made them more believable.

One of the things I wasn't expecting to be astounded or moved by was the characters in this anime, though I was rather pleasantly surprised. The two main characters are the driving force of this anime, though it doesn't have much of a present plot the way their characters develop because of the other was intriguing and sweet, and it made me want to keep watching to see if each would succeed in helping the other develop. I also enjoyed most of the supporting cast, with the exception of Natsume Zange (stupid bunny guy). One of my favourites was Roromiya Karuta, because the idea of such a quietly-spoken sweet person turning into a giant skeleton tickled me.

I really did enjoy this anime. It kept me wanting to watch, if only to see how each of the main characters turned out or if they changed by the end of the series. I would recommend this anime to anyone looking for a romantic anime with comedic moments and an element of the supernatural included within the story, too.

Corpse Party- Tortured Souls was one of those anime which made me feel sick to a rather high degree whilst still being able to enjoy the story. It was so disturbing but at the same time enjoyable.

On the subject of story, Corpse Party's is not the most original - students of a school being trapped in a scary place and scary things happening to them. However, it was very well executed, although the theme of the anime wasn't the most original (nor were the characters, but we shall look at that in more depth later in the review) it was still expertly put together, especially ... when you consider the fact that they managed to tell the story with only 4 episodes.

The art of this series is what really makes it stand out in my opinion - the horrific images and gruesome effects really made this anime amazing to watch, it wasn't at all tame or watered down, so it will satisfy anyone's need for a properly gruesome horror anime. There was some moments when I genuinely felt like I wanted to throw up, because of all the excessive gore, but I couldn't stop watching because they made it so gripping. Very well done.

The sound was good, too - I enjoyed their use of it throughout the series. I also really enjoyed the OP and ED, the former of which I never skipped, which is unusual for me, as I am a serial OP-skipper. I don't remember any of the characters being particularly annoying voice-wise.

Character was the only real place this series fell down, if only a little. The characters were, for the most part, quite generic and archetypal, with the exception of Sachiko - her character was interesting and really kept the story moving even before you really knew her role, she keeps appearing, and she's what kept me really interested in the story (as opposed to watching it to get my gore fix).

I really enjoyed this anime. It did exactly what it set out to do - disturbed me slightly whilst keeping me engrossed. When I finished I was left craving more. So a pretty solid recommendation for anyone who enjoys horror anime.

Ah, Non Non Biyori. Very much a guilty pleasure for me - I can honestly say it's one of the loveliest 12 episodes I have spent watching anime. I'm not usually a fan of true slice of life anime- I get tired of them easily as usually the story is mediocre and there's no real drive to the plot.

The story is really very simple - Hotaru moves into the country, and joins a school which only has 4 other members. The anime looks at their daily lives and activities together. It may sound boring, but it is very well done. There are many humorous moments ... throughout the show. This anime doesn't pretend to be something it's not (I'm looking at you, Clannad), instead it focuses on creating an adorable, enjoyable show which almost anyone will enjoy,. I found it very soothing, from the slow pace of the writing to the way everything is depicted, to the fun humour.

The art gets a 9 from me. I loved the beautiful country scenes, and each of the characters was easily definable from the others without being too "weird", which I find is a mistake many anime make in order to attempt to make characters "different".

The sound also merits a 9 - I enjoyed the OP and the ED and thought they fit well with the theme of the show (the OP was relatively cutesy, which fit well with the relatively cutesy nature of the anime), and the ED was memorable. There was no character whose voice annoyed me, and the voices all sounded like they belonged to the correct age group. Supposed teenagers in anime who sound like 5-year-olds are a pet hate of mine.

One of the most engaging points of this anime for me was the characters. Not one of them was annoying, or illogical, and you could really believe their characters could be real people. The story revolves around the characters of Hotaru, sisters Natsumi and Komari and Renge. All four of these characters have their own, very unique characteristics and personalities, none of which are your typical anime stereotypes, which was refreshing and made the show ever more pleasurable to watch. The supporting cast was strong, too - like the main cast, they all had believable characters, and none of them was unlike-able. Overall, I gave this category a 9 - a strong cast of memorable personalities and characters which broke the mould. My personal favourite was Renge - I found her the most intriguing personality (not being your stereotpical cutesy little girl).

Of course, enjoyment gets a straight 10 - there were no points in this anime where I felt bored, sad, or annoyed. Non Non Biyori is a real triumph of a slice of life anime in my opinion, boasting a great character line-up, some really beautiful art and an engaging if simple concept/story. It is a great anime to watch if you need cheering up - I shall be keeping it on hand in case I ever need a pick-me-up.

Overall, I give Non Non Biyori a 9. A memorable, most enjoyable anime, which I will not hesitate to pick up again in the future.

I started To-LOVE-Ru without particularly high expectations, after some of the reviews I'd looked at prior to watching. Fortunately, I am able to create my own opinion of it after finishing - and all I can really say is, if you're looking for a deep, thoughtful anime, this probably isn't for you.
Firstly I'd like to say that I haven't read the manga, so this review isn't going to compare the two, it will simply be my opinion of the anime as a stand-alone.

Story - 4 - Most people seem to have a problem with To-LOVE-Ru's excessive use of fanservice. I will admit that, at times, ... it got a little repetitive and boring to watch - there was no real story to most of the episodes (the majority of them were filler), however it didn't detract from the enjoyment of watching because most of it was pretty amusing. Some of the episodes are so silly you can't help but laugh at them, and the over-used panty-shots and accidental boob-grabs etc are really just a tool which makes it even more silly. So I gave the story a 4, as it wasn't really present, but what was there was fine.

Art - 7 - I quite liked the art for this series, it is well drawn and animated and there is good use of chibi/exaggerated expressions. The characters are all relatively easy to differentiate between (unlike some animes I've watched, where everyone looks just about the same), which is always a plus especially if you watch the series staggered, as I did.

Sound - 8 - I enjoyed the OP for this series and the original ED, the latter being very catchy and easy to get stuck in your head. Those who enjoy ecchi scenes will very much enjoy the OP, I'm sure. Not much more to say about this.

Character - 5 - Two words - Yuuki Rito. Probably one of THE most annoying males in anime I've seen. He's loud, gets overly embarrassed over very little and seems to have no idea about anything even if it's obvious (Don't want to include any spoilers here for those of you who haven't watched this series yet). The rest of the characters seem very linear and generic, with a couple of exceptions. You may be wondering, after that, why I gave character a 5, and not less - the answer lies in Lala, Haruna, and most of all Zastin. Lala is sweet, but rather ditzy, which makes her extremely endearing. Zastin is just a badass, and Haruna has that kind of sweetness about her, you just can't dislike her. I think those three characters really saved the series for me.

Enjoyment - 7 - I enjoyed most of the episodes of this anime, there was very few times when I wanted to drop it, however the cases when I did feel like not watching it any more was when I'd just had enough of all the darn fanservice. But I got a fair few laughs/giggles from it, even if some of them were out of disbelief!

So overall To-LOVE-Ru gets a 7 - just a lighthearted ecchi-fest for those who can cope with it. Just don't expect too much of it and you will most likely enjoy it.