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Charlotte is a mixture of supernatural, drama, comedy and a little bit of slice of life anime original written by Jun Maeda, the man who innovated the "will make you cry" or in other words the 'Nakige' genre with his Visual Novels like Kanon, Clannad, Little Busters and production by P.A Works, the studio behind the beautifully animated Nagi no Asakura and Angel Beats.

Story: The Premise And The Positive.

Charlotte started promising with how the story was presented. The concept of the story is kind of like from Marvel comics where superheroes need to hold responsible of their powers but with a little twist, our main ... cast are on a mission to convince other teenagers with powers to never use them until they reach adulthood where their powers will just vanish. Why are they doing that? Well just like any other story with super powers, there are scientists who will do inhuman experiments on you when they find out you're a freak.

While the premise is kind of typical from a westerner's point of view, it still manage to be different as their powers has some kind of limit. Like the main protagonist, Yuu has the power of taking over other people's body but it will only take affect in 5 seconds. With the limitations, the characters are doing what they can to use their powers cleverly and with the help of one another they always manage to accomplish their goal.

Everything is relaxed and episodic in the first half of the series. Each episode was about searching for teenagers with powers and convince them to not use their power again through either blackmail or beating them to their own game (like a baseball player with powers, the main cast will compete with him with a game of baseball). Surprisingly, they are always successful. I kind of question of how they convince these people will even work if it happens in real life. But hey this is anime we are talking here. Still, seeing the group collaborate using their powers without exaggerated violence, and replacing it with a funny event is kind of amusing.


Story: The Negative.

Charlotte went downhill in the second half of its 13 episodes. But first, I'm going to talk about what is the issue with the first half. I have mentioned the first half was episodic and yeah it was entertaining but then I began to question where all of this is getting into. And it started to feel like the value of the show is getting less interesting with overuse gags and similar outcomes of what they are doing. But then finally something big and serious happened around episode 5 or 6 and my interest rise up again, but after that......




the pacing got rushed like Usain Bolt running for his life.


When things have gotten serious is where everything has gotten worse. The turn of events was all so sudden, resolving main issues turned out to be as easy as solving kindergarten math, and the drama felt empty like your wallet. The story is not built for 13 episodes, but far more so the pacing could have done right. Jun Maeda made it anyway and the director improvise and messed things up, instead of making Charlotte great, they made the show look pretentious.

I'm not going to mention names but Charlotte turned into romance in the second half. Anyone doesn't mind romance, if done right, but not here. Yeah the cast spend much time with each other in the first half but there was no indication or hint a romantic development is happening. In short, the romance is vague and felt unnecessary. Then again, it was because the pacing was rushed.

Lastly, Charlotte turned out to be a MC centric show, opposite of what was happening with a collaborative group effort in the first half of the series. Yuu had a big revelation with his power and did everything himself. Why even bother making characters around him then? To be his determination to accomplish his goal? Yeah and One Piece is successful because Luffy doesn't rely on his crew.....

Ok enough about that, I'm getting tired of discussing how bad the direction went in the second half of the series. I'm now going to discuss the other, slightly positive elements Charlotte can offer you.


Characters: The Positive.

The characters in this anime is fun and eccentric. The cast seems to be normal looking but each of them have their quirks when a gag happens. Not the most memorable bunch but still likable and can hold the viewers attention with their hyperbolic interactions. The cast did earn my affection a little, seeing how they work together and bonded with all those happy moments in the first half of the season.

Characters: The Negative.

Only the main characters receive a little character development. The supporting cast are one dimensional and only a handful was given a backstory.

Overall Production:

P.A Works did a great job portraying the visuals and animating the whole series with full effort. The visual looks crisp, bright, and colorful and it's a feast watching it in HD. Not as good looking as Nagi no Asakura, but it's close. Also, the music is download worthy except for those Engrish songs, well our opinion varies in that category.

What I dislike about the Overall Production? Again what they did with the pacing, and the fact that they decided 13 episodes was enough to cover all this. So much potential got wasted because they ran out of episodes to work on. Which sucks.

Conclusion:
Charlotte was ambitious and had potential, but ruined by their own implemented limitations. It has drama, but not worth being depress or produce a tear in your eye. Though I give credit to P.A Works that they did a fantastic job with the visuals. Finally, I see this as Jun Maeda's most disappointing project in his portfolio, as great as he is, he should just stick with writing Visual Novels.

This anime has always been on my radar for the past couple of years but never had a chance to watch it. Until after I saw a blog stating that it's one of the best dub anime out there. Then what the heck I gave it a shot. It was very good.

Baccano looks like an action anime that involves a lot of guns and mafia at first glance. Well, it does have one but mix with a supernatural element of immortality, then you find out that's the point of the show all along.

This anime will confuse you, but in a good way. It's confusing ... because it does not have a straight forward narration; the story goes back and forth from different events in each episode. The narration is like a puzzle, all jumbled until you watch the whole series then it will all make sense in the end. It was a clever way to tell the story. For me the structure of how the story told wasn't fun, the good thing is the characters made things interesting for you.

Baccano has wide variety of personalities. The show composes of unique individuals like psychopaths, silly thieves, a crybaby badass and genuine couples. These characters will grow on you, especially Isaac and Miria. Subjectively, Isaac and Miria is the most fun anime couple you will ever watch. Both characters are always in-sync with their silly antics and as comical characters they may be these duo are the driving force that made the plot move forward indirectly. You won't see a couple like these two in any other anime, only in Baccano!

The only real issue I have was it was too short. Like you will wish some characters will show something more to offer and see them in a new scenario or sub plot; back stories like why this character became an assassin in the first place things like that.

It may turn people off with how the narration was constructed but trust me watch the whole thing. It is a mature anime but handled lightheartedly. It has a cool atmosphere in it with great action scenes, catchy jazz music and a large cast of characters. Overall, Baccano! is a worth to watch.

Seto no Hanayome is a romantic comedy anime that made me smile from start to finish. Each episode utilizes the elements of its mermaid plot and use of the characters personality to execute funny moments. This show focuses more on comedy for like 90% of the time all throughout the series and only 10% on the romantic side.

Story: 6/10
There’s a plot yes, but the comedy is what made Seto no Hanayome entertaining. This show tried to develop the story by introducing and involving characters between the main protagonist and the main heroine but no interesting turn to advance the story ever happened. The mini arc ... for most of the characters has good pacing and have nice outcomes, but there are noticeable plot holes that will leave you scratch your head if you pay attention. Story is pretty much the achilles heel for this show; the good thing is it is overshadowed by the comedy it gives to the audience.

Art: 7/10
No character looks the same as the other. The animation is fun to watch as scenery doesn't just stand still. The characters also express silly facial expressions that can make you will burst out laughing. Though I can’t say the animators did an excellent job. The animation is consistent but just as good as any standard quality animation.

Sounds: 8/10
Music is the spice for the comedy of this anime. The music director did a good job selecting music for each moment as you can feel the emotion of the characters when they feel sad, rage, hyperactive and when getting serious. No memorable soundtrack but the opening theme is, as I write this review I can still hear the opening song inside my head.

Characters: 8/10
The cast are enjoyable to watch. Each has an interesting personality that contributes for the entertainment of the show. Introduction for some supporting cast will annoy you as they display their role to fullest but they will tone down as episodes gone by. Character development is unnoticeable but it did manage to use the cast well enough to catch your attention. It has a plain protagonist but not dense, airhead heroine but has a humorous personality and supporting cast that tends to be annoying from time to time but still manage to be likable.

Enjoyment: 8/10
This anime started out promising as a romcom anime. I am a bit disappointed by the fact that this show focuses more on comedy than romance. It does manage to have consistent humor because like I said it made me smile from start to finish, even at my least favorite moment. I enjoyed the misunderstanding moments and the characters interactions with one another from complements to insults.

Overall, Seto no Hanayome is a fun to watch anime series. It will disappoint you if you are hoping to watch some good romance but it will satisfy you if you are hoping to watch a show that will make you laugh. Story is not a factor, but fun characters and hilarious moments will make up for it.

School Rumble is a romantic comedy anime about a delinquent boy who loves a normal looking girl but that girl loves someone else, pretty typical looking plot huh. But if you mix that typical plot with hilarious misunderstanding scenarios, unexpected turn of events, and a vast amount of character development in one show; the result: satisfying experience.


The good
- Character driven anime. You will care more about the main characters as you watch, even the minor characters have proper screen time to get to know them.
- Each episode can make you laugh.
- While each episode has random scenarios, the story still moves forward.
- For a Comedy anime, it shows ... serious scenarios from time to time.
- Very minimal fanservice.
- Very good timing when executing a funny scene.
- There are fighting scenes that meets the standard of awesomeness.


The bad
- Almost a decade old anime
- Noticeable moments that defies the laws of logic
- If you are looking for a more structured story anime, this is not for you.


This is a show that you need to just sit back, relax and enjoy the comical and romantic moments unfold as you watch. In my case I just let my instinct do the laughing and it was enjoyable. If you have an unproductive time to burn and needs to replenish your entertainment thirst, then I recommend you to watch this.

If you excuse you, I’m going to watch season 2 now.

If One Piece has nakama; Summer Wars has family….and math.

It was an incredible experience watching this movie. This movie gave me a roller coaster ride from start to finish because I didn't know what to expect. It started from just a voluntary part time job because of a crush to meeting a random family you never knew to causing the world into chaos and to saving the world. I never knew such elements will blend well together and generate an excellent movie.

The goods
- Excellent pacing
- Family themed story done well
- Great animation
- Great soundtrack
- Execution of comedy and drama done right
... - Creative using the digital world as a setting
- No dull moment
- High replay value

The flaws
- Some scenes are kind of cheesy
- Computer jargon's will confuse you
- Minor characters may annoy you

But enough of that whatever the flaws this movie has other from what I have mentioned are overshadowed by how great this movie is. If you have two hours of your time then please watch this movie, every second of your life is worth it. Now as an IT student as myself I need to work on my math, I might save the world one day.

"There are conspiracies in this world. But 99% of all so-called conspiracies are simply imagination. So, 1% is the truth? "

Welcome to NHK is anime all about Mr. Satou Tatsuhiro, a 22 year old college dropout living his hikkimori life style. A Hikkimori is a person who hates or afraid of society; people who refuse to leave their house and, thus, isolate themselves from society in their homes. This anime tackles that since the author who made the story is a hikkimori himself while he wrote this, that's what he claim that is and is unknown if he still is till now.

This anime have ... story arcs that compose of sensitive subjects like the life of an otaku, making dreams happen, depression, scams and suicide. These subjects were handled as realistic as can happen in real life. The good thing is it was handled in a very lighthearted way with each arc. All of this involves Satou that you would think his character is developing for the better, right? Not really.

From the beginning you will describe Satou as a very pathetic man. He will easily be influence from those of whom or what is around him and affect his actions. But without those influence either good or bad well, he will not do anything like a mannequin waiting for someone to look at him. As the show goes on I really can't say for certain that something change or any improvement for his character, same goes for the supporting characters. In short, character development in this anime is vague.

The driving force that kept things interesting is the mysterious girl who wants to help the main character out of his hikkimori life. You can say her methods are quite silly but kept the main character attach to her. Not because of her methods, but because he wants to figure out why she's helping a bum like him. This led this two in an unusual romantic development with both not even knowing. It was cute.

The animation in this anime is slightly above average and inconsistent. It was standard for a mid 2000's anime but you will notice some animation style changes in some scenes. Our description may be different but I find it inappropriate to change the animation styles in random moments. I assume it’s due to budget or they want to emphasize that certain moment. The result, I was not impressed. The music is also slightly average because the only memorable soundtrack for me is when the harmonica is playing.

Overall, Welcome to NHK is the best hikkimori themed anime you can find. It shows the struggles, the mindset and psychological aspects of being a hikkimori. This show will give its viewers life lessons like moving forward in life is important, depression is a serious matter, and being a hikkimori sucks.

But that doesn't mean I wouldn't overlook the flaws as it stands out throughout my experience watching it. As much as I like the story as I want to give this anime a high score in its story alone, but other elements like the animation, music and overall enjoyment prevents it

Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai is an anime about Shirasaki, an introvert girl who wants to create the "Happy Project" with the help of Kakei who she met in an inconvenient accident with a boob grab in front of the school. The accident happened due to Kakei's seeing the future power. With Kakei and Shirasaki meeting, the two embark a typical school life journey towards the completion of "Happy Project as they meet new friends. But here's the catch, a mysterious entity called the "Sheppard" stirs things up that either helps them or hinders them along the way.

Pros:
- Slice of life and Supernatural genre blended well in ... the plot
- fun characters (even the cat, which I think is the most interesting lol)
- minimal fanservice
- story pacing is smooth, not confusing
- a happy anime, you will always feel fuzzy inside

Cons:
- nothing groundbreaking in terms of story
- visuals are not as good compared to other modern day anime
- typical kindness will get you girls MC

Overall, you can't hate this anime because of it's light-hearted atmosphere that gives you while you watch it. Though you might forget this anime in a month or two because to be frank there are no memorable moments here. If you want to take a break from fanservice or action anime you typically watch, this anime will give you a nice experience.

Short review:

Slice of life that you would have thought it's just another typical harem anime, not it's not. It has tragedy time travel and romance.The first episodes will confuse you what the heck is happening then as you continue watching, the story goes like nothing happened. It all made sense later on and the anime ended with a conclusion which I guess is good.

Pros:
- unexpected genre shift
- characters are likable
- the drama is alright
- no bullshit like fanservice, fillers or other nonsense
- it has a conclusion
...
Cons:
- everything in this anime is nothing new, as you've already saw in other anime's
- visuals looks outdated, like the early 2000's animation
- slice of life element may bore you
- execution of the story is not done well
- you may find the MC's goal trivial

Overall it's a worth to watch. Not the best in the time travel genre as you can find better out there but it's still good.

Final Verdict: 7/10