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Best. Anime. Ever.

A high school boy gets drafted as a soul reaper, and devotes himself to getting stronger to protect his friends and family. Ichigo Kurosaki breaks the typical shounen mold of overly-optimistic lovable hero with something to prove, by being an ordinary teen with ordinary problems, faced with the weight of extraordinary responsibility: if he doesn’t win, people die. He is angsty, suffering, full of attitude, relatable, cool and badass, but loyal and heroic, and for those reasons, is extremely lovable - and these same qualities can be said of the show as a whole. Gorgeous artwork, amazing voice acting both in English ... and Japanese, and some of the best character designs I have ever seen across such a wide cast. It has the coolest, most fantastic (magic katana based) fights, set in worlds rich with atmosphere that is enhanced further still by 4 hours of original soundtrack. Bleach has style. It is funny, sexy, exciting, emotional, and deserving of the recognition it’s earned. You will watch this over and over again.

Mood. Moody. Moodiness. This is a “different-from-other-girls,” quirky goth girl’s wet dream. Set in Victorian England, a dark depressed rich boy orphan and his relentlessly sexy demon butler take to detective work while not forgoing lessons in etiquette. This is Tim Burton's vision of a Sherlock Holmes Story; I was surprised Johnny Depp and Helen Bonham Carter didn't make a cameo. The characters have all the charm of the Addams Family, and the atmosphere is as rich as Bela Lugosi's Dracula films. Sophisticated sexy. Your guilty pleasure. One to watch on a rainy day. Did I mention it’s gothic and moody?

A crazy ride! Passengers on a continental express deal with a supernatural mystery affecting everyone on the train. The story unravels in small, non-sequential excerpts that delve into character backgrounds from all different points in time. It can be overwhelming on the first take, but gets clearer every second. One to pay great attention to, however, there are some truly iconic and lovable characters here, and tons of atmosphere to draw you in and make viewing an easy - and enchanting - experience. Lightning fast pacing, dark and violent, yet charming and funny with some intense moments and good action. Hop aboard the Flying Pussyfoot!

Worth a watch if you think more with your heart than your brain.

Students must find a way to accept their past lives, or fulfill certain dreams, before they can move on from purgatory in the form of high school. If you can look past the extremely inconsistent world building, there are many heart-tugging moments here, as well as plenty of comedy, action, awesome - and powerful - music, and fun to be had. Great cast of characters, unfortunately many of them are (if you can forgive the on–the-nose expression) gone too soon. It’s beautiful to look at and will certainly stay with you. Worth a ... watch if you think more with your heart than your brain, and the memory of it is better than the actual experience. Watch it when you're feeling sad... it just might hit the spot.

This anime desperately wants to be greater than it is. Black Clover took the skeleton of greater shounen to build a copy/paste reimagining of stories already told. Starring Asta, the - you guessed it - quirky outcast hero with something to prove, in this case a desire to become wizard king in a world of magical knights. Virtually every shounen trope is featured here, and for that reason, if you loved Bleach, Naruto, and One Piece, you’ll likely enjoy Black Clover, as it offers pretty decent humor, cool characters, pump-you-up moments, and provides an interesting new world and power concept to explore. In it’s blatant ... effort to hit all the shounen check marks, however, it does come off as slightly hollow or disingenuous, or at least, very “on-the-nose.” Asta is fun if you miss following the adventures of Ichigo, Naruto, and Luffy, but don’t expect him to impact your heart the same way, and there are far more original anime that can fill that void. (Also the fights could be better choreographed.. slightly bland).

Trigun Stampede accomplishes extremely well what Netflix’s Cannon Busters tried (and failed) to do. Both are violent, gritty, and set in a post-apocalyptic, wild-west-meets-cyberpunk world, but Trigun succeeds by keeping the focus on the mystery of its title character: Vash the Stampede. The (fully CGI) animation is stunning, and there is something so captivating about this dismal, decaying world. It’s a slow burn story but with plenty of action, heart, and imagination, all culminating in a visually astonishing finale. If you come into this wearing nostalgia glasses you're going to be disappointed as it watches nothing like its predecessor. Instead, treat it like you're trying ... giant sand worm meat for the first time... you may just be delighted.

Visual wonder..

This is a very complete-feeling, well rounded anime. A nice story of friendship, coming of age, and space adventure, accompanied by some beautiful visuals and a lovely soundtrack. The most impressive thing here is that the story doesn't rely heavily on typical anime tropes and silliness, fan service, or bloody action, but instead completely immerses you through visual wonder, adventure, and lovable characters. It may not be remembered as the greatest anime ever (or even remembered at all), but it is an enjoyable experience the whole way through, and you may find yourself surprisingly excited if another season is announced.

Hilarious! Three Jr. High girls are passing the time away in their after school club in this silly story of friendship and adolescence. This is one of those light hearted and easy to watch anime, but it will 100% take you back to your awkward years of trying to fit in and make friends - while managing to keep away from cringe. This anime is magnificent at depicting humorous facial expressions, they’ll get you every time! Extra points in music for sound effects and perfect timing. The most impressive thing is how truly innocent this anime is while delivering laughs that make your belly hurt ... - a rarity in comedy. Charismatic, cute, and relentlessly delightful, this is easily the funniest anime I have ever seen.

if you see one episode, you’ve seen them all.

A story of revenge featuring an afro-clad Samurai (voiced by Samuel L. Jackson), the number 2 warrior, who must defeat the number 1 warrior that killed his father for that title. The animation is fast paced, features graphic content, and overall nice to look at, especially for an early 2000’s anime. The voice acting is good, and features an all star cast. With only 5 episodes, it is understandable that the world and characters are not very complex or fleshed-out, however, it still seems as though the goal was to be bad-ass, as opposed to delivering a ... powerful story. It’s fun, but not essential viewing, and if you see one episode, you’ve seen them all.

No pay off, so is it really worth it?

In a post-apocalyptic world where psychedelic monsters are ravaging the remaining inhabitants, two teens must make it to “Heaven.” Maru has the ability to kill these monsters with his bare hands, but he isn’t good at much else. Kiriko, who has agreed to help Maru get to Heaven, has a weapon made by a mysterious company, whose secrets she is working to uncover, while dealing with her own mysterious past. This anime is absolutely beautiful to behold, the characters are extremely well written and relatable. There is a lot of “realness” to this anime - as ... opposed to the typical anime silliness and tropes - and very heavy moments. Unfortunately, the story goes nowhere. By the end of its 13 episode run, we still have no idea why Maru must get to Heaven. We learn virtually nothing about the mysterious company, and don’t really resolve anything with Kiriko’s past. Meanwhile, there is a completely different series of events happening at a facility/school raising/experimenting on odd children, and we have no idea how this relates to our main characters or story. Obviously there is a long way to go before we get answers, but at this point we've already invested enough time for no pay off, so is it really worth it?