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As a preface, this "review" focuses a lot more on the differences and relations between the first and second season, and not so much on this season as its own thing. At the same time, these are my thoughts on why I think a follow-up can never be as good as the first season (it's a long read).
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I want to start this off by saying that I absolutely love the original Psycho-Pass. The journey into the human psyche, the dark mood looming over the story itself, and the intense development seen in all the characters all contribute to what’s come to be one of my ... personal favorites of all time. In the same vein, Makishima is one of my favorite antagonists, because he feels like such a real character, especially when it comes to anime in general. His motivations are far beyond that of “just being evil”, and the sort of intelligent personality he presents is as enjoyable as ever. Then there is the society itself, or rather, Sibyl. As a concept, this is a really awesome sci-fi society, and even in execution, it works surprisingly well. This is, I think, largely because of how Sibyl interacts with Makishima.

If we momentarily remove Makishima (and any others like him) from the equation, what we’re left with would pretty much be an episodic detective-series, focusing on tracking down individual criminals. This is not necessarily bad, but it lacks the same overarching feeling of grandeur and darkness as with a mastermind connecting each case. However, it technically isn’t possible, because of the way Sibyl works. It could be interesting, and definitely gruesome, but ultimately, I feel like it’d severely lack in terms of writing.

Enter Makishima - the criminally asymptomatic. The entire system is now thrown into chaos. How do you deal with a problem like this, when you are so reliant on the system to do things for you? Should you circumvent the system to remove the threat, even if it means you may slip into darkness yourself? These are all questions asked by Psycho-Pass, and they make for very interesting story and characters.

Then comes Psycho-Pass 2, a sequel I think many of us wanted, because who doesn’t want more of their favorite series?, but at the same time something we dreaded, as a sequel would pose quite a few issues in terms of writing. The biggest one, and the one I’m focusing on here, is the fact that they’ve written themselves into a corner, of sorts. It’s not a corner in the sense that they need to do something drastic to get out, but rather that the only way forward is further into the same corner. To clarify, I’m talking about the fact that the original series leaves very little to work with in terms of a sequel.

When you create such a massive world in fiction, you place upon yourself a responsibility to stick to the rules that you have created. In Psycho-Pass, the highest “rule” of all is how Sibyl works, and what it does. If you really think about it, how many (good) scenarios can you come up with, that’s not too similar to that of the original series? Because Sibyl is nearly omnipotent, it creates this setting where only those unable to be judged, in one way or another, are able to act as worthwhile antagonists, which leaves little in terms of variation. What this means, is that we have to ask ourselves “are we okay with such a similar setup, or will it simply be too much of the same?”.

With Kamui being the antagonist in Psycho-Pass 2, they’ve succumbed to the fact that this is the only way, but have tried to change it up by changing the very way Kamui functions, in contrast to Makishima. Instead of being able to remain at a constantly low crime-coefficient, Kamui is outright unable to even be detected by the system itself. While this, together with the way he operates on his “missions”, still provides a good story, we’re once again forced to ask ourselves if continuing this series is truly a good idea.

When it comes to the story itself, I want to quote reddit user /u/Redcrimson who I feel really captured the feeling of this season, to an extent.

“It's grimdark for its own sake, with twists that undermine its own narrative, and exists just to be violent and shocking with no greater resonance with the thematic throughlines or characters established in S1.”

While my opinions on this season may not perfectly align with his, the points he makes are undeniably accurate. When watching this second season, you’ll quickly notice that there are a lot more (gory) deaths spread out everywhere in the show, and as a result, we viewers will (most likely) become sort of desensitized to the deaths of characters, because we simply see it way too much. This, I think, is a huge step back from the first season, where every death got, at least from me, almost the same “oh shit” reaction. The deformation, into the explosion, and the remaining characters taking their time to really take in what had just happened. It all felt really well done, and now that there’s death around every corner, it has simply lost that feeling.

Not only is this a bad thing because we don’t care as much about characters dying in general, but it also affects our view of characters directly. Notable mention of Kamui here. Having a character as calm and collected as Kamui, suddenly killing an entire room full of people (albeit not without reason) does not make me fear him as a character. I’m not on the edge of my seat in every one of his scenes, hoping he doesn’t snap and kill the others with him. I think, when a character makes every kill symbolic - actually meaningful in some way - it gives this almost fearful feeling towards that character. Not because he’s scary, but because it makes you fear for the others, I guess.

However, this season does offer a few new things, even if they don’t drastically impact the general gist of the story. Examples here are Tougane and his backstory, Shimotsuki’s rivalry with Akane going too far, and so on. These all add an extra level of tension to the writing, which I think is pretty needed, what with the aforementioned issues. In the same manner, I think the upcoming movie may end up good, since it supposedly doesn’t involve Sibyl in the same way. Though at the same time, it’s hard not to think that maybe that should’ve just been the second season to begin with.

In the end, I want to say that even with all this, I don’t really think this is a bad season. I definitely think it could’ve been skipped, in favor of the movie, which actually changes things up, and there are a lot of things I think they’ve done much worse (the overly tense writing, too dark for the sake of being dark, and some characters), and it’s not going to be anywhere near as good as the first season was, but if you’re a fan of Psycho-Pass as a whole, I think you’ll still very much enjoy the second season.

“I don’t expect a mere human to understand my lofty goals.”

I was told this show was absolutely hilarious, and “probably best of the season”, and while I may not know about the latter, I can honestly say that this is one of the funniest shows I have seen.

Story: (8 / 10)
To be honest, this show would’ve probably worked just as well as a regular SOL-show, without any of the demon stuff. Each episode we get to follow the daily lives of the dark lord Maou Sadao and other characters involved in his life, as he works his way up in the fast-food business.
To spice ... things up even more, we have the occasional being from another dimension show up, to cause trouble for our hardworking lord.

New characters are introduced now and then throughout the series, some more permanent than others, and this makes for a nice change of pace, as the characters will always have someone new to interact with.

I personally never had any problems with the pacing of the show. Not once did I feel like an episode was moving too slow or too fast, however the final episode will really leave you wanting for a second season...

Art: (8 / 10)
While the art may not be the best of the season, it’s certainly nowhere near bad, either. The backgrounds were beautiful most of the time, and I especially loved the character designs. The demons weren’t too over-the-top, but still got the point across, while every human character looked unique and very much had their own “style”.

The art helped in bringing out the humor a lot of the times as well, mostly through certain facial expressions which served to really enhance a characters reaction.
The animation and effects were nicely done, and there’s really nothing to complain about at all.

Sound: (8 / 10)
The OP, “ZERO!!” by Minami Kuribayashi, is a pretty upbeat song, which perfectly fits the lighthearted tone of the show. The three ED’s used, “Tsuki Hana”, “Star Chart”, and “Tsumabiku Hitori” are all performed by nano.RIPE and have a slightly less upbeat tone. I thought they worked very well in contrast to the rest of the series.

The characters all have fitting voices, and there was no character whose voice I really had a problem with. The voice actors did an overall great job in delivering their lines, and the expressions of the characters, which only served to make it all even funnier.

Characters: (9 / 10)
Characters is a big one for this show. On one hand we have Maou Sadao, the dark lord from another world, who’s now working at MgRonalds and will do anything to help his crew out. Then we have Yusa Emi, the supposed hero of another world, who spend her days stalking Maou & friends. It makes for a weird change when the dark lord is the one constantly helping out, as opposed to the hero of the story, but in this case it definitely works.

The other characters introduced all have rather unique personalities, and this large, varying cast of characters really help keep everything fresh as the show goes on. Almost all of the characters introduce serve an important purpose in the story, and are not just there as filler characters for a single episode, and then never seen again.

Enjoyment: (10 / 10)
“Hataraku Maou-sama!” is a genuinely funny show. Not once was I bored during an episode, and even during what might appear to be more serious parts of an episode (like a fight scene) there were some hilarious things going on. There are some recurring jokes, but they never felt overused, and it’s nothing that will stay on your mind with all the other jokes happening throughout the series.

Pros:
+ Absolutely hilarious
+ Art is good
+ High rewatch value
+ Unique, varying characters
+ Suzuno
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Cons:
- It will leave you wanting for more...
- Not enough screentime for Suzuno...

Story: (8 / 10)
The movie follows Asuna Watase on her journey through a new world, and we get to see all the hardship she faces, as well as those precious happy moments. “Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo” tells a story about love, loneliness, and learning to let go of the past, among other things.

This story is supported by numerous mythical tales, which gives it a nice touch. It does take quite a while before things really kick off, and not as much time is spent in Agartha as could’ve been, but it’s a minor problem.
However, even with this the story moves at a rather fast ... pace, leaving little room for any form of additional backstory, whether it’s about Agartha or about the characters pasts. This was really too bad, as there are some pretty obvious questions left unanswered by the end of the movie.

(Several people have talked about this being a way too “Ghiblified” movie, but I don’t feel like I’ve seen enough of either director to really comment on this, though it does have sort of a Ghibli feel to it.)

Art: (9 / 10)
The art is absolutely stunning. The backgrounds, the characters and the various creatures all look simply amazing. From what I can tell, backgrounds like these are sort of a standard thing in Shinkai movies, and there are several moments where the camera will just pan over the landscape, allowing the viewer to really take in the beauty of the world that’s been created.

The characters all look good, and the variety and detail of the creatures is very well done.
The animation was very fluid and well done most of the time, however there were times when it just felt a bit off, or when there would be a bit too many/long scenery shots.

Sound: (8 / 10)
The voice actors did a pretty great job with their respective characters, and the music was very good as well. The music did a good job at “emphasising” the scenes, whether it be a sad scene or a more action-focused scene. The credits song, “Hello, Goodbye and Hello” by Kumaki Anri, is an amazing song, and really brought back all those feelings from the movie.

However, there is a minor problem here, as well. Some songs, including an orchestral version of the credits theme, will play often, and I mean really often. Of course, if you don’t mind these songs, then this won’t be a problem, but it could reduce the effect they have on scenes later on.

Characters: (7 / 10)
The characters were mostly fine. They weren’t however all too great, to be honest. There is some backstory and development to certain characters, while some characters are barely fleshed out at all, and are only there to serve a very specific purpose in the plot. This was obviously a bit unfortunate, since I feel like there was certainly time for more time to be spent with the characters, and yet we’re left with this.

Luckily, it’s not at the point where you can’t feel or sympathize with the characters; in fact, there are several times when this will happen throughout the movie.

Enjoyment: (9 / 10)
After all, I quite enjoyed this movie. It tells a good story, and combine that with the great musical score, and the stunning art, and you have yourself a great film. I can’t deny that there also weren’t a couple of times where I cried...

Pros:
+ Tells a well-written and emotional story.
+ Absolutely stunning art.
+ Great soundtrack.
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Cons:
- Questions left unanswered at the end.
- Some odd animations.
- Characters not really all too fleshed out.

“There is no long distance about love, it always finds a way to bring hearts together no matter how many miles there are between them.”

Telling a good story in only 25 minutes can be a difficult task, but Shinkai Makoto (almost) single-handedly managed to do so with Hoshi no Koe. However, since it was in fact only made by one person, it does have its fair share of flaws (some more prominent than others).

Story: (8 / 10)
The story is simple. Two childhood friends are separated, but try to stay in contact with each other, even as the distance between them grows. This creates a rather ... emotional love story, and it does it all in the short time period of 25 minutes.

Because it’s so short, there’s not too much to say about it, but Shinkai did a great job of delivering a story like this.

Art: (8 / 10)
The art is by far one of the biggest shortcomings of this OVA, and yet it’s so beautiful, all at the same time. Hoshi no Koe uses a mix of 2D and 3D-animation, mostly using the latter for the mecha and spaceships, while characters and backgrounds remain 2D. The backgrounds are fantastic, and looks so good, but this is where the problem comes in. With such beautiful backgrounds, it’s rather weird that the characters look so... bad. It really feels like there wasn’t nearly as much time put in for the character art, and it’s really noticeable.

It wasn’t too much of a problem though, as all the other aspects of the art (and OVA in general) will take your mind off the character designs before you know it.

Sound: (8 / 10)
There are (apparently) two versions of this OVA. One where Shinkai and his wife did all the voices, and one which had proper voice actors. I watched the former, which obviously means the voices weren’t as well done as they could have been. Some lines of dialog just felt stale, but this is also a (very small) problem which quickly fades in comparison to the rest of the OVA.

The OVA has a very emotional piano-centered soundtrack, which really helped bring out the emotions in every scene. The music in itself is fantastic, and the credits song, “Through the Years and Far Away”, is an absolutely beautiful song that really captures the tone the OVA set.

Characters: (7 / 10)
When you only have 25 minutes to tell a story, it’s quite obvious that there won’t be time for a lot of character development at all. Nonetheless, the characters felt real, and somewhat relatable (I’ve never been in a similar situation myself, so it’s hard to tell). What I did like, however, is how there are no supporting characters, really emphasising that this is the story of these two friends, separated in time and space, and introducing new characters which we’d have to develop emotions and care for would’ve probably taken away a lot of the feelings you get when watching this.

Enjoyment: (8 / 10)
I really enjoyed this OVA, and how it manages to do what it does in such a short time. It was rather emotional and sad at times, but not to the point where you’ll find yourself crying uncontrollably.

Conclusion:
If you have 25-30 minutes on your hands, and/or you’re simply a fan of these types of movies (5CPS, Promised Place) then I’d highly recommend you watch this.

Pros:
+ Tells a great love story in a very short amount of time.
+ Fantastic soundtrack.
+ Nice mix of 2D and 3D-animation.
+ Beautiful backgrounds.
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Cons:
- Character art really falls short.
- Voice acting can feel a bit “off” at times (due to not having real VA’s)

“The gift of life is a fleeting precious thing. It is not something to be toyed with." - Asogi Rin

Sex, violence & alcohol. These three things are some of the most prominent in Mnemosyne, and while it may not be as gory as say, Elfen Lied, this series isn’t for the faint of heart.
Originally I went into this thinking it was mostly consisted of copious amounts of torture scenes, gore, and sex scenes, but I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be so much more than that.

Story: (8 / 10)
Mnemosyne follows the lives of two immortal private detectives, Asogi Rin and Mimi, ... as they take on various assignments. The series actually span several decades (around 60 years, or so), with each episode skipping quite a few years. Because of this, we see the world and the characters in it change as time goes on, while Rin and Mimi stay the same.
The consulting agency at which the two main characters work at make for “monster of the week”-type episodes, with seemingly unrelated events. However, as the story goes on, we see how it all fits together, and as we learn more about Apos’ (the main antagonist) true motives, we uncover more answers about immortality and the “non-mortal world”.

At first you will encounter so many unanswered questions that it may seem confusing or intimidating to continue watching, but as the episode goes on, the writers do a good job of explaining most things, however not without leaving you with more questions.
This element of mystery and never really knowing what’s really going on, or what’s going to happen next will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the entire series.

Art: (9 / 10)
The very first thing you’ll see is the opening sequence, which to be honest isn’t anything all that great. It’s more or less your standard “character montage”, with some pretty weird stuff and some fanservice thrown into the mix.
Already in the first scene you’ll see one of the characters wearing nothing but an unbuttoned shirt, while running across a rooftop. This sort of “fanservice” is present throughout the entire series, but because of the way it is done, it never feels as if it’s forced, or takes away from what’s actually happening.

There’ll be a lot of times where the characters are naked, whether it be during a fight scene or during one of the many sex scenes. Yes, there are actual sex scenes in Mnemosyne, something you don’t see in a lot of anime (though here it’s 90% lesbian sex).
Ofcourse there are some scenes where the characters might be perverted just for the sake of being perverted, but most of the time it all fits in rather well with what’s actually happening, and it doesn’t take away from the experience at all.

As for the rest of the art, it’s rather well done, actually. I liked the character designs (especially the choice of physically portraying Mimi as a teenager), and the changes made to the characters as the years passed were nice, as they’d really show that the characters do age, but you were still able to tell who was who.

The overall aesthetics are also well done, and somewhat change throughout the episodes, but nothing really major (though I suppose architecture don’t change that much in 60 years). However, once again you can see that this is a totally different time than the previous episode, and how civilization has advanced.

The animations were fluid, and there was not a moment where I felt like it seemed “stale”.

Sound: (8 / 10)
One of the first things I noticed when I started watching (and it didn’t take me very long) was Kugimiya Rie as the voice of Mimi. Having only heard her voice characters who are a lot more aggressive (and overall very tsundere), Mimi was quite a nice “change of pace” so to speak. While she’s not very aggressive, she has a more “childlike” voice than Rin does, and this fits very well with her character design.
The rest of the voice actors did an overall good job, and there wasn’t really someone who stood out as “that character with the lame voice acting”.

The opening theme, “Alsatia”, and the ending theme, “Cause Disarray”, are both performed by Galneryus, and since they’re both very much done in the same “style”, it makes them sound very similar. I can’t say I really liked these songs at first, but near the end of the series I’d gotten used to them, and I guess this is very much a preferential thing.

The soundtrack was often rather “calm”, or had a very casual feel to it, which was quite the interesting contrast to the themes shown in the series. This didn’t feel like a bad thing, though, and I quite enjoyed the music. One small problem I had with it, however, was that the background music pretty much stays the same for the majority of the series, and I feel like it would’ve been nice if it had changed as the years passed.

Characters: (9 / 10)
The characters are obviously a big part of this series. The two main characters (and their dog) stay the same throughout the series, as everyone else ages. This does not only apply to appearances, but there isn’t really much development for most of the series regarding these two characters. Instead, the show focus more on the backstory, giving us flashbacks now and then, revealing small parts of their past. I thought this was interesting, since the immortals would’ve probably lived for a very long time, and it could be fun to see their past experiences (unfortunately, not much is revealed about their past lives, aside from the parts important to the plot).

Every episode (more or less) introduces a couple new characters to the cast. These characters are usually pretty young when they’re first introduced, meaning they stay around for a an episode or two. Because of the short amount of time these characters are given (as opposed to Mimi & Rin), it’s important to make them as interesting as you can with the given time.
I felt like the writers did a good job with this, as there were times when I’d certainly “feel” for the characters.

All in all, the characters are quite varying, and they’re all rather likeable and interesting, and without this aspect I feel the show would’ve been much worse.

Enjoyment: (9 / 10)
I thoroughly enjoyed Mnemosyne, and was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be such a more interesting anime than just “a bunch of sex and violence” (even if those things are certainly present). Though once again, I’d not recommend this show if you’re susceptible to gore or overall nudity...

Pros:
+ Interesting storytelling “mechanics” (having the story span decades).
+ Several twists and events to keep you interested.
+ Good art and animation.
+ Makes use of fanservice, as opposed to just “having it there”.
+ Soundtrack makes for a nice contrast to the visuals.
+ Interesting character cast.
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Cons:
- Too many unanswered questions at once may leave you very confused.
- Opening and ending themes have a very specific “style” to them, may not be for everyone.
- Soundtrack doesn’t change all too much with the time skips.
- The levels of violence and nudity may turn you away if you’re not prepared.

“A person is very strong when he seeks to protect something.” - Heathcliff

Sword Art Online; a show loved by many, yet perceived as one of the worst series ever created by a lot of people. The show certainly wasn’t perfect, but it was far from being bad, and I think a lot of the hate it receives is unfair, because it’s just people trying to point out every single little flaw and turn it into something huge.

Story: (7 / 10)
SAO is effectively divided into two large arcs, the first one being what the series was basically “advertised” to be; people are stuck in a game, ... and have to beat the game to be able to leave. Now, because this arc spans quite a long period of time, two things appear which are worth noting.

The first one is the slightly “weird” pacing off the show. At times you will see the characters being on say, floor 20 in one episode, and in the next they’re on floor 40, which could easily make you think that you just missed an entire episode. This is not the case, and this was apparently a big problem for some people, and I do agree that the series could’ve benefitted from expanding the first arc to play out over a course of 25 episodes, simply removing the second arc (we’ll talk about this soon). I personally didn’t have much of a problem with the pace, as each episode’s actual content was more than enough to keep me interested, and while it’s not really an appropriate excuse, it may be worth noting that the story plays out like this because that’s how the novel was written...

The second thing is that quite a lot of the episodes in the first arc are not always about directly trying to clear the game, and as such many of them may very well be seen as fillers. These episodes will often be Kirito (the series’ protagonist) helping players of lower level (or anyone else in distress, for that matter), or simply spending time with his friends/loved ones.
I think it may come as a surprise to some when this series, which you probably thought was gonna be all action-packed and all, turns out to spend so much time on the relationship of two young players, and how they adapt to this new world.
The show has enough action and fighting scenes to make up for having this slower paced, more SOL-esque section, which I thought was pretty good, nonetheless.

Moving on to the second arc, this is where the story sort of... drops a bit, so to speak. There are some major changes between the two arcs, and it changes a lot of the “core mechanics” around which the first arc was based, as well as replacing the majority of the characters, and basically nullifying that same feeling of danger and suspense the first arc poses.

That’s not to say the story couldn’t be interesting and well-written anyway, but it really has nothing on the previous arc... While I didn’t really dislike it as much as many other people, I certainly found it less entertaining, but to me, the rest of the series more than made up for this part.

Art: (8 / 10)
If nothing else, the art in SAO is simply great. I liked the artstyle, even though it’s really nothing special, as well as the character designs. The animations are fluid most of the time, and the fighting scenes are very enjoyable, and well done if you can overlook the very tiny flaws which present themselves.

During some scenes, at certain points in the fight (like when someone gets hit), there’ll often be either a very short scene consisting of just a still picture, or a very slowed down scene, to really emphasise that someone did actually hit something. It’s not really a big problem though, as the still pictures are barely shown for any time, and they do look very cool, and I think this all comes down to people nitpicking to find more stuff to complain about.
The rest of the fighting scenes look totally OK, and the use of “sword art” adds a nice tone to the frames, so to speak.

Sound: (9 / 10)
The music was also a big plus, in my opinion. The soundtrack is all-in-all pretty great, with a lot of songs both fitting for the more intense fighting scenes, as well as the more “rom-com”-styled parts. The two opening themes, “Crossing Field” by LiSA and “Innocence” by Aoi Eir, are both more upbeat and fast-paced songs, while the two ending themes, “Yume Sekai” by Tomatsu Haruka (the VA of Asuna) and “Overfly” by Haruna Luna, are both slower songs, which is most often more fitting for ending themes.
I think all of the songs fit the series (and their respective arcs) rather well, and overall there’s really no problem with any of the songs from the series’ soundtrack.

The voice acting isn’t amazing, but it’s good enough, and manages to convey the feelings and messages that wants to be conveyed, so there’s really no problem here either.

Characters: (8 / 10)
One of the most common complaints I see about SAO is “the characters are terribly written”, and I feel like I completely missed this aspect of the show. I actually liked most of the characters, and the ones I didn’t really like that all that much were often the bad guys, so you weren’t really supposed to like them either, which I guess would make them well-written, in a way...

Kirito, our main character, was one of the few beta players of SAO, and this serves as an important plot-element, as he basically knows most things there is to know about the game, making him a very powerful player. At first his primary goal is more or less to just survive, but as he spends more time in Aincrad and starts caring about the people in this new world, his views changes, and soon enough he’ll be the one sacrificing himself and helping out people in need.

Even though many of the side-characters had rather little screen time compared to other characters (mostly one episode each), they were all very likeable characters, and there was never really a moment where I just wished the episode would end already, so that I didn’t have to see more of this horrible character.

A lot of the interaction between the various characters served as a sort of “comic relief”, which was nice, and the relationship between Kirito and Asuna is definitely all but “poorly written”.

As mentioned earlier, the majority of the characters are replaced during the second arc, and because of this I never really cared about the new characters all that much. They just didn’t have enough screen time or impact on anything to really allow me to relate to them, or make any sort of connection.

Enjoyment: (9 / 10)
I first found out about SAO through some random Youtube video mentioning it, and then looking at a quick summary of the plot. Because of this, I really knew nothing about the series except for the fact that it was set in a game world, and a friend had told me that the second half was a major disappointment.
Maybe it was because of my “ignorance”, or lack of hype about the show that made it so enjoyable to me, but I really didn’t have a problem with anything which people generally complain about. Sure, the second half is slightly worse, but I certainly don’t think it’s enough to mark the series as “bad”.

Conclusion:
If you’re looking for a super serious show about the struggle of 10 thousand people stuck in a game, trying to beat the final boss and avoid death, then this show might not be for you. However, if you’re fine with the aforementioned concept acting as more of a “ground layer” to the series, and having a slightly more light-hearted tone to it, based more around character interaction than just awesome fights, then this may be for you (if you can overlook the flaws and the changes in second arc).

Pros:
+ Cool concept (even if it wasn’t executed perfectly).
+ Very likeable characters.
+ Very good art.
+ Pretty awesome fighting scenes (most of the time).
+ Superb soundtrack.
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Cons:
- Weird pace during first arc.
- Major changes in second arc, makes for a slightly worse second half.
- Very minor “annoyances” during fight scenes.

As many have already said, at first glance this show appears to be just mostly your standard harem rom-com, however I was quite surprised when it turned out to be more of a reverse-harem, especially since most of the cast consist of females.

Story: (7 / 10)
While the story itself isn’t really anything amazing, it well managed to keep me interested enough to finish watching the series. Throughout the show we basically deal with the different tasks Oda Nobuna has to do, or rather what tasks she has for the main character, Yoshiharu. It is an “historical” anime, but since I don’t know much at all ... about Japanese history, it’s hard for me to judge how accurate this is, really. However, the fact that Yoshiharu needs to take care not to change too much (as he’s from the future and knows what’s “going to happen”) is quite an interesting element to the show, and adds that little extra as he tries to not reveal important bits of information to certain people, or how he takes from his historical knowledge to get out of situations.
There are however a few major plot holes around, like how Yoshiharu traveled back in time in the first place.

All in all, it won’t leave you breathtaken, but it’s not like you’ll be bored out of your mind by the story, it’s just that I don’t feel like there’s anything that really makes the story stand out.
Another major problem is also the fact that there’s never really any real conclusion or anything, and thus this series is in dire need of a second season.

Art: (8 / 10)
The art is overall pretty good, to be honest. It has nice visuals, pretty fluid animations throughout most of the series, and nice-looking backgrounds. While I wouldn’t say there’s a “unique” sort of style to it (thinking something like KyoAni) I also quite liked the character designs.

However, this brings us to the next point; Fanservice. Now, being a show where a majority of the characters are female, all surrounding this teenage boy then there’s obviously bound to be fanservice. Whether it be Oda’s regular outfit, the occasional fantasy or just overall moe loli characters, fanservice is certainly present throughout the series, however it never really felt like it was overdone or anything (the majority of the fanservice probably appear in the ED, actually). Most of the time they managed to make it somewhat funny, actually, and who doesn’t love the occasional loli? (amirite?)

Sound: (8 / 10)
I quite liked the music in this show. The OP, “Link” by Aimi, is a bit more fast-paced or upbeat, which fits rather well with the series overall. It’s not really a slow show in any aspect, and all of it is certainly not lollygagging, so this song with a more “action-y” feel to it is rather appropriate, in my opinion. The ED, “Hikari” by Makino Mizuta, is somewhat slower, and feels like it better captures the “innocent” (or rom-com, if you’d like) side of the series.
The background music was good, but again, nothing amazingly outstanding (then again, I’m not one to really pay too much attention to the BGM).

The voice acting was rather well done, and further added upon the characters, well, characteristics. The voices are fitting for the characters, and some did a pretty great job at bringing out that little extra in their character (the stuttering of the ninja girl, for example).

Characters: (7 / 10)
Being the “romantic” (there’s not that much romance, to be honest) comedy, and harem (or well, reverse-harem, rather) that it is, there are some things you won’t really get away from in terms of characters. While the characters are well done, they’re never really fleshed out or developed in any way. There are also quite a few “typical” characters present, such as the Tsundere, the cute loli, the badass mysterious dude, etc. Thankfully, as I wouldn’t say this is really a story-driven series, it’s not really hurt by the lack of character development either. However, it is still important to note that this is a thing in the series, and since once again a lot of the characters are female you might see a bit too many “stereotypical” characters.

Enjoyment: (8 / 10)
I quite liked the show. The story is decent, it was pretty funny, and most of the characters are rather likeable, but it wasn’t really anything more than that. A big problem is ofcourse also the fact that there’s no conclusion at all to the story, and we’ve yet to hear anything about a second season.

Conclusion:
If you’re a fan of harems (or reverse-harems in this case) or just want a rom-com with a slightly less “typical” story, then this might be for you, however I’d avoid it if you’re in dire need of having closure.

Pros:
+ Decent, interesting story.
+ Pretty funny overall.
+ Music was good.
+ Great visuals.
+ Likeable characters.
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Cons:
- “Stereotypical” characters.
- No closure to story (needs a second season)
- Plot holes
- Doesn’t really excel in any category (in my opinion)

Disclaimer: Have you not seen the series nor movie I heavily advise you not to read this, as even without spoilers it could very well more or less ruin the experience for you.

“If someone says it’s wrong to hope, I will tell them that they’re wrong every time!” - Kaname Madoka

As the first and second movies pretty much exactly follow the story and events of the original series, (which I’ve already written a review of) this review will more or less consist of comparisons between the series and movie, along with some of my personal thoughts.
(And again, a perfect score doesn’t mean it’s all perfect. ... It probably leans more towards me being a crappy, biased reviewer, to be honest.)

Story: (10 / 10)
The second movie of the Madoka★Magica trilogy is a retelling of the last 4 episodes (and in my opinion the ones with the largest impact) of the original series. Interesting thing to note though, is that the first movie had a couple of new scenes, and yet it was quite a bit shorter than its “original source”, meaning there were a lot of cut scenes. However, the second movie is actually somewhat longer than the original 4 episodes were, and so not only are there completely new scenes added, but a lot of the existing ones have been reworked to be given more depth/impact.

The movie focuses heavily on the story and relationship between Madoka and Homura, as well as providing the final build up towards the climax of the show. Homura’s “arc” (if you’d call it that), which happens to be one of my favorite sequences in a series, has been slightly extended and it doesn’t fail to impress. The fact that this is the 3rd time I’ve seen the series, and yet it still manages to get to me this way is just proof of the overall greatness of these particular scenes.

Even with the very small amount added in terms of story, I feel like the fact that it manages to perfectly tell the same story as the 4 episodes it’s based on, without cutting any scenes, sacrificing any emotional “material” (for lack of better words), and still managing to add that little bit of extra to it, makes this pretty much better (if only so slightly) than the series.

Art: (9 / 10)
Just like in the first movie, the art has been completely redone and reanimated. In both movies, I quite liked the slight changes to some characters during the “labyrinth” scenes, and the new transformation scenes really adds a nice touch to it all. The scene played during the opening theme remains the same as in the first movie, which is totally fine. However, one thing that got me a bit confused, I guess was the insertion of a remade version of the original series’ opening scene in the middle of the movie. It seems as if it was made to appear slightly more depressing, or at least not as happy as the original, but it just felt sort of weird that they’d put that in there at that moment.

The quality remains at top level, and there’s isn’t really much else to say about it if you read any other source detailing the art of either the first movie or the series (which one would assume you have, if you’re reading this).

Sound: (10 / 10)
In my review of the first movie, I mentioned how I wasn’t really sure if I liked the change they’d made in the musical section. However, during the second movie, I didn’t experience this problem at all. I could certainly notice some new, or remade songs, but they were all pretty great and fit very well into their corresponding scenes.
The opening theme, “Luminous” by ClariS remains the same, however during the aforementioned scene (the remade original opening) the song that’s played seems to be some sort of slightly altered version of “Connect”, the original opening theme (however I might be totally wrong about this). In addition, not only does Kalafina’s “Magia” make a comeback (if I recall correctly, it only played once during the entire first movie), but Kalafina also performs the new ending theme for the movie, “Hikari Furu”. It was a great song, and felt very fitting for the series’ ending.

While it’s pretty hard to compare the voice acting of the movie and series, I’m sure the movie would mostly do better (if only slightly) in this regard, and I think there are scenes where you can actually notice this, especially for Madoka.

Characters: (10 / 10)
This movie more or less “wraps up” the stories of several characters, and thus focus on a smaller cast than previous works. This would obviously make you think that these select few characters would get a whole lot of development and whatnot, and just as the original series the movie does a fantastic job with this. This is where we get to learn more about some of the characters, and where they really show themselves for what they really are. Adding in the new and remade scenes, as well as the whole extended version of Homura’s “arc”, I can’t say I was anything but please in this aspect.

Enjoyment: (10 / 10)
I’ll openly admit that I spent a majority of this movie either crying or teary-eyed (though that might not mean much, since it’s not like I’m not a very emotional person in general), and it just amazes me how this piece of art can continue to make me feel this way after several rewatchings.
I’d probably say that I enjoyed this movie a bit more than the original episodes too, as it improves on a lot, without really sacrificing anything in return.

Conclusion:
If you liked the original series, then you’ll definitely love this as well. However, I honestly don’t think the two movies can fully “replace” the series, and as such I’d personally say it’d be best to watch the first 8 episodes of the series, and then the second movie. I think this provides the whole “best of both worlds”, and will net you the most enjoyable viewing experience.

Pros:
+ Improved art.
+ Added and reworked scenes, without any big cuts.
+ New additions to the soundtrack, as well as the old songs.
+ One of the most emotional sequences in an anime (in my opinion).
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Cons:
- Somewhat random insertion of the “original” opening scene ruins the feel a bit.

Disclaimer: Have you not seen the series nor movie I heavily advise you not to read this, as even without spoilers it could very well more or less ruin the experience for you.

“Watashi... Honto Baka...” - Miki Sayaka

As the first and second movie pretty much exactly follows the story and events of the original series, (which I’ve already written a review of) this review will more or less consist of comparisons between the series and movie, with some added thoughts.

Story: (9 / 10)
The story of the first movie is basically a “recap” of the first 8 episodes of the series, with some added scenes. Though ... obviously, because this movie is about 40 minutes short of the original screen time, and has new scenes, some other scenes would have to be cut. This results in a slightly faster pace, which of course isn’t necessarily bad. However, in this case the biggest problem is that (as many have said before me) because we lack some of the buildup around the characters, some moments also have less of an emotional impact.
What little is actually added through the two or three completely new scenes, or the reworked scenes from the series is easily counterbalanced by the things which are left out. This basically meant that while they’re not really explaining less stuff, they’re not really giving any additional explanation on things either (not that I personally thought it was necessary, but you know...).

I’d like to say this is the main reason the story does not receive a 10 here, but in the end I’d probably have to say that the first movie can’t live up to the original series’ story, because the later parts of the series is where the story really shines.

Art: (10 / 10)
Now, this is one of the big points of the movies. Instead of simply reusing the old Blu-Ray footage, Shaft decided to reanimate the whole thing, which ultimately lead to the art quality being brought to a whole other level. The animations are as fluid as ever (with the oh so memorable “over-the-shoulder head tilt that seems so iconic from a lot of Shaft series), the backgrounds are even more detailed than before, and the overall art is just fantastic. Granted, unless you really pay attention to it, you probably won’t notice that much of a difference from the original series. There are new scenes, most of which are just scenery at first, but some of them are different angles of old scenes, or completely new locations and whatnot. If you really payed attention to it, you’d also notice that a lot of stuff in the backgrounds have been moved around, or there have been more things added. One of the most prominent examples of this (and something that sort of bugged me a bit) is the fact there are chairs, everywhere.

Seriously, I just can’t comprehend what is up with all these random chairs placed in every bedroom in the entire movie... And especially not while 5 of them are placed in a semi-circle, all facing Sayaka’s bed... It’s just weird to say the least.

In any case, the movie has its own opening sequence, which I quite liked actually. Fans of the original series will surely feel the emotions that wanted to be conveyed with this, while newcomers will probably enjoy it just as much as the original opening sequence, if not more.

Sound: (9 / 10)
It’s not something I’ve confirmed myself, but I would assume that all the dialog (or atleast a lot of it) is re-recorded. However, even with this and the new scenes (which obviously bring new dialog) I can’t really say the voice acting outshines the series, but it’s not really worse either.

What drags it down from a 10 for me though, is the changes made to the soundtrack and background music. First we have the opening theme, “Luminous” by ClariS; I quite liked it, but wouldn’t really say it outshines “Connect”.
The thing you’ll really notice though, is the severe decrease of use of the song “Magia” by Kalafina. In fact, it’s only played once (during the ED, and then it’s the “Quattro” version), except for one time where I THINK there’s some sort of orchestral arrangement of it played instead. I really felt this was too bad, to be honest, as it kinda takes away from the epicness of some of the scenes.

A lot of the OST seems to have stayed the same (again, I don’t really notice bgm unless it’s rather prominent) but the ones I could hear were changed, I’m not sure if I actually liked. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the songs themselves, I’m just not sure if I think it was a good idea to replace the old OST. Sometimes though, they did use both the old, and newer versions of a song. For example, there are two transformation scenes in which “Credens Justitiam” (character theme of Mami) play; in the first one the original song plays, but the second time a slightly different version plays (and I think this one might actually have real japanese lyrics... might be wrong on this one, though). In this case I thought it was fine, and the change in sound isn’t really anything that’ll drag the score down all too much at this point, really, but it’s certainly something you’ll notice.

Characters: (9 / 10)
Characters stay at roughly the same score as the original series, because there isn’t really enough change in the writing to alter any of the characters or their personalities. Obviously there’s also the fact that not all characters have had their backstory told yet (as that comes in later episodes), but I’m pretty sure a certain character had her backstory cut.
As mentioned earlier, there’s also that “lesser emotional impact” which ties in very closely with the fact that a lot of scenes were cut out, and thus you’re not really getting the same chance to relate to, or connect with a character. But still, characters are mostly kept intact, so there’s really not much to say about this.

Enjoyment: (9 / 10)
I liked the movie quite a bit, but I’m not sure how I’d compare it to the series. Comparing it to the entire series, it obviously wouldn’t be as good, but even just comparing to the first 8 episodes (on which it is based), I still think the movie did somewhat of a better job. Now, I’m certainly not saying the movie is bad (in fact, I felt a lot like rewatching Madoka Magica, and I think the movie has done a good job in satisfying my needs so far), and I certainly think the faster pace will be of benefit to a lot of people, since the original beginning is quite slow. However, there’s still the problem with some of the cut scenes and whatnot.

I quite liked how cutting out the opening sequence of the series, and some of the other changes early in the movie leads to a more well done approach to leading the viewer to believe it’s just another “cute” anime.

Conclusion:
The art and sound quality sure have gotten an improvement, but I think this is too subtle of a change to actually have a big impact on your viewing experience if you’ve already seen the original series. Again, I think the slightly faster pace of the movie might be better for a lot of people who thought the series was too slow, but overall I still prefer the series, and would recommend it to most people.

Pros:
+ Improved art quality.
+ New and remade scenes.
+ Slightly improved sound quality & VA.
+ Slightly faster pace (if you had a problem with the slow beginning of the series).
+ Better at portraying the “cute” part of the show, raising shock factor.
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Cons:
- Most changes are a bit too subtle to have a big impact.
- Lots of cut scenes lead to less of an impact during some moments.
- Even with the new scenes, it doesn’t really expand on anything.
- Changed the soundtrack (this is obviously the most subjective one, but in my opinion I didn’t like it all too much).

"It sucks, but you can't reach a happy ending just by doing what's right all the time." - Kaname Junko

Now, there are already quite a few reviews of this anime out there (and more to come, most likely) but since all of them differ in some way, I might as well write mine too. However, the first thing I’ll tell you is that if you haven’t seen this show (or had it spoiled for you), and you have any intention whatsoever to actually watch it, then my tip would be to actually not read too much about the series before watching it...

Now then, let’s get ... down to it... I was very much on the fence (and still am) about some of these scores, and whether they should actually be a 9 or 10, so take it with an additional pinch of salt (and remember, a perfect score does not mean it’s all perfect).

Story: (9 / 10)
In all its simplicity, Madoka★Magica is a breakdown and reconstruction of the “Mahou Shoujo” genre, in an attempt to make it more realistic and mature. And to be totally honest, they did a fantastic job with this.
The buildup, plot twists and all the emotional moments in this series really come together to make it all a wonderful experience. Now, I’m aware (and have been told by several people) that the start of the series is quite slow, but I really think that adds to the whole “psychological” effect of the anime. This isn’t your standard, fast-paced good vs. evil action series with a dash of romance and comedy (as many “regular” magical girl shows tend to be). No, this series is about following the struggle of a few select girls who can have anything they want, in exchange for everything.

At first there’ll be a lot of questions raised, many left unanswered until almost the end of the series, but thankfully there don’t really exist any gaping plot holes, nor are any questions really left unanswered in the end.

Art: (10 / 10)
Animation is done by Shaft, and if you’ve seen any of their other works (Monogatari series, Zetsubou sensei etc) then that should be all you need to know. The art is absolutely amazing, which you’ll see from just the first 10 or so seconds of the opening sequence. Aside from the great quality of the art, I really enjoyed the “clean” aesthetics of the environment/backgrounds, and the use of light colors for many of the characters.
Character design is well done, but nothing overly amazing, tho it certainly distinguish all the characters, and makes them more memorable in a way. As for fan service, well... There is none. I mean, there’s not a single indication of fan service anywhere... at all...

The animation isn’t anything to scoff at either. Fluid both during fighting scenes and... well, non-fighting scenes, some good animations really help a lot in the portrayal of characters and their feelings.

As for the opening/ending scenes, there isn’t all too much I can say. The opening really shines at portraying that “advertised” feeling of “this is a happy show about cute girls” that the creators wanted to convey. The ending sequence however, is more or less just a silhouette of the main character walking away to music...

Sound: (10 / 10)
Let’s talk about the musical score first. The opening theme, “Connect” by ClariS, is quite a happy song, and just like its accompanying opening sequence it does a great job of portraying that aforementioned “happy” feeling. Now, previously when I talked about the ending sequence, I was more or less referring only to that in which Kalafina’s “Magia” play, as this is the most “prominent” or well known of the 4 ending songs. The other 3 consist of the opening theme, “Connect”, a rather sad song called “Mata Ashita” by Aoi Yuuki, and finally a not so sad, but not really happy song called “And I’m home”, by Ai Nonaka and Eri Kitamura.
“Magia” however, receives quite a bit more credit because not only is it played in 7 of the 12 episodes, but it’s also the most outstanding of the songs. Aside from being the ending theme of the series, it’s also used quite frequently during some of the more “epic” moments of the series, such as fighting scenes, and it really helps bring out the feelings of certain scenes.

Speaking of background music, Madoka★Magica features quite an amazing soundtrack. It’s overall pretty varied, ranging from happy themes such as “Credens Justitiam”, to darker songs such as “Walpurgis Nux”, there’s always a song which fits the situation, and really helps in conveying the feelings which want to be conveyed.

Characters: (9 / 10)
Madoka★Magica consists of a rather small cast of characters, but interesting ones nonetheless. The characters all felt very real to me, and the amount of character development in this series is just great. It makes the characters feel even more “alive”, and really helps you relate and connect with them. The characters all (mostly) have solid and interesting backstories, however I feel like the reason this part is only a 9, is simply because of the fact that a certain character didn’t have as much backstory or information about her which I felt like she should have (but who knows, maybe that’ll change in the last movie).

There really isn’t too much more I can say here, without spoiling anything, to be honest.

Enjoyment: (10 / 10)
This is easily a 10/10 for me. I was lucky enough to not have anything really told to me about this show more than maybe “it’s a bit dark”, or “it’s pretty weird”, so the shock factor and all were quite high for me. All the emotions, and the lingering feelings of this show really makes it an amazing #1 favorite of mine.

Conclusion:
Now, this is obviously not your regular “mahou shoujo”, nor is it intended for the regular audience of said genre, but rather for a more mature audience. If you’re a fan of darker, slightly psychological shows, then I assure you you’re gonna love this if you can ignore the slightly slow beginning.

Pros:
+ Amazing plot, with lots of twists and drama.
+ Outstanding soundtrack.
+ Great art (as expected of Shaft).
+ Interesting, fleshed out characters.
+ Lots of heart wrenching / heartwarming moments.
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Cons:
- Starts out fairly slow.
- Shock factor of certain parts may decrease if you’ve read too much about the show.