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Well, looks like I watched this one well after all the hype died down, and I think my opinion will be all the more balanced for it. I can see why it would have generated hype during airing; the action, the twisting plot, main character becoming more and more assertive etc. But do I recommend that anyone watch it now? No, not at all. This is a mediocre anime that gets by on it's flashiness. If you are considering watching I encourage you to continue reading my no spoiler review.

This anime commits one of the ultimate crimes a story can commit in my eyes, it ... is aimless and meandering. There is no real through line that links the beginning to the end. The final challenges faced by titular character Izumi have no real link to the beginning of the show. Every rushed "arc" feels like a separate story, which can be done well (see Hunter x Hunter- although that does have much stronger through-lines and recurring characters), but in this case it was not. The main enemy of the story, the final boss if you will, was only introduced about a quarter of the way into the show, and only really given any proper screen time half way into the show.

Another annoying aspect is this weirdly forced environmental message, which is very trite and says nothing above a primary school level of environmental understanding. Izumi just sort of goes on these environmental tangents and it threw me off every time. His love interest- I can't remember her name and it isn't important- was incredibly annoying, doing nothing but crying and complaining at Izumi for the whole show. Their "romance" was worse than Anakin and Padme from the prequels and should not have been implemented in an already rushed show. Honestly, the pacing is so bad, it feels rushed in the interesting parts, and the boring romance and slice of life shit is dragged out. WHY WHY WHY? The secondary love interest was far more engaging, even though she didn't have much going on either.

I know this is more a rant than a review, so... positives? The art is OK, the dubstep stuff in the OST is interesting for an anime and fits the action scenes well. I liked the relationship between Izumi and the symbiote. The show started off interesting when I thought it was going somewhere... Yeah, that about does it. I was gonna give this show a 5/10 but on reflection throughout writing this, 4/10 makes more sense. This is a below average show with flashy animation and action that hides how hollow it is. Please do not waste your time with it.

Inuyashiki is an anime that could have been so much more, if the writer just knew at all how to write compelling characters. I have to admit that for the first few episodes I was hooked, until it became apparent where the show was going. I can't fully explain why this anime is so bad without going into the story, so this review will contain spoilers. However, I will first talk about the dreadful 3D art style, spoiler free.

To be blunt, it looks horrible. Some moments of the anime are animated in a 2D format, and this is when it looks its best. The 2D ... artstyle is actually pretty nice to look at, and the realism of it works well with the dark tone of the show. If the whole anime had been animated like this perhaps my score could have been pushed up to a 4 or 5. However, the 3D aspects of the show look like trash. They poorly try to emulate the 2D portions of the show, but it is incredibly obvious and jarring when the switch to 3D is made- especially because of the motion. In motion, the 3D elements are even more putrid. It's more choppy than running Skyrim on an old laptop with the settings set to ultra. I absolutely hate this forced framerate trying to emulate 2D. ANIMATORS, STOP DOING THIS, IT JUST LOOKS LIKE YOUR ANIME IS LAGGING. If you are gonna use 3D, use it's benefits too! Let it run smoothly!

Anyway, onto the story (spoilers ahead). Basically, two people turn into cyborgs after being hit by a crashing alien spaceship (yep- that's really the premise). One is a kindly old man who heals people, the other is just a complete psychopath who kills people for seemingly no reason. Now, I liked Hiro. Having an older guy as a protag was refreshing since most anime have young protagonists. He's a delight to watch, as he uses his powers to heal people and save people- and it's all quite realistic too. Sure, he doesn't get much development, but he's such a nice character I can forgive that for the most part. And I must commend the voice actor, who brings some real emotion and even some subtlety to the role, which yet again is something anime is sorely lacking in.

The problem really kicks in when Inuyashiki is introduced. He is about the worst person to receive these powers that could possibly have gained them. If he had gotten the Death Note, all of Japan would be dead before anyone could stop him, let's just say. Inu seems to lack any normal human empathy, and goes around killing families with children and other innocents, seemingly not knowing why it is wrong. This is not a compelling character to watch, which makes it painful that we as the audience seem to have to spend so much time with him.

The thing is, Inuyashiki is a good, hateable villain, not a well rounded anti hero. The comparisons to this and Death Note are completely off. Whereas Light had noble intentions delivered in a violent way, Inu just kills people to sate his curiosity, and has no regard for anyone not in his friend group or his mother. The anime's constant attempts to make me understand and empathize with him completely fail. I hated him from the get go, all the way to the end, and my opinion never changed. And no, his actions at the end don't rectify his guilt- he was still the same psycho that he was at the start, and he would have killed more people. If he had been played as a straight up villain until the end, this would have been a far better anime. Or, if the author wanted us to somewhat empathize with him, he should have been a more well rounded character with at least some backstory on why he was such a nasty piece of work.

Ultimately, the show doesn't work for me because half of it is attempting to make a serial killing lunatic sympathetic, and it doesn't work.

But the real kicker in all of this? The ending. My God, this anime has the most bs asspull nonsense ending I've seen since LOST. Beware, I am spoiling the ending here (although it doesn't matter, you shouldn't bother watching the show anyway). An asteroid comes down from space, and the two main characters of Hiro and Inuyashiki blow themselves up to save the Earth- the end. Yep, no final confrontation, no Inu having a revelation. The show just ends with a random asteroid coming towards Earth that the two main characters have to kill themselves to save Earth (in Inu's case, only because his friends are down there). This is such lazy writing I am shocked that anyone could give this anime a good rating, let alone all the 9s and 10s I've been seeing. This may just be one of the most overrated anime in history.

Final verdict- weak story, weak characters, asspulls, bad CG. Stay away at all costs!

A solid samurai movie. Great art, great animation, brilliant sound design- some of the battle scenes definitely are among the greatest of not just anime battle scenes and sword fighting, but in general. Studio bones has definitely done a good job emulating the old samurai movies.

The two main characters, Kotarou and Nanashi, are both very likable. Nanashi in particular is an inspiring hero and his playful personality and desire to do good make his plights compelling. Kotarou is annoying at first but becomes more endearing. The other characters in the film do however, lack development onscreen, and the rivalry with Luo Lang feels kind of ... cliche. This ultimately doesn't matter much, though, as the focus of the story is strongest when focused on the two protagonists.

As for the story, it is pretty basic, but it provides a good enough vessel for the compelling action, which is all it really needed to do anyway. It's an engaging ride, nothing more nothing less.

The music is pretty good, especially the barbarian sounding drums that help the battles to feel primal and intense. However, for many of the fights, the same two soundtracks are repetitively used, and this movie could have benefited greatly from having a longer OST with more songs. One part of the OST plays nearly every battle during the end, including the final one, and whilst it is good, I actually think the drum soundtrack or perhaps even a lack of music would have been more effective. The music in the final battle is a little too triumphant, rather than being raw and on edge, which lessens the tension slightly.

Overall, I give this movie an 8/10. The plot may be a little weak and the OST a bit repetitive, but the absolutely amazing fight scenes and compelling narrative structure make this movie a must watch.

Well well, I don't think I've seen an anime treated so needlessly viciously as this one before. Seriously, it's actually pretty good in my opinion. My score of 8 may seem a little high, but I just want to counteract the (in my view) inordinate amount of hate directed at this fun little ecchi series. And I think 8 is a fair score anyway, when judging the show by it's means and compared to other ecchi's.

Yes, this is a guilty pleasure anime for me, and I despise most ecchi anime with a passion. So why is this any different? Well, to me, this doesn't ... just seem like a corporate sex appeal product marketed at lonely otakus, it actually has some heart to it. The characters are very likable, especially Hirano Kouta, who manages to make being a fat gun nerd badass. The relationships between the characters feel genuine, and there is some really good comedy that arises from their interactions. So although the character's are not exactly something out of Shakespeare, they are good enough to carry the show and make me want everyone to escape the situation unharmed.

The show also boasts some absolutely great art and fluid, graceful animation. The fights against the zombies are very cathartic to watch, both the brawls and the gunfire. These fights are complemented by a fast paced OST which gets the adrenaline and hype levels high. The OP song is also extremely catchy.

The ecchi elements of the show are most definitely... there. If you don't like any form of fanservice or ecchi, this show won't be for you, as it is very in your face. Now, I don't like out of place fanservice, but this is an ecchi, and it is not out of place. This show is pure male fantasy of violence and boobs, and I am a-ok with that. The fanservice isn't tasteful, but I liked it, and I am aware of how perverted that makes me look. I just can't understand all the hate for it, did people really go into a show tagged "ecchi" thinking there wouldn't be any boobs? And other people seemed disappointing at a lack of sex- you guys do know what ecchi is, right? Sure, we all wanted to see a little more than just boobs, but at least when a show is tagged ecchi, you should know not to get your hopes up.

Now, is the series perfect? By no means. Some characters can just be plain annoying, like that teacher guy who forms a cult, and Takagi with her incessant whining. The most unfortunate thing is that the death of the mangaka (rest in peace), will mean that no resolution to this plot will ever be made. And that sucks.

Overall, I give it an 8/10- it's a fun, guilty pleasure anime with lots of testosterone power, so I recommend to anyone wanting a fast and furious action anime that also has good comedy.

This OVA adaption of Corpse Party is surely a shocking and gory horror-fest, but it will leave fans of the original games annoyed at the abrupt nature and rushed pacing of the story, whilst leaving newbies to the franchise confused about what they just saw.

Before I delve into the many flaws that this anime has, I will highlight the good points.
1. The OP is great, catchy and actually pretty beautiful, and captures the creepy and chaotic nature of the show perfectly.
2. The animation and art is solid.
3. The voice acting is great and the VAs really managed some spine-chilling screams.
4. This is a plus for ... me personally- the gore was seriously brutal and shocking and left me feeling queasy and amazed at the brutality, which is perfect for a horror anime.

But that is pretty much it for the good, now we have the bad- (also SPOILERS beyond this point)
1. Rushed plot: The original games took time to explain the lore of Heavenly Host much more clearly. The struggle to escape the school also seemed much more drawn out and difficult in the game, whereas in the anime, most of the exploits were actually off screen and implied, making it seem like a joke to escape the school. Four twenty minute episodes was by far not enough to properly set up and execute this story, and the ending was also pretty confusing at first glance. The lack of choice elements and interactivity the games has also in my opinion make this iteration inferior to the games.

2. Whilst the gore was handled well, something never shown as much in the games, this anime isn't particularly scary. The jump-scares were not really quick and shocking enough to make me jump, and half the time it was not even clear what the threat to the students was, diminishing tension.

3. Characters had little development and inter-character relationships. So many of the deaths, whilst shocking, I was not particularly moved by.

It may seem like in terms of numbers here, the positives outweigh the negatives, but in reality this anime is not that good. The plot is too weak and rushed and the characters paper thin, with horror elements lacking. I would recommend just playing the game instead (although not the one available on steam, which seems to have really weird character redesigns that don't look good- if you have a PSP or 3DS, go for that instead. Otherwise the Steam version is ok apart from the worse art style)

If you have not played the game, this will just confuse you. If you have played the game, it will likely disappoint you. But I won't say not to watch it, if you want a short and gory horror anime, this may be what you are looking for, just don't expect the plot to be too deep- this is essentially just "Saw- the anime", it is gore pr0n is what I am saying.

I don't expect much from a DB series. I want powerups, fights and a bit of comedy. DBS has all of these, but unfortunately it has suffered with many, many errors so far.

The first two arcs are essentially just stretched out retelling of the (in my view) far superior movie versions. They have both had atrocious moments of animation and art mistakes, some characters being drawn horribly off model (looking at you, Piccolo). This has been fixed to a point with the DVD releases, but I am watching it at it airs so this didn't help me. The fight animation is also pretty wooden at ... times, the Golden Frieza arc being particularly bad. I would recommend just sticking to the movies instead. I will say as a positive that Beerus and Whis are two of the best things to happen to Dragon Ball in a long time- great characters. The 12 Universes also really expand the mythos well.

The Universe 6 arc was ok. For a low stakes tourney, it was fine and had some fights that were well choreographed, Hit vs Goku being a highlight. Not much to say except it was ok.

The Future Trunks/ Zamasu arc was in my opinion pretty bad. Zamasu had such potential as a villain but in the end just comes across as a generic baddie. His plan also makes no sense and his reason for hating mortals is trivial. The fights also take place in an alternate timeline that has no real stakes for us, and the plot is pretty much "resolved" by deus ex machina (even though nothing is really solved at all).

The current Universe survival arc has been slow to begin, with many boring eps about recruiting fighters. Hopefully it will liven up in the next few eps and I can continue my review.

Taking place after the Yorkshin arc and before the Greed Island arc, Phantom Rouge depicts a small scale story in which Gon and Killua encounter the mysterious previous eighth member of the Phantom Troupe. (Don't watch this movie until after finishing the Phantom Troupe/ Yorkshin Arc.)

I actually happen to have really enjoyed this movie despite it's shortcomings. It's nice to have gotten a backstory for Kurapika, and adds more weight to his conflict with the Troupe. The friendship between Gon, Killua and Retz is also heartwarming and there is some comedy in their interactions. (Rest of review contains spoilers for movie)

The villain Omokage actually has ... quite a compelling and twisted reason as to his plans, having a warped view of perfection through his dolls, and Retz being one of these dolls is quite tragic, as she despises the plans of her brother. The most compelling aspect of the film has to be Killua's ordeal at the control of Illumi, and his struggle to be trusting in a friend, resulting in a pretty shocking scene where Killua actually attempts suicide for considering himself a broken person, before being saved by Gon.

Overall, this movie has both lighthearted and downright twisted elements, just as HxH should have. The action is ok, and the character's ordeals are very emotionally investing, especially with Killua. This movie gets a 7/10 from me.

(This review contains spoilers throughout for the movie, but no spoilers for the main series/ manga apart from arc names)

Well, this is the last animated HxH content I am likely to watch in many years, and I have to say that my experience went out with a fizzle. There is not much to say about this movie, it is a very generic shounen movie where a big baddie comes along who is more powerful than the protags, and - SPOILER - they power up to defeat him.

This is the level of plot I would expect in a DBZ movie. No real nuance, boring villains, ... quite literally powering up to defeat the villain and wrap it up nicely so as not to interfere with the main storyline of the anime. This story seems to fit inbetween the Greed Island arc and Chimera Ant arc, but it can really be watched whenever.

As you would expect from HxH, there are some good action scenes, and the idea of "On" is mildly interesting. It's also nice to have any new material with Leorio and Kurapika, and Leorio adds some good comic relief to the mix.

I give it a 5/10 at a push. It is an ok time passer but does not live up to the HxH standard. I much preferred the previous movie, Phantom Rouge. It is worth watching just to see our favorite characters once again.

It's hard to know where to start reviewing such a fever dream of an anime, but I will attempt to. The "plot" consists of a successful CEO named Ichi almost drowning, before being saved by a strange blonde girl named Nino. Not wanting to be indebted to anyone due to his family motto, he agrees to become her "lover" and live with her under the bridge he fell from. It turns out there is a community of eccentrics living under the bridge.

That is both the premise and the plot. The anime mainly consists of Ichi meeting various members of the community and the wacky antics ... that ensue. So if you are after an anime with a coherent and strong storyline, this is most definitely not for you. The show is also listed as a "Romance" on this site, but this is sort of debatable. The romance aspects of the show are very few and far between, perhaps this will be more prevalent in the second season, if I watch it.

And so the main genre of this anime is certainly comedy. For me, it was hit and miss. There is certainly a lot of good comedy in this anime, mostly absurdist, sometimes referential (such as a straight up rip of Bisky from HxH). Sometimes the humour was drowned out by the utterly frantic editing style of the show, which if you have watched it you will know what I mean, I really cannot describe it.

It is also quite a heartwarming anime and has good messages about how to live life, and Ichi actually goes through some pretty solid character development. Other character's stories are quite heartwarming too like that of Hoshi. Although, I personally would have liked to have known some more about how the community came to be and more character backgrounds (although that would probably be against the message of the show). Some moments also seem not to make much sense, such as how Stella is able to transform and everyone is able to see this occur. It is pretty confusing. Some characters are also just plain unlikable douches, like Maria, who gets way too much screentime and does nothing but insult the actually likable characters.

Overall, if you are ok with meandering, slow paced shows, but also ok with insanely fast editing and no logic, this show may be for you. For most people, it will probably just come across as nonsensical and rather pointless. I thought it was ok, so I give it a...

6/10

Aimless, boring, stupid. This is probably the first anime I've ever dropped so far in (other than three episode rule situations).

The concept seems ok at first. Gods battling ayakashi (tormented souls, essentially), whilst simultaneously doing jobs in order to gain worshipers that keep them existing. The trouble with this is that it is not explained (at least in the 7 episodes I could handle) why these ayakashi need to be dealt with or why the pantheon of Gods even needs to exist. Regular humans can't even see the demons so it doesn't really effect them. Basically, there is no ultimate goal for the Gods.

Yato spends ... his days doing odd jobs to get by alongside battling ayakashi, and the joke is that these jobs are not very Godly, such as cleaning bathrooms, minding shops etc- in order to gain followers. This joke is not played out particularly well though and falls quite flat for me. Hataraku Maou-sama! does a similar set up much better, with the devil working at McDonalds, but this is funny because it conflicts much with his prideful and evil over the top personality as the devil. Yato simply isn't that likable as a character, and so a bum doing bum-tier jobs just isn't that funny.

Also, where as Maou has some kind of character development from pompous devil-king to kindhearted fast food worker, Yato remains the same rather dull, mean-spirited guy.

I will cut short my review as I haven't seen the whole anime, but all I am really trying to get across is that Noragami is essentially a much less funny and interesting version of Hataraku Maou-sama! and I would heartily recommend you to watch that instead.