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An outrageously fun, hilarious sci-fi with a lovable crew and their bizarre space adventures.

★★★★

(This review covers both seasons.)

Space Dandy was the most fun anime I’ve seen in a long, long time. It’s been a while since I’ve been so motivated to marathon a show. I finished the 26 episodes in 3 days. It’s hilarious, always leaving me with a smile. The characters are very charming and loveable. The plots are absurd and over-the-top, but even through the silliness it manages to settle down sometimes to make you feel at peace, even melancholy and lonely.

I’ve said before, but entertainment—no matter what form—whether it’s anime or ... movies or books are really just about giving you that emotional experience. Don’t worry about the details. Don’t worry about the logic. If you love it enough just go with it.

First, the animation is absolutely amazing. It’s so full of life and details it's worth re-watching. This is a show that demands to be seen in true Blu-ray quality. You would be hurting yourself to watch it any other way. You have to see this in full 1080p to experience the incredible imagination. There are bizarre aliens, exotic planets, and beautiful cosmic scenery to witness.

The show is about a crew of three and their space adventures trying to find and capture rare aliens. These aliens are then registered for a cash reward. Your hero is a care-free slacker who loves women and going to a space Hooters. At his side is an adorable, outdated vacuum cleaning robot that puts up with him. Then there’s a space cat that’s just as lazy.

The dub and its writing are fantastic. I strongly recommend watching that version. It’s obvious the translation team took liberties to westernize the material, but it’s very well-suited. If I didn’t know this was an anime, I’d swear it was western made because so much of the humor feels western. Even the dialogue feels very modern with slang like “sketchy” and references to Twitter.

Every episode is something different because they each have a very strong emotional theme. There’s a lot of variety to the plots. Everything from a zombie episode; a galactic space race; going on a date; meeting parallel dimensions; even something as simple as a road trip. There’s even touches of continuity as the they refer back to older plots and items. When the show takes a break from its wacky adventures to settle down the music really adds a surreal, distant, almost lonely mood. Other times the episodes are just plain weird and abstract.

I’m reminded of Futurama: another sci-fi show that makes stories and jokes out of scientific concepts. Space Dandy was a blast to watch. It's like no other anime I can think of. Without a doubt it's my favorite of 2014.

An outrageously fun, hilarious sci-fi with a lovable crew and their bizarre space adventures.

★★★★

(This review covers both seasons.)

Space Dandy was the most fun anime I’ve seen in a long, long time. It’s been a while since I’ve been so motivated to marathon a show. I finished the 26 episodes in 3 days. It’s hilarious, always leaving me with a smile. The characters are very charming and loveable. The plots are absurd and over-the-top, but even through the silliness it manages to settle down sometimes to make you feel at peace, even melancholy and lonely.

I’ve said before, but entertainment—no matter what form—whether it’s anime or ... movies or books are really just about giving you that emotional experience. Don’t worry about the details. Don’t worry about the logic. If you love it enough just go with it.

First, the animation is absolutely amazing. It’s so full of life and details it's worth re-watching. This is a show that demands to be seen in true Blu-ray quality. You would be hurting yourself to watch it any other way. You have to see this in full 1080p to experience the incredible imagination. There are bizarre aliens, exotic planets, and beautiful cosmic scenery to witness.

The show is about a crew of three and their space adventures trying to find and capture rare aliens. These aliens are then registered for a cash reward. Your hero is a care-free slacker who loves women and going to a space Hooters. At his side is an adorable, outdated vacuum cleaning robot that puts up with him. Then there’s a space cat that’s just as lazy.

The dub and its writing are fantastic. I strongly recommend watching that version. It’s obvious the translation team took liberties to westernize the material, but it’s very well-suited. If I didn’t know this was an anime, I’d swear it was western made because so much of the humor feels western. Even the dialogue feels very modern with slang like “sketchy” and references to Twitter.

Every episode is something different because they each have a very strong emotional theme. There’s a lot of variety to the plots. Everything from a zombie episode; a galactic space race; going on a date; meeting parallel dimensions; even something as simple as a road trip. There’s even touches of continuity as the they refer back to older plots and items. When the show takes a break from its wacky adventures to settle down the music really adds a surreal, distant, almost lonely mood. Other times the episodes are just plain weird and abstract.

I’m reminded of Futurama: another sci-fi show that makes stories and jokes out of scientific concepts. Space Dandy was a blast to watch. It's like no other anime I can think of. Without a doubt it's my favorite of 2014.

An amusing story about a nearly forgotten god, his punk sidekick, and a charming half-dead girl that hangs around them.

★★★☆

I never watch a show with preconceptions. I don’t read reviews, watch teasers, or even follow what’s being released. Old or new, I check out what looks interesting, read a description, and look up its rating because more likely than not it’s going to be decent. I’ve been burned before, but trying anything new is a gamble. You have to play the odds because we don’t have all the money and time in the world to sample everything.

It’s why IMDB for movies is a much safer ... bet than MyAnimeList is for anime. Movies appeal to a far more diverse demographic than anime so the ratings combine into an accurate, almost objective measure of how good a movie is. Unlike IMDB, everyone on MyAnimeList gives their favorite shows 9’s and 10’s without stepping back and saying, “Is my favorite show really a perfect 10 or am I just being a fanboy?” I have favorite shows, too, but I can easily admit when they’re shit.

When I choose to give something a rating, I’m balancing two things: if it’s objectively good and if I’d recommend it to you. I don’t want you wasting your time because I don’t want some asshole wasting my time either. I’ve been disappointed by a lot of 9- or 10-rated shows so I make it a fucking mission to not disappoint you.

That’s why I have a hard time rating Noragami. I liked this. A lot even. I thought it was well-written enough with good animation. It was funny, the characters were charming, but I can’t in good faith directly recommend this to you.

It’s set in modern day Japan. Our hero is a nearly forgotten god that takes up menial work to stay relevant. He does everything from cleaning bathrooms to killing evil spirits. To fight them, he needs a soul which he can turn into a weapon. He becomes friends with a girl who can basically do astral projection (leaving her body as a ghost). The forgotten god, the soul weapon, and the half-dead girl are the three main characters.

I didn’t know Noragami was hyped or even considered an action show. I watched without expectations, and realized it was a character story. Our hero wants to become a famous, well-worshiped god. His soul weapon is a punk kid who gets angsty a lot which was annoying, but he gets a lot of character development. And the half-dead girl hangs around, and keeps them together. They meet other gods, the rules are fleshed out, concepts are introduced, and there’s a nice action scene here and there.

The plotting isn’t the most engaging. I wasn't left craving the next episode, but I certainly wasn’t bored. The quality of the writing is subtle. There isn’t a scene I can point to and say “THAT'S QUALITY RIGHT THERE, BOY.” It was the little moments that added together to make this show better than most.

Instead of recommending it, I'd say give this show a shot. Two or three episodes maybe. I won’t blame you if you’re not feeling it and drop it. There are no plans for a season 2 so if you end up liking it like I did be prepared to accept unresolved plot lines.

A fun, action fantasy adventure with gorgeous visuals and a charming cast.

★★★★

Rage of Bahamut isn’t the most amazing or original show out there, but it’s without a doubt thoroughly enjoyable. It doesn’t try to be deep or complex. It has a Pirates of the Caribbean feel of fun and adventure. It’s a story about a bounty hunter helping a girl get to her destination, but they get swept up in the bigger picture involving humans, angels, demons, and a world destroying dragon.

The first thing you’ll notice about Bahamut is it’s a very good looking show. The fantasy setting is a breath of fresh air from ... seeing yet another high school classroom. The fantasy elements aren’t trying to re-invent the wheel. You’ve got swords, giant crabs, necromancy, and hot demon chicks. The quality animation keeps every episode and scene a treat to look at.

The character designs are refreshing, too. The main character isn’t a generic pretty boy with bangs or impossible spikes. He’s got a red afro, he’s tan—even his personality is fun from the usual apathetic or wimpy or try-hard main characters. Everyone is drawn much more to proportion which is also refreshing from the usual moe baby features and bug eyes.

The cast is kept small. You’ve got your care-free main character who’s just looking out for himself so he’s got questionable morals. He has a righteous knight after him for revenge, but they have great buddy chemistry. There’s a naïve demon girl trying to find her mother, and even a little zombie girl with a “deadpan” look on her face that injects some pragmatism in the their plans.

The story starts off lightheartedly to reel you in while the visuals and setting keeps you hooked, but it escalates until they’re on the verge of bringing back a 2,000 year old apocalypse. Some might regret that it loses its initial charm, but the characters keep you invested even if the story becomes a generic “save the world.”

I don’t have any gripes. At best you could say the fantasy story isn’t original, but even that is an un-original, almost dishonest complaint against anything. Everything’s been done so you can only put new twists on it. Bahamut is easily one of 2014’s best shows, and shouldn’t be missed.

A romantic comedy with charming characters, but it can get too silly.

★★★☆

It’s a slice-of-life, romantic comedy. While it’s not that funny it has a few good jokes here and there. One or two per episode but it keeps a very lighthearted tone that you can’t help but smile.

The colorful, vibrant artwork adds to it. The characters are drawn in more realistic proportions giving the show a live action TV kind of feel. None of that bug-eyed, moe bullshit.

Now here’s the gimmick. Instead of boy meets girl, they deny each other’s love for 12 episodes and confess at the end, they outright tell each other their ... love on the first episode. This was refreshing and kept my interest.

B-But if they spill the beans already, what’s there to watch? The conflict comes from the main couple dealing with their new emotions. They’re both antisocial fucks. The main guy is childish, naive, and brutish. The girl is cold, distant, and just wants to study. They have really nice moments that make you root for them. There’s a lot of nostalgia which I really enjoyed.

However, it’s a manga adaptation so it ends abruptly so there’s no cohesive plot over the 13 episodes. There are a lot of subplots with minor characters that never get resolved. The show can get too silly sometimes to take seriously, and the main guy can get a little irritating because he’s so childish.

A butt-clenchingly tense alien sci-fi with an interesting setting only held back by bland characters.

★★★☆

Do you know what makes great entertainment? When there’s something at stake. When there’s tension. When the main characters could actually lose and fuck up.

This is my biggest issue with the superhero genre. You know Superman or Wolverine are never going to lose. If they die they’ll just come back because nobody stays dead in comics. Your toast getting burnt is more inconvenient.

When you know your heroes will win or won’t die then any excitement is gone. What’s the point of watching? It can still be entertaining, but it would be ... much, much better if there was tension.

This is what I liked about Knights of Sidonia. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt excitement and fear whenever the characters fought the enemy. The aliens are very strong. The characters’ mecha suits don’t do shit. To kill the aliens you need to use a very specific weapon and to hit them in a very specific body part.

Every time they went out to battle there would be casualties. Someone always died. It could’ve been a minor characters or some cannon fodder, but someone died.

Plus, the sci-fi setting is interesting, and I’m a sucker for interesting worlds.

What’s stopping me from giving this a fresh, fucking 9 is that the characters aren’t that engaging. It’s ironic considering how much tension the show can build.

The main character is boring. He’s never excited or ask questions for us to learn about the world. The minor characters are a little shallow, but they work enough. Also, the CGI animation makes everyone look the same. It was jarring at first, but you get used to it. And you’ll maybe find someone you like to get invested with.

A funny, charming slice-of-life about a demon working at McDonald's.

★★★★

It’s really hard to be funny. It’s even harder when you’re translating it across cultures. Humor is weighed down by where you’re from. To really appreciate a joke you need to have grown up with TV, pop culture, and socialize with the people around you. A joke referencing the stagnant Japanese economy just isn’t the same. That’s a why a punch in the groan is funny here and funny in China. It’s easy, it’s visual, and everyone can relate. Who hasn’t had their genitals harmed?

The fundamental, molecular parts of a joke are the setup and punchline. ... You create expectations, and you surprise your audience. The Devil Is A Part-Timer doesn’t rely on references or your cultural baggage to be funny. But the show doesn’t try hard to be funny. It’s the natural tone of it. It’s a slice of life.

So you’ve got this Devil king who escapes into the real world. He loses his powers and needs to find a way home. He starts at the bottom of society and gets a part time at a “McRonald’s.” It’s not called “McDonald’s”, but, let’s be honest, it’s fucking McDonald’s.

Do you remember that kid in your class—yeah, the fat one?—they were the class clown and everyone thought they were funny? It’s because when you expect someone to be funny they come off that way. Or you really like someone and you’ll just laugh at whatever shitty joke they tell just to get into their pants?

I found the cast of characters to be immensely charming. They had chemistry and plenty of friction to keep things exciting. There’s the loyal sidekick, a girl the main character fights with, another girl he fights with, and someone trying to kill him but ends up being roommates with. Did I mention he becomes a shift leader at his job, too?

There’s not much to complain about. It ends suddenly because it’s an adaption so enjoy it for what it is. It’s a fish-out-water story.

Grim, suspenseful with a fascinating female lead.

★★★☆

Another is a mystery horror. This shit isn’t scary if that’s what you’re looking for. You’d have to be a gargantuan pussy to flinch at this. There’s nothing wrong with that though. It’s very difficult to write that. It’s like writing humor. Things get lost in translation. What’s scary in one place is piss-funny elsewhere.

This show has great atmosphere. In all 12 episodes there’s this lingering feeling of isolation. Everything has a grim, cold tone to it. I kept wondering what was going on with the outside world. They have cellphones, but that shit never works in a horror ... story.

But the best part of the show was Mei Misaki. I fucking love her. The story is intriguing enough, but what kept me going was to learning the truth about her. I won’t spoil anything (because I’m a good person), but there are some nice twists. I went into this show knowing nothing and was pleasantly surprised. Did I mention the deaths and gore are fantastic?

The biggest issue is the rest of the cast. The main character is too simple, little boring, but he’s nice enough to care about. The classmates are okay. They’re serviceable.

SAO is the gold standard of wasted potential.

★☆☆☆

All two of my followers have been yelling at me to review this masterpiece—and it’s shit. I’ve never watched anything so hyped and so disappointing. The premise was so good only to be squandered like a lottery winner on cocaine and hookers.

10,000 players are trapped inside an MMO. To get out they need to pass 100 levels, beat the final boss, and if they die in the game they die in real life.

Just reading that premise set my imagination on fire. Two sentences had my mouth drooling with excitement. It was such an ambitious idea. I imagined ... an elite team of writers must’ve worked on it; men and women assembled from every corner of Japan. I imagined suspense, thrills, moral dilemmas, really dark shit happening. God help those girls trapped in there. It would’ve been a commentary on the human condition when put under extreme circumstances. And it’s a video game themed? Oh, Lordy, you convinced me at “the.” I’ll buy six copies.

Then I finally watched it, and it was garbage.

- Don’t expect any tension, tragedy or even a struggle.
- Don’t expect complex interpersonal or political conflicts.
- Don’t expect commentary on the human condition, moral dilemmas, or psychology.
- Don’t expect clever strategy or mind games.
- Don’t expect anything resembling real-life MMO culture.
- Don’t expect relatable characters or witty dialogue.
- Whatever your expectations are, throw them out, and lower them even further.

I don’t know where to begin. SAO fails on every level of basic writing. Let’s be fair: I usually don’t buy into hype, but SAO’s premise has it built in. There’s nothing modest about its idea, and when you can’t deliver don’t be fucking surprised when you get enough hatred to power a Tesla. If you handed this story to your professor you’d be given an F and asked if you stole this off FanFiction.net.

If you must check out this garbage, I strongly recommend seeing the first episode; then imagining the studio burned down killing all its staff; and episode one was the only surviving copy because SAO peaks at episode one. I wish I were kidding, but I’m not. The rest of the show drops the amazing premise to become a poorly written, amateur harem romance. It’s like you’re watching Schindler’s List then it suddenly becomes American Pie.

I don’t know too much about the writer, but he’s shown to be in the same amazing league as kids who shop at Hot Topic. How oblivious are you to not see how terrible your main character is? The main character has been described over and over as a “Gary Stu.” It’s a play on words from Mary Sue, a character type that’s basically just too perfect. SAO’s main character cannot escape even the lowest standard of a Gary Stu.

Let’s see. He’s too good looking because even another dude mentioned how attractive he was. He’s too powerful; taking down bosses and groups of people with no issues. Great way to build tension there. He gets all the girls because in a game where there’s a much lower population of female players he just gets all the hot bitches with no effort. He’s fucking boring. I cannot even begin to describe his personality other than just existing. And this is the worst crime: he wears all black. I’m not kidding. His entire outfit is a black trench coat, black fingerless gloves, even his fucking sword is black.

Look, I get it. It’s hard to write a main character. You want them to be likeable. They’re the face of the show, but SAO’s main character is nothing less than masturbatory wish fulfillment. Because writers want their characters to be liked they end up bland and uninteresting trying to appeal to everyone. It’s okay to have a character that isn’t liked. There’s a difference between not liking them as a person and not liking them as a character. That’s why villains are so much fun. You’d be horrified at their shit in real life, but in a story they’re fun and engaging. Most of all, make your main character relatable, and SAO’s main guy is none of that.

His Mary Sue love interest isn’t any better. In the first episode she comes off a mysterious, independent woman only to melt into a damsel in distress. She’s also a guild leader, and she has a very high cooking skill level. Where the fuck did you find the time to learn that when you’re leading players to escape the game with their lives? Are you guys even trying?

The pacing is all over the place. If you’re going through 100 levels I expect 50 episodes. But, no, the show skips dozens of floors without any sense of time. Shit just happens. The story is bogged down by incredibly vapid slice-of-life episodes. You have a whole fucking world of engaging stories, but you focus on Gary Stu and Mary Sue going off to a lake house and fishing. Goddamn, remembering this shit makes me mad.

Good pacing is gives a sense of struggle. You have your high point then your low point then another high point then another low point and so on. This is called writing. The worst sin is how they just glossed over 2,000 players dying. Not even a montage. They just mention it like a footnote. So much shit happens off screen why bother even having an anime?

And if this show had even attempted to meet its ambitious premise then the final 10 floors would’ve been the most agonizing, most intense, most tragic episodes where any hope of making out alive would’ve seemed impossible. But, nope, more harem shit.

Okay, fine, now you have a romance. I have to accept it, but it’s not even a good romance. A romance needs engaging characters, but when you have Gary Stu and Mary Sue I might as well be looking at a brochure. Two pretty people like each other and that’s it.

Is there anything I liked about this trash? I guess soundtrack was nice. The fantasy landscape and scenery was nostalgic to look at. Reminded me of my Runescape days. And when they did incorporate some MMO elements like messages and inventory that was kinda neat. Wish there was more of that shit.

I dropped this after episode 14 because—and this unbelievable—they escape the MMO, and everything goes even deeper into shit.

I don’t understand the hype for this show or why it’s so popular. My theory is that because there’s always an influx of new anime fans that they don’t grow up watching older stuff so they don’t develop taste like older anime fans.

You’re not supposed to watch only anime. You need to enjoy all sorts of entertainment from movies, books, TV shows, and video games. That’s how you refine your taste. I suspect SAO is a lot of people’s gateway anime in the same way Dragon Ball Z and Naruto are.

A deceptively dark and emotionally complex story about the sacrifices of being a magical girl.

★★★★

“What is entertainment?” You can answer that it’s anything fun, something that makes you laugh, or whatever keeps your attention. And you’d be right on all of that, but if you cut it down to the most basic idea between them all then it’s that entertainment is really about giving you an emotional experience.

Nobody goes home after a 9-to-5 to watch some asshole go grocery shopping. You already feel like a soul-less, meat husk at work so why do the same thing on your couch? I don’t think anyone hates themselves ... that much. Action movies are exciting, romance novels are about love, and Holocaust stories are (usually) tragic. It’s great to experience the spectrum of human emotions. Shit feels good.

That’s why stories and plots don’t have to be perfect. They don’t have to be airtight with logic because it’s not the point. This is the fundamental behind the suspension of belief. If the story engages you enough—if it connects with you, if it makes a bond—then fuck any cracks in logic. But this isn’t to say a story can be random and silly. It only has to feel consistent.

Easy examples are time travel stories like Edge of Tomorrow or Bioshock Infinite. They need to be taken with leniency. If you break them down then their stories are nonsense. When you’re watching anything you must actively decide if the sudden plot hole is enough to ruin your enjoyment.

Literally everybody who has seen pictures or promotional art of Madoka Magica thinks it’s a show about cute girls doing cute things. It’s not—okay, a little, but it’s about these girls being recruited to become “Magical Girls.” Basically, girls with magic powers, but the show goes deeper into the sacrifices and what it means to be one. It’s not just fun and games.

The soundtrack is great, and the art is unique and surreal. The story has this cold tone of isolation. But what I loved the most about the show was how surprising it was. Again, I won’t summarize or spoil anything (because I’m a good person), but Madoka Magica is NOT what you think it is.

Some warning, but don’t be put off by the first two episodes. Finish episode 3. It starts slow,even confusing. It’s the show’s biggest flaw, but once you finish the series (it’s only 12 episodes), the slow start will make much more sense once you’ve seen the full context of the story.