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Can you blame an anime for having too much... anime in it?

Perhaps not, but Zetsuen no Tempest tried its dardnest to convince me of it. I do not by that mean that it has a sickening over-abundance of weathered shonen tropes, overt fanservice, cringeworthy harem setups and moe everywhere you look - it has some of these things to moderate extents, but not enough that it feels bad. Nor is it the fact that that quotes and references classical literature are a dime a dozen; a feature all too familiar with those who enjoy more philosophical and ponderous animes (and perhaps fiction in general), and ... one which does work within certain frameworks and in moderate amounts, but usually, as ends up the case with Tempest, winds up as a contrived and counter-productive attempt at appearing edgy and smart, leaving the overarching work with a bitter taste of pseudo-intellectuality.

No, in fact, Tempest surprised me by having a series of opening episodes that actually pulled me in and left me intrigued, by playing out the setup in a very fascinating manner, leaving little breathing room as you gradually get a sense of a bleak situation that leaves the necessary blanks, aided by animation and music that sets up just the right tone - something Bones has a fairly decent track record with. Indeed as the plot unfolds and unravels to the viewer, we are treated to a handful of very nice twists; some are expected but none the less engaging whilst others come as a bit of a surprise, one that makes sense in hindsight, as any good twist should. The characters as introduced appear multi-layered and there's a lot that's said by nothing being said in terms of interaction and emotion.

And then... it all sort of fizzles out, not after fifteen episodes or half the series but alrady seven-eight or so episodes in it had become clear which direction it was headed, and it was not a particularly good one; I was wondering every time I was about to open the next episode. I kept hoping it didn't lose the tempo and the mood it had created - certainly, any mysterious fog about characters and the plot is bound to unravel, but it can be done elegantly or bluntly, done well or done poorly, and in some ways it did manage to keep going and hold strong to what it did well, what set it apart (and in a good sense at that) but more and more it departed and became more.... well, anime-like.

To be specific, then, as I already excluded what I meant by this statement, let me elaborate on what I include in this statement.

First, let it be said: Zetsuen no Tempest is a story about people, who range from the completely ordinary to born with a special destiny, each is faced with carrying the fate of the world on their back to some extent or another, but choose instead to disregard this in favour of acting entirely on their own, personal reasons. People who choose revenge or love over saving the world, or finding meaning in a loved one's death. It is a very interesting angle to start with, as we are usually treated to people who without hesitation tend to accept that they must, indeed, save the world above their personal priorities. To a certain extent, the characters of Zetsuen do this, particularly as time goes on and they learn to cope with their circumstances and come to terms with reality, but they remain personally - emotionally - motivated, which serves a different angle, as indeed many people would not readily say "OK, I'll save the world" when presented with such a daunting task, at least not without secondary motivation.

On the other hand, these personal and deeply emotional motivations often find themselves stranded in a vacuum. They are is repeatedly portrayed with an illogical sort of unreasonableness; not just one that can be waved away with basis in the fact that emotions are by nature unreasonable. Rather, it approaches a level of nonsensicality that extends quite beyond the scope of the human condition, it becomes a rather wishy-washy and forced excuse for the characters acting on their own impulses and not caring about saving the world (even though they deep down do), again suffering from the sort of assumed edginess that endless quotes of Shakespearian works are symptomatic of. It is the sort of unreasonableness that is often seen in anime characters as their initial defining characteristics, such as acting only for love or revenge, are taken far beyond their logical conclusion, indeed, even past the often extreme points that revenge can take one - or rather than talking about moving past it ends up becoming something entirely different of a sort, still portrayed as a desire for revenge or love but stooped to a put-on and uncohesive mess that falls on its own rambling, particularly as we are treated to a set of increasingly strained exchanges towards the climax of the first act. It loses aim and purpose in a sense; that is, the plot still knows its direction but the characters and themes feel lost in some sort of hollow vacuum manufactured separate from the narrative, in order to defend their increasingly contrived stances. And, yet, in a twist of irony, it also completely forgoes these stances at times when the story deems it convenient, oft bereft of any explanation.

After this, the second arc ends up being, for the most part, an increasing anticlimax where any sort of pull the story originally had becomes lost, washed away in favour of increasingly, well, anime-esque elements. As the heroine, Hakaze, asks herself in a moment of authorial self-deprecation: "Is this some sort of romantic comedy?" Unfortunately, making a joke at your own expense does not excuse shoddy work. It is not just the "rom-com" aspects as much as how everyone starts to act more towards anime stereotypes, the standards are more conformed to, scenes and themes and indeed even jokes alternating between the self-regurgitating nonsense, as previously described, and increasingly common anime tropes. It at once manages to depart from that which in a good way set it apart in faovur of the mundane, and also completely soil those more unique aspects, turning it on its head to something that kind of just leaves a bad aftertaste.

So, to re-ask my original question: Can it be blamed for too much an anime, for conforming to its own medium? My gut answers no, and I don't really, but unfortunately it showed a lot of excellent ways to stand apart from the rest early on, only to have that descend into utter banality and near-parodic mirroring of its once-great aspects. And I will not forgive it for introducing butt-monkey character Hanemura, who ironically ends up being almost the most relatable of the bunch at a time when the rest have long since departed any sense of reason or insight. Even so, the late introduction out of nowhere, while perhaps expected of a second arc, does not work in his favour and he feels way too weak and irrelevant a character to have the role that he has thrust upon him.

And, yet, it still offers up the occasional well-placed dialogue or development, even as it goes on, and Yoshino remains an interesting character almost entirely throughout, as one who actually offers some semblance of realism in his approach to situations and particularly his emotional development is interesting to watch. The flashbacks with him and Aika are also highly enjoyable, though Aika is the main "beneficiary" of the frequent Shakespeare references, putting her on the put-on edginess pedestal. It should be said that the parallels to characters and themes from the relevant works of Shakespeare do sometimes work heavily in the show's favour, but mostly it falls flat and you are left wondering why it even matters. Mahiro on the other hand is an incredibly dull character, the "cool guy" stereotype with an added flavour of revenge to make a very overused form of anti-hero

In the end, Zetsuen no Tempest is an anime that tries, that really tries, to do something good and different, and it almost succeeds but seems to stumble in its own feed as it gets going, which is such a shame, for it started out well. The one highly praisable thing is the soundtrack, and at times the animation, which helps set the mood it needs, but that, too, often fails its job. Most of the second half of the first arc could easily have been condensed into perhaps two episodes, and most of the second arc could have been cut entirely, or condensed equivalently, which would have lent the series the pacing and tempo it would have needed to maintain that excellent mood it sets right off the bat but quickly departs from as it descends into all-too-familiar territory.

Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun is a romance anime that tries and ever so slightly succeeds at setting itself apart from the standard mass of harem anime that's out there, but inevitably stumbles and falls on its own flaws.

Its first and most obvious flaw is that it progresses too fast. It is determined to set itself apart by portraying an attraction (of sorts) that's there and out in the open nearly from the get-go, but fails to recognize that this makes little actual sense when the characters hardly know each other. What is an attempt to portray, perhaps, a sense of naiveté or cute clumsiness from the ... male lead - both at this junction and elsewhere in the series - comes across as silly rather than profound. The way the female lead falls for the male lead and the attraction she experiences feels rather out of tune with the character established in the beginning, creating dissonance rather than actual development. The subsequent challenges they face versus each other and those next to them tend to feel forced and this is both a result of the unsteady premise and the fact that, well, it doesn't set itself that much apart in the end. The end is a little better, especially if you overlook the last twelve-and-a-half episodes, but just... no.

The other characters it portrays tend to be more of the same; unlikely and odd combinations that do not create interesting contrasts; rather, they left me dumbfounded at times with inane character interaction and stupid attempts at jokes. It felt... dumb. Simple and unclever. Few of the jokes really worked and their internal issues were driven by and challenged with equally plain methods. The ending was insufficient on many, many levels, failing to close some important knots and like so many other romance series, leaving the relationship itself a little too open.

Animation-wise it does not offer a lot. Character designs are probably its strongest suit and they appear rather average, with often-out of place body structure and simple shading (yet at other times especially shading and vividness is done quite well). The backgrounds don't mix well with the character designs and are often very simple, as are the camera angles and shots used. The soundtrack offers some nice string and piano tracks, but for the most part it is your run-of-the-mill romcom soundtrack with a mix of comedy and romance themes. The opening theme is a very average school/romance theme with the usual colourful backgrounds and animations we've seen a thousand times before. The ending theme is more flowery but equally bland in terms of originality.

Let this be said though. It avoids several common pit traps and clichés of romance anime, lacking both a distinct harem and many of the common episode settings that are so common. All in all however, Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun is an anime that tries to set itself apart, succeeds a little but eventually stumbles and falls face-first into the mud, void of any real sense of clever and intriguing writing. I did not like it at all and struggled watching through it. Maybe you have more luck with it, but I would not personally recommend it.

"I'm curious," says Chitanda Eru, and Oreki Houtarou, unable to resist the sparkle in her eyes, knows that once more he has to give up on his lazy ways to help her solve a new everyday mystery.

Hyouka is a series that takes elements of both the mystery and school life genres, mixes them together, and churns out a product that is a very interesting blend of the two. At heart it is very much what you'd expect from a school comedy, from the cast to the plot. The cynical, dry male lead with a sarcastc streak to his inner thoughts and narrating, the airheaded somehow-top-of-her-class ... female lead with more energy than a hamster on coffeine, the male lead's goofy, easygoing guy friend, and so on. Episodes centering around onsen visits, pool days and cultural festivals, a carefree after-school life in a club that does relatively little, and so on. The cliches and stereotypes line up, but what it presents isn't as bad as the premise makes it out to be, in part because the characters carry something more than just their stereotype. Especially in Mayaka's story arc there's very interesting characterization, and the love stories that are presented don't feel forced or out of place, being subtly sweet rather than diabetic.

The most significant reason for the decent presentation lies in its crossover with the mystery genre however, and the way it handles this. Essentially what the main characters spend their time doing is solving everyday mysteries, be that a strangely locked door, mysterious disappearances of school property, or other such events. The main character, Oreki Houtarou, while strangely devoid of any other noteworthy talents, has an uncanny knack for piecing together bits and pieces of information and form a theory on the passing of events - indeed, he is the kind of detective you see in the classics of crime, only instead of crimes and murders he solves minor mysteries of daily life.

The sequence of events and the way hints to the mystery's solution are presented is done rather well, and while some can be missed easily, or relies on understanding aspects of Japanese language and culture, upon properly watching through episodes after a mystery's solution, most if not all the clues used to piece the mystery together are clearly there for the viewer to see, and pieced together the finished conclusion seems coherent and logical.

Visually the mystery solving is aided by creative visualizations of the characters' trains of thought, helping the viewer to understand and comprehend what is being reasoned more easily. This is a very good decision by the creators, because if there were only spoken words some of the explanations could easily go over the heads of the viewers, but with the visual element, it's very easy to comprehend.

Even putting that aside the art remains very lovely, using a vivid colour palette, which together with lush background, clear lighting effects and camera angles that are not often seen in anime series gives the series a very liely and engaging visual appeal, as should be expected of a school series, plus plus. The music is likewise very appropriate for a mystery series, with suspenseful and sometimes dramatic instrumentation and dynamics, yet it does not forgo some of the more typical tracks of school anime, from the exciting tunes of fun days to the goofy tunes of funny scenes. Of particular note is that it also uses a few pieces of classic music as

The opening themes are both decent, lively j-pop tunes, a little upbeat but nothing quite over the top. Thematically they draw on some central aspects of the main character's leading issue of him feeling a little gray and distanced from his friends and the 'normal', lively high school life, with some lovely colour and effect use mixed amidst the more standard anime opening clips. The first ending theme is a more bright, sung-by-the-female-leads pop song, while the animation is ninety percent silly fanservice. The second ending song is a very upbeat pop song that sort of screams "school anime ending theme", with bright backgrounds and the like, though it does an amusing job making references to older detective fiction.

Overall Hyouka is a decent series that brings something new and refreshing to the school anime genre, and while it doesn't point itself out as a very good anime, falls to a few stereotypes and so forth, it does stand out above the massive crowd of school anime that are less successful in their attempts to break away from the masses. It offers lovely visuals and music and does a very good job at visually presenting the characters' thoughts in a orderly but also fun fashion, and it's fun seeing the mysteries get solved. If you're a fan of either genre this series will probably offer you something interesting, without being particularly outstanding.

As the two seasons present themselves much as a continuous series, with little to set them apart, this review is made and posted for both seasons of the series.

If there is one word that describes Chihayafuru, it is "passion" - indeed, "Chihaya furu" means passionate. On the surface there is little that separates it from typical sports anime, from the focus on the team and team spirit to rivalries to tournament story arcs where you're typically served the main characters' opponents' motivations and reasons for participating in this sport. Through tears and joy we follow the main characters' journey through the world of this sport, ... and Chihayafuru very much follows this trend. As for the sport in question, the series focuses on a rather obscure (at least to a Western audience) card game known as karuta, where one has 25 cards with the first verse of poems on either side of the field, and as a reader reads the second verse of one of those poems, you have to remove the corresponding first-verse card from the playing field. The first to empty their side (25 cards) wins the game. A very coarse explanation but that's the gist of it.

While it follows many of the traditional recipes for the sports genre, they are pulled off quite well in Chihayafuru, alleviating many of the issues doing so can present. It does in no way lift it off the ground and up to stardom, and if you are not a fan of sports anime to begin with, chances are you won't find Chihayafuru that very interesting. For the sports anime fan however, Chihayafuru offers a loveable and passionate experience, with some twists and differences. I already mentioned "passion" as a way to describe the series, and this is one of the aspects that sets it apart. From the at times striking visual and auditory imagery used - it is poetry after all - to the many ways of love for the sport that are presented, Chihayafuru delves deep into a world of passion, and while at times it seems a little too alien or cheesy how much of it the characters have for a single thing, it can also draw the viewer in and afflict them with a desire to do something they love, which is, at heart, what the sports anime genre is all about: Communicating passion and love for something.

Another thing that sets Chihayafuru apart is that unlike most sports anime, which are made to appeal more to a shonen audience, it leans more towards the shojo genre, evident in its at times flowery animation and colour palette, and more significantly, in its larger focus on emotion and romance. It forgoes some of the most intense focus other sports series has on the game itself and rather focuses on the inner world of the characters and their emotions - the full spectrum of it, not just the "I want to win"/"This is my motivation!" portions that you are often limited to. Often you see characters cry significantly, in joy or sadness, in defeat and victory. The series also builds up a solid love triangle between the main characters, without really forcing its and in its treatment, as well as adding these feelings and moments of love to the secondary characters. Of course, with a large cast it's a near-inescapable fact that some side characters are more bland than others, relying mostly on a singular trait or two to provide comic relief or interaction, but for the characters that matter there are for the most part many layers and aspects presented - and developed - in an intriguing manner.

Aesthetically Chihayafuru is stunning. The soundtrack builds up around the atmosphere very well, from the heart-warming to the bittersweet, from the passionate to the suspenseful. It applies a rich orchestral instrumentation that fits very well with the oft-poetic art and animation. Meticulous attention has been paid to the quality of the card reading, and listening to the voice actors' performance in this regard is absolutely fantastic, especially for the most skilled readers in the series. Visually it frequently applies imagery as befitting of a series focusing on a game of poetry: The voice of a reader like sakura petals, the flow of a match like that of water, the flowery feeling of romance; such feelings are expressed visually and beautifully, though, as can be expected, some come across as more cheesy than others, but for the most part it is a boon rather than a detraction.

When all comes to all, Chihayafuru definitely isn't a series for everyone. Karuta can come across as boring, the emotional layer as sappy or over the top to many sports anime fans, and for those who do not have a taste for sports anime in the first place, the story and the series' focus can seem unappealing. To me, personally, the series is a heart-warming and moving story that spreads a lovely feeling of passion, filled with lovely aesthetic value and likeable characters. It very often brings a smile to my face, not necessarily because it is outright funny and makes me laugh, but because it warms me up on the inside. At times cheesy, yes, but far from such a degree it spoils the series. It presents a lovely and different sports anime that quickly has earned a spot as one of my favourite series.

As the two seasons present themselves much as a continuous series, with little to set them apart, this review is made and posted for both seasons of the series.

If there is one word that describes Chihayafuru, it is "passion" - indeed, "Chihaya furu" means passionate. On the surface there is little that separates it from typical sports anime, from the focus on the team and team spirit to rivalries to tournament story arcs where you're typically served the main characters' opponents' motivations and reasons for participating in this sport. Through tears and joy we follow the main characters' journey through the world of this sport, ... and Chihayafuru very much follows this trend. As for the sport in question, the series focuses on a rather obscure (at least to a Western audience) card game known as karuta, where one has 25 cards with the first verse of poems on either side of the field, and as a reader reads the second verse of one of those poems, you have to remove the corresponding first-verse card from the playing field. The first to empty their side (25 cards) wins the game. A very coarse explanation but that's the gist of it.

While it follows many of the traditional recipes for the sports genre, they are pulled off quite well in Chihayafuru, alleviating many of the issues doing so can present. It does in no way lift it off the ground and up to stardom, and if you are not a fan of sports anime to begin with, chances are you won't find Chihayafuru that very interesting. For the sports anime fan however, Chihayafuru offers a loveable and passionate experience, with some twists and differences. I already mentioned "passion" as a way to describe the series, and this is one of the aspects that sets it apart. From the at times striking visual and auditory imagery used - it is poetry after all - to the many ways of love for the sport that are presented, Chihayafuru delves deep into a world of passion, and while at times it seems a little too alien or cheesy how much of it the characters have for a single thing, it can also draw the viewer in and afflict them with a desire to do something they love, which is, at heart, what the sports anime genre is all about: Communicating passion and love for something.

Another thing that sets Chihayafuru apart is that unlike most sports anime, which are made to appeal more to a shonen audience, it leans more towards the shojo genre, evident in its at times flowery animation and colour palette, and more significantly, in its larger focus on emotion and romance. It forgoes some of the most intense focus other sports series has on the game itself and rather focuses on the inner world of the characters and their emotions - the full spectrum of it, not just the "I want to win"/"This is my motivation!" portions that you are often limited to. Often you see characters cry significantly, in joy or sadness, in defeat and victory. The series also builds up a solid love triangle between the main characters, without really forcing its and in its treatment, as well as adding these feelings and moments of love to the secondary characters. Of course, with a large cast it's a near-inescapable fact that some side characters are more bland than others, relying mostly on a singular trait or two to provide comic relief or interaction, but for the characters that matter there are for the most part many layers and aspects presented - and developed - in an intriguing manner.

Aesthetically Chihayafuru is stunning. The soundtrack builds up around the atmosphere very well, from the heart-warming to the bittersweet, from the passionate to the suspenseful. It applies a rich orchestral instrumentation that fits very well with the oft-poetic art and animation. Meticulous attention has been paid to the quality of the card reading, and listening to the voice actors' performance in this regard is absolutely fantastic, especially for the most skilled readers in the series. Visually it frequently applies imagery as befitting of a series focusing on a game of poetry: The voice of a reader like sakura petals, the flow of a match like that of water, the flowery feeling of romance; such feelings are expressed visually and beautifully, though, as can be expected, some come across as more cheesy than others, but for the most part it is a boon rather than a detraction.

When all comes to all, Chihayafuru definitely isn't a series for everyone. Karuta can come across as boring, the emotional layer as sappy or over the top to many sports anime fans, and for those who do not have a taste for sports anime in the first place, the story and the series' focus can seem unappealing. To me, personally, the series is a heart-warming and moving story that spreads a lovely feeling of passion, filled with lovely aesthetic value and likeable characters. It very often brings a smile to my face, not necessarily because it is outright funny and makes me laugh, but because it warms me up on the inside. At times cheesy, yes, but far from such a degree it spoils the series. It presents a lovely and different sports anime that quickly has earned a spot as one of my favourite series.

Shinsekai Yori (From the New World) is something of an eclectic anime series. It's based off a novel, which hands it very different premises compared to anime that are based off manga or games (and for that matter, original anime), which is pretty evident in its characters and story, following few of the bigger anime clichés.

Much can be said about its story and its contents, but at heart it's a big metaphor of growing up, from the utopian-seeming setting in the beginning to the more nuanced view we're treated to later - not as a result of the world changing but as the result of ... the viewer - and the main characters - simply finding out more about the world and how it works, and adapting accordingly. It doesn't just settle with "children growing up", however, at every point and turn there's dark revelations and disturbing implications, some of which are never answered but deftly left for the viewer to contemplate, and right up to - and including - the ending, you always feel that something is just... out of place. The setting feels off, but in a good, "this is disturbingly cool" kind of way, so while maybe a little uncomfortable, it amplifies the overall mood of the series. Dread is, perhaps, a good word for the sensation.

The characters are treated to a lot of interesting hurdles and obstacles, and it's interesting to see them interact with the world and each other, even if some characters take an unfortunate role as vassals of the story or infodumpers. Even so, the series' focus on karmic elements, the evil of the subconscious and the gnawing effects on those humans left isolated from their peers all serve to further define and contribute to the character dynamic. The latter half, where the pace really picks up, also brings about themes of oppression and supremacy and skillfully manages to instill a sensation of moral gray rather than good and evil. Conflicts are abound, simply put, and challenges the characters in intriguing and often unexpected ways.

Aesthetically there is little to hold against the series. The colour palette is lush and the animation fluid. It rarely fails to deliver excellent character designs and animations, and likewise its special effects are lovely indeed. On the auditory side, it delivers a soundtrack that contributes strongly to the perturbing mood of the series. The opening theme is as harrowing as it is good, and the ending theme wrote itself swiftly into my favorite list. The voice acting is overall good, I am especially impressed with newcomers

To sum up Shinsekai Yori is hard, but its essence is a dark story about a world where few things are as they seem, that deals with a large host of themes - many more (and no less important) than the ones already mentioned -, set in an aesthetically wonderful world. It adheres to few of the clichés and stereotypes of the day, and is that anime that comes along once in a while with a really refreshing concept and story and executes it well. Characterization could have been done a little better, initial pacing maybe too, and some story elements were a little hard to accept, and so on and so forth. Regardless, I can only finish with this: Give Shinsekai a try!

Every now and then you come across those shows that just strike you with a sort of emotional response you rarely get elsewhere. It's not a directly tragic response, it's more a gentle, melancholy feeling - a poignant way of portraying reality for what it is - not a happy optimistic place, not a place where you're guaranteed a bright future, but a harsh place that some people find so hard to deal with they shut themselves away from it instead.

The main character of NHK!, Satou Tatsuhiro, is one such person. What the Japanese call a hikikomori (from wikipedia: "h. is a Japanese term to ... refer to the phenomenon of reclusive adolescents or young adults who withdraw from social life, often seeking extreme degrees of isolation and confinement."). He dropped out from college, has no job, and he spends his days locked up in his apartment living off his parents' allowance, only going out at night to buy food and goods from a local convenience store. On top of this, he has a firm belief that everything is a conspiracy, right down to why he is a hikikomori (he believes that an organization known as the Japan Hikikomori Organziation, or the Nihon Hikikomori Kyokai (the titular NHK) exists and has the one and only goal to produce more hikikomori).

Then one day he meets a girl, who happens to know quite a lot about him. A variety of circumstances eventually leads to him being a part of a 'project' this girl has devised; one aimed at curing the hikikomori condition. Now, the "troubled boy meets girl and everything slowly improves, interspersed with some drama" story line isn't exactly what you would associate with something good or brilliant right off the bat, but the means by which NHK! handles it is anything but mediocre.

Chiefly, for me, this reason lay in its thematics, the way it handled the various issues it crosses. While it mainly deals with the issues of a shut-in lifestyle, it touches upon many other issues: Dealing with an unfulfilling life, ambitions that never came true, how to face life and its ramifications, wanting to end one's life - and many more in that line, all of which can be cooked down to one simple thing: Reality kind of sucks. It's a harsh, often unforgiving place where you don't get anything on a silver platter. Happiness and success are both goals that lie far away, in high-reaching places, and it's hard to get there. NHK! manages to portray this poignant realization of reality with evocative storytelling and brilliant charaters.

Dealing with such heavy themes, of course, can become quite a lot if that is the sole focus of the series. Thankfully its makers had the sense and wits to insert comedic relief, and at very appropriate moments, even. It manages to retain a slightly light-hearted tone without ruining the concept or derivating from the thematics, and that is a very big accomplishment in and of itself. Not only that, but the comedy is consistently of high quality. There's no reliance on stupid fan service, moe antics or predictable escapades from stupid characters who's only there to serve as comedic relief.

Indeed, every character you see in NHK! has a very well-placed purpose within the plot, they are of high quality and are enjoyable to watch. Satou is a well-balanced character; he's a college dropout and a hikikomori, but he is not a stupid idiot who hangs around for comedic relief nor is he shallow. The scenes where he reflects on his time in high school with his senpai, Hitomi Kashiwa (who also believes everything is a conspiracy), are very nostalgic in their nature and points to a character who knows that his life is askew, who knows that he's on a bad road, who wants to turn, but it's hard. Life is unforgiving and once you're off track it is not easy to get back.

The rest of the cast are just as good as characters; the good-hearted yet mysterious Misaki who wants to help Satou recover from his hikikomori ways, his galge-obsessed neighbor Yamazaki, his old high school senpai who's obsessed with conspiracies, and then some - all of them play a very important part in Satou's story, but never once are you left with the feeling that they are not good characters in their own right. Watching them go through the miseries of their existences, reacting to and developing from all that; it is very, very evocative.

Every one of these characters has a grim story to tell, something that bogs them down and makes their lives hard. But never, even once, do their troubles, their drama, feel forced or unnatural. It is all extremely poignant, it feels right and it is handled very skillfully, as we progress through themes such as abuse, family troubles, reality escape, failed ambitions, obsessive thoughts, depression, self-loathing, loneliness and even suicide; all handled with immaculate care and presented quite brilliantly.

The series' soundtrack is absolutely impeccable; it does the job that a soundtrack is supposed to do perfectly; bringing life to the emotions of the series. The melancholy, the loneliness, the fun and comedy; NHK! has the right songs for the right places, and also features a drove of insert songs, something rarely seen in anime - and generally very effectual, as is indeed the case with this series. I also greatly enjoyed the series' opening and ending themes; Modokashii Sekai no Ue de by Yui Makino has written itself onto my absolute top list of anime themes.

The animation quality is overall solid but it does not quite live up to the standard of the rest of the series. It does have a rich colour palette and its background work is generally solid, but at times the character designs feel rather askew which does detract a little bit.

All in all though, this is the best show I have watched in a very, very long time. The quality of its story, characters and its thematics was fantastic, and the lasting sensation of melancholy the series brought forth in me is something I have not experienced in other fiction to date. Well done!

Sokyuu no Fafner is an anime of the good old Evangelion school; a postapocalyptic setting where mankind faces annihalation at the hands of a mystic supernatural species, a band of mentally depraved kids as this world's saviours, and a plot with what is, at times, fairly cryptical content. Whether or not it does it well is hard to say however; it has its strengts but also its distinct weaknesses.

The series start off quite calmly on your average tropical Japanese island, where a group of kids are attending school as if life was nothing unusual. However, soon a Festum (the series' supernatural/extraterrestrial race) attacks the island, ... and it is not long before it is revealed that the island is in fact a moving fortress, and the last remnants of a Japan annihalated in the human-Festum war. Also, these kids, with Makabe Kazuki as the lead acre, are revealed to be the only characters capable of piloting a series of robots known as the Fafner - and thus mankind's main hope for survival.

From here the plot accelerates, slowly, but steadily. It tends to stumble at points, and it, like many mecha series of its kind, has all these weird concepts and technologies, many of which are hardly, if even, explained. A pill you have to learn to swallow, I guess. The pacing is generally good, though, taking time to relax and develop the characters inbetween the more action-filled sequences.

Unfortunately, it suffers from the "frequently not making sense" syndrome, and from time to time characters say absolutely nonsensical things, or explain concepts in such a manner; I can only assume this is an attmept to be deep and mysterious gone slightly awry.

Its charcaters are a mixed bunch; your average cast of mentally depraved teenagers; most of them having troubles with depressing pasts, extreme self-confidence issues or other such negatively laden emotions and experiences. They're handled respectably, for the most part, and some of their stories are quite fresh and almost touching. Some, however, fall short of the stereotype treshold both in concept and execution, while others are victims of the "repetitive gag" syndrome, and one or two at least are victims of "not making sense" syndrome.

As a whole however, both the characters' conflicts and the plot made me want to keep watching, made me wonder how it would end up in the end. Was I satisfied? Yes, and no. There's no top marks, but it certainly wasn't bad.

The series' soundtrack is very often absent, or quiet - which can be efficacious at times, but at other times I feel it works against it purpose. When there is music, it's generally good; a few outstanding tracks and a lot of generic ones; especially towards the end of the series there are a few very good themes that are used. The opening and ending themes are performed by angela, a band whose msuic I love more and more by the minute. Their vocalist has an amazing voice, making the themes are a true pleasure to listen to! Voice acting is generally solid, with a few outliers in both directions - as with the rest of the show, it is generalyl not mad, but not outstanding either.

Animation-wise, the series tend to be, at times, quite iffy, especially when it comes to character designs and facial reactions. The mecha are animated well and the battles are entertaining to watch. The colouring is a bit bland, but is remedied by good work in the lighting and shading departments.

Thematically it touches upon many subjects that its genre brethren touches upon. Death, and existence. Individuality, and life. The Festum have a habit of asking the seemingly insignificant question "are you there?" - a question with a more metaphysical implication than one would think at first. Can you truly be said to live, to be here, if you have no reason for living? If life holds no intrinsical value for you?

Summarized, I'd say that Fafner is a solid series. It's nothing outstanding, nothing extremely great, and there are mecha series of its kind that are better - but it was enjoyable. The series finale was good. The soundtrack was as dramatic as it needed to be. It had its distinct detracting elements, but nothing you can't swallow and see past, resulting in a fairly enjoyable experience.

Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. Another continuation of the Pokémon franchise, but, believe me, don't get your hopes up - if you haven't tried to watch it already. Let's face it: THe Pokémon anime isn't great. It's not good. It's bad. D&P has its improvements over its predecessors, sure, but it's still worse.

So, if yo usat a group of people inside a clsoed room, with monitoers covering the walls, showing nostop pokémon, what would the result be? Eyes clawed out? Ears bit off? Or maybe everyone would believe that if they just went on a journey by foot, every day they would meet a new ... person or creature, undoubtedly befriending them, only to leave them in the evening - for good. And of course, only after fighting off bad guys who does the same day after day, after day. After day.

Yup, that's pokémon D&P in a nutshell. Horrible writing, the same three or four formulas used over and over again (gym battle/training, rival episode, character of the day, contest/training), the same running gags (Fukamaru hitting Pochama with Draco Meteor, Team Rocket's neverending appearances, and. so. on.) If lather, rinse, repeat didn't sit in your head before, it will after watching pokémon.

Of course, for the long-time-fans, here's always soalce to find in its improvements. The very subpar animation is a little less subpar (well, with the raised standards of "par" oveer the last century, maybe it's not really any less subpar), the battles are more entertaining to watch, the characters are, well, a little less flat and annoying (I'm among those who abhored Kasumi's existence), and the contests, tween girl-appealing as they might be, offers a, uh, more aesthetic variant of pokémon battles.

If you don't look in comparison however, there's no light at the end of the tunnel. Characters, flat (but no Kasumi!). Plot, horrible, repetitive and everything's way too long (180 episodes and counting in Sinnoh alone, compared to the 80 episodes of Kanto). Animation, bad (God, I wish it'd look a lot more like Bleach at its peak). Music, -- oh, that I didn't discuss.

The soundtrack is a mixed boat, same for voice acting. To specify, the mix doesn't stem from one character's seiyuu being better than another, but the difference between original and dub. The dub is so substantial in the pokémon franchise that I can't really omit that part in a review, even though I don't really watch it. But anyway! The seiyuu do a fair enough job of the characters. Nothing outstanding though. The English VA's however, oh God. That's Star Wars Holiday Special-bad. And that's almost where the soundtrack in the dub is, too. Iffy themes which you've heard over and over for 600+ episodes of pokémon. But that's where the Japanese version is good; the music, although much from the video games, sound better, fits better and doesn't sound as old and repeated as the dub's themes.

For me, and probably many, one of the few things (aside nostalgia, devotion and fanboy/girl-sim) that really keeps them watching is Team Rocket. The chemistry between them is really amusing, and while their plots and introduction themes are as boring as ever, their speech and mannerism are quite funny still. Aside that, it's all for the kids, this one. Yup, it keeps them hooked, and does it well. Pokémon is, after all, a kids' show, so I'm not that annoyed by its lack of, well, anything. For what it's worth, its persistent themes of friendship, hard work and trust does appeal to kids in a good way, and parents can rest assured that Satoshi, Pikachu and the gang will take their kids through a friendly and safe thirty minutes of action.

Imagine a world where artificial intelligence exists in the form of robots, and, eventually, androids. They obey their master's every whim; helping out with chores at home, storing status of household members; everything dutifully and without hesitation. They are totally soulless; mere machines in the shape of humans.

Or are they?

What if these androids had a soul of their own? A feeling, curious mind capable of receiving sensations, learning them, recognizing them, adapting to them? That is the thought Eve no Jikan tries to bring forth, and boy, is it a provoking one! While not really permeating the series in a very visible manner, it does ... raise the question of what it means to be conscious, and why we humans possess the ability of awareness and freedom do do what we choose. And what makes us different from robots in this sense? We are constructs of (mostly) organic matter driven by electric signals, robots are constructs of non-organic matter driven by electric signals. What is it that would make them aware and not us?

Granted, Eve no Jikan focuses mostly on the 'what?' of the situation, and not the 'why?' And it doesn't necessarily hand out any answers on a silver platter, if at all, leaving room for the viewer to reflect on the situation; what it really means and how it affects its surroundings.

Eve no Jikan is a short series; the episodes are short in length, and there are only six of them in total. Even so, ther has been excellent effort put into the characters; both making them interesting, deep and natural from the starting point, all the while expanding on that throughout the show; how they change their views on androids, or not, what their circumstances and how these affect their choices. The result is characters with whom I could sympathisize as far as their choices went, and qutie honestly, I was torn at the start as to who was the most right; those thinking of the robots as, well, robots, and those who treat them as equal humans. A question which answer is both subjective and circumstantial; landing much on the fact whether or not a robot can develop feelings and awareness to the extent way we humans possess it.

As if that was not enough, EnJ has some rather striking visuals. While I am not a big fan of CG or the like in anime; here it rather mixed in; and at times it felt more like 2,5D than 2D or 3D. The lights were well-placed, creating a nice balance to the scenes; the character designs were simple yet impressive, and backgrounds were astounding. What really makes the animation stand out however; is the astounding camerawork. Yes, camerawork. It isn't the most touched-upon element of animation style in anime, unfortunate as that may be. It really makes a difference to see different angles than what you would expect, different techniques; and in the case of EnJ; what at times well-simulated handheld camera; one of my favourite camera methods, be it live-action or animation (though in the latter EnJ is a first for me!). It creates avery special experience, and combined with the "2,5D"-feel it struck home with me.

To top it off, EnJ had a stunning soundtrack. While not featuring many tracks, those that were present set the atmosphere for the show, and did its proper job as a soundtrack. It had no distinct opening or ending themes (an instrumental tune for the latter, during the credits, however); save for the final episode's ending theme, which quite personally I loved. Might not be your taste though.

In all, EnJ is quite the unique experience, and, if you're open for it, rather thought-provoking. It definitely swayed me, and this was the first time I ever felt bad for a robot, which looked like a robot.