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The daily trials of a student is no stranger to the animé world; it's been constantly the focus of many titles that have gone by. Whether extracurricular activities (like a certain light music club) or high school crushes (like a certain girl with delinquent tendencies)--almost the entire spectrum of student life has been animated in one way or another. Yes, even the worries of a student approaching graduation has been in constant focus; the protagonist always searches for himself, wondering what he should do for the future after he leaves his high school. What should he aspire for? Will he succeed? Is it the right ... decision? The student spends the majority of the storyline wondering what he should become. Yet, sometimes, even this simplest of questions becomes the hardest to answer.

How do you think of what you want to become, when it seems that there's always someone out there who's leagues ahead of you? How will you stand out when you're surrounded by people who are already at the top? How do you get a chance at the spotlight when you're covered by the towering shadows of the people around you?

These questions are the concern of the main protagonist, Kanda Sorata, in this light novel-based animé entitled Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo, or The Pet Girl of Sakurasou. The first volume was published in 2010 as a work by writer Kamoshida Hajime, with the help of Mizoguchi Keji as illustrator. As of October 2012, 10 volumes have been released; the animé series based on the light novel series started on this same month.

Story: 10/10

The story is centered around the Sakura Dormitory (the namesake of the title), a student dormitory of the Suimei University for the Arts Affiliated High School. The dormers in this particular place are of the rather odd kind, being troublemakers and whatnot. However, making trouble is not the only thing they're good at; the dormers are known for their exceptional talent in their respective chosen fields. Animator, scriptwriter, programmer--the dormitory is home to students who can be called geniuses in their fields.

...well, except for one at least. This is the dilemma of Sorata. He can't seem to find his niché, especially now that he's (quite literally) surrounded by prodigies. He's not even supposed to be having this problem; he just ended up in the Sakura Dormitory after refusing to let go of a stray cat he found in exchange for his stay in the regular dorms.

The "pet girl" in the title refers to the newcomer, Shiina Mashiro. Being a new transferee in the Arts division of the school, she stays in the Sakura Dormitory out of recommendation of her cousin, who works as a teacher in the school and is also a dormer. Sorata ends up taking care of her, though, because the girl is the airhead that towers over all other airheads; it's almost as if she can't take care of herself. Thus, the "pet girl of Sakurasou."

The story is assembled just like any other romcom, with the overly dramatic first meeting and the artistic wind effects that come with it. Hidden beyond this, though, is a surprisingly deep story about how one normal guy finds his aspirations and dreams while living alongside prodigies that seem to be the best at what they do. His co-dormers don't step on his dreams, and they're certainly friends with each other, but he can't seem to take his first step towards his dream when his friends seem to have set the first step a bit too high for him to climb.

While maintaining the consistency of romance and comedy in each episode, the story does not fail to remind the viewers of the main protagonist's dilemma. Each scene reminds the viewers about how hard it is to get your momentum towards that one thing that you can call your mastery, when everyone else seem to be masters already. It hurts each time you fail and they succeed, and sometimes you just wish that they'd fail too, just so that they'd know what you're feeling. The constant pressure hurts, too; you feel like you need to be so much more than what you already are, since your peers seem to be doing the same thing. And it hurts even more when you notice that you're trying so hard just to attain so little, and yet they manage to do so much more without so much as breaking a sweat.

Don't let this theme steer you away, though. While this show has drama on all the areas where it needs it, the rest is covered by over-the-top reactions and hilarious situations. The show has watermelon paths, cat-based mechas, pantie horoscopes, players, messy hair, and... kickboards to the face. There's also the pantyshots, the see-through shirts, the fanservice, and the slightly lewd references that are a mainstay of romcoms. Comedy certainly doesn't lack in this show.

And where both comedy and drama is absent, romance is present. The broad spectrum of characters comes with the various love interests that seem to cling on to some nobody with nothing special about him. This show shuffles situations between girls, and each episode devoted to a girl develops both her and the main protagonist as a pair. Heck, you can find the pairing you'll root for by the end of episode 1 alone. The tears, the hugs, the blushes--romance certainly doesn't lack either.

In short, while romance and comedy is certainly a driving force in this show, what really got me hooked was the underlying question that's always on Sorata's mind. While something you won't usually encounter in a romcom, the show managed to blend both drama and romcom into a show that works so well you can cry twice in one episode, with two completely different reasons. You don't even know anymore if you're crying because you can relate to the protagonist, or it's simply leftover tears from some extremely hilarious scene a few minutes before.

Art: 8/10

If you're going to base an animé around an arts-oriented high school, you're gonna have to step your artwork up a notch. This show delivers this well, showing images of artworks that look professional. (Heck, chances are they were made by professionals anyway.) One scene in particular stand out for me, though. The characters were shown a painting of the deep, blue sea, and suddenly the scene shifts them to some surreal underwater world--as if they dived right into the painting. Putting it simply, it was one of the most beautiful scenes I've ever seen.

The rest of the scenes don't fail, either. When it's about comedy, we get over-the-top reactions, exaggerated faces and expressions, and bright, poppy colors. Shift to romance, and we get the red-pink overall tones, the sakura leaves flying along the breeze, the blushes on the character's cheeks, and all that should be there. If it goes to drama, we get the slightly darker colors and the backgrounds required to do some soliloquy or whatnot on part of the character.

Character designs are simple and clean, too--pretty much the way I like it. Nothing too complicated to look at, and certainly nothing unnoticeable.

Sound: 8/10

To be honest, I don't really just stop to listen to the show's background music, but I haven't felt that the music doesn't fit some particular scene, so it should be fine. It's worth noting, though, that the opening and ending themes are quite entertaining to listen to. Frankly, it's hard to skip them.

Character: 10/10

Here's the second shining part of Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo. Being a dormitory that's home to odd geniuses, the character roster is far from boring. We get a hyperactive animator, a scriptwriter who's a part-time player, a hikikomori programmer, and an airhead mangaka. Even the main protagonist, who's a self-proclaimed nobody, isn't as substandard as he thinks he is. They're both simple and fun to watch. Their interactions won't bore you, I can assure that.

However, character development is where they shine. Character interactions reveal other issues that would otherwise remain hidden to both the characters and the viewers. Hidden love interests, angst, envy--pretty much the sort of things you'd expect in a romcom like this. However, alongside emotions you'd feel in situations involving love, there's also those feelings you'd get when surrounded be people who succeed--loss of self-confidence, envy, and sometimes outright annoyance and hatred. The show reveals what people usually keep hidden inside themselves, and that's where the show is good at.

Enjoyment: 10/10

If it wasn't obvious to you before, I should probably say it now: Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo is well on its way to becoming one of my most beloved shows. Pretty much all that I look for in an animé is here, and they managed to make it work for once. I sympathize, I laugh (real hard), I get all fuzzy inside, and I sympathize all over again. It's a unique formula that I think makes this show one of the best out there.

Overall: 9/10 (Great)

All in all, Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo is a blast to watch. Best part is, it's only halfway through. As far as the 12 episodes go, I like this show so much I placed it on my Favorites list already. It's funny, it's beautiful, and it's heartwarming. I felt the issues directly, because I pretty much live in the same situation. (Just without the "pet girl" part.) I can only stress how beautiful the story is so far, but I'll have to wait 'till the ending to give it my final rating. For now, I'll be watching. And so should you.

The joys of reading light novels is that you can basically just read it like you would any normal book. You can engage in reading while on the subway, or while it's break time in school, or even as you go to sleep. It's really the closest you can get to taking your favorite characters anywhere you go. It just so happens that in Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu, not only would you read in public; you'll look like an idiot at the same time, simply because you're laughing way too much just for reading some blocks of text. To be precise, you'll feel like ... you're one of the idiots this great light novel is named after.

For those of you more oriented with animé and manga, you'll know that this very same series spawned a 2-season animé series last 2010 and 2011 (plus a 2-episode OVA) and a manga series. However, the animé had some departures from the details of the main story, and as of now no announcements have been made for a third season. The manga, on the other hand, follows the light novel more closely, but only a few chapters have been scanlated for people like me who have no access to the real volumes. (And, as far as I know, not much volumes have been released anyway.) As such, if you wanted to know the rest of the story, the only way to go is to read the light novels.

And true enough, reading the light novels was definitely the right way to go, especially for avid fans of the series like me.

Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu is an ongoing light novel series by Inoue Kenji which started in 2007. It follows the story of Yoshii Akihisa, the namesake idiot, and his trials and daily troubles with his group of friends, Class 2-F, and Fumizuki Academy. The school employs the exclusive Exam Summoning Battle (ESB) system, where each student gets a summon whose power depends on his performance in school, and where each class is separated by their overall academic performance. Facilities are also given to each class based on performance, such that Class 2-A gets the reclining chairs, air conditioning, personal laptops, and LED TV screens, while Class 2-F gets... Japanese tables, seat paddings, and chalkboards with no chalk. Yoshii, together with his friends and classmates, band together to prove to the other classes that grades aren't everything by engaging in battles.

Story: 8/10

The story is entertaining and, frankly, hilarious. Readers will never run out of laughs, with each paragraph written with vibrant words and hilarious dialogue between characters. Yoshii's ramblings with his close friend, Sakamoto Yuuji, will always give you laughs at every instance. Even the short snippets provided before the start of each chapter is equally as entertaining as the main story itself. The series isn't a gag story, though; there are instances of seriousness as well, though certainly not so serious as to completely disregard humor. Class battles and exams provide the setting for combat between summons (with the occasional instance of Yoshii getting beat up for being a negotiator to declare war). Romance is also abound in the story, with its focus on a triangle with Yoshii in the middle. (It turns into some 3D axis with Yoshii in the origin at some point though...)

Also, while being humorous and entertaining, the story continuously refers back to the main driving force of Class 2-F--that is, to prove that grades alone won't define a student (or person in general). It continuously challenges the notions in the reader's head about the differences in being an excellent person and in being a good one. Class 2-F challenging higher classes and main characters pushing their own limits with regards to academics and other things--all seem to be driven to prove to the world that they aren't so different from the high-scoring students after all.

In any case, the pacing is excellent as it manages to maintain the story and humor that it brings. There's also enough chapters released to get you reading for hours at a time, so there's no issue there.

Art: 8/10

Not much can be said about the art, since this is a light novel. However, one-page illustrations and cover artworks for each volume show vibrant illustrations of characters, whose images will look just like how you imagined them to be anyway. Clean, simple, and descriptive--just like the light novel itself.

Character: 10/10

It's in the character aspect where Baka to Test shines. Each character is described with a certain specific trait that defines who he or she is, such that certain dialogues don't even need referrals (e.g. "[dialogue]," says [character name].) anymore. And I can assure you that all of them are lovable.

We have the main protagonist, Yoshii Akihisa, a complete idiot with a kind heart, also named the "Punishment Inspector" (the teachers made his summon the only one able to touch physical objects; basically, they order him around); Sakamoto Yuuji, the delinquent-like class rep and close friend of Akihisa; Himeji Mizuki, a cute pink-haired girl with scores enough to rival the top student of Class 2-A; Shimada Minami, a rash girl who's the resident math student in Class 2-F behind Himeji; Tsuchiya Kouta, a silent guy whose nickname is "Ninja Pervert" (I'll let you imagine why); and Kinoshita Hideyoshi, the actor who's also a bishoujo (a trap, basically).

It's a parade of different traits for the main characters, and the supporting ones are just as distinct, just with less appearances in the text. All this sums up to Baka to Test having quite an assorted cast of characters ever assembled for humor.

Enjoyment: 10/10

Well, I'm a big fan of the series ever since I read the manga, and I was just plain excited to know that the story in the animé is barely just half of the entire story so far. I've read up till the latest chapter translated by Baka-Tsuki, and needless to say I enjoyed myself to the very last paragraph. I certainly did look like an idiot grinning as I read through blocks of text. In short, it's great to pass the time with this light novel. You might find yourself unable to put the laptop (or smartphone or tablet, whatever you use to read PDFs) down even if you're just a few paragraphs in.

Overall: 9/10

In a nutshell, reading Baka to Test is a blast. Inoue Kenji, along with his illustrator Haga Yui, stitched together a plethora of quirky lovable characters with a unique setting and hilarious scenes to give us an excellent light novel whose root is enough to give you inspiration, and whose execution is enough to give you laughter for hours. Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu is definitely a must-read, for fans of the series or for newcomers.

For the past ten years, Oh! Great (Ogure Ito) has created one of the most bizarre pieces to ever hit the shelves: Air Gear. To be blunt, it's bizarre because you just can't seem to figure out what Air Gear is trying to be. Is it a sports manga that's over the top? Is it a battle manga with the most peculiar choice of weapons? Is it a harem manga of sorts? Is it actually a comedy manga with ridiculous amounts of fanservice? The manga jumbles its focus on these genres as it goes on, and does so until its final chapter.

Nevertheless, I finished reading ... Air Gear. I just finished reading it out of sentiment; I still fondly remember the days when it was good, and continued reading hoping that the good times of Air Gear would return. Alas, it would not recover, but I read it anyway. I suppose this is the sentiment produced by reading long-running series; you just can't let go so easily. Anyway, let's get to the nitty gritty.

Story: 6/10

The story is about Minami Itsuki, referred to by his friends as "Ikki," and his story in the world of ATs. What are ATs? Think of over-the-top inline skates. That fly. And skate in the sky. With powers.

I actually hooked on to this concept, and thought that it would produce some of the most ridiculous sports manga ever. Air Gear, however, tries to attain a multitasking attitude, and attempts to do several genres all at the same time. What we end up with is a sports manga tied in with battles, romance, comedy, and fanservice. It juggles the concepts each time, and ends up with a bizarre mess most of the time. It does have its moments, though, although the mess really is more frequent. It was jumbled so much that the last 20+ chapters ended up being romantic, then more of a shounen battle, and finally finishing it up sports manga-style. It's confusing, but you tend to grow on it if you've been reading it for years.

Art: 8/10

I've always liked Air Gear's character illustrations. Details are pretty much just right where you need them. It's just puzzling, though, how the female characters don't seem to know the concept of "underwear." Or even "sports bras." Heck, sometimes, even "bras" too. Well, setting all forms of fanservice aside, the characters look great.

The battles look amazing as well. It's amazing how the artists envision all the powers of the ATs, and bring them to life as backgrounds each time the user of the AT uses the said power. Dragons, vines, typhoons--name it, they got it.

What sets me off, though, is the scenery. Sometimes, it's great, but often times, it's really messy. Setting that aside, everything else is pretty good.

Character: 5/10

Here's where the other problem of Air Gear lies: the characters are so plentiful they're cluttered and completely lack characterization. Most of the characters are cool and collected, or hot-headed sports jocks like our lead character, or some pretty girls with awesome sets of inline skates (and vital statistics). The only guys I remember so well aren't even the lead characters; they're just members of the group Ikki forms later in the story. If anything, you'd find strength in the characters not as individuals, but as a whole. Heck, even Ikki's personality was pretty uneventful.

Enjoyment: 9/10

Nevertheless, Air Gear was a pretty unique experience. You'd never thought you'd see genres so diverse in one single manga, and the author manages to execute the story while keeping the ridiculous instances at bay. (Sometimes.) The tricks and the ATs give life to the story, and keep readers on. You can even play favorites with your choice of the best ATs in the series. It's that catchy. Either that, of course, or you're really just interested in certain curves throughout the series. Or the almost complete ignorance of women's underwear. But hey, all's well that ends well, right?

Overall: 7/10

For the record, this is simply the average score of everything I've rated above. Overall, Air Gear brings about a story that's just as ridiculous as the sport where the entire story revolves about. Whether you're in it for the sentiments, or the women, or the tricks, or the powers, Air Gear remains to be quite an entertaining read. It's certainly not the best out there, but it's nice to read something to bizarre it's entertaining. I guess the bizarre nature of this manga is one of its strong points after all.

Here's the deal: I have a dream animé. It's a show that's primarily mecha, with the robots piloted by humans and function like body armors rather than bigass robots that tower over the skyline (Zero--and pretty much all the other Maverick Hunters--from the Megaman X franchise inspired this). I wanted a little romance on the side, and awesome fights here and there, with possibly a few moments of comic relief. Character designs should be clean and crisp, with detail in the eyes and the mecha suits. Fanservice is not desired, but allowable to an extent. A male or a female lead would be fine, so ... long as the female lead doesn't lead the series into a shoujo dive.

Keeping this in mind, I searched for shows that have any one or a combination of these characteristics. I searched high and low (I wasn't aware of MAL at the time I watched Infinite Stratos), and I eventually stumbled on Infinite Stratos.

Characters:
- Clean and neat, with the occasional excessive cheek tints. (AWESOME!)
Fanservice:
- Bordering the allowable and the excessive, but nevertheless still allowable. (Fine.)
Mechas?:
- Yes. Battle suit-style mechas. (F**K YEAH!)
Tags:
- Mecha (AWESOME!)
- Romance (NICE)
- Harem (...huh?)

Then the plot dawned me. Frankly I was initially disappointed to see that the title closest to being my dream animé was quite possibly the largest harem I've ever encountered (and frankly, it still is). At least Gundam 00 had 4 Gundam Meisters; Code Geass had a myriad of pilots; even Megaman X had Maverick Hunters and Navigators. And here we have Infinite Stratos, set in an instructional school in a setting where females are the only ones capable of piloting these mecha suits--with the exception of our lead character. (Whether this is positive or negative is entirely up to the reader.) I'll leave my ranting for now, and move on with my review.

Story: 5/10

Infinite Stratos introduces itself by giving us a heads-up on what's going on in their world: mecha suits called Infinite Stratos (or IS for short) are the latest in technological innovations, but only females can control them. A worldwide pact was made to prevent the use of these suits for war; instead, the suits are used for sport, and a school off the coast of mainland Japan teaches students how to use them. Obviously, the school would be an all-girls school, with a peculiar exception of a student: Orimura Ichika, the only male in the world who can pilot an IS.

The show manages to compress all this in one episode, which was good. The bad part was that they didn't follow it up. They didn't give so much as an amply descriptive story behind why Orimura is the only male who can control an IS (they tried it near the end of the series, and even by then it was still largely vague). Also, for some magical reason only females can pilot the suits. No explanation given. It's probably just a plot device to maintain the "harem" status of the series, but it doesn't help the story at all besides giving the viewers girls and more girls.

The 12 episodes of this series are roughly about class competitions, a single person's flashback, and one mission that was supposed to be a climactic ending but certainly fails to do so. If Infinite Stratos is bad at somethine, it's the story.

Art: 9/10

Here Infinite Stratos tries to redeem itself (and at least in my case the redemption effort works). Art in this show is clean and fluid--just the way I like it. People are drawn quite well, and nothing is left without detail. Even the GUIs of the students' workdesks and the classroom screens are well-made. Mechas are presented in 3D when in combat, and in 2D when in static frames. I think this is a plus, since the 3D action scenes are certainly eye-catching (I mean, with all those lasers and boosters and all that). Color schemes for the mechas aren't really stellar, but at least they match the mood of the show. Also, if you're going to do a mecha show, you have to pay attention to the mecha designs. Luckily, Infinite Stratos does this well, and the mechas certainly look great.

Environment-wise, it's pretty much standard. You won't expect any vivid settings from a school that's pretty much isolated at sea, but at least they try their best to give it a futuristic feel. Personally, I liked the art direction of this series.

I suppose animation goes here as well, and the fight scenes are well-done. Not the type of fight scenes you'd expect from a 12-episode harem series, but still well-done.

Sound: 10/10

Here's something Infinite Stratos is definitely good at. Sound in this show is quite excellent; the quality of BGMs on battle scenes are at a level that probably won't match the storytelling. Opening and ending themes are also well-done. Look, if you want to get a general feel of Infinite Stratos without watching it, then go look for its OST tracks. You pretty much get all the good points of Infinite Stratos by listening to the OST alone. (There's no harem in OSTs, right?)

Character: 6/10

The only reason I didn't give this a score lower than 5 is because of a certain French girl (this statement also happens to be a weird Titanic reference). The rest of the characters are pretty much shallow; actually, they're just "pretty." Not even the lead character stands out. Our lead Orimura is just a dense boy with a strange admiration for his older sister (no worries, it isn't incestuous); his childhood friend is the usual tsundere; the English girl is just simply arrogant and aggressive (but she's not annoying, though; I did like her at one point); the Chinese girl is also a tsundere (surprise, surprise); the French girl is the only character that has an actual backstory worthy of being called a "backstory;" the German girl is the one with a weird obsession for both Orimura and his sister (this is the kind of obsession you should worry about). I've pretty much described the other 4 characters. I'd really like to do defense on the French girl, but she comes out near the middle of the series, so I'll leave it for you guys to watch and find out.

Enjoyment: 10/10

This might seem confusing, since I gave some components pretty low scores. I already mentioned that Infinite Stratos pretty much embodies my dream anime (only ruined by a harem element). In this sense, I did give it a chance, and I did like it. I suppose it was because of the suits? Perhaps I really just wanted to see mecha-stye battle suits. It was so close to being my dream animé. So close.

Overall: 8/10

Generally, Infinite Stratos is lackluster. My scores for Enjoyment are pretty much fed by bias; had I had a different idea for a dream animé, Infinite Stratos would have scored pretty low. However, if you're into harems and fanservice, and if you have the slightest interest in mechas, then you might just like Infinite Stratos. I watched the show like how I leisurely go hiking on a mountain. You don't hike to meet and talk with your fellow hikers; you hike to enjoy the view. That's what I did with Infinite Stratos: I didn't watch to understand the people inside; I really just watched for the view. And by my standards, it was a pretty good view.

How "human" are we?

I've been asking myself this very question after watching Eve no Jikan. I'll go ahead and save you some minutes of reading: watch Eve no Jikan. It's intriguing, it's engaging, and above all else it's entertaining. For those interested as to knowing why, I'll explain below.

I just came across Eve no Jikan by accident one day in someone's list, and I gave it a shot. I guess I'm just the type of person who can't say no to shows that tackle androids. However, I was expecting some tacky storyline with androids as human partners and all that. Eve no Jikan, however, defied ... my expectations and gave me an engaging story that made me ask myself "What would I do if I was in his shoes?" once the movie ended. Few shows, never mind movies, give me that kind of aftereffect; Eve no Jikan manages to do it so well I'm still thinking about it now.

Story: 10/10
This is probably the strongest point of the movie. The story tackles a distant future where humanoid robots called androids are working among us humans, doing some of the jobs we humans are too busy to do. It tells of a student named Sakisaka Rikuo who discovers a weird log on the operational log of their household android named Sammy. He is then led to a café named Time of Eve (or Eve no Jikan, hence the title of the movie), with a rule that states that there should be no discrimination between humans and androids.

The movie is simply a combination of three short animations, so you'd expect some disjoint stories. Eve no Jikan, however, manages to stitch them all together due to the presence of the café itself, with regular customers and the occasional newcomer.

What makes the story strong is how it handles the ethical and social issues that are bound to be present in a society that uses robots that resemble humans in every outward physical detail. The movie presents some rules on androids that every androids (and every androids manufacturer) must follow. It tackles people who think of androids as equals, people who think androids are unnecessary and are detrimental to society, androids who think and behave like normal humans and everything else in between. It does so fluidly and in an ordered fashion so as not to impose multiple issues on the viewer at once, yet still somehow interrelated and just as significant as the previous issue presented.

Art: 8/10
I have a bias for good, clean art; this movie does it very well. With bright, neon-colored signs typically present in futuristic settings, and styles that make androids differ so little from normal humans (androids have light rings on their heads to differentiate them from humans; the café instructs androids to turn the said light rings off so as not to cause discrimination between humans and androids). Nevertheless, art is very nice and fitting for the movie.

Sound: 7/10
If you're looking for some upbeat backtones, you won't find it here (no one fights shounen manga-style here). However, the background music is just enough to stir emotions within the viewer or to present undertones within the scene, and does not overpower the scene itself. I might say that it's quite fitting for a movie like this that makes its viewers think for a change.

Voice acting, on the other hand, is excellent. Each one does his or her character justice, and if on voices alone, even the viewers can't differentiate a human from an android when inside the café. As a point of interest, Fukuyama Jun voices the main character Sakisaka Rikuo--the same guy who did voice acting for Lelouch in Code Geass. How awesome is that?

Character: 9/10
In hearing "androids" as characters, you're probably expecting some clunky voices reminiscent of Stephen Hawking (no offense to the man; he's a great man with a great mind), as I did. However, I was completely mistaken, as the characters are equally well-presented. Each is given a sufficient backstory to keep our curiosities satisfied, and expounds when necessary. Each one, human or android, possesses a different personality when in the outside world or when inside the café; in fact, viewers won't even know the difference unless the main characters encounter them outside the café.

Also, don't let the "android" thing confuse you; the androids have as much personality as any other human in the movie. All the more reason to ask yourself the questions presented in the movie, I say.

Enjoyment: 9/10
Overall, Eve no Jikan is a treasure of a spectacle that everyone deserves to watch. It caters to no specific class of viewers, so everyone can appreciate it no matter what your inclinations to animé are. It brings you a story that makes you question how human you really are, and makes you ask what a human really is.

I just came across Toshokan Sensou by browsing through some animé lists here. I'm not Japanese, nor am I knowledgeable in the language, so I didn't really know what "Toshokan Sensou" meant until I read the translations: "Library War."

My initial reaction was "...what?" simply because it's a combination of two words you'd least expect to be together in a sentence, never mind a title. I also saw it was tagged as a romance animé, and I'm a sucker for shows with a little bit of romance (think of Ed and Winry's scenes amidst all the twists and turns of the Brotherhood storyline) Then again, here ... it was, and I thought it looked promising, so I gave it a shot. It surprised me by introducing a completely unique setting, plot and characters. It wasn't as stellar as other war or military--related shows (Code Geass, etc.) but it's still an interesting watch.

Story: 9/10
To be honest, this is really the most unique show I've seen so far story-wise. It kicks off by giving us the heads-up on what's going on: media censorship is rampant in a fictional era in Japan, and the government is divided into pro-censorship and anti-censorship. Our characters belong to the anti-censorships, who chose to stand their ground and protect the rights of people for information and the freedom of expression. The show does well in exposing social issues regarding the media, which the show clearly focuses on.

The soldiers and the guns were pretty much standard for me; what surprised me is that these trained soldiers also perform library duties. Yeah, you heard right: they're majors in military science and library science. (I meant that figuratively and literally too)

Basically, it's people protecting sources of information armed forces-style. This setting alone already got me interested. Sadly, Toshokan Sensou has a major flaw: it takes awfully long for the story to be progressive enough to catch attention. I wouldn't have minded if they progressed the story a bit while introducing characters and explaining them, but the writers probably decided it was better to just give us some pseudo-filler episodes first. The first episodes were just some slice-of-life-style stories about the main character, Kasahara Iku, and her daily encounters with her friends and instructors. This stopped me from giving the story part a perfect 10.

Art: 6/10
I'll be honest: I didn't think their style was suitable for telling the story, at least in the comedic parts. The writers give us some funny moments that might give its viewers a good chuckle or two--I guess it was to keep things fresh--but they show it as if we'd be on the floor crying out of sheer laughter. I think that chibi-style drawings for comedic scenes aren't fit for a military-themed show (about libraries), though that's just my opinion. I do commed them for their character designs, though. They don't stand out, but at least they're not that bad.

Sound: 6/10
Sound was... barely there. I didn't notice any good background music, but the ones that I did notice were at least chosen well; they really were suited for infiltration, rescue operation, and battlezones.

Character: 8/10
I was expecting some character development, being a part-romance show and all. I at least got what I expected, though not as stellar as I wished it would be. We're introduced to the aforementioned Kasahara Iku and Doujou Atsushi, her instructor. The rest of the characters follow suit, but I would really like to focus on these two, since they comprise the 95% of the romance this show claims to have. Kasahara is your usual sporty-girl type, just a little bit more knowledgeable in crossfires and VIP protection. Doujou is a strict instructor with a hidden soft side (does "tsundere" even apply to him?).

They weren't characters as excellent as some other famous ones we know of, but the show managed to make the ending meaningful, which involves these two. I mentioned that the story picks up slowly (I was actually close to dropping this once) but the ending more than makes up for it. I really am a sucker for romances, huh.

Enjoyment: 7/10
Overall, Toshokan Sensou is an interesting watch that deserves your time--and needs it. If you're willing to watch the show 'till the ending, you'll see that it was also somehow worth it. Like I said, it isn't stellar, but it isn't bad either. I recommend this for those who have a lot of time and patience on their hands. An excellent backstory and fine characters make up an interesting package called Toshokan Sensou.

After 9 years, 38 volumes, and 355 chapters, Mahou Sensei Negima finally ends. Hereafter shortened to Negima!, this series is close to my heart because it's one of the very first titles I've ever read. I spend my first chapters of Negima! figuring out how the heck do non-Japanese readers manage to read from right to left. And now, nine years later, I've read several other titles. Every week or so, I eagerly await the coming of the next chapter of this series. I get impatient when Ken Akamatsu takes "research breaks," or when it's a holiday in Japan (but I don't hold it against ... them, don't worry). To imagine the span of time it took for this series to finish, I was in the middle of first year high school when I started reading Negima!. (The series was just a bit past a hundred chapters back then) Here I am now, finishing my second year in college, and finishing Negima!.

I suppose I'll get to the sentiments later, and I'll start reviewing. Encompassing a series as big as Negima! in a single review will be challenging (it's the first big series I will review), but I will try my best to do it justice.

Story: 9/10

When you're talking about a series spanning 355 chapters, you'd only expect a story as excellent as it is detailed. When the said 355-chapter manga is labeled as a harem manga, you'd expect overextended story arcs with different girls. When it's also labeled as a fantasy manga, you'd expect overextended story arcs with different magical girls. Negima!, however, goes beyond what everyone expects of a harem manga (or a fantasy manga, for that matter). It's one of the best points of Negima!, so allow me to expand.

In a span of 355 chapters, Akamatsu has taken us to worlds we can only start to imagine: form an all-girls school, to areas reminiscent of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber in DragonBall, to flying machines, to magical worlds comparable (or even superior, depends on your opinion) to Hogwarts. The author has taken us all for a ride of epic proportions; while most titles stick to one story in a few fixed areas, Negima! takes us to the edges of reality. With gigantic floating library-chasms and the Red Planet all in the mix, Negima! is an imagination-inspired adventure all in itself. All these we explored because of a boy's undying dream of finding his father.

The story circles around Negi Springfield, a young boy who desires to emulate, and eventually locate, the Thousand Master (who is also his father). Simple as it may sound, the sentence above is the driving force of the entire story. Meeting his students, exploring worlds of magic and beyond--all this was due to his wanting of meeting his dad. It's amazing how such a simple thing can take a story to such great bounds.

It's also amazing how Ken Akamatsu manages to compress so much story details in a single, coherent flow of events. We have robots, mages, ghosts, Mars, teenage romance, and immortality all in one story. Having all this in a single story is already a feat in itself; to have extended it to 355 wonderfully-created chapters is something that so few mangakas have managed to do.

What prevented me from giving a 10 was the ending. Long as it is, the ending feels a little hurried. Don't let this stop you from reading, though: it's apparently designed as an open end. I guess it just happened so fast that I didn't feel enough sense of closure for the series. Either that or I was just rooting for one of the girls too much. I'm still hoping dearly for some sort of epilogue to answer all the hanging questions. For now, I will remain contented for what the ending brought me. After all, I expected ending a series this big to be challenging and hard. Akamatsu manages to do it well enough to give me a fleeting bittersweet aftertaste in my head; I'm both happy and sad that the series has ended.

Art: 9/10

I personally like clean art. Thick outlines, clean expressions and beautiful scenery keep me hooked on a series. Negima! manages to score this as well. Though not perfect, it's certainly enough to be worthy of praise. If you've read his previous work, Love Hina, and liked the art there, then you'll probably like the ones here too. It's nice to see how Akamatsu gives detail to facial expressions concerning blushing and all things related to love (trust me, you'll get it a lot here). His art style is also distinct; you'll spot his work right away. His art brings his characters to life--and seeing that his characters have so much visual detail in them, he certainly doesn't seem to hold back when it comes to making them look good.

Character: 10/10

Here's the other strong point of Negima!. Most mangakas avoid introducing too much characters in a story, so as not to get the readers cluttered in remembering who's who. Akamatsu, however, kickstarts Negima! by introducing a class of girls. Then he takes us to a magical world, and introduces even more. I haven't even mentioned the teachers in Mahora Academy yet.

Instead of being the weakness of Negima!, it is rather the strength of this series. Akamatsu-sensei manages to introduce characters with distinct personalites that characterize each one and each one alone (well, except for the twins in the said class). If you're going to do a harem, you have to give the girls distinction. If you'll do it with a class, you've got a lot of distinction to do. Akamatsu accomplishes this by two ways: personality and power. He gives each character a distinct habit or trait that is his or hers alone. Above that, he also gives them a unique power (this is a fantasy manga with mages, after all). And might I add that this was done excellently.

Enjoyment: 10/10

After everything that's happened, I find it hard to put the story of Negima! down. It's been an long, entertaining ride through the world of Mahora Academy and beyond, and it's been fun seeing a young boy grow up to become the great, respected mage he wanted to become, just like how much of a great mage his father was known to be. I spent a few minutes each week of these past few years reading Negima!, seeing the story progress bit by bit and seeing how Akamatsu gives life to characters both lovable and respectable. He manages to turn mere students of some girls' school to saviors of two worlds--both the human world and the magical world. Akamatsu also manages to make one heck of a good lead character. Negi looks like a boy (well, he is a young boy after all), but certainly acts like he's on a level well beyond himself. I'll be honest with you people, and say that I didn't feel like I was reading a harem manga at all; rather, it was more like reading a story of self-discovery and self-improvement. It's the story of a young Negi Springfield on a quest to find his beloved dad, and in the process he was finding out the good things he can do for the ones close to him. Likewise, his students find out there's much more to their cute little English teacher, and slowly (although Negi barely realizes this) the teacher himself teaches his students lessons well beyond English--in fact, well beyond school at its entirety. He slowly guides his students in find out who they are, and that they can be so much more than what they think themselves of.

I don't know how may readers managed to reach this part of my review, instead of just going TL;DR. My review is this long because I give Negima! this much praise and thanks as it gives us readers its last chapter. It was nice to see how each student ends up in the future, and it was certainly great to find out what the young mage manages to accomplish in the end. But beyond all awe for the characters, I find myself even more awestruck at how Ken Akamatsu delivers a story of epic proportions and manages to keep it as entertaining as it was when its first chapter was published. Alongside Ichigo 100%, this is one of my first mangas to ever read, and just now surely one of the first big series I managed to finish all the way to the end.

In the end, Mahou Sensei Negima! gives a permanent place for itself in the list of the great mangas of the decade. It's a bittersweet feeling to see it conclude, but all stories do end (even if they are open-ended). To end this review, I quote from the last page of the last chapter:

"True magic results from courage of the heart. Boys and girls, be ambitious. One step can change the world."

Congratulations to Ken Akamatsu for the nine years of success, and a big thank you to him for taking that one step, which in the end gives us a story that spans nine years and several worlds. I can now say that I grew up with Mahou Sensei Negima; even more, I proudly say that I saw it grow to become the great story that I thought it should become back when I read its first chapter.

THE CREATIVITY LEVEL IN THIS SHOW IS TOO DAMN HIGH!

I was exclaiming the phrase over and over in my head as I watched episode after episode of Bakemonogatari. This show marks my first attempt at watching a show that involves the supernatural, since I'm not really into ghosts and all that.

I am pleased to say, however, that I was pleasantly surprised at what Bakemonogatari brought to me, and I definitely won't regret choosing this show as my first animé about the supernatural.

The first thing that I noticed about Bakemonogatari was its art style. I'm new to the animé scene, and my completed list certainly pales ... to those who've watched numerous types of these things. I am proud to say, however, that Bakemonogatari would still be fixed as one of my favorites had it been the art alone. It reminded me that animé, just like paintings and movies, is an art form--and Bakemonogatari definitely does justice to this art form from Japan. Seamless transitions between animations and still images, title cards reminiscent of Spongebob Squarepants' time cards (of course without the comedy), and exaggerated styles that serve as emphasis to what this show brings--Bakemonogatari has it all, and it does all this pretty well. Opening and ending animations were also very creative and well-done. That's saying something, given the fact that they made six different opening animations for a 15-episode series.

Next to be noticed firsthand is sound. Sound is in no way lackluster; it does aid the mood of the scene. It also manages to give the feel that you're watching a show about monsters and ghosts, and at the same time dismiss the unnerving feeling that you're watching a horror movie. That alone deserves praise. I feel that it can still be improved, though. I think much can still be done to improve the background ambiances Bakemonogatari provided. But, setting that room for improvement aside, Bakemonogatari still has something to say for itself when it comes to sound. Another thing that brings out its sound aspect are its opening and ending themes. Personally, I'm a fan of supercell; to learn that this show's ending theme was done by them (Kimii no Shiranai Monogatari) was a big pull-in for me. The fact that there were five different opening songs for this show got me interested as well. It appears that the voice actors for all the girls of the respective mini-arcs also sang their own opening songs. I especially liked the first opening, "staple stable."

Watch further and you'll notice the story and characters as somethings distinct as well. Stories are separated into five, with episodes allotted into each. Each mini-arc tackles one particular person and how Araragi Koyomi, the lead character, manages to relieve them of their monster-related problems. It's a new thing for me to encounter vampires and ghost crabs in an animé, seeing as I haven't watched any show like this before. Given that, the divisions of stories certainly appeal to me. They're not so deep that it spreads thin across numerous episodes, nor is it so quick that it lasts just one episode. The mini-arcs manage to deliver five stories' worth of a show in 15 episodes; in fact, it feels as if I didn't watch one season at all. It really was more like five shows in one.

The characters are impressive, to be short. Large amounts of attention must have been given to these characters to have made them so diverse. We have a part-vampire lead, a mysteriously lax spirit healer of sorts, a lightweight girl bordering on tsundere and yandere, among other things. It impresses me as to how much I remember the distinct characteristics of each even though there were lots of them. They don't feel like supporting characters at all--they really just feel like they're all leads, along with Araragi.

Overall, Bakemonogatari was an experience like no other. It didn't feel like watching just another animé; it felt like watching an artwork--complete with the mood and harmony. Character, art, story, sound--all join together to form a five-in-one story like no other. If all supernatural shows are like this, then maybe I should think twice about watching them.

I might sound lame, but I just watched Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion last October 2011. Most of my fellow animé enthusiast friends tell me this same line in a surprised tone: "What? You're just watching it now?" Personally, I don't get why they're so surprised that I was just about to watch Code Geass. I just started in the whole animé thing at that time, after all.

Then I watched Code Geass. Then I figured out why they were so surprised at me. Code Geass doesn't just pass as some standard animé title; Code Geass is a story of epic proportions, with a lead ... character who you'd probably least expect to be one of your future favorite characters, nonetheless one of the most celebrated characters in animé history--or animation history, in general.

Code Geass presents itself as a cut above the rest; after all, you don't get to watch shows about anti-hero leads frequently. You don't get to watch anti-hero leads with mechas frequently, either. Code Geass manages to mix two genres, already detail-heavy on their own, and still come out as a masterpiece definitely deserving of the numerous awards already awarded to it. Here's why.

Story, for a short review, is simply amazing. Lelouch Lamperouge, our lead here, is as outstanding as he gets. Not only is he the perfect anti-hero, he's also the vice-president of his school student council. Code Geass meshes the two facets of his life--as a student and as a rebellious individual--and turns it into an orchestrated story which blurs the line between the two distinctly different faces of his daily life. Bring that with an initial premise as revolutionary as it is amazing, and you get a story that spans ideals and beliefs. You never thought an animé would ever get this deep a story. At least I did.

Art doesn't fall behind the story. CLAMP didn't fail in implementing their already unique style to the already unique story. This joint effort results in an animation truly a cut above the rest. Mecha designs rival those of the famous Gundam series. Code Geass seemingly overflows with creativity in both story and design. It's just like in a picture I saw on the net about Code Geass. Expectations: Cardcaptor Sakura + Japan; Reality: Death Note + Gundam. To whoever made this, well played.

The melodies present in this series truly augments to the high tensions and the mellow moments present in the story. I don't usually download animé soundtracks, but Code Geass is the first exception. I've downloaded a few others after it, but Code Geass will always be the first. Opening and ending themes are also excellent. FLOW's "COLORS" and Ali Project's "Yuukyou Seishunka" make for great first opening and ending themes, respectively. I'll leave it to you guys to find out the other opening and ending theme.

And here comes Code Geass' strongest aspect: character. You can easily rename this series as "Lelouch Lamperouge" and everyone probably wouldn't mind (though as a side note, its subtitle is "Lelouch of the Rebellion"). The story circles around Lelouch's development as an anti-hero and how he manages to blend it in with his everyday life. The story also shows how his family and friends slowly adapt to his peculiar tendencies in everyday life, and how his fellow revolutionaries slowly learn how he acts as a leader. Code Geass, above anything else, is about human emotional growth. That's my opinion, because I believe that each character's development is responsible for the great story this animé possesses.

I rarely give perfect 10s for any animé I rate. Yet somehow, I find myself in awe of what this show delivers to me. It goes beyond simple viewing and watching--it's a experience. Code Geass takes you to stories where you find yourself sympathizing with the characters, especially Lelouch. It's even more astounding to think that this show has a sequel.

There are times when you watch TV. (Well, you're bound to get sick of using the desktop PC, right?) It's during these moments when you suddenly watch TV commercials of some shows that are "coming soon." The trailer got you because it showed pretty cool fight scenes and flashy awesome spellcasting. Then, it says that it's a rendition of a PS2 game. It doesn't faze you, and you watch it anyway.

Tales of the Abyss, hereby shortened to TA for convenience, was introduced to me this way. I never played the game (I was more of the handheld fanatic, really), but I wanted to see it ... anyway. I've always been interested with battles and cool spellcasting (Fullmetal Alchemist-esque shows), so it wasn't really a problem for me.

And I am proud to say that I didn't regret shoving this series off. It's earned its place as one of the best shows I've ever watched. TA proves to be a great viewing experience, and here's why.

TA is great for two things: pacing and character. I'll tackle pacing first.

As you may well know, TA is an animé rendition of a PS2 RPG. And, if you're a gamer, you know that RPGs are notorious (or famous in a good sense) for their extensive storylines. And when you have an extensive storyline, you need detail--and lots of it. The storyboard directors of TA must have had a hard time compressing the whole story in 26 episodes, and I assume they must have shortened some parts and omitted others. But overall, TA as an animé doesn't give off a sense of being cut off; in fact, it's paced quite nicely. Sure, parts have been trimmed here and there, but the flow remains constant.

The second part is character. I included this because I really liked the character of Luke Fon Fabre (the main character). People might call this cliché, but I appreciated his development from being an arrogant prick to the savior of the world. His emotions drive him and the series forward. With each episode, you witness him changing slowly with the watchful (and caring) eye of Tear Grants. The story of these two people aren't so bad either, but I'll leave it for you to figure out once you watch the series.

Art isn't bad either, as I mentioned the beautiful spellcasting and the awesome battles. It's clean, and well-done. Sound isn't so bad, either. Being based on an RPG, you're really going to get good sounds (or at least good renditions of them). The BGMs fit the scenes very well, in my opinion. I especially liked the opening and ending themes, too. Big thanks to BUMP OF CHICKEN and Kurumi Enomoto.

Overall, Tales of the Abyss is a great watch. You're really taken on an adventure about saving the world and yourself; you get to witness the change of one person for the better, and how he ultimately uses his change for the betterment of the world. This definitely belongs to my "best shows ever" list.