
And now, we must partake in the Obligatory Profile Info-Dumping, I suppose! As you can clearly tell already, I am known around these parts (and everywhere else on the internet I frequent) as Zelkiiro! I have a degree in English, I listen to way too much heavy metal, pop, and movie/video game soundtracks, I enjoy D&D 4th Edition like nobody's business, and my anime-watching time is in fierce competition with my movie-watching time and Smite-playing time! Oh, and that pesky job I have to work, too, I guess. Being an adult sucks, kids. I'd rather be back in high school, where I didn't have to worry about jack-shit.
I suppose now's a good time to explain exactly what I look for in anime, if my list isn't demonstrative enough. First and foremost, I want well-written or at the very least interesting characters. If your characters are as cold and stiff as The Major's tits in the 1995 Ghost in the Shell film, you've just signed your series' death warrant. Doesn't matter if it's a wacky comedy or a grimdark tragedy, if I can't get into the characters, the series stands no chance at succeeding. If the series has a plot, then that's the next most important aspect that must be rock-solid; if the series has no plot (e.g. it's a slice-of-life), then the situational writing better be rock-solid.
As for specific genres and tropes, I'm a big sucker for Gen Urobuchi-style despair and Pyrrhic victories, cyberpunk, space operas/dramas/anythings, classic Gainax/Hiroyuki Imaishi/Hideaki Anno insanity, ensemble casts, heavy themes, medieval fantasy, dystopian futures, sci-fi of almost any kind, and some good old-fashioned comedy. I will pretty much watch anything as long as it's good, but those are the kinds of things that instantly grab my eye and compel me to take a look.
And now, I suppose this, in Digibro fashion, is where I post what my 1-10 ratings mean. Here we go!
10/10 - Holy crap, this anime/manga is incredible. Not only do I enjoy the hell out of it, but whatever flaws or missteps that lie inside are incredibly minor and few in number, making these titles the closest thing to perfection that there is. These are heavy contenders for my favorite anime/manga of all time.
9/10 - Holy crap, this anime/manga is amazing. Not only do I enjoy the hell out of it, but it's few flaws do very little to mar its overall exceedingly-high quality, and these titles have a high chance of making it onto my favorites lists.
8/10 - Hey, this anime/manga is pretty great. Sure, it's got a major problem here and there, but those issues do nothing to detract from my love for this title. I mean, yeah, it'd be great if those issues were hammered out, but there's always a slight chance one of these titles will find their way onto my favorites list.
7/10 - Yep, this is a pretty good anime/manga. It's got problems, and those problems may hamper my enjoyment a bit, but on the whole, a satisfying viewing/reading experience was had by all.
6/10 - This anime/manga is alright. Nothin' special, nothin' fancy--just alright. The good definitely outweighs the bad, but I likely had a pretty tough time sitting through it in its entirety. Too many nagging little problems kept this title from being all it could be.
5/10 - Bleh. Just...bleh. There is nothing worse than mediocrity, and this anime/manga defines mediocrity. Either this title does one or two things exceptionally well at the expense of everything else, or it does everything with only the bare minimum of acceptable quality. Bleh.
4/10 - Bleeeehhhhhh. This anime/manga is even worse than the previous in its mediocrity, and it likely only has one thing it does well, if anything. Typically doesn't even have the courtesy of being so-bad-it's-good.
3/10 - Ugh. This anime/manga sucked to sit through. Whatever it manages to do right is vastly overshadowed by the piles of garbage that are every other aspect. This series will ruin my day.
2/10 - Ugggghhhhhh. This anime/manga is almost unbearable on every level, and it likely does nothing right. This series will ruin my week.
1/10 - Trash. Irredeemable trash. This is your Kimera or your Lucky Star. The visuals are vomit, the soundtrack is piss, the voice acting is smegma, the characters are shit, the plot is diarrhea, and the writing is dysentery. This series will ruin my goddamn life.
And now that we've covered that, it's time for me to bid you adieu. Enjoy the .gif and make sure you listen to every single thing I say because I am always correct and anyone who says differently is incorrect and, since I am always correct, you can trust me to be correct in stating that they are incorrect. The dirty, lousy, contrarian bastards.

|
All Comments (91) Comments
Dude, she went on a killing spree just because Kohta (elfen) lied to her.
One thing I learned is that I have a higher tolerance for gore than I thought.
It's all meh. Oh well, I now have an anime that begins with the letter "E" on my list.
My biggest beef is that the anime doesn't know what it wants to be. Is it horror? Is it drama? Is it comedy? Is it romance? Is it something else altogether.
I don't know, for some reason, I imagined you as an American.
What kind of security gig are you looking at? I imagined the movie Night at the Museum when you said security guard.
We'll still be friends on MAL no matter how I rate Elfen Lied, right?
Soooooo...I started Vision of Escaflowne and I must say I like it so far. I'm especially liking that Dilandau fellow. Also, I like the juxtaposition of sword-and-sorcery fantasy and mecha. Oh, and the art and music is stellar (I just want to jump into some of the backgrounds!).
At the same time, of course, I feel the story is a bit of a cliché stew. Regardless, I'm definitely sticking with it (as I do all with the anime I see. No drops, fam!)
I wondered something and I'd like to hear your take on this. What do you think happened to Shu after the events of the series? I'm guessing he probably went back home, but then after that, what happened? Obviously he couldn't tell anyone about Hellywood, because nobody would believe him. (Of course, maybe he wrote about it in his journal to let off some steam.) I also think the trauma might kick in later, for reasons nobody beside him would understand.
Maybe he devoted himself to trying to help the world beyond his backyard, and tried to put an end to third-world conflicts when he became an adult.
So, yeah, what do you think happened to Shu after the final credits rolled? (I think the writers deliberately let us come to our own conclusions about a few other things, which I like.)