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Brothers Conflict is my bias so take this review with a grain of salt.

I like this special A LOT because it gives most of the brothers a chance to fantasize about their life with Ema if their wish came true. The personalities in this special are consistent with their characters in the main storyline so it's not like an alternate reality setting where only one guy has feelings for her and all the others suddenly don't for the sake of an offshoot episode. It's a trait I've always loved about Brothers Conflict. It's very fair to each love interest; they have equal opportunity to win ... Ema's heart.

The music, art, and atmosphere are consistent with the main anime, so if you enjoyed those aspects before, you'll enjoy them again cause they're the same. The music's always been one of my favorite features of Brothers Conflict and it's a shame I can't seem to find the official soundtrack.

My only gripe with this special is the omission of the brothers Hikaru, Iori, Kaname, Louis, Masaomi, Ukyo, and Wataru. It makes sense why they weren't there, but I happen to love all the brothers, especially Wataru, and it was disappointing they weren't featured here. I can understand however due to time constraints it may have been necessary to omit their perspectives.

I recommend this of course to anyone who enjoyed Brothers Conflict, but if you didnt like the series initially, this special won't change your mind.

Appalling. This "special" is by no means a treat to fans of the 12 episode anime unless they're degenerate perverts like the people who worked on this episode.

The magic of Ojisan to Marshmallow expresses itself within the abstract and quirky relationship between Hige and Wakabayashi. I liked the show because I liked the unique personalities present in the narrative and I enjoyed watching their specific type of romance unfold.

This episode however is just inappropriate even if it's a dream sequence. A grown man turns into an ugly baby and Wakabayashi conveniently becomes a ripe high schooler to breastfeed the aforementioned manchild. Come on, Japan. ... Seriously? Why does the label "OVA" give license to these people to behave as carnally and depraved as they want to?

I gained nothing from this except a little more repulsion for Japanese animators.

Steins;Gate gave me the most conflicted feeling I have ever felt in my life.

Skip to the last paragraph for a spoiler free review.

The best way to describe this anime is "Clannad for Elitists, Edgelords, and People Who Hate Nagisa Furukawa". It's difficult to explain without spoiling important facets of the series, but allow me to say the reason I disliked Steins;Gate as much as I did at the very end is due to the elaborately forced romantic feelings between main hero Rintarou Okabe and his red-haired, tsundere assistant who conveniently found herself into every typical rom-com cliche they could think of.

I wish I ... could say I've never seen a more unrealistic romance pushed so hard before, but unfortunately I have and I can only say this happens because so-and-so character is the main female protagonist and thus MUST have a romantic relationship with the MC. But I don't think that should always be the case and I think here, especially, in Steins;Gate, the show could've benefited from an atypical romantic development between Rintarou and his childhood friend, Mayuri.

Mayuri and Rintarou begin the series together, as friends of course, but they're there in the beginning. That bond is established very early in the first few episodes and even after Kurisu, the Red-Haired, Red-Faced Tsundere, appears, Rintarou is still absorbed with Mayuri's safety. Mayuri's protection consumes so much of Rintarou's heart and mind, he almost goes insane trying to save her. And it's not just this which lead me to believe he loved her, but it was the way he smiled talking to her, the moments they shared standing outside, the way Mayuri could cheer him up better than anyone else; all those things together made me believe Rintarou truly and deeply loved Mayuri.

But tell me why, 95% finished with the series, Rintarou suddenly considers Kurisu the most important person in his life; the person he "cares for the most"???? Excuse me, but, how? These two characters literally meet in the first episode and the course of their time together spans three weeks in total. Now, I may be missing something, but how is three weeks enough to undermine multiple years of friendship between Mayuri and Rintarou who shared a "hostage-kidnapper" relationship which I THOUGHT alluded to something romantic. What could Kurisu possibly do to replace Mayuri in Rintarou's heart seemingly moments before the final solution is realized? Was their relationship that expendable where a person he just met a few weeks ago suddenly became the all-consuming desire of his heart? I don't buy that for a second and I'm calling Steins;Gate out for its bullshit. Every possible sign points to Rintarou's love for Mayuri in the first basically 20 episodes of the series and suddenly, after all those wonderful cliches (the almost kiss in the dark closet, wet boobs, "it's not like i was worried about you or anything, hmph!") Rintarou "loves" Kurisu more than anyone else in the world. I deliberately ignored those cliches because for an anime hyped up and praised as much as "STEINSU-GATO", I didn't think it would stoop that low. The romantic development is juvenile at best and very disappointing especially for people like me who have a soft spot for weak and blissfully unaware females like Mayuri and Nagisa Furukawa from Clannad.

TL;DR
Steins;Gate tries to pull a "heart-wrenching" romance out its ass that is only convincing if you don't respect yourself enough to acknowledge overused and played out cliches common to every rom-com and harem anime on the market. Where it succeeds so much everywhere else, it fails to do its own characters justice by giving them a decently convincing relationship.

When I found out the anime's source is a visual novel, it all made sense.

It's not the best anime of all time, but it serves its purpose.

You either love or hate protagonist Kirito as he's almost invincible; only sporting momentary spells of weakness sprinkled throughout the series. His redeeming qualities lie within his absolute defiance of established disadvantages and his overwhelming loyalty and duty to defend his teammates from destruction. He's not the most dynamic MC, but he fulfills the role the story called for.

Between bland backgrounds and generic OST, SAO's art stands out the most when characters engage in combat or experience brief moments of sentimentality. The quality of animation improves so much when Kirito fights a boss ... or another player and it really feels and looks like action shounen. My favorite moments in the series were combat scenes or moments of high drama because that's when the acting and art coalesce and make the series worth watching. Sword Art Online, when it wants to, has some of the best acting and drama I have scene in an anime.

It's a generically enjoyable show suited to pass time when you have nothing else to do. Don't invest too much into it and you'll be fine.

I have no prior experience watching Attack on Titan save five minutes of an episode on Toonami, but after this parody, I'm sold to watch the original series.

I've seen this series get a lot of flock from some folks online because it's a "cash grab", but unlike other works of the same nature, this one still retains the heart of the original and reinterprets it to create a fun and refreshing new story without the urgency and peril of the Attack on Titan most people are familiar with.

Attack on Titan: Junior High's story follows Eren Jaeger and his friends as they begin their first year ... of middle school. On the first day of school, a titan steals Eren's lunch; a cheeseburger, and this becomes Eren's plight and motivation for the rest of the 12 episode series. The titans don't play a huge role in every episode and the ones they do, they're never threatening to the point of fatality. Characters are frequently stepped on and thrown resembling comic relief you'd find in a rom-com, and when the mood gets serious, it's hardly ten seconds before somebody gets interrupted by some ridiculous incident.

It's hard to focus on the story because for much of the series, it's apparently absent right up until the very end when something relating to Eren's first incident occurs again on a bigger scale and reminds you what he was fighting for.

Eren's noble quest to protect everyone's lunch from the titans seems silly in the grand scheme of other issues titan's cause, but in the context of this fun parody, it's motivation enough to stir some powerful and unsettling reactions in Eren.

His character is exaggerated and he's usually the loudest in any scene whether the situation warrants it or not, but he's still someone who inspires those around him. When it's time for someone to step up to the plate and fight, Eren's the first one to do it.

It's interesting to watch the dynamic between Eren and the rest of the first years because even though he's virtually the same in every episode, the interactions each character has with him is always unique and something to look forward to. The relationship between Eren, Armin, and Mikasa notably becomes the strongest towards the end and their companionship in this parody hints at something stronger and unbreakable in the original.

Even for someone who has not sat through Season One, and now, Season Two of Attack on Titan, by paying enough attention and connecting a few dots, it's not hard to guess what might happen to these characters in the original.

Overall, even though it's a parody, the characters still retain the soul of who they're supposed to be and make each episode humorous by playing off their flaws and warping them to extreme degrees.

In regards to the art, the original style returns, only shrunken, to create chibi variations of otherwise intimidating cast members such as the titans, Levi, the teachers, and some of the second year students. The style works fine to communicate the nature of the series and you know what you're getting into just looking at the cover. No complaints on that front, but the backgrounds are forgettable if you start to remember they exist.

The sound quality is great. The opening theme is a reinterpretation of Attack on Titan's original and unforgettable first theme song, "Guren no Yamiya", and the ending theme, "Hangeki no Daichi", is a lively J-Rock song sung by the Japanese voices of Eren (Yuki Kaji), Mikasa (Yui Ishikawa), and Jean (Kishō Taniyama). The background OST adjusts for each mood like it should and when the situation is romantic or tinged with danger, the soundtrack does not disappoint and provides some stirring tracks.

I could go on and on about everything well this series does, but for a person who sat through the original Attack on Titan and cried and struggled with those characters, I can understand their irritation. I imagine their feeling is the same as a person who grew up watching Teen Titans and waited years for its return only to get Teen Titans Go on Cartoon Network. But set all that aside and take this show for what it is: a joke. It's taking everything that scared you, Eren, and the rest of the first years in the original and putting a baby face on it so it's not anywhere near as intimidating as before. And maybe that's not for you. Maybe that's not what you look for when you watch anime. That's fine. But this anime, even if it's a parody, has a lot to offer. It still bears a lot of the same emotion I imagine was present in the original and reconstructs it to fit inside a fun and cute story about a man and his burger.

If you like Attack on Titan and you've already seen everything else; while you're waiting for that third season, you may as well sit down and at least tolerate this 12 episode series. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. And if you don't like it, there's still casuals like me who have money at the ready to pay for more cash grabs like this and the toys that come with it.

So you may as well come along for the ride.

Curled up in a Dragon Ball Z jacket on a rooftop in New York City, I watched "Hal" for the first time on June 27th of 2017.

It was the colors and big eyes that initially drew me to watch a trailer for this film on Youtube, but it was the story that made me pay $3.99 on Amazon to watch it. At first, I thought I should just watch it subbed for free on Youtube in 480p, but I'm glad I rejected that idea and paid money to watch it English dubbed in HD because it really made the experience for me. Reading subtitles ... is an extra step in perceiving visual imagery and it's helpful when you can bypass that with a dub that's in your language. For this film, I appreciated it all the more because I was able to focus heavily on the setting, atmosphere, and characters.

In terms of character, I really like Hal a lot because he lives like the world is new to him. There seem to be many things he doesn't understand and he ventures through each day as a child would; making little mistakes along the way. His bright and expressive blue eyes retained my attention right away and lead me deeper into his character when I could read his reactions.

I did not care much for Kurumi because she was hiding in a closet most of the time, but I was intrigued by the peculiar things she did inside the closet. For a long time, she would not come out so this allowed for some touching interactions to occur between her and Hal.

Overall, the art was very pretty, but it was the characters that drove the story home and made this movie enjoyable for me. I only wish it was an hour and a half longer. :)

Clannad: The Movie is a film I can watch any time, any place and still feel enthralled as if it were the first time.

As the precursor to the popular 2007 Clannad anime, the movie depicts moments and a perspective uniquely different from the anime. It's a fresh and original take on the story and covers the most important events well in a 90 minute runtime.

To someone who has only seen the 2007 anime, this movie will be jarring to you. The tone is very dramatic in contrast to the anime and a lot of the characters you may have loved in Clannad take ... a back seat in the movie. Some characters don't make an appearance at all which may or may not displease you based on how you felt about them before.

To someone who's seen neither Clannad 2007 or this movie, the story may confuse you because of the order they decided to place events. If you're watching the English dub, the pronunciation of some names may bother you as well. Good note that the same voice actors in the movie went on to voice the same characters in the anime. It's something I appreciated since I watched both in dub.

Some of the angles in this movie are righteously jarring. The director is audacious in his attempt to make scenes interesting and unsettling but after three times, the bubble lens effect gets annoying. Some scenes give the impression of a hallucination with the resampling effect they use but I just thought it was my media player acting up.

I think Clannad: The Movie is a bittersweet retelling of Clannad's Visual Novel story and for someone who just wants to put their foot in the water, it's a good place to start. None of the characters are overbearing or intolerable in the movie and the colors and music collaborate well to illustrate the feelings inside Tomoya Okazaki.

To someone who's never seen Clannad; good luck. But if you're looking for the real emotional experience to feel something really pull at your heart, I suggest watching the 2007 anime first.

Music is not a substitute for exposition.

This movie makes the same mistakes 5 Centimeters Per Second did in it's assumption that music can replace or expedite time set apart to develop characters and establish conflict or a climax. By this, I refer to the director's decision to insert loud, obnoxious songs over montages which skim through key, plot progressing events or moments which could provide insight to Taki and Mitsuha's character; scenes which show who they are as people. Not enough time was dedicated to expanding upon their personalities and as a result, I was apathetic towards anything they characters went through. The lack of ... character exposition affected me in that I could not feel a connection to either Taki or Mitsuha. And it's a sad shame because with two protagonists, a viewer should at least be able to identify with one. Thus is the consequence when a director neglects to develop his characters and spends too much time on art and sound; two factors of a film which matter significantly less than characters and story.

There's a film hierarchy, and here's how it goes:

Story - The meat of the film; the reason the film exists in the first place. Filmmakers are nothing more than storytellers. If the story is not captivating or interesting, the audience won't enjoy the movie.

Characters - These are the actors. The characters are what draw you into the film. When you can relate to a character and envision yourself in their shoes, that is when the Suspension of Disbelief occurs; the moment where you forget you're even watching a film. The characters have to be more than interesting. They must be human. They need flaws and they need strengths to balance them. They must have desires and the ambition to pursue them throughout the film. Multi-faceted characters bring the story to life.

Sound - You can't enjoy a film you cannot hear. This makes sound design very important. A soundtrack can make or break a film. The music must accentuate the scene, not overpower it. The volume and quality of sound effects and character voices all ties into this as well.

Art - Finally, the art or cinematography. It should not be an after thought, but it should not be so important that the aforementioned elements suffer. The way a movie looks affects how the scene is perceived; brighter colors in contrast to dark hues determine the mood or tone of the film. Art is another way to draw a person into the world of the movie but it cannot replace a good story, three dimensional characters, or effective dialogue.

Unfortunately for Kimi no Na Wa, despite it's brilliant and unique story, vivid scenery and colors, and the orchestral soundtrack, the characters lack enough personality to collapse the whole film upon itself. What's worse; by the end, there's very little development. As a matter of fact, by the end it's almost as if the character's have less personality than what they started with. This is a direct consequence of the director's choice to insert a MUSIC VIDEO (AGAIN) in the last 5 minutes of his film. The same mistake he did in 5 Centimeters Per Second. Every second is precious in a film and in those 5 minutes he could have shown a new side of their personal lives, how they were emotionally affected by the events 5 years ago, and how they'd grown as people from the beginning into the people they were now. Any subtle differences to demonstrate that change. It doesn't always have to be something dramatic. Every little detail in a film is supposed to give insight into the real nature of the characters. Instead, every detail in this film pointed towards the high visual budget he had and provided a visually stimulating experience in opposition to an emotionally stimulating one. Because after all, it's hard to feel moved by characters you know next to nothing about.

Story - 10

Art - 10

Sound - 9

Character - 1

Enjoyment - 1

Overall: 6.2

Worst anime I have seen in my life. 12 episodes was too much to endure for a show with so little meaning and purpose behind it. Those 288 minutes I wasted I would like repaid to me in brain cells I lost while suffering behind my computer screen in agony. Here is my review of Acchi Kocchi:

Presentation: On the surface, Acchi Kocchi has a bright, chibi quirk about it that lured me in from pictures online. It LOOKS fun, bouncy, and promising from a distance but this show affirms the notion you should NEVER judge a book by the cover.

Story: There is none. None whatsoever. ... The premise of Acchi Kocchi is that of a tsundere, cat-child hybrid who episode after episode fails to confess her lingering feelings for the object of her affections. Each episode is basically a gag reel of how main characters Tsumiki, Mayoi, Hime, Sakaki, and Io experience daily life in and out of school.

Characters: I have never met a cast so atrocious since Infinite Stratos and Love Hina. With FIVE characters at the shows disposal to develop and experiment with, they instead decided to mold each one of them to a cheap and bland Japanese stereotype. Tsumiki is the female tsundere, Io the cool charmer, Sakaki the class clown, Mayoi the instigator, and Hime the self conscious and shy girl. The stereotypes would almost be fine in MODERATION but what Acchi Kocchi does is EXAGGERATE each characters personalities (if you can even call them that) and takes them to the farthest extreme possible. The show by itself is already miserable enough, but when the lack of story and plot progression is compounded by weak and bland characters, it's insufferable.

Art: Decent at best but mediocre if I'm being honest. The colors are bright but the character designs look like carbon cutouts from any other anime of this awful genre. Even close ups aren't spectacular which other anime typically capitalize on the most to show off the quality of the art style. The backgrounds are forgettable and even scenes which are supposed to be beautiful don't strike any real impression. The art is just as bland and soulless as the characters.

Voices: This was almost the worst part. In conjunction with their awful personalities, the characters' VOICES detracted from any enjoyment I could possibly draw from Acchi Kocchi. Tsumiki, the neko-tsundere hybrid, had one of the most annoying and ridiculous voices I have ever heard, and this was in the Japanese version. Her voice, quiet and CONSTANTLY mumbling, managed to make itself EVEN WORSE by the "Nya~"s she screamed every other frame. Mayoi's voice was NO BETTER in that by trying to sound so cute (to masquerade the ill-intent of her character) made me resent her more than anyone else in the pitiful program. Sakaki sounded like a bad version of Sunohara from Clannad and Io's voice actor had to put forth such little effort to produce his voice it was barely noticeable and unmemorable. Hime WOULD HAVE had a normal voice if the actress weren't trying so hard to portray her as a overbearingly weak and sensitive baby girl.

Comedy: This show tried so hard to be funny and that is ultimately what killed it. With every second a girls' nose exploding, it was almost as if they were experiencing their period busting out of their heads. Mayoi's antics were not entertaining nor were they cute. Had she performed one of her infamous gags and died in a terrible accident, THAT would have been more comedic than ANYTHING else this buttstain of a "comedy" tried to do. Sakaki was no better. His only point of interest was the neglect and abuse he received from characters around him who, to be quite honest, deserved to be subjected to the same cruel and unusual punishment as him. This show was not funny and the harder it tried to be, the more painful it became to sit through.

Overall: This show is a piece of shit. It's garbage. Maybe my problem is I came in looking for plot, story, character development, complex interpersonal relationships, and perplexing things of the like. I came for something that would challenge me, but even judging by the surface I shouldn't have expected that. This was a huge waste of my gotdamn time and I almost regret it. I'd pray for this memory to be erased from my mind but I don't even want the possibility of me trying to watch this show again in another life.

Do not watch this anime if you value yourself at all. ANY anime is better than this rubbish.

The story begins with an interesting concept I've never seen used before. That immediately pulled me in and kept my attention for the duration of the series. Throughout the story, many complex and diverse issues pop up that challenge the characters. Watching their approach to the problems and their interactions with each other strained and strengthened was a treasure to observe.

The artwork is not flashy or especially memorable during any moments, but this shortcoming is easily overlooked thanks to the story and character depth in the series.

The background tracks didn't have a staple sound that resonated with me or even caught my attention but the ... vocal recordings for Mitsuki's concerts and performances impressed me. A real singer was hired and brought in to make music for an animated character and that is honorable.

The main characters Mitsuki, Meroko, and Takuto have unique personalities. Each one has a trait that stands out and defines them as an individual. These characters are realistic enough to relate to on an actual human level and they are imaginative enough to entertain, frustrate, or inspire you at any point in the show. The characters and their interactions with each other, their adversaries, and the life's curve balls keep you on your toes. There's never a dull moment because they're young enough to make a lot of mistakes but they're experienced enough learn from them and do better in the future.

This is an enjoyable series with the combination of a great story and equally amazing characters to support it. This series is long and personal enough to draw you into their world, wrap you up in their problems, and lift you up with their successes. It's a very emotional journey that challenges important matters of the heart. The abstract concepts and realistic consequences are what make this series entertaining.

Overall score: 8/10
It lacked in a few areas, but the parts it excelled in overshadowed the flaws.