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The show basically has its good aspects and bad aspects. The bad aspects would definitely be that the animation and sound were mediocre, the voice acting however was good. For an anime in 2012, and an action anime at that, the animation could have been MUCH better....more colorful, better fluid movements of the characters and so on, instead, it looked pretty much like a "normal anime" from 2006, especially when you compare the fact that 2006 brought out some good graphical animes (if i remember correctly). Another ridiculous aspect of the show was the nudity....the sheer amount of nudity was COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY. Even the fanservice ... and ecchi scenes were overkill, yet at times important. I mean I get Akatsuki building character and relationships based on his EXTREME YET COOL pervertedness, but the nude scenes were not necessary for any of them.

Thing is though, despite the fact that the animation and sound sucked, the story was REALLY DEEP. It was INSANELY INTERESTING, whereby there is not only room for a prequel; but a sequel is ALMOST A MUST. I mean the reason this show MAY get a bad score by other reviewers is simply for the fact that "IT ENDED WAY TOO EARLY FOR ANY RECOGNITION". Its basically like watching one piece or naruto and ending it in the first 13 episodes.....with ONLY that much it basically crap. I'm pretty sure that if this show continued, more people would see the worth of it; its story gives room for a BUNCH of arcs while centering around the main plot of well....real earth with its superpowered organizations. All in all, the story has a 10 point (out of 10) potential, which 12 episodes alone CAN NEVER BRING OUT. So despite the fact that the 12 episodes were NOT THAT GREAT, the potential WAS EPIC. That attributes to the high score that I gave this show.

In terms of characters, well the class president was interesting, so was the lesbian though she wasn't THAT interesting, MIU was a typical idiot when she was ready but other than that there was potential for her, and the vice president was okay I guess, though she was USUALLY annoying throughout. The blonde hair guy (can't remember his name) was REALLY COOL and mysterious, and I really wanted to see more of him. AND THEN THERE'S AKATSUKI........two words "EPIC BADASS". ON EVERY CONCEIVABLE LEVEL this guy was EPIC; in fighting he was SUPREME, in planning/strategizing/reading people he was EPIC, in his way to attract people was ALSO EPIC. This is the HERO WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR. I mean he is UNPREDICTABLY PREDICTABLE....what I mean by this is YOU KNOW HE IS GOING TO WIN IN THE END, BUT HOW HE DOES IT IS LIKE "DAMN DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING". He is simply EPIC and FOR him alone, the score for this show went up higher due to "THE RULE OF COOL". The "RULE OF COOL" states that when a main character is SO BADASS despite the show being.....okay.....the show gets a higher rating (past shows were cowboy bebop and trigun.....they were great shows but were even greater due to the main characters).....that said Hagure Yuusha is definately a WATCH, BUT only a BUY if the series actually continues, because if it does it would be MEMORABLE IF THE STORY IS TOLD RIGHT!

First off, this series IS NOT FINISHED! Well the anime is, but it is an adaptation from a manga so it has that "anime done read manga next" feel to it with an open end. That being said, the story was NOW getting really good.

The animation is great, the battles visually EPIC and the coloring was beautiful. Even the drawings of the characters were satisfactory....I mean they were pretty and cute, hell even the main fat guy character was attractive (i don't mean that in a sexual or wierd way....usually when anime draw fat character they make them HIDEOUSLY GROSS...few animes have drawn ... attractive fat people....this show did it well).

The sound was EPIC....the battle music was really well done that you got drawn in.....perfect synchronization; voice acting was also excellent and the OP and ED (both) were nice....including the videos that went with it.

Now for the characters and story. The plot is interesting. Ever since Hack// a good few animes have been trying to adopt a virtual reality plot, many have failed...some succeeded. This succeeded. The characters are basically Kuro-Yuuki-Hime (black snow princess) whose real name nobody but Arita knows. Arita...fat self-loathing but okay protagonist (little hint of annoying at times), Chi-chan (surprisingly cool character except for the second arc where u kinda wanted ta kill her until the last episode where u were like "OOOHHHH, DAMN...WHAT SHE DID WAS EPIC...5 stars for her") and Takku who despite starting off cool, became a GIGANTIC TOOL for about 2 or so episodes, then returned to being one of the most likeable characters and comedy relief "THE PROFFESSOR". The cast is kind of steriotypical...i.e.e they aren't innovative...it's the normal "COOL SENPAI/LOVE INTEREST WITH WICKED POWERS", "CHILDHOOD FRIEND/LOVE INTEREST" and "CHILDHOOD/BEST FRIEND/RIVAL". But they did have some character development, very little in the way of kuroyuukihime unless you count her development of falling in love....but I don't really see that as much for her. Arita's self confidence is a bit annoying, his manner of giving up and doing nothing at times gets you annoyed, BUT when he gains resolve it can be REALLY EPIC, and well...the guy could stop crying like ALMOST EVERY DAMN EPISODE. Taku was annoying at first, he then became cool, and loyal and important. He was actually funny to see at times for being the "brain" of the group. Not much was done for Chi-chan in the first half of the series, except for her obvious love for the main character while having a boyfriend already. I MEAN SHE WAS PRACTICALLY BEGGING THE DUDE TO MAKE A MOVE ON HER...in the ending episodes (21 or 22 or something) she literally ASKED FOR IT...sorta! She was likable enough, and her role in the second arc was important, her method of carrying it out was EXTREMELY ANNOYING, but well the last episode really redeem her....or I should say *SPOILER* she didn't really need redeeming at all *SPOILER END*.
The show was a romance/harem....although harem isn't the actual genre it would fit into, the main character had 2 girls gunning for him, with a few other "POSSIBLES"...and he was fat/short.....which makes it UNIQUE for this genre. That being said, it focuses a lot on the action, the bad guy for the second half was REALLY detestable which was a GREAT thing....and the development for both Arita and Taku was done quite well.
The PROBLEM however was this show is part of a long running shonen series....what I mean by that is, it has way too many things TO BE COVERED to just be 24 episodes, making you feel EXTREMELY INCOMPLETE. The romance aspect could be pushed aside since that is SORTA KINDA RESOLVED THOUGH NOT REALLY YET SATISFACTORY, but the action and the story development WAS NOW GETTING STARTED. Because of this, the show could have gotten a 8 or even 9/10...or depending on how great the story developed maybe even closer to 10 itself BUT since it was incomplete it CANNOT get more than a 7...and that's being generous. ONE LAST THING....PPL CRIED TOO MUCH IN THIS SHOW....

That said....I recommend this series as definite watch....not collection material, but something that SHOULD be watched as it was GOOD. IF there is access to the manga, then I suggest reading the manga instead IF the manga is anything like the anime (didn't read the manga so I don't know....but basically if the manga is a continuation of the anime then it is better to read the manga).

The story is KIND OF divided into 3 main arcs. In terms of story and plot, this show was excellent. The animation was good, had nice coloring, effects, fight scenes. They did an especially good job with the driving scenes; there were a few fights that seemed uninteresting and slow, and there was one episode where the CG looked sooooo real, that it was difficult to think it was an anime for the first minute or so....that may not have been a bad thing, but somehow the contrast threw me off. The background music, and the OP and ED were both great....EXCEPT FOR THE LAST ... ARC...the OP sound was nice and so was the ED but the vidoes for it were horrible, and there were a few NEW background music they got that just spoiled the scene....like for example there was one that had a little music and ended with a woman moaning in an orgasm. The characters were all interesting and innovative, they each had a personality that was entertaining to see unfold; and the show showed the darkness in the characters. I mean, this is one series where the main character can be as bad as you can get for an "anti-hero" if you could even call him that. The main character was the MOST BADASS DUDE YOU WOULD EVER GET. I MEAN DAMN, throughout the entire series I KEPT LOVING THIS GUY....even his days of hesitation was extremely short to notice the amount of BADNESS he put in the show. He wasnt a hero, the guy was selfish, and manipulative....i.e. he was the worst kind of bastard you could get YET he knew his wrong and even depressed about it at times. There were also quite a few people he TRUELY cared for.....only to get bitten by those same people anyhow. All the other characters...there were phases where you liked them...then hated them....then liked them...or something so; that like-hate-like would relate to EIN, but were somewhat similar for the others too.
So far I have shown that the show should get close to a 10 and not a 7 as I have actually rated it. THE reason the show got a 7 was......3 ARC!!! That arc was horrible....first of, they took the MOST LOVABLE CHARACTER EVER and made them crazy enough to hate...second, HIGH SCHOOL AND ROMANCE???????!....I get the characters were high school age....and hey, I love high school animes....BUT ONLY IF THE HIGH SCHOOL SETTING FIT! Clearly it didn't here....and the burst of romance in it and attempt at comedy was ANNOYING. I have to say though, the very last minute of the series was COMPLETELY EPIC IN MY OPINION....but to many others it would be HORRIBLE....in fact for me the show got a 7 when it COULD have gotten a 6 DUE TO THE 3rd ARC JUST BECAUSE I PERSONALLY LIKED THE ENDING...it felt like the right way to end it.

I will say, Phantom is a good show, much better than the original OVAs, it was entertaining, and if not for the 3rd arc would have been a DEFINITE COLLECTION MATERIAL, but due to the 3rd arc it was a good show that should be watched.

HYOUKA!
One of the new animes to come out that was really watchable and enjoyable. I gave the overall score a 7, but I actually wanted to say 7.5.....see it was good enough to be above 7, but not that great to be an 8.

Let's discuss why:
First off the story centers around a lethargic high school boy whose motto is "IF I DON'T HAVE TO DO IT, I WON'T; IF I HAVE TO DO IT, I'LL DO IT QUICKLY". Because his elder sister tells him to join the classic literature club, he does it....this is due to the fact that he is "APPARENTLY" afraid of her ... (implied in the first episode).

NOW apart from him (OREKI HOUTAROU), there are three other main characters: Chitanda Eru; Ibara Mayaka and Fukube Satoshi. Each of these three are quite interesting, and there is and they each have their dark side (except ERU who is called a saint....they dedicated an entire 5 minutes attributing to her sainthood). The club has no real drive.....no real objective....it is perfect for lazy people like Oreki; they do however go around solving mysteries that are neither main (crime based and so on) but are basically "SLICE OF LIFE".

Oreki is incredibly interesting for a "BORING CHARACTER". His monologues can be funny at times, his delusions can be both "colorful" and funny, and also his ability to solve, analyze and piece together puzzles IS AMAZING. He is quite emotional on the inside, but compliments his personality with a POKER FACE to almost everyone else. Satoshi is basically "the sun" while Oreki is the "moon", the light to Oreki's dark. Satoshi is charasmatic, cool, smart and at times funny. His dark side is his incredibly obsessive behavior and his belief that he is always in Oreki's shadow, which can make him at times annoying. Ibara isn't unique, she is the classic "CHILDHOOD FRIEND": easily angry, enthusiastic and annoying. She never really brought anything to the table in solving mysteries....I mean Satoshi was the database and Oreki was the analyzer; Ibara was just....annoying. Her obsession with insulting Oreki for no reason was also annoying, the show would have done well to put a reason why she didn't too like Oreki, which they did not....I won't say she hated him...they actually got along alright at times, but sometimes she just made inputs that were totally unnecessary. Then there is Chitanda....easily distracted, cute, and sorta like a puppy (especially her good sense of smell)....basically, your typical innocent "OJOU-SAMA" (princess....best way to translate that...even if it doesn't really do it justice). She had an affinity to knowing when a solution was right or wrong, which was illogical because for the most part she was "in the dark"...guess we could chalk that up to GREAT INTUITION. She was also extremely annoying when she behaved PUSHY, but other than those childish moments, she was okay.

The Story set a dark tone, for the VERY VERY LIGHT mysteries, which MADE those mysteries interesting when originally they would not be. The way the mysteries were solved and the complexities involved were also quite interesting. The show had 3 major story arcs: HYOUKA ARC; THE INDEPENDENT FILM ARC; THE CULTURE FESTIVAL ARC. I think the Hyouka arc was the best in terms of seriousness, but the culture festival arc was much deeper. They did good in referencing Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christy. The problem was after these arcs, the remaining episodes were okay, but stand-alone. Therefore, when these three arcs were over, it felt as if the show itself was OVER, or atleast there was no longer the drive to watch the episodes that came after because they were less exciting. They could have gone the romance route....which they slightly did, HOWEVER nothing came of the 2 romance stories either. That said, the culture festival (BUNKASAI) arc could have been pushed to the end of the series or they could have simply innovated a new arc.

The story was not fast paced, so the music fit, so did the voice acting. The 2 OP and ED were good, their videos were also good, EXCEPT THE FIRST ED VIDEO....that video was a classic "WTF???" I mean it showed Ibara, and Chitanda in seductive clothes, in a bed (well it looked like a bed), they were holding hands as well....it was basically fan service for a show THAT HAD NO FAN SERVICE.

That being said, the show was quite enjoyable for 22 episodes, it was light, and when it felt the need too they would darken it. Oreki was an excellent main character, mainly because he was a mystery....to the ppl around him and INITIALLY to the viewers, that you wanted to get to know him more. The show DEFINITELY deserves a watch!

Overall guilty crown was a mixture of good and bad. The animation and sound were of great quality. Even the plot was excellent. BUT....the plot being excellent and actually following through with the plot to an entire storyline is two different things. I mean, the post apocolyptic japan, the void, the resistance, they were all interesting....felt A LOT like if they ripped it off from CODE GEASS (the BESTEST SHOW EVER). However, the story fell apart for the following reasons:
1. Characters: the main character was pathetic. Given the first 8 episodes would of been okay, but eventually you would expect to see some growth. There ... was, but it was CONFLICTING, even when the main character became a tyrant, he was still pathetic, always looking for appraisal, always forgetting who he is, in other words, he lacked individuality. The other characters were not that better. To not spoil the story I will say, many of them did things for stupid reasons. Again on the main character, he should have truely taken a leadership position, yet he failed at that. There were many instances of people switching sides, which made the cast seem unstable.
2. The story was explained, but hard to follow. Many things were explained very breifly and even now at best they are still murky. Like: when did Mana change? What was Gui true motives? What was Da'at about? How was all this started? WHile these questions were answered, they were answered EXTREMELY breifly without much detail, thus blurring the chronological order of the show. Had they spent more time explaining these details in an extra 4 episodes I beleive the story would have truely been better.
3. As mentioned, many of the characters motivation for what they did were weak, unsolidified and unjustified. BUT, what really brought this show down was the ending. Without giving any spoilers; the ending was just plain wrong. There were 3 other endings that could and should have occured; that would have made more sense and would have been justifiable to the suffering of some of the characters. Yet, they chose a "happy ending" that sucked, was completely out of place, and really wasn't all that happy. Even the "BOND OF FRIENDSHIP" between everyone was weak. They all had soo much drama amongst themselves, yet they acted as if they were the world to each other in the end, like how the mugiwara (one piece) crew act; or how suzaku an lelouch(CG); tiger and bunny( tiger and bunny) acted...whcih in those shows those bonds actually existed from simple coincedences to history to friendships. This had too weak of bonds. There were some bonds that were justifiable like Hare and Shuu, or even Shuu and Gui (which in a sence got messed up), even Shuu and Sugar (can't remember his name); however the other relationships were just weak.

Plain and simple: the artwor is well done, the voices matched characters to a point, and the plotline for this story, even if common, is still good. However, the charactersb are all pathetic. A character dictates how well a show is....the main character's motivation to do anything is weak. Clearly most of the characters fight for the sake of Amakawa, their reason being that they lik him and there are even reasons for why they like him, yet he is an inconsistency in the story....hehas no motivation to fight, even if he is kind his "wimpy" attitude to every situation is annoying and it takes ... mountains to be crushed before he dos something useful if he even does anything at all. His character is supposed to be the base for all the other characters, yet reality would show most people would never follow a guy like that. The story could have progressed in a number of ways to make the show good, yet it took crappiest and did not live up to the potential. Overall...this show is no good unless you want senseless fanservice.