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People are complex beings. We are defined by our interests, memories and the ways we behave to other people. Each human has different patterns of personality - many weaknesses, but also strong points and uniquenesses. The idea of personality is the main subject of the series, and surprisingly, it is executed really well.

The story of the series is about the 5 members of the Cultural Research Club, who find themselves switching bodies with each other. The body switching is just the first of many supernatural phenomenons they have to deal with. Naturally, they get to know other very closely, and conflicts arise. Will their friendship ... stand this?
The story is really well written and interesting. It has drama (which was most of the times carefully made), slice-of-life theme, and even some comedy.

Now, the best aspect of the show is undoubtabley its characters. Although they might look one-dimensional in the start, soon you get to know them more closely, and realize that they are not so "perfect" as they seem. For example - Yaegashi Taichi, who is a "selfless freak" who always helps anyone as much as he can, is actually a selfish person who can't stand seeing people hurt. The characters sometimes overreact to things and get depressed - just like in real life. There is a lot of character development, which makes the story even better.

However, there are still drawbacks. First of all - there are a few ecchi scenes (especially in the first chapter), and in my opinion they were totally pointless and irritating. Another main drawback is the reasoning. The supernatural things just happen. Why? This question is never really answered. The reason "Because you are just a little bit too interesting" is not satisfying. Some of the scenes were made just to add drama, but it doesn't mean they are bad.

The animation is nice and simple - the character designs and the scenery are very well made. The background music adds to the atmosphere of the anime, and most of the OP and ED themes (there are 4...) are very good.

Overall, this is a series that deals mainly with friendship and people's personality. The story is very well written and is quite unique; It has drama, but it is not exaggerated. If you search for a series with supernatural and slight-of-life themes with good drama, I suggest you to try this one.

"The Place Promised in our Early Days" is yet another masterpiece from Makoto Shinaki. It offers a sci-fi set in an alternative history, where Japan has been split to two - Hokkaido (in this movie, Ezo) is controlled by the Soviet Union, and the rest of Japan is controlled by the US. The best parts of the movie were the animation (obvious, this is a Makoto Shinaki film...) and the story itself, which is very interesting and emotional. However, it has some plot-holes, and its background is not explained well, and these are the main drawbacks of the film.

The story is about two teenagers, Fujishiwa ... and Shiakawa, who are fascinated by the huge tower the Soviet Union built in Hokkaido. They rebuild a former fighter jet, and intend to fly in it to the tower. Their friend, Sawatari, is also very interested in flying to the tower, and they promise her that they will take her with them.
However... Things change...

Many people complain about the movie's story, calling it boring. If you ask me, the story is not boring at all, however the relatively slow pacing and the dark atmoshere cause some people to call it boring. Be prepared, because it is not an easy movie to watch.

The sci-fi idea is very good (I will not spoil and write what it is). However, many things are just left unexplained. Why did the Union built such an enormous tower? Just for research? As a weapon? Why was it so uncontrollable? Didn't they realize how dangerous it could be also for themselves? What happened to Hokkaido in the end of the film? Those questions are very important to the understanding of the film, however the film does not (as far as I could see) answer them.

The characters are very well built. Fujisawa, the optimist, Shirakawa, the cold realist and Sawatari, who never loses hope.

The music is... good. The ending song was beautiful and memorable and the violin tune was aso very good, but the rest of the soundtrack was not so remarkable. Tenmon made better soundtracks for other films.

Overall, this movie is very special. The story is captivating, interesting and emotional, not to mention the beautiful animation. I suggest that you give it a try.

Nagi No Asukara is, for me, an example of a series with a great potential that was executed poorly. Althoguh people mark this show very highly, the story is really badly written, the characters are sketches and the fantasy aspect was just ruined. The best aspect of this show is the animation.

The series is set in a world in which there are two types of human: those who live under the water, and those who live on the surface. The story is about students from an underwater village who transfer schools to a school on the surface, and its main subject (as much as I ... understood) is the racism between the two kinds of people.
Now, the story has a great potential, but it was very poorly written, and this is the main reason for my mean score. We don't get to know about the background and history of the world (which is essential for a fantasy books and series), so things like the strong racism between the water and the surface human, the sea god and her powers, the salty rain and many other are just left unexplained, although they play a very important role in the series. The characters often act stupidly and without reason (an example - Hikari hugs Manaka after she hears a very bad news. Manaka kicks him hard, and sees surprised of herself). The dialogues are stupid (the characters argue about whenether they should change themselves. But why do they have to change? What should they change in themselves? No clue).
The turning point of the story was quite promising, but from there, it deteriorted quickly. When a disaster comes close, the people on the surface act normally - continue with their life as nothing will happen. The few dramatical dialogues between the characters did not sove this problem. And when they finally found a possible solution, it was just horrible and pointless (I will not spoil), and if you ask me, it was added just for the drama. After that, I dropped the series, because I saw that it was not heading to a good direction.

The characters themselves are really one-dimensional. Hikari just keeps shouting and hitting other people (he is the only character who gets a character development, but it is too sudden and polar to be reliable). Manaka is just cute. Kihara is the only character that I found convincing.

The animation, however, is really good. The character designs, the school, both of the villages were done very well.

Overall, I think Nagi No Asukara is a rather dissapointing series. The story makes no sense, and although the fantasy setting sees promising, there is a lack of information about it, which is essential for the series. So if you try to find a fantasy series with a good story and not just a good concept, I suggest you to skip this one.

Sakurasou, to sum it up, is mainly about finding and trying to achieve one's dreams. It is also about the relationship between people. Overall, it is a good series, but it has many flaws, which I will write about below.

The story is about Kanda Sorata, a more-or-less normal teenager, who is expelled from the normal student's dormitories of his school, and has to go to Sakura Hall - a place where the most special students live, managed by a lazy teacher. Also, he is in the "Mashiro Duty" - he takes care of a transfer student, Mashiro, who can't take care of herself: he must ... wake her up every morning, take care of her grades in school, choose clothes for her and clean her room. From here, a relationship starts.

The best part of the series is the emphasis on hard work in order to achieve dreams. This idea is portrayed very well in the series: Aoyama, Sorata's friend, who plans to be a voice actress; Mashiro, who draws her manga and hopes that it will be released; and Sorata himself, who wants to be a game developer. In the series, you really see how hard they try, and also how they succeed - and sometimes fail, and realizes that life isn't fair.

The main characters are also written very well, and they are quite realistic. All of them are developed through the series, and you can really empathize with them. However, the supporting characters (Mizaki, the animator, and Jin, the scriptwriter) are rather flat. And here comes the main flaw of the series - there is a too much comic relief (which is done usually by Mizaki), some of it includes fanservice. Although the series is supposed to also be a comedy, I think that the humor could have been done much better.

The story itself, apart from the slice-of-life aspect, is mediocre, and the ending of the series was just disappointing. I will not spoil, but the whole idea of it was ridiculous and it was done just to add drama.

The music is one of the strong points of this series. The first OP and the second ED are nice, but the first ED and the second OP are just superb, and in my opinion, are worthy of listening by themselves.

To sum up, the series is quite good. The characters are reliable and they deal with difficulties while trying to achieve their dreams. However, the main flaws of the series are the story itself and especially the ending, which were written badly; and large parts of the comedy, some of them including fanservice. If you want a good and interesting series which has comedy and reliable characters, the series is worth trying, and you will probably enjoy it.