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Feb 15, 2015
I loved the first season of Love Live, but sadly this one could not quite keep up. The great graphics, characters and music are still here, but despite a worthy ending, the story stumbles a bit.

The first season was all about the characters overcoming internal obstacles and growing as artists and as persons. Many obstacles in this season are more of the external kind. Which is a shame; after the brilliant introduction of the cast the first season gave us, I would have hoped the plot would be deeper and even more character driven this time around. Instead we got blizzards, hurricanes and inavoidable deadlines, ...
Feb 15, 2015
Ow, my face hurts! The very first seconds of this show put a big smile on my face and it stuck all the way through.

The story contains a lot of cliches, but it is so well directed that they don't really matter. The pacing is a masterpiece that allows for drama, comedy, "girl of the week", some degree of actual character depth and slice of life in the mere 13 episodes, without feeling rushed or crammed. This is the only show other than AIR that has managed to pull off something like this in such a compact format. The only complaint I can come ...
Feb 14, 2015
FLCL (Anime) add
Furi Kuri is an eyegasm, a mindfuck and a nosebleed. I have never seen an anime this graphically appealing before, and it's annoying beyond belief that nothing has bested it in the 15 years since it was created.If you see it mainly as a visual piece of art, you won't be as disappointed by the pointless and random story. Sure, this is supposed to be a nonsense-hysterical comedy, but it would never in a million years have worked if it wasn't for the outstanding graphics. The story isn't contributing at all to the enjoyment of Furi Kuri; it's the animation that pulls the entire burden. ...
Feb 13, 2015
MM! (Anime) add
I have seen a fair share of harem anime, and I wonder why I still bother. They all follow a formula that barely would be entertaining if it was applied to just a single show, let alone a whole genre.

But this worn formula is what makes MM! so great. This anime follows the harem doctrine to the letter, but turns it up to eleven on all fronts. The whole cast sports some kind of perversion, the violence is out of control, the characters take the harem cliches to the extreme and the panty shots... oh, wait, there are none of those. Right.

Graphics are colourful, ...
Feb 11, 2015
Last Exile (Anime) add
Mixed Feelings
Aw, man... I really wanted to like Last Exile. There is a lot going for it; great graphics, a fascinating steampunk world, and an epic script. But sadly it all gets all but ruined by bad editing and directing. Dialogue is often stiff and riddled with awkward and pointless pauses. Events get little to no buildup, making the dramaturgical curve way too straight and even. In a story as epic as this, you need buildups and climaxes, but the dynamics get lost in a mess of wierd cuts and directing choices. And voice acting is far from consistantly great.

On the plus side, the graphics are ...
Feb 9, 2015
Ao Haru Ride (Anime) add
Standard high school Shojo, but an unusually good one. Very slow paced with sensible and not the slightest bit over-the-top characters. The story is entirely character-driven and feels 100% plausible and realistic. The dialogue is coherent, makes sense and works well as a medium for the cast to drive the story forward. Graphics are a fair bit above average and character design is spot on.

This could have been a real masterpiece if there was a wee bit more happening. As it is, it is a heartwarming feel-good slice of cousyness and reminiscing. And I'm totally fine with that. But if Ao Haru ride would ...
Feb 9, 2015
A big bucket of WTF. Ok, I get where Gainax was going with this, and I suppose there are lots of fans of this kind of humour. But this constant bombardment of colour, chatter, explosions and random events is not my cup of fun. I tried to watch it in japanese, but the hysterical tempo made it impossible to keep track of the subtitles, so I quickly switched to the english dub. Which actually was really good. The voice acting was totally fine and the dialogue was freely translated and greatly improved upon. That, combined with the western-style art style, made me forget that this ...
Feb 8, 2015
Golden Boy (Anime) add
I didn't have high hopes for Golden boy, but it wasn't half bad at all. Sure, the art is dated, music and voice acting is so-so and the story is extremely episodic. Apart from a couple of sexy scenes and about one big laugh per episode, the most appealing part of this anime is the main character himself. If you are fed up with main characters who are just passively letting the plot take the lead, Kintaro is the guy for you. He is a nice guy, sure, but he is also a pervert, a wierdo and a go-getter. With just 6 episodes, there really ...
Feb 7, 2015
Planetes (Anime) add
Planetes starts off slow and takes its time to establish the setting. The first half or so is basically episodic slice of life which does a very good job of building up a rich, plausible and fascinating world. The cast gets plenty of time to establish and grow, and the characters are great.

I love these kinds of "down to earth" (not entirelly a fitting term in this case), almost "pigfarming" stories. No super powers, no abyssal evil. Just people. The first half of Planetes reminds me of masterpieces such as Haibane Renmei, Cowboy bebop and Trigun.

Sadly, when the main story takes off, it does so ...
Feb 6, 2015
Mixed Feelings
I was hoping for a new Elfen Lied, but this was mostly a big disappointment. Basically just another shonen, but with the lights turned down. That in itself wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, but all the good things about Deadland Wonderland are obscured by the many flaws. All in all, I don't regret watching it, but there are way better options out there for all the genres this series claims to be.

Regarding gore and violence, there are a couple of strong scenes, but they are few and far between. Fans of Gantz and Elfen Lied will not be impressed.

The artstyle is great and frame ...


It’s time to ditch the text file.
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