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Be warned, this review may contain /spoilers/.

Death Note is one of those anime that every “true” anime fan will inevitably, at some point, encounter and watch (or read, as is in the case of the manga). While I have not yet had the pleasure of actually reading the manga, I have watched the anime, therefore I shall review it for your viewing pleasure.

Most people who shy away from Death Note use one of the following excuses:

Oh my god, it’s so popular, so it must be crap.
Interestingly enough, it’s become a silent rule that most anime or manga that are “popular” (and here I speak in ... terms of Naruto, Bleach, One Piece, Fushigi Yuugi, and Sailor Moon) are garbage, stupid, and simply a waste of time to watch or read. If it’s mainstream, then it can’t possibly have any redeemable qualities. While I do agree, there are many non-mainstream series that are very good and, in all honesty, much better than most “typical” anime or manga, there are also the few mainstream series that are gems in and of themselves. One of those being Death Note. Sure, it’s popular, and likely has a near-cult following, but that doesn’t mean that it’s a bad series because of it. It has a cult following because of how good it is. It’s not your typical shoujo or shounen series.

OMG, Light is so hot, especially if he’s paired with L, Misa should go to hell, etc. etc.
Yeah…yeah. If you’re one of those animanga fans that likes to fangirl/boy over how hot character X is and how character X should be paired up with character Y because they’re such a good couple, and character Z should go die in a hole because they’re messing up the oh so wonderful chemistry of the entire relationship…then this isn’t the anime for you. Quite frankly, watching Death Note requires you to have some patience and understanding; which means all the dialogue and all the characters are, in some way, important, whether it be important to the plot or as merely another plot device. And, like I mentioned in another review, it’s rather pathetic to watch or read something and debate the sexual orientations of the characters, or to say that because character X made this sort of facial expression, s/he must be in love with character Y. If you think like that…it’s rather depressing. Plus you’ll be entirely lost as to what the actual plot is if you let your mind wander like that. And, as I mentioned, it’s rather pathetic.

Also – Misa should not go to hell. Really, girls/boys, I understand that you’re jealous because she gets to spend so much time with Light, but that doesn’t mean she’s stupid, or useless. Is it because she’s blonde and happens to be pretty, or rather happy-go-lucky in nature? If you have a semblance of a brain, as is required to watch this anime, you’ll realize that Misa is actually very important to the plot, and is also intelligent. Maybe not as intelligent as Light or L, but then again you’ll have to take into account that they are geniuses, while Misa has average or above-average intelligence. After all, she was famous on her own, and worked very hard to be as such.

I don’t understand why Light is so nice in the beginning, but then he suddenly turns into this evil bastard.
It’s called “corruption”. “Degeneration of character”. “God complex”. All of these can be applied to Light. I would say he is the embodiment of what happens when we let power go to our head. I think I recall him being a Pisces – both men and women born under this sign are very easily influenced. Obata-sensei and Ooba-sensei did their homework.

What is the crazy guy with the book’s name anyway?
Oh, Light. Yagami Light. Or Yagami Raito. It depends on what you prefer. Light is the “Romanized” name. Raito is the Japanese pronunciation, and how it is written in katakana.月 kanji, with the katakana ライト beside it to specify the pronunciation. There, you learned some Japanese. Light himself states in episode six that his first name is written with the character for moon, but pronounced like “raito/light”.

Death Note begins by introducing Yagami Raito, a young student who is bored with his everyday life and believes that the world is rotting. Later on, we are also introduced to the Shinigami Ryuuk, who is bored with his life in the Shinigami World, and also believes the world is rotting. Because he wants something interesting to happen, he drops his Death Note into the human world, inevitably sparking the chain of events that would lead to Raito’s corruption and triumph. When Raito discovers that he can kill a person merely by writing their name in the Death Note, while keeping their face in mind, he decides to use the notebook for good. He takes on the alias “Kira” and sets off killing criminals as he sees fit, writing their names down. Soon, he begins to experiment – manipulating the times and cause of death of his victims. Raito wants to become the new god, he wants to become the “god of the new world” – he sees his goal, can almost taste victory on his tongue. He has planned everything, only to have it ruined by L, a mysterious genius who is the number one detective in the entire world. Death Note is essentially a “game of cat and mouse” between Raito, the protagonist (antihero) and L, the antagonist – who most everyone inevitably ends up rooting for in the end. The anime uses psychology and the sheer intelligence of these two main characters, Raito and L, to drive the story forward, as well as the suspense and thrill, tension, and anxiety that the whole anime manages to push down on its viewers. The first half of the anime, the half that includes L, is flawless – simply because we have such a fascinating and interesting antagonist. The second half, the one that has Mello and Near as the main antagonists, is not quite as flawless.

Near, although a character in his own right, could easily be called a clone of L. He even looks a bit the same. Simply put, he is not quite as compelling or even as likable as L. Mello is a much more interesting character, in my opinion – simply because of his mannerisms and appearance. Both characters, however, play their role and inevitably catching and destroying Raito. Because, during the entire anime, we have witnessed the growth and corruption of Raito’s character – he was first the “good schoolboy” with very good grades. Then he became the “good schoolboy” with the ambition of cleansing the world. And then he became corrupted in his power, his elation – drowned in it, if only for the appearance of L. Because of L, he became caught up in his game, in his quest, and his true purpose was lost. Instead of cleansing the world, his one goal became that of vanquishing L.

Be warned, this review may contain /spoilers/.

Darker Than BLACK is an anime produced by BONES, released in Japan in the year 2007. The anime centres on its four main protagonists, during several, short story arcs.

The four main characters are Hei, Yin, Huang, and Mao. They all have Chinese names – these are codenames. The only actually Chinese person in the group is Hei (whose name means “black” in Chinese). Yin is Finnish (her name means “silver”), Huang is Japanese (his name means “yellow”), and Mao’s nationality is unknown (his name means “cat”). All the characters have different personalities and distinct ways of acting. Huang, Hei, ... and Yin’s histories are all touched on in the first season of Darker Than BLACK, while Mao’s receives less attention. His background is only touched on in depth in the second season (Ryuusei no Gemini). The side characters are also interesting, with their own personalities and motives. In particular, I like Kirihara Misaki, a policewoman who could be called the main character of the “opposing” force to Hei and his team.

Darker Than BLACK has an interesting setting; futuristic Tokyo, where the appearance of “Hell’s Gate” has caused beings called “contractors” and “dolls” to emerge into the world. Contractors are individuals with special abilities, such as the ability to create lightning or teleport, and they can use these powers at will. However, they must perform their remuneration during or after they use their power – this can be anything from eating cigarettes to breaking one’s fingers, and is usually associated to something the contractor has previously done. There are some contractors (like Mao) who have fulfilled their contract and therefore do not need to perform their remuneration, although this is rare. Contractors are very logical individuals – they have detached themselves from their emotions and any ties they had with family members and friends. Dolls are spiritual mediums that have the power to “see” using specific mediums, like glass or water, while being invisible to others. They have no emotion whatsoever and are incapable of making decisions for themselves. It has been shown that dolls are “manufactured” and sold as products and goods, particularly in underground organizations like the mafia or yakuza.

Hei and Mao are both contractors. Hei can produce and conduct lightning, and Mao can possess the bodies of animals. Notably, Mao lost his human body and is therefore stuck in the form of a black cat. Yin is a doll whose medium is water. Huang is the only human in the group – he hates both contractors and dolls and makes the point of voicing this periodically. Hei is an interesting contractor, since he doesn’t have a remuneration and still makes most decisions based on human emotion. Reasons for this are revealed near the end of season one.

In the first episode, we are introduced to Li Shungsheng, a gentle student from China, who is actually a masquerading Hei. Things get complicated when we learn Hei works for “the Syndicate”, a mysterious organization with an unknown agenda. Darker Than BLACK is primarily a series of short, two-episode story arcs, with the longest one being three episodes, at the end. Although it is told in such a fashion, it never feels episodic – the plot manages to interconnect the various arcs into a bigger plot. The arcs are something like threads in the tapestry that is Darker Than BLACK, with every character being introduced for a reason – to further the plot and so that we may learn more about our four main characters. The arcs are interesting enough to catch the viewer’s attention and cause is to want to push through the end, to see how exactly the stories are connected.

The characters develop as the series go on, Yin in particular. From an emotionless robot she becomes something that could be called a “human being”, albeit a quiet one. Hei also shows signs of development, which is something even the characters point out. Huang and Mao are somewhat static characters, although Huang’s lack of development is a given when you find out his past. All the characters are realistic and life-like, and all are interesting in their own right. Watching Hei juggle his real persona and the personality of Li Shungsheng at the same time is amusing and adds some comic relief to an otherwise very serious and dark anime. Darker Than BLACK makes you think.

Overall, Darker Than BLACK is a fluid, interesting, emotional ride that takes you on a rollercoaster through the depths of the human mind, prejudice, and relationships.

Be warned, this review contains /spoilers/. Also, this review has some references to the manga version.

Katekyo Hitman Reborn! is one of those anime that you either love to pieces or hate with your entire soul. There is no “in between” or “neutral” ground with this one.

The main character of Katekyo Hitman Reborn! is Sawada Tsunayoshi “Tsuna”, who is the unwilling candidate for the Vongola Decimo, the Tenth Vongola Boss. He was chosen due to the fact that his great-great-great-great grandfather, the first Vongola Boss, moved to Japan and set off the long chain of reactions that would eventually lead to Tsuna being born. Tsuna isn’t ... exactly your ideal boss candidate – basically, he’s a useless wimp, putting it bluntly. He also has no intention of being involved with the mafia, or any sort of underground organization. One day, his mother applies for a tutor to teach him, as he is failing at school. This home tutor happens to be Reborn – a gun-wielding infant who is apparently the best hitman of the Vongola family. He immediately starts off training Tsuna; most of these episodes are gags, as it was originally supposed to be a comedy manga. Eventually it kicks off as a slightly formulaic beat bad guy, get a power up, beat the next bad guy series.

Of course, as a mafia man, Tsuna needs “Guardians”, who embody or control the six Flames of the Vongola Family. Gokudera Hayato has a love of dynamite and is Tsuna’s self-proclaimed right-hand-man; he is the Guardian of Storm. Yamamoto Takeshi sees mafia as a game, loves baseball, and is the Guardian of Rain. Lambo, an infant from the Bovino Family who has an ongoing rivalry with Reborn, is the Guardian of Lightning. Sasagawa Ryohei, a boxer, is the Guardian of the Sun. Hibari Kyouya, a young man who is obsessed with rules and regulations, is the Guardian of Cloud. Rokudo Mukuro and Chrome Dokuro are the Mist Guardians. (No, they are not the same person. Their situation is quite an interesting one.) The plot doesn’t really get exciting until the second or third arc, when the Varia comes into play. And it gets even better during the Future and Choice arcs.

Interestingly enough, for a formulaic animanga, the characters do grow and change as the story develops from one antagonist to the next. The art also changes drastically – it improves greatly over the course of the series, from slightly sloppy drawings to art that can almost be called beautiful. (Although it will, of course, never be as beautiful as Nabari no Ou.) The plot is obviously somewhat lacklustre and simple, although it does become more complicated as the characters become more and more entangled in the affairs of the Vongola family. All the characters have some sort of back story and a reason, as it were, to behave as they do. More or less. There are some characters that we know next to nothing about, but these are generally characters that have little importance to the plot.

If you don’t mind some mindless fun, KHR! is a good animanga to watch or read. Both the anime and manga are long, with the anime being over two hundred episodes and the manga still ongoing. On this note, I’ll inform you that, in my humble opinion, the manga is better. It is more mature than the anime – its counterpart had many things either censored or cut out completely. For example, in the manga, Gokudera is a chain smoker, while in the anime, he doesn’t smoke at all. Also, some events in the manga are either scrapped or twisted around in the anime. Therefore, the manga would be the slightly better choice, as it was made first and the original media is usually best, as in the case of Nabari no Ou and Pandora Hearts. (Yes, I’m just making up reasons to say “Nabari no Ou”. You caught me.)

If formulaic action isn’t your thing, I advise you to stay away from this series. If, however, you don’t mind it and can use a bit of mindless animanga, you’re good to go. I for one enjoy KHR! quite a bit, although not enough to call it the best series in the world.

Princess Mononoke, or Mononoke-Hime as in the original Japanese, is an anime movie written and directed by Miyazaki Hayao of Studio Ghibli. The movie was released in Japan on July 12th, 1997, and later released in the United States and Canada on October 29th and November 16th, 1999 respectively. Studio Ghibli has produced such movie masterpieces as Spirited Away, Kiki’s Delivery Service, and the Cat Returns.

Princess Mononoke is a nice movie, definitely, but not the best one as everyone makes it out to be. The plot is fairly simple; Ashitaka, the last Emishi prince, battles a gigantic, sickly boar named Nago in order to save ... his village, during which his arm is wounded. He finds out that a curse will spread throughout his body from his arm, and will eventually kill him. The only way for him to get a cure is to go to the land where the boar came from. He journeys west, and comes across Iron Town. Soon thereafter, a mysterious girl in wolf’s skin enters the village, causing a ruckus that really gets the story started. Ultimately, the plot and the movie itself seem to promote caring for the environment, and the animals that live there. However, beyond that, there is a deeper meaning. All the characters have a reason to act as they do – they each have their own perception of what is right.

The movie keeps you engaged, combining Japanese mythology with a simple but original plot. Every single character’s actions can be justified based on the view point you look at them, which makes them well-developed and well-fleshed out. For me, though San steals the show – she’s just such an interesting character, although I may be biased because of the wolf aspect. Wanting to know what will happen to Ashitaka keeps you want to keep watching regardless if you find it really interesting or not, which I guarantee you will. There is not too much action per se, but each of the characters push the others into different situations that force them to react. Cause and effect – another thing the movie exemplifies. Ashitaka kills a boar because it is attacking his village – he needs to save his home. The boar was, in fact, a god that was berserk, and in pain. The boar cursed Ashitaka, in defence of his own life. Cause and effect – the boar caused Ashitaka to attack it, which in turn caused the boar to harm him, which is the entire basis of the plot. Had Ashitaka not attacked the boar, the plot, the meaning behind the story most likely wouldn’t exist.

Bottom line, it is a movie with a message: don’t destroy the environment, care for the animals, too. I like animals, so I like this message. Summarizing, the movie is a good one and worth watching. However, it is not the most amazing movie ever.

This review also includes the four episode OVA, since I consider them to be one in the same. Also, be warned that this review contains /spoilers/.

People who dislike this anime tend to have the following reasons:

The ending sucks! Everyone dies!
Yes, you know, everyone does die. It’s actually quite common. Every day, someone dies. Also, the ending does not suck. It was actually a very beautiful ending, a very good one for the anime. It had a message – a message, a meaning to those who are actually intelligent enough to appreciate this type of anime and look deep enough for it. If you’re too lazy ... to find it, I’ll tell you: Paradise is made, and then it is destroyed. Just like humans are reincarnated, and then destroyed. The world has to heal itself from the pain and abuse that human beings put it under, so that it can make a better world again. And wolves lead the way to this new Paradise.

The characters are generic/stereotypical/static!
I didn’t really see any stereotypes. In addition, the characters change and grow throughout the series. They form relationships, break old ones, and rediscover themselves. If the characters were, in fact, stereotypical, that is no means to dislike a series. People are stereotypes – you have the shy one, the rebel, the jack of all trades, the innocent one. Most people’s base personas can be sorted into a certain group. That is not to say that I am trying to confine everyone under a certain label; that is to say that all people are a certain stereotype.

The plotline doesn’t make sense. Actually, I take that back – there is no plot!
When was there no plot? I remember a plot. “To find Paradise”.

There were what, four recap episodes? A waste of time.
…Do you know how much work it takes to make an anime? A lot. Those recap episodes were so the staff could get a breather and then work on the rest of the show. In addition, the recap episodes provide some insight to previous events, like how Kiba ended up in the snow.

Wolf’s Rain is a wonderful anime featuring several main characters: Kiba, Tsume, Toboe, and Hige, who are wolves, as well as Cheza, Quent, Blue, Hubb, Cher, and Darcia. The anime’s setting is generally post-apocalyptic; cities and towns are found under “Domes” to shield people from the elements, and most of these cities and towns are pretty poor-looking. It is notable to say that everything is written in Russian – there are no Japanese characters in this anime. As such, it can be assumed that the anime is set in Russia. We are introduced to Kiba, a white wolf, who hears a voice calling him to Paradise; shortly after we are introduced to Tsume, who is the leader of a gang and also a wolf. The event that leads to the climax and ending of the anime, thus setting off the plotline, is the meeting between these two wolves. The anime itself sends the message that we meet people everyday, for a reason. And we will continue to meet them in the next life, the next “Paradise” as well. That is destiny, and you must be aware that whoever you meet, they are, in their own way, trying to teach you something. It is your decision as to whether you use this information or discard it – those who discard it usually end up miserable, and the anime depicts this in a very realistic manner. This is a dark, beautifully crafted anime that will definitely make you think hard.

I wholeheartedly recommend this anime to everyone looking for a deep, psychological ride.