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First let me say that I would have been a lot more comfortable with this anime if the characters had been in college instead of high school. Midori no Hibi is about a standard anime maverick high school senior who wakes up one day to find his right hand has been transformed into a living 8" version of the 15 year old girl who has had a severe crush on him but is too shy to tell him. Issues about naked 17 year old males with naked fifteen year old females and so are totally ignored and the writing is so clever you don't really ... mind. The series gets high marks for never descending into the crude humor that the situation easily lends itself to; although it does come close. There is, however, a totally gratuitous, protracted topless scene at the end of the series and therein lies the problem.

The first six episodes are pretty entertaining, if the series stopped there, I'd give it at least a 7. Unfortunately, the writers didn't seem to want to explore some very interesting comic situations they'd established; such as the otaku who falls for a female delinquent or, in contrast, took a fairly complex character and reduced her to a swooning harem stereotype quicker than Anakin Skywalker went over to the Darkside. So, there you have it, watch the first six, scan the second six, watch the 13 if you really can't figure out how it ends.

There are 45 episodes encompassing four stories, two useless 1 episode recaps, and two 1 episode "I dunno's". The two longest stories, the interesting first and the third, center on the same character, the last story is the weakest and the terrific second story that was never finished; it just stopped in the middle. There is also a fifth story hinted at but never developed.

I wish that the series went longer but can see why it was canceled given the nature of the weak last story and the unfinished second. I would say the best parts were the opening theme and internal soundtrack (the ... closing theme was kinda Japanese country/western pop) and the bestiary of creatures that live in Juuni Kokuki particularly those that can change from an animal to human form at will. The worst was the second story which was interesting and strong enough to rate a 26 episode series on its on in my opinion.

This is a pleasant comedy about five typically "outsider" female characters working their way through some of the issues of female adolescence. It's episodic each episode being broken down into several anime equivalents of a well written daily comic strip in the funny/cute category, no big laughs but a lot of large smiles. Besides the core five, there are four other characters: the young teacher, primarily there for comic relief, who isn't quite sure if she really wants to be a teacher; the attractive, active young teacher who is the idol of the girls; the non-threatening but creepy, male teacher; and a cleverly blended in ... sixth girl who's job it is to react and serve as the Greek chorus - observing, explaining and commenting on the action for the audience; in a harem comedy she would have been the male lead.

The lack of any male characters, other than the teacher, who say more than three lines is somewhat jarring as is the absence of a flirtatious female character but their inclusion would have taken the anime in the direction of the typical romantic comedy and the creators obviously didn't want it to go there; by eliminating the characters needed they avoided the issue entirely.

This a well done series that should appeal to most female viewers and any male would had to suffer through adolescence with a teen age daughter or two however, if you're a male looking for fanservice or under thirty, forget it.

At first view "Simoun" is a extremely mediocre science fiction story about a bunch of teen age girls in multiple sexy outfits who kiss and caress each other in each episode? If that's your idea of a good time then you don't have to read the rest of this. - If you're still with me "Simoun" is an amazing set of stories about a compelling cast of characters stuffed inside unexceptional story about war and political intrigue.

The fact that almost all the characters are female is genius. Developing a concept based on the fact that humans are basically female until about six weeks after ... conception, in this reality sex choice is conscious and happens when you turn 17.

Even without the Y chromosome the stories are so complex and involved that the last four episodes are devoted to telling you what happened to everybody once the plot beat itself to a logical conclusion.

You won't get many of the nuances until you start thinking about an episode after you've finished watching it. Like the use of music and the difficulty a writer would have without male/female sexual tension or male/male confrontations to fill out an episode. The little discoveries all build up and soon you find yourself watching various episodes out of order just to see the interplay between characters.

If you're a fan of anime with excellent characters and character development this is a must see anime.

If your a fan of cute teenagers in sexy outfits this is pretty much a must see, also.

As the name implies this is a continuation of the first season of Genshiken. I found this to be even more interesting than the first season although it was three episodes shorter. There was much more parodying of manga and anime a la "Hayate no Gotoku" which is a good thing in my book. In the last few epidsodes they may have even surpassed Hayate in that department.

If you haven't seen the first season watch it, it's worth it if only to get to the second season.

"Genshiken" could also be called "Otaku 101". "Otaku" is a word that refers to people obsessively interested video gaming, anime and manga and areas and activities related to them. This is an above average story involving above average characters and an excellent basic explanation of otaku niches. "Genshiken's" title is derived from shortening the name of a club at a Japanese University whose membership consists of otaku who represent just about every aspect of the word plus a constantly commenting anti-otaku for balance.

My first time through I didn't think much of it; there's not much to recommend it on the surface but as the interaction ... of the characters progresses you can't help but want to know what happens next. The series is followed by "Genshiken 2" which for some reason is three episodes shorter; you have to watch both seasons to complete the story but it's worth it.

First let me say I truly enjoyed the first season and the art is just as striking but Kei is a total waste of characters with tremendous potential. - Try this out: the rain sprite, the Ame-warashi, standard mood is bad but she always sees the good in people; the vestal sprite, the Zashiki-warashi, is innocent and virginal she lives on pure, as in virginal, energy and is very susceptible to evil energy; the beautiful human spider, Jorougumo thrives on that evil energy; almost all the other secondary characters are just as vivid and unique - and CLAMP doesn't do a damn thing with them. ... To top it off the lead female, Yuuko, could have been one of the great females in anime but they turn her from the super dominant, supernatural witch of the first season into an insipid drunk whose only purpose is exposition.

Almost every episode had the making of two or three story arcs. The writers of "xxxholic kei" seem to be the type who when asked, "How did you like that elephant that just walked by?" reply, "What elephant?"

To someone who watched all the first season episodes at least twice the second season is an insult.

I really enjoyed this anime and would have given it a 10 but for one thing. The first thing you read in "review tips and guidelines" starts out "Don't steal anyone else's work...". I keep reading where "Metropolis" was adapted from a manga of the same name that is a load of BS. The reason "Metroplis" is so good is it's an anime copy, plot point for plot point, of Fritz Lang's classic silent picture "Metropolis" Nowhere absolutely nowhere is this mentioned. If you're going to adapt someone else's work you should at least give them credit.

As Xinil said: "It's not easy writing a review for such a well known and extremely successful anime."

My take on it this: The thing is excellent, oriignal, etc etc etc. Haruhi Suzumiya and the light novels she lives in prove that somewhere in this world there are people who still know how tell a story. I can't recommend any anime to go with this but I can recommend some stories: Wizard of Oz, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (not that Disney piece of crap), Alice Through the Looking Glass, Wind in the Willows... oh the list does go on...