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The Cockpit Review
There are no spoilers in this review
I just completed the three part OVA The Cockpit. An anime about three different theoretically possible World War 2 scenarios.

Story
The story for each episode is independent from each other and is focused on the characters feelings of war and what they do to hold their own sense of honor during one of the most bloody wars in History.
It's interesting to watch these as an Australian as the story focuses on Axis Power soldiers. One German fighter pilot, one Japanese Ohka pilot and two Japanese infantry soldiers. It's interesting to see a perspective ... which I never could comprehend on my own. I really like the story.
It's amazing how much the writer put into each episode without making it feel rushed.

Tech
I'm not sure what the quality of animation was like at the time this was created, being 1991. But the lowest points of the anime is the tech side. I think the only reason it is because of it's age. But it's art does something better than allot more modern anime does and that is nose, face and profile shots.
The Japanese characters tended to have their faces drawn weird for some reason but the other characters art style was something I really liked.
I would like to see a rebuild of this with a modern quality but still have the same style for the characters.
Overall though the sound, art, est where primitive and that's just a reflection of the time.

Characters
I think I have really said what I wanted in the story section so I'll be brief. The characterization was great. I liked all the characters allot.

Conclusion
I really liked this. It's relevant to my interests and is well executed. There is room for improvement but I was glad to have seen this. I'd say it should be an anime everyone see's at least once. At least for those who have an interest in history. I'm surprised at how good this turned out.

Fate/Zero Season 1 Review
There are no spoilers in this review.
I just completed my watch through of Fate/Zero season 1. I have to say I was so glad I watched it.
My love of Fate/Stay Night the visual novel helped me enjoy this even more, and the fact Saber had the same voice as in the visual novel was also great. There won't be much that is negative in this review.

Story:
The strongest part of Fate/Zero was the story. This was also true for Fate/Stay Night's visual novel. It flows smoothly, easy to follow, well written and well executed. It gathers excitement for ... waiting for each next episode and brings great entertainment quality.
Although there was less action than expected but nether the less when there was action it was well executed. This story is also helped by the excellent lore the Fate/ franchise has. Backed up by known historical characters not just simply made up ones it makes it allot more interesting.
Presenting us with the genuine article rather than just the names I felt. I can't for the likes of me come up with anything wrong with it. I suppose I might on a rewatch at a later date.

Tech
There is not much to say, the art style is good, the animation is of high quality, the special effects are grand and sound/soundtrack are all A+. There isn't really anything I can say to really state how good it all was and how much it amplified the enjoyment of the story.
I have to make a special mention to the character designs and the art work on the cars as well. I was blown away by these particular aspects, and an additional mention is to go to the design of Berserker.
All aspects of his appearance and execution gain an EX ranking from me, those who have played Fate/Stay Night should know what this means.

Characters
Now onto characters. As I mentioned in the Tech section all their designs are top notch. Especially Berserker. But as Berserker has lost his sanity the other aspects of his character are lacking, but this may be picked up in season 2. Anyway his connection to his master seems to be minimal in comparison's to Berserker and his master in Fate/Zero.
Now in this section there are a few characters worthy of mentioning for excellence. Rider is one, although I disagree with some of his ideals of what it is to be a king, he is a very faithful servant. He is strong and proud of his master and is loyal. These are all great qualities of a man and I am thankful that he is how he is.
Another is Saber, she lives up to my expectations as a character based off my experience with Fate/Stay Night.
Although it appears she is a little weaker willed in Fate/Zero than in Fate/Stay Night, it is very interesting to speculate how this will be built upon in the next season. Her master is also very interesting it's quite exciting to see how Kiritsugu Emiya was through more than just memories and grants me a better perspective of what he was like. But still both Kiritsugu and Saber are still inferior characters in Fate/Zero to Rider.
Now the last characters I will mention are the little baby girls from Fate/Zero who make appearances throughout the series. It's nice to know what Sakura looked like before her transformation, it's equally as nice to see Rin before she became such a bitch too but out of all of them Illyasviel von Einzbern was the cutest of them all.
It's always heart warming to see the characters happy and enjoying themselves as children.

Conclusion
It is rare for a show to really take advantage of all aspects well, characters, story and tech. I find that Fate/Zero is an important example to what anime is capable of when well executed with a solid story and lore.

Score: EX

There are no spoilers in this review
Well I just finished this series, and I thought it was rather enjoyable. A bit silly at a few points but it really didn't try to hard to do anything so I thought that there isn't anything really wrong with it.


Story
The story is probably the weakest part of Chu-2, but by no means is it bad. It's well written and well executed but it's not really something which is that special and it's not that cliche either. This simply means it's difficult to predicted whether someone likes it or not. I feel like this is an ... anime someone will either like or dislike. In the end I really enjoyed it and it was a good story in my opinion.

Tech
There are a few minor things which bugs me here. Overall it's well animated but the art style is good but the nose's aren't defined that much, so it looks like that there aren't noses at all sometimes.
This has always been a sort of pet peeve. But besides this the art is well done. The special effects are good and the sound and sound effects are great. There was a point where some of the background music annoyed me but this is rather trivial.

Characters
I give this anime a high mark for characters. They developed well and all where really interesting.
The whole Chunibyo concept also made things interesting and I enjoyed the imaginary action battles the characters had when they were in Chunibyo mindset.
This is probably due to my adolescence Chunibyo stage being allot more mild than the characters one and mine wasn't embarrassing, although I may still be in it.

Conculsion
An light short enjoyable little slice of life which is easy to digest and easy to enjoy. A good anime to watch between seasons of more serous anime.

Initial D Stage 3 Review
There are no spoilers in this review

Story
The story is exactly what I expect from Initial D at this stage. Great action, great character development and some technical talk that helps keep me drawn into the whole show. There isn't anything that needed to be added to this to make it better. It ran smoothly and is well written. The technical talk is also solid and comes from a writer who has plenty of actual experience on the road and track himself.

Tech
The sound was to the same quality as previous series. There is room for improvement but ... it's good quality. The art on the other hand is improved more than sound was. It had a much more polished feel and they improved their ability in colouring of the animation.
This is exciting to see they are improving. The CGI scenes have also improved and it's moving into the direction it would take for the series to finally gain a 10/10 ranking it deserves, as art has always been the lowest factor of the show.
The animation was also smoother which is great

Characters
The characterization is much to the same quality, each of the characters does seem to be developing more and more slowly whilst Takumi himself has accelerated in this. It's very good to see. Surprisingly Bunta also is developing as a character and that's good.

Conclusion
In conclusion Initial D just gets better and better. I'll say my love of cars pushes the score up and my enjoyment.

Score: 9/10

Mobile Suit Gundam Double Zero Review Season 2
There are no spoilers in this review.
I have now finished both season of Mobile Suit Gundam Double Zero. I have to say season 2 way suppresses season 1 in my opinion. The major flaws of season 1 were removed.

Story.
I enjoyed most of the way through, this is assisted by the build up to this from season 1. It's a true continuation and is well written. It's not a story I'm going to forget soon. Although the main things that bugged me in season 1 are still here. Overall though I liked it much better. ... Looking back I would change a thing about Double Zero. It's important to enjoy it for what it is.

Tech
The same quality from season 1 carried over into season 2. Good art, effects, audio and design quality are all high points. No flaws here in my opinion.

Characters
This here was the greatest improvement of season 2 over one. The characterization. The links missing between the viewer and the characters was established and I was finally able to feel a connection to them. Basically I actually started to like them and by the end I most certainly did like them.

Conclusion
Definitely an anime to add to your to-watch lists for all you Mecha fans. I won't say it would appeal to anyone else though except maybe fans of military type anime or shows. Generally speaking a great improvement and continuation off the first season.

Mobile Suit Gundam Double Zero Review
There are no spoilers in this review.
I just finished the first season of Mobile Suit Gundam Double Zero. I have to say I really enjoyed it. As far as Mecha goes it's the sort of thing I like in Mecha. Being more realistic combat action rather than monsters fighting robots or super robot.

Story
I really enjoyed this show, despite the bad taste I got in the first 5 episodes. The story didn't go where I wanted it to go, but went were I expected it to go. This did lessen my enjoyment of the series somewhat but ... the conclusion was somewhat in the right direction. But in the end I can't argue that I didn't get into the story and that I didn't enjoy it.

Tech
The technical side of the show being Art, Sound and Special Effects where all high quality so no need to further explain on this and the designs of everything where quite satisfactory.

Characters
Now the point which really took away points from the show was the Characters. Never before have I enjoyed a show so much where I didn't like any of the characters. It's quite odd. It's nothing to do with how they where designed, just what the characters were.

Conclusion
In conclusion it's a show which should be on your to-watch list if you enjoy Mecha. Otherwise I really wouldn't bother unless you have an interest in politics.

Score: 8/10

I think I will be watching allot more Gundam series in the future.