Anime Reviews

Alternative Name: Reaching You
Years of Released: October 6, 2009 – March 30, 2010 / January 11, 2011 – March 30, 2011
Episodes: 25 / 12
Genre:  Romance, School Life, Slice Of Life, Drama
Favorite Characters : Ryu
My Rating: G
Grade: B+

Summary: Sawako Kuronuma, called Sadako by her classmates for her resemblance to the character from The Ring, has always been feared and misunderstood because of her appearance. There are rumors that Sawako can see ghosts and curse people. However, despite her appearances, she is a sweet and timid girl who longs to be able to make friends with everyone and be liked by everyone else. When her idol, popular boy Kazehaya, begins talking with her, everything changes. She finds herself in a new world, trying to make friends and talking to different people and she can't thank Kazehaya enough for giving her these opportunities. Slowly, but surely, a sweet love blossoms between the two as they overcome circumstances and obstacles that stand in their way.



My review:
Sweet sweet anime. The way it intended to be must I add. Very light-hearted, naive, innocent, and touching. Even though it was a little slow I still liked it.




Recommend: Yes

Alternative Name: Working!!
Years of Released: April 4, 2010 – June 26, 2010 / October 1, 2011 – December 24, 2011
Episodes: 13 / 13
Genre:  Slice Of Life, Comedy
Favorite Characters : Souma, Satou
My Rating: PG
Grade: B-

Summary: The main character of Working!!, Souta is a 16-year-old high school student recruited by Popura to become a new employee at the family restaurant Wagnaria. He is enamored by cute things and thus favors Popura over the other employees due to her cute appearance. He voices his thoughts out loud and occasionally offends his co-workers, often resulting in him getting punished by them. He usually finds his co-workers and the rules of the restaurant to be strange, but he still has an attachment to his job. He is able to adapt quickly to his job at the restaurant.



My review:
Typical slice of life anime with nothing really going on. I always hoped for things to progress but in vain. That fact always annoys me when there is no character or plot development, but I guess you should just take what you can get. Why did I watch it then? Well, I guess I was hoping for something to happen but.. In any case if you like "cutesy" stuff then check this on out. It has what they call a "kawaii mono" or what I call it "kawaii element".




Recommend: Um.. Sure...

Alternative Name: You and Me
Years of Released: October 4, 2011
Episodes: 13
Genre:  Drama, Romance, School Life, Slice Of Life
Favorite Characters : Yuuki
My Rating: G
Grade: B

Summary: The story revolves around four teens — the good-looking twins Yuuta and Yuuki Asaba, the effeminate Shun Matsuoka, and the class head Kaname Tsukahara — who have known each other since early childhood. While they are not necessarily good or bad friends, they continue to hang out well into high school. The half-Japanese transfer student Chizuru Tachibana joins the circle of friends in this comedy about the everyday life of adolescence.



My review:
I must admit that I liked it. Some people compare it to K-On or Lucky Star and I don't really know because I have never watched those shows, but such  light-hearted, pastel-colored, calm anime about nothing has their right to exist. Sometimes it's nice to relax and to watch something as slow-passed, as Kimi to Boku.




Recommend: For girls mostly

Alternative Name: The World's Greatest First Love
Years of Released: April 9, 2011 – June 25, 2011 / October 7, 2011 – December 23,2011
Episodes: 12 / 12
Genre:  Comedy, Josei, Romance, Yaoi
Favorite Characters : none
My Rating: R
Grade: B-

Summary: Onodera Ritsu, a literary editor, resigns from his father's publishing company, due to his coworkers' jealousy of his success, claiming that he is simply riding his father's coattails. He applies for a position at Marukawa Publishing, but instead of his preferred department of literature he is placed in the infamous shōjo manga department, Emerald. He initially considers resigning, especially because he finds his new boss, Masamune Takano, intolerable and unnerving from the very beginning; however, Takano inadvertently convinces Onodera to stick with the job by calling him "useless," his pride forcing him to stay in order to prove his worth. Later, Onodera learns that Takano's old family name was Saga, an older schoolmate from high school that Ritsu fell in love with and confessed to.


My review:
Well, where should I start? It was painfully obvious from the very beginning that Seikai-ichi Hatsukoi is going to resemble Junjou Romantica a lot. The storylines are intertwined together so that the characters from Junjou had their own air time which I actually liked. But that closeness of those two is also became a disadvantage. Even though Seikai can stand on it's own as independent show, everyone is going to compare it to Junjou Romantica and that's where it'd doomed to lose. Junjou had original style, humor, and was a great hit among fans. Seikai looks like a mare copy, trying to achieve the same success but that's just impossible. You can't just use the same tricks from Junjou and make it work. That is my opinion on the subject. But in any case you you are yaoi or shounen-ai fan you should definitely give it a go.




Recommend: For yaoi fans out there

Alternative Name: The Colors of Blooming, The ABCs of Blooming
Years of Released: April 3, 2011 – September 25, 2011
Episodes: 26
Genre:  Coming of age, Slice of life, Romance
Favorite Characters : Touru, Minko
My Rating: G
Grade: B

Summary: Hanasaku Iroha centers around Ohana Matsumae, a 16-year-old teenager living in Tokyo, who is left in the care of her estranged grandmother, following her mother's elopement with her boyfriend. Ohana arrives at her grandmother's country estate to realize she is the owner of a Taishō period hot spring inn called Kissuisō. She begins working at Kissuisō, at her grandmother's request, but finds herself at odds with many employees and customers at the inn. Initially feeling discouraged, she decides to use her circumstances as an opportunity to change herself for the better and to make amends with her deteriorating relationship with the Kissuisō's staff for a more prominent future.


My review:
Very beautifully made and easy to watch anime. I enjoyed watching Hana-Saku Iroha even though I doubt I'll watch it again. Highly recommended.




Recommend: Yes

Alternative Name: Slam Dunk
Years of Released: October 16, 1993 – March 23, 1996
Episodes: 101
Genre:  Comedy, Sports
Favorite Characters : Sendou, Hanamichi, Mistui, Rukawa, Miyagi, Kogure, Ayako
My Rating: PG
Grade: A

Summary: Slam Dunk centers around Hanamichi Sakuragi, who starts as a delinquent outcast, becoming the leader of a gang. Hanamichi, being very unpopular with girls, has been rejected by them fifty times. Yet, he finds out that Haruko Akagi is the girl of his dreams, and is happy when she's not scared of him like all the other girls he has asked out.

Haruko Akagi, who recognizes Hanamichi's athleticism, introduces him to the Shohoku basketball team. Hanamichi was reluctant to join the team at first because he had no previous background in any sports and thought that basketball was a game for losers (also because the fiftieth girl rejected him for a basketball player). Sakuragi, despite his immaturity and hot temper, proves to be a natural athlete with potential and joins the team in order to impress Haruko and prove that he is worthy of her.


My review:
Slam Dunk definitely deserves its title as one of the best anime/manga about sports. Even though the show was made in 90s, I was very impressed with the animation quality. I just love works of Toei Animation during that period(Sailor moon). The characters are great. I think I liked them all, even those annoying girls who were cheering on Ru-Ka-Wa the whole time. Great anime with plenty of exciting moments, funny moments, silly moments... you get the idea.

P.S. the whole time trio Hanamichi, Rukawa and Haruko reminded me of Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura. Has anyone else noticed the similarity?




Recommend: Highly recomended

Alternative Name: Tiger and Bunny
Years of Released: April 3, 2011 – September 18, 2011
Episodes: 25
Genre: Science fiction, Superhero
Favorite Characters : Kotetsu, Blue Rose
My Rating: PG
Grade: B-

Summary:
The series takes place in the year "NC 1978" in a fictional, re-imagined version of New York City called Sternbild City, where 45 years before, superpowered individuals known as "NEXT" started appearing and some of them became superheroes. Each of the city's most famous superheroes work for a sponsor company and their uniforms also contain advertising for real-life companies. Their heroic activity is broadcast on the popular television show "Hero TV", where they accumulate points for each heroic feat accomplished (arresting criminals or saving civilians, for example) and the best ranked hero of the season is crowned "King of Heroes".

My review:
 
Yeah, superhero anime! How insane is that? Truthfully, I nearly choked on my drink when I saw this anime's post, but it turned out to be not so bad after all. The characters were funny, the story was pretty interesting. I didn't really like how they combined 2D and 3D together. My eyes did hurt when I was watching it. I guess it's all true what they write it the beginning of every anime about not to watch it in the dark room. Who knows...

Recommend:
Recommended

Alternative Name: One Outs: Nobody wins, but I.
Years of Released: October 7, 2008 – March 31, 2009
Episodes: 25
Genre:  Sports, Psychological Thriller
Favorite Characters : Tokuchi Toua
My Rating: PG13
Grade: A+

Summary: Hiromichi Kojima, the star batter of the Lycaons, heads to Okinawa to train and bring himself out of a slump. There, he meets Toua Tokuchi, a 110~128 km/h (68~80 mph) pitcher and the undisputed king of a gambling form of baseball called "One Outs". At Kojima's urging, Tokuchi signs up with the Lycaons. His contract, the 'One Outs contract', differs from the usual, though, in that he gets 5,000,000 yen for every out he pitches, but loses 50,000,000 yen for every run he gives up.


My review:
I dicided to write while I'm still under impression after watching this great anime show. I must admit I was pretty skeptical at first, after reading about One Outs and how people could compared it to Death Note or Code Geass. Yes, I was thinking how could possibly some sport anime be compared to a living legend that Death Note is. Well, it turned out it can, if the protagonist is no other that Tokuchi Toua. Just imagine for a second if Light and L would play baseball together? Of course Toua is no Light and it is actually not a bad thing at all. Toua is a genius gambler with a great ability to understand the thought process of other people by reading their gestures, way of speaking, personalty. But the best thing is he knows how to use it, so he manipulates them, playing with their minds, and destroying his opponents from within. I was sitting on the edge of my chair the whole time waiting for more twist and turns of a plot. There is no such feeling as that trill you feel. I wish there were more show like this. Thank you, Mad House, for making Death Note and now One Outs for us!




Recommend: For everyone even if you know nothing of baseball

Alternative Name: Bunny Drop
Years of Released: July 8, 2011 – September 16, 2011
Episodes: 11
Genre:  Comedy, Josei, Slice of Life
Favorite Characters : Daikichi, Rin
My Rating: G
Grade: A-

Summary: When 30-year-old Daikichi returns home for his grandfather's funeral he learns about the existence of Rin, his grandfather's illegitimate six-year-old daughter by an unknown mother. The girl is an embarrassment to all his relatives and is treated as an outcast. Annoyed by their attitude, Daikichi decides to take care of Rin himself, even though he is single and has no experience raising a child. As Rin becomes part of his life, Daikichi experiences the hardship of a single parent.


My review:
I enjoyed watching these series. Easy to watch, very relaxing, and sweet.




Recommend: Mostly for female audience