Anime Reviews

 

Alternative Name:  Blast Of Tempest
Years of Released:  October 5, 2012 – March 29, 2013
Episodes: 24
Genre: Fantasy, Mystery, Romance, Action, Shounen
Favorite Characters : Mahiro
My Rating: PG-14
Grade: A

Summary: The story revolves around Mahiro Fuwa, a teenager whose sister was mysteriously murdered one year before, and his friend Yoshino Takigawa. Mahiro is contacted by Hakaze Kusaribe, the leader of the Kusaribe clan who was left stranded on an unknown deserted island by her followers, and agrees to help Hakaze in exchange for her help to find out the culprit for the death of his family. Upon learning of his friend's intentions, Yoshino joins him on his quest to stand against the Kusaribe clan who intends to awaken the "Tree of Exodus" whose power can bring ruin to the entire world.

My review: A wild collision of two Sharspear's works - Hamlet and Tempest - with a Japanese animation twist on it. There is a lot going on in the show, the story progressing quickly and goes a long way since the beginning. The is magic, friendship, cult, pain, desperation, and love in it. I loved this show so much, especially the time travel part, although I think it could have been much and much better it they would just choose the target audience more clearly and make the anime for a specific age group. It touches very serious and dark themes but from time to time characters act out of character, too immature and animeish. In short, if it wasn't for fan service, it would be a much more solid show.


Recommend: For everyone

 

Alternative Name:  シュタインズ・ゲート
Years of Released:  April 6, 2011 – September 14, 2011
Episodes: 24
Genre: Sci-Fi, Mystery, Romance,
Favorite Characters : Okabe
My Rating: PG-14
Grade: A+

Summary: Steins;Gate takes place in the Akihabara district of Tokyo. On July 28, 2010, Rintarō Okabe and his friend Mayuri Shiina head towards the Radio Kaikan building for a conference, where Rintarō finds a girl named Kurisu Makise lying in a pool of blood. As Rintarō sends a text message about the incident to his friend, Itaru "Daru" Hashida, he experiences a strange phenomenon and the people around him disappear, with no-one else noticing anything had changed. After later running into Kurisu, who is strangely alive and well, and discovering the message he had sent to Itaru had arrived a week before he sent it, Rintarō soon deduces that the 'Mobile Microwave' he and his friends had been developing is, in fact, a time machine capable of sending text messages to the past

My review: It has been awhile since I have stumbled upon something as worthy as Stein;Gate. To tell the truth, I have almost given up on the show (which ironacaly had happened with Code Geass as well) but I'm glad I haven't committed such a crime. The show starts slowly. The first ten or so episodes are just setting everything up for second half of the show, which is much much move intence and the events are happening at a lightning speed, just barely letting your brain to catch up and analyze what is going on.
 What's more, some of the names, facts, and theories were actually taken from real live. Just try searching John Titor and you'll see what I mean.
The characters, who seem cliche at first, are shining bright as you look at each of them at a new engle at each parallel world. It gets very emotional by the end of the story.
All these facts give an amazing depth that everyone who likes a good story can appreciate - anime fan or not.


Recommend: For everyone

 

Alternative Name:  Apollo on the Slope
Years of Released:  April 12, 2012 – June 28, 2012
Episodes: 12
Genre: Coming-of-age, Friendship, Music, Romance,
Favorite Characters : Kaoru
My Rating: PG
Grade: A

Summary: The beginning of summer, 1966; because of his father's job situation, freshman high school student Kaoru Nishimi moves by himself from Yokosuka to Sasebo in Kyushu to live with relatives. Until then, Kaoru was an honor roll student who tended to keep to himself, but meeting notorious "bad boy" Sentaro Kawabuchi starts to change him. Through his devil-may-care classmate, Kaoru learns how much fun it is to play jazz and finds the first person he can call a real friend.

My review: I really liked this show. Great, believable, developping characters; dynamic plot; great music; higher quality animation. Too bad there aren't much of these kind of shows out there.

Recommend: For everyone