Animels’s Weblog

Title - Baccano!
No. Of Eps - 13
Genres - Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Historical, Horror
Plot Summary - Baccano is Italian for noise, but Narita translates it as “stupid commotion.” Each of the stories in the series involves several unrelated plots intersecting and crossing each other as events spiral farther and farther out of control. Immortal alchemists, mafia operated speakeasies, and many other elements of pulp fiction mashed together for a world straight out of the movies. ( summary from animenewsnetwork.com )

Episode 01 – The Assistant Editor Refuses to Discuss the Possibility that he is the Main Character

-flail- What a FAB episode! Its classy, crazy, funny, gory, clever, creepy, intriguing, the list goes on! Not to mention the amount of wonderful characters! The animation is first rate! Art is lovely, music is AWESOME!, story/plot is fantastic (crazy but brilliant), I LOVED it BIG time! I don’t know what else I can say really.. Only 13 eps is a downside but if they’re all awesome then that-is o-k I absolutely loved the part where Firo’s fingers got cut off! That makes me sound like a gore freak but you have to watch it to see why is so awesome! Its rare that an anime with as much brilliance as this one is created – NOW GO WATCH IT FOR YOURSELF!

Pros - EVERYTHING! Except one little thing -below-
Cons - Only 13 eps.. damn..
Episode Score - 9.5/10 perhaps it even deserves a 10!?!

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Title - Romeo x Juliet
No. Of Eps - 24
Genres - Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Plot Summary - A story of young and tragic love set in Neo Verona, the sky city. Tyranny rules this island in the sky after the Montague family took control 14 years prior. The difference between the rich and the poor is very apparent, the earth is dry, water stagnant and the sky itself is wrapped in a deep dense fog. Both Romeo and Juliet’s lineages are of present and past ruling families of Neo Verona. Romeo is the son of the current Montague dictator, Juliet (a beautiful woman) masquerades as a man (Odin), she’s the last descendant of Capulet the previous rulers who were killed by an assasin’s dagger 14 years ago. Her true background is not to be revealed to her until her 16th birthday while being raised by her sister. The cruel hands of fate introduces 2 people who will become “Star Crossed Lovers”. (Mostly copied from www.animenewsnetwork.com cos I’m feeling lazy)

Episode 01 – Two People ~When They Met~

Okay so I thought it was about time I reviewed this ep as I’ve seen it about 5 times now.. Obviously you can tell from the plot summary and screens that this anime version of Shakespeare’s classic isn’t exactly in keeping with the original. For some people that probably sucks for others its brilliant, personally I’m not really fussed – if I enjoy it then I’m not really that bothered about the differences but I would like to see the same ending!
Its produced by Gonzo (YES!!!!) which probably accounts for the above and also the lovely character designs, animation etc. So what did I think of this episode?…. LOVED IT! Its sweet, fun, pretty and so on~ Its not the best anime 1st ep by far and It probably isn’t going to be one of the most masterful anime ever but it was very enjoyable to watch! Yes, it does have its flaws, but they are easy to overlook, in-fact ‘easy’ is probably the right word – this episode is very easy to watch, its not deep yet its not really cheesy you know!
I’ll leave it at that. Oh one more thing, just noticed all my screenshots are either of flying horses or Romeo and Juliet.. I am trying to suppress the fangirlness -failing-..
Heres one with a background in it:

Pros - Fun.. Entertaining.. (same things?) The art is pretty~
Cons - None really.. It wasn’t very deep/dark.
Episode Score - 8.5/10

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Title - Innocent Venus
No. Of Eps - 12
Genres - Adventure, Drama, Mecha, Military, Sci-fi
Plot Summary - In the year 2010 AD, Hyper Hurricanes were born concurrently all over the world causing massive damage and taking 5 billion lives. The world population now stands at 3 billion, countries have been frozen over, existing economies and militaries wiped-out, human civilization has entered a chaotic era. Poverty flourished outside the economic zones, slums are widespread. The ruling class have called themselves ‘Logos’ and have exiled and named the poor ‘Revenus’. Time has passed since all this first occurred. Katsuragi Jo and Tsurasawa Jin, escape from Phantom, a force organised to watch Revenus and to suppress renegade elements of the Logos, taking with them a mysterious girl, Noto Sana. There are many who are interested in her, all with their own reasons.

I have mixed feelings about this episode, the character designs are utterly gorgeous but the characters are a bit lacking in personality and background. The fight scenes and animation are great with the exception of the mecha. Did they really need to add mecha to this story? Its set only 3 years from now! I highly doubt there will be masses of giant robots in 3 years time, what makes the mecha bit even more unrealistic is the fact in Innocent Venus the Earth has just undergone a MASSIVE disaster, and yet people have still found the time and resources to invent these stupid beasts! I guess you could say I’m not a fan of mecha. That aside I did actually enjoy this ep, I really loved Gora, the unusual looking boy and the other characters were really nice too. The story is nothing new, loads of bad guys hunt cute little girl who was taken by super skilled bishonen blah blah blah but if you just lap up the dreamy artwork and don’t look too deep then you can easily enjoy this. Hopefully the rest of the series will improve?

Pros - Character design, action
Cons - Mecha, story
Episode Score - 8/10 (that’s being generous)

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Title - Moyashimon/Tales Of Agriculture
No. Of Eps - Incomplete (11+) ??
Genres - Comedy, Fantasy
Plot Summary - College student Tadayasu Sawaki has a unique ability. He can see and communicate with bacteria and other microorganisms. Hijinks ensue.

Episode 01 – Agricultural Bacteria Tale

An anime about microbes.. Sounds interesting hah? Well not exactly but in fact Moyashimon is really funny! The intro and outro are brilliant, what’s better than watching a load of hyper microbes prancing around on screen? If it wasn’t for the bacteria/microbes this would be yet another really unoriginal anime but as it it I really enjoyed this episode! The character designs and art aren’t anything special but nevertheless they are very pleasant to look at. The one thing I didn’t like at all is Haruka, her outfit is horrendous, as if you would actually wear that to college and not to mention the fact that shes just really irritating, bi*chy and has zero personality! But other than that the characters are nice, if nothing special, for the moment. Oh and the Omake Microbe Theatre at the end was hilarious!

 Grr.. Haruka

Pros - Funny, pleasant artwork & the microbes!
Cons - HARUKA! And apart from the microbes its not that original.
Episode Score - 8/10

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Title – Les Misérables - Shoujo Cosette
No. Of Eps - 52
Genres - Drama, Historical
Plot Summary - Set in early 19th Century France, as a little girl Cosette was traveling round with her mother who was looking for work and a place to stay. But back then life was very hard for a single mother and every where she asked about work she was shunned away because of Cosette. The owners of an inn offer to look after Cosette in exchange for money whilst her mum finds work at a factory in a nearby town, so she pays and leaves Cosette in the care of the couple. This was a trick though and the caretakers make Cosette their servant. The kind mayor of the town that Cosette’s mother travels too sees how winds of change are so detrimental for children and families, and decides to do something about it.

Episode 01 - Fantine And Cosette

As far as I gather Les Misérables has received mixed reviews/ratings, and its easy to see why: The character designs are HORRIBLE – they’re plain, ugly, rat faced, frog eyed ect etc but the actual story is lovely.. I’ve never seen Les Misérables (it is a play right?) but apparently this anime version sticks to the original story well. A lot of this episode was predictable but it was still very addictive and I really enjoyed it but I can see how some people would find it too soppy and boring. The best thing it offered for me personally was Cosette herself, her voice actress is brilliant which is what really makes her so cute. I think this anime is one of those ‘love it or hate it’ things. I actually loved it? Somehow it was incredibly addictive! Despite the ugly characters!

Pros - Cosette, lovely story (even if its predictable)
Cons - Character design & its addictive dammit!!
Episode Score - 7/10

Title - Moonlight Mile
No. Of Eps - 12
Genres - Adventure, Sci-fi
Plot Summary - Mountain climbing partners Saruwatari Gorou and “Lostman” Jack F. Woodbridge succeed in scaling Mt. Everest. Whilst at the summit they see the ISA Space station and they each vow to make the trek into outer-space. A new energy source, Helium 3, is discovered on the moon, NASA forms a new project called ‘Nexus’ which will harness that energy so it can be used on earth. This is a story the two men and the paths they take to see their dream become reality amidst the quest to harness the next-generation energy source.

Episode 01 – To beyond the sky

It becomes obvious from the first few scenes that this anime is NOT aimed at the younger audience. In fact I’m pretty sure that most kids would find this boring. Which makes this very interesting viewing! Even though I don’t particularly like ’space’ themed anime, I thoroughly enjoyed the first ep of Moonlight Mile. Its very adult in its style – character designs, themes, content etc, which some people will defiantly find boring, a lot like ‘Monster’ in that sense. The CGI is awesome, all the characters look very real and unique to each other and the story is solid too. Though its not the most interesting story, well for me anyway, the characters will make this show, if they don’t develop then it could get boring but this episode was very good.

Pros - More mature and real than most anime, awesome CGI
Cons - The story was a bit dull and its about ’space’
Episode Score - 7.5/10

Title - Ghost Hound/Shinreigari (Japanese)
No. Of Eps - 22
Genres - Horror, Mystery, Psychological, Supernatural
Plot Summary - Set in the town Suiten located in a desolate region on an island. Ghost Hound follows the experiences of 3 boys who each experienced traumatic events in childhood. From which the boys have learnt to transfer their souls to a parallel world known as the ‘Unseen World’. This parallel world is undergoing a change and ghosts are starting to appear in the real world, changing it in unpredictable ways.

Episode 01 - Lucid Dream

This first episode was really something, the story is what stood out the most, for me. It was creepy, incredibly interesting, I want to know more! Characters are interesting, especially Taro, who would have thought at the start of the ep that he had such a traumatic past! There are so many things that I’m desperate to learn more about, if a first episode serves to reel you in to watch the rest of the series then Ghost Hound 01 succeeds this like no other. The animation is awesome and the art is also very pleasant. Some of the character designs aren’t the most inspiring, Taro for example, but then again they do succeed in looking like regular people which suits the setting well. And something else that was very well done is the sound/music, it creates a brilliantly real and eerie atmosphere. Top marks for this episode!

Pros - Everything?!
Cons - Some of the character designs were ordinary
Episode Score - 9/10

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Title - Tenpu Ibun Ayakashi Ayashi
No. Of Eps - 25
Genres - Adventure, Historical, Supernatural
Plot Summary - Feudal Japan is being attacked by beasts called ‘Youi’, a Youi fighting group (Ayashi) are searching for a man named Ryuudou Yukiatsu. He has the power of Ayagami which can be used in fighting against the Youi, the Ayashi want him to join their group. Yukiatsu meets a woman and her son who are being chased by a Youi and must now face the past he’s been running from.

Episode 01 – The Youi Arrival

This reminds me a lot of Mushishi, which has to be a good thing. The storyline was interesting and has loads of potential. But I can’t say much for the character designs – I didn’t really like them, they’re in the same style as most of BONES’ productions. However, for example Wolf’s Rain’s character designs look pretty good but these just aren’t as nice. I felt they clashed with the background art, which on the other-hand was very nice. Still, the story was much better and that’s more important. This defiantly has bags of potential if it can manage to stay interesting and develop the characters.

Pros - Interesting story, potential to develop
Cons - Character design is not the nicest
Episode Score - 7.5/10

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Title – Bokura no
No. Of Eps - 24
Genres -  Drama, Horror, Mecha, Psychological, Sci-fi
Plot Summary - 15 children find a cave on a beach whilst on a summer trip. Deep inside
there are many computers and moments later a strange called Kokopelli enters. He asks
the children if they want to play a game where they have to defend earth from invasions.
14 of the children decide to play and moments later they wake up to find themselves on the beach again. Thinking it was all just a dream they head back but on the way they notice a huge black robot towering over the bay…

Episode 01 - Game

Firstly the character designs, they’re simple, clean and the characters actually look like normal people - not usual overly attractive type! I can’t really say much about the story as this episode was just an introduction to the series but fingers crossed it goes the right way. All the characters have a different personality and look about them, which is really nice. In someways I feel this first episode hits on the same good points as Noein did, lets
hope the series continues the way it started!

Pros - Almost everything?
Cons - The story seems like it could disappoint.
Episode Score - 8.5/10