Animels’s Weblog

Title - Ookiku Furikabutte
No. Of Eps - 25 (26 + the unaried episode)
Genres - Comedy, Drama, Slice of Life, Sports
Plot Summary - The series, set in Saitama, follows Ren Mihashi, who had previously excelled as his middle school baseball team’s ace pitcher, due to his grandfather’s connections as its manager. As he graduates to high school, whose baseball team his grandfather does not manage, he initially does not believe he is good enough to succeed at baseball, however, but assisted by his friends, he grows in stature, confidence and skill, helping his team excel with his own ability. (summary taken from animenewsnetwork.com)

Episode 01 – True Ace

-L O V E D I T- This is probably the first sports anime I’ve ever watched! And it was awesome! The art style was totally scrummy! The characters (in terms of looks) reminded me of ‘Honey and Clover’ X ‘Lovely Complex’ = adorable!!!! It was funny and just ever so addictive – I wanna watch more!! I didn’t expect to fall so badly for this one, I’m not a fan of sports, especially baseball! But I can’t recommend this episode enough!! Go watch it now! (If you haven’t already

Pros - Hmm.. Everything??
Cons - None yet!
Episode Score - 9/10

I can’t put any screenshots up just yet as I’m being forced off the PC >:O But they will be added asap. Cos everyone needs to see the characters cute smily faces! >.<

Title - Spice And Wolf/Okami to Koshinryo
No.Of Eps - 12+(?) Ongoing?
Genres - Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Romance, Supernatural
Plot Summary - Craft Lawrence, a 25 year old peddler travelling from town to town selling and buying various things to make a living during a period much like Europe in the Middle Ages. One night when stopped at the town of Pasroe, he finds in his wagon a 250 year old pagan wolf deity girl named Holo. She appears to be that of a 15 year old girl, except for a wolf tail and ears. She introduces herself as the town’s goddess of harvest who has kept it blessed with good harvests of wheat for many years. Despite having the responsibility to watch over the town, she wants to go back to her homeland in the north called Yoitsu, she believes the people have already forsaken her anyway and that she has kept her promise to maintain the good harvests. She manages to bargain her way out of the village by making a deal with Lawrence to take her with him. As they travel, her wisdom helps increase his profits, but at the same time, her true nature draws unwanted attention from the church. (summary taken from animenewsnetwork.com)

Episode 01 – A Wolf and One’s Best Clothes

I had average hopes for this anime. I wasn’t expecting anything awesome or un-watchable. And and I thought Spice and Wolf was just average. I do think though, that there is scope for this to get pretty good! One thing that will not change I suppose is the boring character designs.. I didn’t like them :/ And Horo spent way too much time with no clothes on flashing all in-front of Lawrence who didn’t seem all that bothered! Oh yeah and then there is the matter of Lawrence – hes lame in all aspects. But the episode did have a sort of Fairytale feel to it which was nice, but it lacked the magic of say ‘Mahou Shoujo Tai Alice’. Overall the episode was easily watchable just nothing special, yet?

Pros - Fairytale feel to it
Cons - Character design
Episode Score - 7/10

Title - Hatenkou Yuugi/Dazzle/Unprecedented Game
No. Of Eps - 10+(?) Ongoing?
Genres - Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Shoujo, Supernatural
Plot Summary - A young girl named Rahzel is booted out of her house one day by her father with the instructions to ’see the world.’ And so her journey begins, However, she won’t be doing it alone … for she befriends a stoic young man named Alzeido seeking revenge for his father’s murder. Alzeido and Rahzel are like oil and water … but even still, they feel strangely drawn to one another. This could be either the result of an underlying attraction — or their shared powers with magic. And so, the two reluctant allies travel from town to town, using their powers to help the helpless, while discovering their own respective places in the world. ( summary from animenewsnetwork.com )

Episode 01 – Eternal Light

Wow its ages since I reviewed anything! Life away from the computer is very hectic at the moment! Anyway this is the first of 3 First Impressions reviews for today. No screenshots for now, PutFile has decided it doesn’t like me at the moment so I’m trying my photobucket account but that has never liked me >.>

So there I was quietly hoping that Dazzle would be worth watching.. Sadly its isn’t.. Yup this anime sucks BIG time! I couldn’t even stand to put myself through the torture of watching the whole episode, I gave up about halfway through :/ This was easily the most boring and un-original bit of anime I’ve watched for a while! The character designs were not brilliant in the looks department and their personality’s were the lowest of the low! Not to mention the horrific story! I recommend that everyone AVOIDS watching this one!!!!

Pros - Can’t think of any!!!
Cons - Erm.. EVERYTHING!
Episode Score - 2/10 Was going to be 0 but I guess some younger children may enjoy it?

Ah Photobucket is working for me now so I’ll add screenshots :3

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!?!

More screens:

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

More screenshots:

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)

More Screenshots:

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

More Screen-shots:

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

More screenshots: