Category: Anime Reviews

This is one for the computer geeks among us. It’s a psychological drama, focusing on the barrier between the real world, and the internet (the Wired). It features a girl, Lain, who gets obsessed with it, and eventually this goes out of control. As this anime was made in the year 1998, you could call it science-fiction, to some degree.

I’ve been wanting to check out this anime for a while now. I wonder why it took so long for me to try it out. In any case, I’m glad that I did. Not necessarily because this anime is incredibly good, but because it made me realize one thing about modern anime: the desire for production values. Serial Experiments Lain definitely is an anime that has a different style from all of the newer shows that have been coming out in the 21st century. This is mostly due to the background sounds. There’s almost no background music, and the few tracks that are present are very basic. The creators filled most of the screen time with various sound effects, ranging from electricity wires to a large crowd and the sounds of a train. You’d never hear things like that in today’s anime, where everything revolves around production values.

After watching this anime, I have to say that the creators spent a lot of time on the story. There’s almost no filler, and every episode has a meaning and develops Lain a bit further. Also, if there ever was a non-episodic anime, it’d be Lain. It’s nearly impossible to really define the themes of the different episodes, as they all flow surprisingly well. I also noticed that other 13-episodes anime start off with a quiet pacing, and then at one point, the tension suddenly skyrockets at one climax. This isn’t the case with Lain. The tension really has been very consistent, and it’s been building up perfectly to the final two episodes.

One thing that also becomes clear after only the first episode is that this anime is trying to play mind games with its viewer. We see a lot of psychedelic shots and pans, and sometimes, people don’t even talk for half an episode. Overall, I had a good time watching this anime, though it really seems to be missing something. It really misses an element to make it awesome. What we have here is a solid title, a lot of time was spent on it, though it misses a certain X-factor to make it really stand out.

When I found out that this was a case-based anime (as in a collection of individual, unrelated stories, sharing a common theme. Think Mushishi, Jigoku Shoujo and Bartender) I just had to check it out, as it’s one of my favourite genres. Now that I’ve watched it, I can really say that I’m SO glad that I gave this anime a chance. It’s brilliant!

It’s annoying, though. I’ve got so much to say about this wonderful anime, but I’ll refrain from doing so for the sake of spoilers. One of the great things about this collection of stories is its element of surprise. Every episode delivers themes you don’t just think of in one or two moments. The stories are just full of creativity, and they left me hungry for more after each single episode. It’s really best if you just watch this show without having seen or heard anything about it.

Hi no Tori, or in English, Phoenix, consists out of five unique stories, ranging from 1 to 4 episodes. Its main theme is life, but there’s so much more than that. It’s similar to Ningyo no Mori, though it’s way less restricted by the rules it set for itself and made perfect use of this. It’s true that the Phoenix’ blood does bring eternal life, but this anime carries this a bit further than just that. You’ll understand when you watch it. The long stories tell tales of heroes and battles between huge armies, surrounded by events you really can’t see coming, combined with a healthy chunk of atmosphere. The short stories grab one very creative idea, and start toying with it. The results really moved me like no other anime has ever accomplished. (Note: not necessarily that they brought up heavy emotions, more like a huge satisfaction, or utter surprise).

Still, when you start to watch this anime, there’s one thing that will immediately catch your eye: the art. If you only judge on the first episode, you wouldn’t suspect that this anime is from 2004, as it looks really old. Well, let’s just say that you don’t have to worry. I’m not sure why the creators decided this, but the art turns better with every story. And I really mean that significantly. When the fourth arc arrived, I was so surprised at the huge difference from the art-quality, when compared with the first story. The same goes for the music. As the anime progresses, it just starts sounding better and better.

Overall, this is another one of those unknown beauties. If you like thought-provoking stories, I’m definitely recommending you to check this out. My personal favourite episodes were 7 and 13. Episode 7 contained one brilliant concept, while episode 13 really goes further than any other anime has ever gone before. Much further. If you don’t believe me, just watch it, and you’ll understand.

This one may be from a while back, but it’s a beauty. Like the title does suggest, it’s a science-fiction OVA. But because it’s so old, it actually got the chance to start with the basics of science-fiction, in contrast with the science-fiction anime you see appearing today, which take the basics for granted. Because of this, this anime turned into a beautiful piece of art. Definitely recommended for any science-fiction fan.

It’s hard to tell anything about this OVA without spoiling it (I therefore tried to make the screenshots as vague as possible). It’s really best to just watch this, without knowing anything about it. All I’ll say is that the creators spent a LOT of research into this, and they came up with a number of fascinating theories regarding the space-age. In a sense, you could call this anime partly a documentary.

The graphics indeed look old. But for their time, they look pretty impressive. Still, the thing that really stands out is the background music. It’s a collection of very fitting tunes, which really scream that they’re coming from the eighties. The story, characters and music combined turn this OVA into a huge chunk of atmosphere.

If I had to mention one downside of this OVA, it’d be that it does require some physical knowledge to fully understand it. The creators really tried and succeeded to make everything as believable as possible, but if you’re not into physics or space-travel, all the talk sounds like a bunch of techno-babble.

Kannadzuki no Miko is a mecha-romance anime, with a heavy emphasis on the romance-part. It features a very passionate love relationship between two very good friends. Be sure to expect lots of yuri an shoujo-ai elements.

When Kannadzuki no Miko started, it made a very strong first impression on me. The first episode very cleverly starts with all of the clichés from a standard high-school drama, and ends the episode by offering lots of juicy twists and turns. This anime then tries to continue at the same level, though its element of surprise has subdued a bit. It tries to make up for this by being extremely dramatic, and by putting our main characters in a lot of heavily emotional situations.

And that’s where the major problem with this anime lies. There’s a line between dramatical and overdramatical, and this anime just keeps hopping over it. Some scenes are definitely worth the watch, while others just seem to try too hard. This makes 50% of this anime great to see, while it makes the other 50% laughable.

The characters are pretty interesting. They’re typical characters, developed in a non-typical way. We’ve got the shy girl who can’t do anything, the cool girl who’s incredibly rich and a fangirl-magnet, there’s also a very popular boy who’s the best at sports and has sworn to protect the person he loves, and of course the set of bad guys who come to assault our main characters isn’t missing. Still, at the end of the series, each of these characters has turned into someone unique

Kemonozume is an adult-themed love story with a little dose of action. It’s set in a world in which humans are plagued by creatures known as flesh eaters, human-like beings who can change into monsters and eat anything they see that moves. It follows one of the strongest hunters of these flesh eaters, who falls in love with one of them. The two of them elope, and leave their surroundings to deal with the consequences.

The first thing that strikes the eye when watching this anime is the art. It definitely sets itself apart from all other anime due to the extremely messy art, both character as background. Getting used to this art may take a while, but it fits the mood of this anime perfectly. Especially in combination with the weird themes which come across the screen, you can really say that this anime has a unique style.

Kemonozume start with two introduction-episodes. In my opinion, the first episode starts off well, though episode two was the worst episode of this series. It’s a bit too formulaic and standard. But afterwards, Kemonozume really sets off with a set of very interesting, but in theme very different episodes. One episode can be a very funny comedy-episode while the next you see a naked guy, tied up on a chair with a paper bag over his head, or a normal slice-of-life episode featuring an old couple or an episode dedicated to the history of our characters’ parents. Then, at around episode 9, the climax starts forming with a couple of very dramatic scenes. And with dramatic, I really mean dramatic, a bit too dramatic perhaps. The ending itself was pretty decent. Very strange, but pretty decent.

Also, like I said, this is a show with adult-themes. Bodies get cut in half, arms get ripped off, lots of naked men, women and sex scenes pass the screen, so I’d keep this away from your little brother or sister. Overall, Kemonozume was a very nice watch. It kept a good balance between drama and comedy, but I felt that the great climax in the final episodes tried a bit too hard, therefore losing its effect.

When I saw the first episode of this series, I immediately dismissed it. Every direction pointed to a standard shounen series. Pubescent male, check. Female love interest, check. Sudden huge unexplained outburst of power coming from main character, check. At that time, I saw absolutely no reason to continue this show.

Boy, was I wrong. Thank god I got curious when I saw Maya‘s entries about the series, and managed to catch up with the series. I’m so glad I did that. Yes, it remains a shounen series. But one heck of an incredibly well developed shounen series. The romance between the main character (Renton) and main female character (Eureka), which I initially gave no chance of success, turned out to be so well developed and fleshed out. This really is a must see for anyone with a bit of patience.

Basically, the series consists out of four part. The first part is the most boring and misleading. It’s mostly meant to introduce the cast of characters, and covers about ten episodes. The second part suddenly starts introducing a huge lot of mentally disturbing scenes. Boy, that was a huge surprise. By the end of this part (episode 28) I really was hooked to this anime. The creators made perfect use of the fact that Renton was just an idiotic boy. He just keeps causing troubles to his surroundings, and Eureka as well, because of his naivety.

Then, starting from episode 29, the third part begins, and all of the disturbing scenes just stop, and the series enters a season-long intermezzo. It’s mostly meant in order to develop the different characters and flesh them out a bit, with the emphasis on Renton and Eureka, though it may be a pain to get through. Then, at episode 40 the series picks up pace again, and at episode 44, the fourth part of the anime begins, attempting to finish the anime. The fourth part turns amazing again. It fully utilizes the basis that the third part set, and delivers six episodes of pure awesomeness. These episodes were so incredibly sad at times. Unfortunately, the creators had set their mind on an epic ending, which threw this anime into the pit of predictability again, unfortunately.

The second and fourth part make this anime incredibly worthwhile, in their own way. The second part focuses on conflicts, while the fourth part focuses on trust and faith. Emotions skyrocket during the many climaxes and confrontations. Unfortunately, the fact remains that the first and third arc are rather essential for this anime, even though they remain boring. At times, Renton also acts like an annoying brat for comic relief, that wasn’t really exciting to see.

The story of this anime, indeed, is one huge adventure. But what else can you expect with a fifty-episode anime? The story focuses around an interesting world, created by the creators of this anime. The plot is very complex and multi-layered, and this anime does a fine job introducing the different elements. Still, there are a few unanswered plotholes left at the end of the episode. Our main character’s sudden outburst of power never really gets a decent explanation.

Overall, this anime has great characters. During the right parts, they really shine like no other. If you’ve got enough time for a 50-episode series, I’m definitely recommending this.

Utawarerumono is a fantasy war anime. It basically follows one man, who claims the throne of one country and uses his forces to defend his people, combined with your occasional cute characters and slice of life when the battles have stopped for a bit.

First of all, this show is based on a hentai game, so yes, it’s got a lot of cute girls: a couple of busty angels, some sexy warrior females and a couple of cute girls who don’t belong in a battlefield. Furthermore, most characters, with one or two exceptions, look like they’re either in their tens or twenties. The anime seems to have never heard of the concept of “war veterans”. Oh, and yes. The main character is your typical harem lead, apart from the fact that he wears a mask and seems to be an actual adult, instead of a 14-year-old brat.

Like expected, things just go too easy for our main character in the beginning. We do get to see some war tactics, but this anime does not attempt to move away from the basics. Also, especially near the beginning, characters join the main character’s army for no apparent reason. To simulate battles, the creators also decided to use CGI for animating the different soldiers fighting. Let’s just say that that doesn’t work.

Still, that doesn’t mean that this anime doesn’t have good point. Starting from episode 11, the battles actually get very exciting. The creators actually decide to try out a few more things, with very interesting results. The plot actually gets a bit of substance, and this anime really goes into the right direction. Aside from a few humps and bumps, these scenes were pretty interesting to watch.

But then suddenly, inside the pure fantasy world, this anime starts to introduce mechas and zombies. Something that so doesn’t fit in the atmosphere, and it’s indeed not surprising that this atmosphere gets ruined because of this. The anime then finishes with some interesting final episodes, but it never really managed to fix the damage done by the sudden introduction of science-fiction elements. That’s a real pity, as this anime really was heading in the right direction of a good fantasy anime.

Oh, and one final remark. The main focus of this anime is the good guys. Don’t expect the bad guys to have any substance at all. They’re either evil because they’re manipulated, or their reasons for being evil is simply never explained. The good guys, however, do get healthy doses of character development at times. I also liked the way that at a few times, this anime takes a break in the middle of one storyline in order to focus on yet another, totally different storyline. When that story is finished, the first story reappears, and also gets its conclusion. It’s a nice way to keep people interested.

Overall, if there ever was a series with its ups and downs, it’s Utawarerumono. It’s got so many good point, but for every good point, it seems to have a bad point.

Kamisama Kazoku is another one of those generic harem-anime, but with a twist: the main character is just not any ordinary main character, he’s the son of god. He has to live in the human world to get accustomed to the human culture, so that he can do his future job in a better way. Concept with potential, no? Well, unfortunately, this anime starts out horribly.

Our main character, Samatarou does remain a 14-year old brat. God himself turned out to be a horny bastard, eager to fulfil all of Samatarou’s wishes and his mother and two sisters are eager to help him in this. They’re the reason that the first few episodes are just chockfull of useless, unfunny fanservice jokes. Still, luckily as the episodes progress, this problem gets solved when God returns to heaven and leaves his family behind, so that they can get some actual personalities.

The biggest problem with this anime is that it focuses on the love relationship between Samatarou, and an angel who was sent down from heaven in order to take care of him. This relationship does have one or two good moments, but most of the times it either milks on tried concepts or it’s just horribly boring, predictable and doesn’t contain any substance, even though a major part of the anime focuses on it.

The series consists out of thirteen episodes, divided in three arcs. I have to admit, each of these arcs contained one actually good episode. But then again, the other ones were mostly boring. I must also warn you that the creators like to push the reset-button at random times. Another annoying element is that at times, the creators throw in some convenient plot elements, which don’t make any sense at all. More than once, a character falls in love with another character at first sight, and then later this character conveniently turns out to be important to the plot.

I don’t really have anything to say on the music and graphics. They’re mediocre. Not outstanding, but not bad either. Overall, Kamisama Kazoku remains an average anime with some enjoyable moments. Not really something to recommend.