Category: Anime Reviews

Dragonaut – The Resonance Review – 62/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews


There are basically two kinds of Gonzo. The first is Good Gonzo, which searches the borders of anime with new and engaging concepts, and which delivered us series as Bokura no, Master of Epic, Red Garden, Gankutsuou, NHK ni Youkoso and Last Exile. Then there is Bad Gonzo, which consists out of a bunch of lazy writers that are stuck in mediocrity and brought us series as Rosario to Vampire, Gravion, Romeo x Juliet, Glass no Kantai and Giniro no Kami no Agito. Dragonaut, unfortunately, without a doubt is a product of Bad Gonzo.

It’s a shame, because on a second look, the story has a definite epic potential, about Pluto undergoing some kind of metamorphosis and sending dragon-like creatures to earth for some strange unknown purposes. It has the making of a great mystery-series. Unfortunately, any attempt to develop this story is held back by an abysmal cast of characters.

There are just one or two characters that aren’t badly written. Everyone else spends the entire series angsting about nothing, and this series has really weird character-development. One moment characters hate each other from the depths of hell, and the next they’re passionately hugging each other like they’ve been friends for ages. Motivations for each character are badly explained, and they’re lucky if they can have a background. Especially the main couple will get on everyone’s nerves with their endless whining of “Jin?” “Toa?” “Jin!” “TOAAAAAAAA!!!!” Oh, and let’s not forget to mention one particularly bad character: Kazuki. This guy is a true joke and entirely ruins every scene that he appears in.

And of course this series has been dubbed “Boobonaut” for a reason. The character-designs try to be different, and they’re done by the same guy who did them for Witchblade, but something tells me that his hormones were really bugging him when he sat down to draw the different characters. Nearly half the female cast has a ridiculously over-endowed bosom that defies all senses of logic.

The past half year really hasn’t been good for Gonzo, with this… thing and Rosario to Vampire. Thankfully, their next line-up of Druaga no Tou, S.A and Blassreiter look more promising, and let’s hope that the people from Bad Gonzo are taking a very long holiday for the upcoming season. For Dragonaut, I really see no reason to recommend it. Even if you want cheese, Suteki Tantei Labyrinth is a much better choice, because at least that one is well-written.

Wellber no Monogatari ~ Sisters of Wellber Review – 82/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Wellber no Monogatari ~ Sisters of Wellber


Ah, Wellber no Monogatari. The show that scared away almost all its viewers in the first episode due to the talking tank. Still, this is another gem from Production IG, although it’s way rougher than series as Seirei no Moribito and Chevalier.

The biggest problem with this series is definitely that the first couple of episodes reek of useless filler, and at first sight, they give away nothing of the incredible increase in quality that would happen afterwards. In the end, though, this is one series that knows what its doing, and the first four episodes were just meant to flesh out the story and most especially: the characters.

And what amazing characters they are. Nearly every main and important side-character gets background and development early on as they push the storyline forwards. They’re really the driving force behind this series, and especially once it hits its second half they really start to shine. This is one series that isn’t afraid to kill off a major character, and the creators know exactly what it takes to give the characters depth

The writers may be very talented, but they’re unfortunately also a bit sloppy. Most of the climaxes border on heart-wrenching, but there are a few that border a bit on cheesy. A few plot twists also are just included to keep the story going. Take for example a princess who is on the run and has to travel undercover, and yet she travels along with a huge unique tank. The aftermath of this series is also way too rushed and just wants to do a few things too many.

Still, Wellber no Monogatari is a very enjoyable series that seriously doesn’t deserve the negligence that it’s currently getting. It’ll keep you entertained with its dynamic characters and storyline, and not to mention that it’s got some pretty impressive production-values. Both the music, but especially the visuals are very pleasing to the senses, so if you can excuse a storytelling error once in a while, then you could give this one a chance.

Suteki Tantei Labyrinth Review – 82/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Suteki Tantei Labyrinth


Suteki Tantei Labyrinth is one of these series where there’s one thing you absolutely mustn’t do: take it seriously. Once in a while, a series appears that doesn’t really care about making sense. Still, even though Suteki Tantei Labyrinth may not have the most exciting plot, it does deliver quality entertainment.

I think the best way to understand this is to look at the two most prominent staff-members for this series: Hiroshi Watanabe for the direction, and Natsuko Takahashi for the series composition. Natsuko Takahashi is basically a very experienced and talented scriptwriter, who worked on many different series like Jigoku Shoujo, Moyashimon, Full Metal Alchemist, Gankutsuou, Popolocrois, and those are just the best among her repertoire. She made sure that each character in this series has a motivation, and is well-fleshed out. There are no loose ends left behind, and the screenplay itself is quite impressive.

Then there’s Hiroshi Watanabe, who is in my opinion the strangest director out there. He directed epics as the Law of Ueki, Orphen and was the one who proposed the concept for Jigoku Shoujo, and yet he is also the mastermind behind flops as the final parts of Star Ocean Ex, and the abominable Shining Tears X Wind. This guy really has a strange idea of what is good, and that strangeness is exactly what makes this series so enjoyable.

Enjoyable, but far-fetched. The first half of the series basically consists out of random mysteries that our main character has to solve. They range from enjoyable to absolutely ridiculous. One particular villain goes through the trouble of spiking the body of his victim on the tip of a huge radio-mast, and the extreme focuses on tea become rather jarring after a while. Thankfully, the second half removes any traces of murder-mysteries, and instead it starts developing the characters and turns into a really entertaining family-drama, full of cheesy plot-twists that just have to entertain.

This series is basically what you’d get if a series is at some parts incredibly good, while at others incredibly bad. The storytelling is quite impressive, and it definitely succeeds in keeping the rather… flawed story interesting throughout the run of 25 episodes. The characters are also enjoyable to watch, especially in the second half, and some of the drama can be surprisingly good. Still, you’ll get the most enjoyment out of this series if you like a good dose of cheese once in a while.

Kimikiss – Pure Rouge Review – 81/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews


The past Autumn- and Winter-season came with an interesting trend: actually good visual novel adaptations. Not just one, but four series (Clanad, ef, this one and True Tears) came from nowhere and shattered the stereotypes I had about the genre. These four series showed that good writing can even turn such a boring–sounding premise as a high-school romance interesting. Kimikiss may not have been as refreshing as Clannad, it may not have had the well-written dialogue of ef, and it neither has characters with the depth of True Tears, but still it’s a worthy series to watch.

Kimikiss is one of these series that plays it safe. The first half is very slow, and basically just serves to flesh out the characters, and set up their personalities and hobbies. Then it starts developing its romances. There are basically three main couples to start with, all with their own problems. While they’re a bit clichéd at times, the character-development is definitely the highlight for this series.

This series doesn’t really have any obvious flaws. There are no errors in the storytelling, the main-characters and side-characters may not be ground-breaking, but they’re all well-fleshed out and developed. The graphics look okay, and so does the music. I do have one complaint with this series, though: it tends to lose itself in its love-triangles at times. Love-triangles are a nasty double-edged sword, and more often than not only distract from what’s really important in a series, where two characters could be advancing the plot but instead are too busy whining about who loves who. Only series as True Tears, that have basically been built around these love-triangles have made them work for me.

Kimikiss at times can’t seem to decide whether it wants to go for straight romance, or love-triangles. The result is that every time two characters are having a bit of time together, a third one pops up to try and take one of them away. In this series, it’s much more fun to just simply watch the couples develop.

I admire the guts of the director to basically split the main character of the game that this series was originally based upon, up in three different ones. The transition has really been seamless, and it shows that the director can do more than just copy and paste well. Kimikiss won’t rock your soul, but it’ll at least keep it a bit entertained.

Shion no Ou Review – 94/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Shion no Ou


I doubt that I can write a review to do this series justice, but here it goes. Shion no Ou is an anime about shougi, the Japanese form of chess. The rules are quite complicated, but you don’t need to be able understand them if you want to enjoy this series. What’s much more important for Shion no Ou is the general strategies, and the mind-games that get played between the two players.

And don’t ask me how they did it, but the writers are true masters in terms of storytelling. While this series does take place mostly in a tournament-arc, they take everything that gets handed to them to spice things up. Every single character has his or her own style of playing that gradually evolves throughout the series. The police and the press often play a big role, as they support the main storyline and the main cast of characters.

And let me say that the story and characters are nothing short of incredible. The heroine, Shion, is one of the strongest female characters I’ve ever seen. Every single character is well-defined and developed. Every single episode pushes the plot forwards, without any exceptions. The original manga was also written by a woman who used to be a female shougi-player as well, and she made sure to show all the ins and outs of a shougi-tournaments.

The animation definitely is different from usual. You’ll either love it or hate it, and it does fluctuate from incredibly bad to incredibly good, due to a limited budget. But in exchange, everything looks unique, and you can see that the animators are trying everything they can to make the art stand out. The animation itself is messy, but the poses and camera-angles are creative and yet incredibly life-like, that turned this series into a visual feast for me.

Great anime usually have one or two aspects that turn out very polished, like a cast of terrific characters, or an engaging storyline, but the outstanding anime really deliver in every single department. Shion no Ou has it all: terrific storytelling, a great storyline, a cast of deep and amazing characters (both the villains, main and side-characters) that really comes to life in the second half, a terrific art-style and animation, excellent music and a good sense of realism, although you should note that Shougi is serious business in this series, and at times the characters do tend to take Shougi a bit too seriously. ^^;

Shigofumi ~ Stories of the Last Letter Review – 86/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Shigofumi ~ Stories of the Last Letter


Shigofumi is another episodic series that takes an in-depth look at death. At first, it may seem like some strange cross between Shinigami no Ballad and Jigoku Shoujo, but it quickly finds its own style and identity to work with. The earlier episodes mostly focus on random cases, where Fumika, our lead girl for this series, delivers the final memories of a person who just died to his loved ones, while the latter episodes focus on Fumika herself, and why she ended up delivering these letters in the first place.

Shigofumi’s strength is how it’s able to deliver a quiet and engaging atmosphere, with the subtlety of a herd of stampeding elephants. One moment, you’re enthralled by the versatile characters, the next you’re freaked out by some disturbing plot twist that came out of nowhere. The interesting thing is that this series knows fully well how to combine its quiet moments with its eventful ones.

Another strength about this series is the cast of characters. The writers make sure that all the characters are likable before they start playing with them. Especially Fumika turns into a well-rounded character for such a small series. Her development is started early, and not at the semi-final episodes, which seems to be a mistake that many series seem to make.

But yeah, I mentioned that this series has the subtlety of a herd of stampeding elephants. This is in both the good and the bad way. If things seem a bit too quiet, you can bet your hat that a candle will fall over and set a house on fire, just too spice things up a bit, and the entire series is filled with these kinds of plot-twists.

The individual stories basically range from one particularly far-fetched tale of bullying, to very subtle and insightful views on death, and especially the people who have been left by them. Shigofumi definitely has its flaws, but because of this it also has its own identify. You may try, and Jigoku Shoujo and Shinigami no Ballad indeed at first sight seem similar, but you won’t find any series that’s really captured the same essence as this one. If you want a series that’s short, sweet, and yet still packs a punch, then this one could be worth to check out.

Clannad Review – 85/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews


Wha! Another series I had no idea ended so soon. The series of the past two seasons have followed an interesting trend of breaking away from the usual 26/24/13/12-episode-formats, with more series than ever with just 10 (Hatenkou Yuugi), 11 (Hakaba Kitarou) or 22 (Shion no Ou, Ghost Hound, this one) episodes, and I think that it’s a great trend, better than including a bunch of random fillers to fill time.

In any case, on with the review. Let me start by saying that before Clannad started, I hated Kyoani with passion. One of the reasons for that was simple bias, unfortunately. The first ten episodes that I saw of Kanon were nothing special, and the same goes for the four episodes of Haruhi Suzumiya that I saw. Especially Lucky Star bored the heck out of me, every time I watched an episode of it, and yet people were praising these guys as if they’re were some kind of living incarnation of God. At that time, I just saw Kyoani as a bunch of reasonably good animators who rely way and way too much moe and stereotypes, and couldn’t write an engaging script, even if their lives depended on it.

And then Clannad came, and somehow it succeeded in entirely changing this opinion. Amongst all the visual novel and hentai-game adaptations, Clannad most definitely stands out for me as the best. Even if you hate the genre, this series is still worth checking out, simply because it’s so delightfully different, and it breaks so many stereotypes.

For once, the male main character has an actual personality and his own story. He actually has weaknesses, and isn’t a huge stereotype. The male side-character that you usually see around him (supposedly, to show the difference between guys who get lots of girls and guys who have no chance at them), may be an idiot at times, but he’s actually not as annoying as you might think he’d be, and he often brightens up the situation.

Then there are the female characters in the series. Their characters aren’t as special as some of the other ones, but they do their jobs. What’s especially notable is that this is one series that realizes who its female main character is, and so it never delves into pointless love-triangles. Because of this, this series has much more slice-of-life elements than it has romance-elements.

In Clannad, the main character isn’t the one who magically solves all the problems of his female companions on his own. Sure, he plays an important role, but every time, it’s either a different side-character who ends up saving the girl in question, or the combination of all the side-characters together. The level of friendship that wouldn’t be out of place in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai is quite astounding and gives a nice perspective to this series.

This series isn’t perfect; nearly every female character does fall in love with the main character at one point or another, for very weak reasons. Luckily, they quickly realize that the guy is already occupied. This series also tends to have a few plot-twists that are a tad too coincidental and convenient. Thankfully, it knows how to build up well enough, and everything comes together in the final episode like a charm. I must congratulate Kyoani for delivering a solid series, away from any stereotypes. But seriously, please make their next series take place at a place away from a high school.

Hakaba Kitarou Review – 88/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Hakaba Kitarou


The original Hakaba Kitarou (later renamed to Gegege no Kitarou) was one of the original pioneers in anime and manga, even before the legacy of Osamu Tezuka. Ever since it was serialized in 1959, it’s spawned five lengthy television-series, eight movies and one live-action movie. The problem is that all of these reduced the Kitarou-franchise to a kiddie-series. Enter Hakaba Kitarou, in its Noitamina time-slot as it attempts to remove all of the “kiddie”-roots from the franchise. And believe it or not, but it succeeds pretty well.

The result is a very rare combination between horror and comedy. But this series mostly stands out because it’s so refreshingly different from usual anime. The art really tries to go its own way, with character-designs in an original style, and a continuous filter, reminiscent of Mononoke. There are lots of interesting camera-angles and monster-designs, which make sure that this series turns into a visual feast that doesn’t rely on moe whatsoever.

This is also one series that completely shatters the boundaries between good and evil. It may seem like that Kitarou is the main character, and therefore the good guy, and yet he likes to play cat-and-mouse games with his victims, and he doesn’t even seem to care whether these victims end up dead or not. Nezumi Otoko, on the other hand, may be the series’ villain (he acts mostly out of greed and for money), and yet he stands so far away from the stereotypical anime villain. This guy is often rational and he doesn’t try to look as cool or evil as possible. He’s also often friendly, although he’s ready to betray any friend in favour of his well-being.

The same goes for all other side-characters that appear in one the different stories that have been put into the eleven episodes that this series consists of. Everyone is somewhere in the grey spectrum between good and evil. And all of the major side-characters have multiple sides and hardly have any chance to get boring. I’d also like to mention the ease at which this series seems to be able to kill off its characters. Seriously, some deaths really come from nowhere.

And that brings me to another good point of this series. Not every episode may have one, but the plot-twists will leave you guessing, and some will come as a huge shock, exactly what a horror-series should be. You can see that the writers have a lot of fun while writing this series, and building it up. Hakaba Kitarou has a delightful air of unpredictability that you hardly ever see in anime.

Overall, if you’re looking for something different, then Hakaba Kitarou is the way to go. Don’t get fooled into thinking that this is a series for kids. Simplistic character-designs don’t automatically make a series a kiddie-one. At eleven episodes, there’s hardly any chance to get bored. This is one reason why I like winter-seasons. Because not many popular series air, it’s the perfect chance for the less popular and under-looked anime that try to be different to get a chance. 2007 had Master of Epic, and 2008 continues this tradition with Hakaba Kitarou.

Mokke Review – 89/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews


Even though the season hasn’t officially ended yet, I’m pretty sure about my top-3 series of the Autumn-season. First place is obviously for Shion no Ou, Ghost Hound comes in second, and Mokke takes up the third spot. In a generally underwhelming season, these three series stood far above the others, and manage to deliver constant quality.

Mokke has had it quite tough in terms of popularity, though. Even before it aired, people were comparing it to the next Mushishi. Expectations it obviously couldn’t fulfil. True, at first sight Mokke and Mushishi seem alike. They’re both slice-of-life stories about supernatural spirits, but that’s where the similarities end. In Mushishi, the mushi had no personality whatsoever, while in Mokke, each spirit talks just like a human would. Mushishi featured a grown up and experienced adult as its main character, while Mokke worked with two young and naive sisters. And the most important difference: Mushishi was about its stories, while Mokke is about its characters.

And that’s where people are mostly turned off by. The stories for Mokke are quite simple and not very complicated. They just serve to support the characters. Each episode features some kind of spirit that comes into contact with either the two main characters, or somebody that they know. It may seems like the “monster of the week”, but thankfully the creators have enough inspiration to make every episode different.

And really, the characters shine. They’re all well-defined and subtly developed, and especially Mizuki and Shizuru bring this anime to life. Through the 24 episodes of this series, you’ll learn their hobbies, their fears, what makes them uneasy, and how they try to deal with the fact that one of them can see spirits, while the other gets easily possessed by them.

Do note that the character-designs don’t try to be as pretty as possible. Mizuki and Shizuru are in this way really portrayed as normal girls, but if you’re one of these persons who loses interest if you don’t see a sexy bishoujo drawn to please otaku for forty-five seconds, then you may stay away from this. I also acknowledge that at times, this series tends to be a bit too dramatic for its own good. And yet, this was always a series where I knew that I would end up in a relaxed state after watching, no matter what happened during an episode. Add that to the fact that I ended up crying for the characters more than once, the music is simple, yet effective, the final episode ended up being the best of the entire series, leaving no bad taste whatsoever and the OP and ED both feature excellent songs, and I see enough reasons to put this on my list of top-series of the season.

Saiunkoku Monogatari Review – 90/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Saiunkoku Monogatari


I can sort-of understand why people often are reluctant to check out very lengthy series. After all, they’re a huge commitment and it’s very hard to tell whether it will turn out worthwhile or not if you have to sit through more than sixty episodes. Series like Naruto, Bleach, Dragon Ball Z and Inuyasha went on and on, amidst pointless fillers, and just could have gotten so much better if they were just 1/4th of their original length.

Still, let me say that for every lengthy series that screws up, you can always find a lengthy series that’s absolutely worth the commitment. Take Legend of Galactic Heroes, Gintama, or any of the World Masterpiece series. And of course Saiunkoku Monogatari. It’s set in a world, reminiscent of ancient China, and follows Shuurei, as she tries to be the first female govermnent official, in a male-dominated society.

Of course, there’s much more to the story than just that. The series starts out as an innocent shoujo love-drama, but soon enough this series shows its josei-roots and develops its huge cast of characters perfectly. Be sure to expect lots of politics. The different arcs are very different from each other, and they’re more than enough to keep this series interesting though its entire run. And of course, there’s quite a bit of romance as well, but don’t expect standard Shoujo-romance here. Quite often, you see two characters who are in love with each other, yet can never be together due to their social status, or the things they did in the past.

I do want to note, though, that some parts of this series are less interesting than others. Saiunkoku Monogatari has a couple of incredibly deep and well-developed characters, but it needs to build up a lot in order to achieve this. There will be a few arcs that aren’t that special, other than that they build up for some amazing scenes, later on in the series. It’s also a shame that the final quarter of the series builds up to a third season that’ll probably arrive in two or three years. The final few episodes also showcase some dramatic budget-problems, with three recap-episodes within twenty episodes, so that’s also something to take into account.

Still, despite the flaws, Saiunkoku remains a versatile and engaging series. If you liked The Twelve Kingdoms (I haven’t seen the series myself, but I hear from everywhere that that’s another excellent series), you’ll definitely like this series. Now all that’s left is to wait a few years for the third season to arrive!