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Hunter X Hunter – Greed Island Review – 85/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews



It’s so refreshing to watch Hunter X Hunter. It goes right where nearly all other shounen series go left. It’s here where Nippon Animation show that shounen series don’t necessarily have to be fight-fests with shallow battles that last for episodes after each other. The first Greed Island OVA continues where the previous OVA left off. And to be honest, it isn’t as good as the OVAs. But those standards were set really high after all. Greed Island has a lot to like here.

The interesting thing is that this OVA is mostly focused on two things that are often really hard to do well in anime: training arc and exposition. They actually pull it off, though!

Here’s the thing with most training-arcs: they’re completely shallow. They often pointlessly waste time and advance their characters way too unrealistically. Way too often, we see characters do some random movement over and over, and suddenly they’ve mastered a new technique, became twice as strong, etc, etc, yadda yadda, without actually understanding the deeper meaning behind it. Part of the beauty of martial arts is that you’ll never get anywhere if you don’t know what you’re doing, and that’s a trap that so many shounen-series fall into.

Hunter x Hunter is different though: it links the series concepts of Nen and combines it with realistic fighting abilities. It’s true that the lead characters are talented, but the reason how the powers work here is detailed and fleshed out in one of the most believable ways I’ve ever seen in a shounen series. Or a series based on superpowers for that matter.

Then the exposition: a lot of time of this OVA is spent on outlining the unique features of the world that the characters have run into (Greed Island), ranging from how the rules work, to strategies one could take in playing it. It fleshes out the residents, as well as the other players inside it and explores their motivations. Seeing as there are only eight episodes, a lot of time is just spent on people talking, and I don’t mean in the way in which series as Katanagatari use their dialogue to build-up to a climax each episode.

The reason why exposition often gets boring is… well, because it is. When you’re detailing some obscure details of your world that are shallow but require a ton of of time to explain it just wastes time. Here however, I was consistently interested in what was going on. This OVA kept making me hungry to learn more about what was going on.

This is of course also helped by the fact that it has already seventy episodes full of character-development behind it. And unlike the TV-series, the pacing here wasn’t as unbalanced: this show knew when to shut up and move on and not go on for too long on the same subject. It’s a shame that the best characters are virtually gone in the OVA, but Gon and Killua themselves are excellent characters themselves as well, and the creators did well in giving the new characters believable personalities, rather than stuffing a bunch of stereotypes in. My only complaint here was one particularly overacting minor character. You’ll know who I mean when you see him.

Storytelling: 9/10 – One of the rare cases of exposition and training arcs done right.
Characters: 8/10 – The best characters… aren’t here. the ones that are here do a great job, though.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Not as good as the OVA, but decent enough.
Setting: 9/10 – Excellent. A lot of time is spent on fleshing the setting and back-story out, and it’s very interesting to watch it unfold

Suggestions:
– .Hack//Sign
– Tenpou Ibun Ayakashi Ayashi
– Darker than Black
(no need to recommend the first Hunter X Hunter OVa of course. It’s a truly excellent OVA, but by the time you’ve arrived at Greed Island you’ve probably already seen it ^^;)
PS. A short update on my to-watchlist: I still have three OVAs left to watch before I can get to the 50 series on my to-watch-list that I’ve been looking forward to the most. It’s taken me two years, but I’m finally nearly finished with its first (and by far largest) part. Just do expect that from now on I won’t take any new suggestions to watch.

Mazinkaiser Review – 77,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews



Mazinkaiser is testosterone. In its purest sense. It’s completely brainless, full of action, fighting and needlessly yelling out attack names. it’s meant as a homage to the Mazinger-franchise, condensing its plot into just 7 ovas and one movie, and just about everything is dedicated to recapturing the essence of the many manly giant robot series that graced the seventies and eighties ad nauseam.

Just about everything here is over the top: the fanservice, the acting, the characters, the action, the explosions, the comedy. Who cares about that thing called substance? This series is really for those who want to see giant robots sending waves of badly named attacks at each other. It’s really something I would recommend to the fans of the cheesy giant robot series out there, because this series really knows its action: it’s greatly animated, and an excellent watch if you want to let loose of some energy.

But yeah, the problem really is that there is no substance whatsoever; and I really mean none. The plot is only about a bunch of robots fighting each other. If you’re not a mazinger fan here, then you shouldn’t even bother with this series. It’s series like this that, as a homage, have a select audience: one that’s already familiar with a number of other giant robot series. Overall, I too noticed that the quiet moments (in which nobody was fighting and the creators were trying to build something up) were just boring, simply because the cast is paper-thin and never tries to be anything more than they are, and even the action itself would have been more enjoyable had they actually had a bit of depth. Because of this, half of the action-scenes in this OVA failed to be interesting.

On top of that, this series also has lost a bit of its value after Shin Mazinger appeared, which did just about everything this OVA did, plus a whole ton of more things, including a bigger cast, character-development, and actual multi-layered plot and actual plot twists. Especially Baron Ashura in Mazinkaiser feels just a shallow shadow in comparison. The only reason why you would want to watch Mazinkaiser over Shin Mazinger would be the animation and I feel like I would have enjoyed Mazinkaiser a lot more if I had not watched the new Mazinger before it.

Storytelling: 8/10 – Knows it’s a homage, and does just about everything to recapture the mazinger feeling.
Characters: 7/10 – Likable, but no depth whatsoever.
Production-Values: 9/10 – Excellent animation, plus an over the top soundtrack that fits the mood perfectly.
Setting: 7/10 – Simple good versus evil. Very true to the Mazinger standards, but the setting feels just like a collection of random names.

Suggestions:
– The New Mazinger
– Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
– Betterman

Seikai no Senki III Review – 77,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Seikai no Monshou



Seikai no Senki III again is completely different from its predecessors. It’s much lighter, the conflict is much simpler, and there’s a lot more emphasis on random conversations than ever. It;’s about Jinto, as he returns to his home planet after having been gone for years. At an hour’s length, I at first believed that this was going to be another one of those unimportant side-stories that you often see in DVD-specials nowadays, but Jinto really develops throughout this OVA.

But yeah, one hour is still way too short, and it also doesn’t help that the creators try to do way too many things at the same time. It could have worked if the creators only focused on Jinto’s development, but for some reason they wanted just about every character to some kind of cameo here. There’s just too much time wasted on pointless banter between these side-character, including a rather strangely out of place mock-battle of which I still nave no idea what point it tried to make.

The strangest thing about this OVA though, is one particular side-character: Ekuryua. Do not ask me why, but this girl completely changes character, beyond anything that was established about her in the previous series. It’s especially grating because the creators keep using this as some kind of quirky gimmick, but those attempts at comedy never really work.

So overall this OVA definitely had the right intentions, and Jinto’s development is as good as ever, but unfortunately it overall was poorly balanced and needed a lot more episodes to really shine like its predecessors.

Storytelling: 7/10 – Not focused enough for such a short OVA.
Characters: 8/10 – Jinto’s development rocks, but there are too many pointless side-character cameos.
Production-Values: 8/10 – A graphical upgrade… including a bunch of recycled scenes…
Setting: 8/10 – Excellent, but could have been even better with more episodes.

Suggestions:
– Space Fantasia: 2001 Nights
– Tytania

Birdy the Mighty Review – 75/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews



Before Kazuki Akane came with his epic Birdy the Mighty Decode, there of course was the original Birdy the Mighty OVA. While I knew that it was bound to lack depth in terms of the TV–Series I still got curious as to their differences and decided to check it out.

And really, I was pretty surprised at how little these two series have in common. Aside from the main premise of Senkawa being transferred into Birdy’s body and the fact that there are aliens sneaking around somewhere, the storylines are completely different. Hardly any of the side-characters return: I could only recognize Natsumi (who plays the role of romantic love interest here) and that moustache guy (who has a much larger role here).

The story that Decode went with is of course much more superior, but it’s interesting to see how many changes it made, even to the core of the premise. It completely removed the main antagonist that we see here in this OVA. Because of her, the OVA turned into some inconsequential revenge flick that doesn’t really know what antagonist it wants to focus on. Basically, Birdy battles a bunch of bad guys, and that’s pretty much her side of the storyline. It’s nothing that we haven’t seen before, and completely lacks the depth of Decode.

Senkawa’s part in the OVA meanwhile keeps hopping back and forth between amusing and annoying. There are times where he’s pretty nicely characterized, but there are others in which his charms are completely overshadowed by his blandness as a character. The comedy is pretty much the same: some jokes just don’t work, and are the types you see in every comedy series out there. However, some jokes, like the complete lack of tact of Senkawa’s father worked pretty nicely.

Overall, when compared to the stellar standards of Birdy the Mighty Decode (especially its second season), the OVA of Birdy the Mighty is just too short, lacks depth and doesn’t take enough liberties. However, as an action-flick it works pretty nicely. The action certainly isn’t as impressive, but it’s well animated and nice enough to keep you interested. Senkawa and Birdy both have their moment, and this is a pretty nice OVA for those who are looking for very light entertainment.

Storytelling: 8/10 – Light entertainment; nothing more, nothing less and knows it.
Characters: 7/10 – Nicely characterized, but lack a ton of depth.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Pretty good animation.
Setting: 7/10 – Again: no depth. Decode made the setting really come alive. Here it’s just way too standard.

Suggestions:
– Birdy the Mighty Decode
– Black Magic M66
– Canaan

Mobile Suit Gundam 0080 – War in the Pocket Review – 87,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews



I now fully understand why War in the Pocket is held in such a high regard. At only six episodes it’s probably one of the shortest Gundams out there… but it has BY FAR the best characters that I have ever seen from the franchise. The fact that this series is told from the perspective of the Zeons (the bad guys in UC Gundam) makes it even better, turning this into the most morally ambiguous Gundam series as well.

The character who impressed me the most was Bernie, the lead character. He starts out like your average Gundam lead: young, rookie, ambitious, et cetera. However, the creators still made him competent: he’s a guy who doesn’t just ignore orders on a whim. The veterans around him also treat him as a rookie, and instead of standing in the spotlights he really is a guy who is tasked with the safe, dirty and boring work. The veterans around him also feel like they’re veterans, instead of the usual experienced soldier whose only tasks it is to let the youth take over. At no point does the angst or emo take over the storytelling, and neither do characters suddenly degrade into morons just to spice things up. This series averted a ton of Gundam cliches that originally made me so tired of this franchise.

The excellent characterization also really helps. Six episodes was obviously a bit short to develop a huge cast, but the two central characters get all the time they need to shine. The animation makes sure that the two of them are as expressive as possible, where it favours paying attention to these small details, rather than overblown battles. The side-characters aren’t as rounded as these two, and actually pretty static, but they’re nowhere near bad. They do a great job in illustrating the points that this series is trying to make. It very cleverly combines this childish innocence to the harsh realities of war, without ever going overboard with the drama.

So yeah, this pretty much is the most un-typical Gundam I have seen. While every other Gundam is an action-series, this really is a character-study first and foremost, where the action only takes up second place. For once we also have battles that stay down to earth (no pun intended), rather than going over the top near the end. And despite the lack of any epicness whatsoever, I found myself enjoying it more consistently than any other Gundam.

Storytelling: 9/10 – Perfectly makes use of its time. Great twists, yet remains down to earth.
Characters: 9/10 – Excellent characterization; averts a ton of Gundam cliches, no idiots, morons or emos whatsoever.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Perhaps not the best for a Gundam series, but still very good.
Setting: 9/10 – Puts the loop above settings and characters that are normally just glossed over in Gundam series, and it works perfectly.

Seikai no Senki II Review – 90/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Seikai no Monshou



While both Seikai no Monshou and Senki were excellent series, to me it seemed like they still were missing something, and I don’t just mean Monshou’s disappointing finale. I still can’t exactly put my finger to it, but whatever it was: Seikai no Senki II has it. The third Seikai series more than surpasses its predecessors.

It doesn’t just take the best of the two prequels: the dialogue of Monshou and the combat of Senki. It also introduces a complete new layer: diplomacy. A huge part of this season is about the two lead characters, in charge of a planet full of prisoners that’s about to descend into a civil war. The planet’s political system consists out of four parties with all their own issues yet who have to live together somehow. I personally loved watching Jinto trying to save himself in this situation: his words suddenly carry the lives of tens of thousands.

The dialogue of Seikai no Monshou and Senki was already really good, but Senki II’s dialogue turns out even better. The creators put so much meaning in just about every sentence. Every sentence is spot-on, whether it’s about the characters in the series, or the politics. The scenario itself is also full of twists and turns that yet make full sense when put into the story itself.

The series thrusts us really in a world that neither the characters nor the audience knows anything about. It cleverly makes use of the fact that it’s already got 26 episodes of established characters, while at the same time it also delivers powerful new characters who are gripping and full of flaws from the beginning. While the first Seikai no Senki was generally very focused (it was very much a series about war), Senki II instead was about a whole array of stuff: it’s a very varied series in which one episode may be about politics on a small insignificant planet, the next about space battles, on to switch back to some banter between a bunch of army commanders. It covers the full spectrum. Seriously Sunrise: why don’t you make stuff like this anymore?

Storytelling: 10/10 – Perfectly paced, varied, hard-hitting; science-fiction at its finest.
Characters: 9/10 – Terrific dialogue, both the old and new characters rock.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Excellent music. The graphics do what they need to do and nothing more.
Setting: 9/10 – Excellent portrayal of an ongoing war on many different levels.

Suggestions:
– Toward the Terra
– Hi no Tori – Uchuu-Hen
– Gasaraki

Some Quick First Impressions: Uragiri wa Boku no Namae wo Shitteiru, K-On!! and Mayoi Neko Overrun

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions, Uragiri wa Boku no Namae wo Shitteiru

Uragiri wa Boku no Namae wo Shitteiru

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is the reincarnation of some woman.
Well, I’m intrigued. While it’s no Night Head Genesis, this episode of Uragiri was pretty good. It deals with a lot of heavy stuff, like insanity, death threats, parental abuse and orphans, but it handled all of the angst surprisingly well and down to earth. This episode was perhaps a bit fast-paced, but as an opening episode it did well to grab my attention. And best of all: it didn’t turn its characters in those stereotypical gay people you see everywhere. Instead, the lead character is just your typical shoujo lead in a male body (which in a way makes sense when you consider his backstory). We didn’t get to see a lot of teh plot in this episode, but what we saw of it has quite a bit of potential to be this season’s dark gothic series. My only problem with this episode was that group of random punks that just decided to kick that old man from out of nowhere. That’s an anime cliche that seriously needs to die unless you plan to do it well.
OP: Decent rock-song
ED: Again, pretty nice.
Potential: 70%

K-On!!

Short Synopsis: Our lead character enters her third year in high school as a member of the light music club.
You know what? As a slice of life series, this episode was pretty good. My biggest fear for this show beyond the moe overload was that it would go down the same road as Lucky Star (as in, a ton of repetition and no development whatsoever), but the characters have actually evolved beyond what I saw of them when I previewed the first episode of the first season last year. The lead character especially has gotten a lot more bearable now that she actually knows how to play an instrument. What I appreciated the most is that this episode had the characters act like what you’d expect from teenaged girls, without hanging all of the cheap moe stereotypes and paper-thin characters that you regularly see in these moe shows all over them. The animation also was very good, as expected of Kyoani. I was really disappointed by the live performances. I mean, with the budget that Kyoani has, you would expect that they’d… like… actually animate it. Instead, they skip it nearly entirely, even though actually performing is the most fun part of being in such a band. Now, while this episode was decent enough, I do have my doubts whether this series warrants 26 episodes. Do the creators really have what it takes to make it consistently enjoyable, rather than consistently repetitive?
OP: To answer my question below at Mayoi Neko Overrun’s OP blurb: yes.
ED: Hmm, probably the best ED I’ve seen from Kyoani.
Potential: 30%

Mayoi Neko Overrun

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is loved by a cute girl.
Well… we’ve certainly found the series with the biggest amount of overused cliches this season. Where to start? There is the childhood friend, the tsundere, the panty shots, the annoying best friend, the catgirl, the horny sister, the maids, the rich spoiled brat, the parents who are gone, the waking up scene, the abuse of said tsundere whenever fanservice comes into play, and the female voice actresses also really don’t try to hide these stereotypes. While the tsunere was surprisingly likable, the voice actresses of the other female characters were just horrendously annoying and predictable. But yeah, I gotta admit: it’s well made. The direction and dialogue is snappy and funny whenever these three characters aren’t in the centre of attention, and the chemistry is pretty nice. It certainly beats out Nyan Koi and Sora no Otoshimono; AIC’s moe shows of the previous winter season. Due to time constraints I doubt that I’m going to continue watching this (especially when three of the four female lead characters are so incredibly and pointlessly annoying), but really: I expected a lot worse.
OP: Can it get any more squeaky?
ED: Annoying J-pop.
Potential: 30%

Some Quick First Impressions: Hetalia World Series, Senkou no Night Raid and Metal Fight Beyblade – Explosion

by psgels, posted in Hetalia: Axis Powers, Senkou no Night Raid, Some Quick First Impressions

Hetalia World Series

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is the personification of a certain mediterranean country.
Healia, please. Start putting labels on your characters. This episode introduced a bunch of new characters of which I had no idea who they were. It’s of course nice to see more characters like these, but it’s a bit pointless if you don’t know what coumtry they represent. It’s not good to assume that everyone read the manga, studio Deen. As for this episode, it was funny as usual. I do hope that the episodes will get released a bit faster now. This isn’t really like a series as Marie & Gali, in which I’m really willing to wait multiple weeks for the next episode.
ED: Same as usual.
Potential: 40%

Senkou no Night Raid

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is an international spy.
Well, there you have it, A-1 surely is on fire this season. This episode was really well made: it had a lot of spy action, but it cleverly kept everything from going over the top, and instead kept everything down and true to the abilities of the characters involved. The dialogue itself was also excellent: well written and it actually kept the language barrier: the Chinese people speak Chinese here. That was also a bit annoying though, because I had no idea what they were saying. But still, when you compare this to Canaan it looks very promising. The characters have a few quirks and traits, but despite that they don’t feel out of place. This should prove to be a pretty nice spy thriller during the upcoming season.
ED: Interesting visuals, but a dull ballad.
Potential: 80%

Metal Fight Beyblade – Explosion

Short Synopsis: Our lead character wants to have the legendary spinning top of the galaxy unicorn.
It’s hilarious how poorly produced this series actually is. Cutting corners is of course one thing, but this episode was just so ridiculously cheap. Take the first half for example: it shows an arena full of fans as they watch a bunch of people battle with their spinning tops (yeah…). At one point, the creators simply forget that there’s supposed to be an audience and instead turn the entire audience in some sort of fancy wallpaper as the matches stop and the characters start rambling on about some kind of kid who disturbed their match from out of nowhere. The second half has the lead character of this series search for some sort of legendary beyblade. When he finds it (yeah, this all happens in the span of one episode; no build-up whatsoever) it’s followed by a huge amount of cheap-ass tricks to try and make the moment of a boy grabbing a spinning top from a wall look as epic as possible. I got a good laugh out of it, that’s for sure. But the thing that I’ve been wondering about these kids’ shows is the following: if they’re going to be cheap, why don’t they just recap some sort of kids’ show from the nineties? That’s going to be even cheaper, and it’s not like these kids are gonna notice.
ED: I could swear that the vocalists were on drugs when they sung this in.
Potential: -20%

Some Quick First Impressions: Saikyou Busho-den Sangoku Engi, Arakawa Under the Bridge, Hime Chen! Otogi Chikku Idol Lilpri

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Saikyou Busho-den Sangoku Engi

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is another famous character from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel.
I was not looking forward to this series at all. With all of the cheesy adaptations that have been done before, I had pretty much given up hope for this franchise. But damn, this episode had some of the best animation of the new season. There are hardly any still frames, everything is moving like it should. The animation is still a bit jerky at times, but it’s so much better than just show a bunch of talking heads whose mouths move up and down, or only move three or four frames each scene. The storytelling itself was a bit rushed and the characters tended to overact, but wow, this actually has some potential.
OP: Matsumoto Leiji homage?
ED: Decent ballad.
Potential: 50%%

Arakawa Under the Bridge

Short Synopsis: Our lead character ends up living under a bridge with a cute girl.
I did a little check. In two years, most directors are able to handle two or three series, right? Well, in the same timespan Shinbo has done a whopping TWELVE of them, excluding four OVAs. At this point I’ve pretty much given up on trying to watch him delivering some half-assed product, just for one or two good episodes that might or might not come. This episode ultimately was dull. I usually like a lot of dialogue, but this time it was ruined by a hopelessly overacting lead character (it also didn’t help that he had exactly the same voice as a ton of other Shinbo-lead characters). The humour overall was predictable and hardly ever funny. With the high standard of the rest of this series, is there really a reason to continue watching this series? If there is, then please enlighten me because at this point I’m way too biased to give Shinbo’s series a fair chance.
Potential: 0%

Hime Chen! Otogi Chikku Idol Lilpri

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is destined to be the legendery Little Princess. Get it? Lilpri. Little Princess. *har har*
As if this season couldn’t get any better, even the cheap mahou shoujo which I initially wrote off as just another Jewel Pet clone turns out to be much more enjoyable than I imagined. And don’t get me wrong, the story behind this series is utterly terrible. All of the fairy tale princesses are disappearing and because fairy tales can’t live without their princesses the queen of fairy land sets three animals out to wake up the “super miracle idols” (an actual quote from the dialogue. It sounds every bit as silly as it looks) who are supposed to very vaguely represent Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and Kaguya-hime, in order to get them to sing horribly cheesy songs in front of live audiences. This premise is just… stupid beyond all belief. Even for kids’ show standards! And yet, despite such a cheesy plot, there’s one thing that this series did surprisingly well: the chemistry. The cheese and the characters made this into a surprisingly fun series to watch. The three lead kids in this series are surprisingly likable (and actually sound and act like real kids. I loved the part in which the animal sidekicks were looking for their princesses, and just dismissed the lead characters because they were too young.
OP: Don’t tell me they’re going to sing this in every episode?
ED: TOO. MUCH. SUGAR.
Potential: 30%

Some Quick First Impressions: Giant Killing, Hakuouki and SD Gundam Sangokuden Brave Battle Warriors

by psgels, posted in Giant Killing, Hakuouki, Some Quick First Impressions

Giant Killing

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a famous football coach
Now this is why I love anime. There just are those times when these series come around, who completely exceed my expectations. This season was already full of these series, but Giant Killing takes the cake. It’s been ages since Studio Deen really came out with a new and fresh premise, so I wasn’t expecting much of them at this point (as shown by Hakuouki, which pretty much was them and their bishies again). And here this episode comes, and it’s SO WELL made. The characterization is by far the best of all the first episodes I’ve seen this season so far. It’s only one episode, and the creators have already shown that they know and understand their characters. The chemistry between the hugely varied cast was just awesome to watch. And on top of that, they actually portrayed English football fans really well, INCLUDING actual English, that gets spoken in full sentences, rather than your usual lazy Engrish. The animation also is just awesome: finally we have another series that attempts to experiment with its own style. The football matches are animated really smoothly. At first I thought that Ookiku Furikabutte would naturally become this season’s best sports series, but damn. It’s got some serious competition. And really: this season rocks because we haven’t even gotten to the best stuff yet!
OP: One of the best OPs of the year so far. J-Polka. What brilliant mind thought of that?
ED: Fun and exciting.
Potential: 90%

Hakuouki

Short Synopsis: Our lead character gets involved with the rather shady business of the Shinsengumi.
Another show, that while it has its problems, also has a ton of potential. Let me get these problems out of the way first: this series does suffer from the harem syndrome: the creators pulling a really far-fetched plot twist just to put the main characters amongst a group of bishies/moe cute girls. The reason the creators pull here is simply one that asks: why hasn’t this happened before? The acting also leaves a lot to be desired. The characters aren’t as well portrayed as they could have, and the characterization for all of the bishies feels kind-of bland. However, this episode focused a lot on characters, just interacting and talking to each other. The script did make up for the sub-par acting, and while the dialogue was nowhere near Amatsuki-levels, it still was surprisingly interesting (speaking of which, Deen: when is that second season going to arrive?!), not to mention that this series has got a pretty interesting back-story that verges on horror during the tense parts. The lead female is also surprisingly likable as well. And I guess that that’s one thing that female lead harem characters often have in favour of male leads: while male leads are often made to be as bland and uninteresting as possible, female leads always have some sort of story behind them that defines their character much, much better and Hakuouki is no exception.
OP: Slightly catchy.
ED: Surprisingly good ballad.
Potential: 60%

SD Gundam Sangokuden Brave Battle Warriors

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is the umpth incarnation of the lead character of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms novels.
Sunrise… why? Just… why? This premise is awful in every single way. It’s the ultimate of all cheap cash-ins, combining the popularity of the Gundam Franchise with the one of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms franchise. So why the heck did you find it a good idea to give this show so many excellent background artists, and such a good soundtrack? These are COMPLETELY WASTED on such a silly script. Seriously Sunrise, is it that much to ask for you to go back to the way you were around ten years ago, in which you just kept delivering awesome premise after awesome premise, trying out new things?
ED: Cheesy J-rock
Potential: -20%