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Mai Otome is the successor of the popular Mai-Hime. It’s not like a sequel, more like a remake in a different setting and with a different plot. The setting is more fantasy-like, and each of the characters got a new outfit, a new personality and a new role to play. Does this also mean that it’ll be as good as Mai-Hime?

Well, it actually doesn’t. The two main characters (Arika and Nina) are just plain and uninteresting characters. Especially Arika was a pain to watch. The first fifteen episodes are mostly just boring scenes with a couple of amusing moments thrown in (the best one being a certain kissing scene). Apart from that, the comedy doesn’t really work, and most of the drama just doesn’t mean anything. Then the sixteenth episode begins, and it is awesome. The awesomeness continues in the seventeenth episode. I could really see the Mai-Hime-influences, and it was great. Especially Mashiro’s struggle. Afterwards, however, the awesomeness completely disappears, and somehow the creators managed to choose the cheesiest plotline of all possible plotlines to continue. They never manage to fix this afterwards.

It’s not like this series can’t be good if it wants to. For example, the first half of the final episode was just great to see, with finally successful comedy thrown in. (then again, that may also be because the main character didn’t appear that much) There are some drama scenes which are totally worth it, and some characters are great. The only problem is that this series just tries too hard in order to be good, which, of course, is never a good thing.

In some cases, the characters managed to get an improvement when compared to Mai-Hime. Haruka, for example, was always fun to see. In most cases, however, the make-overs members of the wonderful cast of Mai-Hime totally ended up wrong. Natsuki, for example, or Mashiro. I haven’t even started about the main characters. These were original characters which somehow reminded me of Mai and Natsuki. At least, on the outside. Their personalities are just boring, like stated above.

The music overall isn’t really special. But, there are one or two tracks that are simply awesome. I can just forever listen to these soprano’s without getting bored. Graphically, the show has some nice effects, but still, it’s nothing special.

Overall, this was a series that wanted to be too much, and kindof failed. Still, it might be a nice watch if you’re bored.

Final Rating: 63/100

Let’s see, what have we here… Girl with superpowers runs into boy who holds the key to the bad guys for their ultimate plan in order to gain an infinite amount of power. Boy and girl fall in love. The end. Let’s see, where have I seen this before?

The anime starts out pretty nicely. Yuji (the boy) discovers that he died a long time ago and that he had been temporarily replaced by a blue flame which keeps getting weaker and weaker. All this is told by a very nonchalant girl who couldn’t care less about him. Yuji just doesn’t accept this and keeps bothering this girl. After he sacrifices himself in order to save others, Shana (the girl) finally realizes that not all humans are selfish and care only about themselves. Then, at the point of a dramatic ending, Yuji convieniently appears to have a unique power to restore all his lost energy by midnight. Even though that minor detail ruined a couple of scenes, I found myself enjoying these parts. The only problem: these were only the first four episodes.

The episodes that followed featured some kind of bad guy who had to be defeated. Some of them were kindof interesting to see (for example, the doll fetishist), some were just plain boring (for example, the flashback arc). But the biggest problem I had was our main character: Shana. She managed to change from a nonchalant red-haired warrior to a whiny little girl. Not particularly the best development ever and as the episode progressed I began to hate her more and more. In an attempt to counter this, the creators made her obsessive about melon-pan, which she then tried to eat in a very cute-like way. When they first introduced this, Shana was still in nonchalant-mode, so it didn’t really fit that character at all. As the series progressed, that behaviour fitted her character more and more, but I really couldn’t care less about this, and it wasn’t really the cutest thing I ever saw. If you want cute, you should see Becky in a cat-suit, bottle-fairies playing pirate or Mori doing a cossack dance.

The characters I did like were the side-characters, especially Yuji’s classmates. If you ignore the fact that each flame haze that visited the town convieniently chose one of them to be their side-kick, then they have some very interesting personalities. I especially liked Yoshida. I kept hoping for her to beat Shana and just make Yuji fall for her, although I knew that this was false hope, as Yuji and Shana were meant to be together for the sake of being the main characters. Anyway, I had a very enjoyable time whenever one of Yuji’s classmates came in the spotlight. I especially loved the confession between two of them. It was the last thing I expected from a show like this.

Then the ultimate bad guys. These guys really are 1-dimensional characters, being bad for the sake of being bad. We never get to hear their intentions, or why they’re doing what they’re doing. For example, I’d have loved to see a bit of background from Hecate, but no. Apparently, Shana’s more important, so she’s the only one who we get so see some background of (which by the way, was really disappointing. It didn’t feel special to me at all, except maybe Shana’s outfit. There’s also the question remaining as to why Shana turned so cold, as she was pretty energetic when she was young).

The ending of the series was horrible. Giving me fake hope like that! And yes, all of the side-characters are conviently put out of the picture as our hero sets off to the ultimate showdown. Anyway, blah blah, fight fight, drama, blah blah, drama. *yawn* The aftermath shows us an open ending, which shows some hints for a second season (>.<) Shakugan no Shana does excel in the music department, however. The tunes are nice and catchy, especially at the beginning of the series. They turn a bit repetitive at the end of the series, though, but that's a minor issue. I just don't like the tune the creators used for the commercial-introduction-sequence. It doesn't really work along with a very dramatical scene right before it. The art itself is also pretty decent. The eyes of the characters might be a bit too much, but apart from that, it didn't bother me much. The CG also looks very interesting, except for the fact that there seemed to be a thick imaginary line between the usual art and the CG. I could exactly distinguish both of them, and they really were not blended in too well. That was a bit of a pity to see. Overall, this is a pretty popular series, but I just don't like it. Period. Overall Rating: 51/100

What we have here, is the Tsubasa Chronicle movie. Like I said before: the characters seem to have gotten a total restyling for this. Syaoran is more confident and less hestitant. Kurogane’s become more energetic. Fye lost a bit of his sarcasm. Sakura’s more outspoken and less shy. Mokona has become less energetic and more calmly, which is totally different from his black counterpart. But the thing that’s really different from the series is the character art. It takes a bit to get used to, but once you do, it looks awesome.

The main reason you should watch this is because of the incredible graphics. Both traditional art as the CG look absolutely astonishing and the choreography is some of the best ever. Especially the flooding scene was beautiful to watch. The battles themselves shine like none other.

The story is also a masterpiece. As the movie took just half an hour, in comparison with xxxHolic, which took more than whole an hour, the scenes followed each other in a fast pace. Nevertheless, the movie didn’t really feel rushed. The setting is just perfect for a show like Tsubasa Chronicle. After all, what’s better for a story which revolves around wings and feathers to play in a bird-country? In this bird country, everything has been locked up in a gigantic bird cage. The bad guy wants to use this cage to make him uberpowerful. It may seem dull, but it were the actions surrounding this story which saved it.

For example, the character development between Syaoran and Sakura was just great (but then again, they were put together in a perfect situation *wink wink*). The royal guards performed a nice twist in the beginning, and it was just awesome that the wound from Fye’s boot was still clearly visible in the aftermath, while nobody seemed to notice.

Okay so what if the bad guy is bad because he’s bad? I had a very enjoyable time watching this. This movie never leaves a boring moment. You’re either gaping at the awesome graphics, or you’re trying not to miss any of the plot elements thrown in. Oh, and if you plan to watch both this movie and xxxHolic, then I recommend to watch xxxHolic before seeing Tsubasa Chronicle. This way, you’ll enjoy the easter egg the creators put in even more.

xxxHolic is the sister-anime of Tsubasa Chronicle. We get to see The Witch and her Butler as main characters this time, along with a black version of Mokona and a couple of new characters. I do have to say, though: they both got a total restyling. Every character somehow got more chaotic (yes, even Mokona) and Watanuki and Yuuko’s (the names of the butler and the witch) conversations somehow reminded me of Kurogane and Fye.

As this is a movie, the character art has to be of extremely good quality, everything has to look smooth and consistent and each character has to look beautiful? Guess again. The character art is really messy and inconsistent, the body of each of the characters is even longer than with Tsubasa Chronicle, accompanied by really big hands. I’m having a love/hate relationship with this. At some times it works really well, and contributes to the overall mood. At other times, they bothered me a bit too much.

Even though the character art looks messy, everything else at the graphical department looks top-notch. Everything except for the characters has been done in CG, with magnificent results. Every background looks amazing and the battle choreography makes a very good use out of the messy character art. Even at the music department this series delivers. Every musical piece perfectly fits in the atmosphere.

This anime was probably partially intended as a comedy, and partially as a mystery-show. I have to say, that both of these sides worked out really well. Watanuki is very funny, and Yuuko, Mokona and all the other characters only contribute to that fact. But this movie really shines in the mystery department. Every place in the mansion seems different and especially the plot by the bad guy is very interesting to see. And freaky as well.

The movie ended with a couple of certain cameo’s appearing, who also got a total make-over. For a minute, I was wondering about the sudden change in art-style, but after a bit of research it turned out to be referring to the movie, instead of the series. (Hmm, do I really have to be so mystically about this? Ah well).

Overall: an excellent atmospere, which contributes to an excellent anime. The story’s awesome, the characters are awesome. Watch it.

(PS. During the research part, I took a look at Anime News Network, which suddenly started talking about a third season of Tsubasa Chronicle. I’m very enthusiastic about this. Apparently, this will be another one of those long-running series. Now then, let’s hope it doesn’t drown itself. Although I’m pretty confident about that).

Well, well, what have we here. Another anime show featuring a girl becoming a J-Pop-idol, this time featured by two shinigami in cat- and bunny suit in order to help her. Recipe for failure, isn’t it? Well, guess again. Our main character has namely been blessed with a throat cancer, which immediately takes this anime away from all of the other J-Pop-shows.

The series consists of a massive 52 episodes. The first thirteen episodes feature Mitsuki (our main character) getting introduced to being an idol, making her first single, and doing all sorts of stuff beginning artists do. Even though these episodes may be somewhat inspirational, they also remain boring. It will indeed be difficult to sit through these scenes if you don’t have a lot of patience. The second part consists of a few very good episodes, in between a number of boring ones. Even though these boring episodes may be a pain to watch, the juicy episodes totally make up for it, ending with a satisfying climax to end the first half of the series. The third part is just like the second part, but then with a bit less boringness and a bit more awesomeness. It was also good to see that the creators finally managed to include a bit of humor.

Then the fourth part comes. Believe me. The first five episodes WILL blow you off your chair, and you WILL end up crying. These are without a doubt the saddest scenes ever to be seen in anime. After these fantastic episodes the tension tones down a bit, but the remaining episodes will still be very enjoyable to watch. This goes on, until the final episode, which waltzes you down again with some of the most amazing scenes.

The following paragraph may be a bit of a spoiler, so be a bit careful. The final couple of episodes were indeed incredibly awesome. Why? Because the emphasis didn’t go to the two main characters, but the side-characters finally came into the spotlights and got to shine. The result is magnificent. I guess the creators were also aware that if this was to be handled by the main characters only, than it would have turned out to be incredibly cliché.

Because this is a singing-anime, one would not expect less than an amazing soundtrack. And the series delives on that. Even though I’m not interested in J-Pop, I found myself enjoying every note of the music. At least, most of the times. There’s a minor issue in which the creators make the mistake of using one particular song a bit too much. This results in a bit of repetitiveness, and some annoying moments.

When you start with this anime, you’ll immediately notice that this anime has a slight problem in the Seiyuu (I hope I spelled that right). Mitsuki’s voice just doesn’t sound like one of a twelve-year-old. It’s just too mature. But this problem fades away very fast, as you get used to it pretty quickly.

The characters are another strong point of Full Moon wa Sagashite. Even though you have to get used to them for a while in the beginning, the character development is awesome, and you will be feeling along with every single one of the main characters during their important scenes.

Overall, this is an amazing anime. The only bad part is that you need a lot of patience to get through the boring parts in order to enjoy the juicy stuff.

Okay. Whoever thinks that all 44-year-old anime sucks, should seriously check out Tales of a Streetcorner. That’ll certainly change his or her mind. This is the proof that even some of the first anime are awesome.

This anime tells the story of several animate and inanimate objects: a little girl, a tree, an old street lamp, a curious little mouse, a mischievous moth and a relatively large number of posters on a wall in an alley, which include a violinist, a pianist and a bar girl. Believe it or not, but each of these actor has its own interesting story.

The largest part features an introduction of the “characters”. I put “characters” between quotation marks, because technically, the term would not be right for some of the roles. Although I do have to say that each of them has several characteristics of normal persons. Anyway, we get to learn all of the “characters”, we get to know their problems, personality, daily lives, et cetera. Along with this, we get to see a huge load of different posters, all with people living their daily lives on it. It was good to see that the creators actually put some jokes in this. I’m not going to spoiler all of the different stories here, but do have to say that most of them are really adorable. They’re so simple, yet I think thats the reason they work so well.

At the last ten minutes, or so, this show takes a turn you would so not expect from a show with this nature. It really had me shocked for a while. But after thinking about it a bit more, it does begin to make sense, as this was made no less than ten years after World War II (1962, to be exactly). The ending it features is probably one of the best endings ever. I enjoyed it a LOT.

The graphics are, of course nothing special. But for some reason, I wasn’t really bothered by the old-looking drawings. The music is another strong point in this anime. It’s really the type of sound that sticks to your mind like bubble-gum, and won’t come off for quite a while when left alone. The sound effects also work really well. They’re mostly there for comedy reasons, but they’re really consistant, and contribute to the unique atmosphere of this anime.

Overall, I’d say that if you’re thinking of trying out a very old anime, you should definately check out Tales of a Streetcorner. And even if you’re not, you should.