Category “Summer 2008 Anime Review”

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu – Anime Review

Friday, 5 November, 2010


Review: Yuuto is your usual high-schooler except for the fact he seems to be the private maid for his sister and teacher who seem to do nothing but drink and cause trouble. He would have lost all faith in woman if it wasn’t for Haruka, a model student who is rich, pretty, good at studying, sport, piano and everything she does. By coincidence he finds out she actually is an anime otaku. Now she is afraid that her happy student life will crumble if rumors were to be spread, but surprisingly Yuuto isn’t bothered by it and promises to not tell anyone. This was the day they started to spend more and more time together.

I was pretty hyped when I heard there will be a “guy meets perfect girl with secret anime fetish” anime, but after watching it I have to say this show didn’t quite live up to my expectations. The animation quality is fine and the settings seem interesting, but they pick up too many clichés we’ve seen 1000 times in other anime and manga stories. Further more in this show being an anime fan is presented as something that will make people look at you with more disgust than being a rapist; not quite, but it gets too dramatized. If you don’t expect too much, it’s your usual love comedy and enjoyable to watch, but don’t expect any new groundbreaking concepts, plot constructions or character designs.
Rating: 7/10

Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto: Natsu no Sora

Friday, 5 November, 2010


Review: Sixteen year old Sora grew up along a small country side in Bie, Hokkaido. A town with 4 streets and a bit of magic. Well, the magic is mostly in Sora and her town is about to get a lot bigger. Having just been accepted to the Bureau of Magic’s internship program, Sora is about to see the great big world of Tokyo for the first time. As if the experience itself wasn’t overwhelming she quickly develops a rivalry with her fellow classmates and her new co-intern, a mysteriously cold young boy, already hates her. So much for meeting new friends. But life is about trial and error, you can’t run away from it.

The title translates to “Things That Are Important to a Mage ~Summer Skies” Better known as “Some day’s Dreamers 2” in North America. On the first look the animation quality might seem artistic and astonishing, but if you look closer it isn’t any good at all. All the backgrounds are actually real-life photos poorly edited by a photoshop filter to make it look a little more like animation, and the cars and people they actually animated by themselves are done rather poorly and often do not fit in with the background. It doesn’t live up to its manga in any sense. The story is a bit immature but may turn out complex with Sora’s love interest and many jealous competitors. It’s not a direct sequel and it is completely redesigned.
Rating: 6/10

Sekirei – Anime Review

Friday, 5 November, 2010


Review: Minato is very disappointed to have failed the college entrance exams twice, but his failure life style is about to change as he meets Musubi, a mysterious girl who is suddenly attacked by two other girls using weird lightning powers. Minato decides to help her and finds out that she is a sekirei and part of the sekirei plan, an unknown operation planned out by the MBI Corporation which controls this whole city. There are 108 sekireis and Minato seems to possess the Ashikabi gene to become a master of sekireis and awaken their powers to the fullest. Musubi now is his first sekirei, but being a peaceful guy he cannot understand why sekireis have to fight each other. What will he do?

Sekirei is a harem fanservice comedy action spectacle with a plot that isn’t too shabby for this kind of genre. Being a big fan of the Sekirei manga I had my doubts whether this anime will live up to my expectations. But unlike many other recent manga adaptations, this time they did a pretty decent  job. Animation and script are of a quality adequate for telling the sekirei story. However, those who read the manga will certainly find a few things that are missing or are not presented adequately, to say the least.
Rating: 8/10