Animeph

Review: The Shinrabanshou is a hidden technique to take control of all things in nature. The most powerful of all hijutsu; he who controls it will rule Nabari, the secret world of the ninja. It moves timelessly throughout the world from one host to the next at its own choosing. This generation, it lives inside of a 14 years old boy named Miharu Rokujo. His shallow life is now in danger as those who seek to obtain the Shinrabanshou must kill him to get it. It’s not a completely hopeless existence however, as he is accompanied by friends who help to guide and protect him… as good as they can.

Your fairly generic storyline: boy wakes up one day with an ultimate power and must decide to save the world or destroy it. Maybe it’s not quite that tragic. There does seem to be an intricate plot that develops with every new episode, and the action sequences are pretty good. The content is closer to Ninja Scroll than Naruto with plenty of blood and total lack of high school romances. A cool thing about this series is that it takes place in modern day Japan. All of the Ninjas actually have real lives and jobs, while struggling to maintain their traditional obligations.
Rating: 9/10

Review: Duke Togou is the most dangerous man in the world. An accomplished killer for hire that’s known as Golgo 13. Once he takes a job, he finishes it. This series catalogues some of Golgo 13’s greatest ‘hits’ and is set sometime after the Queen Bee OVA. The plot for the most part is non consecutive with a different mission for every episode. The longest running adult Manga in Japan is gritty and action -intensive. This series promises to be the same as the episodes seem plucked almost straight from the pages of the original. They are even done in the same dull, low detail, animation as the movies which adds to this Charles Bronson-esque feel of the hard-lined 1970’s. It has sex, and death, some more sex, followed by even more death.
Rating: 6/10

Review: Maka Albarn and her weapon Soul, are students at Shibusen – a Shinigami Weapon Meister University. The purpose of Shibusen is to train Meisters and Weapons to protect humankind against the Kinshin, demon gods of destruction. When humans go down the wrong path and pursue evil, their souls become possessed by the egg of Kishin. In order to prevent their coming, Maka and Soul hunt these tainted beings. Their goal is to defeat and eat the souls of ninety-nine evil human souls and one witch’s soul in order to evolve into a master weapon fit for a Shinigami. A path that’s not as easy as it sounds.

This supernatural series has fantastic action sequences and unique characters. The storyline is  just as twisted as the artwork. If you’re looking for something dark, new, and exciting, this is for you.
Rating: 7,5/10

Review: This is the continuation of the popular Gunslinger Girl series. Gunslinger Girl is about a certain secret Italian agency that fights terrorism. This agency searches for young girls who are hopelessly close to death, and then through newest medical technology save them, erase their memories, enhance their muscles and condition them to be loyal and affectionate toward the agent handler they are given to. Those girls are trained to become perfect fighting cyborgs for assassinations of terrorists and still look like innocent little girls as the perfect cover-up. As all those girls used to be near death patients their seemingly forgotten past sometimes slips through as it is connected to the handler’s past that isn’t any less sad and complicated. In a perfect way this show portrays how some agents have a hard time seeing those girls, who struggle for praise and acceptance, as objects and how others don’t.

Perfectly performed and animated fights and movements, same as deep political and moral problems that are introduced, make Gunslinger Girl into an outstanding action drama that has Sci-Fi elements and yet seems so real. Sadly the animation quality of this anime is not quite as good and detailed as in the first season, but that is only a small drawback.
Rating: 9/10

Review: Every person has an invisible ring around his neck. This ring will get darker and darker and he will die once the ring has turned black. Ever since birth Kita Michiru was able to see those rings. She is shocked when she finds out that the rings around Akatsuki Chika’s and Tachibana Shito’s neck, two boys from her school, are pitch black and yet they are still alive. When she gets involved with them she learns that they once died and were given another chance by the Zombie Loan project. She decides to help them to repay their debt by killing zombies.

I’m not sure if a zombi horror setting is the right thing for a shoujo story, but at least it’s something new, even if it’s nothing for me.
Rating: 7/10

Review: All members of the house of Kannagi possess the ability to manipulate fire. Kazuma however was never really a talented fire-user. After he was defeted by his cousin Ayano, his father banished him from the family for being a disgrace. Now, 4 years after Kazuma left, he decides to return to his hometown. He has made a contract with the spirit of wind and became a powerful wind-user much stronger than most of the Kannagi family members. At the same time several members of the Kannagi family are killer by wind-magic and as rumours spread Kazuma seems to be the main suspect. Despite having no interest in the Kannagi family anymore it seems Ayano’s and Kazuma’s ways are bound to cross again.

Kaze no Stigma is an action filled anime with a solid story taken from a novel series. The animation quality and fights are well designed; yet the downside is this series abrupt end which leaves you hoping for more.
Rating: 8,5/10

Review: Claymore or silver-eyed witches; that’s how the villagers call those members of the organisation whose profession it is to find and slay Yoma. Those Claymore are all half Yoma half human, very powerful and female, fore only woman are able to survive merging with a Yoma. Yoma are powerful demons who can take human form to remain undetected. However, they can not fool the eyes of a Claymore since they themselves are half Yoma. When there is a suspicion of a Yoma hiding in town, villagers will hire a Claymore to get rid of it. Claire is one of those Claymore, but she is travelling with a young boy who acts as her cook, which is unusual since Claymore usually are feared by humans and live a lonely monotonous life. What this boy yet doesn’t know is that each time Claire fights, she isn’t only fighting with the Yoma in front of her, but also with the Yoma within her. It is the fate of all Claymore to one day lose to the Yoma within at which point they will request their closest fellow Claymore to kill them before they lose their human heart.

Claymore tells the story of the sad, lonely and terrible fate of Claire, a young woman who decided to become a Claymore, and a boy, who decided to accompany her. This promising theme is supported by an adequate atmosphere and animation quality.
Rating: 9/10

Review: Review: El Cazador de la Bruja is about Ellis, a young girl who is on the run. It is said, that she has killed the physicist Heinrich Schneider. Now, many bounty hunters are after her. So is Nadi, a young female bounty hunter. But then an old woman who was looking after Ellis asks Nadi to take care of Ellis, and so Nadi decides to travel with her to reveal her unknown past.

El Cazador reminded me of Noir, while this doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing, because Noir was actually a really good anime. However, it is too early to judge if El Cazador will live up to past similar anime shows like Noir and Madlax, but this author’s stories are known for getting more interesting as their mysteries reveal themselves.
Rating: 8/10