Animeph

The story is set in a world inhabited by humanoid titans that hunt and devour humans without reason or remorse. For more than one hundred years humanity could only survive within a country surrounded by thick concentric walls. One day an especially tall titan called the Colossus mysteriously appears and breaches the outermost wall, Wall Maria, enabling smaller titans to invade. Many lives are lost and the whole area has to be evacuated behind Wall Rose, the middle wall. Young Eren Yeager and his adopted sister Mikasa Ackerman lose their mother on that day and join the military to pursue their revenge on the titans.

Attack on Titan is arguably the best anime of 2013. The tense and hopeless situation of the people living in this ruthless world portrays an astonishing dark atmosphere. As even the military is no match for the titans, even many main characters die after being introduced, which makes for an unpredictable story. As it unfolds, many mysteries regarding the titans, the walls and this world are revealed and keep viewers interested. Action-filled, dark and bloody animes with solid plots tend to be popular especially among international anime fans. Still, Attack on Titan is not only successful because it fits perfectly into this slot, but also because it does so well in animation and its implementation. Therefore I think this anime deserves its hype.
Rating: 10/10

On Sunday, god forsook the world. It happened 15 years ago and since then children stopped being born and humans stopped dying. God sent to this world one final miracle: the gravekeepers. Only burials by gravekeepers can grant a peaceful slumber for the restless dead. In this world 12 year old Ai-chan leads a peaceful life in a small rural village. She has taken over the role of gravekeeper from her deceased mother. Her small world is shaken when a wondering man who calls himself Hampnie Hambart, the man-eating toy, comes to her village and slaughters everyone. From there on her journey beginns.

Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi tells a very unique and original story. It is the story of bright and innocent Ai-chan, who journeys a dark and lonely word in a quest to “save the world”. It is especially this innocence and optimism that is a beacon of hope to the troubled people she meets and helps along the way. As she visits different places, the viewer slowly gets to know more about this interesting world and the hardships of its people. Together with beautiful animations, it creates a breathtaking atmosphere. However, contrary to early impressions many get from the first episode, this anime’s focus is not on fighting and action within a zombie apocalypse. This caused disappointment for many viewers. I however, am quite pleased with the way this anime unfolds and its original take to an end-time story.
Rating: 9/10

Upon waking up, the first thing Otonashi sees aside of this beautiful night sky is Yuri, who is aiming at a girl they call Tenshi (Angel) with a big automatic gun. He has no recollection of who he is or how he got there. The world he finds himself in does not reach further than the school grounds and is inhabited by 3 kinds of people: First NPCs, who are soulless students and only appear to have normal behaviour; second the students, who teamed up to build the Afterlife Battlefront led by Yuri; and third Tenshi, who they are desperately fighting against. After Otonashi joins up with the Afterlife Battlefront he learns that in this world no one seems to age or die and that this world seems to be some kind of afterlife limbo. Everyone has deep regrets about their previous lives they don’t really want to talk about, projecting their hate and bitterness onto God and Thenshi. Yet, Otonashi is the only one who still doesn’t remember anything. Unlike the other members of the Afterlife Battlefront, he asks questions and does not simply drown his regrets in an everlasting battle against this mysterious Tenshi girl, dulling their pain and forgetting that the one they really hate are they themselves and their helplessness.

Angel Beats is an original story and arguably one of the best and most successful anime of 2010. What seems like a weird scenario at first, quickly turns into an emotional roller-coaster as you learn about the tragic pasts of the main characters. These authentic depictions of the problems and hardships of contemporary teenagers let the viewer relate to them on a level very few other anime can compete with. In between there is a lot of humor and mystery, which fits in just perfectly. Music, opening and ending are equally as beautiful rounding up an already perfect anime. Many complain that 13 episodes are not enough and wish for more episodes, while I think it is just fine the way it ended. It’s one of those shows able to move viewers to tears and will not disappoint.
Rating: 10/10

Jin-tan lives the life of a hikikomori, dropping out of high school and hardly ever leaving his house. Yet, when he was younger he was quite the lively and outgoing boy. That was untill the day Menma died right after he had a argument with her caused by his childish shyness. Today he has lost touch with his friends and pretty much everyone else besides Menma, who is still constantly with him as what he believes to be an imaginary product of his guilty conscience. However, there seems to be something more to his Menma. Maybe, if he reunites with his old friends and finds out about her last wish, they can help Menma move on and free themselves from this guilty weight they are still carrying with them.

Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai is the story about how a single tragic death can change the life of children forever. While everyone took a different path in life, they all still remember Menma and have their own guilty secrets and ways to live with them. As the story unfolds, we find out more about Menma and everyone of the old clique. While this show with its slightly above average animation quality and touching music is pretty entertaining to watch, I believe the real worth of this series will be decided by the quality of its finale.
Rating: 8,5/10

Since Makoto-kun’s parents are away on a business trip, he moves in with his aunt to a new home and a new school. There he meets his cousin Erio, who to his astonishment lives her life with her upper body wrapped tight into a futon mattress. From his aunt and his new friends at school he finds out Erio has been missing for half a year and has no memories of what happened during that time. After that incident she started behaving weirdly and now believes herself to be an alien visitor. Makoto takes it upon himself to help her regain her senses and ensure her way back into society.

The Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko anime is based on a light novel series. To me it seems this anime’s main appeal comes from Erio’s cute helplessness and moe behaviour. Yet I find it hard to categorize it: On the one hand Makoto’s quest to reveal Erio’s past and help her out of her misery introduces serious and dramatic elements to the show; on the other hand his interaction with the numerous female characters is quite similar to usual lighthearted harem/comedy shows. But as all characters are amazingly appealing and the animation quality is above average and very detailed, I can tell this anime will be very successful within the community (and it deserves to be).
Rating: 9/10

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: Years ago on a stormy night, when Yuki still was a little girl, she was attacked by a vampire. However, she was saved by Kaname, who is a rare pureblood noble vampire. She doesn’t have any memories of her life before that fateful day and was adopted by the headmaster of Cross Academy. She now attends this school as a day-class student. This school also has a night-class which consists only of beautiful and talented students. Only Yuki, her adopted brother Zero and the headmaster know that everyone in the night-class actually are vampires, trying to conform to human society. Kaname also attends this class and as a pureblood he tries to keep everyone civilized. However, even he seems to have certain secrets. And what are the secrets behind Yuki’s and Zero’s pasts?

Vampire Knight is based on a popular manga with astonishing artwork. The anime show’s animation quality doesn’t quite live up to that, but at least it by far isn’t as much of a let-down as Special A. It’s a shoujo story about the love triangle between Yuki, Zero and Kaname, which gets more complicated by the fact that they are both vampires. But even plot-wise this show doesn’t fall short with all its mysteries and tragedies that unfold along the way. Even those who do not like shoujo anime should give this show a try.
Rating: 8,5/10

Review: After his mother died Hirose Takuma moved away with his father to live in a small rural town. For an unknown reason at some point of his childhood he lost his eye sight. That’s why the classmates of his new school help him out a lot. On the other hand there’s Kohinata, an outsider girl, who is bullied and beaten by her classmates and lives alone outside of this town. Hirose cannot understand this unreasonable behavior of those people who treat him so kindly and he wants to help her. Unfortunately as an outsider he doesn’t understand this towns past and the relationships between those people. Suddenly on his second day living in this town his eye sight returns and he can see again. Will he be able to help Kohinata and uncover this town’s history and secrets?
Rating: 5/10