Wednesday, 30 November, 2011
Yukiteru is a silent boy who doesn’t take part in any of his classmate’s activities and doesn’t have any friends at all. The only two things that bring him joy in life is writing banal notes about his surroundings into his cell phone diary and talking to his imaginary friend Deus Ex Machina. As it turns out Deus Ex Machina is in fact very real and Yukiteru is drawn into a secret survival game, where each contestant is given a cell phone diary that contains notes about the future, yet each according to different rules. Armed with his Future Diary Yukiteru has a hard time surviving the numerous attacks of the other contestants. To his Luck the contestant Yuno, who had a secret crush on him, uses her strength to protect him and defeat his enemies.
Mirai Nikki is based on a manga of the same name. The good animation quality and the absence of censored blood or violence make it into an adequate adaptation of an original story. Fans of thrilling mystery animes like Death Note, should also give this one a try.
Rating: 9/10
Wednesday, 19 January, 2011
When Ryuuji was a child he saw a girl hatch from a giant egg in the mountains, but told himself that it must have been a dream. 10 years later he meets her again as he saves her from black market dealers. From that day on she becomes attached to him and follows him around everywhere. Later he finds out that she is a young dragon that has supernatural powers. However, there are other dragons as well, who try to take her away from him.
Dragon Crisis is based on a Japanese light novel series of the same name. It’s the story of a boy deserted by his own parents and now forced to act a parent for a dragon girl who can’t even talk yet. The story takes place in contemporary Japan, but with the existence of magic and supernatural powers. Ryuuji seems to be a very skillful user of a certain ability that isn’t further explained at this point. The animation quality and special effects are very well done, especially during fights. All in all it seems to be a decent fantasy novel adaptation with interesting settings. Sadly as the story progresses it becomes exceedingly weak and repetitive.
Rating: 6/10
Friday, 5 November, 2010
Review: Kamijyo Touma lives in the Academy City, a special advanced city cramped with all sorts of schools and mostly populated by students. Through scientific means, students there are able to obtain and train their special superhuman esper-abilities. Touma seems to have no talent whatsoever as an esper, but in a fight he realizes his right hand can nullify any kind of esper attack. It’s a very rare ability, but maybe his hands repelling all good luck is the reason he always gets himself into trouble. Just recently he found a strange girl called Index sleeping on his balcony; and that’s where the real trouble starts.
The animation quality is pretty good and similar to Shakugan no Shana. The story is set in an interesting near future Japan I think. As the plot goes on more and more shocking truths are uncovered and it never leaves you bored. Shakugan no Shana fans and anime fans who like sci-fi and action should definitely give this anime a try.
Rating: 8,5/10
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
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
Friday, 5 November, 2010
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
Friday, 5 November, 2010
Review: Failing in History, high school student Tokidoki has to take remedial classes at a new state-of-the-art virtual reality museum. The museum digitally replicates a very realistic Edo of the Bakumatsu period. As soon as Toki enters, he unnoticingly steps through a portal backwards to a slightly abnormal Edo of the Bakumatsu period. He quickly gets attacked by a bizarre creature called a Nue which takes Toki’s left eye. He is saved by a pretty young girl named Kuchiha, and he now has to deal with his situation in a strange land trying to return home.
A well animated series with decent fighting scenes and a variety of demons. It’s a period piece so you’ll see a lot of shrine maidens, samurai and barkeeps. The main character is a bit frustrating to watch at first but then grows on you. Overall pretty good if you are into Japanese culture and believes.
Rating: 7/10
Friday, 5 November, 2010
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