Pandora Hearts Plot:

Oz Vessalius, heir to one of the duke houses, has just turned fifteen. His life is rich and carefree, darkened only by the constant absence of his father. At his coming-of-age ceremony, however, everything changes. For no reason that he can discern, he's cast into the prison known as the "Abyss", only to be saved by a "chain" known as Alice, the bloodstained black rabbit. Why was he cast into Abyss, how does Alice factor into it all, and what does the organization known as "Pandora" want with him...

Pandora Hearts review:

What gives people the strength to go on after they have fallen? What makes them strive for the perspective of a bright future? Seeking to answer those questions, “Pandora Hearts” gives the impression of a charming, unique series that differs from its counterparts through adapting a popular scheme, but not entirely living off it. Why, then, is it nothing amazing in particular?

STORY (7)
Good beginning. This series starts with really nicely developed foundations. It seems very promising; we get to know Oz Vessalius, your typical young hero-wannabe, but as soon as Alice shows up, things start getting interesting. Oz ends up in the twisted realm of “Abyss”, only to be saved by the mad rabbit, however nothing comes free of charge. And nothing is the same when he goes back to his world.

And here I ask: when and why did it go downhill? What happened to the fascinating, dark mood this show kept in the beginning? When did it become a cliché-filled shônen adventure with hardly any development overall? I had high hopes for the series and kept watching, expecting it to, I don’t know, improve? It does, actually, get better right in the middle, where we finally receive some character development, the story progresses and most importantly – some of the most important questions are answered. But then it worsens yet again. The rest feels forced and the series stops at such a moment that it leaves you with huge disappointment. Why is it over so suddenly? It desperately calls for a continuation, it does.

Setting, though, is where the series excels. True, this whole “Alice in Wonderland”-hype might be getting a tad annoying, however “Pandora Hearts” adapts the theme perfectly. It is a warped world, nevertheless it doesn’t feel that sickly abstract. The “Chains” are yet another embodiment of human fears – and so is the “Abyss” itself. It doesn’t feel like the kind of place you would want to end up in, precisely. Watching a fantasy series set in such scenery feels just refreshing. The references to the original “Alice” are subtle and often misleading, which is also accomplished very well.

ART (7)
Something is missing. The characters look wonderfully colourful and detailed at first, the surroundings are promising, but then the quality becomes an issue. With each episode, more and more flaws can be noticed. Even fight scenes tend to become dull, since those often follow the pattern of slashing, cutting, slashing and a little bit more of slashing. The worst thing is, though, how the vividness and energy of characters is lost through a dull palette. Who, in the world, robbed those poor guys of their colours, making them look just boring? What appears pretty – the hair does, oh, and Sharon’s dresses. Good job, but that’s it. Why does Oz look even more boring than he actually is, I ask? The series has a completely washed-out look which pains me a lot, since I was really looking forward to enjoying the graphics. (Apparently, the quality in the few special episodes outruns the TV animation a lot. Too bad it was rushed, too bad.)

SOUND (9)
Yuki Kajiura does an outstanding job capturing the magic of the setting in “Pandora Hearts”. The music itself is simply excellent and stands out in the series’ overall look. It is charming, at other times has a mysterious tone to it, or dramatic, fitting well with what is going on the screen. Never exaggerated. Although the score might not appear anything exceptional in the beginning, the viewer soon begins to realise that it without it, the Victorian atmosphere couldn’t be captured as good. The soundtrack is equally pleasant to the ear while not watching the show, too.

Voice-acting is quite well-done. Junko Minagawa does a good job playing the part of Oz, Ayako Kawasumi is a fine Alice, and Ishida Akira excels as always in his role (even though the character himself is not very likable). The seiyû operate their voices perfectly, creating very emotionally-convincing cast and pretty much making up for the flaws of the characters themselves. Here, I can’t complain.
The opening and ending sequences are nothing special in this case. Cute songs go along with the animation (the first ending, in particular, is full of annoying spoilers, so watch out), however they are not notable enough to make one feel like spending that additional time watching both OP and ED. They simply don’t get in the way.

CHARACTER (5)
This is exactly where the series’ biggest weakness lies – its character cast which is particularly weak, boring and cliché. Starting from the main character, aforementioned Oz, it becomes extremely tiresome and the characters don’t develop much. Oz is a good definition of a typical shônen main lead. He is brave, adventurous, protective of his friends and clumsy when it comes to love. He also has family issues to make him more of a dramatic rebel, and a whiner for a side-kick. Oz’s actions throughout the series are easily predictable and more than often he falls into banal traumas, being the kind of person who wants to save the day, become a hero and protect his princess. Sorry, this might be going well with the story, but as a character Oz is a failure.

Gilbert is, fortunately, a different story. He changes a lot – his personality becomes completely unlike, save for a few specific features that are necessary for some progress in the story (no, his loyalty to Oz is NOT a plot device for fangirl issues). Contrary to the first male lead, he keeps calm and generally stays rather dependable, when it comes to satisfying the fans. His actions certainly aren’t very surprising, as it all revolves around Oz anyway; but at least he did not make me want to murder someone whenever he appeared on the screen. Alas, one more thing must be brought up here as well, namely – Gilbert being a magnet for fans. No-one can deny his typically attractive traits (cold and introverted chain-smoker, sorry), but hey, haven’t I already said something about stereotypes in this series?

The creation of Alice turns out to be a disappointment after a few episodes. She starts off as a madwoman, a crazy sadist who cares little about who or what she might destroy while immersing herself in bloody, vicious fights. But Alice is a tsundere character – and being a genuine tsundere in “Pandora Hearts”, she can’t possibly stay this way throughout the series. An attractive, moody glutton - which she ends as – obviously arouses the interest of others, and soon the relationship between her and Oz becomes a major problem in the story. Yes. Alice, the wild Chain who only has any regard for herself, is a crying little girl inside. I can’t deny the charm of tsundere characters, but this just doesn’t seem right.

No other character really deserves any special words of praise here, sadly. There’s the hyped “Mad Hatter” Break, a particularly annoying it’s-a-secret type of pretty boy; a cast of supposedly evil manifestations of malevolence; and others who exist merely for the purpose of creating a background for the main leads. There are also Sharon and Jack who have the potential to make great characters, but are mostly neglected or idealised; there is a representative of the rare male tsundere specimen, Elliot. And there’s Vincent who is much creepier than he would normally be supposed to. They all might seem colourful at first, however inside they are not as interesting as they appear.

ENJOYMENT (7)
To be honest, this series is quite boring. All the big talk about how different and remarkable it is, and what I see is an average fantasy adventure with mediocre art and particularly annoying character cast. But it has potential – which had been wasted, unfortunately. If only the series developed in a different manner, maybe I would have been able to enjoy it more. For now, I can’t say anything special about it. Felt as if I was rewatching something else, just another episode of already known series, and it really does not bring much into the genre. It certainly isn’t bad, not at all, yet it’s still nothing extraordinary.

OVERALL (7)
Having complained a lot about the flaws in “Pandora Hearts”, I still can’t criticise the series as a whole. It has its drawbacks, just like any other show, and pluses; most notably the incredible atmosphere of a well-designed, interesting world. The one thing I simply don’t understand is how overrated it is becoming – all because of the fuss made over new adaptations of “Alice in Wonderland” which are now apparently inspiring people all over the world, while years ago it was still an eerie fairytale, more of a madman’s dream. The new versions, however, go well with the tastes of nowadays’ viewers who know what they want to see, but expect the shows to demonstrate a certain level of creativity and innovation as well. It kills those shows. “Pandora Hearts” is such a series with much power and weak realisation - a great concept trapped in a mediocre, cliché-filled box.

Blade of the Immortal Plot:

Manji is an amoral swordsman, who has been cursed with eternal life. He has grown tired of living with all the death he has created. He has no skills other then those of killing, thus he forms a plan to regain his mortality: he shall kill one hundred evil men for each good one he has killed. The old witch who afflicted Manji with immortality agrees to Manji's proposition and Manji is set on his path to kill one thousand evil men. On his journey he meets a young girl, Rin, who has her own vengeance to seek against the sword school whose members slaughtered Rin's family. Rin and Manji journey together, each hoping to find some kind of peace. In their way are many varied enemies. Rin and Manji are almost constantly under attack and must learn to live their lives, avoiding being consumed by revenge.

Blade of the Immortal review:

I will start by saying that, having read the manga, I was very excited when I heard that there was going to be an anime adaptation, and I had high hopes/expectations for it. It is possible that my review will be biased in that regard. That being said, I'll begin my review.

Art: The art was, in my opinion, not bad. The character designs were true to the manga, I didn't notice any particularly huge problems with inappropriate scenery or just general sloppiness. However, this anime was based on a very violent, sword-fight laden manga, but there were few fights scenes to get overly excited about. The fight scenes that were shown were brief and unsatisfying. For example, if Manji is fighting someone, the beginning of the fight will be shown, then they'll either switch to another character who is watching the battle or even to someone completed unrelated to the current battle. Then suddenly, oh! there's the end of the battle. It was completely unsatisfying. The gore was toned down tenfold.

Sound: This was by far the worst part of the anime. If you like the opening theme, you'll love the sound. But whoever sings this song, her voice just grinds the gears in my head. And you'll hear her pipe up at the most random and inappropriate times. Sad? You'll hear her. Happy? Sounds the same as sad.

Character: Overall character development, I'd say was average. Despite reading the manga, I didn't leave this show feeling super connected to any of the characters. There was room for improvement, but it really could have been worse too. I noticed a couple moments that were glaringly out of character from the manga, but I tried to give some leeway.

Enjoyment: It was slow. There were times when I could have easily fast-forwarded several parts and not have missed any plot. One would think that by the twelfth episode, the penultimate episode, some sense of suspense would be building, or at least some problem that could feasibly end the series and/or set up a second season. Nooooope. Episode twelve left me with little desire to see the last episode. The slowness combined with the hideously poor sound and mediocre characters left me with little satisfaction at the end of this series.

Overall: If you haven't read the manga, you may enjoy this series. It is my opinion that if you were a fan of the manga, you should avoid this entirely. Seriously, you won't laugh at how bad it is--it'll just make you sad. It made me sad. So very sad.

Toradora Plot:



Alternative Titles
English: Toradora!
Synonyms: Tiger X Dragon
Japanese: とらドラ！

Information
Type: TV
Episodes: 25
Status: Finished Airing
Aired: Oct 1, 2008 to Mar 25, 2009
Producers: J.C. Staff, Genco, NIS America, Inc.
Genres: Comedy, Romance, School, Slice of Life
Duration: 24 min. per episode
Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older



Toradora Review

Animation: 8/10

Though technically not the greatest, it's J.C. Staff (Shakugan no Shana, Zero no Tsukaima) after all, animation of Toradora! possesses undeniable charm, similar to that of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. Some facial deformation and awkward movements during "action" scenes only add up to the style and likability of the show, though I must admit I didn't particularly like how hair moved in big chunks as opposed, to well, how hair really moves. Anyway, the most important part for the genre - character designs are cute and adorable, furthermore they really work well with the personalities of the characters and even the plot of the show. I mean, the show would have lost half of its novelty if Taiga had looked different than she does now, right? Anyway, though not as finely detailed as in most modern anime, all characters have their own style and "moe" qualities which make this show even better to watch. Backgrounds, the same way as characters, don't particularly exhibit a high level of detail, but work nonetheless. Slightly grainy color palette makes the show look realistic and it's good since it really happens in a reasonably realistic world for a change. Fluidity is lacking and character movement is slightly choppy when compared to today's standards, but as I have mentioned before, for some reason, it doesn't disturb, it just adds to the overall charm anyway. Perfection is boring and imperfections are attractive because there are times when they look better than usual, thus making them more memorable. Also, unlike most of the shows which run out of budget near the end, Toradora! actually improves its animations in last episodes.

Sound: 7/10

Toradora! has one of the best OP/ED combinations I have ever seen in anime before. First OP Pre-Parade by the three main female seiyuu of the show is an awesome upbeat piece of music which wonderfully blends with the comedic and cute atmosphere of the first half of the show. It's funny how the first frame of the first OP is the only scene in the whole show which looks relatively like fanservice. However, the way it is carried out feels more like a satyric attempt to make fun out of erotic innuendos so popular in the genre, I mean, the look in her eyes is deadly. Anyway, the OP not only contributes to the atmosphere, it also gives some depth to characters, whose actions, while perfectly timed with the music, actually reveal their personality traits rather than useless and random imaginary found in virtually all anime around. First ED Vanilla Salt by Horie Yui is also a pretty good song perfect for the atmosphere of the show, though on the contrary to the first OP I didn't listen to it for hundreds of times, that Pre-Parade is damn addicting. Anyway, once the anime finally jumps into its serious stage new OP and ED are introduced, and they are as good as the ones before, also more fitting since they cut down on upbeat nature, but never go as down as to sound gloomy or emo-like. Anyway, both the second OP silky heart by Horie Yui and the second ED Orange by the three main seiyuu of the show are good pieces of music to listen to. Now that I think about it, they are not that special as stand alone, only when combined with the show they give off that great feeling, as even the lyrics fit. Anyway, it only proves that making seiyuu sing for their own shows makes it all better because they know what they are singing about by heart.

Background music doesn't exceed as OPs/EDs do, but is still satisfactory to listen to. It's actually not the quality of compositions by Hashimoto Yukari, but their timing what makes them so acoustically pleasing. Most of the music disperses into the background the moment it ends playing, but there are some scenes when some above average music pieces are timed so well they work perfectly with both character voices and their actions, giving the scene an epic feel. I remember seeing many such scenes in Gundam Seed which wouldn't feel half as epic without their perfectly timed music. Anyway, I think you'll easily notice what I am talking about, as though I wouldn't listen to the OST, I would definitely like (and actually did) to re-listen to some scenes again. BGM does not shock, but is satisfying nonetheless.

Finally voice-work in Toradora is as top-notch as it gets. Tsundere master Kugimiya Rie (Shakugan no Shana as Shana, Hayate no Gotoku as Nagi) yet again offers a magnificent performance as Taiga, sounding considerably different from her other roles this time around. I didn't know she could produce such low-pitched voice and growl. Kushieda Minori is voiced by Horie Yui (Love Hina as Narusegawa, School Rumble as Sawachika Eri) and Kawashima Ami has the voice of Kitamura Eri (Chaos;Head as Sakihata Rimi, Seto no Hanayome as Shinarui Akeno). Needless to say that both veterans sound great. This show combines some of the best female seiyuu in the anime industry and I must say it works well in its favor. You can even hear Tanaka Rie in the background.


Story: 8/10

Though the show takes place in the real world, which I usually find boring, it turns its setting into one of its main strengths. The setup is quite simple - main character and heroine meet up by chance, have some comedic and hilarious misunderstandings and finally stick up together to help each other with their love, since both of them are best friends of the other's love interest. I must say I wasn't particularly amazed by the first episode, indeed I noticed the good pace and great potential outright, but I expected it to fall apart once the fanservice kicked in... but it never did. Nor did it ever fall apart. To the contrary, the further the show goes, the better in becomes. For that I must commend great director of this show since he made an almost revolutionary step and decided to ignore all the factors which make romantic comedies turn into crap. He never did any "anime original" fillers, he never did any fanservice, he never used idiotic deus-ex machina and he managed to turn each second of every episode into a meaningful tribute to the anime's plot. Though it's not completely clear at the beginning, all the episodes in the first, more light-hearted half of the show, are meant to give depth and develop characters all the while guiding them to the high quality drama which awaits them near the end. There is not a boring moment in the show, when the cute tsundere romance feeling is about to burn out you get a good joke and once the high-spirits from comedy run out you get some important drama to spice things up. The show keeps great balance between healthy angst and comedy, benefiting from them both. Even when the serious side kicks in, the show doesn't rely on blind romantic fanservice, but actually builds up mature and realistic relationships suiting the anime's real world setting.

What's even better is that the plot becomes better with every episode and never degrades. By having spent couple of years watching anime I have noticed that most of the shows tend to have good beginnings and fucked-up endings, especially in the genre Toradora! belongs to. It's truly a miracle that Toradora!'s conclusive ending is not only better than its beginning, it also has parallels with it, thus proving that the show was planned out solid before it even started airing, unlike most of the random crap around. Anyway, I must say Toradora! starts getting epic little by little since kicking into the second half and the last five or so episodes are pure brilliance. All the build-up and character depth given in the beginning finally blows up and you get the chance to finally taste a ripe fruit of romance so rare in anime media. Not only it's the best harem/romantic comedy around, it's one of the best romance shows in anime industry as well. Though it doesn't offer enough novelty to remain classic among people forever, I will never forget Toradora! as the best crafted tribute to romantic comedies ever.

Characters: 9/10

Obviously, most of Toradora's quality comes from its characters. The main lead, Takasu Ryuuji, though a normal high school student living a relatively normal life (that would be an insult to the genre if he wasn't anyway), is much more interesting and nowhere near as generic as I have originally thought. Though his obsession with cleaning and assorting stuff is not the most innovative, his stubborn feelings for Kushieda and surprisingly strong spine makes him rise above most of the generic leads in the genre. His "evil" eyes also add some needed spice to the comedy. He is still a perfectly normal human being, nonetheless, he is interesting, mostly due to the fact that most of his personality traits completely contrast with Taiga's thus creating a really entertaining relationship.

Anyway, the real star of the show is Aisaka Taiga, who is also known as Tenori Taiga (palmtop tiger). She is there on a fine line between man and a beast, as I wouldn't be surprised if she would beat someone to death one day. I mean, she doesn't even mind raiding classrooms and hitting other girls with fists to let the steam off. I must say her existence itself is a really heavy blow to the whole tried and true tsundere stereotype industry. Hell, is she even a tsundere? Now that I think about it, tsundere's defining trait is that she masks embarrassment with violence and is never honest, that doesn't add up to Taiga, because she is almost always honest. Actually Taiga is naturally violent and stubborn, she hits people because she wants to, not because she is embarrassed about something. Furthermore, she rarely acts violent in regard to those she loves, she'd rather go all red and be unable to piece a sentence together. Her relationship with Kushieda also shows that she is completely honest concerning feelings to people she likes or doesn't. Then again, if you would have to describe her personality, tsundere is probably the closest word to it. Either way, Taiga is an awesome character who literally shatters all stereotypes (and their skulls) and becomes one of the best leading heroines in romantic comedy genre and anime industry as a whole. I'm buying her figure, because there is definitely no other character like her elsewhere and if there ever will be, it will be guys copying THIS show.

There are only three other characters who are in the center of attention, but as I say, quality beats quantity any day. Other heroines include Kushieda Minori who usually behaves like a wacky entity from another planet or something, doing incomprehensible things, walking with "bald" wig sometimes and generally appearing very hyperactive and high-spirited (or just insane if you are a doctor). Obviously, that wouldn't account for the awesome character she is, hence all that is just a facade to mask her true feelings which are hard to perceive even for the most experienced of viewers. The other heroine in question is Kawashima Ami who is a two-faced narcissistic model appearing innocent and "clumsy" to the masses and majority of people around her. Her acting cracks up once Taiga decides to beat the hell out of her, thus revealing a surprisingly mature and experienced character who, though standing at sidelines, is the only one who perceives the situation in a crystal like view and is the wisest of the bunch. Her meaningful yet ambiguous one-liners is one of the highlights of the show. Finally, the third one is Kitamura Yuusaku who is Taiga's love interest and, again, isn't really honest to others. Despite appearing cheerful and wacky all the time he never really tells anyone his inner feelings and usually plays stupid, even though he realizes the complex relationships going around him. His worth both as a comedic relief and plot device exceeds the complexity of his personality, but he is, as all the characters in this show, interesting and deep.

All characters in this show, even the background ones, are very realistic and resemble real world human beings very much in the sense that they are rarely honest to others or even themselves. Despite posing as exaggerated anime stereotypes, all of them are very realistic inside. Even miscellaneous things, like Ami's tendency to sit in a short gap between two vending machines, give characters great depth and brings them even closer to full fleshed human beings. I wonder if it is the influence of Honey & Clover since I have never seen such complex characters in other romantic comedies.

Value and Enjoyment 8.5/10

This series was highly regarded and anticipated, and rightly so: it's an excellent investment of time (and money, if you buy the DVDs). When I've had a chance to view the discs, I will comment on their value, but the series is well worth your time, and is recommended without qualification. I enjoyed the series enough to wish someone would put together another season with the same characters, and give them a chance to do some soap-opera dramatic turns. 8 points for value, and 9 for enjoyment.

Hunter x Hunter Plot:

Gon's father, long believed to be dead, is still alive and was once one of the greatest Hunters in existence. Gon believes he will be able to meet his father once he himself becomes a Hunter. However, before he can become one, he has to pass the Hunter Exam first, an exam made of numerous tasks and dangerous trials. Persevering and refusing to give up, Gon manages to reach the Hunter Exam, all the while keeping his innocent attitude. Throughout many of the tasks and trials of the Hunter Exam, Gon manages to make many unique friends. Kurapica, a sole survivor of his clan seeking revenge, Leorio, who wants to become a doctor, and Killua, a member of an infamous assassin family, all eventually join up with Gon in hopes of passing the exam together. Each of them have their own reasons for taking the exam, but will they manage to pass it alive? It will be no easy task, as the tasks and trials in the exam are not easy. Aside from worrying about dying from the exam itself, Gon and his friends also have to watch out for killers participating in the exam...

Alternative Titles
Japanese: ハンターxハンター

Information
Type: TV
Episodes: 62
Status: Finished Airing
Aired: Oct 16, 1999 to Mar 31, 2001
Producers: TV Tokyo, Nippon Animation, Viz Media
Genres: Action, Adventure, Shounen, Super Power
Duration: 23 min. per episode
Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older

Review


Alright, all 10's for this one...then again...maybe not. But with animation being the only non perfect factor in this anime, it dosn't really matter.
This is the best combination of adventure-action-comedy I have ever seen. At first it seemed a little boring, but it was because I had no idea that the story would evolve into something so interesting and intense. It didn't take long until I became really rapturous about this anime. I seriously recommend getting all the episodes and then make a "marathon", that way you won't get the feeling of anxiety to see the next episodes that you havn't yet downloaded...believe me, that feeling is almost unbearable.
Predictable? Hunter X Hunter? In my opinion it's on the contrary, it's unpredictable. At least all my auguries went completely off the track, or maybe I'm just dumb, or maybe I was blinded by the extremely advanced-simple storyline of this anime. Yes, this anime is so simple and straighforward, yet really advanced and full of twists and they are all combined so naturally which makes HXH very unique.

About the animation part, I must confess that I have seen many animes that are better in animation, but I did consider the fact that this anime is from the year 1997 and that I really loved the drawing style of the characters, but even that had its own flaws. Not that any of the characters was badly drawn but some were kinda silly and really weird. The silly faces(in the comedy part I mean) on the other hand were really hilarious, especially Killuas transformation into a cat(don't worry, he dosn't really tranform into a cat, watch and you'll find out what I mean ).

The sound...it's perfect, the first opening really gets to your head, soon, without even noticing it, you may be humming the melody while taking a walk. The second opening...it gave me the chills, not that it was scary, it was just so good. Dark, slow and mysterious, just like bman already said, it puts you just into the right mood for the last episodes starting from 49. The endings, again I agree with bman, I didn't pay much attention to them, hell, I don't even remember them very clearly even though I just watched nearly all the episodes today, but I do remember the second ending which was the best. The background music perfectly synchronized with the different situations in the story and with the action, it's so good that you don't listen to it as a background music but as something obvious that really should be heard in that certain moment of the story.

Characters...there are so many of them, and they are so different, sometimes you even have trouble figuring out who the main character is. In this series however, the main character still remains Gon. There really aren't evil-taking-over-the-world characters, but some are prett bad. Not Hisoka though, that guy is very funny...and a little weird
Anyway, most of the characters backgrounds and intentions will be explained so nothing will remain in shadows, unless you didn't pay attention.
Explanations are also the strong point of the story. Everything will be expounded, how some certain things work, what do certain things mean etc. That makes Hunter X Hunter one of the most logical animes out there, I'm not saying that it dosn't have any unlogical stuff, actually it has a lot of them. But even the unlogical things become logical...in a certain way...am I making any sense here?
Probably not, so it's best if you check HXH out yourself, I assure that you won't regret it

Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora Plot:

In a winter when he was in the second grade of the high school, Yuuichi was hospitalized because of hepatitis. Soon, he became so good as to be scolded by the nurse for going out of the hospital. One day, he happened to meet Rika, a girl of his age, in the next building. He was fascinated by her beauty, but she was very selfish girl. Although she led him by the nose, he began to be attracted by her. However, when Rika told him about her illness, he knew why she acted so selfish; she couldn't live long.

Alternative Titles
English: Looking up at the Half-Moon
Synonyms: Hantsuki
Japanese: 半分の月がのぼる空

Information
Type: TV
Episodes: 6
Status: Finished Airing
Aired: Jan 13, 2006 to Feb 24, 2006
Producers: Group TAC, Pony Canyon
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Duration: 24 min. per episode
Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older


Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora review

Story 8/10
Yuichi is a guy that's hospitalised when a girl named Rika arrives to the hospital. She as a seriously weak heart and she doesn't have much time to live if she don't gets a surgery really soon. The nurse that take care of Yuichi asked him to visit Rika and so he did. Yuichi and Rika became good friends and one night Rika tells Yuichi that she want to get to the top of a nearby mountain. Yuichi takes her there and at the top, he suddenly faints...

The very next day he wakes up at the hospital and he's back at square one.

And then, the real story begins.


Characters 9/10
Interest: Who can't help but be interested in Rika? She may be a little selfish, but she's absolutely charming. Yuuchi is one of the classical good guys, someone that we all wish we were a little more like. The secondary characters are all interesting as well - Dr. Natsume has his inner demons and Nurse Akiko has a rather interesting personality. Most of the other characters are so minor, they are pretty much stereotypical filler, but that is their purpose in the show. Hantsuki is primarily about Yuuchi and Rika, and it does an excellent job of making you interested in them.

Growth: Oh hell yes. Both Yuuchi and Rika. It's impossible to talk about it without giving away the crux of the plot, but...let me just say that neither one of them are unchanged by the time the credits roll. Even Dr. Natsume has changed a little by the end.



Animation 10/10
Character Design: The characters in Hantsuki are drawn very, very well. All are proportional, all are different, except there's a pronounced similarity between Yuuchi and Dr. Natsume - but I think that's deliberate. The animation and movement is very smooth.

Op/Ed: Very high quality. There's just a touch of softness to both opening and ending sequence that makes them both a little dreamlike. Some people may not like that style; I love it.

Artwork: Great artwork. Backgrounds are usually fairly simple, since the majority of the show takes place in a hospital. There are very very few still shots or reused sequences, possibly none. The only complaint is that maybe it's a little too simple, but the focus of the show is on the story, not the artwork.



Sound 10/10
Op/Ed: The opening and ending music are two of the best songs I have ever heard for an anime series. Perhaps even THE best. The opening is paced just right for the series, and the ending flows so perfectly with the sequence, it brings tears to my eyes.

Music: There's a few points where instrumental music comes out and really adds to the scenes, especially in the final episode. Otherwise, the music is unobtrusive.

Voices: I have to say that the voice acting was solid. Yuuchi has a good voice for a 17 year old who hasn't really completely grown up yet, and Rika has just the right inflection for her personality: selfish, teasing, reckless, caring. The voices for the secondary characters are fitting as well.


Conclusion: I feel that Hantsuki would be an excellent gateway series to watch with someone new to anime - it highlights a lot of the very best points of the genre without going too overboard with any. I cannot recommend this series enough. A tiny bit more polish, a little longer, and it would have gotten a perfect score from me. I <3 hantsuki.="hantsuki." span="span">

Ef - A tale of melodies Plot:

The anime once again tells two stories.

The first story takes place in the past. Himura Yuu meets a girl, Amamiya Yuuko who seems to know him, but he doesn't know her. However, he soon remembers that she was a girl whom he knew from long ago. Yuuko then tells him something which he never knew. He was her first love since then, and her first love has not ended yet.

The second story takes place in the present, just after the events of Ef - A Tale of Memories.. Kuze Shuuichi meets the cousin of Asou Renji, Hayama Mizuki and spends a lot of time with her. Unknown to Mizuki, Kuze had contracted a fatal illness and has little time left to live. Kuze had decided to break all romantic ties, but things go bad when Mizuki tells him that she loves him.

Alternative Titles
English: ef - a tale of melodies
Synonyms: ef - a tale of memories second season
Japanese: エフ ア テイル オブ メロディーズ

Information
Type: TV
Episodes: 12
Status: Finished Airing
Aired: Oct 6, 2008 to Dec 22, 2008
Producers: Shaft
Genres: Mystery, Drama, Romance, Seinen
Duration: 24 min. per episode
Rating: R - 17+ (violence & profanity)

Ef - A tale of melodies review

Story 10/10
For a drama/romance I was surprised how well they linked the first and second season. Really it left me quite speechless but I think this was because the actual novel was written well and meant for it to be connected in this way. However the case the plot flows quite well and coherently. I think the only downside of both seasons was that every story always ended happy. They would always led up to very unfortunate and painful events but somehow make it happy again. I guess in a sense it was also the magic of the story, but if I had to compare this to real life I couldn't kid myself and think that any of this would actually happen.



Art 10/10
The art of this series is so rich and detailed, I would expect nothing less from the "ef" series, in fact just watching the opening scene with the paper airplane gliding along the sunset sky, is truly appealing for the eyes, as is the entire series. The character design (while nothing particularly new) is well distinct. I especially liked the eyes of the characters. The water effects that come from the ocean will seem to just glide across your screen so fluently. And the character animation and backgrounds are truly superb!


Characters 9/10
I really liked each and everyone of the characters, nobody ever came off as annoying, or would make you feel that they tossed one in just for the sake of doing so. I was especially captivated with the character "Kuze, " he is a musician with a quite interesting past, and the turmoil he goes through is quite sad--yet exciting at times. The character chemistry was a bit rushed for one of the couples, but seemed to be pulled off appropriately at the end. Since half of this title is all about back story, you get a pretty in depth look into the character’s lives and can really connect with just who they are, and will feel what they feel!



Sound 10/10
The first season featured some top notch Ost and theme songs and fortunately this season followed suit. The only thing I can say is the opening song was really similar to the original one and that didn't appeal to me as much. Other then that the music definitely kept me going. Throughout the series you hear this one specific violin tune that stands and it really sticks in your head. Its not very complicated but it definitely captured my heart and pulled me into the anime. The voices and sound effects were also just as good if not better then the first season. All the voices were kept the same and it was well done.


Value and Enjoyment 10/10
The complete anime together came as a package and watching the entire thing does give you a nice message. it really tries show the watchers that hope can be found no matter how bad a situation can get and push the watcher to continue to struggle for what they dream of no matter what. I think that it is an important thing and from watching the series it does leave some impact. I will probably consider rewatching this in the future to see if I have still find the story and characters so unbelievable. With all that being said I did enjoy this series. It was a really refreshing watch since I've been mainly watching love comedies and action animes lately. I really needed a serious one to change up my mood. I would recommend this to fans who like serious romance and dramas. So if you watch it hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Ef - A tale of memories Plot:

The story revolves around the protagonist Hirono Hiro, a poor high school boy who draws shoujo manga for his living. One cold Christmas night after meeting a very strange woman in a church, who tells him that he's going to meet someone he has to meet, his bike gets stolen by another strange girl. He runs after her and finds her collapsed on the street. Her name is Miyamura Miyako and her bag got stolen by a man on a motorbike. Soon after, they start hanging out together, enjoying highschool life. Miyako falls for Hiro pretty quickly but naturally finds a rival in his childhood friend, Shindou Kei, who has been dictating Hiro's life since ever.

Alternative Titles
English: ef - a tale of memories
Japanese: エフ ア テイル オブ メモリーズ

Information
Type: TV
Episodes: 12
Status: Finished Airing
Aired: Oct 6, 2007 to Dec 23, 2007
Producers: Shaft, Rondo Robe
Genres: Mystery, Drama, Romance, Seinen
Duration: 24 min. per episode
Rating: R - 17+ (violence & profanity)


Ef - A tale of memories review


Story 10/10
And just like that I became a hypocrite. Though SHAFT stands out really well in the technical aspects for this series, let us not forget that the main driving force for any anime is not in technicalities alone - it is the story it is telling. Technicalities are there to help tell the story, but the story itself should be superb to be deserving of a 10. However cliché some people might say, I think minori invested very well (took almost all of their profits from the past and put them into this game) into writing a breathtaking story and its individually excellent scenarios that mingle well with the others. [Though I have not played Wind yet, I'm sure they exceeded it here.] ef makes use of many metaphors and symbols to emphasize its main theme of finding goals and its secondary theme of art (manga artist, filming enthusiast, and novel writer). Though the story is VERY tedious with its long dialogues, do not avert your eyes or ears! Though you don't need most of these lines to understand the story, it is necessary to get them all in other to fully enjoy what the writers intended you to feel. Some of the more easily grasped metaphors include the sheep in a circle and finding colours, but the harder but more rewarding ones come from Chihiro's novel and possibly Kyosuke's movie. It may be like they are writing along with some flow, but behind that is an amazing web full of connections with each route's elements and deeper meaning behind something that seems obvious.

The course of the routes are more typical, though. Kei's and Miyako's routes are part of the same story, as they make a love triangle in the presence of a stereotypical setup. The more original and serious one comes from Chihiro's route which deals with anterograde amnesia, and is the "main" story of the series. Though it is sort of predictable what happens in the end, is it not how to get there that is the most entertaining part? ef certainly has the script to tell such a tale, evoking tears and pulling heartstrings as if they were bathroom taps and harp strings.

What would have been the fourth route, is substituted by giving those characters the supporting role. Throughout the story, a mysterious nun descends from time to time giving helpful advice when the main characters are in distress. Just a friendly note not to expect anything from this element that is the closest thing to being supernatural in this series.


Art 10/10
The art of Ef - A Tale Of Memories is a very big pluspoint! This anime has a very unique art that's well made. In some scenes something changes, I don't really know how to explain this because I'm dutch, just watch it for yourself. But I never seen something like this before, like I said, it's just unique. Maybe I'll see this as the anime with the best art from 2007, maybe also the best story.


Sound 10/10
It's hard to say something about this. The songs are awesome, the sound is how it needs to be, and that's everything I can say. But I'm sure that the sound isn't the most important thing for watching a anime.

Character 10/10
I am getting VERY tired out by now. I have been on a roll of not describing this category enough, so bare with me.

The characters in ef have some of the most developed personalities I have seen in a long time. Actually, the male leads are some of the most promising and likable in this genre filled with wimps and soft-spoken nice guys (although Renji comes close to this archetype). While I initially liked the Kyosuke and Hirono pair for being "side characters brought into the main spotlight", I really grew on Renji as it becomes apparent that he has the hardest time out of all the guys going through Chihiro's route. Like the usual protagonist played by the player, Renji has to grasp hold on his situation and find a solution to his never-ending problem of trying to hold on. While retrospectively he plays out like a visual novel protagonist, he still grows into his own person through his individualism of his actions to avert his ultimate tragedy. On the other side, Kyosuke stays mostly pretty cool throughout the series; Hirono sort of turns into your typical male archetype later on, which lessened the impacts of his route when it came. Funny how that turned out...

As for the girls, two are the usual archetypes and one is unique, but they all grow into their own individual category. Miyako suffers a bit from this, but I really commend her character for the mask she puts on everyday just to go on in the world (no, no yanderes here; no Nice Boats either, just to note). Kei has the most pitied role of all as being the childhood friend with a crush. They both have the best "to root for" stories in the series, but that does not stop them from making a good tale themselves. However, the spotlight stealer here is Chihiro, the most featured main heroine. Complete with a cute voice and character design, her route is the most captivating and cathartic of all three, dealing with an issue that seems so rare so seriously. Her together with Renji make up one of the most "equally good main path" routes in the love/romance genre.

Character designs courtesy of the guy who did ones for the Da Capo series and sola. While I don't find Da Capo's designs very good (especially considering all the negative hype around it), the ones in sola were really good and attractive. Here, the designs are still good considering the males. Chihiro wins extra points for her eyepatch.



Value 10/10
Not only is the tale good, but the presentation pushes new levels in anime as a form of art. Truly can there be more gems like ef ~a tale of memories~ out there? Highly rewatchable, especially for those who missed the dialogues the first time around (it is VERY tedious I know) and for the animation. Highly collectible, too. Which is why I give ef a 10 in value (I only give 10's to stuff I think are classics or should be classics) - a stunning experiment of telling a love/romance story that should become better known when future seasons come.

Ouran High School Host Club Plot:

Ouran High School is a school for the extremely wealthy or talented. Haruhi just happens to be more talented than wealthy. Since she had a hair mishap the week before school started and could not afford the school uniform, she was mistaken for a boy.

Wandering into the Third Music Room looking for a quiet place to study, she encounters the school's Host Club — a group of attractive young men who give their time and affections to females, for a fee. After she breaks an ¥8,000,000 vase belonging to the host club, the leader demands that she work off the money by becoming a host. And when they find out Haruhi is not actually a boy, humour ensues.

Alternative Titles
Synonyms: Ouran Koukou Host Club, Ohran Koko Host Club, Ouran Koukou Hosutobu
Japanese: 桜蘭高校ホスト部

Information
Type: TV
Episodes: 26
Status: Finished Airing
Aired: Apr 5, 2006 to Sep 27, 2006
Producers: Bones, VAP, Nomad, FUNimation Entertainment
Genres: Comedy, Parody, School, Shoujo
Duration: 24 min. per episode
Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older


Ouran High School Host Club review

Story 10/10
"It's like Fruits Basket," said the friend who recommended Ouran to me a few months ago. "You'll like it." After watching the first three episodes, I promptly proceeded to tell said friend that I thought she was nuts. While I enjoyed the first three episodes of Ouran, arguably even more than I did those of Fruits Basket, I couldn't see even the slightest resemblance between them. Now, having finished Ouran, I think I need to apologise to her, and concede that maybe she was right after all. Though the two shows could not be further from one another in terms of subject matter, they do cover remarkably similar ground in many regards.

The desire for acceptance, the triumph of naivety and kindness over bitter cynicism, and the notion of a 'family' of friends are all ideas that are prevalent within both shows. Equally, both focus on a group of very separate people that are united by someone who looks at the world in a slightly different way: while Tooru and Tamaki are almost polar opposites, they share an enthusiasm for life, and an appreciation of the individuality in those around them. Finally, like Fruits Basket, Ouran has very little story to speak of until its latter sections, and relies instead upon its characters to draw viewers in.

Ouran, though, is rarely as dramatic or heavy as Fruits Basket. Nor does it want to be. The story is often pushed aside to make way for more comedic moments. Which is by no means a bad thing, as Ouran does comedy extremely well. While sometimes a little predictable, it is consistently funny, striking, for me, a good midway point between too predictable (a la Love Hina) and too weird (a la Excel Saga), and offering more laugh out loud moments than many anime intended as straight comedies. While the setup of the show could easily cause it to collapse into a harem-esque mess, the author, Hatori Bisuko, seems well aware of this, and the show is full of wry self-parody; Ouran very skilfully dances a fine line between being a satirical take on the shoujo genre, and being a shoujo anime itself.



Conclusion 10/10
I almost feel guilty for voting Ouran Koukou Host Club a '10', and for allocating it as high a score as I have in this review. Its jokes do not always hit the mark, its story is largely non-existent, and its lead characters, while unanimously interesting and endearing, get very little screen time as anything but instruments of comedy.

However, thinking back over the series, I find that it has left me with nothing but fond memories. It has been no more than two days since I finished watching it, and already I find myself missing it, and wishing there was more. Though I have done my best in this review to look at the series objectively, the truth of the matter is that there are very few things that I disliked about it, that I enjoyed every minute of it thoroughly, and that I will probably rewatch it within no more than a month. To write an objective review is, in this situation, probably more or less impossible, so I shall simply say that Ouran Koukou Host Club is quite simply the most enjoyable anime I have seen in a long, long time, and that it comes with my very highest recommendations.

When the comedy eventually departs to make way for more serious moments, they are handled surprisingly well. Several of the latter episodes are almost entirely devoid of comedy, yet I found them just as captivating as those in the earlier half of the series; a surprising achievement for an anime that sells its characters to the viewer as being nothing more than one-dimensional stereotypes. Perhaps the best example of this is the story of the twins, Hikaru and Kaoru, that is gradually revealed to the viewer throughout the series, that carries their relationship far beyond the bounds of 'pointless shounen ai fanservice' and that made them, for me, two of the most interesting characters in the series.

My complaint about the story, if I had to make one, would simply be that there is not enough of it. Many episodes are almost entirely devoid of character development, dedicating time instead to general silliness. Is this a bad thing? Maybe. While Ouran certainly works well as a comedy, I actually found myself even more entertained by its more serious moments, and longing for the series to lend more screen time to drama, and less to comedy. However, that is more a matter of my own tastes than it is a shortcoming of the series. Ouran never really claims to be anything but a comedy; it just happens to be a comedy that also handles drama alluringly well.


Characters 10/10
Ah. The characters... Well, I found all the main characters likable, and they all managed to leave very distinct impressions of who they were in my mind. Their actions, Tamaki especially, are very fun to watch, and some of them are very easy to picture in my mind, while I know that I haven't gotten them all covered... It is hard to tell if certain characters actually grow and change a bit, which is why I wish it was longer, however, I suppose that it's more realistic that way, since people don't change that fast.


Animation 9/10
Ouran doesn't feature anything aesthetic that will cause your jaw to hit the floor. It does, however, boast consistently good animation that is never painful on the eyes, along with some lovely character designs, a rather sweet opening animation that is well suited to the opening theme, and some very pretty artwork during the closing credits. Due to the nature of the show, everything is very bright, with an emphasis on various shades of pink. Equally, each member of the main cast is, understandably, very aesthetically pleasing, from Kyouya's icy, calculating glare to Haruhi's gender crossing charm.

It's also worth mentioning the incredibly over-the-top animation during moments of comedy, as well as the creative use of pop-up boxes explaining various elements of the show (such as Tamaki's recurring 'inner mind theatre'). While neither of these devices are anything particularly new, both are put to good use throughout the series, provoking more than a few laughs.


Sound 9/10
"Kiss kiss fall in love!" proclaims Ouran's opening song, 'Sakura Kiss', by Chieko Kawabe of Elfen Lied fame. It's a bouncy, Engrish-y J-Pop song with a nice melody, and it suits the show rather well. I liked it, but it's not really exceptional enough to sway the hearts of those opposed to pop songs about kissing and falling in love. The ending theme, Last Alliance's 'Shissou', is of much the same quality. It's not outstanding, but it's a pretty likeable J-Rock song, and I never felt particularly obliged to skip it.

Outside of the opening and closing themes, I'd describe Ouran's soundtrack as 'nice'. It's perfectly pleasant to listen to for the duration of the show, and it never feels out of place, but I don't think I'd consider buying, or even downloading it. I'd hesitate to call it background noise, as it certainly does more than just fill a gap, but, besides the various instrumental versions of the two theme songs, very few of the pieces remained with me beyond the bounds of each episode. It's 'good' music, but not much more.

The voice acting, however, is a notch higher; an important requirement, as even well scripted comedy can fall flat due to poor acting. Each character seems to have been cast with a great deal of care, and each does an excellent job of bringing their character to life. However, for me, the show was stolen by the twins' voice actors. The two actors were so good at mimicking one another that, before spotting their names listed separately in the closing credits, I had assumed that they were being voiced by the same person.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 2 Plot:

A far from ordinary school story begins here!

This is a story of Suzumiya Haruhi, who upon enrolling at school announces: "I have no interest in ordinary humans. If there are any aliens, beings from the future, or espers, come see me. That is all!"

Naturally, any normal person would think "What the...?", but Haruhi is dead serious. Things get crazy when everyone realizes just how serious she is about it all and establishes the SOS Dan.

Suzumiya Haruhi is a good-looking high school girl with a clear head, naughty personality and a very egocentric way of thinking. She has the unimaginable power to change the world, but is completely unaware of this power, and so she is also unaware of the effect her power has on the outside world.

A delightfully strange, yet marvellously interesting story!

Alternative Titles
English: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2009)
Japanese: 涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱

Information
Type: TV
Episodes: 14
Status: Finished Airing
Aired: May 21, 2009 to Sep 10, 2009
Producers: Kyoto Animation, Kadokawa Shoten, Bandai EntertainmentL
Genres: Comedy, Mystery, Parody, Romance, School, Sci-Fi, Slice of Life
Duration: 24 min. per episode
Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older


The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 2 review


Story 6/10
Haruhi is a character-driven show. Interesting stuff happening to Haruhi and her inner circle is it's story. In fact, it is explicitly being told by one of the characters that, even though there are various organisations fighting their own passionate battles around Haruhi, all of it has no meaning to Haruhi herself.However, when the character development is as sad as it is, this line sounds less like a good story element and more like a cop-out.
The remaining two arcs had very little interesting stuff happening to the characters. Sure, the basic story elemets are there, but the space between them is filled with nothing but boredom.



Character Development 2/10
Pretty much every minute or two of episode 8 signifies some sort of development, for at least one of the main characters. That's how it should be for a Haruhi show.During the other 13 episodes i only seem to recall two such events - one with Kyon standing up to Haruhi in episode 19 (Endless Eight arc final), and one with Kyon / Koizumi in episode 24 (Sighs arc final). Everything else was just every character doing their usual routines, which we have already seen so many times in season one episodes - which were actually reaired as well.That kind of character development strikes me as seriously lame. Where is further development of Nagato's human emotions? Where is Mikuru dealing with being torn between secrecy and obvious affection for Kyon? Why the hell it took Kyon 8 episodes of absolutely nothing happening to grow a friggin' backbone? I guess we do get to see high-and-mighty Koizumi in a broken crying-for-help state, but why in the world did they decide for the actual breaking to happen off-screen? And what's the point of the side characters? Just to be there and look pretty for the camera? The ultimate ruling looks like this. There were no new characters introduced, and there were virtually no new developments for existing ones for the majority of the new content. That's a fail. The only upside is a good in-character implementation of original character designs.


Sound 7/10
The sound is average, which means highly disappointing. In 2006, we got Hare Hare Yukai, Bouken Desho Desho?, God Knows, and Lost My Music. All excellent pieces of J-pop. Even the background pieces are memorable. But in 2009, all we get are Tomare!, Super Driver, and a couple new background pieces that are extremely meh. Tomare! and Super Driver are still fairly good J-pop songs, but when you think of how Hare Hare Yukai, Bouken Desho Desho?, God Knows, and Lost My Music were done so well three years before, they don’t stand a candle.


Animation 6/10
The execution of visual side of things is on a very professional level. The pictures are flowing, the attention to detail is on a good level. From backgrounds to facial expressions - everything is polished to a good degree. The technical side of things is beyond reproach. The characters are drawn with great care. The moods of every single shot are all captured perfectly.
Seriously, the animators did a bloody good job.
The problem is, the task they were given was incredibly simple.They were animating a series of talking heads, which default to a maximum of two facial expressions. The amount of action was even less than in Haruhi season one, where it was next to none to begin with. In fact, looking back at it, i realise that they drew everything so well because they didn't really have a whole lot to draw.
It can be argued that it's the horrible story holding back the animators, but that's simply not true. Because there are shows out there with stories even more horrible, which are still pretty awesome to watch ( *cough* Lucky Star *cough* ). Why are they awesome to watch? Well, because the guy, who was telling the animators what to do, actually stopped for a bit and considered how the picture stands on it's own.
You see, the picture needs to entice, to inspire, to draw you in and to keep you entertained. An ideal animation does not need sound or plot to hold your attention and interest. Most of Haruhi s2's animation does not even begin to approach that.In short, the pictures were moving and pretty, but they also were boring as hell. So 100% marks for technical execution, 20% marks for artistic vision.


Enjoyment 2/10
I had my hopes up very high as i saw Kyon and Mikuru emerge from their 3 year stassis, as Kyon pondered the meaning of him stepping on some past butterflies.
At this point, i expected season two to be at least as good as season one was.Boy, was I in for a disappointment.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Plot:

A far from ordinary school story starts here!

This is a story of Suzumiya Haruhi, who upon enrolment at school announced: "I have no interest in ordinary humans. If there are any aliens, beings from the future, or super-humans, come see me. That is all!"

Naturally, any normal person would think "What the... ?" but Haruhi is dead serious. Things get crazy when everyone realises just how serious she is about it all and establishes the SOS Dan.

Suzumiya Haruhi is a good-looking high school girl who has a clear head, naughty personality, and very egocentric thought. She has an unimaginably tremendous power to change the world, but she is totally unaware of her own power and so she is also unaware of the affect of her power on the outside world.

A delightfully strange, yet marvellously interesting story!

Alternative Titles
English: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Japanese: 涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱

Information
Type: TV
Episodes: 14
Status: Finished Airing
Aired: Apr 3, 2006 to Jul 3, 2006
Producers: Kyoto Animation, Lantis, Bandai EntertainmentL, Kadokawa Pictures USAL
Genres: Comedy, Mystery, Parody, School, Sci-Fi, Slice of Life
Duration: 23 min. per episode
Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older


The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya review


Story 10/10
We’ve seen the plotline for this series before, but not so much that it gets old or boring or unoriginal or etc. A general formula for the story would be: Person A lives in world => A gets bored with world => A drags B, C, D, and E in to her world and it gets better (for all of them) as they go.

Suzumiya Haruhi, East Junior High’s famous girl of ambiguous intentions, comes onto the stage of her namesake show as a mildly depressed and bored… person. Enter Kyon, the sarcastic protagonist to stand alongside Haruhi on her many dubious quests to find abnormal creatures. Following him will be a trio, to be saved for the “Characters” section of this thing of a review. Anyway, she (Haruhi) hopes and wants desperately for the existence of aliens, time travelers, espers, and dimensional sliders to put her world on the edge of its seat.

There are hints, or hardly even traces, of drama and romance in Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu. Kyon holds in his heart feelings for the female trio, but they’re all different and unique (his feelings are).

As for the episode order, there are those out there who didn’t like it (probably because it made them confused and feel bad), but I loved it. It somewhat emphasized on the queerness of the main characters Haruhi and Kyon.


Animation 9/10
Can't really say anything bad about the animations but they could still be better...
Drawings/artwrok are avarage and could have been done alot better... It aslo felt rather blurry, but maybe it was the fansubed version that was bad... Anyway... On to the sound...

Sound 10/10
Probably the most memorable thing in the whole series... Especially the preformace during the school festival. OP/ED is just a matter of taste as always, not everyone likes the same kind of music.


Characters 9/10
Strange how things turned out, but Haruhi got called on to be the main character to her own show, and she’s not an average every day main character. Haruhi is openly selfish, has convenient bouts of deafness (or just refuses to listen to others while she’s in monologue), and is also (considered by her peers) to be a superfreak. Many series before have used such a character, but, what, you ask, makes Haruhi different from all others? The people standing by to support her (though are main characters themselves) bring her eccentricities to light and life better than they could have been without them.

Kyon is, without a doubt, the voice of reason. He grew up glued to such thing as UFO specials on TV, and even secretly hopes that such extraterrestrial things exist. Sadly, however, as he puts it, the laws of physics were too well written.


Value / Enjoyment 8/10 and 9/10 respectively
When I first started watching Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu, it was already on episode 10. That episode, which definitely is NOT the best point to start at, was strange for a clueless newb such as myself. After waiting a week to watch episode 11's first scene, I thought "Ah, finally we get to what the series is about." Soon after, I watched the series in as strange an order as it was already released in (meaning I watched the broadcast releases in the order I downloaded them, which was also abnormal).

After getting the whole series (alongside a few episodes of Ouran High School Host Club), my family and I took a vacation to the Philippines, where I had 0 home access to the internet whatsoever. Luckily, I had a laptop, a portable hard drive, and all 14 episodes of SHnY to keep me company. I watched and rewatched the episodes every day that I could, simply because I couldn't find anything else to do. Between Ouran and SHnY, I chose SHnY day in and day out simply because it was what I enjoyed more.

Because of all the small things done in such large manners (fully animating the concert performances, making people in the background move, the abnormal episode order), this quickly and suddenly became a series worth the time to watch and rewatch, no matter how many times you've watched it. In my case, with each new viewing, something got clearer and pulled more questions up with it.

After watching this series, I fell in love with Hirano Aya's music. She's very talented, as were those working both behind and in front of the scenes in "Haruhi".

Nagato Yuki, the super silent bookworm rooted to the SOS Brigade’s headquarters, is (without a doubt) an homage to Ayanami Rei from Shin Seiki Evangelion (for proof, look to Google). She will change as the series goes on, as evidenced in the book version of SHnY, but enjoyment of such knowledge as Nagato’s development I leave to your own discovery.

Next up is Koizumi Itsuki. Haruhi has a talent for “kissing her own ass,” as Kyon phrased it, and Koizumi just happens to be the one in the SOS Brigade stuck to wipe it beforehand. He is, as described in one of the other reviews, the Yes Man, who goes along with anything and everything that his leader whims.

Last, and definitely not least, would be Kyon’s lust interest Asahina Mikuru. As the big “moe” factor and mascot girl in SHnY, this submissive redhead is doomed to face Haruhi’s wrath… or at least, to jump into any getup Haruhi presents her with.

The supporting characters are unique as well. These people aren’t like the supporting characters in other series… not very much alike, at least. What makes them different? Who they are. Gracing the stage for the first time in Haruhi's mockery of a film were the Taniguchi and Kunikida duo, a social joke and lineless nice guy respectively, and Tsuruya-san, one of Asahina's friends whose energy is matched only by Haruhi. If they aren’t being laughed at, they’re the ones laughing, and even as supporting characters have their own roles to play.