Jeoffrey

I enjoyed the first episode of Anne Happy; the characters were very nice and seemed likable enough. I was intrigued by the concept of building a show around a class of unlucky people, and it was colorful, enjoyable, and quite funny. I soon grew to like the character Hanako, and I liked the other girls too. The animation is very simple and pleasantly colorful, and I enjoyed the soundtrack. The second episode is weaker than the first one; I still like it, although I could easily do without the mechanical rabbit. The third episode was very weak; it was kind of boring, weird, and pretty much stupid. If the anime’s creators went in that direction, they would probably kill it for me. The fourth episode was once again very enjoyable and cute; this is what I want to watch: little girls, forming bonds with each other through various interesting and appealing situations. I am almost starting to think that the episode-by-episode ratings would be pretty handy with an anime series like this because the differences are pretty big. Well, there were minor fluctuations in the impression I had until the end, even though I do not think there was any episode that annoyed me in any significant way. On the contrary, there were a few episodes that I enjoyed. I eventually got used to Timothy, although this was helped by the fact that SPOILER ALERT there was another schoolgirl behind him, END OF SPOILERS. Anne Happy is not an anime series for everyone. It is quite clearly aimed at fans of cuteness; however, unfortunately, with this genre, when I take stock of all the positive and negative things, it does not deserve more than a little better than average rating for me personally. 6/10.

From the creators of the low-budget short anime series, JK Meshi comes another low-budget short anime series. This time, they do not focus on preparing dishes guaranteed to be simple, although we get some tips on how to win prizes on an arcade claw game with plushies known as a merchandiser. While I did not doubt some that JK Meshi was not completely pointless, I am not yet convinced this show was not pointless in some way yet. Who needs to know how to win a soft toy animal on a claw machine? I certainly do not! I understand that this game is probably quite popular in Japan, although I do not get why they made an anime series about it. Plus, the whole point of why girls are supposed to play on those machines, the one about idols and the destruction of the Earth, seems as stupid to me as probably little else from what I have seen to date.  All in all, this is a weird show, it is not at all funny, and it is about things that I am not interested in. On the other hand, I am going to at least mildly support this little studio's efforts on their next project and not write it off as BOO!, though the impression I got is very close to that. Dropped after the third episode. 1/10.

At first, this show did not strike me as very original. There is just another very strong main male protagonist (Rokuro Enmado) with a tragic past, this time exorcising "ghosts." Plus, there is a proud girl (Benio Adashino) who is a rival and a slightly crazy "boss," plus some good friends. I did not find the opening amusing, the disputes between the main couple were not very exciting, and the alternate world of Magano and individual evil spirits (Kegare) did not do much for me either. I found the boss's attempts to get the main couple together more silly than funny, and I still do not get why he had to give them the okay to move in together. However, as time goes on, it becomes clear that there is some potential, and the backstory of the main protagonists and how they are connected is pretty good, then it gets boring. There is some confrontation, and just when it could have been quite interesting, the premise runs out, and the filler arc kicks in. The filler is rather transparent, drawn-out, and unoriginal. However, it still has a pretty well handled emotional conclusion, and even though you can predict exactly how it will end, it all worked for me anyway, and I felt sad while reading the picture book of little Sae. Unfortunately, after this filler, which I enjoyed probably the most, it starts to get very meh, and the whole thing gets more and more tangled and drawn out. The weird thing is it looked more and more stereotypical and strange to me, and my interest waned. Some things happen without explanation and I see almost no character development in the main protagonists. There is always some other enemy that they try their "Twin Star tricks" on, get stuck in some horrible way, and then get pulled out of it by someone else much more capable. All of it is accompanied by a lot of supposedly dramatic dialogue and moments. However, it all fails to be dramatic as it gets quite repetitive. Oh, and after a while, it gets really boring, so suddenly even the big revelations are hardly shocking at all, and I got more and more bored as each second passed. Therefore I think this is a weak average. 4.5/10.

Hundred is the same as a hundred other anime series you have already seen, and at least a hundred you are going to see in the future. It has a hundred clichés and tropes in one show. There is really everything anyone could think of, including generic male protagonists, a blonde tsundere, who gets in a fight after a short time, a magical school, boring special powers and abilities, a sister with an unhealthy fixation on her brother, tight overalls, a boobie grab, fan service, big oppai, unoriginal narrative, and finally a main male protagonist with superpowers even though we do not know why he has them and cannot control them yet even though they are going to make him awfully OP. There is also a boy who is actually a girl, and of course, no one knows because it is going to be a "big plot twist". In other words, there are a hundred things we have already seen a hundred times, hence the name, Hundred. Plus, if someone is going to tell you that Hundred is the name for their powers/weapons, yes, that is there too. The sad thing is that when I see something for the hundredth time, I simply cannot enjoy it. There is absolutely nothing new under the sun in this show, so I cannot even give it my usual two stars, and I cannot say BOO! because, as my fellow reviewer writes, it is not equivalent to or worse than something like Pupa. DROPPED after seven episodes and 1.5/10.

Seisen Cerberus could have been a pretty good fantasy adventure; the setting is interesting and has a good backstory. Unfortunately, what spoils my impression of it is the main male protagonist Hiiro. There were a few times in the first few episodes where I thought he was not completely pointless. However, as the episodes went on, it turned out that he was completely useless. Hiiro's fighting abilities are ridiculous, and despite that, he is a cocky, arrogant jerk. It makes for a rather unpleasant combination. His only useful weapon is when he accidentally gets into "beast" mode, even though it is not his and he cannot control it (yet). Plus, he only has it because he got in Daganzord's way. The other characters are not as tragic, although it is pretty clear that the cat ears and sporty outfits are mostly fan service. It reminds me of the movie Dragonheart (or perhaps because of the bond between the main male protagonist and the dragon, it is more like Voldemort and Harry Potter). However, I did not have that much of a problem with it. The animation and soundtrack are pretty good. Since I like fantasy adventures a lot, I ended up watching it until the very heartwarming ending, when I had no idea what I was watching. The final episode is something else! The situations that come up and how they are resolved is something I had not seen before as a rule, so there was one WTF moment after another. After that conclusion, I should tear the whole thing apart, give it one star at most, and try to forget I ever saw anything like that. However, I am not going to do that because some of the twists and situations were so unpredictable that it was quite intriguing to some extent. Well, because I felt entertained, even though it was very stupid and probably meant in a serious way, the impression I got was not that bad. Seisen Cerberus is a below-average fantasy adventure with below-average characters, led by one of the worst "Hiiros" I have ever had the misfortune to watch. At the same time, it has an original concept that is so horrible in places it is fascinating. The beginning was good, then it went downhill, and the conclusion is a must-see. 3/10.

This show is another anime series created to promote the visual novel. I find it most interesting that Kouki Narumi, who, according to the content on MAL and other anime servers, is supposed to be the main male protagonist, does not actually appear in the anime series at all. Obviously, the anime’s creators wanted to make people feel that they could be the main protagonist playing happily with these cute girls. They are so young and playful; who would not fall for that? Well, the idea it is based on is not bad, although, in the end, it is not so happy-go-lucky or endearing that it has any significant value. Also, it feels like it is just an ordinary short ecchi anime series in places. So as an advertisement for a visual novel, it is perhaps a decent idea, although as a stand-alone episodic anime series, this is very poor. 2.5/10.

There is a tennis club and some sexy schoolgirls, which reminds me of… Teekyu, perhaps? Well, if I am comparing it to Teekyu right now, I would have to say that Usakame is much less amusing than the first season of Teekyu. It is a slice-of-life anime series rather than a comedy. There is also less cuteness. So Usakame is actually pretty weak. However, I did find the opening quite interesting and well-done. 3.5/10.

So what is the deal with Kuma Miko: Girl Meets Bear? There are some lovely and differing opinions on FilmBooster from which I am getting completely conflicting information, which is a great reason to check out this anime series yourself and make up your mind. As far as I am concerned, I am pretty much sure. The truth is once again somewhere in the middle for me, though. Andrew_Deer wrote in his review on FilmBooster about how funny it is; unfortunately, the truth is that I, for one, did not find it that amusing. The first episode was pretty funny, and the line from the one boy who asked if Machi had "been with the bear" was quite amusing, although that was probably the last time I felt entertained by it. Since then, I only laughed at the occasional joke, even though they were more or less always about the same thing. This anime series is based on a girl from the mountains and her issues with the modern world. However, that conflict does not turn out to be that interesting or imaginative, in my opinion. Honestly, such a conflict between the young samurai Kennosuke Tokisada Ouma, the deuteragonist featured in Kuromukuro, and the modern world are much better and more amusing, which is only a side issue in that anime series. So in terms of humor, Kuma Miko: Girl Meets Bear? does not score too highly with me. Then there are the individual characters and the supposed pedophile subtext. In my opinion, the bear is more of a caretaker, father, and friend, and I did not feel any other type of relationship was going on. I certainly did not think there were any sexual overtones, except maybe the scene where Miko (Machi Amayadori) is picking out a new dress, and the bear is gushing over one of the chosen outfits. The bear, Natsu Kumai, does not strike me as much of a Pedobear, and it is not the community's fault that others have created a lot of rather perverted images of him and Machi (though that is to be expected). So if anyone is expecting a zoophilia anime series, they are more or less out of luck and should focus their attention more on shows like "Monster Musume". Another prominent character is Yoshio Amayadori, who is usually the creator of all the nonsensical and supposedly crazy situations Miko gets into. Speaking for myself, I can say that I find Yoshio an extremely unpleasant character, and I would be hard-pressed to find a bigger c*ck in this anime series. Somehow I could not understand why they take him seriously, and I would almost go so far as to say that there are many more moments where I wondered if his interest in little Machi was purely platonic than the whole bear thing. I did not mind the soundtrack, and the animation is below-average, even though that was probably OK for this show. In the end, this show is pretty boring, and there is only a slight whiff of "pedo" but mostly not from the bear. 3.5/10.

Three Leaves, Three Colors is so good, indeed, and after a lot of head-scratching, I have decided to award this show four stars. It does not lack cuteness, and it is also witty, although the characters are what I liked most and are probably the main reason I gave it a better rating. I liked the main three protagonists in particular. Futaba Odagiri was properly bonkers, Youko Nishikawa was very cute, and the contradiction between the way she behaves with the demeanor of a noble girl and the fact that she could not even afford a proper breakfast was slightly touching sometimes. Even Teru Hayama had her good moments. I also liked the supporting characters, so they were all good. I think they portrayed the relationships well, although some scenes and interactions were a bit too repetitive, even though I have more or less gotten used to that with modern anime series. The animation was nice and colorful, the soundtrack was not exceptionally impressive, and there was even one motif that slightly bothered me. However, my rating reflects the positive effect the anime had on me. On the other hand, within its genre, it does not come across as more than an average show. It has been awarded four stars because three stars were not enough after Youko’s cute smile which she gave me as she said goodbye. 6.7/10.

Code Geass: Akito the Exiled Final - To Beloved Ones is quite a respectable and well-executed conclusion to the whole movie series. Sure, it still could have been a lot more epic, but even so, I liked it quite a lot. 7/10.