Jeoffrey

"Cute girls do cute things in cute ways." These are the exact words I found in the description of this anime series on the site where I usually go. I have to say that they described it perfectly. In other words, this anime series is awesome thanks to its cuteness and something that is simply a balm for the soul thanks to the cute girls and the awesome Nobue. It is also wonderfully funny, and I have to single out Miu here; the girl is insane, and doctors today would probably say she is hyperactive at the very least. However, as a friend of mine once rightly remarked, "Kids like that are a blessing because you never get bored with them," and I was not bored for a second while watching Miu. The other characters also had their moments and charm, and I thought they were all good. The only negative thing is the impact on my health, as my face hurts from having that sweet, goofy smile all the time from watching this anime series. 10/10

I have nothing against jokes taken to extremes, but this is literally way too over-the-top. It is a comedy whose first episode did not make me laugh even once, and the only word I can think of is embarrassing. In addition, unfortunately, it does not get better, so the comedy in this show does not work for me. Drop after the fifth episode.

Gokudo is a selfish, greedy, insolent, and greedy bastard who has no scruples and no possessions. Plus, no young girl can be sure of herself in front of him, and so a person (me), drowning in all those contemporary male protagonists who are often so bland and full of good intentions, could not help but take a liking to him right away. Comparisons to Lina Inverse and the Slayers anime series are pretty much spot on, although when I put the main protagonists side by side, Lina is a pretty good girl compared to Gokudo, who does occasionally wipe out a town. Lina, however, only takes money from bandits and for work done, whereas Gokudo will steal from anyone. As far as the comparison between the two shows is concerned, the humor is similar, although, unlike Slayers, there are practically no limits in this show, so we get occasional gems like the "good old" fart jokes. Furthermore, the creators of Gokudo have no problem with writing a love story, so it sparkles in this respect as well. Prince Niari, in particular, is perfect as the indomitable hunter of all things female (except turtles and monkeys). The plot is very good, and I liked some parts and the setting a lot. The characters are also very good, although their variety, craziness, and chemistry with each other fall short of the quality of Slayers, in my opinion. However, overall I think it is a perfect show, so I could not help but award it 9/10.

Death Billiards was a short film featured in Anime Mirai 2013, the concept of which has now (winter 2015) been fleshed out in the form of the anime series Death Parade, which was intriguing. I, therefore, felt it necessary to go back and watch this short film. The difference between the first episode of the new anime series and this short film is that the relationship between the two gentlemen playing billiards (instead of darts) was not really fully explained (perhaps just a shared passion for the game of billiards), unlike the couple in the first episode of Death Parade. So it left a lot of unanswered questions regarding what the older man said to the bartender, which resulted in what he did with the young man. Anyway, it has the same ingredients the new anime has and is enjoyable. I am awarding four stars for its atmosphere, originality, and interesting characters.

Assassination Classroom is supposed to be a comedy, although I did not find it very funny. This episode was just an OVA, which gave me a little insight into the anime series and introduced me to the characters and the core of the storyline, even though overall, I was not very impressed. The characters are not completely pointless, although I guess I ended up wondering most about the teacher's name because who would not want to have a female teacher they could call Bitch with impunity?

This is the story of five students, members of a club with the poetic name of Earth Defense Club. The club does not focus on environmental issues or any other pious activity but serves as a decent lair for its members and one pink wombat. This marsupial will one day announce to its masters that its mission is to protect the earth from all sorts of dangers. This is primarily a comedy and a parody of the well-known Mahou Shoujo magical girl theme, with the anime’s creators briefly toying with the idea that if there can be magical girls, why not magical boys? So they give us this subject matter sort of upside-down, although still packed with lots of classic tropes, and so we see the guys in respectable magical girl skirts with heart wands at the end. I am not personally a fan of Mahou Shoujo. I know some of the tropes from that genre, although not all of them, so I cannot enjoy the genre as I find almost nothing to like about what they are making fun of in this show; I am not really into this parody. I guess it takes knowing the punchline to get the joke and liking the subject matter. So drop after the first episode, and I certainly am not going to be going back to it; I am not saying it is bad; it is just not my cup of tea.

I have to agree with the majority of reviews I have read about this show. Although I did not have much to fault regarding the first season and enjoyed it immensely, the second season is even better. The old gang did not let me down. Plus, there were some new supporting characters added. This time the creators picked a great bunch of weird characters, so Xellos and his secrets plus Martina with her Zoamelgustar got integrated into this crazy mix very quickly and often had a starring role in a lot of the gags. To sum it up, in terms of the comedy, it was perfect. The narrative was a bit more dynamic than in the first season, especially in the second half, and the romantic ending was the icing on the cake. All in all, a perfect season in my view, and I wonder if it can get even better. 9,5/10.

Tales Of Zestiria: The Sheperd's Advent is a one-episode OVA introducing Bandai Namco's upcoming PS3 RPG. The narrative introduces us to the main male protagonist Sorey, his friend Mikleo and the knight Alisha, who presents their fantasy world and some of its inhabitants, tells some of their legends, and lightly hints at the narrative of the upcoming game. In other words, this is just an introduction. I came across this movie by coincidence; I was intrigued by the title and initially thought it was a trailer for an upcoming anime series. Practically from the opening credits, when I saw that Ufotable (currently known for the Fate/Stay Night UBW anime series) was behind this OVA, it was clear that this would be worth watching and I was not wrong. The animation was very well produced, the soundtrack matched the plot perfectly, and the characters also looked interesting from what little we were shown. This movie is certainly a good advertisement for the upcoming game. 6/10.

Black Bullet features a post-apocalyptic future where people are practically cut off from their surroundings and confined to several cities protected by a kind of field. They are regularly threatened by various overgrown bugs (referred to as Gastrea). Practically the only ones who can adequately fight them are some Lolita girls, who are infected with their DNA, which makes them generally hated by others and so have to live on the fringes of society. That sounds pretty strange; well, it is not surprising for a person who has seen Attack on Titan and seen what it does to the anime fan community. This anime series had about everything that could immediately excite and intrigue me. The post-apocalyptic world is one of my favorite environments, insects are one of my favorite antagonists, and they come in different shapes, sizes, and designs. Cute Lolita girls with unique personalities are my favorite anime characters. The animation was very nice except for the CGI monsters, as they detracted from the scariness at times, and I also liked the soundtrack, which suited the plot quite well. The characters were also very entertaining, I fell in love with Enju within seconds and I still consider her one of the cutest anime characters I have ever seen. I enjoyed Satomi's character; he acted as I would have done in his shoes. The other characters intrigued me, whether it was the cute Tina Sprout, Kisara, who only caught my attention in the last episode though, and Kagetane, who was just a great bad guy. I mostly liked the environment it was set in, and the fact that it had a depressing effect on me. I especially hated society for the way it treated the cursed children, and I also pretty much felt the death of every poor Lolita girl, so I felt suitably miserable quite often. I enjoyed the plot too, so I anticipated each new episode with excitement. Certainly, others will find weaknesses with this anime series, although there were many aspects that I liked a lot and therefore have no problem awarding it five stars because this show is "tailor-made" for me. 10/10.

I am not too fond of insects, so practically any venture that focuses on eradicating this species has my full support. Unfortunately, I think this show handles the subject rather amateurishly, and the bugs in this show are more like something that reminds me of Mr. Hankey who spent a few years in the gym. In general, the animation is rather bad, and I did not find it very easy to watch. If the narrative and its rather strange logic and most of the main male protagonists are no good either, then it simply does not stand a chance of getting an average rating. If you only factor in the crazy censored version, we will get something somewhere on the border of BOO! and one star. Fortunately, this problem was soon corrected/resolved by the anime’s creators with the release of the uncensored version, and I could at least raise my rating a little bit because at least it has some good action scenes, gore, and violence. Yet, it has no other potential for me, so I dropped it after five episodes. 3/10.