Rate the Last Anime You Watched Out of 10

Ergo Proxy: 6/10

Started out with potential, and high budget visuals. After the first eight or so episodes, the plot didn't move forward as the result of an endless stream of mostly average (and bizzare) episodic content. The art also became inconsistent and the animation became limited, the final fight involving shounen-esque teleporting.

Despite the story being dark, there were two consecutive comedy episodes, as well as two consecutive dream episodes, one being a 'comical' attempt at using American cartoon animations. And It ended by explaining the entire plot in the final three episodes, providing answers without questions, resulting in me ending feeling confused and not caring.

The series lacked a sense of direction and, in the end, turned out to be a gigantic mess. A lot of potential was wasted.

Kara no Kyoukai 4: 7-7.5/10

A fairly boring movie, with some decent character development. Even though it wasn't long, it seemed to drag a little because there wasn't much ground to cover. I learnt a little more about Shiki and that was it, really. As ever with the lesser Kara movies, it was saved by its lovely visuals and Yuki Kajiura's music.

Kara no Kyoukai 5: 8-8.5/10

By far the most interesting of the Kara movies, though slightly inferior to the more straight-forward third movie in my opinion.

Watching it first time was a special experience. The direction, with scenes jumping ahead to other scenes and back every few minutes after the opening 40, made it hard to follow, but the way the story was presented also made me feel like I was watching a great film.

When I re-watched it, understanding the plot and not being wowed by the films confusing nature, I started to find more issues than I did first time around and didn't enjoy the disjointed structure as much. I enjoyed the the opening, pre-disjointed section more, actually.

I still think highly of the film, it having one of the best fight sequences I've seen (together with excellent animation) and, as ever, an epic Yuki Kajiura soundtrack. However, I don't think it's quite in the 9-10/10 tier others put it in. In my mind, its flaws make it miss out an greatness.

Kara no Kyoukai 6: 6.5-7/10

Meh. The most light-hearted Kara film, and it's about as good as the first in overall quality. Not a very good film, in short.

It entertained me well enough, keeping me watching until the end, but it focused too little on the drama/mystery side, resulting in the explanation at the end not making a whole lot of sense to me.

I feel it would've been a better film if it was 100% comedy/moe or 100% drama/mystery/action. As a mixture with more focus on the former, it failed.
 
Shuffle
8/10

A pretty good show which never dropped the ball throughout. Pretty funny, although was considerably more towards the romance side. Amasingly though, for once, the romance aspects didnt really piss me off like most shows.

This show got really rather heavy towards the end and was very intriguing. It also included THE MOST SCARY FACE EVER, dear god I nearly shat myself... Tis the bit where Kaede first has her 'scary look' when talking to Primula (sp?) and cooking. At which point I could only see 1 of two thing happeing in the following episodes: Either Chainsaw Massacre, or the return of Mr. Stabby. A couple of eps on I was lead to add suicide to this list. Which kinda did happen, but not with her...

Labyrinth of Flames
7/10

Meh...twas a'ight.... Lots of panty shots. Main redeeming feature was hearing the guy who used to play Brock in Pokemon swearing. :D
 
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megagold5 said:
This show got really rather heavy towards the end and was very intriguing. It also included THE MOST SCARY FACE EVER, dear god I nearly shat myself... Tis the bit where Kaede first has her 'scary look' when talking to Primula (sp?) and cooking. At which point I could only see 1 of two thing happeing in the following episodes: Either Chainsaw Massacre, or the return of Mr. Stabby. A couple of eps on I was lead to add suicide to this list. Which kinda did happen, but not with her...
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I shat bricks too. d:
Also, the bit when he sees the ripped curtins and she's just... standing there...

Lovely Complex 6.5/10
An enjoyable and easy to watch rom-com. Developed characters are thin on the ground but the main pair is enjoyable and different. Animation is quite poor, but gets the job done.
 
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Tetsuwan Birdy Decode (complete) 7/10 act/com/sci-fi
This series I'd never heard of untill I was hovering around peoples MAL lists. Was a decent watch to be fare. It was smooth and not lacking in detail and the fights scenes were very well animated. The story felt a little rushed at times but rounded off quite nicely considering there's a sequal and OVA. This is one to watch if you enjoy anime to the likes of Shana or even FLCL (in the use of vibrant colours). I look forward to seeing the second series and OVA.

Toradora! (complete) 8/10 rom/com
The greatest romantic comedy I have seen this year! Not that I've seen many to be frank. The series was well paced, a pleasure on the eyes, gripping story and eye watering humour. It may seem like I'm bigging this anime a fare bit for an 8/10 rank but to honest I only watch the odd rom/com here and there and this anime may have changed my opinion of the genre. I've liked the more humour orientated romances in the past, and even though this was a funny anime, there was a lot more character devleopment and seriouse scenerios than others I've seen. If you fancy something slightly slower paced with a good story then I suggest you take a look. ^^

Soul Eater (ep1-6) 6.5/10 act/com/sup
I haven't really given this series enough time to do better than a 6.5 at the moment. The animation is amazing in places and the art-work is rather beautifull to behold... but that's where the line has been drawn. So far, there's no story line per say and the humour isn't great, and considering it's a comedy, that's a big fail in my books. I will continue to watch it and pray for improvment. If it weren't for the animation itself I may have left it there.

School Rumble (ep1-14) 8/10 rom/com
Well I made a start on my US season 1 of School Rumble the other day. After a few hic-cups with my DVD player (regions...) I was away. Loving the series so far. Been a while since I've watched an anime that's kept me chuckling through out. The humour is geniouse and the changes in the art style to match the situation and sheer gold. This is an anime I won't be putting down untill the end. It's also got a chance of being bumped upto a 9. XD
 
When They Cry - 7/10

After the first four tense, atmospheric episodes I wondered how I could possibly end up rating this series any less than nine. Unfortunately I was unimpressed with most of what followed and I'm left with mixed feelings about the show overall.

For me it was more successful when attempting to be creepy and disturbing. Cute young girls suddenly turning psycho is inherently disconcerting, and during those scenes it was usually compelling (but occasionally silly). Too often, though, it tried hard to make me care about characters that I found either annoying or just plain uninteresting. For me this requires subtlety, and When They Cry has none.

The series setup of stories that share the same background and characters but play out in a vastly different way is interesting, but after a while I tired of hearing characters banging on about the serial murders. And I never got a completely clear picture of what had actually happened regarding the murders from any of the stories; perhaps I need to watch the sequel series for that.

Oh, and the detective has one of the most irritating voices I've ever heard. The photographer's groupie was almost as bad. It was enough to make me switch over to the dub, but that was so awful I quickly switched back and decided to put up with it. I'm glad I did because otherwise I would have missed Satsuki Yukino's amazing performance as Mion and Shion--my favourite characters by far.
 
fabricatedlunatic said:
Oh, and the detective has one of the most irritating voices I've ever heard. It was enough to make me switch over to the dub, but that was so bad I quickly switched back and decided to put up with it.
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The guy certainly has a unique voice. Wiki informs me (hilariously) that he is also the Japanese voice of Garfield and Auric Goldfinger.

Now that's worth seeing.
 
ayase said:
The guy certainly has a unique voice. Wiki informs me (hilariously) that he is also the Japanese voice of Garfield and Auric Goldfinger.
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Ha. That's an interesting piece of trivia. Apparently he played a few roles in Ping Pong Club, which I watched in Japanese, so I must have heard his voice before. I reckon it's more suited to comedy than horror...

Also, damn you for quoting me before I made my sneaky edit. I really should finalize my posts before posting them.
 
iisan said:
megagold5 said:
This show got really rather heavy towards the end and was very intriguing. It also included THE MOST SCARY FACE EVER, dear god I nearly shat myself... Tis the bit where Kaede first has her 'scary look' when talking to Primula (sp?) and cooking. At which point I could only see 1 of two thing happeing in the following episodes: Either Chainsaw Massacre, or the return of Mr. Stabby. A couple of eps on I was lead to add suicide to this list. Which kinda did happen, but not with her...
Click to expand...

I shat bricks too. d:
Also, the bit when he sees the ripped curtins and she's just... standing there...
Click to expand...

Prepare to relive this moment...

ittyatteru_kaede.jpg
 
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We'll it serve Rin right for saying he only likes boys

oh wait that was Shuffle Abbridged XD

funny enought, i've seen that look in "When they cry"

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I also might check out Shuffle abridged since i've also watched it recently, I enjoyed it, got a bit crazy at the end:

Kaede scary look reminded me of when Marge Simpson goes insane, she was like a time-bomb about to explode.
 
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Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo - 10/10

Every once in a while I watch an anime that reminds me why I spend so much of my time and money on these silly cartoons.

I'm not a big fan of studio Gonzo. While they're capable of amazing visuals, they don't seem to understand the concept of budget and tend to blow their load on the first couple of episodes. This is true for other studios as well, but I find that the disparity between good and bad is most pronounced with Gonzo. Not only that, but their stories tend to fizzle out not long afterwards.

But that's not the case with Gankutsuou, one of the most lavishly designed anime I've ever seen, TV or otherwise. A sci-fi re-imagining of the original novel, the story takes place in 5053. Interplanetary travel is a reality, and giant robots are used in war, though otherwise this could be late 19th century France. But while the sci-fi elements have no real bearing on the story, they don't feel out of place. They do serve a purpose, however, and that's to give Gonzo and director Mahiro Maeda (who did the amazing Second Renaissance segment of the Animatrix) license to show off their innovative GCI, the use of which is extensive and, really, nothing short of astonishing. I've never seen anything like the techniqued used for the character's clothes and I was continually dazzled by the colour and extravagance and creativity. The music is fabulous as well.

And rarely have I been so absorbed by a story. It's a testament to the quality of the writing that even though there are only a couple of action scenes in the entire show, I was not once bored. The story of a young aristocrat named Albert who meets and befriends the wealthy Count of Monte Cristo had me drawn in from the very beginning, not least because the Count is one of anime's most charismatic and magnetic characters. Over the course of the series his elaborate plot for revenge against those who destroyed his life gathers momentum, and details about his past are gradually revealed. It's a masterful piece of writing that culminates in a stunning conclusion.

But that's not all the series has. I have seldom watched a series with so many memorable, well-developed characters. Even Albert, who spends most of the series a spoilt, naive brat is redeemed by the end. And, unlike the book (or so I hear), this story is really about Albert and how his experiences change him as a person. It feels like a genuinely adult show, sophisticated and not prone to the usual anime melodrama (well, not often).

I genuinely cannot find fault with Gankutsuou. It's simply magnificent.
 
07-Ghost - 5.5/10

So many important characters left completely undeveloped, so many important questions left completely unanswered. Unless they're planning a season 2, I can't really see an excuse for it. With 26 episodes to play with, it's not as if they didn't have the time. The series started very well, but the anticipation I felt for each new episode gradually diminished as it went on. The ending was very anticlimactic. Not to say I didn't enjoy this series, it's just that it could have been so much more.
 
Burst angel : 8/10
Highly enjoyable (not for the fanservice, but the story itself)

Black Blood Brothers: 7.5/10
At ep 8. it's acually rather good. after reading a review Aion did which was questioning alot of things...i've seen the eps that fill in the gaps. So not sure what he means.... i'm enjoying it, character developement could be improved but for a short series i think it's not too bad.
 
Now and Then, Here and there - 9/10
It doesn't try to tone things in wartime down. It's pure poetry in every subtle decision from music to art.
It's just not a full 10/10 because the main character positiveness got in my nerves at some point. Girl has been kidnapped, beaten, raped and is bearing a kid from the raper and the guy has the nerve to tell her that everything is going to be all right simple like that??
There are situations that you have to keep quiet.
 
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Noir - 7/10
Another one of those series that starts slow but gets better as the series progresses along. I thought I'd enjoy this series a lot more, I've heard great things about it. To me, it was a decent series but nothing special.
 
The Twelve Kingdoms: 8.5/10

MAL Comment #1 said:
Considering Youko isn't the main character in every novel, and her character isn't any more important than the leads of the other novels, when referring to the novels it'd be wrong to describe stories like the second arc as filler. However, in terms of the anime, Youko is the lead - she started the story and has by far the most time - so anything not relating to her can be seen as filler. The second arc did reveal more about the inner workings of the world, but it wasn't needed for Youko's story.

The second story is probably my favourite TTK story. However, it's ruined by SP not finishing it. Taiki had something like six episodes (plus a recap), yet you never learn why he abandoned the kingdom of Tai, why he lost his memory or why he has his servants killing people. After all seemed well at the end of the flashback, it was just left open. It's a shame because I really got into the second arc, being able to learn about kirins from the perspective of a kirin ignorant to the ways of his new world working most excellently. I found it fascinating how nature works in TTK universe, with a Nyokai - a sort of mother/servant - being born just before a kirin and protecting it as it grows up.

The third arc hasn't been great. TTK universe has its own language, with terms getting thrown about that have no meaning outside the series itself constantly. For example, Youko's six ministers all have titles starting with 'Dai', and it's impossible to remember which is which with so little time spent on them. Trying to figure out who's behind the trouble is damn hard when you don't know the characters involved.

The political stuff is boring. Necessary, yeah, but not anywhere near as entertaining as when Youko traveled around the world. And the arc hasn't been helped by two near enough unrelated stories of young girl woes getting switched to all the time. It reminds me of those Hollywood movies that tell five stories at once to make the story harder to follow because it'd be dull otherwise.
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MAL Comment #2 said:
I just typed a paragraph expressing my thoughts about the third arc of TTK to someone else, so I don't want to go on about it. In short, the stories of the two girls served no purpose other than linking them into Youko's completed character, and I grew tired of them standing around repeating the same lines. Asano's character also served no purpose in the third arc. The end speech was good but the arc was ruined by it dragging on for far too long, including way too much needless ****. I wouldn't be able to rewatch it.

68 episodes, huh? That explains a lot. It still wouldn't have been enough - there are twelve volumes out (I think?) and the story still isn't over. There hasn't been a volume is five years or so, also. SP should've focused on Youko (which they did) and nothing else, maybe just leaving Taiki's story (with an actual ending) in the middle to flesh out the world. Instead of Twelve Kingdoms, it should've had a subtitle, like 'Youko's Story'. That way, sequels could've been made focusing on each of the main characters. Simples.
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Nadia: 7.5/10
Nadia: The Motion Picture - 3/10

MAL Comment said:
Check out JTurner's reviews of the two, his review of the movie in particular. He gave both the same ratings as me and shares my views.

What let the TV series down was, as expected, the fillers. I had issues with the usual lack of anime plot point explanations, which pushed me towards 7/10, but most of the problems lie with the filler. They weren't Naruto bad, but they weren't great. Near to nothing was added to the plot, the mood switched from dark to light/happy when the fillers started, Nadia's character was all over the place - going from a bitch to a slut - and old dialogue got repeated a lot. Add in some cartoonish humour and you're left with a lot of poor, if somewhat enjoyable episodes.

It's a shame because up until episode 23 it was at least an eight, maybe even a nine in enjoyment. The series stayed fast-paced for the first eight episodes, opening with a lot of chasing, character introductions and the reveal of the sinister villain of the piece. Following that, there were slower-paced 'ship' episodes, where the cast got fleshed out as they stayed on the same sub. The huge amount of likeable characters and steady development made it a lot of fun to watch.

As for the movie, it wasn't made by Gainax, included a 25-30 recap which would've confused anyone not familiar with the TV series, it looked **** and the story was woeful. Key characters from the TV series were excluded, Nadia had left Jean to become a reporter and the actions of the Grandis Gang were illogical. Read the review I mentioned before if you're interested.

It's a series you should buy for enjoyment, but overall I couldn't give it more than 7/10. I'm glad I own it - that I will say.
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"We have never met an elf that we couldn't strip. Did you hear me? Not one. We will not rest until you're naked!"

Those Who Hunt Elves - 7/10

Three people from modern day Japan are summoned by a high elf priestess named Celcia to your standard fantasy world. Airi is a graceful Hollywood actress; Junpei is a dumb but powerful martial artist; and Ritsuko is a schoolgirl... with a tank. Celcia attempts to send them back but is distracted by Junpei's chatter, which interrupts the spell she was chanting and causes it to split into five fragments, which fly off in all directions and imprint themselves onto the bodies of random elves.

And that's all the excuse needed to have this band of unlikely companions to travel around, accost elves (always female, of couse), and strip them naked. Celcia joins them, not only because she feels responsible, but because she initially transformed into a dog to hide her identity (it's not good form for an elf to be helping humans sexually assault other elves), and finds herself unable to transform back until the spell is complete. Some of the most amusing scenes are after she transposes a fragment from an elf's body to her own; they're comically imprinted onto her face, making her even more self-conscious about her already undignified appearance.

The first couple of episodes weren't very funny, but I started to enjoy the series more as it progressed. Each plays out in a similar fashion: the hunters find an elf and spend the rest of the episode trying to disrobe her. The humour is mostly of the dumb variety, with slapstick aplenty, constant bickering between Junpei and Celcia, and some fourth wall breaking. My favourite episode is the one from which the above quote is taken. An elf girl is trapped inside a magical armour and, much to their astonishment, pleads with the hunters to strip her naked. Cue several amusing attempts at removing said armour before a much simpler solution is found.

Occasionally the show strays into drama and mawkishness, but it's never long before a character, usually Junpei, does or says something utterly ridiculous. It's not great--I still prefer Rune Soldier--but it's fun to watch and I look forward to the second season.
 
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