Rate the last anime you watched out of 10

Danganronpa 8/10

One of the better anime shows I've seen of late. Good animation and decent plot. Negatives were that a lot of the characters were pretty shallow, as they were obviously just there to service the plot & the show seemed to run out of steam in the last few episodes. Plus the final positive message was rather laid on with a trough.
 
Classroom☆Crisis - A show that had mildly piqued my interest by the end of July, I made it my first port of call for catchup on the Summer season due to unignorable word of mouth surrounding the back half of the show - and a rock-solid decision that proved to be.

The show's opening weeks gave a hint of something bigger hiding behind its ostensibly inoffensive tale of overachieving post-post-millennials, but never brought it into focus in a way that could reassure viewers it was going to be worth sticking around for. By the time the show finishes, however, it has ripened into a thrilling political drama with a keen eye for the right moment to avoid taking itself entirely too seriously.

Hana... err... Angelina-san stands out thanks to her involvement across all threads of the story, as well as Kobayashi Yuu's performance, but the cast of characters really comes together as a whole over the course of the thirteen episodes.

8/10
 
ilmaestro said:
Classroom☆Crisis - A show that had mildly piqued my interest by the end of July, I made it my first port of call for catchup on the Summer season due to unignorable word of mouth surrounding the back half of the show - and a rock-solid decision that proved to be.

The show's opening weeks gave a hint of something bigger hiding behind its ostensibly inoffensive tale of overachieving post-post-millennials, but never brought it into focus in a way that could reassure viewers it was going to be worth sticking around for. By the time the show finishes, however, it has ripened into a thrilling political drama with a keen eye for the right moment to avoid taking itself entirely too seriously.

Hana... err... Angelina-san stands out thanks to her involvement across all threads of the story, as well as Kobayashi Yuu's performance, but the cast of characters really comes together as a whole over the course of the thirteen episodes.

8/10
Click to expand...

I'm glad I'm not the only one who really enjoyed the show in the end. I definitely felt it was the most underrated/overlooked show of the Summer season due to the first half. And it ends on a good note too (with a harem ending of sorts.. heh).
 
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Mardock Scramble Boxset - 8/10

After what seems like an age I finally purchased this three disc story of wonderful eye-candy, which manages to explore the subject matter in both moderately graphic and yet poignant style. A simple story which is not afraid to go at a sombre pace, and an experience I would recommend to anyone who has enjoyed anything in the vein of GITS/Serial Experiments Lain/Psycho Pass :)
 
Okay, so here is something a little different to what I normally post. This isn't the last show I watched but it is a show I've seen multiple times and is my all time favourite show, Puella Magi Madoka Magica. As some of you may be aware, I recently joined this site's writing team as a reviewer and this is the review that I submitted when I applied for the position. It's a bit more formal than what I normally post in this thread but it's still a little rough and hasn't been combed through by an editor like my reviews that get posted on the main site are. Despite that, I still felt like I wanted to share this review as I think I've mentioned how much I love this show multiple times here but I don't think I've ever really gone into any detail before. Anyway, here it is.
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For me, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, is a masterpiece of Anime. That’s not something that I would say lightly. I would say that I’m still rather new to the medium of Anime, I’ve seen just over 100 pieces of Anime in total, but I wouldn’t say that I’m completely new to Anime and of all those I’ve seen, if you asked me what my favourite show is, I’d probably jump to Madoka Magica without hesitation. Whilst the show isn’t completely dependent on this, some of what makes the show so amazing on first viewing is how it plays with your expectations, so it is best to go in as blind as possible, so if you’re willing to take my word for how good the show is, I’d say it would be best to avoid the rest of this review, but for those who aren’t so easily convinced, I’ll break down why I think this show is an absolute work of art that deserves to be seen by every Anime fan.

Madoka Magica is the story of Madoka Kaname, an average 14 year old Middle School girl who attends Mitakihara middle school. However, her life is changed forever when she has a fateful encounter with the cat like creature known as Kyuubey who promises Madoka any wish she can think of in exchange for becoming a Magical Girl. Now, on the surface, this concept might sound like a generic and tired idea that has been done to death in the past but Madoka Magica is very different past its initial premise. Madoka Magica is written by Gen Urobuchi, who is known for writing Psycho Pass and the Light Novel Fate/Zero, and if you’re familiar with Urobuchi’s works you would probably think that the story I described at the start doesn’t sound like the kind of thing he would write, however the story is so chock full of twists and turns throughout the 12 episodes of the show that by the end, the show has all the hallmarks of a Gen Urobuchi show. The pacing of the show is pretty much perfect, not a single episode feels like it’s there to fill time and every scene contributes to either the story or building the characters.

Whilst the story of Madoka Magica is very good, I find the characters in the show to be one of its strongest points. The weakest character in the show, oddly enough, is Madoka herself, with her not really developing too much. However, every other character either develops a lot throughout the show or is given an emotional backstory and by the end of the show, you’ll be very attached to each and every one of the characters. For me, the very best characters in the show are Sayaka Miki, Madoka’s best friend, and Homura Akemi, a mysterious girl that Madoka sees in a dream. These characters are very well written and go through large character arcs. The best episode in the show is centred on Homura’s backstory and is one of the single strongest episodes of any Anime that I’ve seen and is a masterpiece in itself that also greatly enhances the rewatch value of the show.
In the visual department, this show looks absolutely stunning. The show has an incredibly unique art style, using light pastel colours for the most part and this really makes the show stand out from its ilk. Another aspect of the show that makes the show stand out are the Witches. The Witches in the show are the antagonists in the show and whenever a Witch appears, the character must enter a Witch’s Labyrinth. These labyrinths all have unique designs and have a massively different art style from the rest of the show and it allows the animators to go a little crazy and experiment with different animation styles which are always in contrast to the usual soft and pastel visuals. It’s a visual treat and it never fails to impress me every time I watch it. It’s a show that should be watched in 1080p on the largest display possible so you can soak in all of the art. The animation is done by Shaft, a studio well known at this point for their impressive art and animation in shows like Nisekoi and the Monogatari series, so it’s no surprise that the show looks as good as it does.

The music in this show is one of my favourite soundtracks, not just in Anime, but from any medium. This show has a ton of very memorable songs that are used and are very fitting. The music in the show is created by Yuki Kajiura, who also went on to provide the music for Fate/Zero, another Gen Urobuchi show.

To conclude, Madoka Magica is a show that should be seen by every Anime fan as I believe that this show is about as perfect as a show can get. Every aspect of the show is such done to such a high standard that I genuinely can’t think of any aspect of the show that I would change. General opinions on this show seem to vary a lot among some people, so there isn’t any guarantee that everyone will love the show as much as I do but I think that everyone should at least watch it once so they aren’t potentially missing out on what I believe will become a classic in the years to come.

10/10
 
Flower of evil.

It felt like someone was acting this in real life and decided to colour over it and I think that's what they did.

This series is extremely uncomfortable to watch most of the time and I just wished it would just stop.... but I guess that's also why it's so good it feels like I'm watching a psychological anime which I haven't seen In a while and that's the up side to this series.

Everything else is just uncomfortable to watch.

For its psychological drama.... 7/10
 
Danganronpa 8/10

I quite enjoy this series trying to figure out who done it . I have to admit I did not see the mastermind being Enoshima Junko by the end of the series I had completely forgotten about her . I think my favourite character was the Fukawa Touko other personality Genocider Syo .
 
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Colourful

I enjoyed this movie a fair bit. It's an interesting character study and deals with some difficult subjects like depression and suicide. I suspect it could be a little divisive because of that, the route the story takes depends heavily on who it's character is and their particular experience so some people might be upset that it doesn't deal with their ideas about depression and suicide. I don't think that'd be an entirely fair complaint, it doesn't really feel like the film is trying to say that it's covering everything and it's open enough to interpretation that I think quite a few people would get something out of it.

One of the more interesting choices is that Makoto (the main character) is kind of a jerk. At the start of the film he's given the opportunity to redeem himself for a mistake but he's somewhat apathetic and just goes along with things. As he starts to get settled in, he still tends to be fairly selfish and rarely thinks of other people's perspectives. I don't tend to like watching characters like this but I think it works fairly well here because it makes it easier for us to really look at each of the characters and try to understand them rather than just siding with the main character. It does also make his character development much more noticeable and significant.

I have to admit, I would have liked to see a bit more of what the other characters were going through in their lives. That said, I do wonder if the fact that we basically only get to see people from Makoto's point of view is deliberate. We have to judge people with the information he has and we might not think of them the same way. I think your own interpretation of the characters (especially Makoto) is going to be a major factor in your enjoyment of the film.

I did like the way the characters were handled overall. Although we only get to see parts of their lives they're generally well developed and feel like they could be actual people. I did enjoy learning more about them, which I suppose is part of the reason that I might have liked to see even more.

There's a "supernatural" aspect to the film that is introduced right at the start, although it's not too important to the film itself. I think it works fairly well as a way to tell the story and give an easier starting point for the viewer but I'd say the supernatural element itself doesn't really have any significant effect on the story. I think that's necessary because otherwise it could distract from what is really a story about people.

While the film can be a bit rough at times, I think it ends up being more of an uplifting and positive experience overall. I'm not sure it'd be good to show to someone that is actually depressed or suicidal though, I think a lot of what you get out of the film is likely to be based on how you interpret things and there's every possibility that some people could focus on the negatives. There's probably just enough there that you could come up with a fairly negative alternative interpretation if you were inclined to do so.

I've heard some people say that the film isn't paced too well, I didn't have a problem with the pacing myself (and I quite enjoyed the part most highlighted for this) but then I may be more tolerant in that respect than most. It's certainly not a fast film, though I did feel that there was always something happening. I don't know if the film would really benefit from a faster pace, though perhaps it would work as a full series that looks at all of the different characters involved.

Overall, I did enjoy the film a fair bit. I think there's a good chance that I'll want to watch it again some time, I think it might be the sort of film that could benefit from foreknowledge of the characters and situations by letting you notice new things on a re-watch.
 
Yugioh box set 3

Ok everyone in this series needs to get laid.... yeah I said it

Kaiba takes a children's card game too seriously I mean come on he has millions of millions of pounds and he makes games I wonder how long card games will will stay in fastion til he goes bankrupt lol.... but seriously he needs to get laid.

Joey is annoying with his accent but at least his trying

Yami isn't as serious as kaiba but he is dramatic in his speeches

This series isn't as good as I remember it ... I mean it's better then gx at least this series had a story or at least what little story it has.

I felt like it was teaching me how to play this game then telling me a story but I guess it was fun reliving the memories of my childhood again or teenhood....... it made me play the online game again...... how sad.

7/10
 
Danganronpa: The Animation
Danganronpa is the first of three recent collaborations between director Seiji Kishi, series compositor Makoto Uezu and animation studio Lerche involving murderous high schoolers, the other two being 2015's Assassination Classroom and Rampo Kitan: Game of Laplace. It is based on a visual novel of the same name, about a group of 16 high school students trapped inside the prestigious Hope's Peak High School, with a somewhat ridiculous and sadistic animate teddy bear called Monokuma, the only way they can escape is to kill another student not get caught.

This review is mostly me highlighting the show's flaws, so I figured I'd start by saying I really enjoyed it, and I'd definitely recommend people watch it. The animation by Lerche is fantastic, but the look of the show is quite stylised and it took a bit of getting used to for me. I'm not sure sure why the show's look is as stylised as it is, the video games' isn't. However once I got used to it, the show looks great and clearly demonstrates Seiji Kishi's technical strengths as director. There's a lot of panning and zooming shots that look amazing, something most other shows seem to avoid because of how difficult they are to get right. I'm assuming CGI was used for those shots, but I couldn't see any noticeable integration problems and nothing has a distinctly CGI'd look about it. The CGI was so well done, I wouldn't have been too surprised to discover it was pure CG, but as far as I can tell it isn't. (Though nobody else has commented on this, so maybe it's really obvious to everyone else and I'm making a fool of myself by posting this.)

Lerche and Seiji Kishi have really developed a knack for their use of stylisation and animation tricks to produce great looking shows, and I'm more than willing to jump on the bandwagon and say we'll probably see some excellent work from them in the future and if they keep on the trajectory they're currently on, I could see them becoming a favourite studio of mine (and hopefully other people too).

Story and script-wise the show is more of a mixed bag, it has great mysteries you can follow along with and work out the answer to, which is always great for a Mystery show, but it also has more than it's fair share of reveals that revolve around tenuous evidence and circumstantial confessions. I have no clue how Mondo Owada decided Chihiro Fujisaki's killer would have a matching coloured jersey. And Celestia Ludenberg outing herself because she used a plural was outright ridiculous, especially since the sentence in which she used the plural was quite ambiguous, and she could have easily bullshitted her way out of it. There are also a few plot holes in the aftermath of Makoto Naegi's execution, such as how all the other work he's innocent without Monokuma telling them and why Kyoko Kirogiri dives in the trash chute without knowing if the door can be opened from the inside. Then the final two episodes contain the most ridiculous twist, proven mostly using evidence we aren't given as viewers. This was especially annoying as the show hadn't really just randomly introduced huge twists without some kind of set-up before this point, and for it to fall at the final hurdle and do so for the big final twist is disappointing. The final reveal is also basically a monologue from the bad guy, which is also disappointing, given the whole show is about the students finding the truth about what's happened. The ending is also annoyingly tonally inconsistent for the rest of the work; all along the series aims for quirky pitch black comedy, so for it to suddenly pull up and aim for sincerity and sentimentality feels unearned and slightly ridiculous. Maybe it worked for some viewers, but I just found it to be a bit silly, and occurring about two-thirds of the way into the final episode, it killed any remaining tension and strangled the rest of the show. I wouldn't say I was disappointed by the ending, but I feel like it could have been than it was. From what I've heard, the game is much better, so I'm assuming that at least some of the flaws story-wise were introduced when the show was crammed into 13 episodes.

The show also struggles with it's comedic undertones, which given the complaints other people had with Assassination Classroom and Rampo Kitan: Game of Laplace, seems to be a recurring problem with Seiji Kishi/Makoto Uezu/Lerche works. It has great dark jokes, with the "parentheses are amazing" monologue from Monokuma being a particular favourite of mine, but the show never quite goes for it in the way the directing and tonal set-up suggests it might. Many of the executions are clearly attempts at irony, but aside from the shock factor of the first one and some amusing attention to detail, the executions are mostly just weird and rarely as funny as they could and should have been. Maybe it's just me being a sociopath, but I feel the show would have benefit from going a lot harder on the dark comedy front. It just had the distinct feeling of wanting to break and do more, but not being able to, and that's not really something you want to come across to the viewer. I haven't played the video game, but I wouldn't be surprised to discover the jokes had been toned down a lot during the adaptation process, and I do wonder if the significant time restraints had led to some of the funnier moments being dropped in order to propel the narrative along.

Overall, the show gets a lot more right than it gets wrong, which is partly why I was so disappointed by the storytelling elements it does get wrong, and I'd definitely recommend people give it a try, but I'd note that tonally I think it's something you're either into or you aren't. If you have the right sense of humour, you probably won't enjoy it, but for me it was a solid 8 out of 10, and I look forward to the next Kishi/Uezu/Lerch team-up, season 2 of AssClass.

TL;DR 8 out of 10, definitely give it a try.
 
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Psycho Pass 7/10

Starts off great but the story really feels stretched out over the last half a dozen episodes & loses a lot of pace in the process. Also there isn't really any particular twists in the story that you couldn't see coming a mile off because they were so heavily signposted. I would give the first half off the season 8/10 & the second half 6/10.
 
I went in with no expectations and I thought it was (In all honesty) the worst anime I have seen. I don't intentionally seek out bad shows, so I'm sure there are worse, but this one took the biscuit for me.
 
Love, Chunibyo and Other Delusions
This is a show that has been on my radar for a really long time now. I'm a huge fan of KyoAni as they make some of my favourite shows and I don't think I've seen a show of theirs I haven't fallen in love with. The proposition of a show that combined KyoAni's style of detailed, cute looking animation with fantasy action scenes sounded like something I'd love as a fan of both of those things. After finishing the show, I can safely say, I was 100% correct, I absolutely adored this show!

The highlight of the show, for me, was its characters. More specifically, Rikka. The KyoAni shows I have seen all tend to be group focused and, as such, the characters in their shows get a bit of development each but Chunibyo bucks this trend. Whilst there is a group focus here, it's way less so here and, as a result, Rikka gets a ton of depth and development and it works to fantastic effect. Her being a Chunibyo is a tad annoying at the start but the more that gets revealed about her character and backstory, you really to adore her and really feel for her and she is just a really great, fleshed out character. The unfortunate side effect of this is the other characters do get shafted in this regard. Whilst none of the characters are bad, they are all fun to watch and have their own personalities and backstories, I feel like all the other characters have done with a bit more. Of course, there is only so much you can do with 12 episodes and I feel like the show could have done with two cours. I know there is a second season, so they might get so more focus there, so I'd have to wait and see. It's the only complaint I have with the show, and even then, it feels like a minor thing given the amount of episodes they had.

The story in this show can be divided into two sections, the first being the relationship between Rikka and Yuta and the second being Rikka's Chuunibyou- ism and both work fantastically. The relationship part feels really natural as the characters have great chemistry and this makes it genuinely enjoyable to watch and is just adorable. Again, if the show had more episodes and the relationship built up slower over time, making it feel natural, it could have made it even better feeling I think, but it's still great. This is probably the best relationship I've seen in a show since Toradora. The other half also works great as it delves into why Rikka is a Chunibyo but I can't really go into it without spoiling it. Needless to say, I loved it. The show also manages to be really quite funny in places, making me laugh out loud at times as well as having quite a few emotional moments that had me on the brink of tears, especially toward near the end.

The animation also blew me away. KyoAni is one of my favourite studios, if not my favourite because of how beautiful all their shows look and this show is no exception. In fact, this could be their best looking show. Not only does have the high detail backgrounds, cute character designs and fluid motion that you'd expect from KyoAni it also features a number of fantastic, jaw dropping fight scenes that just look absolutely phenomenal. Well worth owning the Blu Ray, it would be a crime to watch this on DVD.

In closing, this is just an overall brilliant show. Amazing animation, characters and story make this just a fantastic anime that I could recommend to anyone looking for a great romance show.

9/10
 
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