| Seen some | Rating | Comment |
| Basilisk (TV) | Excellent | Visually one of the best anime series' I've seen. The story is very engaging and original (well, somewhat), as you can't really pick a side for which clan you want to win (both the main characters are split on each clan). The unconventional cast of characters and absolutely stellar soundtrack make this show very likeable. And while there are a decent amount of character designs and battle styles that seem strikingly bizarre (over exaggerated wrinkles on old people, a turtle man who spits goo?), that shouldn't stop you from seeing this series. |
| Bleach (TV) | Excellent | While Bleach isn't exactly new in every aspect, as far as this type of show goes, this show is multiple steps above the norm. The characters all have excellent personalities, the monster designs and premise are fresh, the art and animation is class, and the story actually moves at a good pace. Bleach is everything I could have wanted it to be, even if, at it's heart, it is still enjoyable shonen. |
| Case Closed (TV) | Very good | A very clever show whose mysteries are easier to follow and more interesting (not to mention much less overwrought) than Ghost in the Shell: SAC's tales. |
| Dragon Ball GT (TV) | So-so | When Dragon Ball was milked a bit too much... Sure it's easy to watch and it's fast, but it's still a very repetitive show. |
| Dragon Ball Z (TV) | | Long, interesting story and strong characters to keep me watching, though a bit too slow paced; it forced more episodes than it needed. Note: I haven't watched this show for years, so I think there isn't a meaning to rate it. |
| Eureka Seven (TV) | | |
| Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (TV) | | Animation is well done, and the action scenes have good detail, but many of the characters look way too realistic, and the storylines are way overwrought. Plus, the fact that these complex plots are pretty much just "stand alone" for one episode, there is little reason to watch another episode. The setting is cool in the movie, but I haven't felt it yet in this show. Granted, maybe if the episodes I'd watched weren't in a "here and there" order, maybe I'd appreciate the story. No rating yet. |
| .Hack//SIGN (TV) | Good | Some cool characters, great art, and some good plot moments, but //SIGN is a bit too motionless at times and has almost unbearably slow plot development. |
| Inuyasha (TV) | Very good | Good looking action and somehow seems "classic-samurai" to me. Its plot may move a little slow at times, but it still moves faster than some anime (Naruto, One Piece, Dragonball, etc.). Some of the filler and later episodes dumb it down; it's still a very important anime to me though. Easy to get into, impossible to stop watching. |
| Naruto (TV) | Very good | Naruto (the character) is somewhat of a pain and the show takes twice as long as it should to get through episodes, but the show is still well rounded in almost every area, and is especially good when it gets serious. |
| Noein - to your other self (TV) | | |
| One Piece (TV) | Not really good | Can be slightly interesting at times. Despite the fact that I never watched the sub, it feels like it was edited much more than it had to be. Oh yeah, and the voices are horrible! |
| Samurai 7 (TV) | Very good | This anime has a very classic feel to it (it is based on an old classic after all, however, keep in mind that I’ve never watched Seven Samurai). The characters are painstakingly detailed and had me anticipating the characters’ background stories. Almost every Samurai carries a sword, yet the makers somehow found a way to make all the styles completely different (awesome). Sometimes the episodes ended before I wanted them to, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't look forward to the next episode. |
| Samurai X: Trust & Betrayal (OAV) | | |
| Trinity Blood (TV) | Good | The series has a good premise ("next-gen" vampires who prey other vampires), but I've never been as big a fan of episodic series as story driven ones. But it's awesome character designs, and (usually) interesting stories are worth my time. |
| Zatch Bell (TV) | Bad | Good looks can't cover up a ridiculously annoying cast, that also leans way too much on anime comedy (which in fact, is not really that funny, especially not on this show!). |
| Seen all | Rating | Comment |
| Blood: The Last Vampire (movie) | Good | Don't mistake this movie from its trailer. Pretty much every scene in the movie is shown in it. I can tell this development team has talent, but lets face it: this is not a real movie. Sure, it has high quality visuals, fight scenes and even some atmosphere, but at 45 minutes, only so much can be conquered. To say Blood has an actual story would be overstating it; it's more like a premise. And characters are well done, but never fleshed out. Furthermore, you got an enjoyable action movie that should've been longer. |
| Cowboy Bebop (TV) | Excellent | I don't normally go for the episodic story shows, but hell, because of it Bebop has some of the most thought-provoking episodes I've ever seen on a TV series (episode 23). Yoko Kanno's music is no exception here, however. The characters are so well done, they never break their style. The ending was a bit depressing, but trust me, it was in the best possible way. |
| Cowboy Bebop: The Movie | Excellent | Cowboy Bebop has, at the very least, one of the best cast of characters ever. Though I never watched the TV series, their personalities are so unique, that they can be felt within the length of this movie.The story is incredible with amazing dialogue. It may take a while to start up, but aren't all great movies like that? However, I did have to watch the movie twice to fully understand the ending... I almost gasped when I saw Yoko Kanno did the music (nothing of her's seemed to interest me), and at first my thoughts didn't change. Into the second half though the music gets better and there is one in particular that really stood out. Now I know why there's so much hype around this anime. |
| Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (movie) | Masterpiece (dub & sub & Fre.dub) | A combination of stellar combat, unbelieveable animation and the best characters ever placed on my TV. A dissappointing story, but thanks to the amazing characters, it still brought something that kept me both interested, and showed its own magic. A hardcore movie, but it delivered in the end. |
| Fullmetal Alchemist (TV) | Masterpiece | FMA's first batch of episodes may not seem worth the hype, but as the story continues, you realize just how important every moment was. It weaves together like no other and uses possibly the best cast in any anime to do so. Even if by the end everything seems overwhelming, you know just how amazing every moment was. Though the anime takes different steps than the manga at the second half, both sort of mix together and form (kind of like alchemy) an even greater message. |
| Fullmetal Alchemist: The Movie - Conqueror of Shamballa | Masterpiece (dub & sub) | A movie isn't exactly what FMA needed (it left as many loose ends as any other series), but given the quality of the movie, it certainly didn't hurt. In fact, these action scenes are so many levels ahead of the series, you can now see what was perhaps the true vision of alchemy in battle. The movie is on par with the series in terms of writing (which is fantastic), but it's connection to history is what makes movie feel like more than just a "100-minute episode." Of coarse, music and visuals are given the obvious subtle boost. The only thing I can really complain on is sadly, even though this movie would serve as the chronological conclusion to FMA, I still prefer the overall feel and message of the original (and sorry to say, there are still a few loose ends!). |
| Ghost in the Shell (movie) | Excellent | I wasn't too fond of the TV series, so going into the movie wasn't full of big expectations. But surprisingly, I had a very enjoyable time. There's lot's of long talking scenes in the GITS, but unlike SAC, GITS has strong and understandable messages. Most of the characters are given just enough detail to look good and the main character is very likable. The movie has a few glaring problems though: Uneven visuals at times, unneeded and frequent nudity, and an overall short length. But seeing it's excellent futuristic setting, story, and impressive art and animation, it's easy to see why this movie is considered such a milestone in anime. |
| Hellsing (TV) | Decent | Alucard, to many people, could probably go down as one of anime’s greatest characters, its too bad he stars in an under-developed anime. While the main characters are excellently drawn, “average” character designs are unimpressive, and the backgrounds can be just ugly. At the same time, the animation feels stiff and often looks poor. The music is at best, mediocre. It's plot has its moments (and is thankfully absent of filler), but it almost completely lacks emotion. I’m not a hater though; I liked Hellsing. But even having not read the manga, it feels everything could’ve been presented much better. |
| Howl's Moving Castle (movie) | Very good (dub & sub) | Howl has just the animation you'd expect from a Ghibli movie: top-notch 2D animation, intense detail, and even more quality in some areas than the previous Ghibli films (ex. clouds). The characters are also up to snuff, each with a distinct and likable personality to set them above the flock. However, Howl is not a perfect Ghibli movie. When judged against Mononoke (my favorite Ghibli film), it falls short a step or two in almost every area. The story has hints of magic, but it doesn't completely take off. There are a few slowish parts too that detracted my attention for a little bit. Regardless, this may not be a top-tier Ghibli film, but it's still a great movie. |
| Inuyasha Meguri Au Mae no Unmei Koiuta (special) | Masterpiece | This special was very successful in capturing the essence of episodes passed in the series. And, in doing so, these episodes become some of the series' greatest episodes! The action, animation, was all given more effort than a regular episode. These episodes are most especially a treat if you've watched episode 1 of the TV series. After nearly 150 episodes, fans finally get answers to questions from times long passed. Die-hard fans can't miss this. |
| Inuyasha the Movie 2: The Castle Beyond the Looking Glass | | |
| Inuyasha the Movie: Affections Touching Across Time | Good (sub), Very good (dub) | Not quite at the level as the 2nd movie, but shows many similar strong points and is much easier to get into for non-regulars of the series. The plot was sort of standard fare, but the writing was very good (in the dub), and the action scenes were short and sweet. Great music too (perhaps better than the second movie).
Note:The dub is rated higher because of it's much more polished dialogue and better voicing (IMO). |
| Kai Doh Maru (OAV) | So-so | This is one of those movies/products that you pretty much call barely passable. Right from the art, to animation, to music, to script, KDM just doesn't put in enough effort to be noticed. CG environments seem like they're untouched (and uncolored) out of the renderer! Did I mention the final scene in the feature is more or less skipped! KDM is not a terrible OAV, it's just one that'll make you regret spending money on it. |
| Last Order Final Fantasy VII (OAV) | Good | Shows that FFVII could have made a great anime TV series. The character designs were well done, in terms of an anime look. This style of storytelling would've been great for the game's story to be expanded on. Strange changes to what happened in the game are bothersome, and it's too bad this is only a small half hour sample of what could have been... but it's not too late! |
| Macross Plus (OAV) | Excellent | Despite being over 10 years old, this OVA beats out almost all animation that is new today. An original story, very tense and interesting, with realistic and likable characters to back it up. It has a good length that every OVA should have. There are, however, some slow parts in Plus, and the main song, "Voices" gets kind of annoying after hearing it "a lot" throughout the OVA. The rest of the music is quite good, I especially liked the ending theme, "After in the Dark", in parts 1-3. |
| Metropolis (movie) | | |
| Mobile Suit Gundam Seed (TV) | Masterpiece | A heart-stopping plot that just keeps on getting better and better. Delves deep into the meaning of war, and changed many of my thoughts of: "who is the enemy?" The characters are well voiced, and fill in their roles perfectly. An amazing ending too... and I'm not just talking about the final episode, I'm talking about the final ten! |
| Princess Mononoke (movie) | Masterpiece (dub & sub & Fre.dub) | The whole movie feels like a dream. A movie that is so good, it feels classic. I got attached to the characters during its run time alone, and that's saying something. There is a certain feeling you feel from the atmosphere and environments of the movie. Even through multiple viewings, more plot elements are uncovered, and an even greater message is portrayed. No matter what language Princess Mononoke is viewed in, it's simply like no other. |
| Samurai Champloo (TV) | Very good | Like Bebop, I normally don't prefer this type of series, but maybe this might've been better if it didn't pretend to not be like that. Though I'll roll my eyes at the story progression, the action scenes are fast and visceral, and the episode storylines can often hold their own, and I really don't mind learning all the interesting Japanese history along with it. |
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