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| Aquarion (TV) |
So-so |
(Watched 10 episodes) Shadow Angels are mysterious creatures fixated on attacking the world, and have appeared again after twelve thousand years away. This is the cue for a bunch of kids (some of which might be the reincarnations of the former heroes who conquered the Shadow Angels the first time they appeared) to try and take on the Shadow Angels, with the help of a combining mecha named "Aquarion". And while the setup could have led to something a bit different to a typical mecha anime, in the hands of better writers or directors, it isn't the case. Aquarion is a jumbled mess of a show. It doesn't know what it wants to do, and the vastly different things the show attempts to do don't work together. There's comedy juxtaposed with drama, or light-hearted and fun contrasted with Deadly Serious Mecha Combat. While more capable writers and directors create such instances of mood whiplash on purpose, in this case, the wildly different types of scenes continually work against and undermine eachother, and there are plenty of mecha-anime that do part of what Aquarion wants to do, and does it better. The only really praiseworthy aspect of the show is the high-quality animation used, particularly in regards to the mecha-based combat, otherwise, the show is far too ordinary and generic to be praised or damned. |
| Black Cat (TV) |
Weak |
(Watched 04 episodes) Black Cat is a cold-blooded gunman, who meets a sweeper named Saya that begins to teach him the value of morality and compassion. Between the generic story, the low-quality and generic animation, uninteresting characters and cliches, the rather average action scenes, and the fact that the show was silly without being fun or funny, I didn't find too much in this anime which I think is worth continuing with. Oh, by the way, when we only see the Black Cat constantly fail every mission he goes on (except for the first that we see), it's a bit hard to accept any claims that he is a master at anything, let alone shooting and assassination. |
| Bleach (TV) |
Decent |
(Watched 05 episodes) From the first five episodes, Bleach appears to be rather decent, by the standards of shonen action anime. The animation is good-quality, particularly considering that this show would be animated nearly every week, the characters and the world they inhabit look like they could be fairly interesting when the world is expanded upon in future episodes, and there's something of a plot here, too. I don't think highly enough of this show to commit to watching another three hundred episodes or more, though. |
| D.Gray-man (TV) |
So-so |
(Watched 03 episodes) The shonen piece falls just on the good side of average. The word that comes to mind is serviceable - it works okay, there's nothing that is particularly good and there's little that's particularly bad. The animation is serviceable, presenting the viewer with the characters and action but not going beyond that. The action is serviceable - it delivers the basics but this has been done in a far more engaging and exciting manner in many other places. The acting is serviceable - the actors do their jobs but it's not a dub worth writing home about. And, from what has been shown in the show so far, there's no indication that this is going to be a deep and intellectual anime. I think that I can do better than watching a serviceable anime, particularly one that runs for over a hundred episodes. |
| Fang of the Sun Dougram (TV) |
Decent |
(Watched 47 episodes) Crinn Cashim, a member of the guerilla group "Fang of the Sun" pilots the mecha "Dougram" to combat the forces occupying the planet of Deloyer, in order to gain the freedom and independence of the planet from the Earth Federation. As a serious mecha show, the political manoeuverings behind the scenes are done well enough - there's some depth and intellect behind the politics, and it serves the story well. Military strategy and mech combat, though, are much more uneven - for every instance where mecha combat strategy is credibly and seriously depicted, with believable strategies implemented by the guerilla group, there is another where the entire strategy is to charge the enemy head-on, or engaging in prolonged battles when outnumbered by the enemy. The uneven nature of the strategy depicted is exacerbated by the fact that major characters seldomly die in the story as a consequence of the stupidity of their actions. While there are certainly moments within the show that are excellent, this is too often contrasted by episodes which provide little in the way of advancing character development or story arc, instead, having to make do with rather lacklustre mech action. A more concise episode count could have done wonders for this series. |
| Final Fantasy: Unlimited (TV) |
Weak |
(Watched 04 episodes) Two children, Ai and Yu, make their way into the strange fantasy world of Wonderland in search of their lost parents. Even if you took away the fact that this has the "Final Fantasy" badge on it and fails to live up to the expectations or hype that this brings upon it, it's still has little in its favour - the characters, the plot and the setting are both cliched and uninteresting, and it fails to stand out, in any way, against so many other shows of a similar vein. |
| Fullmetal Alchemist (TV) |
Decent |
(Watched 05 episodes) "Fullmetal Alchemist" is well-done for a shonen anime, but in the end, it's still a shonen anime, a genre of which I'm not a huge fan, and there's not enough here that interests me enough to entice me into watching the other fifty-odd episodes. I can't accept simplistic and repetitive storylines, and the abundance of filler which is unnecessary for the overarching storyline. The problem isn't as pronounced here as it is in other anime of it's type, but it is still there, and it's not something I would enjoy putting up with for another forty-odd episodes.
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| Genesis Climber Mospeada (TV) |
So-so |
(Watched 10 episodes) Stig is a member of a force returning from Mars to reclaim Earth from alien invaders. After surviving the initial skirmish, Stig manages to crash-land on earth and manages to bring together a small group of resistance fighters to travel to the alien's headquarters to try and figure out a way to stop the invasion. The best way to describe the anime would be generic - generic characters, generic storylines, generic animation style and presentation. I did like the combining mecha of the show, but I hardly consider it worth continuing the show for. |
| Haganai (TV) |
Weak |
(Watched 01 episode) The episode starts with a promising premise - a guy and a girl who are having trouble relating to others and making friends decide to start the Neighbours Club, a group which will allow them to expand their social circle and learn social skills. However, by the end of the episode, the show has descended to crass fanservice - the first person to join the club happens to be a well-developed girl (and the animators certainly make this trait very clear) that acts rudely to everyone yet cannot understand why she has no friends, and the two girls of the club start arguing about breast size. Sigh. |
| Hetalia - Axis Powers (TV) |
Weak |
(Watched 05 episodes) Characters based on the stereotypes of various countries interact with eachother - the character of Italy, for example, is lazy and likes pasta, while Germany is bossy and lacks humour. While it is occasionally funny, the humour is rather lazy, the stereotypes are boring and trite, and the historical aspect of the show is pathetically shallow general knowledge (Did you know that Germany had to pay reparations after World War One,which led to World War Two?) and the show wastes a perfectly good opportunity to educate people on more obscure aspects of history while throwing in a bit of humour. Go read the "Hark! A Vagrant!" webcomic instead - the history webcomics she usually does are intelligent, elightening, and rather funny to boot. |
| Infinite Stratos (TV) |
Not really good |
(Watched 02 episodes) The mecha animations and battles are brilliant. However, the other eighty percent of the show that doesn't involve giant mecha is rubbish, and not the kind that I can find entertaining, either (which goes some way in explaining my enjoyment of a large amount of other mecha shows). I have nothing against a mecha show that spends most of its time with characters rather than battle, but I want this to be entertaining in some manner, whether it be drama, comedy, or developing characters beyond a few basic tropes at the very least, instead of generic, harem-esque antics. |
| Kotetsu Jeeg (TV) |
Bad |
(Watched 03 episodes) (AKA Steel Jeeg) Professor Shiba, a robot-building archaeologist, is killed by Queen Himika, ruler of an underground society that wants to take over Earth. The only person that can stop the Queen is the Professor's son, Hiroshi Shiba, who happens to be a cyborg that can transform into the head of the giant robot, Steel Jeeg. It's a pretty bad show, even by the low standards of seventies mecha anime - the animation is crude and rough (although the bright colour palette used in the show is rather nice), there are massive plot holes in the very premise of the show, and the centrepiece of the show, Steel Jeeg, is rather crude and silly. Probably the worst part of this show, though, is that this anime lacks a sense of humour or self-mocking which make other equally preposterous mecha shows of this vintage much more enjoyable. |
| Lord of Lords Ryu Knight (TV) |
Bad |
(Watched 04 episodes) Adeu is a teenager in a fantasy world, able to pilot a powerful robot called Ryu Knight, and meets up with a bunch of other people in his quest to become a chivalrous knight. This is a children's show, which is not in itself a bad thing, but it's insultingly stupid and uninventive, the characters are generic and unmemorable, and the animation is rather cheap (even by early nineties standards). Worse than any of that, though, is the fact that I have developed a deep and seething hatred for the main character, whose incompetence is only matched by both his enormous ego and the time he obnoxiously spends pontificating about the nature of being a knight. Even if you're a huge mecha fan, this really isn't worth the time or effort. |
| Majikoi - Oh! Samurai Girls (TV) |
Awful |
(Watched 01 episode) "Samurai Girls!" is set in a strange alternate universe where high-school girls can somehow perform the most amazing feats of combat and their school would sanction exensive, large-scale fights between students without ever having to worry about students being cripped or killed, or the lawsuits that would ensue from such an event. Saving this tripe from a "1" rating is that the animation for the fight scenes is rather nicely-done. |
| Mashiroiro Symphony - The color of lovers (TV) |
Bad |
(Watched 01 episode) There is nothing here to indicate that this is anything other than a generic harem anime, with a bunch of dim-witted template girls surrounding a dull and lifeless male character. The animation of the show is done well, and I did laugh occasionally - usually at how terribly uninventive, generic or intellectually insulting the show was. Just because a show is about throwing together a bunch of girls that are really there to let you pick which girl the viewer wants to perve on doesn't mean that it has to be boring garbage. |
| My Bride is a Mermaid (TV) |
Decent |
(Watched 04 episodes) Nagasumi, a young boy on holiday, is saved from drowning by Sun, a mermaid. However, mermaid law states that if a person ever sees a mermaid in their true form, they must be killed. The only solution seems to be for Nagasumi to marry Sun. This is a very funny show, and that's not a small thing, either. The humour is rather low-brow and undemanding, but it's there and there is plenty of it. Apart from the humour, though, the show has nothing else going for it - the characters and plots are poorly-fleshed out cliches, the plots are ridiculous, and the animation is extremely variable quality - most of it rather poor. |
| Neuro - Supernatural Detective (TV) |
Bad |
(Watched 03 episodes) Yako is a schoolgirl who solves mysteries, but really works as a puppet of Neuro, a demon who longs to solve the ultimate mysteries. As a detective show, this is complete and utter rubbish - there's no suspense in figuring out who the killer is because only two characters are introduced in each episode - the victim and the murderer. That's not a terribly difficult mystery to solve to me. As a vehicle for allowing the show to introduce an interesting world, concept, idea, or characters, the show fails - the setting is merely modern-day Japan, the characters are bland and uninteresting, and the show fails to set up interesting or demanding ideas for the viewer to ponder upon. You could do a lot better, even for something as niche as "supernatural detective anime". |
| Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~ (TV) |
Awful |
(Watched 01 episode) Between the gaping plot holes (one particularly notable example that occurs early on is the main character sparing the life of a girl trying to kill him because he suddenly sees one of her eyes and I will never forgive this show because I just had to write that garbage out) the pretentious attempts at pseudo-philosophy that just come out as garbage that conspires to lower my IQ, and the stupidity and predictability of the central conceit (lets kidnap this person who no doubt hates us and turn that person into a ruthless killing machine), there really isn't much to like. I'll give this a 2/10 because the animation is of high quality, but even that makes me resent the fact that the money paying for this anime could have been spent on just about anything else and it would have been better. |
| Pokémon (TV) |
Weak |
(Watched 15 episodes) I tried to give this show a chance, I honestly did. The inner child in me demanded it. however, the show is blatantly formulaic, repetitive, and clichéd, and is compounded by poorly-written storylines that are neither exciting nor enjoyable. And I hate Ash with a passion – surely someone that wants to go on a Pokemon journey might put in some effort to learn about Pokémon. Instead, he spends his time constantly learning about the most basic of facts all of the time. Stick with the video games, the stories there mightn’t be much either, but at least the gameplay and multiplayer more than make up for it. |
| RahXephon (TV) |
Weak |
(Watched 11 episodes) There are two ways that I've been recommended this show. The first is as a recommendation for someone who enjoys "Neon Genesis Evangelion". Unfortunately, for me, it comes across as the slower cousin of the two. The one that everyone is told to be nice to and not to make fun of. The mecha battles are sparse and boring, nor does the show make up for this by way of interesting characters or storylines. In fact, apart from the characters of Reika and Haruka, I have significant trouble telling any of the other characters apart because there is so little difference in character traits between them. Haruka starts off interesting (a kickass field agent who saves the main character's life, no less), and quickly establishes herself as the most boring character in the show. There's a lack of development in the setting of the show, and what could have been interesting plot lines get dropped throught what I have watched in the series. The other way that I've been recommended this show is as a harem anime, that just happens to involve mecha. Unfortunately, the characters are too generic and unmemorable to be enjoyable on this regard, and the mecha aspect of the show hardly manages to compensate. |
| Sailor Moon (TV) |
Not really good |
(Watched 05 episodes) Fom the starting episodes of this anime, I haven't see anything that would convince me to watch the rest of the two hundred-odd that have been produced. In each episode, there's some villains who have some goal of draining life-essence, Sailor Moon's friends or family always end up in strife because of this, and she has to use her moon powers to sort them out, occasionally getting a new power as the plot demands it. The animation is rather ordinary, the stories are rather repetitive and the disguised villains of the episode are plainly obvious to the point of insult. And Sailor Moon's outfit does nothing to disguise her everyday appearance and little of her personality, either, which is rather silly. No, i don't see myself spending any more time on this show. |
| Showa Monogatari (TV) |
Decent |
(Watched 03 episodes) Showa Monogatari is a slice-of-life anime (or television manga, as the show calls itself) set in Japan in 1964, centred around the Yamazaki family. The presentation of the show itself is excellent - the animation is well-done, the backgrounds are beautifully detailed and the in-show comparisons to actual photographs from the Japan of the period show how much effort has been put here. However, there's little of interest about the stories in the show, particularly the comparisons of traditional Japanese values to the (then) emerging modern values. |
| Sky Girls (TV) |
So-so |
(Watched 07 episodes) Years after the alien invasion of the Worms has destroyed much of the Earth, a group of girls are brought together to be test pilots for an experimental robots called Sonic Divers, mecha capable of flying and aerial combat. While the plot of the show is just enjoyable enough for me to want to continue to watch the series, the interactions of the formulaic cute-girl-mech-pilots characters are too infuriating and frustating to put up with. |
| Soul Eater (TV) |
Weak |
(Watched 03 episodes) If a soul eater collects ninety-nine souls and one witch soul, they will become a death scythe, which is apparently a highly-sought after goal. The first episode starts off quite promisingly - an interesting animation aesthetic, the story has a decent enough plot for there to be a large variety of action, there's the occasional joke and the two main characters sound as if they might be worth following for a few episodes to see if the show is any good. The next two episodes remove all of that good will and more by introducing two sets of characters, both of which are barely able to demonstrate any combat prowess and certainly fail to demonstrate any intelligence in their efforts to devour souls. If students are expected to be able to fight corrupted humans, wouldn't they at least receive some basic training first? |
| Space Dandy (TV) |
So-so |
(Watched 04 episodes) "Space Dandy" is about the titular character, a man going by the moniker of "Space Dandy", his robot sidekick and sidekick, Meow, and the various adventures they go on across space, all in aid of earning enough money to be able to visit "Boobies", a restaurant similar to Hooters. While each episode contains the same main characters, the series is written in such a way that there is no series continuity, and while that allows for a far greater range of ideas to tell stories, since characters can die without consequence, as shown at the end of the first episode (among other instances) there's no dramatic tension in a character being in physical danger. While humour is much more subjective, I don't find the show particularly funny either. And no, I didn't watch this hoping for another Cowboy Bebop, because I didn't particularly like that show either. |
| Tactics (TV) |
Weak |
(Watched 04 episodes) Kentarou is a writer who has a gift for interacting with spirits and demons that live in Japan, and his skills often call for him to deal with the problems these spirits pose. As a shonen anime, the action on show here is tepid, uneventful and lacks tension. As a detective story, there isn't much in the way of detective work, nor is it particlarly interesting or challenging. The show fares slightly better as a comedic offering, but it's not funny enough to pass on that regard, either, and the show certainly isn't helped by the ordinary quality of the show's artwork. |
| Transformers (U.S. TV) |
Weak |
(Watched 32 episodes) The evil Decepticons are out to control the universe, and only the Autobots are able to stop them. There's something to be said about a show that concentrates on fights between giant transforming robots, with only a cursory plot setup for the next fight scene. Certainly, the animation is rather poor, there's next to nothing in the way of charcterization, the plot and setting both have giant holes in them, both in terms of the overall universe of "Transformers" and in terms of the plot of each individual episode, but in spite of all this, the show can be strangely enjoyable. Even if you do agree with this assessment, the extremely repetitive nature of the show means that it is difficult to watch more than a few episodes at a single sitting. |
| You and Me. (TV) |
Awful |
(Watched 01 episode) A group of four guys entering high school do pretty much nothing for an entire episode. The fact that nothing happens in the episode is not in itself a criticism - there are brilliant writers that can make that work - but the writer of the show certainly do not show any brilliance in scripting this episode. There's little in the way of character development and I hated what little I saw on display, the single thing that looked like it could have been a plot thread - a person forced to join an afterschool club - happens for no discernable reason and ends up being a pointless exercise. I'm trying to think of a reason why this show was worth a 2/10 instead of a 1/10 and I'm struggling. |
