Fruits Basket

Genre: Fantasy
Age Appropriate: Pre-teens
Emotional Response: a little bit happy
Notable Features: zodiac magic, high school, family
Language: English
Length: 2 seasons, 26 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Great

"Well, my mom used to say..." -Tohru

When Tohru was a little girl, she was picked on. She was always made the rice ball in the Fruits Basket game. The point of this is to highlight that she's a bit of an outcast herself, but she also seems a bit oblivious at times to. Her mother is the focus of all of her internal monologue. Tohru lost her mother in an accident, and through a variety of events ends up living in a tent and stumbling into the Sohma house. Tohru ends up living at the house with the boys and their cousin Shigure, with a promise to pay for her room and board through housekeeping. Her smile-laden nature reals people in to wanting to help her, despite her obliviousness.

The series is all about the crazy shenanigans that occur at the Sohma house. Tohru makes some new friends, namely two young men in her class - Yuki and Kyo - and in the process learns their family's terrible curse. Certain members of the Sohma family turn into one of the zodiac animals when hugged by a member of the opposite sex! Her happiness draws all of the Sohmas to her, and she imparts her wisdom, taken directly from her mother, on a regular basis. She does it in that story-telling manner, without being condescending. Yuki and Kyo are an interesting duo. Her relationship with them seems to temper their mutual hatred into the reality of their competitive natures, and painful pasts. Part of the experience the zodiac members all have with Tohru ends up as part of their individual healing processes. It makes her the focus of good events and bad events, with a dark villain at the end.
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Fruits Basket is cute. Half the time I wanted to punch Tohru in the face, for being such a spacey ditz, but she's a sweetheart. I really did enjoy the series. It was cute and generally age appropriate for everyone (there was some funny wink-winks but you'd seriously only get them if you're older). My only hesitancy was Kyo's occasional swear. If it were me, I'd probably just ignore it, but some might take that seriously if watching it with children. I think the messages of loving yourself and seeing good in others might outweigh the potential negatives. Each character has a startling different personality, which I know was done on purpose, but they're so freakin' funny. Aya and Ritsu were probably my favorites for most outrageous behavior. The girly part of  me has a bit of a crush on Hatori (shocking, I know).

I really did enjoy this quite a bit. I'm sure I will watch it, again. It wasn't perfect, I felt that the end was a little abrupt, but only in a minor way. I'm actually going to try to sucker some of my non-anime friends into watching it with me. It makes for good baby steps. I'd highly recommend it when you have a crap day, or are too weighed down by watching darker things. It's all warm and fuzzy. It's not as funny as some, but I had some awesome LOL moments. It was great to curl up with a blanket with some hot chocolate and put this on.
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Rice Ball!: Shuffle!

Vampire Knight: Guilty (Season 2)

Genre: Vampires (Vampires really need to have their own genre. amiright?)
Age Appropriate: Teens
Emotional Response: sad and desperate (not in a bad way)
Notable Features: vampires, high school, vampires
Language: English
Length: 1 season, 13 episodes (Season 2)
Overall Recommendation: Good (especially if you like vampires)


"I know you'll never betray her." - Kaname

Zero has returned, better and badder than before. Due to some assistance form Kaname, Zero had more control and more power. This should keep the monster at bay for awhile. Kaname makes it clear that he's only helped Zero for Yuki's sake. The story continues from there, exploring the complicated love triangle between Yuki, Zero and Kaname. Yuki begins to fight for the memories that she's missing and starts hallucinating scary images of blood, which takes a toll on her mental stability. While, Zero does what he can to help her along, including cautioning her to take her time, Kaname seems to be adopting a weirder attitude toward her and the situation. The second season brings the story from the first season full circle, with a significant number of surprises, twists and turns.

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Season 2 really was everything a second season should be. A continuation of the first season without tampering with the overall feel of the story. I've seen plenty of second seasons where the story continues, but the plot has changed so dramatically, in a way that makes it seem like a forced sequel of a novel. I'll continue to admit that this series hits a certain guilty pleasure level for me. I have no illusions about how wonderful it is, but it was done really well considering.

There are a few things that I'm not super sure about. For example, why is the subtitle of Season 2 "Guilty?" I don't think it's particularly necessary. The shocker near the end is a bit shocking - not in content but the way they revealed it. It feels like it made sense at the time, but now looking back on it, it's wierd to me. Well, I guess as long as it made sense at the time, right? Also, I started to think that Kaname was a bit of a prick. Well, I should say that Kaname is a prick, but it started to actually bother me in the end. I started to hate him a little, and it bothered me because it seemed so at odds with how I felt I should feel. Every story has it's fairy tale ending, and this one isn't that different, mostly. There is a little bit of a nod toward there possibly being a third season, or at least they made room for it without making it necessary to make it a good series. No word yet on if that's going to happen, but it's been awhile so I'm not holding out on that. Probably would've happened by now.

If you're a vampire fan girl (or guy!), then you'll probably like this. If you're a Twilight fan, you'll very likely like this. I really hope you would like this. I mean, the guys are pretty hot. I enjoyed it, and I guess I figure that if I care about Kaname being a prick, then something must have been done right, since I care in the first place. I'm not giving either season super high marks, but I would watch it again if I was in the mood.
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A new dream: Fruits Basket


I have tickets to go see the Zelda orchestra coming to town. Well, kind of in town. In the state. So, I'm going to be traveling this weekend and there's no way I'll be able to watch an entire series by Monday. Y'all will just have to wait. Sorry! :D

Vampire Knight - Season 1

Genre: Vampires (Vampires really need to have their own genre. amiright?)
Age Appropriate: Teens
Emotional Response: confused and angsty
Notable Features: vampires, high school, vampires
Language: English
Length: 1 season, 13 episodes (this time around)
Overall Recommendation: Good (especially if you like vampires)

"That girl is the only thing I really care about." - Lord Kaname

When Yuki was a little girl, she was saved from a bad vampire by a "good" vampire. Kaname, said good vampire, developed a certain attachment to Yuki, and their complicated relationship factors hugely in the storyline. The plot is set at Cross Academy, a school both for Day Class and Night Class students. Yuki's job, along with her partner Zero, is too help the transition between Day and Night classes with as little fuss as possible. There is a curfew that is supposed to be held for the Day Class students. The Night Class is actually made up of aristocratic vampires, led by Lord Kaname, one of the last "true blood" vampires. During these transitions, Yuki works to keep the girly girls from swooning too much over the Night Class boys, but at the same time has to contain herself from her swooning over Kaname. Her past with him has led her to fall madly in love with him.

Her relationship with her partner-in-crime Zero is actually more complicated than her relationship with Kaname. When she was saved by Kaname, she was brought to the headmaster and was adopted by him. A few years later, Zero was brought to him as well, and he was adopted into the household - though not really as a "son." Zero's family was slaughtered by bad vampires, and his experience completely colors he feelings about vampires. He hates them all, and wants to kill them. He restrains himself, however, out of respect for the headmaster and only works with Yuki patrolling the grounds to keep everyone in check. There are frequent moments where he has to restrain himself, or be retrained by Yuki, from violence. Growing up together has actually made Yuki and Zero rather close - well, close considering Zero's emotional capacity. This makes Yuki's feeling for both him, and Lord Kaname, a huge area of angst for her. The first season is primarily back story explanations and delving into the complicated emotions that Yuki has to deal with as different situations arise.

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I think I hate Twilight now. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I thought it was awesome or anything. I have better vampire taste than that. It was really hard, though, to get into Vampire Knight at first because I keep comparing the two. After all, Yuki is in high school and has a vampire crush, and Bella is an idiot. I mean...yeah. There are so many important differences, though. I'm most upset because the comparison highlighted things I might have ignored before. I did get past it eventually. Hopefully, I can keep it up for Season 2.

This series is so full of teenage angst that it's a bit overdone. Fortunately, this is anime, and one can get away with a lot in anime. Perhaps without the vampire-esque music, it would be closer to all high school-based anime. Unlike Mystic Archives, while the end credits are dark and haunting I don't feel the need to kill things to move on with my life. The vampires are super sexy, and this goes a long way when it comes to flaws. Of course, it wouldn't be much of a vampire series, much less an anime vampires series, if the vampires weren't sexy. There are unsexy bad vampires, of course, but who cares about them?

I liked it. I'm not delusional enough to call it great, or rate it as Top 5, despite my willingness to see it again. It's like a trashy romance novel. Every girl reads them (even if they don't admit it), but we'd never call it literature. If I went further with the book analogy, I would call it "paranormal romance."
For all that there is a huge complicated love triangle thing going on between the main characters, there's no real sexuality going on. Only the high school relationship soap opera version. There is blood but not bright red spurting blood, no swearing, no nudity...all in all it's pretty tame in that respect. If you're as much of a vampire freak as I can be, I definitely recommend it. I don't know how it would work for someone who isn't, but goth-y/emo kids would probably like it, too.

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Captain Obvious: Vampire Knight: Guilty (Season 2)

The Mystic Archives of Dantalian

Genre: Horror/Gothic
Age Appropriate: old enough
Emotional Response: uhhhhh
Notable Features: demons, magic, books, dark
Language: Japanese
Length: 1 season, 12 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Sure, why not?

"...are you humanity?" - Huey / "No, I am the world." - Dalian

Huey received a letter from his grandfather that he's inherited his estate. This estate includes his very extensive library, with the condition that he take care of Dalian. He's actually under the impression that Dalian must be his grandfather's dog. It's not a dog. It's a girl! Dalian is one of Wes's (grandpa's) friends, who often enjoyed his library and seems to now be under the care of Huey. She has a haughty attitude, which likely comes for her real age and wealth of knowledge. While he seems a little weirded out by the whole situation, he takes on the role with a certain amount of grace.

Then the real action begins. They go to visit the rival of his grandfather, hoping to find clues that this rival actually had his grandfather murdered (rather than just a burglary gone wrong). In the process, they discover the household virtually slaughtered and under attack by a strange demonic-looking creature. It is the result of a Phantom Book.

There are a number of Phantom books, that if read by something "not worthy," create havoc and death around them. With the help of some acknowledgement and magic, Huey and Dalian are able to work out his role as keymaster and open the Mystic Archives of Dantalian, the magical library of everything that is hiding within Dalian, to pull out new books to defeat whichever book is causing problems. Their contact and subsequent defeat of these Phantom books is the driving force behind the series.
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Before I say anything else, I need to warn you. However weird and dark the series can get, nothing can match the end credits. They're creepy and nightmare-inducing. The music stays in your head. I played Devil May Cry (bought after the series because I wanted to get the story), as a way to get the music out. That's right. I played a game with creepy marianettes and sin scissors to wipe out the end credits....followed by a musical. Stay away. Far, far away. Unless you like that kinda thing, then more power to ya.

Mystic Archives is just plain weird. It wasn't weird in a can't watch it kind of way. It didn't completely turn me off, but I think I kept watching it out of a compelled need to see what was next. It was a bit like watching a car wreck. Or pringles. I just couldn't stop. I think that actually might have been the creators' goal, and if it was they succeeded. I didn't really get involved with the characters, but I did want to know what the relationship between the little boy and girl was going to turn out to be. It took awhile for there to be a reason for the story, a plot to appear. ION, the music is quite pretty (minus the creepycreep at the end).  I found myself watching the opening credits purely to hear the theme song alone.

I would actually recommend it for someone specifically looking for something of this type. Definitely not for girly-girls who run away from wierdo-magic-pseudo-bloody stuff. It might actually be better to watch in the fall. Yeah.

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More fun to come!: Vampire Knight (season 1)

Spice & Wolf

Genre: Fantasy
Age Appropriate: Any age
Emotional Response:  lovely, excited and wry chuckles
Notable Features: gods, church, wolf, peddler
Language: English
Length: 2 seasons, 26 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Top 5

"Stupid Potato!" - Holo

Spice and Wolf is all about the adventures of a travelling merchant and his chance companion, Holo, the Wise Wolf. Spice actually refers to Kraft Lawrence, who peddles wares from location to location, changing what he sells as he goes along. Holo appears when he stops at one of his usual locations, and she ends up falling asleep in his cart of furs. From there, the story grows into a mix of friendship, drama and a hint of romance.

Lawrence has agreed to take Holo to the North, where her family supposedly lives. She had long been stuck in a small town, agreeing to help with their harvests, but sneaks away unexpectedly with Lawrence and a special bale of wheat. He seems to be a clever merchant who makes deals based on profit and loss, as usual, but finds himself benefitting from Holo's wisdom. Sometimes it works out well, sometimes it appears to work out horribly.

Holo is a wolf-god who has an attitude, some amount of arrogance (read: lots) and has an insatiable desire for food and drink. She frequently ends up drunk and hurting, making Lawrence take care of her. She has agreed to pay Lawrence back for her expenses, and wracks them up. She teases Lawrence incessantly, and uses guilt to manipulate him, but has her moments of generosity and caring. They meet a lot of interesting people along the way. They seems to have built their relationship not only on the trust of traveling partners, but also on their ability to argue about everything. Near the end, he even seems to be able to tease her right back.

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It was lovely. And poignant. And maybe a little disappointing.
The disappointing isn't because there was something wrong, but because the romantic in me didn't want it to be over. The end of the series actually makes a point about the ending of good things. I had seen the first season before, and I knew that I liked it, but i was surprised by the second season. I wasn't sure how well it would do. Turns out it did just fine. I certainly didn't expect it to jump so far up the scale of favorites. When I first started writing the synopsis, I thought it was going to be close to the Top 5, but not necessarily make it. Now that I've finally finished the series, it's slid right into place.

There is a lot of humor in the series, and most of it is a wry humor. I found myself completely invested in the Lawrence and Holo. The whole series made my mouth quirk at the humor and self-confidence shared between the two. I'm not a hundred percent sure that everyone would like it, though. Obviously, I'm a bit sucked it. Without being flowery or spicy, it's a bit female. If you are a ren-faire type fantasy fan, I think you would like it, and if you are a girl, you'll probably like it. It's definitely not a guy's guy type, though. Since the blog is titled "Anime for the Mini-Geek Girl," I'll bypass the gender-neutral parts and just say I highly recommend it! I'll watch it again someday, and I have complete confidence that I'll love it all the same.

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How do you like them apples?: The Mystic Archives of Dantalian


Important lesson: Whatever the reason, don't read ahead in an episode list. It almost ruined it for me, but thankfully Wikipedia really isn't always reliable. 

Devil May Cry

Genre: Horror
Age Appropriate: Teen
Emotional Response: Barely any
Notable Features: demons and guns
Language: English
Length: 1 season, 12 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Okay, I guess

"Next time you open up shop, don't forget to add strawberry sundaes to the menu." - Dante

Dante is a demon/human half-breed private dick/bounty hunter type of character. Set in an alternate 1920's era, he takes odd jobs that always end up being some sort of battle against evil demons. He has a sword and two guns which he uses to take on any type of demon. In the first episode, the series introduces Patty Lowell, a young girl who is his first job in the series. She ends up sticking around after the job is over, and she becomes a mini-sidekick in the series. Dante has a series of friends/co-workers that he works with and often gets jobs from - both human and demon. Unfortunately, his huge debts per person often mean that he can't get the paycheck he has earned. The little money that he does retain from jobs goes to paying for pizzas (sometimes) and buying himself an endless stream of strawberry sundaes. Each episode adds a small part to the story, or to the character's character.

The series is actually a companion to the Devil May Cry video game series. According to my internet research, the storyline is set sometime between two of the games chronologically. It is important to note that without the game, there are some gaps in the story.


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Dante has this sort of private dick attitude. It really works when it works, but it definitely didn't work for him. Essentially, I just got the impression that he's a tool (for lack of a better adjective). He has redeeming qualities, like his seeming inability to not help people, and his desire to rid the world of demons (per job, of course), but the series casts him mostly as a cold-hearted jerk who takes financially worthless jobs, and wracks up debt from everyone - including the local pizza place. In one episode, he gets screwed out of his paycheck because the other person takes his share toward the huge debt he owes. Sucks to be him.

Yeah, so, I'm not a fan. It's not the worst anime I've ever seen, but it was a pretty hard struggle to get through it. It's only 12 episodes, but I had to adhere to a strict regiment of mandatory shows per day in order to make sure I got it done. Unfortunately, not in a fun way. I definitely recognize that the series would probably make a lot more sense if I had played any of the video games. I spent a lot of time confused about the plot, and ended up frustrated that there was no underlying story until episode 10. The last episode was okay, though. It could've used a little more oopmh. I can see a certain amount of guys liking this, though.

 As much as I'd like to think I'm not that girly, this is a total guy anime. If you liked the games, I assume you'll like the series? It just wasn't for me.
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Bang!: Spice and Wolf

Sekirei

Genre: Sci-Fi/Romance
Age Appropriate: Adult
Emotional Response: LOL, WTF, GO TEAM
Notable Features: busty ladies, super powers, there can be only one!
Language: English
Length: 2 seasons, 26 episodes
Overall Recommendation: YAY!

"What did I say..." - Miya

The Sekirei Plan is essentially a big game created by a strange genius to screw around with Sekirei (beings with elemental/physical super powers) and their Ashikabi (partners that bring out their powers). There is a scientific backstory revealed throughout the series that explains the reasons and origins of the characters, but it only really becomes important in the second season. It all begins with Minato, a young man who failed his college entrance exam twice, and in his brooding has a busty young lady fall on him. Literally. From the sky above. Her name is Musabi, and he pulls her away from other young women chasing her down to battle as Sekirei. She kisses him and she emerges with her new, stronger, Sekirei powers, and now they're connected.

The Sekirei Plan game is basically set up as a battle royale situation where Sekirei, and their Ashikabi, are meant to battle each other individually, within the city, to become the last one standing. As a reward, they will be allowed to live happily ever after with their Ashikabi. This is the driving force for Sekirei, as their Ashikabi become their reason for being. Minato, as an Ashikabi, finds himself in interesting situations which lead to him adding Sekirei to a collection. The only one who isn't some level of busty is a young girl, probably 8 or 9, named Kusano, who has amazing powers over plants. The main series plot is the end result of their battles and working around, with and against the system. The crazy leader of the Sekirei plan, Minaka, has a ego problem that leads him to start this whole game, and the series is driven by the cast dealing with his gameplay.

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Sekirei is probably one of my favorites. There is a lot of humor in the beginning, and a lot action in the end. There is also a lot of casual nudity - near the end it didn't even phase me. It was just a part of the characters and it was barely noticeable. Aside from that, it was a fairly typical anime in that there is an originally dopey, socially awkward young man, who through his relationships with the other characters gains confidence in the end. I had a lot of fun cheering for the girls, and pouting for the sad parts. I also had a good sniffle in one of the last episodes of the second season. There were a few storyline bits that really weren't necessary - like the barely there story aside about Minato's sister, and some parts that were just unfortunate, but as a whole it was pretty awesome.

This isn't really a serious series (say that 5 times fast), or completely fluffy, but rather a nice in-between. I had no problem watching in a nice big bites. I would definitely recommend it! It's not quite to Top 5 status, but it's pretty close. It's mostly only an adult rating for the nudity. There isn't a lot of gory blood, or tons of swearing, so as long as you're fine with that you should enjoy it. I'll watch it again. There is, however, one very significant drawback to Sekirei 1 & 2: There's no season three yet!!! There is a huge cliffhanger with a "to be continued..." and there is no official word on when the next season may appear!

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Ok, go!: Devil May Cry

Ozuma (OZMA)

Genre: Sci-Fi
Age Appropriate: Any age
Emotional Response: What will happen next!? Oh. Ok. 
Notable Features: sand, versions of humanity, sand, airships, sand
Language: Japanese
Length: 6 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Pretty Good

Earth has been changed dramatically in the future. All of the water has dried up, and the world is now covered in sand. Ozuma (or OZMA) opens with a young man on a sand-glider moving toward a young lady windsurfing across the sand while running from a military force. A giant creature heaves out of the sand, and creates an avalanche that threatens to take down the woman, and she is bravely saved at the last minute by the young man, Sam. As the fly off together, he learns that her name is Maya. He takes her back to his ship, where it is docked, and invites her into the mess hall. Shortly after their arrival the ship is beset with the military chasing Maya, and the Captain of Sam's ship takes a stand by running with Maya on board. In the process they use scientific technology to shift the sand beneath the ship and sink below it - almost like a submarine in the ocean. The military uses their own methods to find them  under the sand, and they end up in a battle of wills -ending with the concession of the military at the last minute. This is the beginning of a strange story about Maya and what she represents for the world to come.

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Ozuma is only six episodes long - thus the very short synopsis. It's a good six episodes, though. The post-apocalyptic/advanced technology is actually fairly well done. It reminds me of something specific but I can't figure it out. Maybe by the time I post the review, I'll remember. Either way, this is a great sci-fi interlude. It would be great for a night in, when you just need to waste a few hours. It felt like it had more potential that what was realized, but I'm not sure if it would be solved by better writing, more episodes, or simply making it into a feature rather than a series. It's actually upsetting me that I can't really say much more for it, but there wasn't much to work with in 6 episodes - which means about 2 hours of viewing time. If Sci-Fi is your thing though, I would recommend it.

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Thrusters at full power!: Sekirei