Guest Review!! - Witch Hunter Robin

In an effort to keep my sanity, and to make things a little more interesting, I've asked a friend to do a review for me. Below is his take on Witch Hunter Robin! Maybe I'll view it myself sometime in the future, and then you can compare. For now, I haven't watched it, so enjoy his ideas!

Genre: Sci-Fi, Paranormal, Action

Age Appropriate: Teens

Emotional Response: Whoa...the mind boggles

Notable Features: Witchcraft, urban legends, paranormal/supernatural powers

Language: Japanese, English

Length: 1 season, 26 episodes

Overall Recommendation: Heck yeah

"Everyone was missing, so I figured you were up to something sneaky!" - Chief Kosaka

From the outset, you can tell that this series has a little something different about it. A secret group called the STNJ are tracking and capturing, if not killing, people with special powers. The reason for this is not made clear until much later. All that is shown at the opening, after our first baddie is gunned down, is a quote in grey letters: "Three hundred and twenty years have passed since the coven sank in the dark." Color me interested!

Enter: Robin Cena, the series focal point, is a young woman who was born in Japan, but raised in Italy by the Catholic Church. Amon, the leader of the group of hunters, has been informed that Robin, their new hunter, is "a craft user", a term that visibly troubles Amon at the mere mention of it. Unbeknownst to him, Amon passes by young Robin in the hallway at HQ, and it is clear that both "notice" each other. 

Fast-forward to later that day when, while on a mission, Amon and the team encounter another powerful "craft user", who can manipulate fine bits of sand beneath a person's feet, in a warehouse. Following the team at a distance, Robin notices several circles that have been drawn into the floor of the warehouse. After deducing what the other craft user is capable of, she goes into battle to help out the hunters, showing what she is capable of as a fire-starter. 

And that is just the first episode!

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To be honest, "Witch Hunter Robin" reminds me, in small ways, of "Fullmetal Alchemist" in some of its darker undertones, and the use of special powers that most humans cannot even comprehend, let alone attempt to use. The focus is also on someone young (Robin is 15, Ed Elric was roughly 13), and the protagonists mentor (Ed's Roy Mustang to Robin's Amon) tend to display an air of disdain or distrust towards their respective young upstarts.

Overall, I felt the series was well written and well told, but, as with many great anime, it could have been much longer. The backstory of each character could have been delved into more, as well as with the history of "craft users" in the series, but all in all, you'll want to re-watch this series whenever you have time.

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How do you like that?: Dark Side Cat

My Little Monster

Genre: Comedy
Age Appropriate: Any Age
Emotional Response: Ha.
Notable Features: high school, socially inept students, a chicken
Language: Japanese
Length: 1 seasons, 13 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Great

"You can't be lonely is no one is around." - Yamaken

My Little Monster is a romantic comedy starring an awkward young freshman girl, Shizuku. She is cold, and brainy, and believes that studying to get the highest marks to be the center of her world. One afternoon, a teacher asks her to bring some worksheets over to a student who hasn't been in school since the beginning of the year, and despite her immediate rejection, ends up doing it anyway. Somehow, she stumbles into the young man, Haru, and ends up in a bizarre friendship with him - mostly made bizarre because he is bizarre all by himself. His overwhelming desire and enthusiasm to have a friend drives Shizuku up the wall at every turn, but she seems unable to separate herself from him.

Part of it seems to be an interesting take on interpersonal relationships, and part of it seems to be from a confusing misunderstanding about Haru's declared feelings for her, or not declared, or taken back, or maybe just friends, or definitely friends but not love in the same what that the other persons feels...etc. The whole series includes various mini-situations, but all stem from Shizuku trying to figure out what is going on, and how her controlled lonely existence has turned into this weird mess. Include a handful of additional brand new friends, including some delinquents, another smart guy, and awkward pretty girl and a baseball player, the advice for the two kids becomes varied and often wrong.

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This series reminds me a lot of Say "I Love You." Despite being a comedy, the characters remind me of each other - or at least Shizuku does. The two female protagonists have the same level of awkwardness between them. My Little Monster is not quiet, however. It's crazy, and amusing. The best part, I think, might be the chicken, and I don't mean that in any derogatory way. The chicken is pretty awesome. I found it interesting for myself to actually be rooting, at some points, for not the obvious couple. I kinda wanted Shizuku to end up with the other person who is interested in her at some point.

The series is a little open-ended. So, maybe one day they will make a sequel. The series was just released, so there hasn't been anytime to figure that out. It does feel like it might be the end, though. I did enjoy it quite a bit. I think for a good amount of time I was just confused, but I also thought the whole mess was kinda sweet. There wasn't much character development shared between the secondary characters, which I think might have worked well, but when a series is only 13 episodes, I supposed one can't expect much. I would still recommend it, especially is you liked Say "I Love You." They're similar without being the same. There really isn't much else to say on this short series. It's definitely a chick-flick.

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Something new: Witch Hunter Robin

(Guest Review! I've had a friend do a review for me. You can read his thoughts next time - I'm sure it will be a treat to have a geek BOY do a review.)

Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple

Genre:Comedy
Age Appropriate: Any Age
Emotional Response: LOL
Notable Features: high school, martial arts, socially inept students
Language: English
Length: 2 seasons, 50 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Pretty Good


"Your talking is getting in the way of me telling you to shut up." - Takeda

Kenichi is a young man who suffers from a condition called complete total social ineptitude, weakness and bullying. His actual nickname in school is "Weak-Knees Kenichi." The story begins with his desire to join the Karate Club at school, and his subsequent beat down from the club members. He's weak and scrawny and no one wants to take him seriously. After running into a nice young, if strange, girl, Miu, Kenichi finds himself directed to an obscure dojo with strange marital arts practioners - Ryozanpaku. The head of the dojo is Miu's grandfather, and it's revealed that some of her strangeness actually comes from being raised by him outside of a traditional family setting.

Kenichi becomes a desciple of the entire dojo. He begins with a little bit from each master, as they try to train him both traditionally, and give him a hand with little moves along the way to protect him fromt he bullies gunning from him. After he manages to survive, and win, a battle against the evil freshman lead of the Karate Club, Kenichi finds himself the target of every bad-guy bully around. His success makes him a target both because of their feelings that he's just a lucky punk kid, and their desire to make a name for themselves after beating whoever is beating up the people that want to be better than.

It becomes a viscious cycle, and his training with the strangers at Ryozanpaku is the only thing that saves him in each episode. The series covers a variety of coming-of-age issues while adding comedy to every situation. A typical high school anime drama, with awkward students and strange antagonists.

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The best way I can describe this series is cheesy. Completely, totally cheesy...in a good way (5 points if you get the reference there). It was great. It's the kind of series I would sit down and watch with my counsins. I'm pretty sure they would get a kick out of it. It also totally made me want to join a dojo and learn mixed martial arts. I won't, but it did give me the urge.

There isn't a lot of deep thinking involved, but it's a decent coming-of-age series. It's probably a little more lighthearted than some of the high school dramas I've been watching. It's very exciting, though. I wasn't jumping out of my seat, but I was definitely cheering Kenichi on - even when he's dealing with his major crush on Miu. Let's hear it for the little guy! I'd much prefer him to end up with garden-girl, but what can you do?

In general, I like something a little more engaging, but there is absolutely nothing wrong here. It's not going to be in my Top 10, but I would recommend it to plenty of people - particularly a younger crowd. As long as you ignore some of the smack-him moments from Kenichi, it's totally appropriate. Miu is even a strong kick-ass young woman, so it's probably nice for girls too, if you're looking for female role models of a sort. So, I recommend it. Decently high marks from me!

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Hmm: My Little Monster

Amnesia

Genre: Romance (kinda?)
Age Appropriate: Teen
Emotional Response: total confusion
Notable Features: amnesia, repeating days, hot guys
Language: Japanese
Length: 1 season, 12 episodes
Overall Recommendation: WTF?

"Don't trust him!" - Orion

A young lady has lost her memory, and begins a strange journey toward recovering it. She has an apprentice fairy friend, Orion, who seems committed to helping her find her lost self, but it becomes more complicated at the series goes on. She re-meets her friends, re-learns her job and finds herself trying to hide what's missing. It gets her in trouble with the person who is supposedly her boyfriend, and she can't figure out what's missing, again.

She fell and lost her memories from after she lost her memories, which happened right before she lost her memories - again - and behind it all is a strange, probably evil, man with green hair who messed with her by appearing and disappearing every time she tries to have a meaningful conversation with him, maybe. It's a upside down world and the path to getting out makes it worse rather than making it better, maybe. Her strange journey takes her through different worlds, sorta, and she changes love interests per world, kinda, and in the end it theoretically makes sense.

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I picked out this series, because at the time I was looking for something with hot guys. This looked kinda good, but I decided to wait a little bit because it was being simulcast. You can't really finish up a series for review if it's not actually done being aired, right?

It wasn't anything at all like I expected. I guess, I was expecting something a little more comedic, and a lot less creepy. It almost has the same quiet tone as "Say 'I love you,'" but there is a sinister aftertaste that is nowhere near related to anything else I've seen. I've seen creepy zombies and dark vampires, evil gods and bad guy ninjas, but nothing prepared me for this. I didn't want to finish it, but I made myself. Usually, I don't want to finish things because they're terrible and I make myself because I've committed to it. This just had me nervous the whole time. I don't know how to explain it, and I don't know that it would translate to another viewer. I think part of it was the eyes. Each person's eyes are a wierd half/half mix of odd colors. Otherwise, they all look like normal characters - and they have very interesting clothing tastes. I also realized somewhere near the end that there doesn't appear to be much of a soundtrack - I'm not sure if that makes a difference either.

I really didn't understand what was going on until the second to last episode. I know a number of people who would enjoy, or at least be intrigued by, this series. I would definitely recommend it to them, but unless you're into really weird, mind-boggling, confusing, kinda emo-esque stuff, this might not be for you. I've finished the series, and I understand everything now, but I'm still feeling a little
dazed.

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What's going on?: Kenichi: The Mightest Disciple

Koihime Musou - Shin Koihime Musou

Genre:Fantasy/Comedy
Age Appropriate: Adult
Emotional Response: OMG, I can't believe they just said that. HAHAHAHA
Notable Features: travelling fighters, pseudo-nudity, yuri
Language: Japanese
Length: 3 seasons, 36 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Heck Yeah

"Fight with Rin Rin!" - Rin Rin

Koihime Musou is a comedic historical fantasy, centered around a time when travelling fighters roamed the land. The series follows a small group of ladies travelling with Kan'u (Aisha), the Black Hair Bandit Killer. She runs into different girls at different times and they frequently travel with her for a few episodes or so, before going their own way, and eventually show up again later. The primary exception to this rule is Rin-Rin, her little sister sidekick. Rin Rin appears in the first episode as an orphan in a small town, who tweaks Kan'u's heartstrings. They make a vow of sisterhood and agree to travel together for all time.

As the series progresses they pick up some very important friends, many part ways, and some seem to stick around for good - particularly Sei (aka Butterly Mask) and Shuri (a child genius obsessed with knowledge). The groups interactions frequently involve the lords of the land in a variety of situations (most of whom are very interested in the ladies for multiple reasons). Every once in a while, the stumble upon a male character who effects the story in some way, but never becomes a main character. This series is all about the ladies - both their relationships, and their ability to kick butt.

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This series is ridiculous!...in a good way. The outrageous yuri is hilarious everytime it comes up. As long as a little girl love isn't an issue with you, watch it. It took me awhile to get through all three seasons, but it was worth it in the end. It was totally unexpected. I thought it was going to be some sort of martial art epic fighting drama-type story, and what I got was a historical fantasy yuri comedy. No complaints, though. I'm always up for a good laugh. So much for attempting to squeeze a little variety in what I was watching.

I highly recommend it if you need a laugh. There is some pretend nudity, with carefully placed steam and light streams, and some "omg I can't believe they're showing that even if they're not really showing that" moments, so this is not for the kiddies. I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable watching it with my parents. I might blush. Still, worth it. I'm smiling right now just typing this because of the funnies running around in my head.

Not all of the storyline is important, so don't expect some emotional breakthrough drama that changes you life, but that was fine with me. Unfortunately, as with all series with sequels, the fun goes down a little bit. A lot of the yuri jokes fade away, which is okay but they don't replace it with anything. The third season has the real action, if less fun comedy. It wasn't a struggle to watch, so I enjoyed it tot he end, if at varying degrees.This series gets my stamp of approval.

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Where am I?: Amnesia



I'm going on a camping trip this weekend! There won't be any internet available, though, so, I won't be posting anything for Monday. My bad.

Okami-san and her Seven Companions

Genre: Comedy
Age Appropriate: All ages
Emotional Response: Heehee
Notable Features: high schoolers, dorky guy, favors
Language: English
Length: 1 season, 12 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Pretty Good

"Stop Using Words!" - Ryoko

Ryoshi Mornio is an awkward high school male who has fallen in love with Ryoko, the "wolf" of the story. Ryoko is a tough girl paired with her scheming bff, Ringo - or as the narrator likes to call her "Little Red Riding Twerp," or some such name. Ryoshi's love for Ryoko lands him in the Otogi High School Bank, a place where anyone can ask a favor in return for another favor for the bank at another time. Each episode has someone asking for some favor as the vehicle for the shenanigans that occur.

There are seven members of the Otogi High School Bank, each with a different crazy personality. The President has an affinity for disguises, and seems to have a feel for cross dressing. Taro is a handsome ladies man who also has a psycho girlfriend who often drags him away for "unknown" reasons, particularly when she feels jealous. There is also a wierdo science girl, a maid uniform girl, and a straight-laced, serious girl who all perform their bank duties to the best of their abilities.

As the series progresses, Ryoko finds herself more wrapped up in learning about Ryoshi's commitment to being there for her, and her own confused feelings. When she was younger she had someone betray her, and has serious trust issues. She seems to only have the ability to trust Ringo in any significant manner, although she seems to be okay with being friends with the rest of their club. The series itself is focused on Ryoshi's love for Ryoko, and her beat-'em-up attitude regarding the situation.

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I've been looking for a series that I was willing to sit through. I've got a couple running now, but some of them aren't finished in Japan. As it is, I didn't know that I was going to like this. I did. For once, I watched a high school romance drama that doesn't have any magic, robots and fan service. It was great.  I'm actually glad that it ended the way it did, too. Anything more would've just been too much for "reality" or something. I mean, it's anime, so there's no "reality," I guess, but it felt less contrived I suppose. It wasn't a sad ending or anything, just normal-like.

My favorite parts were Taro's interesting moments, the narrator's commentary on everything (which is frequent in each episode and provides great amusement at the expense of the characters), and Ryoshi's puppies. I totally want puppies just like them. They were so cute. If you're looking for something stress-free and adorable I totally recommend this. No swearing, no lewdness, no creepiness - just good wholesome fun. I mean, there's a little wink-wink nudge-nudge, but it's subtle enough. It got a couple of out loud "Ha!" noises out of me.

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Ha!: Koihime Musou

La Corda D'Oro

Genre: Romance
Age Appropriate: All ages
Emotional Response: Eeeeeeeeeee!
Notable Features: music, high school, coming of age
Language: Japanese
Length: 1 season, 26 episodes (+2 extras!)
Overall Recommendation: Great

"Just making sound come out is different than playing it." - Lili

La Corda D'Oro is about a young woman's journey into the world of musical performance. Kahoko has no musical talent, but finds that she loves music immensely. She stumbles into a school statue, and a fairy magically appears, asking her to take on a magical violin and enter the school's music contest. This violin will allow anyone to play wonderfully, and Kahoko denies her desire to play despite the assistance. It takes a little while for her to submit to the fairy Lili's request.

Kahoko and one other general studies student get wrapped up in the contest where all of the other students are from the music side of their academy. Each person has a different personality type, from shy young lady to popular guy (in sheep's clothing!). Kahoko makes friends with everyone through the series, breaking down barriers between everyone, and learning more about herself in the process. Her new interesting musical happiness can't be perfect forever, and despite the successes she has in each episode with building friendships and experiencing coming-of-age issues, Kahoko has to take her lessons and admit reality to herself - at risk of losing everything she's built for herself.

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So, you see, I'm a musician at heart. Therefore, this struck a particular chord in mean (harharhar). It's a difficult series to watch, though. It's really good, and I definitely enjoyed the relationships between the members and Kahoko - it's pretty typical nice reverse harem type. I was a lot more interested in the music than the guys, however. The music is beautiful, and I want to find a soundtrack. I always wished I could play the violin, but I ended up doing other things. So, I really enjoyed those parts.

It was only difficult because I don't always like conflict, especially emotional conflict - give me explosions and evil doers any day, or emotional pain. Unfortunately,  most of my favorite anime is really that good because of the emotional connections made. I also enjoyed the different personalities represented. I'm glad that they threw in a shy girl, too. Often I find this type of series to be all one girl focused. The shy girl didn't have anything to do with the story in that regard, but I think it made things more realistic.

I totally recommend it if you're anime and musically inclined. I found nothing really in there that I would hesitate to let the younger crowd watch, other than actual interest in the content. Aside from one scene where a guy accidentally falls on a girl and they blush, there isn't any questionable. Go ahead and watch it. I thought it was pretty great.

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1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and: Okami-san and Her Seven Companions

Disgaea

Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Age Appropriate: All Ages (generally)
Emotional Response: Ugh
Notable Features: kids, demons, angels
Language: English
Length: 1 season, 12 Episodes
Overall Recommendation: Not so much

"Feed Me!" - Prince Laharl


Prince Laharl woke up after an inadvertent two year nap, after being jostled awake by an angel-trainee. Flonne, said angel, was sent as a trainee-angel assassin to take down Laharl's father, and stumbles upon Laharl's casket in a trash heap. His irritation with her presences starts with his understanding of her mission, and increases as the show goes on. Her attitude of love grates against his demon self. A few new characters pop up, including an intergalactic human group sent to save the world against demons, a vassal named Etna, and an irritating demon of love. Etna shows herself to be completely committed to helping Laharl take his rightful place as Overlord, but has some sneaky intentions behind his back. This all-ages cartoon series has traditional morality lessons, and an emphasis on love and friendship.

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I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't this. I guess in my search for different series ideas, I stumbled upon a recommendation to give this a try. It was a terrible idea. I used one of my usual mediums for watching anime, and I assumed that it meant that everything available would be what I usually find, but I found myself watching what seems to be very "Saturday Cartoon." Honestly, I'm just not that interested in this type of cartoon anymore. I probably would've liked it more if I was ten again.

That's primarily how it got an All Ages rating. I didn't see anything anywhere that might be offensive. There is some illusion to one of the satellite females being well-endowed, so maybe screen it first, but enh. Actually, I might recommend this to that age group, parents included. It just wasn't for me. I had to grit my teeth to get through it. It may have been relatively well done, kinda, but it also wasn't something that made me forget that it was what it was. I've seen younger-style anime, and they were good enough that I just didn't care, this however was not.

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Now!: La Corda D'oro