High School DxD New - Season 2

Genre: Fantasy/Action/Comedy
Age Appropriate: Teens
Emotional Response: Yeah! You can do it!
Notable Features: demons, angels, fallen angels, fan service
Language: Japanese
Length: 1 Seasons, 12 episodes (+ OVAs)
Overall Recommendation: Great!

"I don't ever want to see her cry." - Issei

Season two is a continuation of the story from season one (duh). There are some new characters added to the mix, however. Rias' brother, Sir Zech's, joins the story as one of the three big hitters. Azazel, leader of the Fallen Angels appears slowly until the end where he makes a nice little entrance, and Michael shows up with a game changer to everyone's surprise. After some shocking news and more action-packed battles, we learn Kiba's story and a new devil joins the group - a former Angel named Xenobia. Also, new battle pieces are revealed! An adorable cross dressing first year is taken under Issei's perverted wing, and the bonds of friendship become strong.

Aside from Issei's magical arm issues, there are now Holy Swords. They become a focal point for a number of episodes, as they have the power to seriously wound demons and a full blown search occurs when one ends up in the wrong hands. Somehow, through everything, the three factions end up together on a single team trying to defeat a common enemy. 

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It's hard to write a full synopsis for a second season. I don't need to fill out all of the character details the way I usually would. The personalities of the main characters haven't changed much. This series held a lot less dopiness, and comedy, than the first one, but that's pretty par for the course in a second season. I will say that it was a lot of fun. I haven't really loved the last few I've reviewed so it's nice to be back to something "Great!" It was so much fun, and I actually cared about what was happening to the characters. I can't decide if I want Issei to meet his dream, though. I mean, he's the good-hearted, dirty-minded protagonist, and I want him to succeed, but then I'm agreeing with his ideas of having a harem and groping girls all over the place. Okay, that made me laugh despite the naughty.

Season 2 did not disappoint. If you enjoyed the first season, I definitely recommend the second. They did a really good job with just making it a continuation instead of trying too hard for something else. I had to watch it in Japanese, though, because it hasn't been released in English yet. Sometimes, I  have a hard time transitioning, but with enough time between the seasons it's not a problem. Watch it.

Special note: While I recommend watching the OVAs, they are highly inappropriate and didn't have any censorship. I would most definitely not recommend me for children. Well, the fan service is enough that I wouldn't anyway, but the OVAs are worse.

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Oh, dear: Phantom Thief Reinya

Makai Ouji: Devils and Realist

Genre: Fantasy
Age Appropriate: Teens
Emotional Response: potential?
Notable Features: demons, angels, high school
Language: Japanese
Length: 1 season, 13 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Not so much

"Atoms. They're all made of atoms." - William

William Twining is a young student from an affluent family at an English boarding school. He's called home over break only to find that his family fortune is gone, his servants dismissed and no money for tuition. The only person left behind is his houseman, Kevin. Somehow, the debts caused by his uncle managed to leave behind the house, but virtually nothing in it. While searching through the rooms of the old manor, William stumbles into a strange storeroom with a large symbol painted on the floor. After a small fall, and a small cut, this symbol activates and a strange man appears in the middle. He introduces himself as Dantalion, Grand Duke of Hell, and attempts to explain his presence.

There is one catch, however. William is an extremely intelligent realist who doesn't believe in anything not clearly proven by science. Thus, demons cannot exist and this mysterious man must be crazy. So begins the story of William Twining, the Elector of Hell. William apparently has a special bloodline that has put him in the position of the Elector of Hell - he who can elect the next ruler should Lucifer not wake up from his current long term nap. Because of this status, demons are attracted to William, primarily as a tool to become the next ruler of hell. There are a few demons he becomes closer to, and those relationships effect everything about the story. The question becomes: Will William ever make a decision, if he even lives that long?

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This series was full of potential. I think it suffered from only having 12 episodes, as the development of characters and plot could've been much stronger. I'm not sure if the manga just isn't finished, or if the story is just cut that short. I've always been attracted to occult type stuff (shocking, I know), and I was really excited about the potential in the series. Unfortunately, I was left unsatisfied. I thought the relationship between Dantalion and William could've had more to it, or maybe some yay-friendship additions between the high school demons. The addition of the angels also had some serious potential as conflict building, but it just didn't last long enough for me to feel strongly when it ended. I'm all for occasional cliffhangers, but this is clearly just the end without resolution. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. It's not bad, and I crushed on them a little. I just wish there was more time devoted to real stories - e.g. Why did we need to hear about Jeanne and Gilles? Useless. I guess, I would recommend it to other people interested in trying anything demon-y, but otherwise, not so much. I really hope there ends up being some sort of sequel that will fix this feeling of something missing.

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Blaaaaah: Sword Art Online

The Devil is a Part-Timer

Genre: Action/Comedy
Age Appropriate: Preteens
Emotional Response: excitement and laughter
Notable Features: demons, heroes, magic, alternate realms
Language: Japanese
Length: 1 Seasons, 13 episodes 
Overall Recommendation: Pretty Good

"Is this really the Devil?" - Bel

In the other dimensional world, Ente Isla, the Devil has started a war to take over the four directional countries in a bid for world domination. However, he's met his match in the Hero Emilia, and they both end up in modern day Japan, traveling through a Gate. Upon arrival, Satan and his general, Alciel, find themselves in a place where they have no more magic, a different language, and without any resources. Emilia has followed them through said gate, and they meet up on a street in the rain. While the story revolves around the situations presented between Emilia and Satan (and co.), the center of the comedy is the fact that Satan has become a part time worker at MgRonald's, and originally believes that this will be his path to the top of his new world, Earth. Everyone from Ente Isla has changed their names, and ages, met new people and started some sort of job situation - except Alciel who is tending house and researching ways to replenish magic.

At some point, there are new Ente Isla characters added to the story, often people from either side betraying our favored protagonists. There is also a young lady character who works under Satan and has managed to fall in love with him. His commitment to protecting those "under his command" often leads him into situations where he becomes the heroic character, and confuses those on the other side in the process. The series has mini-battles, some emotional flashbacks and a comedy element that makes this series more modern day vs. fantasy genre.

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I throughly enjoyed this series. There weren't any points where I was teary eyes - either from hilarity or sadness - so the emotional components weren't that important, but it was fun. I got a big kick of out Lucifer's character the most, I think. He has a rather small part in each episode, but I could totally see him in a lot of guys I know. I wish there had been time for a little more character development, but I'm happy with what there was. I also think there could have been a little more to the potentially epic battles, but it seems they wanted to keep it to 13 episodes and with that amount of time I think they did a really good job. There is a part of me that wouldn't mind a second season, though I've heard nothing about it, but I'm pretty satisfied without one. I guess, if they'd done more it would change the overall feel of the series, and I don't know that it would've been a good thing.

Well, apart from Satan actually being a bit of an idiot most of the time. I found a lot of fun in each of the other characters, when I didn't want to throttle them. I just wish I'd been able to get a little bit more. I really liked the few moments when he shows how not-stupid he is, as much as I liked when Alciel acted like an irresponsible fool. There was a small book-by-uts-cover moral to the story, but not so overt as to be irritating. I'm really glad that I decided to give this one a try. I would seriously recommend it.

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Crazy, yo: Astarotte's Toy

High School DxD

Genre: Fantasy/Comedy
Age Appropriate: Adult
Emotional Response: Hilarious and Exciting
Notable Features: high schoolers, demons, angels, high nudity
Language: Japanese
Length: 12 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Totally (but only if you like that sort of thing :D )

"Ahh...I wanna squeeze some boobs." - Issei

Issei is a young, perverted high school boy, obsessed with breasts. After entering a school that was previously a all-female institution, his two naughty friends and Issei find themselves surrounded by beautiful girls, but are blocked by their own sleazy personalities. When Issei is suddenly approached by an unknown young lady, asking to be his girlfriend, he can do no other than accept. Somehow, after a lovely high school date, his new friend Yuma is turned into a fallen angel! So begins Issei's involvement in a three battle between angels, fallen angels and devils. Issei grabbed a flyer that summoned Rias, the president of the Occult Club, who saves him from a mortal blow and she brings him back to life as a devil. He's now a servant of her house. In this series, Issei has to battle with his own high school hormones, his new powers as a devil, and the bad guy fallen angels and other devil houses.

After becoming a devil, Issei becomes friends with the rest of the Occult Club - a front for Rias' devil servants within the school. The members are a variety of female types with different personalities, and Issei enjoys them all. There is one other male in the group, the most popular pretty boy in school, who earns Issei's resentment for his popularity, but also earns his respect in battle together. Each member is representative of chess pieces in their abilities - Queen (Akeno), who has magical abilities, Knight (Yuto), who has amazing sword skills, Rook (Kaneka) with super strength and defense, and Pawn (Issei) who has virtually no chess-like powers but can "promote" in enemy territory. Near the beginning there is a new addition - Bishop (Asia). Asia is a former Sister, who is saved by Issei from a terrible battle between fallen angels, a stray exorcist and the team. She joins the team with Twilight Healing - the ability to heal even devils. With their team complete, the group is set up to battle anything thrown at them.

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Let me get this out of the way first - omg fan service. There is a lot of gratuitous breast appearances in this series. This is not the same as Girls Bravo, where everything was just

incidental nudity. This is pretty obvious. If that is something that you can't handle, just skip it. Otherwise, this series is great.

I really needed something comedic this week. I definitely got what I wanted. I knew it would be funny and after the first episode, I knew it was going to be full of nudity. What I didn't expect was to be so emotionally involved. After the first few episodes, it feels like they threw in the fan service because it was expected, not because it was a focal point. After seeing past that, the story is pretty excellent. I was cheering for Issei the whole time. It was at least in part cheering for the underdog. His abilities are pretty abysmal compared to his compatriots, but his enthusiasm seems to make up for some of it. The last few episodes I was clapping along, and at one point a little sniffly. Really, I loved it. I might scoot this up to at least the Top 10 (which now needs to exist). I really was surprised at how much I loved it. I know I enjoyed Heaven's Lost Property, but I didn't inhale it the way I did this.
Highly Recommended. I might even watch it again in the future. I cannot wait until Season 2 comes out later this year. I'm super excited to see where the story goes.

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Boost!: Haganai

Heaven's Lost Property - Mirror Review

Here is the mirror review I promised you! Below is a review of Heaven's Lost Property from a completely different perspective. I think he did a pretty good job!


Genre: Sci-Fi, Action

Age Appropriate: Late Teen, and Adult

Emotional Response: LOL, OMG, and sadface

Notable Features: Awesome battle scenes, astronomical levels of fan service

Language: English dub

Length: 2 seasons, 26 episodes, 1 feature-length film

Overall Recommendation: What are you waiting for?!

"This smells like tasty!" -- Delta (Astraea)

Tomoki Sakurai craves only one thing in life: peace and quiet. So when Ikaros, a type Alpha Angeloid, falls from the sky and comes crashing (quite literally!) into Tomoki's life, peace and quiet are nowhere to be found!

The series follows the adventures of the New World Discovery Club, a group of Tomoki's friends and classmates, as they deal with the daily challenges of high school and seek to unravel the secrets of the "New World," a mysterious black hole that appears in the sky. Ikaros falls from the black hole and imprints upon Tomoki, who becomes her "master." Tomoki, who is quite the little pervert as we soon find out, quickly manages to get himself in trouble with Ikaros' power to grant his every wish. More Angeloids eventually show up, and we find that each one has a different personality, special powers, and abilities -- and they're on a mission to kill Tomoki!

As the series progresses, we find out more information on just who (and what) the Angeloids actually are, the truth about the "New World," and what it all means for the New World Discovery Club.

Action, adventure, and many more Angeloids await in Heaven's Lost Property, Heaven's Lost Property: Forte, and Heaven's Lost Property: The Angeloid of Clockwork!

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I'm going to break from the traditional plot summary part of the review and focus on what I actually thought of the series as a whole:

First off, there is a LOT of fan service throughout this series. And by a lot, I mean gratuitous amounts in almost every episode, so be prepared for that. Tomoki is quite the little pervert -- something this is definitely reflected in many of the running gags in the series, from an airborne flock of panties to a panty-clad robot that can transform into a motorcycle, to Tomiki's various plots to see the inside of the girls' changing room. The end result is hilarious and sooooooooooo bad at the same time. I felt guilty for laughing at first, but when it quickly became apparent that the series wasn't about to tone down the level of fan service, I gave up and just went with it!

Moving on to less perverted aspects of the show, the music in this series is absolutely phenomenal. It's a great mix of quiet and introspective melodies along with supercharged battle themes that literally made me bounce around in my seat.

The storyline for the series achieves a nice balance between laid back episodes that focus on comedic aspects and themes along with the more plot-driven "serious" episodes. Each and every episode has its place, and they all add up to the benefit of a greater payoff in the more climactic scenes. There is some great character development for many of the characters (especially the Angeloids themselves), although some of the secondary characters remain pretty two dimensional -- however, that isn't something I noticed at the time, and doesn't detract from the series as a whole. I found myself very emotionally invested in the characters, to the point where I had to watch "just one more episode" (and another, and another!) when it came to cliffhangers.

Final thoughts:

- Made me wish I'd taken home economics in high school

- You'll never look at a watermelon the same way again

Overall, I loved the series, and can't wait for Season 3!
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How did that work for y'all?: Time of Eve

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

Shattered Angels

Genre: Sci-Fi
Age Appropriate: High school+
Emotional Response: ugh
Notable Features: "angels" (AI), high school girl, giant magical-like robot representations
Language: English
Length: 1 season, 12 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Not so much

"Let's go. Together." - The Prince

Ku is a young high school girl who is in love with the "Prince" from her dreams. She seems like a typical girl with a romantic daydream life. She attends a school in the educational community of Acaemia. She has a friend who appears for the first two episodes, and they're both in love with the school's Morality Squad, good looking students in charge of keeping order in the school. All of the girls swoon over this group, and more so when a transfer student joins their ranks for another school nearby.
Ayanokoji is the new girl-crush worthy transfer student. He reminds Ku a lot like her dream prince.

Within the first two episodes of the series, she becomes mixed up in a battle between groups with Absolute Angels - at the center of which is Ayanokoji, who is desperate to follow in his brother's footsteps. The Absolute Angels are AI developed for war, after years of research. These angels fuel themselves with the energy of humans, through kissing. There are only four main Absolute Angels, specifically attached to one person each. Setsuna, a young looking lady in a maid outfit is attached to Ayanokoji, and is helplessly devoted to him - despite his desire to end all Absolute Angels.

As Ku learns about the story, step by step, she begins to see underneath the surface what she's first told about the situation. She starts to question the things going around her. The story follows her discoveries and the relationship between Ayanokoji, his brother, and the Absolute Angels. Underneath it all, there is a bit of a love story for each angel.

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This series was completely irritating. I suppose it would be more fair to say that Ku is super irritating. Every episode opens with her letters to her prince, and they're stupid drivel composed by an introverted teenage girl who lives in her own fantasyland. The biggest problem is that that is exactly what she is. I don't think the anime was done wrong, I just want to punch her character in the face sometimes. Ayanokoji is kind of a tool, but only made worse by Ku's swooning girl-crush love for him. I was also irritated by his treatment of his angel.

On top of it all, underneath all of the stupid highschool girl stuff, some of this is messed up.The angels also manifest their power as robot things that remind me of Power Ranger animal/robot things. After I thought it the first time, I couldn't get forget it. Maybe it's the mini-feminist in me that is bothered by the whole series. I don't usually think of myself that way, but aside from the asinine, irritating dialogue, I guess I really was bothered by the whole thing. It reminded me of Twilight. I admit, near the end my heart went a little pitter patter, and I got the sniffles, but it couldn't completely erase the full series. I guess, I would only really recommend it if you're a Twilight fan - despite the lack of vampires and werewolves.

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Keep it movin', mister.: Pretear