Maoyu

Genre: Fantasy
Age Appropriate: Teens
Emotional Response: A little sad, a little inspired
Notable Features: humans, demons, technology vs, faith
Language: Japanese
Length: 1 season, 12 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Great

"I dislike insects." - Head Maid

Maoyu is a story with a strange mix. The main characters have no real names, only Hero or Scholar or Mage...etc. Hero is basically just that. He's the hero of the realm who went to battle the Demon King in order to save humanity. In the beginning the story reveals that in his efforts he was joined by friends and left them behind to finish his battle. It is the result of that battle that is the reason behind the story.

Hero has fallen in with the Demon King. Surprisingly, the Demon King is actually a woman - though her title is not Demon Queen. It appears that she wants to bring the human world and demon world together in some sort of harmony. Her desire for peace affects the Hero and he agrees to join her cause. Being the Hero, with special powers, and her being the King, with her own special powers, they enter the human world and start a path of scientific enlightenment. Her goal changes her title to Scholar within the human world. She brings new things to the world, like potatoes, meant to help serfs and common people help themselves without sacrificing their well-being to those above them. It's like an intellectual rebellion. Of course, this is not without consequences, and this is the conflict of the story.

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Since Maoyu is only 12 episodes, I'm trying to avoid giving too much away. I really did enjoy the series. It shows an interesting view of the terrible Demon King working to make the world populations independent beings. Of course, part of this is defying the Spirit of Light's church. The somewhat romantic connection formed between Hero and Scholar is part of the demon and human story. They're belief in each other makes some of the good things possible.

I have other favorite characters, though. In particular, the little girl serf who joins the household with her sister. She's cute and lively - excellent lighthearted relief. While their story is a sad one, it's part of the beginning of the series social commentary. I have mixed feelings about who to recommend this to, but I'll say probably best for those who don't mind a little thought mixed with some standard demon weirdness. There is a character who seems very interested in Hero, and also breathes fire. Merchant certainly likes to look at her. So, yeah, not in my top 10 or anything, but enjoyable .

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Woosh: HOLIDAYS - I will return in 3 weeks after the Holidays. I hope you all have fun and safe holiday fun.

Sword Art Online

Genre: Fantasy/SciFi/Action/Adventure
Age Appropriate: Preteens
Emotional Response: heart warming and heart breaking
Notable Features: swords, video games, love, evil scientists
Language: Japanese
Length: 2 season, 25 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Top 10 (Fine, Top 5, but don't tell my cousin)

"Kirito-kun will save me" - Asuna

In a time far, far from now (not that far), in a land far, far away (not that far either), a VRMMORPG comes online with 10,000 new players. These players are a mix of beta testers and new players, trying out Sword Art Online. The game is set up to use NeverGear equipment that intercepts brainwaves and makes it a full-dive gaming experience. Something is wrong, though. While there seemed to be no weird occurrences in the beta test, the real game has a terrible problem. There is no log-out function! The game's creator reveals his dastardly plan to use the game as a new world. The only way to release the players is for someone to finally beat the 100 level game, but climbing the tower and defeat the bosses. The even more terrible catch: because the game is linked to all players via their brains, anyone who dies in the game will die in real life. 

The protagonist is Kazuto, but his game handle is Kirito. Kirito is a beta tester who commits himself to surviving, and winning the game. The world develops into a real world out of the real world. Guilds are built, teams made, and battles won and lost. Kirito chooses deliberately to be a solo player, especially after tragedy strikes in his first guild foray. Through his grueling journey to beat the game, he meets people and makes important, life altering friendships. The series follows Kirito's journey and relationships as he carries on his mission to survive.

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My little cousin is probably going to make me eat my words. I'd been avoiding this, solely because I didn't think I would be in the mood. I think I got back into the adventure mood after finally finishing Legend of Legendary Heroes. This, by far, surpassed LOLH. Frankly, it surpassed a lot of anime series I've seen. I watched all 25 episodes in less than 48 hours, and I loved every minute. I will recommend it to everyone.

This is one of the few series that I've watched and nearly had me in tears. It's rare for me to get the sniffles at anything, and there were just a few episodes where I admit I teared up. The emotional investment was huge. It might take a little recovery, but I will watch this again. And possibly again. I'm floored by my feelings at the moment. There were some parts that were unsatisfying, but I'm pretty sure they were supposed to be. I mean, not every story is supposed to be exactly the way you want it to be, right? I'm glad for some of the more traditional elements, though. I might replace Tears to Tiara with this, with the sole exception of the fact that TtT was much funnier. That's not to say this didn't have funny moments, but they weren't a focus.

Seriously, unless you have some unknown hatred for Adventure/Fantasy/SciFi, you will not regret watching this.

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Dumbfounded: Freezing

Legend of Legendary Heroes

Genre: Fantasy/Adventure
Age Appropriate: Teens
Emotional Response: funny, suspenseful, heartbreaking
Notable Features: heroes, relics, magic, friendship
Language: English
Length: 2 season, 24 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Great!

"I just want to take a nap." - Ryner

In a land, far away, there are two nations fighting - Roland and Estabul. Ryner Lute is a magic recruit for Roland, with a special magic ability called Alpha Stigma. There is something dark, and mysterious, about his magic, and it's all hidden in his eyes. For the most part, this magic helps him in little skirmishes in training, but if it gets out of control things can go terribly wrong. As a young man, he's trained in magic, but his dark powers make him a target in the end. There are others in the world with the Alpha Stigma, and they're persecutes as monsters. He's imprisoned, and it's only when his dear friend Sion attempts to rescue him that we realize the depth of his personality.

Ryner is a bit of a lazy bum.  On top of that, he's a pacifist. He believes war is useless and terrible. His "manifesto," written while he is imprisoned, reaches the new king. The new king is his old friend Sion. As part of his friendly release, Sion sends him on a mission with a sword-wielding lady to find magical artifacts that may help their cause. While Sion believes in a peaceful existence, he cannot find a way to get it without war and violence. Ryner helps Sion out of loyalty, and forms a strong bond with his partner, Ferris, that spurs him to act when he can, despite his constant desire for a nap.

The series follows the conflicts between Roland and the neighboring hostile territories, and the effect that have on the characters in the story. Ryner has difficulties reconciling his abilities and his personal beliefs, especially in the face of society. Sion finds himself following a path against his feelings, and Ferris fights for them and for her beloved dongo. Along the way they all meet others who greatly effect them personally, but in the end it comes down to their bonds with each other.

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The Legend of Legendary Heroes starts out intriguing and funny. It's a great start, and it sucked me in pretty well. All in all, it's a pretty amazing story. I don't know exactly how high it would be on my list, but it's no where near the bottom, that's for sure. It's a great adventure tale, with some heavy personal development and strong emotional pulls. The only difficulty I had was dosage. I took a break from it for awhile because the fun adventure drops into heavy, darker storyline and that was hard for me to do quickly. I suppose that's a mark of a good series, though. I became invested in some of the characters, and I was pissed off anytime someone hurt them. Since they all face emotional, and personally difficult choices, with heartrending obstacles, it's not something you can easily sit through marathon style.

I both loved and hated Ryner's whining about naps. Near the end, it's was all I wanted to hear because it meant that he was in a moment where he was feeling himself. I constantly wanted to punch Sion in the face, for his poor decision making skills, but I admit that I wouldn't know what to do either. I'd like to think I wouldn't make his choices, but who knows? Ferris has a great obsession for dongo. It's a huge signifier about her emotional state when she either wants tons of dongo or none at all. It makes me want to try some.

I'm sorry I keep writing about this one. I recommend it. Highly. The violence level is fairly high, with a little gore, but nothing too terrible, I guess. It's a bit like Tears to Tiara in it's epic story-ness, but the feel is different. I'm not sure I could talk a second viewing anytime soon, it's certainly pushed me in the more comedic direction - if you haven't noticed - but one day I'll probably watch it again. I'll sucker someone into watching it with me.

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Seriously!?: My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU

Astarotte's Toy

Genre: Comedy
Age Appropriate: Teens
Emotional Response: equal parts cute and disturbing
Notable Features: succubi, friendship and human "toy"
Language: Japanese
Length: 1 Seasons, 12 episodes 
Overall Recommendation: Okay

"That's not what I want to hear you say!" - Astarotte

Astarotte (aka Lotte) is a young succubus princess in the Monster Realm. She's reaching her adolescent years, and as such she's expected to start building a harem. In order to survive, she's expected to retrieve the "life-seed" from males, otherwise her magic will disappear and she'll die. There are a few complications however, the foremost being that she hates all men. Her top servant, Judit, is obsessed with fixing the problem, and is putting a lot of pressure on everyone to get Lotte started on her harem and moving toward her maturity. In order to combat this pressure, Lotte makes a wild assertion that she would only consider giving in if they were to find her a human male. The gates between the realms through the World Tree have been sealed, so Lotte thinks herself safe. 

Somehow, through someone's magic, the gate opens and Judit falls through. She ends up in the World of Man, stumbles upon Naoya - a young man on his way to work - and offers him $500,000 pay to come to a "new job." The little girl, Asuha, with him barges her way into the bargain and raises it to $600,000, with neither knowing what the job is! Shortly thereafter, Naoya ends up pushed through the gate into the unsuspecting arms of Lotte and the drama begins. Completely freaked out by the situation, Lotte  acts cold and decides Naoya will be her "toy," and being competely freaked out at the concept on being in this young girls harem, Naoya goes along with everything. Even more drama, and comedy, occurs with the arrival of Asuha and the mysterious connections everyone has between the two worlds. 

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I did get a good amount of enjoyment out of this series, but I couldn't helped but be disturbed at least once per episode. Lotte is a ten year old expected to start her journey of maturity, mostly under pressure from princess expectations and the high strung Judit. It's obvious that she has no real interest in that area. Naoya doesn't really understand why he's brought to the World of Monsters right away, and more information makes things extra complicated  The one saving grace is that however the story line goes about this weird relationship angle, it obvious that Naoya is not a creep at all, and the tide turns toward Lotte's feelings versus Judit's ideas of obligation. It gets a little weirder near the end, but I guess given the plot it's not so bad. 

Asuha is probably my favorite character. She's the same age as Lotte, but her personality is so outgoing she ends up making everyone around her smile. Now, if only Naoya could convince her that underwear are a necessity...haha. The budding friendship between the girls is nice to see, and I really was pleased to see that Naoya wasn't super icky. The comedy bits were pretty cute, too. I don't know if I would really recommend this to someone, unless it were to somehow come up in conversation or something, but I do think it was pretty cute. I guess between the weirdness and the cuteness, I'm giving it an Okay rating, based on what I think others might feel. 

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It feels so free!: Aoi Sekai no Chushin De

Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero

Genre: Action/Sci-Fi
Age Appropriate: Older Teens
Emotional Response: Yeah! Get 'em!
Notable Features: Magic, typical teen boy, heroism
Language: Japanese
Length: 1 season, 12 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Pretty Good


"Eeeeeeeek!" - Any Girl

Akatsuki Ousawa is a true hero is Alayzard. He's defeated a dark lord, subsequently defeated the previous hero, and saved this new world. The series opens with him running from royal maids, using their magic to try to subdue him from his present course. Akatsuki's goal is to get back to Earth, his own world, with whatever he carries with him. He easily evades the magical maids, but is stopped by Queen Listy in the end. She only wants to know why he's abandoning her, and Alayzard. He never gives her a real answer, but promises to return if she ever calls for him. This is all in the first episode.

The season is all about the package. Akatsuki has smuggled in the Dark Lord Garius's daughter, Miu! He promised to look after her when he defeated Garius, and now he's stolen her away to Earth to protect her. They enter the Tower of Babel school, as Class B students, and pose as brother and sister. It appears that Akatsuki's plan is to hide in plain sight, acting as normal students, and feeling safe because no one should be able to follow him back due to some sort of magical Otherworld gate rules. The storyline is a mix between their unique sci-fi battle/magic-based education, and the behind-the-scenes workings in both Alaycard and Earth realms. The two characters make some good friends on the way, and become integral pieces of the end of the season battle.

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I wasn't entirely sure about this one when I started it. I really chose it because it was a 12 episode series, and I wanted something short. It seemed good enough at the time. I enjoyed it, even if it wouldn't be on my WATCH THIS NOW list. The most bothersome part of it was realizing that there was no real end, and after feeling unsatisfied for awhile, realizing that this was clearly meant to be only the first season.

The way it's meant to a "continuation" of some unknown heroic story was a bit unique, but the hero-saves-the-day part was very traditional. This isn't a problem, but my understanding was that it was going to be something other than just pretending to be unique while actually using the idea as a vehicle for any other hero story. Still, it was pretty good. I'll happily watch the second season if it ever comes out. I have hopes for the series at this point. I won't wait with bated breath or anything, but I'll be happy to watch more. I suppose that's really the review, right? Go ahead and watch it, might be fun. I only made it for "Older Teens" because there is a lot of censored nudity and a little bit of pervi-ness from Akatsuki. Definitely not for youngsters. So, yeah, pretty good, watch it if you want. I won't cry if you don't or anything.

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Alright!: Disgaea

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. 

Murder Princess

Genre: Action
Age Appropriate: Teen
Emotional Response: seriously, wtf
Notable Features: spiritual transmigration, princess, bounty hunters, evil cyborg little girls
Language: English
Length: 1 season, 6 episodes
Overall Recommendation: Not so much



Murder Princess is about a young woman, Princess Alita Forland, who must run from her castle as it is attacked by a traitorous scientist who feels he would be a better ruler. In the process of her escape, she ends up running through the woods until she meets a cliff, and a bounty hunter. In her fear, she falls of the cliff, bringing the bounty hunter, Falis, with her. While falling, they have managed to switch bodies in the supposed process of spiritual transmigration - which occurred when both women felt they were about to die and when their spirits realized this was not the case, they accidentally returned to the wrong bodies. After realizing their situation, with input from Falis' helpers - Peter and Dominicov - Alita begs Falis to take her place on the throne and protect her kingdom. Falis only helps for a price, in this case Alita has offered her everything that she is, to act as Falis' service until the kingdom is safe.

In the altercations with the evil scientist, and his android-girl helpers, New Alita has shown to be strong and deadly with a sword. She defeats the monsters in public also, gaining the nickname Murder Princess. Old Alita - now Milano, her servant - helps Falis/Alita become a better princess and queen by instilling in her a sense of responsibility and teaching her the little aristocratic things a noble woman should know (including submitting to having servants). In the end, it all comes down to the battle for the protection of the kingdom against enemies, likely and not, trying to take over the power controlled by the Forland family.

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There were some redeeming qualities of this anime, really. The story isn't really terrible, the end was typical, and there is some interesting parts of the plot. However, I was not a fan. Perhaps, it was more to do with the fact that the series was only 6 episodes, but I had really no emotional investment in the characters at all. Actually, I had to force myself to get through the first three episodes. The last three were decent. I was able to finish the end without much trouble, but I don't think an anime is too successful for me when the only motivation factor to finish it was to write this blog post.

Most of the enemy characters are some sort of misguided or misunderstood. The story behind the story feels like it was just thrown in there so that there was a reason things were happening, even though there was no foreshadowing involved. Normally, I'm happy for a good plot twist, but this wasn't a twist. It was more of a "Oh yeah, we need a point..." It's a bit frustrating. Honestly, I think the series could've handled a little good humor. I probably wouldn't recommend this to anyone. I'm sure there are a few anime that would be lower on a list for me, but this one is pretty stupid.

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Run, doggie, Run!: Inu X Boku Secret Service