Finished watching .hack//Legend of the Twilight

Finished watching .hack//Legend of the Twilight (2003, Bee Train, 12 episodes) on 9/15/2016.

Shugo is convinced by his twin-sister, Rena to play an MMORPG game called The World. When they begin, they are awarded limited edition character models based on legendary players Kite and BlackRose respectively. As Shugo plays along, odd events take place where he obtains the mysterious Twilight Bracelet from an elusive girl named Aura. The twins set out with new-found friends to unravel the mysteries that surround this odd bracelet.

PLOT - The story is somewhat interesting, and the characters aren't half bad and, but it's not really that complex of a plot more than it is entertaining. The animation is alright with vibrant colors. The way the characters are animated isn't too stiff, which is good. The soundtrack isn't bad, but it's nothing to write home about with only a couple of catchy tunes here and there, but it can be lively for the most part.

6.5/10 - Overall, for a 12 episode show it's not that bad but there's still room for improvement. If you're a fan of the franchise you'll definitely enjoy it, otherwise it's just a cute Saturday-morning cartoon that any little kid would enjoy.

Finished watching Escaflowne

Finished watching Escaflowne (2000, Sunrise, Bones, 98 mins) on 3/8/2016.

Kanzaki Hitomi is magically whisked away from Earth to a planet called Gaea where she is taken in by a group of freedom fighters who believe her to be their fabled Winged Goddess, their only hope in awakening a legendary, weaponized, mechanical armor known as Escaflowne. With Escaflowne piloted by the young Van, they hope to fight and defeat the evil forces of a powerful man named Folken.

8.5/10 – It seems to me that the Escaflowne franchise likes to create parallel universes for each of their different media installments. The manga, anime series and this movie seem to be very different from eachother, yet the same. But the movie is more faithful to the series than the manga is in terms of character design. Just remember that it's a different story. But this movie is good. I especially like the visual aspects. The animation quality is very good, but the style differs a bit from the series, everyone is just so... attractive, gorgeous *coughallencough*. That's because Sunrise hired Bones to do the animation. Explains a lot, doesn't it? The movie has its own soundtracks while some are from the series, and others are based on them. And while the animation is awesome, the soundtrack is good, and even the story is interesting, the plot seems to develop at a slow pace, finally picking up a bit of speed towards the end. And Dilandau is still my favorite character. Just puttin' it out there.

Finished watching Cardcaptor Sakura

Finished rewatching Cardcaptor Sakura for the second time (1998 – 2000, Madhouse, 70 epi., 2 movies) on 12/18/2015.

Elementary-school student, Kinomoto Sakura comes across a magical book in her basement. After opening it she accidentally releases the magical Clow Cards inside and Keroberos, their guardian from slumber. With Kero-chan's help and a magical staff he bestows upon her, it is now her task to retrieve all the cards back into the book. But it's not an easy task as the cards take their sprite form and use their powers to keep Sakura from overcoming them.

8/10 – I had already watched this wonderful series a few years ago but had forgotten how great it is and why I was always so psyched for Sakura and Syaoran #otp. The movies were great as well with incredible quality and animation. All the characters are wonderfull, even the bad guys. Also, gotta love Tomoyo-chan. I believe she could be a Batgirl if she wanted to. The soundtrack is quite memorable as well.

Finished watching Arrivederci Yamato and Yamato 2

Finished watching Arrivederci Yamato (1hr 31min, Academy Productions, Group TAC, 1978) and Yamato 2 (26epi., Academy Productions, Group TAC, 1978) on 9/25/2015.

Earth is faced with a new threat two years after the fall of the Gamilas Empire. For Yamato the White Comet Empire is their most fearsome opponent yet. But that isn’t the only thing Yamato has to worry about, Lord Desler isn’t quite finished with the business he has the Yamato. But the answer to their problems lies with Teresa, the only being on planet Telezart.

Arriverdeci - 7.5/10

Yamato 2 - 4/10

Arriverdeci Yamato was in Japanese theaters shortly before Yamato 2, the 26-episode anime adaptation aired on TV. Yeah, I don't know. Usually it's the other way around, but whatever. Anyways, that is the order I watched them in. Which made watching Yamato 2 significantly boring. Not only that, but the story and art quality were even worse. I even fell asleep during most episodes. I would've been better off just watching the movie, which by the way was pretty good, a bit lengthy and that scene right at the start with the comet dragged out for way too long. Also, now I know where the ending for the 2010 live-action movie comes from.

Finished watching Space Battleship Yamato

Finished watching Space Battleship Yamato (2010, Robot Communications, 1hr 18mins) on 8/18/2015.

The year is 2199. Earth is faced with a major crisis. After being bombarded by the extraterrestrial Gamilas Empire with radio active meteors for years, Earth has started looking more like Mars, forcing humans to live underground. But they won’t give up without a fight as they revive battleship Yamato as a space battleship to fight against the threat and make their way to planet Iscandar where a technology was promised to cleanse planet Earth of the radiation.

7.5/10 – One thing with Leiji's franchises is that their content isn't consistent between each installment. This movie is no different. Well, to be fair the inconsistencies aren't that big of a deal. For example, in this movie, doctor Sado is played by a woman. A pleasant surprise considering the series tends to be a bit of a sausage fest. Their excuse being that all the female crew members have been put to sleep until the end of the voyage, except for Mori Yuki. Gotta have that love interest somehow, right? *coughkodaiyamamotocough* Just sayin', man! Also, Mori Yuki is now a Black Tiger squadron ace pilot instead of originally a radar operator & ship nurse. They also gave her a nice, heavy pair of metaphorical balls. I'm very much behind this. What bugged me a little is that they didn't make her blonde. I get it, Japanese people don't have the blonde gene (I think), but I would've appreciated at least a wig... or something... idk. The ending of the movie however was new to me. Not what happened in the original series. But what about the Gamilas? And Lord Desler? I was excited to see them on the screen... nope. Nothing. All you get are what I think are Gamilas androids. Or at least I don't want to accept that they're Gamilas. I'm not sure. The movie didn't really explain. Heck, there supposedly was even a large ship the Yamato destroyed, but they didn't even show it. But getting back to the Gamilans, the only actual person I saw was a Desler made of water... or something. Kinda looked like him. But it was hard to tell since he was so transparent. Okay, how about Iscandar's Starsha, huh? Gosh, I don't really know how to explain this, but I guess now I realize Gamilans are these weird, floaty crystal things, and Starsha (also being a Gamilan, apparently) goes inside Yuki Mori so as to speak through her. The movie was still interesting, despite all these odd, new changes, and the production quality was good.

Finished watching Persona 4: The Animation

Finished watching Persona 4: The Animation (2011, AIC A.S.T.A., 25 epi.) on 8/16/2015.

Narukami Yu has just transferred to a rural Japanese town where soon enough he gets caught up investigating strange, local murders with his new classmates Yosuke and Chie. The rumor on the street is that victims are seen appearing on a TV channel known as the Midnight Channel before they get murdered. The three friends eventually find a TV screen portal into the strange world of the Midnight Channel where strange creatures known as Shadows attack them. But they’re not defenseless as they discover their power to summon Personas to aid them in their fight.

8/10 – I had listened to my brother play the game everyone now and then as I minded my own business, and the story and dialogues had tickled my fancy. But just like that, Satonaka Chie, the upbeat, kung-fu fighter girl had grown on me enough to plant a seed of "waifu" status in my heart. When I had heard of this 25-episode anime, I had been wanting to jump on it like a cheetah on an antelope. Well, took me a while to get on it, but I finally did. And I enjoyed it very much. I had some really good laughs with it too. The ending though, well... I couldn't really care for it. I really enjoyed just watching the characters trying to figure out the mystery and just living their slice-of-life while fighting baddies inside the TV world. They could've done it endlessly and I still would've watch them. But like I always say, good anime should always stick to 25-episode seasons, cuz otherwise the art quality goes down. Or at least, that’s what I’ve noticed.