Finished Watching Sailor Moon S (1994)

Finished watching Sailor Moon S (1994, Toei Animation, 38 epi) on 11/22/2018.

A new enemy presents itself to the Sailor Guardians in the form of five scientist witches working under the orders of a mad scientist as they search for pure hearts to steal from their unfortunate victims. Not only that but mysterious, rogue Sailor Guardians have shown up also looking for special pure hearts known as the Talismans.

Another alright season. The episodes get a tad bit repetitive with that monster-of-the-week type of writing. This also ends up creating some episodes with absolutely no development whatsoever, or monster designs that had absolutely no effort. I'm looking at you car-tire monster woman. But there was one episode in this season that I found immensely hilarious. The funniest episode in the whole series perhaps, and it's one that focuses on Aino Minako. I'll let you find it out on your own. I don't want to spoil anything.
The animation and writing again both suffer from having different producers and animation teams throughout the different episodes. Watching this season, I'm starting to think that the less important an episode is, the cheaper is production quality becomes, with highly climactic episodes being worked on by experienced teams.
I also noticed some big differences in story compared to the original work. The way the two new Sailor Guardians are introduced for example and less of a focus on the school they attend. I remember there was one plot point involving plants that took place in the school in the manga, but in the show it was actually used in the first season, if I remember correctly.

7/10 - I know I said this before, but I'll say it again. Cut out the unnecessary filler.

Finished watching Sailor Moon R: the Movie (1993)

Finished watching Sailor Moon R the Movie: The Promise of the Rose (1993, Toei Animation, 61 min) on 9/19/2018.

A meteor from space brings with it an alien threat. The Sailor Guardians are on the case and before it even lands they know this is no ordinary comet. This isn't the only problem on their hands, as a friend from Mamoru's childhood returns and he's got a jealous bone to pick with Usagi, and a promise he must fulfill to his old friend. One that might just have to be broken by Sailor Moon and the Sailor Guardians.

Promise of the Rose is actually a pretty good movie. It is loosely based on the filler arc of Sailor Moon R involving characters Ail and An. It took some visual and story elements easily recognizable from that arc to create what is for the most part an original story. And the animation quality is great, with fight sequences that are just great to watch.

8/10 - I would totally watch this one more time.

Finished watching Sailor Moon R (1993)

Finished watching Sailor Moon R (1993, Toei Animation, 43 epi) on 9/14/2018.

   Tsukino Usagi and her friends don't remember their adventures as the Sailor Guardians after their battle against Queen Metalia. But that soon changes when a meteor crash-lands in town, bringing with it two alien beings, siblings Ail and An who's goal is to collect human energy to restore their source of life, the Makaiju Tree they traveled with. But that is the least of the Sailor Guardian's troubles as a deeper darkness lies in their future...

This season starts off with a filler arc that isn't too shabby. The characters Ail and An come from a different planet and their goal is to gather energy so they can live. But they are met with resistance once the Sailor Guardians find out they are using monsters that attack civilians to accomplish their goal. The monsters they call upon each have a theme that is different from one episode to the next. This is pretty much your typical Sailor Moon episode recipe. Then the Dark Kingdom arc comes along with new villains who pretty much do the same thing with different goals in mind. This is an actual arc in the manga where the enemy's plot is to strategically place dark-power imbued statues at certain points in the city surrounding an area where the Crystal Palace will one day stand. A new character is introduced as well. Chibiusa, the future daughter of Usagi and Mamoru who traveled from the future to obtain the Silver Crystal.
Sailor Moon R wasn't too bad of a season but it could've been a little better for a few reasons. The biggest problem I had was with Mizuno being reduced to her bookworm element. All I remember her doing aside from fighting the monsters, was constantly telling the other girls that they should be studying every time she showed up on in an episode. Like, that was all she did. It felt like she wasn't a person anymore. I also noticed that the art style seemed to change from episode to episode. While this itself isn't a problem, some episodes looked really rushed and low quality. When I looked it up, I also learned that the series had multiple directors and art directors for all the different episodes they made. This would also explain how I found some episodes better written than others. Lastly there's Chibiusa's odd relationship with her future parents. And this is something that's been carried over from the original work, but it still bothers me how obsessed she is with Mamoru. It's written in a way that borderlines a romantic relationship. It's very suggestive. And as if that wasn't enough, Usagi gets jealous of her for it. It's all kinds of messed up!
But that's it, really. I didn't think Sailor Moon R was bad, but I didn't find it better than the first season. The new batch of villains were interesting, some not so much. Overall, it was alright!

7/10 - Could've used a little less filler content.

Finished watching Megazone 23 Part II

Finished watching Megazone 23 Part II (1986, Artland, AIC, Tatsunoko, 80 mins.) on 12/05/2017.

Attempting to return to a normal life with "Trash", his bike gang and Yui, his girlfriend, Yahagi Shogo finds himself answering the call for help from EVE, the digital songstress idol programmed to protect the city of Megazone, as the government that rules the people plots to take control over EVE's capabilities.

Well, this was... interesting. And a bit hard to follow. The first thing you'll notice about this second entry in the Megazone 23 series is the drastic change in the visual style. And it's one I'm not very fond of, to be honest. It got a bit distracting. But I can't say I completely hate it either. I think I understand its appeal. It has to do with the age it was produced in, and I have to say it's certainly a style from the 80's. I'm sure they picked it up from some other media, maybe even western media like the Heavy Metal movie. The art style is especially distracting with the scene where human ships get attacked by alien robots and it's really gory, unnecessarily so and they just keep playing it over and over or whatever. And then there's the Captain of the ship who just looks like a Muppet character. It was cringy for sure. But let's move on. The visual style was not the only thing that changed. It was the character's basic design. The girl's hair, for example used to be blue, now it's just brown. Funny enough however, EVE, the digital music idol seems to have retained her original appearance from the previous movie. Other than that, the movie was alright. Animation quality was pretty good and the story wasn't too bad, maybe some plot points were skimmed over.

6.5/10 - It didn't really catch my attention that much, but I still enjoyed it... somewhat.

Finished watching Legend of the Galactic Heroes: My Conquest is the Sea of Stars

Finished watching Legend of the Galactic Heroes: My Conquest is the Sea of Stars (1988, Artland, Madhouse, 59mins) on 11/8/2017.

Set in a fictitious future where mankind has expanded into deep space, even having colonized other habitable planets, two factions have been waging war for years in the sea of stars - the Free Planets Alliance, and the Galactic Empire. Working under the flag of the empire, Reinhard von Lohengramm arrives at the Iserlohn Fortress, but not before he has to deal with an attack by a small Alliance force in which Yang Wen-li serves as a Staff Officer.

After having watched a handful of space-opera series, namely Captain Harlock, Yamato and Macross, I came across recommendations for the Legend of the Galactic Heroes as THE space-opera to watch. Well, why the heck not, I thought. Having looked through a few screenshots and artwork I began to fear that the series might be too serious and technical for my taste. Well... I came to find that it was, but! It did a very good job at it, thus surprising me. Well, this movie at least. The artwork is beautiful and the classical music that goes with it only emphasizes its beauty. Specially when it plays during space combat and you see the tactical plans being made on the fly. It's... oddly exciting. And for a later 80's movie, I can only imagine the animation quality must've been pretty amazing! Another thing that caught me off guard was maybe how Reinhard and Siegfried acted around each other. From the movie alone I was able to gather that they seem to be close friends but... I guess I wasn't expecting how, uhm, well, comfortable they are with each other. As if the movie is trying hard to appeal to a specific audience... perhaps. Not that it's something that bothered me, in fact I was amused by it. There's just something, graceful about them. And to further accentuate that grace there's this visual theme that the Empire seems to have adopted with the inside of their ships. The decks all seem to share this early Roman aesthetic with marble pillars and architecture. And the uniforms they wear are also beautifully detailed as opposed to the more basic, army-like look of the Alliance.

8/10 - It's definitely quite different from what I've watched so far. Then again, I don't have that much space-opera under my belt. But it was a great movie for sure and I definitely recommend it. It's not very long either, which is great in case you feel like it's not really your cup of tea. But if you're into the genre, I'm sure you'll appreciate this movie for sure. And you don't have to pay much attention to the more complicated war mumbo-jumbo to appreciate the movie. As long as you get the basic gist of it, it becomes very enjoyable.

Finished watching Megazone 23

Finished watching Megazone 23 (1985, AIC, Artland, Tatsunoko, 80mins) on 10/18/2017.

Yahagi Shogo is given ownership of an unusual-looking, red motorcycle from a friend. Immediately after, black suits show up looking for the bike and Shogo drives off with it to later find out that the bike turns into an armed fighting robot. Looking for a place to hide, he then contacts Takanaka Yui, a girl he had just met to help him out. After a series of strange events, the two find themselves in the middle of a government conspiracy hiding secrets that question what's real and what's not, including a popular musical idol named Tokimatsuri Eve.

So first off, this movie was put together by the same staff as the original Macross series. Cool, right? I love their style. There's a lot of similarities with the two IPs. Visual. Thematic. Robots. Idols. Space. 80s. It's great! The music of course is pretty awesome with Eve's songs and the soundtrack just has that typical 80s synth stuff. What I enjoyed about the story was the conspiracy going on with Eve and how she gets the main characters involved in it. It's an interesting concept.

8/10 - But despite all my praise, I think the storytelling suffers from its age. Old anime seem to always have thing that don't quite add up and this one's no different. But it wasn't too bad.

Finished watching Dragon Ball

Finished watching Dragon Ball (1986, Toei Animation, 153 epi.) on 10/10/2017.

Goku is a young child with unbelieavable strenght and agility who's always lived up in the mountains, away from civilization. Bulma is a feisty, high-tech, city girl on a quest to find the seven legendary Dragon Balls using the Dragon Ball Radar she built. When all seven balls are gathered, the great Shen Lon dragon can be summoned to grant any one wish. And Goku just so happens to have one of them, thus bringing the two characters together for an adventure of a lifetime.

8.5/10 - I've actually never watched Dragon Ball back-to-back. As a kid I only watched a couple of episodes whenever I could as I was always stuck doing homework when it came on TV. Having it finally watched it all properly, I came to realize that watching the show as opposed to reading the manga it's based on can be a bit of a different experience. Y'see, one of the things this show is well-known for is the ridiculous prolonging of scenes by doing things like having characters stare at eachother for unnecesarily long amounts of time or even adding filler episodes or small parts and skits into a scene all for the sake of prolonguing the series' number of episodes. Whereas in the manga the pacing of the story is much quicker than the show, in a good way. That prolonguement of the episodes was a significant factor in my rating of the series. The next one might've been Goku's voice not changing very much with his age, hahah! That kinda bothers me. But maybe not so much. I don't know, maybe I was just used to the western dubs where his voice matures. Other than that it was still an enjoyable show. I'm just really left wondering what it would've felt like if the episodes weren't so long with all that filler content in the way. Well, I guess I might get an inkling when I watch Dragon Ball Z Kai next.

Finished watching Space Guardian Angel Links

Finished watching Space Guardian Angel Links (1999, Sunrise, 13 epi.) on 10/5/2017.

Li Meifon is the captain of a beautiful, white spaceship appropriately named Angel Links. Her and her crew run a free space escort service, providing protection from space-pirates and other threats to those traveling or transporting their goods through space. 

7/10 - Hmm... this one's tough. I feel like it deserves a better score. It was an entertaining series for sure, but the final episode didn't do the story much justice and is probably the biggest reason for the score it got from me. Up until then I was always intrigued to watch the next episode. The characters were pretty cool, Meifon's backstory seemed pretty interesting, the pacing was good and so I was really getting excited to see what the final episode was going to be like. Well, maybe the show had to end prematurely, I'm not sure. Maybe I'll try to read the manga that it's based on one day to see how it compares.

Finished watching Outlaw Star

Finished watching Outlaw Star (1998, Sunrise, 24 epi.) on 09/14/2017.

Somewhere out there in outer space is a fabled treasure trove know as the Galactic Leyline. Somewhere out there in space there is also a man lost in the pleasures of alcohol and women, who carries a special firearm with magical attributes known as a Caster. That man, is none other than Gene Starwind. Whom with his crew of few and very diverse characters, are off to find the treasure of the Galactic Leyline. One of his crewmates however, isn't looking for the riches promised in the legends... but is actually in search of herself and her reason of being. That would be Melfina, an android whom Gene made a promise to help find the answers she seeks.

Man! Gene mutherf**kin' Starwind! I'll tell you what! Alright, Outlaw Star is an amazing show, almost on the same level as Cowboy Bebop, just not as classy. More spunky. Half of the show unfortunately are episodes that could be skipped, but some of those do offer a couple of plot hints and pieces that build up for the ending. Fortunately, all these episodes in the show are VERY entertaining and funny and amazing! Not one episode bored me out or necessarily made me feel like it was trying to prolong things. But the pacing is a bit wonky after the first few episodes. But most importantly I think the show knows to not take itself too seriously, maybe that's why it's very entertaining. The animation is really good, but sometimes the character's faces look a bit strange... but that could just be from the art style. The soundtrack is really cool too! Sometimes it really adds to the excitement of the scenes.

8.5/10 - Definitely a great show all around! Definitely worth a rewatch in a couple years.

Finished watching Leda, The Fantastic Adventure of Yohko

Finished watching Leda, The Fantastic Adventure of Yoko (1985, Kaname Production, 75 mins.) on 07/19/2017.

High School student, Yoko wrote a song to confess her love for a classmate. After attempting to approach him, she loses the courage to show him the song and walks past him. Then suddenly, in a strange twist of fate, she is magically brought into another dimension. There she meets a talking dog and becomes a sword-wielding warrior when threatened by a futuristic bike gang who steals the cassette tape with her love song. With her new found power she must retrieve the song back and find her way back home.

7/10 - This is one of those hidden gems of the 80's. It's a good movie with interesting visuals. The plot is a bit generic, but not bad. Did you know that Yoko shares the same voice actress as Dragon Ball's Bulma? Anyways... there's also giant robots, which is also pretty cool. Their designs are, well, unique. But one of them is pretty cool actually. I just don't want to spoil much about it. Well, either way they don't get much use though... I also wish I'd see more fighting action from Yoko. Wouldn't mind seeing her swing her sword around a bit more.

Finished watching Macross Delta

Finished watching Macross Delta (2016, Studio Satelight, 26 epis.) on 07/17/2017.

A disease has spread through the remote location of the Milky Way Galaxy called the Brisingr Globular Cluster. This disease dubbed the Var Syndrome turns humanoids berserk with a killing intent. But the music of a talented idol group by the name of Walküre seems to suppress the symptoms of the infected. Wishing to join this group is an apple-loving young girl from planet Windermere, who at the end of her stowaway trip meets Hayate, a young man with a passion to cruise the skies.

7.5/10 - Accompanying these series I always find myself intrigued about the new song idols and how different the idol ideas seem to be with each new iteration. For Macross Delta I was pleased to see them go the idol group way. Not because idol anime is what I'm into, specially since I haven't watched any, but because the potential was there and that's what was popular at the time. So I'm really excited about what will be done next. Maybe a DJ artist or band? Or maybe something more traditional. I'm really intrigued. As for the series itself, I really enjoyed it. Not the best Macross in my opinion, but quite up there. I really enjoyed the songs and I think Mikumo has a great voice. In terms of mature voices, if we were comparing Mikumo to Sheryl, I'd totally go for Mikumo any day. There's something about Sheryl's voice that just seems forced or, maybe pretentious to me. At the same time I sorta get it, it reflects her big ego. And as tradition dictates, what would Macross be without a love triangle. Hayate, Freyja and Mirage are the main focus here, but I think it's obvious who has the upper hand on Hayate, of course. I mean, Freyja is pretty cute. But I also appreciate that Mirage doesn't feel discouraged by that.

Finished watching Miss Hokusai

Finished watching Miss Hokusai (2015, Production I.G., 90m) on 07/14/2017.

The Great Wave off Kanagawa, the popular painting by Japanese artist Hokusai. But he wasn't the only artist in his family. His equally-talented daughter Katsushika Ōi worked under his shadow while the two shared the same roof with Hokusai's apprentice. But Ōi's relationship with her father isn't the best, and his reluctance to visit his wife and younger daughter of two only makes things a bit more tense as Ōi juggles between the two.

Some might be quick to assume this is a movie from Ghibli studio. I was too... well, I thought I had heard a rumor that it was directed by Miyazaki's son... or something to that effect. Well, turns out it is neither of those things. It's actually Production I.G., whom I will always remember now as the same studio that worked on the Xenogears animation sequences. But there are some visual similarities to a Ghibli production, so maybe that's understandable.
Anyways, Miss Hokusai focuses mainly on the relationship between Hokusai and his two daughters. One of which, Katsushika Ōi is just as talented with a brush as he is. His younger daughter is blind, and is rarely visited by her father who relies on Ōi to keep him up to date on the family as she is the one that visits them often.

7.5/10 - I really liked this one, and at 90mins-long it felt like just the right length. I also liked how mystical it would get sometimes with some of the yokai elements in the movie. It actually reminded me of things like xxxHolic or Mushishi.

Finished reading Uwakoi

Finished reading Uwakoi (2011) on 1/17/2017.

Story & Art: Masahiro Itosugi

Chapters: 36

Yukiteru-kun is a college student with many lovers, but he is trapped in a love triangle with the two he is closest to, Yuno and Rena. But as Yukiteru tries to juggle between all his affairs without them knowing, will he come out of it unscathed?

7/10 - Wow... Wow... Y'know, I always try to type up my own synopsis for these reviews and I think this may have been the hardest one yet. I honestly don't know how to put this manga into words without spoiling much. For those of you familiar with Future Diary (Mirai Nikki) you'll notice an uncanny resemble between the two. Not only are the plots somewhat similar but the character's names, Yuki(teru) and Yuno and how they behave as well. Honestly, it was very interesting reading this manga and I really couldn't put it down, however the ending was underwhelming and a bit abrupt for me. If you're just reading this for the light-hentai like I was, you got nothing to lose, m8. And the art style is pretty interesting, I guess... Hahahah!

Finished watching Boku Dake Inai Machi ERASED

Finished watching Boku Dake Inai Machi ERASED (2016, A-1 Pictures, 12 epi.) on 01/16/2015.

Satoru Fujinuma would be your average detached-from-life 29 year-old part-timer if not for a strange little phenomena that sends him back in time several minutes before some sort of tragic event happens in his vicinity. This is something he has lived with his whole life, and knowing its meaning Satoru takes these chances to prevent those tragedies from happening and often saving lives. However, his courage to defy this phenomena is one day put to the test when he is sent back 18 years in the past after being accused of murdering someone close to him. This is his chance to fix everything.

9/10 - Man... this is one of those shows that just messes me up inside. I was at the edge of my seat with my emotions! The story really knows how to attach characters to the audience and make them fear for what’s coming to the characters. At least it did for me. Sometimes I just knew what was coming and when it did it just broke me because I was so not ready to deal with it. And I’m not trying to say that the show is predictable, because if it was it did it in a very good way for me. I have to say the ending was… hmm, I didn’t hate it but I didn’t like it either. I know the show is based on the manga by the same name and I haven’t read it yet. So maybe it’s one of those things where some of the story was changed a bit to fit the studio’s agenda or budget. I mean, it is only 12 episodes and I’m not sure how long the manga is. Overall it’s a really great show with incredible writing and animation.

Finished watching Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kira

Finished watching Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kira (2011, Studio Deen, 4 OVAs) on 01/16/2015.

With the Hinamizawa murder mysteries long gone and out of the way, the show has no other option but to resort to the legendary powers of fan service for the series 10th anniversary! Watch as your favorite Hinamizawa heroes don themselves in controversial magical attire to fight evil syndicates or just for the sole purpose of serving your questionable moe entertainment needs!

8/10 - Hahahah! This show was a f**king ride from start to finish! A friend of mine warned me about some sort of weird concept called "jail bait" if I were to watch this show. But I've no idea what she was talking about, honestly, this show was unbelievable! I recommend it! Now excuse me, some angry men at violently knocking on my door shouting my name for some reason.

Finished watching Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei

Finished watching Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei (2009, Studio Deen, 5 OVAs) on 01/07/2015.

With the Hinamizawa murder mysteries solved, Furude Rika and her friends are finally able to enjoy peaceful lives without worrying about watching their backs. But suddenly things turn sour when a horrifying accident sends Rika yet again back in time to another timeline. However, something is very different from the usual time travels she's done before. Rika finds herself in a world with no conflict or conspiracy to be solved. But when presented with a choice, she struggles to choose between going back to her own timeline or to stay in the new 'perfect' one.

7/10 - This was an interesting little side story. However, I don't feel it necessarily contributes much to the series as a whole. The first episode is very out of the left field considering the story for the rest of the episodes, but I suppose they were just trying to show how Hinamizawa is peaceful again, albeit in a questionable way. The animation quality has improved, and the soundtrack didn't quite standout that much. I'd say Rei is not a necessary watch. Just interesting.

Finished playing Final Fantasy VI

Finished playing Final Fantasy VI (1994, Square, SNES) on 11/20/2016.
Hours: 85

A mysterious young sorceress named Terra finds herself under the mind-control of an Empire that rules over the land with Magitek, a technology that combines the power of magic and machines. After escaping the Empire's mind-control, Terra is rescued by and joins forces with the Returners, a rebel group seeking to put a stop to the Empire's dictatorship.

Quite possibly the most ambitious game of its time, Final Fantasy VI still stands today as one of the greatest RPGs in history. This being my third time playing this amazing game only reminded me how true that really is.
I really have no complaints about this game. The characters are great, their story is deep and well written and the music is exceptionally beautiful. The game even features an opera show with just as much emotion as the game's own story. Of course the gameplay is just as great as well with so many sidequests and hidden little things that will keep you playing and replaying for hours on end.

10/10 - Ten atta ten! This game is avaialble for dirt cheap on the iTunes store, Google Play store and Steam, so if you ever want to play an old FF game this would be it and there's no reason why you can't get it.

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 playing Final Fantasy V

Finished playing Final Fantasy V (1992, Square, SNES) on 9/09/2016.
Hours: 70

The four elemental crystals that keep the planet's forces in harmony are in danger after one of them was destroyed. And so four heroes are brought together by faith – Bartz, Galuf, Lenna and Faris team up to save the remainder of the crystals from meeting the same fate.

I've played this game before quite a few years ago but I've forgotten how good it is. There is just so much comedy in this title as opposed to past installments, and I've enjoyed every bit of it. And characters show so much more emotion through a couple new sprite animations that previous Final Fantasies did not have.
Also there's the great character job system coming back from the first game with many more options and improvements, such as being able to change to whatever job you want, whenever you want so as to master all of them and ultimately be able to mix and match abilities. This type of customization allowed for numerous strategies against bosses that would otherwise be nearly impossible to defeat. I'm lookin at you, Omega.
The soundtrack is great as well, quite lively compared to previous ones.
I just wish this game had a fat Chocobo. Item storage is a very helpful thing.

8/10 - A very good game with a lively cast of characters. I really think Square was trying to stay away from the usual seriousness that previous Final Fantasy games had with their characters and you can really see this with Bartz personality. But that's not to say that these are not complex characters just because they're interactions tend to be comical half the time.

Finished watching Guin Saga

Finished watching Guin Saga (2009, Satelight, 26 episodes) on 7/09/2016.

Based on a light novel, this show follows the adventure of two young twins, Rinda and Remus, heirs to the throne of an invaded kingdom, and Guin, a leopard-headed warrior who's origins are unknown even to himself. Along the way the three are captured and team up with two other prisoners, a mercenary named Istovan and a monkey girl named Sunii to make their escape.

What attracted me to this show was the fact that Final Fantasy series' composer, Uematsu Nobuo composed the entirety of the soundtrack for this show.

PLOT - Guin is my favorite character and the sole reason why I kept watching. I wanted to know where he came from, why he is leopard-headed. His character is also very awesome. He's cool and composed and always wins even after getting thrown around like a rag-doll. But the plot seems to take a while to pick up decent speed and eventually towards mid-season it picks up, but for some reason Guin and the twins aren't exactly the main characters anymore as the show ceases to follow their tracks and focuses on more political characters that only mildly interest me. Regardless, all the characters in this show have very interesting personalities, although I did find myself rolling my eyes a lot at those traits, but nonetheless they were interesting and sometimes even made me giggle at how unexpected they became sometimes.

ARTWORK - The animation and art quality for this show are both amazing and beautiful. I loved watching the fight scenes with Guin. They were very exciting.

MUSIC - Like I've mentioned, this soundtrack is composed by Uematsu Nobuo. However, it was nothing like his Final Fantasy compositions. I think he tried to go for something different with this show. Unfortunately the vast majority of the soundtrack didn't quite stick with me. But I'm not saying it was terrible, it just wasn't as catchy as what I've come to expect from his work.

7/10 - It's an interesting show with great quality and interesting characters, but the plot can get so dull sometimes. I admit falling asleep to an episode or two. There is a continuation but as of yet a second season hasn't been announced.