Finished watching Legend of the Galactic Heroes (1988)

Finished watching Legend of the Galactic Heroes (1988, Artland, Madhouse, Magic Bus, 110 OVAs) on 8/18/2018.

   Two opposing forces rule the Milky Way. The Free Planets Alliance, whose military space force is commanded by the talented genius fleet admiral, Yang Wenli; and the Galactic Empire whom with their very own military prodigy, Reinhardt von Musel quickly rising up in the ranks, seek to overpower the alliance for complete control of the galaxy.

   Oof! What a long and intricate journey this show has been for me. Definitely glad I watched it for sure. Seems like a very important piece of anime history in my books, at least. Seriously, the immense size and depth of Legend of the Galactic Heroes is not one to take lightly. And while it may overwhelm its viewers with history and military technicalities, I believe most folks can still very well enjoy the show just on the easier elements to grasp. I'm talking about the character aspect of the show and the beauty of its art style. What I mean is that Legend of the Galactic Heroes dwells immensely on political monkey-business and space war shenanigans, which is fine, I believe that's one of the major things that defines the series, but its individual characters and their personalities and development are just as fleshed out as the tactical warfare that goes on in space. To compliment the beauty of this show, the soundtrack is comprised of various works by famous classical musicians such as Beethoven, Chopin, Mozart, Vivaldi among many others. I'm not quite sure of this, but I believe not one track was composed specifically for this show.

9/10 - Legend of the Galactic Heroes is a beautiful piece of artwork in all its aspects, and one that I think represents the best in the vast world of anime.

Finished watching Kobato

Finished watching Kobato (2009, Madhouse, 24 epi.) on 5/26/2016.

Kobato is an innocent, kind-hearted young girl on a mission to fill up her glass bottle with kompeito hard-candies. But these candies aren't just regular ones, they appear inside her bottle everytime she heals a broken heart, a not-so-easy task. But with her she carries Ioryogi-san, a fire-breathing, quick-tempered, stuff animal doll who guides Kobato through her ordeal.

7/10 - Very nice. This show has a lot of heart and Kobato is sure to tug at your emotions when her personality is challenged by the harsh realities that life presents. But the show doesn't let you stay down for too long as Kobato picks herself right up with her silly ideas which are often literally burned down by Ioryogi's fire breath. Ioryogi is my favorite character, his temper amuses me and for a stuffed doll his facial expressions are epic! The story is based on the CLAMP manga by the same name, but I haven't read it yet so I can't say how it compares. Even so, I enjoyed this show nonetheless. The art quality was good and so was the animation. The production doesn't feel rushed or anything. Nothing that you wouldn't expect from Madhouse.