Finished watching .hack//G.U. Trilogy

Finished watching .hack//G.U. Trilogy (2008, Bandai, 1hr 33min) on 10/28/2016.

After leveling up his virtual character in an MMORPG called The World, Haseo butts heads with Tri-Edge, a powerful virus character who deleted Haseo friend's character effectively putting her in a real coma. Haseo is also defeated and but instead of a coma, all the progress he's made so far in the game disappears. That's when a group called TaN picks him up and promises to awaken a fearsome power within him.

7.5/10 - Trilogy is a CGI movie, and the graphics are appealing and smooth with attractive colors. The only thing that threw me off was the facial animations, specially with characters speaking. Often times the shape of the mouths didn't match the words or would open and only move slightly for each word before closing awkwardly slowly. Although I do have to give it to them for really showing Haseo's emotions with his crazy eyes and stuff. What I did enjoy the most was the fight scenes, they were very powerful!
The story got a bit dull at times though, and I found myself almost falling asleep or my eyes wandering off the screen. Also, I think the movie is an adaptation of the final moments in the games, which is pretty cool. I'd like to try reading the manga adaptation of all the games though.
But overall it was a good movie. Like I said before, the fight scenes I think hold the movie together pretty well and despite it getting dull at times the plot is interesting, albeit a little predictable too. I also liked to see the voice actors reprising their roles from .hack//roots.

Finished watching .hack//Roots

Finished watching .hack//Roots (2006, Bee Train, 26 episodes) on 10/17/2016.

Haseo is a new player of an MMORPG called The World. But as soon as he starts playing he is attacked by other more experienced players in the game. A mysterious man named Ovan saves him and invites Haseo to join his guild, the Twilight Brigade. This guild and its members seek to find the fabled rare item called the Key of the Twilight. But TaN, another guild stands in their way as they too seek the same item.

Hmmm... this show could've been handled a lot better if there weren't so many episodes, most of which dragged on for too long or felt useless to the advancement of the plot. Even some scenes felt like they were purposely stretched to fill in runtime.

The story itself was... alright, I guess. It's apparently a prequel to the PlayStation 2 games, which I've never played, mind you. I'm sure fans would've enjoyed this show a little better. Anyways, the characters weren't quite that interesting to me, except for maybe Haseo, but even he was a little pathetic. I really feel like the story could've benefited from fewer episodes.

The soundtrack didn't seem that great either. Some tracks were just absurd to me even. Not much really stood out to me.

5.5/10 - What can I say, Bee Train just really doesn't do it for me. I don't know what it is but from the stuff I've watched from them, it seems like they don't really... care? That much? Sorry, but this show was just dull to me.

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 xxxHolic Rou & Adayume

Finished watching xxxHolic Rou & Adayume (2010, Production I.G, 2 OVAs) on 5/28/2016.

Ten years have passed and now Yuko must say goodbye. She leaves Watanuki in charge of her wish-granting shop to continue her work. Nothing that a well-trained witch apprentice with years of experience can't handle. But the hope of seeing Yuko again drives Watanuki's will.

8.5/10 - Rou was a very interesting show. The way it started and the case Watanuki solved. The way it ended also left me with exciting questions. If you've been keeping up with my anime reviews you should know that I love Production I.G's work and this one's no different. I've become really fond of the xxxHolic series and just love to watch each new installment in the series. I even go for other of CLAMP's work just for the xxxHolic cameos. Needless to say, Rou was an amazing experience with that deliciously elegant art quality that the series is known for.

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.

Finished watching Final Fantasy: Unlimited

Finished watching Final Fantasy: Unlimited (2010, Gonzo, 25 epi.) on 5/23/2016.

In an attempt to follow in the tracks of and find their lost parents, twins Ai and Yu sneak off to take an underground rumored ghost train that only appears at midnight and its only destination is a strange dimension known as Wonderland. In the train they meet a young woman called Lisa who uses psychic-like martial arts to defend the twins from the dangers of the strange dimension they're in. Along the way they also meet a mysterious man with a weapon that summons mythological beings to his aid, and also a large, yellow bird they name Chobi. Together they travel to find the twin's parents, but Wonderland is filled with danger. A danger they can't even begin to comprehend.

7/10 - This show was alright. It feels more like a SatAM show than anything, but it moves the plot along nicely. It is only 25 episodes afteral. As a Final Fantasy fan, it's not exactly what I expected. A lot of the series' elements are there, mostly the iconic creatures, and Cid, but there's still room for a couple of more familiar things. The story wasn't as complex as a Final Fantasy one, but you can tell that it's trying. I wish they couldn've explained more of Kaze's and Makenshi's backstory, but that's alright. The final episode was good enough with your mandatory final boss battle. But what I really enjoyed out of this series was the soundtrack. It is just so good! It really added to the show. And although it wasn't composed to Nobuo Uematsu, the opening theme was in fact by him. The animation quality is okay, and the art style is interesting in that it reminds me of the the first Digimon movie art style. You can tell by the way they draw fingers. But at times the quality did indeed drop and some character's faces looked awkward and cheap. Except for one character, Fabula. Her art style was different from everyone else's and she always looked gorgeous.

Finished watching xxxHolic Shunmuki

Finished watching xxxHolic: Shunmuki (2009, Production I.G., 2 OVAs) on

Watanuki gets in touch with Doumeki's grandfather who asks him to look for four objects scattered throughout the area of his temple. But as they find each item they are sent to various dream worlds.

8/10 - Although this was produced in conjuction with Tsubasa: Shunraiki in that their plots tie in together, this xxxHolic one was more interesting and made more sense. The ending even left me very intrigued as to how the series would continue from then on. Finally, and also very important, the animation and art quality are good, just like the Shunraiki one, because without good quality animation you end up being taken for filler episodes.

Finished watching Tsubasa: Tokyo Revelations

Finished watching Tsubasa: Tokyo Revelations (2007, Production I.G., 3 OVAs) on 4/13/2016.

With the services of a dimensional witch named Yuko, a boy named Syaoran and his childhood friend Sakura continue their journey together with a warrior named Kurogane and a magician named Fai in search for Sakura's memories which turned into feathers and scattered throughout various parallel universes. Far into their travels, they reach a dismal land known as Tokyo Country where factions fight eachother for survival and resources while acid rain constantly pours from the sky. Our heroes are taken in by a faction and reluctantly fight bloody battles as secrets are revealed changing their lives forever.

8.5/10 – Wow! Holy Mokona! Y'see what happens when you hand this show over to Production I.G.? Seriously! In just three episodes this OVA mini-series revealed so much more content, and did so much more than two whole seasons of RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE ever did. I honestly don't know what Bee Train was thinking. I mean, this show really kicked it up to 11. There's so much bloody violence, really not for the weak hearted. And then there's Sakura. Wow. She had to pull her own weight this time around, all on her own nonetheless and boy, did she take it like a champ! You really don't need me to keep going here. This show is amazing! I just wish it continued with a few more episodes. But, anyways, go watch it, you won't regret it.

Finished watching Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle's Second Season

Finished watching Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle's Second Season (2006, Bee Train, 26 episodes) on 4/7/2016.

With the services of a dimensional witch named Yuko, a boy named Syaoran and his childhood friend Sakura continue their journey together with a warrior named Kurogane and a magician named Fai in search for Sakura's memories which turned into feathers and scattered throughout various parallel universes.

5/10 – After this season I find myself really disappointed with this show. Like, really disappointed. While the animation and art quality remain mediocre at best, the story leaves much to be desired. Since I haven't read the manga yet, I can't say how it compares, but from other reviews I've read apparently it disgraces the manga. I really wish I had simply read the manga instead of wasting my time on this poor excuse of an adaptation. I'm being way too polite here considering how I'm feeling about it. I mean, I even was able to skip an episode and perfectly predict its outcome. That's how sad it is. One of the things that bothered me the most is how little exposition was shown throughout the series, on the exception of perhaps Kurogane. But what really got on my nerves was the ending. It made no sense, the production value was beyond par and the fact that *SPOILER START* the main characters just sit tight as they watch hundreds of feathers just slowly fly off into other dimensions instead of using their superhuman powers to collect them all. Heck, even Mokona could've sucked a good chunk in if not all of them. Like... seriously! *SPOILER END* The only exciting thing was seeing familiar faces from Chobits. I honestly think Production I.G. would've taken much better care of this series. Bee Train can suck it.

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 Gunbuster

Finished watching Gunbuster (1988, Gainax, 6 OVAs) on 3/3/2016.

In the near future gigantic, insectoid, space monsters pose a threat to human kind. Planet Earth's best defense lays in the hands of an army of giant fighter robots called RX-7, piloted by trained professionals. Two of those pilots, namely Noriko and Kazumi have been specially chosen to train for an even larger, more powerful robot, the Gunbuster.

10/10 – Yup, a 10. It's that awesome! This mostly female fronted show puts its two main characters in space, piloting giant fighter robots against giant space monsters and it even tries to be scientifically accurate as possible. Which it is! By a lot! SPACE! SCIENCE! Oh and did I mention this is directed by Evangelion's Hideaki Anno? The characters are well constructed and the soundtrack is pretty awesome. The animation quality, despite experimental on rare occasions, is pretty good. I should mention the boob physics here, they're not exaggerated, they're quite nice. And yes, there is some full nudity from the ladies on occasion as well. Gotta have that hot spring bath episode, yo! But let me tell you something, this show made me aware of Time Dilation, something I should really know about. Some of you know why. This concept is crazy and I'm happy Gunbuster brought it up to me.

Finished watching The Vision of Escaflowne

Finished watching The Vision of Escaflowne (1996, Sunrise, 26 episodes) on 2/23/2016.

High school student and track runner, Kanzaki Hitomi's life changes when a beam of light shines from the sky teleporting her to another earth-like planet called Gaea. She is thrown between a giant robot war feud between the medieval countries of the planet. But she is not alone as she meets new friends such as young king Van and her high-school crush look-alike, knight Allen.

9/10 - Amazing show! Truly recommend it! The animation quality is great for the majority of the show. The characters and their relationships are all very interesting. Shout out to my favorite character, Dilandau! The giant robots, the Guymelef always have awesome battle scenes. And the soundtrack is also very top notch with some orchestrated, epic a.f. tracks. I just don't get where the animal people came from. But that's not a big deal.

Finished watching Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle First Season

Finished watching Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle First Season (2005, Bee Train, 26 episodes) on 2/22/2016.

With the services of a dimensional witch named Yuko, a boy named Syaoran and his childhood friend Sakura travel together with a warrior named Kurogane and a magician named Fai in search for Sakura's memories which turned into feathers and scattered throughout various alternate universes.

6.5/10 - This show's alright. While the first episode has a lot of things going on, the plot seems to advance at a slowish pace for the rest of the season. It's interesting to see all the different worlds they go to, but sometimes they stay a bit too long in some. Sometimes there are even worlds that don't have any feathers to be found. The very last world they went to I think had the most episodes. But it was actually a bit interesting as they were in an MMORPG without realizing it. The soundtrack doesn't seem very varied with two or three of the tracks being used way too often. The animation quality gets a bit poor at times throughout the middle of the season with even some character's faces looking a bit strange. But I guess that's a common thing with shows with lots of episodes. They leave the quality for the more important episodes, usually the first and last few ones.

Finished watching xxxHolic

Finished watching xxxHolic (2006, Production I.G, 24 episodes) 1/16/2016.

Watanuki has spent most of his life running from the ghosts and spirits that chase him from time to time. One of these chases eventually leads him to a mysterious house where a tall, gracious woman named Yuko runs a spiritual shop as a witch. According to her, whoever steps into her house does not do so by accident but because they have a wish she can fulfill... at a price. As for Watanuki's price, he is hired on the spot by Yuko to cook and clean for her. While working for her he becomes more familiar with Yuko's magical ways and relics as well as how they're used on and by her customers.

7/10 - I've never read the manga to its full extent so I can't say how they compare, but the show was interesting although at times it got a bit repetitive. The manga style portrays the characters with long limbs and bodies, but this doesn't translate very well into the show, specially in mid-show episodes where the art quality is considerably lower. This results in abnormally tall and skinny characters with unreasonably tiny heads during some shots. The final few episodes were good and kept me on the edge of my seat. They were quite the tear jerkers as well.

Finished watching Space Battleship Yamato 2199: Odyssey of the Celestial Ark

Finished watching Space Battleship Yamato 2199: Odyssey of the Celestial Ark (2014, Xebec, 111mins) on 10/23/2015.

While fleeing from an attack from an unkonwn enemy during Yamato's voyage from Iscandar back to Earth, Yamato warps into the vicinity of an unknown area of space with no stars but one single planet called Aquarius where apparently anything is possible and everyone perceives everything aesthetically differently. Yamato's recon team gets stuck on the planet and have to figure a way out of the planet's illusion.

9/10 – Yamato 2199 is the best thing to happen to the Yamato franchise and is the major reason why I'm into it. I started my Yamato journey with it and what better way to end but with this movie. Unless another one comes out in the future. This movie is interesting in which it combines some part of the White Comet arc with some sort of reference to the Aquarius planet from Final Yamato. Although it's a bit of a long movie, it's a really good one at that. I hope I get to live 184 more years.

Finished watching Space Battleship Yamato Resurrection

Finished watching Space Battleship Yamato Resurrection (2009, Enagio, 1hr 15mins.) on 10/15/2015.

A couple of years after the planet Aquarius incident, Earth is now threatened by a comet-like black hole. Seeing no way around it, Earthlings decides to move to an Earth-like moon, orbiting an Earth-like planet. On their way there, their colony ships are ambushed by an alien alliance and it's up to Yamato to assure a safe migration for the people of Earth.

7.5/10 - This movie was good and I enjoyed seeing Kodai as an actual captain. It was also interesting to see a new generation of Yamato crew members in their new uniforms. The only thing that bothered me about this movie was how Yuki's role was handled. She only shows up briefly as she dies with her cargo ship in an odd animation. And although Kodai spends most of this movie believing she's alive he doesn't react much when he finally learns she's gone for sure. With Yuki's passing, comes Maho, her replacement character in the Yamato ship. Think of Sasha from Be Forever Yamato. But unlike Sasha, I actually enjoyed Maho and *SPOILER* I was upset when she passed away at the end.

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.

Finished watching Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann the Movie Childhood's End

Finished watching Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann the Movie - Childhood's End (2008, Gainax, 1hr 52min) on 5/19/2015.

Simon and Kamina are two of the many children who live their lives digging underground tunnels looking for resources for their underground village. But one day Simon stumbles upon an object that turns out to be the key to an ancient machine of war. The two friends name it Lagann and use it to fend off a surprise attack on their village by a giant creature from the surface. They also meet Yoko, a massive-gun wielding wanderer also from the surface. The three join forces to explore and face the many challenges of the world outside and meet new friends along the way, as well as forging lasting relationships.

8.5/10 – It's been long since I watched the series, so halfway through the movie I was almost convinced I was just watching a series recap in movie form made entirely of recycled footage and a long montage. That might've been half-true for most of that first half of the movie (I say half-true because upon closer inspection, the animation is all new). The second half of the movie threw those concepts out the window and I found myself really enjoying it! Specially when they combined three different battles in the series into one giant brawl in the movie. And when I say combine, I mean they literally combined! Like, holy fuxx!

Y'know, I really think this whole show’s theme is about sex drive. They’re just sort of subtle about it.

Finished watching Ergo Proxy

Finished watching Ergo Proxy (2006, Manglobe, 23 epi.) on 4/11/2015.

Humans live in controlled environments protected inside giant domes from the hostile elements of a post-apocalyptic Earth. They are also served by autonomous robots known as AutoReivs. But a recent virus outbreak on these robots has lead Inspector Re-l Mayer into an investigation on the virus. Eventually she comes in contact with a mysterious monster called a Proxy and teams up with two other unlikely characters to travel to a far away city in search of answers about the Proxy she met.

6.5/10 – The only reason I was interested to watch this show was because I kept seeing this broody, gothic girl with blue shadow around her eyes... and I'm a sucker for that. I was disappointed however. The art quality of the show was pretty decent, decreasing it seemed in some of the episodes (probably different animation team)... but everything else was so boring, even the story and concept. There was only one character I cared about and it was basically the show's mascot, who was there to obviously lighten the mood - Pino. A robot little girl. She was cute, funny, and had some backstory. She was more interesting than the show itself. Even the backgrounds were repetitive and dull. Besides Pino though, the opening and closing songs stuck with me. Kiri by Monoral, and Paranoid Android by Radiohead. They were nice and emo. Hmm, yes. I still think Re-l's design is pretty hot.

Finished watching Darker than Black

Finished watching Darker than Black (2007, Bones, 25 epi.), Darker than Black: Gaiden (2010, Bones, 4 epi.) and Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor (2009, Bones, 12 epi.).

Ever since the the two Gates showed up in North America and Japan, the people that live in the spaces they encase have not seen the true night sky for ten years. That wasn’t the only change that took place. A select few became Contractors, people who’ve exchanged their humanity for supernatural powers. But the real question is, what exactly is outside of the Gates?

8/10 – I liked this show. I think the art and animation quality is its strongest point. The first season's plot though was a bit sluggish and more political than anything. After that I watched the surprisingly gory, 4-episode Gaiden which focused on a growing relationship between Hei and Yin and a hidden power in Yin as a "doll". Gemini of the Meteor carried on after that and was more character driven, more emotional, which kept me very engrossed. The plot twist was also good but the ending, like the first season, still left me with plenty of questions. Specially about the whole Gate thing. I still don't understand it well. I decided to review these three altogether because I gave them all the same rating.