What was the latest anime you completed/watched?

[Harijaja]

2X2 Shinobuden! that's one crazy anime XD so...random O_o

[smokingman]

Juuni Kokuki, since I hadn't time to watch it when it was fansubbed, and I forgot about it until last week^^
It needs a sequel, but I don't think he'll have one.

[Lovux The Great]

Saiunkoku Monogatari (both seasons)
(also known as The Story of Saiunkoku or The Tale of Saiunkoku)


WHY THE HELL IS THERE NO THIRD SEASON?!

*cough* ... So anyway, this shoujo anime, completely laden with pretty guys- NO! Don’t stop reading! Don’t be repulsed by the fact that this has a shoujo demographic! Otherwise you’ll miss out on a truly refreshing and unique anime!

Yes, REFRESHING and UNIQUE. I’ll explain why I was captivated by this series’ charm.

This is something as unusual as a shoujo anime that does NOT focus on romance. Rather, it comes third or fourth hand, and lets its main themes be politics and feminism. This is not a story about some clumsy girl chasing after the bishounen of her life – no, this is about a young, hard-working woman with a backbone of steel and heart of gold who wants to change the country. Not for her own sake, but for the sake of others. She wants the country to become a better country, and she does so by becoming a politician.
Yep, Saiunkoku is a political shoujo, as alien as that term sounds. While admittedly, politics have never, ever been one of my favourite topics in conversation and probably never will be, this story still made me feel genuinely interested in what was going on between the officials and diplomats of the Imperial Court and the governors of the distanced provinces.

The main character of Saiunkoku Monogatari is simply amazing. She kicks ass. And I don’t mean physically (which is rather cheap-ass way of claiming that a female character is strong, if you ask me), but verbally. She defends herself with words, and does so magnificently by standing straight-backed and always speaking with honesty, never straying off-topic or playing with words to confuse the one she is debating with. In fact, many of the most AWESOME scenes are the ones in which she speaks in the Imperial Court and completely owns the shit out of the sexist old farts it mostly consists of… just by talking. Even if the outcome of the discussion isn’t in her favor, she still has dignity and is never, ever portrayed as weak.
I also love the fact that she is allowed to be as womanly as she wants and dresses up in intricate colourful robes (just like the rest of the cast does, LOL), instead of going the “tomboy = strong” route like many other series do. If anything, she proves that femininity is masculinity’s equal. BUT as she puts it herself, everyone is first and foremost a person, an individual, not a gender. Well said, Shuurei-chan, well said.

The downsides of this show that I can think of would be that the pacing is kind of slow… It does take its time telling the story, and some episodes can feel too drawn out or downright boring. However, in the last half of the second season, things really pick up fast and suddenly move at a rapid-fire speed. As thrilled the story was at that point and completely unable I was to tear away from the screen, this inconsistent pacing is noticeable and disrupts you.
Also, the character design for the male characters were more or less the exact same face re-used over and over with different hairstyles and slight altering of the eyes… but do I really care about that? No, apparently not, as I have purchased not only ONE but TWO artbooks for this series, and I did that even before I had finished the show! They should arrive sometime this week~

So what can I say to sum this experience up? Sure, it was so pink and pretty and GIRLY it made my estrogen sing hallelujah… But it also kept my brain in shape and my expectations just kept on getting topped. It’s not going to be easy finding a shoujo anime this original and enchanting as this one. Simply because Saiunkoku Monogatari is 78 episodes made of PURE AWESOME.

My rating: 9/10.

[somehow_here]

Whoa totally forgot about it! Saiunkoku Monogatari was excellent anime! I like the characters, especially female main character, and overall storyline. My only complaint about the series is second season. I had felt that series drag a bit in middle second season. Other than that, I loved the series. I think I go back and watch it again...too bad there is no third season! I would have definitely watch that.

[Lin]

Saiunkoku Monogatari is on my list of anime to watch someday -- these two reviews of it have caused me to move it up on my list of things to watch sooner rather than later!   

But first, I have to finish a series so I can post about it here.  I'm still working on that...

[qwe]

baka to test to shoukanjuu
it has a lot of comedy and a lot of fanservice .the character  i like most is mutsurini
i would recommend it to anyone who like comedy,fanservice
rating 8/10

[red angel]

The last anime I completed was Red Garden. I'd heard about it awhile ago but it didn't seem like the sort of thing I'd watch considering the main characters were high school girls and that's not a subject I've wanted to watch in years. But I took someone else's recommendation about it and I actually really liked it.

It could be a little hard to take from time to time as the emotional reactions from the main characters might seem over-the-top to some, but the sheer creepy factor of it at times (especially with the main baddie)  really got me. I'd give it an 8/10 overall, mostly because I wasn't too fond of the OVA because at that point the main characters were unrelatable.

[Layered]

One outs! Was quite into Liar Game so I tried to find different works by the same mangaka, found out about One Outs and that it even had a anime version. It's really nice to see the main character out witting all the antagonist. Its not really a baseball anime as it advertises itself to be but a gambling one which revolves around baseball. The main character is not exactly cool looking but he does have an distinct look as compared to the other character, which obviously is the reason why he is the protagonist.

I recommend this to people who are into psychological battles, its nice to see some wins through pure wits sometime than blowing the person out with electricity (you know who I'm talking about!).

My rating for this anime ! 9/10! Not perfect because the anime did not finish till the very end, kind of left the same taste as the GB anime.

[Rem]

Planetes.. but I didn't like it. The first part was so slow.. I prefer the second part.
At the same time I watched Overd Drive and I LOVED the ending! <3

[Kai Heartnet]

recently i completed Mushi shi and it was really good

[bplbaru]

afro samurai... does it count though???

[_KAzuki_]

My oh my..it's been awhile since I completed one through the whole series >.<
But Nodame Cantabile was the last... It was ok..less music than La Corda De oro

LOL it was romance, comedy but really worth watching for its less than 15 episodes ^^
FullMetal Alcheist is almost ending..at ep 65 we'll see the God.. xD now that would be my very latest one!

[Lovux The Great]

Monster


Urasawa Naoki’s masterpiece. Done proper justice by the talented staff at Madhouse Studios.

Not a moment in this show is filler. EVERYTHING, every moment is a piece of a puzzle that brings you closer to the whole picture. Even when an episode introduces and focuses on new characters that makes you wonder “Hey, who the hell are these dorks? I want to know what happened to Tenma in the previous episode!”, everything is sooner or later revealed to be of significant importance to the plot. You’ll find yourself saying “Aha, so THAT’s how it was” more than once during this series.

While there are obviously a protagonist and an antagonist, it’s not always sure who you’re supposed to be rooting for. No one is innocent. Everybody has something about them that makes them sympathetic or unsympathetic. Because the characters of Monster are humans. And humans can be either good or bad, a Messiah or a Devil. I think this is the main purpose of Monster, rather than being mind-blowing, suspenseful entertainment – to explore the good and bad sides of a human. From the fluffiest heights to the slimiest bottoms.
Is every human life equal?
That’s one of many questions Monster asks, but it offers no answers. Just like in real life.

The humanity of the characters is strengthened by their designs. Urasawa goes for realism instead of generic manga cuteness, and the result is a wide cast of unique-looking characters. NO ONE in this series has the same features as another (with the exception of the twins, naturally). I’m especially impressed by the variety of noses.
The chilling soundtrack (or lack thereof, at times) takes the already scary story-telling to new heights. There was one track, I recall, that ended with a sound that was uncannily similar to a man being choked to death. Creepy stuff. The music can also be very powerful, and the use of ominous chorus chanting is a great example of that; so is the fantastic opening sequence.

Are you tired of hearing people around you complaining about your anime hobby; that the characters look ridiculous with their huge eyes, angular faces and bright, unnatural hair colours? Or that every story is the same, always about mecha, magical girls or misogynic harems? Show them Monster. That will shut them up for sure. Monster is a great show to introduce to people who are inexperienced with anime.
Or hell, even if you have seen hundreds of anime, do yourself a favor and watch Monster.

My rating: 10/10.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Revolutionary Girl Utena – The Movie
(additional titles are Adolescence Apocalypse and Adolescence of Utena)


An alternative re-telling of the original TV anime.  I’d say that watching the original TV anime before the movie is not recommended, but required. This movie does not only spoil a lot of twists from the TV anime – but without knowing them beforehand, some of the characters and their motivations will seem incomprehensible, and the movie in general will be much harder to understand.
Albeit even if you go directly from the TV anime to the movie, you’re still in for one of hell of a mind fuck.

It’s impossible to talk about anything Utena-related without a mention of the word symbolism. Sure, there is a main storyline that can be distinguished pretty easily, but everything around it, every little notion and picture and detail in the background and tiniest little sound effect, everything bears a greater meaning than just being part of the scenery.
Trivia: The director, Ikuhara Kunihiko, has stated in an interview that his dream is to do a collaborative work with David Lynch. That should serve as a good measure of what levels of mind screw we’re talking about.

Some of the characters sport radically different designs from the original TV anime (just compare the designs for our two main characters in the TV anime and movie), and for some, also personalities. For better and worse; there was one character that was so charismatic that no matter what the he did, you still enjoyed watching him being deliciously evil and manipulative… but here, he’s just a (admittedly fabulous-looking) pussy. And why did they have to change his voice actor?
Plus, Arisugawa Juri got too little screentime.

The visuals are astounding. Just a look at the twisted architecture that moves around on its own accord and whose shadows are blood red, making the Ohtori Academy seem both beautiful and frightening at the same time.
The music is also amazing. Not only does it contain new music, but also a couple of remixes from the original TV anime (another reason why you’re better off watching the TV anime before the movie). So now I’ll probably spend the whole week listening to the movie soundtrack, as usually happens whenever I watch this movie.

Not everyone is going to like this movie. I'm aware that the Utena-franchise is standing with at least one foot across the "Love it or Hate it" border, but I don't care. Perhaps I'm biased, but this will always be one of the best and most beautifully animated feature films I've ever seen. Pure beauty, in every sense and aspect of the word.

Oh, and last but not least; UTENA/ANTHY OTP!!

My rating: Infinty/10.

Damn it, I need to watch some genuinely bad series to balance the awesome series I’ve been watching lately. Otherwise everyone on this forum’s gonna believe I give a high rating on every anime I watch. XD

[Lovux The Great]

Damn it, I need to watch some genuinely bad series to balance the awesome series I’ve been watching lately. Otherwise everyone on this forum’s gonna believe I give a high rating on every anime I watch. XD

And heeeeeere we go:

K-ON!


Four high school girls form a rock band. Sounds like the prelude to a story with potential for sex, drugs and rock'n'roll, right?

No sir. This is a moe series. Can't have the girls act anything like realistic teenagers and expose them to various difficulties of life - that would be too much for the insecure otaku fandom to handle. 

Okay, okay. The moe genre and me never were on good terms with each other, but that had mostly to do with my own prejudices and me being very inexperienced with the genre. So I decided to give it a fair chance before I pass my final judgement. Hence this review. And what can I say besides... all my prejudices were proven true.
Rather than "Four girls forming a rock band", the premise of this series would be "Four nothings doing nothing". Yes, that is a word that describes K-ON! in a nutshell - nothing. I can't remember the last time I saw something this thoroughly hollow. The haters of this show resort to words like "shitty" or "stupid", but I wouldn't go that far. Because, really, how could nothing be something else than nothing?

Just about everything in K-ON! is transparant. The characters strangely succeed in simlutaneously acting according to the stock character stereotypes they were designed to be, and yet while being completely indistuingishable from each other. No matter the situation, they always seemed to crack up in tears while blushing brightly, and for some reason, always did it while looking directly into the camera, as if they were talking to the audience rather than with each other. They also had this fondness of making quirky little sounds that I guess must be considered "kawaii", but were just annoying and artifical in my ears. Even when the seiyuus tried to make laughter, an act of spontaneous happiness that isn't easy to fake, they ended up sounding unnatural.

Perhaps my biggest complainment about K-ON!, though, is the total lack of conflict. I won't say a word about the lack of "plot", because a work can have very little actual plot and still be great. However, in order to create suspense that makes us (the viewers) eager to see more, at least some sort of conflict or "threat" is needed. But no such thing exists in K-ON! - these girls (read otaku fantasies) live in a world of diabetes, completely void of the complications that ALWAYS will stand in your way when you experience the turbulent years of high school. It was nothing like real life. And if you can't manage to catch at least a bit of realism in a work with Slice of Life as one of its main themes... You just can't take it seriously.

Right, there was a BAND in the middle of all the tea drinking sessions. Where their songs any good? Not really. They were just your standard helium anime theme songs, sung by seiyuus of the characters. None of them hade any singing talent. While I'm at it, the background music consisted of uninspiring MIDI music... except for that one track I could have sworn was a remix of Popcorn...

The moe genre is not for everyone, and apparently it doesn't do it for me. However, that doesn't justify the fact that this show was hollow and filled with emptiness (as paradox as that wording sounds). A really, really good work can cross the boundaries of someone's personal tastes if it's written with enough brains and executed carefully. Does K-ON! belong in that category? Absolutely not. And to know that there's currently a second season airing (one that features the DOUBLE amount of episodes to the first season!)... Oh well, moe = money, so in the end, I guess it's Kyoto Animation who'll have the final laugh.

Bottom line; If I want moe works, I'd rather stick with the hilarious, awkward and warm Azumanga Daioh, or intelligent, genre-busting Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, thank you.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. K-ON! is nothing.

My rating: 1/10

[ADA]

Just watched ponyo. It's so cute!