Forum: Anime, Manga and Video Game Reviews

There’s a talking bird here! That’s your first warning. Jing: King of Bandits, aka King of Bandits Jing, does tend to lean on the juvenile side, and quite frankly juvenile anime does not interest me anymore. Unless it’s got a tinge of darkness or something for the adults. But I only made it...

The full title is Ingress: The Animation, which leads me to think this anime series may be based on a live action show. Maybe, but I will let someone else look that up. I’m here to talk about the anime. So the world is full of something called XM, which most people can’t see. But those with...

I was hoping that Diamond Daydreams was about baseball. But when I saw the alternative title of Diamond Dust Drops, I knew my hopes were dashed. OK, so there is no baseball. What there is are six stories, all told in two parts, of young women trying to cope with life and love. So this is a...

OK so I'm kind of biased considering this is the first manga I ever read and the manga/anime I credit for getting me into the genre, but I'll try to keep this impartial. Looks: 8/10 - the animation is STUNNING. However, the fights lack depth. This isn't really a fighting anime so I don't hold...

Hey everybody it's me again with one of those review deal-ios. I'm just banging them out over here. Don't mind me. Looks: 9.99/10 - jeezus this show looks good. I'd give it 10/10 but I'm trying to make a point out of not giving anything a truly perfect score unless I really think it's...

So I'm not really going to put in too many spoilers to start. I can add more if people want or I'm guessing a few people will post spoilers here anyway. Please feel free to post your own score of this movie, share your thoughts, favorite and least favorite scenes, etc. Of course, make sure...

The full name of this series is Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online. But that’s a bit too much to put on the title line. So anyway. Remember the second season of SOL? Kirito entered a new virtual reality game to discover why people who die in the game also die in real life. Since...

OK, so we have Manji, an expert swordsman, who has a Nazi swastika on his back and who keeps getting the crap kicked out of him in every fight. Fortunately he is immortal, so when left for dead he always recovers to attack his enemy from behind. So much for Blade of the Immortal. There is also...

With a name like Hi Score Girl, you would expect the main character to be female. Nope. This is the story of Haruo, a schoolboy with no particular talents outside of being a master of the video game arcade. There is literally no other interest in his life, until. . . . Hi Score Girl is a...

Once upon a time, Lawrence the Peddler was about to leave a small town to resume his travels. When who did he find sleeping in his wagon? A naked girl! With a tail and furry ears! She is Holo the Wise Wolf, and so begins our tale of Spice and Wolf. OK, what about Holo? She is a wolf spirit...

OK, first I have to admit I did not watch the entire series. I just could not put myself through that. Sitting through all five discs of Peach Girl will require more stamina and will power than what I have. So I stopped at disc 2 after the first nine episodes. Momo is a teen with a bad...

Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie: Rebellion is the third movie based on the anime series. The first two were really rehashes of the original series, retelling the story with few differences. This time we get an entirely new story. But is this where the tale ends? We start off by seeing...

OK, so what exactly was I watching? Interstella 5555 begins on a planet of blue people where a band is giving a concert which everyone enjoys. This is sort of strange in that the music really sucks. Anyway, a group of soldiers invades, kidnaps the band, wipes their memories, paints three of...

Well, it looks like the vampires are back. But here come the Jaegers to save us. That’s Jaegers with the European J, which sounds like a Y. The team is led by Professor Willard, and includes sexy Dorothea, muscleman Fallon, and hot-headed kid Phillip. But let’s not forget the star of our show,...

Five convicted murderers from around the planet, all super-strong masters of the martial arts, escape and travel to Japan to meet in a no-rules duel with five other muscle-bound, super-strong masters of the martial arts. Their real mission? Try to develop some interest in an anime series which...

OK. Here we go again. Once more the remnants of the human race, here called The Iron Tribe, faces extinction at the hands of their enemy, here known as the Silver Tribe. No particular reason. But the bad guys have some nasty space bugs. Need I go on? Might as well. Heroic Age takes a...

Care to read about a gritty crime anime? One full of gangsters, mob bosses, and corruption? The you’d better go somewhere else, because Back Street Girls is not that anime. The premise of Back Street Girls is pretty simple. Three yakuza screw up and anger their boss. So as punishment, they...

As the Youis attack, only the Ayashi can save us. Anyone know who will save the Ayashi? Ghost Slayers Ayashi is the story of Yukiatsu, a former son of nobility turned vagrant, who joins up with a team of Ayashis. There is Abi the mountain man, Edo, a priest who dresses as a woman, and Saizo,...

This is it. The finale of the anime Godzilla trilogy. Part three supposedly closes the book on the tale of humans trying to reclaim Earth from that big reptilian monster. But Godzilla: The Planet Eater does suffer in the end with a rather confusing ending. Though after the credits role, one...

They could have so easily gone overboard on the sci-fi, but they didn’t. Hero Mask concentrates instead on the police drama side of the story. Monica Campbell is murdered investigating corporate corruption for the DA. Her protégé, Sarah Sinclair vows to get justice for Monica. Now let’s meet...

So the first question is exactly what audience is Gad Guard targeted for? The heroes are all kids – young teens actually. So I guess this is a kids’ anime? Though there is a bit of blood and violence, not to mention the occasionally half-dressed, big breasted sexy female. And why the hard core...

First of all, I have no idea what to call this series. Netflix Streaming has it listed as Last Hope, but the opening title has it as Pandora. Maybe Last Hope Pandora? Also, this is supposed to be the first season, but I have the feeling I stepped into the middle of the story. Maybe this is...

Flavors of Youth is a quiet little gem. This joint Japanese-Chinese production consists of three short films taking place in China. The first of the three is the weakest offering. The Rice Noodles is a young man remembering his youth through food. Nothing really special. His loved his...

Music has the power to inspire, to draw people together, and to heal. And then there is Lost Song. Finis, a beautiful but simple, and somewhat absent minded and innocent noblewoman, has the power of song. Her music can bring about great magic, healing – and destruction. Engaged to the...

OK now, where did we leave off? Season one of Castlevania was a warm up. Now the action really starts. Trevor Belmont is going after Dracula, aided by Sypha, a young women magician from The Speakers, and Dracula’s half-human son Alucard. Meanwhile, Dracula has gathered his vampire...

If Forest of Piano seems a bit familiar, it should. It certainly brings to mind Your Lie in April, though from a bit of quick research I learned that the Forest of Piano manga is about 20 years old. Both raise the question of a composer’s original intent versus the creativity and imagination of...

Hisone Amakasu is a young woman; well, more girl than woman; seeking a career in the military. She has a lot of growing up to do. A bit too honest, Hisone has a habit of thinking out loud and saying things she knows she should not say. She doesn’t mean to be abrupt. She does have a good heart,...

Previously, I described FLCL Progressive as being everything FLCL is – only less. Much less. Well, FLCL Alternative is everything FLCL Progressive is – and you guessed it. Less. Much less. The pace of FLCL Alternative is not so slow when compared to your average anime series. But there is...

Do you think your parents expected too much from you? You have nothing on 14-year-old Amamiku. Her parents put her in stasis for 90 years, and then instructed her to plant the seeds of DNA which will revive life on Earth. Only she is stuck underwater. But soon she meets up with some of the few...

Checking up on this film, I was surprised to learn Only Yesterday was originally released in 1991. The lifelike animation is so ahead of other anime I have seen from that era. But again, I would expect no less from Studio Ghibli. Only Yesterday was not released in the US, however, until...