Episode Review: Black Bullet Episode 10

This is something I probably won't do very often. However, due to the impact left from Black Bullet's episode 10, I just had to express what I felt.
BE AWARE! This article will contain SPOILERS of Black Bullet's latest (to date) episode.



I... I am speechless... What happened is this episode is... really something.
Let's go into chronological order.

After the higher-ups ordered the teams to wait until the signal, Rentaro and the group have no other choice than resting behind.

First, we see Rentaro and Kisara teaching these girls, who are the same as Enju and Tina. Everything is going fine, the atmosphere is relaxed and happy. After doing a small exercise, Rentaro asks the girls to write down their dreams, which is overall a heart-warming moment. We also get some comedy with Rentaro building a loli harem, as, excluding Enju and Tina, 5 girls want to marry him. I had a short WTF face, but it was done to have a relaxing, calm and happy-going atmosphere, so I have no complaints. Well, I felt the animation wasn't the greatest in that part, but never mind. These fun and happy here serve to contrast much darker plot contents later on.

Rentarou and his loli harem

The 2nd part of the episode focuses on Rentaro and Kisara going to inspect Monolith 32, the one getting destroyed. They start wondering why Aldebaran, the powerful class of Gastrea, isn't going other Monoliths. They start making a theory that maybe the problem is coming directly from Monolith 32, which is the reason it was the only targeted. I think that this theory came a bit out of nowhere. Aldebaran could be resting after using a lot of energy until it recharges. Besides that, we got some more romantic bonding between the 2 characters, Rentaro saying he will definitely protect Kisara, and that Enju, Tina and he won't go anywhere, leaving her behind. The scene wasn't unique, but it was still good, since there was some sort of development.

Rentarou and Kisara's development

After that, the next day, as Rentaro is going around the city (and the animation is getting better), he understands that chaos has already spread with the announce that the Monolith is falling. 30% of the population will go into a refuge, while the rest is worried, afraid, or being total a******; like these idiots picking up on the blind child from a previous episode. Rentaro comes to the rescue, drives the pricks away, and leaves telling her not to come again, or she would be treated like that again.

The blind child, protected by Rentarou

After Rentaro returns to the camp, and Kisara, Enju and Tina return from school, Tamaki (the blond guy), gives some files to Kisara. These files are the results of an investigation on the Monolith that Kisara demanded. Reading it, she gets extremely pissed and throws the filed into a nearby small woodfire. Rentaro picks it up before it burns out completely, and we learn that Kazumitsu Tendo was involved into building Monolith 32, who is probably a family member of Kisara Tendo. We then see Kisara having a very pissed off look.

  Kisara after reading the results in the files

The next day, when Rentarou and Enju arrives to the outer discrict where the girls are supposed to be, he finds policemen, the remains of an explosion and the tragic reality that all the girls have been killed. HOLY FUCKS!!! What the... HELLOOOOO?! About 20 girls of 11-12 years old were killed by a bomb. WoWoWoWoWo! And that bomb was obviously placed by someone who was against the girls living, and who also knew they were there! Has someone been stalking Rentaro for all this time? And OH MY GOD; Rentarou brings himself to look the under the sheets to see whatever remains of the corpses of his students... That breakdown of his character... And then Enju sees that; character breakdown #2. She was simply completely unable to handle the impact of the situation. Who could? Who could handle seeing the not-even-complete corspes of 20 young girls in front of you? The news have spread to the other members of the camp, and Kisara is trying to calm down Tina.
And here comes the question: "Who are we really protecting doing all this? Is there even justice right now?" <as he reads again the dreams the girls had written on their papers>. Tears in her eyes, Kisara tries to persuade Rentarou (and herself) that if they protect the city, then there may be a slight chance people will recognize that these Cursed children are not their enemies.
Considering the situation they are in, and how far they have been pushed to the brink, I guess that's all they can cling onto.
But, what we can get is that Kagetane was right in the early episodes. What he predicted, happens.

 What has Rentarou been fighting for all this time?

And then, that happens: Monolith 32 collapses one whole day earlier! Rentarou, full of surprise explains that the wind currents played an important role in how fast it collapsed. He hangs the phone, picks Enju and they both leave to join the others. Speaking of Enju, the look the has when Rentarou went to pick her up crushed my heart. It was sad...
Also something worth noticing. While Monolith 32 was collapsing, the blind girl was singing somewhere in the outer discrict. Could she have something to do with the fall of the monolith?

Enju's look after the shock of seeing her dead friends

Rentarou's breakdown

The blind child singing

Rentarou looking at one of the corpses

Enju uncapable of containing her emotions

Monolith 32 collapsing

That episode was definitely one of the best of Black Butler, and also the most impactful. The pacing is picking up again, and the show is fully getting back on track.

And finally, in the preview of Episode 11, the voice of Kagetane was heard and his mask was shown. The epic Kagetane Hiruko, the boss himself, appears once again. I knew he was still alive, and there is the confirmation!

Kagetane Hiruko is back!!!

Let's hope the final episodes will be as good (or even better?).

Feel free to comment, if you want to express your opinions. Thank you for reading.

Youtube account: http://www.youtube.com/user/scorpy163

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Anime Review: True Tears Review

"True Tears" is a 13-episode romance drama anime that aired in the Winter season of 2008, produced by P.A. Works, mainly known for producing Angel Beats and Another. True Tears is a nice anime which takes its time to develop its characters within a well-built (for the most part) romantic story.
Let's get to it!

Story
"True Tears" follows Shinichiro Nakagami, a talented drawing-lover highschool boy living in a sort of important family of the city with his mother, father and childhood friend Hiromi Yuasa, whom he has known since elementary school. Hiromi has been living with Shinichiro for a year since her father's death, who has been a close friend to his parents. She is a popular girl at school, who's also kind, cheerful and athletic, but when at home, she has a sad look, doesn't talk much and acts a bit cold. Shinichiro, who has had a crush on her for a long time, knowing she is probably hiding something sad for herself, wants to help her, but is unable to do so because of her being unsocial and cold at home, and being always surrounded by her friends at school.
One day, at school, he meets Noe Isurugi, an eccentric and strange girl, around whom many not-so-nice rumors exist; she is taking care of one of two chicken that are in a small barnyard, saying that "it can fly", while since the second one cannot, isn't worth being taken care of. After Shinichiro teases her a bit, Noe "curses" him with misfortune. After this weird first encounter, they start interracting more and more with each other, until developping romantic feelings for each other.
Meanwhile, there is Miyokichi Nobuse, the best friend of Shinichiro, who is dating another childhood friend of the latter, Aiko Andou. And, even though they look happy together, Aiko has some lingering feelings for Shinichiro from before being with Miyokichi.
Basically, we follow Shinichiro building relationships with these three girls and with various other characters; and in the meantime, he tries to figure where his true feelings are.
Overall, the story is well-executed, with it being realistic and believable in many ways. The romance is done very well, with the feelings being admirably displayed, and the development going pretty smoothly. As for the drama, it was done well, too, making the scenes believable and realistic.
Another thing that I like is that, by the end of the anime, Shinichiro makes a clear decision on who he truly likes, and the execution of that part was brilliant. I really appreciated that he was able to address that in the anime, although a part of the ending made me very sad.

However, some of the drama felt a bit too much for the show, and some sections in the romance should have been focused more on. The romance between Shinichiro and Hiromi, as well as the one between him and Noe were executed mostly properly, but the one between him and Aiko was quite lacking, having only 2 important scenes with them together.
Also, a big disappointment for me, was the lack of backstories for certain characters and aspects of the show, like what exactly is his father doing or why so many people are expecting great things from Shinichiro and his family. Did his parents or grandparents do something important for the community before? Nothing is explained on that part.

But as far as the story goes, the rest is good. It is definitely not amazingly great, but it is pretty good.

Characters
Characters is a section in which "True Tears" both shines and has flaws. They are not super amazingly outstanding, but they are still very nice.
As I already mentioned, the story follows Shinichiro Nakagami, a highschool boy who is very talented at drawing, some of his pieces of work being about his crush, Hiromi. He is, overall, a normal boy who leads a normal life, with the difference he lives under the same roof as his childhood crush, who is however gloomy since she came into the house. Shinichiro is the typical kind guy, who is willing to help people and cares about others; not that it's a bad thing, because in this case, it doesn't feel that much generic.
Hiromi is a childhood friend of Shinichiro, for whom he has had a crush for a long time. She is beautiful, cheerful and kind when at school, but when she is in the house, she never smiles, talks little and acts a bit cold towards the others. Her romance with the protagonist was well-displayed and felt extremely realistic, although there were a few moments when she acted selfishly. But the selfish moments are what makes her relationship with him believable. I also liked the way they addressed her backstory and her reasons for being gloomy in the house, which made perfect sense.
Noe Isurugi is a very bizarre, eccentric and cheerful girl, who is slowly and steadily building a romantic relationship with Shinichiro. From the three girls, Noe was my favourite, by far. She had an amazing chemistry with the protagonist and their romance felt very genuine, yet less realistic than with Hiromi (in my eyes). She often compares people on whether "they can fly" or not, something she also does with two chicken in the small branyard of the school. She claims she cannot cry even if she wants to, and seeks to find the person who will make her able to cry again.
And then, there is Aiko Andou, who works in the small restaurant of her parents. She is another chilhood friend of Shinichiro who has had a crush on him for some time, but is currently dating his best friend Miyokichi, after the former introducing her to the latter who confessed to her. Her relationship with Miyokichi was very nice and I really enjoyed it. However, she still has lingering feelings for Shinichiro, which have an impact with her actual relationship; the way they addressed that, the feelings portayed to us, and the conclusion of the whole romance was just great.
Speaking of Miyokichi, he is a great character. Not just because of his kind, cheerful and teasing personality, but also because he is far from being a generic anime best friend. Most of them are either perverts who serve for comic relief, or smart kind guys. Miyokichi is neither, while still having funny scenes. And he actually is in a relationship!!! Holy fucks! This must be written in anime history! This is really the 1st time I've seen the best friend having a girlfriend AND having character & romance development. A lot of credit for that!
Other characters include Hiromi's friends, Noe's older brother, and Shinichiro's parents.(By the way, I hate his mother!!!). All play their important role in the story and help the characters evolve. Shinichiro's mother and Noe's brother even get plenty of development, something I did not expect at all.
Though, I do have a few problems with the characters:

• Aiko's romance with Shinichiro was very little focused on, and she didn't get much development herself either. They didn't even show a backstory with her either, which made me upset. Overall, while being a nice character, it felt like Aiko was a poor character, who was just pushed to the side. I would have also wanted more screentime between Aiko and Miyokichi, since their romance was very interesting.
• There was absolutely no real explanation of the relationship of Shinichiro's parents, either being between them, or with Hiromi's parents. Since the situation between the parents of the two teens was an important factor to the story, it would have been much better if it was more detailed.
• This is more of a personal feeling, which is towards Shinichiro's mother, Shiori, but I just hated the hell out of her. What she does and the way she does it made me very mad, even after the whole situation being properly explained. Though, her presence helped the story develop is many ways.

I could nitpick some slight details here and there, but overall, the characters are enjoyable, help in the story and have good development.

Sound

If there one thing "True Tears" exceeds at, it's the music. It was just so good. They were able to use different instruments in each of the soundtracks, either they were happy, depressing or light-hearted. Each soundtrack matched the scenes they were in perfectly, increasing the power of the feelings that were portrayed at these moment. My favourite soundtracks were the ones playing when there was a dramatic scene, and the ones used for the emotionnally powerful moments of the anime; they were so beautiful. I loved it. The opening theme "Reflectier" by Eufonius was also beautiful, combined with beautiful animation. The ending theme, "Sekai no Namida" by Aira Yuki, had a funny and light-hearted element to it, with all the chibified characters running together. The original voice acting was also good, without any "bad" or "hit-and-miss" character-actors pairing.

There is something very noticable about this anime. There are plenty of scenes, where few or no words are spoken, making the viewer feel and understand what is happening inside of the characters just from the animation, facial expressions and actions of the characters. I am not a fan of that aspect, but I have to admit it did work well in this anime.

Animation

Now, the animation, done by P.A. Works, is a department where "True Tears" also did a good job. While simplistic, it fits the mood of the show very well and made me feel at home and at peace. It didn't try to be outstanding, but remained as a simple, yet beautiful style. The facial expressions were detailed enough to get their emotions just from looking, and the background was filled enough not to make me feel it was "empty".

Also, something that I really appreciated was the fact that in most scenes, the background characters were moving around, and not just standing immobile in a single spot. This immediately added a lot of liveliness to the world of "True Tears", and I truly felt that "the world was moving". This anime made the background characters act like normal humans, unlike a shit ton of others.

Final Verdict
Story: 7.8
Characters: 8
Sound: 8.7
Animation: 7.9
Enjoyment: 7
Total: 7.88

"True Tears" is a very realistic, believable and enjoyable romance anime, with an overall balanced amount of drama and comedy to transfer the emotions of the characters to the viewer; has a good cast of characters; simplistic, yet beautiful animation; and a simply magnificent music score. It is not the best anime of its genre, but it is definitely worth a watch, especially for romance and drama fans.

This ends my 13th anime review. I hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to comment, if you want to express your opinions. Thank you for reading.

Youtube account: http://www.youtube.com/user/scorpy163

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Article #17: Anime News

Hi everyone,

This time, the article will be about some news that came out, and I would like to share them with you.

• The eternally controversial super-hyped anime of 2012, Sword Art Online, is getting a 2nd season. It has been announced recently that this season will air in July 2014, and will still be produced by A-1 Pictures. The story will resolve around the 3rd arc of the light novel, Phantom Bullet, in the game of Gun Gale Online (GGO). Will the 3rd arc manage to surpass the highly enjoyable, yet poorly written two first arcs?
• Sailor Moon fans, rejoice! A remake of this very famous mahou shoujo anime, will start airing in this summer of 2014, together with GGO.
• A second season of Free! will also make its appearance in the summer. Man, that was fast; only a one-year gap. Fangirls will be happy.

Anime with a "To Be Announced" date:

• Considered to be one the best action adventure manga, Akame ga Kill, will get an anime adaptation. Many people got excited with it. I haven't read the manga myself, but I might start...
• A 3rd season of Dog Days. (I have no idea what this show is about...)
• A remastered version of the Majin Buu, Dragon Ball will get another anime called "Dragon Ball Kai". It also seems to follow the manga more closely. DB fans should be pleased.
• The highly famous and enjoyable Durarara! will be getting a 2nd season in the following year seasons. Excitement spotted.
• A 3rd season of Strike Witches.
• An anime adaptation of Seiken Tsukai no World Break has been announced not too long ago. I am personally looking forward to it.
• A 2nd season of Psycho-Pass has been announced, but with little information for now.
• A spin-off of the Haruhi Suzumiya series has been announced, this time focusing on Yuki Nagato. Something which seems quite interesting.
• AAAAAAND... another anime that is being produced: Black Butler 3. [...] Now, after a superb and fantastic 1st season; but a horrendous, disappointing and catastrophic 2nd season; will the 3rd season follow the path leading to hell that the 2nd season started building? or will it rise from the abyss and have the 1st season as a goal? To be continued...

Unsure / Waiting list for next anime:

• A similar-looking (but definitely not the same) series to World Break, called "Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance", has the possibility of getting an anime adaptation in the future. MF Bunko J, a publishing label, affiliated with Media Factory - a light novel publisher with many light novels (including Haganai, Infinite Stratos, Hidan no Aria, Mahou Sensou, OniAi, Zero no Tsukaima a.o) - announced on July 28th 2013, that "Blade Dance" was one of the five next light novels that would get an anime adaptation. Definitely waiting for it.
• Speaking of Hidan no Aria, a new project has been announced on December 12th 2013. We have yet to know what the project will be about, but there is a good chance of it being a 2nd season. More information will be revealed with the release of the 16th volume of the light novel.

Thank you for reading.

Youtube account: https://www.youtube.com/user/scorpy163

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Anime Review - Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu

"Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu" or "Baka and Test: Summon the Beasts" is a romantic school comedy of 2 seasons with 13 episodes each, and 2 OVAs. It was produced by Silver Link and aired during January-March 2010, and July-September 2011 respectively. The OVAs aired in February and March 2011. Baka to Test is a very light-hearted and funny anime that makes the viewer laugh and relax. I actually consider it more as a Comedic Romance, than a Romantic Comedy (it has a difference).
Let's get to it!

Story
Baka to Test (BtT) follows Akihisa Yoshii, a high school student attending Fumizuki Academy, a school in which the students are divided into classes, based on their academic scores. At the start of the school year, all students take an entrance exam and, based on the score they got, are sorted into the different classes, going from A to F. Class A has laptops, gorgeous and expensive desks, armchairs, fancy furniture and a free snack bar. On the other hand, Class F only has dirty mats and low wooden tables, and is filled with idiots. Yoshii has some of the worst grades, so as a result, he gets into F class, with the class representative and best friend Yuji Sakamoto, the often-mistaken-for-a-girl Hideyoshi Kinoshita, the perverted Kouta Tsuchiya and the tomboyish tsundere Minami Shimada. Mizuki Himeji, a beautiful and very smart girl, also finds herself into F class due to her inability to finish her exam because of a strong fever; as a result, she got a zero and ended up in F class. This covers the "Baka" and "Test" parts; how about the "Summoned Beasts"?
Fumizuki Academy has a special and unique system. All students can summon Summoned Beings (Shoukanjuu or "Avatars" if you prefer). These Avatars are used in battles between the different classes, with the goal of getting another class's better equipment. These battles must be declared by one class to another one and be supervised by a teacher, who summons a special battlefield. The power and health of each Being is based on their last test score in that teacher's subject. In these battles, the Beings fight each other, until one side surrenders or if the Avatar of the class representative is defeated. Whenever one of the Avatars reached zero health points, the student has to take supplementary classes, with the very strict remedial teacher, called "Iron Man" because of his power and stature. Also, if a student leaves the battle before he loses, he can take a supplemental exam in which he can replenish lost points.
So, an example. Let's say that Class D challenges Class C to a battle, in order to switch rooms. The battle is supervised by the Math teacher. If a student got a 78 in the last Math test, when he had lost of his points before, his Being's health and power will be of 78. If another student got a 85, a 92 and a 79 on the last 3 Math tests without the Being reaching zero, its power-health will be of 256. If Class D manages to beat Class C's representative, they win and can switch rooms if they want. However, if Class D loses, they won't be able to declare any Beings War for 3 months.
That's it about most of the rules going around the school system.
We follow the characters into their school lives, while they do Class Wars and we, the viewers, die from laughter. This is, in my opinion, one of the funniest anime ever. I was constantly laughing while watching it; and my laughter didn't decrease one bit for my 2nd viewing. The comedy is so damn hilarious, without being ridiculous. However, even if comedy is covering like around 65% of the anime, there is also some good romance at some points. In the 2nd season, there is a higher focus on romance, and some very touching scenes appear, including the ones where some of the characters' backgrounds are revealed. The battle scenes between the Avatars were also interesting and amusing, and added a charming trait to BtT.
Amazingly hilarious comedy, good romance and character interraction.

Characters
There are quite a lot of characters in BtT, since there are at least two characters with names per class, + the teachers, + a few family members, + of course, all the main and main-supporting characters.
-- First is the male protagonist, Akihisa Yoshii, a very nice, kind and caring boy, who is however a complete idiot. Actually, he is so stupid I sometimes wondered if he is doing it on purpose. However, unlike certain other characters - namely Ichika Orimura (Infinite Stratos) and Makoto Ito (School Days) - his stupidity and "density" are much less annoying. The producers very effectively took advantage of that and turned it into an entertaining character and major comical relief. He is implied to have the worst grades among everyone in the same year as him, and also being the most stupid. Because of that, he was given the title of "Punishment Inspector" and his Being is the only one (aside from the teachers') to be able to touch and interract with corporeal objects. This was done to make Akihisa help the teachers do chores as punishments for his stupid actions; and because Shoukanjuu are much stronger than humans, he is able to help the teachers with tasks that would normally require many people. However, there is a "feedback", which means that any damage taken by Akihisa's Avatar will be transfered to his real body (if the Avatar gets punched in the face, the Akihisa will feel the exact same pain on his real body). [...] Pretty harsh, isn't it?
-- Next come the two main girls. Mizuki Himeji - who is considered the primary female character  - is a beautiful, kind, cute, highly intelligent girl, with a very well-developed bust size, who found herself in Akihisa's Class F, because of her incapability of finishing the entrance exam, due to her fragile health. She has a big crush on Akihisa, but is too shy to confess - and Akihisa's dumbness doesn't help at all. Despite her shy, innocent and timid nature, she can sometimes be very determined when she is serious. Despite all of her qualities, nothing is more dangerous than her cooking, which is awful and inedible. She also often gets into yandere-mode, in which cases the reason, target and victim are always Akihisa.
-- Minami Shimada is an energetic, tomboyish and quite attractive girl, who however is completely flat-chested. She is only good in maths, due to her very big difficulty in the japanese language, due to her living in Germany for a very long time. While Mizuki is the yandere, Minami is the tsundere. She also has feelings for Akihisa, but her shyness and tsundere nature don't help her confess.
Other main characters include:

• The class representative Yuji Sakamoto, Akihisa's best friend with whom he most of the time share punishments for their actions. He is cool, athletic and quite intelligent for a student of Class F. Him and Akihisa are so close that they don't even need words to communicate.
• Hideyoshi Kinoshita, the overused internet gag and meme. He is a helpful, supportive, but very feminine-looking boy. The common gag is for both boys and girls to consider him a female, and even become jealous of him, because of his attractiveness. He has unmatchable skill in acting, both in behavior and voicing.
• Kouta Tsuchiya, the ultimate pervert of Fumizuki. Because of his skills in hiding, getting information and sneaking, he is called "Pervert Ninja". He is often seen with a camera, with which he takes pictures of the girls and Hideyoshi, then selling them. Despite his perverted nature, he will always get a nosebleed whenever he sees or hears something perverted. He is bad in all subjects, except Health Education.
• Shouko Kirishima, the childhood friend of Yuji, with whom she is crazily infatuated with. She is a gorgeous, elegant  and soft-spoken girl, who is also the class representative of Class 2A, meaning she is the most intelligent student of 2nd year. She is so obsessed with Yuji, she sometimes threatens him to deposit a marriage certificate to the Town Hall, if he doesn't listen to her. I consider her to be a yandere as well, since she won't accept Yuji looking at any other girl (especially if she is in a swimsuit), going as far as to poke his eyes, use chains to prevent him from escaping, or use a taser to stun him.

Some supporting characters include: Aiko Kudou, a friendly, easy-going and mischievous girl who enjoys teasing Akihisa and Kouta; Miharu Shimizu, a girl in love with Minami; Hazuki, the younger sister of Minami; Akira, Akihisa's older sister; Kudo Toshimitsu, a boy from Class A who has a crush on Akihisa; and Yuuko, Hideyoshi's twin sister.

Every single character (almost), is enjoyable and likeable is some way. They all have their comedic moments, and the interractions between some of them are very well-done, either they are funnier, cuter or more romantic. As you saw yourself, BtT has a very large cast of characters for a RomCom; however, it is handled very well, and each character has more or less the screentime they need. Each of them also adds something more to the show. I mean, I think this is the first time I see a tsundere, 2 yanderes, a gay, a lesbian, a cross-dresser, cosplayers, fanatic forever-alone boys, a yaoi-lover, a perverted photographer and a character of unknown gender (Hideyoshi) in the same series.
My favourite characters are Shouko, Kouta and Aiko.

Sound
I think what I was the most surprised about (after how hilarious I found this anime), was the music. It actually very good. It is not a audio masterpiece, but each soundtrack fitted the scene it was used in. During the Beings wars, there was an energetic music playing; when coming up with a strategy, having a more challenging music with tension in the air; light-hearted music for the comedy; sweet melodies for the romantic scenes. The 1 opening and 2 ending themes for the 1st season are "Perfect-Area Complete" by Natsuko Aso, "Baka Go Home" by Milktub and BakaTest All Stars, and "Hare Tokidoki Egao" by the voice actresses of Minami, Mizuki, Hideyoshi and Shouko. The opening and ending theme for the OVAs are "Ren'ai Koujou Committee" by Natsuko Asa, and "Getsuyou wa Kirai" by Milktub. As for the 2nd season, the opening is "Kimi+Nazo+Watashi de Jump!!" by Larval Stage Planning and the ending theme is 'Eureka Baby" by Natsuko Aso again. My favourite of these if "Perfect-Are Complete", because it has a lighthearted tone which also portrays the high comedy and romance very well. The voice acting is good, without being exceptionnal, but all voices matched the characters' personalities greatly, and were able to portray emotions very well.

Animation
The studio in charge of producing BtT was Silver Link, a studio that appeared in 2007. BtT was their second production only, but it was already very good. However, considering that some people from Silver Link had connections with J.C. Staff and Shaft, it is much less surprising that it is good. Anyway, the animation was well done,and was changing a lot depending on the situations. Most of the time, it was normal, colorful and smooth. Sometimes though, it was changing to either funnier with the characters being chibi-ed, or only black and white in some scenes with Akihisa and Yuji, or becoming very simple but funny/touching depending on the emotions of the characters at that moment. Just from the animation, I could say it is something funny. It simply isn't amazing either; but still good. I also really enjoyed the reaction faces of the characters; they were priceless! - the best ones being Yuji trying to escape from Shouko, or the four main boys when facing Mizuki's handmade cooking.

Final Verdict
Story: 8.2
Characters: 8.7
Sound: 7.4
Animation: 7.7
Enjoyment: 9.8
Total: 8.36

Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu is probably the best comedy anime I have seen! It also has good romance associated with some touching moments, a wide and great cast of characters where everyone knows their place, good animation, good music and good voice-acting. It brings a lot of laughter and relax, while still remaining able to make the viewer hyped for the next episode, something that not many almost pure Comedy anime are able to pull out effectively. The first season has more comedy and Beings Class Wars, while the 2nd season has more romance and touching moments; of course, both seasons have both. If you enjoys RomComs, you must definitely give Baka to Test a watch. The only "dislikers" would be those who don't like RomComs or anime without epic stories.

This ends my 12th anime review. I hope you enjoyed it. Make sure to like if you enjoyed it and to comment in the comment section below, if you want to express your opinions on this anime. Thank you for reading.

Youtube account: http://www.youtube.com/user/scorpy163
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Anime Review - OreImo

"Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai", "My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute", or Oreimo for short is an anime of two seasons of 12 and 13 episodes and 3 OVAs which cover the ending. It is a harem romantic comedy that has a strong start, a strong mid-length, but an ending that is left to be desired. The first season was produced by AIC, while the rest was done by A-1 Pictures. It is a good anime, with a realistic perception of society's point of view on otaku - which is not the best.
Let's get to it!

Story
I need to point out that, by hearing the title alone, most people would think that this is a hentai; for obvious good reasons. However, this is NOT a hentai, not even an ecchi. Just a harem romantic comedy.
The story follows Kyousuke Kousaka, a normal high school student. He lives normally with his parents and his younger sister, Kirino, with whom he is on bad terms. One day at home, after bumping into his sister, he finds a DVD case of a magical girl anime under a piece of furniture; he opens it only to find an eroge instead of an anime DVD. As he tries to understand how an eroge is even in his house, - since he can't imagine any member of his family actually playing them - he finds out it's Kirino's. Kirino then reveals to be an otaku and her secret passion for eroge and anime to Kyousuke, who doesn't really know what to think about it, but promises her he will keep her secret to everyone.
After that, we follow the two siblings on their lives, experiences and the obstacles on their way. Despite not being in good terms, Kyousuke acts like a good big brother and helps Kirino whenever she is in trouble, either it has to do with her friends, their parents or others. He starts playing eroge at the wish of Kirino, who now has someone to talk to about her hobby and opens a bit more to him.
As the show goes on, many different characters appear, the most important being Manami, the childhood friend of Kyousuke; Ayase, Kirino's friend who is against otaku stuff; and Kuroneko (Ruri Gokou), an elitist otaku, rival-friend of Kirino. Each of them adds a new "spice" to the anime, making it better and better. The interractions are done very well, too.
The main focuses of Oreimo are obviously otaku-anime and incest. And they are handled pretty well. The incestuous themes are present, but it is light incest, unlike Yosuga no Sora. Kyousuke and Kirino are getting closer to each other over time, and they are wondering about their relationship. As they open more to each other, there is still some tension, as Kirino is surprised that Kyousuke accepts her hobby rather easily and helps her so much. Kirino wonders why her brother supports her so much; is it because he's just acting like the caring brother or is is something else, something deeper? Same for Kyousuke... he wonders why Kirino opens up more to him, while she was hating him so much before: is it because she wants to act nice to him and give themselves a chance, or is it something more intimate? All of this is done very realistically and believable (for me, at least). This is not only incest, but also love. I was not supporting the incest, because I didn't like Kirino much, but I have to admit and point out that the whole incest-forbidden love theme was very good and well done. The 2 seasons followed that very closely and were, IMO, a success.
And then the specials happened... *Sigh* [...] Why Oreimo? Why would you do that? WHY?!?! [...]
IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THEM, BE AWARE THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!!!



Basically, the 3 specials that aired in August - that were used to put a conclusion to Oreimo, and everyone having watched the show was hyped for - trolled the entire fanbase of Oreimo; and I don't think I'm exaggerating. For an anime like Oreimo, which had already crossed the morality line, there was absolutely no fucking reason of going back! But that's what it did. [...] Oreimo chose the little sister route. At that point, Ayase and Kuroneko fans had been crushed and understood that the show did exactly what the title had announced. So at that point only Kirino fans were left unharmed, but not for long. After two seasons of greatness and the selection of the sister route, just when the long wait of Kirino fans would have been awarded... everything got canceled. How is that? Well, Kyousuke and Kirino unite, go out, go as far as to make a fake marriage ceremony at a church, with the flowers, the costumes etc, kiss AAAAAAAND... they decide to stop everything, they decide to both go their own way and live normally without any deep incestuous relations... SERIOUSLY?! If this was done in another anime, it may have worked. In a general way, that ending is not bad. But exactly because it IS the ending of THIS anime, it is bad, ridiculous and stupid. You already crossed the morality line! don't go back, hoping it will arrange everything! After two whole seasons of amazing character personality, relation and connection development, they simply burned everything to the ground. When you go for the incest, don't stop right at the end! Oreimo did just that. I'm still amazed how they managed to screw 2 whole seasons of an anime in 3 minutes.
As a conclusion to that, the ending is everything but good and satisfying and trolled you to the point you wonder why they actually made this anime in the first place.

Characters
The characters are the best part of Oreimo. The connections and interractions between them are done very well, and the way to react to different events makes this show so interesting to watch. The personalities, reactions, bonds and relations were done extremely well, something that, I'm not gonna lie, I didn't think would happen.
At school, Kirino is this beautiful, smart and perfect student with no flaws that many like and respect, although she has a strange hobby she has told no one about, except to Kyousuke at the start of the show. She is very egocentric and obnoxious when talking about her anime or eroge and acts harshly towards her brother. She is hostile to him and dislikes him a lot, but slowly starts developping feelings for him, as they spend more time together and he is the only person who supports her weird hobby. AKA, she's a fucking trundere. (and a bitch)
Next is Kyousuke, who is actually pretty realistic as he thinks logically before acting compared to other male leads. Although he doesn't care and doesn't really want to get involved into anime and eroge, he does get involve because of his family values and also because he wants to support his sister just like a good older brother. Even on bad terms with her, he is very protective of Kirino and is willing to keep her secret to himself. When others do find out about Kirino's hobby, Kyousuke will come to the rescue coming up with the most hilarious and clever excuses to protect her and turn the awkward focus away from her.
Next come the two most liked characters of the show: Kuroneko (Ruri Gokou) and Ayase Aragaki.
Kuroneko is an elitist otaku, who disagrees with Kirino's opinions, watches serious anime and always have clashes with her, putting down Kirino's anime and interests. Every time they had an argument, it sound like Naruto, Bleach and One Piece fanboys doing a battle to the death, which is unbelievably hilarious. She is one of the main love interests of Kyousuke and for the whole 1st season she was my favourite character. Her constant cosplay, the fact we don't learn her real name until the 2nd season, her arguments with Kirino, her cute and/or funny moments and her love for Kyousuke made me like her a lot. She also has the cutest moments with Kyousuke, IMO.
However, all of that changed with Ayase. As I mentioned in my "Top 10 Female Anime Characters" article, she is my 5th favourite female character. She is beautiful, kind and caring, elegant and works as a teen model, just like Kirino. She is a best friends with Kirino and looks up to her, but is totally against perverted things, as well as anime and eroge which she finds indecent; and it lead to some difficulties with her relation with Kirino later on. Due to a come-to-the-rescue-of-Kirino of Kyousuke, her relationship with him wasn't all that good at first, but it slowly got better, even going to Ayase having feelings for him. IMO, she was the one with the best chemistry with him and also had the best development as a character. She is also a very good comical relief, especially with her yandere mode, which was fucking hilarious.
Other enough important characters include Manami - Kyousuke's childhood friend - who is probably the most hated character of the series, which, on one hand, I can see why, but on the other hand, I think she gets too much hate, simply because she is the representative of overall society and of what is considered normal - as an otaku is far from being considered someone normal; Saori, a cheerful, kind and a bit happy-crazy otaku girl who wears strange glasses; and Kanako - the loli of the show - a friend of Kirino and Ayase who also works as a teen model.
The rest is pretty much unimportant, but still interesting.

Sound
On the musical aspect, Oreimo has an overall average-good score. The soundtracks aren't bad, but don't really stand out either. I personally liked both openings songs of both seasons, just without loving them. For the endings themes, I don't really remember anything that stood out to me, except one; the 14th ending theme of the 1st season: Shozukai no Serenade. Man, I love that song so much! Good job, Kana Hanazawa. True story, Kana is also the voice actress for Kuroneko and she does an amazing job there, too. The voice acting is something Oreimo is really good at. Ayana Taketatsu for Kirino, Saori Hayami for Ayase, Yuichi Nakamura for Kyousuke and Kana Hanazawa for Kuroneko did a perfect job. The emotions and moods of the characters were clearly voiced well and felt like it was real.

Animation
On the technical aspect now, each season was produced by a different studio. The 1st season was done by AIC, while the 2nd one was done by A-1 Pictures. On both cases, the animation was done pretty well. The former was before known most notably for "Ah! My Goddess", "Amagami SS" and "Sora no Otoshimono", while the latter was known for "Black Butler", "Fairy Tail", "Sword Art Online", "Magi" and "Blue Exorcist". Just from that - especially A-1 Pictures - it would have been very surprising if the animation was bad; and it wasn't. During the whole show, the animation is very smooth and consistant and is overall good. It isn't however as good as their previous works; although I have to give credit for detailing each character's facial expressions. They are done very well, either the character is happy, angry or depressed. All their facial expressions matched each scene and set the tone and mood to the series.

Final Verdict
Story: 6.8
Characters: 8.5
Sound: 7.1
Animation: 7.8
Enjoyment: 8.7
Total: 7.78

Oreimo is overall a good anime until the 12th episode of the 2nd season. It is a nice light-hearted and weird comedic anime, with a very well-executed and well-portrayed view at the otaku culture, where, we the fans, are Kirino, as her passion for eroge is the same passion we have for anime. The characters are without a doubt the highlights of the show, and the story, animation and sound are overall good, with a very good voice-acting. However, is this show for everyone? No, it isn't. If you are new to anime, you should NOT watch this, otherwise you may be turned away from anime due to Oreimo. If you are an elitist who can't take Slice of Life shows, or if you have strong self-righteous morals and can't take insestuous themes in anime, don't watch it and you can also go fuck yourself :) . Oreimo is for people who have a good experience in watching anime, are open to what they watch and know anime can become weird while still remaining good and entertaining. In that case, I suggest you giving Oreimo a shot, since you will probably somehow like it in one way or another. If you decide to watch it, before episode 13 of the 2nd season, just make sure you take away all fragile items around you, tie yourself to your chair and prepare to rage, especially if you are a Kuroneko or Ayase fan.
Because: Fuck the ending, Fuck the ending and Fuck that ending.

This ends my 11th anime review. I hope you enjoyed it. Make sure to like if you enjoyed it and to comment in the comment section below, if you want to express your opinions on this anime. Thank you for reading.

Youtube account: http://www.youtube.com/user/scorpy163
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Anime Review - Pokemon Origins

"Pokemon Origins" is a 4-episode action-adventure anime that got released on October 2nd. Directly adapted from the very first Pokemon games ever: Pokemon Red and Pokemon Blue, it retraces the steps of a boy named Red, a Pokemon Trainer who goes on a journey around the Kanto region. A short, but wonderful name filled with nostalgia, for the gamers.
Let's get to it!

Story
The story takes place in a world where humans and Pokemon co-exist peacefully, more specifically, in the Kanto region. We follow our protagonist, Red, in his adventure on becoming a Pokemon master. Red is a cheerful, kind and adventurous 10-year old boy, who, after his 10th birthday, goes and gets his first Pokemon from the famous Professor Oak. He chooses the fire-type Charmander, with which he quickly develops a strong bond. He soon meets Green (or Blue if you prefer), Pr.Oak's grandson, who becomes Red's rival. Then, they separately go on their journeys through the region. Their goal is to defeat all the Pokemon Gym Leaders in Kanto and obtain Gym Badges from them. After having obtained all 8 of them, they can take on the Pokemon League, the toughest challenge for any Trainer. Meanwhile, both were given the mission to catch and obtain information on all 151 pokemon in the region. That is possible through a small machine called the Pokedex, which automaticaly saves all information on any pokemon caught. We follow Red in his adventures, as he collects badges, captures Pokemon and stands against an organization named Team Rocket, which mistreats Pokemon and uses them to gain money and power. Red's goal is to catch all 151 pokemon of Kanto, beat the thoughest challenge of a trainer, being the Pokemon League, and become the Champion.
Now, since 99,5% of the people who will be reading this are gonna be Pokemon gamers, I guess I can go into more detail...
As I said, this anime has 4 episodes. So how did they manage to convert the whole Kanto region into just 4 episodes? Simply by skipping many parts of it.
The 1st episode covers Red getting Charmander, starting his journey, meeting Green, battling Brock (the first gym leader) and getting his first badge. The 2nd one covers the famous Lavender Town, the Pokemon Tower and everything associated with it, from the ghost to Team Rocket. The 3rd episode covers the Silph Co. stage, where Red stops Team Rocket and drives them away from the building. Finally, the 4th episode, resolves around the final gym battle, the Elite Four, the battle against the Pokemon Champion of Kanto and the completion of the Pokedex. [...] Yeah, lots of things have been skipped. Well, they are mentioned, but not focused on at all. This could be seen both as a good and bad thing. I personally don't mind. What "Pokemon Origins" wanted to do, was make a short show in which are focused the most important moments in the original "Red" and "Blue" games. And that's exactly what it did, in a very good way... And, let's be honest, if you had to choose the most important moments of the games, would you really have taken Erika, Blaine, Mt. Moon, the Safari Zone and the Cycling Road? No, you would have taken the exact same ones; and I really prefered they actually did it like that.
Of course, this show is mainly meant for Pokemon gamers of the first pokemon games and to bring up a lot of nostalgia. But, anyone can see it. Even people who have never ever played any Pokemon game could find some enjoyment... even if at some points they may not really understand some scenes, because it's directly taken from the games.
Overall, it is a very good show, which is well-made. A must-watch for all Pokemon fans.

Characters
There aren't many character in this anime (which is pretty normal, since there are only 4 episodes), but the ones we care for are there.
First of, we have the protagonist, Red. Red is a 10-year old boy, who decides to go on his own pokemon adventure and complete the Pokedex, as Pr.Oak's request. He is kind towards both Pokemon and people, is cheerful, caring and adventurous. Although kind of weak at first, because he doesn't have any experience, he quickly become stronger, as his journey continues. Next, we have Green, the proud and overestimating grandson of Prof.Oak, who eventually becomes Red's rival. Even though he could be quite annoying, he is 50 times better than Gary **********ing Oak; at least, he isn't that much of a d***! He actually cares for Pokemon - well, not as much as Red, sure, but still! There's, of course, Professor Oak, the gramps who gives to Red and Green their first Pokemon and Pokedexes; Brock, the 1st Gym Leader; Mr. Fuji, an old man who takes care of lost and abandonned Pokemon; and Giovanni, Team Rocket's boss. And that's pretty much it for the important characters.
Now, where they good? Hmm... well, yes, they were. They follow the personalities of the same characters in the games very closely and they managed to make them livelier in a very good way; I mean, they don't look stupid. They get pretty good development, even in just 4 episodes, especially Green, who understands better how to trully treat his Pokemon friends.
My favourite character is, hands down, Giovanni. I already liked that guy in the game, but with Origins, I like him even more; I definitely don't agree with his plans, but the way Giovanni was presented was very good. He has a very strong development, too, as he does the same thing he does in the game, for a good reason.
The others weren't that much important, but they were overall ok. A good main duo and a well-created villain. We really needed that, after the incompetence of Jessie and James from the animated Pokemon series. *Sigh*

Sound
The music used in this show was overall great. Most of it, was tracks from the original Pokemon games that were remixed very well. The excitement someone would get from playing the games with this music, was the same as when I was watching this show. I was hyped and rooting for Red in his battles. I felt the nostalgia and the feelings come to me and it definitely was a good experience. All these amazing themes used in "Origins"... The feels!! The voice acting wasn't bad, without being memorable either.

Animation
The animation was done by OLM (the producers of the Pokemon series), Production I.G. (a studio tha helped for many series and games) and Xebec (Shaman King, To Love-Ru). The animation was done well, even if I personally wasn't a fan of it. However, the battles were epic and amazingly well-done and the whole show had a lot of good coloration, appropriated for each scene.

Final Verdict
Story: 8.8
Characters: 8.7
Sound: 7.9
Animation: 8.9
Enjoyment: 10
Total: 8.86

Note
"Pokemon Origins" is, by far, much better than the original Pokemon series. Finally following a COMPETENT Pokemon Trainer, who actually manages to catch 'em all, and has a good balance of win-lose, feels very good. Because Ash Ketchum is NOT an amazing trainer. He barely catches any Pokemon, is extremely annoying and never won any tournament. Red, on the other hand, is a real good and competent pokemon trainer. In the beginning, he may not be strong, since he just began, but he quickly learns how to battle efficiently and even surpasses Green. Red >> Ash.

"Pokemon Origins" is a must-watch for all Pokemon fans. Even if didn't grow up with Gen 1, you will most likely enjoy this show. It does a good job in all areas and represents very well the experience we had playing Pokemon when we were kids.

This ends my 10th anime review. I hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to comment in the comment section below, if you want to express your opinions on this anime. Thank you for reading.

Youtube account: http://www.youtube.com/user/scorpy163
MyAnimeList profile: http://myanimelist.net/profile/GoldenPincers