Dream (Level 20)

Note: My thoughts here cover both "seasons" of the Hakkenden anime.This is quite the underrated gem as I haven't seen many reviews of it mentioned online. Before I cover the highlights to Hakkenden, I might as well cover the obvious issue with the series in the form of its animation. ...

Directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara, the same mind responsible for the surreal and complex symbolism portrayed in 90s anime Revolutionary Girl Utena, Mawaru Penguindrum is just as surreal and complicated in its exploration of the issues faced by the Takakura siblings as Kanba and Shouma try to find the means necessary ...

Le Chevalier D'Eon made for a solid historical title mixed in magical elements as it explores the hostile tensions between royal figures in the monarchies of the world's powerful countries in the 18th century mixed in with D'Eon's search for answers in discovering the cause surrounding the death of his ...

I must admit that I got quite a bit of enjoyment out of seeing Birdy the Mighty: Decode. While the series does seemingly set itself up as a typical space action-adventure about an alien agent stopping criminals, it does quite a bit to make itself stand out. It sets up ...

As a whole, The Sacred Blacksmith is a mixed bag in its exploration of Cecily and Luke's ordeals surrounding the Demon Swords and the mysterious man causing troubles throughout the kingdom the two young heroes inhabit. The series essentially divides itself into arcs focused around various conflicts that Cecily and ...

Wow, this was a great thriller title. Ghost Hound implemented use of psychological and philosophical elements to look into the developments surrounding the central characters of the series and piecing together the mysterious occurrences within the small town of Suiten. Like Serial Experiments Lain, Ghost Hound retains a subdued, mundane ...

Anyone expecting a typical mahou shoujo title out of Puella Magi Madoka Magica is gonna be in for a huge shock. This series takes the genre and dips it into some very dark and horrific territory where it makes the lives of those given the power a living hell instead ...

This TV adaptation of Silent Mobius was a great improvement over the two subpar movie adaptations released earlier in the 1990s which I seen before watching the series. Being at 26 episodes, the series has more time to focus on exploring the major events that led to the threat of ...

With this OAV series being focused around Black Lagoon's El Baile De La Muerte arc from the manga, the return of Roberta in crazed revenge easily had the potential at creating the best material to be seen from the series thus far. For four out of five episodes, the series ...

Black Butler was an anime that effectively mixed elements of black comedy, mystery and the supernatural exploring Ciel's involvement with various paranormal mysteries while seeking revenge with the help of his butler, Sebastian. The major bone of the series is focused around the bond between Sebastian and Ciel. The chemistry ...

Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera is a mostly nonsensical and perverted romp involving Enma-kun and the Youkai Patrol dealing with random demons dealing silly and sometimes perverted hijinks on humanity. The plot is pretty bare-bones where throughout much of the first half, Enma and his group deal with a random demon each ...

Don't let the moe looking character design of Fumika and the energetic talking staff fool you in thinking this will be a light-hearted title. Shigofumi features a grim look into a number of touchy social issues faced by characters that Fumika delivers letters from the dead to and explores some ...

C felt like a series that seemed better suited to run for at least two dozen episodes considering the elements it tried to cover with the Financial District. The show introduced a multiple number of characters with differing motivations for their involvement in the Financial District and features an elaborate ...

This season of Hell Girl felt like a step down in quality compared to the quality of the second season. Mitsuganae retains the elements you would find in the first two seasons of Hell Girl where a victim browses the Hell Correspondence site to send their tormentor to hell, thinks ...

Not too often I see an anime of an acquired taste on caliber with the likes of Bartender. While I'm normally not into drinking alcohol, Bartender's large focus on the drink and its influence on the customers that visit Ryu's tavern made me somewhat tempted at points to consider the ...