Dream (Level 20)

Continuing off from the first season, Ghost in the Shell 2nd GIG effectively makes itself into a political thriller series where what comes across at first sight as Section 9 trying to halt terrorist activity turns into an elaborate political conspiracy that once again pushes Section 9 to its limit ...

The second season of Hell Girl is a great improvement over the first season. While it is still marred with the repetitious developments with the victim and tormentor at a number of points, many of the character stories that Ai and her companions become entangled in are a bit more ...

For such an original and intriguing premise, I found myself a little disappointed with how Hell Girl turned out throughout much of its run. This is a series with signs of a grey moral line through the actions of Ai and her companions as they use their Hell Correspondence site ...

This series was giving me a number of vibes connected to Code Geass and I don't mean that in a good way. Star Driver appeared to be trying to mix around the classic archetypes of super robot anime, slice-of-life high school comedy and the over-the-top elements of Code Geass. If ...

Being just as successful in bringing about the "real robot" genre of mecha titles for anime like Mobile Suit Gundam, Macross offered up its own unique spin on the genre with pop idols, an intergalactic war with an alien race and a love triangle. Focusing on the clash of humans ...

This was quite the fun and twisted little horror title. Requiem from the Darkness depicts an episodic series of feudal era horror stories depicting mysterious and brutal murders with an element of mystery as writer Momosuke and the trio of mysterious detectives known as the Ongyou are caught up in ...

Chaos;Head was a series that juggled a multiple number of genres throughout its run involving sci-fi, psychological thriller, mystery, otaku focus, action and harem romance. Such a volatile mix, especially for a 12-episode series, had its potential to make this show a train wreck yet despite some glaring issues, this ...

As a whole, Pumpkin Scissors was a decent series that I did want to like. The premise of a war-torn post-World War I country attempting to move on and the aftermath of said war brought up some interesting themes to explore such as questionable moral actions from the military, political ...

I had first heard of Kodocha over five years ago while I was still a college student and it was a series I wanted to see for quite some time. Before I comment on my thoughts of the series, I have to admit that it was quite the challenge for ...

Here was a series I wasn't sure what to make heads or tails out of with my enjoyment. Shigurui goes for a feudal era setting in exploring the events that lead up to the upcoming fight seen at the start of the series between Seigen and Gennosuke. This series goes ...

Oy voy, this series was unsure what to make of itself. At first glance, I thought the show was gonna try making itself into a walking homage to Ghibli titles considering the nods to Nausicaa and Laputa in the show's first episode with the opening music and Phyrne's air chase ...

Gilgamesh proved to be quite the mixed bag of a title with its fair share of both positives and negatives that stuck out for me with its plot setup of the conflict between factions over the fate of humanity. The show gives off enough of a gloomy mood with the ...

Slayers Evolution-R is a definite improvement over Revolution. Continuing where the last season left off, Lina and her group are in search of the Hellmaster's Jar. The first four episodes start off as some comical filler where the group is accompanied by an animated suit of armor called Nama, who ...

This anime was reminding me in some ways of Berserk in the fact both explore a dark medieval world full of corruption, suffering and enough demons wrecking havoc with an anti-hero/ anti-heroine out for revenge against someone from their past while slaughtering said demons. Both also have a nice amount ...

The first season of Spice and Wolf was one of the few 2008 anime titles that I enjoyed. So seeing the second season to this series was an obvious choice for me this year and just like the previous season, Spice and Wolf II was definitely on my list of ...