thekokapelli (Level 9)

O ur leading lady and child star Sana (think an eleven-year-old blend of Ran from Super Gals and Excel from Excel Saga and crank up the spastic to eleven) is facing chaos in her elementary school classroom as a gang of boys, led by the infamous Akito Hayama, have begun ...

Now the protagonist is supposedly Indiana Jones, I mean Syaoron.   In order to save his long-time friend Sakura from a mysterious spell that has put her to sleep (which I guess would be easier than actually giving her a personality) he meets with the Dimension Witch, who smokes opium, ...

For the technicals, the soundtrack is pretty low-key, but it’s really effective, seamlessly moving from eerie to darkly tragic to romantic when the show requires it.   It’s a very well-done, well-placed little score.   As far as the audio goes, I don’t understand Japanese but from what I can ...

            In a bleak, post-apocalyptic future that blends elements of decaying urban steam punk and animalistic mythology, a divine Arctic wolf named Kiba leads his pack on a journey towards Paradise with the angelic alchemical being named Cheza (known as the Flower Maiden) as their guide.   The people of ...

            Incidentally, Ikki Tousen has actually existed since the beginning of time within the ninth circle of Hell in order to punish the damned.   Every day they pray for death, but it won’t come.   (Believe me, I was definitely praying for death.)   As soul-crushingly awful and downright ...

Princess Tutu is a magical girl anime (yeah, think Sailor Moon) where our naïve, well-meaning, slightly ditzy heroine must collect a (insert magical item here) in one episode, learn some grand moral, and start the whole process over again in the next episode, rather like your dirty laundry, a seemingly ...

Japan, you are weird.   Gankutsuou is The Count of Monte Cristo IN SPACE, which, to me, as a fan of the original novel, sounded rather like the manga Star Wars in which Han Solo doesn’t look old enough to smuggle anything other than a porno, and a twelve-year-old Luke ...

In an alternate universe, (cleavage) Japan has been taken over by the Britannian Empire and renamed “Area 11.”   (You got buns, hon.)   Lelouch, the series protagonist, is the exiled prince of Britannia out for revenge against his despised father (panties) and the destruction of the empire he loathes ...

A fellow reviewer once described Mushi-Shi as a “bed-time story.”   Maybe I’d agree, if the Crypt Keeper were the one telling me the story.   She went on to say that she used to watch it every night before bed.   Honey, if that can send you to sleep, ...

Soul Eater’ s plot is nothing special.   It’s standard, old-school shonen all around.   A school for ninjas with magical powers? Check.   Eccentric but powerful teachers? Check.    The main protagonists are inexplicably experienced warriors at age fifteen? You’re SWIMMING in them!   However, its tone is certainly ...

Technically speaking, the background and character designs are very polished and neat-looking, with glossy presentation and passible animation.   The moe style is a bit of turn-off, but for once, I was actually grateful that none of the characters looked realistic, because a woman getting her ovaries sucker punched by ...

            For those…I guess…two of you haven’t seen it yet, Death Note follows teenage protagonist Light Yagami after he picks up a notebook of death dropped by a shinigami named Ryuk (think a Japanese grim reaper, something that looks like God created everything you ever did wrong in your life ...

Normally, I take this time to first write a short summary of the plot.  HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! (MacLoL).  What plot? Hetalia doesn't even qualify as episodic, the five-minute long "things" that pass themselves off as episodes are just stereotype after running gag after Nazi joke after butchering of language (lather, rinse, repeat).  ...

A Japanese mid-level businessman, Rokura Okajima, gets kidnapped by a group of career criminals while delivering a disc belonging to the company he works for.  It is a testament to how much his life massively SUCKS that he chooses to stay with the titular group as one of their own, ...