[Ended] Steins; Gate: Hey Mister, I am A Mad Scientist, Sunuvabich

Before Steins;Gate came out, despite all the hypes around it, I was highly skeptical about the series mostly because 5pb's previous anime adaptation, Chaos;Head in my opinion was highly disappointing. In fact, I retained the same opinion early during the series because both Steins;Gate and Chaos;Head started almost in almost same mysterious fashion.

Fortunately, the similarities of the two series stopped there. On top of that, since my expectation was so low, I was completely unprepared for the amazing journey that was about to embark.

It's really hard to describe or even express any opinions about this series without spoiling anything. So I'm not even going to try. But just to give an overall feel, it is like the movie the Butterfly Effect on steroid.

As the series actually tries to be somewhat scientific about the concept of time travel, it manages to avoid most paradox which are created by time travel. However, the very last time traveling event of the series has a hug gaping whole that is fairly easy to notice. But I'd give them a free pass on that since it's somewhat difficult to tie up all loose ends without it. Overall, the space-time continuity is rather a difficult topic to build a story upon, and they did quite a good job with.

Aside from not having too much big gaping holes on the technical side, there are quite a few other things it has done well. For any story, the top two factors that would sway my opinion the most is plot construction and character development. Steins;Gate managed to do an excellent job in both. Like most time travel themed story, the constant struggle between the desire to change the past and what that change may bring in the future is the center of everything. During the course of this struggle, we see some in-depth development of characters, even those of very minor roles. In fact, after finishing the entire series, you'd realize the plot is rather simple. It's the characters that made the biggest impact.

Final scoreboard:

Drama: 95 (In dramatic fashion)

Comedy: 90 (I am a mad scientist, sunuvabich)

Action: 90 (For what it had)

Art/Animation: 88 (good, but a bit plain)

Sound/Music: 92 (Good music)

Character: 98 (Very well done)

Plot: 91 (Simple yet effective)

Ending: 90 (Steins;Gate)

Re-watch value: 60 (Loses surprise factor, but may pick up more details)

Overall: 92 - I am a mad scientist, it's so cooooool, Sunuvabich

Recommendation: Every year/season, there will have some truly exceptional animes that I would consider "must-watch". This is one of them. On top of that, I would hand it

Long Season Anime of the Season for April 2011 Season

Kamisama Dolls: Old Enemy, New Enemy

Currently finished: Episode 10

I find it very interesting that the story keep introducing new villains, at the same time, explaining how and why an existing villain became a villain, on top of that, he/she really isn't that bad and there is a reason he/she acts the way he/she did. Basically, it's a self-nullifying process where it first makes think how "bad" the current villain is by showing you what he/she has done, then go back and explain the back story in a way that there's no way you don't feel sympathy for him/her. 

Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu Ni: Serialized and Dramatized

Currently finished: Episode 10


While this second installment of the outrageously ridiculous beast summoning battle school's earlier episodes weren't nearly as impressive as the the first installment due to the lack of shock factor, the recent arcs has stepped up and filled in the void with some serious brilliant dramatizations. If season one is a must watch for its freshness, then this second season is a must watch for its genius plot construction and directing of this highly overly dramatized story of (seemingly) smart things done by mostly...dumb people (LOL).

At this point, it's pretty clear that it is going to be the clear winner for

Comedy of the Season

[Preview] Working'!!

After a year, our beloved diner crew is finally making a return with Working'!! (That's Working!! with an apostrophe!)

Working!! in my opinion is one of the best sitcom style anime in recent years. It blends a very rich set of personalities in a very interesting situation where constant clashes are guaranteed.

While this preview of second season is not nearly as refreshing as the original, it nevertheless provides a nice continuation of the interesting plot. I think this may well ends up in the same situation K-ON! was.


All in all, I am quite excited that starting October 1st, we get to see more of this highly energetic comedy.

[Movie] Mardock Scramble: The First Compression

Mardock Scramble: The First Compression is the first installment of a series of three Mardock Scramble movies.

The background of the story is Mardock City, where due to high crime rate, implemented a law called "Scramble 09" that allows the usage of forbidden technology (which they never really made clear what it is) to revive victims so crime can be solved. The story, revolves around a girl named Rune, who was a victim of a murder that was revived using Scramble 09.

In my opinion, the entire story is rather confusing, especially when they chose to use certain plot devices that is just assumed to be there with no explanations. Grant it this is only the first of three parts, but somehow I doubt they'll bother to explain them in the next two installments.

The story by design is graphical and explicit, even with that in mind, I still think they went just a little bit overboard on it. At the same time, there are also some really bizarre yet intriguing concept that you just can't ignore. In fact, when I think about it, this movie is like a strange mixture of all the Stanley Kubrick's film concept, from futuristic world to behavior modification, from extreme violence to bizarre sexual fantasies.

I've read online that this anime has something to do with human's dark side of sexual desire, I can see that. But personally, I'm not ready to read that deep into it just yet, especially this is only the first of three installments.

Overall, it's an interesting movie, but I'm not quite ready to call it good or bad just yet before I can see to what it's trying to be in the end.

Score: 81

Tiger & Bunny: Towards the Homestretch

Currently finished: Episode 20

After some 20 episodes of build up, we have finally reached the true climax of the series. In the next 5 episodes, the Jenga tower that was carefully buit with sequences of seemingly unrelated events is going to come crashing down. I expect to see all saved favors cashed in, all characters come into play, and all events, no matter how insignificant it seemed back then, all come tying in for this final showdown. I can't wait to see.

[New][OVA] Carnival Phantasm

It seems that Type-Moon didn't want 07th-Expansion get all the glories for making cheap ass sequels of once great franchises, because they too came up with some ideas on how to use their established franchise, more specifically, Shingetsutan Tsukihime and Fate/Stay Night to get some quick cash out of loyal fans. That's where Carnival Phantasm stood.

These little offshoots are sometimes fun to watch, but in reality they're mostly just dumb laughingstocks made of familiar faces. While great franchises are created to make profits, trying to squeeze the last bit out of them is almost a sure sign that the author's creative talent is running dry. So for the most part, I'm ready to kick Type-Moon off the list that I'm anticipating great new series from.

To me, the series actually felt like Lucky Star, with the exception of using well-know characters instead creating original characters. Other than that, there isn't really much about this series worth mentioning.

Score: 74

*Edit 8/23/11:* If you're so inclined to disagree with me that you bother to check the "what are you smoking" box below (which as of right now, two people already did), would you at least comment and tell me why you think this series is better than I think it is and not just some fart jokes told with familiar faces? Really, I do want to know, maybe you're seeing something I'm not.

Kaiji 2: Cheater vs. Cheater

Currently finished: Episode 19

Come to think of it, Kaiji series has never been about just gambling: it's about cheating in gambling. Whether it's blatantly exploiting loopholes in the rule or just down right sneaky, everything in this story has something degree of cheating involved.

This second season, is all about how one cheater find ways to defeat another cheater. This is about one of the most exciting psychological drama I've ever seen. I said it earlier and I'll say it again, if you like a good exciting brain spinner, you ought not to miss this season of Kaiji.

[Dropped] Itsuka Tenma no Kuro Usagi: This is just stupid

Last Episode Seen: Episode 5

In my opinion, there is nothing this anime has done right since the series introduction. Like I said a couple of posts ago, this literally feels like a bedtime story for a 4-years old written by a 10-years old. There are so many things are just plain stupid to a point it's not even laughable any more. Having waited painfully through 4 episodes, it shows no sign of getting better. I think it's time to drop it for good.

[New][Movie] Towa no Quon 1: Utakata no Kaben

It seems that recent success of short movie series such as Kara no Kyoukai and Broken Blade has prompted production studios to invest more in series with this format. Towa no Quon is a such attempt made by studio Bones, the studio responsible for great series such as Darker than Black, Fullmetal Alchemist, and most recently, GOSICK. So naturally, when I saw the Bones branding during the opening credit, I automatically set the bar high. However, higher expectation often brings bigger disappointments...

The story is about a group of people that has supernatural abilities trying to rescues other newly awaken ones from government's prosecution (we've only seen this topic done like a thousand times...). Despite being 40 minutes long, there aren't really much real plot. Most time were spent on transitioning from one fight to the other. And because it's only a half-length movie, there were really no time to explain what's actually going on aside from identifying who's the good guy and who's the bad guy. The action scenes were mediocre, but due to the lack of in depth explanation, the transformation scenes just didn't make sense at all.

Overall, it felt more like an episode of TV series rather than a theatrical release. At this point, I would recommend to hold off on watching this until later installments come out.

Mayo Chiki: Building Tension

Currently finished: Episode 5

While I wouldn't call it top-notch, the invisible tension of the relationships among Kanade, Subaru, and Jirou is definitely getting very interesting.

Of course, me being me, the part I'm interested the most is the fact there isn't going to be a perfect solution for that situation--eventually both are going to develop emotional ties but only one is going to have the privilege to become happily ever after. It's quickly becoming the scenario that is similar to the that from Toradora where regardless what the outcome is, someone is going to end up being heartbroken (or something close to that). This struggle is the very reason animes of this type attracts me so much

[New][OVA] Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kira

Can I just say I am really sick and tired of these cheap ass extensions of this once great anime franchise, now surrounded by so much garbage bear its name. Clearly, the motive behind these late booming OVAs is related to money: what other reason would anybody be willing to destroy a legendary name in anime industry?

There are many signs that there were no intention to produce an anime that bears the same quality of the original series. One being the drawn out scenes of different girls performing lewd acts that were never materialized and exists only in certain individual's imagination but nevertheless given lengthy screen time, yet the real plot (if there is any) is barely in sight. I can't believe 07th expansion gave green light for this.

If you are truly a fan of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, do not, I repeat, DO NOT watch this, at least not just yet--in matter of seconds, it will destroy all the good images that you have for this series that was built up over two seasons of amazing work. If you so desire to see this, I'd say wait till the entire OVA series is out. That way, the plot (if there is any) would at least have the potential to dilute some of this stupid nonsense.

Score so far: 53