Calm before the storm of titles in spring. No masterpieces again, my favor goes to Animation Seisaku Shinkou Kuromi-chan
1. Grappler Baki (TV) グラップラー刃牙 [Group TAC] (Finished 3/24) Tags: Shounen Combat Sports, Gore, Martial Arts Action, Sports Ever since he was born, Baki Hanma has always known nothing but fighting—strengthening every single muscle and learning different techniques from various martial arts under the supervision of his mother, Emi Akezawa. He trains in order to prepare himself to face and eventually surpass his own father, Yuujirou Hanma, a man feared by the masses as the "Ogre" and deemed the strongest being in the world. However, when Baki realizes his mother's techniques are no longer enough, he sets out to become stronger in his own way. Seeking out powerful opponents and forming unbreakable bonds with them, he continues to grow both body and his soul, as the clock continues to tick closer toward the inevitable showdown against his father... This series is well done and fulfils niche of exotic boxer - as Ashita no Joe was - just fine. It still loses to Hajime no Ippo which I don't consider masterpiece as well. Overall Rating: 6/10 |
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2. Chikyuu Shoujo Arjuna 地球少女アルジュナ [Satelight] (Finished 3/13) Tags: Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi Juna Ariyoshi is an ordinary Japanese schoolgirl, who possesses a childlike curiosity and a strong admiration toward nature. One day, while on a trip with her boyfriend, Tokio Oshima, Juna dies from a motorcycle accident. However, she is given a chance to live by an individual named Chris Hawken. He offers her powers that make her the avatar of time; in exchange, she must fight to protect the Earth from evil forces called raaja, which are born out of the toxic pollution human beings have caused. She soon discovers that this is no easy task. While trying to master her newfound powers, she must also seek answers to deep questions about the ways science and technology have taken away humans' primal and instinctive connections with nature. With the help of Chris, his assistant Cindy Klein, and a powerful international organization named SEED, it is up to Juna to overcome her fears and find a way to stop the raaja from destroying everyone and everything she cares for. It tries to play into ecology and transform heroine from mahou shoujo into something more advanced, but the gist remains the same, and it remains a beautiful bore with CGI. Overall Rating: 5/10 |
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3. Zoids Shinseiki/Zero Zoids: New Century ゾイド新世紀／ゼロ [Xebec] (Finished 1/26) Tags: Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Sports Zoids—powerful animal-shaped combat mechs—are no longer used in warfare, but in organized sporting competitions. The Blitz Team, a group of pilots struggling to carve out a niche for themselves in the Zoid battling leagues, experience a stroke of luck when Bit Cloud, a vagrant junk dealer, wanders into their midst and proves himself capable of piloting the temperamental Liger Zero, a Zoid that refuses to let anyone else into its cockpit. Led by Bit and the Liger, the Blitz Team steadily make their way to the top—but along the way they attract the unwelcome attention of the Backdraft Group, an organization of Zoid pilots that operates outside the laws set down by the Zoid Battle Commission. The Backdraft want powerful Zoids to add to their ranks, and they have their eye on the Liger Zero... With only dub available can't tolerate it for long. Still bad. Overall Rating: 5/10 |
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4. Motto! Ojamajo Doremi も〜っと！おジャ魔女どれみ [Toei Animation] (Finished 1/50) Tags: Shoujo Comedy, Fantasy After losing their magical abilities, the girls once again become witches. However, now they have to go through tests from the Witches of the Witch World. They also meet a new member from New York, Momoko. Third season already, so useless to say anything. Overall Rating: 5/10 |
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5. Tales of Eternia The Animation Tales of Eternia テイルズ オブ エターニア THE ANIMATION [Xebec] (Finished 3/13) Tags: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Romance In order to prevent the catastrophe called the Grand Fall, Rid Hershel and his companions Farah, Keel and Meredy have obtained the three Greater Spirits ("Craymels" in the game version) of Inferia. En route to Mount Farlos, Rid is kidnapped by the bounty hunter Marone Blucarno, and the party is compelled to head to Belcarnu, an archipelago far from the major cities of Inferia. A series of adventures forces them to remain on the islands, where a more immediate threat to Inferia sleeps. It's a filler side-story to feed on game's fame. Since it does not have much in the story department, it tries to imbue more depth into personalities... and it's done in the familiar way by slapstick comedy and fanservice. Overall Rating: 5/10 |
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6. Salaryman Kintarou サラリーマン金太郎 [JCF] (Finished 3/20) Tags: Seinen Martial Arts Comedy, Drama The story follows Kintaro, former leader of a widely feared and respected biker gang, who decides that its time to "straighten out" and become a "salaryman" since his wife died and he has to take care of his young son. GTO is liked, because characters behave in a realistic way . Kintarou problem is that it is unrealistic in both personalities and behavior. How believable is that Kintarou job is sharpening pencils to earn his salary? R u freaking serious. All women love him... because he was a hooligan in a band... sure... Too many issues like that make the whole concept just playground for showing off. Overall Rating: 6/10 |
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7. Hakaima Sadamitsu Sadamitsu the Destroyer 破壊魔定光 [Studio Deen] (Finished 3/10) Tags: Seinen Mecha, School Action, Sci-Fi Sadamitsu, a high-school delinguents turned to a masked-hero, while not dealing with his rocky relationship with the strong female protagonist, he puts on a motorcycle-helmet-like mask and becomes a semi-robotic superhero who fights. He is assisted by other possibly- mechanical creatures in order to save the earth from the invasion of 20,000,000 escaped alien convicts. A generic action, something like toned down Guyver with comedy and even romance. Overall Rating: 5/10 |
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8. Chikyuu Bouei Kazoku The Daichis: Earth's Defense Family 地球防衛家族 [Group TAC] (Finished 3/13) Tags: Action, Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi The Daichis are a family in danger of tearing itself apart. Dissatisfied and money obsessed mom Seiko has served wimpy and otaku dad Mamoru with divorce papers. Daughter Nozomi who has always been saddled with all the housework, feels pained that everyone is using her. The youngest albeit most foul mouthed, Dai is forced to watch all this as everything is going to pieces. However when the Galaxy Federation recruits the Daichis to combat alien threats to the wellbeing of the Earth, it will be a chance for the family to save the world and maybe themselves. Don't remember a single interesting media piece about superhero family. As a parody, it tries to be everything and wants to show as much action as possible. Just noisy senseless mess. Overall Rating: 5/10 |
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9. Nekojiru-sou Cat Soup [J.C.Staff] (Finished 1/1)  Tags: Anthropomorphic, Psychological Avant Garde, Award Winning, Comedy The main character, a cat named Nyatto, embarks upon a journey to save his sister's soul, which was ripped in two when Nyatto tried to save her from Death. She trails after him, brain-dead. They encounter many brilliant, mind-bending situations, beginning with a disturbing magic show. I strongly believe that piece of media without words can't be good. This one is both wordless and absurd. The end. Overall Rating: 5/10 |
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10. Puni Puni☆Poemii Puni Puni Poemy ぷにぷに☆ぽえみぃ [J.C.Staff] (Finished 1/2) Tags: Gag Humor, Mahou Shoujo Comedy, Sci-Fi Poemi Watanabe (a.k.a. Kobayashi) is a 10-year-old girl with aspirations of being a famous voice actress. Unfortunately, her school grades are bad and her voice acting is even worse. But when a mysterious alien kills her parents and wreaks havoc all over Tokyo, Poemi grabs a talking fish, skins it into a wand and becomes the magical girl Puni Puni Poemi to save the day. I can't even watch second episode. Excel saga humor is that bad. Overall Rating: 5/10 |
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11. Animation Seisaku Shinkou Kuromi-chan Animation Runner Kuromi アニメーション制作進行くろみちゃん [Yumeta Company] (Finished 1/1)  Tags: Otaku Culture, Parody Comedy, Drama After being inspired by the fictional anime, "Luis Monde III", Mikiko "Kuromi" Oguro goes to animation school and finally lands the job of her dreams at Studio Petit. Upon arriving, she meets the head of production. Unfortunately for her, he dies soon after meeting her and passes his position unto her. Now that she's head of production of "Time Journeys", it's up to her to rally up the lazy animator's and finish the second episode in a week. I generally enjoy anime about production, but... under 40 minutes? I know I called Battle Angel Alita 10/10 with just 55 minutes length, but it had lots of intense storytelling over that time. Can't make exceptions for comedy SOL though. Overall Rating: 6/10 |
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12. Zone of the Enders: 2167 Idolo Z.O.E. 2167 Idolo [Sunrise] (Finished 1/1)  Tags: Mecha, Military, Space Action, Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi Z.O.E. 2167 Idolo takes place a few years prior to the events of the series Z.O.E Dolores, i, and is centered on the "Deimos Incident," an act of terrorism by the Mars revolutionaries. The BAHRAM army pilots Radium and Viola are the best in their class, and have such have been chosen to do spearhead testing on a new type of weapon; Mars hopes this weapon will liberate them from the UNSF's (United Nations Space Force) tyranny. This new technology called the "Orbital Frame," is powered by an extremely rare and powerful source of energy known as the Metatron ore. Never heard of Z.O.E. games. It's alright as prequel, but rather boring as a separate piece. Overall Rating: 5/10 |
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13. Spirit of Wonder: Shounen Kagaku Club ザスピリットオブワンダー : 少年科學倶楽部 [Ajia-Do] (Finished 2/2)  Tags: Seinen Space Drama, Sci-Fi The now 50 year old Scientific Boys Club decides to built a ship that sails to Mars on the "Ethereal Current" - a thesis of the wife of a club member which claims that the universe is flooded with Ethereal energy. On this stream they travel to Mars in order to prove an old theory about channels on Mars built by Martians, but there is no life. Many years later, when both theories are considered to be nonsense, a Mars expedition discovers a stone with the inscription "Scientific Boys Club 1954". I absolutely loathed first Spirit of Wonder OVA and this one is only slightly better. Have a look at something super short and incoherent, but supposedly related to science, and be happy about it... because... science? Incompetent and shallow. Overall Rating: 5/10 |
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14. Sabaku no Kuni no Oujosama The Princess of the Desert Kingdom さばくの国の王女さま [Toei Animation] (Finished 0/1)  Tags: Adventure, Fantasy When the spring that supplies water to her kingdom dries up, the Princess decides to go into the desert in search of a faraway oasis that is said to exist. The Princess and her animal friends face many challenges in their journey to save the draught-stricken kingdom. Not found. Overall Rating: 0/10 |
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