Pupa

I've watched lots of anime in my time and it's not hard to categorize the anime and I often know what to expect but one thing I've not yet been able to get my head around are minisode anime. First was Yami Shibai whose short episodes where separate stories in their own right, each delightfully frightening; then I watched Turning Girls where the short episodes made an erratic slice of life show; and most recently was RWBY, which is technically an American web series, with the most plot based minisode series. Now I've found 'Pupa' a series where the episodes are roughly 4 minutes each and there's only 12 of them! It's probably the shortest series I've reviewed.

Yami Shibai

I've got something very different in store for you. I'm hesitant to class it as anime but have nothing better to call it, even so: I think this is the best thing to come out of this season of anime and definitely deserves more recognition. But I would say that the less prior knowledge you have: the better the show will be.

Blood-C

I was hesitant to review this anime when it was announced that CLAMP were putting out a new anime fans expected a lot from the new addition to the 'Blood franchise'. After it was aired, Blood-C became the most talked about anime of Summer 2011, for all the wrong reasons!
Saya Kisaragi, clumsy, oblivious, father-obsessed but kind. She's a shrine maiden in a little town and is taught Kenjutsu by her father. When the man-eating elder bairns attack Saya uses her swordsmanship to fulfill her promise to protect everyone. The plot is just piles up more and more unanswered questions with out really advancing the plot. The elder bairns speak of a covenant between them and the humans and Saya has parts of her memory missing. I can't tell whether this is supposed to be suspenseful because in reality it's just stupid, the plot has no direction to it, it just suddenly reached an end with out any kind of warning!

7 Billion Needles

So today covers the last of my Christmas presents!! Starting next week I'll be looking through your recommendations and also I'll try keep you up to date with some of this seasons anime and stuff!! Look forward to it!!

Hikaru is a reclusive teenager. She doesn't talk to any of her class mates and they don't want to talk to her because she always has her headphones on. But her life is turned upside down when she becomes involved in an intergalactic games of cat and mouse: the 'cat' being the entity known as Horizon and the 'mouse' is the intergalactic murderer Maelstrom. The plot successfully combines sci-fi battles with an emotional teenagers story which is especially good for me because sci-fi isn't a genre I really get excited about. The book starts with the lead character dying. That's right, on the 5th page Hikaru is being blasted to pieces by a meteor! Next thing you know Hikaru is having psychic conversations with Horizon who is currently living in her blood stream. This transition could have been dealt with a lot smoother, nevertheless, there is a certain flair with which this is written.

Hellsing

So this'll be the last post before Christmas!! So in advance, Merr Christmas!! I hope you all enjoy your holidays!! :)

The Hellsing Organisation. Supported by the British Government and run by the Hellsing family, this organization's mission is to put a stop to non-human activity. I always have a natural affinity to anime based in England, I'm not entirely sure why because other than a government and queen, there is no reference to the fact that they're in England! So anyway, this Hellsing Organisation is essentially a vampire extermination group and as a new breed of vampire begins to reign havoc Hellsing has to fight hard. These vampires are a bit weird as they have like microchips in their necks, so they're like cyborg vampires or something! The anime follows two particular members of Hellsing: Alucard and Victoria. Alucard is the strongest vampire in existence, he's like crazy strong. I know he's a vampire but there is a reason he's working for Hellsing, I just don't know it yet.... Then there's Hellsing's vampire no.2, Victoria. She was a Police Girl until Vampires attacked her unit and Alucard changed her rather than killing her. She's really cool, she uses really big guns and has super cute fangs! wait, I'm not talking about the plot any more, am I? Well, I suppose I don't really know the plot, it was more like, bang bang kill the vampire. Hmm, well it is entertaining! But I do want to see more plot.
It's a 2001 anime and it really shows it's age. The animation is a bit stiff and the colours are so drained. What is this not-HD? But the art style is nice! I already mentioned Victoria's cute fangs, but there is also alucard's face shaper and all the exciting settings which are the result of a good art style despite it's age.

Deadman Wonderland

Deadman Wonderland, the only privately owned prison which doubles up as a theme park to earn a profit. After being framed for the violent murder of all his classmate Igarashi Ganta is sent to Deadman Wonderland with the death sentence. For the inmates everything is controlled by cast points. Cast points are used to buy food, drink and with enough of them, years of your sentence or candies to delay your execution. They are earned by performing life threatening shows for an audience. But Ganta isn't a normal inmate. He has a special power of blood manipulation; the same power that was used to kill all his classmates. People with this power must battle each other in a last man standing style fight. The winner gets cast points and candy to prolong their life. The loser (if they are left alive) must face a gruesome penalty game where a piece of their anatomy is removed. It gets VERY gory. As Ganta seeks revenge on the 'red man' who killed his classmates he meets Shiro, an unbelievably strong girl but soon remembers her from his childhood. Although she's obviously not human, it's not yet clear what she is! I have said in numerous reviews that I don't like gore and this anime has me constantly squirming; but in general, the supernatural aspect to it means that's it all cool. I just really dislike the penalty games...

Gantz

With nudity and gruesome deaths this anime is really not for the light-hearted. It's very hard-hitting in many ways. It's all about death aliens and boobs, in fact, it starts with two teens getting hit by a train while trying to save a drunk who had fallen into the track. Despite the fact that we clearly see their heads rolling, they didn't die. Instead they got whisked away by some creepy black blob into a room full of people who should have died. Next thing you know said creepy black blob (named Gantz) whisks every one away with the mission of blasting some kid aliens into pieces. Not too mention how messed the aliens are! That's your basic plot line. Just add boobs! Completely unnecessary boobs and perverted scenes that totally kill the anime for me. I swear, the girl (Kei Kishimoto) is just how Gantz makes money and I don't like that. But in the end, this show really isn't aimed at me.
The show should be renamed Kei Kishimoto and aliens, as that's all there is. The art is quite poor really. All the characters have such simple designs and the aliens just look stupid. The spring onion alien? Really? Have the producers really no better ideas than that? Since this is a violent anime though, there is lots of fight scenes of varying levels, the animation is quite sharp. The animation used for Gantz's transportation device is quite nifty, a bit like knitting a person.

Another

This anime has been one of the featured shows on animedreaming for quite a while now, so, upon my sister's recommendation, I decided to watch it. It's mostly a ghost story, but it hasn't really got a ghost in it exactly. It also has some pretty unnecessary gore in it. I don't like gore or ghost, it's not really my thing at all. 26 years ago, Misaki, the all-round brilliant guy, is killed in an accident. Horribly effected by their class mates sudden death, the whole class decides to pretend she's still alive. Even the headmaster plays a long and puts an extra chair out for her during the graduation ceremony. That's weird enough, but when Misaki turns up in their group photo 9th grade class 3 can't even begin to realise what they've done. They opened 9th grade class 3 up to the world of the dead. I get a bit lost with the rest of the story, but basically every year, the 9th grade class 3 are always missing one desk and one chair because like, a dead person joins they're class or something.... And then every month a student or a member of their family die. It's not particularly clear... but that's the history of the school. Now Sakakibara is transferred into said class of terrors. Unknowing of 9th grade class 3's calamity, Sakakibara accidentally destroys the protective measure they had set in place. Know, with his class mates dying around him, Sakakibara is determined to fix such a horrible problem. Or something like that. Really, it's not clear why Sakakibara is willing to endanger himself to find the answers. The plot is very layered, but I think the writer might have had difficulties with such a plot because it seems fairly disordered. I do think it's a very interesting plot though even if some parts of the story are too far-fetched. Like how every one's memories get altered so you can't remember who the ghost in your class was and the self-altering school documents that add and remove the ghosts name.... I really don't like those bits. But the idea of a ghost in your school and not knowing who and unusual deaths and stuff, that's what makes it interesting.
Sakakibara is your average kid with lots of curiosity, fairly boring actually. But then there is Mei Misaki, she is very pretty. Her face is so blank and expressionless that she really looks like a doll. Although she is completely ignored at the beginning it is very interesting to watch her adapt to be around friends. She also appears to have an interesting story to her family, but I haven't really heard about anything yet. All her abnormalities make up for Sakakibara's boring traits. The only other character that I'm interested in is Akazawa. She's a bit of a tsundere, but I bet there's a reason that she's the Head of Countermeasures thus responsible for protecting the class against the calamity.
The art is very nice. I like the addition of all the dolls, it makes everything very creepy. Really, the whole animation is creepy, crows and flickering lights, the whole town is depicted as a place of death and decay. Very well thought out. Then there's those superbly detailed backgrounds, so pretty. There's one thing that really ruins the art: the deaths. I don't mind death scenes, but these are irrationally gross. Dismembered limbs and blood every where. If it was necessary for such gruesome deaths to take place then the use of obscure camera cuts (I find) are more effective than the exaggerative amount of blood flying everywhere.
In all honesty, I am quite open, I don't really hate any genre. But I just dislike unnecessary horrors. Sure, maybe some of you out there like watching blood pour out of someone as some sharp object is insterted into their body. But it just looks really crude to me and pulls away from the quality of the plot. Even with that, this is a good show. Short but I don't think it'd do to be any longer.

Pie:

Mirai Nikki

Dark and sinister, cruel and deceptive. Think of a mash-up between Death Note and Eden of the East. Although, instead of Gods of Death, the leader, so to speak, of this show is the God of time and space. So, this God resides in the head of a young boy, Yuki. Yuki can't get along with other people so instead he spends all his time on his phone making a diary about everything that happens around him. For his entertainment, the God of time and space gives his diary the power to see into future. In fact, 12 people each with different diaries, can now see into the future and are set the mission of killing or destroying each other's diaries. So, a battle-royale kind of scenario breaks out. It's a really interesting story because every one has different diaries so can see different parts of the past. Like Gasai Yuno, who made a diary post every 10 minutes about what Yuki was doing, now she can see every that Yuki is going to do. Now, with Yuki and Yuno allied they need to beat all the other diary holders. But with lies and deception around every corner Yuki struggles and owes his life to Yuno many times. It has got gore in it, but only when necessary, it's mostly a psychological thriller. And a very good one at that! The complete freaks and the background stories and I especially love all the unexpected twists.

Le Portrait de Petit Cossette

This is a short review for a short manga about the beautiful Victorian girl Cossette. Eiri stumbles upon Cossette's half finished portrait while working in an antique shop and from that moment onwards he can see her and communicate with her. He becomes infatuated with her perfect looks and long to help her. Cossette's possessions hold evil intentions and she wishes to recover them all with Eiri's assitance.
The art is really pretty! Cossette is portrayed as ideally as she's supposed to be and her eyes, absolutely stunning. Such a variety of subtle expression, all as beautiful as each other. Of course, to match her Victorian charm she has the most spectacular dresses! All the other people are to boring to mention.
There's a lot of non-natrulistic art as well, for the various illusions and bits, and they are so pretty. Creepy though! The drooping sad shapes and the angry bold lines, it's all very expressive.

Ningyou Kyuutei Gakudan (Royal Doll Orchestra)

Happy New Year every one!!!!!!!!! Sorry I didn't post last week! I thought I'd take Christmas Day off, but since that upset some of my followers I'll try not to do that again!! ^^

Well, haven't I got a treat for you to day, it's a manga! That's right I still review manga! This manga was recommended to me under the name Royal Doll Orchestra, but you can't find much under that name. Most places use either the Japanese name or the French one. It looks like 19th century France but it's entirely different. In this dimension a dreadful virus has spread the world, like a plague. If you become infected by this plague you transform into something like a zombie doll. 'Cracks' appear on your body, your joints pertrude oddly and you lose all sanity and humane thoughts. The virus is spread if a contaminated 'human', called Guignols, bite you or if their blood enters your body. So it's like a Zombie apocalypse.
Lucille is a an extremely pretty guy, who enjoys using his feminine face to cross-dress and fool others about his gender. He is the conductor and singer of the secret orchestra who will play any melody requested as long as they are paid enough. This includes the forbidden melody's that can cause strange things to happen to the Guignols. Also in the secret orchestra is Gwindel, the silent giant who plays the Cello and Kohaku, the hot-headed one who plays violin.

Elfen Lied

Sorry this review isn't very good... I really didn't get my own thoughts.... And I've been busy.... So apologies!

This series is hard.... Not that I didn't like it.... But to explain why I like is difficult.....
After watching episode one I almost stopped watching it completely! It's full of blood and nudity!!
The opening scene consists of a lady, who is chained up with nothing but a helmet on her head! After escaping her chains, she starts pulling the guards apart - limb from limb - with her telekinetic powers! Through out the lab guards try to stop her, but she just pulls of their heads, arms and legs.... And those sound effects! The crunching bones the squelching blood.... they made my skin-crawl! Then she, Lucy, got shot and fell in to the ocean and gets washed up at a beach with Kouta and his cousin, Mayu. It's so ecchi!!
But after the shocking first episode, it becomes highly entertaining! Nyuu starts living with Kouta and Mayu, then they pick up the little runaway girl, and they are all living happily! It's so cute! Nyuu is so adorable, a bit freaky at times... but adorable! But her character has much more depth, her split personality Lucy and her connection to Kouta has yet to be thoroughly explained, and I'm looking forward to it!!

Kuro Shitsuji (Black Butler)

I've been meaning to watch this anime for AGES!!! Loads of my friends have watched it, and everyone of them loved it. Well I can't blame them. It is a good anime!!
It covers a whole range of genres making it hard to pinpoint specific pros and cons, but it still has a fairly distinguished plot. Although the opening scene is very strange and confusing, it does explain itself as the anime moves on. It's based in England, which makes a change because instead of referencing strange sounding Japanese culture and traditions, it clearly portrays England in the Victorian times. It is very accurate as well, and includes lots of tea and cakes and all the cakes are clearly named with a picture of them (of course).
Ciel Phantomhive, a young boy who found himself as head of his family after his house burnt down with his parents still inside. Now he's an Earl with two 'jobs': head of the Phantomhive toy company and 'guard dog' for Queen Victoria. However, he does not do this alone, he gets Sebastian -the 'Black Butler'- to do all the hard work. Sebastian is everything you could ever ask for in a butler. He cooks, he cleans, he prepares his masters schedule, and of course he fights like a ninja! No flaws appear in Sebastian' duties, he really is "one hell of a Butler". Or you can just call him Ciel's personal Demon.

Perfect Blue

I hope you appreciate how much effort I put in for you guys! I spent HOURS filling in 'labels' on ALL of my reviews! Just so that you can chose what reviews to look at. Be it reviews with a high rating, Korean reviews or romance reviews just please use the label feature by clicking on one of the categories under the review! I even found out the directors and companies and stuff for ALL my articles!!

Perfect Blue is an animated movie. I was sort of craving one, so my trusty google lead me towards this blog, which was really good. I recommend you take a quick look at it! So Tim Maughan lead me towards Perfect Blue as a psychotic film with a shocking ending. Well all kinds of psychotic fantasies and warped realities were portrayed through out the film. But, shocking ending? I'll come back to that one.
The film tells the tale of little Mima Kirigoe who loved being a member of the fantasy Japanese pop idol group 'CHAM!'. However, with CHAM! not even making it into the top 100, her manager pressures her into becoming a full-time actress. Some of her fans find this very displeasing, especially Me-Mania who was always watching over Mima. As her job as an actress gets greater, so does her fear. Her first main acting part is being raped at a strip club. This is NOT a film for kids.