Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid

aka Kobayashi-san Chi no Meidoragon

Number of Episodes: 13 + 1 OVA

What Wikipedia says: As office worker Kobayashi gets ready for work, she is greeted by a large dragon right outside her front door. The dragon immediately transforms into a human girl in a maid outfit, and introduces herself as Tohru. It turns out that during a drunken excursion into the mountains the night before, Kobayashi had encountered the dragon, who claims to have come from another world. Subsequently, Kobayashi had removed a holy sword from Tohru's back, earning her gratitude. With Tohru having no place to stay, Kobayashi offers to let the dragon stay at her home and become her personal maid, to which she agrees. As Kobayashi has forgotten her drunken offering, she is initially reluctant to allow the dragon into her home despite her previous promise, but a mix of guilt and the usefulness of Tohru's dragon abilities convinces Kobayashi to accept her. Despite being efficient at housework, Tohru's unorthodox methods of housekeeping often end up scaring Kobayashi and bringing more trouble than help. Additionally, Tohru's presence attracts other dragons, gods, and mythical beings to her new home.

What KoanMan says: As with many anime, there is an interesting entry to the story that becomes clear over the course of the series, as the emotionally flat Miss Kobayashi (whist sober at least) catches up with her own life events. At times trite, and at others a little cheesy, the slightly convoluted plot unfolds to reveal different, and yet surprisingly similar characters, each with their own method of escape and identity-denial.

Director Yasuhiro Takemoto keeps the pace steady, integrating fan-service right into the characters in a story that does not take itself too seriously, and keeps the whole production light-hearted.

So How Does it End? (Spoiler free):  Do slice of life series ever end? In any case, satisfactorily with plenty of room for season 2.

How About the Music? Music and mood is good, in particular, the jealousy and rage scenes are surprisingly well done, with no doubt as to what the characters are feeling.

Overall Grade: An easy watch and good entertainment that will not tax the cerebrum. KoanMan gives Miss Kobayashi and her infatuated maid a B.

Addendum by tTPO: Despite the extreme moe, generally successful comedy and currently fashionable fantasy setup, this is a remarkably emotionally honest and engaging series. The decision to separate the overt fan service from the slowly developing yuri relationship between Kobayashi and Tohru ends up lending more weight to the relationship than would be expected in this otherwise pretty lightweight series. I cared, and so did Mrs tTPO (who is not the greatest yuri fan). Recommended. B+

Made in Abyss

Number of Episodes: 13

What Wikipedia says: Made in Abyss is a series about a young girl who finds and befriends a humanoid robot and descends with him into the titular Abyss in search of her mother.

What KoanMan says: When KoanMan began watching, the cute chibi style generated expectations of a quaint little story, with little kids walking in green fields. Don’t be fooled, there are indeed little kids, though they are walking into the ‘Abyss’, definitely not taking a ‘walk in the park’. The plot build slowly at first, setting the scene, before building in intensity and drama as they descend.

When one says ‘they’, one means the main characters Riko and Regu, two young children on what is referred to as an adventure. Characters seem a little bland initially, though they grow in depth and intensity as the story unfolds. Character development is so successful that the emotional attachment and revulsion that occurs with various characters is almost palpable for the viewer… or KoanMan at least.

Director Masayuki Kojima has done a tremendous job with a lush, colourful style contrasting with bleak environments, with each scene well rendered to amplify the mood of each situation.

So How Does it End? (Spoiler free):  All good, but hanging for season 2. (tTPO).

How About the Music? The rich and dramatic soundscape created by You Yamada is nothing less than spectacular, and this is coupled well to great musical accompaniment.
 
Overall Grade: After early reservations, this anime morphed into a stand-out - a visual, auditory and emotional feast.

Watch it.

Totally A.

KoanMan

Addendum by tTPO: When I initially read the synopsis of Made in Abyss I was underwhelmed and did not care to watch it. And then the series finished. And then the reviews started rolling in. So then I watched it with Mrs tTPO and we were so glad we did. It took a little encouragement to get KoanMan to stick with it for the first few episodes, but after that, well, you can read for yourself. 

So be patient - the payoff is well worth it. A.

Akame ga Kill

aka Akame ga Kiru!

Number of Episodes: 24

What Wikipedia says: The story focuses on Tatsumi, a young villager who travels to the Capital to raise money for his home only to discover a strong corruption in the area. The assassin group Night Raid recruits the young man to help them in their fight against the Empire to end its corruption.

KoanMan says: Looking for action? Looking for some violence? Look no further. This fast-paced, action-packed series is just the medicine. It should be noted that while many will see pointless blood, KoanMan found that all the violence was well within the plot and kept to the story-line. There was nothing especially gratuitous at all. That said, this is not a series for the kiddies.

The characters are reasonably developed, though there remains plenty unknown about them, however, with this much action and plot to push through, there seems little time for further development. The unusual twists in character presence early on do go some way to preparing the viewer for events as they unfold later in the series. A parallel may be drawn to the popular TV series involving thrones and a game.... You will understand this when you watch. The story-line proceeds with some gusto, and there is certainly a lot of story to get through - all thoroughly enjoyable. Pacing, while fast, is steady throughout - very nice. Only one major flaw presented itself, with a missing fight that should have occurred between Ep19 and Ep 20 - perhaps an addition will produced/released? Ep19.5 maybe?

As an aside, Prime Minister Onest and Esdeath get special mentions as two of the most principles driven characters, in their own way, right up there with Doctor Toshio Ozaki (Shiki) and Satsuma Kiryuin (Kill la Kill). To be fair, the principles that drive Prime Minister Onest are very different to those that drive the others listed here.

How About the Music? The music is OK, though during the adrenaline-filled action fight scenes, can be a little cheesy - tTPO did not even notice the music during the fight scenes, probably due the high level of adrenaline coursing through him at these moments. It was probably Ep11 before KoanMan even noticed! Such good action....

So How Does it End? (Spoiler free): (tTPO here) It ends and ends definitively. Though having said that the ending is anime original, and it seems rather likely at this stage the manga ending will be a) different and b) better. As KoanMan implied above, events seem to get a little more incoherent towards the end and the series suffers a little because of this. But such good action...

Overall Grade: The result? KoanMan rates this page-turner an A. Viva la Revolución!

ADDENDUM (by tTPO): Despite the flaws of this show it remains compelling for the action fan for most of its run, aided at least in part by the somewhat more complex moral nature of most (though by no means all) of the 'villains'. The series seems to have divided the blogosphere but I think the trick is just not to overthink it - just sit back and enjoy the ride. This would have been an A if I didn't know about the manga, but instead just a little less: A-.

Little Busters! + Little Busters! Refrain + Little Busters! EX

Number of Episodes: 26 + 13 + 8

What Wikipedia MyAnimeList says: "When tragedy struck Riki Naoe as a child, he was rescued from grief over his parents' deaths when four other kids "recruited" him for their group—the "Little Busters." Now in high school, Riki and the other Busters are still fast friends, and though their vision of being heroes for justice may have faded, they'd still do anything for each other. Which is why Riki is now on TWO special missions. The not so secret one: recruiting new members so the Busters can form a baseball team. Preferably FEMALE recruits, as the current dude/babe ratio is an inconvenient 4 to 1. The OTHER mission, though. That's the strange one. Because Riki and Rin, the group's singular girl, are receiving odd messages, delivered by cats, concerning the existence of a "secret world" and assigning them tasks they have to complete. Were their youthful dreams of being crusaders not so fanciful after all? Or is there something even more vital at stake? Between steeling his courage to talk to girls, dealing with his own narcolepsy and facing his feelings concerning Rin, Riki may just need the strength of a superhero to solve the ultimate mystery of the Little Busters!"

What TTPO says: It's hard to know where to start with this series. In the past I seem to have been a little plagued by some really good anime series with disappointing endings, which inevitably leave just a little sour taste in the mouth afterwards. Little Busters! turns this around. The first 26 episodes are really just a pretty average setup for the next much more emotionally intense 13 (Requiem) leaving the 8 OVAs (EX) the icing on the cake. And this is where the problem lies - can the TTPO really afford to get through 26 episodes which are by and large just average to get to the meat of the series? 

Well, there is a large cast and it took most of the first 26 episodes to just introduce and spend enough time with them to then care about what happens in Requiem. Which is important, because as with many of Key's previous productions (this show is also a visual novel adaptation) there is a fair amount of hardship the characters go through before they (and I) got to the end, and this improved the emotional payoff. Bittersweet is a good word to use to describe this, and is a word I will shamelessly use again in this review. The other good thing about the characters was they were all distinct - I did not have to try too hard to remember who did what in the mini-arcs that make up the first series. There are implied harem overtones to the story but these are not well developed nor are the focus of the story.

The OVAs are an interesting bunch focusing on 3 side characters from the main story with 3 mini-arcs that occur variously before and after the events of Refrain. While in no way essential to the plot they flesh out the world and these characters well, and I generally preferred them and their far more focussed nature to the character overburdened original series. 

How About the Music? The music is largely by Jun Maede and once again he manages to create music that is catchy without being trite, and still manages to trigger a near pavlovian response of bittersweet emotions associated with the series. The OP ("Little Busters!" by Rita) and ED ("Alicemagic" by Rita) are standouts, and almost up the the standard of the music of Angel Beats. Note quite though. 

So how does it end? (Spoiler free): As previously stated the events of Refrain which is like one long ending to the series are what make the series are good as it is. Very satisfying indeed. 

Overall Grade: If you had plenty of time of your hands I would give this a B or maybe a B+. But half a good series does not a good series make, even when it is the most important bit that is good. So in answer to my own question above, no I don't think I can in good faith recommend this if you are time pressed, and for that this will be the series probably remain the series I will have enjoyed the most to ever get a D.

Amnesia

Number of Episodes: 12

What Anime News Network Wikipedia says: "A girl wakes up after having collapsed with no memory of who she is with a spirit that only she can see for company. No-one can know that she has amnesia is it made evident that it has not been caused by her body or mind. The heroine, surrounded by handsome gents in the cafe she works at, must piece together her life with the help of her spirit companion."

tTPO says: And so it begins. It seemed interesting enough. Until you realise the main protagonist is not getting her memories back, and remains vague, distant and amazingly uninteresting for nearly all of the show. Ironically enough, the male (harem) characters all tease us with the fact she is not as lively as she used to be before she lost her memories. Sadly we never get to see that potentially involving character we may have had some empathy with.

The five main male characters have at least a little depth to them. Bar one though they are all pretty unlikeable because they are either extradimensional and impotent, or have a varying degree of psychological pathology. The only sane guy (Ken) gets shoveled into a single episode only. 

If I was being kind I would say the character design was a bit interesting, especially the eyes. And the Clamp style elongated characters. But that's hardly a reason to spend 4 hours watching the series.

How About the Music?: There is a bright light here. The OP ("Zoetrope" by Nagi Yanagi) is actually a bit of dark powergirl rock that may be the next most interesting thing in the series aside from the drawing of the irises. The ED ("Recall" by Ray) is from the same genre but doesn't work as well as the OP. 

So How Does it End? (Spoiler Free): Awfully. Never before have I seen such a literal use of deus ex machina. It is a resolution. But a very bad one.

Overall Grade: This is a series that sucks you in at the beginning, hoping there may be some development. But there isn't. Amnesia flips you the bird and you will never get that time back. Grade D. Just execrable. 

Sword Art Online

Number of Episodes: 25

What Wikipedia Anime News Network says: "The players of a virtual reality MMORPG, Aincrad Online, are trapped and fighting for their very lives. After it is announced that the only way to leave the game is by beating it, Kirito—a very powerful swordsman—and his friends take on a quest to free all the minds trapped in Aincrad."

tTPO says: This series is a pleasant distraction that conveniently takes up the first two major arcs from the light novels the anime is based on. In that respect it is really two shorter series though there is some resolution for both in the final episode. But I get ahead of myself. 

The series really promises and delivers no less than suggested in the blurb above. There are good action sequences, the virtual worlds are imaginitive and well thought out, the pacing is just so, and there is plenty of romantic and non-romantic love (the family aspect of this was a pleasant surprise) between the major players that feels about right, and keeps the harem fan inside me happy. I think it is this latter aspect (the love that drives the main characters) that engenders the rather heated support for this series.

So far as flaws go there is is just a little much deus ex machina for my liking and the triumph of 'will' over just about anything, including programming. I have a number of friends in the IT business who assure me life is not this simple. And the second villain, in contrast with the first (who is actually quite complex), is annoyingly underdeveloped and clichéd. But at the end of the day this is a fairly lightweight affair so you just go with the flow and it's all OK. It's not Neon Genesis. Don't overthink it.

How About the Music?:  OP1 "crossing field" by LiSA is a pleasant but otherwise unremarkable bit of J-rock.  OP2 ("INNOCENCE" by Eir Aoi) is cut from the same mould but for mind has a bit more get up and go. 

ED1 ("Yume Sekai" by Haruka Tomatsu) is a pleasant song reflecting more the romance in the series. Has am easy on the ear modulation just before the prechorus. ED2 ("Overfly" by Luna Haruna) takes the same road but again with a bit more rock. 

Really, there is not a bad theme in this 4.

So how does it end? (Spoiler Free): More than satisfactorily. Major plot threads are all sorted out, even if some of them are a bit silly, and there is still room for a sequel.  

Overall Grade: Nothing really new here, but it does have plenty of heart (and I rate that) and the execution was generally pretty good. B-.

Seirei no Moribito

aka Guardian of the (Sacred) Spirit

Number of episodes: 26

What Wikipedia Rightstuf (via My Anime List) says: "At a time when the balance of nature still held the civilizations of mankind in thrall, a single drought could spell the end of a society and doom its inhabitants to piteous deaths. Prince Chagum has been imbued with the power to stave off the drought and bring new life to his empire. However, this is a suspicious time, and he is accused of possession by an evil spirit.

Court advisors only see one solution. Chagum must be put to death by his own father's hand. His salvation is in the form of Balsa, a spear woman and mercenary from Kanbal, the kingdom across the mountains. Her skills are legendary, and although reluctant, she is held by a mysterious vow to save eight souls before she dies. Can she fend off an entire empire and make Chagum her eighth soul?"

What tTPO says: Serei no Moribito is a polished fantasy story. It starts with a bang, goes a little bit slice-of-lifey in the middle and then picks itself up for the last eight episodes in a well paced run to the pretty satisfying end. The pacing initially was a little confusing for me but made perfect sense when I subsequently found the series was based on novels and that the middle section of the series was mainly anime original episodes. The transition between the two is clean, and the inclusion of several expanded 'big picture' plot points in these otherwise stand-alone episodes helps maintain the story's focus.

The characters are well developed and, by and large, low on annoyance (with one slight exception). We slowly find out Balsa's backstory and motivations, and Chagum matures well over the season. The other interesting aspect of the characters is that there are not just two camps of people who are clearly 'good guys' and 'bad guys'. Instead we have two main groups of people each with their own motivations and believe themselves doing the right thing. In contrast with Shiki, this lack of moral clarity results in more empathy (rather than less) with all the characters and allows for some interesting interactions towards the end.

Another thing I appreciated was the depth of historical, political and geographic detail in the world(s) where the story plays out. In some situations this could be distracting from the main plot but here it just worked, and after a while you just take it all for granted. 

Lastly, the animation is well detailed and easy on the eye, though still not quite as good as the benchmark of Hanusaka Iroha.
 
How about the music?: The OP ("Shine" by L'Arc-en-Ciel) is easily recognisable and catchy, though strangly I did not actually like it that all that much. The ED ("Itoshii Hito e by Sachi Tainaka) was pleasant and appropriate but somehow just a bit generic and not so memorable to me. 
 
So how does it end? (Spoiler Free):  The main story is wrapped up well with a couple of character arcs left open. Which makes sense since there are more novels that follow this story.

Overall Grade:  Grade B. A well told fantasy tale. For tTPO it was a bit too linear and too long for the top grade.

Dog Days (with post-second season addendum)

Number of episodes: 13 + 13

What Wikipedia says: "Cinque Izumi is a cheerful and athletic half-Japanese, half-English boy who studies at Kinokawa International School in Japan, and has a normal life everyday until he suddenly got summoned to the alternate world of Flonyard. The people there look no different from humans, except for one thing; they have animal ears and tails. The one who summoned him is Millhiore, the dog-like Princess of the Biscotti Republic, who requested his assistance in their war against the forces of the feline-like Galette Lion Army.

After responding to Millhiore's plea, he receives a sacred weapon, the Palladion, and is appointed as a Hero to fight for Biscotti in a war that unlike the ones in Earth, is waged with special rules and no casualties, in a fashion similar to a sports competition with the purpose to raise funds for the Kingdoms involved, where the winner faction claims a larger sum than the losing side. After winning his first battle for Biscotti, Cinque learns that when a hero is summoned into Flonyard he becomes unable to return to his homeworld, a fact that Millhiore also was unaware of.

The scientists of Biscotti promise to Cinque to find a way for him to return home in 16 days, the remaining time until his meeting with his friend Rebecca Anderson whom he promised to spend the last three days of his Spring Break with. Until then, he decides to keep serving Millhiore as Biscotti's hero."

What tTPO says: Unless you are allergic to either cats or dogs or cute things in general, this is a series that is mostly harmless. It is directed at the younger audience, so despite all the fighting, our characters never in anything resembling serious danger until the last couple of episodes when the series got a bit darker. The drama was on the distinctly beige side of things until that point. Having a young target market though is, as always, not a good enough reason on its own to avoid having some light fan service at times. The other downside from this old man's point of view was the lack of originality (think Final Fantasy crossed with K-ON!, the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant and just about any other shounen anime and you won't be too far off the mark). Maybe they were tying to appeal to the male and female audience simultaneously?

The overall plot is not complex, but is nicely structured over the course of the series, with a quite large cast of characters (there is some even some exploration of the main ones) and caricatures to stay entertaining. The pacing was also pretty much spot on - Angel Beats and Occult Academy could take some lessons from Dog Days in this respect. So while lacking in originality and fire, it did at least have a beginning, a middle, an end and a little heart, and that alone puts it above many other shows.

How about the music?: Much like the rest of this show the J-rock OP and ED are a bit cute, and a bit disposable.

So how does it end? (Spoiler Free):  Neatly, with no important loose threads.

Overall Grade: Grade C (Nice enough, but not enough to spend time on). They set the bar low, but cleared it with ease. So much so that a second season has been announced. I probably won't be watching it though. Maybe a B for the young folk?

Addendum (after watching the second season):  In contrast to my own advice I found time to watch the second season of this series - cunningly named Dog Days (apostrophe), or Dog Days' (or even DD') for short. Taking place in the next summer break of school, there were a few changes made to the formula (losing the generous amounts of fan service was not one of those changes) in that about 90% of the drama was stripped out, and the feel-good factor, which was already pretty high is now stratospheric. Seriously, even the token bad guys are good - the Demon-King's worst vice is looking at scantily clad ladies. The plot (what little there was) was also lost with the drama and DD' I think could fairly be called a slice of life series as a result. Having said that, they did actually start to deal with some of the harem / romance issues though in a very supportive way, and we got to hear about things from Cinque's perspective. Despite all of this they managed to increase the already formidable armada of characters by bringing 3 (not just 1) characters from Earth, introducing a new country for the sport-battles (with the associated rulers and retainers) and bringing a couple of historic heroes back from the past for good measure. And increase the number of insert songs performed by Millhiore from 1 to 3. 

There was a very strong implication we would see a third series and maybe just maybe, we get a bit of drama back? I'll probably find myself watching again - the short format just makes it a bit easy to commit time-wise.