Durara!!

Type: Anime 

Status: Complete (25 episodes)

Premise: After Mikado moved to Ikebukuro for school he meets back up with his best friend that he had been keeping in contact with through the internet, during his first day he is told of the people to avoid like the violent Shizuo Heiwajima, the information broker Izaya or the mysterious Dollars gang. There is also a legend around town of "The Black Rider" who has a motorcycle that beys like a horse and has no head which Mikado sees late that night. There are many strange and unusual things unseen in Ikebukuro.

Thoughts: This was a great anime that had a steady building of the plot, and allowed inteligent viewers to piece things together slightly before the reveal which allows for a vary satisfying series. This series rewards careful viewers and is an amazing world.

Prose: Great animation and plot, characters that evolve and are interesting, "real world" slowly getting darker and supernatural. A great anime that will definitely be worth your time.

Cons: None in particular save the standard over the top action which is a staple of anime. The various characters have a tenancy to be overpowered when you consider this is mostly a real world setting.

-Notes: Fully dubbed. When they say "color" gang they are not talking racial color they are saying Orange or Blue, took me a while to figure this out near the beginning.

9/10          (The Doddlers)

Tears of Tiara

Type: Anime

Status: Complete (26 episodes)

Premise: The age of mythological creatures has come and gone leaving only man to inherit the earth, but the echoes of the past civilizations have yet to fully fade. The Imperium of man has conquered the faltering kingdoms and united them; but there still remains small villages who practice the old ways despite the empires best efforts. The Gales have protected the tomb of the Demon King Aron from the past age but now the Empire has re-awakened him and woe to all who have forgotten the terrors of the last age.

Thoughts: A good anime that was solid the entire way through, the characters are rich and you learn to like them. One thing is that they all speak with Scottish accents which is odd but still kind of interesting.

Prose: Beautiful animation and a solid story with nothing that stands out as substandard, the entire series screams of dedication to story and polished storytelling.

Cons: Nothing in particular but the plot is pretty standard fare as far as fantasy settings are concerned with some interesting twists and turns along the way. All in all a completely watchable medieval high fantasy setting.

-Notes: Fully dubbed. All the characters save a few speak in Scottish accents, and the plot leads me to believe that the main inspiration of the anime was the rebellion of William Wallace during the wars of scottish independence so watching Braveheart after/before starting might be worth it simply to laugh at the similarities ;P.

8/10          (FREEEEEDOOOOOMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!)

Jyuki Ningen Jumbor / Jumbor

Type: Manga

Status: Complete (well canceled)

Premise: It is 3002 and the world has developed were the words "construction company" is synonymous with "independent military faction". Human civilization has crumbled been rebuild countless times, and now the construction teams have become the driving force of civilization. Jumbor is a national hero in his country and personal servant to the cute 8 year old princess; along with his team of workers he strives to rebuild this world. Not everyone is of like mind to this however and during a project Jumbor and his company are ambushed by one of their rivals from the neighboring country and he is killed. He awakens 5 years later to discover that his memories have been placed into a clone (chronological age 5 years) and he has been partially mechanized in order to preserve his life. Now he must reclaim his homeland from those who have concurred it and find the princess who he left behind.

Thoughts: This manga was ODD. Not bad actually, but it was so far from the run of the mill mech anime that I have trouble describing it. While I did enjoy the completely over the top mechs cult to and ridiculous construction references it is difficult to figure out if this was a good idea cut short in its infancy or a mongrel child put out of its misery.

Prose: Completely over the top and hilarious. Also completely original in its setting and use of giant fighting robots composed and intended for construction. This one is quite the acquired taste.

Cons: The amount of serious consideration to realism in this anime could barely fill a thimble, they went for the RULE OF COOL and never relented.

-Notes: The manga is cut ridiculously short at the end and was almost setting up for a sequel than it wasn't. Basically it feels as though the writer had a grand overarching story line in mind and than was informed one day that his next issue would be his last so wrap it up. I don't know the reasoning behind this way of concluding things and am not entirely sure whether it was a bad thing.

7.5/10          (RULE OF COOL)

Strain

Type: Anime

Status: Complete (13 episodes)

Premise: Mankind is fighting a civil war against a group of rebels in the far reaches of space, among the weapons of the colonials is the Strain a mech using the harvested from the unborn fetus resulting in a kind of neural computer. Sara Weric is the younger sister to the legendary pilot Ralph Weric and is in training to become a strain pilot, but when the enemy attacks her school she begins to learn the truth about the beginning of this war.

Thoughts: This anime was relatively uninspired as far as plot goes, but the animation was beautiful and the characters are actually quite interesting if unbelievable. All in all I would not recommend it, but it was relatively well crafted considering it is only 13 episodes to build a world.

Prose: Lovely animation and decently interesting characters are the motivation for this anime, but not much else.

Cons: Not inspiring, and feels more than a little forced. I do give them credit for what they accomplished in 13 episodes but there is a limit at the same time.

-Notes: Fully dubbed.

6/10          (The doll Freaks me out....)

Spice And Wolf

Type: Anime

Status: Ongoing? (2 seasons (24 episodes) complete)

Premise: Among the farmers of the south there is a legend of a spirit of the harvest; a great wolf known as Holo. In exchange for their annual festivals and offerings she would insure bountiful harvests year after year, but as time passed and old religions were replaced by new these old promises became mere traditions and eventually were forgotten. Kraft Lawrence is a travailing merchant who makes his living trading wheres from town to town with the hope of one day having his own shop to call home; on his way through the small village of Pastol an odd girl stows away on his cart and asks to travel with him back to her home Yoitsu in the north. Her name is Holo and Lawrence's life was forever changed.

Thoughts: This is not the kind of anime that I normally watch, but you know what? I LIKED IT. The characters and story were all excellent along with clean animations and lovely musical score. A lovely surprise to go with a great anime.

Prose: All around a well polished anime, it does what an anime should do (tell  story) and does it extremely well without missing in any particular aspects. Well rounded and  treat to watch.

Cons: Be prepared for the exciting life of  a traveling merchant, wheeling and dealing, barter and trade. While it is far from boring there is vary little action in the typical sense; in the entire 24 episode series there is only 2 full fledged fight scenes and those are rather one sided. This anime is a battle of whits not of strength.

-Notes: Fully dubbed. What I mean by "Complete?" is that the end of season 2 is a SEASON finale not a SERIES finale. While nothing has been announced as far as a 3rd season as of yet the 2nd season only finished its dub this year so it is still a strong possibility that it will continue soon.

8.5/10          (Holo the wise/drunk wolf.)

Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom

Type: Anime

Status: Complete (26 episodes)

Premise: Inferno is a criminal syndicate intent on absolute control of the underworld, through assassination, extortion  racketeering and blackmail. Among inferno there is a position known as The Phantom; the premier assassin tasked with the elimination of obstacles and advancement of Inferno's interests. Now after a hit there has been a witness, he will either become the next Phantom or disappear forever. Ein the original Phantom will train him how to kill dispassionately and he will be known as Svi the second Phantom of Inferno.

Thoughts: This anime is TWISTED. It makes no apologies for the dark underbelly that it is meant to represent and there are some really creepy parts throughout the series. This is a dark and suspenseful thriller that is both gripping and repulsive as it unfolds. It begs the question of how far a human being will go to survive and just how much the human spirit can bend without breaking.

Prose: Dark and thrilling. Watch it for characters that are steeped in death and destruction but desperately try to hold onto anything they can to hold onto that last shred of humanity.

Cons: Twisted. It gets rather creepy and disturbing on just how far the characters fall. Beware.

-Notes: Fully dubbed. This anime has a distinct beginning, middle and end each contained within a time skip which makes an interesting series. The ending is also rather random, while it did have a point it was completely unwarranted and if the show hadn't ended 3 minutes later I would have stopped watching.

8/10          (Kill or be killed: Doing either well will make you a legend.)