Shining Hearts: Shiawase no Pan (Anime)

On the island kingdom of Windaria, Rick lives and works as a baker. He has no memory of his time before being washed ashore onto Windaria, but he lives every day full of happiness with the three girls who help out to deliver and bake bread; Neris, Amil and Airy. But soon strange events begin to occur on and around the island and its inhabitants, and Rick's everyday life is soon through into dangerous peril.

(Anime: 1 season, 12 Episodes, Finished)

Based on a game by Sega from the Shining series, the anime isn't too bad, but it's not great. There is definite room for improvement in a lot of areas, but one good thing about the series is that it is a fantastic fantasy story, filled with all sorts of swords and sorcery and mystical qualities that all add up to creating a great fantasy world and story. The art work is very interesting because it isn't quite traditional, and brings something unique that one can't quite put their finger on. The characters are varied widely, whether it is swordsmen, cat people, pirates, the island of Windaria has them all. But this is the point where the series starts to go down, because it isn't really possible to get behind these characters. They aren't bad overall, there just doesn't seem to be any depth or emotion put behind them so they come off a bit plastic. From the description one would assume there might be some romance between Rick and the girls, but no go, just very good friends. Then there is the story: even though events start to happen from the first episode, the whole story becomes very sluggish and long winded. All the strange events that take place tend to happen towards the end and don't stand out as being overly memorable, and the rest of the episodes are devoted to long shots of smiling people, or long deep speeches about pasts and...something, they are very long winded. The result is that Shiawase no Pan is a good anime for anyone who likes fantasy series and a very gentle story. Otherwise this will come off very boring.

Rating - 

5/10

Recorder to Randoseru (Anime)

Atsushi is an average five year old grade schooler with friends, and the body of a fully grown adult. Because of this he is always getting in to trouble and misunderstandings. Atsumi is his older sister who is a second year in high school, with the body of a five year old girl. She is very grown up but often is not taken seriously enough because of her size. The two siblings try to live ordinary lives whilst dealing with an endless stream of mishaps and problems.

(Anime: 1 Season, 26 episodes, finished)

So from the description you can guess that this is a gag anime, and a very good one at that. No idea what the title is referring to, as the recorder only comes up once, but the whole series is very enjoyable. Each episode is only 2 to 3 minutes long and focusses on one particular event/story. This is a good thing because it means one isn't bombarded with 30 minutes of endless gags, and get to enjoy each tiny story as it happens.

The artistry and editing are all terrific. The concept of the story is a little far fetched but that doesn't matter, just sit back and go with it. And the story tends to focus more on Atsushi's stories rather than him and Atsumi, so depending on how much you like the character one will have to deal with that. Speaking of the characters, they are adorable, and everyone of them is extremely fun to watch as they interact around the major punchline of Atsumi and Atsushi's lives. The humour is pretty good, although it tends to focus back on the main joke (being that Atsushi is always getting arrested as a pedophile). Recorder to Randoseru is a great anime for people who just want a couple of good laughs, and a good time filling series.

Rating - 

8/10