Phi Brain; Kami no Puzzle (Anime)

Daimon Kaito is a student attending school in a world where puzzles are the norm. Kaito cares only about solving puzzles and spends his days with his childhood friend Nonoha, who just wants him to put down the sudoku. But one day, after solving a dangerous puzzle, Kaito obtains the ring of Orpheus - a powerful relic that pushes the wearers brain power to extremes. With this, Kaito has become a phi brain candidate - one of a few chosen individuals who has the potential to unlock the Puzzle of God and obtain an ancient treasure that is said to be mankind's greatest knowledge.

(Anime; 2 Seasons, 25 episodes, Finished)

This is quite an unusual series, but a lot of fun. Anybody who loves doing the sudoku in the paper of playing with puzzle blocks as a kid will love this show. Most of the action is derived from the characters trying to solve huge puzzles while risking their lives. This leads to some unforgettable action sequences, but there is a flaw with this plan - unless you already know how the puzzle works normally, you have to guess what is going on and you can't tell who is actually winning. There is an explanation of how the puzzles work, but these are often gone over far to fast and you end up having to go back and pause to read the rules. The artistry and animation aren't too bad, but there is something about them that looks more like coloured in manga than an anime (Actually the series as a whole probably would have done better as a manga 1st). The characters - here is the real problem with the series. 1st of all the main characters aren't really likeable, all they care about is puzzles and you spend more time noticing the people watching than the heroes. Adding to this are some very weak villains - most of the major villains spend their time obsessing over Kaito to a degree that is borderline gay stalking (and I mean literally on the knife edge border). The story is pretty good though, with a good deal of mystery and twists turning up everywhere to keep it fresh.

Phi Brain may not be everyones cup of tea, but for anyone looking for something a bit different, there is no better choice.

Rating - 6.5/10

Rinne no Lagrange (Anime)

Madoka is an energetic girl, and the only member of her school's Jersey Club - a club devoted to helping anyone any time. One day a mysterious girl called Lan asks Madoka for help - by piloting a Robot. With this Madoka is thrown into a new life where she must pilot one of three legendary robots known as Vox that destroyed the earth 200000 years ago, and have to power to do so again.

(Anime; 2 Seasons, 12 episodes, Finished)

This is a pretty average series - its good but not great, its not terrible but has a lot going against it. The Animation is impressive and in a lot of places does some unique twists, and when it comes to the robot battles the style of the series really stands out. But at times it can be a little too 'sparkly' and those moments are obvious because they don't really fit with whats going on. The story is pretty good, but it gets wrapped up in its own mythology and spends a lot of time ignoring anything resembling plot. The first season left things really open so a second was much called for. But again the second season suffered from the same problems - starting with some big idea and then ignoring it because of all the mystery surrounding the Vox. This lack of plot or overall drive isn't helped by the characters - they are fun and great to watch, but none of them have any sense of ambition story wise. Most of the time they are just there to make funny lines. Also, there is some underlying joke that the three main female characters are 'more than just friends', this leads to some good jokes, but otherwise just seems silly.

So there you have it, Rinne no Lagrange is a fun watch but nothing spectacular.

Rating - 5/10

Accel World (Anime)

In the future, everyone is equipped with a built in connection device - like having a computer built into your brain. Arita Haruyuki has spent his whole life being picked on and abused at school. His best friends haven't been able to help him, and the only comfort he takes is from playing video games. That is until the beauty of the school, Kuroyukihime, asks to meet him and offers him a link to a special programme called 'Accel World'. Part of this programme is that it can speed up your brain and exist as though time has stopped around you. But the main aim of this programme is a massive multiplayer fighting game, where victory is decided by how long you can survive.

(Anime: 1 Season, 24 episodes, finished)

This was quite an exciting series, but with a couple of flaws. The main one being that at the beginning of the story, there is a whole concept set up about how the aim of the game is to reach level 10, but no ones wants to for various reasons (not going to give that away just yet). This gets basically ignored for the rest of the series. They touch upon it occasionally but when they do you think 'oh yeah that what they were doing'. After they cover this point, the story just divulges into a couple of character building arcs. It even goes off on a tangent during a really important moment and has 2 episodes of pointless side tracking (I HATE when that happens). So the story and plot line could use some refining.

Apart from that, this series was pretty enjoyable. The fight scenes and animation were really spectacular, and there is a lot of depth and detail given to the game world that fits in a way that makes sense without having to be explained. The characters a fun, but the main one Haruyuki seems to be drawn like a chibi character for the whole time (Kind of Like Tomoki from Sora no Otoshimono) This results in him standing out, and generally he can't be taken seriously just because he is at odds with all the normally drawn characters who never go chibi.

All in all, some fine tuning needed, but in the end Accel World is a great show.

Rating - 8/10

Hagure Yuusha no Estetica (Anime)

Ousawa Akatsuki has defeated the evil demon lord, and returns home to his own dimension. With his return, he is enrolled into Babylon academy - a school and training facility for all those who have returned from a different dimension and learned magic. But Akatsuki has brought along a friend - the daughter of the Demon lord he defeated, whom he has been charged with protecting. Now she lives with him as his 'sister', and every day step deeper into the mystery and danger of Babylon academy.

(Anime: 1 Season, 12 episodes, Finished)

The above description may sound a little odd, and thats because the story really is. It takes place after the main character has finished his adventures in a different world, and ends before he starts new adventures. It almost feels as though the series covers the middle boring arc of a long running story, and the introduction and ending are never covered. No matter what else the series may have going for it, this over riding feeling of inadequacy results in a lot of frustration - we aren't shown what we really want from the story.

The rest of the series doesn't stand out much either. There is probably more focus on fan service than story - considering that the main character spends most of his time stealing the underwear of girls while they're wearing them. That may be a great trick, but If all you're looking for is plenty of boobs and no story, you may as well just buy a porno. There are some hints at a harem or a love triangle forming, but again this is glossed over as a 'maybe this is happening' kind of feel. The same can be said about the mystery in this series - it feels like there is some over riding plot going on, but it is rarely touched upon. The animation is pretty basic, nothing very exciting, and the same for the characters.

All in all a sub standard series - needed to start 20 episodes earlier and keep running for another 40.

Rating - 3/10

Natsuyuki Rendevous (Anime, 2012)

Hazuki has fallen in love. He has fallen for the owner of a flower shop, and decides to start working there so that he can get closer to her. There are just two thing standing between him and romance. First that the owner, Rokka, is a widow. The second, that her dead husband is a ghost, living int he flower shop that only Hazuki can see. Now Hazuki has to contend with an obsessive spirit getting in the way of his feelings before he can be with Rokka.

(Anime: 1 season, 11 episodes, Finished)

This is a really......interesting romance story. By far one of the most unique as far as romance in anime goes, and that is staying a lot. The artistry is simply beautiful: gorgeous settings and flowers purvey the entire series, and it is a treat simply to watch the gorgeous series even without paying attention to the story. The characters are pretty interesting as well, and the editing and story are entertaining.

Unfortunately this series is not without its set backs. The biggest is that a lot of the episodes are taken up by long winded, seemingly rambling monologues and memory flashes, and these can get pretty boring after a while, and force you to think carefully about what the meaning of the words are as they have some part to play in the story. Actually Natsuyuki Rendevous would probably fit more as a film or OVA series than running for 11 episodes, especially since the story is wrapped up about as neatly and quickly.

This is a good series for fans of something gentle and unusual, and a let down for people who expect more from it.

Rating - 5/10

Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita (Anime, 2012)

In a post apocalyptic future, humanity has begun to decline (the title translates as literally humanity has declined), and a new breed of humanity known as fairies have begun to expand. The fairies are small, smily faced, with technology far outstripping mankind at its highest point, and eccentric natures that often leads to outrageous happenings. The Story revolves around an unnamed girl, who works as a mediator between the two races and is often is contact with the fairies. This proves to be more a curse than a job however, because the fairies nature often ropes her into bizarre events.

(Anime: 1 Season, 12 episodes, finished)

I'm honestly not sure how to rate this series. On the one hand, it is a rather fun show. The story is peppered with ludicrous gags and the dialogue and voice acting all match up to create hilarious and thoroughly entertaining stories. The artistry is pretty unique as well, it isn't quite the norm with anime but not far from it.

On the other hand, the timeline of the plot can get really confusing. In the classic Japanese post apocalypse way, the story jumps around from present, to past, to future, its all over the place and this can make it very difficult to follow what is going on. The main character and the fairies are pretty entertaining, but the rest just don't stand out very much. And there is no overriding theme or object so the plot just rambles on in 6 2 episode arcs.

Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita will either tickle your funny bone all day long or leave you thoroughly head ached.

Rating - 6.5/10

La Storia della Arcana Famiglia (Anime, 2012)

On the island of Regalo, a mafia like organisations, known as the Arcana Family oversees and protects the entire town. Each of the leading members has a contract with a Taro card, that allows them to use special powers known as Arcana abilities. One day the 'Papa' of the family announces an upcoming tournament, where those with Arcana abilities may fight to determine who will be the next family head. To the winner he also promises the hand of his daughter, Felicita. She has no desire to be married, but her close friends and fellow family members, Nova and Liberta, are determined to help her and set her free.

(Anime: 1 Season, 12 episodes, Finished)

So right off the bat, just saying it for a fact, this is a gyaku harem anime - meaning the story revolves around the girl Felicita and everyone else she interacts with are boys. Fortunately she only really spends time with the two friends, and there isn't any real sense of a harem going on. Unfortunately this has resulted in a very slow paced story that spends most of the time aimlessly going from one short story to the next, without any sort of over all focus, until about episode 10.

This would be fine if there was something else worth watching in this anime, but overall it wasn't very satisfying. True there were some clever uses of Italian mafia ideas (kind of makes you feel as though you are watching a Japanese version of The Godfather). But the artistry isn't very original, and the animation is the same. The character's aren't particularly clever either, but the real let down of this whole series is that the story just pans out into nothing - no real changes happen and in the end the story reverts back to where it started, basically making the whole series a complete waste of time.

If conventional gyaku harem series are you're thing, then by all mines give La Storia Della Arcana Famiglia a go, just don't get your hopes up.

Rating - 4/10