(Average+) Ultramarine Magmell

Series in one sentence:
Boy with no parents and no explanation to why he does the things he does does things.

Series in more sentences:
A new continent with strange plants and wildlife has suddenly appeared on Earth. While humanity tries to make the land their own, many fall victim to its ruthlessness and are in need of specially trained people to rescue them.

One of these people is a boy with the rare power of creating anything he wants.
 

It could've been a good show, it had a few interesting things to show and tell, but it was lacking.
The episodes were like Pokémon in the sense the main characters meets new people every time and immediately befriend them, or talks to them as if they're good acquaintances. I never really liked that in TV-shows. Relationships take time.

The climax of the show was a drag and had nothing to do with the continent Magmell, and the whole ordeal ended without the audience having learned anything about the main guy. Why was his assistant more important to devote the last 3 episodes to?

If there's a season 2 planned, I'm not watching. Won't be checking out the manga for answers, either. I just don't care enough.

(Good/Average) When They Cry

Series in one sentence:
Alternate realities show that anyone can be a harmless friend or a psychopath.

Series in more sentences:
A secluded town with a dubious history holds many secrets, mostly covered up or explained with their belief in their god. A group of friends have to deal with their personal problems on top of that and there are countless of alternate realities where these play a crucial role.

Interesting setup with little explanation to why this "time reset" keeps happening or why every setup focuses on a way different story.

The basics are always the same: the same people visit town, the same people befriend each other, the same people die at the upcoming festival, but the role of evil psychopath is often switched around. Some of the later episodes connect themselves to earlier ones, so those weren't alternate realities, just a different view. I really liked that as well.

The series sounds like a clutterglutter, but I had alot of fun watching. If I ever get around to it, I'll check out the other seasons/instalments. This one is a "good" for me.

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9-7-2021 UPDATE
When They Cry: Kai
Season 2, finally checked it and the following seasons out, here's my view on it.

Concerning this season, the first handful of episodes were a chore to sit through. Episode 1 was just a barrage of repetitive talking, and afterwards, the plot progression got ruined by filler scenes where the characters acted overly happy and quirky with each other. It was pretty annoying.
Their playful banter was so boring to sit through at times, I had to skip these scenes. I get it, you're super close friends, chill out, just give me the real story.

When the show got to the point, I was enjoying myself, though I can't say why the beginning was set so heavily on the abusive uncle storyline, out of all things, or why it took 100 years of getting reborn for Rika to attempt some real measures to change her own death. That feels very late. To have not figured out in all those years that the possibility exists her allies might be enemies was also weird. You can casually try to call the police, but why carry a shocked face when those people don't show up?

The main story is put to a halt in the second half of the season and instead takes a look in the past of the recently revealed main villain and some of the events that led to the show's present time. I see what the series tried to do with her, but I was not emotionally invested in the slightest. All her hardships were pretty overdramatic and it really didn't need this many episodes to tell her story.
The other events weren't that exciting to sit through, either, but I guess they were important in the sense it answered some loose ends. Don't know how Rika can sit there and watch it all happen again, since last time she reincarnated she clearly stated her time was shortening and she only to had 2 weeks left, but perhaps this is a 4th wall narration of a flashback? Don't know how else to describe it.

The end battle was fun, but I'm surprised these kids took the non-lethal Home Alone route and didn't just brutally kill everyone. Not because it felt out-of-character for them as kids, but it did feel out-of-character for When They Cry.

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When They Cry: Rei
In other words, season 3, here we goooooooooooo.

Ridiculous start. Episode 1 was this confusing filler ghost story shit and you might as well skip it, it'll just leave you confused.

It supposedly follows up after last season's victory, but then, why is the mentally insane villain chilling out with them? Is it because Rika went back in time to meddle with her past by letting her join her parents on the bus, as shown in last season's end credits? Wasn't that supposed to mean her death? An older Rika approached her with the offer to live or die, and without running away crying over getting threatened by a stranger, this little girl joined her parents, you see them on the bus, the driver gets a heart attack, but then you see her stash away a miniature flag from a meal she supposedly got that day. I first assumed it represented afterlife happiness, as we're not shown how/if everyone survived the bus crash, but I guess it was real?

But even if the villain survived, how did she and the doctor character end up meeting the main cast again to act cute with them at a swimming pool? The sole reason they got stationed in their town was because of the villain's bad past and drive to investigate its local disease. Are we supposed to ignore the credit scene and assume this villain received no punishment for her crimes and everyone forgave her? I'm really confused, and the writers seem confused as well.

But alright, episode 2 knows what the audience wants and introduces a pretty interesting conflict, though I'm not sure why Rika cares. She's in an objectively better world, where the once dead and suffering are now walking around in peace, yet here she is, entertaining the prospect of killing her own parents if it means returning to the previous world. Ridiculous.
Rika should've just settled with this world and put all that effort in re-establishing the friendships she's lost. Or not. What does it matter. Go make new friends. And the show itself brings this up, yet there are no scenes of Rika actually putting in the effort of befriending anyone. Instead, she kills her mother off-screen and returns to her old world with her heavily traumatized friends, and the show/characters act like that's a good choice. I'm not blind for the message they tried to convey, but I simply don't think that going back to an inferior, yet familiar world warrants killing a person.

But here's the fun part about all this; it's just a troll. Rika is being stalked by a deity, who made her dream all this, just for teh lulz. Or well, she claims it was to make her re-appreciate her parents, because apparently, she actively tried to hate them as not to feel sad about their death.. alright then?
And I say "fuck you to that logic". Hasn't this girl suffered enough? What the Hell is this goddess' deal. After 100 years of struggling, everything was going fine for Rika, and then randomly out of nowhere, she's forced to go through a staged setting that has her believe there's a chance of losing her old friends and killing her mother is the only way back. That's sick.

The last episode of this already short series is the same Looney Tunes shit as in episode 1, no point in watching it, and since the conflict ended up being fake as well, I'd say you might as well skip the entire season.

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Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kira
Hardly a season, rather a short spin-off series.

Firstly, it has a very inappropriately happy intro. It made me worry that it was going to stray away even further from the intriguing horror genre When They Cry once started with.
And.. I was right. Episode 1 is again this Looney Tunes shit, which includes the involvement of that weird "Soul Brother" group that really came out of nowhere. Keiichi doesn't have a particularly close relationship with any of the men in that "group", why was this made a thing?

Anyway, the majority of the episode is about these shameless pedophiles fantasizing about the girl cast, I had no patience for it, but by skipping to the end, an interesting idea was being brought up.
I didn't care for the new disease that was being shoehorned into the story, but if every one of those stupid out-of-place episodes is in actuality Keiichi's delusion.. that would still not make me like those episodes, but they'd have a place in the series.

In episode 2, all the scary elements from season 1 are turned into jokey gimmicks and Rika is a magical girl, again stuck in a weird parallel universe, but this time she's not stressing out about it for some reason, fucking grand.
Did they steal a bunch of lazy fanfictions from the internet for this season or something?

Episode 3 was a breath of fresh air, there were no openly supernatural occurrences inserted here for the sake of comedy, but 4 was a drag, I just couldn't care.

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Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kaku: Outbreak
Not a season, a short movie/OVA.

An average pandemic story with a slow start, yet it's a rushed case of no show and all tell. But after all those horrible seasons I've sat through, this one at least went back to its roots.

It apparently plays off in another alternate universe, I really have no idea how it fits in the main story where Rika's death has been the end game every time, but if the creators don't care anymore, I won't either. Apparently she's not a queen carrier in this reality either, since the characters are able to leave town without the original Hinamizawa disease activating.

The ending is pretty open, not sure what to think of it or all else that happened prior. It left me with no strong feelings, though there were some cool scenes here and there.

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Higurashi: When They Cry – Gou
A very recent sequel that revisits and combines some of the original show's episodes, and gives them a new ending. Halfway through, it introduces a new story that more clearly explains why we're getting all this deja vu.

I hated the idea pushed upon Rika that she should stay and appreciate a town that killed and held her hostage for the entirety of a human life. She deserves to see the outside world, she didn't ask to be this revered person or reincarnation of a god.
I did like the twist, and that it gave a better explanation to how the original villain might've earned herself redemption, though I still believe she was too leisurely added in the later seasons of the original series. If we have to believe that's canon, then nothing has been really fixed in that department.
I think the writing and delivery in some parts are better here than in the original series, though whenever Hanyuu "explained" something, I pretty much never understood what she was saying.

Near the end, you get another twist. I'll try not to spoil things, but I want to ponder this section of the anime, as I'm not sure how it makes sense.

If Rika's been dealing with another reincarnating time traveller, she should've noticed it way earlier. It was also a bit strange to think there are multiple Rikas now, caused by someone else's time travelling, who've all met with a non-lethal ending, while Rika's entire deal was that she'd always die. And after looking at everything she's gone through in the last heavy 100 years, this other time traveller doesn't conclude it's better to accept her dream of wanting to leave the village that offered her nothing but heavy trauma, but to wear her out by ruining her happy endings. One Rika from a particular timeline was being targeted.. So, a "happy" Rika should still exist out there; a Rika who has been accepted into her school of choice and was heading off to a restaurant with the rest of the cast. Nothing happened to that version of Rika so far anyone knows, so what whisked her away from this reality and why?
Why is this newly spawned goddess so powerful that she's able to undo everything that happened in the original series, just to please her pompous time travelling buddy? The anime basically argued that everything has been made undone, but that can't be possible, since Rika still remembers her previous experiences and the fact she lost her happy ending.

Time travelling in fiction, always a mess.

Also, is it implied that this time traveller keeps killing themselves and starting over from the very beginning just to get small matters right, like winning card games and guessing briefcase codes? That doesn't sound practical at all.

Anyway, most of the original voice actors returned so far I can hear and remember, which is good, though I'm not too keen on the new art design. It made some characters look off. The photographer guy looks 20 years older now, though Keiichi grew on me. Could be worse, but I liked the previous 90s look.

(Average+) Fire Force

Note: I watched this series till episode 17.

Series in one sentence:
😬

Series in more sentences:
After people started randomly transforming into dangerous fire creatures, an organisation of fire fighters are set up to get rid of them.
This same phenomenon causes some people to be born with fire powers they can control, and one of the new recruits is a grinning boy with the gift to spawn flames from his feet.

He desires to be a hero, but was dubbed a "devil" ever since his family died in a house fire, believed to have been his doing.

Aw, I loved this boy's face. Ever since I watched Soul Eater, I can't resist an inexplicable shark smile on a regular human being. But the series itself lost me.

The main character got less screen time every episode. Instead, newcomers were given the stage, with backstories and drama I couldn't care less about. This promising show ended up boring me, and I'd like to say that's my own fault for simultaneously watching 5 animes right now; but these other shows still have my attention. With Fire Force I stopped caring many episodes ago.
I really wanted to push myself through the season, but I can't. There's no entertainment in it for me anymore. Grinning boy rarely grins and the overall humor has dwindled.

If Fire Force had just focused on him and his journey, it would've been a banger.

(Good) Nanbaka

Note: I watched this series in English.

Series in one sentence:
Gorgeous feminine men with the mentality of preteens stuck in sparkly jail.

Series in more sentences:
4 notorious jailbreakers are moved to Japan's most secure prison; not so much for their crimes, but for the fact they keep escaping.

While their days are filled with comedic fun and their lives became better after meeting each other, specifically the one-trick-pony 15, they get involved with his dark history and that of the prison itself.

What a mesmerizingly ridiculous show, nothing close to my expectations when I saw the ominous cover.

Anything goes in this, whether it's story or character design, which makes for a messy whole. Nanbaka somehow managed to own it, I think thanks to the humor.
I mean, look at these stupid-ass characters in the image above. What the Hell is that. This is how prisoners are allowed to dress? Is neon-green a natural hair colour in this reality? Nice eyelashes on this boy as well, in any realistic prison he'd be the top attraction.

It becomes clear fast that this highly secured island prison with intensive medical care and fantastic food isn't housing serial rapists and deranged killers, for the most part, it even welcomes idiots who trespass by accident. This allows for the viewers to comfortably laugh at the cutesy residents, who are like slightly rebellious high school students opposed to hardened criminals worthy of being imprisoned in a building that calls itself a bigger deal than Alcatraz.
You can argue that 3 of the 4 main characters are capable of being a lethal danger, but only one of them is actually in jail for getting in a street brawl. These kids are a waste of valuable space.

The quality of most episodes were average and at the end I wasn't as entertained anymore. I liked the show better when the plot was knowingly stupid and unfocused, because the "serious" storylines felt shoehorned in. The main plot concerning nr. 15 was pretty much abandoned in season 2 for something completely different. This season dragged on, 15 was an idiot in it, and the main gang hardly seen together.

Nevertheless, I'd love to see more. The last episode was open-ended, but it's been 2 years, I'm inclined to believe there won't be more.

(Average+) Bananya

Series in one sentence:
Why are none of these bananas being eaten in this household?

Series in more sentences:
Follow the adventures of a bunch of bananas with tiny cats in them. That's it.

The moment I heard one of these cats utter "Nnnnya!" with seduction and grace, while sitting in his pink-coloured banana peel, I was sold.

This is a short series obviously meant for very little children. No real plot, no real conflicts, little humor, just random nonsense for 2 and a half minutes long.
The calm narration is soothing for the stressful mind, but I don't think the common adult will be genuinely entertained by this. I watched it, because the episodes were short and I had already started. And I'm damn demented.

I bothered with a few episodes of season 2 as well, but as a Bananya expert, I have to say it missed the mark. I prefer my fruit mammals to stick with destroying a living room, no need to give them their own planet and society.

All in all, I think toddlers will love this and their parents more than tolerate it.

(Good) Demon Lord, Retry!

NOTE: I watched this series in English

Series in one sentence:
Little girls get a hard-on for a man in his 40s.
 
Series in more sentences:
A game developer says goodbye to his MMORPG creation after 15 years, but wakes up as his own demon lord character in another fantasy world. 
He thinks it'd be best to act like said character and keep his cool, while being chased by the authorities who are dubious of his presence and intentions. 

Man, Japan loves their "demon lords" and "getting stuck in an RPG video game"-stories.

I was entertained, but it barely touches that good rating for me. There were too many characters and their story arcs rushed to Hell. The anime seemed in a hurry. The blonde girl the show started off with hardly makes another appearance worth mentioning, it was disappointing how pointless she ended up being.

The voice acting was good, though, especially the main character (both voices) was pleasant to listen to. The last episode teases you with a "to be continued", so I'm expecting a second season. Would watch, despite the flaws.

(Good) Yona of the Dawn

Series in one sentence:
Harem anime for girls.

Series in more sentences:
A young and pampered princess suddenly has to deal with betrayal within her family and flee the castle with her childhood friend/bodyguard. 
She learns to have a close connection to a myth involving godly dragons, and is told that if she wants to have a chance at survival, she needs to find the four dragons from the story and ask for their protection.

Fantastic story WITH A RUSHED-ASS, ABRUPT ENDING. Yona of the Dawn is a good example why I dislike animes sometimes and how big of a risk starting a new series can be.
Animators seem to have no problem spitting out an unfinished product, as it's assumed it'll motivate the audience to go check out the comics to read the full story. Though, I'm also sure that money can be a problem in the world of Japanese animation.

But it surprises me that this show wasn't enough of a success to receive a better ending or a second season. An announcement was made, but I wonder if we can trust it to be true. This show started in 2014; why would they continue it more than 6 years later.

As for the series itself, the last two episodes hurt, but there were more flaws I wish it hadn't. 

The new king's motives were propped up as some big revolution, but it was never explained what his plans were. After this once determined-looking guy acknowledges he hasn't done shit, his story concluded. A tremendous anti-climax. I expected him to be the show's villain and Yona having to deal with her lingering love for him, but this roughhanded take-over of her kingdom.. wasn't even that big of a deal in the end. The new king even improved the economy of a crumbling tribe.

Then we have this bodyguard assigned to Yona. Well. He tried to have a consistent personality, but juggled between being obedient and respectful, a funny bully, and so pathetically perverted that he's a scene away from molesting the princess. This absolute ho was licking honey from her hands.
Even weirder was that Yona still trusted him and kept putting on this oblivious act whenever she got exposed to his signs of love, despite him having uttered inappropriate comments like "How are you going to pay for my protection, with your body?". What a charmer.

The blue dragon's backstory I liked fine enough, but for someone who wants friends, there's still a great distance between him and the other characters. I kinda liked that this abused hermit had little to say and was often standing by himself, it makes sense, but it doesn't convince me he has a tight relationship with the gang. And his squirrel side-kick is annoyingly unnecessary.

The yellow dragon took the cake, who even knows what his purpose was. He was shoehorned in at the end, while the other dragons received a proper introduction, backstory, personality and explanation concerning their powers. White dragon has a dragon hand, blue dragon has dragon eyes, green dragon one dragon leg. What does the yellow one have? A dragon dick? They inspect his body for 2 seconds and then leave it, yet this little useless twerp had the nerve to ask Yona what battle she wants to fight using "their" strength.
Good question, but why does it come from a stranger who's worth is unproven?

Then for princess Yona herself; I like the idea of her. She's a slightly hotheaded, yet naive and kind teenager, who's upbringing left her without any skills. The only thing she has going for is her drive. And that's fine, but often she appeared like this standard nice girl-character you often see in fiction. A pretty, boring face all the men swoon over.
I loved her when she was being silly, but not when she played this smiling, soft-spoken everyone's-friend.

Earlier I wrote I didn't understand the problem with the kingdom's take-over, and perhaps that was the point the series tried to convey. Yona herself learns that many villages were suffering under her father's reign. Being smiley and peace-loving doesn't fix the real problems out there, and sometimes a sword needs to be raised to get things done. Interesting message that's sadly enough true.

So far my opinion. It's worth a watch and I hope a second season will come someday.

(Average+) Given

Series in one sentence:
Two guys who're in love with each other talk about performing music and pretty much nothing else.

Series in more sentences:
A timid high school boy is still dealing with the death of a loved one a year later, but becomes inspired to play guitar and join a band when he hears a stranger perform.
While getting lessons, the two grow fond of each other, though the other needs time to figure out his feelings, as his crush is a boy.

Everything in this anime moved slowly and the guitar lessons/band aspect is the most boring part, ironically. It didn't progress the relationship of the two main characters in any meaningful manner.
I liked learning about everyone's backstory and watching their relationship grow, but the rest was dominating and testing my patience.

The two boys are alright together, but their interactions don't excite me all that much, since it rarely concerns their feelings for each other. It's a half-baked romance, and most of the story is about the band itself.

While the series politely handles its subjects, there's nothing in Given that invites me to revisit it in the future. The ending was, what the kids call, "meh". It really should've ended after they performed their song and the two main characters kissed.

There'll be people who like this despite its flaws, I'm sure.

(Average+) A Centaur's Life

Series in one sentence:
An Everyone-but-the-centaur's Life.

Series in more sentences:
Human evolution took a different route on this version of Earth, and spawned a large collection of mythological creatures who all work and live together the best they can.
The setting is a "normal" high school, where three friends deal with common situations, though not always in the same manner.

The show grabbed my attention whenever it discussed the world and different species inhabiting it, but the rest hardly made it worth watching. It didn't know if it wanted to seriously explore itself, be a random high school adventure with lesbian undertones, or focus on the life of arguably the least interesting character. Not talking about the centaur, though. Why is this called "A Centaur's Life" if the angel character and her family kept getting their own episodes?

The "romance" the show started off with never went anywhere, and the moments of smut were distracting and pointless. Why are these girls looking and judging each other's vagina? I'm not interested in this, I wanted to learn about them and their species.

I was about to give up on the series, until it introduced the snake student and I decided to stick around a bit longer. Afterwards, more boredom, until it suddenly threw this serious cultural conflict in our faces, followed by a reimagining of a World War 2 working camp. This episode stuck out like a sore thumb, and yet, this thumb was the best thing A Centaur's Life offered.
But, as expected, there's no follow-up and the next episode was just more stupid shit.

There's this whole idea going on in the show that argues that slightly looking at someone the wrong way can be interpreted as racism and end you up being taken to a correctional facility, but the show does NOTHING with this, ever. It only keeps bringing it up. What a waste.
Also, if the world they live in is so thin-skinned that a centaur can't carry her own friends on her back by her free will, how come there exists a popular movie that portrays snake people as monsters?

Would not watch again or recommend.

(Average+) Magical Sempai

Series in one sentence:
For my next trick, pick a card! OOH, MY SKIRT HAS SUDDENLY FALLEN DOWN!

Series in more sentences:
A high school boy looking for a club to join comes across the ignored magic club and its sole member; an overly zealous amateur magician. While the group offers little and the girl even less, she keeps getting him involved with her routines and an odd friendship grows between the two.

This show was made to please desperate perverts, I don't have another word to describe the target audience, but the characters and their designs were still pretty fun. They made it tolerable sitting through the dumb excuses to show off the magician's body. But if this anime trope bothers you, you'll likely won't get through the first episode.

A pretty good show, regardless, but won't watch again.

(Average+) The Rising of the Shield Hero

Series in one sentence:
Goofy from Kingdom Hearts is a loser.

Series in more sentences:
A lazy college student is suddenly warped to an RPG-like world, together with three strangers, each from an alternate version of Earth. They're told to be heroes a prophecy says will save their world from upcoming doom, and are informed they can't go home as long the attacks are going on.

The other three summons are gifted real weapons to work with, while Naofumi carries a shield and can only be a support character, making it hard for him to level up without help.
As the shield hero, he receives no respect from his surroundings, and when his short-lived teammate accuses him of molesting her, things go downhill even more and he's forced to purchase a sickly slave to fight his battles for him and give him that wanted chance of getting back home.

A simple adventure that's easy to follow, but it's weird to see the main character start off optimistic and youthful, but the rest of the anime be dark and brooding, even after things have improved and he's surrounded by people who worship the ground he shits on.
Let's say he aged 20 years after that false accusation and never recovered, I don't know.

The entire "devil shield" plot was wasted screentime as well. Every time Naofumi called upon these dark powers, the same drama happened, as if nobody learned from last time. It decreased the seriousness of it for me.  
It goes like this: Naofumi allows himself to get swayed by the evil voice that accompanies this power and becomes evil himself, even though he's only ever targeted his rage at the beasts he was already fighting. Still, everyone around him acts like he has become a problem and shout out at him. After only a few seconds of this, he's reminded his life isn't shit at all and comes back to reality. The end.

Why were his teammates so on edge every time? Just don't touch him and let the guy take care of the fight, seriously. I couldn't muster a shred of care for any of these scenes.

What else is there to mention.. perhaps I would've liked the bird to have stayed a non-speaking bird that isn't after Naofumi's dick, and more explanation as to why the shield hero is so hated, since the latter wasn't really explored.

Season 2, I guess?

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5-5-2022 UPDATE:
Holy damn, season 2, I can't watch this anymore, stopped at episode 5.

It immediately throws you into a boring, basic adventure, wherein none of the characters say or do anything to make you want to stick around. It relies on the audience caring about this randomly inserted turtle minion with an existential crisis, as for the even less interesting green-haired girl, it was laughable.

Lowering my original score, I'm not watching the rest. It had 5 whole episodes to reel me in, that's about 2 hours, but offered me nothing. A possible/probable season 3 I won't visit.

(Average+) If It's for My Daughter, I'd Even Defeat a Demon Lord

Series in one sentence:
Little devil girl who looks nothing like a devil turns every adult man into a sappy fool.

Series in more sentences:
A young and talented adventurer finds a little girl during one of his travels and learns she's an exiled devil, more importantly, her father has died and she's alone. The girl's situation and trauma plays on his heart strings and he decides to take her in himself. 

Everything she does excites him and he becomes addicted to her love, while she does everything she can think of to please him.

For starters, I didn't think the girl was all that cute. She was very "moany". Maybe Japan finds that kind of voice acting cute, but it never ceases to annoy me. Not every facial expression needs to be accompanied with a sound, you know. But I got the point; the girl is smoll and innocent and all that.
To see the guy go absolutely berserk over how cute she was was funny, but it would've been funnier if I knew what kind of person he used to be before that period. I can't even tell you if he has a personality, besides being in love with his new daughter.

As for the story itself, it was basic. The first few episodes were great; here the girl was young and only spoke a few words, but the moment she could speak and went to school, things became pretty boring.
Here we have a mysterious child, described to be a devil, with a backstory attached to her and her race, and the anime explores none of it. It only teases you by sharing a sentence's worth of info now and then. 

Only sometimes a real conflict happens, like people trying to kidnap her for money, but every other time we get plot elements like a female friend getting pregnant, a stupid whiny wolf baby who won't stop screaming when she doesn't get her way, or the girl showing worry she won't get to be with her foster father when an adult.. riveting.
One episode had these extremely lengthy scenes that showed these two doing absolutely fucking nothing. It hurt my soul, like the creators didn't know or care how to progress the story that day.

I guess it's not a waste of time, you can watch this and be entertained, I'm just a bit disappointed the show didn't "do" anything truly exciting.

(Average+) Makai Ouji: Devils and Realist

Series in one sentence:
Alright, I see people flying in the air shooting beams from their hands, but it's all atoms and tricks!

Series in more sentences:
A studious orphan from a prestige, but bankrupt family slowly finds himself surrounded by demons, who argue he's the descendant of King Solomon from the Bible with the power to appoint one of them as the new leader of Hell.

His mind only accepts logic based in realism, though, and he rejects all supernatural occurrences that stare him in the face.

It always hurts to sit through a series that's nothing but missed potential and loose ends. It had alot to offer, but couldn't explain the basics of the basics. Like, what exactly was the relationship between Solomon and the devil, Dantalion? Why did the guy like him so much? What exactly was his purpose as his servant, was he just bringing the guy tea every day? It all seemed pretty gay, yet the flashback scenes didn't give a lengthy and natural look into their past interactions and the relationship Dantalion has with his present day "reincarnation" is non-existent.

Said subject, William, goes through absolutely no character development. He stays his atheistic, angry self, making the last few minutes of the final episode pretty meaningless. Why is he feeling gloomy over the disappearance of characters he hardly interacted with, or always scolded into oblivion? He never showed gratitude for the many times his ass was saved or even said thank you to Dantalion for paying his school fees. It's the one concern the character has all throughout the series and he won't even accept the gift with a smile or take the offer a second time. William is all about using people to get a leg up, so why didn't he do it here?
No noticeable friendships were established between him and the other demons, and the one who's supposedly the most important in the story, Dantalion, got the least screen time out of everyone. Usually he was hanging out with the school's jocks. Those guys were his friends, not William.

Characters I couldn't care less about kept getting more dialogue and appearances; one episode even stars a woman never seen before to tell this hasty love story with another undercover demon character attending William's school. I don't care about this, damnit Makai Ouji, and neither do you when looking at the fact this man hardly makes an appearance worth mentioning after all that. The woman is never seen or mentioned again, either.

This anime made me feel so unfulfilled.

(Good) She and Her Cat: Everything Flows

Series in one sentence:
She and Her Depressing Life: Everything Blows.

Series in more sentences:
The story of a young girl trying to take her first steps into adulthood, narrated by her old cat. Sometimes a description can be that simple.

Seeing the amount of episodes and the running time of each made me skeptical it could tell a story worth telling, but this is a very well-paced, inoffensive, emotional little series. Or short movie, rather.

I don't know what else to add, no regrets.

(Good) Cannon Busters

Series in one sentence:
Stinky man won't die.

Series in more sentences:
A wanted man who can't die is visited by two robots who wish for his help finding a lost prince from a recently destroyed kingdom. "Philly the Kid" wastes no time telling them not to be interested, but can't seem to lose the company, and befriending him proves a bigger challenge than finding the prince. 

But the robots have a simple understanding of human emotions and stay undiscouragable.

Despite the quick backstory each character got, I can't say I felt emotionally invested in any of them. The story arc of Sam the robot I found most interesting, but it includes the stupid, pampered prince, and of course our rude opportunistic main character. Who would've died many years ago, if it weren't for his gift/curse. I really had to agree with one of the villains when he told Philly off about never having avenged his parents, but the guy didn't even respond to these facts. I guess he realized it was true when he changed his objective, but I didn't really see a change of heart occur.

Other than that, I liked the art style and the sudden ways Philly kept dying. Some were horrifying as well, and nobody cared. 

I think, for a first season, the anime did a good job setting up the characters and keeping me entertained. The robots were overly cheerful and would not pick up on certain comments; they were one of the best written robots in fiction I've ever seen. 

I hope to see more character development in the next season.

(Good) Poyopoyo Kansatsu Nikki

Series in one sentence:
Ball cat with Pikachu voice gets adopted by fool with fondness for balls.

Series in more sentences:
A young woman wakes up on top of an oddly round cat after a drunken night and decides to adopt him. Follow the life of Poyo and his new family and friends.

Simple and innocent fun. Except for the black cat with the personality of an unneutered dog. If it wasn't for that beast, I'd say this series was meant for small children.. maybe it is, regardless.

There are alot of episodes, but the short running time helped me fly through it. There's no deep story being told and the show's only purpose is to be cute and quirky. It succeeded in that, so what more is there to want.

BYE BYE, MOE.

(Average+) The Helpful Fox Senko-san

Series in one sentence:
Child wife gleefully infantilizes a 40-something man with a fur fetish.

Series in more sentences:
A fox demigod regrets her failure to save the life of the human who treated her wounds back in feudal times, and sees her second chance with his look-a-like relative in modern time Japan. 
She intends to serve and pamper the overworked man for all eternity.

Difficult to say what I thought about this. It was scratching the surface of pedophilia, though the anime managed to dance around it every time any of the characters did or said something inappropriate.
The man's tail obsession and narration during some of the pampering was weird to sit through, though. I think it would've been better if he simply liked pets in general and didn't comment on the "soft hands" of a creature that in every way looks like a human child.

His moments of infantilization weren't charming to me, either. I understood the anime's message that sometimes adults should revisit their childhood, but you're able to get pampered without lying down in a fetus position on the lap of a little girl..
Despite all this, I liked the guy. He had a nice design and his voice actor was pleasant to listen to. The fox demon, on the other hand, was what fox demons always are in animes; a little girl who looks 10. The show kept mentioning she was over 800 years old as an out-of-jail free card, but I think would've helped more if her voice actor was an older-sounding woman.

Throughout the series the question was raised what the relationship between this fox and man is, and I still don't know. I really don't want these two to be dating, but in a way, it's what the show encourages? Yet it isn't? Confusing. 
The fox's past was endearing, but very little time was spent on showing it.

This anime had a full 5 stars at Crunchyroll, and this surprises me. It had the potential to earn that rating, but didn't deliver, in my opinion. It's a 3 to 3 and a half, really.

(Average) Ao-chan Can't Study!

Series in one sentence:
I like this boy I don't like, I hope he pins me down, but doesn't.

Series in more sentences:
The embarrassed daughter of an erotic novel writer has given herself the task to only focus on her studies and not even think about boys, until one confesses his love for her. Though hesitant at first, his patience allows him to stay by her side and she becomes more desperate for his touch the more time progresses. 

This could've been a whole lot funnier. I think the intention was to give viewers a look into the life of an imaginative teenager high on raging hormones, but in the end, I didn't think it was an interesting watch.

That's all I have to say.

(Good) That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime

Series in one sentence:
A guy with the personality of a bland slime becomes a bland slime.

Series in more sentences:
A man is killed in broad daylight and wakes up as a blob of slime in another world. With his basic set of powers, he manages to grow into one of the strongest creatures to roam this strange planet, and with the kindness he shows to other races, earns himself a devoted following.

I loved it, but as the series progressed, it became hard to ignore how unappealing and overpowered the main character was. He ended wars, prejudice, and saved children who were doomed to die and nobody else managed to figure out how to save before he showed up. Jesus Gary Stu Christ.
Being overpowered is not a character killer, but he hardly had a personality to make up for it. He's just your typical witty, helpful leader-person, with the occasional perversion and groaning. But liking sexy women does not make you interesting, spoiler alert.

Everyone fell in love with the guy upon meeting him, while many of the things he did could've easily been misinterpret as an act of villainy. I'm surprised the anime didn't take that route, just to spice things up. But there was no spice, no hardships, and the main character stopped being fun to watch.
For example, he brutally kills someone's father in front of him and later eats a human girl who was last seen to be alive and speaking; yet the son doesn't show a hint of anger towards him, ever, and none of the adventurers who used to travel with the girl questioned the slime's claim she "wanted to get eaten by him".
Who in their right mind would believe someone would make such a demented request? Why did they trust his words? Because of his watery eyes? He could've been a sneaky dictator who killed this girl as his opportunity to aquire a human form, but none of the characters even entertain the possibility.

No matter what this slime does, he can't to do wrong, even when he's being a complete douche. There's this powerful young demon lord he befriends later on, who absolutely adores him, but he more often scolds her than anything else. He doesn't even want to be friends with her because she's nice, but because he wants to stay on her good side, since she's probably one of the few who can rip him to pieces.

I also can't ignore the non-existent romance that was predicted for him by this random elf girl, as if it was going to be this big thing in the series. Supposedly, the human he ate was his one true love -don't even care about spoiling this- but these two only shared a minute together, whereafter she got a seizure and died. There was no relationship, even though he still talks about her as if she made an emotional impact on him.
He has a tighter relationship with the goblin boy he's been mistreating the entire series long. The fact this child could've died at multiple occasions because of his negligence is also shrugged off. Where are his parents? Why is no one angry for him?

The last few episodes were the worst, they could not grab my attention. If the creators had episodes to spare, why couldn't they've expanded on the slime and girl, or the group she travelled with?
The last episode was an extremely boring summary of all that happened and I'd rather read a Wiki page written by a 12-year-old than sit through that again.

If there are more episodes planned, I'll watch and likely enjoy them, but I hope these kind of flaws won't repeat, because they ruined what was otherwise a fantastic series.

(Good) Back Street Girls: Gokudolls

Series in one sentence:
Go to Thailand for your breasts.

Series in more sentences:
A trio of devoted gangsters mess up their assignment and receive an ultimatum from their boss. Either they give up their old lives and change themselves into cute young girls for his wish to manage a pop band, or die a slow death.
The men agree, but struggle every day trying to be something they're not.

Cheap animation, but I liked it for the most part. The mob boss' obsession with sending every man that angers him to Thailand for a sex operation was weird, but it's not like the series wants to be realistic. It's very obviously an absurd comedy.

I don't know what else to say. It's a quick watch, have fun, but be ready for some perversion.

(Good) Heroman

Series in one sentence:
Child gets a Ben10 arm cask.

Series in more sentences:
Joey takes a broken toy robot from the trash and fixes it up, but strange lightning strikes it and turns it into a giant living robot for him to control.
Soon after, hostile aliens show up on Earth and he finds out only his robot is able to defeat them, but the American government doesn't trust the unknown hero who took it upon himself to help them and an investigation is started.

I struggled rating this show. The story is fantastic, the animation is good, the characters fulfill their purpose, the voices sound fresh, but there always came a moment in an episode where I felt restless. Touching the edge of boredom, even. I don't know if that had something to do with my mood at the time of watching, but I wished for more robot action. I don't think it's fair to give the show an average+ because my bloodlust wasn't satiated, though.

I do think I would've liked this more if the main character was someone else. I understand why they went with the prepubescent underdog orphan -children connect more with children, that's why most main characters in cartoon shows are children- but Joey is too much of a bland good guy. A gorgeous rich girl is all over this little boy, while she looks way older than him. Everyone looks way older than him.
The main character should've been that absolute sex god, Psy. He could've been the underdog orphan with the robot, he even has a history with the girl's brother who's to blame for his permanently injured leg. A loser who became a loser thanks to his bully.
Joey's only "problem" is that he's a bit feminine and wimpy, though I can't recall the bully ever commenting on that or what it is that makes him unworthy of his sister.

Anyway, if you love superhero stories, it's a good one.

(Good) Charlotte

Series in one sentence:
A weak-willed teenage boy sitting on the edge of becoming a hero or a villain has to save everyone.

Series in more sentences:
A teenage boy with the superpower to control people abuses it to get high grades in school, but is soon visited by a group of other teenagers who also have powers. They wish for him to attend a secret school filled with gifted children and stay there until his power fades away and he's safe from being targeted as a government test subject.

While there are many dangerous and useful powers out there, he happens to possess one that surpasses them all.
 

I enjoyed this, bold choices were made, though I think some of the relationships needed more development to make these choices be more impactful. Still, it was a good, heavy story that made proper use of the amount of episodes ordered for it.

The main character is a slightly selfish person who's proven to lose himself easily when things go sour, but it was portrayed in a way you couldn't entirely hate him for it. I feel the need to mention this, as I've seen enough TV shows fail at this.
He has a good side and listens to people, even when he's at his very worst -as long they put effort in him and are genuine about their care. Which is a fair demand.

I feel there's enough to critique about the series, but I think it all points to the same thing: the series could've easily been 2 seasons long and given smaller characters more screen time.

In any case, worth checking out.