Anime: Sola
Genre: Fantasy

Initial Thoughts:

It’s somewhat hard to categorize this anime. It’s like a mix of fantasy and fiction, but not quite science fiction. This show did start out relatively slow. All the characters are introduced throughout the first episode and of course, nothing is really explained fully. We have the main character, Yorito, who likes to take pictures of the sky and then we have this mysterious girl who he finds early in the morning before sunrise named Matsuri trying to get drinks out of a vending machine. The show goes on with the daily activities of Yorito. We find out that he has an ill sister in the hospital that he visits daily. The show doesn’t reveal what it’s all about until the end of the first episode when Matsuri is sleeping inside a church undergoing construction as another character goes on the attack with a sword and activating lights to shine through the stained glass. Immediately, I figured that Matsuri does not favor light and we find out in the next episode she is not human and cannot survive in sunlight.

So here we have two characters: one who loves the sky and one who cannot experience a blue sky in fear of getting destroyed by sunlight. So there’s the dilemma and I’m sure the situation is only going to get worse and the two are going to fall for each other. So it’s a fantasy/fiction/slice of life/romance themed anime. Not too shabby.

So what do I think?

I think it’s worth watching. I like the characters so far, except for Yorito’s sister because she lacks any emotion whatsoever. And it’s just really annoying. I hate those types of characters. Most likely though, this will be a short anime series. I do hope that it’s longer, but for some reason, a good chunk of anime that I favor always seem to end after 12-13 episodes. Very frustrating. Anyway, animation quality is nice and the opening song is pretty good too. So it’s another anime to start watching.

Anime: Darker Than Black
Genre: Science Fiction

Initial Thoughts:

The title alone already struck a chord with me on this one. For a show to have such a bold statement of a title means it’s going to be badass. And I wasn’t wrong. There’s some crazy stuff going on in this show. First we have this city, who has built a fake sky to seal off remnants of the past. Then we have these people with powers called Contractors. They have specialized powers, such as being able to control gravity, super strength, flight, etc. The price for these powers are all different. After a power is used, the contractor must do a specific thing or is subject to a consequence. In the opening episode, one contractor can control gravity, and his price are having his fingers all fucked up. The main character seems to also be a contractor with a bulletproof jacket and some wires that he uses as his weaponry to kill other contractors.

So far, it’s not explained what motives the main character has, but he hates contractors. That’s all I know so far. But from what I can tell, the story is going to involve whatever is being covered up by the fake wall and all these different parties will probably want the same thing. It’s just a matter of who gets to it first.

So what do I think?

It has yet to disappoint me. I saw a beating heart get teleported out of someone’s body in the second episode. That’s craziness. Plenty of action, lots of explaining to do, and not a very clear understanding of how things came to be, all means that this will be a very long series. I hope. But pick this one up. Chances are it’s going to be a popular series.

Anime: Claymore
Genre: Action, Fantasy

Initial Thoughts:

Before I ever download any new anime shows, I always want to look for at least one screenshot of how the anime looks like. I was already sold on the animation quality alone. The story is equally as good. We have a medieval world plagued by monsters and the only way to defeat these monsters are to send these women who are half human and half monster with silver colored eyes. They can sense where these monsters are and are strong enough to kill them. They carry large claymore swords and therefore people name them Claymores. Very interesting watch indeed, because I know there’s plenty of fighting involved.

So enter the main character Clare. She appears to this one town who’s had some townspeople killed by a monster. The town requested for her assistance. While everyone fears her, a young teenage boy finds interest in her. He follows her around town to learn more about her. In the end, she ends up saving him from the monster. The townspeople fear that this boy, Raki, might also turn into a monster so he is casted out of the town. He ends up following Clare on her journeys.

So what I do think?

Awesome show so far after three episodes. Good characters and good animation quality. It’s like an action, detective show because it involves finding the monster, called a Yoma, and the monster hides in human form. Sometimes it could be fairly obvious, and other times, you’re guessing who’s the enemy. Once the monster is found, the action begins, and so on. There’s plenty of character backgrounds to go on, plus watching the opening sequence, there are still many characters that have yet to be introduced, so I foresee a relatively long series. Probably a full 26 episode series. My recommendation: pick this one up. It has a lot of potential and it has yet to disappoint me.

Anime: El Cazador de la Bruja (The Hunter of the Witch)
Genre: Action, Fantasy

Initial Thoughts:

We start out with a bounty hunter named Nadie who finds her target, but so does a whole bunch of other bounty hunters. In the end, Nadie decides to help her target after talking to the person who has been taking care of her. So this target is this girl named Ellis. Ellis has special powers and different parties want to capture her for various reasons. There’s also a handful of mysterious characters all over the show so it’s hard to say who’s on who’s side.

So what do I think?

It’s interesting so far. I’m not sure how to put it, but the type of characters and the numerous characters all seem to make this show something not to overlook. Maybe I’m just a sucker for science-fiction like action anime with plenty of room for character development and character backgrounds. However, it does feel like a 12 episode series despite all of it. Usually a show with a direct purpose, which is the case for this one, ends pretty quickly. Nonetheless, this is another anime I would recommend from what I’ve seen so far.

Anime: Hayate no Gotoku! (Hayate the Combat Butler)
Genre: Comedy

Initial Thoughts:

This was just another one of those animes that I went ahead and picked up without having any initial expectations. All I knew was that the female character in the show was a tsundere type character. It’s always a good story to watch when it comes to these types of characters. Other tsundere type characters? Rin Tohsaka, Shana, Louise (Zero no Tsukaima) to name a few.

Anyway, the story starts out really weird, where we meet the main character Hayate who has had bad experiences with Santa himself. This Santa refuses to give him any presents and Hayate decides early in life that he’ll earn everything in life. His parents are unemployed as they pursue impossible dreams and wasting all their money and in the end they run off leaving Hayate with a huge debt to pay off to the Yakuza. Hayate, not knowing what to do, finds a girl by herself in the park and decides to kidnap her for ransom. He confronts her, but she misunderstands what he’s saying. In the end, he can’t go through with his plans and instead saves her from other kidnappers. She turns out to be super wealthy and she employs him as her butler.

Some funny stuff after three episodes so far. Could it top School Rumble? No, but it’s still funny. It’s all about misunderstandings, and this show’s internal plot is driven by it. So it should be interesting.

So what do I think so far?

I say pick it up and give it a shot. This series has potential for 26 episodes, but chances are it’s going to be a short 12 episode series. I’ll definitely stick with this series because it’s been a while since I’ve last seen an acceptable anime comedy. Hopefully it doesn’t let me down.

Anime: Lucky Star
Genre: Comedy, Slice of Life

Initial Thoughts:

So I picked this one up for viewing as just a trial show. The main incentive for me to even get the first episode was because it was being subbed by a familiar sub group. The show has one crazy opening sequence, but I didn’t really like it. It was different from the norm, so I’ll give them that. As for the story, there’s really no story. It truly is a show that is just about life. So we have this one girl named Konata Izumi who excels in sports and academics, but doesn’t want to do any more than she has to because she rather spends her time playing games and watching anime. For some reason, this strikes a chord with my life.

There are its funny moments, but a great disappointment occurred in the first episode when the show latched on to this one scene and it just went on forever. Also, I’m not a fan of chibi drawn characters, which this show is completely drawn as throughout.

So what do I think?

So far I watched two episodes. It’s not bad, but it’s not great. Probably something I’ll discontinue if the humor factor does not get any better or if I miss an episode. As for a recommendation, if you want to watch it, be my guest. It’s a very neutral and very niche show. A lot of people are turned off by it, while others love it. Basically, it will be a hit or miss.