This is just a note saying that I’ve re-scored my review for DearS.
You can see the full review here.
The new scores for this series are:
Animation: 3/5
Story: 3/5
Music: 3/5
Dub: 3/5
Series: 2/5
Category Archives: Anime Reviews
Oh! My Goddess (OVA) – Anime Review Update
This is just a note saying that I’ve re-scored my review for Oh! My Goddess (OVA).
You can see the full review here.
The new scores for this series are:
Animation: 4/5
Story: 3/5
Music: 4/5
Dub: 3/5
Overall: 3/5
Fruits Basket – Anime Review Update
This is just a note saying that I’ve re-scored my anime review of Fruits Basket.
You can see the full review here.
The new scores for this series are:
Animation: 4/5
Story: 4/5
Music: 5/5
Dub: 4/5
Series: 4/5
Sora o Miageru Shojo no Hitomi ni Utsuru Sekai – Anime Review
The Essentials
Name: Sora o Miageru Shojo no Hitomi ni Utsuru Sekai, Munto TV, The World Reflected in the Eyes of a Girl Looking Up at the Heavens
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure
Episodes: 9
Aired: January 13, 2009 – March 10, 2009
Based On: Munto OVAs from Kyoto Animation
Director: Yoshiji Kigami
Produced By: Kyoto Animation
US Distribution By: Not Licensed
Cast
| Character | Japanese Cast | English Cast (N/A) |
|---|---|---|
| Yumemi Hidaka: | Mai Aizawa | |
| Munto: | Daisuke Ono | |
| Ichiko Ono: | Chika Horikawa | |
| Suzume Imamura: | Hiromi Konno | |
| Gntarl: | Norio Wakamoto | |
| Gass: | Tetsu Inada |
Review
Sora o Miageru Shojo no Hitomi ni Utsuru Sekai, or Munto TV for short, is a story about a seemingly simple girl, Yumemi, with an amazing gift that no one else has: the ability to see floating islands in the sky. Little does she know that these floating islands are actually the land masses belonging the various nations of the heavens, and in particular the Magical Kingdom, who is led by it’s king, Munto.
Long ago, there was a war between the nations of heaven and the “lower world” over Akuto – a power source which can be used to create virtually anything – including new heavenly beings. However, a consequence of this war is that the heavens created a space/time barrier between itself and the lower world, cutting off the flow of Akuto to the heavens. Now, several millenia later, the kingdoms of heaven are running out of Akuto, threatening to send the heavens crashing down on top of the lower world (modern day Earth), destroying both worlds. As a result, a war as broken out between the Magical Kingdom and an alliance of the remaining magical nations. As all hope appears to fade, Munto sees a vision with the aid of the royal seer – a vision that tells him that a girl from the lower world – Yumemi – has the ability to once again reconnect the two worlds, saving both.
It should be noted that this series is effectively the two Munto OVA series remastered, with what amounts to another OVA-length story added to the end. The series breaks pretty cleaningly into thirds: the first three episodes being the first OVA, the next 3 episodes being the second OVA, and the final 3 episodes being new material added to the story. However, Kyoto Animation merely uses remastered footage of the OVAs instead of reanimating them. As a result, The animation quality differs between each of the three sections of the series, which may or may not be distracting (though I think it’s less distracting if one knows this fact going in). Also, as should be obvious by now, despite being 9 episodes, one is really only getting about 3 to 3 1/2 episodes of new material if one had already seen the Munto OVAs previously.
Also, the story is incomplete at the end of the series, with a movie conclusion called Tenjo-nin to Akuto-nin Saigo no Tatakai, or Last War of Heavenloids and Akutoloids, finishing the series off
The series is rather flawed, given the before mentioned reuse of old footage, not enough new footage, and being short despite the fact that they’re using a movie to finish the story off. One kind has to ask what the point of the whole endevar was. Why not just do a movie sequel and be done with it? Having said that, I still think it’s respectable watch, though if one is familar with the original OVAs, one can pretty much skip the first 5 1/2 episodes or so.
Scores
Story: 4/5
Animation: 3/5
Music: 5/5
English Dubs: N/A
Overall: 3/5
First Watched: January – March 2009
Do I Own: No
Do I Recommend: Yes
CLANNAD (TV) – Anime Review
The Essentials
Name: CLANNAD; CLANNAD: After Story (Season 2)
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Romance
Episodes: 44 + 3 specials + 1 recap
Aired: October 4, 2007 – March 27, 2008; October 3, 2008 – March 26, 2009
Based On: CLANNAD dating sim by Key/Visual Arts
Director: Tatsuya Ishihara
Produced By: Kyoto Animation
US Distribution By: ADV Films/Sentai Filmworks
Cast
| Character | Japanese Cast | English Cast (N/A) |
|---|---|---|
| Tomoya Okazaki: | Yuuichi Nakamura | |
| Nagisa Furukawa: | Mai Nakahara | |
| Kyou Fujibayashi: | Ryou Hirohashi | |
| Youhei Sunohara: | Daisuke Sakaguchi | |
| Kotomi Ichinose: | Mamiko Noto | |
| Tomoyo Sakagami: | Houko Kuwashima | |
| Sanae Furukawa: | Kikuko Inoue | |
| Akio Furukawa: | Ryotaro Okiayu | |
| Ryou Fujibayashi: | Akemi Kanda | |
| Yukine Miyazawa: | Atsuko Enomoto | |
| Ushio Okazaki: | Satomi Koorogi | |
| Yusuke Yoshino: | Hikaru Midorikawa | |
| Fuko Ibuki: | Ai Nonaka |
Review
CLANNAD, and it’s second season, CLANNAD: After Story, is about two high school students – Nagisa and Tomoya – who each are having their own problems in life, but are able to lift each other up out of those circumstances together.
Nagisa is a sickly and shy girl who has been held back in her senior year of high school due to missing much of the year with a mysterious illness. This, on top of her social timidness, has resulted in her not having all that many friends. Tomoya, meanwhile, has been leading a dismal life, living with his drunkard father and being looked down upon by the rest of the students in the school as the resident deliquient. However, one day early Tomoya’s senior year (and Nagisa’s repeat of hers), the two run into each other on a hill leading to school, and their extroardinary tale begins.
Along the way, the two hang out with a variety of students at the school, including the student representative twins, the timid Ryou and the tomboy and violent Kyou, the super genius Kotomi, ex-gang fighter Tomoyo, as well as Tomoya’s troublemaker-in-chief friend Sunohara, and the always hospitable Yukine. The two are also encouraged by Nagisa’s parents, Akio and Sanae, whom Tomoya soon starts living with due to his own domistic situation.
The first season of CLANNAD is mostly spent running through the 5 main girl’s arcs, though only two of the girls, Fuko and Kotomi, have true and distinct story arcs per se, with Tomoyo’s, Kyou’s, and Nagisa’s arcs all essentially running parallel with each other near the end of the series. The second season begins by running through short story arcs for some of the minor characters, before jumping into the beef of the story, which is Tomoya and Nagisa’s post-high school relationship.
CLANNAD is replete with comedic and dramatic story points which make this series very entertaining to watch (and the overall storytelling helps as well). The show covers enough ground that, even though it’s 44 episodes long (at least in the series proper), it never really stalls or hangs around any given conflict too long, keeping the series fresh as it progresses.
My only problem with the series is it’s ending, which I personally think invalidates the last 6 episodes of the series, which happen to be perhaps the most powerful episodes of the entire series. However, your mileage may vary when it comes to whether one likes or dislikes the ultimate ending. Luckily, there is still more than enough in the rest of the series that the ending didn’t dampen my overall enjoyment of the series too much.
As is usual with Kyoto Animation series, the music and animation quality are amazing. My only complaint is that the series, as aired on TV, is in 4:3 aspect ratio, while a re-airing in it’s proper 16:9 ratio didn’t occur until 3 or 4 weeks later, though the 16:9 version should be fully available by now (or for purchase from ADV Films for the first season).
Overall, if you’re looking for a good romance-drama with a healthy dose of added comedy as well and want something that doesn’t totally confirm to the norm in the genre, you may like CLANNAD.
Scores
Story: 5/5
Animation: 5/5
Music: 5/5
English Dubs: N/A
Overall: 5/5
First Watched: October 2007 – March 2009
Do I Own: Yes
Do I Recommend: Yes