With the start of classes in August, it was also the start of the Credens Justitiam campaign within the tabletop club at my college. As some of you would know, my friend and I have been trying to find a way to add a Madoka Magica feel into already-made rulebook systems, but our first attempt was basically a failure. However, over the summer, my tabletop club president placed it upon himself to make his own Puella Magi Madoka Magica rulebook.

His rulebook was greatly inspired by the Magical Burst RPG… like seriously, a lot of inspiration. Under his permission, I’m allowed to post up his rulebook onto this blog. So, here is the Credens Justitiam 1.0 rulebook. Once again, all credit to the rulebook creation is to my tabletop club president and the respective sources he used.

For those who want to make their own campaign or be a player of someone hosting a campaign, below is the basic gist of my character sheet.

Name: Kitsune Shinoki (Sherry Kanazawa)

Age: 14

Weapon: Nunchuck

Wish: Revenge

Magical "Element": Ninja

Character Background: Sherry Kanazawa was domestically
abused by her parents and also raped by her father. Having
no sibling or friend to lean on or protect, she escaped to the
mountains nearby her home. Barely living on river water and
berries, a mountain dweller, named Terryl Shinoki, decides to
take Sherry under his care. After two years living with
Terryl and learning how to take care of herself in the
wild, Sherry started to open up once again and took
the alias, Kitsune Shinoki, to forget her past. However, one
day, a stranger was walking up the cliff where they were
living and was attempting to commit suicide. At this time,
Sherry was able to see weird magical creatures and
recognized the mark on the stranger's neck was similar to
the magical creatures. Sherry urged Terryl to keep away
from the stranger, but Terryl still tried to prevent the
suicide. Angered, the controlled stranger pulled Terryl
down the cliff as well. Devastated, Sherry met a strange
creature that called himself, Kyubey. He told her that
other than reviving Terryl, she could wish for something
greater in his stead. Influenced by this little creature,
she mustered up the courage and anger she had and made
her wish: Revenge against witches for Terryl.

Mundane Attributes:

Strength - 2
Smarts - 1
Speed - 3

Magical Attributes:

Magic - 2
Heart - 1
Fury - 3

Powers:

Superspeed

Soul Gem Design: Earring Stud (Right)

Corruption Points: 64

Now, your character background doesn’t have to be this grim dark, but I just felt like playing a character like this for the campaign. And I know my character basically wished to be a magical girl. That’s not the point… Anyway, your character sheet may not look exactly like mine depending on what restrictions your GM will place on you as well.

As for this post stating Part 1 in the title, that’s because I plan on posting on how the campaign I’m in is working. Hopefully, I’ll be able to write that post up soon before I become overwhelmed with classes again. Also, it has been more than a month since we started the campaign. Since the original rendition, there have been many changes to the playing system and so this is the most edited version of the rulebook. If there is any changes to it, I will notify what changes are made in a new post as well as more details on how the campaign is going.

Anyway, if you or a friend decide to make their own campaign and come across some questions or problems using this rulebook, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll try to get to it ASAP. If you feel like this rulebook isn’t good at all, then feel free to leave a comment about your disappointment as well. Also, I’m open to any suggestions. Ultimately, if you plan on playing with your friends using this rulebook, thank you very much and have fun =)

Once again, I let my macro slip. Reason: Classes, of course. This entire week, I’ve been on Fall break so I’ve had the time to catch up on all of the anime I’ve been behind on as well as take a peek on the episodes currently out from the Fall Season 2011 set. For once, I’ll be on time for a legitimate First Impressions post so let’s get this started. (Note: More information on how the blog will run during the school year at the end of the post)

C Cube - Semi-high hopes – At first, I wasn’t all that into it. The previews did catch my eye, but watching the first episode didn’t exactly pull me into wanting to watch it more. However, the idea about Fear being the personified amalgamation of all the torture weapons used in the Inquisition as well as Konoha being the personified version of the Masamune seems interesting enough to keep me watching.

Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai - Semi-high hopes – To me, the first two episodes of Majikoi was like mixing Dog Days with Infinite Stratos… You get crazy amounts of action with weapons that can’t actually kill anyone in the first episode. Then, you get nearly every girl in the vicinity fawning over the guy in the next. Either way it goes, I’m going to be entertained for quite awhile.

Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon - Low hopes – The fighting system on some characters is interesting, but it’s not enough for me to feel like I’m compelled to watch it. I know that a second season was already announced so this first season will have information left out, but I think Toori is too much of a scrub for me to take a liking in him as of now. I’ll give it a few more episodes, but I’m not seeing much hope from this unless it ties its twist on history well enough for me to like it.

Kimi to Boku - High hopes – Slice of life for the season and I saw some good potential from the character personalities in the first two episodes. Shun also reminds me of a friend of mine (including the long hair) so that’ll be interesting to me in its own right.

Chihayafuru - High hopes – I’m always to open to something new and karuta is definitely new to me. Although the first two episodes were just introductory flashback episodes, they nicely explained how karuta worked and how close the relationship between the characters once was. I have high hopes seeing how this one levels out in both game play and relationships.

Phi Brain: Kami no Puzzle - High hopes – As a fellow sudoku lover, I’m definitely lured in by the complex puzzle solving Phi Brain has to offer. But, you can’t forget the little bits of comedy added in as well as suspense from life-death situations so this one is a definitely keeper. However, I wish I was given more time to see some puzzles long enough for myself to get them, but I guess that’s what the pause button is there for on streams.

Persona 4: The Animation - Semi-high hopes – Sadly, I haven’t played any of the persona games, so I’m not looking forward to it as much as the actual fans of the game. However, the mystery aspect shown in the first episode definitely peeked my interest for a few more episodes. Thankfully, it’s a 25-episode series so I can slowly ease my way into liking it more.

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai – High hopes – “We have no friends… Therefore, make a club to make friends!” First thought, wait what the hell? Episode 0 was all about them already “being” friends then horror ensued when the truth was brought into light… Then, again that was Episode 0. Either way, the idea of making a club just to make friends was bland, but the way they made the club was funny and clever. I’m looking forward to this one mainly for the comedy of the “hatred” between Yozora and Sena. Then again, I haven’t met the other character legitimately yet so I have to hope for their screen time comedy to be just as good.

Mirai Nikki - High hopes – Take Eden of the East, add a stalker, and add more suspense and sinister feel and you have Mirai Nikki. The idea of making use of how their cellphone diaries worked as a power is just flat out awesome, but Yuno creeps the hell out of me. All well in something this crazy though.

Shinryaku!? Ika Musume - High hopes – O hai again, Ika-chan! Coming again for a second season? I’m totally okay with this being that I loved you in the first season. Pure comedy… okay, with some slice of life in certain episodes… but overall, just pure comedy. And I’m totally loving that.

Bakuman 2nd Series - High hopes – I enjoyed the first season a lot; more than I thought I would actually. Mainly because it’s still showing that following your dreams is more work than you’d hope it’d be. But, you need to have ALL of the determination to push through all of the obstacles. Though, it was also nice to see how much Mashiro still cared about Azuki despite them not seeing each other through all of the drama in episode 2.

Fate/Zero - High hopes – Yes. Yes. And more yes. As a Fate Stay Night fan, I’m more than just okay with a prequel to the series. I’m totally loving it. The first episode, although nearly an hour long instead of a typical half hour, explained everything I needed to know introduction-wise and made me realize how much of Fate Stay Night I actually remember. Just… yes.

Shakugan no Shana III (Final) - Semi-high hopes – Despite what it says, I’m definitely going to watch through all of Shana Final. As much as I’m a fan of the first two seasons, the OVAs, and nearly anything else Shana related, I can’t believe in the word “Final” until someone important actually dies. The past two seasons passed with the enemies always escaping without any real damage to their force with Shana and Yuuji with a stronger bond. But, like seriously, as much as I love Shana, there is no “final” until someone dies.

I am also planning to watch Last Exile Ginyoku no Fam, UN-GO, and Guilty Crown, but I can’t write a first impression on ones I haven’t seen yet. As for announcements: Since I had the first half of the semester to get used to how classes will go down for me, posts will happen once every 2 weeks; at most, once every 3. Although I don’t really post things that are up-to-date, writing reviews takes up a decent amount of my time and I know I’m REALLY behind on my review posts. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get some time to start writing some of the reviews during the rest of this break, but from what I can pull off from this work load, expect something every 2 weeks. Sometime next week, however, I will be posting something related to Madoka Magica Tabletop so look forward to that.

Anyway, that’s it for announcements and impressions. Have a good day, everyone.

Ro-Kyu-Bu - A typical slice-of-life comedy while being centered around elementary school kids playing basketball. As the comedy isn’t rolling-on-floor-laughing, the slice-of-life part covers for it nicely. Though, the thing that’s really pulling me to this anime is the basketball part to it. Although it isn’t as sports-strong as an anime like Giant Killing, the basketball practices and matches are the things pulling me to watch this still, as short as they are.

Kami-sama no Memo-chou - Starring a self-proclaimed NEET Detective, a transfer student, and an interesting group of every type of person you can find “working” for the young, self-proclaimed NEET Detective, Kami-sama no Memo-chou does well in the mystery genre. Although there isn’t a crime that needs to be solved all the time, the comedy and action covers for it nicely as each arc leads up to another. Though, I get the feeling that Alice will be forced out of the house (since she got out of her room once already) due to a request, soon. And it won’t be for a good reason.

Sacred Seven - Another Sunrise anime consisting of the supernatural powers and “mechas”. Why the quotations? Well, that’s because there actually has been only one real mecha the entire series so far and hasn’t been the real focus or grunt of power of the main character. Despite that, this Sunrise original is doing pretty well for itself action-wise. Though, some battles feel like they lack tension, but I won’t get into that.

Ikoku Meiro no Croisée – A sweet, slice-of-life anime of the life of a young, Japanese girl, Yune, helping an ironworks shop in Paris, France, owned by Claude Claudel (yes, that is his name). With the culture clash between Japanese and French, the slice-of-life factor shines brightly as Yune and Claude try to understand and care for each other. Throughout Ikoku so far, it gives a nice, caring feeling that makes me love the characters even more.

Yuruyuri – With a hint of yuri here and there, this school-life comedy between the lives of 3… I mean, 4 middle schoolers is quite entertaining. Ranging from a sensible, motherly Yui to the outgoing, in-your-face Kyouko, the small bits of comedy that’s bound to happen between them and their friends is funny enough. However, even though the yuri daydreams by Chitose seem out of the way most of the time, the comedy the pursues it keeps me from disliking it and withstanding those daydream sequences.

Kami-sama Dolls - Starting off strong and keeping a steady pace is this action and drama packed anime. In the first few episodes, I believed that Aki is the pure villain out to wreck Kyousuke and his life. However, I found out quickly that he was merely just a catalyst to cause necessary drama for the Kyousuke, sister, and friend. While keeping the calm parts of the series cute and caring, the drama packed parts are crazy and daring. Probably my favorite part of this anime so far isn’t the drama and action itself, but the sudden, traumatized look on every character’s face during every battle or problem. I’m really looking forward to seeing if we’ll get to see Kyousuke controlling a kakashi once again or even working with Aki near the end.

Usagi Drop - Another cute and sweet slice-of-life anime, but based off of parenting. The nice, caring relationship between Rin and Daikichi is the selling point of this anime. Despite having Rin with no legitimate parents, causing Daikichi to decide to take care of her and forcing him to make some sacrifices for her sake, you can clearly tell how close and trusting this duo is. Rin’s different faces make me want to hug her so badly for being so cute  as well. However, after episode 5, it makes me question if Rin’s father isn’t who we think it is so I’m waiting for an answer on that.

No. 6 - No. 6 didn’t catch my attention until episode 2, when everything started to hit rock bottom even harder on Sion. To find out that the super high-tech environment has authority that hates it when you even think of defying them is quite typical, but for Nezumi to watch over Sion while running for his life is applaud-able to me. I’m looking forward to how the bond between Sion and Nezumi gets tested while the crazy epidemic spreads faster.

Mayo Chiki - The only romance comedy, other than Baka to Test Second II, that I picked up this season, Mayo Chiki keeps me wanting to watch more. The comedy, of course, is the driving factor as Kinjirou tries to get over his gynophobia and Konoe tries to protect her first friend. With a crazy, funny rich girl like Kanade, I’m sure the bond between Kinjirou and Konoe will be tested even more in fun and interesting ways.

Mawaru Penguindrum - Making me give the: “What in the hell f*ck!?” type of face since the first episode, Penguindrum is entertaining in it’s own right. At first, the show was all over the place, but as the main characters found out the gist of what to do, the story started to smooth a lot better, while being crazy and all over the place as well. I’ll admit that it has a lot of potential and I’m hoping it doesn’t drop bomb near the end, somehow. Though, even if it does, I’m pretty sure I can go up to a random otaku and yell, “SEIZON SENRYAKU~!” and they would know what I’m talking about… somehow.

Baka to Test to Shoukanjyuu Ni! - There isn’t much for me to say about this second season adaption of Baka to Test. I loved the romance comedy from the first season and this second season is just as great. I’m just so glad that there was an episode based off of the twins. There just wasn’t enough Hideyoshis.

Dantalian no Shoka - Giving a GOSICK type of feel, this mystery anime is still hard for me to get a hang of. Although I look forward to watching it every week, I still don’t understand some things that goes on since books don’t interest me. Even if books interested me, Dantalian is definitely an anime you need to go through twice to understand everything you need to understand. Maybe a third time if you want to get the little details.

Nyanpire + Double-J - This season, I decided to look up the two 5 minute-episodes each animes that are coming out. Out of the two of them, Nyanpire caught my interest much faster than Double J. Maybe it’s because the characters are so cute since they’re all cats. Or maybe I just couldn’t get into the slap-stick comedy in Double-J. Who knows, but they’re good passing episodes to watch as you wait for the 60 minutes to pass on your video stream limiter *sighs*

Steins;Gate - One of the Spring Season 2011 anime that bled over to this season, this anime has definitely gotten much, much better since my last mid-season review. I remember saying that it “lacked action” and now I’m willing to take that back. With all of the drama that’s coming in the final stretch of the series, Steins;Gate has definitely jumped from the boat of passingly interesting to one of my favorite anime. All the platonic love for Mayushii. So much love. (失敗した。)

Ao no Exorcist - Keeping a steady balance between action and comedy, Ao no Exorcist is still pushing strong this season. I had the feelings that things would go downhill much later but who cares. It was executed pretty well so I’m not complaining. I just wish that Rin wasn’t so much of a hot-headed meat-head…

As for Nichijou, Sket Dance, Hanasaku Iroha, and Beelzebub, I’m still watching them and liking all of them quite a lot (although Beelzebub is getting a bit long for my taste), but there isn’t much for me to say about them. I also wanted to pick up Blood-C, but didn’t really have time or real motivation to watch it at this time. I may pick it up later, but who knows with classes just around the corner. I dropped Itsuka Tenma at around episode 3 since I couldn’t handle the relationship between the two main characters either. Anyway, that’s all so I’ll just say… SEIZZZOOOONNNNN SENNNRRYYAAAKKKKUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Imagine~! Okay, I had my fun…

So, quick question for you anime-loving gamers out there: When you get a Japanese corp. game, do you listen to it voiced in English or Japanese?

Why do I ask? Well, when I started playing Dynasty Warriors 7, I was just listening to the game in English, because that’s how it came to me. However, when I decided to skim the store to see what little additions I can add to the game, I found the Japanese Voice Track and instantly “bought” it [Note: The voice track was free so I didn't exactly pay or anything] as if on instinct. After that, I changed the settings of DW7 and unlocked the rest of the game in Japanese.

While I was doing that, another instinct started to kick in: who is voiced by an anime seiyuu and which seiyuu is that? Now, for most of you would know, since games take up a lot of time and money, usually they wouldn’t pay for some hot shot voice actors or relatively known ones. To my surprise, there were 2 decent seiyuu that I instantly recognized from DW7: Ai Nonaka and Kanae Itou. But, I also ended up looking up the English voice actors and they did quite the same thing by paying money to have Vic Mignogna voice one of the playable male officers in the expansion pack.

Should I be surprised that Ai Nonaka voices the one character that acts like a cute tiger for her musou? Probably not.

Okay okay, it wasn’t too surprising with KOEI since they sometimes have the money to pay for decent seiyuu, but when Eternal Sonata came out, I remember picking out Aya Hirano and Hiro Shimono out of the Japanese voice track. Anyway, back to my case, I think I love listening to Japanese (and used to it) so much that I just instinctively change any games’ voice track to Japanese if possible. But now it seems like a case of Sub vs. Dub again… So, I might as well ask again: When you get a Japanese corp. game, do you listen to it voiced in English or Japanese?

That’s right! This female solo-blogger has just turned 19 and it’s time to celebrate!

It’s been 3 years since I joined the blog-o-sphere through animeacademy. Since that blog was shut down almost two years ago, I created this blog that was meant to keep the original feel of the old blog. However, I haven’t been a frequent blogger, as some of you would know, due to studying for classes and making new friends in college… My posts haven’t been as intellectual or inspiring as my older brothers, koneko-chan and chigaimasu… And I haven’t been posting once a week as I would’ve liked to as a solo-blogger. Despite all that, I’m still here and kicking so I’d like to thank the few people (who I don’t know) that regularly check this blog to give me motivation to blog more. As a present to you readers, I will post a few pictures of the Gurren Lagann cake my friends and I made for my Anime Club on Valentine’s Day (I was on haitus at the time so I didn’t post them before).

The above picture has the Friend-zone Moose. If you can see this moose, you have been friend-zoned… haven’t you?

However, since my birthday is 2 days after my father’s and 2 days before Independence Day, it’s usually overlooked. So, telling the blog-o-sphere about my birthday is probably the present to myself. I don’t know… but I’m glad you guys have been reading my blog so far. Thank you! =)

Plot Summary

Princess Lotte, a young succubus, needs to install a harem for “life seed” for when she grows into an adult. However, due to a trauma from her childhood, she despises men and surrounds herself with women servants, who have their own types of problems. While looking for a job, Naoya Touhara is taken by one of Lotte’s servants and offered a place into the harem. Naoya finds out that, despite her selfishness, Lotte is actually pretty lonely and decides to stay in the mysterious world… if they adhere his request to bring his daughter, Azuha, with him.

Review

Plot: Despite having an intimidating premise, Astarotte no Omocha skips the whole harem part and goes straight to an innocent, romantic comedy that tries to get Lotte to become used to males and other problems (good thing too, because I don’t think the harem aspect would work all too well with Lotte being as young as she is). The plot was pretty much straight forward throughout the entire anime, except a few back story parts on Naoya, Azuha, and Lotte’s mother. Though, those parts gave a nice feel and something to think about as the story progresses.

Characters: All of the characters have their own interesting quirks about their personality that were introduced or explained throughout the series, giving some interesting or slightly frightening comedic moments. Each character was given enough screen time to make an impact on the main characters, even the ones introduced in the middle of the series. As for character development, the only main characters had major development, but that didn’t bother me since the supporting characters were the reason it all happened.

For an innocent anime, I’ll have to admit that Lotte’s mother is pretty hot.

Production Value: The background and characters are simple yet beautiful and worked very well with innocent, romance comedy that it was looking for, especially the multiple facial expressions. The seiyuus picked to voice certain characters definitely fit their part which, to me, gave their character more of a realistic feel, especially Lotte’s tsundere personality.

Review Summary

The Good – Nicely transitions into an innocent, romantic anime

The Bad – Plot sometimes strays to give characters screen time

Overview - 8/10 – If you’re looking for a cute, innocent, romantic comedy, then Astarotte no Omocha is for you. Although it’s not fully romance, like a romantic drama, the parts are all intertwined into a romantic feel and the comedy will keep you entertained for quite a bit. And when I mean innocent, I definitely mean innocent because even the slightly disturbing parts, due to character personalities, felt innocent instead of intimidating. If you liked Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha (the first season) and Zero no Tsukaima, then you’ll like Astarotte if you’re willing to take away the action parts.

Plot Summary

In the land of Fronaldo, the Republic of Biscotti has been aggressively attacked by the Lion Kingdom of Galette. After losing the past few battles and morale among the people, Princess Millhiore summons a “hero”, Shinku Izumi, who is a middle school student from Japan, who can save their country from being overrun. While taking up the hard task of being a “hero”, Shinku must also follow the peculiar rules of the battles he’s assigned to. However, there is more to these aggressive battles from the Lion Kingdom than it seems.

Review

Plot: The plot is pretty straight forward the entire way. Shinku was summoned to be a “hero” so he becomes a “hero” in more ways that one. The most interesting add-on to the plot are the battles themselves. The world of Fronaldo have battles that seem like the anime version of the mixture of Final Fantasy, Ragnarok Online, and Wipeout, so of course, comedy must ensue. Also, the overall use for the battles are weird yet interesting in their own way, so it made Dog Days more enjoyable.

Characters: With the wide range of interesting characters, you’ll find a piece of everything in Dog Days. All the characters had time to shine in the 13 episodes while not straying from the main plot and each character were very entertaining. There was some character development, but amazingly not all that much coming from Shinku. However, that didn’t bother me all that much since I ended up liking the characters that did get development.

San-baka(Three idiots) team are pretty awesome if you get over their collective comedic stupidity.

Production Value: Both the background and the characters are beautifully detailed throughout the series. Even the special effects of the abilities and the small comedic scenes were animated nicely while the seiyuus made it more enjoyable with the expression in their voices.

Review Summary

The Good – Interesting battle sequences

The Bad – Straightforward plot

Overview - 9/10 – If you’re looking for a fun anime to pick up, then Dog Days is something you’d like. Although near the end, it gets pretty serious, it doesn’t dwindle it from being a fun anime to watch over all. Dog Days is pretty outrageous, but a good type of outrageous, if you know what I mean… and who wouldn’t love a main character who “apparently” went through an anime version of Sasuke.

Plot Summary

Tooru just graduated middle school and is becoming a first year in the same high school as her best friend, Run. While leaving to tell Run the good news, she catches Run and one of her friends in a weird moment. After clearing up the misunderstanding, Tooru finds herself always hanging by Run and her friends both in and out of school.

Review

Plot: This slice-of-life plot was good even though it was basically the days in the life of Tooru and her friends. The small pieces of comedy in each episode and the different insert songs at the end of each episode, which were related to what they’re doing, were nice touches to the overall feel as well.

Characters: The characters are very interesting in both personality and interests. Each character was given their time to shine or impact Tooru in some way. There were little bits of character development here and there with everyone’s relationships with each other, but mainly with Tooru, that was nice.

Jiiiiiiiiii~ Cute chibi version of Tooru is staring at you!… with her blank eyes…

Production Value: Had nice, simplistic backgrounds that go with the slice-of-life feel. Characters were also quite detailed in their normal states, especially in the different eye types, hair designs, and clothing. The simple chibi states here and there for the comedic areas were nicely placed as well, making it more enjoyable during their “derpy” (yes, I said it) moments.

Review Summary

The Good – Nicely placed insert songs

The Bad – Almost unbearable hairdo of Run

Overview - 8/10 – If you watched and liked Minami-ke or K-ON, then you’ll definitely like A Channel. You get the nice slice-of-life feel that you get from both although it doesn’t seem as funny as Minami-ke. Though, you still get the relatively creepy male character voiced by Daisuke Ono, so, I think that’s a win. Anyway, A Channel is definitely an anime you can watch if you need to pass time and don’t want to think too much. Overall, I really liked A Channel and felt like Tooru the entire way, mainly by personality and height.

Plot Summary

Kimimaro Yoga, a poor, scholarship student, wants to live a stable, ordinary life in a world of unemployment, crime, and suicide. One day, he meets a man who offers him an abundant amount of money if he allows his “future” to be held as a collateral. After agreeing to this offer, Kimimaro is drawn into a mysterious realm called the “Financial District”, where he has to enter a “deal” every week and battle other entrepreneurs with their assets just to keep their money and not lose part of their future.

Review

Plot: There were multiple side stories introduced, but there felt like there was no connection between each side story. Even if there was a connection, it was for a few seconds and wasn’t explained, making it harder to keep up with the series. Everything seemed very vague and hard to keep up with. There were nice and interesting ideas introduced, but due to the disconnection of ideas in every episode, they weren’t as appealing as they could have been.

Characters: There were many different types of characters, but almost none of them had long screen time or character development. Even the characters that had character development, they were rushed and ended up being bland overall. Even some relationships between characters were just introduced and not expanded on, making it seem like they were only there to fill screen time.

Deals and assets look pretty awesome, but I would never want my future used as a collateral.

Production Value: The character design, backgrounds, and special effects were quite detailed and really well-done. Even the simplistically designed assets were detailed and beautiful. Though, some of the color schemes on a few of the characters were slightly unappealing, but it’s understandable for the type of character.

Review Summary

The Good – Interesting ideas economically and present-future based and awesome OP

The Bad – Lack of connection between episodes and ideas

Overview - 7/10 – If it was longer than 11 episodes, like around 24-26, it probably would have been a better series. However, since it only lasted for a season, the series kept jumping around, making it hard to keep up or be inclined to care about any of the characters. Some people would probably like the economical intake of the series, but even that is tossed and turned around between Kimimaro finding random facts or seeing people lose their “future”. I did enjoy it at some parts, but probably not something I’d rewatch or recommend to anyone. Though, if you are going to watch this, it’s not something you can easily marathon through if you want to understand it.

Plot Summary

The six childhood friends were once known among each other as the “Super Peace Busters”. However, after the death of their close playmate, Meiko Honma, the remaining five friends started to grow apart. Their old leader, Jinta Yadomi, neglects going to high school and lives a life as a shut-in. Unexpectedly, he begins to see the ghost of Meiko, who can only interact with him and no one else. She asks Jinta to fulfill the forgotten wish she had as a kid… while becoming friends again with their old playmates.

Review

Plot: Throughout the series, the plot seems to pull at almost every emotional point possible between the six friends while not straying too much from their objective. However, the ending seemed a bit rushed with the round-a-bout confessions between the five friends, but that didn’t deteriorate a lot from the effect of the episode. Each part of the plot had a realistic feel (minus the fact that they’re interacting with a ghost) and consequence that made it easier to relate to for any type of viewer. Overall, with some cliffhangers in a few of the episodes and comedy here and there to loosen up the mood at times, AnoHana did very well to execute its plot in merely 11 episodes.

Characters: Nearly every main character was given time to develop throughout the series, even the mother of Meiko. Each character development was intertwined with another, which made the transitions seem smoother while adding the realistic actions and thoughts of the supporting characters. The characters were given enough time to show their best and worst traits that were resolved cleanly in the ending.

With a smile like that, who would’ve thought she couldn’t go off to heaven… Menma T_T!!!

Production Value: Throughout the series, AnoHana has beautiful animation in both characters and backgrounds that add more effect to every dramatic and comedic part in the episodes. The necessary expressions and tears were greatly detailed to help give more impact to the plot and the characters. Even the fades and shines were detailed when they needed to be and that made the episode even more beautiful.

Review Summary

The Good - Great execution, realistic feel between characters and their parents, and awesome OP and ED (well, soundtrack overall)

The Bad - Slightly rushed ending

Overview - 10/10 – AnoHana is, no doubt, my favorite anime of the Spring 2011 series and my favorite (overall) drama anime. And although the ending seemed rushed, it didn’t deteriorate from the overall effect of the ending and series allowing it to get a 10/10 on my list. If you’re looking for a drama series, then AnoHana is definitely for you. Though, it won’t overwhelm you with drama with its comedic areas here and there. In all reality, I’ll honestly recommend this series to anyone if they want a slice-of-life/drama series. There’s a piece of everyone in the characters just through reactions alone and I would love others to find that as well.