Show by show, the Winter is Ending! As promised I am trying to get up at least one review a day or two in one day for this case. Going in order you are getting them as I finish them, however yesterday I was busy upgrading my graphics card and drivers to ensure the 720p/1080p anime runs without a hitch in surround sound. I found that using the latest codecs would make everything run smoothly, however I couldn’t get the 5.1 surround sound to work! Alas I went back to an older version of CCCP that enabled me to override the settings and force 5.1, however it does hiccup right after the title transition in Tamako Market in 720p or higher (yes that 3 seconds annoys me that much….). It did however fix the issue with too much overlay without having to use the latest codecs. When I am done reviews I am going to need to do some research.

So with all that out the way, shows are wrapping up. Some of the series I have held off on to watch the final arcs, while a couple more lost my interest. Fear not! I will still watch them. I know the following five anime have ended of today (3/26):

Amnesia
Bakumatsu Gijinden Roman
Cuticle Tantei Inaba
Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo
Senran Kagura

Another point of interest is that “Toaru no Index” has a movie that is doing well in Japan. A few other notes I am super excited about is:

1) Ore no Imouto Season Two is about to start.
2) Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Iilya to air this summer! (She is my favorite Fate/Stay character.)
3) New Rozen Maiden to air this summer!
4) Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha is getting a third film!
5) Aiura is about to start!
6) Moretsu Space Pirates is getting a movie next year!
7) Sailor Moon (2013) starting in the summer!

Now that I have got that off my chest… I will leave you with a couple final reviews! Check us out every couple of days as we work on final reviews and get the new previews up as we watch them! Oh and I don’t think I will put up anything on the shorts as of now. One last point I believe you guys have started to realize I only give a short setting of the anime in my reviews and generalized thoughts, this coming from not wanting to spoil anything. If you want deeper insight, I’m more then game but I just don’t want to kill a show for you… just hit me up via e-mail! (Dash)

Title: Robotics;Notes

Genre: Sci-Fi / Drama  

Review Score: 7

Aired: October 2012 – March 2013 (Episodes: 22)

Review (By Dash):

So for starters, I hope you guys had watched Stiens;Gate before popping into Robotics;Notes. It takes place in (Divergence Ratio 1.048596*). In short this is one of realities that resulted from the Stiens;Gate, although you only see one of the characters appear. It takes place about 15 years later based of the age of the character. So now that you understand that the “;” worlds takes place in the Universe (as to “Visible Universe” I can move on with the base plot.

In short the story follow Kaito Yashio and his friend Akiho Senomiya (who is current president of the Robot Club) who are childhood friends. They also both suffer from conditions as a result of an accident from a few years back. Akiho is has a dream to finish a robot that her sister started back when she was in the club, even against the wishes of her sister now. Kaito sticks by Akiho as a friend and final request to watch over her by someone. The show starts off pretty easy going “Slice of Life” like with them trying to build and recruit for the club so that it is not shut down. During Akiho’s dash for keepign the club alive, Kaito discovers a secret using his “Pokecom”* (think tablets of the future) that deals with the future of Japan and the world.

The story moves very well from there. I enjoyed the pace and unlike Stiens;Gate, the story doesn’t start to take dark turns until the final third. The plot and movement are very interesting as you have converging plots (Akiho’s and Kaito’s) coming together for the final movement. The characters are well addressed in my mind. They cover the primary cast background stories very well so you are not left with questions and understand why their personalities are the way they are. The animation is clean and sharp, yet not overboard on details and aesthetically was appealing. The music went along very well with the current of the story. I really enjoyed the plot arcs, as each arc unlocked a little bit more mystery while not pulling off the current issues at hand. I would describe it as a story within multiple stories at first until the primary plot comes to full light.

Despite its name and advertising, this is not a mecha genre. It does have robots, however it is more about building them (on a amateur level in their case) and the relavence of the specific one they are building. This would fall very easy into Sci-Fi / Drama. I really enjoyed the full run of series and even held off the final 5 until they all aired knowing it was the final plot arc. I also learned to do this from the other “;” series. I enjoyed the series overall and loved the voice actress of Akiho (just something cute about it). This show fell in line with Shinsekai Yori and Psycho-Pass extremely well, almost as if planned. Ones gives a near perfect automated world, one gives you a rural future feel with espers, and Robotics;Notes gives you a futuristic yet modern world with some powers… and they are all pretty dark, I was honestly more excited for these three ending then I was for Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo and the upcoming Magi finale. Granted the type of show these feel under leaves you wanting to know what happens next. I would highly recommend picking up Robotics;Notes if you like Sci-Fi / Drama with a good bit of content and plot.

*VNdb care of MyAnimeList

 

Title: Shinsekai Yori (From the New World)

Genre: Supernatural / Drama

Review Score: 6.5

Aired: September 2012 – March 2013 (Episodes: 25)

Review (By Dash):

Shinsekai Yori takes place in the future when mankind has reverted back small villages and seemingly has esper abilities now. These abilities are closely watched as they are trained for adulthood and what it takes to use those powers. In addition to the village / village council ruling system, there are several colonies populated with “Queerats.” These creatures act as manual labor for the villages assisting them in various tasks, although they operate as their own group they are watched and ruled by the human villages.

Shinsekai is focused around Saki Watanabe and her four friends as they start to unwind the history of the world and the secrets hidden within the village. These secrets prove to be dangerous and even deadly, by the end of it can prove to have “world” level consequences. The show breaks into several acts, each taking place as Saki grows a little older and progresses through the story. You can tell by her voice as narrator that this is a series of past events.

I would define this show as dark. Although the tones and adventures are all fun to follow, they have several important things to keep in mind as you move along the story. There are several hidden agendas, different love interests, and a solid political system that is in place for a reason. I loved following Saki as she grew up and learned the reasons behind these secrets and how to deal with everything that happens. The story can be a little moody at times and slow at others, but I enjoyed the pace as it seemed to fit the movement of the plot (slow when it was slow, fast when it was hurried). The time spent into certain scenes aided in the atmosphere and environment they live in. I felt this show was the opposite of the futursitc art of Psycho-Pass and beautiful for the village and surrounding nature. The music fit the show well, however nothing with the OP and ED that stood out to me or would fall into my mp3 player. The voice acting was solid, I really enjoyed Endou, Aya as Saki and felt she did a great job with the slight age progress.

Overall I did really enjoy the show, although I don’t know if it is a solid re-watch. Possibly the tone of the show and knowing what is going to happen turns it a little off for me in that factor. Given time I think its a show I could pop back on, but it would fall as an amazing one watch series. If you like solid story, with dark undertones, in a futurstic society of espers who live in villages, and follows a good development over time… give it a shot. Like I said it will feel long for a 22 episode run, however I felt it was just right for the size. I feel that the reason the rating would hurt is the lack of re-watch value in my mind.