HITS

Akagi
I always seem to be singing Akagi’s praises, but this underrated series truly deserves it. It may be MANLY and not particularly aesthetically pleasing (although the animation is at least technically clean, and mah-jongg tiles are the best use of CG I’ve seen so far), but Akagi is oddly addictive, drawing you into its world and making you hold your breath as you wait for the flip of a tile.

Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad
From the inconsistency of Nodame Cantabile to the disappointing dullness of Corda d’Oro, no music-based series has yet to match Beck for its sheer quality of entertainment. Gone is the instant and magical (sometimes literally) success of other series- in Beck, the protagonists face a much more realistic struggle as they try to make their mark on the music world. And yet, for all the difficulties they go through, they remain a likeable group that you cannot help but support every step of the way.

Boogiepop Phantom
Picking up after the events of the first Boogiepop novel, Boogiepop Phantom is one of the best supernatural series out there, expertly weaving different timelines as it tells the tale of people with emerging special abilities. Not every episode is on the mark (the one about Panuru seems particularly poor), but nonetheless overall the series is unique, memorable and packed with enough content to ensure that you have to watch it several times to get the most out of it.

Dennou Coil

Make no mistake about it, I love Dennou Coil; in fact, if it were a religion, I would convert immediately. This is the series .hack could have been if it had pulled its finger out, the series I always wanted but never knew where to find. Set in a world where special glasses let you interact with a virtual overlay of the real world, Dennou Coil not only features likeable characters and imaginative adventures, but it also raises deeper questions, as to just how real ‘reality’ even is.

Gungrave
Although it loses something towards the end when it becomes a zombie bash-fest based on the first game, the first four volumes or so of Gungrave are very good, detailing as they do the early days of Brandon ‘Beyond the Grave’ Heat and Harry McDowell. Knowing as we do from the first episode that these close friends will one day end up on opposite sides lends a sense of foreboding to events, but where Gungrave really shines is in how well it conveys the emotions of its characters, investing even the simplest of lines with multiple layers of meaning.

Gunslinger Girl

A series that I usually name whenever top tens are required, Gunslinger Girl is lamentably short, but over the course of its thirteen episodes it does an excellent job of adapting the first two manga volumes. The crisp, clean animation and piano-driven soundtrack only serve to enhance a story that was already highly worthy in the first place, making for a girls with guns series that should be a must-see for anyone.

Millennium Actress, Perfect Blue, Tokyo Godfathers
I’ve decided to include these three Satoshi Kon movies together because not only are they all very good, but to write about them separately would result in my repeating myself. Although the three movies are rather different in tone and content, they are all highly enjoyable and memorable- even if you don’t usually care for anime movies, make time for these three.

Monster
Revered by all who have seen it, Monster may not be one of my absolute favourites, but I do concur that it is a very good series, and one of only two where 74 episodes didn’t feel like enough (the other being Hikaru no Go). A suspenseful tale of one man’s efforts to track down an unusual but nonetheless deadly killer, Monster weaves together the various threads of its main characters, never once dropping the ball.

Paranoia Agent
Satoshi Kon’s first (and thus far only) attempt at a TV series, Paranoia Agent offers a unique method of storytelling in which the ‘baton’ of main character passes from one person to another through the course of the series. Not only does this let the series explore a range of unique and quirky characters, but it also allows the mystery of “Shounen Bat” to slowly unfold, until everything comes full circle and the answers are revealed.

Saiunkoku Monogatari

Another entry on the hallowed top ten list, Saiunkoku Monogatari may owe its basic content to the original novels, but the animated version helped bring the story to a wider audience (myself included). Although the quality of the animation is not always up to scratch here, the series is nonetheless a strong one, bringing to life the complex and many-layered world of Saiunkoku, as well as the characters that inhabit it.

Texhnolyze
With its unique ambience and art style, Texhnolyze makes its mark right from the start, and whilst it isn’t the easiest or most coherent series to get into, give it some time and effort, and an absorbing series is revealed. Whether you want to bask in the atmosphere or delve deeper into the content, Texhnolyze’s futuristic world is one truly worth exploring.

X
Okay, so the movie wasn’t so great (and I make no effort to defend it), but even if it did have to work with an unfinished story and a limited episode count, X TV did a pretty decent job of bringing CLAMP’s end of the world epic to life. Although the beautiful animation and memorable soundtrack are truly worthy of note, X TV’s true success is in using a mere twenty-four episodes to introduce and develop both a coherent plot and over seventeen named characters.

NEUTRAL

Aquarian Age: Sign for Evolution
Although it’s hard for those of us in the West to comment on the bits and pieces of the franchise that have bled through from Japan, if we just consider this series as a self-contained unit, it comes up as somewhat lacking. The potential for both story arcs about the lead’s band and about the magical battles that take place behind the scenes simply cannot be developed properly in a mere thirteen episodes, and so the whole thing ends up merely showing flashes of interesting material in a sea of mediocrity. The movie is even worse; it may have some nice character designs, but its fifty-five minute length ensures it is nothing more than a hurried introduction of some new characters before they go into battle against a final boss.

Chobits
CLAMP’s ecchi semi-harem series was never the strongest of material to work from, but the anime somehow made it worse, compressing the good parts of the original so that it could fit in pointless diversions like an entire episode devoted to buying panties. Once again, the character designs are very good, but this is more for CLAMP completists than the casual viewer.

Cyber City Oedo 808
Ultimately, Cyber City is like any other sci-fi OVA from the early 90s- it features MANLY men beating up evil robots whilst the women in their lives either betray them or scream for help. If you feel an odd craving for cyberpunk, then this isn’t a bad way to assuage the need, but it isn’t something I can recommend to everyone- I’m not even sure I can explain why I still have it on DVD.

Paradise Kiss
It’s stylish and fashionable, but ultimately Paradise Kiss is simply too shallow to make it into the hits, especially as the anime cuts out much of the fifth volume, shortening the conclusion and thus failing to properly show where all the characters ended up. Like the other neutrals, it isn’t particularly bad, but nor is there much reason to call it good.

MISSES

Beyblade
Well, to be fair, Beyblade is just a kids’ show designed to sell toys, so it was never meant to be good, but 153 episodes was just a tiny bit too much- it was mindless fun at first, but when the finale saw Beyblades opening the way to a parallel dimension that could engulf the world, I had to question just what I had spent my time watching.

Claymore
I know this will provoke a lot of flames, but Claymore and I never did get on in either anime or manga form- the anime especially just left me with a grey, brown and washed out feeling, with its repetitive and simplistic action scenes and uninspiring characters. Although I may be the only person in the universe to think so, I just cannot see the brilliance that others says it has.

Death Note

In manga form, Death Note is very good, but for me, the anime just didn’t work. Perhaps it was just because the anime followed the manga so closely; as far as content went, I’d experienced it all before, and at my own pace instead of the one that the director chose. Worse yet, Light seemed to become much more theatrical in the anime, often going into red tinted mode as he laughed evilly and went off on another internal monologue of gloating.

Kemonozume
Maybe this series improved later on, but I found myself simply unable to watch past about five minutes into the second episode- seeing the lead character soil himself on screen just wasn’t my idea of entertainment. The only memorably worthy aspect was the detail in the animation, such as the monkey removing screws from a katana (or did I imagine that?).

Kiba
Another series that could have improved in later episodes, Kiba got off to a poor start that ensured I never really wanted to continue with it. Between emo Noa and his post-industrial grime and Zed’s generic shounen “rip off sixteen other series” adventures, Kiba just didn’t seem to have much in the way of originality to offer, and so it soon dropped off the watch list.

Lament of the Lamb
I love the original manga, but this OVA just didn’t do it justice- it was short, washed out in colouration, and generally didn’t offer anything to the franchise that couldn’t be gained from just ignoring it and reading the original.

Nana
Another series that many loved but I didn’t get on with, Nana simply proved to be rather dull in nature, with too time spent on Hachi to the detriment of the more interesting Nana. When thirteen episodes proved to be a struggle, I knew fifty would just be too much.

Otogi-jushi Akazukin
In the old days, Akazukin seemed like a fun children’s series, but as the episode count increased, the repetitiveness of it all began to become grating. With each episode featuring yet another monster of the week to be defeated by our heroines’ signature attacks, it became clear that the patience that saw me all the way through Tokyo Mew Mew was simply not ready for yet another brightly coloured but ultimately childish magical girl series.

Trigun
Trigun may be considered a classic in some circles, but I’m not sure why. Although there were moments when Vash approached my ideal of a character who hides their skill behind a laid back exterior, ultimately he was just too annoying to really get on with, whilst the over the top craziness that permeated the series just wasn’t to my tastes. I watched it once, but I don’t anticipate ever wanting to sit through it again.

Tenjho Tenge
There was a time when I liked Tenjho Tenge, but now I’m not entirely sure why- the girls may be nice to look at, but other than that, it doesn’t have a great deal to offer. Based around a rather bizarre high school where fighting is a part of the curriculum, Tenjho Tenge features a cast that encompasses everything from the downright dislikeable to the completely ugly and psychotic. Recommended for “blood and breasts” fans only.

Yume Tsukai
I went into this series thinking it would be something along the lines of Kokoro Library or Shrine of the Morning Mist, but sadly, it was just a boring knock-off that Madhouse cared so little about that they let the janitors handle the animation. With the original manga apparently focusing more on the lolicon aspects than the actual story, perhaps there just wasn’t much to work with.

Final Thoughts
It cannot be denied that Madhouse have certainly proven themselves capable of producing excellent series in a variety of different styles and genres, but ultimately, even they are only human, and so it is that not all their output can reach the same standard. With such a prolific output, it is no wonder they are good at what they do, but even so, no one can hit the jackpot all of the time.

HITS

Kare Kano (His and Her Circumstances)
I absolutely love Kare Kano, and whilst the manga is far better than the anime, that doesn’t mean that the animated version isn’t worth a look. Sadly, Kare Kano is dogged by an animation budget so low that much of the series is stills (or even cardboard cut-outs at one point), to the point that whenever you begin watching, you cannot help feeling frustratingly divorced from the action. Nonetheless, the base brilliance of this tale of high school life, keeping up appearances and the effect of first love cannot help but shine through, and with an amazingly cheap series boxset now available, there is no excuse not to check it out.

Memorable moments: Too many to pick just one or two.

NEUTRAL

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Ah, and this is where the you-know-what hits the you-know-where. Yes, in the early days of anime fanhood, I loved Eva- I obsessed over the characters, rewatched it several times in both English and Japanese, made it my desktop and drew endless reams of fanart. Ultimately, though, whilst I still believe it has worth in getting across Anno’s message about depression and in delivering some powerful moments, as an anime series, it doesn’t work. The story meanders between giant robots, light harem and ponderous religious themes, leaving huge parts undeveloped due to its raw and unpolished state (both a strength and weakness for the series). And when we look at the main characters, what do we see- a whingy, angsty boy getting into his mother to impress his daddy; an emotionless doll and an overbearing young woman who turns out to also have a traumatic back story. Worse yet, Gainax just can’t leave it alone- instead we have to have movie remakes and increasingly ridiculous amounts of merchandise shoved down our throats. Thought those Eva soap dishes were bad enough? How about specially themed Eva juices, or figures based on what the Angels might have looked like if they were humanoid women?

I know a lot of you will want to flame me for this, but please save it for the day when I write a full “Evangelion Deconstructed” post.

Memorable moments: Shinji watching in horror as the Unit 1 autopilot goes berserk on Unit 3, Rei telling Ritsuko’s mother that Gendou calls her an old hag.

FLCL

FLCL is hard to class; after all, it is so insane that no one can truly understand what is going on, and so most end up either loving it or hating it. I think I need to watch it at least once more before coming to a final decision; there are times when the over-the-top ridiculousness of it gets annoying, but also times when it’s actually quite fun to just sit back and get taken on a crazy ride.

Memorable moments: Not a moment, but the soundtrack is rather memorable.

Gunbuster 2

Gunbuster 2 is an odd OVA; it starts out setting up one story, only to diverge off into another less satisfying one halfway through. Had it properly finished what it started instead of veering off into this new direction I would have enjoyed it a lot more, but as it stands the feeling of petering out towards the end is a little disappointing. Nonetheless, the character designs are at least bright, colourful and worthy of note.

Memorable moments: Nono demonstrating her splitting capabilities.

MISSES

Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi
I’ve already written about this for another article, but Abenobashi and I simply didn’t get on. Instead of being the clever parody of anime, game and film stereotypes that I had hoped for, Abenobashi descended into tiresome attempts at plot and unfunny jokes that just made me want them the whole experience to be over with quickly. The ending was also a perfect example of why Gainax are so bad at conclusions, fizzling out like a damp squib rather than bringing anything to a proper conclusion.

Mahoromatic – Automatic Maiden
Ah, Mahoro, why did I subject myself to you? Yes, it did improve slightly towards the end, but the feather-light storyline and masses of fanservice surely put it in squarely in the “why am I watching this crap?” category. Worst of all was the well-endowed teacher who seemed desperate to get it on with the main character- was I the only one who found this creepy? Surely one to miss- the trauma of episode four’s beach visit still haunts me to this day.

This Ugly Yet Beautiful World (Kono Mini)

For some reason, I had led myself to believe that this would be a serious and thought-provoking series, and so when I came to realise that it was going to be nothing more than a mediocre fanservice fest, I couldn’t help but be disappointed. Admittedly, most series have a light throwaway episode or two, but Kono Mini is effectively entirely composed of such episodes, with even the main plot proving to be an ultimately disappointing excuse to slip in the Angels that failed the auditions for Eva. In the end, the only things I really liked were the OP animation and Hikari and Akari’s character designs.

Final Thoughts
With its predilection for maid- and fanservice and its over-reliance on the legacy of Eva, Gainax is sadly not all that impressive on the content front. Nonetheless, it has managed to carve out a high profile in the minds of many anime fans, and if nothing else, it can be said to be responsible for the Unit 1 look-alikes that infest the lands of anime in the modern age.

HITS

Le Chevalier d’Eon
Given how much it’s been covered on this blog, it should come as no surprise that I love Chevalier. Admittedly, it’s not for everyone, it needs more arcs and I’m still trying to make sense of the ending, but despite these issues, Chevalier manages to offer a well presented storyline in an appealing historical setting. Whether you enjoy it for what it is, or simply appreciate the fact that it offers a fascinating glimpse into a world of history and magic, Chevalier is one series that everyone should give a chance.

Memorable moments: d’Eon’s first transformation into Lia, Robespierre’s confrontation with Dashwood, Durand in episode nineteen.

Windy Tales

I have recently discovered the greatness of Windy Tales, and although I’ll write a proper review once I’ve seen the ending, for now this paragraph will have to suffice. One of the overlooked greats of the slice-of-life world, Windy Tales tells the tale of those who can control the wind, and how this potent yet unseen force of nature shapes our lives in all sorts of ways. It’s arguably superior to even Someday’s Dreamers, and the presence of hundreds of flying cats is just the icing on the cake.

Memorable moments: The ball of flying cats.

xxxHOLiC movie
Back in the days when our hopes for the xxxHOLiC anime were high, this movie only seemed to prove that we had much to look forward to. Disregarding the manga in order to present an original story, this hour long tale seemed to capture the style of the series, with its elegant style, dark morality plays and invincible Yuuko. Who knew that it would all go so wrong for the anime?

Memorable moments: The house of collectors.

Seirei no Moribito

It is arguably too early to definitively label this as a hit, but despite a lack of clarity as to the overall storyline (at least for anyone who hasn’t read up on the original novels), Seirei no Moribito is holding its own so far. Thanks to its beautifully crafted backdrops, it is almost impossible not to be drawn into the series, and fortunately it is able to back up its sumptuous visuals with a solid, likeable cast and superior action scenes.

Memorable moments: the action scene in episode three.

NEUTRALS

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

Although I expect to get disagreements and flames for this, SAC just isn’t a hit for me. I will admit that there are stretches when I enjoyed it (particularly the more character driven segments in Second Gig), and I’m a big fan of both the music and the idea of having my own tachikoma, but the reason I decided not to class it as a hit is because the series is just too pretentious for its own good. All too often, it will drop into ponderous exposition designed to make it seem clever rather than pointlessly long-winded; call me intellectually challenged if you will, but I prefer something clearer and more concise to endless philosophising over the concepts of self and individuality.

Ghost in the Shell movies
What I’ve said about SAC can in some way go for these movies too, although they also have their own issues to discuss. Although it is at times unclear just what exactly is going on, their relatively brief length and solid presentation make them more watchable than anticipated, and although it should perhaps be only a secondary concern, I’m so utterly impressed by the animation in Innocence that I don’t care that not all of it made sense on first viewing.

Otogi Zoshi
In many ways, Otogi Zoshi is like two series that just happen to have been aired as one, for although its two arcs are connected, it would have been arguably better to focus on one or the other than try to put in both. Despite its often generic “search for the magic elemental crystals magatama” theme of the first arc, the setting and characters gradually grew on me, but I would have preferred more in the Heian period than half a series in modern day Tokyo.

Blood: The Last Vampire
It is true that Blood leaves a lot to be desired in terms of back story and development, but within the constraints afforded by a single movie, it isn’t too bad. Interesting but not particularly outstanding or memorable, Blood will serve your entertainment needs once or twice, but then it can be thrust to the back of the shelf.

MISSES

xxxHOLiC

Despite being one of my most anticipated series of Spring 2006, xxxHOLiC ultimately turned out to be one of the season’s biggest disappointments. Where the manga’s artwork was distinctive and high contrast, the anime was like washed out paper cut-outs with tiny heads and overlong limbs, and even the stories that had seemed so appealing on the page failed to stand out onscreen. The pacing was changed, becoming languid and repetitive to the point of boredom, whilst the lowest point came from a novel adaptation that proved to be just Yuuko and Watanuki talking for twenty-five minutes. The fact that two near-identical snowball fight episodes are among the series’ better offerings must surely give everyone an indication of just how utterly monotonous xxxHOLiC TV was.

Tsubasa Chronicle movie
It may have only been a half hour movie, but aside from brighter character designs and a setting more attractive than the TV series norm, the studio’s attempt to animate Tsubasa was only slightly better than Bee Train’s filler arcs. An entirely generic story that became largely nonsensical when compressed into such a short time span, it’s hard to see that this movie can have appeal to anyone other than raging Tsubasa fanboys (are there any left) and completists.

Blood+
Admittedly I only watched seven episodes, and apparently it improved later on, but whilst it initially made a promising start, Blood+ soon declined, resulting in an utterly boring episode of angst that ensured that I never wanted to expose myself to another instalment of it again.

Final Thoughts
No studio (not even the revered Bones and Madhouse) is perfect, but Production I.G. makes a good showing, with some excellent series, and a good body of solid ones with which to obscure the failures. And after its recent success with Chevalier and SnM, I will be keeping a close eye on its future endeavours.

HITS

Last Exile

It should be no secret that I love Last Exile. I’ll admit it wasn’t perfect- the ending left a little to be desired and I desperately wanted to spend more time in the series’ world, but what it did offer us is generally nothing short of excellent. With its likable characters, interesting story, high speed vanship sequences and incredible attention to detail, Last Exile stands head and shoulders above the rest. tj han claims that Last Exile is the bible, and I am inclined to agree.

Memorable moments: The visit to the Guild, any aerial battle.

Gankutsuou
Although it took many liberties with the original material, Gankutsuou’s unique art style and absorbing art style ensured that it was still able to emerge as a rare and powerful success for Gonzo. Despite all their other failures at marrying visuals and story, this was the one time when the studio proved that they could combine an aesthetically pleasing setting with a sound plot to create an engaging tale of intrigue and revenge.

Memorable moments: “Mesdames, Messieurs, bon soir…”

Saikano

Saikano has long been the subject of mixed opinions- for some viewers the lack of detail given to the back story and the amount of tears shed was simply too much, but for those of us who enjoyed it, it was a powerful and moving series. Less a tale of war than that of a love story set against the backdrop of war and various related circumstances, Saikano is able to expertly wring emotion from any viewer who lets themselves be caught up in its world.

Memorable moments: too many to list.

Kaleido Star
Aside from the novelty of centring on a circus, Kaleido Star can easily be accused of following standard story conventions a little too closely, but even so, that does not prevent it from being an enjoyable experience. Much like Love GetChu (albeit a superior version of that series), it may be predictable, but it’s still a lot of fun.

Memorable moments: realising that the trapeze looks pretty terrifying.

NEUTRALS

Full Metal Panic
Since ADV managed to create the impression that Full Metal Panic was a series you absolutely had to watch, I went into it expecting something in the way of quality, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t really get into it. There were moments when it was entertaining, but with its lack of attention to the more mysterious elements such as the Whispered, and the inclusion of the world’s most boring mecha and combat scenes ensured that FMP would not prosper until it got into KyoAni’s hands. Gauron’s continual appearances were also cause for annoyance.

Memorable moments: Tessa learning to pilot a mecha.

Chrono Crusade
Brightly coloured character designs and nuns with guns- it seemed like a recipe for success, but unfortunately the result was far more hit and miss. For every episode that was actually worthwhile, there seemed to be an equal number of utterly pointless instalments where nothing really happened, or what did happen was never developed well enough to engage the viewer. A failed opportunity that ultimately gave us some nice visuals, but little else.

Memorable moments: Young Rosette and Joshua finding Chrono.

Samurai 7

I was initially going to class Samurai 7 as a miss, but since there were stretches of the story when it was actually quite enjoyable, I decided to upgrade it. Despite the dubious decision to transform content intended for a two hour film into a twenty-six episode series (not to mention adding mecha in the process), Samurai 7 does manage to hit the mark on occasion, even if every good scene is matched by either a dull or a laughably bad one (just think of “oh, and by the way, my previously unmentioned wife was captured by the Nobuseri”).

Memorable moments: The mecha bandits getting cut to pieces, Kanbe’s aerial rescue of Kirara.

Peacemaker Kurogane
Although it cannot be said to particularly good, Peacemaker slides into the neutral category by virtue of its sheer inoffensive mediocrity. There’s very little about it that marks it as good, but neither is there any reason to point it out as an example of awfulness- it is simply something you watch to pass the time and then promptly forget about. Perhaps in that way it perfect defines the concept of neutral, since it leaves no long-lasting impressions.

Memorable moments: There are one or two, actually, with the most notable one being the torture of poor Ayu.

MISSES

Hellsing
Unlike practically everyone else, I’m not too enthused with the Hellsing franchise as a whole, and so Gonzo’s lacklustre adaptation could only make it seem even worse. After a solid enough start, the series quickly trudged downhill into the realms of sheer boredom, proving a struggle to watch as various insipid evils showed up and were easily dispatched by God Mode Alucard.

Kiddy Grade
Despite the potential exuded by the trailer, Kiddy Grade proved to be one of these series that was little more than a sheer disappointment from start to finish, After a slow start filled with lacklustre standalone episodes, Kiddy Grade tried to pick up the pace with the unfolding mystery we’d all been waiting for, but promptly blew it by failing to explain anything satisfactorily, sidelining the more interesting supporting characters and ending with an utterly pointless final arc that brought into question the purpose of the entire series. I tried my utmost to like it, but in the end I was clinging more to my vision of what I wanted the series to be than what it actually was.

Gad Guard
With my reason for watching Gad Guard being as flimsy as the fact that I enjoyed Dai-Guard and the title sounded similar, I suppose I shouldn’t have expected much from it- and indeed, it had very little to deliver. With its bland characters, childish character designs, and unimaginative location names like “Night Town” and “Gold Town”, Gad Guard was never destined to amount to much, with even its attempts at a more meaningful plot ultimately going nowhere.

Gantz
Despite its notoriety, Gantz was never a series I could get on with- in fact, in due course I will be writing a full rant for it. Although the gratuitous violence and sexual overtones have won over a certain breed of fan, for the rest of us it plays out more like an adolescent boy’s wet dream- big guns, big breasts and a story that ultimately doesn’t seem to have much point. Worse yet, the series is hideously slow paced, to the point where you can only wince in pain as our heroes discover yet another incredibly ugly and hideous alien that has to be defeated before their time limit is up.

Burst Angel
I approached Burst Angel with the lowest of expectations, but still it managed to somehow produce something worse than anticipated. Even judged by the standards of light entertainment, Burst Angel is throwaway fluff of the highest order, with horribly bland and one-dimensional characters and a plot that fails to go anywhere until it ultimately boils down to a battle against the world’s most generic final boss (I defy even fans of the show to tell me what his name is off the top of their heads). Many people claim it is worthy for the presence of Jo alone, but I’m afraid even she isn’t enough to save Burst Angel from the ‘Miss’ category.

Black Cat
Although I watched only a single episode of the Black Cat anime, those twenty-five minutes were enough to persuade me not to pursue any more. Featuring a dull plot about a politician named Lib Tyrant (it still amuses me to wonder why anyone would vote for someone with such a name), Black Cat proved to be a turn-off from the start.

Welcome to the NHK
Even in the days when I was enjoying the NHK manga, I was wary about how Gonzo would handle this once darkly amusing series, and it turned out I was right to take that attitude. In the studio’s hands, the series turned into a mixture of tediously drawn out monotony and dango-fed insanity, neither of which proved much of a substitute for actual entertainment. And although I have mentioned this at least twice before, the fact that they messed up the ‘ultimate moe’ scene can never be forgiven, since that was pure hilarity in manga form.

Red Garden
Another ‘miss’ choice sure to inflame the fanboys, Red Garden may have caught the attention of some, but for me it was a procession of sheer boredom. With its ridiculously convoluted storyline and numerous angst-drenched scenes, Red Garden never lived up to its potential, ultimately proving to be an unsatisfying experience.

Pumpkin Scissors
Another mixture of the generic and the laughably bad, Pumpkin Scissors may have just about made the grade for low impact entertainment, but only for those with extremely forgiving standards. The rest would have to make do with the parody version.

TOO EARLY TO TELL

Bokurano
Bokurano is one of my favourite manga series, and so it was with trepidation that I learned that Gonzo would be handling the anime adaptation- would they turn out a product so poor that it would make me come to dislike even the source material? Fortunately, despite the pacing being a bit on the slow side, the series has been a solid effort that retains the tension of the story’s dramatic reveals. With the manga as yet unfinished, it is clear that the anime will have to come up with its own ending later on, but so far all signs are pointing towards ‘hopeful’.

Romeo X Juliet
It may have impossible hair, flying horses and a complete lack of adherence to the original material, but so far Romeo X Juliet has at least been entertaining. It remains to be seen how it will fare as the series progresses and the inevitable angst builds up, but for now it remains on the watch list.

Final Thoughts
Be it coming up with their own ideas or adapting the work of others, it cannot be denied that for all their flashy CG tricks and added mecha, Gonzo can’t seem to overcome the key problems of telling a coherent and well paced story. Nonetheless, they have been able to hit the mark on a few occasions, and it is for that very reason that I must keep watching their work- after all, you never know when they might come up with the next Last Exile.

HITS

Fafner in the Azure

The illegitimate offspring of RahXephon and Evangelion (with elements that make just as little sense on close inspection as certain parts of those two series), Fafner is nonetheless one of the more enjoyable mecha series out there. With its top notch animation, excellent soundtrack and intriguing storyline, Fafner creates a world so appealing that viewers cannot help but be drawn in despite its flaws. It may be more a case of presentation and potential than what the series actually delivers, but Fafner should not be overlooked.

Memorable moments: “Kazuki!!”, “Soushi!!”

Martian Successor Nadesico
Another series that remained entertaining whilst being far from perfect, Nadesico was one of the series I watched back when I was an anime novice, and it remains a good starter series for fans even to this day. Despite a slide into weakness into its last few episodes, Nadesico was a decent example of light entertainment that gave the mecha genre a much needed ribbing.

Memorable moments: Akito being one of the very few mecha pilots to have to deal with inertia.

Dai-Guard
Dai-Guard parodied the retro robot series of yore, which, combined with the premise of office workers saving the world, was a recipe for mild success. If nothing special, the series could at least be counted on for a healthy dose of light entertainment that belied its simplistic and sometimes budget saving animation.

Memorable moments: Dai-Guard losing an arm in various battles.

NEUTRAL

Elemental Gelade

Many people deride EG for ruining the manga storyline, but whilst I cannot exactly justify calling it a hit, I do quite enjoy it for its enjoyable simplicity and brightly coloured character designs. The story may be hideously flawed and often generic, and the animation is clearly on a drive to save as much money as possible, but there’s still that essential ‘easy watching’ quality to it.

Zoids
For a series made to sell toys, the early seasons of Zoids not only attempted to have some sort of plot, but followed the almost universal trend of offering a measure of light entertainment. And I have to admit that it did influence me to buy some of the toys, so its mission was accomplished.

MISSES

Busou Renkin
Once, Busou Renkin seemed like just another generic Shounen Jump series, but as we soon came to learn, it was worse than that, for it also had copious amounts of crude jokes and so-called ‘manservice’. For anyone lacking a fetish for men in revealing swimwear, Busou Renkin held little first watch value, let alone replay value- even I watched it primarily for the parody angle.

D.N.Angel

I was drawn to DNAngel because of the character designs, but unfortunately it failed me when it came to actually giving me some kind of plot. Despite my continual hopes that a darker main story would kick in ‘next episode’, the series blundered along its lightweight fashion throughout, offering tediously unfunny ‘comedy’, pointless and irritating characters and far more vacation episodes than it ever needed. A thoroughly disappointing case of squandered potential.

Love Hina
Ah, Love Hina, how could I forget a show that sapped so many irreplaceable brain cells? A hideously repetitive cycle of Keitaro continually messing up and upsetting Naru every time she seemed to be warming up to him, Love Hina could have been a touching slice of life tale, but instead it chose to go down the path of crazy humour and overused jokes. Four episodes was manageable, twenty-four was far too many.

MegaMan NT Warrior
I have to admit I have only seen the edited English dub of this, but while it may well be a classic in original form, I somehow doubt that it will be much more than a simplistically animated shounen tale of one boy and his destined computer program fighting other boys and their less destined computer programs.

Shaman King

As Shounen Jump series go, Shaman King actually didn’t seem too bad at first- a mixture of light entertainment and mystical battles. Unfortunately, it all went horribly wrong when the shaman tournament properly began, with a fillerific journey to first find where it was being held, followed by pointless fights such as one against a group of shaman wearing tight wetsuits. A tournament arc in an anime is one thing, but making an entire series out of a tournament probably wasn’t the best of ideas.

The Third
A series so dull and forgettable I even forgot to write about it in the Annual Round-Up, The Third’s generic characters and giant insects ensured that it did not last for long in the viewing schedule- and by the time the last few episodes rolled around, even the animation quality had gone downhill.

Final Thoughts
With the possible exception of Fafner, Xebec has yet to produce anything truly worthy and memorable, with their strength lying in light entertainment, and their weakness stemming from pretty much anything involving a manga adaptation. Is this general level of mediocrity all the studio has to offer, or can this season’s Heroic Age possibly be the exception to the rule?

THE HITS

RahXephon

From the start, RahXephon was accused of being a poor man’s Evangelion (who hasn’t seen the obligatory “Eva vs. RahXephon” thread on numerous anime forums?), but despite the superficial similarities, anyone who made it at least halfway through the series had to admit that there were plenty of differences as well. Although it was perhaps a little confusing and convoluted in its attempts to mix high-concept sci-fi with an extensive cast, RahXephon remains one of those series that keeps you glued to the screen even during those points where you aren’t entirely clear what’s going on. Even the recap movie redeemed itself by adding some new footage and putting a fresh spin on this tale of mecha, romance, time warps and aliens.
Memorable moment: the flashback episode with the mud doll.

Wolf’s Rain

Before watching Wolf’s Rain, I have to admit that I wasn’t sure if I’d like it- after all, thirty episodes of “is it Paradise?”, “Well, it’s not the end of the series yet, so it can’t be” did not sound too enthralling. Fortunately, I couldn’t resist the DVD volume one plus artbox, CD and plushie combination, and once I actually got to see the series for myself, I was hooked. I’ll admit that from an objective viewpoint it isn’t perfect (I’m not going to get into those four recap episodes), but nonetheless when watching it, I’m utterly drawn in by this compelling and sometimes heart-wrenching tale. It’s one of the few series that just leaves grinning stupidly at the screen because I’m enjoying it so much.
Memorable moment: The weakened ‘Grandpa’ being hitched to a sled.

Scrapped Princess
Even though my true hope was for a pure fantasy series rather than one with the almost inevitable sci-fi elements, Scrapped Princess was still an enjoyable experience. With its likable cast, nice character designs and solid story, it may not live up to its full potential, but it is still very good.
Memorable moment: Raquel unleashing her magic.

Fullmetal Alchemist
Here is where I have to make a confession- even though I do feel that FMA is a good series, I’m just not inclined to as wholeheartedly sing its praises as practically everyone else. Discounting its slow start, the bulk of the series is solid enough, but it suffers from one major failing- a tendency to poorly mix the flippant and the serious. All too often the series would present some dramatic revelation that should have tugged at the heartstrings, only to ruin the moment by veering off into comedy; if not for this unfortunate tendency, I would rate it much more highly.
Memorable moment: Realising the origin of the Chimera in episode eight.

Kurau Phantom Memory

An unfairly neglected series that wallowed in ADV licensing limbo for over two years before finally being scheduled for release this April, Kurau has inevitably been overlooked by many through no fault of its own. The ultimate evolution of animated sci-fi, Kurau takes everything that was good about Texhnolyze, Zettai Shounen and Stand Alone Complex, and makes it even better; it may look like a simple story about two girls running away from evil researchers, but give it a chance and it will prove to be much more.
Memorable moment: The fate of the unpaired Rynax in episode sixteen.

Ouran High School Host Club

Having proven itself largely adept at more serious material, BONES ventured into comedy in 2006, with the animated version of a ‘reverse harem’ style series about a poor girl attending a school of wealthy student. Although it did sometimes skirt the realms of the tediously repetitive and over-the-top, Ouran’s sheer enthusiasm carried it through even the weaker moments and ensured that the bulk of the series was nothing less than entertaining.
Memorable moment: The carriage chase in the finale.

NEUTRALS

Angelic Layer

CLAMP’s venture into the shounen action formula was interesting if a little too fast-paced for its own good in manga form, but when it came to turning it into an anime, the producers took it a little too far in the other direction. By the time five volumes had been stretched across twenty-six episodes, even additional content and character development couldn’t disguise the fact that the pacing was now irritatingly slow in places. With this in mind, even the refreshing reliance on female characters and a lack of the more annoying shounen clichés could make Angelic Layer entirely successful.

THE MISSES

Jyu Oh Sei
Although the lush jungle setting briefly made it look promising, Jyu Oh Sei ended up going from weakness to weakness with each passing episode. At first, it was merely a generic and mediocre tale with dislikeable characters and a predictable plot, but unfortunately, worse was in store once the finale rolled around. A painful mixture of pointless plot revelations and cliché action elements, the conclusion was so poor that it not only left a bitter taste in the mouth, but it made the bulk of the series look as excellent as Mushishi in comparison.

Ayakashi Ayashi
To be fair, I only watched one episode of this, so maybe it does improve later on, but after experiencing twenty-five minutes of all-male bathhouse scenes, incomprehensible plot and giant monsters that looked disturbingly like penises, there seemed little point in continuing.

Final Thoughts
Even on closer inspection, BONES seems worthy of their reputation, but as with most things, they are far from infallible. Given what they’ve already delivered, it isn’t unreasonable to have high expectations for their upcoming works, but it would still be unwise to expect every single thing they produce to hit the mark.

Before you flame me, these hits and misses are partly based on what the series was supposed to achieve; for example, Medabots was clearly meant to be a kids’ show rather than a piece of high art- but for what it was, it wasn’t bad.

THE HITS
Even the series I would consider as successful examples of Bee Train’s work are not universally beloved; in fact, more often than not, I see them labelled as ‘painfully slow’ or even ‘tedious crap’. I’ll admit that all three of these series are slow burners that really are something of an acquired taste, but I honestly believe that all of them have worth.

.hack//SIGN

Seconds later, this poor grunty walks into the wall.

I have to admit, when I watched the first volume of .hack//SIGN, it wasn’t at all what I was expecting. I had assumed that a series set inside an MMORPG would contain some degree of action, so discovering that The World was more of a beautifully rendered chat room was a bit of an unwelcome surprise. Nonetheless, I remained determined to persevere with it (not least because of Yuki Kajiura’s wonderful score, which remains one of my favourite anime OSTs to this day), and by the series’ halfway point, I was duly rewarded with a slowly unfolding mystery that sucked me in and made me want to know exactly what the answers to the questions were going to be. Admittedly, the ending proved that this part of the story was really about Subaru and Tsukasa, but it was still a worthy introduction to the .hack games.

Memorable moments: Standing at the red Chaos Gate; Balmung’s arrival; the death of the little grunty; Crim charging in on a grunty; Tsubasa realising that his memories were deteriorating.

Meine Liebe
Based on a reverse harem dating game, Meine Liebe TV took away the girls and made all the guys HARD GAY for each other. Set in a fictional European country in the 1930s, Meine Liebe combined the allure of the past with what was effectively a male version of MariMite. A short yet surprisingly addictive series that brought us one of the five Pillar bishies in the form of the delectable Ludwig-sama.

Memorable moments: Ludwig outmanoeuvring Beruze; Camus fainting at the sight of women; Orphe explaining how he used to get into mischief with Ed.

Noir
The first truly original Bee Train production, Noir was unique in being a 26 episode series that only had four regular cast members, with pretty much everyone else getting killed off in short order. Another slowly unfolding story, Noir tells the story of a pair of assassins who take on the codename Noir, only to uncover the dark history behind the moniker they have chosen. First time around, I love every episode, but I have to admit that on rewatch, the standalone episodes in the first half of the series didn’t seem as entertaining, although the main storyline was as compelling as ever. It’s not quite good enough to be an all time favourite, but it’s the sort of series that appears in the top ten lists of people who have only watched a limited number of series. It also benefits from a top quality soundtrack from Yuki Kajiura, which also happened to be my first experience of her work.

Memorable moments: Kirika admitting she can kill people and not feel sad; Kirika wandering around town to the strains of ‘Salva Nos II’; the early assassination scenes; Chloe in the colosseum.

NEUTRALS

.hack//Legend Of the Twilight
Some might argue that LOT was the dose of light-heartedness that .hack franchise needed, and whilst it was certainly something a little different, it also suffered for that. The bright colours and action elements were most welcome, but the story could never hope to be anything more than light entertainment, and, inevitable as it perhaps was, it was a shame to see the manga story altered. The music was also the weakest link in the .hack chain; whilst the simplistic electronic sounds worked well in the context of the series, the soundtrack is somewhat underwhelming on its own (I only have the CD because it came with the artbox).

Memorable moments: the baby grunty; the very first scene of a generic actually battling a monster.

Arc the Lad

He was weak in the later game levels, but I have a soft spot for Pandit.

One of Bee Train’s earliest series, Arc the Lad hails from the studio’s initial video game adaptation era, back in the days when they still knew how to do action. As with most RPG adaptations, Arc the Lad doesn’t have the most sophisticated of stories, but it scores a few points for its darker themes, such as the often stomach-turning transformations of humans into monstrous chimeras. Although it’s not something I’d particularly recommend (I only watched it because it happened to be on TV), I do feel a pang of fondness for the series since it kick started my love-hate relationship with the games.

Memorable moments: the moment we see the Holy Mother.

Medabots
Yes, I might as well admit, I have watched Medabots, and while I can’t say it is either particularly good, well animated, or anything like Bee Train’s usual style, if you treat it as a parody of the average shounen series, it is actually quite amusing (for the first season, anyway, it does take itself a bit too seriously in the second). Once again, it’s not something I’d particularly recommend, but it was fun at the time.

Memorable moments: for sheer cheesiness, the English OP.

Meine Liebe Wieder
As I’ve already said several times before, Meine Liebe Wieder simply couldn’t live up to the first season; after promising that it would have some kind of a plot, it turned out to be a disappointing rehash of season one, with more HARD GAY and a whole new bevy of uninteresting characters.

Memorable moments: The return of Gandalf Barty.

Tsubasa Chronicle Season One
Back when I was watching it, I would certainly have classed Tsubasa as a hit, but in retrospect, I can’t help wondering if it was really all that good. Certainly the story didn’t really take off until the Outo arc, although for this season, the series was very faithful to the manga, so Bee Train cannot really be faulted for the content. Even the action scenes were supplemented by another excellent score from none other than Yuki Kajiura, which certainly helped me to disregard any lack of actual movement.

Memorable moments: Syaoran fighting in Outo.

THE MISSES

.hack//Liminality
As interesting as it was to have a look at the non-game side of the .hack universe, in all honesty, Liminality was not that marvellous. Not only was the animation disappointingly simplistic, but for all the interesting titbits of information it gave, the story didn’t really go anywhere, leaving the viewer with an “and then what?” feeling once it was all over. It works well enough as part of a greater whole, but is fairly lifeless on its own.

.hack//Roots
There is probably nothing more I can say about Roots that I haven’t said already, and so I can only reiterate the feelings of disappointment it brought me. More so than even SIGN, Roots was a hideously slow chat room, this time filled with a huge cast of dislikeable characters, most of whom needed to be arrested by the fashion police on sight. Unlike SIGN, which was actually building up to something, Roots eventually revealed that it had no plot whatsoever; even Ali Project’s turn at the music was disappointingly weak. This series was also the first indication that Bee Train could no longer be bothered with action scenes, instead preferring to cut away to uninteresting rocks whilst the actual fighting occurred off screen.

Avenger

Even though I went through a brief obsession phase with Avenger, the beauty of hindsight has enabled me to see that, in fact, it wasn’t really all that marvellous. The sort of series that takes its entire run just to explain its basic premise, Avenger kept me watching not only through a need to understand just what exactly was going on, but because of its superior character designs and catchy soundtrack (a shame that Ali Project has never equalled their work on this series). I must still count it as a miss, however, since the storytelling was sub par, with an awful ending that left the viewer to find their own answers to the questions raised in the series.

Madlax
Ah, Madlax, what insane impulse convinced me to ever spend good money on you? The spriritual successor Noir, Madlax takes everything that made its predecessor good, and turns it on its head in order to produce something far inferior. Yes, the leads may be less cool and emotionless than those of Noir, but in its place, Madlax has a bloated and insipid cast, not to mention a story that is mired in pointlessly complex and mostly ridiculous supernatural elements. The character designs and music are good, but the story is far too awful to ever consider it anything more than a miss.

Tsubasa Chronicle Season Two
Season two of Tsubasa marked an unfortunate new direction for the series- one that contained more than its fair share of filler. By this point, not only were Bee Train making a hash of the manga based stories, but they were also coming up with their own ideas, all of which showed a singular lack of imagination (bus world, anyone?). Admittedly, the end of season arc sounds reasonably interesting, and the rumoured lack of third season is a relief, but it’s hard to stick with a series that has three insert songs per episode.

Final Thoughts
Although the sample size is perhaps a little too small to make any extensive conclusions, so far Bee Train seems to be a studio that has been hampered by their limited style. There is no doubt that they know how to pick composers and character designers, but when it comes to telling a story or including some much needed action scenes, the production staff quickly find themselves out of their depth. Perhaps they can prove themselves worthy in the upcoming Murder Princess OVA and El Cazador de Bruja series, but based on their track record, it seems best to keep expectations muted.