This is the preview for the movie of Bungaku Shoujo or Literature Girl. By the way, bungaku in Malay means 'my flower'. Just thought that I throw it out there. Seems appropriate with the shoujo theme going on.
This OVA/movie is based on the popular manga with the same title. I haven't read it though since it is shoujo and I don't normally read shoujo. The 17 minutes OVA is pretty much the preview of what to expect for the upcoming movie that is set to be released in 2009 winter which only titled as Bungaku Shoujo.
It is about a girl named Touko Amano who literally eats the pages of the literature book she is reading. She considered them as her meal. She can feel the emotions and what not of the story after she consumes it and it also kinda placed her at the scene.
She is the president of the literature club and the club has one more member, Inoue Konoha. Konoha is pretty good at writing thus Amano always tell him what she wants for a meal: something that has vault pole, bamboo blade and first love. So Konoha has to make up stories for her to consume at the end of the day.
This movie is produced by Production IG. I am not too thrill with the art. It certainly does not looks like the typical Production IG product. Having said that, as someone who loves to read myself, I am interested to see where or what the next adventure could be.
At the end of this OVA, they showed us a bird house which has been 'renovated' to be the place for the school student to tell the literature club of their love. I expect the movie would be using that as a story.
Not bad of a premise I must say...
art 6/10 story 7/10 sound 6/10 character 7/10 enjoyment 7/10 overall 7/10
After the high rating that it got in part 1, obviously I was looking forward for the second installment: Happiness Game.
Like the first one, part 2 started with a scene that will definitely got your attention: a highschool boy appeared to kill himself with a knife with two of his friends witnessing the deed.
And then the same sentence keeps on repeating on the screen: I want to be happy.
The story started with Juuzawa Juu being accused of molesting in the train by a couple of highschool girls who earlier received a picture on Juuzawa in their phones. He was saved however by Hikaru, Ame's sister (who looks a lot like Senna from Bleach: Memory of Nobody, only their hair and eye colors are different).
The next day, rumors about what had happened spread throughout the entire school and Juuzawa were annoyingly harassed. Ame was spot on with her analysis. Juuzawa wasn't the only one though. Hikaru received the same kind of treatment because she helped him out. The same goes for the Student Council President, Shiraishi-san. Gradually the harassment started to get out of hands.
With the help from Ame, Juuzawa found the proprietor. The leader of the "Happiness Club" is the member of the school's student council, Ayase, also known as Kuraki. She really was one screwed up fucker. She stayed in the house with her mother corpse rotten in the living room. She was actually taking her revenge on Shiraishi-san because she was the reason his brother killed himself (a fucked up family, ne?)
And you would think that's that. However this awesome show once again blow my mind with it's unexpected ending. It was fucking delicious.
Compared to the first episode, there is less action in this one which kind of disappointing but the way they handled the problem kinda erased my trepidation a bit because it was very subtle. Great example that fighting/aggressiveness cannot always solved problems.
Like I have mentioned, besides the usual cast of Juuzawa Juu and Ame Ochibana, we have several other characters:
Madoka and Kirishima are close friends who helped Ame with this case. They are both very good at fighting too just like Ame. Kirishima might not looks like it but she is definitely one sick chick. If Madoka didn't stop her, she would have killed without restrain. Besides Ame, I really like her a lot.
Hikaru is Ame's younger sister? Anyway, she has a bit of a crush on Juuzawa I think.
Ayase or Kuraki. One fucked up shithead.
However in the end, those characters are just fillers. In the end, it was Ame and Juuzawa that truly matter =3
They are the essence of Denpa Teki na Kanojo
I am so glad that the seiyuu for Juuzawa Juu, Yoshimasa Hosoya, did not forget his habit of 'tsk'ed/clicking his tongue whenever he gets annoyed. Good job for the rest of the crew too for the consistencies of not only the character designs but the voice acting as well.
Art 9/10
Sound 8/10
Characters 9/10
Story 10/10
Enjoyment 10/10
Overall 9/10
The class of 5-2 is back to bring more of the subtle mature humor in this OAD! Say aye class! AYE!!!
As usual the girls and the boys are against each other, competing and arguing about every single things. The OAD has 4 segments. It start with them having to clean their school backyard (it was summer). Then the boys found a pillbug and were fascinated by it. Of course the girls were afraid of the bugs, except for Aihara (she's cool like that).
Yes Tsubasa, that grass is called 'molest'. LOL
After they are done with the cleaning, they got to use the pool.
Aihara went up against Natsumi even though she can't swim (like I said, she's fucking cool like that) ^o^
The boys who were grateful towards Aihara decided to help her out.
Believe in us who believe in you!
Needless to say, the attempt was a phailure. LOL
After that, they are back in class and it's already autumn. In one segment they are obsessed with Saoto's head/hair that looks like maple leaf. I love what transpired next. hehehe
For the winter segment, they are playing snow fight. Heh, the boys lost, as per usual. I swear Natusmi has a dick in her pants! XD
Of course I do, Saoto! *nods wisely*
This somehow lead to the girls having a breast measurement in the infirmary. They don't even wear brassier yet so WTH? Anyway, Saoto, as always, comes to the infirmary at the wrong time so yeah ^__^"
In the last segment of this OAD, to gain his friends attention, Saoto called them names and havoc ensued. We got to see the kind of interaction Saoto and Chika has though. Heh, it was sweet to say the least.
The songs (there are plenty, one for every segment) are sang by the Friends, just like in the previous series. I like the third song the most though.
The characters still used the same voice actors as in the series so I like the consistency of their personalities. No changes in the character design or how the story is written either which are another good point about this OAD. It just feels like I am continuing with the series instead of watching a separate episode of the anime.
Lastly, I've got to say that Aihara remains to be my favorite. I can't resist weird character. I swear it's a curse!
Art 8/10 Story 8/10 Sound 9/10 Character 9/10 Enjoyment 8/10 Overall 8/10
I look forward to this OVA simply because I can't get enough of Hyakko hence why I continued with the manga. I was delighted when I found out that Nippon Animation will once again bring this series back, despite that this is just a 10 minutes OVA.
As expected, there is no in depth story or character development.
The OVA in a nutshell: Touma and Torako spending their after school at a cake cafe and trying out all the type of cakes on display.
There are some funny moments, thanks to Torako antics. I also discovered that Touma has gay feelings towards the innocent Torako ^o^
Hyakko OVA is bundled with the fifth volume of the manga. It featured the same seiyuu as the TV series and I'm happy to report that the quality of the animation too remained the same. The ED theme is sweet, maybe to compliment the cakes that have been consumed?
I kind of disappointed with the outcome of this OVA but better than nothing, I guess.
Trivia: The most abused line in this OVA is Sacher Torte!
Kitsune!
Here is the OVA in glorious HD!
Art 7/10 Story 7/10 Sound 7/10 Character 8/10 Enjoyment 7/10 Overall 7/10
I remember at one particular time, I was obsessed with sports-related anime. In my craze, I picked up Bamboo Blade and was glad that I did. It even makes me interested in kendo. Too bad I'm too old to pick up a sport, or to learn martial art.
Bamboo Blade is pretty straight forward in terms of the story line. We have a struggling kendo club looking for new members to ensure that the club will not be canceled. Of course, as the story progress they managed to gather new members, including two boys. The instructor is kind of good for nothing sensei. One day he met with an old friend, another instructor at another school, and bet that his club can beat the other kendo club in a practice match. The prize is one year supply of sushi (didn't I said he's good for nothing?). Anyway, somehow the practice match leads to the final tournament. There are nice mini stories, trials and tribulations in between that completed this story.
Bamboo Blade does a fairly good job explaining what Kendo is, the strategies and the ropes of the sport. As a total noob when it comes to Kendo, I didn't get lost in the plot trying to understand what has taken place.
Each of the members have eccentrics personalities which make this show so fun to watch because they are such a riot! The members of the club is the heart of this series and totally has the best character chemistry ever. Tamaki got to be my favorite character in the series. She's small and seems to have a quiet personality but she's one of the best at Kendo. Also she's an otaku, so she wins big time. Kirino is the responsible captain of the kendo club and have a close relationship with Sayako, the hilarious red-head. There is also Satori is the timid girl, Miyako who have split personalities and is totally in love with the very eccentric, very geeky, Dan the pimp. Let's not forget Yuuji who is the only sensible male around and seems to be the closest with Tamaki (I was hoping for some romance), and their failure of a teacher, Kojiro.
Despite this being a all female cast for the most part, there is absolutely no ecchi or fanservice to the pervert, which is something that I appreciated.
Kawazoe Tamaki. She might be small but she can so kick your ass to oblivion.
While it may not be the best looking series out there, I think AIC A.S.T.A, FUNimation Entertainment and Studio Tulip did a pretty good job with the art. The characters were designed with their personalities in mind and has such versatility to them. The overall animation is well enough to catch your attention and does not come off as an over kill. Only the background is lacking in character, imo.
The OP of this series is pretty catchy and lively. It will give you a sense of happiness. It also has a sweet ED too. Both songs were done by Hirohashi Ryou (the seiyuu for Tamaki). The background music too is pretty awesome, with epic orchestral pieces to hot-blooded insect songs. The voice actors did at awesome job to add personalities to the characters. They also did well in matching with the characters' various emotion. Did you know, Kojiro is voiced by the same guy who voiced Kamina-sama from Gurren Lagaan, with the same intonations and vocal gestures. It was sheer hilarity and full of epicness!
Bamboo Blade has it all: comedy, drama, romance... all rolled up into 26 episodes. If you are looking for a fun anime with great character chemistry and amusing anecdotes, then Bamboo Blade hits the mark just right. However I can't recommend it to everyone especially if you like plot twist and a fast pace non-linear storyline.
Personally I thoroughly enjoyed this series though :)
Art 8/10 Story 8/10 Characters 10/10 Sound 8/10 Enjoyment 10/10 Overall 9/10
The anime started with a rape scene so naturally I was excited intrigued.
Denpa Teki no Kanojo tells the story of one delinquent Juuzawa Juu. One day he met Ame Ochibana who pledge her body/soul/heart to Juuzawa, claiming that she and he are linked in their previous life. Their story is alternate with some gruesome murder scenes which of course needs to be solved.
The day he met Ame, his class president, Fujishima got killed by the Phantom Killer who he chanced upon while walking randomly in a rainy night. Ame found the murder weapon and told him so but of course he who thinks Ame has a few screws loose in her head thought that she is the Pantom Killer. So begins his investigation until he met the culprit.
Then BAM! the one he caught before wasn't the real culprit. I was totally caught off guard. It was goooooooood.
The story touches issues are that rather common nowadays and show us how we as human learn to face those issues. It was psychologically delicious.
The animation is decent. It got really details when it comes to the gory murders. Other than that nothing special. I also notice the action sequels. It was pretty darn sharp.
The voice actors did a good job in my opinion since they all seems in character, be it deceiving or not. Juuzawa especially have this habit of clicking his tongue whenever he gets annoyed and that little thing makes him more real and believable as a character.
The ED song is something that I don't mind having on my playlist either if I could find it.
The ending of this OVA is freaking amazing. It was unexpected which is why I enjoy it so much. It influenced my rating a lot. I mean A FUCKING LOT. This OVA is definitely a must watch for thriller/mystery lovers out there.
However I'm not sure if this is a one shot OVA or has multiples episode since in MAL it was said that it is still airing. I don't mind having more of this goodies though.
Thank you Ayako fansubs for picking this one up.
Art 8/10 Sound 8/10 Characters 9/10 Story 10/10 Enjoyment 10/10 Overall 9/10
To be honest, I didn't expect much from Kannagi when I saw the anime list for Fall 2008. I thought it was another cliche anime where boy meets goddess shit.
When it was released, I only checked it out after I downloaded the third episode and oh boy... the OP! It got me hooked right away. That was the first time anything like that ever happened to me. I mean, I was shamelessly imitating her dance moves for fuck's sake! LOL
After I finished watching the first episode, I know that I was positively addicted to the show and Kannagi quickly becomes one of my favorite female characters (besides Rukia, Haruhi and Shiki). Due to my addiction, I quickly checked out onemanga and was thrill to find that the manga is in publishing.
But lets talk about the manga here. Lets now dive into the world of Kannagi, the animation.
Mikuriya Jin, our protagonist accidentally encounter a goddess called Nagi who has taken a vessel out of a carving he made from a sacred three. The story progresses as Jin helps out Nagi to find out who she really is since she can't remember much about her past as a goddess. There are misadventures and slight romance going on in the process. Kannagi has supernatural and romantic aspects to it but I must say that the comedy is the main driving force of this show that makes it such an enjoyable series. From the subtle reference that only an otaku would understand to the outlandish slap-stick comedy anyone could laugh to, Kannagi is made with a diverse audience in mind.
The protagonist is a completely normal character. He is not self-righteous, he is not an annoying arrogant bastard, he is not brawn-over-brain idiot, he is just... Jin, a pretty damn normal high school male student. That makes him a lot more relatable than most of the losers we usually found in this kind of genre.
If comedy is the driving force of this show, then without Nagi, there would be no show. Sure she is based on archetypes character but her hot, foxy attitude is what makes her so entertaining to watch. To me Nagi in Kannagi is the one who brings life to such a dull premise. Her interactions with Jin makes me glued to the screen. They are definitely the highlights of the show. Nagi and Jin FTW!!
Kannagi has a great cast of supporting characters. Meguru, Zange, Daitetsu, Takako, Shino and Tsugumi, help drive the plots with comedic devices. Even though they do not received a lot of character development, the difference dialect between them shows us plenty of their personalities. I personally not a fan of Zange-chan but only because I am slowly turning gay for Nagi. Not a fan of Tsugumi either because my OTP for this show is obviously Jin and Nagi. She just gets in the way and I hate her for that. Now don't start hating me for that XD
The animation is another strong point of this series. It may not be clear cut state-of-the-art work but its high quality animation that flow seamlessly together makes it great. They also give great details to character animation. They really stands out. Each scenes has many small intricate movements from a flick of hair waving about to the sleeve of a shirt moving according to the wind. This not only brings the characters to live, it also makes the scenes appear to be natural, not stiff and lacking.
I have mentioned the dialect of the characters. It just goes to show that the seiyuu did a good job at adding life and personalities to the characters especially when you don't have much of character development going on. Kudos to Haruka Tomatsu, who is the voice actor for Nagi, who is able to pull off the most unique one-liners resulting in some truly hilarious moments. She also sang both the OP and ED of this series which can be compared to the likes of the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, as they both have memorable OP and themes.
Kannagi is not without fault though. The end is rather disappointing and would leave you with more questions than answers but luckily I'm a manga reader so I get to see the continuation of everything.
Overall, I totally enjoyed it. Kannagi has proven its worth as one of the most entertaining show of year 2008. One that should not be missed.
Taddaaaa!!! This is my version of K-ON! review because god knows how many reviews are out there about this show who has taken the anime wurado by storm. Hate it or love it, you must have seen it, or at least heard of it. If not, you are not deserving the animetard title.
Most of my guy friends who have seen it hated it. I can see why because K-ON! is definitely full of cuteness and girls stuff which only females or gay guys can relate too. Although I am not girly by all means, I still find some of the jokes funny. Yes, K-ON! makes me laugh... occasionally.
There isn't too much depth in K-On! storyline. It pretty much about girls doing girly cute things. 4 girls (will be 5 later on) joined the Light Music Club and having fun while trying to achieve their musical goal. Most of the time, it wasn't even about the music as they have teas and fucked around the club room doing nothing but discussing mundane thungs. These are the moments when the girls antics will either entertain you or makes you wonder why are you wasting your time watching this shit.
Each of the girls have their own distinct personalities. My favorite, Ritsu Tanaka is the lead of the group and the club president of the club who takes the role of energetic idiot. She plays the drum and pretty much dragged everyone else into the club to attain her own dream to play music. Mio Akiyama, the moe of the show, is Ritsu's bestfriend. She's the voice of sensibility in the group and always appeared serious but quickly turn moe/meek whenever someone teases her. Mio writes the song and play the bass. Yui Hirasawa, the main character of the show, is an airhead in every sense of the words. She is clumsy as well which only add to her adorableness. She plays the lead but has zero knowledge on music. She learns by listening to the music, which is quite impressive in my opinion. Tsumugi Kotobuki is the pianist, but since they don't have a piano, she ends up playing the keyboard. She is filthy rich and responsible for their tea breaks. Azusa Nakano is the latest addition to the group. At first I thought she was Mio's little sister because they are very much alike. She plays the guitar and the driving force for all the practice sessions.
Supporting characters like Ui, Yui's younger sister, Sawako, the club advisor and Nodoka help add more spice and humor to the show.
K-ON! is produced by the same Kyoto animation that did Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Kanon and Lucky.Star. You can pick up a hint of resemblance here and there throughout the anime. The character designs are really cute. It pretty much help exudes the cuteness level of the show. The background art is consistent with the animation which provides good fluidity. You can see another level of details being displayed whenever the group does a concert to the point you can lips read the lyric (given that you are excellent in Japanese, that is).
From the OP, to the ED to the songs that are sang at the concert, they are really light and fluffy, a perfect match for the overall theme of the show and they are pretty catchy as well. Fuwa-fuwa time...
Overall, I do enjoy K-ON! but I'm not like 'O-Emm-Gee!! this is the best show on earth evar!!!' because it is not. Watching K-ON! is like eating cotton candy, nothing more than a tasty treat. For a good meal, I watch something like Seirei no Moribito.
Couple of years ago, a friend of mine lent me his DVD when I told him I was yet to be acquainted with Onizuka. He could not believe it and literally forced me to watched it right away. Putting aside my studies (Yeah, I was in college back then), I dedicated my next couple of days to finish the anime.
It was time well spent.
After watching the first episode, I was totally enamoured by Onizuka Eikichi and his ridiculous crazy ways of handling matters in life. Here he was, an ex-biker gang leader, an emotionally fragile loser with no life, less social skills and a good heart whose aspiration is to be a great teacher. Mixed that all up and you get one character that fucked up a lot and get carried away from time to time with violence yet can't help being a good guy.
Onizuka was thrown into a class where the students have to deal with their own set of problems (a sad accurate reflection of modern Japan youth). Between skirt chasings and torturing the student, he managed to help them solved those problems, using his unconventional (read: retarded) methods which provide plenty of comedy and humorous situations. Onizuka was in the heart of it all. He, more than anything, what makes GTO as much fun as it is.
He is a one man hero.
The story is somewhat cliche and is considered episodic where several different story settings take place. However they are some very clever surprises and plot devices to keep the viewer poised for more.
The art and animation was adequate for its time but comes across as kinda outdated in this modern days. Nonetheless it fits right in with the mood the show aims to give you.
The voice acting from everybody fits well too with the characters (i'm not talking about the dubbed version). The variety amusing mood-enhancing tunes for background music will perk you up. As for the OP and ED songs, they were decent selections.
While there is a certain moral message to the anime, watch it for the sheer fun value. It will make you laugh, that's for certain, or perhaps it might even make you cry.
That's the first line of this series. It made me cringed. "Oh god, not another shoujo anime please!" I said.
However, despite that dreaded feelings, I continued watching the rest of the first episode and by the time the ED song was playing, I was hooked, thank goodness.
Hatsukoi Limited (literally means First Love Limited) is a story about a bunch of teenage school girls/boys who are exploring and learning about love. Sounds rather generic, isn't it? Well it is not. Let me explain.
Hatsukoi Limited is a well executed romance anime. It involved a complex love web. The complexities of those loves, paired with the personalities of the characters are what make watching Hatsukoi Limited such an enjoyable ride despite it being only of 12 episodes. Even though the comedy in Hatsukoi Limited was derived from the combination of it's characters, slapstick and timing, I didn't think any of my brain cells died. Everything is done seamlessly and things never get stupid for the sake of comedy which was one of the reason I take pleasure in completing it.
Hatsukoi Limited does not begin and end each story lines within one or two episodes. It moves and develops those stories throughout the 12 episodes. Like I said it kind of complicated with such a large casts but this anime managed to pull this one by introducing them and addresses them slowly and flawlessly without the needs to stress it out.
To captured the various aspects of a first love, this anime needs a large cast. Don't fret though because it is impossible to get confused. The overall plots will adapt you to each of the major characters' development. You'll love watching them grow and mature throughout the series. I was surprised to find myself rooting for Kei-chan and Kusuda-kun and thought Yamamoto-san and Arihara-kun made such a good-looking couple. The characters are extremely likable (even I liked characters that I usually hate). They are also easy to relate to because none of them seems too fictious or fantasy-like. I'm sure once upon a time we have all been through such similar situation.
They are all sorts of love. The typical unrequited love to brother/sister complex that borderline incest. Although I won't consider Hatsukoi Limited as ecchi, there are still some fan service moments for the guys. So you perverted out there can enjoy this one too! As for the girls, don't worry. You will have no problem enduring those moments because it didn't feel overly forced.
The OP and the ED are catchy but nothing special. As for the voice of each characters, they fit perfectly.
Since this anime was done by J.C. Staff, a well-known animation studio, it was to be expected that the quality of the animation was quite high and there was never a point where I spotted any inconsistencies with the character designs. They did an amazing job with the adaptation leaving me wanting more and completely satisfied. It also makes me all giggly and girly, which I definitely am not!
I'll end this review with it's famous catch phrase: "Are you in love right now?"
Well, how should I put this...Lovely Complex quickly become one of my favorite romance comedy anime. It was fucking hilarious! Koizumi Risa is a very tall girl -172cm while Ootani Atshushi is a short boy - 156cm. On first day of school, their teacher dubbed them as the "All Hanshin-Kyojin" (look up what it means yourself - I'm too lazy to explain). They both have strong characters and unique personality, which led to many disagreement and opposition, so they routinely fight and entertain their class with their antics.
At first they both made an alliance to help each other find a mate. Koizumi wants a guy taller than her (which is rare in Japan) and Ootani wants a girl that is nothing like Koizumi. But gradually Koizumi starts to develop special feeling for Ootani and here's where the best part start. Ootani done every possible thing to convey her feelings to Ootani but Ootani is too dense to even sense it although the rest of the school are aware of it. Eventually Ootani realize what is going on. I just love the way how he conveys his feeling to Koizumi once they start to date. It was so damn romantic. I would love to be treated that way. Hell, Ootani is exactly the type of guy I dream about (except for the height). Instead of standard Japanese (like in any other anime), most of the characters speak in Kansai-ben. It is also the other reason why I like Ootani so much. The way he speaks, it was so melodic, specially when he calls Koizumi 'aaho'.
This is the kind of anime that is so funny you just want to watch it over and over again even if you aren't gay or have tits.
That line made me a fan of this anime and of that character.
This anime is brewed with drama, angst, romance and cuteness. It would have been perfect if I were the kind of girl who loved the normal typical love story. I don't. Nevertheless I still love it. It reminds me of Clannad and Kanon, minus the comedy. There are several scenes that would make you cry a river.
There are three female leads who typically chase after one male lead. It might be considered as a harem but don't let that discourage you since it was well written. The anime takes a rather different approach in dealing with the multi-layer relationships and since they only have 3 females instead of >10, the relationship between the characters are intricate, fragile and well developed. Throughout the episodes, you will see Shinichirou (the male protagonist) trying to choose between three different girls; Noe, Hiromi and Aiko. Noe is the odd girl whom he met at school. She is straight-forward and managed to pull that naievity persona without being overly cute and obnoxious. She is the catalyst for some of the important occurence in the anime. Hiromi is the girl Shinichiro has a crush on since childhood. She lives under the same roof and have to endure the sneerings from Shinichiro's mother. Aiko is the girlfriend of Shinichiro's best friend, Nobuse but in truth she gets together with Nobuse because she wants to get closer to Shinichiro.
So like it said, the relationships are very complex.
There can be two outcomes for the ending of this anime. Either you love it or you hate it. I happened to be the later. I cried my eyes out watching the final episode of True Tears because I was so fucking disappointed and pissed beyond believe. If it wasn't of the ending, I would have give it 10 out of 10. Animation-wise, it would certainly lives up to fans' expectation. Likewise for the music. The OP is by eufonius which quickly becomes one of my fav J-pop song. This wonderful romance series will forever have a place in my anime romance list which include Honey and Clover, Nana and LovelyComplex.
I think it’s time we talked about something other than ,,must see” , classics, legends or horrible and retarded pieces of crap. I think it’s time we show something less known and less talked about, but still worth mentioning. Zombie-Loan is one such anime. It’s not the kind that you would put on any of your "Watch before I tragically die" list or anything. This is the kind that I watched on a rainy spring day without anything better to do. On that day I watched the entire series because it’s not long, only 13 episodes, and let me tell you, even though the entire day rained and I spent the day watching this anime, I didn’t feel like the day got wasted. And I think that already talks a lot about this one. It’s not epic nor does it absorb you in it, but it’s still a fun ride. Although I have to say that in the end it kind of sucks but I’ll get to that soon enough. So the story is about a girl, Michiru, and her ability to predict when a person is about to die. If she sees a gray line form around a persons neck then that means he will die soon, and if it is black then that means he’s dead. So she wears glasses to counter this sight, but one day she bumps into one of the schools idols, loses her glasses and sees a black line around his and his friend’s neck. These guys are Chika Akatsuki, a guy with a rather lively and extroverted attitude, but he is also short-tempered, and Shito Tachibana, which is seen as an idol by the female students, though he seems not to care and he is generally a much more approachable person than Chika, but certain situations and people cause him to act cold and indifferent. As it turns out, both these guys are zombies that work for the Zombie-Loan office. They dispatch zombies to Heaven or Hell, depending on the weapon used. Ahhh, yes, let’s talk about the weapons. As it turn out each of these guys right hand doesn’t belong to him but to the other. It’s like they switched their right hands. So that means they are linked to one another. If their hand stays too much on the owner, or if too much it stays apart, then the hand will begin to rot. Also, when they switch their hand back to the original owner they form weapons. Chika forms a katana with which he sends souls to Heaven, and Shito ( I just realized he has a fucked up name… Shit-O ) forms a 9 inch revolver with which he sends souls to Hell. So they hook up with Michiru and she starts aiding them in finding zombies for them to kill. This is the plot basically, and beyond this there really isn’t much to say. So yeah, the plot isn’t much complex, but that is good, I didn’t expect for them to overcomplicate things. This is the kind of anime you want the plot to be plain and simple. What kept me going here are these 2 characters, Chika and Shit-O. The fact that they practically hate each other ( although it is hinted that they think of each other as friends ) gives way for a lot of comic relief, or… tries to. I mean don’t get me wrong the series managed to put a smile on my face here and there, but comedy isn’t its strong point. But still, I think it’s well thought out this idea that they hate each other, but are bonded by this ,,right hand going to rot” curse, and have to work together to correct this mistake and pay out their loan. What else I like about them is that they are… assholes. I mean that is good, cause usually you see these heroes, noble souls that fight for the weak or anti-heroes. But here you see guys that fight only for themselves and if they do something good, it’s only for their cause. They don’t care about anything else, they just want to pay out the loan, and continue with their lives. And the way they treat each other and Michiru, well… I can understand them being dick with each other, but the way they treat Michiru is so asshole like. And don’t forget that she is a girl. And Shit-O is the worst because Chika openly shows his dick-like behavior while Shit-O acts all cool and calm until he just looks at you and says ,,Go burn yourself”. I mean, that is cruel, to act like a gentleman and then say cold-hearted things. But still I think these characters are awesome, and they are the main reason I kept watching this show. But like I said before, after 7 episodes it kind of feels like they offered all they have to offer and it just drags along. So to end it, they present one final plot, one final boss and then one final happy end. It ends kind off sudden, but it doesn’t leave you wanting some more, it just… ends, and that’s it. You don’t know what to say or what to think, you just start another series without fully realizing it. So yeah, the ending kind of suck, but if they dragged any longer just to make an epic ending then it would’ve sucked even more, so I have no major complaints. Animation-wise, Zombie-Loan is fairly decent. The character models are well drawn and detailed and the visual effects are good. It’s nothing that makes me touch the screen, but at least its eye pleasing. And the sound is decent, nothing spectacular or memorable, but it does the job right and fits well. Overall, this isn’t a ,,must see” , but I enjoyed the short experience and if you want something to spend your time on a murky and rainy day then be sure to check this one out.
