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Jen526's Anime

Seen all▲▼ Rating▲▼ Comment▲▼
009-1 (TV) Good I enjoyed this for the retro, Cold-War-spy-games atmosphere and for having a confident, in-control adult woman as the main character. Mostly episodic, but with enough important beats scattered through the episodes that when an arc kicks in late in the series, it feels like a natural evolution and tying together of themes introduced in the standalone eps.
3x3 Eyes (OAV) Decent A bit dated now, but still enjoyable enough to hold its place as a classic. The second series holds up a bit better, imo.
3x3 Eyes: Legend of the Divine Demon (OAV) Good
5 Centimeters Per Second (movie) So-so I want to love this, but the pacing is just too slow. I keep falling asleep.
8 Man After (OAV) Decent I enjoyed this, but it's definitely "old-school" in how straightforward it is in its storytelling style.
801 T.T.S. Airbats (OAV) Not really good
AD Police (OAV) Weak
Ah! My Goddess (TV) Good Enjoyable for the light comedy/light romance combination and the always lovable cast of characters. Keichi has really never been beaten in terms of this sort of "schlep guy gets magical girl" series. He's one of the few who come across as actually being WORTHY of the girl's love.
Ah! My Goddess: The Movie Good
Air (TV) Bad Air was my first exposure to this brand of emo visual novel girls, and it made me a hater. The portrayal of female characters who exist to be guided and taken care of by the male lead makes sense in the world of visual novels where the interface is necessarily simplistic. But as a standalone story, the lack of agency for the female characters (and especially the infantilization of Misuzu) is just squicky and fetishy.
Akira (movie) Very good
Alien Nine (special) Excellent Wow'd me. The surface storyline is made kinda charming by the adorable character designs, and the disquieting layers of meaning underneath keep this one coming back to my thoughts.
All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku (OAV) Decent Fun, old-school romp.
Angel Sanctuary (OAV) Not really good
Angelic Layer (TV) Decent An enjoyable iteration of the tournament-combat formula. There's nothing particularly new in the formula - spunky underdog enters competition with zero experience and overcomes various crises to triumph - but it hits the usual beats with confidence and heart. The only sour note for me is the macro-arc which revolves around Misaki's absentee mother. As that melodrama came to the fore toward the end of the series, I got more and more frustrated. This would have been rated higher without it.
Animation Runner Kuromi (OAV) Very good Great fun.
Animation Runner Kuromi 2 (OAV) Very good
Another (TV) Good This was fun to watch in a group-setting for the popcorn-horror elements and Final Destination-y body count. I'd have a higher opinion of it if so much of the "plot" early on didn't hinge entirely on just about everyone in the early episodes making a conscious choice to refuse to answer any of the main character's questions. Sloppy.
Appleseed (OAV)
Aquarian Age - Sign for Evolution (TV) Weak An ambitious effort, as adaptations of collectible card-games go... trying to use the game's backstory to tell a real-story, not just a story about people playing the card game... but I found it too convoluted for the rather ho-hum payoff.
Aria the Animation (TV) Very good Slice-of-life done right. The world and characters are both so charming and filled with simple virtues that you just want to spend time with them pursuing life's little adventures... no melodrama necessary.
Armitage III (OAV) Good
Armitage: Dual-Matrix (movie) Good
Armored Dragon Legend Villgust (OAV)
Babel II - Beyond Infinity (TV 2/2001) Weak Kinda bland. There's some minor appeal in how much of a throwback it is to adventure shows that might have aired in the 1980's or early '90's, but unless one is really SEEKING OUT that sort of show, it's all pretty ho-hum.
Baccano! (TV) Excellent Clever, action-packed, and loads of fun. It's so satisfying how the first episode starts with so much randomness, and yet it all makes sense in the end, like a jigsaw puzzle that gradually takes shape once you've got a few straight edges to work off of.
Baldr Force EXE (OAV) Decent Straightforward actioner. Nothing special, but not painful to watch or anything.
Bamboo Blade (TV) Decent This series is has a good start and features some fun, likable characters. It sort of loses momentum in the back half, though, as it drifts from being a sports-tournament sort of series to more just the melodrama of one specific character coming of age. For me, the character they chose to focus on was really annoying, so I stopped caring. For those who end up liking that character, opinions will probably vary. :)
Bastard!! (OAV) So-so
Battle Angel (OAV) Excellent One of my favorite titles from a visual perspective. The character designs and art-style are so gorgeous. Story is very satisfying, given the short length.
Battle Royale (live-action movie)
BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad (TV) Excellent The best "coming of age" anime around.
Berserk (TV 1997) So-so I liked this a lot when I was watching it, but in retrospect, it's a little limited. Worth a watch for those who like the Robert E. Howard, Conan the Barbarian style of sword and sorcery.
Black Lagoon (TV) Excellent (For both this and 2nd Barrage) Awesome-sauce. Love the characters, love the epic action sequences, love the world-building, love the attitude. My only regret is a lack of closure... I need some big epic third season where the Lagoon crew themselves are at the center of the story, rather than getting caught up in things through association with the "guest stars" of the arc.
Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail (OAV) Very good Still great, but dragged out a bit in some places for it to hold my attention quite as well as the main season.
Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage (TV) Excellent
Black Magic M-66 (OAV)
Blade of the Immortal (TV) Decent This is the sort of fighting series that I'd normally drop for being just a series of setups for the creative team to showcase the weird powers they came up with. This was short, though, and spent enough time on non-fighting elements - like thematic questions about revenge and whether to pursue it - that it didn't get too boring.
Bleach the Movie: Memories of Nobody Weak Watched this with friends who are Bleach fans. I am very much *NOT* a Bleach fan. This did not change my mind.
Blood: The Last Vampire (movie) Weak
Blue Gender (TV) Good A solid post-apocalyptic sci-fi story. Might have worked better as a 1 cours series, as it feels a little longer than it needs to be.
Blue Seed (TV) Good I enjoyed this a lot. Great cast of characters, and it even managed to make me believe the "romance" angle, which usually feels really forced and overly soapy in this sort of scenario (see Ayashi no Ceres :P).
Blue Seed Beyond (OAV)
Boogiepop Phantom (TV) Very good Excellent "jigsaw puzzle"-style series.
Boys Over Flowers (TV) Good Pure, unrepentant shoujo soap opera. Truly *EPIC* and must-see if you like this sort of thing. (Which I do. :) ).
Brigadoon (TV) Good I liked this surprisingly quite a lot. The sort of show that tricks you into thinking it's going to be painfully cutesy and fluffy and light, then takes a cosmic leap into tragedy porn territory with all the trouble heaped upon our adorable young protagonist. The balance sways a bit too much one way or the other at times, and I'm not sure how creeped out to be by how common it is in the series for our pre-pubescent lead to end up naked at times, but the key story beats of the series make for a fairly strong mecha-show with some real heart.
Bubblegum Crash (OAV)
Bubblegum Crisis (OAV) Excellent Rewatched this recently, expecting it to feel dated and too old, but the OVA has held up *very* well. Still a classic well worth viewing for any fan.
Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040 (TV) Good Solid approach to the BGC universe. It doesn't have quite to stylistic punch of capturing that cyberpunk vibe of the original, but without that baggage, as a standalone story, it's a solid sci-fi-actioner.
Bunny Drop (TV) Excellent Lovely, gentle story with great humor and compassion. Well worth a watch, despite knowing that the manga dumps all over it later.
Bus Gamer (TV) Decent I love the setup and characters in this. Unfortunately, they don't bother to expand what little manga there is into something with an actual beginning/middle/end. Without that, it's hard to bother recommending it to anyone.
Castle in the Sky (movie) Excellent My third-favorite Miyazaki, after Totoro and Mononoke.
Cleopatra D.C. (OAV)
(The) Cockpit (OAV) So-so
Comic Party (TV) Good Nothing terribly deep, but a fun little take on the creative process and finding one's own creative voice in the context of the doujinshi market. I enjoyed it.
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie Excellent
Coyote Ragtime Show (TV) Decent Moderately enjoyable actioner. Good for the "summer blockbuster" car-chases-and-things-that-go-boom crowd.
Crying Freeman (OAV)
D.I.C.E. (TV) Bad Watched this because I got a review copy. It's not something most anime fans over the age of ten would be interested in. It's more of an after-school cartoon.
D.N.Angel (TV) Weak This series never clicked for me. Character designs skewed a bit too middle-schooler-ish for me to take the drama and romance elements seriously, and I didn't care for the voice casts on either the sub or the dub.
Dai-Guard (TV) So-so Meh. I spent most of this series not quite sure why I was still watching, because it wasn't funny and the drama was just sorta "there"... and yet, I kept watching, so there must've been *something* to it that worked.
Daicon films (special)
Dangaioh (OAV)
Daphne in the Brilliant Blue (TV) Very good Despite the ludicrous fan-service-y costumes, this show has a lot of real heart. There's plenty of over-the-top, pitch-perfect comedy, but it has a nicely sentimental serious side, too. I definitely loved this more than I expected to.
Darker than Black (TV) Excellent Great stuff. My vote for "anime that would do really well as a live-action tv series". I kept fan-casting it in my head as I watched.
Dead Girls (OAV) Decent A decent enough follow-up to the TV Series, but not really required viewing.
DearS (TV) Decent A pleasant enough iteration of the old average-high-school-guy-meets-magical-girl trope.
Demon City Shinjuku (OAV)
Descendants of Darkness (TV) Good One of several bishonen anime series that I'd have liked more if the focus had stayed on the main pairing, instead of cluttering things up with a bunch of side characters that, frankly, kinda suck. (See also: Tactics) When the story is focusing on Tsuzuki, Hisoka, and Muraki, it's great, though.
Detroit Metal City (OAV) Decent Amusing, but not something that's going to be particularly memorable for me long-term.
Devil Hunter Yohko (OAV) Good The first episode is a little bland, but the series overall is still rather fun for old-school borderline-ecchi nostalgia.
Dirty Pair Flash (OAV) Not really good Forgettable, episodic action hijinks.
Dirty Pair Flash 1 (OAV) Weak Disposable - typical action/comedy sort of thing with uninspired plots.
Dirty Pair Flash 2 (OAV)
Dirty Pair Flash 3 (OAV)
Dirty Pair: Affair on Nolandia (OAV)
Dirty Pair: Flight 005 Conspiracy (OAV)
Dirty Pair: Project Eden (movie)
(The) Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (movie) Weak Not horrible, but all I find I really have to say is that it was loooooooong. Seemed interminable.
Dominion Tank Police (OAV)
Dragon Half (OAV) Decent An older title that is still fun, given that it's a fairly simple, fluffy sort of comic hijinx show. Good filler for an anime club, but not must-see, ROFLOL hilarious or anything.
Durarara!! (TV) Excellent
E's Otherwise (TV) Decent The first half (or so) of this series was a pleasant surprise. I rather enjoyed it when it was being an episodic show about the main character helping with the trouble-shooting agency. When it shifted into the main arc, things increasingly fell apart. Too much clutter and a general failure at coherent world-building. Overall, though, I'm glad I checked it out.
Eden of the East (TV) Very good Cool series with a lot going for it, though it felt a little... soulless, I guess... for me. Which is strange, considering how likeable the lead characters are.
Eden of the East: Paradise Lost (movie)
Eden of the East: The King of Eden (movie)
El-Hazard: The Magnificent World (OAV)
Elf Princess Rane (OAV) Very good Powerful anime crack. Really funny once you stop trying to make it *make sense* and just roll with it.
Emma: A Victorian Romance (TV)
Excel Saga (TV) Weak I know this is a little heretical for any serious anime fan, but I find Excel Saga *really* overrated. I usually love this sort of satire on other genres (see Abenobashi Shopping District) but I find the running gags in this to be un-funny and kinda lame.
Fairy Princess Minky Momo: La ronde in my dream (OAV)
Fake (OAV) So-so
Fantastic Children (TV) Very good Really strong, engaging plot, with multiple offshoots as side-characters turn out to be more important than you'd expect.
Fight! Iczer-One (OAV) Weak Old-school ecchi without much to recommend it to modern day fans, in terms of plot or character development.
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (movie) Not really good Really only a movie for folks who already idolize all things FF7.
Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals (OAV) Weak Bland and unimaginative.
Final Fantasy: Unlimited (TV) Awful One of the most actively *BAD* series I've ever seen. If I wasn't watching this to review it, I'd never have gotten all the way through. As a standalone series, it sucks pretty hard... and the problem is only worsened by the fact that it has almost zero resemblance to anything Final Fantasy.
(The) Five Star Stories (movie) Decent One of those movies that suffers somewhat for being made for an audience that is already familiar with the story. It has a definitely cool look/feel though, so worth a look, imo.
Flag (ONA) Decent Interesting series if you like a "real-world" feel to your anime... the characters and situation are relatively engaging, and the "documentary" style is unique and interesting. There are some long stretches where it gets kinda boring and/or preachy, though.
FLCL (OAV) Excellent FLCL deserves its classic status. Not much else to say about it.
Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club (TV) Very good Pandering as hell, yes, but in a way that actually involved 3-dimensional characters, a pretty good delivery of the usual underdog-sports-show tropes, and some great humor and heart. I loved it.
Freedom (OAV) Good Simple, straightforward sci-fi OVA (with noodles!) It doesn't break any new ground, but it's enjoyable and well-suited to the 6-episode-OVA format.
From the New World (TV)
Fruits Basket (TV 1/2001) Excellent Great adapation of a great series. The comedy has some great visual gags and fun slapstick, and the handling of the conclusion of the TV Series while the manga was ongoing was well-handled. Fabulous dub, also.
Full Metal Panic! (TV) Excellent Awesome series. The comedy episodes nail the fish-out-of-water humor, and the dramatic episodes are appropriately suspenseful and actiony.
Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu (TV) Very good All the great comedy of the first series - and more.
Fullmetal Alchemist (TV) Excellent 50-some episode series that manage to tell a consistent, strong story across their entire length are rare enough to be treasured. I haven't seen Brotherhood yet to compare, but the first series more than earned its status among fans with a strong cast of characters, amazing voice cast on both language tracks, and really intriguing world-building.
Gall Force - Eternal Story (movie) Decent The storytelling is a bit clunky in this first movie, and the animation quality is definitely dated, but it's still very watchable for that nostalgic '80's sci-fi feel. (I'm also kinda amused that for all the fan-service in shows from this period, the adult females actually have fairly human proportions. Refreshing.)
Gall Force 2 - Destruction (OAV) Decent The main move trilogy hits its stride in this movie, as they seem to have thought out the ramifications of the first one and made it a point to expand on them. I liked this cast of characters more than the first batch, and thought they handled the emotional fallout of the first episode well, in terms of Lufy's continuity.
Gall Force 3 - Stardust War (OAV) Decent Pretty much a direct continuation of the previous one. Not really a very satisfactory plot in its own right, but watchable enough.
Gall Force: Earth Chapter (OAV)
Gall Force: New Era (OAV) Decent All of the Gall Force OVA's remain fairly watchable on their own - but as they go on, there's an increasing sense of "what's the point?" The repetition of the same themes again and again with no evolution is a bit lame.
Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo (TV) Excellent Excellent adaptation! This could so easily have been one of those anime "adaptations" that bore no resemblance to the original work (especially given the psychedelic art style that telegraphed for me that the series would be all flash and no substance)... but it's actually a really well thought-out reimagining of the basic plot of the novel with a different POV character, an inventive setting, and some well-considered modifications.
Gantz (TV) Bad The mystery of Gantz's purpose kept me watching to the end... but the mystery was not given any sort of real conclusion, so that didn't work out as I'd hoped. :P In the end, the main "redeeming value" of the series is its shock value, with lots of nudity, violence, and gore done in a crass, "boundary pushing for the sake of boundary pushing" way. The characters are all actively unlikeable - even the ones who it seems we're supposed to sympathize with - and the "plot" is just a series of increasingly drawn-out combat scenarios with minimal pay-off. Not something I'd bother with, if I had it to do over.
Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet (TV) Good Loved the first half. Got a bit too ambitious for what they had time for in the second half, so it ended up a bit too scattered. I liked the setting and characters enough that I'm looking forward to the next season.
Gate Keepers 21 (OAV) Decent Fairly by-the-numbers "Humans with special powers fighting off forces of evil" story. It handles the tropes well, and is entertaining - especially if you enjoy the style of storytelling and pacing of the old-school six-episode-OVA format.
Generator Gawl (TV) Good I really liked this series for the mildly slashy buddy-camaraderie aspect. The way the three main characters are linked by Gawl's situation and how it relates to their common goal lends a little more character-interest to the story than if it was just one guy and the sidekick female in the same situation. Definitely high on my list of lesser-known series that deserve more attention.
Geneshaft (TV) Good A solid, if not terribly groundbreaking sci-fi space actioner. It combines several typical themes for this sort of series (genetic manipulation, the lone-spaceship-crew vs. mysterious-enemy, the spunky newbie pilot with untapped potentional) in a generally satisfying way. I was particularly intrigued that a show about a future where women outnumber men (by something like 9-to-1) has such a balanced cast. The setup wasn't just an excuse to stack the deck with boobs... they actually seemed to have given thought to the ramifications and gender relations that would result in a world like that.
Genesis Climber Mospeada: Love, Live, Alive (OAV)
Genshiken (TV) Very good Fun play on otaku-dom.
Genshiken 2 (TV) Very good This season held my interest better than the first one. Partially because the shift in focus to more of the female-otaku universe is more relevant to my own experience, and partially because I just felt it was just a little more focused, overall.
Getbackers (TV) Good This was a fun series for the first few arcs, but it's one of those combat series that starts with a few characters and then the cast gets exponentially bigger with each arc. I *like* Ban & Ginji a lot. I *don't* particularly care about most of the additional characters who suddenly have to be involved in every arc once they're introduced. Episodes that focus on these secondary characters end up feeling like excess filler to me, which leaves me feeling like the series, overall, has about 4 episodes of fluff for every one episode of substance. Disappointing, given how much I like the core premise and characters.
Ghost in the Shell (movie) Not really good I didn't connect with the GITS movies. They came across as trying too hard to be cerebral and "deep", and lost the emotional connection I need to be able to really care about the characters.
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (movie) So-so
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (TV) Excellent Love love loved this. It has all the cool cyberpunk thinky stuff that the movies were going for, but in a more accessible package with a full cast of likeable characters.
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: Solid State Society (movie) Very good Enjoyed this a lot - mainly because I like the Stand Alone Complex cast enough that I'd pretty much enjoy anything with them. The plot, as a standalone entity, was serviceable, but probably wouldn't have left an impression if it wasn't GITS.
Giant Killing (TV) Excellent Love it. Delivers on all the strategizing and "how could they possibly pull this off?!?" twists that make a sports anime great.
Gilgamesh (TV) Good Hmmmm... This was... rather dense. I can't say that I actually *enjoyed* this series, as everything about it is rather dour and oppressive (by design), but it has a unique style and the storyline kept my attention.
Glass Maiden (TV) Good I enjoyed this one probably more than it really merited. Especially because it features one of *the* most annoying characters I've ever encountered in an anime. But I'm a sucker for buddy-detective shows, and the dynamic between the the main character and his partner was close enough to that to keep my interest, and I found the setting rather engaging. I'd have liked to learn more about the "world" these guys live in.
GoShogun: The Time Étranger (OAV) Decent
Grave of the Fireflies (movie) Excellent The first time I watched this movie was the only time in my life that a movie had me flat-out *BAWLING*... not just briefly, but for pretty much the entire movie. Beautiful and kind cathartic. (Note: Needs to be watched subbed, imo. The dub makes a noble effort, but there's just something missing at the emotional heart of the thing in the dub, imo.)
Grave of the Fireflies [2005] (live-action movie special)
Gravitation (TV)
Gravitation: Lyrics of Love (OAV)
Gunbuster (OAV) Excellent Gunbuster is one of those formative shows that I saw early on in my fandom and sucker-punched me with how much emotional impact anime can have. I'm not entirely rational in my undying love for it. :)
Gunparade March (TV) Good The artwork makes this look like a mecha-show, but it's really more of a coming of age/teen-romance story, set against the *backdrop* of a mecha combat-with-aliens scenario. Once I shifted my expectations, it's really quite a pleasant little show, and the fumbling evolution of the central relationship is endearing.
Gunsmith Cats (OAV) So-so Hasn't held up very well for me.
Gurren Lagann (TV)
Haibane Renmei (TV) Very good Lovely, contemplative series. Some of the early episodes establishing the leisurely pace of the haibanes' lives are a bit dry, but the portrayal of Rakka and Reki's separate quests for identity are powerful.
Happy Lesson (TV) Good Surprisingly fun! I expected to be turned off by a "harem" of adult teachers around a teen student, but this first series doesn't go anywhere too squicky with the premise, and the slapstick comedy is spot-on. (I understand that Happy Lesson Advance *does* go into romantic territory that I find squicky, so I'm opting not to watch that one, to avoid spoiling my appreciation of the first series. :) )
Happy Lesson (OAV) Good The "expendable" type of OVA that's just an extra episode or two. Nothing significant added to the series.
Haunted Junction (TV) Good A lot funnier than it has any right to be. Some of the ongoing gags get old, but enough of them land in each episode to definitely be worth a watch.
Heat Guy J (TV) Very good The main story arc of this series is bit rough around the edges - a bit too laid-back about the pacing and not enough correlation between the world-building and the rest of the story - but I really love the cast of characters and its overall sense of style. It's just a fun romp sort of story.
Here Is Greenwood (OAV) Excellent One of my favorites. Hilarious comedy in the episodic first four episodes, and the final two episodes are a sweet, sentimental romance story (still punctuated by the humor). I love the relationships among the four main cast, and how you get a feel for everyone in the dorm. For such a short series, you come away from it feeling like you've been part of a big happy family, with lots of teasing, but also a lot of affection.
(The) Heroic Legend of Arslan (OAV) Good A favorite fantasy anime of mine. They capture the epicness of the story, despite having such a limited episode count.
Hetalia - Axis Powers (TV) Good Somewhat hit-and-miss. The spoofing of countries in this is GREAT stuff when it's "on", but there were some recurring storylines that didn't bring the funny for me.
Hetalia Axis Powers: Paint it, White! (movie)
Hikaru no Go (TV) Excellent Near the top of the heap for both sports/tournament series and coming-of-age tales. Getting to the end of the series and reflecting on much Hikaru had grown, both as a go-player and as a young man was immensely satisfying.
His and Her Circumstances (TV) Good The first part of the series is sooooo good. The fact that they couldn't quite keep things together on the production end for the entire run is high on my list of disappointments as an anime viewer.
Howl's Moving Castle (movie) Very good A bit lightweight and random, as Miyazaki movies go. I enjoy it, and it's really a charming story with some strong memorable moments, but it feels like it ought to have either a bit more gravitas, or a bit less whimsy. (The glimpses we get of the war going on on the edges of the story feel out-of-place in the whimsical, pastoral fairy tale... and vice versa.)
I'll/CKBC (OAV) Decent
Iczer Reborn (OAV) Bad
Idol Defense Force Hummingbird (OAV) Weak
Infinite Ryvius (TV) Excellent I love this series. If you're just watching for the surface-level plot, I'm sure there are some frustrating aspects, as the plot that involves "kids on a spaceship fighting bad guys trying to kill them" moves at a pretty glatial pace. But that plot is almost incidental to the social experiment that plays out among the kids, as power shifts between different factions with different approaches to how to keep order and fight the bad guys.
Iria - Zeiram the Animation (OAV) Good
(The) Irresponsible Captain Tylor (TV) Excellent Awesome! One of a handful of anime comedies that feel sort of like a western sitcom in how the humor beats are doled out. Classic cast of characters, and high rate of LOL moments. :)
Jin-Roh - The Wolf Brigade (movie) Very good The realism of the animation in this is jaw-dropping. There were several times in watching where I experienced a weird sort of blinky moment where I realized that, for the previous few minutes of a scene, my brain had been processing the characters as live actors, not animated ones.
Junkers Come Here (movie)
Jyu-Oh-Sei (TV) So-so Good setup, disappointing conclusion. After the initial world-building, the series does a timeskip. Everything after that point is a bit of a mess. Everything is rushed, so key plot points kinda come out of nowhere, character motivations don't make a lot of sense, and just a generally unsatisfying end.
K.O. Beast (OAV) Very good I love this series. :) It's not terribly deep, and the brand of humor isn't terribly original, but it's such an enthusiastic, energetic little thing. Especially in the sub, some of the recurring jokes like Bud's Americanism's and Akumako's bloodthirstiness are a hoot.
Kaiba (TV) Good The Little Prince crossed with Ghost in the Shell. This show is awesome in the first half when it's being episodic and exploring the ramifications of its universe where bodies are expendable/interchangeable commodities. Unfortunately, it loses its way in the back half, and the resolution to the mystery of our hero's identity that's established in episode #1 is much more humdrum. Worth a watch, but not quite as great as it had the potential to be.
Kaleido Star (TV) Good Solid underdog-proving-she-has-what-it-takes-through-spunk-and-stick-to-it-iveness show.
Kaleido Star: New Wings Extra Stage (OAV)
Kaze no Stigma (TV) Good Solid action show with an engaging bickering-but-destined-to-fall-in-love relationship between the two leads. I enjoyed the character evolution for those two. I also found the show to be *very* pretty. The color palette had lots of really vibrant colors without being garish about it.
Key the Metal Idol (OAV) So-so There's a core of a good story here... one of the best looks at the "robot with emotions" theme that is so common in anime. I found the pace of the storytelling, overall, to be too leisurely for my tastes... but a solid payoff makes up for that somewhat.
Kiki's Delivery Service (movie) Excellent Charming movie. The epitome of a simple coming of age story, with all the ups and downs that that entails.
Kimagure Orange Road (TV)
Kimagure Orange Road: The Movie
Kino's Journey (TV) Masterpiece My drop-dead favorite anime series ever. :) I love how the series is so simple and thought-provoking at the same time, and how Kino's character is so deadpan (with little-splashes-of-wry-humor) and yet the emotion of the scenarios that she encounters is still communicated so clearly.
Kite (OAV) Decent Relatively enjoyable, but not really as impressive as I expected it to be. There are enough other explorations of the child-assassin genre out there nowadays that this feels like the one-paragraph synopsis for a longer work. Pretty visuals, but not enough meat on the story side of things.
Knight Hunters (TV) Decent A guilty pleasure. Objectively speaking, this series has some of the worst production values around, and the "plot" has holes you can drive a truck through... but I'm a fangirl when it comes to angsty-bishies, and Weiss delivers that in spades. :)
Knight Hunters Eternity (TV) Decent
Knights of Ramune (OAV) Weak
Kurogane Communication (TV) Very good One of my favorite diamond-in-the-rough titles. The short episode lengths and almost cartoony slice-of-life feel of early episodes can make this series easy to overlook, but once it gets rolling, it evolves a serious plot that would stand up well as a single sci-fi movie if the episodes were strung end-to-end.
L/R: Licensed by Royalty (TV) Weak I liked the idea of a "spy" type series, but the execution of this is too bland... no sense of peril or urgency to the episodic plotlines, and when an arc kicks in, that's just painfully flat and uninteresting.
Last Exile (TV) Good Wicked cool visuals. Story is amazing in early episodes. I didn't really connect emotionally with the characters enough to make this a major favorite, but it's definitely a worthwhile series.
Legend of Lemnear (OAV) Not really good Ecchi series with sword-fights and a paper-thin plot. Satoshi Urushihara's art-style is sooooo pretty, though, that it's hard for me to brush this off completely.
Like the Clouds, Like the Wind (movie) Good
Little Witch Academia (movie)
Loveless (TV) Not really good Borderline BL story about an adult man sort-of bonded to a teenaged boy, set in a world where children have dog-ears and tails until they lose their virginity, with elements of tournament combat. A lot of the elements of this are big turn-offs for me. The story itself is pleasant enough, but one of those sorts of shows that you should be able to tell from that first sentence whether it will appeal to you or not. It doesn't offer anything that would appeal to a broader target audience, imo.
Luna Varga (OAV)
Lunar Legend Tsukihime (TV) So-so Eh. Unobjectionable supernatural/vampire-hunting sort of series, but nothing special.
M.D. Geist (OAV)
Macross Plus (OAV) Very good Stylistically cooler-than-cool, with enough substance to the storyline to make it solidly watchable.
Magic Knight Rayearth (TV) So-so Hmmmm... The series has not aged well, imo. The "plot" is more of a series of JRPG-style fetch-quests for various power-up plot-tokens. It plays as a bit more cartoony than I'd like. That said, I did mostly enjoy this first series. It was mostly saved by the likeability of the characters... especially the Fuu and Ferio subplot.
Magic Knight Rayearth 2 (TV) Bad The quality of MKR drops sharply from "ok" to truly "bad" in this season, imo. There are so many characters crammed into this season, there's barely room for any actual plot... and what plot there is consists of our three heroines learning the same lessons over and over and over. The usual combat cycle of getting one's ass kicked, being dejected, and coming back to win the day is so uninspired here that the girls just look pathetic when they go into the next fight and the ass-kicking starts all over. 90% of this series seems like a giant wad of filler, spinning 6-10 episodes worth of plot into 29 eps.
Magical Girl Pretty Sammy (OAV)
Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi (TV) Very good Kind of a surprising series. It starts off as a fun romp, with some wicked-smart spoofing of other genres, and then wanders into more dramatic territory as the core storyline actually explores *why* this stuff is going on and how to stop it. A lot weightier than it looks, but still a lot of fun.
Magical Witch Punie-chan (OAV) Very good Quite a funny little spoof on Magical Girl shows. It had enough original gags (especially revolving around the mascot character) to keep me surprised and laughing out loud, and is short enough that the funny bits didn't have a chance to get stale through repetition.
Martian Successor Nadesico (TV) Good I usually don't care for this particular brand of parody where part of the gag is that they're playing it "straight" - but this series finds the right balance between parody and having a pretty good story in its own right. It isn't something I see myself needing to collect or rewatch, but I can understand why it's well loved.
Martian Successor Nadesico: The Motion Picture - Prince of Darkness
Megazone 23 (OAV)
Megazone 23 Part II (OAV)
Megazone 23 Part III (OAV)
(The) Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (TV) Decent Not a fan. It's a watchable series, with some entertaining quirks, but aside from the moe-tsundere-whatever-female-stereotype-of-the-week element, it's not quite the mind-blowing work that one would think from its hype.
(The) Melody of Oblivion (TV) Decent This series made me *angry*. Up until the final arc, I was loving it. It's not a show for everyone, but I was loving the willfully bizarre surrealism of the thing. Monsters who can turn you into a stick figure if you look at them, a little boy with his arm stuck in a dam, a medusa preying on a mist-shrouded seaside town... The atsmosphere was so odd... and yet oddly compelling. And then, the final arc threw out all the "compelling" part and opted to step right over the line into "so surreal it's pointless" territory. Very, very disappointing ending to what is otherwise an intriguing, acquired-taste of a series.
Memories (movie) Not really good Pretty, but not terribly entertaining.
Metal Skin Panic MADOX-01 (OAV)
Metropolis (movie) Decent
Millennium Actress (movie) Excellent My favorite Satoshi Kon film. Trippy and reality-bending in a way that increases the emotional impact.
Mini Pato (movie)
Minky Momo in The Bridge for Your Tomorrow (OAV)
Minky Momo in The Station of Your Memories (OAV)
Mirage of Blaze (TV) So-so I sometimes have issues with historical series. There's always a sense that I'm missing something not having the same kind of innate cultural understanding of the events of, say, the Meiji Restoration, as I have for historical events in my own country. Mirage of Blaze is set in the present day, but there's a sense of history running through it that makes things rather heavy and convoluted for me.
Mirage of Blaze: Rebels of the River Edge (OAV) So-so
Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket (OAV) Very good A Gundam title for non-mecha-fans. This story packs a tragic emotional wallop, and probably my favorite "end of innocence"-type story.
Monster (TV) Excellent There's some willful suspension of disbelief required to believe Johan is capable of everything attributed to him, but if you can set aside that bit of reality, the rest of the series is aces. I had no idea how they could play out a Fugitive-style plot for such a long series without getting boring, and the way they did it while keeping the main plot moving forward is fantastic.
My Beautiful Girl Mari (Korean movie) Decent Very pretty film. I felt it was lacking a "punchline" (for lack of a better term)... it felt like things just ended without making the point it was trying to make.
My Neighbor Totoro (movie) Masterpiece My favorite Miyazaki.
Nadia - The Secret of Blue Water (TV) Very good Elements of this series are a little more cartoony than most modern anime fans will probably appreciate (i.e. Nadia's sentient lion cub sidekick, or the over-the-top-ness of some of the villains). But once I re-set my expectations, I found a lot to like in this.
Nadia - The Secret of Blue Water: The Motion Picture Weak Basically a clip-show of the series. Not much to recommend it.
Natsuki Crisis (OAV)
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (movie) Excellent Epic and awesome.
NieA_7 (TV) Decent Pleasant enough attempt at a mix of slice-of-life and FLCL-style wackiness. I would have liked it better if they had gone with more of a FLCL punch for the ending, rather than just petering out.
Night on the Galactic Railroad (movie) Good Kinda cool in an "arthouse" sort of way. Definitely fecommended for those who enjoy "artsy" anime.
Ninja Scroll (movie)
Now and Then, Here and There (TV) Excellent A great example of an anime that includes lots of harsh violence without being only in it for the shock value. Great series.
Ocean Waves (movie) Good Like other non-Miyazaki, non-Takahata Ghibli titles, I find this a little vague around the edges, but it's a sweet teen romance, at least.
Oh My Goddess! (OAV) Good
Once Upon a Time (movie) Very good Tragic and beautiful.
Only Yesterday (movie) Masterpiece One of my all-time favorite movies, animated or otherwise. The way the story captures the little joys and disappointments of childhood is so amazing, and the modern-day romance is just a cherry on top.
Otaku no Video (OAV) Very good Still the gold standard for depiction of the evolution of an otaku. :)
Outlaw Star (TV) Decent Old-school adventure. Enjoyable for what it is, but not enough depth or charisma to be terribly memorable for me.
Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt (TV)
Paprika (movie) Excellent I found the blending of realities a little more compelling in Millennium Actress, but this one is probably the more tightly plotted of the two. Excellent film.
Paradise Kiss (TV) Good Nicely adult take on romance.
Patema Inverted: Beginning of the Day (ONA)
Patlabor 2: The Movie (movie 2) Decent
Patlabor the Mobile Police: The New Files (OAV 2/1990) Excellent This may be my favorite version of the franchise. Short enough that there aren't too many clunker episodes, and several of the episodes are my hands-down favorites.
Peacemaker (TV) Not really good I wanted to like this more than I did. Something just didn't click for me. I think it's a similar situation to DNAngel - the age of the protagonist and just the overall balance between cutesy stuff and drama is too far over into cutesy for me to take the drama seriously.
Perfect Blue (movie) Very good Cool psychological thriller. I think it has more impact than it might have in some other medium because this sort of story is done so seldom in anime.
(The) Place Promised in Our Early Days (movie) Very good
Planetes (TV) Excellent Loooove this series - the real-worldy-ness and slice-of-life-yness of the concept and the way the character drama ramps up at the end.
Plastic Little (OAV) Decent Disposable fluff with a large dose of T&A, but kinda fun.
Please Save My Earth (OAV) Good
Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (movie) Excellent My favorite sort of Miyazaki - the portrayal of young children is so endearing, it doesn't even really matter whether there's enough meat to the rest of the plot.
Porco Rosso (movie) Excellent
Prefectural Earth Defense Force (OAV) Good
Prétear (TV) So-so Felt very "shoujo-by-the-numbers" for me. Pretty character designs, but nothing really stood out about the story.
Princess Jellyfish (TV)
Princess Mononoke (movie) Masterpiece Visually stunning and powerful.
Princess Nine (TV)
Princess Tutu (TV) Masterpiece Charming fairy tale made many times better and more interesting by the story-within-a-story-within-a-story meta-storytelling aspect. A really accomplished mixing of both the fluffy cute side of fairy tales and darker Brothers Grimm side.
Psycho-Pass (TV)
Puella Magi Madoka Magica (TV)
R.O.D -The TV- Decent This is a successful enough series for what it is. It's polished and well-plotted, and there's clearly some effort put into making it a quality product. It skews a bit too much towards tugging at moe-ish feelings for it to be a complete win for me.
RahXephon (TV) Very good A quality series, but I think they went *way* overboard on the... density. If they'd dropped about half of the cryptic mumbo-jumbo dialogue and pruned the cast by 2-3 characters, the show would have held together better. As it is, my final impression was of a jumbled mishmash of plot threads that never really found a focus.
Ranma ½: Nihao My Concubine (movie) Decent
Read or Die (OAV) Good Enjoyed this earlier work much more than the TV series. Better treatment of the premise of paper masters, overall.
Record of Lodoss War (OAV) Very good Classic RPG-style fantasy. I've always been awed by the dragons in this - they really capture the sense of scale of the things.
Red Garden (TV)
Revolutionary Girl Utena (TV) Excellent Nobody ever warns you when they talk about Utena that the first arc is painfully cliche. It isn't until into the second arc that the genius of the series starts to come together, when it becomes clear that the repetition isn't just within each episode, but a cyclical thing that's building into something so much *more*.
Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Movie Decent A little too far into the surreal-for-the-sake-of-it realm for me to be too awed by it, but it's a neat counterpoint to the series, anyway.
RG Veda (OAV) Decent
Rhea Gall Force (OAV) So-so
Riding Bean (OAV)
RIN - Daughters of Mnemosyne (TV)
Robot Carnival (OAV)
Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles (U.S. OAV) Decent Actually quite a decent chapter in the Robotech universe.
Roujin Z (movie) Good
Ruin Explorers - Fam & Ihrie (OAV) Very good One of the better humorous fantasy animes around. It's a pity it didn't last longer.
Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal (OAV) Not really good Very pretty and atmospheric, but a little too moody and plodding to have much appeal. I've never been a fan of the TV series, so I might be lacking the necessary appreciation of the character to care about his backstory.
Sailor Moon (TV)
Sailor Moon R (TV)
Sailor Moon S (TV)
Saiyuki (TV)
Saiyuki Gunlock (TV)
Saiyuki Reload (TV)
Saiyuki: Requiem (movie)
Samurai 7 (TV)
School Rumble (TV)
School Rumble: 2nd Semester (TV)
Scrapped Princess (TV)
(The) Secret World of Arrietty (movie)
Serial Experiments Lain (TV)
Shamanic Princess (OAV)
Shinesman (OAV)
Silent Möbius: The Motion Picture
Silent Möbius: The Motion Picture 2
Simoun (TV)
Sol Bianca (OAV)
Someday's Dreamers (TV)
Sorcerer Hunters (TV)
Sorcerer Hunters (OAV)
Spiral (TV)
Spirit of Wonder (OAV)
Spirit of Wonder Scientific Boys Club (OAV)
Spirited Away (movie)
Spriggan (movie)
Squid Girl (TV)
Starship Operators (TV)
(The) Story of Saiunkoku (TV)
Strain: Strategic Armored Infantry (TV)
Stratos 4 (TV)
(The) Super Dimension Fortress Macross (TV)
(The) Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Flash Back 2012 (OAV)
Super Dimensional Fortress Macross II: The Movie (OAV)
Sword of the Stranger (movie)
Tactics (TV) Not really good When this series is focusing on the two main characters and their angsty-bishie dynamic, it's quite good. Unfortunately, there's far, *far* too much focus put on various characters who just suck. There's not enough meat to the core story to make this worthwhile.
Tekkonkinkreet (movie)
Tenchi Muyo! (OAV 1/1992) Good
Tenchi the Movie - Tenchi Muyo in Love
Texhnolyze (TV)
Tide-Line Blue (TV)
Tiger & Bunny (TV) Very good The first 3/4 of the series is really, really, REALLY good - great use of superhero tropes while giving them a creative spin. Unfortunately, they somewhat drop the ball in the final arc, resorting too often to straight cliche instead of the creative twist.
Time of Eve (ONA) Excellent Awesome! The blend of sci-fi themes about robots and their humanity/lack-thereof with genuinely moving slice-of-life style melancholy is wonderful. High marks for making me think and making me ache and smile and tear up all within a couple hours of content. Beautiful.
Time of Eve (movie)
TO-Y (OAV)
Tokko (TV)
Tokyo Godfathers (movie) Excellent Fabulous fairy tale of a movie. I love this sort of thing where various threads of coincidences all start to intersect as the story rolls along, leading up to a big, sappy happy ending.
Tokyo Majin (TV) Bad Kinda boring, but borderline watchable, I guess.
Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpucho: Tou 2nd Act (TV) Worst ever Awful. Really awful. Where the first season was boring, but at least tolerable, this season just throws a bunch of trite shonen cliches into a blender and sets it to high. The result is a mess of overly convoluted world-building that requires long stretches of droning dialogue to explain, a cast suddenly overflowing with what seems like dozens of characters, none of whom get enough screentime to really explain who the heck they are and why we should care, and a plot that seems to leap from one crisis to the next without any connective tissue in between.
Toradora! (TV) Excellent Charming, funny, genuinely affecting cast of characters who sell the sappier romantic elements of the series without undermining the great comedy. Taiga treads a bit too close to my squick for "infantilized" female characters who need a male character to step in and take care of their most basic needs, but it says something about the quality of the series that the good stuff overrode my kneejerk dislike of that plot element.
Toward the Terra (movie) Decent
(The) Tower of Druaga: The Aegis of Uruk (TV) Good A bit of a mixed bag. The comedy episodes are uttery *classic*, but the core sword-and-sorcery plot is somewhat lackluster. It's a fun watch, but not one that leaves a lasting impression.
(The) Tower of Druaga: the Sword of Uruk (TV)
Trigun (TV) Bad I do not like Trigun. I found the shifts between goofy slapstick and oh-so-dramatic *AAAANGST* to be ham-handed and overdone, and I kinda really hated Meryl and Milly.
Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer (movie 2) Very good My favorite of what bits of Urusei Yatsura I've seen. Fun for those who like a bit of a bendy, mind-frell of a plot...
Vampire Hunter D (OAV)
Vampire Princess Miyu (OAV) Good The individual episodes are a bit up-and-down, and there's a bit of connecting-the-dots needed to understand what's going on in places, but I really love the atmosphere and character designs. :)
Venus Wars (movie) Decent
Video Girl Ai (OAV) Excellent One of my top 10. One of those emotional roller coasters that grabs you inside and won't let go.
(The) Vision of Escaflowne (TV) Good I'm... not as big a fan of Escaflowne as most people seem to be. It's certainly a good series, in that it has a strong storyline that holds up from beginning to end, without running into lagging or filler. And the world-building and cast of characters are all solid. I can't point to any one thing that explains why I feel lukewarm about it... it just failed to connect for me.
Voices of a Distant Star (OAV) Good Lovely and bittersweet... but also rather depressing. Not something I'm quick to rewatch.
(The) Weathering Continent (movie) Decent Pleasant enough for a one-shot fantasy story. Nothing mind-blowing, but not a waste of time, either.
Weiss Kreuz Verbrechen & Strafe (OAV) Good Weiß is a massive guilty-pleasure of mine, and the OVA is fun as a chance to see the bishie characters animated with an actual budget.
Welcome to the NHK (TV) Excellent Great exploration of trying to find meaning and purpose in one's life. One of the more honest and human series around, though kinda painful, too. I don't see myself going back and rewatching it.
When They Cry - Higurashi (TV) Bad The execution of the "jigsaw-puzzle" aspect of this series was deeply flawed, imo, and the shock value of moe girls murdering/being murdered did not appeal. I found it overrated.
When They Cry - Kai (TV)
Whisper of the Heart (movie) Good One of the more expendable Ghibli films, in terms of which ones should be required-viewing, but a charming sort of coming of age tale, nonetheless.
A Wind Named Amnesia (movie)
Witch Hunter Robin (TV) Good Cool world-building, some interesting concepts... but the somberness and... heaviness of the atmosphere and characters makes this a bit of a tougher sell than it could've been, imo. I enjoyed it, but it wouldn't be high on my list of things to recommend to friends.
Wolf's Rain (TV) Very good I loved this series from the early scene where two wolves are fighting and it flashes between their human- and wolf-images. The concept is cool for me, the bishie-factor is high, and the plot keeps a decent enough pace to keep things interesting.
Wolf's Rain (OAV) Very good
X (movie) Not really good Flashy, but not exactly well constructed. Tries to do too much with too little time.
X (TV) Very good Really good. Gives the manga series its due, with plenty of time spent with the entire cast.
X - X2 double X (OAV)
X-Men (TV)
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou: Quiet Country Cafe (OAV) Excellent Lovely, melancholy quiet. I really love this sort of thing.
Yonna in the Solitary Fortress (movie) Awful
You're Under Arrest (OAV) Decent The concept is good for an OVA-size series, and makes for a fun, old-school romp, so I enjoyed this. (Whereas, I felt the TV series was wearing thin by the end of the first season.)
Ys (OAV) Not really good Not really a *good* title, as it takes its plot straight from the first Ys games, and games back then weren't exactly the height of storytelling complexity. But taken as a game-port, it's kinda fun to see how the game's fetch quests and mechanics like healing potions translate into story format.
Ys (cancelled OAV 3) Not really good
Ys II (OAV) Not really good
Yu Yu Hakusho: Ghost Files (TV) Excellent Enjoyable tournament series that doesn't get bogged down in ginormous casts and overly convoluted world-building like more recent examples of the breed. The cast of characters remains tremendously fun and likable all the way through.
Yugo the Negotiator (TV) Weak While it's always novel to have a series that's set in the real world and about adults, this one is hampered by its torture-porn elements. If you remove the bits with our hero being inhumanly capable of withstanding torture, there isn't enough actual plot to fill out the story.
Zakuro (TV)
Zegapain (TV)
Zillion: Burning Night (OAV)
Zone of the Enders (TV) Excellent Excellent space opera (in the 1930's Saturday matinee sense of the term) with lots of fun, occasionally over-the-top hijinx. Dolores is frickin' adorable.