My next review is for Lucky Star.
Lucky Star is about a group of girls talking to each other.............That's it.
Oh and the universe might be a TV show, much like Pani Poni Dash.
I'm sorry for the lack of plot but you really can't give such an in-depth description for this series, it really is just about a group of girls talking which can be the show's strength and weakness at the same time.
In one sense the fact that Konata Izumi is an otaku is meant to represent us as the viewer in what is literally our vision of how we think and act in real life at school which on the other hand is lost on not just Western and non otaku viewers but males in general as you can count all the male characters on one hand and none of them really interact with the main characters except Minoru Shiraishi who is the worst anime character of all time, is he supposed to be funny? I don't get him?
To elaborate, the only audience this series is going to be understood by, are the Otaku and Japanese girls; that's not to say the series is bad, it's genuinely funny, works well as a dub and very few people would argue that Konata Izumi makes a better mascot for anime than Hatsune Miku does.
There's too much comedy for it to be a true Slice of Life which has a radically different structure and relies heavily on the audience being mature. Lucky Star also relies far too much on the audience being otaku and ready to understand anime references and Haruhi Suzumiya and doesn't really open itself up to newbies or rookie otaku.
Final Verdict: Lucky Star is either a love or hate series depending on your views on certain genres and how much anime you watch. I enjoyed it but there's a lot of people I know who don't.
Now we move onto a Disney show, presenting 00s sensation Kim Possible.
Kim Possible is about a crime fighting teenage girl who is perfect at literally anything while her partner Ron Stoppable can't do anything. A typical episode would feature a colorful villain, usually Dr Drakken, (a rejected character design from Doug) coming up with an evil plan to take over the world only for it to be thwarted by Kim and Ron along with the assistance of computer genius Wade and naked mole rat Rufus; there's also a sub plot dealing with school, home or relationship problems come final season.
Now if you grew up in the 90s, you were led to believe that cheerleaders are evil, because of obsessions with vanity or just being an alpha bitch, where as the loveable loser remains a loser and will either become bully bait or overcome the problem in the weirdest way possible but Kim Possible sets out to make things different by giving Kim flaws and making Ron not only more capable but achieving something even anime characters can't do, which is leave the friend zone and come out as the boyfriend, this wouldn't be achieved again until Danny Phantom; and if you can come up with anime examples of leaving the friend zone, then I counter by saying "Leaving the Friend Zone without cheating" or the "gift of super horny powers" in some cases.
That's the main beauty of the show, it takes what you think is a bad idea and turns it around into something good, even the villains are more complex than you think, especially with henchwoman Shego who lampshades every mistake Dr Drakken makes but still can't take it upon herself to leave his side, which she also lampshades.
This doesn't even use the "hide your secret" trope as it's obvious to the world that she is a secret agent cheerleader, as she can simply call favors from random characters which explains why she can get places so easily.
Disney just seems to make the most positive of female role models without much effort and Kim Possible is another one to add to the collection on a TV cartoon level, joining other strong female role models such as Gadget Hackwrench, Rebecca Cunningham, Ashley Spinelli and Mabel Pines.
Equally Ron Stoppable is a very positive male role model for the socially awkward, which there are very few and difficult to name.
Overall you can't get much better than Kim Possible, proving that the 00s did manage to produce some great cartoons.
Okay we move on next to an Anime with a weird name as it looks more like a question than a proper title. This is "Is this a Zombie?"
Is this a Zombie? is about Ayumu, who starts the series by being killed, luckily for him he is revived by Eucliwood Hellscythe, a necromancer with so much power that she not only needs knight's armor to restrict it but can't talk because her power will literally kill anyone with just words. To add to his problems, Ayumu also accidentally steals the powers of magical girl Haruna which makes him a cross dresser to the rest of the world whenever he fights off Megalos as it requires him to wear a frilly dress in order to use Haruna's Chainsaw.
Joining the battle is the Vampire Ninja, Seraphim; (Yeah a Vampire Ninja, don't think about it too hard) together they battle Megalos and all fight for Ayumu's affection, except Eucliwood who becomes the subject of Ayumu's fantasy instead as if she was a dating sim character with each episode featuring a different voice actress in both Japanese & English.
I've seen the first two seasons of this and I have mixed views on it.
Season one has a decent story but season two quickly turns any and all peril into a harem comedy and that kinda spoils everything.
The comedy elements save it from being a total meltdown but ridding itself of it's action elements was a poor decision on the Director's part which sadly also affects the likes of Infinite Stratos.
Plus I find that making species such as a Vampire Ninja feels like pandering to the current popularity for Ninja & Vampires, yet Seraphim nor the other vampires really fit the description for Vampire Ninjas in the first place.
The animation looks nice and the comedy really works, especially when fantasy Eu gets going, but I find that it took away too much when it got into season 2.
Final Verdict: It's a fun series with plenty to offer but don't expect it to stay that way beyond the first season as it takes away it's action elements in favor of a full blown harem series for season two which isn't a popular choice for the series, only the comedy really saves it from falling flat.
So we come from a mecha anime game review to a very very cutesy anime in Hamtaro, lets see what we can learn from this.
Hamtaro is about a group of hamsters who go on random adventures while their respective owners are not around, meanwhile the secondary plot revolves around Laura's day to day life who is of course Hamtaro's owner.
This show is very innocent, the threat level is extremely low, the cast of characters both human and hamsters are well designed and easy to enjoy. It's hard to find any criticism regarding this anime but equally it's also difficult to praise anything as nothing really stands out as spectacular.
Yes it's a cute series but it suffers from the same problem as Tiny Fairy Snow Sugar in that you can work out what goes on pretty quickly and the rest becomes predictable but unlike Tiny Fairy Snow Sugar the predictable nature doesn't ruin the experience and doesn't prevent you from watching it.
But there is something I've only just realized about Hamtaro; the cast of Hamsters is very similar to the cast of Animal Crossing as many of the hamsters share character traits with the weird animals of Animal Crossing, not only that but Hamtaro predates Animal Crossing by four years, so I wonder how much influence it gave Nintendo's weird franchise.
Final Verdict: It's safe and innocent but also very enjoyable, it will become boring after a while but don't let that spoil the experience before hand, there's no real bad thing to say about Hamtaro.
Now we come to a series I really had trouble watching. It's Full Moon o Sagashite.
Full Moon is about a young girl named Mitsuki, who made a promise to an older boy named Eichi at the orphanage that she'll become a famous idol singer, unfortunately she has throat cancer and needs an operation to remove the danger, unfortunately worst news follows when two Shinigami, dressed up for an anime con, show up and tell Mitsuki she has one year to live.
Mitsuki then decides to chase after her dream, which gives the Shinigami problems as she may not want to leave the living world quietly, so male Shinigami, Takuto transforms Mitsuki into a 16 year old with full health which allows her to pass the audition and become a full idol singer, but from then on it just gets more complicated.
Full Moon looks like a happy series and the art style never fails at grabbing attention but there is a serious heavy theme of suicide involved in this story.
Now Shojo stories are no stranger to taking things seriously when they need to, just look at Sailor Moon for an example, but Full Moon is uncomfortable.
The way Shinigami work in this universe is that in their lives as humans, they committed suicide, so this can be considered other world community service; now it's hard to go into details as it spoils a lot of the story, but lets just say that the details are somewhat gruesome in context and shouldn't be suitable for young girls, but since it's Arina Tanemura, you're hundred percent guaranteed a happy ending regardless of what happens in between, that's just her style.
It doesn't become any easier when the design and tone for the anime is so colorful and happy that the serious scenes feel almost out of place.
On a more positive note, at least the music, the core part of the anime is fantastic.
So personally I find Full Moon hard to watch, but for years the Magical Idol or even the standard Idol genre has always been hit or miss, a collection of pretty, colorful costumes and pop music masking overly angsty undertones.
Final Verdict: Take it or leave it I'd say, there's enough to enjoy but be warned it can get very heavy on the angst.
