Midori no Hibi

Anime: Midori no Hibi

View Status: Complete

Number of Episodes: 13

Main Character: Seiji Sawamura, Midori Kasugano

The Story: Seiji Sawamura is a ‘delinquent’, their word not mine, he gets into fights on a regular basis and his classmates fear him because of this. As a result of everyone fearing him, getting a girlfriend has not been easy, or rather impossible. He, as he says, has been rejected 20 times. He has one follower who seems to be quite weak and constantly spouts off how great Seiji is at fighting. One morning Seiji wakes up and finds that a girl has become his right hand… Yes the body part.

This is where the real adventure begins. The girl’s name is Midori and she has had a crush on Seiji for quite some time. Both of them have no idea why they have become this way or how they will become separate again. The story continues that Seiji and Midori have to find a way to live together as they are until they find a way to get everything back to normal. In the mean time Midori tries the fend off the advances of one of Seiji’s classmates.

The Review: I didn’t know what I was watching until about three episodes in. The main reason for this was probably the partial nudity, as soon as I saw I thought I had started watching an ‘H’ series. When the story continued without getting more intense in that department I figured I was in the clear. I thought that the love story of N.H.K ni Youkoso was the strangest ever. I don’t think that I actually wrote it but I was thinking it at the time. Well story leaves N.H.K ni Youkoso in the dust, it is by far the weirdest love story that I have ever seen. I did like this better than N.H.K though. Yes, it brings a whole different category of weird to the table but I liked at least the kitchen appliances didn’t talk and the world wasn’t shroud in a fake conspiracy constantly. They also managed to get quite a bit of fighting into the story which looked cool. Even though, as I have stated, romance animes aren’t my favorite, I didn’t mind watching this one to the end. I wanted to know how it was going to turn out, how she returns to her own body, what happens next? I wanted these questions answered and therefore I could continue watching. As a result of this being the reason I cannot give it a higher than, watch if you like the genre.

The Style: Happy all the way with a bit of evil coming in occasionally. The sister seemed to bring the mood down most of the time, real evil that one.

Side Note: If a girl appears as your right hand… She is probably your soul mate.

Lex Out

N.H.K ni Youkoso

Anime: N.H.K ni Youkoso (Welcome to the N.H.K.)
View Status: Complete
Number of Episodes: 24
Main Character: Satou Tachihiro

The Story: Satou Tachihiro is a Hikikomori, a person who spends the entire time in their own house because they are afraid of human contact. He has been living in his apartment for four years when music starts playing from the apartment next to his. It is the same song 24/7, the main theme to a popular anime, as a result of all of the above he begins to go slightly, well quite, crazy. I will leave out exactly how this manifests as this is one of the funny parts of the anime.

He meets someone that is willing to try and help him overcome his ways to improve his quality of life. There are also some encounters with people from his past and you see the demons they are currently fighting. With some he becomes close with others distant, it all depends on the effect they have on his situation.

The Review: I have to say, I’m not all that big a fan of pure romance animes or of weirdness in animes, and this was… well, it had the weirdness. I’m not exactly sure what this anime was supposed to be about. I’m guessing either, the Hikikomori and Otaku conditions, being needed in this world, making a point about conspiracies or semi-platonic love. I really can’t tell which of these it was meant to be, meh. All in all this anime was alright and I guess if you like a bit of romance and a lot of confusion and weirdness then this is an anime for you, therefore the verdict is: Watch if you like the genre.

The Style: Hahaha… Oh crap. The best I can do for this section is say that the tone of the episode and the situation determines the color scheme. The drawing style stays the same throughout, although it goes crazy when he does, but I assume that is to be expected. I guess you could consider the style average, as there is nothing that really sticks out except when the main character is going crazy(having an episode).

Side Note: The little green men are little blue men in this. Ponder on that.

Lex Out

The Twelve Kingdoms

Anime: The Twelve Kingdoms

View Status: Complete

Number of Episodes: 45

Main Character: Youko Nakajima, Yuka Sugimoto, Shouryuu (Emperor of En), Rokuta (Enki), Taiki (Kaname Takasato/Kouri), Suzu, Shoukei

The Story: There are several storylines in this anime also known as ‘books’. For the most part it is the story of Youko Nakajima and her journey in the strange world of the twelve kingdoms. The starts out with two of her friends but they get separated early on, but are seen again later in the anime. Some of the books consist of a Sage or an Emperor telling a story of the past, sometimes not so distant other times very distant, to the new Empress of Kei. One story focused of the troubles in the kingdom of Kei as well as the journey of Suzu, Shoukei and Youko and their goals and development along the way, in which Ikuya Asano and Rakushun have important roles to play. Ikuya Asano is the missing one of the two friends of Youko. Rakushun is a half-beast that Youko met early in her travels.

The Review: I always thought that if you’re going to make a show, you have to make the characters likable. I disliked all of the characters in the first episodes, correction, I hated them, I hated the main characters so much I wanted them all to die. Now while this may seem harsh and maybe even disturbing please refrain from judging me until you have seen the first four episodes. The funny thing is that, for the most part, just when you start liking a character they do something that makes you dislike them again. I am not exactly sure on the intentions of the writers and I do not want to speculate over the possible reasons for this. The three characters that saved the entire show for me where Enki, Shouryuu (Emperor of En) and Rakushun. They are the only main characters that I liked throughout the entire anime. As for the storyline and the world, I found the whole thing to be a well thought out. The one point I would criticize the creators of the anime for is that the Taiki storyline was never truly completed and thus it made no sense to me to include it. Besides maybe making one understand where kirin come from and how they are raised. Making a two season anime good is quite hard as you either quickly run out of material or you start boring the audience. I liked this anime mainly because of the different stories it told in the format of ‘books’. I consider this a watch although it looked like a ‘run for the hills’

The Style: Style, well I truly have no idea what to write in this section for this anime. I guess it does have this dark drawing style, considering that some episodes are quite bloody and involve much suffering and death comes with no surprise. Most of the hair colors and clothing are pain with some exceptions including the main character Youko and the Emperors and Empresses and the kirin as well as the high officials and sages. There are some areas in this anime that seem to have brighter and happier seeming colors.

Side Note: I found the opening theme and ending song to be terrible. I did however seem to get used to the opening theme, or rather the first and last ten seconds as I skipped it every single time. I would guaranty that you will like the characters at the end of their journey but considering the world we currently live in I will not do so as I do not want to be sued.

Lex Out

Hellsing

Anime: Hellsing

View Status: Complete

Number of Episodes: 13

Main Character: Alucard and Seras Victoria

The Story: Alucard the secret weapon of the Hellsing organization is sent to ‘clean up’ a situation in a village where all the villagers have turned into ghouls(what happens when a vampire drinks all your blood). Previously a police force had been sent to investigate. All of the members were bitten by the ghouls except one, Seras Victoria. After being injured by Alucard, he proposes turning her into a vampire to save her life. She accepts not truly knowing the consequences of this action. The rest of the anime shows Seras Victoria trying to come to terms with what she now is and the struggles of the Hellsing organization in fighting against an unknown group of people turning people into artificial vampires, also known in the series as FREAKS, by implanting them with a vampire microchip. Somewhere along the lines the Vatican becomes involve as well.

The Review: I liked this anime, as I enjoy vampire stories when they are done well. It is explained how the vampires can be killed. The only thing I found was missing was an explanation for Alucard working for Hellsing beside him somehow being bound to serve them. I really wanted to know how and why it was done. The story was well thought and although the series was cut a little short I was sufficiently satisfied with the ending. As always reading the manga will tell you more. Still this anime is a watch, if you like the genre.

The Style: The drawing style really fit the story and theme of the anime well. The darkness and roughness give it a unique feeling. Everything about this anime screams evil when it comes to the fight scenes and therefore the colors chosen were well thought through and executed nearly perfectly.

Lex Out