Nodame Cantabile with Paris and Finale

STRONGLY RECOMMENDED FOR THE CLASSICAL MUSIC FAN!

I started watching this anime because I read it in an online quiz on "how much do you know anime" and because of that quiz I wrote down all the anime that I had never heard about.  That's why I started watching, but the reason I kept watching is something different.  I kept watching this anime because of the character development in the story and my interest in classical music.  Within the show, which starts in Japan, you have two main characters -- Nodame and Chiaki -- who are complete opposites and somehow fall in love.  Chiaki is great with piano and the violin, but becomes a great composer.  Nodame is a great pianist and an Otaku (nerd) to boot.  They are not head over heels from the beginning and it doesn't really get there until the end of the Nodame Cantabile:Finale season, but for all those hopeless romantics, this anime is for you.  Also, if you are a music major and/or love classical music this is an anime for you.   Since I like anime, classical music, and really good storyline, this anime was pretty freaking good.  I would give it a solid four out of five stars.  Some of the music is fun and original in the anime.

FYI:  Some of the music played in this anime are: Liszt, Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Chopin, and Schumann, plus others.

High School DxD evaluated

WARNING!!!!! NUDITY IN THIS ANIME.

High School DxD is a great anime if your a guy.  Lots of boobs and hot chicks in lingerie, but there are two catches.  One, the girls are akuma (devils) and two, the girls seem to be in high school which would probably mean that the girls are minors; however, the storyline is intriguing and the list of episodes number twelve with one special that I viewed.  I would have liked to see more of the story enfold before the show ended, but due to what I just described I can see why.  There are also different viewings I found.  One viewing had everything censored out and the other had only below the waistline censored out, so basically one showed nipples and the other didn't.  Because of the story and the drawing involved with this anime I am giving it a rating of four out of five stars.

Shugo Chara & Shugo Chara Doki

This anime has interesting characters and you get tied into it quite early on, but this anime is for kids in fourth or fifth grade; roughly ten to twelve years old or older.  Since the main character is in grade school and most of the show is featuring the school and what happens to the kids there.  Well, that's Shugo Chara in a nutshell.  The main character is a girl, but she's in a group of others including boys and the group is centered around being guardians (kind of like class presidents) of the school.  They also have Shugo Charas ( their would-be selves that hatch from their heart-eggs; since every child has an egg inside them (basically their dreams of what they want to be or could be)).  Yeah, its kind of complicated, so the easiest way to understand what I'm saying is to watch the anime.  Sure, its kinda cheesy, but young kids will like it and they might learn something useful too.

Doki is the second part, mainly the continuation, of the story.  The guardians face new difficulties and a new nemesis or two.  It definitely gets interesting.  Still for kids.  There is a third anime called Shugo Chara Party (I think that's what it is, but I could be wrong).  It is next on my watch list.  After I watch it, I'll post a review here.   Overall, Shugo Chara and Shugo Chara Doki are excellent anime for young kids in the age range I noted above and should be watched accordingly.  I rate these two as a solid four out of five stars.

ADULT WARNING:  One character plays a girl in the first part and is a boy in the second part.  The character is a boy in the first part pretending to be a girl because of family tradition and nothing else.  Take this into consideration if letting kids watch this.

Shion no Ou:Shion's King

This is my 82nd anime watched.  Few are the same show, but different season.  I also have a few continuing anime that I watch, namely Naruto: Shippuden and Bleach.  This anime is also known as just Shion's King.

Shion no Ou:Shion's King was excellent.  A large part of the anime was based on shogi or Japanese chess; it was played during every episode.  The anime actually made me want to learn to play shogi.  I learned mahjong because of anime (the four person game, not solitaire version).  I figure I like chess, so I should like shogi.

Back to the anime, which is 22 episodes long.  I enjoyed every second.  The main character is a little girl whose birth parents were murdered in front of her 8 years ago.  She was adopted and raised by the neighbors who for some reason do not have children of their own.  You meet a boy, who pretends to be a girl, to play shogi, to win money.  You also get to meet some interesting characters.  I'll tell you if you begin watching this anime, you'll be surprised close to the end of the season on who the real killer is of Shion's parents.  I would rate this anime a solid four out of five stars.

Asu no Yoichi

Asu no Yoichi is a great anime.  The story is about a 17 year-old boy who moves into the city to a dojo ran by a group of four sisters after he is told by his father to go there because his father can no longer train him to become stronger.  This is mainly because Yoichi defeats his father easily.  Yoichi is training to become a samurai and his father trained him for the first 17 years but tells Yoichi to go to the city to continue his training and become a modern samurai.  For 17 years, Yoichi has lived in the mountains with no exposure to women, modern culture, or other people really, so it becomes comical the situations he gets himself into accidentally.   Coincidentally, the four sisters are around the same age as him, their parents have left on a "training trip" and it's only the four of them.

This anime is definitely geared towards 13-14 year-old boys from the abundant talk about boobs.  Now the word 'hentai' is used in the anime, but the word is simply translated as 'pervert', so don't worry about any nudity, there isn't any.  Scantily clad girls with huge boobs is about it.  I would have to give this anime about four out of five stars.

Chaos;HEAd vs. Steins;Gate

Chaos;HEAd is an anime that broke my mind.  After the first episode, I walked into the living room and told my roommate that this anime was like a kick in the junk wrapped inside a twinkie; both sweet and painful.  I kept watching and was reminded of the first Matrix movie where it is said that something feels wrong about the world.  Well, this anime totally gave me that feeling, re-affirmed is more like it, and since I have always had that feeling in real life, well, I'm just glad that I could find it in another anime.  I found it once before in Steins;Gate.  I completely love this anime and rate it a solid 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Iria: Zeiram the Animation vs. Chaotic

Iria was a difficult anime to track down.  It may go by a different name because of misspelling.  Regardless, it was a good anime, short, but good.  It deals with space, bounty hunting, aliens, and technology.  I wouldn't recommend for the young, but age 14 and higher should be able to enjoy this anime.  I would rate this about 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Chaotic is a cartoon.  I first saw it when it first aired on Fox Kids or 4Kids or whatever its called.  I became a big fan of the first season.  Loved the artwork, the storyline was good and the creatures were all original.  It's been a couple years, almost like 5, since I originally saw it, but I caught all 79 episodes on Hulu and was disappointed that it ended so quickly and poorly.  I could be wrong, but I think it has ended.  The artwork seemed to change between seasons one and two, but you quickly forget the change.  Overall, I would have to rate this cartoon at a solid 3 out of 5 stars.  Definitely kid approved.

Comparing the two is like comparing peanut butter with jelly.  Both individually enjoyable, but when mixed together a definite awesome sandwich.  Better together than separate. 

Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan vs. Tai Chi Chasers

Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan is a great anime.  It is also called or known as Nurarihyon no Mago.  Target viewers should be of a young adult or older age bracket.  The storyline is remarkable and easy to follow.  As of right now there are two seasons and they are both excellent.  Most of the anime I have watched, and my list is over 75 different anime, have failed when a second season is aired.  This anime however doesn't.  I rate this anime a solid 4.5 stars out of 5.

Tai Chi Chasers is an okay cartoon.  I use the word cartoon because that is what it is.  The target age is somewhere around like 10 years of age.  The storyline so far, I say so far since it is only about fourteen episodes long, is good and should be easy to follow.  The main characters are grade school kids, which is why I refer to it as a cartoon and the fact that it is or was shown on the 4kids network.  I do look forward to future episodes since it is starting to get interesting and might actually mature into an anime.  I would rate it currently at 3.5 stars out of 5.

As far as versus goes, I would totally have to go with Nura instead of Tai Chi Chasers.  Since the Tai Chi Chasers doesn't seem to be based on Tai Chi or at least the Tai Chi that I know I feel that it would be a great cartoon for kids to start watching.  If I had kids I would let them watch this.  Tai Chi Chasers is a group of kids that search for Tai Chi characters and use them, which are imprinted on cards kind of like Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Ho.  Nura is a story based on a boy named Nura Rikuo who is 1/4 Yokai and 3/4 human.  Yokai means Specter in the Japanese to English translation I used.  Apparently all yokai are evil, but this anime shows a different side to some of them.  I really enjoyed this anime.

Just what is Pumpkin Scissors

This question intrigued me and so I just had to watch the anime.  So, found out a couple of things.  One, it is an anime based in a different world, but very similar to Earth.  Two, there are at least two different countries in this world.  Three, the premise is 'war relief' so the setting is in a post-war world that was a fight between the Emperor and the Government or something similar.  Four, the main character is a lady who is also a soldier and she belongs to a Noble family called Melvin (not sure on spelling since my version was English dub).  Five, there are quite a few German references, or at least they sounded German to me.  I don't speak German.  Six, there some under-handed things going on and they started during the war, but they are still happening.  Seven, the unit is called Section Three Pumpkin Scissors and their mission is war relief.  Eight,  You get to know what Pumpkin Scissors mean.  What, you thought I was going to tell you.  Watch the anime.  I give it four out of five stars.

Full Metal Panic! Fumoffu

I love this anime.  Not only did it have the best character, but it surprised me that it was actually semi-serious.  The rest of the Full Metal Panic! animes are also a must see.  Some of the most bizarre things happen in Fumoffu, but they don't seem related to season one or two.  I enjoyed this anime immensely.   I rate this anime a 4.5 out 5 stars.

Psychic Detective Yakumo

I really enjoyed this anime.  It was a great show with unique characters.  The premise was that the main character, Yakumo, was born with a single red eye which allows him to see 'spirits of the dead' or human souls.  Based in Japan, where the idea of spirits is more readily accepted than America, Yakumo deals with a lot spirits.  Hauntings, possessions, and 'living' spirits or astral projection.  Of course a girl is involved, Ozawa Haruka, who seems to complicate his life, but ultimately saves it.  I would recommend this anime to anyone.  I would rate this anime at four out of five stars.

Ayashi no Ceres vs. Battle Programmer SHIRASE

Ayashi no Ceres or Ceres: The Celestial Legend was a good anime, but it seemed to fall apart in the middle.  I stuck with it and finished watching this anime, although it took me over a month to watch the entire thing.  The premise was good and the ending was also very good, although it started slow.  This show was fantasy oriented and overall was about three out of five stars.

Battle Programmer SHIRASE or BPS was a fast paced anime.  Full of relevant and current ideas this show was very good.  Each episode was only about twenty minutes in length and segmented into three-part episodes, but the entire anime was tied together very well.  This show was realistic fiction oriented and overall was about four point five out five stars.

Personally, I would have liked to see more episodes of BPS to see where else they would have gone, but I guess that it wasn't very well liked, so they discontinued the show.

A really good anime!

So, my list of anime has grown slightly with a little over seventy entire anime watched and two ongoing.  A third if you count by seasons.  The meaning of this blog though is to draw your attention to an anime called Steins;Gate.  It isn't a typo, there are no spaces and yes; there is a semicolon in between the two words.

Premise: Time travel and time machines using pseudo-physics (physics, but not really good physics) and a number of interesting characters.

Timeline:  Around 2010, but other years are mentioned and portrayed.

Review:  This anime brought tears to my eyes by having an interesting plot, intriguing characters, making me laugh and using some really cheesy physics.  I did notice some errors, but argued with myself about how and why certain situations happened and why certain other situations didn't arise.  However, this by far was an enjoyable anime, regardless of the small technical errors, and I would totally give this anime a thumbs up, five stars, etc.

In short - Watch Steins;Gate and see for yourself why this anime rocks.