Done and done!

It's over, i have done my anime challenge.
I have been very surprised too, when i started out i barely knew anything about Japanese culture and i had the impression that anime was a lot of big breasted ladies running around being saved by muscly men who shouted a lot. And if you look at the surface, it is.
But once you see the shows you learn that the characters have soooooo much personality and the storylines go so deep that you are left with a show which can change your opinion on many thing, plus if you go onto forums or Youtube you can make a bunch of new friends who you can chat with about the latest happenings in your favourite shows. All in all i wouldn't say i'm a total Animenerd now, but i can definitly understand where they are coming from.
Also i'm quite pleased to be able to understand many more internet jokes now ha ha
Thank you for this experience, please comment and recommend some more shows if you like.
Over and out until my next challenge
xxxx

Monoshitsuji

Ok, this is the sequel to kuroshitsuji which i reviewed a while back, and i liked that so i'm excited to see how the series can progress, what with most of the characters being left for dead after the first series.
At first i was completely apprehensive when i saw the first episode, and it wasn't until the lt second that Sebastian was revealed. Up until then the show looked like it was going to be about some new kid called Alois, who i DID NOT LIKE. He was rude and cruel, and had his own demon butler, Claude. I got pretty defensive about it, thinking about how they could never live up to Ceil and Sebastian. And while this is true, luckily they didn't have to because by episode 3 both were back and looking towards Alois and Claude as mortal enemies, which i agreed with lol.
Then everything started to drag, and it wasn't until episode 8 out of 12 that Ciel got his memory of the first series back and finally the storyline picked up again. With a final fight to the death between Sebastian and Claude, while Alois tried to take over Ceil's body i was on the edge of my seat and i knew exactly which side i was on.
The ending... wow what a twist i never saw coming. I'm not going to give it away, but please endure the boring episodes to get to this, it is definitly worth it.
I would give it a 9 but due to the truly bad parts in the middle it's going to have to drop to a 6 out of 10.
xxxxx

Loveless

well, thank you for this. I mean it this was wonderful.
Loveless has probably the cutest main character i've seen so far, Ritsuka, who's a tragic lost soul since his brother died in a fire at school and his mother as gone crazy and beats him for not being his brother. Then just when life can't get much worse, a strange man appears and tells Ritsuka that he loves him. Things get stranger when, as Ritsuka comes to terms with the fact that he's not alone anymore, another couple find them in the park and demand to fight them. The man, Soubi, agrees and they are transported to another plane where words are magical and while he is the attacker, Ritsuka is his sacrifice who will feel the pain if the other couples attacker lands a hit. But Soubi is too strong and nearly destroys the other mans sacrifice, until Ritsuka tells him not do.
Soubi promises to do anything Ritsuka tells him to, and that he will never abandon him. But Ritsuka soon figures out that Soubi knows more about his brothers death than he's telling him but as soon as he asks him about it, Soubi will say nothing.
It's not until Soubi is attacked and refuses to tell the attacker of Ritsukas whereabouts and is then left for dead that Ritsuka sees that he loves Soubi too.
This was a really sweet anime which was also very serious, not duelling on the fact that the two characters are both men and it's nice to see a show which doesn't market itself on 'look at me i'm different i'm gay, how new and exciting!', you know?
8 out of 10 (but more for this AMV i found)
xxxx

Fruits Basket

Ahah now here is a show i like!
With it's over-the-top characters and the attachment you gain to the protagonist Tohru Honda, this is clearly a top-notch anime.
When Torhu's mother is killed in a road accident, she decides to not be hassle to her paternal grandfather (her father is already dead from an illness years ago) and simply puts up a tent and lives in a forest. Four months later (she is quite ditzy) she comes accross a house when she walks a slightly different way to school. Turns out a boy from her class, Yuki, lives there with his older cousin, Shigure, so they walk to school together, and he is quite surprised to hear that she lives nearby. Later that night she finishes work as a hotel cleaner and makes her way back to her tent. Yuki and Shigure are out on a walk and discussing that no-one lives nearby because they own all the land within a 10 mile radius when they stumble accross her tent and decide to invite her to their house. But when she arrives Shigure states that a landslide has occured over her tent. Sure enough, her home is destroyed and she has no choice but to accept their offer to live in their spare room. But what Tohru doesn't know is that whenever any people from Yuki's family is hugged by a member of the opposite sex, they turn into an animal of the zodiac. Yuki into the rat, Shigure into the dog and another cousin of theirs who turns up later into the cat, who is cursed. Tohru sets about trying to lift these curses whilst also getting throuh school life as normal. A 9 out of 10 for this one!
xxxx

Kimi ga nozomu eien

Damn you guys, what's with all the sad anime??? *sigh*
Ok this show was ok. Like, the first few episodes were really good, but after that i got a little bored with the whole 'my life sucks' emo way the people dealt with their problems. Too many secrets flying around between supposed best friends who in the end didn't trust eachother. On the plus side i thought the animation was first class and the music was great. So for that i will give the show a 5 out of 10. Maybe it's because the transition between school age and full grown adult was just too fast (one episode) or i just didn't get the point of the story but i'm afraid this one just wasn't for me.
Sorry guys! xxx

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0

*sniff*
I'll come back later i've just got to go cry for a few more days over this.
ok, better now. This is a show that resonates very deeply with me because i can relate to the main character so easily.

Mirai, a typical 14 year old girl lives in Japan with her parents and younger brother Yuuki. She is wdering through life finding that everything annoys her, and she is going through all the mood swings an average teenager finds they went through when they think back. No-one seems to understand her and her parents are too busy to listen.
Then one day she takes her brother to a robot museum on a small island about 3 hours away from her home. Her parents were supposed to go too but they had to work. As she waits for Yuuki to come back from the toilet she looks around at the world and begins to wish that it would just end. Then it does. An earthquake magnitude 8.0 strikes and the world around her collapses. She must then find Yuuki, and team up with a woman called Mari who says she lives near there home in order to try and find a way off the island and back home to her parents. She learns that she loves her family more than she thought and the only person keeping her sane right now is her brother. As they make their way home, one tragedy after another comes forward and she took me on an emotional rollercoaster which hasn't really ended yet to be honest.
This short and bittersweet anime is a 10 out of 10 and I'm going to reccommend it to anyone who'll listen
xxxxx

Gakuen Heaven

Whew* well that was different to the past few serious shows!
Gakuen is a lighthearted show about a boy called Keita who one day gets a letter to the prestigous school Liberty Bell, even though he didn't apply or get the grades. But he decides not to let the oportunity pass and makes his way there.
As it becomes clear to the school board that, although he is a bright boy, he is there by accident they decide to ask him firmly to leave. His new friends protest and his new best friend Kazuki seems to have a plan up his sleave. It turns out that Kazuki is actually the new head teacher of the school and he invited Keita on purpose because they had met years ago and promised to go to the same school, but Keita then caught an illness and lost his memories of Kazuki.
I'll admit that the fact that their friendship turned to love was a surprise for me, but it was a very sweet and touching finish to the show which made me wish there could be more to watch. Though it is not as moving or gripping as the other anime i've watched, it had it's own sweetness about it which made it a satisfying watch. Maybe a 6 and a 1/2 out of 10

Kuroshitsuji

Following the story of Ceil Phantomhive and his demon butler Sebastian, i was not exactly looking forward to this show. Set in victorian England, Ceil is the orphan who is at the beck and call of the queen who uses him to investigate the more mysterious aspects of her country. I find this hard to believe since he looks about 12 years old, but that aside, when he is not looking for demon dogs from hell or walking mannequins who are killing civilians, or even Jack the ripper, he is trying to find the murderer of his parents and get his revenge. For this he has come back to life and brought Sebastian with him to help. His butler is immortal and will follow his every order in return for being allowed to eat Ciels soul once his revenge is complete.
Once i got over the unlikely-ness of this show, i started to like the characters and to see that Ciel is supposed to be a child who has been through the worst set of betrayals people could imagine. He endures and becomes a young adult with a poisonous vendetta and it becomes clear that, although he doesn't want to stop searching or to care about the people around him, he can't help himself. By the last episode i knew that i wanted his revenge to be complete, but i also knew that if it was, he would have to die and be eaten. I've not really been torn between two characters like this before and i don't know if i liked it. For now i would give the series a 7 out of 10, but i have a feeling i'll be back once i've thought it through lol
xxxx

Soul eater

With a halloween type feel to the story and a whole new look at the character of the grim reaper, Soul Eater is set in the Shinigami technical school for weapon masters, the series revolves around 3 groups of each a 'weapon master' and a 'human weapon'. Trying to make the latter a "Death Scythe" which is the highest title for a weapon and thus fit for use by the Shinigami, they must collect the souls of 99 evil humans and 1 witch.
Maka & Soul Eater, Black Star & Tsubaki, and Death the Kid with Patty and Liz Thompson are the characters Soul Eater revolves around. Besides taking the time to gather souls, these students of Shibusen defend Death City from some of the most powerful creatures while still attending school and trying to become stronger.
This is a powerful story and i'm finding it hard to find a scene to write about that won't spoil anything... I give this show a 5 out of 5 for it's originality and outstanding breath of life which many other shows lack.

Higurashi no naku koro ni

Well.... this is definitely something Different. I was wondering what the hell was going on for an awful lot of this series, but in a strangely good way. Like, ok they are all best friends SO WHY IS SHE GOING TO KILL HIM? I did however make the mistake of watching the whole series through the night (i didn’t mean to but it was addictive) and then i had to sleep with the hall light on. I didn’t realise a little girl with a hatchet could freak my out as much as it did o.o
i think my favourite character was Shion, as she was the only one i felt some real sadness for when she accidently died in one arch.

The first 30 seconds of each ‘arch’ got me totally hooked on this version of events and, although i feel like a total weirdo for saying this, i think Shion’s story was my favourite. There were some scenes which were so graphic i felt a little sick (FINGERNAILS) but other than that i was able to sit pretty comfortably watching these girls hack each other to pieces. Now there’s a sentence i never thought i’d say.
My one problem, that in order to understand the show, i would have to watch series 2 and it’s not on my list D’’: 9 out of 10
See you soon xxxx

Elfen lied

I did like this show a lot more than i thought i would from the descriptions i read online but now it only took me watching the opening to realise that this was going to be something completely different to what i expected.The first episode, although confusing, was AMAZING and i really felt like i got to know the characters quickly and i was interested to see how the plot would develop. If you’ve seen the show then I’m sure you know how unpredictable the story is, up until the last 5 minutes in the final episode unexpected things were happening and breaking my heart. I won’t put up any spoilers but when a certain someone got to meet their father i gotta admit i was on the edge of my seat, because there was no way of knowing how they would react when it seems like everybody in this show is capable of murdering the person they don’t like. My one criticism would be that all the main female characters seemed to be naked for about half their screen-time for no apparent reason. The music was wonderful and i will 100% be downloading the opening theme ‘lilium’. I wouldn’t be surprised if once this is over i watch Elfen Lied again. This has been a great start to my challenge, i look forward to my next weekend where i will be watching ‘Gravitation’. I won’t be looking up anything about the show though because i don’t want to spoil anything.
Until next time xxxx

Lucky Star!

This was an amazing start! thank you for letting me begin my adventures in the anime world with an easy going show like this. I found it really enjoyable and easy to follow, with some characters who i could really connect with. I gotta say though, the first time i saw the opening i genuinely had no clue what i had let myself in for. But the ride was totally worth it and i'm hoping that the rest of the shows you sent me will be as enjoyable and loveable as this one, i have many memorable moments, including Konata's gaming with miss Nanako and her banter with Kagami and her twin Tsukasa.
Overall i found this to be a really engaging show with lots of hilarity which was always fresh and intersting, however i didn't understand many of the jokes because they were all related to other shows which i havn't seen, and i think you had to ba a true anime fan to get some of the words they used, so i looked up some of the words 0.0 and soon realised that this show isn't as innocent as it pretends to be haha
I also really liked Konata's cousin, the policewoman with the road rage, and i would like to give this show an 8 out of 10.
thanks for a great start xxxxx