Lucy

Image from: http://www.ramascreen.com/look-into-scarlett-johanssons-amazing-right-eye-in-this-lucy-poster-lucythemovie-lucymovie/

Name: Lucy

Release Date (in Singapore): 21 August 2014
Watched on: 29 August 2014


Summary:
A woman, accidentally caught in a dark deal, turns the tables on her captors and transforms into a merciless warrior evolved beyond human logic.

Summary from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2872732/?ref_=ttrel_rel_tt


Personal Ratings: 3

Honestly, Really had high expectations for this movie when the teaser first came out. But sadly, it wasn't really up to the standard I was hopping for. 

Firstly, they didn't actually explained why was she the only one that the drug had effect on. The first guy that first tested the drug when crazy. So there should have been some explanation as to why she was the only one that was compatible with the drugs. 

The front part was actually quite boring, minus some entertaining parts that were quite funny, but otherwise, there wasn't really much in the first part that was captivating. The back part wasn't really enough to forgive that. The middle part was actually quite interesting, and it really had me wondering what would happen next. 

The good thing is that they actually added some funny scenes into the movie (my type of funny scenes), to keep the viewers from over loading of information. Because some parts may get a little boring and a little more towards the wordy side when they are trying to explain the parts about the human brain. My sister actually didn't really get what was going on half the time, so we can see that it definitely need the viewers to concentrate in order to stay on track.

However, for people like me (not to brag or anything but...) I've actually quite the interest in more wordy shows like Steins;Gate and Hyouka. So it wasn't really hard for me the follow the movie. 

Of course I thought the action scenes could have used more speed in them, if not it's actually quite boring. They should have showed case more of her powers; like changing the elements connected to her body or about how she controls matter and other humans. Loved that scene where she actually made the bullets dropped from the gun, but I thought that they could have shown more about the part where she can change the elements in her body; something similar to that part in the air port where she actually changed her hair color.

As for the ending scene, I thought that she could have actually fought the bad guys a little, to buy herself more time and let the rest of the cops deal with the remaining survivors. I also thought that they should have added a little more emotions when she actually decided to sacrifice whatever time she has left on earth to actually help the scientist gather all her knowledge. Thought that a little more sadness and lost feeling would have brought in more depth into the movie. 

Of course, the ending was actually quite bad for me. I thought that they should have actually shown what they did with the knowledge that she entrusted them with. shouldn't have ended so abruptly. 

For the good parts; I actually liked how they made reference to the animal life throughout the whole show. Liked the animation when she actually fast time backwards, to show the progress of City Square since from the time they actually build it. And also the first part where she actually fought was cool. 

Recommended for:
Gender: Both
Age: 17 and above
Ratings: NC-16

Sore Demo Sekai wa Utsukushii

Image from: http://myanimelist.net/anime/22101/Soredemo_Sekai_wa_Utsukushii

Name: Sore demo Sekai wa Utsukushii それでも世界は美しい

Status: Completed

Episode: 11

Release Date (for eng subs): -

Summary:

Nike, the fourth princess of the Rain Dukedom and one who holds the power to call forth the rain, travels to the Sun Kingdom to marry Sun King Livius for her country, despite her own reluctance. She soon discovers that the King, who conquered the world in only three years after his ascendance to the throne, is still a child! Furthermore, for trivial reasons, he has demanded that Nike call forth the rain...?!

Summary Source: MU

Summary from: http://myanimelist.net/anime/22101/Soredemo_Sekai_wa_Utsukushii

Personal Ratings: 3.5

At first when I saw the setting about how Nike was going to be paired up with a kid, I thought that this show would seriously be some dumb comedy shows. but I was glad that I continued watching, because it was seriously quite good. 

Instead of those type of typical comedy anime, this anime was more of a slice of life kind of anime, with a little light jokes here n there to lift up the mood. So overall it was really a light n easy to watch anime; there wasn't much of a complication in anywhere in the anime. 

However, because the anime is that light, I kind of find myself asking what's the main storyline for this anime. It kind of seems like those type of animes where they just add as they go on, not much planning. Because of that I think that this anime is more suited to be watched as a whole instead of per episode, because watching it per episode maybe a little boring. 

I see them using a more classical approach on this anime, where by it's case by case than followed by a huge case. So it really ended on a high note. Of course there were a few other classical elements in the show that is quite rarely seen in animes these few days (more like the 2000 to 2005 Era animes), so seeing that reminds me of the older animes. Of course they did tweaked it a bit so that it flows much better into the anime than it did in those older ones. 

So, so far this anime actually has quite a nice idea, but I don't really liked how it ended. It ended without showing the other countries that they have mentioned, which really made me very curious as to how their countries are like. I actually really like to see the difference between the countries, and how they portray their weather into the country's development itself. I'm just hoping that they would continue with another season. 

I did find the voice actor for Livius a little off for this role. (and I kind of liked him as a voice actor, I mean voice acting Haruka from Free! and Sakurai form Kuroko no Basuke...) I mean his voice normally is quite ok, but I don't really like it when he faces extreme emotions. I thought that the voices sounded strangely foreign. It's a technique that is required to have your voice sound similar yet still portray the emotions. 

Art Ratings: 3

Quite nice art. I liked the character designs. I thought that they really did portray their personality into the design itself, but I don't think that there was anything that actually stood out in terms of art. 
Kept simple, to compliment the simple story line. 

Recommended for:

Gender: Both

Age: 12 and above

My Ratings: PG

Sword Art Online: Phantom Bullet

Image from: http://myanimelist.net/anime/21881/Sword_Art_Online_II

Name: Sword Art Online: Phantom Bullet ソードアート・オンライン II
Prequel: Sword Art Online

Status: Completed
Episode: 24
Release Date (for eng subs) Every Sunday


Summary:

One year after the SAO incident, Kirito is approached by Seijiro Kikuoka from Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Department "VR Division" with a rather peculiar request.

That was an investigation on the "Death Gun" incident that occurred in the gun and steel filled VRMMO called Gun Gale Online (GGO). "Players who are shot by a mysterious avatar with a jet black gun lose their lives even in the real world..." Failing to turn down Kikuoka's bizarre request, Kirito logs in to GGO even though he is not completely convinced that the virtual world could physically affect the real world.

Kirito wanders in an unfamiliar world in order to gain any clues about the "Death Gun." Then, a female sniper named Sinon who owns a gigantic "Hecate II" rifle extends Kirito a helping hand. With Sinon's help, Kirito decides to enter the "Bullet of Bullets," a large tournament to choose the most powerful gunner within the realm of GGO, in hopes to become the target of the "Death Gun" and make direct contact with the mysterious avatar.

Summary source: Crunchyroll
Summary from: http://myanimelist.net/anime/21881/Sword_Art_Online_II


Personal Ratings: 3

I actually liked the way they started the first episode. I thought that putting in similar situations and settings as the first episode of the first season was quite nice, kind of felt the nostalgic feelings. 

Other than the first episode, I thought that the whole starting was a little on the slow side. It was actually quite dry and boring. I thought that they should have used that chance to show us more of Kirito and Asuna's combination fights in ALO, which I think is what a lot of people were kind of expecting when the first season of Sword Art Online ended. 

It was all cool about the Gun Gale online thing, but I didn't think that they should have abandoned Asuna (kind of made it seemed like whatever that was worked out since the first season was useless). Slow start into the game, and it felt like forever before Kirito actually started playing the game for real, and let the viewers have some action scenes. But the action scenes were up to standard. Really love all the coolness on the action scenes. Kind of brought back all those memories about the first season's good old action parts. However, starting in the later few parts, it kind of felt like they were reverting back to the old Sword Art Online, where the later parts are just rubbish. 

Loved the whole Gun Gale online idea; the setting, the weapons and the sound tracks. Since I love shows with guns, it has totally gone to my more favorable side, but more than that, I LOVE their idea about the light saber. Super good idea, especially since Kirito is more comfortable with swords, the light saber idea was totally good. Totally love the sound effect they used when Kirito swings that light saber around (I had to reply those parts a few time before I could get over it). Of course, just when I thought that they would be showing us more action scenes, they let go of it, and totally didn't go into details about the fights (just like the first season).

Another problem, which I pointed out in the first season, was that they totally didn't gave Kirito a chance to train a little before going on to the BoB tournament. (which I find, was quite ridiculous, kind of repeating the same mistake which they made when they started the ALO arc.)

Can see that they are trying to focus more on the emotional side of the story than the action side. Which is actually quite evident from the last few episodes of the first season. Though that's all good, but I rather they focus on parts which makes them unique; which is the action part. 

Comments on Recent Episode:
Another boring episode. Though I'm really quite surprised as to how Kirito can actually figure everything out when he only PK with Yuuki once. 

Art Ratings: 4
Almost the same as the first season, but I think that the art changed a little (like it's giving off the less Chibi feel and the more adult feel), if they actually flashback to the Sword Art Online arc scene, you can actually tell the difference. For me I prefer the first season's art. 


Recommended for:
Gender: Both
Age: 13 and above
My Ratings: PG-13

Soul Eater NOT!

Image from: http://myanimelist.net/anime/21507/Soul_Eater_NOT!

Name: Soul Eater NOT! ソウルイーターノット！
Parent Story: Soul Eater

Episode: 12
Status: Completed
Release Date (for eng subs): -


Summary:

Soul Eater NOT! is a side-story to the main series, focusing on a freshman halberd named Tsugumi Harudori, who befriends two other meisters, Meme Tatane and Anya Hepburn. All three take part in the NOT (Normally Overcome Target) class at DWMA and learn to control their powers in order to overcome their difficulties to have a normal life, as opposed to the battle-oriented EAT (Especially Advanced Talent) class taken by Maka, Soul, and their companions.

Summary Source: Wikipedia

Summary from: http://myanimelist.net/anime/21507/Soul_Eater_NOT!

Personal Ratings: 2.5

Honestly, when I first saw this trailer, I thought somehow there should be some connection between Soul Eater and this. However, from the beginning to the end, there were only short moments where they showed us Kid, Maka, Soul and Black Star. So I was really disappointed. I really thought that the two animes would have a stronger connection. Also, the genres for the two animes are totally different. In Soul Eater, it was a lot more series and dark atmosphere, where else for this, it was like all frilly and totally Shoujo-type anime. I'm not sure if they released this anime in hope that it would please some hungry soul eater fans, but it did Soul Eater no justice. 

There wasn't really a proper background and development in the story. I kind of felt like there is this main story line that they want to concentrate on, but then before they wanted to go into the main problem, they try to add daily life of the 3 main characters to show their development, and totally neglect to develop the main plot. 

Also, I thought that there were more slice of life episodes than there were training moments. They totally didn't tell us about how they trained in the academy. Totally would like more training moments. 

The main story line about the witch was also a little clumsily put together. Thought that they should have more constant development about this plot before rushing into the main fight. The fight was also kind of pathetic, and I didn't think that it was realistic for 3 newbies to defeat a witch, since they kept on emphasizing that defeating a witch is really hard and stuff like that. 

But I do like how they actually showed Katy and Patty. Kind of felt like they finally gave us a little more information about how Katy and Patty were last time and how Kid met them. But it was so little. I thought that they could have added more Kid scenes. 

Of course, I think that they should add more Maka, Soul scenes into the anime to make it a little more fun. 

Art Ratings: 2.5
I didn't really like the art. I thought that the colours and everything just didn't really suit the whole "shinigami" aura in the school. It kind of looks more like a parody of Soul Eater.
Recommended for:
Gender: Both
Age: 15 and above
My Ratings: PG-13

Free: Eternal Summer

Image from: http://myanimelist.net/anime/22265/Free!:_Eternal_Summer

Name: Free! Eternal Summer 
Prequel: Free!

Status: Completed
Episode: 13
Release Date (for eng subs): Every Thursday


Summary:

The Iwatobi Swim Club returns! As their third year begins, Haruka, Makoto and Rin are still swimming strong, but choosing plans for their futures loom, and as friends both new and old make their way into the picture, rivalries will take root once again. Will the team make it out stronger than before or sink under pressure?

Summary from: http://myanimelist.net/anime/22265/Free!:_Eternal_Summer

Personal Ratings: 3

So the continuation of the history's best fan service anime! But unfortunately, there wouldn't be a 3rd season. 
2 new characters in this anime, though they didn't really play much of a part in the anime itself, which is a good thing because most of the time when there is a new character, the anime usually revolve around the new characters more than the supporting characters. 

They started and ended on a nostalgic note. This is probably one of the better thing that they have done with this anime, especially for a full fan service anime. It makes you want to re-watch the first season and the whole of 2nd season all over again. 

For this season, there were more serious and more in depth episodes as compared to the first season, which lacked that back bone and story line. This season had more development in terms of family background, and character. Since they had a episode each for Rei and Nagisa, we finally get to know more about them, since they are always the side characters, their not really seen much as a whole, only the small parts. 
They also made use of the new characters to actually tell us more about the main characters themselves. Like about how Sousuke kind of told us more about Rin and Gou, while Kisumi told us a lot more about Haru and Makoto.
But I was expecting a little more about Makoto, since he always seems to just be thinking about Haru, so I wanted to see a little more about his worries and stuff like those. However, that didn't really happened. I really wanted to see the part where Makoto actually made up his mind about where to go in life. But it seemed like they focus way too much on Haru when it came to that. 

I guess other than the normal problem which most 3rd year high school students face, there wasn't really much scene on normal high school life. I was really looking forward to more of those scenes, since it's also a slice of life anime. And I think that seeing the characters from a different settings, other than when their swimming, and incorporating that similar characteristics in would give a little more information about the characters. 

In this season, I really thought that they would show a lot more friendly interactions between Samezuka and Iwatobi (more like Rin, Ai-chan and the rest of Iwatobi swimming club), since the tension between the two groups have subsided. But it seems like in this season they seem more separated as compared to the first season, so I kind of felt a little cheated.

Was also really looking forward to the talent thing that they kept saying about Haru in the first season. Since they kept saying that Haru didn't swam for a long time in season 1, so it was only reasonable that he didn't swim as fast. However, that kind of didn't show up in this season either, so I was really disappointed. 
There was also that thing about Sousuke. They said that he is the top 10 swimmer in Japan when it comes to butterfly stroke, but they didn't exactly show his talent, despite taking into account his shoulder injury. I didn't think that there was that consistency in terms of plot, because at the very beginning it seemed that there were a lot of contradictions when it came to his injury. The signs of his injury only came about in the 2nd half.

Partly because this anime is short, I felt like there was no proper development before the competition. It just kind of felt like "oh the competition season is here yay. Lets get over the competition in one episode". Everything about swimming just felt like it was a rush. So compared to season 1, I think that season 2 lacked that development that season 1 sort of had, when it came to the competitions.

Art Ratings: 3

Same as Free!

Thought that they really made use of their animation skills to their advantage. The short and flashy scenes really spices up the whole atmosphere of the anime, even though the scenes were pretty normal. 

Recommended for:
Gender: Female
Age: 13 and above
My Ratings: PG-13

Higashi no Eden Movie I: The King of Eden

Image from: http://myanimelist.net/anime/6372/Higashi_no_Eden_Movie_I:_The_King_of_Eden

Name: Higashi no Eden Movie I: The King of Eden

Sequel: Higashi no Eden Movie II: Paradise Lost
Prequel: Higashi no Eden

Release Date (in Japan): 28 November 2009

Watched on: 27 May 2014

Summary:

The intrigue goes international in The King of Eden, a feature-length conspiracy thriller that continues the action of Eden of the East. The deadly game that began in Japan now intensifies on the streets of New York City. The rules are the same: do whatever it takes to win. Die if you lose.

Takizawa prevented Japan's destruction - and then he vanished. Six months later, clues lead Saki to the Big Apple in search of her missing friend. Meanwhile, the remaining Selecao are plotting their final move. Some of them would prefer Takizawa dead and out of the way. Some might even be willing to help him achieve his goals. Unfortunately, some are prepared to destroy everything if it means claiming checkmate in Mr. Outside's puzzling game.

Summary Source: Funimation Entertainment

Summary from: http://myanimelist.net/anime/6372/Higashi_no_Eden_Movie_I:_The_King_of_Eden

Personal Ratings: 3

Continuation from the anime series. I honestly don't understand why must they make two movies, when it's a continuation of the anime series. It could have been a short 2nd season. 

The front part of the movie was a little confusing, because there is no clear transition as to which part was the flash back and which was reality. But I liked how the starting of this movie was a lot like the first part of the anime; where there were a lot of things to be answered. There was a little nostalgic feeling and some sort of sadness that Takizawa forgot all about the incident that happened. 

The movie stopped at a really weird part, so I was quite disappointed with it. I knew that there was no way they could have finished the whole story into one movie, but I honestly didn't think that they would really split it into 2 parts. Since they actually split it at an anti-climax part, there wasn't must interesting materials left to be shown in the 2nd part of the movie. 

Much to my disappointment, there was also very little about the other members of the games. They just kept focusing on those that they have already shown in the anime. It kind of felt like they were killed off without having contribute to the story line at all. Of course things got more interesting when it came to the battle between the Selecaos, but I still felt like they could have done better. I thought that they could have make more hints about the Selecao's actions, and let the curiosity sink in. Felt like there lacked this element of curiosity in the whole movie. 

The good thing was that they made quite good connection between the anime and the movie, most of the time, people just forgets about the anime. In this movie, they also showed how the "east of eden" had helped in the whole process of finding and helping Takizawa. We can finally see how that group and the software helped contribute in the show, as compared to in the anime where it was just another phone app. 

Recommended for:

Gender: Both

Age: 13 and above

My Ratings: PG-13

The Expendables 3

Image from: http://www.theterminatorfans.com/lionsgate-to-host-the-expendables-3-world-premiere-in-london/

Name: The Expendables 3

Release Date (in Singapore): ?
Watched on: 10 August 2014


Summary:

Barney (Stallone), Christmas (Statham) and the rest of the team comes face-to-face with Conrad Stonebanks (Gibson), who years ago co-founded The Expendables with Barney. Stonebanks subsequently became a ruthless arms trader and someone who Barney was forced to kill... or so he thought. Stonebanks, who eluded death once before, now is making it his mission to end The Expendables -- but Barney has other plans. Barney decides that he has to fight old blood with new blood, and brings in a new era of Expendables team members, recruiting individuals who are younger, faster and more tech-savvy. The latest mission becomes a clash of classic old-school style versus high-tech expertise in the Expendables' most personal battle yet.

Summary by: Liongates
Summary from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2333784/plotsummary


Personal Ratings: 3.5

I've not seen expendables 1 or 2, so any characters that have anything to do with this 3rd movie, would probably have no effect on me. However, as according to my mum, she says that the last 2 expendables were pure fighting, no humor. So I guess that's a plus point for this movie. 

Firstly, I've always liked and prefer actions shows, so for me, I really liked this movie. The balance between the humor and action was just nice for me. Kind of like Guardians of the Galaxy, just that this one is more on the action side. The only thing that I thought was lacking in this movie was planing. I prefer to have 50:50 in terms of the planning part and the action part. Though that thing kind of came in in the 2nd part, where he actually got a hacker into his team. Totally loved that idea, but I thought that the plans were too simple, and there weren't really anything complex in the show. There were also no mini plans in each of their fights in the last part, so I was kind of disappointed in terms of the complexity of each fights. 

Totally love the last fighting scene. Really liked how they really concentrated on it and build it up. I also liked how they showed the individual old member's activity when they heard that they were disband. Though I kind of wish that they heard the news that Barney had failed the mission, and show how they were all going back for him. (you know, somewhat like that time where all the crew members were desperate to get back to Luffy when they heard that Ace died, in One Piece.) Some sort of touching moment would have been good (not in the normal and typical kind of way).

Love they way they portioned the whole movie, was really good and didn't feel boring at all. It also didn't feel long, even though there were a total of 4 parts to the whole movie. Just thought that there could have been more variety of weapons used throughout the whole movie, instead of just knifes and guns. (I thought maybe someone with dual sword would have been nice).

This movie is totally for those that love action, and little words. 

Recommended for:
Gender: Both
Age: 13 and above
Ratings: PG-13

Guardians of the Galaxy

Image from: http://recommandedmovies.com/guardians-galaxy-featurette-character-posters/

Name: Guardians of the Galaxy

Release Date (in Singapore): 31 July 2014
Watched on: 9 August 2014

Summary:

Light years from Earth, 26 years after being abducted, Peter Quill finds himself the prime target of a manhunt after discovering an orb wanted by Ronan the Accuser.

Summary from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2015381/

Personal Ratings: 3.5

Strictly NO kids. Honestly, these few months, there has been many marvel movies coming out, and their all really great movies. But, unfortunately, they are NOT for kids. (well, at least not Asian kids). There were seriously many times when the kids get bored of the movie half way, probably because they couldn't really get the jokes that were used in the movies, and also because they didn't have the patience to sit through it. 

Now, moving on about the show, I think it's quite a nice show (even though my sister kept complaining that it was boring). I think that there was quite a good balance between the comedy side of it and the action side of it. Though, I could have used more action when it came to the fight between the girls. 

Judging from the first part of the show, I honestly thought that it was too sad. And it led me to think that it would be a more serious type of show, so I was quite surprised that it was more of a comedy type. I may not be into comedy type of shows (if you have seen my reviews on comedy animes and movies), but I actually like this type of comedy where the laughter just comes naturally from people's actions and personality, and not faked out.
Most of the shows which have both the action and the comedy side, are usually well-liked by me (of course they must have that balance between the two sides).

I love how they pay attention to the small little details of the short scenes. Those were actually linked throughout the whole show, if you pay attention. There was not one small detail of the show that weren't of no use. Hard to see this type of shows were they make use of small and short details on the movies. 

Of course, great story line. I really like the unexpected first meeting between the 4 of them. I thought that they would have been in the same company, but those that don't get along well, but were forcefully put together by their bosses or something. But I was glad that it didn't really ended up as cliche as I thought it would've been. 

Some great touching moments. But I do think that they should have explained more about the infinity power. Of course, judging from the way things ended, there is sure to be a 2nd season (if I'm not wrong). Somethings which I thought that should have placed more emphasis on; like the issue about his dad. 

Recommended for:

Gender: Both

Age: 13 and above

Ratings: PG-13

Haikyuu!!

Image from: http://www.animehail.com/

Name: Haikyuu!! ハイキュ―！！

Status: Completed
Episode: 25
Release Date (for eng subs): Every Monday


Summary:

A chance event triggered Shouyou Hinata's love for volleyball. His club had no members, but somehow persevered and finally made it into its very first and final regular match of middle school, where it was steamrolled by Tobio Kageyama, a superstar player known as "King of the Court." Vowing revenge, Hinata applied to the Karasuno High School volleyball club... only to come face-to-face with his hated rival, Kageyama!

A tale of hot-blooded youth and volleyball from the pen of Haruichi Furudate!!

Summary Source: Shounen Jump

Summary from: http://myanimelist.net/anime/20583/Haikyuu!!

Personal Ratings: 3.5

After things got heated up in the sports anime category by Kuroko no Basuke, this anime really brings it back to the traditional type of sports anime, which kind of reminds me of Ookiku Furikabutte. It's takes a more classical approach, while anime these days focuses more on fan services, this anime focus more on the details of the match. It's kind of a slower paced anime with more thinking and details involved in the game. It's a lot more realistic compared to the current type of sports anime. 

For this anime, they focus more on the strategies and the basic theories in the game. They let the character's personality and the character's relationships with one another for fan service.

Of course, for this type of anime which focuses more on the strategy and theory, it's hard to pull of and usually end up pretty boring. But for this, they actually add in some fun parts (like jokes and such) into the anime, to make it more cheerful and allow the viewers to break away from the intensive theories.

Honestly when I first watched the first episode of this anime during the release of the whole bunch of 2014 Spring anime, it really left a huge impact on me. And I seriously thought "woah, this anime is going to be the best anime." In which I was wrong, because No Game No Life, was a whole lot better when it came towards the middle part of the 13 episode mark.

I liked how they actually add in a newbie teacher in the show, so that they can actually explain the fundamentals of volleyball to the viewers. I just thought that he should have been there since the beginning, and not just appear half way.
I also thought that they didn't really explain certain basic stuff, so there were still somethings I didn't get while watching the show.

I think that they really know how to make the viewers go along with the atmosphere and kind of make the viewers fired up together with the flow of the game. 

I think what I like about this anime is probably the fact that the main characters aren't overly strong and every character has their strengths and weakness, unlike some anime who focus everything on the main character. I think that to a certain extend, this anime is within logic and realism. 

I don't really like most of their characters, I think that there were too many re-used ideas. There were a lot of characters with clashing personalities and looks. (So I don't really actually remember much of the opposing team's characters other than the main character for the teams.)
For Nekoma, it maybe fine, because it kind of shows how they are fated to be rivals, since they go on from way back. But for the other teams, it feels as if those characters will be forgotten. 

I think that this anime really has a lot of ups and downs, and they can be quite different in terms of level of interest. Other than the matches, those normal episodes were kind of boring. However, the matches is really really interesting, especially since they really make use of all the characters, and not just the main few characters. The strategies that were used in the games were also really interesting. Even though not many sports anime differentiate between practice matches and real matches, I liked how they did for this anime. It really shows what practice matches can do to help the team improve. It also showed how winning is not everything. 
However, no matter how good the matches maybe, I did think that some parts were really draggy (especially for some parts where they kept repeating the same few things over and over again).

Art Ratings: 3

Quite nice art. I think the simpler art and less detailed art really suits the story line. Though sometimes the art may look a little disfigured, especially when the character moves really fast. And I also thought that there weren't enough thicker lines used. It seems like they only use really fine lines. 

Good thing that all the characters can be identified distinctively. 

Recommended for:
Gender: Both
Age: 12 and above
My Ratings: PG

Love Live! School Idol Project

Image from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Live!

Name: Love Live! School Idol Project ラブライブ!
Sequel: Love Live! School Idol Project 2

Status: Complete
Episode: 13
Release Date (for eng subs): -


Summary:

Otonokizaka High School stands on the border of three cities: Akihabara—a pop culture mecca that's evolving by the minute; Kanda—a conservative, cultured city where history and tradition reign supreme; and Jinbo—a quiet area reserved for a more mature, sophisticated population. Amidst this culture clash, the school now faces closure due to the enrollment of fewer and fewer students.

With the school planning to close within three years, nine female students come together with one thing in mind—form a pop idol group to revive the school's popularity and keep it from shutting down. "In order to protect our beloved school, there's only one thing we can do... become pop stars!"

Their goal is simple: Become an overnight sensation and use their nationwide media exposure to promote their school and bring in a wave of new students to the ailing area. A simple but solid plan, they figure. Naturally, they're nervous and wonder if this plan can really succeed, but for better or worse their new journey has begun...

"All we can ask for is just a tiny bit of support from you. We truly believe that with your help, we can change the world around us. We will make our dreams come true!"

Summary Source: NIS Americ

Summary from: http://myanimelist.net/anime/15051/Love_Live!_School_Idol_Project

Personal Ratings: 2.5

Honestly, I don't like Idol type of animes. So I only started watching this anime when my friend told me to watch it. Turns out like it's like any other Idol anime out there. 

I think that the thing that usually keeps me watching an anime, even though it's not nice; is the characters. So luckily this anime has a character I like.  Honestly, by having so many members in a single group, of course they would have incorporated many different and extreme character so that there would at least be one that the viewers like. That was a smart move. However, they did run the risk of having personalities that people dislike to watch. 

The huge factor about this anime that I didn't like was probably the level of reality of the anime. Honestly, after looking up to so many idol groups (mostly K-POP, SNSD anyone? keke) I obviously would like to know more about the procedure of how these idols work and how they get to be so successful, so that type of knowledge is really appealing to me. It is in this aspect that I think that this anime lacks a lot.

Firstly, the members of the group. I know that they want to have a balance between the year 1, 2 and 3, so that have 3 people from each level in the group. But I think choosing members from the different age groups randomly would have been a better idea. There are think when I think that some of the members of the group should have been older or younger. But since they didn't really make their age stand out, this wasn't really a big deal. 

Secondly, getting popular. I know that they are trying to show extreme sides of the popularity of the idol group. Which probably led them to making the whole hall empty when they have their first performance, which in my opinion is not possible. As long as there are advertisement going on to let the word out about such a concert, (and not to mention that it's sort of a school event), there is no way, not even one student came to watch. It would have been a lot more realistic that some students who came to watch their performance didn't like it and started throwing garbage at them.

Thirdly, the starting. When they start to make new members, I actually liked that part, where the members all slowly start to join the group. Of course the best way to actually make this part more interesting is that the members that joined the group were of pure coincidence. However, in the first part of this procedure, I find that it was plain boring, to the point that I stopped watching and practically had to force myself into continue watching it. The slow start at the beginning really bugged me the whole time. It was really slow, and not to mention, irritating. Of course since the other members joined pretty quickly after the first one joined in, it ran a lot faster and was a lot more interesting. 

As for their songs. I didn't really like how they didn't pick a main song for them to sing. It was kind of like new songs every single time they perform, of course this way they wouldn't be known for any song. But I have to say I like the first song they sang, start;dash.

I like their rival group; A-Rise. Of course every idol group has to have a rival. But when reality kicks in, I don't think it all possible that A-Rise, the top idol group, is to be their rival. I would have totally preferred it if for each arc there was a different rival group, where they slowly show their progress up the ladder of popularity. Of course they would have to constantly show their good connection to their past rival groups, or maybe pick one which their super close with. I'm sure that would have worked a lot better than have them suddenly picking a fight on the top idol group. 

Boring, dumb and some really irritating parts, but there is still some interesting parts to this show that keeps you going. To me the 2nd season had a lot more interesting parts to it. I think it's partly because this season lacks the spread out focus on the different people in the idol group, they mainly only focus on the main girl. 

Art Ratings: 3
Nice art. I think that the animation was quite good and smooth, not stiff. 
For the character design, I think that making all of them contrasting from each other was good, but I think that it wasn't really enough to bring out the personality in each of the character. Only some character seem to have the perfect character design, not all. 
As for the designs for the costume... I'll talk about that in detail in the 2nd season's review as this season doesn't really show case much costumes. 


Recommended for:
Gender: Both
Age: 13 and above
My Ratings: PG-13