Koe no Katachi

Image from: https://myanimelist.net/anime/28851/Koe_no_Katachi

Name: A Silent Voice 聲の形 Koe no Katachi
Status: Completed
Episode: Movie
Release date (for eng subs): -

Summary:
Ishida Shouya bullies the deaf transferred student, Nishimiya Shouko, during the 6th grade of elementary school. However, after being found out by the teacher, he became the target of bully, and this incident broke his relationships with his friends and classmate. He deeply regrets what he did, and lived his life trying to make up for his doing. One day, he reunited with Nishimiya, and slowly, his life changes.

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Personal Ratings: 4.5 / 5

It finally shows in Singapore (although I'm a bit late). Have been looking forward to this show ever since I saw the PV, and I actually went to check out the manga, but I didn't quite liked it. That being said, the movie was really a different experience, packed with emotional scenes.

Idea: 4.5 / 5

It's not a very unique idea of showing a bullying take place in school, especially in elementary school. But showing that from the bullier's point of view was something different. In addition to that, making the heroine as someone who is deaf and can barely speak because that, and actually focusing on that to give birth to a story that interacts with voices and hearings is a very good idea.

In addition to that, they also deal with many different types of unique characters in the show itself. With many different people who come together during the process of the show. But the most unique thing I found about this show is their focus on family members, and not just within the school compound, which is something I feel most animes lack.

Execution:

Development: 4 / 5

The development was deep and intense in some parts, and I feel that it did have a nice build up. But I felt like there were some important details which were skipped through the movie, which gave off a very incomplete feel.

Although there wasn't a very clear motive as to what they wanted to tell the viewers through this show, because there were just too many things jumbled into the movie. But I feel that the main point was put across, though I felt that it could have been a lot better. But most of it lies in the animation, and the selection of the parts to be cut off.

I loved the parts where the crossed (x) sticker came off and on. It really gave a visual picture of what the main character was feeling towards the person, and told a lot more than what was shown.

Emotions: 5 / 5

I liked the mixture the different scenes, which gave off different emotions throughout the whole show which gave an overall balance to the movie, which made it easier to sit through despite it being a very heavy and long show (about 2 hours and 10 minutes).

It was a very intense 2 hours show, which really builds up an accumulative amount of sadness throughout the show through the experience in which the main character went through. Even though there were many more negative emotions throughout the anime (which I people who don't really like a sad show probably wouldn't like), but there was always some sort of positive energy which kept the show going. With regret, comes a positive change in a person's action; with suicidal thoughts, comes a hope in living on; and among everything else, the show focuses on 2nd chances.

Planning: 5 / 5

Planning was good. I liked how they rearranged the scenes to make the movie a lot more interesting than the manga itself (although the manga had more detailed scenes, which I felt backed fired).

Main Character Development: 4 / 5

The development of the 2 main characters were superb, especially for Ishida. Although I did find it a disappointment that they didn't quite show his gradual change from elementary to middle to high school. It was just a jump from elementary to high school, with bits and pieces of middle school fitted in wherever possible. But still, the change in his attitude, and the way he thinks and treated people was really well done.

Nishimiya on the other hand, although she had a great development with her family, too, involved in the whole situation (especially her sister), I felt like there was a huge cloud of mystery shrouded over her, and after the whole movie, I felt that I didn't quite understand her character. There wasn't much said about her main reason for attempting suicide, and there were also no signs given prior to the incident, except for the loss of hearing in her right(?) ear, and the death of her grandma. But her character itself was well developed throughout the whole show.

Side Character Development: 3.5 / 5

There were many side characters involved in the movie, and they were all very unique and different type of characters which came together because of both Ishida (mainly), and Nishimiya. It was nice to see how the different characters came together and find their places with each other.

The side characters were mainly divided into characters that went to the same elementary school, and characters which he met in high school. The elementary school group had a bigger role to play because they were involved in the bullying incident in different ways. They try to realize and correct the way they are throughout the movie. 

Although the different side characters had a different role in the movie, I felt like there wasn't enough development for most of them, but I also understand that it is impossible to finish the movie within 2 hours if they weren't cut off.

Seiyuu: 4 / 4

Great selection of voice actors, I think we really have to praise Saori (Nishimiya's voice actor) for the great acting. I was constantly being surprised by the way she voiced a deaf person.

Also applause to Ono Kensho, because I didn't think he could sound that way, but he proved me wrong with his superb acting throughout the whole anime.

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Art Ratings: 5 / 5

The art and animation was really good. The animation especially really gave off a 3D effect, and really helped a lot with the emotional aspect of the movie.

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Similar Animes:

Kokoro ga Sakebitagatterunda

Although not exactly similar, the two anime are similar in having different characters with unique personality come together, and also the fact that the heroines in both movies can't talk, although one is a true deaf while the other was forbidden to speak through a trauma that occurred when she was young.

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Recommended for:

Gender: Both
Age: 13 and above
My Ratings: PG

HaruChika

Image from: https://myanimelist.net/anime/30895/HaruChika__Haruta_to_Chika_wa_Seishun_suru

Name: HaruChika ハルチカ

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

Summary:

Chika Homura begins her high school career with a goal: to develop a "cute girl" persona. After quitting the volleyball team despite her all-star status, Chika decides to join her school's underrated Wind Instrument Club and play the flute, believing it to be the most delicate and feminine instrument. For the first time in nine years, Chika reunites with her childhood friend and total opposite, Haruta Kamijou. Unfortunately for Chika, Haruta is not fooled by her efforts to become more endearing. But this does not deter Chika, and she develops a crush on the band instructor, Shinjirou Kusakabe—but so does Haruta!

However, Chika's high school life just won't go according to plan, as mysteries begin appearing around her and her friends. The club members must work together to solve the mysteries plaguing the school, all while trying to find more members to compete in musical competitions.

Summary by: MAL Rewrite

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Personal Ratings:  2.9 / 5

Idea:  4 / 5

This anime combines mystery, music and school activities together. Just based on idea alone, I think that it's really unique, and also something that no one would think of, which is what made me really curious about this anime, because I just couldn't really imagine those 3 genres combined together.

Basically all the characters who are to join the club or in one way or another related to the club, is shrouded in mystery. But in the end, they didn't quite mix the 2 different genres together, and was quite a led down.

Execution:

Development: 2 / 5

The development of the story and execution was, sadly, just not there. I feel that this anime has a lot of potential to do well, but because of the lack of development and depth in each mystery, it just didn't stick together well.

Most of the mystery in this anime just don't really seem to have a complete closure or a little 'afterword' that most mystery anime has. Although the mystery itself is really creative, and actually have a lot of fun to it, I feel that it just lacks that depth that it needs for it to reach it's potential. Mainly because many of the mystery actually needs more time for development, but they try to end each mystery within 1 episode each.

Also, I felt that they could have show signs or hints of the other mysteries in the front few episodes, to actually make each mystery more relatable, and not feel like they just suddenly jump into it. 
One example would be the radio program. Instead of suddenly having the main characters listen to the radio, I thought that showing some character (probably the main character) listening to the radio from time to time since the beginning of the anime would add a nicer touch to it.

I also felt that certain scenes felt very abrupt, and didn't play much impact as it should have. Example - when dealing with Maren's case, there was a scene when he opened a suite case, to read a letter, during which he was suppose to show us his 'emotional' and 'sad' side that relates to his past. However, the scene ends by him just trashing the mail back into the case and him just going back to normal within a second. I felt like they should have just fade the scene out with him looking at the letter, to make it look more natural, and also for the viewers to ponder about it. During the whole anime, there were also many other scenes that were just as abrupt, which just brings down the whole quality of the anime.

Emotions: 1.5 / 5

The emotions were not quite as there because of the shallow development and abrupt scenes, even though there were quite a lot of sad stories in there (almost all the cases were pretty sad).

I think that they way the 2 main characters react to the situations also play a part in the lack of emotions, mainly because the 2 of them seem to be cheery most of the time, and even during the cases, I couldn't feel any sorrow / regret / pity in them. It just felt like they were facing a problem that they have to solve, and they are only looking at it as a problem sum.

If there were more character affection between the characters themselves, I feel that it would have been a much better anime. 

Planning: 3 / 5

Planning was pretty good, I could see how the cases stack on top of each other, and how some of them are inter-related. Though I really wanted to see a stronger connection between the cases and also more hints of Kusakabe-sensei's case dropped around the whole of the anime, to give the viewers more anticipation.

Though I also felt that certain episodes were put at the wrong timing. Especially the first episode (were a note and a code was left in the club room), and also episode 9 (where Kusakabe-sensei fainted, and they had to solve the mystery as to why the other school's band's teacher was suspended).

In the first episode, where the viewers don't really know much about Kusakabe-sensei, I felt that it was a little weird putting that kind of case there, mainly because that case holds a very strong connection to Kusakabe-sensei, and I feel that it would only make more sense if the viewers know what type of teacher Kusakabe-sensei is and also how he deals with students who falls for him. Knowing that would add that extra depth needed in that case. But I'm sure they only place it in front of the anime, due to the time constrain - this case has to occur in the beginning of the new school year.

I feel that episode 9 should have been placed right after the episode where they had a joint practice with they're neighboring school, either that or they should have changed it such a way that the teacher was a lot more memorable. The problem with this case is that, when watching this episode, I couldn't recall how this teacher was like - how he was perceived by his students, and how he acted towards his students. Which actually left a big hole into understanding his actions and the situation itself. Though Haruta did mentioned in the episode about how he felt about the teacher.

Main Character Development: 3.5 / 5

Main character development went pretty well, but I have a problem with the characters themselves. I feel that Haruta and Chika's personalities are way too similar with each other, and that they feel as if they are the same person with different abilities.

Because this anime focuses a lot on Haruta and Chika (as the name of the anime suggests), their character development can be seen since episode 1 all the way till the end.

I really wanted more development on Haruta's character, especially about their childhood, and also how Haruta was like in middle school [I would love to have a OVA special just on that]. I always find myself wondering about how Haruta came about to be the 'detective' in middle school. And also, since this anime rides a lot on how Haruta and Chika are childhood friends who seems to be very close back then, I really want a little short sneak peak into that.

Side Character Development: 1.5 / 5

The side character development was pretty crappy, and was probably the main reason why this whole anime didn't turn out as good as it can be.
As stated above, I find that the personalities of the characters are all very close to each other, and most of them give out the same aura.

I feel that they didn't quite show the development stage of the side characters, and they all felt like they were one person before the case was solved, and another person after the case was solved. There wasn't that gradual transition in between.
Also the biggest led down, I felt, was that they didn't actually really play apart in the anime after their cases were solved, and it just felt like they were shoved aside (except for Serizawa).

There wasn't enough emphasis on Kusakabe-sensei too, whom, I felt, actually plays a huge role in the anime. I feel that it's weird that Kusakabe-sensei always seem to solve the cases in a second, and then after which he just walks off after giving them some 'advice', and I just feel that it doesn't quite make sense.

Seiyuu:  4 / 4

I really loved every single voice actors used in this anime, and I totally felt that everyone was in character, and they all sounded really natural. Really amazed by the voice actors, and I feel that they couldn't have picked any better.

For the most part, I was really shocked when I knew that Hanae Natsuki was picked to voice act Kusakabe-sensei. Mainly because Hanae isn't known for doing mature roles, and he usually voices for younger characters. But he did an amazing job in this anime.

Bonus: Script: 1 / 1

I actually really like the script, and I felt that it isn't just your normal high schoolers talking among each other, but there is something more. The script is really fun and I felt it added flavour to the anime itself. 

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Art Ratings: 3 / 5

I actually really like the animation - it was really smooth despite having many big movements, it all flows really well.

I also really like the character design - I feel that they really show cases what little personality they have, and also fit really well with the voices. 

I just didn't quite get the weird drawings under the eyes, which just destroys everything.

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Similar Animes:

Hyouka:

Hyouka is probably the anime that comes close to HaruChika. They are both deal with high school mystery. While HaruChika has a lack of explanation that draws up their conclusion, Hyouka focuses on their train of thoughts and allows the viewers to think with them. The nature of their cases are also really different - Hyouka's cases has things to do with your everyday life occurrence, while HaurChika's cases are close to that of an out of the world extraordinary cases.

Hibike! Euphonium:

Hibike and HaruChika are only similar because they both are related to the brass band club. Hibike heavily focuses on the music and club itself, together with a little touch of aesthetic and play on the 'artistic' side of it. Whereas HaruChika just gives you a little glimpse of the club.

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Recommended for:

Gender: Both
Age: 13 and above
My Ratings: PG

Nisekoi

Image from: http://myanimelist.net/anime/18897/Nisekoi

Name: Nisekoi ニセコイ

Status: Completed
Episode: 32 (20 + 12)
Release date (for eng subs): -

Summary:

Raku Ichijou, a first-year student at Bonyari High School, is the sole heir to an intimidating yakuza family. Ten years ago, Raku promised his childhood friend that they would get married when they reunite as teenagers. To seal the deal, the girl had given Raku a closed locket, the key to which she took with her when she left him.

Now, years later, Raku has grown into a typical teenager, and all he wants is to remain as uninvolved in his yakuza background as possible while spending his school days alongside his middle school crush Kosaki Onodera. However, when the American Bee Hive Gang invades his family's turf, Raku's idyllic romantic dreams are sent for a toss as he is dragged into a frustrating conflict: Raku is to pretend that he is in a romantic relationship with Chitoge Kirisaki, the beautiful daughter of the Bee Hive's chief, so as to reduce the friction between the two groups. Unfortunately, reality could not be farther from this whopping lie—Raku and Chitoge fall in hate at first sight, as the girl is convinced he is a pathetic pushover, and in Raku's eyes, Chitoge is about as attractive as a savage gorilla. 

Nisekoi follows the daily antics of this mismatched couple who have been forced to get along for the sake of maintaining the city's peace. With many more girls popping up his life, all involved with Raku's past somehow, his search for the girl who holds his heart and his promise leads him in more unexpected directions than he expects.

Summary by: MAL Rewrite
Summary from: http://myanimelist.net/anime/18897/Nisekoi

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Personal Ratings:  3.2 / 5

Idea:  4 / 5

While the idea of having a "pretend" relationship isn't really all that unique, but in fact pretty common and widely used in the shoujo genre, the way they used a "symbolic" approach to identify his past 'lover' was something different.

I have seen some manga used this kind of approach before, but I have never seen it being used as the main part of the story. Though, I would have to complain about the design of the locket; having a locket that big, I doubt there would be anyone who would wear it.

Having the 2 main characters (and most of the side characters) share the same type of family background is also not one of the mainstream methods. Most of the relationships starts off by being 2 very different beings, or beings that are different from the 'norm' which sparks off the relationships.

Execution:

Development: 3 / 5

As for how the story goes, I actually do feel that it’s not a bad anime as far as harem anime goes. Even though I do think that they could have focused more on some other characters. But I still liked how they stayed focus on the two main girls, on top of that, rather than having all the girls who like Raku (main character) have a key each, I liked how they actually spread it out – some have, and some don’t. I feel that it actually did made the viewers understand the good sides of Raku, instead of the normal harem where the main characters I liked for no reason.

However, as far as how much the main purpose of this story progressed, I feel that it didn't moved much since the beginning. While certain truths and facts were revealed, there wasn't any conclusion made as to who Ichijou's 'fiance' was.

Emotions: 2.5 / 5

For me, I didn't really feel any emotions towards this work. The story was pretty stable and there wasn't much ups or downs in the anime. But I also feel that the characters are pretty hard to related too, especially because their backgrounds are pretty far off from any average normal household (I mean, how many people's family are in relation to the yakuza, gangs and police?) which makes it hard for us to relate back to the characters and how they are feeling.

Planning: 2.5 / 5

I know that this was done to drag on the story more, but, I did feel that there was a lot lesser emphasis put on the main story of this anime, which is the pendant lock and the keys, at the back of the anime. At the beginning it was always mentioned and there was so much emphasis put onto that, to the point that it was really annoying, but towards the end of the 1^st season and the whole of 2^nd season, it was hardly mentioned. I think that they should have spread the emphasis throughout the whole anime to make it more balanced.

Also the past memories which were mentioned a thousand times in the anime kept on getting overlapped with one another as new characters are being introduced into the anime. Some contradictions due to the lack of planning there. 

Main Character Development: 4 / 5

This whole story is basically about Raku, and follows his perspective. As a result the person whom the viewers will know the best at the end of everything is Raku.

That being said, Raku shows quite the development towards each girl, and it's properly showed as to how he feels about each girl in different stages of the anime.

Side Character Development: 3 / 5

Though I think that Shuu (Raku’s friend) did play a huge role in this anime despite being a side character, I did feel that he wasn’t really there in Raku’s private life, even though he has been with Raku ever since. Moreover, I did think that they should have added more emphasis on his character throughout the whole show, even if it’s for a few seconds. I think giving the viewers a better understanding of this character would actually make his love story a lot more engaging, instead of having it felt like it was an extra plot added into the story.

As for the girls, it was nice how they actually prioritize Chitoge and Onodera even though there was an influx in girls in the later part of the story (season 2). Though I felt that the development with Onodera was pretty much at a standstill because nothing has changed since the first episode, you could see a huge development for Chitoge's and the other 2 characters.

Seiyuu:  4 / 4

I think selecting Uchiyama Kouki for Raku’s role was one of the best thing ever in this show. Uchiyama’s voice has a plain feel to it, yet his voice still stands out, which I think was what gave Raku a presence in the anime. It was also really fun to hear Uchiyama’s voice in with all sort of emotions, which was an added bonus for me.

It came to me as a shock when I heard Kaji Yuki was selected for Shuu’s role, and not the main character’s role. But it’s only after watching for a while that I understood that Shuu’s role is probably one of the hardest to act out, mainly because Shuu has many hidden emotions behind his words – so even though it’s being said in the same way, Kaji has to input different emotions behind it. And it’s also hard to understand when Shuu has realise certain “secrets”. But as expected of Kaji Yuki to carry all this out perfectly.

As for the female roles, I feel that all of them were the perfect voice actor for their role. With Hanazawa Kanna carrying out the roles of a quiet, sweet and yet easily embarrassed Onodera; and Komatsu Mikako carrying out another gender bender role.

While I feel that Touyama Nao had carried out Chitoge perfectly (as always), I was most pleasantly pleased with Uchiyama Yumi’s Ruri (Onodera’s friend). Though her character has a very typical “lazy” voice, I feel that the way she expresses Ruri’s emotions through that same type of voice is what makes her perfect for the job.

OST: 0 / 1

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Art Ratings: 4 / 5

Yet another anime done by shaft. And to be truthful I don’t really liked the style of animation done by shaft, yet I still find this anime bearable. So I do think that people who don’t usually like shaft animation can give this anime a try.

The main reason why this anime is more bearable is that they do not enforce their strong “shaft” animation style into the whole anime, but instead it feels like a more subtle form of input. I actually like how they use a more artistic form of approach in the whole anime, but not too over imposing.

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Similar Animes:

Ookami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji:
In this anime, the two main protagonist was also in the "pretend" relationship. Although, not a harem, but a very typical shoujo anime and plot line, I think that this anime and Nisekoi are very similar with their "pretend to be a couple at first and then falling for each other" plot.

However, for Ookmai Shoujo to Kuro Ouji, they did become a real couple after which, unlike Nisekoi, where the relationship status is still unknown.


Toradora:
Toradora doesn't have any of the "pretend" relationship status, but more of a "cheer each other" plot. In Toradora, the 2 protagonist likes 2 other people, in which they agreed to help cheer each other on, but ended up liking each other during the process.

Although in Nisekoi, there wasn't really any "cheering each other" going on, I feel that the plot was kind of similar with their two friends helping Raku and Onodera get together (though they didn't end up having feelings for each other), and the misunderstanding between Onodera's and Chitoge's relationship status with Raku was also similar.

Though, Toradora has a more serious plot compared to Nisekoi with all the comedy in it. But the complexity of the characters feelings for each other and how they came about was about the same (maybe Toradora was a lot more in depth compared to Nisekoi).

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Recommended for:

Gender: Both
Age: 16 and above
My Ratings: PG-13

Baby Steps

Image from: http://myanimelist.net/anime/21185/Baby_Steps

Name: Baby Steps ベイビーステップ

Status: Completed
Episode: 50 (25 + 25)
Release date (for eng subs): -

Summary:

Diligent and methodical honor student Eiichirou Maruo decides to exercise more during the little free time he has available because he is worried about his health. For this reason, after seeing a flyer, he joins the Southern Tennis Club at the beginning of his freshman year.

During his free trial at the club, he meets Natsu Takasaki, another first year student, who is determined on becoming a professional tennis player due to her love for the sport. In contrast, Eiichirou's study-oriented life exists because he believes that it is what he has to do, not because he enjoys it. However, his monotonous days come to an end as the more he plays tennis, the more he becomes fascinated by it.

Baby Steps is the story of a boy who makes the most of his hard-working and perfectionist nature to develop his own unique playing style. Little by little, Eiichirou's skills begin to improve, and he hopes to stand on equal footing with tennis' best players.

Summary by: MAL Rewrite
Summary from: http://myanimelist.net/anime/21185/Baby_Steps

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Personal Ratings: 3.4 / 5

Idea: 2 / 5
Use of Cliche Idea: 3 / 5
Baby Steps is a sports anime which focuses on tennis. Sports anime like this are really cliche and can be found anywhere. We already have several tennis anime like Prince of Tennis and Softenni. However, if you were to compare all these animes side by side, you can tell that they are very different.

In this case, unlike most sports anime where it’s set in a school club, this anime takes on a different approach, and is set in an independent well-known tennis club. This gives the anime a focal point on developing the main character to an in-depth level, and is very different from your usual high school club sports anime where teamwork is usually the focus.

In no way this anime has any fan service, so there is definitely some risk in it because most people who watches sports anime usually go for the fan services (i.e. Kuroko no Basuke, Prince of Tennis, etc) and sports anime are known for having very good fan services. This anime, however, backs it up with a proper story backbone and a strong development.

Execution:
Development: 4 / 5

Because this anime main focus in on the main character - Maruo - most of the development goes into the 'main character develop' category, so here I'll talk about the matches itself.

The perks of having just to concentrate on one character makes it a lot easier for them to plan matches out really well. The details of each match is really very in depth and they focus on each and every point. Also, the fact that it is not a school match means that each player gets 3 sets in a match (depending on the scale of the competition too, sometimes they get 1 set matches), this gives the anime and plot more time to work its way out and for a proper development.

This anime doesn’t focus only on the technical side of a match but also the many different areas which affects a match and the players themselves; like the emotional side, or the luck side, or the situational side. They have many different variation of matches which focuses on the different types of areas which affects the outcome of a tennis match, and having the main character build up experience with it as he goes along.

Emotions: 2.5 / 5

The only thing which they are lacking compared to most of the other ‘fan service’ sports anime out there is actually the tension of the match itself. It doesn’t have the wow factor that makes the viewers smile and say that it’s a good match. This is mainly because Baby Steps sticks to the more logical side of sports. Which means that there are not flashy moves to captivate the viewers. But this doesn’t mean that the matches are not interesting.

The matches themselves, slowly captivate you and draws you in because they go through with you the character’s thought process. It allows you to feel that the main character is going through and feeling.

Planning: 3 / 5

I think what made this show unpredictive is the fact that they actually stick to the logic of things. Outcomes of matches are not done to impress the viewers or to make sure that the main character win, but they actually take into consideration the skill levels of the characters when they are being made and developed. In most animes, the main characters are surely the one to win the matches, but for this anime it’s not true.

And unlike many other animes where they set out to let the main character shine, in this anime, there were situations where by the main character was not in favor of the crowd.

What I thought was lost in the anime was actually the balance. Even though it’s a tennis anime, I still think that there should be some balance between tennis and the slice of life side of it. Many sports anime has this episode where they go on a break from the sports they are doing (is usually a very funny episode). However this anime didn’t have that balance. I thought that maybe they should have added a little bit of scenes here and there about Maruo’s OCD to sort of balance out the whole anime, but that was kind of forgotten half way (but what brought back by his racket strings).

So while the overall planning of whole story was good, I felt that they left certain parts out, which resulted in the lack of balance.

Main Character Development: 5 / 5

The main character development is really good, and they take you through even the smallest bits of details. It feels like you are taking a journey with the main character himself. And because of the way things are being set – having the main character having known nothing about tennis – they take you on this tennis journey. Though each basic area of tennis is being explained properly, I felt that there was a lack of explanation for the different types of balls (i.e. slice, flat, etc) and the characteristics of each balls, and because the main character actually focuses so much on the different types of variation, I did think that it was hard to follow his though process in the later part of the show because of this.

The development of the main character is accumulative, and doesn’t skip a step. The slow (not too slow) and precise development of the character is what fundamentally made this whole show nice.

Side Character Development: 4 / 5

That being said, they don’t neglect the side characters at all, and when you actually compare this anime with other sports anime, I would say that the way in which they treat their side characters are with a lot more care and development. None of the characters are being abandoned, and they each have their own story to tell, which adds up in the main character’s tennis growth. What I would like to comment on is actually the development of the skills of the side characters. While it may sound very obvious that the side characters also improve along together with the main character, I find that this is one of the most neglected factor in most sports anime. The proper growth in the side characters are properly portrayed in the matches.

Seiyuu: 2/ 4

I was pretty shocked at the choices of voice actors for this anime, but I did like certain ones. To actually match the art and style of development they were going for, I think the main characters were a good match - someone who isn't too flashy but yet someone who isn't as plain.

As for the side characters, I liked some and I didn't like certain ones. For the side characters they actually use more popular seiyuus, in which one actually suite their roles, while some of them stood out too much.

Some of the good roles where Araya (CV: Hatano Wataru), Aoi (CV: Toriumi Kousuke), Takuma (CV: Namikawa Daisuke), Ide (CV: KENN), Ike Souji (CV: Hosoya Hoshimasa), Nabae (CV: Sakurai Takahiro), etc.

But certain roles I felt that the voices were overpowering the characters, especially since their voices were 'sparkling' while the characters look kind of plain. 

OST: 0 / 1

I found that there was a huge gap between season 1 and season 2. Even though they were both good, but season 2 was really good compared to season 1. I don’t know if it’s just because Maruo’s skill is a lot better in season 2, thus leading to more interesting matches, or if the OST has something to do with it.

I did feel that season 2’s OST was used a lot better, but I did think that they could have done more in terms of the OST to actually boost the viewer’s feelings towards the matches.

*while the ratings are 3.5 when u combine the 2 seasons, I feel that the 2nd season was way better, and everyone should give this anime a try.

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Art Ratings: 4 / 5

In this case, I'm not really rating the art, but more of the animation style. Even though I didn't really like the art style, I loved the animation.

The art style was supposed to be something more towards the 'realistic' type of art style, where by they try to draw the characters as realistic as possible. But I think that the art style for the body was not really to my liking - the males seems to have all the same body type, and there wasn't really a distinct difference in body types in this anime. I think that it actually plays apart in sports anime, especially when the different body types compliments the different style of tennis which each player plays.

But other than the negative character design and art style, I really loved the animation. I don't think most animation actually pay much attention to the different types of sounds used in different shots of the scenes, but this anime did - i.e. in a single scene, they can have different shots of different areas while the characters are talking, and complimenting the different distance and scale of the shot in question, the volume, and type of background sound effects changes along with it. It was something that I was quite amazed, because of the different types of depth it gave the animation, and I didn't think that it would make such a difference, but it did make you feel as if you were in the anime.

This anime also uses a lot of different types of shots - close up, zoomed in, etc. And I think that they really made full use of the different types shots to compliment what they were trying to convey to the viewers. The scale of each scene was thought to best compliment the match, in order for the viewers to get the best understanding of what they were trying to convey.

As for the animation of each characters, you can tell that they only included certain animation styles into their anime only after they realised they could/should do it (e.g. it was only in the last few matches were they actually animated Maruo turning/playing with his racket while waiting for the opponent's serve). There were also times where the fast movements of the characters during the plays were a little off or lagging, but overall for a 2D animation, I feel that it's one of the most smooth sports animation out there.

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Similar Animes:

This is probably the section where most people would just throw you all the random sports anime they have watched before, but other than Prince of Tennis (if it's tennis you are interested in), I don't think that this anime is really any similar to much of the other sports anime, or any anime out there in fact. Because this anime stays so true to the sports itself, I feel that it lacks that whole 'anime' part of it.

Tennis no Ouji-sama:

Basically this anime is one of the most popular tennis anime out there. But other than the fact that they both focuses on tennis, they are in no way similar with each other. Like many sports anime, Prince of Tennis is one that focuses more on the 'cool' factor, and also the relationships between the characters.

Bamboo Blade:

A kendo anime. If your looking for a sports anime that focuses on the sports itself, this is one of the other sports anime which I find that stays pretty true to the sports itself - other than some romance bit in it. This anime however talks more about the team in general and the problems faced by each one of them, rather than just the main character herself.

Chihayafuru:

Chihayafuru is also another anime that stays very true to the sports in focus - Karuta. Basically it follows the similar way whereby baby steps also took the slow development process of the sports, following the main character. In this case, even though this anime doesn't start from scratch (as in the main character doesn't start the sports from 0), each and every game is thoroughly explained, which I find was very similar to Baby Steps.

Ookiku Furikabutte:

This is a baseball anime. I feel that the art type and the matches were pretty similar to Baby Steps, whereby fan service isn't applied to this anime (though in some people's mind it happens, btw don't get me wrong, I'm also a Fujoushi). Although it's also a school type of sports, and doesn't follow a single character, this anime focuses mainly on the 2 characters. And although this anime doesn't also start from scratch, each and every point is well explained, which I thought was similar to Baby Steps.

** and one last thing, because of the similar styles they have, even though this anime isn't something that is at all similar to Baby Steps, I feel that people who loved Baby Steps would definitely love Gin no Saji

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Recommended for:

Gender: Both
Age: 13 and above
My Ratings: PG

Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru

Image from: http://myanimelist.net/anime/30187/Sakurako-san_no_Ashimoto_ni_wa_Shitai_ga_Umatteiru

Name: Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru 櫻子さんの足下には死体が埋まっている Beautiful Bones -Sakurako's Investigation-

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

Summary:

Shoutarou Tatewaki, a high schooler living in Asahikawa City, Hokkaido, meets Sakurako Kujou, a bone-loving ojou-san who has an ability to analyze specimen. Because of meeting her, he has to accompany her to various cases.

Summary Source: MAL News

Summary from: http://myanimelist.net/anime/30187/Sakurako-san_no_Ashimoto_ni_wa_Shitai_ga_Umatteiru

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Personal Ratings: 3.1 / 5

Idea: 3.5 / 5
I liked how they played with the title of the anime. There is a famous saying in Japan that “underneath the sakura tree, lay dead bodies” (smth like that), and naming the show in relation to that famous saying just perks the interest of viewers.

I didn’t expect this anime to be the typical kind of mystery shows. I really thought that it would be an out of the box new type of anime. So I was pretty disappointed when I first watched this. But that being said, I actually enjoyed all the mysteries, and after watching this, I suddenly had this urge to keep dig out all my mystery anime and re watch them. So I do think that it is a very good mystery show. On top of that, I did think that the way certain mysteries are made was different from the norm - it doesn’t always involve people dying (like detective conan).

Execution:

Development: 3.5 / 5

I liked how this plot takes the development step by step with each mystery, and how it all end up as one huge case by itself.

Though, I did felt that the mysteries are not completed. Even though they may solve the main problem in the murder, some other point in the shows are not completely answered.

In episode 2, the room of the murdered mother, was found to be filthy and filled with garbage bin. Until the end, they didn’t explained why it was this messy and dirty. Also, they later they said that those were not garbage, but things like unopened canned food which expired. Why would the mother keep something like that?

While it maybe true that the whole motive and purpose of this show is purely just to solve murders based on the bone structures of a human being, I feel that there should be a reason as to why certain things happened, and even if it may not be connected to Sakurako’s deduction process, they should tell us the completed story (maybe they can do that after the ending song).

Emotions: 2.5 / 5

Although the mystery side of the anime was really well done, and very in depth, I felt they were missing on the emotional side of the story. The foundation of the character development wasn’t really there, though I liked how they didn’t throw away characters. The more psychology aspect of the anime wasn’t really there.

During the episodes about the family curse, the grandma’s painting and grandma’s death, and also the last episode about the parting between the two. I didn’t really feel that emotional attachment to any of the character, and felt that they could amplify the intensity of certain scenes. But so far, I really liked how they are going with the story about the serial killer. I feel that I can expect a lot more in the future (if they have a 2nd season - no, wait, - they MUST have a 2nd season).

Planning: 3 / 5
I think that this story was pretty well planned; having all the small cases link to one huge case, and that gradual increase in the involvement of each case held the whole anime together.

Main Character Development: 3 / 5

The only evident character development here is Sakurako-san herself. Though I did feel that there were some inconsistencies with certain traits of her, I can definitely see the character development.

As for Shoutarou, he feels like a character created just for Sakurako to mourn about her little brother. Although at first I really felt that there could be a great development for his character, In the end there wasn’t much development in his character.

Side Character Development: 3.5 / 5

Like some anime out there, this anime picks certain side characters and actually continue to develop them after their cases are solved, and they all play a part in developing the main characters.

I actually liked how they used the characters to link the stories together. It makes the whole movement of the story really smooth, while guiding our train of thoughts together with the storyline.

Seiyuu: 3 / 4
I don't think I was particularly surprised by the cast at all, but I really liked Shizuka's voice (voice actor of Sakurako) here. I think she fits Sakurako down to the bone. It was perfect - her personality, behavior and aura, all nailed. Though sometimes I feel that she was way too consistent with her voice - like there was nothing special about it. But I still really enjoyed listening to her voice.

Enoki on the other hand is a pretty newbie seiyuu (Shoutarou's voice actor). I didn't think he stood out or anything but I guess pretty fitting for Shoutarou. Though I feel that he lacks that natural feel to the character.

As for the side character, some of them I've already about guess which voice actors would act them before they open their mouths, and some of them are really veteran.


OST: 0/1

The OST used here, was pretty nice. They had their trademark music going on when Sakurako does her deductions, like what most mystery shows would have. Even though the music itself is really beautiful, I still feel the lack of emotional attachments in the music themselves.

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Art Ratings: 3.5

In terms of animation, I liked it. almost all the scenes were perfectly animated, and the art was beautiful. But not in an outstanding level. In the end there wasn’t really any special colour or trait which they used in their animation to elevate their story line. It was just simply a very nice art and smooth animation.

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Similar Animes:

Psycho Pass

In a way I do feel that this story resembles Psycho Pass a lot; in terms of the setting and the genre they picked. Both have a fair share of mystery and psychology. The only huge difference is that Psycho Pass is an action and political-based anime, while Sakurako is set in a slice of life style of anime.

Gosick

They both don't follow the typical mystery style of anime where by the main character is a detective him/herself. However, their setting and story style are both very different. While Gosick is set in a foreign country in a different era, Sakurako-san is set in the modern world.

Kamisama no Memochou

Both similar in the sense that both of them have similar types of cases where it isn't necessary that a person is dead before the case is being investigated. Their settings are the same, but in different age - Sakurako-san dosen't involve high school life. Sakurako-san has a better mystery story line because of the evidence and knowledge background, while Kamisama no Memochou is more on situation-based facts and is more similar to Hyouka.

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Recommended for:

Gender: Male & Female

Age: 13 and above

My Ratings: PG-13

Yowamushi Pedal

Image from: http://myanimelist.net/anime/18179/Yowamushi_Pedal

Name: Yowamushi Pedal 弱虫ペダル
Sequel: Yowamushi Pedal: Grande Road
Side-Story: Yowamushi Pedal: Special Ride

Status: Completed
Episode: 38 + 24 (grande road)
Release Date (for eng subs): -

Summary:

Otaku Sakamichi Onoda has just entered high school and plans to join the anime club. In middle school, Onoda didn’t have any friends with whom he could talk about anime, games, Akihabara and other otaku things, and he is hoping he can make such friends in the anime club, but he finds out it's been disbanded. In order to reestablish the club he tries to find 4 other people who would like to join.

Since he was a little boy, Onoda has ridden his mamachari—a bulky bicycle with a step-through frame mainly used for short rides, such as for casual fun or to pick up groceries—to go to Akihabara every week to check out or buy otaku things. Fellow freshman Shunsuke Imaizumi and bicyclist, while training, notices a boy (Onoda) riding his mamchari up a steep road.

Freshman and road racing cyclist, Shokichi Naruko visits Akihabara to get some Gundam plastic models for his younger brothers and meets Onoda who catches his attention because of the his cycling skill on the mamachari and later find out they go to the same school. Later on, both Naruko and Imaizumi try to convince him to join the bicycle racing club, but will he?

Summary: http://myanimelist.net/anime/18179/Yowamushi_Pedal

Personal Ratings: 3.5

Idea: 4 / 5

Yes, sports animes are really mainstream and cliche in the anime world, but I have never come across a cycling sports anime. But I guess the recent trend for bikes and wheels have been increasing, thus giving birth to this anime and manga.

The starting of this anime was pretty unique - unlike a lot of other sports anime out there - yet there is still that little bit of cliché in it. It’s a very intense sports anime, but at the same time it incorporates that slice of life genre into the anime.

Overall, when I compare this anime with other sports anime out there, it follows the cliché path down to the little details, yet adding in other elements into the anime to help it go that one step further.

Execution:

Development: 4.5 / 5

This anime slowly introduces the sports cycling to the viewers. Unlike most sports anime; like baseball, soccer, tennis, etc. Cycling, in Japan (and maybe some other countries), is not known as a sport, but more of a mode of transport. So introducing cycling as a sport from the point of view of a normal typical high school Japanese student, who – like many others – uses a bicycle as a typical mode of transport, and slowly explaining to us the difference between the two, really guides the viewers along. Many other sports anime out there lack this thorough explanation, simply because they just assume that viewers already know the rules of the game because it’s so popular. But this foundation actually sets a firm ground for the understanding of the whole anime. Competitions, and basically anytime they cycle on a road racer, are made even more captivating just by this.

This anime has a slow build up, and takes each stage and each step in chronological order. Partly due to cycling’s competition nature, which allows them to do this. They are able to take a step into the different stages of training, and then into the competition itself. In most sports anime, there are a lot of times where competition (matches) and trainings are alternate. However, because cycling only has that one competition, at allows the anime to have that chronological progress.

Emotions: 2.5 / 5

I guess the emotional part for this anime is quite ok. There were parts where u feel the hype and the tension of the characters, but I feel that it still pales in comparison to the better emotional sports anime out there like Ace of Diamonds and Haiykuu. I think that there were many parts which could have had better expressiveness. 

Especially the emotional scenes during the race. I think the main reason why they don't have that emotional impact is because of the pace of the anime and the tension of the characters. The pace of the anime is kept fairly constant, which causes viewers to lose their focus on the anime. The tension of the characters are kept relatively the same, and mainly follows the cliche paths from the mainstream style. So, viewers are already expecting whats to come next, thus the level of emotion goes down.

Planning: 2.5 / 5

Of course, like any other sports anime out there, there is that lack of the flow of proper logic throughout the whole race. Things like stamina didn’t really add up at the end of the race, and each race was a close match, despite all the huge problems and large gaps.

For the first sprinting checkpoint in the first stage, I really didn’t think that they should make Izumida that strong - after all beating Tadokoro despite not being the best sprinter doesn’t make sense as to how anyone else could have beat Shinkai.

Then there is this thing with Midousuji. Logically speaking, he should have been just a little better than Imaizumi, judging from their past races results. But in the race the whole time, Midousuji was like some kind of god - he never get tired despite having race by himself in many checkpoints.

For the enemies in the race is also another problem. Apart from Midousuji, I do not believe that there isn’t any other contestant who are not able to compete with Hakogakou. Certainly there would be other good school from the past contest that had a close match with the campaigns - like the mystery school that won 2nd the last competition.

I did think that the sudden competition with Hiroshima was quite sudden. It felt like they were such an unknown school with no screen time before that, and all of a sudden they appear and disrupt the whole match at the beginning of the 3rd day. I hope that in the 3rd season of this anime, they would appear again.

Main Character Development: 3 / 5

In my eyes, there wasn't really much character development for Onoda, mainly because there isn't much change since the first episode. The only thing that changed was not his personality, but his cycling knowledge.

Of course, along the way there were some development and slight changes due to the situation and the other club member’s words. I feel that even the other side characters has more development than him. But I’m looking forward to the next season, where I hope they would show us more development in his character.

The development for each character doesn’t follow any order; but it being in a random order makes it a lot more exciting and unexpected. Though I did feel that there was some inconsistent development of characters. They seem to only wait to the character’s episode before developing their characters, but I feel that the constant build up of development would be a lot more suitable for this anime - especially for the characters that matter. Most of the characters are pretty much unheard or go unnoticed for most of the anime before they actually decided to use them a section of the race - e.g. Shinkai. But in the end I still felt that they did make it the right choice to select certain characters to develop along the way.

I realised that in this anime, each and everyone of the characters have their own phrase which they always say. It can be a double edge sword; having them do this really reinforce their personalities, and make it easier for the viewers to understand each character within a short period of time, especially for such sports anime which many different characters. Of course seeing it for the first time, it didn’t really felt like such a huge fault, but after watching it for the second time, I realised that doing such thing can really make the anime a little stale - it becomes boring, because there is very little in depth development of the characters.

Side Character Development: 3 / 5

Their characters were really created well. Each and everyone of them have that charm point, but I did feel that the main characters lacked more in comparison to Hakogakou, which is really ironic. Like how Manami has his beautiful glass wings, etc.

Hakogakou - to me - was much better team than the main team. I really didn’t like how they kept introducing new “problems” with occur within the team. And it didn’t make sense for them to win despite all those problems which they occurred in the race.

I did feel that Hakogakou overall stood out a lot more because of the amazing storyline and development behind it. The main characters just pales in comparison. Especially because Hakogakou’s developments occurs during the race and not before, makes it a lot more impactful.

While I did feel that Manami was a character created just for Onoda, I really like the competition between the two of them at the end of the anime.

As for Midousuji’s character. I did think that they picked the right timing to develop his story. Just when the viewers are getting annoyed with his personality and tactics, suddenly dropping a really touching story about him just really makes it unexpected. But I did think that it had more potential to move people more. Especially about the bike (I noticed it’s the same bike that he first bought).

Seiyuu: 4 / 4

I think one of the best choices for this anime was Naruko's voice actor - Fukushima Jun, Manami's voice actor - Yonaga Tsubasa and Midousuji Akira - Yusa Kouji. 

I've known Yonaga and Yusa from many other roles they play in, and I was already loving Yonaga's voice a lot. But yet again in this anime, he surprises me with his voice acting skills. I've never really heard Yonaga use his lower voice in voice acting throughout the whole show. And his voice just matches Manami so well, that it was so natural. Many of the times while I was watching the anime, I find myself getting more and more captivated by Manami because of Yonaga's voice.

Yusa-san on the other hand, I thought I was already very familiar with his voice, because he has a very unique voice, and you can easily identify him. But I've honestly never come across Yusa-san voice acting a psychological character - and a pretty crazy one at that. It was totally different, and it didn't cross my mind that Yusa-san was the one voice acting Midousuji. A very good job indeed; I really love how he was able to portray that level of craziness and creepiness from Midousuji.

Fukushima Jun, on another hand was some one that I didn't know before this. He hasn't really played many roles yet, but he is definitely a natural Naruko. His accent was also pretty clean and powerful. 

Art Ratings: 4.5

Anime art is definitely a lot nicer than the manga art for this series. Overall the character's body types and proportions are kept more to the realistic side.

I liked how there is a mixture of different types of character design for this anime. There is the mainstream anime boys design - Onoda, Naruko, Manami, etc. And then there is also the more funky looking characters - Makishima, Toudou, etc.

I can see that for certain scenes they use a 3D (or motion, whichever you call it) animation and most of the scenes in their usual normal format. Like I always say, I really don't like it when they mix the two types of animation together, because there is an obvious difference between the two of them when you mix when together. But for this, the 3D was really kept the the minimum, and there wasn't really much they could do when they want to show the detailed cycling motion.

Recommended for:

Gender: Male & Female

Age: 13 and above

My Ratings: PG