Accel World is an anime that had a great premise and an epic title as well. The fact that it was from the creator of Sword Art Online was another positive. With everything in its favor from the start, how could it not succeed? The posters for the anime have always looked really intense and the purple color scheme is definitely something that will hook you in. Time to see if the show could live up to all of the awesomeness that surrounded it.

Well lets get into the plot to start things off. Haruyuki is not a very popular kid and he is not very fond of the real world. He is excellent at online games and since this takes place in the future, the games are very intense. I wont get very technical but basically you can throw your consciousness into the game that you pick and live out the game. Its what every serious gamer has considered in the past. Haruyuki is great at video games and he even holds the record in one of them. Unfortunately, his life is about to change!

Kuroyukihime is basically the most popular girl at school and she decides to crush all of his dreams and aspirations by breaking his record in the reflex game online. She admits that she had to defy reality to do it and offers him a chance to learn the ability as well. With Brain Burst at his side, Haruyuki is now ready to enter the next level of gaming. Is there more to Kuroyukihime then she is letting on?

Haruyuki goes on to join Kuroyukihime’s group; The Nega Nebulous along with a few other members. She wants to defeat the 5 Kings which will enable her to become a level 10 and find out the true reason behind Brain Burst’s existence. Haruyuki agrees to help her and this begins their journey to defeat them all and discover the truth!

I should mention that this seems to be the plot for the entire franchise and not just this anime. (Since the anime ends very early on, this plot is nowhere near close to being completed) The last part of the anime is mainly about Haruyuki and his battle against Seiji. The clock is ticking and if Haruyuki doesn’t defeat him very quickly…his life will essentially be over.

That’s enough about the plot. It may not have been very clear, but the plot is excellent and you’ll completely understand it once you start to watch the series. The soundtrack is top notch for the show and nearly all of the themes are very memorable. This is one series where you will walk away whistling the tunes and keeping a lot of it in your memory. I particularly like the theme named Silvery Wings but there are many other spectacular ones as well.

The animation is some of the best out there, but only when they are in Accel World. How can that be? Well, in the human world, the animation uses an effect that I really do not like. All of the characters appear to be blushing fiercely for no reason throughout the whole series. It makes them look like they have a constant fever or are in awkward scenarios which isn’t the case. When was the last time someone was blushing while walking or thinking about battle strategies? I’m sure that the animation company was going for some sort of “realistic” look with this, but it failed miserably.

Luckily, the animation in Accel World cancels this out. All of the Accel World character designs are mecha warriors so there is no reason to make them blush, which takes away the only negative factor in the animation. The designs for 99% of the fighters are excellent and the fight scenes are where you really get to see the animation shine. At its best, Accel World can easily keep up with any anime that I’ve ever seen in animation. Aside from the awesome fights, the flying effects are also amazing. Silver Crow always looks awe-inspiring and especially in his final flight scene of the series. If it’s one thing that makes Accel World stand apart from Sword Art Online, it would definitely be the animation. The animation in the human world may be regrettable, but the animation in Accel World is so great that it easily cancels that part out.

Now, let’s talk about the characters! Haruyuki is a pretty bad main character. I actually did not mind him at first, but he quickly got worse as the series went on. At first you may feel a little bad for him since things aren’t going very well for him in the real world. He retreats into video games and that’s definitely not a bad thing, but that’s when things start to go downhill. After he meets Kuroyukihime, Haruyuki starts to have some pretty sad fantasies and loses his grip on reality as he slowly starts to lose all of his morals. He makes a lot of bad decisions during the later half of the series and I can’t say that he ever became likable after his descent.

I do like Silver Crow if we decide to count him as a separate character than Haruyuki. Hard yuk is controlling him but their personalities are completely different and aside from a few scenes, Silver Crow is a pretty solid character. He may not be great, but he is a big step up from Haruyuki. His attacks are always very flashy and his design is great. He is a pretty good fighter towards the end of the series. He has a bad habit of giving up hope early on, but a lot of main characters make that mistake.

Kuroyukihime is a pretty solid character. She is definitely a lot better than Haruyuki, she can be a little dramatic. Her romance with Haruyuki can definitely go a little over the top and I have to question her choice of friends. Her (filler) episode was probably the worst episode of the series or at least one of the worst thanks to a variety of reasons including: her friend, the insane amount of plot hax, and more reasons.

Black Lotus is a very good character and she is essentially the strongest character in the series. Her fight against the Yellow king was pretty intense and that has really been he only time that we have seen her true power. She did have a bit of a fight in the finale, but she wasn’t really focusing on the fight. Her avatar has one of the best designs in the show and I look forward to seeing her get some more fights. I was a little sad that she didn’t really get any action in this series, but I’m sure that she will get more as the sequels start to come out.

Chiyu was one of Haruyuki’s only friends for a long time and she’s a main character in the series. She gets a smaller role than the other characters since she did not get the Brain Burst program like the others. She wants to stay close to Haruyuki and Taku, but that becomes difficult when the three of them start to split up. I definitely did not care for Chiyu as she definitely made things hard for Haruyuki and kept trying to get him to go over to the wrong side. She was a good character during the very beginning of the series, but she quickly dropped after that.

Lime Bell isn’t a very likable character either as she may have had a good plan in the end, but it just wasn’t worth it. There were much better plans that could have been executed and this one was way too risky. She’s not very good in a fight either which can be a bad weakness.

Taku is Haruyuki’s other friend and he makes sure to get a lot of character development during the series. He starts out as a character who’s more unlikable than half of the villains. He’s evil in every sense of the word and while he may think that he’s on the side of justice…just look at Light! He does have some pretty intense scenes during his first big fight, but I still couldn’t take him seriously in the end. As the series progresses, he gets better. He’s a much different person than at the beginning, but I still couldn’t consider myself to become a fan. He was just too far gone by that time. His avatar is Cyan Pile and I do like the design. The problem is his choice of weapon for the majority of the series. He uses a spear which isn’t good for long range or close range and that means that he’s a liability in a fight. Hand to hand combat skills would have been an improvement for him and that’s saying something! I’m not sure how he got to his current level with his lack of ability, but he’s a decent character. He’s definitely not the strongest character out there, but he’s good as a blocker.

There were some fighters who weren’t a part of any group at the moment like Sky Raker and Aqua Current. I didn’t care for Aqua Current, but Sky Raker is a decent character. Sky Raker may have given up on fighting, but maybe she’ll change that in the future. Either way, it’s just a game I suppose….Aqua Current nearly had a great plot twist at the end, but it didn’t happen so her character couldn’t be saved.

Scarlet Rain is the current Red King and she gets the most action from the Kings…which is a bad thing for her. It’s common that the first of the “Super” villains will look really good, but will ultimately be the weakest or at least one of the weakest. She has a very large arsenal of long range weapons at her disposal, but her critical weakness is that she cannot fight in close combat situations. She does have her Incarnate abilities, but she hasn’t used them in actual combat yet. She’s a decent character for the most part, but she can definitely get on your nerves after a while. Blood Leopard is another member from the Red group and while she doesn’t appear for very long, we get to see her fight in one of the episodes. Her abilities aren’t very impressive, but she’s a decent fighter and a decent character as well. I will need her to have more scenes before I can really gauge how cool she is.

Yellow Radio is the Yellow King and he’s easily the strongest of the 5 Kings that we’ve seen in action. (This means that we are not counting the Blue King and Kuroyukihime is in a league of her own anyway) His fight scene is very impressive and he can move at speeds that are basically unheard of. His special ability isn’t offensive in its nature, but it can be very useful in combat although it seems easy to escape. I have a feeling that we’ll be seeing a lot more of this guy since he seems to be the most antagonistic of the 5 Kings.

There isn’t much to say about the Blue King except that he’s pretty awesome. He hasn’t really done anything yet and he’s already one of my favorite characters in the franchise. Mark my words, this guy is definitely going to be one of the strongest enemies that the heroes face and only Kuroyukihime really has a chance against him at their current level. I’m hyped for his fights and I hope that they happen soon. His design is incredible and his power level is likely off the charts. His two lieutenants are also pretty good and highly skilled, but we have not gotten to see them that much yet either. They won their battle, but it was against a pretty weak opponent.

Black Vise is one of the final villains to appear in the series yet he definitely makes a bold entrance. He was able to hold off Kuroyukihime for a while before making a retreat which is pretty rare. Kuroyukhime wasn’t fully concentrating on the battle, but it’s still an impressive feat. He seems like a higher up in the organization and he could prove to be trouble for the 5 Kings.

Dusk Taker is the final villain of the series so you can probably guess that he’s pretty skilled. His abilities may not be on the level of the 5 Kings, (Although he could possibly take on Scarlet Rain) but he is definitely a threat. His abilities enable him to permanently steal the ability of another fighter and add it to his collection. He’s limited in how many abilities he can keep at once, but that’s definitely not going to stop him from assembling an all star roster of powers. He’s very skilled in both hand to hand combat and long range abilities. His speed is definitely up there with the strongest fighters in the game thanks to his flying ability. His battle with Silver Crow is pretty spectacular and it would have been over sooner if not for the real life drama. Dusk Taker lasts for a very long time, but it is not due to his own level of ability and more due to Haruyuki’s failures.

Ash Roller is a pretty cool character and while he doesn’t get to appear very much, he’s a good guy to have around. Unlike most of the other characters who take this way too seriously, he realizes that this is just a computer game so he has a lot of fun. He’s easily one of the weaker characters, but that doesn’t stop him from giving it his all!

Chrome Disaster is one of the tougher opponents of the series and he’s a very solid villain. Chrome Disaster is a mantle that is passed on when a user dons the dreaded Disaster Armor. He was able to stand up to an opponent as skilled as Black Lotus and his speed is pretty good as Silver Crow had a tough time catching up to him. While I doubt that he could really defeat them in the end, he’s still a villain who should be taken seriously.

The character roster is definitely pretty solid for the most part, but we do have some characters who are unlikable as with all shows. Kuroyukihime’s friend, Megumi, can be particularly annoying and I didn’t care for Sulfur Pot either. We also did have a few throwaway villains throughout the series, but at least the designs tend to be pretty cool.

With most of the characters talked about already, I should also discuss the ending…or lack of ending. The series ends without adapting most of the material since the series was just too long. Even Naruto had to be split up into different anime to cover it all so that’s understandable and the ending is satisfying. None of the Kings have been defeated and at this rate, I’m starting to wonder if they will be defeated. There are many ways that they can still lose, but it’s hard to picture the good guys defeating them since they’re starting to get friendly. I’m guessing that the 5 Kings will have to team up with the heroes to fight the new organization which I would be fine with. I just want the Blue King to fight soon! For now we just have to wait for the sequel, but until then, this series ends on a solid note with a big fight resolved and several plot lines being wrapped up. (With dozens of others looming in the air)

One thing that can be hard to remember at times is that it’s all a game. Even if you destroy someone in the game, they keep their life in the real world, the game data is just deleted and they forget about it. The characters take everything a little too seriously at times and they act like it’s all real. This is why Accel World is one of the few exceptions where I’m okay with the heroes destroying their opponents. The opponents are okay in the real world so there’s no damage being done. I could go into the moral implications more if needed, but I don’t see anything wrong with that.

Accel World does have its negatives as well. There is a lot of romance in the series and they also add in some fan service. It’s not as excessive as other shows, (Index) but it can still be a bit much. It’s too bad that shows have to resort to this thing nowadays. Back in my day, things were different! (Justice League, Megaman NT Warrior, etc) There is also one episode in particular that was pretty bad and ironically enough, it was Kuroyukihime’s episode. They tried to make it relevant by adding villains and organization references, but it was really just filler and it was poorly done. It was the only episode that I could say was pretty bad. It’s too bad since an episode about Kuroyukihime should really be pretty awesome, but all anime make mistakes at some point I guess.

All right, time to compare this show to Sword Art Online for a little bit. I will compare them a lot more once I review Sword Art Online, but I may as well give you guys a little background before that time and we’ll see if I’ve changed my views on some things. Accel World definitely has the stronger fighters at this point and I believe that Kuroyukihime could effortlessly destroy everyone in SAO. Accel World also has the better villains although Sword Art Online has some pretty great monsters. Sword Art Online counters this with the fact that Kirito is infinitely better than Haruyuki as a main character. I would give Accel World the edge in animation as well although SAO doesn’t suffer from the faults of the human animation in Accel World. Both anime have a very solid 5 Star soundtrack but Accel World has the slight edge in this area as well. Accel World is also more engaging and has a better cast overall, but Sword Art Online has a lot more stakes. In SAO, if you lose…then you die. In Accel World, you just get your memories of the game deleted. That’s enough comparisons for now, but I’d say that Accel World seems to have the edge overall. There may be less stakes but it’s still more fun.

Overall, I would definitely recommend checking this anime out. The positives definitely outweigh the negatives and it’s pretty fun. The stakes may be pretty low compared to most of the other anime, but sometimes that just makes things more exciting. We don’t have to worry about the extra drama and we can just focus on the intense battles! The animation is definitely top notch and I haven’t seen such a great array of character designs in a long time. The anime isn’t very long and you’ll be able to blast through it pretty quickly. You don’t have to worry about a lot of violence as this show is actually decently tame. It’s not Pokemon, but neither is it something like Bleach or even Naruto. You can expect a few Accel World characters to make their debuts on the blog sometime during the week. Until then, go check out the anime and let me know how you enjoyed it!

Overall 7/10

IGPX is an interesting anime because the premise if unique. In the future, people race with robots of immense speed and power instead of with cars. When you’re inside of the robot, you are able to do things that would be impossible if you were outside. Communication between animals and humans is made possible among many other things. Can a racing series really be a lot of fun, or will it get old after a while?

Well that’s the premise and that’s basically the plot as well. I’ll elaborate a little more since there is some more plot in the show. Team Satomi consists of Takeshi, Liz, Amy, and River. Their team has finally made it to the IG 1. This is essentially the equivalent of going from a College Football Team to the National Football League level. They’re excited, but also terrified at the same time….can they win? The show revolves around them as they test their mettle against many different teams. There is deception, betrayal, and epicness as the season goes underway.

Season 2’s plot is essentially the same as season one’s, but with a few new wrinkles. This time, Team Satomi has proven that they are seasoned veterans, but a new team has jumped into the mix. These rookies really look up to Team Satomi, but there seems to be something shady about them. Are they really on the level? Team Satomi starts to have a lot of trouble with their mechs and they’re put into a very dangerous position. Friendships start to go awry and the team may fall apart at the seams!

The plot is very basic, which can be a good or bad thing. This means that their is more pressure on the animation, pacing, and characters than usual. The soundtrack is pretty good and there are a couple of catchy themes. This may not be 5 star material, but it’s still an above average array of songs.

How about the animation and the pacing? Well, the animation is good, although it’s nothing special. The robot fight scenes are fun to watch, but the human parts look really low budget for the most part. It could be that most of the other shows that I’ve been watching have far superior animation (Digimon, Soul Eater, One Piece, etc) but I think that the show could have done a little better in that regard. Some scenes just feel very dated. That being said, the robot fight scenes do hold up pretty well for the big battles. The pacing can be a little off at times, but it’s decent. The only times where it hurts are when we go for a long time without a fight.

The problem with the characters is that their social lives aren’t interesting. Whenever the characters are not in their mechs, they become uninteresting. There are some exceptions to this, mainly thanks to Takeshi and Cunningham. Still, the exceptions are few and far apart, while the other human scenes can get very dramatic.

Takeshi is the main character of the series and he’s very unique. It’s hard to get a read on the character as he’s constantly changing. He’s different from the average main character as he’ll hype up his teammates a lot and give speeches when they win battles. He also acts like a hothead once in a while and also loses his cool quite a few times. He gets into more than one romance through the series and all of them were very forced. One episode he would be awesome and then he would look awful in the next one. By the end of the series, I would say that he’s a decent main character, but he isn’t higher than that because of all of his missteps. His robot skills are pretty good and he can fight in hand to hand combat which is always a plus.

Liz is also good at hand to hand and she’s one of the main three pilots for Team Satomi. She was my least favorite character from the three and her character development was never that interesting. We learn things about her past and she enters a contest at one point, but they all felt like filler in the end. She always talked a really good game, but then she would be a non factor in the actual races.

Amy is a much better character and she battles alongside her cat. Her cat is the brains of the group and helps them out of many tight jams. Amy is a decent racer and she showed a lot of potential, but the show never really got to give her the spotlight. She gets a smaller role than Takeshi and Liz, but she still wins when it counts. What she lacks in skill, she makes up for in heart and determination.

We have the supporting cast as well and I’ll go into several of those character. We have the Coach, who gets a pretty big plot twist towards the second half of the series. It’s a cool twist, but his back story is fairly uninteresting and could have been handled better. Needless to say, he does know what he’s talking about and he has a good grasp of the sport. We’ve also got the technicians and the head of the team. There are troubles getting sponsors for a while, but it’s hard to sympathize with them.

Fantine is the leader of Skylark and she’s a bit of a main character for a while. She ends up dating one of the main characters, (Gee, I wonder who…) but it’s a very forced romance. I won’t say if it continues for long, but those scenes could have definitely been left out. As far as racing goes, I never found her that impressive. We’ve also got River, who is one of Takeshi’s rivals. He’s all right, but not very impressive either. All he wants is to play IGPX and defeat Takeshi, but that’s just not enough. Unless he develops some news skills, that will basically be an impossible dream. The Rocket is also a racer who is legendary. He’s not currently in the league anymore, but back in his day…he was the very best! He’s a pretty impressive racer and he proves that you can take on superior technology if you have a decent plan. His methods for victory can be a little questionable.

Let’s go into the other teams a little bit. Team Velshtein is Satomi’s mortal enemy and it’s all because of Cunningham. Cunningham is an elite racer and I’d say that he’s easily the best character in the series. He’s better than Takeshi in hand to hand combat and no one is a better pilot. He battles with Takeshi many times and I’d say that it’s clear who the better pilot is. His mecha also looks really cool and his speed is leagues ahead of the other racers.

We’ve also got Team Sledge Mamma. They’re a bit of a joke to put it mildly. The show actually takes them seriously, but I would say that they’re easily one of the weaker teams. Their roster is beefed up when they get a new member, but they never really looked good. Their mecha designs are all right, but their gimmicks aren’t that cool.

Finally, we also have Team White Snow. (Yes, there are other teams, but they’re pretty much non existent. These were the main teams in the long run.) They debut in season 2 and they’re the new rookies that everyone is talking about. Their team members all look pretty suspicious and they can be annoying. That being said, it’s nice to have an actual villain in the series right? These guys have some powerful mechas and nearly defy the rules of the IGPX. They’re decently good at hand to hand combat and they’re tougher than they appear. (They also fight dirty)

All in all, IGPX was a pretty fun series. It’s not going to go down as one of the all time greats, but it’s a solid watch. There isn’t too much emotional baggage or complicated plots so it’s an easy anime to just pop in the dvd player and just watch a few episodes. The fights are solid and while the human interactions may not be that great, Cunningham’s scenes are pretty awesome. I’d recommend watching this anime if you like racing or mecha battles since it has both. The final episodes even feature an aerial battle that’s pretty intense and not even of this world!

Overall 7/10

Tsubasa is a pretty well known anime/manga. It’s created by Clamp which is an instant plus for many people. To think that Clamp would make a shounen series that featured a lot of intense action was a little out there right? Angelic Layer had some amazing fights as well, but this time the stakes were real. This anime doesn’t play out like an average shounen, so can it stand the test of time?

Well, the main plot stays for the entire series, but the subplots change according to each world. I’m getting a little ahead here so let’s go back. The series starts out with Cardcaptor Sakura and Li Syaoran as they’re in a desert world. Sakura seems to get possessed and ancient symbols of magic appear. Sakura floats into the air and then loses her wings as Syaoran saves her. Out of portals that seem to lead to another dimension, mecha guards with claws attack them. Good thing that we have a magician and a swordsman to back them up. The magician tells Syaoran to leave the planet and help Sakura. They do the only natural thing that could be done in this situation and escape the entire dimension.

One thing that I’ve got to mention is the fact that episode 1 was extremely good. It’s still one of the best episodes in the series and was a great way to start off the series. Not only was the episode fast paced, but a lot of things happened. The villains appeared (With an Awesome theme!) and acted pretty tough. They’ve got a nice plan that they won’t actually reveal for the entire series, but everyone likes a little mystery right? We also get to see glimpses of two other dimensions as Fai and Kurogane also leave their dimensions. Kurogane was forced out while Fai went willingly.

Again, I must stress that this is only the first episode! While things do slow down from this point, that was the perfect way to start off the series and must be one of the best series premieres out there. I really can’t think of many that could top this one. (Yugioh Zexal II (If you count it) could stack up against this one) Syaoran, Sakura, Kurogane, and Fai are the main characters of the series so let’s go into some detail about them.

The four of them meet the Space Witch who agrees to let them travel the dimensions, but at a cost. Syaoran wants to find all of Sakura’s memories that have turned into feathers and scattered across the dimensions. His price is the fact that Sakura can never remember the good ole times they had in the past, so Syaoran will be permanently cut out of her memories. Syaoran pays the price so he’s all set on that end.

Fai’s price is the seal on his back because it means a lot to him. Without the seal, Fai has decided not to use magic anymore. Kurogane is forced to give up his legendary sword and with that, all three prices have been paid. Sakura is unconscious, so she doesn’t have to actually pay a toll. The four of them head off with Mokona (A being who can travel across dimensions, sense emotions, and has around 107 techniques) to other dimensions. Mokona can sense if a feather (memory) is nearby and once they have found all of the feathers in the dimension, then they will head off to another dimension.

All right, now we’ve got our formula for the series! At first, Kurogane is really just tagging along because he can’t really do anything about it, but he comes around eventually. Fai is always extra cheerful, but it seems to be an act part of the time. Syaoran is really all business and he’ll do anything to get the feathers back. Sakura starts the series as a pretty weak character for a while, but whenever she gets a feather, more of her strength returns to her.

I can’t get into every dimension that they travel to, but I’ll mention some of the big ones. In one dimension, they head to a world where people can use the powers of Kudan! It’s essentially a way to summon animals and use elemental powers. Syaoran meets a guy named Shogo and they have some battles. This is the first dimension that they travel too, so they’re still a little rusty. Syaoran is definitely the best character at this point and he definitely intends to get all of the feathers back.

One scene that may be notable is the fact that Syaoran says that he’ll get the feather back no matter what. The feather is stuck inside one of the monsters, but Syaoran rips it out. He didn’t seem to care if the guy died, since the feather was the only thing that mattered. Perhaps, he cared a little bit, but not enough that he would pause in his quest. This was a pretty good dimension and a nice place to start things off.

Next up, they go to a dimension where evil dictators have harnessed the powers of the feather. (Did I mention that Sakura’s feathers are immensely powerful objects that have nearly unlimited power?) Syaoran and his friends go to stop these fiends and the battles commence. This arc possibly had even more action than the Kudan part and I’d say that it was more interesting. While Syaoran takes on the dictator and his son, Fai and Kurogane battle Kiishimu. Kiishimu is a witch whose abilities have never been seen in their entirety. Needless to say, she’s a pretty powerful opponent. Fai could possibly have defeated her with ease, but he has vowed never to use magic.

Oto Country is one of the next dimensions that they travel too and it’s pretty exciting for several reasons. One of these reasons is the fact that the plot seems to finally advance. This dimension has demons and the stakes enter their highest at the time. Kurogane teaches Syaoran how to fight with a sword and they take on many demons. Syaoran wields a fire sword while Kurogane wields a blue sword. A mysterious figure shows up and the plot really starts to thicken.

The man seems to know Syaoran and he’s also after the feathers. He manages to grab one and we find out that he can cross dimensions at will. This makes it virtually impossible to trap him and finding him could definitely be tough. He fights with Fai, Syaoran, and Kurogane in three separate battles. Let’s just say that one character may not have completely made it through that part. This guy definitely makes for a compelling villain and he was a pretty solid character. His sword has a very cool design and he’s possibly the strongest character at this point in the series.

Season one ends with a decent episode that wasn’t great, but it did have a nice battle at the end. For those who don’t read the manga, it may seem like a really important episode since Fei Wang sends his army in to take Syaoran and friends down. Fai and Kurogane stay back to stop the minions while Syaoran and Sakura make it to the top floor of the temple. Can Syaoran defeat the leader of the assassins? It definitely makes for a pretty epic fight and the episode was a nice way to end the season.

One of the dimensions that they visit in season two is a place where there’s a huge library. We finally see Kurogane’s origin and learn more about his reason for fighting. He has a debt to settle and he intends to settle it soon. This planet is pretty important since Fai also makes a crucial decision. Syaoran also starts to feel the influence of the other Syaoran a little more.

Quickly, I should talk about that part. Part of Fei Wang’s ultimate plan seems to involve Syaoran as he has a (Clone?) Syaoran locked away in a water tube. This Syaoran is able to take control of the other Syaoran from time to time and he seems to be a little…meaner! Beyond that, Fei Wang and his partner never reveal what their true plan is so I hope you like mysteries. We never learn why they want the feathers or why they just want to wreck Syaoran’s life.

Finally, the series ends with a dimension that involves royalty. Chaos is the King and he believes that Sakura should travel with him instead of Syaoran and friends. He has dozens of feathers and he can travel across dimensions. Obviously, he’s more qualified to help her on the quest right? Syaoran and friends don’t think so, but he is able to defeat all three of them. They put up a decent fight, but this is the final boss of the series! He’s immensely powerful and he seems to outrank them all in everything. With everything on the line, can Syaoran defeat this guy!?

Those are just some of the dimensions that Syaoran and friends visit during their travels so I recommend watching the series to see the rest. The animation is very good for the series and it holds up well. The soundtrack is dynamite and it has some really good themes in there. There are 3-4 different opera type music that I like a lot and we even get a battle theme. The villain theme is certainly the best in the series and you’ll find yourself looking to Youtube so that you can continue to listen to it.

Syaoran is a solid character and definitely someone that you can root for. He has several plot twists (As with everyone else) but none of them take away from the fact that he’s a good character. His fighting skills are pretty good and they keep on improving as the series goes on. The fact that there is another Syaoran is definitely an interesting plot point that may have been left hanging, but it was still epic.

Fai has a very high degree of magical ability, but since he decided not to use it anymore so we don’t really get to see his abilities in action. Even without them, Fai has shown that he’s very proficient at hand to hand combat. He tends to give Kurogane a hard time, but he’s pretty nice to everyone. He jokes around the most and Mokona always helps him. He seems to have a dicey past, since he has sealed someone away and had to hide by escaping the dimension. Unfortunately, the plot doesn’t return, but it’s a good concept.

Kurogane is the tough guy who has a lot of battle experience. He’s been wielding a blade for a while and he really just wants to go back home. The Princess of the land banished him from the dimension since he was hurting too many people and also cursed him. Whenever Kurogane destroys someone, he loses a bit of his power, which can definitely be distressing. Kurogane is definitely a solid character and he gets more friendly with the others as the series goes on.

There are several other characters who are pretty solid, but they’re scattered through the dimensions. Chaos and the other guy who could cross dimensions definitely made for some solid villains. The mysterious figure vanished and we never saw him again, so that plot should be interesting.

So, the only negative to the series would probably be the fact that most of the plots don’t end. The series ends with nothing being resolved and feels like it was cancelled. There is a sequel in the form of an OVA, and you can see the rest by checking out the manga, but it’s sad for those who were stuck with the anime. Even so, the anime is definitely solid and having an open ending could be a nice change of pace.

I wouldn’t really say that there are any other negatives. The soundtrack is great, the animation is superb, the characters are fun, and the series is over 50 episodes. Some of the characters may have some mild romance, but it’s really mild so you can ignore it for the most part. I highly recommend checking the series out. Since I own the series, I’ll likely be watching it again in the future. It’s the perfect anime for those who want fights, but a deep plot to go along with it.

Overall 8/10

Trigun is one of those anime that is very well received. It’s rare to find someone who dislikes the show and it has become a classic. Shows about a gunman can be pretty bad, (Name generic live action cop/mafia show) but they do have a lot of potential as well. (Black Cat, one of the greatest manga series ever and also a pretty good anime)

The first half of the show may take you by surprise. Vash The Stampede is wanted for 60 Billion Double Dollars. 60 Billion is already a lot and that’s not counting the Double Dollars! (Well, that’s just what they call the currency, but it’s still intense!) Vash is rumored to have destroyed an entire city (While sparing everyone) and he’s one of the meanest folks around! Millie Thompson and Merril of the Insurance Corporation are tasked with finding him. The (Really flawed) plan is that they will stay by his side and keep him out of trouble. If Vash really is this deadly, that may not be the best move.

Vash may surprise you as well. He’s a happy fellow who never draws his gun unless he needs to do so. He’s nothing like the rumors paint him to be. He manages to dodge gunfire all the time, but to the unsuspecting passerby, it looks like it’s all just an accident. Vash’s abilities have been honed over time and he’s mostly just looking to live a life of peace. Unfortunately he seems to be cursed, but more on that later.

The first half of the show is pretty episodic and pits Vash against a lot of bounty hunters and authority figures. Along the way, the gang meets up with Nicholas D. Wolfwood. Woldwood is a travelling Priest or so he claims. His cross is actually a large weapon that can fire bullets and rockets. Wolfwood is definitely less merciful than Vash and this sometimes leads to delicate situations.

The plot really begins once the Gung Ho Guns start to attack. They are a group of highly skilled villains who want to make Vash’s life as miserable as they can. They try their best and definitely start to increase the body count. Once they are introduced, the plot finally starts. Knives wants to destroy the human race and he’ll stop at nothing to succeed.

The villains are able to wipe out the population an entire city in a pretty short amount of time. Time is definitely not on Vash’s side as he’s thrown from one tragedy into another without any time to rest. The series definitely picked up during the 2nd half, but it’s certainly not as cheerful as the beginning of the series. Prepare for the stakes to get high!

Vash The Stampede is the main character of the show. For the first half, he comes across as being pretty annoying. He’s a very skilled gunman, but he never takes anything seriously. Later on, we find out about his back story. Let’s just say that having a gun turn into a giant alien arm is not normal. Is Vash really human? Well, the answer to that may surprise you. Vash made a solemn oath that he will never take the life of another living being.

The oath applies to animals and creatures as well, which definitely helped Vash rise in my books. Lately, we’re always seeing “Heroes” make the “tough” choice and cross the line. They always try to justify it, but it doesn’t make it right. After all, Light Yagami was doing it for the “right” reasons wasn’t he? Vash is put into a lot of tough spots and is forced to make difficult calls. He’d rather die than destroy anyone, but his friends are put in danger and things get really dicey for him.

Vash has to make the ultimate choice. If he doesn’t pull the trigger, his friends will die, but if he does, then he’ll be no different than Knives and the other villains. The 2nd to last episode explores it all and has a nice moral. Vash realizes that there is always a chance for redemption and the difference between making a mistake and being a villain, is that he knows that he’s sinned. Vash tries to make up for it and continues to abide by his beliefs. The series actually has some Christian themes towards the end, such as forgiveness and redemption. One character in particular is changed by it and Vash definitely puts up an effort to act in the right. The series ended on a high note for me, because of the good messages at the end. It’s what turned Vash from an unlikable character to a pretty cool one.

Nicholas Wolfswood is another character who went through some drastic changes. He started out as a Priest, but the Church that he represents is pretty different than most. It can hardly be called a Church from what I can gather. Nicholas believes that sometimes you must destroy the enemy if you are to win. It’s a belief that most Marvel/DC characters seem to believe. Nicholas continues to believe this, but one day he destroys an enemy, but he starts to have doubts. It may not have been necessary to destroy him and he finally begins to realize it.

Nicholas enters his big battle against a Gung Ho Gunman. Nicholas is winning, but can he win without destroying his opponent. Nicholas does pretty good and he ends up making the tough choice. Sometimes, it’s better to lose a battle, than to win by losing your morals. Nicholas ends up going to a church and confesses his sins for the first time. He may have been a Priest in name only, but by the end he seems to finally convert. His ending can be seen as tragic or happy depending on how you view it. Personally, I’d say that it is emotional, but still positive. Things could have been much worse for him, if things had played out differently.

Millie and Merril are supporting characters, but they’re not quite as good as the first two characters. They don’t really have much of a point in the show and only serve to keep the show cheerful. Or at least, as cheerful as the show can get towards the end. Knives is the big villain at the end, but he misses out on most of the series. He appears at the end, but is it too late to become a likable character? I can’t say that I’m a fan and he was actually pretty underwhelming at the end. Sure, he was decently tough, but Legato seemed to be more impressive. Knives basically stands for everything that Vash is against.

Legato is an intriguing villain and you would think that he was the leader for most of the series. He is easily the strongest villain in the series and his telekinesis is very dangerous. He was a decently cool character, but towards the end, he wasn’t as good. He was just another pawn in Knives’ game after all.

Those were pretty much all of the notable characters. There were others of course, but they weren’t so great. I can’t say that I really liked any of the other characters, but some of them made for tough opponents. One of the things that I never got over, was how different Vash looked with and without his glasses. It was like he was a whole different person. I never got used to how he looked with them on, but it’s not a very frequent occurrence.

Towards the middle, we get an origin episode, which is completely different from the rest of the series. We find out a lot of crucial facts, but it wasn’t one of my favorite episodes. It was a change of pace, but it’s mostly a tragic episode that makes things even worse for Vash. The crew is really awful and their scenes are pretty cringe worthy. Vash also looks pretty bad and my favorite part of the episode was the last 10 seconds, where Vash makes his decision.

The soundtrack is pretty catchy for the show. I liked the ost and while it may not be legendary like Naruto or Bleach, it was pretty good. In the end, that’s what counts after all. I recommend this anime. A lot of people will enjoy that it can be emotional and action packed. The villains do tend to run their mouths with some language, but as long as you focus on the pwnage and action scenes, you’ll be all right. The show never gets too violent as well and if you don’t mind Naruto and Bleach, you’ll be okay as well. There are a lot of similarities to Black Cat, even the main characters are pretty similar with their attributes, choice of weapon, and ultimate attack. This show’s no Black Cat, but it definitely gave its all!

Overall 6/10

Transformers is a huge franchise and has spawned many films, shows, and games. Most of the animated shows for Transformers have been hand drawn in the past, but Prime still isn’t the first CGI show (Beast Wars) in the franchise. I’m always more of a traditional animation fan myself, but I’m always open to new methods. After TF Animated, I was ready for just about anything!

Transformers Prime is a lot grimmer than the other shows in the franchise and has a War For Cybertron feel to it. Prime modernized the designs for a lot of the characters and completely switched Soundwave’s. This show actually managed to make it past the dreaded “2 Season curse” and ended with three seasons. A movie is coming out soon to finish up the franchise, so let’s take a look at the series as a whole.

Season 1’s plot is what you would expect from the franchise. The Autobots are badly outnumbered and outgunned. The Decepticons, (Lead by Megatron of course) have amassed a large army and they are ready to conquer Earth. The heroes never seem to have a chance for the 1st season and while they can hold their own, they couldn’t defeat all of the Decepticons in a straight out battle. Luckily, the Autbots aren’t alone since Agent Fowler, Jack, Miko, and Ralph are here to provide backup support. They may be mere mortals, but they have seen their share of action. (Basically, they are here so that we can have the generic human characters on the team) The climax involves the Mighty Unicron, (Who is a lot smaller than his G1 counterpart) who is pretty unimpressive. Prime and Megatron can both take on his avatars when they need too.

The best part of Season 1 was the final battle between Optimus Prime and Megatron. The music was pretty epic and it was a long battle. It was basically the whole episode, which is rare for many (non anime) shows. Even by the end of season 3, this ranks as my favorite battle. Another solid episode was when Ratchet injected himself with Synthetic Energon and decided to storm the Decepticon’s base. It was good to see Ratchet actually fight and it shows that he does have some latent fighting ability.

Season 2 is the start of the Sword battles and both teams struggle to to collect the ancient relics. They manage to obtain a lot of useful items, like the Battle Armor and a device that lets you phase through walls. They also obtained the forge that only a Prime can wield. With it, the Autobots build the Star Saber, while Megatron (Who isn’t a Prime, but obtains a Prime hand) builds the Dark Star Saber. The Autobots get some new firepower when Smokescreen joins the ranks, but the Decepticons match the new addition with Dreadwing. (Who could defeat Smokescreen, meaning that the gap actually got wider) Season 2 was definitely more exciting than the first season, (Barring the final episodes of Season 1) but watching them try to get the relics can get old. Starscream isn’t with the Decepticons for the most part and is a loner for a while. Things don’t really work out for him. M.E.C.H. is also around and they build their own robot so that they can finally defeat the dreaded Autobots/Decepticons. The final episode of the season was pretty epic and ends the season on a good note. The Decepticons make things even tougher for the heroes and manage to deal a lot of damage. Not to mention that the Decepticons get two new warriors to add to their ranks.

Season 3 feels like the final season of the show from the beginning. The Autobots are in hiding and one of their own appears to be reaching the end of his road. The Decepticons have all, but conquered the planet and Earth may be doomed. The Autobots really have no shot, but things get brighter once Ultra Magnus appears. He may be the Autobots’ last hope, but can he fit in? The Decepticons unleash the mighty Predaking and he quickly proves to be a formidable opponent. Optimus Prime undergoes an upgrade and he’s ready for battle. About halfway through the season, things go back to the status quo, as both teams are back to square one. Megatron decides to revive Cybertron so that he can rule the planet, which leads into the climax of the season. There’s a lot of action in the final battle, although a certain Decepticon misses out on actually fighting.

Optimus Prime is the leader of the Autobots in the show and he’s about what you would expect. He’s always been a solid leader and that doesn’t change in this show. He’s stronger than the other Autobots and he’s the only one who can go up against Megatron in a fair fight. His upgrade in Season 3 is good, although I miss his original look. (I’ll never like Machine Guns) At one point, Prime reverts back to his Orion Pax form, but I’m glad that he didn’t stay that way.

Bumblebee is pretty similar to his movie counterpart and he can’t talk in the show. His voice box was…damaged a long time ago and now he can only make robotic noises. Ralph can understand him for some reason, but it’s one of those things that you just need to take in stride. I can’t say that I’m a fan of Bumblebee, but he’s not a bad character. I just never found him that interesting.

Arcee is vastly different from her G1 counterpart (Well, a little similar to her G1 comic counterpart) and she’s more of a fighter. This is definitely her best incarnation and she’s a quick fighter. She’s managed to take on high ranking Decepticons like Shockwave and Starscream and is a pretty good shot. She’s easily one of the better Autobots on the team and even has a rival in Airachnid. In a fight, I would still go with Arcee, thanks to her speed, but Airachnid is definitely tough.

Ratchet is the team medic and gets a pretty small role for the entire show. He mildly fights in Season 1 when he is injected with the energon and when he helped Prime fight the zombies in one of the earlier episodes. Ratchet is a decent fighter, but he’s not that quick and his attacks are lethal, but very short range. He wasn’t the best character, but he was all right.

Bulkhead is also on the team, but half of the time you can forget that he’s there. He doesn’t really bring much to the table. He’s pretty tough, but Prime is tougher. Bulkhead is not really that useful in combat and while he can fight, I’d probably take Ratchet over him. Wheeljack is a part time member, and he’s pretty tough. While his G1 counterpart may have been more of a thinker, Wheeljack is a close combat fighter. He has twin blades that can deal a lot of damage and he’s always got an explosive up his sleeve. He doesn’t always follow orders which is definitely a plus.

Jack is arguably the lead human and he gets a lot of screentime. I can’t say that I ever became a fan, and his scenes are usually a little wince worthy. His best feat was when he caused a Decepticon to back up in fear. (Or shock) Miko is the head strong one of the group, but she can’t fight as well as most head strong characters. (Ichigo, Yusuke, Ash Ketchum) Mostly, she ends up getting in the way. She does manage to deal some damage when she’s in a ship or in armor, but it’s a little hard to take seriously. Ralph’s pretty smart and he’s able to understand Cybertronian, but I never cared for the character.

Smokescreen joined up with the Autobots later on. He’s less experienced than the other bots, but he tries to make up for it by being an optimist. Unfortunately, he’s not that powerful and usually gets knocked around. Ultra Magnus joins up with the team as well, but he didn’t really impress me. Supposedly he’s pretty tough, but he was getting knocked around by Predaking just like the others.

I would mention Agent Fowler and Jack’s rival, but they’re mostly irrelevant so let’s talk about the Decepticons. Megatron is their fearless leader and he is pretty untouchable for the series. Only Prime can give him a decent fight for the most part, but Megatron is always a step ahead of him. Predaking is a good match against Megatron, but only until he possesses the Dark Star Saber. Megatron is easily the strongest fighter in the series and isn’t the type to lose in a head to head battle. I’d say that he was the coolest character in the series. This was definitely a solid incarnation of the character.

Starsceam is pretty similar to his G1 counterpart in terms of personality, but his design is pretty bland. He’s basically a generic robot with no defining colors to make him unique. I’d say that he was pretty underpowered for most of the series, but he did temporarily get a speed boost which made him a high tier threat. When he possessed the speed, he was basically unstoppable. Nobody could take him down in a fair fight, but unfortunately, Starscream failed to capitalize on this lucky break.

Soundwave is one of Megatron’s most trusted Decepticons and he tends to get the job done. Soundwave seems to be pretty powerful and never really gets to engage in a serious battle. he has brief skirmishes against Airachnid and Wheeljack, but I would have liked to see the scope of his abilities. After his battle against Wheeljack, he tends to just use his Space Bridges to avoid battles. His character design is pretty intense and I’m hoping that we will get to see him fight at some point in the future.

Shockwave is possibly the smartest Decepticon and he’s pretty strong physically. He’s definitely built for power and one energy blast can deal some massive damage. His eye is a glaring weak spot since he only has one and he makes for a big target. He was a good addition to the Decepticon ranks, but he can be easy to deceive. Knockout and Breakdown were pretty awful Decepticons. Not much more to say about that, but they were the weak links of the team. Knockout was decently tough with a weapon he stole from Soundwave, but he’s definitely someone who should be taken lightly.

Airachnid was a decently cool villain who mainly appeared in the first season. Her webs are deadly since they can paralyze whoever is hit by one of them. She’s also pretty quick and is at home in the forest. She doesn’t get that much screen time, but she proves her skills by taking on Arcee in a good battle. She commands the Insecticons who can be pretty skilled. At their strongest, one of them gave Megatron a pretty good fight. At their weakest, they go down in a single hit, so their durability definitely varies.

Dreadwing joined up with the Decepticons to avenge his brother, but he may not know the full story. He’s pretty powerful and nearly took down Optimus Prime himself. He didn’t appear for very long, but he was a strong fighter. I didn’t care for his voice that much, but the voice is definitely not the most important thing for a character. Predaking was also a pretty cool character whose voice I didn’t care for. Predaking was another character who could match up against Prime and Megatron. As a dragon, he’s pretty tough, but as a Predacon, he’s even stronger. His strength easily exceeds that of Ultra Magnus and Bulkhead and his firepower is pretty high.

Silas is the leader of M.E.C.H and he talks a good game. Unfortunately for him, Autobots/Decepticons are far too powerful for mere mortals. He builds his own robot, but in the end he just isn’t a match. Things get pretty tragic for his character and things don’t go the way that he had planned. Unicron acts very high and mighty, but he wasn’t as epic as his G1 counterpart. Maybe it was the voice or the design, but either way, I wasn’t a huge fan. Maybe I will like him more in the upcoming film.

Transformers Prime was definitely a solid show. The CGI held up quite nicely for the fight scenes and there were a good amount of battles. The show cracked 60 episodes which is pretty impressive. While the show may not be as good as the classics, (G1, Victory) it does defeat some of the others. (Beast Wars, Animated) Transformers Prime is definitely a show that I would recommend watching. It has a nice blend of action and set up. It’s a good way to become a Transformers fan and the soundtrack can be pretty good for the action scenes. If I had to name a negative, it would be that some episodes didn’t really have much in the way of stakes. (Scraplets and random Decepticons) Their was some very mild romance, but it was brief enough that it didn’t hurt the series. The show ended on an epic note and didn’t crash and burn like Cliff Jumper. You really need to watch the series if you like robot battles, or just enjoy a good story.

Overall 7/10

Sym Bionic Titan is a pretty intriguing show. It mixes robots and aliens/giant monsters (Remember, this came out Before Pacific Rim!) The animation could be a turn off for some people, but the animation can be good when it wants too. The animation is actually bad on purpose for the designs so that everyone looks really ugly. It helps create the atmosphere and the facial expressions can be pretty funny. The fight scenes can be pretty good as well.

The plot of the series is that 3 beings crashland on earth. Lance, llana, and Octis are the three main characters. Octis is an android, while Lance and llana are both Galalunians who resemble earthlings in just about every way. Their planet was taken over by the Muttradi and they are now in hiding at Earth. llana wants to go back and free her civilization, but Lance and Octis decide that keeping her safe is the top priority. One day they will go back and save the world, but not for a while. The leader of the villains is General Modula. His hat can shoot energy blasts and he’s not an opponent to be taken lightly.

Lance and friends decide to go to school and keep a low profile. This way they can save the world when they need to do so, but they can also hide from the Muttradi. When the three of them fuse, they form Sym Bionic Titan, which is a large energy robot that is pretty powerful. This attracts the attention of the Government and G3. Both groups want Sym Bionic Titan to be defeated since he’s probably evil.

The series definitely changes as it goes on and while it starts out as a happy school parody with action, it turns into more of a drama with the stakes getting higher and higher. The music is pretty solid for the first half, but during the second half the music definitely starts to vanish.

Lance is a pretty solid protagonist and he’s the best character of the series. Not only is he an expert combatant, but he’s also a quick thinker. When they are captured by G3, it all rides on Lance to save the day. He was part of the army so he’s definitely the most experience. He’s good with many weapons and his robot form is pretty tough.

llana is the princess of Galaluna and she never grew up as a fighter. She quickly adapts on earth and can emit barriers as well as shoot lasers in her robot form. She’s more of an optimist than Lance and always tries to become friends with the locals. Being trusting can definitely be deadly with all of the aliens running around, but she’s still a good character. She’s definitely the nicest member of the three.

Octis is an android, but he acts pretty human. Like most androids, he develops human emotions thanks to his travels on earth. He has some pretty impressive super speed and his strength is also pretty formidable. It’s thanks to him that the main characters can form Sym Bionic Titan and if anything were to happen to him, their fighting capabilities would be drastically reduced.

The leader of G3 is known as Solomon and he’s a pretty good character. He’s not afraid to take on the main characters in a fight and he’s pretty athletic. His abilities are at peak human to slightly superhuman. Since his division is in charge of aliens, they have some pretty sophisticated equipment on their side. General Steel is the leader of the Army and he’s a big rival of Solomon’s. They are always getting in each other’s way and General Steel doesn’t trust Solomon. General Steel doesn’t get much of a role until he builds the Hammer! With the Hammer, he can take on powerful opponents and even overpower Lance and llana. His best battle is against the Orga looking monster and it’s a solid fight.

Kimmy and Jason are humans who introduce romance plots for llana and Octis. They definitely weren’t needed for the story and the romance didn’t add anything to the plot. They were basically filler, but no show can totally get rid of it I guess. I was glad that the show didn’t go the obvious route, so Lance and llana ended up staying as friends. Nothing more and nothing less! That’s how the main characters should always end up.

Edwin is a pretty solid character, but he’s not the smartest character on the block. His nickname is meat and it makes you feel bad for him sometimes. llana’s dad is the King, but he doesn’t appear much. He never really gets to fight, but perhaps in a sequel show he would. The main villain also doesn’t get a chance to appear that often, since the show ended before he could really get going.

Sym Bionic Titan is a pretty fun show. There are plenty of giant monsters and creatures that fight the main characters, (The best one being the monster from the final episode) and we even get a humanoid fight during the flashback part of the series. The monster violence can get a bit intense and the first episode with Kimmy was cringeworthy, but for the most part, the show was solid. The best episode involved underground racing and Lance always shows that he’s the best. It’s too bad that the series was cancelled, since things were definitely still solid. Hopefully, the series gets a sequel at some point. I’d definitely recommend the series if you want to see robots and explosions, or kaiju battles, or even if you just wanted to see the government infiltrate the high school to gather intel. This could be the series for you!

Overall 7/10

Serial Experiments Lain is a very intriguing anime and it’s one that will make you think a lot more than the average show. I am one of those viewers who believes that you should always form your own opinion after finishing something. So, there are probably a lot of theories about what really happened throughout the show, and I’ll try to shed some light on it. The series is pretty short and only contains 13 episodes, but it’s enough to set the tone of the show. You know that this won’t be your average anime when the narrator doesn’t sound like a good guy. The theme song also isn’t that cheerful and it’s a hint of what’s in store.

Chisa jumps off of a building, but instead of dying, her soul goes into the “Wired”. Without a body, she has complete freedom to do whatever she wants and be wherever she wants. Or so she claims. Chisa doesn’t actually appear much, but it sets the seeds for the real protagonist of the show. Lain is gifted with special powers that help her in the “Wired”. The ability has some pretty good perks like teleportion and granting the user a genius level intellect, but the downsides are pretty lethal. The wired rapidly spreading and people are beginning to mysteriously die around the world. Lain could care less about the strangers, but will she be able to protect her friends and stop the “Knights”?

Lain isn’t a bad main character, but I can’t say that I ever got around to really rooting for her. For the first three episodes, she’s extremely quiet. (Reminded me of Peter Parker from The Amazing Spiderman movie) She got better when she began to talk more and started utilizing her powers in more effective ways. Of course, Lain’s abilities seem to have a mind of their own and there are other Lains running around….or so it seems.

Lain has three friends, but the only one to really get a large role in the series would be Alice. For the most part, she attempts to help Lain through her school life and even tries to make Lain have some fun. She’s a good character until we get a pretty big plot twist that made her into an unlikable character. I never really cared for the character before then either. She was constantly thinking that Lain may have been responsible for various things and then changing her mind abruptly. (Of course Lain usually was behind those things….)

“god” also appears and he’s in charge of the wired. He admits that he’s not the real God, but he’s the god of the wired world. He is everywhere at once and his power knows no limits. Unfortunately for him, one can only be a god if others worship him. Lain gets an idea and takes him on. This “god” character was pretty underwhelming and he’s definitely not much of a fighter. There are also two government agents who spy on Lain for most of the series, but in the end they are just pawns in a bigger game. The humans are extremely weak in this show. A little girl armed with a teddy bear succeeds in completely terrorizing a grown man and he runs all the way home. Unfortunately he’s unable to get the lock to open and things don’t go very well for him.

Alright, let’s talk more about the show as a whole and what really happened for most of it. My guess is that Lain was created a little before the wired so that she could control it. Or that she was an all powerful, cosmic entity who wanted to experience life and adopted a human form. Were her parents really her parents? I’d say that foster parents may be a better term and it would explain why they act pretty fake/off for most of the time.

After Chisa jumped and left the school a message, it slowly started to reawaken Lain’s latent powers. At first she couldn’t control her abilities at all and developed split personalities. “Wired Lain” was a lot meaner than the normal one and had a much better perception of her powers. She was basically the total opposite of the regular Lain and probably would have made for a more interesting main character. Lain’s other personalities started exerting their influence on the wired a lot more actively as they went out of their way to knock off some civilians and even mess up Alice’s social life. Lain’s other personality may have deleted her sister as well, but it’s possible that the Knights had something to do with it. The sister’s scene was pretty intense and she put up a decent effort, but nobody can escape the Wired.

The border between the real world and the wired continues to weaken throughout the show. Eventually, humans in the real world can even see Lain up in the sky as a messiah type being. They take it pretty well and nobody ever asks Lain about it. That should probably be the first hint that something’s off….

Lain has unlimited power on the wired and since the real world is almost completely connected to it, her abilities are enhanced in both worlds. She seems to have some telekinesis (Shown in her battle against “god”) and she’s a very advanced reality warper. Not only can she alter people’s memories, but she can also completely rewind time to whatever point that she feels like. It would seem that Lain could have become “god” at anytime, but she didn’t want to give up being a normal person. She liked having a body and not live her immortal life as one with everything. Based on the ending, it would seem that she has made her choice on whether to stay as an immortal humanoid being, or an abstract entity.

There are also some mild hinting that Lain could in fact be an alien. I wouldn’t be surprised, since the government found the alien ship near the end of the show. There are definitely a lot of theories that can be had here, but the important thing is that you know the basics.
1.Lain is All Powerful
2.Lain is “god”
3.Lain can do anything.

Everything else is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things when you think about it. Lain could have just created the entire planet with her abilities, which would explain why things always went badly for the victims. When the sister was trying to escape, people would flicker in and out, not to mention that reality seemed to be against her. In a way, Lain is just toying with everyone as she watched from above. Most of the time, she’s not doing it consciously, but eventually she begins to understand.

One negative of the show would be the lack of fight scenes, but you’re not really supposed to expect those in this show. None of the characters ever really get to be likable characters and there is some really unneeded romance scenes during the show. I liked the theme for the night club that the kids would go too, aside from that, the kids were pretty awful characters.

This anime is a very unique experience to watch and I’d recommend checking it out. There are a lot of really weird and random moments that increase the spookiness factor of the series. It may be the closest that you’ll get to a horror show about the cyber world. It contains some elements from The Ring, The Matrix, and a whole bunch of other things. It’s a good way to learn some fun facts as well. While most of the show can be considered “trippy” with all of the assorted lights and crazy camera angles, the final episode takes a break from that for the most part. The Red light from the first 12 episodes finally turns green for the final one. Knowing this show, it was probably symbolic for something. Anyway, this definitely makes for a great anime to watch during the dead of night!

Overall 5/10

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Axess continues the Megaman NT Warrior franchise and brings the series to new heights. While NT Warrior was pretty good, Axess is excellent and it’s everything that I could have hoped for in a Megaman series. The grand scale of things is definitely a lot larger than NT Warrior and the threats are very real.

Axess starts off with Megaman effortlessly defeating his opponents. It has been a time of peace and everyone has moved on from the past dangers. Even Megaman seems to be pretty overconfident as he toys with the opponents. When someone tries to eliminate Lan and his friends by removing the air in the building, Lan send Megaman in against his most lethal opponent yet. Savageman is behind this and he may be Megaman’s first true threat in a long time. Megaman hits him with the program advance, but it doesn’t seem to have any noticable effect. Things get dangerous when Savageman appears in the human world! Lan and Megaman are forced to Crossfuse to take him on.

This is just the beginning of the Nebula saga. Crossfusion is a major part of the series, since it’s the only way that the good guys can really fight. (Although, I think that Megaman and pals could just materialize into the area like the villains. I’ve always wondered why they didn’t just do that. It would be simple enough and they could hopefully win.) The series opens up with a lot of solid episodes including the battles against Vineman and Flashman. They introduce a new type of super form called Doublesoul. With this ability, Megaman can merge with a netnavi and gain his abilities, or just absorb a portion of his power and add it on to his own.

The saga reached its climax in episode 27. Megaman and Protoman launch their final offensive against Nebula’s boss, but the Darkloids have also come to finish things. Their are many powerful darkloids and I will talk about several of them later on in the review. When Megaman and Protoman reach the big boss, they find that he is gone. “MY NAME IS LASERMAN!” a voice yells out as a being of pure power gets up from the throne. Megaman and Protoman were quickly dispatched by the leader of the darkloids (Shademan) and are unable to challenge Laserman. Laserman and Shademan quickly have a talk and then Laserman leaves…after blowing up the dimensional area generators. Shademan decides to blow the place up in the hopes of destroying Laserman. Now, Megaman and Protoman must fight Shademan in the cyber world. The battle is very nostalgic, but things get dangerous for the heroes.

The 2nd saga is about Laserman’s group of darkloids. Lan and Megaman have their work cut out for them and they are now outnumbered by a large amount. Chaud can’t do much since Protoman is unable to help at the moment. They call in Raika and Raoul for backup and they come in handy…they just aren’t quite at Protoman level. The climax of the series is definitely intense and has a very cool atmosphere about it.

Lan is still a pretty solid protagonist. He hasn’t changed that much from NT Warrior and he’s always ready for a fight. Now he actually gets to fight which is pretty cool, but sometimes he doesn’t handle it well. His battle experience isn’t as good as Megaman’s so he definitely holds them back.

Megaman is also pretty similar to his NT Warrior counterpart, but he makes less puns. He does seem to be pretty confident during the earlier episodes which is good and he hesitates less than in the old days. His double soul abilities are pretty good to have and they are much better than the Style Change.

Chaud is a pretty solid character for the first saga, but he doesn’t do as well in Arc 2. He makes the ultimate sacrifice and gives Megaman the vulcan, but (Thanks to Lan) he hesitates and loses some time. He fires off the vulcan, but it is too late. That scene was definitely one of the greatest in the entire series and it felt like I was watching a shounen anime. Protoman is pretty solid as well, but once in a while he won’t look so good. Still, he’s one of the better heroes in the series.

Mr Famous is a new character to the show and he seems to run the NetSavers division. He’s not a fighter in the anime and while he’s smart, it’s never enough to help Lan out. There is also a detective and his assistant, but I can’t even get into those guys. They weren’t really great characters and never pulled through when the going got tough.

Lan’s friends don’t appear quite as often in this show. Dex gets an appearance, but he looks pretty bad and he can’t stop Burnerman. Maylu and Roll try to help Megaman out against Flashman, but he proves to be too powerful. Yai and Tori are around, but they also don’t really get to help.

A new hero added to the bunch is named Raika. His netnavi Searchman is pretty good for long range combat and his fight against Shadowman was pretty cool. Shadowman is far stronger thanks to his speed and close range combat, but when you throw a wildcard (Megaman) in to shake things up, Searchman has enough time to get out the shot. Searchman is willing to destroy innocent lives to achieve his target, so he doesn’t get along with Megaman at first. Of course, we can’t totally call Searchman a hero after that right? Arguably he changes his ways, but do we know for sure? Prismman is also a pretty cool navi. He has a solid fight against Gravityman and even takes on Megaman. He’s a solid close range fighter and his design is pretty epic. I wish that we could have seen more of him.

We also can’t forget about Tamako and Metalman. Tamako is one of Lan’s newer rivals and her netnavi packs a punch. Metalman has a lot of raw power, but Megaman’s speed is a good counter to that. He comes in handy during the big battle against Searchman and they’re both decent characters. I can always use a new rival for the main character.

Savageman is the first darkloid to fight and he’s also one of the best ones. Like his name suggests, Savageman is a very savage fighter. He’ll take any opening and launch a powerful attack. He was able to take on the powerful team of Metalman and Megaman. Definitely not an easy feat and one that few can reproduce. He’s very fast and in his final form, he may be one of the strongest darkloids of all time. He’s definitely a high tier Megaman fighter.

Flashman is another great darkloid and his thunder abilities are very quick. He was doing pretty good against Megaman and nearly deleted him. Roll went to take him on as well, but Flashman proved to be too strong. He has a pretty good array of attacks and he’s also a master at close range combat. He was actually holding his own against Protoman in a sword fight.

Shademan was the leader of the darkloids for Arc 1 and he’s a very strong fighter. He’s not that agile, but he makes up for that in raw power. One solid attack is enough to take down Megaman and Protoman teaming up. (In Crossfusion, since Lan and Chaud can’t endure that kind of power. In the net, things would be different) Shademan’s definitely a powerful fighter and he manages to go up against Laserman! He has Bubbleman as a loyal minion, but Bubbleman’s pretty weak. He’s definitely one of the worst darkloids..maybe The worst darkloid.

Desertman is also one of the best Darkloids. Not only does he claim to be immortal, but he has a lot of raw power. He was defeating Megaman with minimal effort and his abilities are great. He’s most dangerous in an enclosed space thanks to his sand lions. They will home in on the opponent and charge. It’s pretty tough to dodge them when there isn’t time to maneuver. His attacks also deal great damage and a couple of lions would end any battle.

Gravityman appeared pretty late in the series, but he quickly became one of my favorites. His gravity drive is immensely lethal and it’s nearly impossible to dodge. Once it gets near, the gravity pushes the opponent into the ground. He can also use gravity to block any projectiles, so he’s essentially invincible in a one one fight. Protoman and Megaman teaming up were nearly destroyed.

We can’t forget about the mighty Laserman! In arc 2, he’s a pretty major character. Not only does he lead the villain armada, but his abilities are very potent. He doesn’t fight until the final episode, but it’s a pretty great one. He uses his super speed to fight with Shademan and then relies on his sheer durability and power to take on Megaman and Protoman. He must be the only fighter to survive a program advance and 6 double souls. “Tremble Before me!” is just one of his cool lines. He’s definitely a fighter to watch out for. Dr Regal is his human ally, but he doesn’t make for an interesting villain. He’s pretty smart though and even surpasses Lan’s dad in that area.

There are many other darkloids that I could continue to mention. Vineman was pretty awesome and his episode was one of the best in the series. Burnerman is also a solid fighter and a decent character. To end on the characters note, I should mention that…BASS appears later on! It’s a small role, but he hints that he could take down Laserman and Shademan pretty easily. He’s definitely not an opponent to underestimate.

Megaman Axess is an anime that I strongly recommend watching. The soundtrack is superb, (The vulcan scene is an example of the greatest music in the show. Possibly one of the greatest of all time!) there are a lot of cool techno music and other sounds from the games. The animation is also a solid step up and the battles are amazing. The cliffhanger also makes you eagerly anticipate watching the next show in the franchise…Stream! So, check this anime out right away!

Overall 9/10

After recently reviewing the Megaman NT Warrior manga it seemed like a good time to review the anime. While not quite as spectacular, it’s still a very solid anime and one that you won’t want to miss.

Lan is having a pretty bad day when the series starts, since he loses to the bully known as Dex. Dex isn’t quite as cruel as most bullies and he just has his fun messing with Lan. The whole school knows about his constant victories over Lan’s generic navi. Lan must have one of the weakest navies in all of existence, but that’s about to change. Lan gets a mysterious package from his father (Not directly since he’s rarely home) and installs the program. His navi is turned into the super powerful…Megaman!

Lan’s luck quickly changes for the better and Megaman crushes and humiliates Gutsman. The two heroes also go on to foil threats by World Three and they save lives. Things get serious when they announce that the N1 Grand Prix is coming up. Any battler who wants to boost his rep will be there and Lan definitely wants to win it all. We meet up with expert duelists like Chaud and….World Three? There are also fighters that you may have not expected, like the local fortune teller and a guy with a fish shaped helmet. Unbeknownst to all, the three (Sal is the third member) fighters are actually part of a superhero organization that is out to stop World Three. Their leader, Commander Beef, is actually a strong fighter and he shatters Protoman’s record for fastest victory in the tournament. Can Megaman possibly defeat these guys!? There are also two mysterious figures who operate the navies known as Blasterman and Stoneman…something seems odd about them! The tournament was definitely my favorite part of the series, but things stay epic as the tournament concludes.

An ultimately powerful navi by the name of Ba-Pharohman has been awakened and his power knows no limits. After terminating one of the main characters, (A pretty emotional scene) he proceeds to conquer the entire cyber network in a matter of seconds. Only a few characters are left to form the resistance against his tyranny, but can they possibly defeat his awesome power!? This was a very short arc, but it was definitely epic.

Things get a little lighter for Megaman and friends as they enjoy Net City. Unfortunately an evil organization by the name of Grave is out to wreck the place. They unleash their operatives around the city (Though Airman aims small and only seeks to defeat one civilian) and they unleash terror across the nation. Freezeman is a very high ranking officer and easily the best member of the group. He had an intense fight with Megaman and his battle against Torchman still ranks as one of the most epic battles of the series. The fight wasn’t long, but the stakes were a lot higher than usual. His battle with Megaman was also intense because he was the first seriously tough opponent to challenge the Blue Bomber in a long time. Things look dire for the heroes until…BASS shows up! Naturally, things get extremely dicey for Freezeman when that happens, but you’ll want to see the scene for yourself.

Grave also unleashes the Grave Virus Beast, whose defense is very formidable. The combined efforts of Megaman and Protoman don’t seem to put a dent in the monster. The heroes are very outmatched from the start and the Virus Beast would likely have ended everything in their first battle if not for the mighty…Bass! He’s always arriving at the nick of time isn’t he? The villains had prepared for this and the Virus Beast is ready…can Bass really defeat this opponent!?

That was the final big arc of the series, but there are still fun one-shot episodes that will keep you entertained. The final episode of the series leads into the sequel (Which will be reviewed very soon) and there’s also an episode that features a climatic battle between Megaman and Protoman. Snakeman’s episode was also pretty good and featured some good battles.

Lan is a much better character in this version than in the manga. He’s a character that you can root for and he never loses sight of his ideals. He’s more confident and he likes to defeat his opponents as quickly as possible. Megaman is not even close to as cool as his manga counterpart, but he’s still a decent hero. He’s just not as tough and his resolve can be shaken. He’s very dependent upon Lan’s help in a battle which also isn’t a plus. He’s still a good main character, but he definitely could have been better. His worst appearance was definitely in the Empress Roll episodes.

Chaud’s definitely epic for most of the series and likewise with Protoman. Chaud can be pretty rude and he likes putting others down, but that’s basically what rivals do in these situations. Lan tries to teach Chaud a lesson and they have a big fight in a public intersection. Protoman is also highly skilled and for the most part he defeats just about anyone he meets. (Though his battle with Stoneman got pretty unbelievable)

Lan’s friends get a much larger role in the anime, but they never develop into really good characters. Dex has realized the error of his ways and he’s no longer a bully. Unfortunately, he’s still really weak, but he doesn’t know it. Yai has a lot of good chips, but she’s not much of a fighter. Maylu can battle if she’s in a pinch, but she usually doesn’t fight unless she has too. She did enter the tournament though, so maybe she likes fighting more than I thought. Roll, Iceman, and Gutsman also aren’t that great, but I suppose that they are bearable.

Commander Beef has some pretty intense scenes, but aside from his light tower fight, he was mostly filler. Sharkman is labeled as one of the best fighters in the series, but he never impressed me. He doesn’t have any really good attacks and his speed isn’t that great. Sal and Woodman weren’t that much better, but Miyu and Skullman were a huge improvement. Miyu actually took on the legendary Lan and Megaman with her Skullman. Skullman’s speed is pretty good and he was able to keep up (And out speed) Megaman. The ending to the fight was a bit disappointing, but it was definitely one of the better battles.

World Three’s members were all pretty bad. Luckily their netnavies were a lot better. Torchman was a pretty decent threat in his first battle and he gets some solid character development. He’s definitely the best navi out of the group and he’s the only one to do some damage against the Grave operatives. Elecman was good in his very first appearance, but his personality did a 180 and he stopped being cool. Magicman is a cool concept, but his voice and personality wreck his character. Wackoman…I can’t even get started with that guy.

Blasterman was a pretty solid opponent and this is easily the best adaption of his character. He’s actually a pretty solid threat and he can go up against Megaman in a decently even fight. (With circumstances) Stoneman was also cool, but he got less chances to show his stuff. He was a decently good villain nonetheless.

Pharohman is also a really cool villain and his attacks are deadly. He succeeds in destroying one of the heroes and he doesn’t go down without a fight. The Virus Beast is also decently cool, but not quite as epic as his manga counterpart. He’s still an epic beast to keep your eye out for.

Bass is not quite as epic as his manga version, but that would be next to impossible! He’s definitely an imposing figure, but he didn’t get enough screen time. That was a pretty big oversight for the anime, but he still got some decently cool scenes. (It only gets better once Stream comes around!) His fight against Freezeman was epic!

Freezeman is definitely one of the best characters in the series. He’s a no nonsense character and he froze the entire city. His abilities are considerable since he was able to take on three ultimately powerful navies in a short span of time. (Heatman, Megaman, and Bass) I’m glad that he got a good amount of screen time, but his extremely cool ending was cut out of the english version.

This is definitely an anime that you guys will want to check out. Their are some obscure, but epic villains like Planetman awaiting you in the series! The fight scenes can get pretty good and the soundtrack is also decent. There are a couple of good songs that you’ll enjoy. I’ve seen this series a lot of times and I consider it an anime classic. It never gets old to hear Lan yell “Jack In Megaman! Power Up!”

Overall 8/10

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