Danganronpa

Do you know who did it? Well you better figure it out or you'll die too. This video game was adapted to this interesting anime in 2013. It had a total of 13 episodes each being the usual anime length.

Ever played the board game Clue? It's kinda like that, except if everyone doesn't point out the correct killer you all die.

15 students have been selected to live inside a sealed school building with no way out. Then a weird black and white robot bear shows up saying he is the principal. He sets up some basic rules: only the girls bathrooms lock, no boys allowed in the girls changing room, don't damage the principal, murder a fellow classmate and get away with it to graduate. You know, basic.

The episodes tend to go like this. Someone dies, everyone investigates and grows suspicious. Next episode is the class trial, everyone discusses and analyses their findings to identify the killer among them. And as stated before there are stakes involved. If everyone correctly identifies the killer, then the killer is punished with death. But if everyone fails to identify the correct killer, then the murderer "graduates" and is allowed to leave the school for the outside world. And everyone but the killer is then punished with death.

I must say the show is kinda fun with all the psychological drama and intrigue that goes on. But the best thing about the show is that if you pay close enough attention(and I mean really close attention) you could solve each murder. Things are revealed in the trial that you couldn't have known, but in the investigation episode before the trial there is always that KEY clue that would lead you the audience to the correct answer. 

The show was really fun to watch. Trying to figure out who would be capable of murder, and which characters were most likely to be killers in later episodes. Plus plot twists. I also found it interesting that the show doesn't use gore in the traditional sense. All blood is colored pink instead of the red. This made it so instead of paying attention to the gore, you paid more attention to the clues and the characters involved. I give Danganronpa a 10 out of 11. A great watch.

Highschool of the Dead

Did someone say fan service? Cause if you did, then you will absolutely love this ecchi. 12 episodes, each 22 minutes. That's all. I mean sure there's zombies or something like that. Plus a super creepy teacher. But mostly lots of boobs. I kinda feel that of each episode, there is probably more shots of boobs and asses than there is anything else. Okay, so that's not entirely true...

What a nice day in which to be broody and not be in class. Oh! Who is that at the front gate making a ruckus? No worries, school staff is taking care of it. See there's the muscular teacher yelling, wait...OMG Blood! I don't know about you, but that's how my spring semesters usually started. 

How about we introduce the players. There is the broody baseball guy. The girl he had a thing for with a long stick. The pink haired super smart yelling girl. The geeky yet weapon genius. The large-breasted school nurse. And finally the crazy badass sword lady. Did I leave anyone out? Well a few other people show up later, like a dog, and a girl. But for now 6.

They all start off in pairs in different parts of the school as people keep getting bitten and the infection spreads. A whole bunch of fight scenes with plenty of up-skirts and boob jiggles later, now they are all a team. They manage to escape the school, with some unwanted baggage(another teacher and other students). All kinds of stuff happens. They lose weapons, they shoot people, they find a place to stay where all the girls can have pretty much 2 episodes to be mostly naked and all over each other and the guys. 

Now I am know my description doesn't do the show justice. It is pretty entertaining, especially so if you find the amount of fan service to be comical. But the show has impressive animation and some of the fights are incredible to watch. The characters have some interesting backgrounds that come together for the whole pretty well. 

I enjoyed watching the show. It had some interesting stuff to go over. But it still spent a lot of time on body parts, which while entertaining in their own right, made it so at times it felt nothing was happening. I give the show a 7 out of 11.

Mike & Molly

This comedy started back in 2010 and ran until 2016 were it was cancelled after 127 episodes. These 6 seasons are somewhat complicated as they decided to change the entire direction of the show at the start of season 4. Seasons 1-3 episodes are around 22 minutes long. Seasons 4-6 are usually just under 19 minutes.

Two people. Mike and Molly are both over-eaters. They meet at an Over-Eaters Anonymous meeting. After one disastrous first date, Mike is convinced that this is the woman he will marry someday. It was love from there.

The series goes pretty simply for the first few seasons. Season 1 exploring their relationship. Season 2 planning for the wedding. Season 3, lets make a baby. Then it completely changes. The director changed their view on the show. They wanted to take it into a completely new direction. So even though the last episode of Season 3 ends with Molly saying she's pregnant, Season 4 starts with her apologizing that she may never be able to give Mike a kid. No explanation in the show, no real mention of any of it.

Season 4's revamp sucks. The nice little love story comedy turned into a full fledged sitcom. Full of waiting for the laugh track and a lot of really stupid jokes. They changed the storyline into midlife crisis and more problems with money. Oh and now all the character are dating instead of doing something not stupid, or including more actors. Most importantly in my opinion is that the show took out the Over-Eaters Anonymous visits completely. I liked them showing this aspect of the characters. It showed them as humans with addictions and that they were actively trying to work through it.

Because of the major differences between the seasons I will rate them separately. I enjoyed the seasons 1-3 quite a bit. The story advanced and was sincere while adding comedy. It deserves a 9 out of 11. Seasons 4-6 were difficult to get through. The last half of season 6 gets back to that sincerity, but that season is only 13 episodes. I forced to give these last three seasons only 4 out of 11.

One Punch Man

One Man. One Hundred Push Ups. One Hundred Sit Ups. One Hundred Squats. Ten Kilometer Run. One Incredible Costume. One Punch.

My goodness was I wrong. My friend told me about this show saying how amazing it was. I looked at the general animation, and the picture above and thought "Yeah Right." It wasn't until months later that by random happenstance that I was watching videos on YouTube and came across one of the fight scenes of One Punch Man. It was the training fight between Saitama(AKA One Punch Man) and his "apprentice" Genos. After that I had to watch the show. Right afterwards I apologized to my friend. The next show he recommends will be the first thing I watch afterwards. Also available in English Dub.

I saw a post of #ExplainAnAnimePlotBadly that really did sum this show up pretty darn well.
Identity Crisis. 100. 100. 100. 10. Identity Crisis.
You see, Saitama wanted purpose. So he decided to become a Superhero. But his training made him so strong that nothing could withstand a single punch. What are you to do with your life when you have no challenge?

The cyborg Genos sees his strength and decides he has no choice but to become his apprentice and learn as much from him as possible. And while Saitama attempts to explain his power, it is blown off and ignored.

The show uses a few different styles of animation throughout its 12 episodes. All it seems to work perfectly for what they are trying to show. Plus it adds to the hilarity of the show. The fight scenes are epic, and the humor is incredible. I am not much of a laugher, but One Punch Man had me shaking my chair with laughter.

This is a show that I looked at the cover and tossed it away. I am so glad I eventually picked it back up. I have to give One Punch Man the well earned score of 11 out of 11. This is a great watch.

Malcolm In The Middle

151 episode over 7 seasons from 2000 to 2006. This comedy of a crazy misfit family was great for both youth and middle-aged people alike. 22 minutes an episode we found enjoyment through the antics and derangement these children managed to ensue and the mind games with the mother. Oh and Bryan Cranston.

The show mostly follows the 3rd child Malcolm. A genius he wishes only to be like everyone else. His cool older brother forced into Military School. His idiot and violent brother. And the youngest Dewey...he's hard to describe. Then of course there are his parents. The loud and angry mother, and the adorable fun loving dad.

Malcolm is constantly struggling with his intelligence and his wish to have fun. But I think the biggest part is that his high intelligence gets him into just as much trouble as his brothers because they often do their antics together. These antics include: beating up others, making a balloon launcher able to strike blocks away(but using much more foul things that water balloons), sneaking out to parties, and more. Malcolm tells us his struggles and mistakes by breaking the 4th Wall and talking directly to the audience.

Everyone grows over the series as they learn new lessons. But the family remains social pariahs being despised and feared by almost everyone else. The neighbors shun them, other students fear dealing with them in case the violent brother beats them up. Of course a few people drop into their gravitational pull over time, but just about all of them have their own rejectable qualities.

Characters come and go over the 7 seasons. Even the oldest brother who was a constant character experiencing his own adventures away from the family grows less and less seen. Till the last season where he is only in 5 episodes or so.

I enjoyed the show. It was redundant at times as they did pretty much the same thing over and over again. But they managed to add some new aspect that kept me going through the series. I must give the show a 7 out of 11 however.

Community

This 2009-2015 show has a fairly large cult following. It didn't actually do great ratings-wise so got canceled in the last season which was then picked up by Yahoo for its final season. This beloved by its cult show had a total of 110 episodes, each being about 22 minutes long. Except that is season 6 when the episodes were around 28-30 minutes long.

This oddly diverse group of misfits come together as a study group that help each other through a variety of issues and odd encounters. The show takes place at Greendale Community College, a school that is terrible for education but great for messing around. The school offers classes such as Ice Cream Tasting, Grifting, Baby Talk, Theoretical Phys Ed, and Can I Fry That?(the answer is yes) Of course it has some "real" classes such as Spanish, Biology, and Billiards. 

But those are just the classes, mostly we have our Jeff- the talker, Brita- the against everything, Pierce- the old racist, Shirley- the black housewife, Troy- the black sports star, Annie- the jewish over achiever, and Abed- the arab aspberger super computer. Oh and there's Chang- the chinese wants to be in the group.

This school allows these people do pretty much whatever they want. Pillow Forts, dry land Sailing, Talent Shows, Mafia style Chicken vendors, and of course the infamous Paintball Wars. There are multiple Paintball episodes throughout the series.

There are rumors here and there about a movie, but nothing substantial that I could find.

The show is a great comedy, but does go downhill after season 4. 3 of the main characters end up disappearing and they attempt to add a few new ones here and there. It remains funny, but kinda loses a bit of its heart. I enjoyed the entirety of it greatly, but only finished the last season out of loyalty. In all I give the show a 9 out of 11.

Soul Eater

The Grim Reaper! Of course...a high pitched, silly, and childish-looking one...But The Grim Reaper. This show came out 2008 with 51 episodes. Each one being the usual 20-22 minutes long.

Collect 99 souls, and then 1 witches soul. To do so lets you become a Death Scythe. This gives you the privilege of getting to be one of Lord Death's personal weapons. This is the basis of the first few episodes. Meisters fighting alongside Weapons to collect souls and defeat witches. 

Lord Death decided to start a school in which to train young Meisers and Weapons to become successful reapers themselves. These Weapons are also students as they are beings that can turn into weapons(capable of evolution). The weapons vary on what they become, such as twin guns, blades, scythe, gloves, a spear, a lantern, and more. The meisters must connect their own souls to their weapons so that they resonate at the frequency. By doing so they are able to unlock their full potential. 

The show mostly follows 3 meisters and their weapons. Maka and her scythe Soul. Blackstar and his blade Tsubaki. Death the Kid and his twin guns Liz and Patti. Each has their own backstory and life issues that are manifested throughout the series. These 7 join forces repeatedly, but also fight each other just as often. 

The students are sent on a few "simple" missions that turn out to be not as simple. Eventually these missions add up to the great Arachnophobia, a witch from long ago returning to the world. She then releases the Kishin, Asura. A being that started as a Meister who then ate the soul of his own weapon. Following this there are missions to obtain odd magical objects, then the final showdown.

There of course is plenty more, like the teacher Franken Stein who likes disecting and stitching things back up. Or the witch Medusa who uses a variety of snakes to succeed in her goals. Or even Maka's incredibly creepy father who in the Dubbed version is voiced by Vic Mignogna, though you would most likely know him more as the voice of Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist.

Honestly though, I wasn't that big of a fan. Maybe it was because I kept comparing it to other animes like Fullmetal Alchemist, or Dragonball Z and more. But the story was pretty weak, and rather boring at times. The ending was a little more entertaining, but even that ended with a message of heart bullshit. Some of the fights were entertaining, but they had a lot of talk. Then finally there was Lord Death. He was just obnoxious. In the end I can only give the show a 5 out of 11. I wouldn't recommend it.