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.

Grenadier

Boobs + Guns! What more could you ask for? Well actually a lot I'm sure, but that's what this shows got. In an age where guns are taking over as the primary weapon, leaving swords relatively obsolete. But is fighting the answer? With only 12 episodes this short anime does have a relatively simple story. Each episode is the usual 24 minutes long, but has the option of both English Sub & Dub. The series came out in 2004.

The story follows Rushina Tendo, a buxom blonde with the innocence of the worlds issues. She trained to be a double/protector of Tenshi. She was told to strip her enemies of their barriers so that they would change. Her smile would break these barriers down and remove the will/wish to fight. If no one wishes to fight then peace could be possible. She struggles in her adventures to do this as the smile is often not enough on its own. So she uses her gun to defeat her opponents to strip them of their will to fight.

The story is so short that she only meets a few people. But with each one of them she manages to leave an impression. Some even join her on her quest which quickly leads itself back to where she began. The first appears in the first episode. Yajiro is a swordsman who almost lost himself to killing during wars past. In these battles he grew to hate all gun-wielders as they are unable to feel the full weight of the lives they take as it is only the pull of a trigger instead of the force and resistance required when using a blade. This belief does create some conflict between himself and Rushina. But this resolves itself quickly as she does not kill her opponents, but only maims some of them.

There is a number of special weaponed people who stand in her way as she goes back to her teacher. But she makes her way through to the end and to the ultimate conspiracy. Ultimately leading to a fight with a buxom woman like herself. By reloading their revolvers with a flex and bounce of their breasts and the speed required to load them all with a simple flick and spin. 

The animation is well done, and the story works well for its length. But for the most part I did find it a little boring. The show get a 7.5 out of 11. I only recommend it for its length making it interesting enough for that. But I do consider it to be a good thing it isn't longer.

Katanagatari

So let me go ahead and start with this. This is now my absolute favorite anime. There are so many incredible ones out there, but this one managed to completely take the cake. This series of 12 episodes came out in 2010. Each episode is about 45 minutes long which is a bit odd for most animes. There is no English dub for this anime.

The story follows Shichika and Togame. Togame comes to a remote island to find the heir to the fabled swordless swordsman technique. This technique uses extreme speed and using the weaknesses of others, or others equipment to your own advantage. Shichika falls for her and decided to become her sword in her quest to collect the 12 deviant blades created by Kiki Shikizaki that are imbued with incredible powers. But she gives him 3 rules he must follow.

1. Protect her.

2. Don't break any of the swords.

3. Protect yourself.

Now while that may seem simplistic in nature, it proves to be somewhat difficult as there are certain fights where it would have been much easier on Shichika if her were allowed to break the sword. 

Each episode is a different sword. But along side the fights there is a back story that grows and grows until the last 2 episodes to completely alter everything you thought. Now one of the things that separate this show from so many other animes of similar fashions is that our hero doesn't win through pure determination. There are so many that have this element; Naruto, Fullmetal Alchemist, Bleach, Gurren Lagann, One Piece, and so many more. But with this one our hero is already very powerful. His main struggles are in how not to break the swords, as well as not getting hurt himself. 

Now the animation isn't great, but it works just fine for how they do everything. But the most amazing thing about this show is the fights. They are both impressive on how they create a full understanding of the incredible characters, but it is also just entertaining. I came upon the show because I watched a youtube video on the most amazing anime fights and the final battle of the show absolutely qualifies under this dynamic.

Without trying to give anything away or give spoilers, the final episode is so incredible that words honestly fail me. The episode is a roller coaster of emotion. There is despair, hope, satisfaction, sadness, and pure awe.

This show earns itself a score of 11 out of 11. It lost some points on the animation, but easily got them back for the sure awe of the show. I highly recommend this anime to any and everyone who is interested in anime, or even just good shows. 

BoJack Horseman

This netflix original series had season 1 come out in 2014, and season 2 in 2015. The show has been renewed for a third season to come out sometime in 2016. But for now we just have the first 2 seasons to review. Each season has 12 episodes for a total of 24 (with a Christmas special). Each episode is 24 minutes or so.

The series follows BoJack Horseman. An anthropomorphic horse which was a 90s family sitcom star. Now however he is a washed up drunk trying to figure things out. Season 1 starts with BoJack attempting to write a memoir about his life. He soon hires a ghost writer, who is someone who listens to the stories of your life, then writes the book for you. But remains anonymous on the book itself generally. He quickly falls in love with her, only to find that she is dating the person he hates the most, Mr. Peanutbutter. Who was another 90s family sitcom star on a show quite similar to BoJack's. 

The show touches on some political issues as well as some basic hollywood ones. One of the biggest being how child stars end up becoming drug addicted crazy sluts. Others include the ridiculousness of actors agents and the cult that is Improv. 

The second season starts with the ending, Then goes back to show how it all happened and fits together. Like how a full sized boat ends up in his swimming pool and more. This is rather confusing when watching it for the first time because it takes a few minutes to realize that its all a flashforward. It just has the feeling like I am missing so much of the story right now. But then you get to the second episode that you finally realize what it all was.

Then there is season three. Be prepared for a horribly depressing season. Everything turns out to be Bojack's fault. But there is a season long joke that is ridiculous and funny. 

The shows animation is rudimentary, but it often has entertaining things in the background. As well as basic jokes and scenes that shows more anthropomorphic animals and how even though they are humanoid, they still are the animal. 

The show was simplistic, but still enjoyable. In the end it only receives a 7 out of 11. Still good enough to watch though.