Anime Reviews
Note: There are several things to consider before reading any of my reviews. The first is that I am not trying to be objective. I have particular tastes and dislikes and don’t make an effort to hide them. For example, I don’t really like series with heavy action sequences. I dislike many of the characterizations of female characters (which I find rather condescending) in a great deal of otaku-marketed anime series as well. I aim all my reviews at people who have a similar taste – those who have read through much of my blog and find themselves agreeing with me.
Rough Guide to Ratings:
= Excellent: Reserved for personal favourites of mine which had a lasting or significant effect on me.
= Very Good: Memorable anime with good execution – these earn immediate recommendations from me as well.
= Good / Competent: This is primarily the ambiguous, “mixed bag” territory. The upper end (with an additional 1/2) are usually recommendations with reservations while three stars alone is hovering near one.
= No Comment: This is where the series I don’t recommend begin to appear. Anime will end up here if I felt their positives balanced their negatives, but occasionally I will throw series that just didn’t interest me in any way – but did not warrant outright dislike – in here.
= Bad: This is the score given to anime which I actively disliked and do not recommend.
The list is presented twice, first by alphabetical order, and second by score
Elfen Lied 1/2
Figure 17 1/2
Grave of the Fireflies (film)
Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora
Kiki’s Delivery Service (film)
Kimagure Orange Road (TV & OVA) 1/2
Kimagure Orange Road: I Want to Return to That Day (film)
Laputa: Castle in the Sky 1/2 (film)
Millennium Actress (film)
My Neighbors the Yamadas (film)
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind 1/2 (film)
Ocean Waves / Umi ga Kikoeru / I Can Hear the Sea (film)
Omohide Poroporo (Only Yesterday) (film)
Pom Poko 1/2 (film)
Ponyo on the Cliff 1/2 (film)
Porco Rosso (film)
Princess Mononoke (film)
Saishū Heiki Kanojo (SaiKano) 1/2
Saishū Heiki Kanojo: Another Love Song 1/2
Spirited Away (film)
Summer Wars 1/2 (film)
The Cat Returns 1/2 (film)
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time 1/2 (film)
Tales from Earthsea ( Gedo Senki) (film)
Touch: Miss Lonely Yesterday (film)
Touch: Cross Roads 1/2 (film)
Whisper of the Heart (film)
Ordered by Score given
Sorted by Rating:
Grave of the Fireflies (film)
Kiki’s Delivery Service (film)
Omohide Poroporo (Only Yesterday) (film)
Ookiku Furikabutte (Big Windup!)
Porco Rosso (film)
Princess Mononoke (film)
Spirited Away (film)
Whisper of the Heart (film)
Laputa: Castle in the Sky 1/2 (film)
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind 1/2 (film)
My Neighbors the Yamadas (film)
Ocean Waves / Umi ga Kikoeru / I Can Hear the Sea (film)
Figure 17 1/2
Pom Poko 1/2 (film)
Touch: Cross Roads 1/2 (film)
Kimagure Orange Road (TV & OVA) 1/2
Ponyo on the Cliff 1/2 (film)
Saishū Heiki Kanojo (SaiKano) 1/2
Summer Wars 1/2 (film)
The Cat Returns 1/2 (film)
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time 1/2 (film)
Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora
Tales from Earthsea ( Gedo Senki)
Elfen Lied 1/2
Saishū Heiki Kanojo: Another Love Song 1/2
Kimagure Orange Road: I Want to Return to That Day (film)
Touch: Miss Lonely Yesterday (film)
One thing to consider is that I rarely ever continue watching a series I don’t like, so there probably won’t many low-star reviews, compared to others.
