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I find Akame ga Kill to be an example of wasted potential. I use that term to describe media that managed to get a few important things done very well, but screwed up on pretty much everything else. Overall, I'd say Akame ga Kill isn't bad, but I don't think it's far from that, either.

One of the best things about Akame ga Kill is the core of its story. Over 24 episodes, we are shown a very interesting story from start to finish in a well-paced fashion. Although fairly predictable, I don't consider that a disadvantage, because it shows that the events that unfold make ... sense from the viewer's perspective. Unfortunately, the actual execution of the story was not of the same quality. Despite the limited time, the show tries to cram way too many unnecessary things in places they shouldn't be. This was mostly apparent in two ways. One, there was often humor that felt completely out of place. Akame ga kill often tried to be funny in times it shouldn't have, and failed miserably. And as if that wasn't bad enough, even normal attempts at humor were poor. The humor was generally really stupid and I rarely found it funny. Two, the cast of characters was way too big. While obviously a big cast of characters isn't inherently bad, it is problematic when you only have such little time to showcase them. Which brings me to one of Akame ga kill's biggest issues, the characters themselves.

Almost all the characters featured in Akame ga kill are extremely one-dimensional, as if they were based on stereotypes (which they probably were). Thankfully the few that avoid this problem can be somewhat interesting at times. Unfortunately, the bad characters are not just an isolated problem, but they drag down the entire story. This is most apparent in the fact that the show tries to induce character-based emotional reactions. That generally fails for the simple reason that you have no reason to care for a character you are not attached too. Sure, something bad happened to Character X. He had 5 minutes of screentime and his entire personality can be described with three words. Why am I supposed to feel sad about it? On the plus side, the designs of the male characters were generally pretty good. Unfortunately, the designs of the female characters were generally terrible. It seems as if they were created with their main purpose being to provide as much fanservice as possible. Poor fanservice, too. The absolute worse case is a character who was apparently designed with the intention to fit as many fetishes as possible in her. This kind of stupidity made it hard to follow the story properly.

Somehow, this bad collection of characters isn't even the worst thing about Akame ga Kill. That dubious honor goes to the action scenes, who were nothing short of absolutely horrid. Zero logic, zero coherence, idiotic attempts to look "cool", casual chit-chat in the middle of supposedly fast-paced battles, completely arbitrary occurences, rocket artillery in a seemingly medieval fantasy setting, so many over the top visuals that you can't even see what's supposed to happen... just awful.

Let's talk about the optics and the sound. The visuals were generally great in non-action scenes. The backgrounds were pretty, the characters were visually appealing, and the animation was fluid. The sound was decent, but nothing special. The music usually fit but it never really was good enough to actively contribute to the events shown. Most of the voice actors did a solid job, which is big praise when you consider that the script was weak.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend Akame ga kill in most cases. One reason to watch it is because of its high popularity, meaning it's going to help socially connect with other anime fans. Another reason to watch it is that you are the kind of person who likes over-the-top action, fanservice focused on most of the female cast having an enormous chest, and excessive gore so much that you are willing to overlook the various problems. Unless you belong on one of these two categories, this anime probably isn't for you.

Holy fucking shit. Seriously, what the actual fuck. THIS is the "masterpiece" that I "had" to watch? I pushed myself through the boringness of the prequel in order to experience the supposedly "amazing pleasure" that is Clannad: After Story, and THIS is what I get?

Look, I'll be fair. Clannad: After Story is not a bad anime. It's definitely better that its bad prequel. However, that's really not saying much, is it? While After Story manages to give us a more interesting story than its prequel, it falls victim to plenty of the same problems and adds some new ones as well.

Story: After Story starts out ... exactly where the prequel left off: boring high school crap. After we have to sit through even more boring arbitrary sadness involving all the female characters that didn't get used up in the prequel, the anime finally graduates and enters the rest of the world. The story really picks up there, and we get to watch a few genuinely interesting episodes. Most of the cast is put on a bus so we can focus on the characters that actually matter without annoyances, and the events that unfold draw your attention. Unfortunately, there's a climax soon afterwards, and everything goes to shit again. The anime returns to shoving arbitrary sadness down our throats. I pushed myself through the boredom hoping for a satisfying conclusion, but I was disappointed, as the ending throws all logic and coherence in the trash can in order to force something impossible to happen. After the story ends there are two additional side-story episodes, which I didn't watch and therefore can't tell you about. I'm assuming they are bad.

Art: After Story looks good, just like the prequel. The problem of female characters (or feminine boy characters) having way too large eyes remains, but other than that, no complains. The settings look good, the male characters look good, the animation is good.

Sound: The voice acting is good just like that of the prequel, maybe a bit better. The music is basically the same, but it feels more intrusive this time. It's not bad on its own, but the way it is used can be really annoying at times.

Characters: The main character is definitely more interesting than last time. It's also nice how most of the cast was written out of the biggest part of the show, since we got rid of subpar characters that way. But in general, there's not really anything else to praise here. It's not like most of the characters that remain are actually interesting. Not to mention that some of the new characters did not pull their weight, either.

If you liked the first Clannad, watch this. You'll definitely like it. If you didn't like the first Clannad but are thinking of watching After Story because you've heard about how it's significantly better and a masterpiece and all those things, don't. It's just a waste of your time, unless you plan on using the knowledge to argue with Clannad fans.

In 2010, the first volume of a rather standard romantic comedy novel was released. It was decent, but nothing special. However, in the midst of all that unremarkableness, one character shone as perfection personified. His name was Satou Takaya.

Realizing that she created something truly special, the writer did the smart thing and released a spin-off that focuses on this amazing character. She named it after Satou Takaya's nickname, "Nijigen-kun". Unsurprisingly, the result was the best light novel that has ever existed.

Story: Nijigen-kun is the main character of the plot, so it's automatically perfect.
Art: Nijigen-kun and his Nijigen girls look perfect.
Character: Nijigen-kun is perfect.
Enjoyment: You can't ... possibly not enjoy this.
Overall: Perfection itself.

P.S. If someone knows where I can actually read this translated in English, please send me a PM :p I'll appreciate it.

Clannad is a special case. It manages to combine two seemingly incompatible genres, shoujo and harem. As for its tone, it mostly tries to get you sad, occasionally having some fun moments in-between. How much you are going to enjoy this anime depends hugely on how much the sad parts can actually touch you and how much the funny parts can actually entertain you. And because the enjoyment you can derive from this anime depends so much on your self instead of factors that can appeal widely, you should be a bit close-minded about what you read in this review. After all, they may ... not matter to you.

When it comes to actual content, Clannad is lacking. It tries so hard to make you sad that it feels completely arbitrary. Every character has some sort of very sad backstory which comes back to bite them and make everything gloomy. Thankfully, the power of friendship is there to save the day. The humor is handled a bit better, though not by much. The main problem here is that the majority of Clannad's humor relies on a single character acting like a moron and being the butt monkey of every joke. This stopped being funny after about one episode, yet its intensity doesn't drop throughout the series. At least the rest of the humor was generally funny.

Visually, Clannad has one major problem. The eyes of the female characters (reminder: female to male ratio is like 5 to 1 in this anime) are way too big. So big that it will likely still annoy you after you get used to it. But other than that, Clannad looks well. The male characters look good, the locations look good, the animation is good. Visual effects go a bit overboard at times, though.

Clannad is generally nice on the ears. The voice actors did a good job and the music generally fits. There are however, two major problems. First, those "cutesy" extremely high-pitched voices belonging to small girls are annoying. Second, the "sad" music bits tend to be failures. Other than those issues, the sound can pull its own weight.

Honestly, overall, I'd say Clannad was rather boring. Under normal circumstances, I would have probably dropped it somewhere before the halfway mark. However, I kept going because of the sequel, which is supposed to be one of the best anime in existence. Let's just hope that it can live up to my expections at least partially, because it if turns out to be just more of the same, I'm going to be pretty fucking pissed.

Ultimately, if you are a sucker for sad stuff, you are probably going to like Clannad. If not, it's a risk. If you are feeling unsure, you should watch a few episodes and see if it gets you interested.

Code Geass is an anime that balances combat and non-combat, showing us an armed conflict both on the battlefield and away from it. Despite its nature, which is significantly darker than usual even for this kind of story, it has the potential to appeal to a wide audience. It makes use of numerous genres to various degrees; from psychological thriller to mecha action, from school romance to superpowers. The question is: does it manage to remain interesting while doing so?

The strongest point of Code Geass is its thrilling story. A very interesting plot that unfolds at a proper pace, it will most likely keep you ... coming back for more. The story is definitely what pushes Code Geass up. So, what about everything else?

Visually, Code Geass is fine. My main problem with the art was that everyone looked too good. Apparently, in the Code Geass universe, non-attractive people are extinct. Other than that, the art pulls its weight. The landspaces looked good, the action scenes were fine, the characters were a bit inhuman but nothing severe.

Sound-wise, Code Geass was also fine. The music was mostly un-interesting, but it was used rather well. As for the voice actors, while most of them did a good job with the material they had available, that material could have been better. The protagonist in particular suffers from this problem; he speaks almost exclusively with a very deep voice and an imposing tone regardless of the situation. Thankfully, most of the main cast avoids any major problems.

Τhe characters are a bit of mess. Due to the big cast and the heavy plot, you are going to see a lot of character development. You may get a bit lost trying to figure out each character's personality, since many of them have limited screentime. Despite that, they are generally interesting, especially the various relationships between them.

Some things damaged my enjoyment of the show. It got increasingly chaotic and incoherent as it went on. Also, it kinda fails when it comes to switching between "serious" and "fun" settings. Finally, there was too much of people talking to themselves and treating things unnecessarily seriously. Despite these issues, the show was generally enjoyable. It’s easily to overlook such issues due to how engaging the storyline is.

Ultimately, I’d recommend Code Geass to almost everyone. There are only two categories of anime watchers that I believe won’t enjoy it: those that don’t enjoy serious settings and those that are overly critical. If you don’t belong in either of these categories, Code Geass is definitely worth your time.

This show was moderately enjoyable, but also significantly frustrating. It's supposed to be a light-hearted romantic comedy, but it's really inconsistent when it comes to establishing atmosphere (often ruining it in order to make an unsatisfying joke). It's also way over the top when it comes to stuff like blushing or close-ups.

My biggest problem with this show is the cast of characters. Most of the show takes place in the dorm where the main character lives alongside a few more people. Most of these people are badly designed/executed. The protagonist himself is nothing special, but perfectly alright. Some of his character traits made him occasionally ... painful to watch, but he generally gave off the feeling of being an actual human being, which I liked. Same goes for the main female character. As for the rest, I was left with an intense feeling of frustration. The other residents of the dorm include: a guy with 0 character depth whatsoever and a role of being a walking joke (usually a bad one), two evil bitches that are contenders for worst human beings in history and genuinely enjoy destroying the happiness of others (yet for some reason everyone puts up with them), and a granny that's not bad, just uninteresting. There are also several minor characters, who for the most part are decent.

The story is nothing special, but that's really not a problem. The plot is carried along decently, there's no problems such as incoherence or nonsense. The humor is somewhat disappointing, though, which a big reason this series doesn't hold up to my expections of a light-hearted rom-com.

The voice acting is generally great. The music is fine, nothing special. The art is somewhat weird. Things generally look fine to good, but as mentioned earlier, there's a lot of over the top blushing, (failed) emotional close-ups, etc, during which the art seems a bit out of place.

Although this anime left me personally frustrated, I believe most people would enjoy it. I think a lot of it depends on how much you are willing to put up with the evil bitch characters (if you actually like them, I suggest a visit to a psychologist). Other than that, you should be fine. I suggest watching a few episodes in order to see if you appreciate the character interactions and the humor, then decide if you want to finish it.

Are you looking for a sports anime that's coherent, realistic, and handles the sport it features properly? If yes, stay far away from Kuroko no Basket. On the other hand, if you are looking something that's flashy, cool, funny, and couldn't give any less of a shit about stuff like logic and plot execution, this anime is for you.

Kuroko no Basket suffers from a very wide variety of problems. Depending on how much these problems bother you personally, your enjoyment of this anime will be affected from a bit to a lot. The pacing is bad, the plot progression is arbitrarily forced, the characters tend ... to be lackluster (with some exceptions), it is completely unrealistic but pretends it isn't, which is annoying, it is utterly incoherent, and finally, it makes no fucking sense.

Despite everything mentioned above, I wouldn't say it's bad anime overall. Its main redeeming quality is that it is funny. When it tries to be funny, it usually succeeds. There are also occasions when it is unintentionally funny due to overflowing stupidity.

How much you are going to enjoy this anime depends a lot on how much you think about it. The more you think about it, the more it falls apart. But if you are just looking for mindless entertainment, this is a good fit. There's no shame in that.

Sword Art Online makes me sad. Can you guess why? No, you are wrong. It's because it is the utmost example of wasted potential, leaving me in constant state of "how good would this have been?".

Let's start with reasons why you might want to watch this anime. It looks great. Whether it's the characters, the landscapes, the action, and so on, everything looks really nice. Next, sound. The voice acting is good. Nothing amazing, but it's good. The soundtrack is great, though I do believe it was not used to its full potential. Finally, the premise. Sword Art Online is inherently interesting (to me, at ... least) because of its premise.

Now, reasons why you wouldn't want to watch this anime. Earlier I talked about how interesting the premise is. The anime starts based on that premise (obviously), which drives it forward for the first few episodes. But then, disaster. It's not long before the story starts to encounter major issues, such as sidetracking, nonsense, pacing, and a complete and utter lack of any coherence whatsoever. It doesn't get any better later on, as not only do these issues persist, but in addition, the actual plot takes a dive akin to that of an Olympic gold medalist.

Different people derive enjoyment from watching anime in different ways. Unfortunately, the kind of person I am did not mesh well with Sword Art Online. If you like the anime you watch to not fall apart if you put thinking into them, this really isn't one for you. Especially since Sword Art Online is an extreme case of this problem. On the other hand, if you don't care about that and just want to dive into the world and enjoy emotions, pretty visuals, nice sounds, etc, that's fine too. Really, it is. It doesn't mean that you are stupid or anything just because you don't want to put thinking into your entertainment. Go watch this, you'll probably like it.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann was on my plan to watch list for a considerable amount of time. At one point I asked the guy that helps me with recommendations about it, and he told me "it's fun but nothing super, classic over the top Τrigger", and later added "it's good for mindless entertainment". After watching it, I conclude that he was basically right.

Here's the main problem. This anime is considerably nonsensical and somewhat incoherent. If you are the thinking type of person, you'll encounter difficulties with this anime. I'm not saying this to insult the people that enjoyed it, there's no shame in watching ... something just for "mindless entertainment", as mentioned above. However, for people like me, it's not like that. This anime gives a big emphasis on being cool and flashy, often throwing logic out of the window to do so. If you are the type of watcher that will want explanations for the stuff that happen, you are not going to find them.

But hey, don't let that discourage you too much. I still consider this anime to be "fine", which is why I gave it a rating of 6. It looks very good, it sounds great, it has an interesting story. There's also the matter of the characters, but unfortunately, the big cast wasn't taken advantage as well as it could have.

Honestly, I think most people will like this anime. So, don't let the "6" bother you too much. I'd recommend it to most people. Basically, only avoid if you think too much, but even then, it's not like you'll find it to be trash or anything.

Trivia: The "When I'm X" meme originated from here! When I learned that, it was the final push that made me decide to watch this anime instead of any of the other 20 - 30 waiting in my plan to watch list.

"Occasionally hilarious" is the perfect description for this anime. Sakamoto desu ga? is basically a collection of short stories about how people around Sakamoto interact with his perfectness. There's not much of a story, and what's there isn't even close to good, so if that's what you are looking for, go away. It's hard to recommend this anime in general due to how inconsistent it is. However, I don't regret watching it. Sure, quite a bit of it was boring, and most of it wasn't really interesting, but there were some instances of absolute gold spread throughout. Due to that, my memories from watching this ... anime are not "Episode X was so dull I had to force myself to slug through it", but "the Y scene on Episode Z was awesome!".

Maybe you should watch the first episode and see how you like it. The comedic style remains the same throughout the series, so if you take a liking to the first episode, you probably won't have a problem going through the not-so-good parts while you'll enjoy the good ones even more.