Your Lie in April

Music accompanies the path of the human metronome, the prodigious pianist Kousei Arima. But after the passing of his mother, Saki Arima, Kousei falls into a downward spiral, rendering him unable to hear the sound of his own piano.

Two years later, Kousei still avoids the piano, leaving behind his admirers and rivals, and lives a colorless life alongside his friends Tsubaki Sawabe and Ryouta Watari. However, everything changes when he meets a beautiful violinist, Kaori Miyazono, who stirs up his world and sets him on a journey to face music again.

Based on the manga series of the same name, Your Lie in April approaches the story of Kousei's recovery as he discovers that music is more than playing each note perfectly, and a single melody can bring in the fresh spring air of April.

This one. This is the one, guys. You will fall apart and be torn to pieces. This is without a doubt one of the most heart-wrenching, bitter sweet stories out there. The story follows a boy dealing with emotional and mental issues due to his mother being abusive his whole life.

The journey develops artistically and emotionally. This anime feels so real you can't help but to need to take a breather after each episode. Just when you think you've made it, you're in the clear, things will surely get better now - BAM! The feels train hits.

This is one of those ones that no matter what type of show you watch, even if you do not watch anime, it will captivate you. The plot and story are greatly expressed and slowly builds up your investments for the characters. I've rarely seen character development so artfully done.

Animation: 9/10
Soundtrack: 9/10
Story: 8/10
Overall: 9/10

Gundam: Where Do You Start?

Mobile Suit Gundam. It's a series that can be extremely intimidating by the sheer volume of it. Then you realize there's two main time-lines:

Universal Century
(original)
-
"After Colony"
(different time-line, sometimes different universes, stand alone shows, etc)

Right now our only focus is the original Gundam in Universal Century. It's really more simple than you think. To get to know and love this franchise (and ultimately be sucked in for life) you need to begin here:



Mobile Suite Gundam: The Origin

What was the tragedy that decided the fates of Char Aznable, the man later nicknamed the "Red Comet" as an ace pilot of the Zeon forces, and his sister Sayla Mass?

The two siblings' journeys, brought on by the sudden death of their father Zeon Zum Deikun who was a leader of the Spacenoids, are depicted in the four episodes of "Chronicle of Char and Sayla."

The Zabi family who seize control of Side 3 and lead the Principality of Zeon, the early days of many renowned Zeon ace pilots who later fight in the One Year War, the secrets of mobile suit development, conflicts with the Earth Federation Forces, and the road leading to the outbreak of war—all will be revealed.

Animation: 10/10

Soundtrack: 9/10

Story: 10/10

Overall: 10/10

One of the best anime to ever be made. Highly recommend. You will be on the edge of your seat begging for the next episode every time. Go. Watch it now!

Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These Episode 1

Episode 1: In the Eternal Night

In humanity's distant future, two interstellar states—the monarchic Galactic Empire and the democratic Free Planets Alliance—are embroiled in a never-ending war. The story focuses on the exploits of rivals Reinhard von Müsel and Yang Wen Li as they rise to power and fame in the Galactic Empire and the Free Planets Alliance.
Galactic Imperial Navy High Admiral, Reinhard von Lohengramm, does the unthinkable and doesn't retreat from a battle he will obviously lose. His subordinates think he is a cocky mad-man. The battle ensues and to everyone's surprise, Reinhard ends up the victor - or so it seems.
The original commander has fallen to Reinhard, but a new man appears seemingly from nowhere to claim command of the rebels. This new man, Commodore Yang Wen-li, was the deputy staff officer to the commander. Yang Wen-li tells all rebels to obey his orders and they will be saved, they cannot lose.
At the end of the episode, Reinhard seems to lose his cool composure and becomes agitated, setting us up for an epic battle between the two.

Animation: 8/10
Soundtrack: 5/10
Overall: 7/10

LOTGH Preview

LOTGH Opening

LOTGH Ending

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Gegege no Kitarou (2018) Episode 1

Chapter One: The Day Yokai Awoke

A young "Youtuber" named Charatomi was trying to get more subscribers to his channel by doing outrageous and dangerous things in his videos. In one video, he releases a yokai named Nobiagari. Nobiagari then plants vampire tree seeds in humans all over Shibuya, creating a vampire tree forest. Civilians came up with reasons how that was possible ranging from aliens to chemical weapons.

Mana Inuyama's neighbor insists it's a yokai to blame, he says his grandma told him so. He says all they have to do is put a letter in the yokai mailbox and Kitaro will come to stop the yokai. Mana doesn't believe him, but goes along with it because she cares about him like a big sister. Mana finds the yokai mailbox and sends a letter to Kitaro.

Kitaro eventually shows up with his dad, Medama Oyaji or Daddy Eyeball. Oyaji explains to Mana that there is a whole world she doesn't see just below the surface. The more Mana believes, the more she sees. Mana insists on assisting Kitaro and Oyaji with hunting Nobiagari. Without spoiling the rest of the episode, it ends on a bad note with Kitaro wounded by an unknown assailant.

This was an awesome first episode! I can't wait to see what happens next. High hopes for this one.

Animation: 9/10
Soundtrack: 8/10
Overall: 9/10

Gegege no Kitarou (2018) Preview

Gegege no Kitarou (2018) Opening

Gegege no Kitarou (2018) Ending

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Spring 2018 Anime Watchlist

My Hero Academia Season 3

Third Season of My Hero Academia.

Studio: Bones (Creator of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Noragami, Mob Psycho 100, Bungou Stray Dogs, Soul Eater, Cowboy Bebop, etc.)
Genre: Shounen, School, Superpower, Comedy, Action
Preview

Bungou Stray Dogs: Dead Apple

Power users around the world are suddenly committing suicide one after another, in all cases after a strange fog appears at the scene. At a request from Ango Sakaguchi, the Armed Detective Agency head out to investigate Tatsuhiko Shibusawa, a power user who calls himself "collector", and a man suspected of being tied to the incident.

Studio: Bones (Creator of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, My Hero Academia, Noragami, Mob Psycho 100, Soul Eater, Cowboy Bebop, etc.)
Genre: Action, Comedy, Supernatural, Mystery
Preview

Caligula

Mobius is a perfect digital world for the imagined benefit of humanity by μ, a virtual idol program that attained sentience and self-awareness. Only humans who are suffering in the real world and strongly relate to μ's songs are lured into Mobius.
Once they enter, people often forget that the real world exists. Regardless of age or gender, they are turned into students and forced to experience school life over and over, which μ considers "the most radiant time in a person's life."

Studio: Satelight (Creator of Hellsing Ultimate)
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi
Preview

Dorei-Ku the Animation

What if you could enslave anyone you ever wanted? Well, this comes close. The SCM lets you enslave anyone who is also wearing an SCM, at a price. One must win over the other, at the cost of anything, in order for the other to become their slave.

Studio: TNK (High School DxD), Zero-G (Tsugumomo, Dive!!)

Genre: Psychological, Drama
Preview

Gegege no Kitarou (2018)

(Kitarou of the Graveyard)

A remake of a well-received anime whose fans entailed from children to adults in Japan. For those who are unfamiliar with the series, Gegege no Kitaro is known to be the trigger of the supernatural folklore boom in Japan. It’s originally a manga created by Mizuki Shigeru who sadly passed away in 2015.

Studio: Toei Animation (Creator of One Piece, Dragon Ball)

Genre: Comedy, Demons, Shounen, Supernatural

Preview

Golden Kamuy

From the new up-in-coming Geno Studio (Kokokku) comes Golden Kamuy. In Hokkaido, the far northern lands of Japan, Sugimoto survived the Russo-Japanese war of the Meiji era. Nicknamed "Sugimoto the Immortal" during the war, he now seeks the riches promised by the gold rush in hopes of saving the widowed wife of his now deceased comrade from the war. During his hunt of gold, he finds hints of a hidden stash of gold by corrupt criminals. Partnering with an Ainu girl that saves his life from the harsh climates of the north, they venture into a survival adventure to race against the criminals that seek the hidden stash.

Studio: Geno Studio (Creator of Kokkoku, Genocidal Organ)

Genre: Action, Adventure, Historical, Seinen

Preview

Hinamatsuri
(Doll's Day)

This one I'm super excited for. One night, a strange object falls on the head of Nitta, a member of the yakuza. Inside the box is a strange young girl named Hina. She has tremendous supernatural powers, and Nitta finds himself reluctantly taking her in. Her powers can come in handy for his yakuza business, but he also runs the risk of her using them on him! Not to mention, if she doesn't use her powers, she will eventually go berserk and destroy everything around her. Nitta and Hina's strange life together is just beginning.

Studio: feel. (Creator of Tsukigakirei)

Genre: Sci-Fi, Slice of Life, Comedy, Supernatural, Seinen

Preview

Hisone to Maso-tan

(Hisone and Maso-tan)

Straightforward and innocent Hisone Amakasu is a Self-Defense Force rookie stationed at the Air Self-Defense Force's Gifu Base. She was struggling with the fact that she sometimes hurts people unintentionally by her innocent words and decided to join the Air Self-Defense Force, hoping to maintain a certain distance from people. This decision led her to a fateful encounter which profoundly changed her life. It was the "OTF" dragon hidden in the base and it chose Hisone as his pilot. When it soared into the sky with Hisone, her fate as a dragon pilot was decided. It is said that dragons have a key to the future of the world.

Studio: Bones (Creator of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, My Hero Academia, Noragami, Mob Psycho 100, Bungou Stray Dogs, Soul Eater, Cowboy Bebop, etc.)

Genre: Military, Fantasy

Preview

Legend of Galactic Heroes: The New Thesis - Encounter

In humanity's distant future, two interstellar states—the monarchic Galactic Empire and the democratic Free Planets Alliance—are embroiled in a never-ending war. The story focuses on the exploits of rivals Reinhard von Müsel and Yang Wen Li as they rise to power and fame in the Galactic Empire and the Free Planets Alliance.

Studio: Production I.G (Creators of Psycho-Pass)

Genre: Action, Military, Sci-Fi, Space, Drama

Preview

Liz to Aoi Tori

(Liz and the Bluebird)

The movie is based on one of the novels from Ayano Takeda’s series Sound! Euphonium. We follow two girls, Mizore and Nozomi, and the fleeting yet beautiful moments they have. For now, the movie introduces us to its key visual, preview stills and some details about the movie in general.

Studio: Kyoto Animation (Creators of Clannad)

Genre: Music, Drama, School

Preview

Mahou Shoujo Ore

(Magical Girl Ore)

This story is about a 15-year-old girl who is a newbie idol in love with her best friend's brother who is also a popular idol. But she runs into a scary yakuza guy and finds out that her mother was an ex-magical girl, and the yakuza guy was her mascot. Her love interest gets kidnapped by demons that look like burly men with cute squirrel heads. So she contracts the yakuza to become a magical girl, which in this story means she turns into a handsome guy in a magical girl outfit. On top of that, her love interest shows an attraction toward her magical guy form. Her best friend turns out to be in love with her and also becomes a magical cross-dressing guy to save her life.

Thus, their manager, who is a magical girl geek, then decides to turn them into an idol unit.

Studio: Pierrot Plus (Creators of Tokyo Ghoul:re)

Genre: Comedy, Magic, Fantasy

Preview

Mahou Shoujo Site

(Magical Girl Site)

Aya Asagiri is a middle school girl who has problems both at school with bullying and at home from physical abuse by her brother. While browsing online, a website pops up on her computer featuring a creepy looking person. This person appears to take pity on her, and announces that she has granted Asagiri magical powers.

Studio: production doA

Genre: Drama, Horror, Psychological, Supernatural

Preview

Persona 5 the Animation

Ren Amamiya is about to enter his second year after transferring to Shujin Academy in Tokyo. Following a particular incident, his Persona awakens, and together with his friends they form the “Phantom Thieves of Hearts” to reform hearts of corrupt adults by stealing the source of their distorted desires.

Meanwhile, bizarre and inexplicable crimes have been popping up one after another…Living an ordinary high school life in Tokyo during the day, the group maneuvers the metropolitan city as Phantom Thieves after hours.Let the curtain rise for this grand, picaresque story!

Studio: A-1 Pictures (Creators of Sword Art Online and Blue Exorcist)

Genre: Action, Supernatural, Fantasy

Preview

Piano no Mori (TV)

(Piano Forest)

A tranquil tale about two boys from very different upbringings. On one hand you have Kai, born as the son of a prostitute, who's been playing the abandoned piano in the forest near his home ever since he was young. And on the other you have Syuhei, practically breast-fed by the piano as the son of a family of prestigious pianists. Yet it is their common bond with the piano that eventually intertwines their paths in life.

Studio: Fukushima Gainax

Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Music, School, Seinen

Preview

Saredo Tsumibito wa Ryuu to Odoru

(Dances with the Dragons)

The series takes place in an alternate world, staged mostly in the city of Eridana, whose territory is half in the Tseberun Dragon Empire, and half in the Lapetodes Seven Cities Alliance. Each half is separated by the Orielal River. In this world, special abilities called spell formulas (咒式, jushiki) exist, which are essentially chemical reactions augmented through special weapons that cause a magic spell-like effect. These special weapons are called Magic Staff weapons, and are as varied as regular weapons are. Spell formulists use these spell formulas to fight with "Beasts of Abhorrent Form," natural creatures that use spell formulas and pose a threat to humans, such as Dragons, Aions, or Enormes. The story focuses on the two main characters, Gaius Sorel and Gigina Ashley-Bufh, the only two employees of spell formulist dispatch office Ashley-Bufh & Sorel Co. They are met with a variety of requests from a variety of clients, all requiring the adept use of spell formulas.

Studio: Seven Arcs Pictures (Creators of Basilisk: Ouka Ninpouchou)

Genre: Action, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi

Preview

Sayonara no Asa ni Yakusoku no Hana wo Kazarou

(Let's Decorate the Promised Flowers in the Farewell Morning)

The story begins with Maquia, who is from a family where all the members stop aging in their mid teens. She has no parents and, although her days are peaceful, she feels lonely. Their peace is shattered when an army invades, seeking the secret to her people's immortality. Leilia, the most beautiful girl in her clan, is taken away, and the boy Maquia has secret feelings for disappears. Maquia is able to escape, but she loses her friends and her home. Wandering alone in the forest, she finds Erial, a baby boy who has lost his parents. The story follows the changing relationship between the two as Erial grows up and Maquia does not.

Studio: P.A. Works (Creators of Angel Beats!)

Genre: Drama, Fantasy

Preview

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