Plot: Arata is a boy born to the Hime clan. Hime women traditionally become the rulers of the land of Amawakuni. However, since there are no girls to succeed the current princess, Kikuri, Arata poses as a girl and goes to the appointment ceremony. There, he sees the princess nearly killed -- and is framed for her assassination. He escapes into the mysterious Kando forest; however, he gets swallowed up and sent to modern-day Japan...
Arata Hinohara is ready to start high school with a clean slate; but there's one problem: it seems he can't escape the bullying he faced in middle school from his ex-friend, Kadowaki. When Arata's new friend, Suguru, sides with Kadowaki and betrays him, Arata runs away. Suddenly, he finds himself in Amawakuni. Strangely, he is mistaken for the other Arata and taken in by a (pretty) girl named Kotoha and the other Arata's grandmother. When a man named Kannagi barges in and confronts him, Arata activates a special sword called a hayagami, thus becoming its wielder, or "sho". But Kannagi puts Arata under arrest for attempting to murder their princess -- a crime he didn't even commit! (A)
Characters: A-
Art & Animation: A
Voice Acting: Good cast choices thus far! (A)
Music: Sometimes a little overbearing (B+)
Objectionable Content: Blood, nudity, suggestive themes, profanity
Other: The plot and the world will suck you right in. The characters, both major and minor, are interesting, too.
The anime has changed a couple elements so far, but it's a pretty good adaptation. I wish they would have taken a few minutes to give the modern Arata stronger character, though.
Overall Score: A-
Plot: Nai is searching for his close friend, Karuko, using only the bracelet that he left behind as a clue. Somewhere along the way, Nai is captured, and a thief named Gareki rescues him. Afterward, the pair gets mixed up in a series of events, and Nai learns that the bracelet Karuko left behind is an out-of-date ID once used by a group called "Circus"... (A)
Characters: likeable, but they don't have much substance -- B-
Art & Animation: A-
Voice Acting: A-
Music: B+
Objectionable Content: Blood, suggestive material, profanity
Other: The anime caught my interest right away, so I looked up the manga too. There are some differences, but the anime adaptation is fairly close, though the characters are already a little stronger in the first couple chapters of the manga.
Overall Score: B+
Plot: A widowed mother struggles to build a normal life for herself and her two not-so-normal children -- who are both part wolf! (B)
Characters: The kids are utterly adorable! (B)
Art: A-
Objectionable Content: Suggestive themes
Other: The title translates to "Wolf Children: Ame And Yuki". The movie that was recently released is based on the manga.
Overall Score: B+
Plot: Chiyo Mihama is a ten-year-old prodigy recently transferred to high school. She quickly makes friends at her new school and has wacky adventures. (B)
Characters: Nothin' deep, but entertaining. (B+)
Art & Animation: B
Voice Acting: I favor the dub. (B+)
Music: C
Objectionable Content: Suggestive themes/innuendo, profanity
Other: An off-balance slice-of-life comedy driven by its crazy characters that comes from the same author as "Yotsuba&!". This one has some pretty awkward moments as well as extremely hilarious ones.
I have never read the manga.
Overall Score: B
Plot: Asuka Masamune appears to be a man's man -- strong, brave, skilled in kendo -- but he secretly loves cute, girly things like cooking, sewing and shojo manga! The girl he likes is Ryo Miyakozuka, who can't cook, loves martial arts and is heir to a dojo. (B-)
Characters: B
Artwork: Gets sloppy over time (B-)
Objectionable Content: Suggestive themes, mild profanity
Other: Starts fun (and a little awkward) and later becomes monotonous. The art quality also goes down over time.
Overall Score: B-
