Anime — hermiene.net

"I'd rather be a climbing ape than a falling angel."

About

These are the anime series that I've watched, and my thoughts about them. If you don't know, anime is Japanese cartoons, and its idiosyncrasies include big eyes, tons of comic relief, and exaggerated movements (characters can often jump superhumanly high and move superhumanly fast, akin to the wuxia genre in movies, but unlike wuxia, there's usually a logical reason for it). Admittedly I haven't watched much anime yet, but these are what I feel sets anime apart from Western cartoons. (This paragraph will be updated and/or corrected when I have watched more, naturally.)

Another thing that should be mentioned is that Japanese surnames come first and their given names last. So Suzuhara Misaki's name following the Western convention would be Misaki Suzuhara, but I'll use the Japanese one.

The anime series that I have watched

Angelic Layer

Summary
Suzuhara Misaki, a seventh grader, moves to Tokyo to live with her aunt. On her way she watches a sport called angelic layer, where robotic dolls are controlled telepathically and fight it out on a special layer (it is only on those layers that the dolls function). She becomes really inspired by watching it, and decides to enter the tournament.
Thoughts
I really sympathize with Misaki, and I really like the concept of telepathically controlled robots. As Misaki says, the reason she loves the sport is that age and size don't matter; what matters is how skillfully you can control the dolls. (Incidentally, Misaki is really clumsy in real life, as evident in the scenes featuring her trying to do gymnastics in school.) Some of the fight scenes are pretty repetitive, but this somehow manages not to be too boring (I think because of the comments she and the people around her make during the fights). The plot is continuous, so you should watch it all in order.

Blue Submarine No.6

Summary
In the future, water levels on Earth have risen and submerged most cities, and Zorndyke, a deluded scientist, has bred an army of marine animals to wipe out humanity. The only ones who can save it are the the blue class of submarines, spearheaded by No. 6.
Thoughts
This series is only four episodes long, so there isn't that much material to comment on. However, I'm not overly excited about this one. The CG water effects are very well done, but that's about all I can say that is positive. The voice acting is really bad, the story is kind of thin, and Zorndyke is more annoying than evil-looking.

Elfen Lied

Summary
A so-called diclonius is a mutant who is able to manipulate objects by way of what the series calls vectors, invisible “arms” that can easily slice things open or throw them (telekinesis). Scientists keep these locked up in cells, but one of them manages to escape, brutally murdering all security forces in the facility, and falling into the ocean. When she drifts ashore, her personality is split between the innocent and benevolent Nuuy, and the arrogant and violent Lucy.
Thoughts
This is a really cool series. It's extremely gory and uses nudity liberally, but since when were either of those bad things?

Full Metal Panic!

Summary
A high school girl named Chidori Kaname is targeted for kidnapping by a terrorist organisation, and Sagara Sousuke, a member of the anti-terrorist organization Mithril, is assigned to protect her. He goes undercover and poses as a student at Jindai High School, where his military attitude coupled with his suspision for everything not-Kaname delivers some hilarious scenes.
Thoughts
Sousuke's uptight attitude and obsession with protecting Kaname and Kaname's utter frustration with this attitude and obsession somehow manages to not get boring, and is paced really well.

Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu!

Summary
This is a companion series to the original Full Metal Panic. Its episodes are mostly stand-alone, with no serious plot to speak of; it's basically exploring the relationship between Kaname and Sousuke in an extremely humorous way.
Thoughts
I really enjoyed this.

Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid

Summary
This is a continuation of the story from Full Metal Panic. It's much more serious than FMP and more violent.
Thoughts
I really like how most of the characters have more, uh, character than in FMP, and I really like the new characters Xia Yu Fan and Xia Yu Lan. Some of the more serious scenes, such as the paranoid Kaname ones, became a little dull, but overall I very much enjoyed it.

Anime I want to watch