Photokano; Fun At Cetain Points, But Ultimately Boring

Photokano Quickie Review

By James U.

Photokano is an anime adaptation of a visual novel published by Kadokawa Games, and started airing April 5, 2013. It’s a slice of life/harem/ecchi title with photography as one of the main themes.

Maeda Kazuya is a friendly high school student who is given a camera from his dad. He takes it up as a hobby and encounters several girls who become his friends that would sometimes model for him. It’s as slice of life as slice of life can be, with the exception of being constantly bombarded by hot women. While it does have its fun points, I ultimately had to drop it because it was utterly boring. I’m not planning on making a speculative review since I didn’t make it past the third episode.

Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo Review

By James U.

Review at a Glance:

Rating:

5 out of 5

A well-written, and well-executed story with unexpected twists not native to the genre.

Highest Point:

All the major characters are deep and memorable; each of them bearing a particular weight that haunts them throughout the series. The characters deal with them as a normal person their age would (with acceptable exaggerations) and their growth is apparent without breaking character.

Lowest Point:

Some forced fanservice at the beginning of the anime give off the impression that it’s a run-of-the-mill ecchi title. It fades away quickly enough after the 4th or 5th episode, though it pops up every now and then.

Recommendation:

This anime has excellent writing and top-notch storytelling, the comedy is great, the drama is even better, and the voice acting is superb. I’ve got way too many good things to say about this title that it’s hard for me to make a sex joke. So yeah, I totally recommend watching it.

Overview

Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo (The Pet Girl of Sakurasou) is a romantic comedy/drama/slice of life anime in a high school setting. It’s a 24-episode anime adaptation of a light novel of the same name, originally penned by Kamoshida Hajime, which aired from October 9, 2012 to March 26, 2013. The anime is directed by Ishizuka Atsuko, who doesn’t have much under her belt, though she directed most of the episodes of Supernatural’s anime adaptation.

Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo Quickie Review

By James U.

High school students and a bunch of pussies. What's not to like?

Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo (The Pet Girl of Sakurasou) is a romantic comedy / slice of life anime adaptation of a manga written by Kamoshida Hajime. This is perhaps one of the best anime of its genre that I’ve seen, and it’s been freakin’ ages since I’ve seen a good one. I’ll be sure to write a full review once it finishes.

UPDATE: Here's the link to the full review.

Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru (OreShura) Speculative Review

By James U.

Speculative Review at a Glance:

Rating as of Episode 5: 
2 out of 5
Multi-dimensional characters in a terrible story.

Highest Point:
Masuzu is one of the more interesting characters I’ve encountered in recent anime. She’s got a lot of complexities about her that make most of her actions difficult to predict and her motivations hard to read.

Lowest Point:

An important plot point felt completely out of place. What’s worse is that it keeps getting referenced and exploited, but is so poorly executed that it comes off as unnecessary (and worse, unfunny). The anime could still theoretically survive if the details of that plot point had been changed completely.

Recommendation:

OreShura has some interesting characters and ideas set up from the beginning, but ultimately fails in execution. If you’re willing to put up with that for the sake of watching the characters grow, then go ahead. Otherwise, steer clear from this terrible title.

Overview

Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru (My Girlfriend and Childhood Friend Fight Too Much) is an anime adaptation of a romantic comedy/harem light novel series written by Yuji Yuji (I’m not kidding, that’s the dude’s name). It began airing January 6, 2013. The anime is directed by Kamei Kanta who’s involved in titles like Blood+, Ergo Proxy, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, among others. I seriously don’t know what he’s doing here. Granted, this is his third time as a director; his first being Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike (2009) followed by Usagi Drop (2011). So yeah, what the hell is he doing here? The anime is also called OreShura for short.

Sword Art Online Review

By Alex M.

Review at a Glance:

Rating: 3 out of 5

An interesting premise in a not-oft used setting which is somewhat ruined by a mediocre cast and plot.

Highest point: The implications are astounding. What if MMO’s were for realz? Barring a massive sociological experiment, Sword Art Online might yet be our closest guess.

Lowest point: Spot-the-hentai subplots. Many of the subplots and minor character archetypes appear to have been ripped directly from animated erotica (especially in the second season), ruining the gravity SAO appears to be going for.

Recommendation: SAO is intriguing but ultimately insubstantial. It starts strong but ends poorly, watch the first season and skip the second.

Overview

Sword Art Online (ソードアート・オンライン) is an Action Science-Fantasy anime produced by A-1 Pictures Inc. under the direction of Tomohiko Ito, of Seikimatsu okaruto gakuin (Occult Academy). It began airing in July of 2012 and is based off of an incredibly popular series of light novels of the same name. Sword Art Online was the top selling light novel series in Japan for 2012 and was authored by Kawahara Reki, the man behind the Dengeki Novel Prize-winning: Accel World.