Anime Hajime Review: Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun. Reader discretion is advised.***

Series Synopsis

Shizuku Mizutani (voiced by Haruka Tomatsu) has only one interest in life, studying. Whatever's happening and whatever other people may be doing or thinking has no bearing on her.

One day, Shizuku must deliver the class printouts for a student who hasn't shown up since his recent fight. Unable to come up with an adequate reason to refuse the request, Shizuku heads of to get the job over and done with.

Shizuku meets the recluse and rumored dangerous student Haru Yoshida (voiced by Tatsuhisa Suzuki). Because of his reputation, Shizuku's astonished when Haru greets her as a friend. In fact one of his first friends.

After the faithful meeting, Haru rarely leaves Shizuku alone. All this comes to a head when Haru confesses his love for Shizuku. Since the only thing she has ever cared about is academics, Shizuku has no idea what do. She returns Haru’s feelings but doesn’t know how honest they are.

Shizuku, the Ice Queen, and Haru, the Monster, must work together to find out their feelings for one another.

Anime Hajime Review: Ore no Imoto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Ore no Imōto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai. Reader discretion is advised.***

Series Synopsis

Kyosuke Kosaka (voiced by Yuichi Nakamura) is your average teenage high school boy. Nothing all that spectacular, nothing all that impressive. His younger sister is another story.

Perfect grades, star of the track team, and successful model, Kirino Kosaka (voiced by Ayana Taketatsu) seems perfect. The complete opposite of her lackluster brother. As a result, the two’s relationship is a little strained. Then one day, Kyosuke makes a discovery that changes everything.

Lying on the hallway floor, Kyosuke finds a DVD case of well-known children’s anime. Inside, to his shock, is a copy of a hardcore little sister themed eroge (pornographic game). Deducing that it can only be one person’s, though unlikely, Kyosuke confronts Kirino.

Upset, but otherwise caught, Kirino admits that the game is hers. She braces for the mockery that she is sure is coming. Kyosuke says that while he's surprised, it’s something that he wouldn’t make fun of her over. Taken aback by what he just said, Kirino decides to let her brother know her most guarded secret. Kirino is, in fact, a full-fledged otaku with a deep-seated love for little sister eroges.

Despite the shocking revelation, Kyosuke decides to keep and protect his little sister’s secret.

Anime Hajime Review: Nekomonogatari Kuro

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Nekomonogatari Kuro and all previous entries in the Monogatari series. Reader discretion is advised.***

Series Synopsis

Our story takes place before the events of Bakemonogatari.

On the first day of Golden Week and Koyomi Araragi (voiced by Hiroshi Kamiya) gets a surprise wake-up call from his youngest sister Tsukihi (voiced by Yuka Iguchi). He takes the opportunity to ask his sister how he would know if he has fallen in love.

Koyomi explains that there is a girl in his class who he has started having feelings for. Tsukihi comes to the conclusion that her brother’s feelings are only sexual frustration. She suggests the best course of action would be for her brother to buy some porn magazines.

Koyomi heads off and runs into the girl he was concerned over, Tsubasa Hanekawa (voiced by Yui Horie). Although Tsubasa is wearing her usual smile, her left cheek is bandaged. Koyomi becomes infuriated when she confesses that her foster father had hit her. Wanting to keep the incident a secret, Tsubasa offers to grant one request. Koyomi says he'll stay silent if she allows him to heal her with his vampire blood.

Anime Hajime Review: Sukittie Ii Na Yo

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Sukittie Iinayo. Reader discretion is advised.***

Series Synopsis

For the past sixteen years, Mei Tachibana (voiced by Ai Kayano) has hesitated to get close to anyone. Past experiences with her so-called “friends” have ended in nothing but betrayal.

Mei's reserved demeanor has made her a social outcast, causing her classmates to look down on her. Yet, it was Mei's surprising honesty that caught the attention of Yamato Kurosawa (voiced by Takahiro Sakurai), the most popular boy in school.

Kurosawa confronts Mei about how interesting he finds her, but she dismisses the advance. Kurosawa refuses to give up and says that if Mei needs him at any time he’ll be there. Such an incident does occur. Through the circumstances of the moment, Kurosawa gives, or rather, takes Mei’s first kiss.

After that, Mei opens herself up to Kurosawa. She was able to experience her first romantic relationship. Not only that, Mei finally understood what it means to have friends.

Anime Hajime Review: Danganronpa - The Animation

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Danganronpa. Reader discretion is advised.***

Series Synopsis

Makoto Naegi (voiced by Megumi Ogata) heads off to start his first day at the prestigious Hope’s Peak Academy.  The school has built a reputation for shaping and producing the next leaders in a wide variety of fields. Naegi is doubtful if he belongs at such a top tier institution. Despite his reservations, he decides to give it his all. Upon entering the school, Naegi's entire world turns dark.

He awakens in an unknown location, along with fourteen other students.

No one knows how or why they're at this place. After a quick look around, they come to the conclusion that they are trapped. Meeting back up, they're all shocked when a strange teddy bear takes the stage. The creature introduces itself as Monokuma (voiced by Nobuyo Oyama), the Principle of Hope’s Peak Academy.

Monokuma explains that the students are part of a new type of academy. An academy where they will remain for the rest of their lives. This, of course, is not taken well by the students and they refuse to accept such an arrangement.

Monokuma, with a smile, reveals that there is a way to get out of the school. A person must successful murder one of their classmates without getting caught.

Anime Hajime Review: Fractale

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Fractale. Reader discretion is advised.***

Series Synopsis

In the far distant future, the world is like a perfect utopia. Manual labor is a relic of the past. Major diseases have been wiped out. No one is content with the idea of being tied to a single location. For a thousand years, mankind has lived under the veil of a virtual reality system known as Fractale. The system’s main purpose is to ensure the prosperity of humanity.

Living in his tiny home on the coast of a small island is a boy named Clain Necran (voiced by Yu Kobayashi). Clain’s a quiet lad who finds great enjoyment out of the old technology of the 21st century. Up to this point, he has been happy with living a peaceful existence. Then one day he witnesses a most unusual sight.

A girl named Phryne (voiced by Minami Tsuda) is being chased by a rather eccentric trio. Drawn by her beauty, Clain offers his help. Though grateful, Phryne disappears into the night without a word. But before leaving, she leaves Clain a mysterious pendant.

Upon examination, Clain realizes the trinket is storing a massive amount of digital data. Despite being an unfamiliar strand of code, he is able to activate the pendant. To his surprise, a holographic avatar of a ten-year-old girl appears.  Unlike any other virtual being, Clain is able to physically touch her.

Anime Hajime Review: Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun

***Warning, following may contain spoilers for Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun. Reader discretion is advised.***

Series Synopsis

Chiyo Sakura (voiced by Ari Ozawa) has found the courage to confess to her long-time crush, Umetaro Nozaki (voiced by Yuichi Nakamura). Under pressure from nerves and a lack of confidence, Sakura screws up. She proclaims her feelings not as a lover, but a fan. Nozaki stares at Sakura before realizing what any fan would want, an autograph.

Stunned by what just happened, without thinking Sakura agrees to join Nozaki at his home. There, she realizes Nozaki has actually had an eye on her for some time. Not in any romantic sense, though. Instead, he has admired Sakura’s artistic skills and wishes to make her one of his assistants.

Nozaki is a manga writer who goes by the pen name of Sakiko Yumeno. And he isn’t just any manga writer. He is the creator of the famous, and Sakura’s favorite, romance story Let’s Fall in Love.

Disappoint her confession ended in failure, Sakura accepts Nozaki’s offer.

Anime Ichiban: Top Ten Opening Themes in Anime

Criteria

Anime openings are often weird for the sake of being weird. They can have little to nothing to do with the actual show.

Yet this is not a constant. There are examples of times where I want to watch the opening number. That got me thinking, why do I do that? What makes an outstanding opening theme?

I came to the conclusion that:

1. It needs to grab your attention immediately.

2. It needs to stick with you, not just after the episode but after the entire series.

3. You must be able to recognize it on its own if encountered outside its series.

4. It must get you excited to watch the show.

With those in mind here are my Top Ten Opening Themes in Anime

Before getting to the main list, it's important to note that it wasn't easy to narrow down ten.

There are just so many outstanding contenders that I want to include, but can’t. So to make this list a bit longer and stretch the meaning of the word ten, here are two honorable mentions.

Anime Hajime Review: Nisemonogatari

***WARNING: Nisemonogatari is a sequel to Bakemonogatari. The following may contain spoilers to Bakemonogatari as well as Nisemonogatari. Reader discretion is advised. ***

Series Synopsis

Koyomi Araragi (voiced by Hiroshi Kamiya) is a captive in an unknown location. Dazed, he sees his girlfriend, Hitagi Senjogahara (voiced by Chiwa Saito), is in the room. Hitagi admits that she is the one who kidnapped him and claims it was necessary for his own protection.

Earlier that day, Koyomi met a mysterious man who began asking him strange questions. That encounter led to the imprisonment.

According to Hitagi, that man is dangerous and will only cause trouble. She doesn’t want to risk Koyomi getting involved with that man no matter the cost.

Koyomi then receives a distressing text about his eldest younger sister, Karen Araragi (voiced by Eri Kitamura). Fearing the worst, Koyomi breaks free from his bindings with the help of his vampire strength.

Karen is suffering from a horrible fever. Both Koyomi's youngest sister, Tsukihi Araragi (voiced by Yuka Iguchi), and close friend, Tsubasa Hanekawa (voiced by Yui Horie) are looking after her. Upon learning of the situation, Koyomi leaves to cool off.

While relaxing Koyomi gets a visit from Shinobu Oshino (voiced by Maaya Sakamoto); the vampire who bit him. Shinobu explains that Karen does not have any normal fever, but is infected by a lethal oddity.