Anime Hajime Review: Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai. Reader discretion is advised.***

Series Synopsis

Love is a funny thing. You can spend your whole life looking for that special someone. To only then have that person appear when you least expect it.

Romantic as that may be, it’s but another day in the city of Yanagihara. Here we meet three people different in every way. Except they have more in common than you can imagine.

The first person is Takashi Haneda (voiced by Hiro Shimono). He's calm, shy, and doesn’t like being the center of attention. His kindness has grabbed the admiration of his classmate, Asuka Watari (voiced by Mayumi Yoshida). The two first paired up out of a mutual benefit. Yet over the years, their relationship has only grown.

The second person is Shusuke Chitose (voiced by Hiroaki Miura). Loud and outgoing, is a freelance writer.  His latest assignment is reviewing the newest book from Hiyoko Tamaizumi (voiced by Ryoko Ono).

The third person is Hayato Narita (voiced by Junichi Suwabe). A night owl, he spends most of his time fulfilling odd jobs around the city. His latest gig comes from Naru Ohtori (voiced by Yuko Goto) who is looking for her lost bicycle. Naru isn't intimidated by Hayato’s rough demeanor and enjoys spending time with him.

Anime Hajime Review: Ookami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Ookami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji

Series Synopsis

Erika Shinohara (voiced by Kanae Ito) is a chronic liar. And her fibs often backfire immediately. One day, she spread tales of her exploits with her nonexistent boyfriend. She manages to keep up the façade for a while, but her stories become far too extravagant.

Unwilling to expose herself, Erika takes a photo of a random guy as proof of her boyfriend’s existence. Unfortunately, the boy is, Kyoya Sata (voiced by Takahiro Sakurai). Someone who happens to attend her school. Plus, he's a huge idol amongst female students.

Determined to keep up the charade, Erika confronts Kyoya. She asks if he would be willing to pose as her boyfriend. To her shock, he agrees. Yet it came at a great cost.

As it turns out, Kyoya’s kind, gentle personality was hiding a much darker, more sadistic nature. He begins blackmailing Erika and treats her as his pet.

Though cold, Kyoya does show a reliable side. This causes Erika to develop true feelings for him. Soon the two start to act more like a couple. Even if it means Erika must put up with Kyoya's perpetual teasing.

Anime Hajime Review: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. Reader discretion is advised.***

Series Synopsis

It’s June 1983 in the village of Hinamizawa. Once again it is time for the annual Watanagashi Festival. Though the town is buzzing with anticipation, there’s a noticeable sense of dread in the air. For the past four years, on the day of the festival, a person has died while another has disappeared.

These events are unknown to the town’s newest resident, Keiichi Maebara (voiced by Soichiro Hoshi). Despite his recent arrival, he has managed to befriend several of his classmates.

Rena Ryugu (voiced by Mai Nakahara) loves all things cute and is kind to everyone. Yet underneath she hides a ferocious, violent short fuse.

Mion and Shion Sonozaki (both voiced by Satsuki Yukino) are twins from the towns highest family. The sisters remain close. Although, family politics often force them against each other.

Sotoko Houjou (voiced by Mika Kanai) and Rika Furude (voiced by Yukari Tamura) are a few years younger than Keiichi. They support each other since their families have been affected by the Watanagahsi Curse.

Anime Hajime Review: Serial Experiments Lain

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Serial Experiments Lain. Reader discretion is advised.***

Series Synopsis

Lain Iwakura (voiced by Kaori Shimizu) lives an uneventful and unremarkable life. She goes to school. She talks with friends. She goes home to eat dinner with her family. Day in, day out.

Then one day, an unsettling chain of emails make their way through Lain's school. These messages seem to be a bad joke since the sender had committed suicide. Lain has no real opinion on the matter. That is until she receives one of these emails. What it reads goes against the accepted story.

The message tells Lain the sender did not die. They only gave up their physical body. Their consciousness is still very much alive. As it exists in the Wired. The virtual world.

This entices Lain and she beings to delve into the Wired's inner workings. The deeper she goes and the more she sees, the less she understands.

Leaving Lain with one question. Is the virtual reality in fact true reality?

Anime Hajime Review: Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance. Reader discretion is advised.***

Series Synopsis

Daughters from the noblest of families attend the prestigious Areishia Spirt Academy. There they train to be elementalist; spirit summoners. Throughout history, women were the only ones capable of this ability. 

Thus, causing quite the stir when Kamito Kazehaya (voiced by Makoto Furukawa) demonstrates the unimaginable. A male who could contract spirits. The last man who could so was the Demon King one thousand years ago.

Kamito has come to Areishia Academy to take part in the sacred tournament known as Blade Dance. The victor not only brings honor to their homeland, but they’re granted a single wish.

During his stay, Kamito meets Claire Rouge (voiced by Ibuki Kido). He manages to anger her by making a contract with a spirit Claire had been hunting. Kamito soon garners the attention of several other powerful elementalist. And the spirit he contracted manifests itself as a young girl named Est (voiced by Ai Kakuma).

Kamito, Claire, and Est try to gather the allies needed to participate in the upcoming Blade Dance.

Anime Hajime Review: Angel Beats

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

Series Synopsis

Yuzuru Otonashi (voiced by Hiroshi Kamiya) wakes on the campus of an ordinary high school. Before him is a girl holding a large rifle. Her name is Yuri Nakamura (voiced by Harumi Sakurai).

Yuri tells Yuzuru he has died and he needs to trust her. She points another girl (voiced by Kana Hanazawa) standing in the school yard. Known as Angel, Yuri claims she is the enemy.

Skeptical, Yuzuru ignores the warning and walks down to Angel. To his shock, Angel confirms Yuzuru death. She also tells him that no one can die in this place. As proof, Angel stabs Yuzuru through the heart.

Once coming to, Yuzuru finds himself surrounded by Yuri and other students. They informed him that he is the newest recruit of the Shinda Sekai Sensen, a.k.a. the SSS. Their purpose, rebellion against God. And standing in their way is Angel.

Yuzuru, Yuri, and the rest of the SSS fight together to challenge God and defeat Angel.

Anime Hajime Review: Jinsei

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

Series Synopsis

Ayaka Nikaido (voiced by Rena Maeda) is the president of Kyuumon Academy’s Second News Club. Her newest goal is creating a life counseling section for her paper. She convinces club mate, Yuki Akamatsu (voiced by Yasuaki Takumi), to head the effort. To aid Yuki, Ayaka recruits students from different facets of school life.

From the Science Club is Rino Endo (voiced by Hiyori Nitta). Logical and bookish, she has great confidence in her intelligence. She struggles with charm. In turn, she comes off as cold and unapproachable. A reputation she has no problem maintaining.

From the Literature Club is Fumi Kujo (voiced by Moe Toyota). She always carries herself in an aura of culture and sophistication. She takes pride in coming up with the best solutions. Even if she does tend to overthink problems.

From the Sports Club is Ikumi Suzuki (voiced by Ayaka Suwa). Super hyperactive, she's an ace at all forms of physical activity. Ikumi never takes anything seriously. Her advice and demeanor are often quite childish.

And from the Art Club is Emi Murakami (voiced Saori Onishi). Aloof, she likes to go at her own pace. Except when painting. Then she becomes an unstoppable force of creativity.

Anime Hajime Review: Dragon Crisis

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

Series Synopsis

Ryuji Kisaragi (voiced by Hiro Shimono) isn’t all that remarkable. Quiet and reserved, he prefers to keep a low profile. This changes the day his cousin, Eriko Nanao (voiced by Yukana Nogami), returns to Japan.

Both Ryuji and Eriko have ties to the mysterious group known as the Society. This group’s main purpose is collecting mystic artifacts known as Lost Precious. To do so they use skilled hunters, known as Breakers. Eriko is now on the trail of a powerful S-rank Lost Precious.

The target is under the protection of the terrifying organization known as Fang. Eriko has dragged Ryuji along because he is one of only a handful of level ten Breakers.

The cousins get the jump on Fang and obtain a suitcase containing the supposed Lost Precious. During their escape, the case opens. Revealing something neither of them expected.

Inside is a young blond girl (voiced by Rie Kugimiya). The instant the girl sees Ryuji, she clings to him with a smile on her face. Once safe, Eriko asks how Ryuji knows the girl. He claims that he has never met her before. Eriko then notices a strange insignia on the back of the girl’s hand. The mark of the Red Dragon.