By Any Other Name Would Smell As Sweet

If no one has gotten the title, this next anime is related to Shakespeare. This anime is called Romeo x Juliet. Obviously it's based off the famous Shakespearean play, but trust me when I say that it's really great.

The story follows young Juliet, a citizen of Neo Verona who masquerades as a boy called Odin for an unknown reason and fights against nobles abusing their power by becoming a masked Robin Hood character known as "The Red Whirlwind". While attending a ball with a friend, she meets Romeo who she falls in love with at first sight. Her sixteenth birthday approaches, and it is revealed that Juliet is really Juliet Fiammatta Ars De Capulet, the last surviving member of the Capulet family that was massacred in a bloody coup d'état led by the house of Montague, which makes Juliet remember the night 14 years ago when she saw her parents murdered in front of her eyes. This only makes it worse when she finds out that the boy she fell in love with is Romeo Candore De Montague. While trying to lead a rebellion against Leontes Montague, head of the Montague family and prince of Neo Verona, Juliet faces challenges of her identity as The Red Whirlwind, keeping her real identity as a Capulet a secret, and trying to manage her love for her Romeo. What will become of these star-crossed lovers?

I haven't watched the entire series and I feel like I should have before making a review, but I like the series enough to do so. This anime version of the famous play is by far the best version out of all the versions of Romeo and Juliet I have seen. It even includes references to other Shakespearean plays and other characters from his plays. Even William Shakespeare is a character for a little comic relief as he's a procrastinating playwright. With a great combination of drama, fantasy and romance, this anime is by far one of the best ones I've seen so far.

~Liz~

Language of Flowers

My sister was told to watch this anime some time back and I got myself hooked on it as well. Its name is Shuffle! (The exclamation mark is part of the title).

This story is set in a fictional universe in which humans live in peace with gods(have slightly pointed ears) and demons(very pointed ears). Both races are equally kind and for ten years, people have been immigrating between worlds.

The series focuses around seventeen year old high school student, Rin Tsuchimi who attends the multi-racial high school National Verbena Academy. Eight years ago he lost his parents to a car accident that also took the mother of his friend, Kaede Fuyou. Around the same time after he began living with Kaede, he met two mysterious girls at different times by the names of Lisianthus (Sia for short) and Nerine who accompanied their fathers during business meetings. After becoming lost in the human world, Rin befriended them and made them happy.

Eight years later, Sia and Nerine transfer to his school, and Rin becomes a marriage candidate for both of them while other girls he knows seek him as well for a potential boyfriend. Who will Rin choose: Sia, the princess of the Realm of the Gods, Nerine, the princess of the Realm of the Demons, Kaede, Rin's childhood friend, or even Asa, the energetic "Shocking Shigure"?

Watch and find out!

I used the title because there are a lot of allusions to flowers in this anime. Anyway...

This anime is kinda for more mature audiences cause there is some nudity. But if you're able to get past that, the story's really good. Another good recommendation.

~Liz~

Chiiiiiii

I added another anime to Netflix that I thought would be good, and I got completely hooked on it. Name of anime: Chobits.

Centered around the life of Hideki Motosuwa, he is a held back student trying to qualify to be in a university by studying at a prep school in Tokyo. He dreams of having a persecom: a computer in the form of a person (hence name). He didn't think his dream would be granted when he finds a persecom in the form of a beautiful girl with long blonde hair lying with a pile of garbage bags. After carrying her home and turning her on, she instantly adores Hideki and can only say the word "chi" which becomes her name. After trying to have her analyzed twice and having six persecoms crash in the attempt, it is confirmed that Chi is a custom-built persecom. It was even suggested that Chi could be one of the Chobits: a type of persecom that is able to have its own free will and possess emotions. Though it's a possibility, it's only a rumor.

As the series progresses, Hideki teaches Chi many words, concepts, and different behaviors. As this happens, Chi slowly begins having mysterious functions come out and even starts developing feelings for Hideki that she's not supposed to have. Even Hideki slowly starts having feeling for Chi as well despite the experiences his friends had with persecoms. Could Chi be one of the Chobits?

This anime is a very cute romantic comedy and of course very hilarious. Really want anyone who has read this to definitely watch this anime.

~Liz~

And I'm Back!

So for the first anime review in forever on here, I've chosen the anime Soul Eater which I've been recommended to watch by many people.

Set in the fictional city of Death City, a school exists to protect the world against evil souls called kishin and witches that have a taste for bringing destruction to the world. This school is known as the Death Weapon Meister Academy, or the DWMA for short and was created by the grim reaper, Death. This anime follows three of the students and their weapon partners: Maka Albarn with her scythe Soul Eater, Black Star with his shadow weapon Tsubaki, and Death the Kid with his twin guns Liz and Patty. The goal of all meisters is for their weapons to absorb 99 kishin souls and the soul of one witch so the weapons will have the power to become a death scythe, a weapon able to be used by a grim reaper. As these meisters work to make their weapons death scythes, they also work to fight against forces who wish for anarchy and world destruction.

I love this anime cause it's both funny and serious at the same time, so even if during a really important fight there is still some comedic relief. The characters are really great both in and out of action. I even got my sister hooked on it too because it's pretty easy to follow even if you're in the middle of the series. So like all my other friends that told me so, I tell you to go watch it!

~Liz~

I will not stop walking

I think this will be my last review for a while since I'm kinda out of animes to review. I promise I'll watch as much anime as I can and make a new post as soon as possible. But now I'll do a review on an anime called D.Gray-man.

D.Gray-man follows 15-year-old Allen Walker, an exorcist for an organization of other exorcists called the Black Order. His left arm can transform into a huge, monstrous claw that destroys Akuma(Japanese for demon), evolving machines that kill humans and are controlled by a man known as the Millennium Earl. The Black Order's goal is to stop this Millennium Earl and recover pieces of Innocence, a substance which gives exorcists their ability to destroy Akuma. To prevent them from doing so, the Earl works with the Noah Family, who are superhuman descendants of Noah(the man who built the huge ark) and are able to destroy the Innocence. As the story progresses, both the Black Order and the Millennium Earl with the Noah Family search for a powerful piece of Innocence known as the Heart, which assures victory to the side that finds it.

This anime is pretty long and there are some fillers which are actually pretty funny, but the story and characters are really great. It's kinda like Naruto or Bleach in which it's pretty lengthy but it's really good to watch.

~Liz~

When the Cicadas Cry

For my next anime review, it will be on an anime called Higurashi no Naku Koro ni or When They Cry in English dub.

Set in a fictional village of Hinamizawa in June 1983, Keiichi Maebara moves there and befriends his classmates Rena Ryugu, Mion Sonozaki, Rika Furude, and Satoko Houjou. As he hangs out with them in their after school activities, he sees Hinamizawa as a peaceful rural village. That is until the annual Watanagashi(Cotton-Drifting) Festival passes, in which the villagers pay their respects to their local god, Oyashiro-sama.

He finds out that each year at the night of the festival, a person dies and another person goes missing. Eventually, Keiichi's drawn into the strange mysteries of the Watanagashi Festival, Oyashiro-sama, and the mysterious pasts of his new friends.

Now there are different story arcs in this series where different scenarios of these events occur. Now why this happens is further explain in the sequel series Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai where it focuses around the character Rika Furude and a mysterious spirit named Hanyuu, and it explains why different story arcs occur.

Unlike most of the other animes I've reviewed, this anime is very brutal and violent, showing very graphic violence. I only had one scene out of the entire series make me flinch, but if you're very squeamish with blood and violence in anime then you may wanna steer clear of this anime.

Despite the violence displayed, the plot's great to follow and keeps you wanting to watch more.

~Liz~

Pastaaaaa

So I have a couple animes I can still do reviews on before I need to get watching more anime again. So for today's review, it's on Hetalia: Axis Powers.

The entire series and its sequel series, World Series, shows comedic interpretations of political and historical events, mostly on World War II. The countries are represented by stereotyped anthropomorphic characters and its main characters are the same countries that were a part of the Axis Powers and the Allies of WWII: Italy, Germany, Japan, America, England, France, Russia, and China. All historical, political, and military interaction between countries is represented as social and/or romantic interaction between characters.

The thing with this series is that fact that each episode is literally five minutes long and can probably irritate someone, but despite this, Hetalia is a very hilarious anime to get hooked on. It has some mature themes such as France trying to be romantic with other characters but the stereotyping is funny as well.

For anyone who's in need of a good laugh, I recommend Hetalia.

~Liz~