Steins;Gate Montage Neurosis | Q's Anime Video Review

A Progressive Grind Through Okabe & Makise Kurisu's Thrilling Journey Through Time, With Confrontational, Subtle Yet Robust Drama ~ To my knowledge no one else asides White Fox has made an anime including time travel since and better.

Our first of many more Youtube video's to come ~

Shinsekai Yori (From The New World) | Q's Anime Review

Timely Romanticism & Compelling Mystery
Shinsekai Yori (25 Episodes Single Season) 8.82 out of 10 Stars

Shinsekai Yori (From The New World) is a deeply personal memorandum that covers Saki's raw, unfiltered & spotted story in navigating through friendship, love, tragedy. Where the story is compelling, unique and beautiful in it's sense of culture & adventure - It is equally terrifying, disturbing and heartbreaking. In that beneath the utopic & pleasant offset is an underlying mystery & the horrifying evils necessary to preserve it. The sense of Karma is unmistakable as Yusuke Kishi's masterwork which took 30 years of planning is brilliant, being that for the initially pleasant & hopelessly innocent childhood Saki & her friends are able to enjoy and even what the entire foundation that the archipelago of Japan is built upon in this post modern society, was rudely founded upon the horrifying sacrifice of countless innocents and the backs of many more countless slaves, along with a millennia of meaningless slaughter. Being where Saki's entire idea life in the village consisting of romance, friendship and adventure, Saki & friend's unquestioned existence is ripped completely apart. As their innocent curiosity is the violent catalyst that unfolds the buried horrifying origins of humanity, their village, queerats and Cantus, secrets that all are forbidden from learning.

Yusuke Kishi
[Author & Original Creator]

This being the first of many steps of a simple, yet humble queerat's decade long plot to rein the fires of catastrophe over the ignorant existence of humanity & the entire archipelago of Japan. Shinsekai Yori is a beautifully haunting and a emotionally violent story that questions humanity, revealing the base instincts that come even from those with the godlike powers that the people of Kamisu District 66 call Cantus. Depicting how we still yet try to put ourselves above other species to justify our means and hypocrisy, at all humanities attempts to separate ourselves from the likes of animals and other sapient beings, even if we can't escape from our most base of instincts no matter how much we dabble with intellectual pursuits, politics & perhaps our perception of morality. Where Group One's youthful innocence of experiencing timeless moments of joy & friendship, is washed over by a horrifying wave of secrets & tragic events to which they'd never see their world the same again.

Welcome to The New World ~

Clannad | Q's Anime Review & Commentary

A Potent Life Encompassing Story of Youth, Innocence, Love, Loss & Romance 
Clannad (47 Episodes 2 Ova's Two Seasons)8.78 out of ten

Angst, heartbreak, regret, innocence, teardrops, youth.. This is Clannad. A potent part of the Kyoto and Key holy trinity and arguably the best out of the three. While I like many others continue to follow Kyoto animation as well as Key, I feel that Clannad really became a foundational staple for both both parties marking a fine eye point in both their catalogues regarding the shared success and critical reception of Clannad. As when most of us think about the absolute best works from Kyo Ani & Key, a lot of us look back at Kyo Ani & Key's partnership in the early to mid 2000's as the most fond, where the stars seemingly alined and where the majority people would tip their hat in respect to both the visual novel and anime medium in what they are both capable of in terms of telling a story.

Jun Maeda
[Lead Scenario Writer &]
[Music Composition]

While not the first project of the Kyo Ani/Key relationship, there's no doubt in mind that it was the most significant, being that it was the culmination and the fruits of their labour that would mark the end of the Kyo Ani x Key saga and would begin Kyoto Animation's new beginning of carving their path into becoming the most beloved & respected animation force in the industry today. Being that one of the three main scenario writers for Clannad Jun Maeda felt as if his work on Key's last project "Air" was difficult for some viewers to understand, feeling a duty to write Clannad so it'd be easier to understand & receive, in that he championed the creative process behind Clannad's scenario as the most ambitious of his work.

"Clannad is a wall I can never cross again" Jun Maeda [October 11, 2007 Degeki G's Magazine]

In my mind Clannad was the most honest and life encompassing story of the three, & while it has more than it's fair share of going through the motions of established cliche's and narrative loops that concerns the Moe/Slice of life genre in general, what separates Clannad from most of it's peers and predecessors is that the story goes through the natural succession beyond the closet of a story set strictly in a high school setting. As Clannad is Tomoya's life encompassing story of love, joy, regret and tragedy, with beautiful mix of setting and character driven story that's equally atmospheric as it is goofy and sweet. It's a patient family soap opera that sets the stage for it's climatic moments early on through it's details and composition of the individual stages of the story, in how they connect and empower one another. As Jun Maeda & Fumuhiko Shimo we're able to bring the story to a full circle while maintaining a subliminal progression and tempo, having each moment resonate while keeping in mind the composition of the emotional flow, dynamic and flavour of the series throughout the span of 47 episodes. As Clannad is arguably the Pinnacle of the Nakige genre.

Kara No Kyoukai (The Garden Of Sinners) | Q's Anime Review

A Complete Series Anthology - Mythical, Complicated, Yet Beautifully Compelling
Kara No Kyoukai (8 Films - 2 Shorts/Specials) 8.34 out of 10 Stars

Kara No Kyoukai was a incredibly breathtaking & mythical production for it's time, marking Hikaru Kondo's Ufotable breakout animation that garnered national attention with team Ufotable's dazzling post production digital effects and CGI - First alongside the rise of it's other peers such as the revamped Shaft with team Shinbo on Bakemonogatari & Naoko Yamada's K On from Kyo Ani. Lately I've talking alot about the early & mid 2000's transition period into incorporating digital colouring techniques (Otherwise known as Digipaint) & CG - And while it certainly was a rough transition, that changed everything from broadcasting standards, production flows to introducing the beginning of the Bluray and DVD format wars, it also so happens to mark the rise of yet another animation tour de force in Ufotable's heavily emphasized post production digital effects and CGI, animating the hesitant Nasu Kinoko's Kara No Kyoukai light novels originally self published online some 18 - 19 years ago. You see, in the years following Nasu Kinoko's amateur debut as a writer, his work was later on edited and refined for official release by the publisher Kodansha in 2004. In that the popularity of his works garnered interest from the animation industry to adapt his works, though he was quick to decline, citing that he just felt that Kara No Kyoukai was never meant to be filmed or animated, being that he felt, if it was animated in to a TV series, audiences attention spans would wane & it would be hard to understand, having to condense and compress way to much of the original story, into enjoyable 20 minute segments that could carry on from a weekly basis -

"Certain people have been wanting to make Kara no Kyoukai into an anime for a while now, but it isn't a story which really lends itself to being filmed, so I always turned them down." - Kinoko Nasu [Akiba Blog September 2007]

The same could be said of a standalone movie as well, though later on he was approached by Kondansha's Oota Katsushi with an offer Kinoko Nasu couldn't refuse - 

"..."I was thinking of teaming up with Aniplex and ufotable and making Kara no Kyoukai into a consecutive seven-movie release; what do you think?" It was such an off-the-wall idea that I got caught up in the enthusiasm; the offer was so awesome that turning it down seemed rude, so I agreed readily." - Oota Katsushi's offer according to Kinoko Nasu [Akiba Blog September 2007]

Kinoko Nasu
[Original Creator]

Hikaru Kondo
[President & Producer]

10 years later, after much confusion & negative press over the non linearity of Kara No Kyoukai's lack of a chronological order, we're left with a modern day classic & a touch stone to the one of few animation breakouts within the 2007-2009 that challenged the entire industry to eventually make the full transition into incorporating the related digital processes into animator work flows. Not only that, but now that the dust has settled, and we have each of the 10 films (depends on how you count) laid out before us, has it really held up to facet of time? Does our unexpected heroine Shiki & Kokuto's story of finding identity, navigating morality & reconditioning the heart still hold it's same magic as it did once before?

Today were taking a special deep dive here to find out exactly what up - 10 years later

Bokurano: Ours | Q's Anime Review & Commentary

An Interesting, Salacious & Juicy take on a Myriad of Individuals 
Bokurano:Ours (24 Episodes Single Season) 8.58 out of 10 Stars


Bokurano Truly just about has a little bit of everything, there's a dash of a darker taboo of romance, has family dynamics, a little bit of comedy along the way, as well as being heavy in drama in it's science fiction & physiologically idiosyncratic premise. Though there's also more plush and sublime moments of happiness and peace, enough to actually bring me to tears on occasion, having the depth and urgent subject matter to sway my heart into a state of emergency. In Bokurano we have a full cast of characters that initially had me intrigued from the first episode, you'll find yourself asking " who's he/she, there's something interesting going on there, I want to learn more about his/her story" etc. Especially since the character designs are so humanely depicted in the most ordinary sense of the word. From the lush green environments, the city gardens, to the giant robots, this is something that you just look at and accept, and I feel that's a very key component to have.

From the start we're introduced to a gorgeous opening theme, with great lyrics, vocals, percussion, a tickle of synth & some guitar, just a little bit of every thing. I stepped back thinking "yes I've heard this somewhere before" such as Neon Geneiss Evangellion's soundtrack, or "Cyber bird" from Yoko Kanno's work on Ghost in the shell SAC. Coincidently, if you've watched both of those series, with both of their heavily Sci fi, idiosyncratic and psychological premises, you should absolutely check out how much Bokurano has to offer.. 

Death Parade | Q's Anime Review & Commentary

A Madhouse Parallel : Death, Regret & Loss
Death Parade (12 Episodes Single Season 1 Ova)  8.47 out of 10


Death Parade in Winter 2015 was heartfelt, vivid & thrilling, with some occasional laughs & smiles along the way - Padding on even more juicy content to aide Madhouse's comeback montage from the grave. After Madhouse's exodus of both long time in house staff, founders and animators alike, many were left to quietly ponder what was next for the future of the animation giant Madhouse, loosing key creative talent Satoshi Kon after passing away in 2010 due to pancreatic cancer, leaving Co Founder and Key producer Masao Murayama with Kon's incomplete film - "Dreaming machine" which still remains 1/3rd done to this day due to financial difficulties, eventually leaving Madhouse to create studio MAPPA in hopes of one day completing it. After a novel anime such as Tatami Galaxy in 2010, the rest of the season was filled with uninspired & ill received marvel universe adaptations & sequels, which led to Madhouse remaining in a slump for the rest of the year & continuing so 2011 onwards. Until October, where Madhouse started rebuilding, slowly starting to getting the ball rolling once again with the Chihayafuru adaptation with remaining talents such as Morio Asaka being lead director - Directing one of my personal favourites of all time. A great start with Chihayafuru slowly but surely led to a string of other successes throughout 2012 & 2013 with series such as Btooom!

Eventually leading on to beginning Madhouse's red hot streak throughout 2014-2015, that had Madhouse booming with success with key adaptations of various titles, rewarding the loyalty & efforts to recuperate and rebuild Madhouse once again as a prominent and leading figure within the animation industry. While perhaps no longer a haven for both populist & contemporarily experimental productions, Madhouse was shockingly able to actually improve upon their past standards & loss of in house talents in a relatively short span of time, evidently reaching a fine eye point in terms of animation quality. Along with such transitional efforts, with series such as Death Parade & One Punch Man, not only is Madhouse keeping it fresh & entertaining, they're making a return to form, by keeping it emotional, with their tried & true traditions of good storytelling.

Death Parade stands testament to that - A story about Death, Regret & Loss,
 A Parallel to what Madhouse as a studio has had to deal within these past few years.

Attack On Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) | Q's Anime Review

Robust Characters, Transient Dynamism & Action Packed Intensity
Attack On Titan - Shingeki no Kyojin (37 Episodes 2 Seasons 5 Ova's - 8.56 out of 10 Stars)

Attack on Titan skyrocketed into ethers of popularity, penetrating pop culture after it's anime debut & with good reason because it's Jam packed with stimulating and excellently choreographed high action animation scenes. Being absolutely fearless when it comes to the  acrobatic like camera movement & tracking, as Attack on Titan being adapted from the popular and well off manga illustrated and written by Hajime Isayama. First let me just tell you that S*%# happens... Fast.... Though rest assured I'll try my best not spoil any of the fresh produce. I do feel this series got a good jump start, lots of things going for it, and since the Second Instalment has been released, I thought I'd revisit and spend more time with this series.

On the surface Attack on Titan seemingly is an eventful roller coaster of brutal violence, eye blinking impact & neurotic intensity, where  humanity lives in fear of these towering humanoid cannibals - dubbed the Titans/Kyojin - An innumerable horde which dedicate their existence to solely prey on their much smaller human counterparts, which makes for plenty of failed heroics and desperate sacrifice. Though later on Attack on Titan begins to allude to the mysteriousness of the Titans origins and the Secrets of Humanity & possibly how a larger conspiracy may be at play, leaving a lot more than initially meets the eye...