Anime Review: Another

Anime Title: Another
Episodes: 12
Genre: Mystery, horror, school, gore
Rating: R+

Pre-review Message
This review will be completely spoiler free, which is why some sections of this review might seem a little lacking. Another is an anime you should go into knowing little about the actual plot. That being said, there are a few things to note about it.

Story
Another is about a boy named Kouichi Sakakiboring Sakakibara and his move to a new school. He's had this lifelong illness, so we first meet him in a hospital room in his new town. His classmates go to visit him, and as indicated by the eerie music that plays in the background, something is not right.

Characters
Our first character is Kouichi Sakakeylimepiegyprwm, and aside from his really weird name that is both difficult to pronounce and spell, he is probably one of the most boring protagonists I've ever watched. He doesn't seem to have any interests, he always looks so emotionless, he's too busy being sick to try and figure out what exactly is going on in the story, which only prolongs the excessive amount of suspense in this anime.
Our next character is a girl named Mei Misaki, who is shrouded in mystery, which you can tell because she has black hair that covers part of her face, and even an eye-patch.

Art
You could technically say that the art is what drew me to the anime. The colors are very dark and gloomy; even in the mandatory beach episode the colors are a little dark, just to remind you that this anime is scary and creepy. Oooh atmosphere. However, there is one color that certainly stands out, and it should go without saying that the color is red.

Music
I personally wasn't too fond of the soundtrack for the anime. The opening had some creepy elements in the instrumentation, but it still sounded too upbeat for the anime. Most of the sounds in the anime consisted of raindrops, slow strings, and maybe something a little louder for the gory horror moments.

Other Thoughts/Things Worth Mentioning About . . .
The Rating. This anime gets graphic. It's definitely one of those shows that you show a friend to prove that anime is not for kids. So, if you are seven, you can't watch it. That should go without saying.
My advice is to be aware of what amount of gore you can handle watching. If you are a squeamish person, this definitely isn't an anime you should watch. But if you watched something like Elfen Lied without a problem, then this is right up your alley, and you should be perfectly fine.
Streaming. Another is currently available on Crunchyroll as of August 2015.
Sub vs Dub. I've only seen bits and pieces of the subbed version, but I feel like it is better. My main problem in the English version was the casting for Kouichi, because while a boring voice should suit a boring character just fine, it didn't quite work for me.

To watch or not to watch?
Another is the perfect anime for when you want to watch something creepy and atmospheric, creepy being code for excessively gory and atmospheric being code for too damn slow.
I personally didn't enjoy Another as much as I wished I could, but I still felt the urge to watch the next episode. While Another may not be the best anime ever, and while I may have a lot of problems with it, I still did finish it within a few days and felt eager to watch the next episode to uncover the mystery.
If you are into the gore and mystery genre, Another is definitely an anime to watch. However, if you are just looking for a gory show to watch in a short amount of time, try Corpse Party instead. And if you're looking for a cute high school romance, look elsewhere.

Anime Review: My Little Monster

Anime Title: My Little Monster
Japanese Title: Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun
Episodes: 13
Genre: Shoujo, romance, school, slice of life
Rating: PG-13

Story
This anime sets itself up as a simple "studious girl meets rebellious boy and they fall in love" kind of thing. While there is definitely a romance in this anime, the show likes to deal more with friendship, jealousy, and how to open up to other people.

Characters
Our two main characters are Shizuku and Haru. Shizuku is pretty much obsessed with studying. She's seen as emotionless and cold, which is why her classmates nicknamed her "Dry-Ice" (which is actually pretty clever for a bunch of eight year old kids). Haru is pretty much the opposite of Shizuku. He's got a lot of "aggression" and absolutely no motivation to even go to school. Throughout the anime, we get to see more of them and who they are, and they make friends with a very colorful cast of characters. A few worth mentioning include the really pretty girl who can't make any friends because all of the girls hate her, the super-confident "cool" character who has a horrible sense of direction, that one girl who seems to appear at random plot moments to make the other characters feel embarrassed, and a chicken.

Art
There really is nothing notable to mention here. The art was certainly not bad, and the character design worked. The expressions on the characters' faces was priceless, because it was VERY clear if one of them was feeling angry, embarrassed, happy, etcetera. Personally, I like the illustrations they had during the ending. They were drawn with what looked like colored pencils, and it was a very cute touch. The opening also had nice animation, but I personally preferred the ending solely for the drawings.

Music
The opening and ending set the mood of the anime very well, but there isn't much to say about the music played during the rest of the show.

Other Thoughts/Things Worth Mentioning About . . .
The shoujo elements. One thing I hate about shoujo is how a lot of the times, the male protagonists have to nearly force themselves onto the female for there to be any romance at all. I find this annoying, and in some shows, it's gross. There's a lot of examples of that in this show, like the male protagonist pretty much declaring his love for the female protagonist in the first episode, There is one saving grace to this, and it's that Shizuku is a very blunt character who is not afraid to say no.
Streaming. It's available on Crunchyroll and Netflix as of August 2015.
Sub vs Dub. There is no dub currently.
Uncanny resemblance. For any Soul Eater fans out there . . .

To watch or not to watch?
This isn't an atrocious anime. It's also not a fantastic one. If you already know that you don't like shoujo or school romance anime, then I would definitely advise you to stay away from this one, because it doesn't offer anything revolutionary and exciting to the genre. That being said, if you know that you do like the genre, then this is probably something you'll enjoy. If you complete episode 1 and decide that you like what you saw, then I can guarantee to you that it gets even better from there.

Anime Review: Your Lie in April

Anime Title: Your Lie in April
Japanese Title: Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso
Episodes: 22
Genre: Drama, music, romance, school
Rating: PG-13

Story
Your Lie in April, which will be abbreviated as "YLA" from here on, is a story about a former pianist named Arima Kousei, and a violinist named Kaori Miyazono who brings him back into the world of music. But the real plot of this anime goes much deeper than that. The main themes of this anime are acceptance, friendship, love, and learning how to move on.
I did have a problem with some, err, contrived plot points and suspense that lasted too long (three episodes for one music competition), but other than that, I didn't really have many problems. There aren't any plot holes I could find, and the anime wrapped itself up very nicely.

Characters
Aside from Kousei and Kaori, there are two other main characters: Tsubaki and Watari, who are both athletes. Tsubaki, Watari, and Kousei have been good friends for years, until one day Kaori is introduced into the mix. This causes some problems in terms of love and jealousy, and this is pretty clear from episode one. One thing that I found was interesting about YLA was that it had a fairly large cast of characters, some of who we didn't get to know that well, but they all had a great impact on the story. One example of this is Kousei's mom, who we honestly don't get to know well as a character, but she still is somehow one of the biggest plot points in this entire anime.

Art
The art in YLA did its job. The only part about it that's really worth the mention is the animation when the characters were playing instruments. Sure, there were some times when you could hear the music, but all you would see is a still frame of someone with their hands on the keys of a piano. But when you got to see these characters animated while playing their instruments, it was absolutely perfect. Being a musician myself, it was very apparent that a lot of time went into making sure that everything was as realistic as possible. They had scenes where you could see each individual note the pianists were playing, and it was spot-on.

Music
The OST is brilliant. I have absolutely no complaints about it. I have nothing but praise. I am a huge fan of instrumental music and classical music, and this anime had both in spades. This is probably my favorite anime OST to date, but you can judge how great it is for yourself.

Other Thoughts/Things Worth Mentioning About . . .
The Feels. This anime gets intense. It was rated PG-13 because it's not exactly for the faint of heart. It talks about abuse, death, and some episodes will probably leave you feeling a little melancholy.
Streaming. This is currently available on Crunchyroll, as of August 2015.
Sub vs Dub. There is only a sub at the moment, and luckily, it's a pretty good one. Aside from hearing the Japanese voice actors trying to sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."

To watch or not to watch?
As much praise as I've given this anime, it is definitely not for everyone. It takes things very slowly, and calling this anime a romance would be like calling The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya porn. I enjoyed some episodes and felt like others were a little boring. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is a musician, who likes classical music, and also people who like school anime. But I do think that it's something every anime fan should at least try to watch.