To Heart 2 Review

With my last review of To Heart I mentioned I would review To Heart 2. Well I've finished it so now I'm going to review To Heart 2. To Heart was the visual novel sequel to To Heart 2. It was then adapted into a few manga and a 13-episode anime series, followed by 5 different OVAs. To Heart 2 is also a romance, harem, slice of life To Heart. While sequels usually aren't as good I actually liked To Heart 2 better than the To Heart. While To Heart doesn't earn my top spot I still enjoyed it even though there were a few details that could be fixed. I might mention a little bit about the romances in this anime so...

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Summary
After graduating from middle school, Konomi Yuzuhara enters the same high school as her childhood friend, Takaaki Kono. As the school year begins, they meet their childhood friend Tamaki Kosaka, as well as many new acquaintances. Unbeknownst, their encounters will soon lead to many memorable adventures.
Tamaki and Konomi are both one year older and one year younger than Takaaki respectively. Takaaki thinks of them as older and younger sisters while Konomi has always had feelings for Takaaki since they were little.

My Thoughts

Like I said, I actually liked To Heart 2 a little better than To Heart. While there is some romance, there isn't much of a story go off of it well maybe in the last 2 episodes, kind of. And that's the kind of trend with harem anime, it's mostly hit or miss for me. I feel it would be better if Takaaki ended up with most preferably Konomi because they would make such a cute couple (Feel Free to Ship!). Konomi's known Takaaki since they were children and has feelings for him that are past friendship or even best friends, so I feel she's the best girl in the series for him. I also mentioned them in my 2017 Valentines Day Post. The ending still did satisfy me in a way. It wasn't a bad series as there good enjoyable moments and characters that were quite unique in their own way.

My Conclusion
I would give To Heart 2 4/5 stars or an 8/10 score. While it's not overall the best romance anime, there are enjoyable moments and good characters. I look forward to watching some similar romance harem series which I will probably review in the future like Da Capo, Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi (A Bridge to Starry Skies), and Tsuki wa Higashi ni Hi wa Nishi ni: Operation Sanctuary (HaniHani: Operation Sanctuary).

To Heart Review

I kind of didn't want to do a review on To Heart but because I plan on doing one on To Heart 2 when I finish it I'm going to review it. To Heart initially started as a visual novel by the developer Leaf. It was then made into a manga and eventually into it's own 13-episode anime series. Also, there are short specials that go with the series and eventually a second season known as To Heart: Remember My Memories came out with 13-episodes. Also, a sequel franchise known as To Heart 2 came out with different characters. I will only be reviewing the first To Heart franchise as I will review To Heart 2 once I finished watching it. To Heart is mostly a romance, harem, slice of life anime. It's hard for me to say whether I truly liked this anime but I think in the end the writers had the right idea. I chose to watch this as To Heart 2 looked interesting to me so I decided to watch this first.

Summary
Hiroyuki and Akari have always been friends. But things start to change and her feelings turn into something more. With the start of a new semester of high school, will the two friends come closer together or drift further apart? Accompanying them are their friends-the bubbly Shiho, the quiet Serika, the lovely kotone, and more-in this heartwarming tale of love, relationships, and friendships.

My Thoughts
Harem romance anime for me is usually pretty hit or miss in general. This is probably one of the few that landed in between. Like I've said before I don't mind harem if there's one girl who obviously stands out and she's the right girl for the main character. While To Heart is relaxing in way, it tends to jump around from one girl to another and can be kind of confusing at times. I don't regret watching it thought!

My Conclusion
I would give this anime 3.5/5 stars or a 7/10 score. By no means is this the worst harem I've watched but there's better ones out there and there's ways it could be better. If you do watch this watch both the original series and Remember My Memories. Now I'm pretty interested in To Heart 2 with different characters so I'm going to check it out. I will be reviewing it once I finish.

Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha (Inari Kon Kon) Review

I finished watching the anime Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha (Inari KonKon for short) so I am going to review it as you all guessed. Inari, Konkon was a manga written by Morohe Yoshida that was adapted into a 10-episode anime and additional OVA episode by Production IMS. Inari KonKon is a romantic comedy, supernatural anime. While I did wish there was some more plot development, I overall enjoyed this series and overall, I think this anime deserves more attention.

Summary
Despite being clumsy and shy, Inari Fushimi is very considerate of others. She also has a crush on Kouji Tandabashi, who she admires for being cheerful and hardworking. The problem is Inari's incurable shyness makes it difficult for her to express her feelings to Kouji. Inari KonKon starts with Inari taking a shortcut to school. She helps a fox pup that is about to fall into a river. Uka-no-Mitama-no-Kami, the god of the Inari shrine is thankful for Inari's kindness toward the young fox, who turns out to be a familiar named Kon. She fulfills one of Inari's wishes but this creates trouble. Inari now posses the power of a god even if it's a small portion. Otherworldly beings take an interest in her, for better or worse. What adventures await Inari, and will she be able to tell Kouji everything she has kept in her heart?

My Thoughts
I liked this anime and thought it was a pretty interesting, cute, and funny anime. For a few things the story is pretty shallow and most of the characters (aside from the main ones) are simple and forgettable. This was however a pretty cute anime though the manga goes into more detail. Because of this I might read the manga. I think Inari and Kouji are a pretty cute couple too (they become more of a 'couple' in the manga) so feel free to ship them!

My Conclusion
I would give this anime 4/5 stars or an 8/10 score. It wasn't the greatest but I still enjoyed it. I would recommend Inari KonKon if you're into supernatural or romantic comedy anime. Two other god-themed anime are Kannagi and Kamichu which are both on my watch list and I will review either one or both in the future. Another similar anime is a magical girl anime Hime-Chan no Ribbon which I also plan on watching.

A Town Where You Live (Kimi no Iru Machi) Review

As you may know I watched and reviewed Suzuka and said I was going to watch another anime written by the same author, A Town Where You Live (Kimi no Iru Machi). Well I just finished it now so I am going to review it. A Town Where You live started as a manga written by Kouji Seo who you may know for Suzuka and Fuuka. It was then adapted into a 2013, 12-episode series by Gonzo as well as two different 2-episode OVA series. Like Suzuka, A Town Where You Live is a slice of life, romance, drama anime that focuses on Haruto Kirishima and the love triangle he is in with two different girls. I did like this better than Suzuka but it was kind of confusing as the story jumps back and forth quite a bit. While I thought the characters were okay they lacked development and did have their flaws. However, I do not regret watching this anime!

Summary
Haruto Kirishima live in the countryside and meets Yuzuki Eba, who came from Tokyo to live with her family. Their time together left him enamored with memories of that short period before she disappeared from his life and left him full of questions. Some time later, Haruto moves to Tokyo to live with his sister, in order to pursue a career as a cook. He really wishes to be with Yuzuki. Eba really the one for him or is it Asuka?

My Thoughts
While I did like this anime better than Suzuka there were still things it could work on. For one the plot is kind of confusing as the story keeps jumping back and forth. Also, there wasn't much character development. Other people didn't like the characters much but I thought they were okay! From what I do hear the manga is better and goes more in depth so I might read the manga as well.

My Conclusion
I would give this anime 4/5 stars or an 8/10 score. Overall, I liked it better than Suzuka but there are things that could be better. I would recommend this anime if you like slice of life, romance, or drama and can keep at the fast pace it goes at. I'm looking forward to watching a similar love-triangle 1980s romance, Kimagure Orange Road!

Fortune Arterial Review

I recently watched an anime known as Fortune Arterial so I will review it. Fortune Arterial was originally a manga and game made by August company. Now in my opinion anime based from August are pretty underrated and I've enjoyed the ones I watched and will be watching more. If you've read my previous Valentines Day posts (2017&2018) or My Endings Rant, many of August adapted anime are on there. Anyway let's get on with the actual anime. So after being made into a manga and game Fortune Arterial was then adapted into a 12-episode anime along with an extra OVA by Zexcs and Feel. Fortune Arterial is a romance, supernatural, vampire anime. Now I liked this anime but there are just a few ways it could be better. Overall I was satisfied with it. Oh yeah I will be talking about the ending a little bit so...

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Summary
Kohei Hasekura, transfers to a prestigious public in the style of an English six-year school encompassing junior-high and high school students. The only way to get to the school is by boat as it is located on an island named Tamatsu Island off-shore from mainland Japan. After transferring he discovers one of the students, Sendo Erika, is in fact a vampire.

My Thoughts
I liked this anime and I feel the ending did satisfy me. It was an interesting story with good content and while I liked it there were some unanswered questions. To me it's not clear if Kohei and Erika become a couple but I think that's for the viewer to decide. To make myself happy I'd say Kohei and Erika are a couple. (Ok I admit I like them as a couple pretty much because Kohei looks like me and Erika is such a beautiful girl). Anyway another unanswered question is what would become of Erika being that she's a vampire.

My Conclusion

I would give this anime 4.5/5 stars or a 9/10 score. While there were some ways this anime could improve I was pretty satisfied with it. If you like supernatural, vampire, or romance then I would recommend Fortune Arterial for you. And I recommend watching the OVA too! Anyway the company August has made visual novels that become great and underrated romance anime and I really wished there were more anime from this company. You might know one known as A Good Librarian Like a Good Shepard (Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai). There are two more underrated anime from August I will review. One is Brighter than the Dawning Blue (Yoake Mae yori Ruriiro na/Crescent Love) which I already watched and plan to watch again as well and it had a great ending which I posted about in My Endings Rant. The other is HaniHani: Operation Sanctuary (Tsuki wa Higashi ni Hi wa Nishi ni: Operation Sanctuary) which I plan on watching and will do a review on it.

Gosick Review

I will be reviewing Gosick which I finished recently. Gosick started out as a manga series written by Kazuki Sakuraba. It was then adapted into a 24-episode anime series by Bones (Studio). Gosick is primarily a detective, historical drama, romance anime. I thought it was pretty cute and romantic but also got pretty dark and serious at times to. This is kind of like My Story too were I want to balance the action, romance, and comedy.

Summary
Kazuya Kujo, is a foreign student at Saint Marguerite Academy, a luxurious boarding school in the European country of Sauville. He is from Japan and because of his appearance, his peers often given the nickname "Black Reaper" based on a urban legend of a traveler who brings death in the spring. One day Kujo visits the school's library searching for ghost stories. There he finds a beautiful doll-like girl, Victorique de Blois, whose complex and imaginative foresight allows her to predict their futures, now intertwined. With more mysteries developing, Victorique and Kujo, bound by fate and their unique skills, now must rely on each other.

My Thoughts
I liked this anime as it was interesting and always had a way of keeping my attention. It had a pretty good balance of romance, comedy, and mystery. It was a pretty cute anime as well as you realize Victorique cares for Kazuya despite how she acts on the outside.

Comparison to My Story
As you probably know, I'm writing My Own Story. Since Victorique is somewhat of a tsundere she's quite a bit like Nina Moriko, the tsundere in My Story. Both act somewhat harsh towards their love interest and pretend not to like him at first but start to show sweetness and eventually fall in love him. Like many tsunderes Victorique acts in denial at first but comes to sense of her own feelings. Nina is no different, she argues with Taro Hachuu quite a bit at first but the two shows romantic feelings for each other later and realize how much they truly need one another as well.

Nina Moriko

Victorique de Blois

My Conclusion
I would give this anime 4.5/5 stars or a 9/10 score. It was an interesting anime with the right amounts of romance, comedy, and mystery and I was always looking forward to watching the next episode. I would highly recommend this anime if you like detective, historical-fiction, or romance. I'm really looking forward to watching a similar series with romance, mystery, and fantasy, Nishi no Yoki Majo: Astraea Testament (The Good Witch of the West).

Ao no Exorcist (Blue Exorcist) Review

I just finished a rather popular anime series known as Ao no Exorcist (Blue Exorcist) so as you all guessed, I'm going to review it. Ao no Exorcist was originally a manga written by Kazue Kato and adapted into an 25 episode + OVA 2011 anime series. There was also a movie in 2012 made after the series. After the second manga came out there was 12 episode + 2 OVA 2017 anime series. While there are a few kinks, I overall liked the series and am using this as inspiration for My Story. Mainly a few of these characters are very much like my characters.

Summary
Rin Okumura looks like an ordinary boy but one day he encounters a boy who has been possessed by a demon. In the struggle he not only awakens powers within him, but learns that he is the son of Satan! Rin decides to fight against his parentage and joins the True Cross Order as an exorcist. Now, he must attend True Cross Academy and begin special exorcist training with his new comrades all while keeping his identity a secret.

My Thoughts
I liked this anime and enjoyed watching it. I will discuss some kinks that it had though. For one, there were areas which this anime was kind of lacking. Also, a few characters were pretty annoying and unlikable but they didn't ruin the story much. On the other hand I enjoyed this action, fantasy anime. It was pretty exciting and I was looking forward to watching the next episode every time I watched it.

Comparison to My Story
There are many ways this anime ties into My Story and how they compare. For one, Rin and Yukio Okumura are both motivated by their father's death to take on their journey of fighting demons and eventually defeating Satan. In my story, Takeshi and Taro Hachuu are also motivated by their father's death to take on their journey to defeat their enemies and prove their innocence. Rin Okumura must keep his demon self a secret and control his powers as with the characters in my story who have to keep their animal identities secret and control their powers as well. Takeshi Hachuu and Yukio have pretty similar personalities. Both are usually mature, professional, wise, and intelligent. Taro and Rin are a lot a like too! Both are kind of immature, bad tempered, and get in trouble a lot but strive to reach their goals plus they kind of look alike as well.

Rin Okumura

Taro Hachuu

The difference is Takeshi and Taro take on their adventure outside of school with friends (aka. love interests/S.O.) Annabelle "Angel" Ahrimo, Nina Moriko, and Nina's owl Sova in a smaller group. Occasionally their cousin Masami Kobayashi joins too. For Rin and Yukio it's part of school and they have a larger group of friends. Both Rin and Yukio's parents are deceased, while only Takeshi and Taro's dad is deceased and they still have their mom.

My Conclusion
I would give this anime 4/5 stars or an 8/10 score. I liked this anime and it was a exciting series that I had a hard time not watching. Like I mentioned, this has also given my inspiration for My Story. I'm very excited to watch a similar series called Sousei no Onmyouji (Twin Star Exorcists).