Zíza

A nice one-shot from the school setting spiced with bullying, envy, a sense of injustice, but also love and devotion. Gentle, quiet, and slow-paced, but still it doesn't get boring, because each episode is no more than half an hour long. A series with a clear message – despite adversity, you can make it through anything if you find a kindred spirit and good friends. You won't be humbled anymore, you'll find your voice. Even despite the clichés.

I haven't read the manga, but it seems like one of the better pieces. I enjoyed this one at first, it was fun to see how they were searching for who was setting it up while uncovering many secrets, unfortunately it lost steam towards the end and became very predictable and transparent from a certain point on. I found the young lady very appealing in a number of aspects, because that's exactly where I'm the same way. A slightly better average.

Basically the very mundane story of a girl in elementary school who becomes a goddess overnight. She doesn't know what, she doesn't know how, but she just is. And as time passes, she slowly learns what her powers are, what her duties are, that she has to improve her grades in school... This is an ordinary life story spiced up with the supernatural – in this case, elements of shinto (you learn a few colorful things here). It's slow, non-violent, with nice animation, and a very good, fitting soundtrack. If you're wondering how a shy little girl copes with the trials and tribulations not only of divinity, but also of growing up (we're in the second year of primary school, so it's a very gradual coming of age), if you're in the mood for a tired setting without any crazy twists and turns... This is the one. A better 3 stars.

In the end, I'm glad Takeru was involved in one of the Kamen Rider franchises, because without him I wouldn't have turned it on and discovered that it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The story makes sense, in fact it's on such a level that if they had three or four more zeros in the effects budget, it'd be a blockbuster. So as long as you get used to the fact that they did the effects in Pascal, it's ok. It's 49 episodes, so you’ll have plenty of time to get used to it. I'll admit that it didn't take me long, and by about episode 8 I was just enjoying it. The Imajin characters were wacky, Ryōtarō was a llama, his little sister was perpetually "off", and the rest of it just fell under the unremarkable and stereotypical. If you'd like to start with Kamen Rider or at least give it a try for what it can be, don't be afraid to start with this series (or if you're like me and you want to watch everything by Takeru, there's nothing to worry about, there are five different characters here so you'll enjoy it). The fights at the beginning were fine, after all it was my first time seeing something like this, but they got tired as time went on. That goes for other things as well. Anyway, the series is definitely not a waste of time, I was even thinking of giving it 4 stars...

A great parody of all hero comics (western and eastern) – it has everything they have: the hero, his beloved, the anti-hero, the hero's anguish about whether he's a hero at all, the fights, the mecha... but it has a little something extra, panties and Suzuki Ryōhei's fine ass. A film you'll enjoy most if you watch it with more than one person, or if you have a sense of humor. Interspersed with the sophisticated action are scenes where the hero asks deep questions and comes up with even deeper answers. "The depth of my perversity does not determine how strong I am." Not even Jiraiya could come up with something that deep. I wasn't expecting anything out of this movie, especially with the reviews here, but it turns out that FilmBooster is just full of humorless people, so I was very pleasantly surprised. Yes, it's crazy and "perverted", but what do you expect from a movie that's called Hentai Kamen, has a dude on the cover with his pants over his face and wearing tights, whose pants are cut right up his ass? A good 4 stars and I hope to see shots from behind the scenes sometime...

It's been a long time since I've seen a Japanese film for women that didn't try to blatantly lecture women on how they should live and what they should feel (and if this film did, it did it so very subtly and discreetly that I almost didn't notice). The film attempts to shed some light on the lives of women in various social positions, and it does so in a very enjoyable way. The really strong female characters are a big plus (and let's face it, Karina may be the most beautiful of the bunch, but even so, the best for me was Asō Kumiko). The cast was chosen very wisely, they fit the roles perfectly. I admit that I only wanted to watch the movie because of Mukai, who ended up giving a fairly modest performance, but that didn't matter at all. It's a bit of a longer film, but it has a lot to show and say, so it doesn't matter. A positive film for women, a rather boring one for men.

An ordinary story of a rich kid who wants to be elite, only to lose his wealth and succumbs to demons. I found the main character very likable because she didn't freak out about the supernatural, instead she freaked out about very mundane things. There's no point in watching it for fights, originality, or perfect animation – it has none of the above. But if you want a bit of bad mythology, religious concepts, bickering demons, nerdy angels, you've had enough of hysterical classmates... this might do. Nothing pretentious, just an anime that doesn't offend or move you, and although it has corny jokes, they kept me entertained. Oh, and it was a bit gay at times. A weaker 3 stars and for girls.

An excellent movie that parodies and pushes to the extreme all the clichés of sports movies, and others as well. All the twists and turns, the behavior of the character, the resurrections, the reunions, the friendships, the fights, not to mention the baseball... The movie gets more and more extreme and absurd as time goes on. Anyone who takes it seriously and who doesn't like absurdist humor won't enjoy it, but if you approach it the way the film approaches itself, you will. It’s one of the better pieces in its bracket.

For me, this whole series rested on Takeru (an extra star just for him). The story isn't that phenomenal, but fortunately it's not far-fetched. The story centers around a few students who have their own problems and are trying to find answers. As to whether they succeed or fail, you can judge for yourself. I was terribly annoyed by Q10's voice more than half the time, but eventually I got used to it. I would have liked more of Atsuko with a normal voice, normal expression, because there was damn little of her like that. An average series with the above average Takeru; if you let it, it might even leave you with a warm and fuzzy feeling.

An enjoyable slice of life story spiced up with sexual tension that you could cut with a knife at the beginning of the film. The ending practically has no words and only few hints, making it look underdeveloped, maybe flaccid. But overall, a very successful film that's only 75 minutes long, so you can slurp it down like a raspberry.