Anime Review Roundup

Let's keep it short and sweet this week, and just dive into the reviews. First up was Fate/Stay Night: Volume 5, which is turning out to be the anime anticlimax of the year for me. It's a mystical combat adventure series, which sees mages, summoning servants to do battle for the Holy Grail. There was a fair amount of romantic comedy as well, at least in the first half of the series, but as the show has progressed, the comedy aspects have been toned down, and the narrative taken on a more serious tinge. This fifth volume introduces a wholly new element to the mix, and as such takes the story in a completely unexpected direction. See if that is a good thing or bad, by clicking the link.

My second and final anime review last week was Romeo X Juliet: Volume 4. If Fate/Stay Night has left me with an overwhelming ambivalence, I can certainly be a lot more enthusiastic about this adaptation of the Shakespeare tragedy from Gonzo. You can expect them to pull out all of the stops for this final instalment of the series. You can't accuse Gonzo of being anticlimactic, far from it, as they usually throw everything including the kitchen sink into making their shows end with bang loud enough to shake the universe. If anything, they have a tendency to lose the plot when it comes to conclusions, and you can see if they did the story of the star-crossed lovers justice by clicking on my review. Of course this being a 'loose' adaptation, you may be wondering if this Romeo and Juliet have a happily ever after… As if I'd tell…

It's all MVM this week, and both Romeo X Juliet: Volume 4, and Fate/Stay Night: Volume 5 are released today.