Anime List

A pretty innocent, warm-hearted romantic comedy. Not that much ecchi.

The story shines the most when the stories of the side characters come together with that of the main party the handyman protagonist is part of.

Based on a video game. Probably not worth rewatching, but made me interested in the games if I ever get around to them. Light-hearted comedy about a demon lord travelling with an angel and devil. Etna and Flonne both were cute.

The first season was good, although there were some moments like akane's hair getting cut which didn't hit as hard for me, or Ryoga's journey due to his bad sense of direction which was cut down to the point where the joke didn't land for me. Part of the issue may be the soundtrack in both of these scenes, the original knew when to use serious sounding tracks. I didn't find the character designs to be as cute (Ukyo, Shampoo, Nabiki, Kasumi and long-haired Akane all looked a bit less cute). In season 1, the manga "sound effects" in the form of Japanese characters appearing on screen was a bit over the top as were the colours for the backgrounds. It kind of made the setting seem less real but maybe some people prefer it over the more realistic backgrounds of the original. The best and worst thing is that a lot of the filler is cut out but it's to the point where it's a "best of" Ranma remake. Although, by the end of the original the non-plot progressing episodes made it incredibly boring, early on it helped the world feel bigger. The cutting of the episodes made the world feel a bit smaller and more focused on the martial arts aspect. Ranma and Akane's relationship seemed less rocky, more smooth, than I remember it in the original, here they start to like each other more easily. Season 2 was kind of faster pacing wise than season 1, and I liked it less for it, but I have a feeling after seeing the trailer that season 3 (Fall 2026) is going to be good. Basically, going by the trailer and poster it's going to be a rematch of Ranma vs. Ryouga. I don't know whether this or the original is closer to the manga since I haven't read the manga yet, something which I need to correct at some time. P.S. Could have done without the nippleless balls if they were not going to be as brave as the original anime.

If this came out in the early 2000s DanDanDan would be considered a classic now. These two seasons have been great but there are a lot of story threads that need to be closed... and the harem romance is one in which the main heroine is set to win so that needs to be finalised as does what will happen to the other characters' romantic relations is something to be seen. Basically this could be a 10/10 depending on how well the ending lands, or it could go down to an 8 if it drags along and doesn't provide a satisfying conclusion. Some people didn't like the granny's character design cause she looks well.. let's just say younger.. but this isn't a series where you can take everything seriously. If you want it to be totally realistic then you will be disappointed. It's an action-comedy with a bit of romance as a topping. Maybe the reason why people are confused is because the action looks really good. What it reminds me of a bit is a game like No More Heroes yet a little bit less violent.

A korean animation which copied a bunch of japanese character designs. I watched and own the VHS for it in the early 2000s. It's an Italian dub (titled "Re Fenice") but I don't have a VHS player anymore so I watched the english dub on Youtube which was pretty bad but it's better than nothing. This is probably the first mecha anime that I have watched, and certainly the first that I have owned which is why it is notable to me. It lived rent free in my head for many years until I forgot about it except that I owned the VHS. I had no idea it was Korean, but frankly I have a bunch of other VHS tapes for things which are almost anime. At just over 1 hour, phoenix king tries to tell a story which is too ambitious but I can't hate it for it. I found the slight romance to be cute, and I liked how they tried to build up the titular mech to an almost supernatural/godly status. Of course it doesn't help that the mech's chest looks like a fire truck. They copied a bunch of mech designs like the white base from Gundam, and inferno from time transformers. the blue skinned empire people reminds me of Yamato a bit. And there's some enemy mech designs inspired by mazinga. In a way I appreciate that I was introduced to mechs by such a pastiche despite it's apparent flaws. The deaths of the villains were in a way tragic too. I guess the point was to expose the flaws in their thinking, who kill each other for honour, as opposed to the humans who are motivated by their bonds.

"Based on the Adachi manga of the same name. The story revolves around a romantic triangle formed by the girl Minatsu Nakazato, a young student and softball player; Shu Akiba, a schoolmate; and Naoto Kadomatsu, an up-and-coming boxer. In reality the three-way relationship is more like three-and-a-half, considering that Naoto is in love with Maria... actually Minatsu herself, who'd once disguised herself to escape some evildoers." I guess this makes it officially my first mitsuru adachi anime. I own the first few episodes on vhs.. but didn't have a vhs player so I always found it mysterious... to the point where I even had dreams about what the rest of the story might be about. I guess what drew me to it when compared to other anime rom-coms that I watched like Ranma at the time, is that this felt more realistic and "adult" (back then from my child's perspective high schoolers seemed like adults, maybe even a promised future, I still think that I wasn't too off the mark either). Well, as of 2026/05/24, I have finally finished watching the TV series, more than 20 years after I saw the first episodes. There are some flaws like the story just ends with a flashforward to a single image which tells us who minatsu (the heroine/main character) ends up with. I think that behind the romcom shenanigans about mistaken identities boxing matches between suitors there is an honest look at how people can and do act when they are true to their feelings; which is why most of the moralising critiques about how Minatsu is impure, a cheater, or about how the coach is a creep etc... are more of a sign of the simultaneously irrational and loveless age we live in, which makes both unacquainted with ordinary feelings, and blind to reason above reflexive disgust impossible, than anything about the quality of the story. Listening to these critiques would lead to the most bland, obstacle-less romance anime. As for what the story vibe is, I guess it would be a bright summer romance even if the story ends in winter. The character designs have not aged too well. The faces are fine but the bodies of the character, including their hands often look lumpy. Like for example I don't remember seeing nails drawn on hands, the fingers of characters looked just like round lumps of flesh sometimes. I would have expected more especially for an OVA. Still I am glad to have brought to a close this "core memory" of my childhood.