Anime Girl Rankings

Return of the Prodigal Son

Well it sure has been a very long time since my last update to the site and for that I apologize. But what better way to make amends than a massive update of 34 characters from 8 different shows/movies spanning multiple genres! It's quite the grab bag this time from action to horror to comedy. Let's see what's inside, shall we?

We have the horror/thriller series Another, which caught me a bit by surprise. The dark mood and atmosphere of the show is maintained rather well throughout and some of the deaths are rather gruesome. The mystery element and the twist at the end aren't mind-blowing but they don't need to be. Pretty solid entry to the genre.

Next, we have a Ghibli masterpiece, Grave of the Fireflies. The sheer emotion that this film evokes is staggering. This is a film that animation lovers will cherish and can be used as a perfect example of the genre transcending its medium and being as powerful as any technique out there. If you don't have a heavy heart after watching this film, it's unlikely you're human.

From tragedy to comedy, next is the slapstick series Kill Me Baby. Based off a 4-panel comic, the segmented episodes contain a very small but highly enjoyable cast of characters. You have an air-headed, half-asleep ninja, a surly assassin for hire, and a hyper, dim-witted joker. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I found myself laughing at the absurd antics of the show, and at 13 episodes is just the right length not to wear out its welcome.

LASTEXILE -Fam, The Silver Wing- is the followup show to the original Last Exile series. Taking place in the same world some time after the events of the first season, the show is not a direct sequel per se as the cast of characters is nearly all different. I found that the show took a little longer to work its charm on me than did Last Exile, but that was probably because they didn't need to reintroduce the world and how it worked which is partly what I enjoyed so much about the original. Still, the characters are all enjoyable and the plot is pretty solid.

On to another Ghibli masterpiece, we go to My Neighbor Totoro. If you're reading this, you've likely already seen it but if not, do yourself a favor and do so. Totoro is of the most charming, creative movies you'll ever see and serves as a perfect examples of the effectiveness that a simple story can sometimes have.

Shifting genres once more, we have Perfect Blue, a Hitchcockian mind-screw thriller movie. If you're confused while watching, don't worry, that's to be expected. Sometimes the difficulty in following what's going on is a bit detracting, but if you take into account that you're meant to experience the same psychological issues the protagonist goes through, you can forgive most of it.

We also have five additions to the Shakugan no Shana franchise, as they appear in the third and final season of the show. From start to finish, there is virtually no filler in the final season -- each episode advances the plot and quite a bit happens. While quite a few questions are left unanswered, they aren't so important as to lessen the enjoyment of the show.

And lastly, there's Yagami-kun's Family Affairs, a 3 episode OAV that's... interesting. There's shades of an oedipus complex, a lolita complex, and quite a few hormones running through the show. Based off a manga series, the OAV really only introduces the characters and the general situation so I can't fault the story for being particularly thin. The entire OAV is still fairly 'meh' though, so I suppose I'm glad it's only three episodes.

Well, there you have it, a rather large update! Also, there's a new poll question to the right. So, with 34 new characters and a new opinion to give, you have your work cut out for you. Get to it!