To Watch
.hack//SIGN
Ah, Megami-sama! TV
Ah, Megami-sama! TV Season 2
Ai Yori Aoshi
Ai Yori Aoshi: Enishi
Angelic Layer
Bakuretsu Hunters
Beyond the Clouds
Boys Be
Catgirl Nuku Nuku
Comic Party
Comic Party Revolution
Daphne in the Brilliant Blue
Di Gi Charat Nyo
Dragon Drive
Escaflowne TV
Fullmetal Alchemist
Girl's Bravo First Season
Hanaukyo Maid Tai: ~La Verite~
Kannazuki no Miko
Kaleido Star
Kita-he ~Diamond Dust Drops~
Knights of Ramune
Little Snow Fairy Sugar
Mai-Hime
Mai-Otome
Mezzo DSA
One OVA
Pretear
Pretty Cure MAX Heart
Read or Die TV & OVA
Rozen Maiden: Traumend
Ruins Explorer
Samurai 7
Samurai Girl Realbout High School
Scrapped Princess
Sexy Commando
Shingetsutan Tsukihime
Shinkon Gattai Godannar
Sister Princess
Sister Princess RePure
Spiral
Steel Angel Kurumi
Steel Angel Kurumi 2
Tenjou Tenge
Tenshi ni Narumon
The Melody of Oblivion
Those Who Hunt Elves
Triangle Heart
Tsubasa Chronicle
UG - Ultimate Girls
Vampire Hunter - Night Warriors Darkstalkers' Revenge
Vandread
Vandread Second Stage
You're Under Arrest OVA

Currently Watching
Hachimitsu to Clover

Currently Watching & Still Undergoing
.hack//roots
Ah Megami-sama! TV Season 2
Koi Koi Seven
Makai Senki Disgaea
School Rumble Season 2 - 2nd Term
Strawberry Panic!

Completed
Ah, Megami-sama! OVA
Ai, Mai, Mi: Strawberry Eggs
AIR TV
Azumanga Daioh
2x2 = Shinobuden
Agent Aika
Bottle Fairy
Chobits
DearS
Di Gi Charat
Eiken
Excel Saga
Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu!
Galaxy Angel Seasons 1 - 4
Genshiken
Great Teacher Onizuka
Grenadier: Hohoemi no Senshi
Hanaukyo Maid Tai
High School Girls
Ichigo 100% OVA
Ichigo 100% TV
Ikkitousen
Kanon
Kaishimashi ~Girl Meets Girl~
Kiddy Grade
Koi Kaze
Lost Universe
Love Hina
Maburaho
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
Magical Lyrical Nanoha A's (second season)
Mahoraba: Heartful Days
Mahoromatic Season 1
Mahoromatic Season 2
Maria-sama ga Miteru
Maria-sama ga Miteru ~Haru~
Midori no Hibi
Nakoruru OVA
Narue no Sekai
Pita Ten
Puni Puni Poemi
Revolutionary Girl Utena OVA
Rozen Maiden
Rune Soldier Louie
Rurouin Kenshin
Sailor Moon
School Rumble
SHUFFLE!
Slayers Seasons 1 - 3
Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)
Tenshi na Konamaiki
Tenshi no Shippo Seasons 1 - 2
UFO Princess Valkyrie Seasons 1 - 2
Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito
You're Under Arrest, Season 1 - 2

For the bolded titles:

AIR TV - A story that tugs at your heart, really. It's mostly drama, but it's really good drama, and you'll start feeling an emotional connection to the characters as the story unravels. Be warned, this anime is depressing, but the story is told very well.

Azumanga Daioh - An anime about high school life. Lotsa funny and interesting stuff happens in this series, some of them which makes you go "oh yeah, I remember those days..."

Genshiken - What better to do an anime about people who love anime? Another "slice of life" sorta show featuring no characters with super powers or destinies whatsoever, just people lovin' anime and getting into funny stuff because of it.

Galaxy Angel - Five cute girls in a sci-fi setting + random hilarious missions + unknown technology that causes craziness = Fun!

Great Teacher Onizuka - A former gangster turned teacher changes the lives of many of his students. Sounds like it'd be the recipe for a drama, but it makes one heck of an awesome anime!

Kiddy Grade - Classic Sci-Fi mixed in with Comedy, Drama, and a little bit of T&A. Well paced story with very likeable characters. Beautifully drawn (as expected of Studio Gonzo) and excellent fight scenes. Think of it as an alternative to Gundam, that ain't maintstream at all. Definitely a "should see".

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha - I haven't watched a 'real' "magical girl" anime in a long time, but a random online friend of mine randomly spat out the title for this thing, and I decided since it's still available to grab it. This anime is HIGHLY underrated. None of this "destiny makes you awesome" sorta bs here, no overdone scenes of love and whatnot, it's simply an anime about a girl with magic powers takin' on the Big Evil Guy (in this case, Woman). She runs into a rival black mage, but she knows that within the heart of that rival comes a pure heart. This is the journey she takes to find out what that black mage's purpose is and to end the craziness once and for all. Well animated, and the story is paced just right. Two awesome VAs: Yukari Tamura (Ranpha Franboise from Galaxy Angel, also sings ED) and Nana Mizuki (Shinobu from 2x2 Shinobuden, also sings OP) are featured in it.

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's - Amp it up with season 2 of Nanoha. After a short peace from the Jewel Seed saga, Nanoha and company once again meet upon a strange group of spellcasters with powers that are beyond what they have ever imagined. After their initial encounter, Nanoha and friends seek to figure out what is the intention behind this talented and powerful group. Much like the first season, it'll be pretty obvious that this group isn't The Really Bad Guy that typical shows of this genre have. However, it's still pretty well executed and well paced. It probably coulda been a 24-episode thing - there's PLENTY of room for character development, and the ending actually leaves another "opening" for a third season, and needless to say, if there's a third, I wouldn't be surprised. Series hasn't been licensed either, so grab it while you can!

Midori no Hibi - What happens when you end up having a REAL girlfriend... that happens to be on your right hand? Dunno? Check this out and see what happens when a girl's desire to express her feelings to a particular guy lands her literally in the hand of the one she has a crush on.

Narue no Sekai - a.k.a The World of Narue. Story about an "alien" girl who tries to lead a normal school life. Unfortunately, her origins makes life a bit complicated. A lighthearted story about love with a bit of a science fiction twist. Nothing groundbreaking in this series, but still worth a watch if you want to a bit of a laugh and smile.

School Rumble - It's been a long time since I've seen an anime about a female going after a male. Tenma is a hyper, spirited, and a bit ditzy 16-year-old school girl going after a particular guy. The thing about it is, she's a bit too shy to admit to him that she likes him, and goes through the craziest things to try to display her affection for him. What's even worse, a badass by the name of Harima Kenji also has a thing for her, and he too can't seem to find the will to admit to her that he likes her... and hence madness ensues.

SHUFFLE! - Alright, I will say this first. This is a love it or hate it anime - the reviews you will find throughout the 'net will tell you so. This deserves several paragraphs worth of introduction and explanation because I am one of those who love it. Firstly, if you haven't heard from the many people around you - this is an anime based off an H-Game, much like AIR. What the heck happened in the game itself - you are better off asking someone else, cos I got no idea since I don't play these. Stop giving me that incredulous look - I'm serious, I DON'T PLAY THESE GAMES. Ask someone else. Don't get me wrong, I AM curious as to what really happened in the game also, and what is considered the true ending for this series, but unless one of you pipe up and tell me, I won't have any idea.

Anyway, let's forget about its origins and go straight to what this anime is about. It's initially harem. But before you come after me with a Giant Club for advocating another "mindless harem anime", please bear with what I'm gonna say. This series is far from mindless and "typical".

Simply put, the main character, Tsuchimi Rin, is a usual high school guy in a normal high school. He lives with a female childhood friend (Kaede) who is his age. Kaede's father is the type that's always away on a business trip - Kaede's mother and Rin's parents passed away in an accident eight years ago, so Kaede and Rin are more or less always in the house together alone, and Kaede pretty much acts like the usual "I'm going to serve you like a mindless maid" type of girl for Rin with no apparent reason why.

Later on, you learn that he also has a couple of females he's friends with at school - Asa Shigure and Mayumi Thyme. Then Rin gets "forced" into being chosen to be the potential groom for the daughter of either the King of the Gods or the King of the Demons. Unlike how traditional gods and demons are typically believed to be like in RL, in this world of gods and demons (who are only differentiated from humans by the way their ears are pointed and their "magical powers") all three races peacefully coexist with each other side by side. Anyway, because of the strange proposition, Rin ends up with two more girls to add to his "harem" - Lisianthia, the daughter of the King of Gods, and Nerine, the daughter of the King of Demons.

So at first, you're wondering - wtf, why do they all want Rin? So later on you come to learn it's because of a somewhat "overused" reason for harem anime girls - that he did something kind for both of them. Of course, this doesn't fully explain why Asa is interested in him nor as to why Kaede acts the way she does towards him, but you could say at first you are told to just shut the heck up and enjoy the craziness and ecchiness.

Rin isn't your typical "harem anime guy" though. He has balls - and what I mean is that he doesn't let himself (at least often) get pushed around by the girls. He'll talk back - he's not a bumbling idiot who gets dragged around by the "harem". And so on and so forth, which is already a great thing that makes this series already very different from other "harem" series.

And yeah, for the first half of the series, it's pretty much a funny, crazy, slapstick ride through what is "typical" harem anime. Lots of laughter, lots of "RIN IS MINE!" fights and whatnot. Of course, if you hate that sort of thing, by the 4th or 5th episode you probably would've given up on this series, and I don't blame you.

I stuck around because 1) I don't mind this genre and 2) I was wondering if they would really go for 24 episodes of this. Mind you, I had NO idea what I was getting into, I honestly thought it was just gonna be 24 episodes of girls fighting over Rin, general funny stupidity, and MAYBE Rin making a decision at the end, but obviously, quite obviously, this series was FAR from it.

Halfway through the season, another girl who was added to the harem, who goes by the name of Primula, suddenly becomes the focus of attention. From here on the series takes a staggering 180 degree turn in atmosphere. I won't say totally dark, more like, this is where the story picks up and actually develops. Episode by episode, you learn about how each girl became what they are, and needless to say, EVERYONE in that so-called harem has some sort of dark past. I won't spoil what these dark pasts are, but I can say that the "delivery" of these pasts tugged at my heart. If it doesn't even make your heart ache for them at least once, you probably watched WAY too many dramas.

On top of that, the harem genre actually becomes realistic. As the main character struggles to decide and balance his relationships with everyone, he unwittingly ends up causing despair, rage, envy, angry, melancholia, and sorrow amongst the harem. Because the true reality of the "harem" genre starts taking course... when the one person who has all these options available to him, starts going towards a certain person, there will be a severe negative impact amongst the others as they too end up struggling with the fact that they may not be the one who is chosen by Rin. By the time I got to the point where I realized it'd turn dark, I became too familiar with the characters and the series to stop watching there, despite my dislike for dark anime. I wanted to know what was going to happen to them and how all this would be sorted out, and I did.

And as I've said before, little by little do you learn about how everyone is, why everyone is. So much ends up happening before Rin finally chooses one that each and every main character gets a fully fleshed out tale about their past, and with it a "completeness" that no other so-called "harem anime" will be able to match. Episodes 18-20 left me hanging by my seat, glued to my monitor, wondering wtf was going to happen and had me empathizing for the characters involved because of its harsh similarities with certain real life events I have experienced. They even continued the series after what "looked" like the ending on the 21st episode, and brought it to a satisfying end.

A series very much similar to this in terms of its pace would be Kiddy Grade. Suggestive name aside, it too was slow to start, but ended up becoming deep and engaging after the 9th episode.

If you're willing to put up with 12 episodes of happy-go-lucky comedy and/or if you're looking for an anime that succesfully dispels the stigma of emptiness that so-called "harem anime" has made ever since Love Hina, watch this series.

Be mindful of the "fanservice" though. There's tons of panty shots and nude scenes galore, and I can honestly say this series definitely does NOT need them. It can hold up on its own merits simply because this series was THAT good.

But seriously - this series (after the 11th episode) put me on one heck of a roller coaster ride. You could say it was similar to a suspense thriller -it really put me on the edge of the seat since with each episode, I simply could NOT predict what the heck was going to happen and who it was going to happen to. Each episode's end left me with a "wtf?!" (in a good way) type of feeling that made me want to see the next one immediately. The 20 minutes that I spent per episode flew by me like nothing, and anime rarely does that for a lot of people, including me. Sometimes it'll look like it'll get dark again, but it'll remain light, and vice versa.

I would not have made this review if this anime sucked ass, heck, I would not have given the "bold" or italic heading if it did. It's great - endure the 12 episodes of supposedly "mindless" fun - learn how the characters are then dive in and be prepared for a dizzying ride through the story. You will not regret it. Who knows, considering it seems to have enough of a fanbase, perhaps we'll be seeing a second season sometime in the near future, eh?

As a side note, it is quite obvious that the main guy will have to make a final choice, and at first I wouldn't had mind who he had chosen. But because of the incredible plot development and character background, I was actually rooting for Rin to pick a particular one because of the events that transpired in episodes 18 - 20. If you know me IRL, you probably know who I believe his choice should be.

Slayers - A true classic. Swords and sorcery mixed with comedy and action. Fast and well-paced, with season 2 being the pinnacle of the series. One of the standard staples to watch, simply because it's that good.

Strawberry Panic! - All right, if you haven't learned by now, I'm a big fan of shoujo-ai / yuri anime. I get a warm fuzzy feeling inside seeing two beautiful girls get all lovey dovey with each other. Something about seeing a guy in the picture there just doesn't jive that well with me. Strawberry Panic is a prime example of shoujo-ai. This story's about a new transfer student, Aoi Nagisa, who has arrived at an all-girls academy. On the first day, she ends up meeting with the "representative" of the Three Schools within the academy, and pretty much gets toyed with by this representative. The rest of the anime is about her life within the combination school and dormitory (and the massive amounts of girl to girl relationships around her - slice of life I suppose) and her off and on interaction with this representative (called the Etoile). Consider this an active and happy version of the anime Maria-sama ga Miteru (Marimite for short). It's bright, it's cute, and it's funny. It's new too, so you people who actually pay good money for licensed anime can get it for free at the usual anime sites. This series is not available for download from animesuki.com for some reason.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya) - This anime series came out of freakin' nowhere in the Spring, ran us over, and left no license plate number for us to go after. A mix of comedy, a small bit of romance, and slice of life with a science fiction twist to it. Based off a series of novels - this covering only the first two volumes. Anime's about a high school girl (yeah yeah yeah, stop pointing those wet noodles at me) who thinks the life she lives is boring - herself being an insigifnicant speck in the world. Her desire to make her boring life different is so strong that her simple will causes things to be made and exist; the unfortunate problem is, she has no idea she is causing such events. However, the club she has formed, the SOS-dan, consists of many eccentric people, a time traveler, an alien, and esper, and most importantly, Kyon - a normal high school guy who really has nothing spectacular about him at all. This series is all about Kyon dealing with this strange girl and her simply "created" companions. Awesome watch - well animated (by Kyoto Animation, the guys who did AIR and a whole bunch of other stuff), decently paced with many modern cultural references thrown in. The ending theme and the animation for a DANCE that goes with it simply rocks. Become a part of the growing Haruhi-ism today!

You're Under Arrest, Seasons 1 & 2 - From the creators of Ah, Megami-sama (Oh, My Goddess!) comes You're Under Arrest, a lighthearted slice-of-life kinda anime about a couple of girls who work at the traffic safety division of their local police station. Much like a lot of the anime I enjoy watching, each of the episodes are almost self-contained, so there isn't much of a developing story. There are two and three parters here and there, but that's it. Despite that, this anime definitely has its charm, as the characters have a realistic twist to their personalities that makes it easy for the viewer to relate with. Natsumi's superhuman strength and relentless determination is to be admired, and Miyuki's mechanical genius is simply outstanding. A definite must watch!