Storms on the other hand...

Yeah, this review was supposed to be here yesterday, but a storm kind of took care of those odds. (Not to mention my electrical power and, subsequently, my internet connection for one more day.)

Anyway, what Tim and I got for you today is crazy catgirl comedy Cat God, a show that might've done better had it not tried testing our mutual hatred for weak endings.

Next week'll see reviews from Aiden as well as myself. And hey, that'll be the first anime reviews for the new year. For now, we wish you a continued merry Christmas and a happy new year.

- Stig Høgset and Tim Jones.

Hello, everyone, and welcome back to another annual festivity that we have taken part of since 2009. This year, we have a couple more people with us too.

Aiden: What do epic mecha battles and idol singers have in common? They are two annoying things that somehow come up good in Macross Frontier. Who would have thought it?

Nick: Sometimes, you're just not sure if you want to love a series or if you want to spank it for being as frustrating as it is. But those two feelings can indeed run hand-in-hand, especially when you find one that blows you away 80% of the time and then leaves you shouting "what were they thinking!" for the remainder. Read on to find how one particular series managed to earn my adoration before proceeding to test its limits with some downright lazy filmmaking.

Stig: I've known about this show for the longest time, and have even seen two episodes of it earlier. So I have no idea why I just put it aside and all but forgot about it until someone put it as a suggestion for RSS. At any rate, here it is.

Tim: Darker than BLACK is another big-name anime title here at THEM Anime Reviews that we only now have gotten off our butts to finally review. Released in 2007, this series tries to juggle supernatural, sci-fi, action, mystery, drama, and even comedy elements at times. It also has plenty going for it: interesting leads, creative battles, great art, and some nice music by the famous Yoko Kanno. Read more about it here.

Bradley: I also received Darker Than Black from my Secret Santa, and while I wrote a little bit about it for Tim's review, I ended up reviewing a different anime. Has it really been five years since Paprika came out? It's a movie I've seen at least three times in preparation for this review, and while the world may not need another Paprika review five years later, I'm more than prepared to tell you what I think, hopefully offering a little more insight.

And that's it. A happy (belated) Christmas for all our readers, and we'll see you all around.

- Aiden, Nick, Stig, Tim and Bradley.

From the sublime (Tokyo Magnitude 8.0), to the ridiculous, (Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito), as well from the interesting (Ghost Hound) to the boring (Yumekui Merry); three new series reviewed as well as a sparkling second opinion. I hope your Christmas shopping goes well!

Adieu,

~Aiden

We're back with a whopping six new reviews this week, including some from Editor-in-Chief Emeritus Carlos again, in his second week of un-retirement.

Speaking of Carlos, his first review up tonight is City Hunter: Secret Service. Based on the popular anime City Hunter, he feels that it does not reflect the series very well. But that's much better than can be said for Legend of Lemnear, which won't be even appease the most fanatic of anime fantasy action lovers. Fortunately he has much better luck with Space Family Carlvinson, an obscure sci-fi comedy anime that he gives high recommendation.

Nick continues his streak of new reviews from the preceding week with three more, too! He first looks at Armitage III: Dual Matrix, a sequel to Armitage III, and one he finds a good addition, too. He also gives us second opinions of Kite and Voices of a Distant Star, which he finds slightly better and weaker respectively than the original reviews.

Hope you enjoy reading them! Stay tuned next week for a smaller update schedule with Brad and me. See you next Monday.

- Tim Jones

Just when you thought you'd heard the last of Editor-in-Chief Emeritus Carlos, he comes roaring back with three new reviews:

First off, a long-overdue look at the second season of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, which we all know by now got a bit ... endless. And somewhat disappointing, compared to the first season's fun times.

Then Carlos soldiers through the entirety of the fantasy failure Legend of Crystania, with reviews for The Motion Picture and The Chaos Ring.

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More new reviews from Nick: first, a detailed look at the Oscar-winning short film La Maison En Petits Cubes - yep, despite the French name, it's a Japanese production.

He then gives us a very in-depth look at the "entertaining but flawed" Samurai Champloo.

See you next Monday, with more reviews from Carlos and Nick!