Golden Time (2013) ゴールデンタイム

Banri was a new student at a private law school. he found himself completely lost after the opening ceremony, unable to find his way to the freshman orientation. he ran into another lost freshman called Mitsuo. they arrived at the orientation just on time and saw a beautiful girl holding a bouquet of roses and whacked it across Mitsuo's face. Kaga was actually Mitsuo's childhood friend that promised to marry each other one day. however, Mitsuo had secretly taken the examination for this private college in order to escape her.

the series started out with a love triangle that soon changed its focus from comedy to drama. there were times spent on backgrounds of each character, giving plenty of character development and introduction that led to us rooting for them unconsciously. the dramas kept the story interesting and flowing in an even pace. even Mitsuo who started out to be an overly average character turned out to be very attractive after an in depth introduction. Banri however, was actually the center and the most important character that brought the series to an even higher level.

Epic (2013)

Mary Katherine had just returned to his father's home, but found out that he was too absorbed in his discovery of a tiny civilizations in the forest. having decided to leave her father, Mary was shrunken down by the dying Queen Tara. Mary had to deliver a pod of the new Queen to safety. he was protected by a Leafman warrior and two mollusks, later joined by a young maverick named Nod. soon they found themselves coming face to face with Mandrake, the Boggan leader that wanted to destroy everyone.

at first glance, the forests and its details for the film was absolutely breathtaking. however, its characters were less impressive. first of all, the main character, Mary Katherine turned out to be quite a negative character. her intended partner, Nod was equally frustrating to watch. it was unfortunate that even until the very end, they still remained unlikable. the characters that stood out the most among the many were a slug named Mub and a snail named Grub. they were the best combination of partnership that was so entertaining to look at. with a wrong choice of characters, it was a pity to find the film less entertaining than it probably deserved.

Outbreak Company (2013) アウトブレイク・カンパニー

Shinichi was an otaku who had a novel author father and illustrator mother. he did not have any special ability other than his broad knowledge from manga to anime to games. one day, he was transported into a fantasy world where elves lived and dragons flied. he was given the task to enhance cultural exchange by becoming a Moe Missionary in the fantasy world. he came up with an idea of building a school and soon was thrown into serious cases that involved the safety of the country he now resided in.

being transported into the fantasy world was everything an otaku could ever wished for. with plenty of magical beings, anime being taught in school, as well as being in the center of some very cute girls. it was a lighthearted series and evenly paced. Shinichi had to start a school that other than teaching them to be an otaku, it also became a channel teaching them to live beyond their differences while stopping the racism between elves and dwarves. Miusel was the maid appointed to Shinichi on his stay in the strange world. with her involvements, the series became even more entertaining as she started falling in love with Shinichi.

Escape from Planet Earth (2013)

Scorch was a famous astronaut on Planet Baab, where his nerdy brother, Gary, was the head of mission control. one day, Scorch decided to respond for a call from Planet Earth without the aid of Gary. unfortunately, it was a planned scheme of the US Army's General to capture Scorch. after being cutoff of all communication with Planet Baab, Gary decided to rescue his brother by being captured by the same General. the General had wanted to destroy all alien planets and Gary was forced to work for him.

it was always refreshing to find aliens the good guys while humans the bad guys in any productions. in this film, the aliens were deceived by the humans. Gary and his group of new friends had to help the General create the weapon that will eventually take out their planets. while the group of aliens were funny to look at, they played no big roles. fortunately Gary turned out to be an engaging and lovable character. the film in overall was more or less average but still entertaining enough until the very end.