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Contributor Report: Neko-Hime

The following is a list of all ratings and reviews submitted by Neko-Hime. The links below can be used to quickly scroll down to a specific title.
Nabari no Ou (Jump to title)
- Overall: 8
- Violence Rating: 6
- Nudity Rating: 3
- Theological Themes: 4
- Other Negative Themes: 4
Review This is potentially my favorite anime of all time, and the characters are really what make it great. They all have motives, backstories, and complex personalities. It's definitely a bar-raiser!

Violence: It's... about ninjas. People get slashed, chopped, etc; you can't really avoid it. I have to say that the blood is quite realistically animated; while there's not a whole lot of it, it's done with care.

Nudity/sexual content: One woman wears low-cut outfits and is relatively well-endowed. One character lives with a woman whom he is not married to, about 20-ish years his senior (this was done tastefully, though).
One place where Nabari falls a little short is on relationships-- if one is looking to interpret things the wrong way, it could easily fall into shonen-ai.

spoilerI'm referring to Yoite and Miharu. The thing is, neither of have had any close friendships in their lives- they meet each other and realize that there's someone in the world they can relate to. The two grow quite close because of it. Keep this in mind and it is clear their relationship is not romantic-- but the fangirls, of course, tend to interpret things differently.


(As a note: there are certain elements in the manga not present in the anime that further complicate Yoite and Miharu's relationship: Spoiler: Yoite is neither male nor female. Whether this makes certain things acceptable or not is up to the viewer.)
Another character (Gau) is very devoted to his samurai master/friend/mentor, following him around like a duckling. Sparkly, heart-filled thought bubbles are present; this is mostly there for comic relief.
There were moments that got awfully close to crossing the line, and if this is a stumbling block to you, watch with care. However, I think the sheer number of 'd'aaaw!' moments made up for them!

Religious content: There's not a whole lot of anything here, but nobody believes in any kind of god and Miharu is sort of... possessed by a 'yosei-san' [fairy].

Other themes: A character smokes. There is language, sometimes strong (nothing beyond b******, I think).

And one last thing: this anime may induce powerful urges to don a gatsby cap and walk around pointing at strangers. I know I did.

Pandora Hearts (Jump to title)
- Overall: 9
- Violence Rating: 6
- Nudity Rating: 3
- Theological Themes: 3
- Other Negative Themes: 3
Review This review covers vols. 1-7!

I absolutely love Pandora Hearts. Beautiful artwork and charming characters really make it a keeper, but there are a few things you may need to work through first.

(Note: there is also an anime from NIS America; content-wise, not much is different. I believe the violence may have been toned down in the anime; however, I've only seen the first season.)

Violence: Rather strong at times. People are stabbed, eaten by 'Chains', and simply maimed in various ways. I believe we see a few severed limbs. Spoiler: One character has his eye torn out, and it is shown in decent detail. Another character goes on some sort of rampage and starts digging through corpses, tearing them up. This scene is brief, but quite disturbing.

Nudity/sexual content: Several characters wear very short skirts. A friend of mine and I have a running joke about one-- it seems to switch from 'short mode' when she's standing still to 'long mode' when she's sitting with her legs crossed (just enough to conceal anything). There is fanservice (mostly from Alice's part) in this manga-- as she's not strictly human, she seems to have no concept of what is proper in society, and thus has no problems with removing her clothes in front of others (nothing is ever shown, but it is bothersome).
One male character seems to have a crush on his brother, but it's never strictly stated whether this is true or not. His behavior may be offensive to some.
Ask the average Pandora Hearts fangirl if the main character's (Oz's) valet (Gilbery) is in love with him and she will say yes. I disagree-- the character is very devoted to his master, but it does not seem to be romantic. (However, the author loves to make fun of their relationship, frequently utilizing 'blush lines' and Gilbert's tendency to stammer when embarrassed to suggest things that likely aren't there if you don't want to see them.) If you are easily bothered by close relationships between male characters, this might not be the title for you.

Language: The worst I can recall is "s***" used twice in the first volume. However, it's almost as if the author had not settled in to the characters yet, as the perpetrator hasn't used such language since. B******, d*** and h*** make appearances.

Theological themes: "Sin" is mentioned often. Oz was thrown into the Abyss, a punishment reserved for extreme crimes, but he has no idea what he has done wrong. This might be disturbing to some (it certainly rubbed me the wrong way).
When a character is attempting to do something (usually turn back time), it is common to form a contract with a 'chain,' beasts from the Abyss that are evidently very good liars. When an 'illegal' contract is made (I have yet to fully figure out what defines 'illegal' and 'legal'), a clock appears on the person's chest. When the hand moves all the way around the clock, the victim is sucked into the Abyss. This is shown at least once and was quite disturbing.

Other problematic themes: One character smokes. It's stated that he has attempted to quit three times. There is a party of sorts in which most of the characters get drunk.
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