Sword Art Online

Genre: Sci-fi/Fantasy

Creator/Studio: Reki Kawahara (writer of light novels)/A-1 Pictures

Distributor: FUNimation

Note: This review only covers the first 25 episodes of the series, not any of the currently running arcs. It stops with the Alfheim Online arc.

Summary: In the distant future, a new online Virtual Reality MMO called is sweeping the world. However, one of the mods in charge of the game has rigged it, turning it into a game in which the players now fight for their lives. If they get killed in the game, they die–FOR REAL! The story mainly focuses on Kirito and Asuna, two players determined to make it through all 100 levels and get back to the real world.

Rurouni Kenshin (aka Samurai X)

Genre: Historical

Creator/Studio: Nobuhiro Watsuki/Studio Gallop (first 65 episodes) and Studio Deen (66-95)

Distributor: First distributor was Media Blasters, current distributor is Sony

No. of Episodes: 95

Age Rating: 13+

My Rating: 8/10

Summary: This anime is set during Japan’s Meiji Era (1868-1912) The period marked the end of Japan’s Edo period, when they operated in a feudal system of government. Its hero, Kenshin Himora, is a former samurai whose bloodshed has earned him the name battosai. After the end of the Edo period, Himora reversed the blade on his sword and decided to atone for all the lives he had killed. At the start of the series, he meets Kaoru Kamina, daughter of a dojo that teaches the Kamina Kashin style of combat. He also meets Sanosuke Sagara (a former member of the Sekiho army who became a mercenary), Yahiko Myojin (an orphaned urchin who Kamina eventually takes in as a student), and Megumi Takani (a woman who is also a practicing doctor).  Later in the series, he meetsa female ninja named Misao Makimachi.