What I watched in Spring 2013: Digest Version, part 2 of 2

b House of Five Leaves: The most laid back period show about ronin samurai ever.  There is some action and a certain amount of suspense and intrigue (and a wildly anachronistic soundtrack heavy on Italian/Mediterranean accordion music).  The main character is a seriously timid samurai who has severe social anxiety issues.  He's not actually bad with a sword; he just can't really use it when lots of people are watching him in a real-life situation.  He ends up catching the eye of a mysterious criminal who drags him into his kidnapping business.  As time passes, this criminal's past starts catching up to him.  I think I prefer the manga because the ending is very different and feels more consistent and because there are more interesting sub-plots and more character development.  The anime is sleeker, trimming away the extra plot threads (mostly) and turning on different circumstances and choices.  The art in both is, well, very Natsume Ono, which means it's distinctive, startling, and sometimes hard to get used to.  Even though no one really leaves, there's a relaxed, road trip vibe.  It's a good time, and the character interaction is entertaining.

b Ristorante Paradiso:  Another Natsume Ono story, this one takes place in modern-ish Italy.  It follows a young lady (whose mother abandoned her in order to marry a man who didn't want a woman with a child) as she plots her revenge on the mother she doesn't know.  Except then she meets her mother, and her planned revenge just sort of falls apart as she falls in love with the restaurant her mother's husband runs which has a staff made of up middle-aged men with glasses.  She also starts to fall for one of said middle-aged wait staff and ends up helping out as a kitchen assistant.  This series is also very laid back as it meanders around the lives of folks involved with the restaurant.  If you are looking for resolution or something to really happen, just don't.  Enjoy the ride and try to control the food cravings.

b Steins;Gate: WHOA.  It has bits of gosh-wow fantastic science-fiction increasingly crushed by that pesky time paradox/morality problem.  It has some moments of ridiculous otaku fanservice and episodes of unrelentingly dark moral quandries.  It has murder, mystery, romance, and a main character who has adopted a personna to annoy people around him.  I cannot really explain what makes this show great, but I was hanging on by my fingertips most of the way, and I found the ending to be incredibly well-done.  Excellent voice acting and sometime excellent plotting (it twists, it turns, you NEVER thought it would go there, holy cow).  I suspect it might be a good show to marathon because lots of details MATTER in a way that they don't in most other shows, but some of the characters are reeeeally awkward and might get on one's nerves in larger doses.  Good stuff.