Today is year 2015. Where are the Angels?

Space Dandy

Space Dandy was pretty good. I really liked that each episode was self-contained and showcased different variety of animation styles and writing. Dai Sato being part of this project is what really got me into this. The soundtrack is truly awesome and the anime featured some memorable breakout episodes such as Rock n’ Roll Dandy, Baby and Lovers Are Trendy, Baby.

Nobunaga Concerto

This is probably one of the underrated gems in 2014. A boy accidentally time travels back into the Sengoku Era of Japan may sound pretty cliché for a plot but this anime is pretty good. I really like that the story faithfully follows the history of Japan’s Sengoku Era while giving its nice twist to the history. The animation style might be odd for some, but don’t let it stop you from watching this anime.

Haikyuu!!

This might be the best sports anime of 2014. If there’s one thing this anime is good at, it’s that it reels the audience in from the get go and makes them feel like they’re part of the action. I felt the emotions the main characters go through with each match. I felt the joy of the main characters with each victory but more importantly, I learned that losers have their story too. Yuki Hayashi made some really good musical score for the soundtrack. I can’t wait for season 2!

Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis

This anime was unexpectedly good. MAPPA has created a really engaging anime from some card game that I hadn’t heard of. The characters are engaging and the animation was consistently great. I’d really like to see more adventures of Favaro and Kaisar in the future.

Mushishi Zoku Shou

This is an anime that deals with the relationship between man and the spirit world within the context of Japanese folklore and belief. I really like that sometimes after an episode, it gives me a tidbit of thought to ponder on. I really like that the animation and the soundtrack give the anime a unique ambiance. This anime will be a welcome change if you want a break from all the moe anime you’ve been watching and would like to try something new.

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun

This is probably the best anime comedy of 2014. I really like the anime for showing a hilarious look at the reality of manga creation. I also got laughs watching Chiyo’s shoujo dreams get crushed by the oblivious Nozaki. and the way Nozaki get ideas for his manga are probably some of the funniest moments in this anime for me. A cast of lovable eccentric characters and funny, bizarre situations make this a truly memorable comedy anime. If you like comedy anime and haven’t watched this yet, do yourself a favor and watch this.

Gon vs. Nefelpitou (Hunter X Hunter 2011)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2nEZLXXv98

Now I could probably pick many notable moments in Hunter X Hunter 2011 that aired in 2014 but I had to pick this one. Madhouse did a great job in animating a brutal demonstration of a childish tantrum. This is one of the moments that just had the most of the HxH fandom totally wowed.

Winners and Losers (Haikyuu!!)

Haikyuu!!! is probably one of the best sports anime that aired in 2014. The anime just hooks you from the get-go! Episode 16 shows just how good the anime is plus dishing in healthy amount of feels to the audience, more importantly the episode does something that’s not much done in other sports anime – it has shown us that the defeated also have their own story too.

Lovers are trendy, baby! (Space Dandy)

Space Dandy has lots of awesome moments but this one takes the cake. This is the episode that broke the fandom. Nothing much else to say. Dandy x Scarlet represent!

So there you have it, the top 3 anime moments in 2014 that I think are totally unforgettable. What 2014 anime moment do you think is unforgettable, dear reader? I’d like to know!

Tetsuya Nomura, famous for being the character designer of various Square-Enix games such as the ever popular Final Fantasy series, drew Miku Hatsune to look more real which is a step away from Miku’s usual moe appeal. The result was for me was really awesome.

With Miku now looking more human-like, Miku Hatsune is now one step closer to Sharon Apple. Perhaps in the future, everybody around the world would be open to the idea of a virtual songstress just like in Macross Plus.

A slice-of-life anime about what goes on during the creation and production of each anime is a really awesome idea! I’m glad somebody in Japan was able to come up with the idea. I really like that the creators went all out with the ‘cute girls doing animation’ concept.

I’m really, really liking this anime thus far. The anime captures the reality and hardships of anime production each episode! There’s a production assistant who forgets to do important key animation for a specific episode, the animation supervisor for an episode that will be aired pretty soon suddenly falls ill and everything is on danger of falling behind schedule, the head director suddenly orders last minute big changes on an episode which pisses off the animation director and others are just some of the very real troubles that a production company face when doing an anime on a very tight schedule. While the anime perfectly captures the troubles that a production company face during anime production, the anime adds bits of fun like Miyamori engaging on a drag race with a rival production runner to bring goods to the animation supervisor and a discussion of what moe should be. Another thing I like about this anime is that it references some well-known people in the anime industry perfectly.

I like this anime! So far I can’t see anything bad about it for now and hopefully, it continues that way.

The story is about Ichimatsu Kohina, an elementary schoolgirl who calls herself a doll summons Kokkuri-san, a fox spirit, by doing an Ouija board ritual and upon learning of Kohina’s predicament, Kokkuri-san decides to haunt the little girl until he fixes her.

I’d tell you that this anime is so friggin hilarious! It only took a few minutes into the first episode for me to laugh like crazy! What I also really like is that the show can pull a sudden mood shift and go drama mode smoothly. I was kinda irritated that the drama was ruined by the sudden shift to comedic punchline, but it’s all good. The show got my attention.

Daisuke Ono as Kokkuri-san is pretty good but Ryo Hirohashi’s performance as Kohina is just super top notch! Takahiro Sakurai and Johji Nakata round up the main cast, so I’m sure we’d get a good performance from the main cast.

I’m just gonna say that this anime is looking to be pretty good! This is one good anime that can bring in all the laughs and the feels. I’m liking it!

The story is about Shinichi Izumi who loses control of his right hand for some reason and when he finally discovers the reason why he lost control of his right hand, his whole life is changed forever.

I love my sci-fi stories and Parasyte fits the bill. I’ve read the manga source from way back then and I liked it. To see this first episode was totally hype and it totally delivers. The first anime has blood and gore and I love the dubstep BGM when things get hairy between parasytes. I totally love the OP theme song and sequence but I’m kinda iffy on the ED theme and sequence, but I guess I can let that slide. I guess we can expect good seiyuu work from Nobunaga Shimazaki who voices Shinichi and Aya Hirano who voices Shinichi’s parasyte.

The anime has got my full attention. First episode was pretty awesome and I hope the next episodes will have the same intensity as the first episode. For sci-fi anime fans, this is a must watch I tell you.

Kidding aside, I love anime that make a strong impression on the first episode and this anime does that. The first skit is a comedic powerhouse for any anime fan who has read any ero doujin (which is probably a huge majority of anime fans).

This anime felt something like Servant X Service. It felt like a slice of life parody comedy about people working on a Japanese comic bookstore. I really like how the humor is simple and the moe moments are used to enhance the comedic punch. This anime seems to be nothing groundbreaking but this is sure damn funny.

I love my good anime comedies and I have high hopes for this one!

The anime looks pretty nice. It seems to have big production values so it has to look nice!

Apparently, artificially induced sisconhood is now a thing.

The two episodes thus far show that the anime has pretty nice execution in my opinion. The anime’s MC gave off this Mary Sue feeling for some reason…

The anime has been a nice watch thus far and judging from its fanbase, it has the potential to become the SAO of Spring 2014.

The anime is a slice-of-life comedy about Hoozuki and his fellow denizens of Jigoku. The anime is a masterful piece of humor that is delightful to watch.

The greatest strength of the anime is its ability to come up with good jokes about almost everything. From festivals to folklore to even betting, the anime has come up with a good joke about it and the way the anime presented each joke is totally superb. I really liked that Wit Studio didn’t do a copy-paste adaptation of its original source and took advantage of the anime format to make it better; an example of it is that the anime made good use of the ED credits animation to make a joke out of it in the finale episode which I totally liked. I also really liked that the final part of the anime felt very heartfelt which is a fitting ending to a very good anime.

Another thing good about is its top seiyuu cast and getting the famous ghost story teller Inagawa Junji as the narrator is proof of it.

I guess that the only negative I could say about the anime is that its humor tend to be heavy about Japanese culture that the average gaijin anime fan might not understand some or most of the jokes.

In conclusion, I’d totally recommend to watch this anime. It’s really good anime comedy.

I’ve been surfing anime songs on YouTube and I came across this video of Dango Daikazoku. First thing I’ve noticed is that the comments seem endless. The second is that in few of the comments, I saw that people actually claimed that Clannad changed their lives. Here’s a comment from the said video.

As much as I consider anime as a regular part of my life that I probably won’t give up, it’s pretty amazing how anime can actually change few people for the better. Is there an anime that moved you to change your life, dear reader?

Be – Devil Survivor 2

I really like the initial acoustics of the song because it gives off an ominous feel and the song is pretty good. I also like the evolving credits for this song in the anime until it just comes down to two people which kinda enhances the song for me.

Tsukihana – Hataraku Maou-sama!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56gckK4zARk

Of all the songs nano.RIPE did this year, this has got to be the best. The song is just really soothing. This is one of the songs I listen to if I want to relax and chill.

Date TIME – Samurai Flamenco

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymQ21aB7daQ

Glorious light and bubbly idol love song at its finest. Say what you will about the anime but I think we’ll both agree that this song is one of (if not the only) the best parts of the anime. This song is just way too good.

Kyokai no Kanata – Daisy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqc_YNOGDE8

Kyokai no Kanata has some really good songs, so it’s just a matter of preference which song is the best for you. I just like its ED theme the best.

Hello Especially – Gin no Saji

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5K5II52frQ

I hope nobody has forgotten about Silver Spoon. It’s one of those unexpectedly good anime of 2013. The ED theme is really an amazing easy listening song.

Through All Eternity～縁の絆～ – Mushibugyou

Mushibugyou is probably the only anime where the (second) OP and ED themes I really liked to bits. The song sounds something I’ve Sound would churn out for an anisong.

Hachimitsu Doki – Servant X Service

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftjEE5QLktw

Monaca really makes great pop songs. Add Ai Kayano’s cute vocals and you have an super awesome song. This is probably one of the best anisongs of 2013.

Exit – Kingdom Season 2

You can never go wrong with The Sketchbook. Perhaps out of all the Kingdom S2 ED themes the group did, this one I feel is the best because the song really fits with the story of the anime.

Next Destination – Senki Zesshou Symphogear G

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUM2wUPEJxs

I’m just going to say that Ayahi Takagaki seems to sing the best anisongs in Symphogear. I think the ED theme is the best part of the anime.

Shissou Ginga – Kyosogiga

Kyosogiga is probably one of those anime in 2013 that had a really likeable female main character in Koto. The other thing totally likeable about the anime is its ED theme. It is amazing Japanese modern rock.

So there you have it, my favorite anime ED themes of 2013. What are your favorite anime ED themes of 2013, dear reader?

Fate/kaleid liner プリズマイリヤ – Starlog

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IwYehStpNQ

This song sets off an adventure in my imagination. I really like how the song feels hopeful and upbeat and it really pumps me up. In my opinion, this is the best song ChouCho ever sang.

Tamayura ~More Aggressive~ – Hajimari no Umi

Tamayura has a reputation for having chill songs for its OP theme. I really like the smooth Bossa feel of the song and it’s totally relaxing. While this cover is good, it doesn’t come close to the oringinal (dammit, YT!).

Mushibugyou – Denshin Unchained

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roB00QOWmhU

While Mushibugyou is one of those anime that is probably lowest among the season it aired, I really liked how the anime kicked things up along the halfway of its airing. Even the OP/ED themes got better as well. This is probably one of the few best things about the anime.

Tokyo Ravens – X-encounter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74OFlmjDu4M

Maon Kurosaki really did well on this song. She just keeps on getting better and better.

Kakumeiki Valvrave – Kakumei Dualism

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_StNaQnEpx4

I’ll admit that I the ending for this anime felt pretty meh for me, but this OP theme is really awesome! TM Revolution and Nana Mizuki seemed like an iffy duet at first but they pulled it off very nicely on the first song and outdid themselves with this one.

Arpeggio of Blue Steel ~Ars Nova~ – Savior of Song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czKdlRrLF3s

Nano really sings her rock songs awesomely. She’s one of the few Nico Nico Douga singers that became successful and this song is proof of her success.

These are the few anime OP themes that I really liked this 2013. What are your favorite anime OP themes this 2013? Happy new year, folks!

I really like everything about this anime. The chill and smooth OP theme, the relaxing feel of the anime itself and Potte’s personal journey with coming to terms with the issues she’s dealing with.

As an introvert, I sometimes have trouble coming to to terms with issues and stuff I have to deal with and in watching the anime, watching Potte, an introvert like me, come into terms with the issues she’s dealing with and grow as a person with each episode has been a joy to watch.

I think the best thing about this anime is how it approaches the issues in a calm and reassuring manner and each episode will touch you if you give it a chance. I also suggest watching the predecessor, Tamayura: Hitotose.

In my opinion, this anime is pretty underrated. I’d recommend this for fans of healing slice-of-life anime.

The premise is basically that kids buy and build their gunpla figures and battle them against each other Angelic Layer style. Pretty neat and it’s a nice way for Bandai to focus on gunpla merchandise while introducing all the previous Gundam series in one show. I also like the Gundam references inserted in the first episode and we get to see a great gunpla fight.

The best thing about this first episode for me it that it shows what Gundam fandom is mostly all about.

This was a good episode. Eren vs. Annie was pretty awesome and Annie’s backstory flashes was nicely animated. I like the part where Titan-Eren was going batshit crazy and the sight of a tearing Annie brought him back to his senses. That scene was gold. Despite what the manga purists would say, I really liked that reveal at the end. It gave me hope that there will be a season 2.

That does it for season 1! Hopefully there will be a season 2.

Wow, they must have blown the animation budget on this episode. The episode extended some scenes from the manga and added some nice fillers. Also, Eren’s transformation was made more dramatic compared to the manga.

Mikasa shows what a dedicated yandere girlfriend is good for in this episode; telling cold pointers to Eren and when he’s being useless, she goes berserker on the Female Titan. Armin had some awesome lines in this episode. Jean has some good moments too, that scene when he’s looking at how slow the MP are and when he gave Eren a piece of his mind. Hanji, Erwin and Levi were pretty awesome too, all the while Eren is down and getting his priorities straight. Eren did get his thunder at the end of the episode (He’s the main character, after all).

Next episode is looking to be very awesome!

Okay, I’m done with my fanboying. Two big things in this episode. Let’s get to it.

The elite MP is actually far from elite and is actually filled with corrupt officers. I really like how the anime was pretty spot on with the depiction of a corrupt police force down to the bribing of the rookie guy, it’s amazing. Sugita’s character in this episode was used to talk to how most people who wish to do noble things end up being eaten by the system and end up just drifting along the flow and to see how Eren’s strength of purpose is pretty inhuman.

Annie is the Female Titan (as if it wasn’t obvious enough), but the reveal really isn’t the big thing here, it’s her dialogue throughout this episode is the object here which shows her conflict: Humanity. By being with humans, Annie, a Titan, gained humanity and that interfered with her mission as a Titan. “I have failed to become a warrior.” she said, and I think that line means something.

Also I like the parkour of the people rushing to subdue Annie. That’s pretty amazing stuff.

I’m looking forward to the next episode!

I really like how this episode started with Levi’s awesomeness as he made short work of the Female Titan. I also like how the anime showed Mikasa’s inexperience against aberrant titans.

This is probably one of the instances where I’d say that I liked the fillers in this episode. The fillers gave details on some of the missed details in the manga which greatly enhanced this episode.

Looks like the arc is finally heading into its climax. Looking forward to it!

Finally, good things are happening! From the sheer emotion of this episode to the Titan battle, this episode kicked things up a notch! I like how the titan fight was done like a MMA battle and it seemed that Eren was in control of the battle until Eren seemed to realize something then that last blow by the Female Titan.

The Female Titan finally has Eren and is making a run for it with Levi and a very angry Mikasa in pursuit. When two of the strongest fighters are tailing a strong titan, you know a good battle will be coming up. Can’t wait for the next episode!

Wow, the pacing is really slow for this arc and I think that a few (who read the manga) are starting to get irritated by the slow pacing of this arc. The Titan scream upped the intensity of the episode which compensated for the slow pacing thus far. More Sasha is always welcome.

Looking forward to the slaughter episode next week!