Wrong guess. It’s not Hisui’s birthday indeed, because, as you might remember from last years’ posts, hers is tomorrow the 12th. Actually, today is my gf’s birthday (and the proximity of the dates was NOT why I chose her). Consider this my ronery spamfest, without the embarrassing worshipping.

Well, I broke the ice already. Neko posted! How awkward. So… In a nutshell, Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! And stuff. …erm, right. I also owe you guys an apology, and perhaps a small explanation for my sudden but ever so recurrent AWOL.

Edit: Well, I thought I had scheduled this post for the 11th, but yeah it’s been a long time, WP, and it posted today, gg. Well, whatever. It’s the 11th! :V

Now, as you might (definitely) have noticed, is that I haven’t been here for over 3 months now, omitting my own birthday (a first! Thanks Matt for the post nevertheless, it really touched me), Xmas, New Year’s, and this blog’s third birthday on January 14th. Not only did this underline my and Matt’s general poor activity here and on the ’sphere, but it made it clear that I pretty much lost interest in anime… somewhat.

I wish I could dish out tons of excuses about how anime and the whole hullabaloo around it sucks massively nowadays, how it can’t compare to what “anime” used to represent over ten years ago, but in the end it just boils down to my own inability to relate and eventually hide in that fictional universe anymore. I guess, in the last few years, I’ve been bridging over my boredom and lack of popularity (read: love).
Of course, all of this was not the main reason why I started this blog at all in January 2007. All this time, my primary goal was to practice and put my little knowledge of the English (Japanese) language to good use, and to widen my horizons a little. Sometimes though, I wonder if that was just a facade not only to deceive you, the readers and critics, but also myself, who didn’t want to give in to such petty motives as popularity. Obviously, having the right friends and community makes it a more worthwhile experience, but it requires a mutual effort, which I often in my selfish ways did not deliver.

But therein also lies the biggest mistake I have made in all these years: while I used to watch anime for entertainment in the past, I watched anime only for this blog in recent times. I totally lost the focus of my watching, deluding myself that I was having fun while consuming the occasional marathon runs on some series. Don’t get me wrong, I totally enjoyed watching these series and waxing lyrical on those, it gave me a good opportunity to view the extents of my writing and appreciation of a certain work, but I am positive that I could enjoy them even more without having to feel obliged to waste long time screencapping, layouting my posts and dishing out hundreds of fake ecstatic words for a bunch of comments. Same with my figurines – actually, why did I buy some? I still haven’t unpacked my Petit Nendos because I couldn’t take pictures for my blog, and same would happen with my two Reimu figmas at home. More enjoyment comes out of those figs for visual entertainment/room decoration, not just mindless and repetitive display found on every second mediocre blog.
It’s like, a few weeks ago I watched Ponyo on TV with my girlfriend, and it was quite a great experience because it was unprepared. Of course I had subs somewhere on my external HDD, but planning on watching that would have required me to write a post afterward, as if I couldn’t live without reporting back on my experience. Victim of social networking, I guess. Probably why I stopped using twitter too. Guess I was just too bent on hoping that anyone would take interest in what my life was about, although perhaps it was just because I never had a love experience or so. Dunno. Incoherent ramblings.

Now, this absence from my blog, and distance from anime helped me to (partly) recognize some of my mistakes. My blunt outing here would also suggest that I would correct these mistakes and start doing stuff that I really like, whenever I like… a bit like I used (or claimed) to do… but much freer, and bound with much less expectations in terms of feedback/popularity gratification. Indeed I do feel motivated to watch some older series to get back in the mood, but… Yeah. There are quite some limitations.

For one, my time is entirely consumed by my dedication for my girlfriend. She is my everything, and in the last four months (we’ve been together for that long already, crikey!) I felt like I’ve been catching up to everything that I have missed in my youth. We live relatively close together in Brighton, so we spend as much time as possible (also because she won’t be here in the next 2 years..). …as such, anime doesn’t really have a place here yet. Because she doesn’t like it. :( Ghibli movies are fine, but she gladly passes on the rest. Can’t blame her, guess I had to foresee that by crossing the river separating the general nerds from the rest. Ah well.
Uni also takes up 5% of my time, and the rest of my time I spend gaming again. Playing TF2 on my laptop is all I can do, though, but that’s all I need for now. Wish I had my PS3 here, because I have Disgaea 3 at home, Cross Edge, Ar Tonelico 3 (FFFFFFFFFF) and FF13 which arrives here tomorrow (or perhaps already arrived today). So much stuff to play… where can I fit anime in this whole mess? Well, nowhere so far. At least not for blogging. But I didn’t have that in mind already, did I…

In summer, when I’ll be back home, I might spare some time. Or during the next 2 years, where I’ll be alone in Brighton. Lots of stuff ahead. No ETAs, no plans, nothing. Future updates will come on-the-fly, hopefully with the right mindset and a genuinely positive attitude.

So I sat for HOURS and decided to do a series a month and, hoping it all works out, stick with it this time. I actually Programmed my TI-83 to roll a 6-sided die 100 times, and had 6 picked out, therefore, the highest won, and thus:

1. K-On
2. Fruits Basket
3. Negima
4. Karin
5. Otome wa Boku ni Koi Shiteru (Also Includes Eroge Comparison)
6. Kampfer

And a winner is:

Otome wa Boku ni Koi Shiteru

Alas, I begin.

Mind, the Blond in the center is… a dude.

Otome wa Boku ni Koi Shiteru ~ The Lovely Maidens have fallen for Me

I had first had my experiences with Otome wa Boki ni Koi Shiteru (or, as I shall call it, Otoboku) in the early spring of 2007, when I had received a copy of the game from a friend. At first, I had assumed that:

• This was an eroge
• There were to be nudity
• And sex

but something about it was… more. Characters all seemed lively, well drawn and, most shockingly, human. Sure, the female leads all seemed to go from “Hello” one second to “Let’s bump nasties” the next, but I have known some low-modesty girls in my life, and… anyways. As I said, got the game in ‘07.

Come about summer 2008, I saw the anime sitting in the local anime/manga/magic card shop and instantly bought it. Of course, the couple real new anime fans in the store at the time were all like “Dude, you like Yuri?” I merely looked at them, laughed, and shouted “IT’S A TRAP!”, made my purchase, and left.

Fall 2008, read the Manga. ’nuff said.

Premise of story :

• Anime: Kaburagi Mizuho (though uses his late mother’s Miyanokouji as family) is attening an all-girls academy as per the request of his late Grandfather, in order to bring peace to a ghost that was a student at the school at the same time as his mother. Note, Mizuho is fairly effeminate to begin with, therefor he looks IDENTICAL to his mother. Things happen (Fan Service, Harem, Lolis, Tsunderes, the usual fare)
• Manga: Kaburagi Mizuho (though uses his late mother’s Miyanokouji as family) is attening an all-girls academy as per the request of his late Grandfather. Note, Mizuho is fairly effeminate to begin with, but we never see his mother in Manga format, so we don’t really know how much resemblance there is. Story is same as Anime.
• VN:The plot in the VN is the same as the anime, although doesn’t go through so many damn loops to get to the point. Basically, take the anime, cut the pointless stories (Who TF cares about a girl’s hair ribbons, or who can swim better ), and add a lot of sex scenes, and there you have Otoboku.

Now, comes the hard part: Which is the best. Personally, the manga, IMHO, was not that good. Kinda simplistic, it seemed like a way for the name Otoboku to make just a bit more cash for Caramelbox. So the real vs. is between Anime and Visual Novel.

Anime: Artwork was flawless in the anime, with lots of Bishoujo Shimmer and clean, graceful cuts and a very nice (I’ll admit, awesome) soundtrack. Characters where very well presented (ie, no Gainaxing), had all then depth you could ask for. Now, my gripe is that some characters (Shion and Maryia) weren’t so good. Sure they’re cute, but… not right. At least Maryia’s got a tight body.

VN: Well, this is the basis of what both others were made from, but I’ll try to keep this even. The art work is very clean and proper (ie, no weird bits or hands with 7 fingers or some such), although I occasionally got the impression that the art was slightly rushed in the later non-H scenes. Story is actually well presented (ie: not some random “oh hey, let’s take a young man, drop him in a school/workplace/shrine, give him a terrible backstory/ailment/attitude, add a harem of friends/miko/maids/aliens/furries and call it an Ero-ge” story), with lots of character development, both on the Main Character side (he’s a very kind, though clueless person) and the Ladies side (all have very interesting back story and in-game story).

Now, the only problem I have with this franchise is the pure outlandishness. ‘Nuff said.

Winner: Anime. Sorry, but the anime just appealed to me more than the VN.

Reasoning for my choice was quite simple: the anime didn’t contain anything that resembled Futa. Don’t get me wrong… wait. Ok, I dislike the futa concept, therefor I naturally was almost predetermined to pick the anime. Sure, I played the VN, but I had to keep reminding myself that it was a dude, not a chick with… anyways.

Another reason that the anime appealed to me more is that it was more believable (as is evidenced by my earlier comment of nasty bumping) than the VN, and actually entertained me for more than one day. The story had a bit more substance than the other 2 versions, and actually went somewhere that wasn’t someone’s bed. Although that is contestable, as Takako seemed to have a strong desire to have Mizuho as hers (when Takako thought both he was a she AND after she found out), but nothing ever happened. Extra points went to the 13th episode, cleverly titled “Tsunderella”. This will really make sense once you watch the anime (or play the VN) and realize that Takako is one of the most Tsundere characters going.

So there. I chose. Now, I can finally get some sleep. I have been spending the last 3 weeks alternating the VN and anime on my PC, so I haven’t done too much else.

1. K-On
2. Fruits Basket
3. Negima
4. Karin
5. Suzuka
6. Kampfer

So that’s the list for next month (March). If the Kampfer manga doesn’t update within the month, I’ll drop it for something else. Anything you guys would like to see done would be really nice, as these lists will start getting really WEIRD if I pick it myself all the time.

I noticed that it’s the Solstice today, and that means it’s Neko’s Birthday. I believe that this means Neko is OVER 9000 today, and that he also is now king. Well, at least until the 22nd rolls aroun. So everyone, please wish this man a Happy Birthday today, because he deserves it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NEKO, AND MANY MORE!

Made a pot of tea about one hour and a half ago, and I haven’t drunk one sip of it while watching episodes 3-6 of Nyan Koi! just now. So I shall try and find a reason why I forgot to drink my tea.

The thought of writing this post in Lolcat occurred to me often, but I just am not that well-versed in that Kitty pidgin. Would have been quite appropriate to Nyan Koi, but then again, only if this anime had been only about purring furballs. Which it isn’t.

The first episode was very interesting to me, showing me an interesting premise of this male lead, Kousaka Junpei, smitten by a curse that, while it enables him to understand cat speech, will turn him into a cat if he doesn’t help 100 cats before an unknown deadline. And he’s allergic to cats. This in combination with him having a crush on his classmate Mizuno Kaede, who loves cats, it promised to become very interesting indeed. Like, Junpei trying to get closer to Kaede, while trying to hide his secret from her, allowing for interesting situations, developments etc… but of course, that would have been too boring to the average idiot who expected moé catgirlsBlatant Tokyo Mew Mew reference. and nippy amounts of nyanservice. Who cares about kitty cats? Get a girl! Preferably, half a dozen of them, of varying age, character and breast size!

ちょっｗｗｗおまｗｗｗ・・・　これｗばかじゃねぇのｗ

ちょっｗｗｗおまｗｗｗ・・・　これｗばかじゃねぇのｗ

The second episode introduced a second girl, Kanako. Her initial ganguro appearance was monumentally ugly, and she seemed like an average delinquent; but she ended up being, let’s say, quite average and nice. She’s quite simple and stupid though.
Third episode, third girl: Chizuru. Older girl (would be an aberration to call her a woman, though she technically is), has a ton of loose screws, but she’s so frank and unromantic, I like that. …that’s about it.
Fourth episode, yes, another girl: Nagi. The reason why she’s been mistaken for a guy really is puzzling- but hey, she’s cool. Not. Apart from her nice bodily features, her personality is as shallow as a dried out river.
Fifth episode, you know the drill, there’s yet another girl at the very end of the episode, which culminates into the completion of the harem in ep 6: cue Akari and Kotone, twin-tailed twin lolis with conflicting personalities – why hello there, Sara and Soujyu! Make it 6 girls, so far. Well, could be worse.

This anime was fast using up its 9 lives, and desperately needed more cats to save it from disaster. Disappointingly however, this anime made more and more detours into fanservice & stereotype land to borrow comical and visually attractive elements. Episode 4 was horrible in this aspect: groping boobs, steamy bath scenes; innocent daughter of yakuza family, ultra-tomboyish girl everyone mistakes for a boy, has an underlying inferiority complex, bi-sexual, falls in love with the protagonist once he finds out she’s a girl and cheers her up, etc. Been there, seen that.
It led up to episode 5 which wasn’t any better. Amusement park owned by yakuzas screams romance and slapstick, added to a ridiculous matchmaking theme (“become her gf tonight or marry me!“) in a love polygon-in-progress setup, ghost house, culminating at the top of the ferris wheel… Smelt of filleristic genericalness.

I saw this one coming. And I laughed like a madcat. Poor Kaede ;ω;

I saw this one coming. And I laughed like a madcat. Poor Kaede ;ω;

But! The fact that Kana told Kanae a hint about Junpei’s crush did give the episode a twist of shyness, which I found awesome. Given the usual ridiculous tangents romance comedies tend to segue into, it was unexpected to see such a realistic event instead of an embarrassing misunderstanding. And the episode was almost saved by the last 30 seconds, finally returning to the plot.
Nevertheless, as I expected it to be better – and story-wise, it did a little – episode 6 sadly ventured into zettai ryouiki and pantsu territory, although you might not have seen the pantsu through the abyssal darkness emerging from under the lolis’ mini-skirts.
But that’s fine. Fine as in, “I can ignore that, because the story is more captivating.”

Despite my averseness to harem anime, the direction taken isn’t a bad one. Pretty early, Chizuru dropped out as a contestant, as well as Nagi (who only serves to justify the presence of the Yakuza.) Kanako seems to recognize Junpei’s preference for Kaede too, which only leaves us with the loli twins, whom I believe (or hope) won’t cause too much trouble either. We also know Kaede is aware of our male lead’s crush on her, and they are getting closer by the episode.
So basically, everyone else is now roughly supporting these two (hopefully shifting the focus away from the harem category), which means we’re actually back to my assumed premise: romance between Junpei and Kaede, and him fulfilling his cat-licious missions while trying to prevent her from discovering the curse.
In this context, I could imagine that the next episodes will most likely create critical situations where Kaede will come closer to the secret, and I am quite looking forward to that.

I haven't seen such fighting dust-clouds for ages!

I haven’t seen such fighting dust-clouds for ages!

In the end, this anime (and not my poor short-term memory) made me forget about my tea after all. I guess I should give this anime more credit. We’ll see how this one goes.

First series to be caught up to is Tegami Bachi. Unlike the frantic marathoning I could have hinted to in my post on batch watching/blogging from a couple of days ago, I took it relatively slowly, two episodes a day.
Either way, let’s see how well the working bees have fared so far.

In my first impression, I had imagined that this anime would turn out to be some kind of journey where Gauche and Lag would explore each other’s past, unveil more and more mysteries, and perhaps unlock some darker plot involving the abduction of Lag’s mom. But we already parted from Gauche in the second episode, and instead, the story has become all about Lag Seeing’s endeavor to become a Letter Bee himself.
I’d have believed that the premise was a little misleading, but the OVA from last year, which I obviously did not watch, already made clear that it would turn out like this. Still, the first two episodes felt more like a prologue, and should have been singled out (before the season for instance) to leave more space for the rest of the story. I’m not saying that there won’t be… well, I am actually.

Gaichu vs Niche, Giant Mantis vs loli dragon, that's almost David vs Goliath... inversed.

Gaichu vs Niche, Giant Mantis vs loli dragon, that’s almost David vs Goliath… inversed.

It’s not that the pacing feels off, to the contrary, it is just right. There isn’t too much of a rush nor is there a clear waste of time in the two arcs (which come in paired episodes) following the prologue, and the overall feel is good. I like it so far, despite the mediocre arcs.

In the first post-Gauche arc, Lag swayed Niche not only by being his usual kind self and delivering her, but showing off his potential strength and saving her – proving that he is worthy enough of her. (Even though he brought that perilous situation upon her to begin with.) I find this assumption a lot more plausible than the naive “Goodbyes are sad, so I won’t go away” line.
The next arc was a little more generic though, with the naive protagonist being tricked by poor denizen part and naive protagonist remaining unresentful towards mugger and saving their life again and again. I was more angry with Nelli’s blind stupidity than with Lag’s altruism though.

The plot devices so far are pretty lackluster, too. That ugly little Steak creature feels quite obsolete, and although it might turn into a plot device later on (if anything), it’s far from convincing. The scene where Niche wanted to stir-fry a passive SteakGood dragons should always warn their prey that they are going to eat it imminently. If you are their victim, try to roast in their flames as deliciously as possible. wasn’t funny either. If at least that large-mouthed beast had put up some resistance to create a halfway ridiculous situation…
Also, the fact that Nelli turned out to be a girl was totally irrelevant to anything at all, apart from purposeless boobs, making Lag blush, and justifying some shedding tears here and there.

Despite the simplistic story and the few inconsistencies, however, I found the mix of unsophisticated (sometimes unseriousWTF IS THIS I DON’T EVEN) action, enjoyable characters and light humor topped with the great design quite satisfying. Nothing over-the-top, but nothing all too boring either. I can’t really describe it, but it just resonates well with me. Even the few questionableThere were closer pics of her bare chest (without nipples though). imagesPantsuless loli, we’re treading in dangerous waters here! and innuSo far, everyone was able to see my bare crotch and I didn’t mind!endosShe’s like, so straightforward and all, y’know, like… yeah. were easily digestedNot that great, but slightly funny within the context. with a small grain of salt. Though, perhaps I’m just too lenient towards these weak elements in anticipation of the next episodes, and I hope they won’t disappoint.

Nice: small companions don't always need to look cute. But Steak, on top of its ugliness, is a little too useless so far.

Nice: small companions don’t always need to look cute. But Steak, on top of its ugliness, is a little too useless so far.

But there’s a problem. If I am to believe the length of the series fixed at 13 episodes, then I will have to suppose that there will be a second season, because we haven’t seen much that would suggest a clear conclusion in the near future.
Edit: Crunchymeh’s translator apparently confirmed 26 episodes for Tegami Bachi, so no worries here. Thanks to Iron Maw for the information.

My point is that so far, we have only see a hint of a possible large plot, but we basically only found out that Lag doesn’t need a gun to fire his Shindan, which is not much, considering that we are already at the middle of the season. But guessing from the preview to episode 7, Lag will -finally- manage to get into Yuusari and meet his new boss, Lloyd, and hopefully we will see a plot unfolding.
Beyond the mystery behind Lag’s eye, new questions have arised, like for instance, why would Lloyd be after the child of Maka (Niche), and why would he carry Harry (Jiggy Pepper’s eagle) around? I can imagine that he needs a new Dingo, and that Jiggy Pepper could be his personal Letter Bee, but that’s too easy. There must be something more to Lloyd’s intentions. Perhaps he will try to steal Niche by hiring Lag first, then getting of him. He might even be related to the men who abducted Lag’s mom. Perhaps she had an Amber in her body too, and was used as someone’s personal dingo mistress? Questions over questions.

Still, unless Lag doesn’t make it into Akatsuki soon, I can’t see how it could be completed in a meaningful way within 13 episodes. We’ll have to wait and see.

Oh and, Sawashiro Miyuki’s trademark “sh” and “ch” struck once again. Took me a while to recognize her voice, it was not that obvious in the beginning, but pretty noticeable once Lag grew up. Guess she’s fast becoming my favorite seiyuu… wait, I don’t have one anyway. Well, consider it done then.

Michael from Low on Hit Points hit on a very interesting subject that I feel very strongly about: weekly watching. It’s funny, because I often talked about it before and also tried explaining a certain Rule 7, which might ring a bell with some of the long-time readers here.

Anyway, I feel everything Michael in almost the same way. But perhaps I should add a little of my background as well (which is why I didn’t want to spam his comment box too much with my personal ramblings.)

Back in the days, I used to be in various DC++ hubs (channels), and there was one hub which had a set of interesting rules on anime, one of which was Rule 7: “Thou shalt not watch anime until thy series hath finished airing.” The exact formulation is similar, but the point is: don’t touch that anime until it’s complete.
I used an voracious anime consumer, patiently waiting my 7 days for the next episode of whatever series, so I could not really relate to that formula for new series. I was young, active, perhaps a little naive, but I still had a large attention span and relatively few hobbies yet. Besides, there were plenty of other series to distract me in the meantime. All was well.
But as time passed, I realized I just couldn’t keep up the attention anymore. Very often, I found myself demotivated to pick up episode 10 of whatever because I just lost interest in it. Multiply by x series, and it quickly becomes very problematic.

Especially after I started blogging, I noticed that I just couldn’t do it consistently anymore. Weekly watching compelled me to blog episodically, because that’s the only sense I could make out of reflecting upon what I saw in the anime. And then, it is exactly as Michael said:

“Waiting for a whole week, I would have thought too much about things I shouldn’t have. Waiting for a whole week, I would have overanalyzed during each break, which often leads to unfairly critiquing what I haven’t finished. Worst of all, waiting for a whole week, I would have read episodic blog posts about it.”

Cue my disinterest/laziness/business/disappointment of the next episode, and the whole series just goes down the drain. In this vein, I often drop anime midway, since backlogging multiple series usually ends up in not being able to follow the season at all.

Idiota! You broke the rule yet again!

I often tried implementing my Rule 7, but time and again I relapsed, which often ended in random, first-second episodical blogging, prodded by my greed, wary of the sphere competition, seeking attention, you name the reason. I don’t even want to recall my Hyakko fiasco. (Sounds funny. And yes, I will finish that one someday.)
But I know for sure that for most series, that style just doesn’t resonate at all with my anymore. Takes too much time, and is absolutely not a gratifying experience. The only series I’m actually glad to have cleared that way was Baccano!, but such exceptions are of utmost rarity.

Marathoning series is just a different experience altogether, and I often like doing it. As RyanA says correctly in a comment, it has something to do with the notion of recency. As far as I assess it by its name, the more recent the experience, the more vivid the recollection as one progresses through the story. Plus, there’s no room for cliffhangers, since one can cue the next episode right away. I think it’s quite self-explanatory.
The only drawback to it is that it restricts communication with the sphere altogether, since I’m likely to avoid posts and editorials on the anime I’m Rule 7′ing.
So that’s why these days, instead of waiting until the end of the season, I try to check out the high priority series that made a nice first impression until the middle (more or less), and then wait for the end. Watching (and subsequently blogging) in batches is a nice compromise and has become a very satisfying way of enjoying my anime – no weekly pressure, and a relatively nice feeling akin to marathoning, without building too huge of a momentum, so to preserve a little bit of the suspense of weekly watching.
I remember I watched Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 and many of the 2009 series like that, and I enjoyed it a lot.

The only question that always remains in the end is, would my watching experience have been any different, had I watched it in a weekly fashion? Had I marathoned it from episode 1? And that is the question I might never be able to answer. It’s basically a hit and miss.

Back in the days, I had a poll asking how people usually watch their anime. Now I got rid of the polls plugin since I often can’t come up with interesting questions – but anyway, the question still stands.

As predicted, I had a wonderful week-end… outside of my room, mainly. And I quite like it. :P

So yeah, delays and stuff, and yet another week breaks in this fall season… either way, here is -finally- the last batch, with Sora no Otoshimono, Letter Bee, The Sacred Blacksmith, Railgun, Winter Sonata and Yumeiro Patissiere. Late comer: Kaidan Restaurant swiftly joined the fun, too.

Enjoy!

List of series in Part 3:

• Sora no Otoshimono
• Tegami Bachi – Letter Bee
• Seiken no Blacksmith
• To Aru Majutsu no Choudenjibou (Railgun)
• Winter Sonata
• Yumeiro Patissiere
• Kaidan Restaurant

Sora no Otoshimono

Sigh...

Sigh…

Ah yeah, the “genie pooped out of a black hole” plot. Can fulfill any wishes. Grant 1 billion Yen. Control time. Commit genocide. Load a save game. Basically, Icarus is a big-breasted developer’s console of the world with a dog-collar.
That’s great. The fact that Tomoki can dominate such an exploitable tool implies that there is some underlying plot, I guess it would be something about more x-class Angelroids running wild, waiting to spawn out of the black hole onto random victims, and end up being a Battle Royale on conflicting interests, finishing with an epic Deus Ex Machina.
It has great animation and design, too! And Icarus reminds me of Chii, too! So, will I watch on?
 
Guess not.

And that is mainly because of the fanservice. Tomoki’s boner sceneGirl, you are so freakin’ stupid. Go to school. Get some common sense. Get a clue., albeit utterly realistic, just made me :rolleyes: and the rest of the episode didn’t help either. Big boobs, pantsu, exhibitionism (thank god for censors!), bondage et al., we’re on to something here. Something old and boring. Supposedly, the next episodes will dump in some more of those mindlessly innocent angels in all colors and shapes to cater to every taste out there.
One more to the Harem category. Well, that is if Tomoki grows some balls and actually DOES something to his girls. But he can’t. Because he’s just another wimpy lead. In fact, all of the characters so far are shallow and boring. The Yakuza prez, the autistic otaku genius, the violent childhood friend, the immature, perverted, indecisive lead… Been there, seen that.
Yes, you might tell me to watch at least the second episode, because, Sora no Otoshimono might be able to manage to save the plot a little, or whatever, but I’m just not keen on watching the boobage ramble about for six hours only to get second-rate romance, slapstick and the occasional moral questions on omnipotence and shit.
 
Watching: No.
 Damn pantsu.:rolleyes: I think I’m getting boss-eyed from all the rolling.

Tegami Bachi – Letter Bee

Ah, here’s a series that already impresses me with its opening. Great animation, crisp details, beautiful design and contrasty colors – and, best of all, it remains fairly consistent throughout the whole episode. So it already scored points on presentation and visual richness. But now the most important thing: story. How well did it fare?

The job of a postman, unless you’re one of Brittania’s proud Royal Fail blokes, is usually quite boring. And normally, you aren’t required to fight monsters and deplete the ammunition of your soul/heart to see to the safe arrival of the letters. Or the parcels. Or human beings.
But beyond Gauche Suede’s unorthodox execution of his job as a Letter Bee, and the delivery (escort) of Lag Seeing to his destination, it’s the story that fascinates me.

With every hit of the Shindan Pistol, both Gauche and Lag recollect fragments of each others’ past – it is very interesting to see how these people with different backgrounds and experience can relate to a stranger’s past.
Gauche reminds me so much of Dan JD of Basquash! with his motivation to go to the capital to earn money and afford to heal his sister’s legs (and I wonder what caused her to be like that.) His memories also reveal that he has a friend, Aria Link (nice name!) with whom he seems to be very friendly.
On the other end, Lag’s story points out that there might be a plot in the making, with the abduction of his mother by shady people from the capital.

For some reason, I just felt that everything in this episode was in perfect harmony and balance, and I almost cannot find any fault with it. All in all, Tegami Bachi did great, much much better than the average Fall ‘09 series. Signed, stamped, mailed. Run, Gauche.
 
Watching: Yes.
Blogging: Likely.

Seiken no Blacksmith

Hmm. This kind of felt RPG-ish, most probably because of the stock medieval setting and events, although it did not really catch my attention in the beginning. I was on the verge of being bored, especially by the focus on Cecily’s metal breast plate with those two globular shapesRight. I bet (hope) they are smaller than that. in it, and other eye-(un)candyWoops! That was such an (un)accident! visuals, even a defunct clothes filter…siiiigh. was used!

So yeah, I was about to drop it early. The action was okay, but felt a little poorly animated. The premise seemed quite meh too – young girl with tons of ideals, heir to the family, inherited a crappy sword, became a knight but is a poor fighter etc – and the young, arrogant stud with the unbreakable sword, accompanied by a loli.
No depth at all, but for some reason I lasted until the end. Despite the thing where Cecily deflects/protects Luke from those ice projectiles with her mere breasts. And despite that other thing where she yelled out her name, rank and status and expounding her ideals for about one minute – quite the patient monster there.

However, in the end, I actually found something that kindled my interest: Luke’s forging. At first I thought he was some kind of talented Blacksmith with some innate ability, uber skilled hands, or extreme magic tools – but no, the only thing he needs is a piece of steel, a hilt, and that Lisa loli. And the rest is done with magic, though it just doesn’t happen like that, he has to enumerate every single process of the making of a katana blade (and probably go through it all within his mind as well). I was quite impressed, because, man, that’s quite a long list of tasks, and it sure must have been quite hot inside that orb. For a long time – quite the patient monster there.

But that little detail is not what will make me watch this series yet. We’ll see at the end of the season if I got enough room to marathon it.
 
Watching: No.

To Aru Majutsu no Choudenjibou (Railgun)

Still the old Misaka. Although that’s perhaps why this anime doesn’t strike me as original/interesting anymore?

Making an anime just for the sake of making an anime. Is what I thought after this first episode of Railgun. I thought the side story was great in a manga, but to turn even that into an anime is just pretentious. Unless J.C. Staff comes up with an interesting plot, I’m not sure if I should expect anything more than the uninteresting lesbian hullabaloo around the series’ flagship, Misaka Mikoto.

Sure, she’s quite the popular girl out there with her underlying tsundere traits and her tremendous power, and I’m sure more than one guy would want to be tazed by her (go figure, masochists), but that’s about it as far as I can see. It’s just her and her crony Kuroko, who still has that creepy and annoying voice of an 80yo granny. And who keeps fondling Mikoto’s perfectly-sized breastsTeleportation has never been this useful..

I liked To Aru Majutsu no Index, and I am looking forward to the second series, but I’m not particularly fond of Railgun, at least the anime doesn’t interest me one bit for now. Guess I will wait until the season/series ends to decide whether I will watch it whole or not. But for now, pass.
 
Watching: No.
 
By the way, I found this particular sceneSay hey hey Shin chan! to be reminiscent of the Crayon Shin-chan anime… can anyone relate to that?

Winter Sonata

This anime left quite a good impression on me. Joon Sang, doomed to go blind due to a cerebral condition, runs away from Korea to New York, not to drag his lover, Yoo Jin, down alongside him in his despair, sparing her from all those troubles. Yoo Jin, deciding not to follow him, goes to Paris. In their respective locations, both of them keep a very taciturn correspondence in a quite harmonious and emotionally packed story.

The thing that marked me most was not that the whole thing was in Korean, but that there was very little dialogue apart from their elliptical thoughts. I liked it since it gave the whole a nice, melancholic effect. Mind, I only watched Episode 00 – the “prologue” so to speak – so I don’t know whether it will be any different in the next episodes though. Nevertheless, I can see that the overall production quality (design, animation, execution, music) is quite high, higher than many contemporary Japanese anime.

I’m interested to know how well it is received in Japan – after all, it would seem to me as if foreign-produced anime are a rarity to Japanese people, and these people having to watch this anime with subtitles sure would disconcert many of them, right? Well I don’t mind since I’m already used to it anyway. But what would they say to the quality of this anime, given that half of them already zapped away because they didn’t get their pantsu or moe fix here?

Bottom line, it was quite beautiful as a one-shot. And judging from the preview, it might probably show the whole past they spent together since their first encounter. Not sure what exactly to expect genre-wise apart from romance and bits of school life, but it is very captivating. I might follow this one.
 
Watching: Likely
Blogging: No.

Yumeiro Patissiere

90 Euros! That's quite expensive for the few small pieces of cake...

90 Euros! That’s quite expensive for the few small pieces of cake…

And just when I expected something very girly and sugarcoated, I actually got something quite surprising.

I don’t think I’ve been much into the cuter parts of the shoujo genre. At least I tried avoiding the overly… giant eyes and diabetes-inducing visuals, with success so far. But now with Yumeiro Pâtĩssíèrě, I wonder if I can keep it up. At least this first episode makes me want to have some more desserts.
The design is typically of shoujo stock, reminding me mainly of Arina Tanemura (e.g. Full Moon wo Sagashite) and Maki Yoko’s style (Aishiteruze Baby), with many Toudou Izumi elements (concerning the faeries and stuff).

But looking away from all the sweet stuff, there is quite some interesting stuff going on in here, even though it feels quite rehashed: Ichigo is a girl without any apparent qualities, and has always stood in the shadow of her talented sister Natsume, but of course, she has a hidden specialty she inherited from her grandmother: she has got an excellent sense of taste.
This is the usual encouragement moral for the early time slot of the day, something that might inspire a lot of children with learning troubles and/or who feel envious of their kin, to find their own preference and/or specialty, etc. And the option provided is not something totally intangible (if you can omit the magic faeries (which might act as some kind of taste-enhancersif grated onto the cake)): confectionery. Grab a couple of recipes and go mental on sugar and co. Kind of like in Yakitate!! Japan.

This said, I am pretty sure I won’t watch Yumeiro Pâtissière for quite a while, maybe even until it’s finished. Because I won’t be able to take all the sugar. …then again, I’m sure I couldn’t stand three episodes of this in a row without needing a double dose of insulin either… We’ll see.
 
Watching: No, but I would if I felt like baking cakes right now.

Kaidan Restaurant

Breaking News! Ghost caught on tape! Who ya gonna call!

Breaking News! Ghost caught on tape! Who ya gonna call!

Kaidan Restaurant trickled in late this afternoon just before getting around to Winter Sonata, so I quickly added it to this already lengthy post. So, here’s another child-oriented series to wrap up this Fall season impression sweep.

This first episode introduced the characters and the setting, and told two large and one small stories involving the characters. Nothing really out of the norm, but once again, I’m surprised at how passionate I was in watching this. I sat through all these mild horror stories with a certain interest. I can’t explain why. Because usually, I tend to laugh at horror stories: the worse they are (in telling, seriousness, or presentation), the funnier I find them. Then again, I rarely watch/read horror anyway so I can’t really tell about it. I found these stories quite amusing though. Besides, that blond guy coming straight from the HJ sure has an interesting aura. I bet he’s some kind of ghost himself.

There’s also this other thing about me: if you ask me to tell you a story, funny or horror or whatever, I probably wouldn’t be able to come up with anything. Watching such small stories that are easy to remember might help expand my repertoire… Okay, I’m grasping at straws here.

Perhaps I’m just in the mood to watch something light that’s not all too serious, but doesn’t fall into the usual fanservice/slapstick latrine pit. And that what this kind of anime, directed at younger children, usually do.
 
Watching: Likely, heh.
Blogging: No.

I can’t believe I managed to finish my first impressions within 2 weeks, despite all those massive distractions out there!

So, my pick for this season would be:

• Aoi Bungaku
• Kaidan Restaurant
• Kimi ni Todoke
• Kuuchuu Buranko
• Nyan Koi
• Tegami Bachi
• Winter Sonata,

to list only the definite watches. Others may or may not follow – but even so, it’s already quite a handful, and I am pretty sure that I might end up backlogging on some (if not all) of these shows. In any case, I’m sure I will catch up to any of these shows soon, and give a mid-season review of the best ones.

I hope you enjoyed reading my (belated) first impressions of this season’s anime, and I hope it triggered your curiosity for some series, which I would like to hear about! Similarly, do toss in some feedback if you agree or disagree with any of these views.

Thanks for reading!

Following last week’s sudden revelation, I kind of got… busy, if you know what I mean. Never thought RL could be this entertaining. :P Meaning, my impressions got delayed quite a fair bit, and five weeks into the season, others might already expect previews on the winter season… Just bear with me. ^^;

All I can hope that like me, you haven’t gotten around to check out the Fall season yet, so you could relate to these impressions. Though, even if you ARE following any of these series, let it not hinder you to read it and tell me if it’s close to what you felt when you first watched it, and if it gets better or worse. Then again, for some series… it was quite a swift and clear verdict.

List of series in Part 2:

• Kuuchou Buranko / Trapeze
• Kobato
• Natsu no Arashi: Akinai-chuu
• Nyan Koi!
• Sasameki Koto
• Seitokai no Ichizon

Kuuchou Buranko / Trapeze

I wouldn't.

Now THAT’s a syringe. Who wouldn’t want to be stung by her? (I don’t.)

I already had heard beforehand about how colorful Kuuchuu Buranko was, but I didn’t fathom such surrealism at all. Random imagery, flat people, erratic design, chaotic colors, the whole shebang. And I thought Aoi Bungaku looked abstract, heh!
As for Bakemonogatari last season, I’m pretty wary of all the images and obscure references, but in the case of Trapeze, they feel relatively intriguing, much unlike the usual cross-referencing and widely sarcastic SHAFT perks I dislike.

Though I wouldn’t go as far as to compare this to Bakemonogatari, since I only watched the first episode of the latter anyway so I couldn’t possibly uphold this comparison. However, I might watch some more of Kuuchuu Buranko, because I find the mix of acid trippy designs and explaining and treating mental illnesses fascinating. Like the effect of a single placebo injection onto someone with stress disorder and insomnia. The overall design might seem poor and cheap (which I suppose it actually is) but it creates a nice effect I haven’t seen in a while (can’t put the finger on where I last saw real people and places in my anime).
 
Watch: Likely.
Blog: Freud, help me. – No.

Kobato

Who?

This guy actually reminds me of someone from another anime. Must be someone from another CLAMP series. I just can’t remember. It’s just that ponytail. Argh, whatever.

Well. What can I say about this anime? The main character reminded me of Akari Mizunashi quite a lot, for her innocence, her naivete and dullness, her SD faces. Her bagChirp chirp. Tweet. Chirp. reminds me of twitter. That Ioryogi dog looks like… dunno.
This anime looked so cute! And it’s (yet another) CLAMP manga adaptation, too!

However! Three minutes in, I was already dozing off, and after 10 minutes I started snoring, my head slipped off my supporting hand and fell down on the keyboard, accidentally closing the video player. Said video player refused to start ever again.
 
Dropped.

Natsu no Arashi: Akinai-chuu

Ceci n'est pas une pipe.

Ceci n’est pas une pipe.

Perfect.

..no, not the anime.

First, I lose motivation by thinking “Well, I haven’t really finished Season 1 of Natsu no Arashi so I wouldn’t be aware of any information that might have been mentioned in the end anyway“, but then I miraculously manage to encourage myself to watch it anyway, so I would have a legitimate reason not to follow it after all.
And what happens? 30 seconds into the Opening, the video simply closes in every player I have. Though this time, it’s unintentional. Good Job SFW-Shinji, you guys just saved me yet another 20 minutes for this batch.

Because, I didn’t even like the OP song. At least in the first series, they offered a great song that got stuck in my head for quite a while, and which I still listen to today.
 
Dropped.

Nyan Koi!

Normal is sooooo wonderful.

That’s exactly what I thought too, last week… Oops, I really should stop talking about that certain event.

Surprises over surprises inya this series. Or rather, I just had the wronyang expectationyans (oh the hypocrisy). Mostly biased by the recenyant trenyand of spikinyang fanyanservice in anime, I presumed that this onye would be about some guy who would be surrounyanded by a harem of cats tranyansforminyang inyanto catgirls inya Ranyanmaesque kinyand of way. But fortunyately, it was nyot so. Anyand I’m glad it is nyot. Because I quite like Nyan Koi!

Hard to guess, I do love cats!Nyan nyan nyan nyan! Nyan!! So Nyan Koi is a show tailored for people like me. But while it would be possible to catch my attention with a bunch of cats for half an hour indeed, I probably wouldn’t be looking forward to watching cats every week. So what’s in this series for me? Comedy, cuteness, and an interesting premise.

I mean, who has never dreamt of being able to understand animal language? I’ve always loved stories that imbue human thoughts and behaviors into ubiquitous domestic animals. For instance, I always wanted to know whether my neighbor’s cat avoided me on purpose or just out of shyness.
Well figures, the one who is suddenly able to understand cats is Kousaka Junpei, a massive cat hater, who incidentally is allergic to those purring furballsQuite the sensible person, he is. too. That’s ironically funny, and if you add the sinister curse that Junpei might turn into a cat himself if he doesn’t help 100 meow-meows, it suddenly gets very interesting. Even more since his crush, Mizuno Kaede, is a big compulsive cat lover. And likes cool, violent moviesNever judge a book by its cover..
Very funny episode, I adhered to the story, liked the light jokes, and find the overall design cute. And I’m forgetting that I was surprised this anime was not what I think it was – very good stuff.

The only thing that bothers me is that the storyline seems pretty predictable to me: Junpei will help many cats, encounter more female cat lovers, cause embarrassing situations and misunderstandings, end up loving cats while losing that precious ability to understand them, and end up in some fur-licking romance with Kaede.
Still, I’m enjoying this show. And looking forward to watching more of it.
 
Watching: Yes! :3
Blogging: Give me some catnip and I will.

Sasameki Koto

Not who I thought they were...

Welcome back, Fumi and Akira! Oh wait…

A couple of weeks ago, I saw an image on twitter showing the main character of Aoi Hana next to the main character of Sasameki Koto. And I thought, “wow, they really DO look alike!” But what I didn’t know at that time was that Sasameki Koto was a show about yuri/shoujo ai as well.

The similarities are staggering. Both anime start with a veeeeeeeeeery mellow and soft tune, both have tall and a short lead couple, the main character wears glasses and has long dark hair, heck, even her name, Sumi, is reminiscent of a certain Fumi, and almost every girl swings that way. After the first few minutes, I was already annoyed that I would have to watch Aoi Hana 2.0, and while I said I didn’t mind getting a sequel, I didn’t want different characters, design, nor anything else. But after a while, I noticed the differences. Unlike Akira, Kazama IS interested in girls from the get-go. In fact, she’s a lesbian to the core. But then again, the main lead does have a crush on Ak- Kazama too though. Hmm. Oh, there are no pastel colors either. Definitely a big change.

Oh I know! There is a huge difference, and it’s the main thing that actually made me watch Aoi Hana. It’s the subtlety. You see, in Sasameki Koto, we start right off the bat with two kissing girls, marking the tempo of this series: lots of fast-paced and facetious yuri action, already drawing the unrequited love triangle drama, etc etc. Subtext? Supertext!
No, I just don’t have real peace of mind here. The music, the atmosphere, the characters, the design, the story itself… I can’t really put my finger on it, so I’d just say it’s the whole image that just doesn’t strike a chord with me.
Besides, the balance between the platonic Slice of Life and the moe Tragicomic shifted a lot more towards the latter here, and I don’t think I particularly like it in this case.
 
Or maybe it is just the simple fact that I got my fix of yuri for the year with Aoi Hana, and that I don’t need more of it for a long while to come?
Either way, I will pass on Sasameki Koto.
 
Watching: No.

Seitokai no Ichizon

Zzzzzz...

Zzzzzz… Oh hi, I just don’t know what to say here.

I don’t really know what to say about Seitokai no Ichizon.

The only thought I had at the end of this episode was, it’s trying WAY too hard to please. From countless direct to indirect references from both Studio DEEN and Kyoto Animation shows to the flashy presentation of virtually every cliché that the anime universe has to offer – from boobs to DFCs, moe to tsundere, swimsuits to wedding dresses, serious activities to H-games, otakudom – it felt as if this anime was trying to become the new Jack of all Trades of parody. Trying too hard, in fact – it has absolutely nothing to itself, except the fact that it’s making fun of itself for being an adaptation untrue to the source.

I was actually on to drop this episode midway because I just couldn’t see the point and the jokes left me royally indifferent, but after the pettanko skit which eventually made me laugh a little, I bit the bullet and watched this to the end. I couldn’t find a point. It just felt like one of those pathetic sketch attempts on those TV contests where poor, self-conscious guys pretend to be randomly funny and make fun of their situation once they run out of ideas – however in Seitokai no Ichizon, there was no idea to begin with. This episode could have passed as a one-shot, for all the variety of the content (however unfunny) it provided. What is left to be expected in the next few episodes? Anything else apart from endless repetitions of the same old gags with minor nuances?
 
Watching: No. If only it was at least a little funny…

Quite a meek batch. Hope the last batch will be any better… With Sora no Otoshimono, Tegami Bachi/Letter Bee, The Sacred Blacksmith, To Aru Majutsu no Railgun, and Yumeiro Patissiere. Am I missing any series that is not a sequel? Make sure to tell me.

Hopefully I can do that post soon-ish. Real Life is like, so distracting nowadays. :3

After finally clearing all minor and some major hindrances (I sadly couldn’t manage to clear my anime backlog yet though), here’s finally my go at this Fall ‘09 season, 3-4 weeks in already (hence “belated”).

Having seen a list of the seasonal lineup a couple of weeks ago, I was already not expecting much of it. My very first impressions of it were pretty low, in comparison to what I’ve seen so far during this rather anime-oversaturated year. But of course, I have not watched anything yet, so I can’t tell.
I think this lack of enthusiasm comes from the fact that a good deal of the new series all seem to be reminiscent of older anime. There almost doesn’t seem to be anything… new, premise-wise. Which is probably why the most widely anticipated series ’round the twittersphere are the many sequels, of which I could only watch To Aru Kagaku no Choudenjibou (Railgun) and Natsu no Arashi! Akinai-chuu.
 
Which is why I will not watch Darker than Black: Ryuusei no Gemini, Inuyasha Kanketsu-hen , Kiddy Girl-and, Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu: Purezza, and Queen`s Blade: Gyokuza o Tsugu Mono.

But then again, there are still 15 (+2) series waiting to be judged by my (un)biased eye… So! Let’s sweep it!

List of series in Part 1:

• 11eyes
• Aoi Bungaku
• Tatakau Shisho: The Book of Bantorra
• Fairy Tail
• Kämpfer
• Kimi ni Todoke

11eyes

11eyes

Not a Index reference: ProhibiYorum (nice one!!), and country mismatch. Still questionable why two series in the same year resort to the same historical book to reference the (catholic) church.

First series! Well. While the first two minutes of 11eyes did not really capture my attention because of the lack of context, I found the premise quite interesting in the end. Why this Kakeru guy’s right eye is hidden behind an eye patch (Mihoko never needed one!), why some shady girls are trailing him, why he’s taken to the Red Night along with his not-yet-girlfriend Yuka, why monsters are attacking him, yadayada. Not uninteresting.
I guess I just like the male lead. Usually, that type of introverted characters tends to be either ultra cool or hyper emo, but he’s simply shy around people, and quite thoughtful when it comes to Yuka. Yuka on the other hand is sweet, yes, but way too stereotypically behaved (read: naive, innocent) for my tastes. Same complaint goes to their friends Kaori and Tadashi, reminding me of yet another Manzai setup: Tadashi being the boke, Kaori the tsukkomi, but who gives, those aren’t fun anymore.

I would have given this anime the green light for watching, had there not been the usual random fanservice bits that only served to make me roll my eyes unto the back of my head. This anime is FINE without it, so WHY must there be pantsuNot the only occurrence.? WHY must there be jiggling boobsStucking Fupid.? WHY must there be tentaclesTentacle rape? Did I sign up to Queen’s Blade 2? in next episode’s preview? Even though I’m sure I will hear everyone go “There wasn’t that much” “There could have been much more” “You haven’t seen Queen’s Blade yet (I did though)”, I can just shrug, shake my head, and relegate this series to the shame corner.
 
Watching: Unlikely.
Blogging: No.

Aoi Bungaku

Aoi Bungaku

I was very surprised about Aoi Bungaku before I checked it up on anidb. It was so greatly written, it kept me glued to my screen for a whole 21 minutes, and I almost thought that- no, too late, I already read the information: series will consist of adaptations of six modern classics of Japanese literature (anidb).

The story of this lorn, unnamed guy who bore a profound psychic trauma originating from his childhood: the fear of his father, the expectations, the irrational behavior of human society, the incompatible thinking patterns of women. Lost in a world where he seemed to have no purpose and no place, he had no goals at all. He just contemplated the ridiculous state of the society he was in. Not even the touch of a woman could make him feel any better; worse, in his nonsensical confusion, he ended up killing her.
His conscience was still there, infusing him with guilt, and he tried atoning for his deed by killing himself, but he survived, giving way to the unworldly, inhuman being the narrator considers him to become; the narrator being none other than the young man himself, in a recollection of past events.
It is a very mysterious and profound story, which raises a lot of questions about human psychology, especially in this particular social context of mid-20th century Japan.

How’s that for a thrilling introduction to Japanese literature? For a literophobe like me, I was a very fascinating experience, rendered utmostly interesting by the splendid adaptation by Madhouse. While I dislike obscure/abstract imagery when it is used a la SHAFT (SZS, Bakemonogatari) with parody and slapstick in mind, I like it in this mysterious, macabre context. Plus, the unadulterated realism of the sexual intercourse between the two characters: there was no fun, no love, no anything, just indifference and disconnected dialogue.

Away from all the fast-food moefaggotry and insentient comedy! If anime is the new (old) way to bring literature closer to people, then I will fully support it.
Please do give Aoi Bungaku a watch.
 
Watching: Yes!!
Blogging: Who knows. If I ever feel like waxing pseudo-psychological, sure.

Tatakau Shisho: The Book of Bantorra

Tatakau Shisho: The Book of Bantorra

I thought this was a reference to Roland Barthes’s Death of the Author, but wouldn’t really make sense in this context.

Not bad, but also nothing I can really find any good points in, apart from my ability to recognize Sawashiro Miyuki’s voice instantly now but that doesn’t have much to do with Bantorra itself. The animation seems good enough, the design as well, but the story is mediocre at best. How should I put it… The fact that dead people turn into books, and that the Library is a gigantic morgue is pretty noteworthy, but the whole “Meat” “Mock Man” and “True Man” distinction is already getting on my nerves. It’s going to deal with that notion of Übermensch, which I’m pretty much not interested in.

Whatever that Hamyuts Meseta woman has done to make the Church raise those “Meats” people and turn them into human bombs (nonchalant executions in my anime, I like that!), it must not have been anything nice. But I’m not sure whether I will stay tuned to find out what she has done, I don’t really see the point. I need a good reason besides Mint/Cloche. And before I forget, Volken, drinking tea with honey is just… ugh. I only do it when I’m like, SICK or something and even then, I hate it. Blasphemy.
 
Watching: Unlikely.
Blogging: Nopes.

Fairy Tail

Fairy Tail

It wasn’t THAT boring, though. By the way, wasn’t this meant to be a serious scene? ~.~

Looking at the promo pics of Fairy Tail, I thought, “there we go, yet another Bleach/One Piece-lookalike shounen adventure clone”, but that was just me being biased towards the design. Because having watched the first episode just now, I think it’s actually quite enjoyable, but then again…
The characters seem fairly likable, although unoriginal. Natsu the usual dasakakkoii (lame but cool) lead with extreme powers, and Lucy, the rabid, clueless girl whose only purpose in life is to join a guild. The action is not bad, although very cartoon-like, it’s what I’d call “cute violence”. Perhaps, later in the series, someone might even get hurt? That would be admirable.
At least the humor is fully present. I would blame my current fatigue, but I found it quite funny, especially the Mermaid pouting scene.

Apparently, it seems set to be only 13 episodes, which would be a good thing (and would go against my OP comparison logic), but judging from the first episode, this doesn’t really seem to bear any point or conclusion to a possible plot anytime soon. The thing is, what will they do once Lucy gets into FT? Quests, and search for Igneel. And then? Meet stronger enemies in an usual DBZ fashion?
No idea. I might check out episode 2, but if it looks like it’s going to be a filler drag for hundreds of episodes to come, I guess I will pass and just read the manga.
 
Watching: Read the line above.
Blogging: Nah.

Kämpfer

The only thing I liked in this anime was the beautiful eyes of the characters, especially Kämpfer Akane’s.

So here, Kämpfer. After three minutes, my first impression of it was something like “meh, another pseudo-serious fightan fanservice animu with gender bender syndrome, Ranma 1/2 flavor”. And until the end, I still stand by this claim, although I have to admit that I am kind of interested in what this fighting is all about, whether it is a random mashup for the Holy Grail, or just a Battle Royale about who’s got the biggest boobs- wait this isn’t Queen’s Blade…
Anyway, it would have been a lot more interesting to see more (or only) guys turn into their female alter ego. Like this, there’s only one male (female) in the center of all female attention (so far). And with Sakura drooling after female Natsuru, we’re on to a neat start for yet another surge of yuri innuendos.

The many German terms must be yet another attempt at originality, but for some reason, they don’t really strike me as original anymore. Next time, try some Esperanto or something. Same for the retarded plushesSo freaking ugly, and freaking stupid too., conventional pets weren’t original enough, so they were rendered creepy and with their intestines bulging out of their belly.

Why the F can’t they get a MALE seiyuu to do the male lead’s voice? I mean he looks pretty effeminate, but he really didn’t need to sound like a prepubescent boy. Did the producers blow all their money on the premium (sic) cast? Couldn’t they just have recruited a random bloke on the street who sounds like an actual male?
What aggravates me more further down the seiyuu lane, beyond even my usual gripe against fanservice, is the many real seiyuu mentions. At first I was kind of surprised to recall hear Yukari Tamura, and it recalled me of her “kurousagi no choubeya” web radio program (from a couple of years ago when I was tripping on GA), but that’s fun only once – after that, that whole mentioning circus just became some kind of shameless plug to make the die-hard seiyuu fanboys rejoice and giggle in their corners. I dunno, having the character you voice be called a fake of your own real self… Shrug, rolleyes. I watch anime for actual anime content, and not blatant seiyuu/singer ads. Horie and Tamura, guilty. Bet that Noto will join that promo train too. Then again, I don’t remember her voice at all, and I won’t do it with Kämpfer anyway.
 
Watching: No.

Kimi ni Todoke

You might not believe it, but a simple 'Thank you' can change a lot of things. Do try it out every once in a while.

You might not believe it, but a simple “Thank you” can change a lot of things. Do try it out every once in a while.

And some tearjerker to end this first batch.

The story is really beautiful. Sawako Kuronuma is a normal high school girl who is avoided by everyone because of her apparent scary expressions and traits reminiscent of Sadako from Ring. She cannot socialize at all since she is a very introverted girl too, or just twice shy because of the fact that everyone avoids her. Well, everyone except one boy: Kazehaya Shouta, a very popular and laid-down guy. He’s the only one who approaches Sawako without prejudice and fear, and talks to her as he would to anyone.
Because of Kazehaya’s words, Sawako eventually musters up her courage and opens up to people so they don’t misunderstand her. She’s grateful to Shouta, but believes that he only keeps speaking up for her because he is nice to anyone – however, she seems to be misunderstanding his altruistic intentions too, for he still recalls their first encounter under the blooming cherry trees…

I initially thought this would boil down to some kind of Nobuta wo Produce-related premise, but it is pretty different. Sawako did not need to be produced: Just by looking at Shouta and listening to his kind words, and just by that little ounce of attention he gave her, Sawako was able to wake up and break the barrier she kept between herself and everyone else around her. It was so easy, yet nobody ever cared. Although many girls in her position would long have given up in face of such insensible people that were her classmates, she still went strong and hoping, which I find admirable (albeit too optimistic a perspective…).

This episode alone would have been a great one-shot with an open ending, but of course the real deal starts now: Kazehaya seems to have an interest in Sawako, and I guess he probably will endeavor to lift her doubts and her self-confidence, while she will convince herself that he really is doing everything for her, and not just for his ego. Or, perhaps there will be more people entering their lives, and mess a couple of things up, create misunderstandings, or so. Either way, I am really interested, since I think I do identify a little with Kazehaya or so.
It’s yet another tearjerker of the classical stock: a crescendo of soothing violin sounds playing up just when Sawako cries, I’ve witnessed this technique already in the last season… Not that I don’t like it, it does fit the mood perfectly, yes! It’s just, in this case, like in TM8.0, it feels a tad bit too intense, too compelling, almost unnatural. I just hope they will cut back a little on those in the next episodes.

I like the character design. A lot, even. It’s the occasional ugly duckling amongst the moe/service flagships, and I think it’s pretty beautiful (although it may require getting used to). The many SD (Super Deformed) visuals give this series a lighter, humorous note, although I’m sure it could do well without those, too. The rest looks pretty good, though I can’t really bring myself to appreciate the predominant sponge painting on background and other objects. It may look nice, but it somewhat feels like I’ve seen that too often, can’t call any examples off the top of my head though.
 
Watching: YES!
Blogging: Good outlook, but…

Well, that’s it for part 1! Part 2 will follow soon, about Kuuchou no Buranko/Trapeze, Kobato, Natsu no Arashi 2, Nyan Koi, Sasameki Koto and Seitokai no Ichizon.

How soon? That now entirely depends on my… gf xD (I’m really not used to saying that, lol) – I would have said “in 2 days” instead. But hey, I know what’s more important to me. ;)

I didn’t know her, but it was pretty much love at first sight.

Although, I remembered seeing her very often in Megami Magazine. Yeah, she was that girl from Yoake Mae yori Ruriiro na! But what was her name again… Ahh, wish I had read those articles more carefully instead of just gunning for the posters. The only thing I remember is looking at the new drawings of her every time. And a couple of weeks ago, a picture of her figurine on a random image board struck me like lightning. Not only did it remind me of those times, but it was just simple and beautiful. But who on earth was this beauty! Looked to the sidebar of the page, her name is, Feena Fam Earthlight.

Spammed hundred of shop searches, to no avail. Released April 2008 and manufactured by Max Factory, it was long sold out, as expected. The last resort for a figure hunter being Japanese auction sites, the second to last one is – of course – eBay. And, miracle, coincidence, or whatever – there she was, untainted, and reasonably priced too.

I could lapidate myself for never noticing this figure before. Or perhaps I did, in fact, but was too blind to realize it. Well, now I finally did so here goes, enjoy!

Quick note: those pictures were taken during the same day as Luca’s, so I might have made the same mistakes and experimental shots.

I quite like this picture.

Right, so here’s her removable skirt.	Removed it in the beginning because I found it cuter, but…

…I can’t put it back above her waistline now, the ribbon is in the way. And even though it seems pretty flexible, I am not keen on breaking it yet. (Besides, the skirt was tight on the legs too, rubbed a hint of blue paint off.)
 

Nice texture on the base, looks like sand.

Time to focus on her…
 

…ribbons, of course.
 

Just what were you thinking!!
 

Incidentally, Feena is the first fig I’ve ever had that came with only a bikini. And I like it a lot. So… Say, Hisui, won’t you… no?

Here’s when the day ended, and as you could see from some pictures above, I did take a couple of them indoors. However, the next day, I just felt like taking some more pictures. Guess I really like this figure.

So! Here’s the same question again, which of these three pictures looks best to you (and/or which do you prefer)? The picture on the left with a smaller aperture value, giving the image a romantic, sunset-ish feeling? The one in the middle, with greater aperture, giving it a soft bloom and blur? Or the last one with the flash that gives full lighting and detail, but kind of ruins the composition?
 

What do I always say about simplicity? Often is the better choice indeed. ;)
I really enjoy looking at this splendid figure very much. Guess I have no excuses not to watch the anime and/or play the game now…