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…

However equivocal the title’s claim might sound to you, I think it makes most sense in the case of Basquash. Not so much for its actual tragic content, but for the painful, epic tragedy my viewing experience of this whole anime has become.
 
Here’s a couple of thoughts I want to share with you.

Ever since I started watching Basquash!, I was torn. Torn between the loudness of the action, the visual, the sounds, and the mediocrity of your average shounen anime displaying endless farfetchedness. At the end of the day, I used to tell myself that I was watching it for the epicness of this particular style of Basketball, played with giant robots. It was not just mecha meets sport, like an unthinkable Gundam / Slam Dunk cocktail or whatever, no, it was quite original by itself. It felt quite refreshing, in fact.

I used to like this anime a lot. It had an interesting premise and seemed to yield quite a lot of potential for a great character development, and the whole interplay between the futuristic setting and the stereotypical US basketball-bound graffiti, hiphop & ghetto influences reflected in artwork and music was fascinating to me. Of course, there were the many obvious fanservice visuals and innuendos mostly referring to boobs or the lack thereof, but it was all in good fun and almost did not distract from the main selling point, which is basketball. So far so good.

While the story often seemed to proceed at a very accelerated speed, it felt mostly satisfying. It was a very satisfactory ride with some ups and downs… until the middle of the series. Everything went straight downwards from episode 16 on.

I have no damned clue how this all came about, but sure, it looks funky!

I have no damned clue how this all came about, but sure, it looks funky!

You see, the premise was, Dunk Mask aka. Dan JD, who used to hate Bigfoots because they took away his sister’s freedom by crushing her legs, suddenly becomes a prominent Bigfoot Basketball (BFB) player, creates his own style of play – Basquash – and aims to get to Mooneyes in order to find a way to recover his sister’s legs. And the only way to do that would have been to climb up the ladder of every league, to become the best on Earth, and eventually earn a moon passport to defy the local champions. That’s pretty much how I imagined and hoped it would go, with a strong emphasis on the sports element, like in Cross Game for instance.

It all seemed to go so well, and they were almost on Mooneyes, too! …But no. That would have been too easy and boring, it seems. So, it’s a return trip to Earth, coincidentally landing near a huge hole leading to the Underground, Icemans’ past, and suddenly! A random hitman, the Price is right! Cue Navi the giant from the moon, living alone in those godforsaken earthly caves mining Ultinium / Ultimite, is recruited. And then all hell breaks loose.

Suddenly, a dark plot emerges out of the abyss. More and more talk of the rumored Legend and his heroic deeds that he is about to fulfill. Everyone seems to know the information that we don’t know. Eclipse, who seemed to be just your average idol trio, is part of a grand scheme to trigger a Legend. The malign mastermind, Yan Harris, segueing into one keikaku doori after another.

After beating around the bush for a couple of episodes with always shorter matches and speedy individual development tidbits, we finally find out that in fact, both Earthdash and Mooneyes are fated to clash, and that according to a vague legend- whatever, let’s play some Basquash on the moon, they will activate the stones. Of course, everything has been planned from the beginning, and the technology used is of course tailored and perfected for all your altruistic needs. Gauges to measure the epicness of your dunk, the flashier the better? Ding ding ding, 100 points!

This was quite an epic moment indeed, but there was no way for me to enjoy it at all, for my mood was already destroyed.

This was quite an epic moment indeed, but there was no way for me to enjoy it at all, for my mood was already destroyed.

Meanwhile, our main people are goofing around on earth, and Dan is knocked out cold so he- oh wait he unspectacularly regained consciousness while dropping 5 kilometers in free fall. Voices from the Earth? Allright, let’s sing! Bunch of butterflies gushes forth, and a huge, shiny Noah’s Ark transports them without mulling from one planet to another, and they all accept and enjoy the ride without questioning its destination, even manage to undertake Bigfoot repairs mid-flight, in spite of the lack of atmosphere.

Finally, Yan’s last keikaku, shoot down Mooneyes with a 20-feet large Legend Bullet, fails; The End Of The Worlds As We Know Them is impending, and all hope seems lost, but DO NOT FEAR, people still Basquash in these dire moments of mankind, and in a strange outburst of epiphany, Rouge grabs that huge glowing Legend Bullet ball that is orbiting around and babbling erratic crap, tosses it over to Dan and Iceman, and everyone dunks their best Basquashes into the hoops, yes, everyone is Legend.

Congratulations, the world is saved but, woops! We’re running out of time! Quick, cue the credits, and restore the worlds. After an apocalyptic ending scene reminiscent of End of EvangelionWhere’s my “kimochi warui”?, every character is allowed five more seconds to show the results of their quality development: Rouge plays Basketball alone, the other idols do random stuff, Coco tries walking, Dan and Iceman play Basketball, end of the story. Basquashers for eternity!

 
If you managed to read through all of this, congratulations on surviving this trainwreck of a story in a nutshell. I ranted a lot about it on melative already.

I just couldn't stop laughing at this scene. It was most probably the most random stuff I've seen in this entire series.

I just couldn’t stop laughing at this scene. It was most probably the most random stuff I’ve seen in this entire series.

I wonder if I even need say anything after all of this. The list of complaints I accumulated post-episode 16 is endlessly long, and they all boil down to the simple fact that there was too much content, and not enough time to properly develop anything at all. Fine, rushed endings are not new in anime history, and Basquash! is yet another sad addition to this ever growing category, I am fine with that – however, it will also be a prime example of the “how to ruin an anime” category. The fact that the immense potential this series had in the beginning got literally wasted on a shitty and badly organized execution is just infuriating, to say the least.

I knew it was farfetched. I knew its general notion of time and place was flawed. I knew its pacing was incredibly off. Yes. I was even ready to take in the sheer ludicrous and irrational conclusion that those giant, sturdy mechs would save the world just by Basquashing, for all the emotions and goosebumps this anime could have offered me. But what I was served in the last ten episodes was bad, almost insultingly so.
Gaping plot holes everywhere, worse than any Swiss cheese; random, pointless fights, and disconnected dialogue going all over the place ; dismal samples of incomplete characters – they shall remain WIPs forever, ungratefully tossed around and disposed of randomly.
Imbuing the already simplified characters with sudden flashes of omniscience shows that not even the producers in their frantic rush knew what they were getting at in the last few episodes.

GENTLEMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN

GENTLEMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN

Heck, they didn’t even manage to bring the obvious romance between Dan and Rouge (or between anyone else) to a proper ending. Did they just hope to sweep it under the carpet with a single kiss? There is no place for love on the court. That’s just sad.

There’s also a clear lack of humanity. We were shown images of people fleeing buildings and places from all the Basquashing, ten seconds of despair, back to gaming. What’s the point? To show that playing outside of the court can be dangerous? So why did the protagonists continue playing and destroying everything in their mindless screaming rampage? Or would the poor civilians all obtain compensation for their demolished housings later on, which we were shown? Would their protests ever be heard? Have they ever?
No, these same civilians were just random puppets meant to awake a slight ounce of pity from the spectator, which failed horribly. Because while ten people cried, thousands of others had nothing else to do in the last moments of their lives than to flock to huge stadiums and watch robots play basketball for the kicks. The apocalyptic context is totally omitted, people just go “DJD! DJD!” even if they are bleeding to death on the side of the destroyed roads and rubble. Hello? It’s Armageddon Time, what the fuck do you think you’re doing? That’s just ridiculous.

Also, I found the vain attempts to make the final event sound physically relevantBLABLABLA, we already did that in first grade, can we now move to quantum physics please? with made up theory and shit laughable at best. They don’t even explain half of what’s happening at all, so why would any details about the effects of the very last dunk suddenly be any more plausible to our already confused minds?

It felt like a 4000 word essay that was desperately butchered down to the required 2600 by omitting articles, prepositions, vowels, and meaning altogether. Yes, conciseness is a skill, not a natural occurrence, but especially in companies where they have professional planning and writers, they should be able to do that without problems!

Besides, the designJust what the fuck is that stance supposed to mean?? dwindled a littleWhy is his face displayed so awfully all of a sudden? in the last few episodes as well (not consistently, but quite notably), adding injury to insult. At least the good music prevented me from dropping the last episode in protest, although with so many technical and flagrant fouls, sportsmanship has entirely vanished from this anime, and so did its overall quality in the end.
(By the way, showing the OP in the last ep after 6 minutes? Get a clue!)

Basquashers for eternity? More like epic fail.

Basquashers for eternity? More like epic fail.

Bottom line in layman’s words: promising premise, sloppy plot, execrable execution. They did an unpardonably awful job.
“They”? Who are “they“? I don’t know. Whether the fault lies with the studio (Satelight) and/or Shoji Kawamori (project director), with Romain Thomas’s overly ambitious premise, the many writers, or the change of directors from episode 10 (Itagaki Shin replaced by Eiichi Sato), I don’t know. But in the end, they all successfully ruined the anime for me. And by the way, I don’t like Nike-san, either.

I am sad, disappointed, angry and disgusted that one of my favorite Spring anime kicked the bucket in such a demeaning fashion. I will not give it a rewatch, since the bitter aftertaste will stick around for quite a while yet.
 
Basquash. Dommage.

And just when I thought I’d be going to bed at 3 AM, ding, incoming feed: the Ar Tonelico 3 official website is now live!!

Well, obviously I will not be able to tell you the entire contents of the information now, since I can’t read Japanese that well yet, and I actually need sleep, too. :<
Me trying to break the news as fast as possible is not being a big help to you right now, I know. I’ll just quickly mention the most noteworthy things now, and try to add some more information later in the day as I get back from uni.

(There is also a new BGM track in the background, and the [2] [3] seem to imply that there are more to come soon. Ahh… I’m already getting in the mood! :D)

The R.A.H. System

So, what jumped to the eye was, obviously, the new R.A.H. System, which seems to allow the players to compose the hymns themselves with different bits of songs. Don’t really know the rest.
In the lower left screenshot, it seems to show something akin to AT2’s fanclub, which grants the wielder additional skills/powers. Sweet!

The Character System

Now this is… dunno how I should feel about this. (Rinne will be overjoyed, I bet.) Well, I don’t know the details, but it does seem to be something similar to how the Reyvateils changed their dresses in the previous games, but that this time, they change their appearance altogether. At least Saki looks pretty good in her… “adult” form, if you will. Finnel on the other hand looks quite arrogant. Meh. Back to DFC mode, girls, please!

The Mixture System

Aaah, of course there would be some item crafting again. Although it does seem as if it’s back to its roots, so it’s probably similar to Grathmelding. I’d say they’ll spice it up with new elements, though. Like, the quality of your item depends on the mood of your Reyvateil, or something like that. Don’t piss off Finnel! :P

Well, there’s a lot more to see, especially for the fighting part, but there’s a lot of text and quite a lot of images… and it’s 4:20 AM now. Yay for less than 4 hours to sleep!
Anyway, quickly take a look at these gorgeous backgrounds! Delicious artwork.

Clusternia, the land of the β-pureblooded Reyvateils.
 

Besides, there is a 1920×1200 (and lesser res) wallpaper for you to get in the “Download” section, make sure to get it!

And finally, the character designs we already saw in Famitsu Magazine and in the teaser (which can be viewed again in the “Special” section).

Yep, Saki is sweet. Finnel on the other hand reminds me a little of Misha from AT1, whom I didn’t like so much. And looking at her “adult” alter ego, I think I’ll call dibs on Saki. Or should I wait for Cocona to make her appearance? Heh.

I’ve been already so eager about AT3, but now I’m even more excited! I’d just want to get a copy of that game and have my final fix of this fabulous Ar Tonelico universe. But it’s such a long wait until early February…
And if you haven’t played any of the Ar Tonelicos, please do yourself a favor and PLAY IT. It’s really worth your time and money.

As I said, I might either add the rest of the new information into this post, add it into a comment, or simply into a new post altogether. Screw it, I don’t even care if I’m annoying. Ar Tonelico FTW! :P

All the information and pictures above were taken from the Ar Tonelico 3 Official Website.

Seiyuu list (taken from this page, showing a guest lineup for the Akihabara ENTAMatsuri on Oct 25th)

Aoto – 杉山紀彰 (Noriaki Sugiyama) (Sasuke and Shirou. This is gonna be hella interesting. )
Saki – 後藤麻衣 (Mai Goto)
Finnel – 喜多村英梨 (Eri Kitamura)

Interesting choice of seiyuus. While they went for the more prominent voice actors for AT2 (Sawashiro Miyuki and Koshimizu Ami, the bling!), they’ve gone for the (subjectively) less popular ones this time, like for AT1. Good stuff!

While I’m stalling on the already long ended Spring/Summer season, and while social life is (fortunately) picking up as of lately, I’m kind of glad to have something interesting to report on: A new wave of figures, because I don’t mind dilapidating my tuition money the big way.

…So. The first figure, obviously still fueled by my ongoing Ar Tonelico frenzy, is Luca from AT2! Coincidentally, it arrived in the same week as the first announcement of Ar Tonelico 3, which makes me even more enthusiastic about this beautiful figure!

It was pretty hard to find it, actually. The figure was sculpted by Masanori Kuroda and released in April 2008 by Max Factory; one and a half years later, most stores obviously were out of stock. Luckily, there were still a handful of sellers on eBay that had it, and I fetched a good priced one.

Without further ado, here’s the batch of pictures, enjoy! (Good thing we’re on the new server now, so you won’t have to wait 10 minutes for all the images to load… :P) Remember that you can click on the thumbnails for bigger images.

Note: I still suck at finding the perfect settings on my camera (aperture, exposure, etc), so quality and lighting varies a lot. I tried to fix contrasts here and there in post-processing, but didn’t touch colors. (I have some bad experience tampering with colors…) Anyway, please bear with me (´~`;;)

 

You know what this means…

It’s Hymmnos time again! (Download the hymmnos font if you haven’t already!)

Sweet stuff. <3 Luca. (Though the last sentence doesn’t really make sense to me… overlap? XD! Help!)
Now, let’s move on.

I can’t decide. The one above has some kind of soothing effect, but lacks detail. The one below looks detailed, but lacks eye candy like bloom/blur. Which image looks better to you?
 

Though, for the sake of the review, I mostly kept shooting with a smaller aperture value for more detail.
 

 

Dirty window is dirty. It wasn’t me! Was already like that when I moved in. True story, bro!
 

Now some parts in more detail.

So there is a small hole in her left hip, where the hook on the metallic stilt is supposed to go in. It took me little while to find the proper angle of insertion.
 

The smaller, plastic stilt that goes into the small hole in Luca’s left foot. The base is quite solid and does not rock. It’s the first fig I got that’s only supported by stilts.
 

 

 

The ribbons and laces are nice, although look a little off on the tights.
 

 

Very tiny imperfections here and there, but that’s only on the picture, they are not visible at all to the eye.
 

Never noticed the red hairpin before.
 

Luca’s hair decoration, in the shape of a harp, or a crescent moon. That in contrast with Cloche’s sun-like ornament. (Reminds me of the pendants they exchanged, too.)
 

There, the crescent. Though, Luca’s the Maiden of Fuero, so shouldn’t the sun be more appropriate to symbolize her? Ah, well.
 

Woops! Can’t avoid the obligatory pantsu shot! =ω=.

And finally, some, err, random pics and angles. If lighting seems bad, well I tried flashing from the right, which often didn’t really yield the desired results…

 

 

 

This one looks particularly eerie…
 

I like this one the best, I think.
 

 

And finally, in my room. In the end, I wonder why I didn’t do the shooting inside, instead of on the windowsill…
 

I don’t sense any jealousy in this image…yet. But the composition has already changed ever since… :)

I’m really happy I got this one. One more step closer to having an Ar Tonelico shrine… Only Cloche is missing. Not for long, though… X)

But in the meantime, stay tuned for another hawt fig I got last week. And it was one of those impulsive “love at first sight” purchases… well, stay tuned!

We couldn’t have dreamt of a better way to celebrate our move to a new host and domain than hearing the great news that neko’s thinkbox has been accepted into 9rules!
The results were out not even a day after the move, but there were still some formalities to take care of. All the better, since it took us a little while to get accustomed to this faster place… ;)

Whether the join requirements and the screening are (less) strict (nowadays), and whether 9rules is overrated or not is up for debate (not on my watch, though) but either way – we’re extremely proud to have made it through the 150 applicants (it was our first try, too!).
This has been the first recognition this blog has ever gotten in almost three years, too.

Hopefully, entering this new realm of blogging will be an even higher motivation to improve the quality (and frequency? ) of our content so we can entertain you, the reader, and hopefully get you thinking as well (without thinking too hard, this ain’t college). We love watching anime and write for fun, but we also love to hear your precious input, so please keep at it! It’s all part of broadening each others’ views, or something like that…. hum. Arr, I am not really a sucker for cheesy lines, so I think I’ll just skip the speech.

Thanks to the 9rules staff for taking their time to appreciate and acknowledge neko’s thinkbox, and, most importantly, a big thank you to all our (faithful) readers for staying with us!
We hope you will all enjoy reading this blog in the future, too. ;)

-nekosasu and Matt and…? (You shall be reminded that we are still looking for writers… :P)

Yep, Namco/Bandai and Gust are now gearing full throttle towards Ar Tonelico 3, now with the official release of the AT3 teaser site, which you can find here: http://ar-tonelico.jp/at3/.

Said site only offers a short 2 minute video, which doesn’t have that much to offer besides a revamped version of the Dive Shop/Load Game BGM (yay nostalgia! ), a new BGM extract, and two background images of Sol Cluster cities/locations.

As this is only a teaser, that’s unfortunately where the fun already stops for today. More to come when the official site will be launched on October 19th… in 4 days. Next Monday! I’m so looking forward to it!

OMG, I almost screamed out of excitement when I saw a photo of the Famitsu mag announcement on /jp/

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!

It will be titled アルトネリコＩＩＩ -　世界終焉の引き金は少女の詩が弾く
Ar Tonelico III – Sekai Shuuen no Hikigane wa Shoujo no Uta ga Hajiku (The Girl’s Song that Pulls the Trigger of the End of the World)

The game is said to be about 80% complete and due for Japan release on January 28, 2010. I have not had the time to look at the article in detail (in the images below), but it seems that it will feature yet another different battle system called R.A.H. System.

AT3 announcement in Famitsu Magazine

AT3 announcement in Famitsu Magazine

AWESOME! And I thought we would only find out about a possible sequel on the Akihabara ENTAMatsuri on October 25th, but it seems Gust didn’t want to wait that long, either!
It will be sold at about JPY 7,329 (approx. EUR 55, USD 82), and preorders will feature a 44-page hardcover artbook.

Guess what? I am so getting it! Because odds are that NISA (if they ever decide to localize AT3) would take about 2 years only to do a poor job at it. So I’ll get the JP version right away. I really am ecstatic right now, I can’t wait!!!
And now, it is decided, I will get a PS3 by the end of the year. I think I only waited for AT3 to take this decision – not even FF XIII would have made me do it. How about you?

Source: [VGChartz]

Edit: Gathered some specifics on the gameplay from a rough translation of the pages above.

• Seems to be the last game in the series (最響 = last echo).
• The silhouette in the title… Who?
• Protagonist is named Aoto – written in kanji.
• 2 heroines: Saki (white hairs) and Finnel/Finnelle (purple hairs). Saki is gentle and shy, while Finnel talks like a shopkeeper.
• 3D graphics like Rorona with 2D arts. Same town navigation system like AT1 and AT2.
• World: Sol Cluster, 3rd Tower.
• Diving is still there, Mind Guardian seems to be somewhat different?
• Battle uses the R.A.H. System where the music changes depending on player’s action and the Reyvateil’s song is also altered depending on that.

I wonder where Cocona is in all of this…? Will she appear later in the game, like Jakuri in AT2? Oh my, I’m so excited, I won’t be able to sleep at all tonight!

Source: [Mây Lãng Du @ A Reyvateil's Melody]

So! Kicking off on our new domain, here’s some Aoi Hana to talk and muse about!

When I first started watching Aoi Hana, I was pretty excited. As someone with absolutely no experience in Shoujo Ai anime, I kept wondering what kind of story I would discover here, and to what extent the love element would be pushed. You know, preconceptions and exaggerated depictions here and there of homosexual women biased me a little. Either way, I was pretty much threading on new grounds.

What struck me at the beginning was the light aura, the tranquil ambience that this anime emanated. Ever since the first episode, the soft watercolor/pastel-like colors were very soothing to the eye, and I just relaxed, a little more with every episode; but at the same time picking up interest in what turned out to be a very complicated love/friendship pattern.
 

The story

The story itself was pretty short. Basically, it is all about Fumi’s search for love, and how thorny it can be, especially for a homosexual. We witness her as she goes through a very complicated period of her life, torn by an unrequited love. That’s when she meets a mysterious senpai whom she immediately falls in love with, and it seems as if this feeling is reciprocal, but… I don’t really know how to summarize it all without going too much in detail, since it is pretty complicated (as is the custom for love polygons). Let’s just put it like this: it’s beautiful and sweet, but not necessarily what the opening makes it look like.

Despite the opening’s long exposition on Akira, which actually made me believe that Akira was a vital character, the story barely placed her in the middle of all concerns. In fact, this story only came about with the introduction of Sugimoto Yasuko, which raises the question, why wasn’t Yasuko featured in the OP at all? At the same time, why was there so little development between Fumi and Akira?

One can't go back and redo the past; what's done is done. We have to accept it, and move on.

One can’t go back and redo the past; what’s done is done. We have to accept it, and move on.

I understand how Akira played a great role in Fumi’s life, having been her childhood friend, mental support and much more, but, she only realized the latter it in the last part. The fine line between friendship and love, where is it? Between Fumi and Yasuko, it was pretty much love in a sexual meaning; but between Akira and Fumi, it was love in a strictly friendly meaning. During the series, I actually wondered whether Fumi ever considered making out with Akira (considering her uncommon preference), but I was mistaken.
Similarly, Akira never really expressed any feelings of love towards Fumi in a possessive, sexual way. She did consider all the angsty girl love around her during the camp, but she extrapolated it into the possibility of her ever falling in love with someone (which ever gender this might imply). However, all things considered, I really don’t see Akira pairing up with Fumi, let alone start swinging that way. Fumi might had that epiphany at the very end and, in the worst of cases, start approaching Akira differently, but even then, I do believe that Akira would prefer to just stay best friends.

Yes, the ending could have needed a little more time to develop. There is this huge question mark: why was there so little development between Fumi and Akira? I wish J.C. Staff had done a better job with that, and I would be inclined to compare it to a similarly rushed series by them: Toradora. They managed to build up for the great finale, and suddenly crashed everything down. But I’m not sure if it was the same with Aoi Hana. Perhaps it’s because the expectations during the anime were not the same? The thing between Yasuko and Fumi ended peacefully, everyone learnt their lesson, and Fumi realized what’s really important to her.

That was basically the plan. And in this plot, Akira pretty much felt like a support character that has been overrated by the OP/expectations of the viewer. It might not have jumped to the eye immediately after the series finished, though, since it was not part of the main plot, but with some distance, it is noticeable how something is lacking, how there is a gap between the premise and the end result. It is a little regrettable indeed, but not necessarily a massive disappointment, since it was pretty much left with an open ending, so, who knows… Can we write it off as yet another shortcoming of 11-episode anime series? Perhaps our avid manga readers could elucidate us on this matter.

Akira, the ever underappreciated sidekick.

Akira, the ever underappreciated sidekick, and the most down-to-earth character in this series.

Sounds pretty negative, doesn’t it? But the bottom line is that I actually liked it despite all of the above. The reason being – and I praise J.C. Staff for this – that it was very, very satisfying to see how such cliché situations as accidental touches causing massively embarrassing scenes, overused deredere blushes, or any other sort of slapstick-ish worst-case misunderstandings were actually avoided in this anime. And the expected sexual innuendos that this kind of series inspire and are inspired by (cf. Saki) were totally left out. If anything, I could love Aoi Hana just for these two facts. The progression of the story, the character development, the very emotions felt a lot more natural like this. Sometimes, beauty does lie in simplicity. Or is it subtlety, after all?

 
The characters

Since the beginning, I liked Fumi. I found her wallflower-like appearance cute, but, I don’t know why, perhaps it is just my protective instinct that is gearing for her since she was so naive, so weak, so simple-minded. I just felt like comforting and hugging her all the time. She did a fair lot of self-development, and I was massively surprised by the way she told Sugimoto off in the end.

Kyouko was acceptable. I don’t think her “love” for Sugimoto was real, despite the lengths she has gone for her. I believe it was just an extreme form of admiration she had for her senpai, which she couldn’t find any other explanation for than just carnal love. But she’s young and immature, and I think that she will learn to accept many things once she grows up and realizes her foolish mistakes of youth. Most importantly, she will realize how much she has neglected Kouri, who cared so much and waited patiently for her, and eventually accept him. That’s how I think Kyouko would evolve after the story.

But who I eventually liked the best was Akira. She knew very well that she was at risk of becoming a lesbian too, but she remained compassionate without becoming too friendly. Especially in such emotional situations as Fumi and Kyouko have been in, it would have been too easy and tempting for her to just give in and comfort them with pity love (in a sexual sense), which might have been the worst thing to do since it is very likely to mess up entire relationships. I appreciated how Akira gauged and accepted the situation, and kept her distances where applicable.

In the same vein, I like the way she thinks about her own feelings as well, like when she realized she may become as uncertain as Fumi et al., should she ever be in love with someone too. …I suppose I just identify with her too much. Story of my life, or something. But then again I never had a stalker siscon oniichan, so it’s definitely not the same, heh.

Friends, best friends, or even more?

Friends, best friends, or even more?

And you can imagine, yes I hated Yasuko… a little. At first, I just thought she was a confused girl who always wanted to be a boy (which would explain her tomboyish looks and behavior). But then I found out that actually, she’s just a confused girl who could never get over the fact that her love was unrequited, and the fact that beloved teacher married her sister, adding insult to injury.
Still, I absolutely didn’t like her selfish, manipulative ways. She knew she was a popular type, so she took advantage of her status, and swayed Kyouko and Fumi in her desperation. She knew very well that she was suppressing her frustration, trying to forget about that teacher, running away from the truth.
I fully understand where she’s coming from. All she ever needed (or wanted) was someone dear to her to tell her to move on, just like Fumi did in the end. But still, the whole fishing around, in my opinion, was not a necessary evil. She just needed a friend. Not a girlfriend, but a friend. Just like Akira is a friend to Fumi.

…wow, I am actually surprised how little I actually thought about the fact that there was “girls love” involved. The whole bias train actually stopped long ago in the first few episodes, where this anime managed to make me look at these protagonists not as “females” (from a gender point of view), but as simple human beings looking for pure, untainted love, much beyond the moral restrictions of society. It did a great job at unbiasing me.
Such a comment coming from someone who actually thinks of himself as extremely tolerant of homosexual persons… I realize how much of a hypocrite I used to be.
 

The rest

The OP song was sweet, it fit the mood perfectly, although once again, the animation was a little too bare, and pretty misleading. The ED, I can’t really tell, because I always skipped it. The first seconds sounded good though. I should give the single a listen.

The character design was lovely, without all the fancy moe shenanigans like ahoges, Super Deformed visuals, and the likes. The facial design was a little disconcerting at times, especially looking at the noses from the profile. The tip of their noses looked so round and… elevated? A little odd indeed. Though eventually, I came to like it. It just needs getting used to, as is usually the case with the more unconventional designs out there (see Cross Game) that don’t correspond with the metric clucktons of ZOMGAR or ZOMGMOE we’re being served every new season.

Some minor nitpicking I could point out is that, while the overall ambiance and design was superb, the animation wasn’t really. Especially moving objects like cars or trains were a little CG-ishly odd. But since all the rest was good, I don’t really care about such minor issues.

Holding hands, a whole system of symbolisms.

Holding hands, a whole system of symbolisms.

The verdict

All in all, I am simply sated and satisfied. Everything was pretty well balanced. It might not have been a 100% perfect series, or the best series of this summer for this matter, but it was good enough to leave me with a large smile on my face.
At the same time, it was a nice introduction to the Shoujo Ai genre. Guess I’m open enough to give Maria-sama ga Miteiru a try now.

If I had to put it in numbers, let’s say, I’d give it a x,x out of xx, which is a pretty high average.

Now get thee to read thy manga, I heard it’s a lot better.