You can thank Winamp and it’s non-random random shuffling for this post.

I have a super condensed anime music playlist that I like to listen to; it’s only 230 songs long and there’s a handful of songs on this list that when I’m in the right mood will get me to shed a tear. Last night I wasn’t much in the mood but out-of-the-blue Winamp starts playing every sad song on the list in a row and even repeating some more than once so now I’m in that mood.

It’s probably not a good idea to marathon a Key series right now so instead I’ll write this post.

Oh, and there’s some spoilers so read at your own risk.

Natsukage – from AIR

Let’s start off with an obvious show that could generate a tear inducing song – AIR. This anime holds the personal record for the most tears shed while watching it (Clannad is a close second). See, I was a relatively new anime watcher at the time, mainly subsisting on a diet of shounen shows and wasn’t aware of the emotional depths that could be found in anime. It also didn’t help that I had absolutely no knowledge of what to expect and was lulled into a false sense of security by it’s light-hearted start. Therefore, when the story turned tragic, I wasn’t ready for it and ended up crying for just about every remaining episode.

Natsukage is the name of the instrumental track that KyoAni used for many of the emotional scenes during AIR and thus when I hear it, I’m reminded of those scenes.

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Koikogarete Mita Yume – from Cross Game

The show’s first closing is another song that can bring me to tears and was able to from the very first time I heard it, which was in episode 1.

That episode completely blew me away. I wasn’t expecting to see enough character building and tragedy to fill most series all within those 24 minutes and by playing this song at the saddest scene meant that I’d always link this song to that first episode. Nor has that episode and that song lost it’s power to move the viewer, recently the animators essentially reshowed the first episode in it’s entirety for the episode 30 recap.

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Kanon by Pachebel – from Kanon

The wedding standard got repurposed for another of Key’s works – Kanon. This time, the characters actually referenced the song in the show and provided a strong means for the viewers to attach the often tragic nature of Kanon to the song. At least when I hear this song in public it’ll probably be at a wedding and it’ll be more socially acceptable to cry to it.

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“Libera me” From Hell – from Gurren Lagann

I’m convinced that Gurren Lagann is one of the greatest anime ever made and should be required watching for, not only those who profess to be an anime fan, but also for every single kid that grows up watching the insipid tv shows that pass for kid’s shows these days.

This song was used in many places throughout the show, primarily when it was time for the good guys to kick butt which makes it a strange song to cry over. And it would be but for it’s use during one of the best scenes to Gurren Lagann which happened in episode 26. The hero of the show, Simon, was given the choice between the easy way out and the harder path that true heroism calls for. He chooses the path of heroism and as a result is able to break himself and his comrades out of a devious trap laid by the enemy. The whole scene is very emotional, a testament to Gainax’s stellar character development and story telling ability, and having this track play during the entire scene meant that those emotions come back whenever hear it.

And within the entire scene there’s a small part that absolutely gets to me every single time I see it. The trap that Simon breaks everyone out of gives each person the ability to live in whatever dream world they wish for. One of the people trapped is Viral; he’s a beastman which means he looks human but was created sterile and he has a tough-as-nails personality so one would expect his dream world to be some sort Valhalla battlefield but it’s not – it’s living in a little cottage in a country meadow with a wife and a daughter that calls him “Papa”.

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Dango Daikazoku – from Clannad

Yes, another song from a Key/KyoAni anime, this time it’s from Clannad. This was used as the first season ending but it wasn’t until the second season that this became tear inducing. Though in the case of Dango Daikazoku (or “Big Dango Family”), the song brings tears from being linked to the tragic parts to Clannad and also from the happy parts.

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Love is a Flower, You are a Seed – from Only Yesterday

In many ways Only Yesterday is my favorite Studio Ghibli work so I find it an absolute travesty that it’s the only Studio Ghibli movie not released in America.

This is the only song that exclusively makes me shed tears from happiness alone. It’s the end song to Only Yesterday and the animators had it playing while the movie had it’s climatic scene before going to credits. So, like the others, those emotions got transferred to the song and hearing this song gets to me every time.

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Anyone else want to share? Or is everyone too busy getting in the Halloween mood today?

Posted in anime, anime rants/views, general anime interst

Looking over my scores this week; I realized something, we’re already halfway through the winter season. It won’t be long before spring is upon us, both in anime and in weather. In my neck of the woods, spring is getting ready to start: a few of our crocuses have already broken dormancy, I killed two spiders in the basement today, and my mom spotted a returning robin a couple of days ago.

The scores:

Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou, episode 7 – 12+/12

Hetalia Axis Powers, episode 4 – 10/12 A

Michiko to Hatchin, episode 16 – 12/12
Michiko to Hatchin, episode 17 – 12+/12
Michiko to Hatchin, episode 18 – 12+/12

Rideback, episode 6 – 12+/12

Minami-Ke: Okaeri, episode 7 – 11/12 A+

Sora o Kakeru Shoujo, episode 7 – 9/12 A-

Toradora!, episode 20 – 12+/12

Clannad S.2, episode 19 – 12++/12

Munto TV, episode 5 – 10/12 A

Maria+Holic, episode 7 – 9/12 A-

Asu no Yoichi, episode 7 – 9/12 A-

To Aru Majutsu no Index, episode 20 – 12/12

Chrome Shelled Regios, episode 6 – 10/12 A

Shikabane Hime: Kuro, episode 4 – 11/12 A+
Shikabane Hime: Kuro, episode 5 – 10/12 A

Which shows have momentum this week

Up – Michiko to Hatchin – The plot’s heating up now that we’re reaching the final episodes

Down – none

Thoughts and Highlights

There’s been many reasons to like Michiko to Hatchin so far but watching this batch of episodes made me realize that character development is yet another reason. It’s been slow and somewhat hidden by the action of the series but it’s been there and it’s felt natural. For example, when Hatchin goes to great lengths to cheer up Michiko in episode 18, it feels like something she’d do at this point for Michiko but as little as 5 or 6 episodes ago, I don’t think she’d do it. There’s still a bunch of things that still need to be revealed about the show included exactly why the guy keeps running away from Michiko and Hatchin and I can’t wait to see how it all unfolds.

Best episode of the week was episode 19 of Clannad. Once again there were many tear inducing scenes, though most of these were happy scenes this time, as well as happy scenes as Ushio and Tomoya settle into their new life together. I thought the baseball scene, at the beginning, was Akki’s way to symbolically hand over the responsibility of raising Ushio back to Tomoya. Also, thinking back to the last time we saw them play baseball together, I took the ease in which Tomoya hit Akki’s pitch as a statement of how mature Tomoya has gotten.

Speaking of Akki, he often is shown acting immature but the scene where he tells Sanae that it’s finally okay to cry over Nagisa showed that can he’s a good husband. I was of the opinion that Tomoya was a bad father for making Sanae and Akki raise Ushio for 5 years but thinking about it now, maybe that wasn’t such a bad idea. Tomoya lost his wife but Sanae and Akki lost their daughter and raising Ushio did help them get through the worst of the pain. I’m really anxious to see how the rest of the series will play out; I’m pretty sure that Tomoya gets a wish from the glowing orb and I wonder if Kyou’s return in the next episode will play into the wish.

What is it about reformed villains that I love so much? The last time I watched a show that had a villain become good was Gurren Lagann and the character Viral became my favorite of the show. This short arc in To Aru Majutsu no Index featured a villain from just a few episodes ago that became the hero and this was, by far and away, the best arc of the series so far. I hope he can come back soon. Looking at the preview and how it appears several new characters will be introduced seems to point to a second season in the future and thus no sort of plot resolution for this season.

Another good episode of Rideback. I was partially right with my guess several weeks ago that Rin’s rowdy brother will be the reason that gets her involved with the terrorists; he wasn’t the first reason but his actions will be the confirming reason that will get her involved. This episode is a good display of why it’s important to follow current events. The GGP run government needed some pretext to bring in Ridebacks for the purposes of security and a rampage by a group of Ridebacks would be the perfect thing. The idiot that was the leader should have realized no one would just give him 4 Ridebacks without a reason and the consequences of his group’s actions will be just what the GGP wanted him to do. I thought for a moment that Rin might be able to defy the military again and get her and her brother to safety but the GGP simply had too much at their disposal. I’m assuming some sort of prison break will happen next episode because I can’t imagine the government allowing either Rin or her brother to go free again.

And now a few short thoughts:

• Shikabane Hime: Kuro has toned down the fan service but it feels like too much time is being spent on getting Oori and Makina ready to fight.
• Once again Maria+Holic shows why Mariya needs to be onscreen often – the show isn’t nearly as good when he’s not.
• I’m still waiting for Hetalia to get offensive. I did have a very good laugh when Japan made models of the U-boat and created 12 different color versions to sell – very stereotypical of what you see in Japan.
• I enjoyed the two part episode from Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou partially because it showed how much Nyanko-sensei and Natsume have changed so far. Nyanko actually had the Book of Friends in his possession and still endeavored to save Natsume and when Natsume temporarily lost his ability to see spirits, he was visibly depressed by this.

Posted in anime, weekly anime review

I’m sorry for the relatively short weekly review, I’m not really feeling up to writing right now. I’m not about to quit my blog or anything like that, I had a death in the family. Since my weekly anime review is weekly, I still wanted to write it but this will probably be the only thing I write for a few days.

The scores:

Birdy the Mighty Decode 2, episode 4 – 12+/12

Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou, episode 5 – 12+/12
Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou, episode 6 – 12+/12

Hetalia Axis Powers, episode 3 – 10/12 A

Michiko to Hatchin, episode 15 – 12/12

Rideback, episode 4 – 12++/12
Rideback, episode 5 – 12/12

Minami-Ke: Okaeri, episode 6 – 10/12 A

Sora o Kakeru Shoujo, episode 6 – 10/12 A

Toradora!, episode 19 – 12+++/12

Clannad S.2, episode 18 – 12+++/12

Munto TV, episode 4 – 10/12 A

Maria+Holic, episode 6 – 12/12

Asu no Yoichi, episode 6 – 10/12 A

To Aru Majutsu no Index, episode 19 – 11/12 A+

Kemono no Soja Erin, episode 2 – 8/12 B+

Which shows have momentum this week

Up – Rideback – Hello!! This show just got very interesting.

Down – Minami-Ke: Okaeri – I’ve noticed a slow downward spiral after the first couple of episodes, nothing major yet but it’s starting to get troublesome.

Thoughts and Highlights

I’ve been thinking about Rideback a bunch since watching episodes 4 and 5. Up to the start of episode 4, it felt like it could be a somewhat conventional sports anime. We would see the former ballerina learn through Rideback racing how to recapture what she lost from the injury that made her quit. Sure it took place in a world where a shadowy organization runs the world but that fact didn’t seem to really intrude much on normal society. What happens in episode 4 is sudden, jarring, and shatters what the show is and when we put the pieces back together – it’s a totally different show now. I think this was done on purpose by the creators; they wanted to show how a single event can change the entire direction of a person’s life. I’m really excited to see where the rest of the series goes now.

Once again, when I’m trying to decide what was the best episode of the week, I have to make a tough choice between Toradora and Clannad. Both where absolutely marvelous and the more I think about it, the harder it is to pick one so I’m going to call it a tie. With Toradora, I knew to expect disappointments for Ryuuji and Taiga because the teacher kept saying that they will be rewarded for all their effort in making the Christmas party a success and I was mostly right. Ryuuji obviously didn’t get the ending he was hoping for with Minorin but Taiga definitely got a better Christmas then she was hoping for. I wonder if Taiga is now going to pursue Ryuuji or will she realize her friendship with Minorin is the reason for Minorin’s rejection and feel guilty. On the flip side, the episode of Clannad was a much more positive one – though just as emotional. We learned that Tomoya’s hate for his Dad lead him to forget all the good things his father did for Tomoya while growing up and that Tomoya’s been a worse dad then his father. This realization by Tomoya, along with Ushio’s innate cuteness, allowed Tomoya’s heart to be mended and has given him the strength to forgive his father, act as Ushio’s father and allowed him to remember his relationship with Nagisa in a good way. The scene at the end where he’s talking to Ushio about Nagisa was so incredibly touching and heartfelt.

This week’s episode of Maria+holic was the best so far and little surprise – it happened to be the most air time that Maria has gotten so far. The addition of Maria’s sister adds a very interesting dynamic to the show. The main character has been wishing that Maria was an actual girl and now that possibility is a reality. It finally felt like the show was reaching it’s potential; I hope Maria+holic can continue at this leavel.

And finally, some thoughts in short:

• Birdy and Natsume continue to impress
• Index continues to talk to much, flub it’s potential, and remain mildly interesting
• Munto leaves me feeling good but wishing it would explain itself better
• Hetalia has it’s most coherent and best episode so far – I’m still waiting to see something that’s actually offensive.

Posted in anime, weekly anime review

There goes that New Year’s resolution for The Null Set – no more missing a week and having to do a biweekly anime review. On the plus side, I should have plenty to talk about.

As a total aside, as I’m typing this up I wonder if other people have specific music they listen to when they have to write. For myself, I’m listening to a 44 track playlist of my favorite Weird Al Yankovic songs right now – I found that I write faster and better when I’m listening to him.

The scores:
Munto TV, episode 2 – 10/12 A
Munto TV, episode 3 – 10/12 A

Soul Eater, episode 41 – 12/12
Soul Eater, episode 42 – 10/12 A
Soul Eater, episode 43 – 11/12 A+

To Aru Majutsu no Index, episode 16 – 12/12
To Aru Majutsu no Index, episode 17 – 10/12 A
To Aru Majutsu no Index, episode 18 – 11/12 A+

Chrome Shelled Regios, episode 3 – 8/12 B+
Chrome Shelled Regios, episode 4 – 9/12 A-
Chrome Shelled Regios, episode 5 – 9/12 A-

Birdy the Mighty Decode 2, episode 2 – 12+/12
Birdy the Mighty Decode 2, episode 3 – 12+/12

Rideback, episode 3 – 11/12 A+

Xam’D: Lost Memories, episode 25 – 11/12 A+
Xam’D: Lost Memories, episode 26 – 12+/12 (end)

Minami-Ke: Okaeri, episode 4 – 11/12 A+
Minami-Ke: Okaeri, episode 5 – 11/12 A+

Maria+Holic, episode 4 – 9/12 A-
Maria+Holic, episode 5 – 11/12 A+

Asu no Yoichi, episode 4 – 11/12 A+
Asu no Yoichi, episode 5 – 10/12 A

Sora o Kakeru Shoujo, episode 3 – 10/12 A
Sora o Kakeru Shoujo, episode 4 – 10/12 A
Sora o Kakeru Shoujo, episode 5 – 9/12 A-

Michiko to Hatchin, episode 14 – 12/12

Clannad S.2, episode 16 – 12+++/12
Clannad S.2, episode 17 – 12++/12

Toradora!, episode 17 – 12+/12
Toradora!, episode 18 – 12++/12

Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou, episode 4 – 12+/12

Shikabane Hime: Kuro, episode 3 – 10/12 A

(previously reviewed)

Hetalia Axis Powers, episode 1 – 10/12 A
Hetalia Axis Powers, episode 2 – 10/12 A
A Tale of Genji, episode 1 – 10/12 A
Kemono no Soja Erin, episode 1 – 9/12 A-
Kemono no Soja Erin, episode 2 – 9/12 A-

Which shows have momentum this week
Up – Birdy the Mighty Decode 2 – The second season of Birdy received a big level-up
Down – none

Thoughts and Highlights

I just mentioned Birdy the Mighty Decode 2 in my winter impressions meta post but I didn’t really go into details because I knew I would talk about the show here as well. I complained in my review of the first season that the ending was a cop out because it allowed a complete reboot for the second season. Turns out I was wrong. The story logically picks up where the first season ends and even the new characters of the second season were impacted by the events of the first season. Also praiseworthy is how the show doesn’t reset the world, all the buildings that where destroyed in the first season are still destroyed. The characters, especially Birdy and Senekawa, come off as more realistic this season and much more likable. And speaking of realistic or maybe a better word is unflinching, the action scenes have been really good and haven’t shied away from showing blood. In episode 4, we watch one character rip the arms off an alien disguised as a human kid who was connected with the group that killed his father. All without any sort of censoring. It wasn’t gratuitous because it fit the circumstances but I can’t imagine seeing a similar scene done on American TV.

The best episode of the biweekly period came from Clannad Season 2, episode 16. The dastardly duo of Key and Kyoto Animation, bent on world domination, strike again with quite possibly the saddest episode of anime I’ve ever seen. I’ve been trying to prepare myself since early in the first season when I accidentally read some spoils but it didn’t help and probably made it worse. The scary thing that I realized as I watched this scene is that Kyoto Animation is still improving it’s ability to turn the viewers into weeping lumps of blubber. Of special note was Yuuichi Nakamura for his vocal work as Tomoya. He really sounded like someone very important to him was dying in front of him. The only consolation I took from this episode is that the show probably won’t get any sadder.

Not nearly as sad but still motoring along at it’s own epic pace is Toradora!. At some point this show should stop surprising me but even after 18 episodes, it still amazes me. For example, we had plenty of signs that pointed to an eventual Minorin emotional meltdown beforehand but it’s still unsettling to see Minorin fall apart like she is. Also a surprise was Taiga’s love of Christmas and how positively infectious it is. It gets me in the correct state of mind for my family’s “Christmas in February” celebration coming up. I also like how some of the bit characters are getting some air time finally; it probably only makes sense as Taiga and Ryuuji have become accepted by their classmates as normal people and not as scary monsters.

Going back to Clannad Season 2, episode 17. Kyoto Animation is really good at details and slipping stuff in the show without us realizing it. It’s pretty obvious that Tomoya hasn’t been feeling up to keeping the apartment clean but the most telling evidence of his long-term mental state is the 3 flower pots on the back porch. They where something that Nagisa added to the apartment when she moved in. In episode 17 I was surprised to see they were still there 5 years later but then I realized all they contained was long dead remnants of some type of flower, probably from the flowers that Nagisa planted. On a lighter note, Ushio is just about the cutest person I’ve seen in anime. I’m positive that she’ll fix Tomoya because he’s still not a bad person like his dad but needs to realize that he disrespects Nagisa and her wishes by thinking that he should never have met her. And the way KyoAni ended this episode revealed to us that we’ve been looking at Ushio at the beginning of the ending this whole time and not Nagisa like everyone thought.

And now for some shorter thoughts:

• When I try to objectively look at Munto TV, I can’t help but pick it apart. For example, to much stuff is being crammed into the show and it’s not making a lot of sense. This is being balanced so far by how the show makes me feel. I hope as the show gets further along, the storytelling aspect improves.
• I realized while watching this group of episodes from To Aru Majutsu no Index that there’s totally going to be a second season. And as the show gets further, I start asking myself even more, why is Index even in this show and why did he have to lose is memory. I don’t see the point one way or the other.
• On second seasons – so far with Rideback, it’s being paced awful slow for just a 13 episode show – I wonder if they’re planning on doing a second season.
• I have to thank Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou, episode 4. I watched it right after watching Clannad 16 and it’s combination of a super-cute spirit and happy ending made me feel better.
• The fanservice continues with Shikabane Hime: Kuro but at least the story is improving.
• And finally, I was a bit disappointed with the ending of Xam’D: Lost Memories; it was very good but I couldn’t help but think they could have done better. I hope I won’t be saying the same thing about Soul Eater. I know it’s tough to figure out an ending for a show that continues like Soul Eater without violating the continuity of the source material but it should be possible.

Posted in anime, weekly anime review

Last year I had a single award given to the most memorable moment of 2007. It went to episode 10 of Manabi Straight when it’s revealed that the school festival will be held. This year, I wanted to go a little further in depth to spotlight my favorite episodes and memorable moments. Since I don’t want to spoil a bunch of shows for those readers that haven’t seen them yet, I’m going to just list these without explaining why. First though, there’s a couple final awards that felt like they belonged in this part.

Best Final Episode

Winner: Natsume Yuujinchou

How do you end a slice-of-life show and still give the show a bit of closure that non-structured shows normally don’t have? You do what Natsume Yuujinchou did and bring back several of the characters from the series and reflect upon how Natsume has changed over the course of the series. It simply was perfect.

Best Ending

Winner: Bamboo Blade

The ending of Bamboo Blade was able to walk the fine line that shows based on source material that continues past the end of the anime series has. It was able to give an actual ending that tied up the plot threads introduced in the first season. As well as slipping in a few tantalizing hints at possible plot points if there is a second season without these new characters and stories interfering with the feeling of a satisfying ending.

Best Show No One Saw

Winner: Kaiba

Runner-up: Wagaya no Oinari-sama

If this award was based solely on the number of people that talked about the show then Wagaya no Oinari-sama would have won because I saw far fewer people mentioning this show. Wagaya was a good show and if the animation had looked a little better or if it had come from a more popular studio then it would been a huge hit. Kaiba did get talked about more often but I could tell that outside of the more adventurous viewers and the SF viewers, almost no one watched it. In the end, I gave Kaiba the award because they were both relatively unwatched but Kaiba was a better show.

Memorable Moments

• Ending of episode 1 of Ga-rei: Zero
• Tennis match from episode 18 of Clannad
• The play from episode 22 of Clannad
• Tomoya’s marriage proposal from episode 12 of Clannad season 2
• Iku Kasahara’s media interview from episode 12 of Library War
• Air reference from episode 11 of Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
• The race from episode 13 of Toradora
• The Soul Ascension ceremony from episode 5 of Wagaya no Oinari-sama
• Sora’s first official job as a mage from episode 12 of Someday’s Dreamers Season 2

Favorite Episodes

• Episode 26 of Bamboo Blade
• Episode 3 of Kaiba
• Episode 7 of Kaiba
• Episode 52 of Hayate the Combat Butler
• Episode 2 of Natsume Yuujinchou
• Episode 7 of Natsume Yuujinchou
• Episode 9 of Ga-Rei: Zero
• Episode 2 of Toradora
• Episode 4 of Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei

Next part of my 2008 anime year in review is the first half of my top 10 anime of 2008 and should be posted within the day.

Posted in anime, awards      

Let me slip in my weekly anime review before getting back to my top anime picks of 2008.

A relatively light week of anime this week, due in part from not watching any last or first episodes. I still plan on getting to a few more of the winter seasons shows like Genji, Kemono no Souja Erin, and Hetalia Axis Powers but that’ll probably be in a few days.

The scores:

Toradora!, episode 16 – 12++/12

Soul Eater, episode 40 – 12+/12

Xam’D: Lost Memories, episode 24 – 12+/12

Michiko to Hatchin, episode 12 – 12+/12
Michiko to Hatchin, episode 13 – 11/12 A+

To Aru Majutsu no Index, episode 15 – 12/12

Minami-Ke: Okaeri, episode 3 – 12/12

Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou, episode 3 – 12+/12

Asu no Yoichi, episode 3 – 8/12 B+

Rideback, episode 2 – 11/12 A+

Maria+Holic, episode 3 – 11/12 A+

Chrome Shelled Regios, episode 2 – 8/12 B+

Clannad S.2, episode 14 – 12+++/12
Clannad S.2, episode 15 – 12+++/12

Which shows have momentum this week

Up – Michiko to Hatchin – We got a real juicy tidbit of info and it looks like the show is ready to get down to business

Down – none

Thoughts and Highlights

We learn in Michiko to Hatchin that the guy Michiko and Hatchin are looking for is really alive and he appears to be some sort of movie star. It’s still unknown if Michiko will remember she saw him in the newspaper after she recovers from a fever that’s been messing with her mind and causing her to hallucinate. Even if she doesn’t though, Michiko’s old friend, the police officer, saw it and will probably make sure Michiko finds out. I think now that the show has finally tipped it’s hand a bit, we should see this show’s plot advance quickly. Or at least I’m hoping because one of the things that hurt Samurai Champloo was that it waited until the very end of the series to reveal most of the real plot of the series.

Clannad Season 2 had not one, but two shows that scored the absolute highest score I give out to single episodes. This current Nagisa / Tomoya arc has been perfectly perfect; the source material by Key has been the best I’ve seen them do and KyoAni is executing the anime above their previous Key adaptation work. A simple summary like: Episodes 14 and 15 are about Nagisa and Tomoya learning to live together as a married couple and how Nagisa’s pregnancy changes people and relationships – doesn’t do the show justice. If you’ve gotten to like the characters at all, these episodes have been riveting like few anime shows are. And it’s the little touches that have really struck me. For example, in episode 14 we are shown a shot of Tomoya’s dinghy, plain apartment before Nagisa goes to live there and later on in the episode we see all the little things she’s done to make the place look homey. Or in episode 15, right before Nagisa says they should come up with a name for the baby, we see a quick shot of Nagisa looking at Tomoya and the love and happiness she is feeling is so abundantly clear by just looking at her eyes that it’s unnecessary and redundant to see them say they love each other or even kiss.

I don’t want to make this so short but none of the other shows really stuck out in my mind so let’s close with a few quick thoughts.

• I’ll chime in on Toradora being awesome this week. The Taiga/Student President fight was really exciting. I thought the change in style helped emphasize the sharp feelings both girls felt.
• I didn’t quite like this week’s episode of Asu no Yoichi, as much as I did the first two. I don’t know if this is the start of a trend or just because they needed to introduce a few more characters. And  Katsuyuki Konishi aka Kamina’s voice actor alert. He’s playing the shadowy unknown bad guy.
• The latest story arc to To Aru Majutsu no Index has me the most interested in the show since the first couple of episodes, which is a positive sign. The first half wasn’t nearly as bad as Shana 2 but maybe we can hope for a second half bounce like Shana 2 had.
• And I’m sorry, I disagree with the Grim Reaper in Soul Eater. I’d’ve killed Medusa and then just assume the worse case scenario which would be the Demon God was working with Arachnophobia and plan for that.
• Even Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou has an onsen episode and this was it. I really liked this episode because it showed for the first time a spirit that shouldn’t have gotten it’s name back. Natsume should be more careful in the future but I hope he doesn’t start to distrust spirits now. I also like this episode because we got a returning character – the guy that works as an exorcist on the side and can see spirits like Natsume.

Posted in anime, weekly anime review      

Part 2 is somewhat of a mishmash of awards. I started out just having multi-character awards but while figuring out where everything went I realized I needed a spot to place various awards that didn’t fit anywhere else.

Best Couple

Winner: Tomoya and Nagisa from Clannad

Runner-up: Iku Kasahara and Atsushi Dojo from Library War

Even though I think Taiga and Ryuuji of Toradora make the perfect couple, the show really hasn’t shown them together as a couple so they weren’t as strong of contenders they could have been. On the other hand Tomoya and Nagisa seem to be perfect for each other and from the start the show reinforced this to the viewers. And the second season has really shown how good of a couple they are together and has gotten to the point of them getting married.

Best Cast of Characters

Winner: Toradora

Runner-up: Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei

The cast of Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is full of really great characters but they fall short of Toradora mainly because they never evolve as the characters of Toradora do. I like how every character of Toradora is different and not different like each character falls into preset character types; instead, they feel like they could be real people and their problems feel realistic for who they are and not just to fit convenient plot progressions.

Best Dressed Characters

Winner: Clannad

An easy award to give because KyoAni seems obsessed with having their characters dress in as many different outfits as possible. It is realistic though, how many people do you know that wear the same couple of outfits day after day. And each time something new is worn, it’s genuinely new and tasteful. This might sound shallow but it does add a degree of realism to the show and keeps an element of surprise to itself.

Best Character Development for Cast

Winner: Toradora

Runner-up: Bamboo Blade

Many shows have good character development for the main character and sometimes even a few of the side characters but it’s rare for a show to have good character development for all of the main characters and principal side characters like Toradora has. It’s really amazing that they’ve been able to fit such a high level of character development of the entire principal cast in only 13 episodes and judging from the first few episodes of the second half, it’s not slowing down in the least.

Best Character Development of a Single Character

Winner: Yomi from Ga-Rei: Zero

Runner-up: Natsume from Natsume Yuujinchou

Almost the entire show of Ga-Rei: Zero is focused on the character of Yomi and how she is corrupted to become an evil killing machine. Even when I knew what happens in the future, I couldn’t help but like her before she turns evil and I can even understand why she did what she did. That moment of despair that she has while in the hospital was masterfully done and felt very real.

Best Character Ability/Power

Winner: Kogarashi from Maid Guy

I already mentioned some of powers Kogarashi has earlier but there’s others including Maid Guy Voice that can stun people, Maid Guy Hair Sensor where he uses his hair as mobile sensors, and Maid Guy Levitation. It’s hard to pick a single favorite but the ability to link a printer to your brain using a USB cable and being able to print things by just thinking about them is a very awesome power.

Best Anime Movie Seen in 2008

Winner: Evangelion 1.01 You Are (Not) Alone

I’ve mentioned before that even though Evangelion is an important anime work in the historical sense, it stinks as a show due in part to the very poor ending. After Gurren Lagann and it’s superbly crafted ending, though, I have some confidence that this time Gainax will get it right and the first of four movies seems to be a very good first step. My sister, who’s never seen the original series but seen clips of it in AMVs and such, was thoroughly impressed with the movie. I hold little hope of actually seeing this in theaters but would dearly love the chance to do so.

Best Anime OVA Seen in 2008

Winner: Clannad Episode 24 OVA

This was a separate story from the series though officially it’s episode 24 of the first season. It still features Tomoya and he’s still best friends with Sunohara but his girlfriend is Tomoyo and we meet no other characters from the main series. I know KyoAni was aided from the fact that we know the characters from the series but they manage to tell a full story in only 21 minutes that was interesting, moving, authentic and in many ways, superior to the first season of Clannad. It showed the full potential that Clannad had and made me excited about the forthcoming second season.

Best Anime Extra

Winner: Gurren Lagann Parallel Works

These where a series of short pieces done by Gainax employees using music from Gurren Lagann. All but one of them where meant to be separate from the show – hence the name Parallel Works. They featured the characters of Gurren Lagann in alternate settings, like a medieval world, or with alternate circumstances, like having the good guys be bad and Viral be the hero of the resistance. One though acted like a prequel in that it showed how Lord Genome became the ruler of earth and why he imprisoned humanity underground. Each was done by somebody different and thus had wildly different visual style though it was always fun to see some visual element that was done in one of these and remember something similar in the show. They where posted for free viewing on their website on a weekly basis over the summer and early autumn. I thought these showed that more can be done with the characters of Gurren Lagann and the world, in general, and hopefully Gainax will agree and revisit this world at some point in the future.

Most in Need of a Sequel

Winner: Ryoko’s Case Files

The way the first season ended greatly increased my desire for a second season. How often do you get the chance to see a love triangle form that includes a clone, the original, and the guy they both like? Between that and the chance to see Ryoko and Izumida solve more mysterious cases should make a sequeal a no-brainer. Hopefully, this will be case and more Ryoko’s Case Files will be seen in 2009.

Posted in anime, awards      

A very light week of anime this week for me. I pushed my watching of many of the new winter shows into the current week so I could try to finish a few lingering shows of 2008 I wanted to get too before 2009 started. I was only partially successful, Shigofumi got watched finally but I still want to get to true tears and the second season of Goodbye, Mr. Despair.

The scores:

Shikabane Hime: Aka, episode 12 – 12+++/12

Earl and Fairy, episode 12 – 9/12 A- (end)

Toradora!, episode 14 – 12++/12

Clannad S.2, episode 13 – 12++/12

Soul Eater, episode 37 – 10/12 A

(previously reviewed)

Minami-Ke: Okaeri, episode 1 – 12/12

Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou, episode 1 – 12/12

Which shows have momentum this week

Up – Toradora and Clannad – It’s almost like the two shows are trying to top each other right now (I’ll see your sensitive Ami and raise you a drunk Nagisa … ).

Down – nothing

Thoughts and Highlights

It might have been a light week of anime but what I watched was very good. Both Toradora and Clannad took a week break because of the new year and they were deeply missed. In my mind the week off acted almost exactly like a reset switch for the two shows and now that they’re back they have to reprove why their the best, especially with the new contenders of the season. I’m not saying that I’ve forgotten how good either show is but Natsume and Minami-Ke both had really good first episodes and have the potential to be the top shows of the season.

Clannad disappointed me a little because I was really hoping to see a wedding but there was plenty to enjoy from this episode – drunk Nagisa, Nagisa’s graduation ceremony, and seeing Nagisa wearing a wedding band being just three. Nagisa’s dad forcing Tomoya to work so hard before he’d listen to Tomoya’s request for Nagisa’s hand in marriage was epic and touching at the same time. I always thought asking the father before marrying the daughter was silly but seeing how much Nagisa’s parents have had to give up for her, the pain and trials of raising Nagisa, and the amount of love they have Nagisa has really made me understand the importance and the correctness of doing so. And I think I finally figured out why we keep seeing that girl and robot – the girl is connected somehow to Nagisa. I remembered the robot said that the girl goes to sleep in the winter and in this episode Nagisa comments how she always gets sick in the winter. But don’t tell me if I’m correct or wrong since I’m trying to stay spoil-free as possible.

A rumor seems to have swept the school after the last episode of Toradora – if you touch Taiga then you’ll become lucky. Hilarious hijinks ensue but once again the characters themselves are the most memorable part of the show. I loved how everyone tells Ami how she’s so mature, sophisticated, and able to get any guy she wants but when she sees Ryuuji (who she almost assuredly likes) in the supermarket and he remarks how she’s childish because all she eats is fast food. I love this scene not because I think Ami is actually childish but after the spectacular miscalculation about Taiga’s dad, it’s good to see Ryuuji back to his normal perceptive self and understanding Ami better then everyone else around her. Ami even looked happy when Ryuuji called her childish. The other really memorable scene was Minorin’s, when it appears that she realizes that she might have some sort of deeper ‘not just friends’ feelings for Ryuuji. She looked deathly scared like she was standing on a very narrow precipice over a very large abyss instead of a more expected reaction of being shocked or happy. And the thing is, if all three girls fall for Ryuuji, Ryuuji’s such a nice guy that he’ll probably feel really bad about hurting their feelings.

Best episode of the week, though, comes from Shikabane Hime: Aka. I mentioned awhile ago how being able to alter a person’s sense of time is the mark of a really good show because that means the person is so totally sucked into the show that they lose awareness of their surroundings. This episode so thoroughly did this that I was sure that it was twice as long as normal. We finally get to the part that I knew we were working up to but I was still enthralled by the exact circumstances. I really have to applaud Gainax for taking the time to do something that most shounen shows don’t bother – give us a concrete reason why one normal person is called upon to become the hero. I don’t even think I’ll mind if the second season is just Oori and Makina fighting Corpses with little additional character development; though, showing Oori and Makina having to learn to fight together will probably take some time in the next season.

Earl and Fairy ended about how I thought it would and thus I don’t really have anything to say that couldn’t wait for the series review that’ll get written hopefully soon.

And lastly, my sister and I got around to watching a new episode Soul Eater this week. Since about episode 20, Soul Eater has been excellent and I really shouldn’t worry about how it ends but now that we’re approaching the end, I’m starting to get antsy. Both Full Metal Alchemist and Eureka 7 came from Bones (like Soul Eater) and while I liked both, I didn’t really care for the endings of either – I remember thinking they got too weird. I’m awfully curious to see where this show goes. One aspect I’m particularly liking right now is how Death the Kid has started to investigate the truth around the Grim Reaper’s connection to Ebon. I’ve never thought of the Grim Reaper and his organization as being innately good (though the students appear to be good) or the witches as being innately bad. Therefore, I wonder if the Grim Reaper has a bunch of skeletons in the closet that will cause a falling out with the students if they get revealed. Also, I’m getting really curious about Maka’s mother. I don’t think she’s dead but why hasn’t Maka gone to see her even when finding out that she has a power that only her mom had. Wouldn’t it make sense to visit the one person that could give answers about a new power and how to work it?

Posted in anime, weekly anime review      

Time for more Clannad wallpapers . This time I have wallpapers I made using the nice scans of the 2009 Clannad calendar found in the animesuki forums as well as several retrimmed scans. In case you can’t tell from in the small thumbnails, the first blue Nagisa wallpaper has her name from before episode 13 of Clannad - After Story and the second has her name after episode 13.

1280 x 1024

1600 x 1200

1920 x 1200

Posted in anime, anime wallpaper      

I’ve been reluctant to post my top 5 shows for the fall season for various reasons but with the first of season’s shows ending – it’s time. One of the reasons for the delay was that this has been a good season for anime and it made it hard to whittle the list down to just five. Another reason stemmed from having to figure out how to rank shows of diverse genres and being comfortable with the resultant picks. And lastly, I’m dependent on the subs so for shows like Mouryou no Hako, that have been released slower, I have less of the show to work with (6 eps. vs 12+ eps of others).

The image above contains the nine shows that had legitimate shots at being in my top 5 for the season. I first grouped shows that where somewhat similar : (Clannad, Toradora, Skip Beat), (Shikabane Hime, Kurozuka, Ga-Rei Zero), (Mouryou no Hako, Chaos;Head), and Michiko to Hatchin. I then figured out what was the best show of the group and compared the winners to determine first place. I looked for how well a show develops it’s characters, my enjoyment of the series, how well the show used the strengths of the show type it is, and if it was able to rise above the constraints of its show type. Then once a pick was made, I continued the same process for each place on the list. I still have the lingering feeling that Mouryou no Hako would have placed in the top 5 if I had seen more of the show. Hopefully when I do my entire year awards in the middle of January, more of the subs will have been released. Now, it’s time to get to the countdown.

5 - Michiko to Hatchin

Coming in at number 5 is the exotic and colorful Michiko to Hatchin - the latest project of Manglobe.

What ensured that this show earned a spot in the top 5 wasn’t the colorful, lush animation or the unique setting of Brazil but the character development of Michiko and Hatchin. The animation and setting definitely helped separate this title from the pack but making Michiko into someone more then just “Generic Gang Girl A” and Hatchin into being more then “Generic Orphan Looking for Parent B” has made this a great show.

This show has also done a very good job of creating interest behind Michiko’s quest to find her supposedly dead lover. The fact that Hatchin is around seems to prove that he is still alive but no one seems to know where he is. I’m of half the mind to think he’s really dead but Hatchin does really look like the daughter of this guy so maybe he’s still alive. Also playing into this is reason why Michiko is trying to find him. I almost can’t believe it’s just because she loves him, it has to be because he owes her money but Michiko has shown to have a very vulnerable, human side so maybe she simply wants to see him again. I don’t know but you can be assured, I’ll keep watching to find out.

4 - Shikabane Hime: Aka

Gainax’s latest show, Shikabane Hime (Corpse Princess), continues to illustrate that this studio likes to take risks. After the wildly successful Gurren Lagann, it could be expected that Gainax would give us more of the same because that would be easy money; instead, they do a show that feels totally opposite. This upset many but I was hoping for something different.

There are many reasons to praise this show. For starters, the animation has been stellar, but instead of being colorful and crazy, it’s been muted and restrained which has created a very atmospheric world – perfect for this show. Another reason has been the uniqueness of the bad guys that the Shikabane Hime have had to fight. We have seen everything from a vampire Corpse to a Corpse in the form of a car; truly evil Corpses to Corpses that are being forced to kill. Also, this show has displayed a strong emphasis on character development and that goes for Corpses, the main characters and many of the side characters. The biggest reason to praise this show is that it has taken the time to logically show why our normal high school student becomes the hero and protagonist of the show.

3 - Ga-Rei Zero

The second most surprisingly good show of the season was Ga-Rei Zero.

I had no plans to watch this show, nothing I could find out about it pointed to this being a good show. The manga was categorized as “average at best” by everyone I found that had read the manga and it’s very rare that the anime is better then the manga. After the first episode aired the chatter raised to such a level that I decided to give the show a chance. The first two episodes shocked me. I kept thinking to myself: “Who decided that killing two complete sets of people that were obviously real cast members was a good idea?” and “What can they possibly do with the rest of the series that can live up to these two episodes?”. They answered both questions: “a genius”, “show how the killer in the first two episodes was corrupted and to make us feel sad for her even while she’s killing characters that we’re gotten to know.”

The animators took a huge chance in revealing that one of the characters that they wanted you to empathize with was going to become a killer because it’s very easy to hate a character when you know what they become. Star Wars failed to make me care about Anakin before he became Darth Vader and as a result the prequel movies lacked the emotional punch that good movies have. In Ga-Rei Zero’s case, though, they slowly and expertly showed how a very good person falls and made you understand why she did what she did and made you wish that the outcome could have been something else.

2 - Clannad ~After Story

I was kinda ambivalent about this show before it started because I thought the first season was less then perfect and I hoping that KyoAni would either do something new or get back to Haruhi or possibly Full Metal Panic. My ambivalence quickly fall away when it became apparent that this second season had none of the problems of the first season and all the positives of being the most polished of the adapted works of Key.

I’m not saying that this title is for everyone, the cynics out there can safely skip this show, but I’m a sucker for any show that can feature great character development, gorgeous animation, the ability to make me laugh one second and cry the next, and can mix a bit of magic and the supernatural into the story and make it feel like it belongs.

Another reason that this season deserves to be ranked so high is that most romantic anime stop the story at the point where the guy and girl have gotten together but this season is showing what happens to Tomoya and Nagisa after they have become a couple. So as we watch Tomoya trying to make his way as an adult so he can become a person that can marry Nagisa and we see Nagisa’s efforts to support Tomoya so he can succeed and having to shoulder the pain of missing Tomoya because he’s always working – it’s a pretty unique experience for an anime and one I hope to see more in anime.

1 - Toradora

To put it simply, Toradora is on a completely different level then everything else this season. In all my thinking and rough countdowns, Toradora was always my top pick for the season.

And the thing that I keep coming back to in my mind is that this show shouldn’t be as good as it is. I’ve watched many other J.C. Staff shows and heard most of the voice actors in other shows, especially Rie Kugimiya, so I thought I had a handle on how good or bad this show could possibly be. Instead the show breaks through the ceiling of what I’ve thought was possible without breaking a sweat. The characters have real complexity to them and feel like real people. The voice actors, especially Rie Kugimiya, have been sublime and the animation has even astonished me at times. The biggest surprise, though, has been the impeccable pacing of the show - every moment of every episode has felt worthwhile and important in some way. This runs counter to almost every show that J.C. Staff has done in recent years including the other J.C. Staff show that’s on right now - To Aru Majutsu no Index.

That’s finally it for my fall picks. Like I said earlier, I’ll be giving my overall picks of 2008 at some point in the middle of January. That’ll give me time to write up my impressions of the winter season and give some of the series that I’m waiting to finish like Daughter of 20 Faces and Somedays Dreamer’s Season 2 a chance to finish.

Posted in anime, awards      

I’m got a few hours before I have to worry about Santa showing up so lets try getting my weekly anime review written today. I have the feeling that I won’t be able to find the time to write this tomorrow: Feast (including homemade kolbasz) + Mom’s Christmas cookies + Awesome gifts (already got two interesting books from my sis and brother-in-law) + anime = No desire to do serious blogging, much less moving around.

The scores:

To Aru Majutsu no Index, episode 11 – 11/12 A+

Shikabane Hime: Aka, episode 8 – 12/12

Kannagi, episode 11 – 10/12 A

Chaos;Head, episode 10 – 11/12 A+

Kurozuka, episode 9 – 12/12
Kurozuka, episode 10 – 12+/12

Ga-Rei Zero, episode 9 – 12++/12
Ga-Rei Zero, episode 10 – 12/12

Earl and Fairy, episode 10 – 10/12 A

Mouryou no Hako, episode 6 – 11/12 A+

Xam’D: Lost Memories, episode 19 – 12/12

Toradora!, episode 12 – 12++/12

Clannad S.2, episode 12 – 12++/12

Kemeko DX, episode 10 – 11/12 A+
Kemeko DX, episode 11 – 10/12 A

Which shows have momentum this week

Up – Shikabane Hime: Aka – It’s been hard to come after Gurren Lagann but it has built itself into something different and still interesting

Down – nothing this week

Thoughts and Highlights

For this weeks upward momentum series, I figured it was about time to recognize Shikabane Hime: Aka. If Gainax’s name hadn’t been attached to it then I think it would been received better then it was. Too many people seemed to want this to be another Gurren Lagann and when it failed to deliver on that level at the beginning, they dropped the show. I think I successful separated the two in my mind because I’ve been okay with the lack of full-on crazy action that’s found in many Gainax series. My problem that hasn’t allowed me to fully enjoy this series has been ‘Why is Oori the main character and not the monk and Makina?’. As I get further into the series, the answer seems to be that Oori is being moved to the point where he gets his own Shikabane Hime. It almost happened in this episode and I think it’s only a matter of time before it happens. If this is the case then there’s a good chance that the series will shift to a more action orientated series. Also if this is the case then I will have to applaud the makers for taking the time to convincingly show why a high school student becomes the hero.

This weeks best episode is episode 9 of Ga-Rei Zero even though Toradora and Clannad came really close. Ga-Rei Zero has walked a very tight string and so far they haven’t fallen off. The ending of the series was essentially given in the first two episodes and all the episodes since have been working to this ending. This type of structure didn’t work for me in the case of the Star Wars prequel movies – I knew Anakin was going to become Darth Vader and the movies did nothing to make me feel sorry for him or even to particularly care. On the other hand, the makers of Ga-Rei Zero have made me care about Yomi and sympathize with her situation so when, in episode 9, Yomi is tempted to become evil – I understand why she did it and still feel bad that she fell to the dark side.

I don’t know why I’ve been connecting Kemeko DX and Kannagi in my head, maybe because there both comedies or they begin with ‘K’ but I have been. Watching both this week, the thought came to mind: Kemeko DX > Kannagi, just like that. In Kannagi’s case, this week’s episode finally seems to be pointing the series in the direction it should have gone many episodes ago. Looking back the series appears more like the director’s second try at making Lucky Star then the story of the local land goddess being incarnated in the form of Nagi. In Kemeko DX’s case, it knows what it is and plays to it’s strengths. Consequently, it’s been more enjoyable to watch – not high class, but fun nonetheless.

And finally, there’s a few brief comments I wanted to make:

• Toradora and Clannad continue to be the best shows of the season. Episode 12 of Toradora shows that Ryuuji appears to have let his own father issues cloud his judgment and set Taiga up to be very disappointed. Episode 12 of Clannad featured Tomoya’s proposal to Nagisa among other things. She said yes, obviously . And I think it’s safe to say that the next episodes of both will be epic.
• The other shows continue to putter on at the levels that they’ve set for themselves.
• Finally, if you’ve been watching Clannad you know that December 24^th is Nagisa’s birthday. It feels a bit odd to wish an anime character Happy Birthday but I’ll do it anyways since she’s one of my favorite characters. As my present I’m going to repost a nicely done pic I found on the animesuki forums below. (click for the big version)

Posted in anime, weekly anime review      

One of the lighter weeks in terms of number of episodes that I watched in a long while but the over quality was still very high. What made it feel even less was that almost half of the new anime I watched this week (Index, Toradora, Soul Eater, Xam’d, Clannad) was watched with my sister. Since we normally watch a bunch of anime together, I set those series aside so when I felt like watching anime by myself this week – I didn’t find much. Not that I’m complaining, it’s really fun to watch anime with someone.

The scores:

To Aru Majutsu no Index, episode 10 – 11/12 A+

Toradora!, episode 10 – 12++/12
Toradora!, episode 11 – 12+/12

Soul Eater, episode 36 – 12++/12

Michiko to Hatchin, episode 7 – 12/12
Michiko to Hatchin, episode 8 – 11/12 A+
Michiko to Hatchin, episode 9 – 9/12 A-

Kannagi, episode 10 – 11/12 A+

Skip Beat, episode 10 – 11/12 A+

Chaos;Head, episode 9 – 12/12

Xam’D: Lost Memories, episode 18 – 11/12 A+

Yozakura Quartet, episode 11 – 11/12 A+

Clannad S.2, episode 11 – 12+/12

Which shows have momentum this week

Up – Toradora! : It continues to amaze week after week

Down – nothing this week

Thoughts and Highlights

It almost doesn’t feel right to say that Toradora has been gaining momentum since only episodes 1 and 5 received a score lower then 12/12 but what else do you call this feeling that each episode is building upon the past episode without losing what’s been gained. Compare that to Index, all that time before the main character’s memory loss feels lost and wasted to the viewer – about 6 episodes worth – and it’s only now that the show is starting to feel good again. Or look at Kannagi, doesn’t the land needed purifying? That seemed important to Nagi at the beginning but we haven’t seen any of this in a long while. Then there was the dad that asked Jin to get the spirit of Nagi’s sister out of his daughter’s body. Why show us this if Jin isn’t even going to worry about doing this. Or look at Michiko to Hatchin. Episode 9 of this show totally killed the buzz it had been developing.

Episode 10 of Toradora was also the best episode I watched this week with Soul Eater a very close second but as much as this show is being analyzed and talked about, I don’t have much to say that hasn’t already been said. Though I did come up with one speculation about the show after episode 11 – wouldn’t it be funny if Ryuuji’s Mom and Taiga’s Dad hooked up? That would be a hilarious turn of events.

Episode 11 of Clannad continues to focus on Tomoya’s effort to become a working adult and the problems this causes in his relationship with Nagisa. I have the feeling that how a person takes this episode depended on how old the viewer is. It’s easy for younger bloggers to rake Tomoya over the coals for not going to the Founder’s Festival with Nagisa but I can’t fault Tomoya for his desire to help fix the mistake he made on the job. I’ll fault him for not calling Nagisa to say why he wasn’t going to be there so she wouldn’t be waiting for him the entire time. And if he was really on the ball, he could have called around to see if some of the people he knows would go to the Founder’s Festival with Nagisa so she wouldn’t miss out on the fun. The fact of the matter is that Tomoya needs this job if he’s going to be able to support Nagisa and himself once they get married and his limitation is going to make this tough without the help of his co-workers. Saying all that though, Tomoya better come up with some way to express his regret for making Nagisa sad since she’s too good of a person to not be treated right.

One of Soul Eater’s strengths is that it seems to be aware of the shortcomings of it’s older shounen brethren. We all know that the characters of a shounen will have to level up at least once during the course of the show to be able to defeat the stronger opponents. It’s the same case with Soul Eater but instead of showing the characters “training” or suddenly getting powers, they use a method that’s realistic and fits with the basic premise of the show. In Soul Eater, a master and weapon need to form a link with their souls if they are to work as a team. So, you might ask yourself if one master/weapon team links with another master/weapon team what would happen? The obvious answer this that collectively there’s more power and hence one master/weapon team will be much stronger. In episode 36, we see Maka, Death the Kid, and Black Star – with their weapons – link up and when one of them fought they were stronger then the sum of the three, individually. Maka, for one, was able to power up Soul to a freakish large double headed scythe and use a demon hunting technique that was able to split Mosquito guy in half. Really cool to see and like I said, way more realistic then what most shounen titles do.

Due to the relatively light week and none of the other episodes taking me by surprise, there’s nothing else to say that will take me a paragraph to say. So here’s the rest of my comments, in brief:

Yozakura Quartet had it’s best episode so far but the show still suffers using clichés too much and should be trying to make itself feel more original.

Skip Beat and Xam’D: Lost Memories continue to impress in their respective ways.

Posted in anime, weekly anime review      

Pushing this back a couple of days changed a couple of the winners and caused a few more categories to be added included one award that is my first award named after an anime - The Gurren Lagann Memorial Body-Count Award. I thought it was appropriate and I did make a comment a few weeks ago essentially promising to make this category.

Best Action

Winner: Soul Eater

Runner-up: Kurozuka, Ga-Rei: Zero

One of the problems with us humans is that we take so many things for granted when we shouldn’t. It happens in real life and it happens with our entertainment; in this case, after two cour (seasons) of Soul Eater – I was taking Soul Eater for granted and I feel bad that I was. I’d become complacent about the show and it took episodes 35 and 36 of Soul Eater to remind me that even Kurozuka and Ga-Rei: Zero can’t match this show in terms of action.

Best Comedy

Winner: Toradora

Runner-up: Clannad

The comedies of the season, like Kemeko DX and Kannagi, have not been nearly as funny as they should have been – Kemeko DX has been more weird then funny and Kannagi has suffered from the director’s desire to prove that he shouldn’t have been fired from doing Lucky Star. This allowed shows that aren’t true comedies like Toradora and Clannad, that only use comedy inside of a larger story, to sneak ahead. Of these two, Toradora’s humor has the slight edge because it’ll make me laugh when I least expect it and the humor has a broader range.

Best Story

Winner: Chaos;Head

This is one category that the slower paced release of subs for Mouryou no Hako makes me worried that I’m passing it over for a lesser anime. From what I’ve seen of Mouryou no Hako (5 episodes worth) it’s has a very intriguing story that still seems to have many mysteries left for us to uncover. But I got to use what I got and the story of Chaos;Head has been a very good one as well. I like a show that can create and maintain a sense of suspense about itself as Chaos;Head has done. I also like the idea of being able to use some sort of electromagnetic wave to make people see things that aren’t there. Throw in a strange string of deaths, strange earthquakes, and a main character with only a vague hold on sanity and Chaos;Head has one of most interesting stories of the year.

Most Interesting Setting

Winner: Michiko to Hatchin

Runner-up: Kurozuka

I’ve always been a fan of post-apocalyptic worlds for some reason but if you’ve seen one, you’ve pretty much seen them all. On the other hand Michiko to Hatchin takes place in a really unique and colorful place – Brazil. I’ve never had the chance to visit Brazil to know if the shows portrayal of the country is even close to reality but it does feel different from the standard Japanese setting. The colorful palette, the people that we’ve met, and the poverty and suffering that’s been seen all work to really set this world apart from other shows.

Best Seiyuu

Male: Hikaru Midorikawa as Lord Edgar from Earl and Fairy

Female: Yui Horie as Minorin and Rie Kugimiya as Taiga from Toradora

I was slightly surprised when I realized that I would give Hikaru Midorikawa best male seiyuu for his role as Lord Edgar from Earl and Fairy. I’m not saying he doesn’t deserve it, he does, but what surprised me when I started trying to separate the voice from the character was that I realized that if he had done a poor job voicing Lord Edgar, then the show wouldn’t be nearly as good as it is. The entire show hinges on Edgar being royalty and Hikaru Midorikawa does a very good job convincing us of this. He also does Yusuke Yoshino’s voice, the electrician from Clannad that Tomoya works with.

The absolute hardest decision of all my picks was deciding between Yui Horie and Rie Kugimiya for best female seiyuu. On one hand, Rie Kugimiya has been one of my favorite voice actors and yet her work as Taiga has easily surpassed all of her other works. She has been able to make Taiga’s wide range of emotions all sound authentic and believable and is one of the reasons why the show has been as good as it’s been. Then on the other hand, Yui Horie has been nothing short of god-like as Minorin. Every moment she’s been onscreen literally makes makes me giddy with pleasure. In the end, I decided that I couldn’t really separate the two so I should just give them both the award.

Best OP

Winner: Clannad

Runner-ups: Index, Michiko no Hatchin, Toradora

For all my liking of KyoAni’s adaptations of Key, I don’t normally like the OP/ED that much – AIR’s opening and Clannad’s first closing being the only ones I really liked. Imagine my surprise then as the opening for the second season of Clannad started and I found myself instantly liking it. The song is my favorite new opening song of the season and because I already know the characters, the animation has more impact for me. It beat out many other good openings including both shows from J.C. Staff (who almost always makes good OP/ED) and Michiko no Hatchin – who had the most visually interesting opening of the season.

Best ED

Winner: Kannagi

Runner-ups: Soul Eater, Chaos;Head

I’ll be honest, I find it harder to enjoy a slower paced song in a language I don’t know then an upbeat one. As a result, I find myself likeing more openings then closings since many anime shows follow the format of having an upbeat opening and a more relaxing ending. Sometimes, though, I find myself instantly liking a slower paced song and that happened with Kannagi’s ending. For all the clamor over it’s opening, there was a something ethereal about the ending that I felt fit the show perfectly.

If Chaos;Head’s ending song had made a little more sense – maybe the Japanese won’t understand how nonsensical it sounds but I do – I would have given this award to it. I like many aspects of the song but the lyrics just kill it. I know the artist that sang it has talent, Seira Kagami, because she also did Kaiba’s opening and closing so I’m going to fault the record people on this one.

Best Overall Music

Winner: Clannad

A show’s background music truly has to be spectacular for me to remember it. If it’s just mediocre, I probably won’t even remember it enough to think it was mediocre. In Clannad’s case, I remember the music clearly. It’s gotten to the point that for some songs all I need is to hear a few bars and I have to start fighting the tears back.

Best Animation

Winner: Mouryou no Hako

Runner-ups: Clannad and Michiko no Hatchin

Like I said earlier, I’ve only seen the first 5 episodes of Mouryou no Hako but even if the animation quality dips later, it would feel wrong to name another show as having the best animation. This show is just drop-dead gorgeous to look at and it needed to be to beat the stiff competition from Clannad and Michiko no Hatchin.

Top Animation Studio

Winner: Madhouse

This was one of the easiest awards to give out. Exhibit A is Mouryou no Hako, Exhibit B is Kurozuka, and Exhibit C is Chaos;Head – case closed.

The Gurren Lagann Memorial Body-Count Award

Winner: Ga-Rei: Zero

I won’t spoil who exactly dies in Gurren Lagann but there was more then one of the main and side characters that die in it over the course of the show. When I decided to give Ga-Rei: Zero an award for the sheer number of characters that they’ve killed off, I wanted to convey that the people killed were not just nobodies – cannon fodder – but real characters so I had the idea to link the popular Gurren Lagann with the award. So, Ga-Rei: Zero is the first seasonal winner of this award and it’s most deserving of it. Even if the show was a dud, it would still be memorial for this aspect.

Well, that’s it for now. I’m always interesting in comments so if you liked or disliked my picks, feel free to post your thoughts. In a week or two, I’ll be posting my top five shows of the fall season. My 2008 overall award posts will come out sometime in the middle to late January so I can have time to write my impression posts of the new season, catch a couple series I missed in 2008, and allow the slower sub releases to hopefully finish up the 2007 series so I can make an accurate list. (Any subbers reading this – I’m not complaining, I realize stuff happens that can slow you down – I just want to give my rationale for waiting since many blogs do theirs at the end of December.)

And to end on a sad note, the sheer number of anime blogs going on hiatus lately almost made me do a ‘Favorite Blog That’s Going on Hiatus Award’. You don’t have to worry about me but if I was paranoid, I might think some sort of conspiracy was afoot.

Posted in anime, awards