We’re finally here, the last part of my reflection on the best anime of 2008 – the top 5 anime. If you’ve looked at the other parts then this list probably won’t be much of a shock so let’s not waste anymore time and get to the list.

5 Ga-rei: Zero

The show I called the second most surprising show of the fall season starts this half of the countdown.

I like to see animators willing to take chances with a series because that means creativity isn’t dead. The creators of Ga-rei: Zero could have just done a straight adaptation of the Ga-Rei source material; instead, they decided to create a prequel that would fill in the scant information given in the manga and explain how things got the way they did. Since this would involve a lot of character development and not action, they had to make sure to hook action-philes that might grow bored of the character development and they came up with a doozie. It was probably the best first episode hook since Haruhi and left me completely mystified and wanting to know more.

Overall the show kinda felt like watching the Star Wars prequels because you knew what was going to happen but Ga-Rei: Zero differed in that this show was actually good. I loved the character development, the animation was very well done, top-notch seiyuu work, action scenes where well done and cool weapons. All that and the animators gutsy-ness propelled this show to #5.

4 Bamboo Blade

I absolutely loved Kamina’s voice - Katsuyuki Konishi - and after Gurren Lagann, I wanted to hear more so when I saw that Bamboo Blade was going to feature him as the kendo teacher, I had to watch. After enjoying a few episodes of listening to Kamina’s voice I realized that I actually liked the show itself. It wasn’t a kendo sports show but a show about a group of characters that happened to all belong to the school’s kendo club.

In a lot of ways it’s similar to Wagaya no Oinari-sama. It let the characters drive where the story went, it blended a bit of comedy and drama into itself, and it never tried to be overly complex or forget to be entertaining. Where this show had an edge over Wagaya no Oinari-sama was the kendo actions scenes were suspenseful and generally very well done. I was really sad to see this show end and I hope when there’s enough source material to do a second season that a second season is made.

3 Toradora

I just adore Toradora.

Last year I mentioned that I could believe if someone told me that Gainax sold their souls to the devil in return for Gurren Lagann because it didn’t seem possible that Gainax could do something that great anymore. This year, I could almost believe that J.C. Staff sold their souls over Toradora because they haven’t shown this level of ability for quite a long time and their other show right now, Index, is no match for Toradora either. Is this really the same group of people that mutilated the first half of Shana 2?

I could spend 2000 words praising the different parts of this show that deserve praise like how the characters feel like real people and not clichéd character types or how they never act intentionally dumb to force the story to go in a certain direction or how well the individual episodes flow together or … you get the idea. This is one of the few shows that I think that any anime fan could watch and like a lot, even those fans that hate school-based anime shows. As an aside, I was just reading that the author plans to end the light novels series at 10 volumes so with like 6 episodes left and 7 volumes already covered, we might get a real ending to this anime series.

2 Natsume Yuujinchou

Natsume Yuujinchou, aka Natsume’s Book of Friends, was the best slice-of-life show of 2008 and definitely one of the best of all-time. Watching it felt akin to watching a world class orchestra perform – every note was struck perfectly and nothing felt out-of-place. Even when the show ran, late summer into early fall, helped contribute to giving the show a bit of a melancholic, reflective mood which I associate with good slice-of-life shows.

One aspect I thought real different about this show is that the spirits that appear are mostly very lonely creatures. If they want to harm humans, it’s often because of cruel things that humans have done in the past or because they’ve been lonely so long, they get all twisted up inside. This loneliness reminds Natsume of his own loneliness that being able to see spirits has caused in his life and this pushes Natsume to help these lonely spirits with their problems.

If the second season wasn’t already airing, I’d take this opportunity to complain about how it was only 13 episodes long but it’s running, so I’m happy right now.

1 Kaiba

No other show was discussed more on The Null Set this year then Kaiba and with good reason because it was the best show of the year. The story was definitely intellectual but at the same time it focused that on the individual characters and was able to remain compelling and entertaining. I was surprised on a couple of occasions that this show was able to get me to shed a few tears. The animation was artistic and unique but it never forgot that it needed to tell the story and impress the viewer. I remember there were several sequences that literally made my jaw drop.

I don’t know what else I can say that I already haven’t repeated several times by this point about Kaiba so I’ll just end now saying this show was awesome and one I’d really like to buy on DVD but probably will never see licensed.

Well, that’s it. I hope everyone that took the time to read this look back at the 2008 year of anime found it worthwhile. I tried my hardest to make it so. This year, I’m kinda sad that two of my favorite bloggers, Jason from Derailed by Darry and Jeff Lawson from Hop Step Jump, are taking a break from anime blogging and thus haven’t written their look back at the year. I wouldn’t want to see them forcing themselves to write when they didn’t feel like it but I do miss their writing.

Posted in anime, awards      

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      

Soldiering on, this next set of awards cover some of the many different types of anime out there. I enjoy many of these types of anime and this sometimes leads to odd pairings; for example, I remember watching Kaiba and Maid Guy back-to-back on several occasions. There are a few categories you won’t see like best shounen or best shoujo because I just don’t watch enough to feel confident in those picks. Though I can say that in matters of shounen, Soul Eater is superior to Bleach and probably Naruto but I only watched the first 25 or so episodes of Naruto before I was bored of it – maybe it got better. As for shoujo, I liked Earl and Fairy and Skip Beat so maybe I should watch more.

Best Action

Winner: Kurozuka

Runner-up: Shana 2

Kurozuka is a bit of aberration for me because it never took the time to really do much character development and the story was only the barest of skeletons for most of the series; and yet, I didn’t mind because I was too busy enjoying the polished, pure action series that Kurozuka was. The fights where excellent and I loved when Kuro slipped into vampire bullet-time because I knew he was about to cleave a path of destruction through those around him.

Best Fight

Winner: The Sabrac fight from Shana 2

The best overall fight went to the Sabrac fight towards the end of Shana 2. Anytime a fight lasts for two episodes, it’s going to either feel epic or boring and drawn out; this fight was a stellar example of the first. The first reason is that all the characters where going all out, none of this “I’ll use 43.25 % of my full power” that artificially extends a fight. Another reason is that the good guys had to out-think and plan actual strategy to beat Sabrac and when they did get him, it wasn’t because Sabrac did something stupid to allow them to win. It also helped that by this point in Shana we’ve gotten to really like the good guys so it was like we we’re personally invested in the outcome. And the final thing that really made this an awesome fight was the way Shana and friends finally beat Sabrac, it was unexpected, theatrical, and just plain cool.

Coolest Weapons

Winner: Ga-rei: Zero

Runner-up: Soul Eater

Ga-Rei: Zero had one of the most diverse set of weapons I’ve ever seen. We had the standard sword and guns but we also had a guy wield two suitcases that shot small missiles, a guy that used a weapon that turned his hands into drills, a woman that had a Gatling gun for an artificial leg, a motorcycle that had anti-monster incantations in the tread of the tires – just to name a few. There was several more spare weapons that are shown like an iron that used holy water steam. And even some of the more standard weapons had their own twist like a sword that would use the recoil of discharging a bullet to speed up the user’s swing and also allow the wielder to change directions mid-swing very quickly.

Best Comedy

Winner: Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei

Runner-up: Maid Guy

The year didn’t have many pure comedy shows that were genuinely funny but it did have many non-comedy shows like Clannad, Toradora, and Natsume Yuujinchou that used humor for great affect. Instead, many of the comedy shows like Kemeko DX and Kannagi tried too hard to either be different or be more then just a comedy show. Maid Guy was one show that did a good job remembering it was a comedy show and if the ending had been stronger, it could have won. Another show that never forgot it was a comedy and still found the time to comment on society and poke fun at people was this year’s best comedy, Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. I will admit that this comedy isn’t meant for everybody but it’s unique blend of comedy was something I just love.

Best Slice-of-Life

Winner: Natsume Yuujinchou

Runner-up: Someday’s Dreamers Season 2

You really can’t go wrong with either show but I gave the slight edge to Natsume Yuujinchou, aka Natsume’s Book of Friends, because it gave me a better relaxed slice-of-life feeling and I like the ending more. Natsume excelled at those areas that you’d expect a slice-of-life show to do so such as: interesting characters that develop over time and a story that can make the viewer feel a wide range of emotions. One little thing I particularly enjoyed was how everyone had a different name for Nyanko-sensei.

Best Science Fiction

Winner: Kaiba

Kaiba is a really good example of what’s possible with science fiction. It extrapolated a future to tell a story that would be impossible using our current level of technology but at the same time it was able to make the story resonant with us, the viewers. Another reason I was impressed with Kaiba was that most SF shows can’t match print SF in terms of depth, intellectual complexity, and creativity but Kaiba was able to.

Most Entertaining

Winner: Library War

Runner-up: Wagaya no Oinari-sama

For any type of show to be successful, it needs to entertain on some level so I’m going to define “Most Entertaining” as the show that the best at making me feel good after watching it. Library War wins because I enjoyed the characters and how they interacted with each other. I also thoroughly enjoyed when the Library forces where able to beat the censorship thugs, if only it was so easy in real life.

Best Mind Trip

Winner: Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei

Watching Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is a rather unique experience.

Every aspect of the show seems designed to give the viewer a very surreal feeling. There’s the animation – at times it’s very standard looking and other times it’s hyperstylized or made using various other mediums. Add to that the amount of text we see. Some of it on signs in the background, telling jokes and making references that oftentimes has nothing to do with what’s going on in the foreground. Other text is conjured by the characters to prove a point and will often fly by so quick that it’s only possible to read by pausing individual frames. And let’s not forget the use of a real picture of some guy’s hairy face. (I know he’s connected to the manga but can’t quite remember how right now.) He pops up multiple times in an episode and in various locations; though, he is frequently used when they want to censor something. The show also has a touch of ADD to itself and can feel like the show’s creators are randomly switching channels in their minds. I do mean all this, in the best possible sense because I like the uniqueness of the show – as you’ll see when I get to my actual top ten shows of the year.

Best Story

Winner: Kaiba

Runner-up: Xam’d: Lost Memories

The story of Kaiba accomplished a lot in the time it had. The first half of the show focused on the main character, Kaiba, as he tried to figure out who he was. A more complex question when a person can swap bodies and add/subtract memories from their mind. It also introduced to the viewers many of the problems that mind uploading would present to society. The second half of the show focuses on the efforts of a terrorist group to usurp the king and Kaiba’s effort to reconnect with the woman he loves after her memories have been altered to further the terrorist group’s agenda. One of the things that surprised me was that I had thought, based on the rather experimental animation, that the story would be too artsy for me but it turned out to be very accessible and down-to-earth.

Most Interesting Setting

Winner: Kurozuka

Runner-up: Kaiba

The mix of the familiar with the alien that post-apocaleptic worlds often have is something that has greatly interested me since I was very young. In this case, the world of Kurozuka helped set the proper mood and make the show feel plausible instead of pure fantasy. I’m not saying Kurozuka was plausible; but, like how the recent Batman movies feel more realistic then the previous movies and series, the setting helped give the show a more realistic feel.

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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      

I start with the character awards partly because I feel once a show establishes a great cast of characters then it’s 70% of the way to ensuring that I’ll like it. And it doesn’t matter what type of show, any show can be improved with good character development.

Best Female Main Character

Winner: Ryoko from Ryoko’s Case Files

Runner-up: Iku Kasahara from Library War

An accurate description of Ryoko would be a cross between an adult Haruhi Suzumiya and the police skill of the Major from GiTS:SAC. A very potent combination and it helped make the show a must watch. My favorite Ryoko-ism was towards the end of the series when she took refuge in an empty underground mall, trying to hide from numerous soldiers trying to kill her. She realizes that her clothes are torn and dirty so she picks a killer outfit out, leaves her charge card, then calmly showers and dresses as if she’s going to a party and not to a firefight. We really need to see more shows like Ryoko’s Case Files that focus on characters that are adults because it’s so refreshing for the change of pace.

Best Male Main Character

Winner: Ryuuji from Toradora

Runner-up: Kogarashi from Maid Guy

Everyone has their little problems that they have to live with. For Ryuuji, it’s the fact that he looks like his Yakuza father – mean and dangerous. This is a problem because Ryuuji is a nice guy and just wishes for people to treat him normally. He happens to be a bit odd though because a sale at the grocery store or having the chance to clean away mold makes his day. What makes him the best male main character is that he’s truly a really nice guy. He’s also fiercely loyal to his friends, willing to go to whatever means necessary to help them with whatever their problems are and he’s also insightful and thoughtful.

Best Female Supporting Character

Winner: Minorin from Toradora

Runner-up: Ami from Toradora

I didn’t think Ami would become a character I like when she was introduced but she’s been slowly rising in the ranks. She’s a completely different person then either Taiga or Minorin but she’s shown her own positive qualities. It wasn’t enough to dislodge Minorin from the top spot because Minorin has been awesome since the beginning. Her energetic outbursts and attitude always steel the show when she’s onscreen. However, this spastic personality hides a more serious personality that she doesn’t allow people to see though she seems to be lowering her guard to Ryuuji. So for her screen-stealing personality, sunny disposition, and being a good friend to Taiga, Minorin gets my nod for best female supporting character.

Best Male Supporting Character

Winner: Dan-kun from Bamboo Blade

Runner-up: Sunohara from Clannad

One of the surprising things about Bamboo Blade was Dan-kun, Miya Miya’s boyfriend and friend to Yuuji. He was short, looked very egg shaped, and seemed to be there for comedic purposes. Over the course of the series though, we see him mature as he works hard at learning Kendo. He also is a good boyfriend by providing support to Miya Miya so she can face her inner demons and her external tormentors. He earned a lot of respect from the characters and by the final episode, he is elected the head of the kendo club which was something that would have been unfathomable at the start.

Best Non-human Character

Winner: Nyanko-sensei from Natsume Yuujinchou

Runner-up: Kuu from Wagaya no Oinari-sama

Nyanko-sensei is a spirit that had been sealed into a Luck Cat statue until Natsume accidentally lets him loose. He makes an agreement with Natsume to be his body guard under the condition that when Natsume dies, Nyanko-sensei takes ownership of the Book of Friends. At the time I thought that Nyanko-sensei would just kill Natsume at the first opportunity but Nyanko-sensei never seemed to even think of doing so. As the show unfolded, I realized that Nyanko-sensei actually likes Natsume as a friend. His gruff, catlike personality with his liking of alcohol is a great counterpoint to the often sad events of the show. And because he’s strong in his original form and also because he’s well-known amoung the spirits – oftentimes he is the one that saves Natsume from being killed.

Strongest Female Character

Winner: Sora from Someday’s Dreamers Season 2

Runner-up: Nagisa from Clannad

I’m defining strong in a more general sense then just being physically strong and both Sora and Nagisa strike me as being strong women. Neither are particularly physically strong but they both have problems that would make most normal people despair, yet they can smile and live as if nothing is wrong. Sora edged Nagisa out because we still have half a season of Clannad left and much of her story still left to see.

Strongest Male Character

Winner: Kogarashi from Maid Guy

Runner-up: Natsume from Natsume Yuujinchou

I had to give this award to Kogarashi. I can’t say he’s emotionally strong like Natsume because I’m not sure that Kogarashi has emotions. He’s more like a force of nature that’s not totally explainable to us mere humans. He can control crows, has x-ray vision, can plug a USB printer cord into his ear and print images from his mind, he’s taught at M.I.T., can wrestle with a panda bear, and the list goes on. In the show he works as a maid and strives for perfect service, even if his master disagrees.

Best Female Screen-grabber

Winner: Sakura from Wagaya no Oinari-sama

Sakura wasn’t in the show much, maybe once every couple episodes, but when she was, she made her persence known. With an imagination almost as outlandish as Hosaka’s, the ability to come to absurd conclusions, and a talent for over-analyzing a situation – she always made the viewer laugh and at the same time hope she would successful in getting Takagami’s attention.

Best Male Screen-grabber

Winner: Hosaka from Minami-ke: Okawari

Hosaka is another person that isn’t in the show too often but his mere presence is enough to get a laugh. The over dramatic posturing and habit of unbuttoning his shirt helps though. He is consumed with getting Haruka Minami’s attention but a combination of personal shortcomings and bad luck have so far stymied him. His overactive imagination is always a source of laughter – just look at my the recently posted clip from episode 2 of the third season. And the sad thing is that he’s genuinely sincere, has his good points, and would probably make a good boyfriend for Haruka.

Best Villian

Winner: Kazuhiro Mitogawa from Ga-Rei: Zero

I love a villian that’s intelligent and evil and he’s both. As we get through Ga-Rei: Zero, we see that he has this complex plan to eliminate the good guys largely through their own failing and he’s been very sucessful. He’s gotten rid of one of the most powerfullfamilies, reduced another to a single member, and killed or injured to the point of retireing several other very high level people.

Posted in anime, awards      

I just wanted to give a heads-up, my weekly anime review that was due on Wednesday will be combined into next weeks’ – I’ve been playing way too much Harvest Moon: TOT for the wii.

Sometimes a show’s creators are really willing to take a risk. When it works, it really works but if it doesn’t, then they get raked over the coals. In the case of Ga:Rei – Zero, not only were they willing to create a prequel to the source material, they were going to give most of the ending away at the beginning of the series. Did their gamble pay off or should they have just done a convention adaptation?

Final Series Score: 12/12
Rewatchablity: medium
Pros: interesting structure to episode order, main characters where given quality character development – we even empathize with the character that we knew would turn evil, very good animation, fight scenes where interesting and well done with many offbeat weapons used
Cons: The television broadcast had very annoying censoring that’s designed to make people buy the DVDs

Awards given to Ga:Rei – Zero by this blog

• Runner-up for Best Action for Fall 2008
• Winner of The Gurren Lagann Memorial Body-Count Award for Fall 2008
• #3 Top Anime of Fall 2008

Story

Kagura and Yomi belong to families that have a long history of being exorcists. One day they will be their family’s prime exorcist but for right now they lead semi-normal lives as students. After the death of Kagura’s mom, Yomi convinces both families to let Kagura move in with Yomi’s family so she could be a big sister to Kagura. The two are perfect for each other and they both relish the chance to be sisters. Their happiness only lasts a little while before they get mixed up in a plot to attack the exorcist families from within, using human frailties and weaknesses. And ultimately the anime asks, “Will you kill someone you love, because of love?”

Thoughts and impressions

There is joy in Mudville - the mighty Casey has come through.

The greatest success of this show was it’s ability to introduce a character as a total evil killing machine then shift back in time to when she was totally good and make you like her. They do such a good job of making the viewer like her that when she is manipulated into turning to the dark side, we still like her and hope above all that she can be saved somehow.

Another way that this show excelled was using many different types of weapons, not just the traditional swords or guns. This made the fighting scenes much more interesting as each weapon’s strengths were slightly different and made the combat style different. To name but a few of the odd weapons; one guy fought using a weapon that turned his hands into drill hands, someone else used suitcases that shot missiles and in one episode an iron filled with holy water steam was used. But those looking for more traditional weapons were also satisfied: the Nabuu Brothers used shotguns and Kagura and Yomi used swords. Even some of these traditional weapons were special in some way as well - Kagura’s sword had a cool trick to it; a gun was embedded inside the sword and she could use the recoil from firing it to rapidly change her sword’s movements.

I’d like to recommend this title to everyone but I can see at least two types of people what could be disappointed with this title. The first group are those looking for a pure action show because much of the middle involved character development and not much in the way of fighting. For this group, I’d recommend Kurozuka, also from this season, instead. The other group is people that would enjoy the character development, particularly watching how the one character will fall, but will not like the fighting scenes because they are too bloody and violent. The television broadcast is a possibility because it censored the worst stuff but the censoring is done very abrasively to entice people to buy the DVDs. But if you don’t mind slow parts used to develop the characters or violence and blood then definitely give this show a shot.

And since this was all new material (so it didn’t use any of the source material) and they showed a small clip of where the manga starts at the end of the last episode, I think we might get a sequel – which I’d really like to see.

Essential Information

• 12 episodes
• genre: action, supernatural, comedy
• animation studio: AIC Spirits, asread
• director: Ei Aoki
• OP: “Paradise Lost” by Minori Chihara
• ED: “Yume no Ashioto ga Kikoeru” by Mizuhara Kaoru
• Seiyuus of note: Kaoru Mizuhara, Minori Chihara, Eri Kitamura, Norio Wakamoto

Posted in anime, series review      

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      

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      

Let’s get this out of the way before I get back to the top picks of the fall season.

This was another good week of anime watching. Two shows I didn’t list below but I did want to mention was that I finished up a re-watch of Library War and the first season of Minami-Ke with my sister. The first thing that struck me was that hearing Marina Inoue featured prominently in both really drove home how much I enjoy listening to her voice and the roles she plays. Also it reinforced my belief that Library War was one of the most entertaining shows of the year and the first season of Minami-Ke is one of the best anime comedies of all-time.

The scores:

To Aru Majutsu no Index, episode 9 – 10/12 A

Toradora!, episode 9 – 12++/12

Soul Eater, episode 33 – 11/12 A+
Soul Eater, episode 34 – 12/12
Soul Eater, episode 35 – 12/12

Kannagi, episode 9 – 10/12 A

Yozakura Quartet, episode 9 – 11/12 A+
Yozakura Quartet, episode 10 – 10/12 A

Chaos;Head, episode 8 – 11/12 A+

Somedays Dreamer’s S.2, episode 10 – 12+++/12

Skip Beat, episode 8 – 10/12 A
Skip Beat, episode 9 – 12/12

Earl and Fairy, episode 8 – 11/12 A+
Earl and Fairy, episode 9 – 10/12 A

Shikabane Hime: Aka, episode 7 – 11/12 A+

Clannad S.2, episode 10 – 12+/12

Xam’D: Lost Memories, episode 17 – 12/12

Ga-Rei Zero, episode 8 – 12+/12 A

Kurozuka, episode 8 – 11/12 A+

Kemeko DX, episode 9 – 10/12 A

Which shows have momentum this week

Up – Ga-Rei Zero : The second most surprising good show of the season

Down – Kurozuka : Still a great show but it’s been living off it’s style and it’s beginning to let it’s weakly developed story drag it down

Thoughts and Highlights

After the first two episodes of Ga-Rei Zero, I really had no clue where the show was going and a sinking feeling that the animators where too ambitious by opening the show how they did and would be unable to keep the viewers interesting. It appears that I was wrong because I’m liking this show week-in and week-out. One thing that I thought would hurt this show, like the Star Wars prequels, was that I know one of the main characters ends up evil. In the Star Wars case, this prevented me from sympathizing with Anakin because I know he becomes Darth Vader but not so with Ga-Rei Zero. I got to really like Yomi in these flashback episodes and when we get back to the present, I’m going to feel very sad if they can’t save Yomi somehow.

I feel bad about picking Kurozuka for losing momentum this week but I have to at least try to be objective and these last few episodes have felt very underwhelming. I think it’s safe to point to the shows padding of a thin storyline as the culprit. Hopefully, episode 8 will be the last of this padding as we transition to the conclusion.

As awesome as episode 9 of Toradora was, the best episode of the week was episode 10 of Somedays Dreamer’s S.2 which earned the absolutely highest rating I can give out for a single episode. There was a big revelation, which I won’t spoil, and it caught me totally off-guard. It really shouldn’t have since there had been a few hints but I really didn’t expect the show to go in the direction it now seems to be going. Nor was the revelation the sole reason for the high score, the way in which the show went about revealing it was perfect and the character’s actions throughout the episode were just right.

Episode 9 of Yozakura Quartet finally did something that made me really interested in this show. The Nana-gou trees that help protect the city were being altered and this caused the Youkai of the city to have a harder time controlling their Youkai powers. So, for example, the pair of vampire children had to start using umbrellas to walk around in the daytime. A little touch but it was the first original thing this show has done so far.

The past two episodes of Clannad have really covered a lot of territory and watching Tomoya trying to succeed post-H.S. is something that I haven’t seen much in anime and a nice change of pace. There was a small scene that encapsulated this so well – he was worrying over finding a cheap apartment and we see a high school girl with her friends worrying about her hair. The huge gulf between the two worlds couldn’t have been articulated any better and the use of shadows and also Tomoya’s loneliness only reinforces this.

And finally, if you dropped Soul Eater before episode 20, you should give the show another chance. The show’s pacing has picked up dramatically around then and it has been going full tilt ever since. I’m really enjoying just about everything about this show right now – we where introduced to a few more characters, the fights are awesome, and they’re intertwining many plot threads right now. Soul Eater is really showing why it’s the best shounen title right now.

Posted in anime, weekly anime review      

A bit late, but I haven’t been posting. That’s an unavoidable, inexplicable fact. I write more often on Lang-8, and that’s in Japanese, mind you. And I update Poupee more than I update this site |D Speaking of poupee, I found some guy who actually posted stuff there and dressed up his poupee and shtuff. *trauma trauma* And then I just LOL’d.

I’ll be talking about games I’ve picked up/ have wanted to pick up, as well as the anime I’ve picked up and dropped.

I figured I should try and use my holidays to play some game that I’d wanted to play, so I did. I’m playing Pi Story now, but I lag up in dungeons/ maps/ whatever you call the places the pi bring you to because the connection’s pretty bad for some reason. I don’t usually like to team up with strangers, so it’s quite horrible for me when all the monsters spawn like crazy (i.e. Petite Forest, with the dang orbs). I’d play Mabinogi, but I don’t live in North America. I tried the bypass thing but uh I kept getting problems. So I gave up. ._.u I considered the Japanese server but I couldn’t be bothered in the end.

RO2 is coming soon. I’m not sure I should join or not with my grades in the gutters already.

I’ve also picked up some new anime, such as Skip Beat! (quite horrible, but oh well the manga was good I heard and I can’t be bothered to read the manga) and Garei Zero (the plot kind of goes nowhere though ep 4 was funny, but I just had to watch each episode to get to the bottom of it but I’m at my limit and gonna drop it damyou). *Edit, I’ve dropped it. Although Kemeko’s not that bad, it’s just not my taste (Fanservice aka ’saggy bwbs’, and Crazy-with-barely-any-logic-nor-meaning?!), so I’m watching it with little enthusiasm. I’ve picked up Tales of the Abyss (just because it’s one of the ‘Tales’ and I liked the cheagles and Luke didn’t irritate me as much at first and I have no means of getting my Tales of Symphonia for my Wii since I’m broke), Kuroshitsuji (the butler’s pretty much the only character who prevents me from dropping this), Clannad After Story (I don’t quite mind KyoAni works), Toradora! (despite whiny tsundere Al-gone-wrong, the duo are funny) and Michiko to Hacchin (this has potential I believe) although none of these shine quite as much as Kannagi does. Do I have to add in a ‘Kya’ or ‘Squee’ to show just how much I love it? Kya~! Squee~! (I don’t normally do this, you know.) I just love the puns, the tsukkomi, most of all the comedy duo themselves, etc., so that might be my weakness, but the bottom line is I just love this anime. Also, Nagi, tsundere as she might be, doesn’t irritate me much since she’s more like Kana from Minamike than a tsundere. Kugyu voices too many tsunderes already, and I don’t even like her that much :\ 

I dropped Hyakko (bad art and bored me despite a Kana-like character, sorry Jazzu), Yozakura (average but boring too), DMC (too vulgar and way too random for me, dropped quite a while ago, although I did enjoy Gag Manga Biyori) and Index (average and reminding me of Mx0 but ohwell, nothing special). 

My gut tells me that at least 99.9999% of the people who bothered to visit this page just went ‘tl;dr’ as usual and to those who actually know me in real life, this post probably wasn’t relevant to your interests (I don’t really post about my life here so please do look somewhere else where I do if you can even find one in English |D). I wrote a lot of run-on sentences today orz. And I probably abused the parentheses a little too much.

In any case, to sum up, please do watch Kannagi if you haven’t/ don’t plan to |D ! Especially if you love funny anime

*Technically, the above image was a highres scan that I had to tweak a little in Photoshop in order for it to look better.