I was hoping to get this out on Monday but I ended up putting up the Christmas tree instead, which can see pics of over at my personal blog.

As we’re nearing the midpoint of the season, it’s getting to be that time when I get to look ahead at the next anime season and reflect on the current season. Due to the high number of quality shows, I think it’s prudent to wait a few more episodes before posting my reflections but I hope to write my winter preview this week. Right now it’s time to look at the scores.

The scores:

Soul Eater, episode 31 – 12/12
Soul Eater, episode 32 – 12/12

To Aru Majutsu no Index, episode 6 – 10/12 A
To Aru Majutsu no Index, episode 7 – 9/12 A-

Kannagi, episode 6 – 11/12 A+
Kannagi, episode 7 – 10/12 A

Skip Beat, episode 5 – 10/12 A
Skip Beat, episode 6 – 12/12
Skip Beat, episode 7 – 12/12

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

Kemeko DX, episode 5 – 11/12 A+
Kemeko DX, episode 6 – 10/12 A
Kemeko DX, episode 7 – 11/12 A+

Earl and Fairy, episode 5 – 8/12 B+

Ga-Rei Zero, episode 6 – 12/12

Kurozuka, episode 5 – 11/12 A+
Kurozuka, episode 6 – 12/12

Chaos;Head, episode 5 – 12/12
Chaos;Head, episode 6 – 12+/12

Toradora!, episode 7 – 12+/12

Xam’D: Lost Memories, episode 14 – 12/12
Xam’D: Lost Memories, episode 15 – 11/12 A+

Clannad S.2, episode 7 – 12/12
Clannad S.2, episode 8 – 12++/12

Hyakko, episode 5 – 8/12 B+

Michiko to Hatchin, episode 4 – 11/12 A+

Yozakura Quartet, episode 7 – 9/12 A-

Somedays Dreamer’s S.2, episode 9 – 12++/12

Which shows have momentum this week

Up – Kannagi, Kemeko DX : Both shows seem to have gotten their acts together.

Down – To Aru Majutsu no Index : It lost any momentum that it had when it decided to reset the show at the end of the sixth episode.

Thoughts and Highlights

I guess I shouldn’t be shocked that To Aru Majutsu no Index continued it’s downwards momentum. I’ve totally given up on my initial thought that the Shana-group of J.C. Staff had finally learned how to adapt a light novel properly. It’s still an enjoyable series and as long as Yoshida’s clone doesn’t show up – it still might end up a better series then Shana. On the other hand Kemeko DX and Kannagi have been gaining momentum by making the story more compelling , fleshing out it’s characters, and making the viewer laugh more.

The best episode of this bi-week period comes from Somedays Dreamer’s Season 2 though Clannad gave it a good run. One reason for it’s placement above Clannad this week is, whereas Key’s story twists aren’t as surprising as they once were (not that I’m complaining), Somedays Dreamer’s actually shocked me with it’s twist towards the end of the episode. Too many people, it seems to me, judged this show early based on it’s art style and not on it’s content. With each episode my estimation of the show increases and I’m getting to the point that deciding between Natsume and Somedays Dreamer’s is becoming difficult.

Hyakko - Nonsensical English is always funny

A look at the other end of scale displays the potential difference between two shows, Hyakko and Earl and Fairy, that scored the same. In Hyakko’s case, I was positive that after the fifth episode, I could safely drop it and know that I wasn’t missing anything; instead, the episode was much better then I hoped and gained the show a week reprieve from being cut. On the other hand, after the horrible fourth episode of Earl and Fairy, I’m not sure that I can get back to enjoying this show as much as I initially was. The fifth episode was better but I currently don’t have much interest in watching the sixth but probably will, only to give the show one last chance before dropping it.

One of the things that I hoped to show when I did my ten most influential animes was to show that I end up having many different types of shows that I enjoy. I point this out because it feels kinda wrong to give both episode 32 of Soul Eater, an Excalibur episode, and say episode 6 of Kurozuka the same score but both excelled at the type of show they are.

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

• Michiko to Hatchin seems to be shaping up to be a more serious show then what I was expecting. One thing that has struck me so far has been it’s very realistic portrayal of pain and hardship in the characters. My gut is telling me this series could end up being one of the top shows of 2008.
• Yozakura Quartet continues to be enjoyable but at the same time it feels like a lightweight when compared to the other shows.
• Chaos;Head is starting to prove that it has more to offer then just being a poor mixture of suspense and harem elements
• Skip Beat seems to not be impressing many that know and love the manga but for a first-timer like myself, I’m really enjoying it. For some reason, I’m already wondering how they plan to end the anime series. On one hand, we all want to see her get her revenge but on the other, once she does – is there any reason to continue the series? If I know anime, they’ll probably create some sort of small milestone that she has to accomplish in the episode count that’s been allotted.

I think one of the great things about watching anime is that each season offers different types of shows. I am, personally, surprised by many of the shows that are my favorites of the season. Which just strengthens my conviction that it’s important to keep an open mind when trying to pick anime to watch.

The scores:

Earl and Fairy, episode 3 – 10/12 A

Kannagi, episode 4 – 10/12 A

Somedays Dreamer’s S.2, episode 7– 12/12

Clannad S.2, episode 4 – 12++/12
Clannad S.2, episode 5 – 12+/12

Shikabane Hime: Aka, episode 3 – 12/12

To Aru Majutsu no Index, episode 4 – 10/12 A

Kurozuka, episode 3 – 12+/12

Mouryou no Hako, episode 3 – 11/12
Mouryou no Hako, episode 4 – 12/12

Ga-Rei Zero, episode 3 – 11/12 A+

Ga-Rei Zero, episode 4 – 11/12 A+

Skip Beat, episode 4 – 12/12

Hyakko, episode 4 – 7/12 B

Toradora!, episode 5 – 11/12 A+

Chaos;Head, episode 2 – 12/12
Chaos;Head, episode 3 – 12/12

Yozakura Quartet, episode 5 – 10/12 A

Thoughts and Highlights

The first thing that jumps into my mind when reviewing the scores above is that a pair of shows – Mouryou no Hako, and Ga-Rei Zero – are doing better overall then their episodic scores would indicate. Both have shown very tantalizing hints of being awesome shows but at the same time they both are very ambitious in what they want to accomplish. How this will play out, will they ultimately succeed or come up short, is unknown at this time.

The best episode of the week was episode 4 of Clannad which was the conclusion to the Sunohara/Mei arc. The addition of a second male character and all that he adds to the show is one way that Clannad is superior to the past Key shows. Just look at the fight between Sunohara and Tomoya in this episode. It was emotionally real and different from what we’re used to see in shows like these and my sister and I couldn’t help but be glued to the screen. I will admit that, once the fight started, I wanted to see a Tomoya beating of Sunohara because as an older brother to four sisters, Sunohara’s actions made me very angry – you always protect your family.

On the flipside, Hyakko got put on probation this week, which means that if I don’t think the next episode is good enough and points to the series being good, then I’m going to drop it. I realized while watching this episode that my big problem with this show is that I actively dislike 2 of the 4 main characters and don’t have a good opinion of the other two. I want to compare this show to Manabi Straight since the set-up seems fairly similar and the character types match up almost perfectly and when I do the differences are stark. Just look at Mei from Manabi Straight and the aloof-girl on Hyakko. Mei is likeable and it’s apparent that she does have a nice side whereas the aloof-girl on Hyakko has not be anything but mean and aloof and frankly I wish the other three would just leave her alone.

Toradora has finally introduced the fifth main character and she’s a doozy. She has a real annoying helpless-blond personality around people she likes but a real curt and unfriendly personality around people she dislikes. I’m not sure how these five characters fit together but so far their relationships have been interesting and different and a bit Honey and Clover-esque.

And finally, one show that I’m starting to become slightly optimistic that it will turn out to be a good show is Yozakura Quartet. They’ve been developing the characters through these episodes which is always a plus and the world that this anime inhabits is also starting to intrigue me. I wonder if this will turn out like Wagaya no Oinari-sama where the animation isn’t that great but the story and characters are enough to make the show a success.

One more from Kurozuka. In both pics, he's in a special mode that makes killing easy.

Posted in anime, weekly anime review      

Marisa, drawn by DaDa on pixiv, wishes you a Happy (Belated) Halloween~

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 think I shall make it a habit to post Miku fanart in every future post… or not. Fyi this is by ぷちでびる (read: puchidevil) on pixiv.

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). 

Ah, gone are the days when I enjoyed Mahou Shoujo and watched anime (as well as the Powerpuff Girls) in Chinese. Akazukin Cha Cha was one of them… Ah, fyi this is by yukke.

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

And the Kannagi Girls are (from left) Zange-chan, Nagi and Tsugumi. Jin, the main guy and chibi in the centre, is pretty funny, as are his fellow art clubbers. Especially Akiba-kun, who has the same voicer as Simon from Gurren-Lagann. Btw, this is high res so click for fullview.

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

Busy week of anime – between the couple summer shows finishing up and the many new shows to catch, there was hardly time for much else. I’m pretty happy with the autumn season so far; many of the shows are starting off very well and there’s been a few that have even been able to surprise me.

The scores:

Soul Eater, episode 26 – 12+/12

Natsume Yuujinchou, episode 13 – 12+++/12 (end)

Ryoko’s Case Files, episode 13 – 12++/12 (end)

Toradora!, episode 2 – 12+/12

Hyakko, episode 2 – 8/12 B+

(previously reviewed)

Kannagi, episode 1 – 7/12 B

To Aru Majutsu no Index, episode 1 – 12+/12

Shikabane Hime: Aka, episode 1 – 12/12

Tales of the Abyss, episode 1 – 04/12 C

Yozakura Quartet, episode 1 – 8/12 B+

Kemeko DX, episode 1 – 10/12 A

Ga-Rei Zero, episode 1 – 9/12 A-

Chaos;Head, episode 1 – 11/12 A+

Thoughts and Highlights

Would you do it for a scooby snack?

Let’s start with the only holdover from the summer season that I watched this week – Soul Eater. I was impressed by this episode a lot. I think the set episode count of this series is causing Bones to eschew the typical structure of a shounen show. After letting the Demon God go, I would have expected this anime to show the main characters training to power themselves up (like after the end of the Soul Society arc on Bleach). Instead this episode shows that some of our characters getting dispatched to the next trouble spot. The other reason that I liked this episode was that we got a lot of Crona, who is fast becoming one of my favorite characters. I feel odd saying that but then again, Sylar on Heroes is becoming one of my favorite characters especially lately with the writers making Hiro act stupid beyond belief.

One more of the fox spirit, I hope he's back in the second season

I thought it was funny how everyone had a different name for him

Slice-of-life shows don’t, by definition, have a convenient plot structure that allow them to have an “ending” but it’s nice when some sense of closure can be given the viewer. I was really curious how Natsume would end, especially with the second season starting in the winter – would they try to give the show an ending or just act like the show was going on hiatus for a season? I wouldn’t have minded if this season didn’t have an ending but was happy that one was given. Having the chance to meet many of the ghosts and people one last time from the show was the perfect way to end one of the year’s best shows.

She's standing on a tank, in case your wondering

Ryoko’s Case Files’ last episode was likewise the perfect way to end the show. I hope this gets a second season, it really deserves it. If any of the fansubbers of [AonE-AnY] read this, thank you so much for providing a high quality fansub with a super-small file size.

Toradora

Finally, onto the fall shows that had their second episodes this week – Hyakko and Toradora. The first, Hyakko, didn’t really impress me again. I want to like this show but I can’t quite figure out what it’s doing wrong or what’s wrong with me. I’m not even holding the drop in animation quality of episode 2 against it. On the other hand, the second – Toradora – was very awesome. This is definitely shaping up to be a more original show then I imagined and they haven’t even introduced the fifth main character that shows up in both the opening and ending. Also, Toradora is reminding me of another of J.C.Staff’s wonderful shows – Honey & Clover; I don’t know if this is intentional or just something I’m reading into the show that’s not there.

Note the heights of the two girls on the right ...

... and compare that to this screen shot

An exciting week in anime – the summer season is finishing up and the fall season is starting. The last couple of weeks I haven’t really had a lot to write but now I’ve got multiple series reviews to write and first impression posts to write. I’m not complaining, the more I have to write about the better – it means I’m watching shows that I want to talk about. Let’s get to the weekly scores now.

The scores:

Ryoko’s Case Files, episode 12 – 12+/12

Birdy the Mighty Decode, episode 13 – 12+/12 (end)

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

Soul Eater, episode 25 – 11/12 A+

Somedays Dreamer’s S.2, episode 6 – 12++/12

Natsume Yuujinchou, episode 12 – 12+/12

Wagaya no Oinari-sama, episode 19 – 12+/12
Wagaya no Oinari-sama, episode 20 – 12+/12
Wagaya no Oinari-sama, episode 21 – 12+/12
Wagaya no Oinari-sama, episode 22 – 12/12
Wagaya no Oinari-sama, episode 23 – 12+/12

Clannad S.2, episode 1 – 12/12

Toradora!, episode 1 – 10/12 A

Akane-iro no Somaru Saka, episode 1 – 5/12 C+

Hyakko, episode 1 – 8/12 B+

I'm going to miss Wagaya no Oinari-sama when it's done

Thoughts and Highlights

First off, for the in-depth reasons why I scored the new shows how I did, you can refer to the previously posted impression posts.

The biggest surprise, and one that was quite pleasant, was the number of Wagaya no Oinari-sama episodes I was able to watch this week. This show has been one of the most consistently fun shows to watch this year and this group of episodes continue this trend. It’s mix of light comedy, dorama, and loveable characters is a perfect balance – just look at some of these episodes: one episode dealt was a Halloween episode that included the god of poverty showing up, another involved a mystery at an onsen, and yet another involved Sakura trying to stick to a diet. I don’t know how much source material is left but I’d definitely watch a second season of this show.

The best episode of the week comes from Somedays Dreamer’s season 2 but since it’s slice-of-life, it’s difficult to describe why. I’m happy that someone is working on subbing this show – beyond the whole question of if you like the animation style or not, it’s a very solid show.

Everything else pretty much stayed awesome. I did want to mention that this week’s Soul Eater was a transitional episode to gear us up for the second half of the show. The students of Shibusen played basketball and Shinigami-sama called a conference to map out what they should do now that the Demon God is escaped. Anyone else think it’s time to for a new opening? I like it but it’s been the same for the first half of the show and I’d like to see something new, maybe with some hints as to what to expect for the second half of the show.

Be very afaid, Ryoko's smiling.

Posted in anime