Bamboo Blade

One of the great resources in anime fandom of late has been this guy. His charts have become almost indispensable when trying to figure out what to watch in the upcoming anime seasons. Recently, he’s started to compile these charts for previous years and the information that can be gleaned from these charts are extremely interesting and a real eye opener.

Last year, 2008, was the first year of this blog and as a result I watched many shows I probably won’t have otherwise and tried to make sure that I discovered all the “good” anime of a season so I could help other people discover these anime shows. So one of the first things I wanted to figure out was how much of the 2008 anime did I watch in the end.

Percentage of Shows Watched

This is the chart in question that I’m using; you can find it and more here. It lists 130 total anime shows that begun airing in 2008 and looking over these shows I realize there is a handful of shows that are aimed at very young viewers and these shows are never fansubbed, talked about, or licensed so the first step I’m going to do is remove these shows from consideration. I then tabulated how many shows I’ve watched, dropped and completed and I’ll summarize them here.

• 114 total shows (19 from Winter 07/08, 34 from Spring 08, 21 from Summer 08, 37 from Fall 08, 3 from Winter 08/09)
• 50 shows watched (5, 15, 9, 18, 3)
• 19 shows dropped (0, 9, 3, 5, 2)
• 31 shows completed (5, 6, 6, 13, 1)

I should note that the Winter 07/08 season was a season that I essentially took off. I needed the break and the only new show I watched that season while it was airing was Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei s.2. Yes, It is strange that I decided to start a blog during a season I wasn’t actively watching but that just how I like to do things. Because of this, the only shows I watched from this season where ones that I really wanted to see at a later time. This skews some of the results I’ll highlight below.

• Overall watched percentage by season – 26.3% of Winter 07/08, 44.1% of Spring 08, 42.9% of Summer 08, 48.7% of Autumn 08, 100% of Winter 08/09
• Overall watched percentage of 2008 – 43.8%
• Percentage of watched shows that were dropped by season – 0.0%, 60.0%, 33.3%, 28.8%, 66.7%)
• Percentage of watched shows that were dropped in 2008 – 38.0%

While going over the list of shows, I’ve noted that there were a few shows that I still have some interest in catching and could see myself watching at some point in the future, time willing.

• Possible unwatched shows that may be watched in the future by season – 2 from Winter 07/08, 2 from Spring 08, 0 from Summer 08, 4 from Fall 08, 0 from Winter 08/09
• Total unwatched but still interested in shows for 2008 – 8
• 2008 Total of shows watched and possible shows watched in the future – 58 or 50.9% of all 2008 anime shows

This leaves 49.1% of the entire 2008 year of shows as shows that I have not watched nor am I interested in doing so. Just looking at the raw number, it seems like I’m leaving a huge percentage of shows unwatched but looking over the shows the I’ve missed – I don’t think I’m missing much. I wonder how this compares to other anime fans.

Soul Eater

Excellent Shows and Strong Seasons

Next, I compiled a list of shows that I consider being the best of 2008 – the titles that I would recommend to other people and would be worthy series to own on DVDs, if possible. I was curious to see how these shows were distributed and if the general thinking about the spring and fall seasons being the strong seasons seemed justified.

• Excellent shows from Winter 07/08 – Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei S.2 and Spice & Wolf – (2)
• Excellent shows from Spring 08 – Wagaya no Oinarisama, Library Wars, Kaiba, Soul Eater, Kurenai (5)
• Excellent shows from Summer 08 – Natsume Yuujin-chou, Birdy the Mighty Decode, Somedays Dreamer’s S.2, Ryouko’s Case Files (4)
• Excellent shows from Fall 08 – Toradora, Clannad S.2, Shikabane Hime:Aka, Ga-Rei:Zero, Mouryou Hako, Kurozuka, Michiko to Hatchin (7)
• Excellents shows from 2008 – 18

Looking at the pure number totals, it appears that the fall season was the strongest season and that’s definitely on way to look at it but I wanted to see it from another perspective.

• Percentage of overall shows that were excellent by season – 10.5% of Winter 07/08, 14.7% of Spring 08, 19.1% of Summer 08, 18.9% of Autumn 08, 0% of Winter 08/09
• Percentage of overall shows that were excellent for 2008 – 15.8%
• Percentage of watched shows that were excellent by season – 40.0%, 33.3%, 44.4%, 38.9%, 0.0%
• Percentage of watched shows that were excellent for 2008 – 36.0%

Looking at the number of excellent shows in the context of the rest of the season shows, it turns out that the Summer season squeaks in front of the fall season as having the highest percentage of excellent shows. If the saying about how only 10% of anything is worth fighting for and the rest is garbage then one can’t complain about the quality of anime from 2008 since it beat that by a bit.

Kaiba

Why It’s Hard To Be a Fan of Anime Without Resorting to Fansubs

I want to say up front that I’m not writing this to defend fansubs per se nor am I trying to pick a fight – it’s been my observation for a while that oftentimes when an anime is announced as being licensed, I’m disappointed because it’s not one that I felt deserved to get licensed and I want to see if this observation is backed up by the data.

The first thing that needed done was to compile a list of what shows where licensed from 2008. I started with the list that animesuki keeps of shows that are licensed and thus they no longer list and then I checked out the various licensing articles from anime news network and finally I checked crunchyroll. I might have missed a couple but they won’t be enough to change the conclusions that I discovered. Onto some data.

• Total number of anime shows licensed from 2008 – 32
• Total number of licensed shows that I watched from 2008 – 13
• Total number of licensed shows that I completed from 2008 – 9
• Total number of licensed shows that I consider excellent shows from 2008 – 5
• Total number of excellent licensed shows that will come out on DVD – 3
• Total number of excellent licensed shows that will be dubbed on DVD – 2

I’ll note here that of the 19 licensed shows that I have not watched, none are on my list of shows that I might be interested in watching so those figures are final. Without running the exact numbers it’s pretty apparent what can be concluded but let’s run the numbers for completeness sake.

• Percentage of total anime shows that were licensed from 2008 – 28.1%
• Percentage of total anime shows that were not licensed from 2008 – 71.9%
• Percentage of licensed shows that I watched – 40.6%
• Percentage of licensed shows that I completed – 28.1%
• Percentage of licensed shows that I consider excellent – 15.6%
• Percentage of excellent licensed shows that will be released on DVD – 9.4%
• Percentage of excellent licensed shows that will be dubbed and released on DVD – 6.25%

The one glaring conclusion that I have to conclude is that the “anime fan” that the North American companies are going after is not me. If they were, I’d expect to see almost all of my excellent shows as having been licensed. (Afterall they should be picking the best titles to maximize the number of DVDs bought.) That’s not the case, though, and looking over the shows that did get licensed I find a lot of shounen/fighting shows, fan-service shows, and shoujo shows. I can’t help but feel that one of the results of a licensing pattern like this is that once an anime fan has been sated with enough shounen, fan-service, and/or shoujo shows that these fans discover they are no longer anime fans because anime has become either too childish or repetitive.

The reason I took the category down to excellent licensed shows that will dubbed and put on DVD even when I’m not the biggest dub fan is because there’s a segment of anime fandom that are people who like anime but don’t want to read subtitles and also want to watch on a TV. My one sister is like this and in the end she buys almost exclusively manga because she can find so little anime that interests her. When I was starting up my blog she told me that she’d read my site to find shows to buy but she quickly realized that this was not possible. I don’t blame her, of all the shows that I’ve watched and blogged about in 2008 there is a total of two shows – Soul Eater and Spice & Wolf that I could possibly recommend to her to buy and I don’t think she’d like Soul Eater. That leaves Spice & Wolf as the only anime out of the 114 anime that started airing in Japan during 2008 that I could recommend her to buy.

I feel like I should repeat that; for the entire 2008 year of anime, there is only one anime that I could recommend to my sister as being good enough that it’s worth buying on DVD. And these companies complain about the fans – maybe it’s not the fan’s fault.

I realize that 2009 saw a large increase of shows getting quasi-licensed on crunchyroll so by now it’s possible that my title about having to almost having to resort to fansubs may not hold as much water but I’ll leave that to a follow-up article in the future to see how the numbers work out. I want to hold off for a while to see how many of the 2009 shows get physically licensed and which ones will get dubs. Also left for a later article is my thoughts on how exactly to get the North American anime scene going in the right direction; here’s a hint, I don’t think there will be many people who will become fans of anime from having crunchyroll stream subtitled anime.

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As an aside, if you happen to be looking to buy a good anime series on DVD (maybe for a Christmas present) and want a quality show that will get rewatched more than once, let me point out that Bamboo Blade is coming out soon. And there’s Spice & Wolf as well but it’s coming out the week of Christmas.

Shikabane-Hime: Aka or (Corpse Princess: Red) is the latest series from the venerable animation studio Gainax. That fact alone guaranteed big exposure but doomed it in the eyes of many anime fans because is wasn’t the second coming of Gurren Lagann. As much as I love Gurren Lagann and hope Gainax revisits the universe, I didn’t want them to rehash over and over the same type of show – I wanted something different and this was different.

Final Series Score: 10.5/12 Strong A
Rewatchablity: med
Pros: above average animation was used to create a creepy atmosphere around the show, takes the time to show how a normal high school student becomes the hero of the series, monsters where diverse with very different back stories and powers, main characters are likable and given sufficient depth to feel realistic in their roles
Cons: story lacked focus at the beginning, fight scenes were underwhelming for a Gainax show

Awards given to this show by this blog

• #4 in Top 5 Anime of Fall Season 2008

Story

Oori is a fairly typical high school student. He was orphaned at a very young age and was raised by a young monk, Keisei, who Oori thinks of as an older brother. One night, Oori is awakened by a ghostly cat and told to visit the temple. He goes and by doing so, Oori’s life will be forever changed. He’ll discover the existence of evil creatures known as Corpses and about the people that fight them, monks like Keisei and undead helpers known as Corpse Princesses. From this night on, his life slowly becomes more entwined in this shadowy world till living a normal life will become impossible.

Thoughts and impressions

Watching Shikabane Hime, I couldn’t help but be reminded of Ga:Rei – Zero. Both deal with the events that cause the main character to become the hero of the show. Where they differ is Ga:Rei tells us at the very beginning of it’s intentions; whereas, Shikabane Hime doesn’t make this apparent till much later in the show. It was a big gamble by the animators of Ga:Rei to start the series like they did but it was very successful and it allowed the viewers to focus on the characters and events at a much greater level then the viewers of Shikabane Hime. As a result, the plot felt of Shikabane Hime was very muddled at the beginning with no clear direction. The viewers, including myself, wanted to know why so much time was being spent on Oori when the fights that Keisei and his Corpse Princess, Makina, got into was much more interesting.

It eventually became clear what they were working towards and from that point, it was possible to fully enjoy the show and in hindsight, the way in which the story unfolded was one of this show’s praiseworthy attributes. One of the problems I have with how some shounen type shows are structured is the normal character asked to save the world is often anything but normal. In this show, we watch how the hero is slowly (and always logically) pulled to the position where he will have to step in and become the hero.

I tried to temper my expectations of this show, telling myself that this was not the same type of show as Gurren Lagann, and I was largely successful except for one area. I was still somewhat disappointed that the action scenes did not excite like Gainax action scenes normally do. There was nothing really wrong with them, as far as I could tell, and the fights where satisfying but somehow they just didn’t quite feel the same. Certainly an area for improvement but something that this show did that I don’t remember Gainax really ever doing was how the animation created a creepy atmosphere around itself. Very helpful to a show like this.

Overall, I think this is a very solid show with much to offer the viewer and one I would recommend to people looking for more of a plot and character driven action show. The second season is currently airing and while it started off weak with a strong dose of stupid fan service, it’s starting to get interesting again. And I almost forgot to mention that the voice actors for both Oori and Makina were first timers and sounded a little off at the beginning but improved greatly over the course of the show.

Essential Information

• 13 episodes
• genre: supernatural, action
• animation studio: Gainax
• director: Masahiko Murata
• OP: “Beautiful fighter” by angela
• ED: “My story” by angela
• Seiyuus of note: Keiji Fujiwara, Nana Akiyama, Tatsuya Hosome, Yui Horie

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.

It's so easy to shop for her.

I miss the blond hair.

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.

Mikuru Beam!!

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?

Nagisa getting drunk after one shot of sake.

Our lovable Corpse Princess as a baby.

And just like that, the book closes on the fall season and 2008.

Back at the start of the fall season, early October, the trees where just starting to change colors and it was still possible to walk around outside in shorts. Now at the end of the season, coats are required and the faded landscape speaks of many more months of cold. Hopefully at the end of the winter anime season, the early crocuses will be blooming and we’ll finally know when the second season of Haruhi is airing.

The scores:

To Aru Majutsu no Index, episode 12 – 9/12 A-
To Aru Majutsu no Index, episode 13 – 11/12 A+

Shikabane Hime: Aka, episode 9 – 11/12 A+
Shikabane Hime: Aka, episode 10 – 12/12
Shikabane Hime: Aka, episode 11 – 12+/12

Kannagi, episode 12 – 10/12 A
Kannagi, episode 13 – 12/12 (end)

Chaos;Head, episode 11 – 10/12 A
Chaos;Head, episode 12 – 11/12 A+ (end)

Kurozuka, episode 11 – 12/12
Kurozuka, episode 12 – 12+/12 (end)

Ga-Rei Zero, episode 11 – 12+/12
Ga-Rei Zero, episode 12 – 12+/12 (end)

Earl and Fairy, episode 11 – 11/12 A+

Xam’D: Lost Memories, episode 20 – 12/12
Xam’D: Lost Memories, episode 21 – 12+/12

Toradora!, episode 13 – 12++/12

Kemeko DX, episode 12 – 10/12 A (end)

Michiko to Hatchin, episode 10 – 12/12

Skip Beat, episode 11 – 11/12 A+
Skip Beat, episode 12 – 12/12

Yozakura Quartet, episode 12 – 10/12 A (end)

Which shows have momentum this week

Up – Shikabane Hime: Aka – If I had to graph this show’s momentum, it would look like an exponential growth curve.

Down – Chaos;Head – Technically, since this ended, it shouldn’t be here but this show definitely lost a lot of the momentum that it had built up earlier in the series.

Thoughts and Highlights

Shikabane Hime: Aka is the momentum gainer of the week again and came very close to having it’s episode 11 be the best episode of the bi-week. This show and Ga-Rei: Zero actually are very similar shows in that they’ve been season long examinations of a character. Ga-Rei: Zero was to show how a hero despairs, gets corrupted, and falls; whereas, Shikabane Hime: Aka was to show how a normal high school boy is called upon to become the hero. The difference between the two was that Ga-Rei told you by the end of episode 3 what it was doing but Shikabane Hime didn’t make it clear till much later.

Episode 11 of Shikabane Hime: Aka had a really awesome flashback sequence in it – very Millenium Actress-esque. This sequence would have wowed me no-matter-what; but, the fact that Gainax did it, wowed me even more because Gainax isn’t known for it’s subtleness and small moments.

Squeaking past for this bi-week’s best episode is Toradora’s episode 13. As epic as the race was, the moment that really stuck out in my mind was the comment Minorin made at the end when she was talking with Ryuuji. She said something to effect ‘I’m talking normal’. A simple sentence might seem insignificant but oftentimes it’s the small things that speak volumes. We were clued into the possibility that Minorin uses her hyper personality as a way to cope with her fears back in episode 3 and this single sentence seems to confirm this idea. What we also learn is that Kitamura seems to have a thing for the student council president and she doesn’t feel the same way about him. I can’t help but think that, because Taiga’s personality is similar to the student council president’s, Kitamura sees Taiga as a replacement for the president and that makes him a jerk.

The clones are fast becoming my favorite characters of Index.

Akiyuki's parents in the midst of making up.

I’ve already put up my thoughts to 3 of the show’s that have ended and will get to the other three – Kannagi, Kurozuka, and Chaos;Head – soon so I don’t have anything to say about those six shows right now. So, I’ll close with just a few more short thoughts.

• To Aru Majutsu no Index is now at it’s halfway point. It’s been infinitely better then the first half of Shana 2 but it’s suffered from having way to much exposition and the apparently pointless amnesia of the main character. Shana 2 was able to have a near flawless second half and lets hope Index can too.
• Xam’D: Lost Memories is nearly done setting the stage for the show’s finale and I’m pumped and primed to see what happens.

• Have I mentioned how the casting in Skip Beat has helped make the show so enjoyable. Marina Inoue infuses Kyoko’s character with the perfect edge that really makes the character feel real. Then there’s the smooth-as-butter Katsuyuki Konishi as Ren that makes Ren’s ability to make all women swoon over him so believable and makes Kyoko’s interest in him genuine.

And finally, Minorin's 7 - 10 split was pretty cool as well.

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

From nice ...

to evil

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.

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)

The fall season continues to wow with even more awesome shows this week. I might be biting off more then I can chew by trying to watch them all but I’m willing to try. Also this week, I was able to finish one my favorites from the spring season.

The scores:

Soul Eater, episode 27 – 12+/12

Toradora!, episode 3 – 12/12

Kemeko DX, episode 2 – 8/12 B+

Clannad S.2, episode 2 – 12++/12
Clannad S.2, episode 3 – 12++/12

To Aru Majutsu no Index, episode 2 – 12+/12

Kannagi, episode 2 – 9/12 A-

Shikabane Hime: Aka, episode 2 – 12/12

Maid Guy, episode 12 – 9/12 A- (end)

(previously reviewed)

Kurozuka, episode 1 – 12/12

Skip Beat, episode 1 – 11/12 A+

Mouryou no Hako, episode 1 – 11/12 A+

Thoughts and Highlights

As you can see in the scores, I was able to finish Maid Guy this week so I’d like to thank the joint effort from [Yakuza T-K] in doing this great series. Expect my series review soon. This final episode was of the type that signaled to the viewers that a second season will be forthcoming if they think it will make money. Therefore, this episode didn’t have any sense of closure and we were even introduced to a maid that looked like a worthy adversary to Maid Guy. I like the idea of someone on Maid Guy’s otherworldly level but I’m really ambivalent about another season. For the episode itself, it contained enough Awesome Kogarashi Moments to keep me happy.

Oh the joys of playing the violin.

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Sanae wearing her daughters' uniform.

The Japanese always get the best aquatic-themed rhythm games

BRAAAINS!!!

I hope Tomoya decks Sunohara for making Mei sad.

The best episode of the week was actually the pair of episodes from Clannad. It’s like KyoAni was psychic or something – how else can you explain how they knew to start off the season with a baseball episode and then go into an arc about my favorite character – Sunohara and his younger sister, Mei. As an aside, if Mei doesn’t finish in the top 8 for Saimoe next year – I’ll be supremely surprised. So far Clannad has been delivering that perfect blend of comedy and drama that so epitomizes a Key/KyoAni show.

There really wasn’t a disappointing episode this week. The lowest scoring show of the week, Kemeko DX, was because the show took the time to do character introductions and not the comedic craziness that the show is promising. It’s always important to take the time to introduce and flesh out a character but this episode didn’t quite charm me like I was hoping it would. I still have relatively high expectations for this show so I’ll keep watching.

I think someone was watching too much LOTR

Soul Eater continues to keep me on the edge of my seat. This episode we got to see Justin fight and more of Crona being awesome. Another bad guy (actually a woman with really freaky eyes) appears and Stein continues to battle his temptation to give into the madness. Also, while, I wasn’t really impressed with the seconding ending, this new ending is awesome. The song is perfect – upbeat and snazzy – for the animation and the animation fits the feel of the song and even takes the time to showcase more of the main characters. On a side note, if how Death the Kid’s way of holding his guns bothered you, I was watching a show on History Channel that showcased a few of the great trick shooters living now and it included a guy that held his shotgun like Death the Kid holds his guns – so it is possible.

I can't decide between titling this "You shall not pass"or "Vague Christian imagery 4TW"

The pair of J.C. Staff shows, Index and Toradora, continue to be very good. We got character building in Toradora and they were able to make it interesting. Even though Rie Kugimiya’s Taiga is in many ways very similar to her other tsundere roles there is differences that make Taiga a much more likable character. It makes it hard not to root for her. In the case of To Aru Majutsu no Index, we get an awesome fight that shows off Tohma’s null-power right hand as well as his intelligence in finding ways to win. I have the feeling that the guy Tohma fought really isn’t a bad guy but one that has a temper and is more concerned about the safety of magic books then their carrier – Index.

Sunohara doesn't like to see cute kittens die

The final show I wanted to talk about was Kannagi. In my impression post for episode 1, I mentioned that a lot of fanservice was added to that episode and I didn’t think it was warranted. This episode once again adds in needless, and definitely implausible, fanservice. Implausible because if the main character is worried about people seeing Nagi’s underwear, why does he walk to the front door, holding them, where she is obviously talking with someone. Needless because I think in an episode that’s meant to be more serious with a mother cat and her two baby kittens dieing – the fanservice cheapens their deaths and frankly I wonder what the director was thinking. I have already seen the next episode and liked it more so maybe I’ll end up liking this anime a lot.

Shikabane Hime: Aka probably had the highest pressure of any anime this season to be awesome right out of the gate because this is Gainax’s first series after the wildly popular Gurren Lagann. I continue to love Gurren Lagann to death but I realize this is a completely different show and one that will hopefully yield a different experience. So how does this episode turn out?

Rating: 12/12

Quite well actually.

Some reviewers that I’ve read are complaining that there isn’t a whole lot of action in this episode and thus it was boring. I think these people are looking too short-term and not thinking long-term. One of the reasons that Gurren Lagann was so good was that you cared for the characters and worried if they were going to live through a fight or not; they weren’t just cannon fodder. That 10 minutes or so that they developed Simon’s character and the 5 minutes on Kamina’s character during the first episode pays off almost immediately and continues to pay the rest of the series.

Likewise, I think we’ll see that the time they spent developing the character of Ouri, Makina the corpse princess, and Keisei the monk will be nicely paid off in the future. For instance, I find that I already like Ouri because the younger kids at the orphanage obviously like him a lot and because he ran to Makina’s side to help her instead of going after his stuff that fell down the hill. Then there’s Makina; it appears that she was killed horribly, most likely by a group of Shikabane, and now wants revenge. I feel for her and want to see her get to the goal that she desires. And finally, I have the feeling that the monk Keisei is trying to atone for letting Makina die by standing by her side now to help protect her along with running the orphanage that Ouri is living at. So, as you can see, I’m already hooked on the characters of this show.

That’s pretty much all I wanted to say about the show, nothing else really stands out. The animation is as good as you’d expect from a Gainax show - pretty and gives the city a nice atmospheric feel to it. No OP this week. The ED song was above average but the animation was just a montage of what happened in the episode – a little ho-hum but still okay overall. Overall, I think I have more confidence in this title being great then something like To Aru Majutisu no Index.

I miss my cat, Smokie

This was a cool scene, the action in the background is actually a mirror

Did they misspell ATM because it's copyrighted over there?