Final Winter season Impressions

Its late, but with the winter shows done and the spring shows popping up, I think its about time I wrap up my final thoughts on the winter season of 2013! I did drop a show this past season, that show being Maoyuu, simply because I had VERY little motivation to keep track of it anymore, but in turn I picked up a new show:

Problem Children: Like Kotura-san, this was a show I sort of heard about as the season went on and checked it out as a curiosity. All in all it was fun, but that was about it.

The story is essentially that a trio of teens from different time periods with different powers are sucked into this fantasy world and are challenged to participate in these gift games. In these games you can bet anything, powers, pride, land, all of that jazz, and the goal of the group these children are in is to try and rise up from being no-names to being their own powerful- blah blah blah, I don't really give a crap about all of that. To put the story of this series shortly; its like when I first watched Index, there was too much talking and monologuing about stuff that I just partly paid attention and just looked forward to the parts when my favorite characters got to strut their stuff or be funny(which was sort-of cured when I began reading the novels, but that's another topic). In this series case the four main characters are more than enough reason to watch.

Black Rabbit, this show's resident bunny girl, first appears to be the useless fanserivce character, but not only is she actually a bit more entertaining than that, she's also just as much of a badass as the children, if not possibly more. She serves as a sort of a moderator for the games the children gets involved in (even when they bet her) as such, she's very knowledgeable about this world and has to keep her self at a certain level of authority...which the children don't respect in the slightest. Izayoi is most guilty of this and is very shameless about it, but as far as I care he has every right to be shameless.  In a world where LN main characters seem to be spineless or bland, its nice to get a flat out ass who asserts himself in every way possible. He's smart, takes shit from no one and has the power to back it up. You(a character not 'you' yourself) and Asuka are likable characters that either just want to make friends or learn more about the world, and develop friendship that doesn't devolve itself into yuri undertones (See Railgun? It CAN be done!). While they aren't by any means revolutionary actually feel a bit more like characters rather than members of Izayoi's harem. Now that I mention it, Izayoi DOESN'T have a harem, which is another refreshing sight. He causally flirts and makes perverted remarks, but none of the female casts are fawning over him, and I think what's even more likable is the fact that they can group up to cause trouble as showcased above. The only one you could possibly say does is black rabbit, but that's just barely as its mostly just her reactions to his insanity.

Now as I said earlier, this show was fun, but that's really about it. While I realize there is more story within the LN source material (which I plan to read later) this first season never felt as though it went anywhere and I never felt compelled enough to care. No matter how high stakes seemed to be I never really felt any like there was anything to legitimately worry about. That also leads into a bit of a problem Izayoi has: he's too perfect. As refreshing as his antics may be, he doesn't seem to have any weakness or any personality traits that could make him feel a bit more human. Its nice to have a smart main character, but even smart people make mistakes and aren't on top of everything. Even superman has a weakness and Batman had his share of bad days(I'm not exactly a comic book fanatic, but I've heard he had a pretty bad run in with someone who crippled him once) It doesn't help that we don't know what the heck his power is, all I know from spoilers is that he can apparently destroy a star, but that really doesn't lead us anywhere. As a certain someone from Hunter x Hunter put it: 'you can't have that much power without giving up something'. Or you know, something along those lines.

All in All I still like the show, but it seriously needs to fix somethings to be a better series. After all the last thing I want is for Izayoi to go from fun and refreshing to grating and obnoxious.


Kotoura-san: Lets get this elephant out of the room right now: Episode 11 SUCKED.

While there wasn't exactly an issue I had with the serial attacker being too obvious, the execution of such and how the problem was dealt with was so lack luster that it's worthy of face palming into your keyboard. While I may write out these sections I don't find myself to be much of a critic who can be come off as critical about each and every detail, but THAT was simply bad.

Fortunately it was only one episode and the actually last episode pretty much reminded me why I even liked this show so much to begin with: the relationship between Manabe and Kotoura. Not only are they entertaining to watch together but its a bit heart warming as well: through out the series Manabe has been shown to genuinely care and love Kotoura, knowing when its time to stop pushing a joke and actually care about Kotura herself and Kotura herself feeling the same. The relation between Mifune and Muroto was also very interesting, Muroto acting as something of Mifune's consciousness and the times when it shows how much he means to her. I think the only character here who doesn't really get that amount of sympathy is Moritani as its sort of hard to ignore what she did in the beginning of the series and even though the anime tries to make us forgive her it's hardly effective(though the anime does the great job in torturing her after she joins the club for awhile). That  feeling of genuine emotion goes hand in hand with the balance it has with its comedy which really hits (at least to me, comedy and humor are subjective) and is aware of what the story itself is. That's what makes episode 11 so frustrating, as it makes you wonder if the series really can keep that sort of balance when it slipped up so badly. I would love to read the source material to confirm this, but for now I'd rather remember it for what it did right, as it managed that for at least 11 episodes(oh the irony).

Oreshura: After some episodes of typical harem shenanigans we actually get Masuzu's arc, which wasn't quite what I was thinking it would be but this worked just fine as well.

Usually once we get to the last episode we get some sort of faux drama or recap episode that simply lets you know that "everything is the same as always". This show however didn't do that... exactly. Basically, Masuzu's had enough of pretending and decides to let Eita go so he could be happy with people who actually love him, since she can't bring herself to act that way towards people who were actually kind to her. Eita can't weasel is way out of this like most MC's because he hears Chiwa AND Himeka confess to him in front of a large and massive crowd (Ai didn't exactly get an announcement, but I think Eita already got the picture) so when Masuzu goes up on stage to announce that she and Eita 'broke up', Eita stops her and drops the ultimate bombshell: he announces that he loves her, and everyone in the crowd re cements them as a couple...mostly.

While we are back to the way things were in a sense, its a lot more obvious now that things will be going in a much different direction and because of that the ending feels all the more satisfying. Because Eita is actually more aware of his standings there will actually be something to look forward to should this series get a season 2(BTW, the anime has covered four volumes of the so far 6 volume series)

We're right back to where we started...perfect!

Tamako Market:

Dera really needs to take a lesson from Luffy: everything that lives and talks poops.

And so it ends....alright...

So basically all of that stuff about the prince finding a wife really doesn't mean much of shit anymore and in the end we get a standard conclusion where Dera JUST MIGHT leave, but doesn't due to some wacky means. All is well and they lived happily ever after, the end. All right, to be honest its not like this is a bad ending or anything, but for me, they usually work best like this: I genuinely get to like the characters, and the final episode makes me get ready to miss them and their antics. While I consider this show to be a step above K-on, it's still only a step. I don't think I'll particularly miss it or care if there's a 2nd season or not. I don't find it to be a bad show, I did like Dera and some of the goofy antics the towns people would occasionally bring, but I wouldn't say I loved the show either. It actually leaves me a bit puzzled as to why I bothered to keep up with this show when the show I did drop had much more obvious plot constructing going on. Oh well, it entertained me for the moment but it didn't really leave much of an impression on me...

...We'll see if the next Kyoani show does.


Hagenai Next: In the end, I stuck around because I was a stubborn bastard, and if you aren't Bleach or Fairy Tail, I'll at least try to see you out through the end. and to be honest...I was kind of surprised. I just figured the show would just stay into rom-com ecchi that went no where, but surprisingly we actually went somewhere.

Kodaka's ignorance towards the feelings of the female characters is actually being addressed as him pretending, Sena makes a move and Rika's a bit more serious...its somewhat jarring really. I could say that this came out of left field, but if I recalled correctly some of Kodaka's narration was in the tone of him recalling something before a bigger event happened and some of the scuffles between Sena and Yozora haven't all been played for laughs (I think my favorite episode was when Sena called Yozora out during their initial film making episode) and as I said before, Rika has been getting more and more serious about Kodaka's interactions with the club. The last two episodes were the most surprising and satisfying and it makes me hope that when the next light novel(s?) comes out we get an OVA or something accompanying it. Otherwise I wouldn't mind tracking the source down to read it.

Don't let what I just said however give you the wrong impression, as a whole only those latter episodes were really enjoyable and the beginning was rather dull to me. In fact, much like the end of season one, what has this show on my good side is the promise of what's to come. I could say I liked this more than season 1, but in all honesty that's not saying much, especially when Yozora is a bit more likable.



All in all the winter season had three shows that I really liked and four that I would like to see more of, not bad for the 'weakest season' of the year if I do say so myself. These weren't the only shows I was watching though as I did have some carry overs from the fall season(Robotics;Notes, Psycho Pass, Little Busters etc...) but I think I'll just give them their own reviews at some point rather than shove them in here, especially considering some of those shows may or may not have more content to take into account. I'll have my spring season first impressions up when I see at least two episodes of each of the shows I plan to watch(No, I'm not covering Flowers of Evil, I'll wait a bit to see where that heads first) so til then;

Later!

Midway thoughts on Winter season and upcoming Spring season!

So we're about at that halfway mark with most of the winter shows and the new chart for the spring season has come about, so I figure now may be a decent enough time to post about what I've thought of the winter season shows sofar as well as my expectations for next season. So here we go!

Kotoura-San:

My thoughts on the show in a nutshell

"Hey wait a second, this wasn't on my the winter season first impressions!" Well that's what usually happens with me and anime seasons, sometimes I happen to hear enough of a show mid season to make me want to check it out. for the fall season last year it was for Kokoro Connect, and for this season its for Kotoura-san. I avoided this show initially because it seemed like it was going to be the drama of some girl with psychic powers and there'd be crying every 5 seconds. In a way it still very much is, but I decided to give it a shot after nonchalantly watching a video from Jesu Otaku who described it as "funny as fuck". I don't find myself to be someone who matches her tastes in anime to a tee (hell I mostly watch the reviews on that site for entertainment most of the time) but that description made me curious and I'm glad I was.

Since I'm sure most of you have probably seen the show (and if you haven't take advantage of the myanimelist link I put in the shows title) I'll proceed to talk about it disregarding spoilers and without plot summary. In a way I could see what she was talking about as in the beginning dramatic part I was pretty much banging my chair asking why Kotaru san didn't simply keep her trap shut and so the expected discrimination came. The only time I felt any true sympathy for her was when her mom pretty much tells her she wish she never gave birth to her and ditches her. Then there were a few more scenes just to show how much life seems to hate her to which, I will be honest, I sorta laughed when no one would even let her take care of a damn cat. However none of that is particularly the reason why I enjoy the show, its the moment when the Kotaru, now in high school and is pretty much in 'fuck the world mode' anticipates all of her classmates negative thoughts against her and then she looks at the guy who she has to sit next to and she sees....

THIS

  a large green flag showed up for me that I was going to like this.

I like my goofball characters and the fact that this guy is the main and has such a great interaction with Kotaru made this a very easy Marathon venture yesterday. Even though there is some drama, which after that beginning was to be expected in my eyes, I didn't find it as annoying as I thought I would, it ain't perfect but good enough.

Oureshura: Normally with the new set of characters in these harem shows, its at the point where I get ready to start liking the show a little less, however I'm oddly not having that effect here. I suppose that's because in there own right new characters Himeka and Ai have been pretty funny to me, which I didn't see coming. I have to say that's all it has going for it though there wasn't anything particularly eventful after the 'burning fighting fightah' episode, and Masuzu's possible story arc isn't being handled that well in my opinion. It merely keeps coming up in short bursts within the humor and Himeko's appearance, this was the worst in episode 7 where there was supposed to be an emotional moment for Masuzu but it made Himeka the focus all of a sudden. While I do enjoy Eita stepping up to defend the members of his harem, pacing for that scene made it hard for me to fully appreciate it. I'm still watching since I find it to be one of the funnier shows I'm watching this season but I seriously don't expect it to be anything special in the long run, which is better than what I can say for some other shows...

Tamako Market: If anything else the show is charming enough, and thanks to Mochiyucky and some inklings of an overall plot, it isn't boring me like K-on. I can probably assume that the show is trying to subtly build up to something from episode to episode, as the song Tamako sings and certian other things seem to be dropped off from episode to episode, wether it will have any pay off or not is to be seen but I do think the show is holding something back and I'm curious enough to see what it is. I'm not the the type to be disturbed by moe or anything I just don't want to be bored (ala K-on) and this show is definetly a step above it, it ain't Nichijou or Chuu2 and it sure as hell ain't Hyouka or Haruhi but its enough to keep me watching for a while.

Mayoyuu: Admittedly, I'm kind of behind on this series, as for why, well I find it hard to fixate my full attention to this show. It has interesting Ideas and all but that's it, my charm with the Maou and the Hero has been decreasing and I'm finding very little to care about. the last episode I remember seeing was when the Hero was about to go into demon world to help his mage friend. I still plan to keep some tabs on it but I really can't get motivated enough with this series...I hear people keep comparing it to some other show, I wonder if that's more fun...

Haganai NEXT: I'm not finding this to be as funny as the previous season to be honest. It does have its momments, there are a few small points that I'm interested in seeing and my fimilarity with the series but that's really all that's keeping me from dropping this season.

Attack on titan:

I posted a section about some manga I got with gift card money and Attack of the titan was one of those titles. I had heard of this series for a while and after seeing a pretty kick ass trailer for it I decided to buy volume one and...yeah you guys know that I'm interested in the series so watching the anime is pretty much a no brainier. I should probably buy volume two before it debuts though...

To aru kagaku no railgun S:

I think its pretty obvious that I'm a fan of Index at this point but I have a love/hate relationship with its spin off railgun. I found season 1 to be mostly boring and annoying due to more Kuroko screen time, and I felt like I got gypped as the biribiri screen time I was initially hoping for turned out to be slice of life shenanigans. Its not like I have an issue with slice of life but I wanted Misaka to do more things involving the dark side of academy city or do SOMETHING that was relevant. We have a magic vs. science scenario on our hands and we're just flipping skirts and putting up with Kuroko? "WHAT A WASTE!" I thought (though I did like Misaka's additional moments with Touma and her fight with the giant fetus)

This time however its different. I fortunately read the manga (which I feel is better despite character designs) and found a little gem of an arc that focuses on Misaka's first encounter with the sisters and the level 6 shift project. "FINALLY!!" I thought, THAT was what I wanted! And to add whipped creme on, Kuroko has pretty minimal screen time here! the only down side is that I know how its gonna end since I saw Index and while I don't have an issue with the conclusion, it kinda stunk that the best part about the series in my opinion had to borrow that heavily from the main series...at least the arc afterwards has proven interesting enough...

Yamamoto 2199:

Doing a bit of reaserch, it this is a reboot of one of those anime classics that's been out for a while now and I suppose this is the continuation. As with Minami Ke, I cannot enter this blindsided and will have to see the reboot from the begining.

Oreimo season 2:

Eh....I suppose...

As you can tell from my tone I wasn't especially a fan of season 1, which mostly goes to Kirino just being unlikable to me (again, from a guy who can tolorate f**king Haruhi) however the characters around her were likable enough and the last few extra episodes that ended after the series first run were pretty fun. The more I think about it the more I'm willing to check this one out. It will overall depend on how much I can deal with Kirino, but that's the joy of having a sizable cast, if you don't like one character, you can pay more attention to the other ones.

As for the OVA's and Films the only ones noteworthy for me is the Setokai Yakuindomo OVA, which is stuck in the Kissxsis OVA cycle apparently and that thing that wasn't my childhoo- I mean DBZ movie. All I can say for both is that I'll look at them when they come out, talk about them as well as their overall series abit but these are hardly series worth writing multiple paragraphs over in the name of speculation. That's all for now so til next time;

Later!

Blog of a manga reader #1: Deck the hauls

As you can tell from the dated punny title I had intended to publish this around new years but....that didn't happen... the point it through the wonderful present of gift cards I basically went to the nearest bookstore and got as much manga as I could get my grubby little hands on and with the exception of one series (that's another post for another time) I'm here to talk about some of my pick ups and what I think of them!

Soul Eater Not! Vol. 2:

For those of you who heard of Soul Eater, this is the spin off series that Ohkubo is simultaneously serializing along with soul eater (which is more or less closer to its ending anyway I suppose) to summarize it; its Soul Eater moe-ified...kind of... I suppose it'd be better if I explain...

Soul Eater Not focuses on Tsumugi, a new character along with select others for this tale who is a demon weapon and is looking for a partner. She isn't particularly good at transforming so she's taking her sweet time in deciding on whether ditsy Meme, Rich girl Anya or possibly someone completely different will wield her as her Mister. Of course, that thing happens when cute girls get together and do wacky things...can't think of the word though...

Now despite my snide description, I don't dislike SEN and in fact found this volume to be decently entertaining. I'll quit my boyscout manga reader act for a moment and confess that since I saw half of the volume's material online beforehand not too long before I bought this that it was a bit difficult for me to tread through that again, however that's not to say there isn't good content as the volume goes over how Jacqueline and Kim became partners as well as the Thompson sisters while they were still in their gangster state of mind trying to fit into getting a job. All the while our three mains are somehow involved, a tad more so with Kim (given she and her allies get shoved off into the backdrop most of the time) but both are interesting looks into characters whose pasts were merely glossed over in the original series. There are a few scuffles that serve as action in this series, but its mainly used to show the difference in abilities our leads have compared to other more well known characters (and some we don't know). Its also pretty funny, the humor that you would expect from soul eater is very much still here as well as Ohkubo's greatly improved and distinctive art style. If there's anything however that may sell you on the series, its that it can make shit real, which is most apparent in the last few chapters of the manga and readers should be very well assured that while Ohkubo may be making a slice of life spin off with cutesy girls, he doesn't intend to do it the normal way...

What? you thought I'd tell you what that was? No way, I'm no spoiler!

As for our main trio, they're likable enough, Tsumugi who is the main-est of them all is something of the timid every girl surrounded by more incredible people around her (such as Maka who she along with others of the main cast appear frequently) and wants to be able to stand among them. Not an original trait, but certainly one to gain readers sympathy. Meme...can't remember jack for shit, which can be really amusing or tiring depending on the reader (I'm on the former myself). And Anya is sort of like Sena, in which she may have a bit of an Ojou sama facade, but really just wants to be friends with Tsumigi and Meme & is pretty clueless on how the real world works...However there are a few more things to her that make her stand out from the trope as she actually takes initiative for most of the series action and that while she has her Ojou act up, she doesn't act like she's Superior to others(totally). They all share a pretty fun dynamic, which I think is better shown in volume 1 than two, however chapters 12 & 13 show this best in my opinion. All in All if you're into Soul Eater its a pretty fun read.

Itsuwaribito Vol. 2 - 3:

Haven't heard of this series? More or less not surprising considering there hardly seems to be any scanlation sites out there that have this title and you can only get to it the legal way (or just use the book store as your own library...if you can get away with that...cheap bastards...)

This is a shounen Sunday series about Utsuho Azako, a boy whose naive truthfulness has lead him to the demise of his family and was left as an orphan in a village chock full of them run by a monk. After his village gets raided the Monk later inspires the boy to help people, but not like some honest chump who gets played, but with Lies! Its pretty simple so far I'm  getting somewhat of a naruto vibe from it (which I've been finally giving a chance through revived toonami) but I'm having more fun here. Utsuho is without a doubt a lying bastard, treating his enemies like absolute shit and even tricks his allies if it means it'll get the job done and that will get some mixed opinions from readers, but as for me I like it, its amusing to my inner Jerkass.

First thing to know about this series: Its Violent. To be honest Death is pretty damn apparent and somewhat underplayed in this series; being that it doesn't feel as though the MCs could die at any minute if they make a wrong move like in, say HxH or another series I'll bring up, but when people die, they are DEAD. We haven't tackled much into the supernatural side of the series yet but when it does show up it'll help me determine more of what sort of series it will truly become in that regard.

During the spans of these volumes its what you'd expect from a shounen, Solving various one off cases, building up the group of allies with only small hints of what may lie towards the future. I myself can see why people get fed up with this sort of thing but I don't hate it, in fact I actually like a story to take its time to mold itself properly. As for major things to make note of, while it was amusing it was also a tad disheartening to see Dr. Yakuma, our resident serious type and medic who specializes in surgery, become the sort of Furuichi or Shimpachi to Utsuho's antics. Again, its not like I don't find it funny, I merely worry that we wouldn't get anymore into his character, which is pretty much tossed aside since it's sprinkled throughout the volumes that he has a goal which is to find a cure for some unknown ailment for a certain patient. Anyone with a brain stem who's seen these types of series knows there's more to it, but that's all the more fun for later I suppose. The hard for me to hate, though admittedly useless mascot character Poochi may have something in store for him later due to the fact that he is apparently a spiritual creature and his kind has the ability to transform, but for readers wanting character development or anything, good luck with that. Our newest character Neya hasn't done anything outstanding yet, and isn't going to win any best original female leads of the year either, but I don't find her annoying (which is always a good trait in any character) she adds a bit to the group dynamic and there's always the possibility of the future....of which I'm behind on by five volumes.

Itsuwaribito hasn't done anything noteworthy in these volumes but as every shonen fan knows, it takes a bit for these types of series to really hit their core and it is entertaining. If you see it in your local bookstore Give it a test out read and from there its up to you!

Attack on titan Vol. 1:

Well that was....something...

Here's the thing about Dark series I don't care for: they can get so muddled up in their own madness that they begin to make less and less sense and that psychological aspect they try to go for is completely gone and it simply becomes un-enjoyable or even laughable. I am not having that problem with this series so far, but its only volume 1...and what a first volume it was...

The story this time revolves around a time where mankind is civilized behind a series of long, massive walls in ever constant fear of the giant man eating humanoids known as Titans. Eren is a boy turned to young man who wants to join the survey crops so he can explore the outside world and not feel like he's forced to live under overwhelming fear of the giants. All in All the story's basically about Humanity's struggle against these monsters.

Y'know, when I get into a series I like to know that it has a sense of grit. Y'know,  that no matter what the overall theme or tone is, its ready to get serious to prove its point and get the readers invested more into whats going on. Does this series have that? Hell no! Why have some pussy ass Grit when you can have absolute DREAD?! This is supposedly a shounen series and if it is, its sense of danger kicks the ever loving SHIT out of HxH, even on its darkest days! There is hardly an ounce of positivity in this series as it makes itself very clear that anyone can die, and they will die horribly, sometimes ridiculously and without discrimination. The citizens in this story treat having to serve mere look out over the wall as a death sentence and having to be in the survey crops as downright suicide. The only and I mean ONLY source of desire to break free of their stony cages comes from Eren, and compared to the likes of Gon or Luffy, when he gets oppressed for going after his dream he gets it BAD, starting fights, getting slapped by his sister, not even is sickly timid friend is 100% with him. He's alot more brash about it to, which is a given since everybody is pretty much against him and it makes what happens in the rest of the volume all the more impactful. If you are a type not accustomed to dark stories then I would certify you with either the 'brass balls' badge or the 'sheer fuckin stupidity' badge for trying this out. Those accustomed to these types of stories however will feel right at home!

Its sort of hard to really get into the specifics of the story without spoiling anything and from what I hear the story only gets more crazy dark from volume 2 and on. If anything I can definitely say I like the aspect of  humans going up against an enemy that is vastly stronger than they are and I am interested enough to want to buy Volume 2 (after that cliffhanger who wouldn't?) I suppose I should also say something about the series art, which I skipped over the other two because it was Ohkubo and an the begining of a shonen manga so its pretty much a given what those two are like. Here the art work can be pretty decent, the faces of the humans are clear and the giants all have disturbingly human atributes to them, however its very easy to spot panels where the author seemed to leave them as near sketches like in scenes when theres alot of movement. Its not on 'Togashi's just hauling ass for WSJ' bad but its pretty glaring campared to other pannels.  Where the series may go isn't particularly clear with just the first volume but if anything is for certian its going to get darker, and how it handles that will be the key to how the series as a whole will turn out.

Thats all for now, I was going to go over another series, but I'm literally falling asleep as I type this and I wanted to get this damn section out already so until next time;

Later!

Winter season first impressions

Well as it turns out the season has some shows I can watch, but most of them are teetering on whether I'll enjoy them fully or not and there aren't any real gems I feel will leave an impact on me. Oh and about that one show I mentioned last time? Yeah, haven't heard a damn thing about it from anyone...

Haganai Next



Y'see I hang out in this place called /AMP/...on THAT side of the internet

I'll start off with my track record of this series: 25% of it wasn't enjoyable, 25% of it was simply meh, and 50% of it was enjoyable. When I went into the series I wasn't expecting much, just another boy and his tsundere lady friend series much in like in a similar vein to Haruhi and such, but the series surprised be in both a good and bad way:

THE BAD:

I hardly like Yozora or the Imouto and Index ripoff character

It had much more of a harem setup than it did of a "lets make friends" set up.

THE GOOD

-I surprisingly liked Sena despite her Ojosama tendencies as well as Rika and the reverse trap maid character

-There still was a sense of friendship finding buried within the series, and turned out to be one of the better qualities in Yozora's character(short hair FTW)

-I actually did find some parts of it humorous

So as far as this episode is concerned, its pretty much a mixed bag which in hindsight shouldn't surprise me much. While I did laugh at the obvious and I mean OBVIOUS baiting of Yozora and Rika into getting Sena into a ridiculous hairstyle and most of Kodaka's trip to Sena's house, there were other things I didn't really care for or just flew over my head. Those being the opening 'gag' of Sena and Yozora in wigs (though Kodaka's initial straight man reaction was enjoyable) and Sena's new found 'obsession' with wanting to get back at Yozora (and I use that word with all of its meanings). Thing is I could be positive and see this merely heading into Tom and Jerry antics which could be funny or shruggable, but when the character in question appears to get a friggin' orgasm off the idea of getting payback, you start to get a bit worried(which was apparently supposed to be a joke BTW).

All in all I'll just see where the show goes for the next 11 to 12 episodes.

Maoyuu Maou Yuusha

thank GOD those were removable

General premise sounds good on paper but if you've seen enough shows a premise can quickly downgrade into a first degree train wreck (reminds me of some show about people being trapped in a game or something like that...) Fortunately as far as this episode was concerned it was fairly enjoyable. I do have some minor nitpicks here and there, like how the hero just laxed up after finding out the demon king was just a well endowed pretty girl and how some future characters may turn out to be. However the premise was interesting and the Hero and Maou have a fun chemistry sofar and I hope that it can stay consistent with its story elements to be enjoyable as far as it intends to go. Nothing else I have to say about it really so sorry if you were expecting 3 paragraphs articulating my opinion.

Oh and if fanservice is the sort of thing to get your panties in a twist, its somehwat there. so there you go, you've been warned.

Oreshura

I'll be honest, she's the biggest reason I'm watching

Much in a similar vein to Little Busters, I read a manga incarnation of this series for a bit, then stopped and decided I'd wait for the anime. In this case I can once again disregard the manga simply because manga series based off from light novels are ALWAYS slow and normally stink in comparison to their other counterparts.

As far as this episode goes, for a person who knew what was going to happen this was a pleasant watch, If anything I can say that Masuzu is my favorite, and while some of you may find that Ironic given how I don't care for Yozora: Her antics regarding forcing MC boy Eita into a false relationship is more interesting and it opens the door for possible character chemistry between the two that can be funny and intruiging while Yozora is pretty much a cynical arse to everyone. Basicly its her inclusion into this that makes the show much more interesting to watch as I really don't feel eitherway towards our Chiwa and Eita seems to have enough in him to a fun bounce off to her personality. However this is the kind of show that can start off interesting enough but not carry itself through (Hm...thinking of that show again...) So I'll be sticking around to see how this holds up for future episodes.

Bakumatsu Gijinden Roman

As far as a show that I feel has been consistently enjoyable to watch throughout the episode, I'd say this is it...or I would if only it weren't for....well...

THAT

If there is anything I learned today, its that you shouldn't count your chickens before they hatch. I was watching the episodes as I was writing this on, and due to my crappy video player it stopped at one point and so I while I was waiting for it to reload I had a whole section typed out:

Sofar its a simple story of a guy who acts as a helper during the day and during the night acts as a sort of robin hood like thief who takes back things that have been stolen from the weak, as showcases the very opening scene. Now there isn't really anything ground breaking here, but you don't always have to be ground breaking in my book and you can make good marks by simply being fun to watch which this episode was. I like our Protagonist Roman, who's the sort of good hearted loser everyman that viewers can like and his sister, while having her fair share of violent outbursts toward Roman hasn't irritated me yet so that's good and from the looks of it Roman's got a whole group going in his escapades so we'll probably find out more about them later.

And around here is where I saw the last parts of the episode:

Now like I said the ep was pretty simple, after the opening act, the emperor tries to figure out how to get his cash back, he hires some happy slashers to cut up towns people at random and have them pay for protection and So Roman goes into action and steals back the smiles of the citizens by...going super sentai on their asses? At first I thought this was a joke, but since he cut through a friggin building at the end I'm left wanting to figure out just how the hell he did that.

Its a pretty decent example of how one scene can screw over an entire piece, and while I have no problem with supernatural antics being thrown in, it felt so much like a scene out of power rangers rather than a special power he's been keeping secret that I can't help but feel it mixes in with the earlier parts of the episode and theivery theme like water and oil.

 Simply put, whether or not it'll simply be explained next week or a plot point is beyond me and it may be the thing that determines wether I'll keep watching or not.

Tamako Market

If I were lazy enough, I'd use this picture to represent my feelings on this show

I initially didn't feel like checking the show out, because from the image pieces and previews alone it looked like it would be more of  K-on ish sort of show, and nothing against people who like their Moe or K-on, but I found the show terribly boring.

As for the episode itself, it was amusing if anything else, much more so than I ever found K-on but at the same time I haven't found anything that I think is especially fantastic. If I can say anything surpised me, its that the bird seems to be the center of focus, which is a GODSEND, and while the episode primarly focused on his antics with the people around the girl, hit and miss as they were humour wise, we do get something at the end. Basically this bird is supposed to be on somesort of mission or whatever and by the time new years reaches the end of the episode his eyes turn into a projector and we see a man from the tropic reigons saying 'Tara'. Now from what I can expect, this Bird's job will be the overlying plot...in the background of Kyoani's brand of moe pandering of course...or who knows maybe we will focus more on the plot...or perhaps it'll acctually be funny throughout. At the momment it isn't clear enough to tell where the story will go and how it'll get there and I'll have to stick around a few more eps for that. If there's any positives to this, Hyouka started out in a very similar way, and now I love that show.

That about wraps it up for me, next time I'll be talking about some of my personal favorite shows from last year and a few manga series that I picked up from the bookstore (ah the sweet joy of giftcards) I'll also be talking about things such as the future of this blog and what I intend to do with it in the means of scheduling and content. I'm too busy in real life to be blogging each individual episode at the momment but I am planning something, so be patient all 2 of you who acctually read this!

Later!

My Pre-Winter anime season thoughts

Y'know how I said that I wanted to start blogging about anime seasonally when the winter anime of 2012/13 officially started? Well looking at the list I forgot that this was a sleeper season...

Show wise; this season looks to be about the same as every other winter season for the last two years since I began paying attention to such a thing: A bunch of shows that don't seem to interest me in the slightest and having to rely on word of mouth as well as some sequels I've never seen the beginning to.

2011 did in fact bring us Madoka Magica; which is loved and revered by almost every anime fan out there, heck even though I don't worship it, I do like it and agree it has alot to offer its viewers. However I was really late into giving the show a chance because it was a magical girl show; and I don't like magical girl shows and probably never will. I did watch a few other shows that year, looking forward most for Beelzebub since I love the manga, however the only other show that survived that year for me was Gosick, because Beelzebub not only failed to live up to the manga; it actually ruined a perfectly good chance to get an awesome reputation and proceeded to make the show so screen punchingly worse, I even tend to get mad just by looking at animation frames and clips from it!

You haven't the slightest idea how hard it was not to imitate this

2012 was even more dull for me; the only shows I really grew fond of were waiting in the summer and Daily lives of high school boys *Come on! Season 2 damn it!* I didn't really know about or was interested in the Zero series; I have never seen bakemonogatari to get into nisemonogatari; I'm not into horror much so that ruled out Another; and even though I heard listen to me girls I'm your father wasn't the disgusting uncle falling in love with his WAY UNDER AGED cousins series I thought it was, I heard it had a pretty lack luster ending. (though I'm still willing to give it a shot...eventually) Everything else didn't really catch my interest in the slightest.

A truly captivating and mentally engaging tale with the upmost mature themes and subtle context

So now with 2013; the only title I'm familiar with is the Hanagai series and while I thought season one was not that bad, I didn't find it all that great either. The only thing it has going for it is the conclusion of season 1 which has me slightly curious but nonetheless I'm not expecting much but a few laughs. As for other shows nothing in particular caught my eye of interest; the Savanna game seems like it might be interesting but I'll have to find trailers first. I'm really betting on Chihayafuru taking the place of best anime that season; even though I haven't seen season 1 yet (damn, those EYES) I hear it being loved my many and I expect to see Enzo typing away as the episodes go by. As for me, I'll take the time to catch up on Space Brothers and gain an opinion on the Chihayafuru series myself through season 1. All in all Show wise this doesn't seem like it'll be that big of a season for me, which means I'll have to figure out what to blog about to fill up the free space if we don't get a bunch of surprise hits or whatnot.

Movie wise this season is a different story. I have four, count them, FOUR movies to look forward to, even though I'll probably be out in college at the time they actually become accessible for me to see. Ok fine, about three of them are shounen series, and one has very shounen tendencies, but unlike a lot of oh so high and mighty anime fans, I actually LIKE these series because I find them fun and easy to enjoy.



Excitement x and x anticipation

The two movies I'm more excited to see are Hunter x Hunter: The phantom rouge and A certain magical index's film. Hunter x Hunter is a very kickass shounen series, incorporating mind games, suspense and more complexity into its story and action. Its not Shakespeare, no, but nothing is exactly easy come easy go, and if it is its f***ed up in some way shape of form. Also it seems as though Togashi is acctualy doing something with this, releasing a two part special going into Kurapika's past as a wee lad. A certain magical index? Hey, I just think its a fun series to kill boredom with, especially with what I've recently been reading in the light novels, which make me question calling it a guilty pleasure or not. Either way I'm in it for the spectacle, and index don't disappoint there.

This has nothing to do with the movie, I just thought it looked pretty.

The other two movies; One Piece film Z and Blue Exorcist the Movie have streamed an increasing amount of previews re-piquing my interest in both. With One Piece I was going to watch movie Z regardless because its one of my top 3 favorite shounen series, especially from Jump(other two being HxH and Beelzebub). However Its had 10 movies before this one and so the excitement of two other series I love getting their first movie dwarfed out my excitement here. After loosing some of my glimmer with HxH after it was revealed it would be a different telling of the phantom troupe arc however I began to look more into this movie, all I can say is this: it looks to be pretty damn interesting, if you are a one piece fan of course. Part of me knows not to get too hyped over it since there's only so much that can be done in 90 minutes, and of course, its the 'non-conical shounen movie', but still my excitement for this film grew as time went on. I'm still positive HxH will be the best film out of them all but I'll jump that hurdle when I come to it.

Only a OP fan can truly appreciate this piece.

Ao no Exorcist on the other hand was a bit of a different story. After having that let down of an ending filler arc for the TV series, I really wasn't that psyched about this series getting a movie, thinking it was going to get the 'Conqueror of Shamballa' treatment. Fortunately I was wrong, it's a completely new tale that looks interesting and doesn't seem to have the slightest of tides with the ending (Yukio ain't rockin the elf ears? ALRIGHT!) From what I gather about the plot its about Rin befriending some demon he met that's voice by Rie Kugimiya or some shit like that, I'm just glad we aren't going to follow up on that god awful ending!

This picture is beautiful, just the right amount of elf ears.

But as I said, It'll probably be far into the other half of 2013 before I see any of these films probably, with any luck I just might see Film Z and Ao no exorcist by the end of august, but  for the stuff I'll really be looking forward too, I'll be trying to adapt to collage life... So in the mean time I'll have to see for myself how the winter season may turn out. It might bring a few shows that surprise me, or just bring up the perfect time to catch up to space brothers.

26 more episodes to go!

Til next time;

Later!

The interview I wish I could have conducted: Kamachi Kazuma (A certian Magical index)

I sure as hell didn't conduct this interview but considering its the author for one of my favorite light novel series, I suppose I'd be a nice ramble to respond to some of the things shown. Mind you this isn't a recent one (if there are any I'd love to see them) as this is was placed back when we were only on volume 13

1. Ha, wow that's probably the most simple straight-forward way to describe your own series I've ever heard.

2. I suppose one really can't half ass behind the scene characters like that, though its good to know that hard work goes into making us curious about Aleister. Stiyl honestly hasn't been one of my favorite characters ever but he has his moments, which is in huge contrast to Tsuchimikado who's one of those characters I enjoy seeing getting screen (or page?) time. Their manipulation and how much of a tool they consider Touma is something I've always considered funny, especially in volume 17. It must feel nice having the easiest character to write be everyones favorite ever.

Easy to write, easy to like

3. Scenes with Touma being serious like that I find badass in general (regardless of others opinions on his character and minus a few speeches) and while I personally liked the "brofist" better that was pretty damn cool in of itself as well.

Catching or intercepting, which do you prefer?

4. Hm, I actually don't remember a part like that, but considering I saw the anime version of this arc I guess stuff can get cut out...either that or its a scene that's pretty obvious to notice and I missed it completely...


5. Hm, even he himself gets confused on how the relationships between characters works... its odd I'm not sure if I should laugh at how similar it is for myself or if it should lead me to be worried about the story...

6. Interesting, though I guess its a given that its easier to write things you yourself don't have to make concepts for.

7. 'Powerless Kamijou' oh how many people disagree with you. Even still that's the mindset I typically go into the series with and its been fun for me, and seeing Misaka get real glimpses of the dark side of academy city has been what's saved Railgun from being a completely pointless manga read for me (I still could care less for the anime other than extra ToumaxBiribiri momments).



Only reason I bothered with railgun




8.  Well I suppose we have an idea on who the end girl may be...(damn friend zone). Orsola for wife? Hm, I like the idea of that....



Wife material? I certainly don't hold any objections : 3



9. Nice to see someone take note of that. While I myself like younger protagonist from a childish dream of mine to have younger characters do badass things, I would like to see some varied ages in protagonists, as I have seen some older characters who are entertaining.

I can't speak for silent guts though...

10. Reading this "Large Movement" myself, I can safely say it kicks ass.

Interviews like this are pretty fun to read once in a while, you get to learn some nice trivia facts and you're reminded the creator is human too which is both a relief yet worry at the same time as you don't want really stupid mistakes in the story you enjoy. Still this was back when I guess they were only on volume 12-13 and since I've enjoyed every volume from 14 and up with little to no complaints, I suppose I don't have much to worry about.

There were two other interviews on the Wiki, the first simply had me fall to my knees and thank God that he spared me from being on the same plane of existence where Kuroko was a main protagonist of anything. The other was alot more interesting, involving the some insight as to the orgins of Touma, Index, Misaka and Accelerator. For as little as she appears in the series, Kazuma does really seem to like Index, is COMPLETELY aware of how many shounen character tendencies Touma has (there's a slight crack at that in volume 20 in fact) and as stated writes Misaka with ease, Ironically talk on her was pretty brief. Accelerator (of course) had a interesting tale behind his character design, given what role he would play was-kind of- there yet he had no 'physical' form yet and Haimura sort of came up with it himself. Such stories really make me think back to just how the heck I came up with some of the characters I made up for my various personal projects (Hey, I don't Just write fanfics y'know!) as well as the ones for my fanfic, but that's another post for another time.

On the note for the artist Haimuru, I really have enjoyed some of his work for index, especially some of the scarce few pictures I've seen for new testament. there is one picture which has some character on the phone with this beautiful skyline behind her. It was clearly a anime character design yet the way he drew it as well as the sense of shading made it have a sense of real-ness to it, which is something that I try to practice in my own work along side my tendency to draw more cartoonish things (I still haven't practiced making background art though...)

Haimaru's true self (lawl)

I suppose my next post will involve my own self commentary on my abilities as a writer (artist? Maybe, but I have a deviant art filled to the brim with self-bashing on my abilities) but til then;

Later!

A rundown of the fall season (! Warining the article contains opinions. Approach with caution. !)

I was initially going to give my thoughts on the upcoming winter season for anime 2013; but I figured that'd be jumping the gun, so for now I'll give a rundown of what I've thought of the fall season, which for three years has always been he season to bring me enjoyable shows.

Bakuman 3
This season has been shown to be just as enjoyable as the last two, an entertaining behind the scenes look at creating and publishing manga. This show in particular was something of a love at first sight, once I found out what the premise was I dived right in. The drama to me isn't anything particularly special when focusing on the characters real life struggle, but it does its job to separate itself from a straight out commentary. All in All I'm in the series for the manga making and I enjoy plot lines relating to that the most (except the hospital arc in season 2, that was rather stupid in my opinion) Recently after an odd plot surrounding Himaru the subplot has subtly set up the building blocks to an arc that has piqued my interest since I accidentally read a few random chapters of it via manga. I know the plot of the arc, I get what the big deal this time is, and I even know how it ends, however this is a similar vein in one piece for me regarding the DVDs I've been collecting. I may know WHAT but not WHY and HOW and once I catch a glimpse of those I feel the conclusion will be all the more satisfying.

Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!
This is one of those odd shows for me, I initially thought the premise would be more of a dark and serious tale from the images shown, and after the joyful experience of watching Hyouka, I thought Kyoani was just getting started... but then I saw the actual plot summary and lite episodes and realized they probably banked for Hyouka to be their...how should I put it? 'layered' show? the first 6 eps were pretty enjoyable and it was funnier than I expected and episode 7 showed it had some actual heart to offer and MAYBE a plot, y'know, just maybe. I have yet to see episode 8 yet, but I'll be sure to cover it in a series overview sometime before the year ends.

Hayate no Gotoku!: Can't Take My Eyes Off You
I'll be totally honest, I'm a tad behind on the show, only on episode 4 or 5. It isn't that I hate the show or anything, it is oddly funny in that hayate way that is hardly the best comedy for me but works anyway. I still like a good chunk of the characters (except for naggy sanzenin) so overall its alright to kill time and get a few laughs, however I can't get the feeling somewhere is off in the art department. I don't know but its hard to enjoy your favorite character getting a whole episode to herself (episode 3) when her face tends to look as though its dead. Oh well I haven't caught up to the manga yet so I was just curious about the mangaka being involved in the production and feeling safe to watch because it was an original story. Still don't explain some characters and that shack behind the mansion in episode 2

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure
Logic? Whats that? No, a better question would be who gives a fuck?

Little Busters!
Well when you randomly stroll manga sites sometimes you wind up with these weird 4komas that make you curious what the hell the actual series is and...here I am. I haven't really played the games and I don't have any beef against JC staff as a studio (what can I say they gave me toradora, Bakuman and Index) So the show has been enjoyable to watch. Given this is a Key series (it was proven last arc) I'm still waiting for that big thing to happen. The last arc was alright but it was clearly rushed and while I did pity Komari well...it was out of the fact that what she was going through made me think of how pathetic of a life it would be to live with that particular issue. No many tears were shed though I'd be surprised if ANYONE shed any.

Magi
ALL RIGHT! Y'now when you walk around the block of the Internet anime community you realize just how many cynical fuckers there are in the world especially those who ever-constantly diss shounen series. I'm obviously was not one of those people but I haven't felt as if I found a really 'fun' one in quite a while. Sure Ansatsu Kyoushitsu is very fun (which I'll be covering on the blog sometime) but I'm talking about the sort of fun that seems to turn you back into a ten year old feeling ready for each episode with enthusiasm. In a nutshell Magi is that series. We're still going through the slow start these series typically have, but its done its job in making me like the characters, toss out a few interesting people and concepts to keep in mind for the future and for just flat out being an adventure series in a interesting setting. I could go on and on by what I mean when I say 'adventure series' but that'd take way too long. In short Magi's one of those series I've been the most eager about and after seeing episode 8 I'm more reaffirmed of that than ever.

Psycho-Pass
I know who the director is, he's the one who worked on Madoka Magica which was one of the best shows of an otherwise sleeper winter season back in 2011, however I was more detracted from the series if anything. Episode 1 was just trying way too hard to be 'dark and edgy' for me to care. It isn't like the concept isn't interesting but that entire first episode I was waiting for someone to stop bullshitting and get the damn job done already. Episode 2 and 3 are MUCH better and while I am behind I still haven't heard anything big yet. Still, if the increase in quality and enjoyment doesn't drop from the rest of the shows run, I may actually like it alot... or have a thesis topic for why I don't always attract to everything that tries to be 'dark and edgy'

Robotics;Notes
This is the one of the REAL interesting shows for me this season. The pacing is just right with a plot that's slowly but surely unfolding, has a good amount to speculate about and there isn't one character who makes me want to face palm into my living room's glass coffee table. In fact the characters help make the show for me; Kai makes for a great lead as main character, Aki is genki enough to where I like her but it doesn't get on my nerves and she actually seems to share an interesting past along with Kai and other characters have been serving their purpose well and in entertaining fashion. I'll admit I was skeptical to give this a shot; it looked mecha and I'm not that big on mecha (except the Eva films and Gurren Lagan) and unlike a good mass majority I Have yet to see Steins;Gate so was worried about ruining the plot of that for myself (that just may bite me in the ass later though) but as of now I'm glad I gave it a shot.

Shinsekai yori
Another actually interesting show is this one slightly behind by two episodes I find myself intrigued by it yet still unsure of where we're heading. Where ever it may be I look forward to it and hope THIS isn't the show I have to make that thesis on, I have a hard enough time trying to keep some of the info dump they toss at me I feel like I'll just stumble over everything! How did I decide to give it a try you ask? Eh, basically was on a whim, besides I like stories that try to have children characters in large, complicated and possibly dangerous settings.

Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun
I have to say, I've never been a fan of shoujo, it wasn't anything in particular but as a manga person for the time I didn't find too many of the plots interesting, and I was always turned off by how large and glittery the characters eyes would seem, not to mention all the guys seemed like rapist I'd keep 30 meters away from. Well I think I can officially say I'm ready to give Shoujo the long deserved chance its earned from me. Along side Magi this has been a series I just have fun with, its definitely funny enough and main couple are both Odd-jobs...I LOVE odd-jobs! Plus theres a chicken. Chickens make everything better.

Obligatory pic: check.

Well that's my rundown of the shows I'm watching this season, I'll probably touch up on them again in the overview of the year sometime in December when most of them get around to either ending or their halfway point. Til then or whenever I post next;

Later!