Summer 2012

as usual, all biased opinions ahead.

all biased opinions are up!

Hakuouki Reimeiroku
third season! need i say more? more Souji (CV Morikubo Showtaro) is always great. and one that you don't need to see him die of TB is even better. since this is a prelude to the original game/anime, we'll get to see the story of how the Shinsengumi was originally formed by Shogunate.

hmm, does that mean Seki Tomokazu's Ryuunosuke character is supposed to take over Chizuru's (CV Kuwashima Houko)?

Spring 2012

as usual, will be blogging each new Spring series as i watch them. all biased opinions ahead.

all biased opinions are up!

Tsuritama
with Irino Miyu and Sugita-san reuniting (after Danshi) for this, i didn't even have to consider watching; this is already a MUST-WATCH. a little different from Irino's previous "alien" show, since he's the self-proclaimed alien this time round. the scene-stealer? Akira (CV Sugita-san) and his duck Tapioca. it's funny to see him talking to Tapioca, not to mention with four SPs at his beck and call.

Sakamichi no Apollon
the return of a music-based show to the NoitaminA block? hell yeah! after Nodame Cantabile ended, we haven't had any good music devoted show in the block for ages. i've never been that familiar with jazz music, always confused between jazz and blues, so this is a good chance to learn and enjoy, much like how Nodame made me appreciate classical music.

Jormungand
an emotionless child soldier Jonah (CV Tamura Mutsumi) with a too-cheerful female arms dealer Koko (CV Itou Shizuka) and her staff of ex-military veterans. lots of guns, outrageous car chases and beautiful beautiful visuals. Ep1 doesn't give you the slow character introduction, it gets that over and done with in the first 5 minutes, then continues to keep you in captivated with loads of action and also some laughs in between. i'm sure we'll get to the actual story soon, but in the meantime, just keep me entertained with the car chases.

thoughts before Spring 2012

with the exception of Aquarion EVOL and Moretsu Pirates, i've finished all other Winter series last week in preparation for the new Spring season.

four Weekly Shonen Jump series ended last week,
1) Bakuman (no worries, there's still season 3 in Fall)
2) Bleach (total-drag-thank-goodness-it-finally-ended)
3) Beelzebub (my first surprise ending)
4) Gintama' (shocker!)

i'm still reeling from the shock of Gintama' ending. something i really couldn't accept especially with the news coming only a week before the last episode. since i don't follow the manga, i can't be too sure whether it is because the anime have caught up to the manga chapters. but at least, or i hope, this will not be the end of Gintama. the last episode still gave me a small glimmer of hope that there could still be some continuation somewhere in the near distant future, even though what was posted on WSJ sounded like there would never ever have anymore Gintama anime.

with four WSJ series wrapped up, we only get 2 replacements, Medaka Box and Kuroko no Basuke.

Spring 2012 is HUGE!! of the 50 shows, i already have 20 which i would definitely catch their first episode. whether or not i will continue on watching, will have to be determined after that.

Spring 2012 also comes with the much anticipated Fate/Zero continuation!! another sequel is Kimi to Boku, but we all know everyone is more excited about Fate/Zero.

finally, even with 20 new shows, i've started watching Naruto Shippuunden. something to fill in the hollow that Gintama left.

Winter 2012

as per Fall season, will be blogging each new Winter series as i watch them. all biased opinions ahead.

all biased opinions are up!

Inu x Boku SS
because of her family's wealth and power, Ririchiyo (CV Hidaka Rina) had always have problems fitting in anywhere. to get away from her family's influence, she decides to move out on her own. at her new apartment, aside from meeting her childhood Renshou (CV Hosoya Yoshimasa) and the other residents, she also meets her personal Secret Service (SS) agent, Soushi (CV Nakamura Yuuichi). these agents are assigned to each resident, who like them are all half-blood ayakashi, to protect them against full-blood demons who wants to kill them. although she is resistant to the idea of a bodyguard/butler at her side, Soushi is very "persuasive", so much as to even say that she can treat him like her dog.



if the name of the building, Maison de Ayakashi, isn't obvious enough that demons are involved, you can see most of the characters in their true forms in the last 5 minutes of Ep01. from Soushi transforming into kyuubi, Renshou into Ittan-momen, Renshou's SS agent Nobara (CV Hikasa Youko) into Yuki-onna, and Karuta (CV Hanazawa Kana) into Gashadokuro.



Karuta's client, Shoukiin (CV Sugita Tomokazu), hasn't been introduced yet, and he will most likely be the main third wheel in possibly budding relationship of our main couple seeing that he is Ririchiyo's fiancé. but hey, he is still voiced by Sugita-san so i'm expecting lots of laughter from him anyway. in case you think Inu is drama, it isn't. more like a cross between Kamisama no Memochou and Nekogami Yaoyorozu, with Ririchiyo and Soushi taking over Alice and Narumi's roles, swapping the cat gods for ayakashi, add in some romance, all done in a relatively light-hearted mood. even the part when the characters were turned into their ayakashi form to confront the burglar was pretty comical, with Karuta completely pwn-ing him.

they're still holding on to what Ririchiyo's true form is and i am very interested to know what kind of ayakashi she is. more importantly, Miyano Mamoru is also in the casting and he hasn't appeared yet! so yes, i definitely will be watching this. hohoho.

2011 Anime round-up

anime series i've followed through in 2011.

Winter 2011 (Jan-Mar 2011)
01) Kimi ni Todoke II
02) Mitsudomoe Zouryouchuu!
03) Beelzebub (on-going)
04) Infinite Stratos
05) Level E
06) Fractale
07) Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica

Spring 2011 (Apr-Jun 2011)
08) Dog Days
09) Nichijou
10) Showa Monogatari
11) Steins; Gate
12) Hanasaku Iroha
13) Yondemasu yo, Azazel-san
14) Sket Dance (on-going)
15) Sekaiichi Hatsukoi
16) A Channel
17) Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai II
18) Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai
19) Hidan no Aria
20) Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko
21) Ao no Exorcist
22) C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control
23) Gintama' (on-going)
24) 30-sai no Hoken Taiiku
25) Moshidora
26) Tiger & Bunny

Summer 2011 (Jul-Sep 2011)
27) No. 6
28) Mayo Chiki
29) Nekogami Yaoyorozu
30) Kami-sama no Memo-chou
31) Kami-sama Dolls
32) Usagi Drop
33) Sacred Seven
34) Blood-C
35) Natsume Yuujinchou San
36) Nurarihyon no Mago ~Sennen Makyou~
37) Ikoku Meiro no Croisée
38) Uta no Prince-sama — Maji Love 1000%
39) Dantalian no Shoka
40) Mawaru Penguindrum

Fall 2011 (Oct-Dec 2011)
41) Persona 4 The Animation (on-going)
42) Sekaiichi Hatsukoi Season 2
43) Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon
44) Hunter X Hunter 2011 (on-going)
45) Shinryaku!? Ika Musume
46) Fate/Zero
47) Guilty Crown (on-going)
48) Un-Go
49) Tamayura ~Hitotose~
50) Kimi to Boku
51) Bakuman.2 (on-going)
52) Working'!!
53) Chihayafuru (on-going)

forever-ongoing series (AKA WSJ series),
54) One Piece
55) Fairy Tail
56) Bleach (was ON-HOLD during the filler arc, but am watching again now that it is back to the main story)
(Sket Dance, Beelzebub and Hunter X Hunter 2011 will soon be in this list)

a very fruitful year indeed. watched close to 20 more shows compared to last year, and that's not even counting the OADs released. mainly because we had an fantastic Spring and Summer seasons, which produced some of the best shows this year.

my Top 5 favorite series for 2011, not inclusive of One Piece,
1) Usagi Drop (Rin and Daikichi never fails to lift my mood every week. Rin is so so cute.)
2) Tamayura ~Hitotose~ (for being the best slice-of-life after ARIA.)
3) Level E (the color rangers part was ok, but i love the the Prince+Yukitaka+Craft moments.)
4) Ao no Exorcist (for the male lead that is Okamoto Nobuhiko. hahaha. ok, i like the story too.)
5) AnoHana (for all the heartbreaking moments. at least everyone moved on at the end.)

Fate/Zero really should be up there, but it is incomplete since they left us at a huge cliffhanger. rest assured, it will get a placing next year.

others which i think were fantastic but didn't get in my top 5 include,
- Steins; Gate
- Tiger & Bunny
- Kimi ni Todoke II
- Yondemasu yo, Azazel-san
- Natsume Yuujinchou San
- Ikoku Meiro no Croisée

another worthy mention, Bakuman's third season has been green-lit for next fall! it's great that they decide to continue, because like i said before, the current chapters has been fantastic so far. depending on where they stop by Mar 2012, it might be the start of the Nanamine arc, whom i've already regarded as the best antagonist who doesn't even do any physical fighting at all. he just has to be a total jerk on-screen.

also immediately, Miyano Mamoru comes into mind as the perfect voice seiyuu for him, especially since Nanamine looks so much like Light from Death Note. well, i wouldn't be surprised if he really was cast. Mamoru-san is incredibly talented and this would only add to his vast portfolio.

Fall 2011

Fall has always been about lots of sequels, 5 of which i'm watching, plus the much anticipated prelude story of Fate/Stay Night, Fate/Zero. while the number is surprisingly lesser than summer, one can expect great things from this season since they look to be all quality shows.

as per Summer season, will be blogging each new Fall series as i watch them. all biased opinions ahead.

all biased opinions are up!

Chihayafuru
taken from ANN: Chihaya (CV Seto Asami) is a frank and ebullient girl who becomes fascinated by the obscure world of competitive karuta, a card game based on Japanese poetry. Introduced to the competitive style of the game by a quiet and thoughtful elementary school classmate named Arata (Hosoya Yoshimasa), the two soon become close friends. They start playing as a group with Taichi (CV Miyano Mamoru), Chihaya's smart and athletic childhood friend, until they have to part ways during middle school due to several circumstances. As their high school life begins, they meet once again.



a show that wasn't in my original intended watch-list, i found it hard not to give it a try after reading so many positive reviews and gosh was i glad i did. my initial thoughts when i read the series synopsis was, "how do you make a card game about Japanese poetry interesting?" after Ep1, i realized the focus wasn't on the game itself, but really about the characters and how playing kurata gave them a sense of belonging. especially for Chihaya and Taichi, the former who is always living under her older sister's shadow, and the latter who is under constant pressure by his mom to excel in everything he does.

of course, it helps that Taichi is voiced by Mamoru-kun, in which my internal fangirl squealed the moment i heard his voice. ohohohoho~

Persona 4 The Animation
for reasons yet unknown, Yuu (CV Namikawa Daisuke) had to move from Tokyo to stay with his uncle and his daughter in a small rural town. murders started taking place shortly after he arrives, and things get even weirder when he and his new friends, Yousuke (CV Morikubo Shoutarou) and Satonaka Chie (CV Horie Yui) are pulled into a TV at the electronic store into an alternate world where they encounter monsters known as Shadows. this however, makes Yuu awaken and summon his "persona", a large powerful being that is able to fight the Shadows on his behalf.



supposedly a faithful adaptation to the PS2 game, it really wouldn't make a difference to me since i don't actually play any video games myself. wasn't particularly impressed with Ep1, since there wasn't much happening besides the basic character and story introduction. that is, until Yuu summoned his Persona at the last 5 minutes of the episode.

there's still lots of time and space for plot development since it's a 2-concur series, and i've seen and heard enough feedback that it is pretty solid so far. as i've mentioned before, for someone that doesn't like playing actual RPG games, an anime adaptation is as good as someone playing so i can watch all the pretty graphics.

Summer 2011

as per usual, will be blogging each new Spring series as i watch them. all biased opinions ahead, so no flaming me for what i feel.

all biased opinions are up!

Dantalian no Shoka
set in early 19th century, Hugh Anthony Disward AKA Huey (CV Ono Daisuke) recently inherited his late grandfather's estate, including his prized library collection that was said to have caused much conflict between him and the rest of the family. when Huey reached his grandfather's mansion, he's surprised to find that the books aren't in the library but piled up in a hidden room surrounding a mysterious girl whom he initially thought was a doll. the girl is actually Dalian (CV Sawashiro Miyuki), the gatekeeper to the "Dantalian Bookshelf", who "houses" 900,666 phantom books of the demons.

Dalian needs to be "unlocked", there's a huge padlock on her chest, with a key which Huey's grandfather passed on to him, so that the books can be accessed for use. compared to Index, who memorizes and recites everything off her mind, this is actually comes off as a better security system. HA! not that Index is kidnapped often but having a key do have its advantages. other than the "human storeroom" part, this is entirely different from Index as it's more like resolving incidents caused by misuse of the phantom books. with Ono-san and Miyuki-chan on board as the main leads, the phantom books, set against the backdrop of historical Europe, i will definitely be watching this to the end.

No. 6
taken from ANN: Shion (CV Kaji Yuuki) is a bright teenager living a comfortable and promising life inside No. 6, one of this six remaining city-states created by The Babylon Treaty after the last great war devastated the world. On the rainy evening of his twelfth birthday, he meets a savvy adolescent who calls himself Nezumi (CV Hosoya Yoshimasa) and is desperately trying to runaway from the authorities. For helping a fugitive of the state, Shion is stripped of all his privileges. Four years later, they meet once again. For better or for worse, Shion is about to unravel the secrets guarded deep inside No. 6.

when Nezumi revealed that he is on the run from the authorities, and the part about being in a group of people that are hunted for leisure, my first thoughts were that it was somewhat similar to Deadman Wonderland, except that Deadman was even darker and more violent. both also have the over-controlling government bodies, where all citizens are kept under tight reins by the government/security system, and both also have the protagonist being framed for murder.

while i didn't continue with Deadman, too violent for my stomach to handle, No.6 has lesser violence and hopefully a much more interesting plot for me to carry on watching. (sorry, but i just can't think of killing people for entertainment as a good show.) hopefully it will start to pick up in Ep2 (i'm way behind in many of the summer shows), and we'll see the event that turned Shion's hair from black (in Ep1) to white (in the promotional images). traumatic experiences always seems to trigger these changes, like with 杨过 and 白发魔女.

BLOOD-C trailer

Production I.G + ClAMP = great work!

can't wait to see how CLAMP is going to re-adapt the story of Saya.

confirmed airing date, 7 July.

Nurarihyon no Mago ~Sennen Makyō~ trailer

Season 2 trailer.

Rikuo papa is HOT!

can't wait for Summer to start soon. hohohoho.

Spring 2011

as per usual, will be blogging each new Spring series as i watch them. all biased opinions ahead, so don't flame me for what i feel.

all biased opinions are up!

Moshidora
Minami (CV Hikasa Youko) takes over as Hodokubo High School's baseball club manager when her best friend, Yuuki (CV Hanazawa Kana), is in hospital for a long term stay due to weak health. while looking for a book that can teach her about managing a club, she accidentally bought Peter Drucker's book, "Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices", on business management instead. not intending to waste the money spent, she starts to manage the club using the book with surprisingly good results.

the usual "high school trying to get into Koshien" story, but with the focus being more on business strategies than the baseball itself. not that there isn't, just not enough. as it is now, we're actually at the end of its 2-weeks-10-episodes run. after being postponed to April 25 from its initial March 14 start date due to the Japan quake, much of the hype, at least for me, has died off. but since it's such a short run, there's no reason not to watch it either. how often do you find an anime series that completes in less than 2 weeks anyway?

30-sai no Hoken Taiiku
Hayao (CV Shimone Hiro), a 30 year old salaryman, is visited by love god Daigorou (CV Okiayu Ryotaro), who is trying all means to help him get rid of his virginity. unknown to Hayao, his love interest Natsu (CV Nazuka Kaori), also have two love goddesses Pi-chan and Ku-chan (CV Kitamura Eri) helping her.

while it isn't as hilarious as Azazel-san, it does have its funny moments, like Daigorou's constant "butt" offering and the censoring of certain words being voiced over by Tachiki Fumihiko. any longer than 15 minutes per episode, i would have grown bored of Hayao being constantly rejected by Natsu.

Gintama'
sequel to the sci-fi historical gag comedy set in an alternative Edo-era conquered by aliens called Amanto, Gintoki (CV Sugita Tomokazu) AKA Gin-san/Gin-chan, Shinpachi (CV Sakaguchi Daisuke) and Kagura (CV Kugimiya Rie) continues to work odd jobs in the Yorozuya to pay their monthly rental.

i'm not technically done with my Gintama marathon, but thought i'd better get this review over and done with. probably the first time and only time, most of my Gintama episodes are watched while doing something else in the background, reading online scans, general web surfing. and you can only do it while watching Gintama, because it is the only anime you can give half your attention, and yet still get all the jokes. plus, i like the various parodies of other anime/manga.

and Elizabeth.



everyone should like Elizabeth.

Winter 2011

as per Fall season, i will be blogging each new Winter series as i watch them. all biased opinions ahead, so please don't flame me for what i feel.

all biased opinions are up!

Fractale
taken from ANN: The story takes place in an island, where a "Fractale System" is beginning to collapse. One day, Clain (CV Kobayashi Yu) finds an injured girl called Phryne (CV Tsuda Minami) under a cliff. She disappears leaving a pendant. Clain sets out for a journey with the girl-shaped doppel Nessa (CV Hanazawa Kana) to look for Phryne and discovers the secret of the Fractale System.

had to take the summary from ANN as Ep1 was an introductory episode about the world where Fractale is based on. most who watched it would definitely see the Studio Ghibli similarities, except, obviously, that this isn't hand-drawn like Miyazaki-sensei's works. Nessa's appearance in Ep2 would've definitely injects much smiles to everyone watching, with her quirky and unpredictable nature.

as of Ep2, the Fractale system is still up and working, so there's not much development in plot yet. it is always interesting to see how animators project the possibilities of the future existence of mankind. with the increased use of the web and social networking sites as a means of "connecting" to one another, i agree that it is much simpler to stay in contact with friends who are overseas. but, is it possible to eventually come to a state where you can raise a kid remotely on another country just because you have an available avatar/doppel?

i hope not. the world would be a less lively and warmly place to be in, don't you think?

Hourou Musuko
Nitori and Takatsuki looks like two normal teenagers starting middle school, except they are both transgendered. the series follows their struggles with family and friends as they decide to take the first steps to becoming their true selfs. and because of their common secret, Nitori had confessed to Takatsuki before but was rejected. maybe he was thinking along the lines of, if eventually they do undergo a transgender operation, who better to be with than each other.

at first look, it reminds me of F. Compo, without all the jokes since it is so serious drama-themed. personally, i find it hard to believe that Nitori can still be friends with his best friend. unless of course, said best bud has the same sexual tendency as him. especially when you're going into middle school with all the raging hormones. i mean, come on, let's face it, most straight guys are homo-phobic. if you're a guy and had a friend telling you he wants to become a girl, i'm sure the first reaction would be "WTH?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!", before staying as far away from him as possible. much less telling you that how cute you look in a dress.

while i do enjoy my BL works, i've never watched anything like this before, so i will be skeptical even as i try to follow through with the series with an open mind. sounds complicated right? HA! and with only an 11-episodes run, i wonder how the animators expect to cramp 11 volumes of materials into them.

posted 18 Jan,

Level E
an inter-galactic accident caused alien, "Prince" (CV Namikawa Daisuke), to make an emergency-landing onto earth. losing his memories during the crash-landing, he happily makes himself comfortable in the apartment of Tsutsui Yukitaka (CV Hosoya Yoshimasa) who just moved to the countryside to play baseball at the local high school. the show continues with Prince's extended stay on earth, causing troubles only an alien would do. Yukitaka is already at the losing end of any argument since Prince has the sharpest tongue and the fastest ability to adapt to any given situation.

supposedly a gag comedy about aliens encounters on earth, it's still somewhat lacking in the "gag" department. in fact, the setting became more serious at the end, with the revelation of Prince's true form as some creepy shape-shifter.

creepy shape-shifter is actually just Prince's pet!



i take back what i said about the lack of gag, because Ep1 was just something to throw us off-track as Ep2 was just brilliantly funny! this could turn out to be as good as Sunred or Arakawa. and with the appearance of Prince's bodyguards, especially his hot-headed Captain (CV Koyasu Takehito), nothing is bound to go as they plan.

Infinite Stratos
Orimura Ichika (CV Uchiyama Kouki) is the only male able to pilot a weaponized exoskeleton known as Infinite Stratos (IS). because of this, he is forced to attend an all-female academy specializing in training IS pilots. besides reuniting with his childhood friend Houki (CV Hikasa Yoko), he is now surrounded by a huge number of girls, all of which, have some interest in him at some point in time.

a typical female harem type of show, and while i've not been watching much of these lately, the mecha-theme was enough of a pull to encourage me to continue watching. the battle scenes in the first 2 episodes were pretty impressed, so i'm quite excited to see how the rest of the battles will go.

posted 12 Jan,

Beelzebub
Ishiyama High's strongest yankee, Oga Tatsumi (CV Konishi Katsuyuki), accidentally picked up the Demon King's son, Beelzebub (CV Sawashiro Miyuki) from the river. Beelzebub is "sent" to the human world by his dad to destroy the human race because the King is too "busy" to do it. but he has to be raised to adulthood before he can complete his task. that's where Oga comes in, to raise Beelzebub together with his demon maid, Hilda (CV Itou Shizuka).

a series i never expect to enjoy so much but had me laughing throughout Ep 1 and the special JUMP episode, i will definitely be looking forward to this every week. another reason for watching is Toyosaki Aki, voicing a female yankee, Kunieda Aoi, potential love interest of Oga. can't wait to see more of her, since i've never seen her in this sort of character before.

and did i mention that Beelzebub is super cute too?

check out that cuteness!


his antics, electrifying everyone every time he cries, a vise-like grip (on Oga), and just general cuteness, will most certainly win the hearts of all, especially the females.

posted 09 Jan,

Mitsudomoe Zōryōchū!
the Marui triplets are back and ready to terrorize everyone in their paths again. but instead of heading straight into the terrorizing, Ep 1 had the triplets watching an episode of the infamous Gachi Rangers that Hitoha is crazy about, only to watch them do everything a super hero should not be doing. Hitoha is mortified and furious, to say the least, especially since Mitsuba is laughing her head off about her favorite show.

so while it is an interesting start to the second season, i'm more interested getting the focus back to the triplets. with a very short season, only 8 episodes, i'm wondering how much of the crazy antics we would see from the girls. especially since this is probably not the last we would see from the Gachi Rangers, seeing how they show up in the preview and all.

posted 06 Jan,

Kimi ni Todoke II
AKA the most anticipated series this Winter. even with a Kurumi recap episode (Ep 0) starting us off, i'm more than psyched to start watching the main story, especially given how faithful Production I.G. is to the manga.

some screencaps from Ep 1.


and besides looking forward to the return of Sawako (CV Noto Mamiko) and Kazehaya (CV Namikawa Daisuke), we have another contender for Sawako's affections, Miura Kento (bottom right), voiced by Miyano Mamoru!!

one can only say, there's no such thing as too much of Mamoru-kun.
ohohohohohoho~ keep him coming!

2010 Anime round-up

anime series i've followed through in 2010.

Winter 2009 (Jan-Mar 2010)
01) Dance In The Vampire Bund
02) Nodame Cantabile Finale
03) Hanamaru Youchien
04) Durarara!!
05) So-Ra-No-Wo-To

Spring 2010 (Apr-Jun 2010)
06) Uragiri wa Boku no Namae o Shitteiru
07) Sarai-ya Goyou
08) WORKING!!
09) Senkou no Night Raid
10) K-ON!!
11) Arakawa Under the Bridge
12) Hakuouki Shinsengumi Kitan
13) Kaichou wa Maid-sama

Summer 2010 (Jul-Sep 2010)
14) Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi
15) Kuroshitsuji II
16) Nurarihyon no Mago
17) Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu
18) Seikimatsu Occult Academy
19) Sengoku Basara Season 2
20) Mitsudomoe

Fall 2010 (Oct-Dec 2010)
21) Tegami Bachi REVERSE (on-going)
22) Bakuman. (on-going)
23) Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai
24) Star Driver Kagayaki no Takuto (on-going)
25) Hakuouki Hekketsuroku
26) Otome Youkai Zakuro
27) Arakawa Under the Bridge x Bridge
28) Togainu no Chi
29) Shinrei Tantei Yakumo
30) Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru
31) To Aru Majutsu no Index II (on-going)
32) Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai
33) Kuragehime

forever-ongoing series,
34) One Piece
35) Bleach
36) Fairy Tail
37) Hetalia Axis Powers

then, the Katekyoushi Hitman Reborn fandom mourned for awhile when the anime ended in Summer.

and series i've dropped somewhere along each season,
1) Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu
2) Amagami SS

well, that's almost the same as last year.

either i'm getting picky, or that the number of series introduced each season are getting lesser. but that's impossible right?

in any case, here's my Top 5 anime for 2010, One Piece not included,
01) K-ON!! (of course!)
02) Kuragehime (super dark horse that blew me away)
03) Durarara!! (for the complexity and storytelling which i like)
04) Otome Youkai Zakuro (for the romance)
05) Senkou no Night Raid (for the WWII historical setting)

Winter 2011 is already off to a good start after with the return of Kimi ni Todoke and Mitsudomoe. there are also a noticeable number of new shows worth checking out, so stay tuned for reviews.

Fall 2010

better than last year, there are 14 new series i'm planning to pick up this Fall.

as per Summer season, i will be blogging each new Fall series as i watch them. all biased opinions ahead, so please don't flame me for what i feel.

all biased opinions are up!

Kuragehime
Tsukimi (CV Hanazawa Kana), a jellyfish-obsessed girl, goes to Tokyo from the countryside, hoping to make it big as a illustrator. she stays in Amamizukan, an all-female complex, where all her roomies have their own "unique" otaku obsessions. Chieko (CV Saito Kimiko) is into Japanese porcelain dolls, Mayaya (CV Okamura Akemi) with Sangokushi, Banba-san (CV Kumai Motoko) with trains, and Jiji (CV Noto Mamiko) with old men.

Tsukimi encounters by a beautiful woman outside her local pet shop who helps her to save a dying jellyfish. beautiful woman goes home with Tsukimi, and she only finds out the next day that "she" is actually a guy, Koibuchi Kuranosuke (CV Saiga Mitsuki), who cross-dresses!

this is the 3rd otaku-orientated series this season, following Oreimo and Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai. and up to date, this is by far my favorite among the 3. the part where Tsukimi is having that "conversation" with the jellyfish is so cute. in case you think there's only going to be one male in the entire show, we still have 3 male characters that are listed but have yet to appear. i'm quite excited to see them soon, because they are voiced by Koyasu-sama, Itou Kentarou and Suwabe Junichi. mwahahahahaha.

posted 12 Oct,

Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai
Keima (CV Shimono Hiro), an avid gal-game player is known as the "Otoshigami" (the Falling God) in the online world for making all the (2-D) girls fall for him in more than 5000 games. he unknowingly accepts a contract from a demon, Elcea (CV Itou Kanae), to "capture" runaway spirits residing in real girls' hearts by making them fall for him, thus filling their hearts with love and forcing the spirits out.

this sounds somewhat similar to Kannagi, what with the random magical being and reluctant male lead. i'm almost sure Shimono-san was chosen because he's a natural at these character types.

To Aru Majutsu no Index II
Toma (CV Abe Atsushi) and Index (CV Iguchi Yuka) are back! as the "living store-room" of the Necessarius church's entire forbidden book collection, Index is still being targeted by individuals and organizations who wants to use the books for their own evil desires. Toma is still a Level 0 esper, even though his Imagine Breaker is enough to deem him useful as her guardian.

besides the return of familiar faces like Misaka (CV Satou Rina) and Himegami (CV Noto Mamiko), there's lots of newbies we can expect in the new season. at least, that's what the OP showed us. looking forward to seeing what other "misfortunes" Toma will be getting into.

Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru
unlike Kaichou wa Maid, the maids of Seaside Maid Cafe are neither cute, nor moe, and they definitely do not make your hearts flutter. unless you consider fluttering as the heart pounding when a cup of hot coffee is flying at your face. which is probably why the cafe has little to no business too. i doubt anyone would appreciate clumsy waitresses.

the weird thing is, they actually cast Sakurai Takahiro as granny Uki, the owner of the cafe. yes, Sakurai-san. as an old woman. i didn't even know it was him until i was looking at the ANN page. totally surprise here.

in any case, i'm going to continue watching because Irino Miyu is cast as Hiroyuki, childhood friend of Hotori (CV Omigawa Chiaki), and i haven't watched anything of his since Cross Game ended in March.

Shinrei Tantei Yakumo
to help a friend who is spirit-possessed, Haruka (CV Fujimura Ayumi) engaged the help of Yakumo (CV Ono Daisuke), who has a unique crimson red left eye that allows him to see spirits. after solving the first case, they started to work together, albeit unwillingly on Yakumo's part, as strange events starts to happen one after another in their university.

something that ah gu would probably love, a detective series. although it is geared towards a more spiritual nature. i'm just hoping i wouldn't scrapped this after a few episodes.

Togainu no Chi
set in a post-war Japan, the city of Toshima is controlled by a crime syndicate called Vischio. falsely accused of murder, Akira's (CV Toriumi Kousuke) only way to get back his freedom is to enter a battle game called "Igura" in Toshima, where he has to defeat the leader, Il Rey, and destroy the syndicate.

adapted from a BL game, obviously what i'm looking for are the pretty boys. i can only say i wasn't as interested as i would've thought i would be after Ep1. hope the story will start to pick up, much like how enjoyed Uraboku as the story progressed.

posted 07 Oct,

Arakawa Under the Bridge x Bridge
another sequel from Spring, Ichinomiya Kou AKA Recruit (CV Kamiya Hiroshi) and Nino (CV Sakamoto Maaya) are back with the residents under the Arakawa bridge. hopefully, season 2 will finally reveal the truth behind Nino and how she ended up under the bridge.

i've grown to look forward to every episode of Arakawa. it's nonsensical, but that is also what makes it so damn funny.

Otome Youkai Zakuro
Agemaki Kei (CV Sakurai Takahiro) and his fellow lieutenants are dispatched to fight alongside half-younin girls (half-human, half-youkai's), against out-of-control youkai's in an alternate Meiji era.

the only thing hindering Agemaki from doing his job is that he is terrified of youkai's! he tries to hide it from the girls, especially Zakuro (CV Nakahara Mai) whom he's paired with, but was found out rather quickly when he can't even go to the restroom at night without freaking out at the sight of random youkai's around the house.

now this is a super dark horse and may just be my No.1 favorite for Fall. youkai's, magic, guys in uniform, kimonos and nekomimi girls. you name it, they have it.

as for the romance go-ers (that's me), while the main couple is definitely Agemaki and Zakuro, i'm more interested in what will happen between Susukihotaru (CV Hanazawa Kana) and Yoshinokazura Riken (CV Hino Satoshi).

it's also another series with an awesome cast. besides those mentioned above, there's the likes of Toyosaki Aki and Horie Yui as twins Bonbori and Houzuki, and Kaji Yuuki as Hanakiri Ganryuu. it wouldn't be surprising to me if the female seiyuus were chosen for their singing abilities, as it seems that singing is part of the incantation for the girls before they start fighting.

posted 06 Oct,

Hakuouki Hekketsuroku
Chizuru (CV Kuwashima Houko) is back with the Shinsengumi bishies, Hijikata Toshizou (CV Miki Shinichiro), Okita Souji (CV Morikubo Showtaro), Saitou Hajime (CV Toriumi Kousuke) and many more. we get to see them with a change into Western-styled clothes, although i much prefer the Shinsengumi uniforms from season 1.

another continuation from Spring, i have NO IDEA why they always want to split what would be a perfectly normal 24-episodes series into 2 seasons. Ep1, or Ep13 depending on how you view this, was fantastic in any case. full-fledged swooning is required! for all the guys!

i will definitely be following up with a fan-girl post soon.

Star Driver Kagayaki no Takuto
Takuto (CV Miyano Mamoru) is the new guy at Southern Cross Island and his wish is to experience a fabulous high school life. this begins almost immediately when he saves his classmate Wako from a group known as the "Order of the Glittering Star Cross" who are interested in certain robots in the island.

these robots, called Cybody, are sealed in the island's underground ruins and can only be unsealed by shrine maidens, of which Wako (CV Hayami Saori) is one of them. as it turns out, Takuto just happens to be the "Galatic Pretty Boy", the ONE that can go against the Order, and he comes fully equipped with his own Cybody named Tauburn. if you think it's outrageous enough, you should watch Takuto's transformation sequence. it could have done Sailor Moon proud.

i was all anticipating Ep1 and it was probably THE show i was waiting for. but maybe, just maybe, it was a little too overdone. cos i didn't come out of Ep1 with heart pumping or mind-blowing excitement.

i'm still going to continue watching though. there are just some shows that you need to stick to, to see if they're really worth it. and really, just having Miyano-san as the main lead is reason enough to make me watch this. not to mention the stellar cast of Sakamoto Maaya, Kuwashima Houko, Fukuyama Jun, Ishida Akira, Tomatsu Haruka, Taketatsu Ayana, Miki Shinichiro and Koshimizu Ami.

Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai
Kyousuke (CV Nakamura Yuuichi) who has always been coldly ignored by his younger sister Kirino (CV Taketatsu Ayana) accidentally finds out that she is secretly into eroge. she ropes him not only into keeping her secret but also into her otaku world by forcing him to play ero-games in the middle of the night, all for the sake of getting to know her hobby of course.

as i watched Ep1, all i could think about it how dysfunctional the family would be if Azu-nyan (K-ON!), Alto (Macross Frontier), Kenpachi (Bleach) and Viletta (Code Geass) were sitting at the dinner table. cos that's exactly who the CVs for the Kosaka family are. hahaha.

posted 03 Oct,

Bakuman.
about two guys on their road to becoming mangakas. Moritaka (CV Abe Atsushi) has the gift for drawing but has no ambition in life. in comes top student classmate Akito (CV Hino Satoshi), who doesn't have the drawing ability but do have the literacy talent, and approaches him to be his mangaka partner after he sees Moritaka's sketch of the girl he likes.

i'm guessing we will see lots of manga references throughout the show, since One Piece and Dragonball has already been mentioned in Ep1. and since i've never read the manga before, i wonder if they would get all technical and show how a mangaka actually works in real life.

posted 02 Oct,

Tegami Bachi REVERSE
sequel to last year's series about Letter Bees (AKA postmen) delivering packages while battling giant insects called Gaichuu that roams the land of Amberground. since i don't read the manga, i've only heard that most of the stuff from season 1 are really all filler material.

this time, they are finally going to start the real story with Gauche and Lag. and the former will finally have more screen time instead of just being in the flashback scenes.

Summer 2010

finally, a good Summer season! lots of interesting shows to look forward to.

as per Spring season, i will be blogging each new Summer series as i watch them. all biased opinions ahead, so please don't flame me for what i feel.

all biased opinions are up!

posted 15 Jul,

Mitsudomoe
think Hanamaru Youchien, but a more warped-up version. instead of kindergarten students, we have the Marui of triplets, sisters with warped personalities; a sadist, a perverted muscle maniac and a gloomy erotic-book lover. together, they wreck havoc in the school and terrorizes everyone in their paths.

while non of them actually falls for their new homeroom teacher (CV Shimono Hiro), their "assistance" in helping him woe the school nurse is commendable at best. in Ep1, they try to injure him in his "package" so that he can seek treatment. totally hilarious.

Sengoku Basara Season 2
continuation from Season 1 that aired last Spring. if you haven't already watched that, you really should marathon it so that you can watch Season 2. because it is way much cooler. i think the producers went out of budget just to get in all the great fight scenes.

'nuff said.

posted 09 Jul,

Seikimatsu Occult Academy
Maya (CV Hikasa Youko) returns to Waldstein Academy, better known as Occult Academy by the public, after her father, the former principal dies from unnatural causes. although she definitely has the knack for all things supernatural, she hates it because of how it caused a drift in her family due to her father's over-obsession. at the end of Ep1, she witness a time-travel on the academy rooftop and encounters a butt-naked Uchida Fumiaki (CV Mizushima Takahiro). his reason for time-travel would most likely be entwined with the academy.

this is Anime no Chikara's third project, after So-Ra-No-Wo-To and Senkou no Night Raid. while i usually don't care about these kind of things, like which production company came up with what anime series, i've been impressed with the former two series and looking forward to future Occult Academy episodes.

bringing Hikasa Youko on this project makes it the direct opposite of her Mio character in K-ON!! where she is terrified of all things supernatural. so it is really amusing (at least for me) to hear her voice the impatient and violent Maya. and finally, Koyasu-sama appears as the very badly double-chinned JK.

posted 07 Jul,

Amagami SS
my once-in-a-while female harem series. instead of just focusing on one girl, it seems that it would be in story arc style where a few episodes will be dedicated on each of the girls separately.

not much to say, except it's something different from the usual female harem series with unearthly amounts of fanservice for the guys.

Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu
AKA The Legend of the Legendary Heroes, this is an "anti-heroic" fantasy series. Ryner Lute (CV Fukuyama Jun) is the anti-hero who was asked by his best friend, Sion Astal (CV Ono Daisuke), to help search for relics of a "Legendary Hero". he is accompanied by dango-loving Ferris Eris (CV Takagaki Ayahi) and together they travel, somewhat reluctantly to do their mission.

being "anti-heroic" means, you get to see Ryner and Ferris running away from monsters and enemies more often than seeing them fight them. makes for some really funny antics though. i'm still waiting for Suwabe Junichi's character, Milan Froward, to appear.

Nurarihyon no Mago
Rikuo (once again, CV Fukuyama Jun), a human with a quarter youkai blood, is the future clan head of the Nura youkai. only, he doesn't want to inherit his grandfather, preferring to live as a normal human. the series will eventually proceed to him coming to terms with his youkai side. from then on, he sets to "reform" the youkai's by asking them to do good instead of the terrorizing the people.

sounds a little like Gokusen doesn't it. heehee. we already had a glimpse of what he looks like in his youkai-form in Ep1 (ie. pretty good-looking). there's loads of CVs involved in this series, like Hirano Aya as love-interest Kana, Horie Yui as Yuki-Onna, Hoshi Souichiro as Mezumaru, Yasumoto Hiroki as Aotabou and, Sakurai Takahiro as Kubinashi.

posted 05 Jul,

Kuroshitsuji II
an original anime story based on the same demon butler-young master contract, a new young master, Alois Trancy (CV Mizuki Nana) and his butler, Claude Faustus (CV Sakurai Takahiro) is introduced.

was alittle taken aback by how violent Alois is towards his servants, and how clingy he is to Claude. this guy has some major issues, not just because the 1st scene was of him sleeping with some geezer-looking fat old man, or his very violent tendency to his one and only female servant who nearly had her eye gorged out because he doesn't want to be stared at.

the only thing that is making me continue this is the appearance of Sebastian and Ciel towards the end of the episode. and from the episode preview, it looks like the next episode will be dedicated to them.

posted 02 Jul,

Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi
a series parodying lots of fairy tales like Little Red Riding Hood, it follows a group of students in the school's "fixer" club called Otogi Bank where they go around "fixing" other students' problems. nevermind that they cause more trouble while actually doing the deed.

this supposedly romance comedy has all the big seiyuu names, including Irino Miyu and Itou Shizuka as the 2 main leads. 3 of the girls from Railgun (with the exception of Satou Rina) are also in Ookami. that's not forgetting others like Kawasumi Ayako, Kugimiya Rie, Horie Yui etc.

Ep1 had them parodying Cinderella, twisted as it was, with the "prince" looking for the girl who dropped her sneaker after accidentally kicking him right smack in the face. turns out, he's masochistic and totally loves it. =/

Spring 2010

as per Winter season, i will be blogging each new Spring series as i watch them. all biased opinions ahead, so please don't flame me for what i feel.

all biased opinions are up!

posted 19 Apr,

Uragiri wa Boku no Namae o Shitteiru
a guy (CV Hoshi Souichirou)with an ability to sense people's emotions gets involved in battles against demons. he is followed by his very own bodyguard (CV Sakurai Takahiro), whom he seemed to have a past life with. only he was a female during his past life and they definitely had a sort of romance thing going on before.

most would know i actually do need a BL fix once in a while. so while this borders on shonen-ai, i was willing to watch it for the fix. but frankly, i was really bored with ep1. and Hoshi-san is starting to put me to sleep with his voice, with him using his Kira Yamato voice. ugghh.

really really hope the story would pick up and start going into the interesting stuff. and i'm waiting for Koyasu-sama to come out as the adoptive brother of Hoshi-san cos i'm so not willing to drop anything that has Koyasu-sama in it. like how i dropped that boring Hanasakeru Seishounen.

Sarai-ya Goyou
a down-and-out, not to mention timid, ronin (CV Namikawa Daisuke) finally gets work as a bodyguard, only to find out the his employer (CV Sakurai Takahiro) kidnaps people for a living. while he is initially reluctant to join them, he found out they only target bad people and use it as a means to get back at them. aside from the money of course.

from the creator of Ristorante Paradiso, another samurai fix for me!! it's so unusual to find so many good samurai series in one season recently. the character designs are a definite acquired taste, as not many would like the droopy-eyes and slight disproportionate body lengths. thankfully, i've already been sensitized from the previous series.

posted 09 Apr,

WORKING!!
slice-of-life comedy about a guy (CV Fukuyama Jun) who is recruited on the streets by a girl (CV Asumi Kana) to work in a family restaurant. he decides to help her out, being unable to resist helping small and helpless things. the other employees says he is a "lolicon", but he claims that he is instead a "mini-con".

i love watching slice-of-life series. something that you don't have to use much brains with, but still let you feel contented with a WAFF (warm and fuzzy feeling) after each episode. i'm definitely going to continue with this.

Senkou no Night Raid
a special unit of the Japanese force is sent to recover a kidnapped politician from Shanghai. and that is basically the whole of Ep1. of course, there's the usual politics and conspiracies, not to mention ESP powers weld by each of the special unit member.

it sounds pretty much like another Darker than Black series, but i'm really quite excited about it. then again, i'm always fascinated by ESP series since there's so much you can put it without thinking it's too over-the-top.

they even went to the extend of getting good mandarin voice-overs for all the Chinese people, instead of using the japanese language throughout (like Canaan). i can't say much about the main CVs speaking chinese though, since i pretty much had to go back a few times to actually understand what they meant. but good effort nontheless.

posted 08 Apr,

K-ON!!
a series that definitely don't need much introduction. the light music club is back in a second series to give us more music, more comedy and more tea time happenings. to think i thought of chucking it out during Spring 2009.

as much as everyone raves about Mio, personally i'm more of a Yui fan. she's so cute you can't help but smile along with her antics. the OP and ED songs aren't as catchy as Season 1's, but i'm hoping all the other insert songs will make up for it.

the return of K-ON!! also made me had a sudden rush to want their nendoroids! DAMN! no wonder everyone else is going gaga over them!

Arakawa Under the Bridge
weird show about a rich heir (CV Kamiya Hiroshi) who was saved by a girl (CV Sakamoto Maaya) living under a bridge. to repay her, as his family motto is "not to be in debt to anyone", he promised to fall in love with her. hence start his life of weird encounters with other people like her lives in the world of make-believe.

this reminds me strangely of Zetsubou-sensei, of which Kamiya-san is famous for. just that he's the more sane one of all the characters here. lots of scenes where i was just waiting for him to start screaming, "Zetsubou shita!". hahaha.

and, i'm waiting for Koyasu-sama's character to appear soon. MU-KYAA!

posted 07 Apr,

Hakuouki Shinsengumi Kitan
based on a popular otome dating game, female lead Chizuru (CV Houko-san) disguises herself as a guy to look for her missing doctor dad. the Shinsengumi saved her when she was attacked by a couple of their demon-like people. turns out, they are also looking for him and that he might be the only one with a possible cure/antidote.

male harem, Miki Shinichiro, Kuwashima Houko, Shinsengumi. all the reasons i would definitely watch this series. but seriously, the plot is intriguing too. ep1 was just the usual intro round, so i'm quite excited to see how it develops.

but yummy yummy boys. i'm still trying to match the faces to the names. off the top of my head, the top 3 are Hijikata Toshizou (CV Miki-san), Okita Souji (CV Morikubo Showtaro) and Saitou Hajime (CV Toriumi Kousuke).

Hijikata looks especially yummy in the OP and ED.

*swoons*

this really should be a 26-episode story.

i'm greedy, i know.

posted 03 Apr,

Kaichou wa Maid-sama
romance comedy about a rich guy who finds out that his tsundere female student council president is working part-time at a maid cafe because of money difficulties.

while it didn't immediately pull me in like how Ouran (my GOLD standard in shoujo anime) did, it's still interesting enough to continue watching. maybe because i'm still not convinced with the 2 main CVs, Okamoto Nobuhiko and Fujimura Ayumi. let's see how it pans out in the latter episodes.

Winter wrap-up

so these two weeks would be all the wrap-ups of most Winter series, and some others from last Fall.

shows that i am hoping for a Season 2,
1) Kimi ni Todoke!! (come on! everyone wants to see them really together!)
2) Kobato (an OVA perhaps? since it's already an anime-original ending)
3) Nodame Cantabile!! (hey! they definitely should continue the Opera-hen side story)

i'm kinda excited for the upcoming Spring season, even though the number of shows that have sparked my interest have decreased significantly over the years.

either i'm becoming more picky, or the number of shows being released every season have decreased.

*shrugs*

oh well, all the more reason for me to watching more dorama.

ohohohohohoho.

Winter 2009

thought i'll do it different this year and blog each new Winter series as i watch them. if not, it'll be another 2 weeks before i can get all my biased opinions up.

all biased opinions are up!

posted 19 Jan,

Dance In The Vampire Bund
a vampire princess and her werewolf protector. sounds similar to Underworld anyone? though the vampire princess definitely looks more like Kirsten Dunst from Interview with the Vampire compared to Kate Beckinsale.

at least i wouldn't need to read the manga, given that it's not following the manga story, just using the settings and characters. the first 2 episodes were good, so it's safe to say i will continue watching to the end.

Nodame Cantabile Finale
once again, i'm not happy that it is another 11-episodes season. i mean, this is the Finale, how are they gonna round everything in 11 episodes? they have at least 5-6 books of materials to cover!

they've also changed the flow of the story, as i've noticed from the Paris-hen, so i'm not very sure how they're gonna fit Chiaki's dad back into the story.

well, as long as they don't have to rush through it. seriously though, it should be a longer series.

update on Haru Toki 3:
turns out, this is only a 1-hr special!! i totally missed all the parts that said it was only a special!

the only decent news is that the DVDs that ships in March will extend the special to 1.5hr. but still, this is somewhat depressing.

i need Ryuuki Kuro-sama.

posted 12 Jan,

Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu
although this has the magical aspect that usually appeals to me, i'm not very convinced by how the "summoning war system" is being carried out. each team "fight" by summoning chibi-versions of themselves, but there's really no actual fighting involved, even though they went to the extent of having battle systems in place.

once in a while, there'll be that one harem show that will interest me enough to watch. like Toradora, or Tokimeki Memorial.

this just happens to be it. at least for now.

as long as it doesn't irritates me as it progresses, i will probably follow through to the end.

Hanamaru Youchien
4-year-olds starting kindergarten with a new male teacher in tow. how they're gonna create havoc in school is basically what this show will be about.

i'm loving this for the same reason why i love Potemayo.

cos it is just too kawaii!

it's not as brainless as Potetan is, but it is definitely a more refreshing one, especially with the overload of ecchi/moe fanservice shows this season.

someday, they will have a season where it's fanservice for the ladies.

bring out all the BLs and romance dramas that wouldn't show any part of the female anatomy!!

posted 11 Jan,

Durarara!!
set in Ikebukuro with lots of urban legends and other supernatural encounters, it has a very Bakemonogatari feel to it even though it is by separate production companies. which hopefully wouldn't kill my interest in it since it looks quite promising for me to keep watching.

episode 1 was a major character-intro, so much so that i'm abit confused/overwhelmed. i'm sure future episodes will go into the characters in more details.

i'm quite happy to hear Miyano Mamoru back. and not just back, but voicing the more "genki" type of character that i prefer him in. although with this kind of genre, i wonder if he will have a different side to him halfway through the show.

posted 06 Jan,

So-Ra-No-Wo-To
a more serious version of K-ON. that's the first thought that came into my mind after episode 1. and i'm sure everyone else who've watched this will do the usual comparison between these two.

story-wise, i'm quite happy with the pace. but then again, i'm also more used to these slice-of-life dramas than anybody else i know.

i'm also starting to love trumpets more than the usual piano/violin/guitar that appears frequently in most music-based anime. especially after watching the Macross F Galaxy Tour where they had 2 fantastic trumpeters who totally stole the concert right under the divas' (Megumi and May'n) noses.

so yes, i think i'm gonna enjoy this show quite well.

posted 05 Jan,

Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 3: Owari Naki Unmei
final anime to come out of the whole franchise. looks to be a direct sequel of some sort to the special from 2007 (HaruToki: Kurenai no Tsuki).

episode 1 was one-hour long instead of the usual 20min, which totally threw me off since i kept thinking it was gonna be a series. after checking again, found out it is actually a TV special. not sure how many episodes it will be, neither when the next episode will be out.

it's not just me. the boys are really getting cuter.

or maybe because it's been ages since i last saw them. in any case, i'm still swooning all over the place.

the other good thing is that they tend to bring back all the seiyuus for HaruToki, so many of my favorites are back together again.

No.1 pulling factor: Seki Tomokazu as Minamoto no Kurou Yoshitsune. seriously, i'm getting addicted to him voicing nobles/kings. and it's not just due to my SaiMon withdrawal. fine, it has everything to do with my SaiMon withdrawal. RYUUKI!!!

2009 Anime round-up

anime series i've followed through in 2009.

Winter 2008 (jan-mar 2009)
01) Zoku Natsume Yuujin-Chou
02) RIDE BACK
03) Chrome Shelled Regios
04) Hetalia Axis Powers (on-going)

Spring 2009 (apr-jun 2009)
05) Sengoku Basara
06) Valkyria Chronicles
07) Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~
08) Ristorante Paradiso
09) Cross Game (on-going)
10) Tears to Tiara
11) 07-Ghost
12) Kin-iro no Cordo ~second passo~
13) K-ON
14) Guin Saga
15) Eden of the East

Summer 2009 (jul-sep 2009)
16) Sora no Manimani
17) Spice and Wolf II
18) Tokyo Magnitude 8.0
19) Umineko no Naku Koro ni
20) Taishou Yakyuu Musume

Fall 2009 (oct-dec 2009)
21) Nyan Koi!
22) Seiken no Blacksmith
23) Tentai Senshi Sunred S2 (on-going)
24) To Aru Kagaku no Railgun (on-going)
25) Tatakau Shisho - The Book of Bantorra (on-going)
26) Tegami Bachi - Letter Bee (on-going)
27) Miracle train
28) Kobato. (on-going)
29) Kimi ni Todoke (on-going)
30) Darker Than Black: Ryūsei no Gemini
31) FAIRY TAIL (on-going)

forever-ongoing series,
32) One Piece
33) Bleach
34) Katekyoushi Hitman Reborn

and series i've dropped somewhere along each season,
01) Shikabane Hime Kuro
02) Maria Holic
03) Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo
04) Shangri-La
05) Basquash!
06) Pandora Hearts
07) Hanasakeru Seishonen
08) CANAAN

definitely not as much as last year, where i almost hit the 50-series mark, but it gave me more time to catch up on alot of dorama, which i haven't been watching consistently for awhile.

and it's so much easier to choose some favorites this time round.

here's my Top 5 anime for 2009, One Piece not included,
01) Cross Game
02) Hetalia Axis Powers
03) Tokyo Magnitude 8.0
04) Ristorante Paradiso
05) K-ON

i'm keeping my fingers crossed for 2010.
>_<.``

Fall 2009

for all the anticipation i had for Fall 2009, i've only picked up 10 shows, 8 of which i've already rambled about in mid-aug.

in order of me watching each episode 1's,

Nyan Koi!
the comedy is very much lacking, given that this is supposed to be a rom-com. high chance of dropping this, but i'll give it another few episodes before doing the actual deed.

the only saving grace is perhaps Fukuyama Jun who is voicing 2 characters inside, especially that of Tama the cat. been too long since i've seen him in anything comical, since the last 2 shows had been Code Geass and Valkyria Chronicles.

Seiken no Blacksmith - The Sacred Blacksmith
if it wasn't for the last 5 min, i would've dropped this at episode1. as such, because of the very cool magical sword-forging process, i'm keen to continue with the show.

i could do without Cecily repeating her mantra ("i'm a knight, blah blah blah") for the 3rd time in one episode. who knows how many more times it'll be sprouting out of her mouth.

the only good thing is that Lisa is very likable compared to the former. and she is of much more use too. without Lisa, Luke would never be the sacred blacksmith. and Cecily would never be able to get her very own katana.

Tentai Senshi Sunred S2
finally, the start of something good in the season. we start off this season with the reunion of "Weather 3" which Sunred used to be part of. regardless of their disbandment, they still kicked the asses of all the villains.

which still looks more like them being the bullies than the heroes of the show.

they even have their own OP. maybe they'll use it from time to time, like Hetalia with the Germany and Japan-version EDs.

To Aru Kagaku no Railgun
spin-off from last year's Index, Mikoto becomes the main lead and sets to take Touma's place as defender of the city. she'll probably do a better job since she actually does have a special power. ie. generate electricity.

reminds me of the other electricity-generating character, Eneru from One Piece.

see the similarities?


could do with less yuri-scenes with Kuroko, but have to accept that she's part of the main cast now. i think the only part where it wasn't irritating was when she was doing her Judgement job and using her teleporting power.

Tatakau Shisho - The Book of Bantorra
the first serious show where it had me hooked within the first 5 min. different from the other library-inspired anime, Toshokan Sensou, this involves librarians with magical powers who serve to protect books containing memories of dead people.

the character designs looks great. there's magic. there's mystery. and there's a Jeanne d'Arc-like character who looks like the key to the entire show.

all in all, it looks promising enough to watch to the end.

Tegami Bachi - Letter Bee
fantasy series where postmen called Letter Bees deliver packages while battling giant insects called Gaichuu that roams the lands. not much has happened in episode1 except the introduction of the 2 main leads.

after going through wiki, it seems that Gauche eventually becomes the antagonist (typical), while Lag goes on to becoming a Bee. the settings and story looks interesting enough to this point, so it'll probably be worth finishing.

Miracle train
i'm watching this for the cute guys, i'm watching this for the bishonens, i'm watching this for the ikemen.

there's really no other reason why i'm watching this. the plot is cheesy as it is, train stations personified as bishonens and going around helping troubled passengers (ie. women).

i'm watching this for the cute guys, i'm watching this for the bishonens, i'm watching this for the ikemen.

i'm totally amused that Morita Masakazu always voices the same type of character in these show.



whether it's Alfred (Marginal Prince), Kazuki (La Corda) or the latest Ryogoku (Miracle Train), even Ichigo (Bleach) bears strikingly similar traits. typical case of stereotyping.

so if you're looking for plot, DO NOT watch this.

if you're looking for cute guys/bishonens/ikemen, and can stand all the cheese that'll be oozing out of this series, please continue watching and swoon.

my favorite? Ruppongi Fumi. KYAA!


Kobato.
with the end of Tsubasa RC on Oct 7 and the near-end of xxxHOLIC, CLAMP's latest work features a girl going around healing wounded hearts. expect familiar faces to appear, much like Tsubasa and xxxHOLIC.

almost all of CLAMP's works have been adapted into anime (TV series, OVA, OAD, etc), so it was only a matter of time before Kobato gets its own adaptation.

comparatively to the previous 2 works, this is definitely a more light-hearted series. although knowing CLAMP, there's bound to be lots of hidden secrets and plot-twists.

Kimi ni Todoke
the series i've been looking forward to, many would make the comparison between this and Yamato Nadeshiko, but aside from Sawako and Sunako's almost similar looks, everything else is very different.

Sawako's life goal is to make friends, while the latter's life goal is to stay as far away from people.

i love all the seiyuu cast! especially Kazehaya's seiyuu; you can't get more "100% freshness" besides Namikawa Daisuke. though after episode1, i still think he could've put in more "freshness" as Kazehaya.

Darker Than Black: Ryūsei no Gemini
gosh, i had forgot almost everything about this show, except it's about a group of people called contractors who gained special powers after a meteor landed on earth. will probably have to re-read the summaries on RC just to recap.

judging by the title and short 12-episodes run, the sequel seemed to be focused on just one story. which is a good thing, since it also means the story will move along fast. it's still exciting to see Hei in action. waiting for the appearance of Yin.

FAIRY TAIL
true enough, episode1 was good and i'm more than willing to continue watching. lots of similar characters to Rave Master, but that's pretty much expected.

Plue even made a small comeback, not as a main character, but as a summon-able spirit of Lucy's. i also thought of how similar it is to FF8 when Lucy was summoning Aquarius.

and i like most of the seiyuus, with Kakihara Tetsuya (Gurren Lagaan's Simon) as Natsu, Kugimiya Rie (Toradora's Taiga) as Happy, and Hirano Aya (Nana's Reira) as Lucy.

unlike most otakus, i usually prefer Kugimiya Rie when she's not voicing those rich-and-spoilt female characters. her role as Happy reminds me of how she voiced Nene in Potemayo.

--------------------------------------------

so that's about all there is to Fall 2009. slight disappointment, but i guess i can't compare it last year.

hmm.

it's a good time to catch up on my dorama for the next 3 months.

upcoming fall anime

looking through the upcoming Fall season at Moonphase, already there are many series that have caught my eyes.

1) Darker Than Black: Ryūsei no Gemini - direct sequel to the last DtB from 2 years ago.
2) Kimi no Todoke - been wanting to read the manga for ages. maybe this will prompt me to read it soon. (18/08 -> started reading online. very nice! will wanna get from kino soon. heehee)
3) Miracle train - lots of cute guys. 'nuff said.
4) FAIRY TAIL - i have it on word by birdy that the manga is good. let's hope this doesn't flop like the Rave Master anime.
5) Tatakau Shisho - The Book of Bantorra - don't know much, but the character designs looks cool, medieval setting, and has nice-sounding OST from PV. should be good. *cross fingers*
6) To Aru Kagaku no Railgun - spin-off from last year's To Aru Majutsu no Index, with Misaki as the main lead.
7) Kobato. - YAY! another CLAMP work. something to tide over while awaiting for Tsubasa's next OVA.
8) Tentai Senshi Sunred - YAY YAY! Season 2! more laughs and gags at chain-smoking superhero.

and probably much more, which i will pick up after RC does its usual Fall preview in 1 month's time.

very much looking forward to Fall.

heehee.