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.

Kimi to Boku.2 Episode 01

and we're treated with a flashback of the twins right from the start.

kawaii!!

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.

OP Anime Heroes ~Marineford~ Part 2

Part 2 of Plex's Marineford Arc anichara. nice~


1st row (L to R), Avalo Pizarro, Sanjuan Wolf, Buggy, Akainu, Aokiji, Kizaru, Daibutsu Sengoku, Coby
2nd row (L to R), Catarina Devon, Vasco Shot, Blackbeard, Makino, kid Sabo, kid Luffy, kid Ace, Curly Dadan
3rd row (L to R), Trafalgar Law, Whitebeard, Ace, Luffy, Shanks, Yasopp, Benn Beckman, Lucky Roo

Moretsu Pirates Episode 08

homage to Sailor Moon?

Petit Nendoroid: Fate/stay night Extension Set

my sole reason for buying the entire set.

Archer!

Bakuman.2 Episode 20

Congratulations Kaya-chan! you look beautiful.

Guilty Crown Episode 17

Gai is back~

my motivation for GC is back again. hahaha.

Nendoroid Puchitto Rock Shooter: Support version

second of the Cheerful JAPAN! series.

here's Puchitto Rock Shooter: Support version.

Figuarts ZERO - Sanji New World Version

guess who?

Usagi Drop Special 4

hotaru.

Inu X Boku SS Episode 04

kawaii!!

a Koro-pok-guru.

OP Anime Heroes ~Marineford~ Part 1

Part 1 for the Marineford Arc. naturally, it is impossible to get all the major players into just one set. smart buggers, the people from Plex.


1st row (L to R), Izo, Haruta, Vista, Whitebeard, Marco, Namur, Little Oars Jr.
2nd row (L to R), Sengoku, Tsuru, Hina, Luffy, Garp, Pacifista, Jozu, Squardo
3rd row (L to R), Hancock, Jimbe, Gekko Moriah, Donquixote Doflamingo, Dracule Mihawk, Crocodile, Moby Dick

Guilty Crown Episode 13

"yeah right! like i'd waste a single millibyte storing this memory!"

best line delivered in GC so far by Tsugumi.

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.

One Piece Episode 531

Shirahoshi!


voiced by the lovely Yukana.




Luffy can't handle her.

heehee.

Sket Dance Episode 40

Biscuit Dance!

the kindergarten version of the cast are so cute!

Natsume Yuujinchou Shi Episode 02

Natsume is loved by the youkais.

New Prince of Tennis Episode 01

the princes are back~


my Prince No.1,Fuji Syuusuke, is back~


Prince No.2, Atobe Keigo, is also back~

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.