Mistakes of Youth: The Blog (Powered by EXCELLENCE!)

2007 was really fucking uneven. The first few months got by on the better titles that carried over from 2006, but between April and August it was something of a wasteland. I managed to get my fix for good modern anime by way of genius works such as Gurren Lagann and Hayate no Gotoku, but all the other offerings during that period of time where somewhere between mildly amusing to plain bad. Thankfully, August saw the debut of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei and Zero No Tsukaima 2, both of which restored my faith in the industry somewhat. October once again impressed with Minami-ke, Kaiji and Clannad.

What follows will be something similar to my monthly posts, but for the Year In Review, I’ll be ordering things by quality using letter grades, starting from the worst to the VERY BEST. I cover a lot of shows in the post, but it’s not everything I watched during the year.

Here’s my rankings.

(more…)

Spoilers ahead. Just saying.

This shirt is a succinct and accurate assessment of Yuuichi’s character over the past few episodes.

I finally found a spare moment to sit down and watch the the final episode of the Sad Girls in Snow Epic. I had already watched it raw a little while ago, but due to various factors I had to put off watching the fan-subtitled version until just now. I honestly don’t know what to think, really. I mean, I never thought the show as outright bad or mediocre, but the last couple of episodes have been quite iffy.

I am mostly unreceptive to the show ending, because the last set of episodes primarily focused on the girl I care about the least. As some of you may know, I was in love with the series from the first episode, all the way up to about episode 21. However, as far as I’m concerned, once Akiko got intimately familiar with snow covered pavement, the show went down hill.

Once again, Nayuki gets shafted. It’s a sad truth that was apparent from the release of promo DVD with the creditless opening and ending sequences. Much like Shinji Ikari, I tried to run away from brutal truth, hoping in vain for a surprise Nayuki ending. It really is depressing, because the girl deserves better. I think the show would have befitted from those rumoured extra two episodes, if it meant more Nayuki screentime.

But, honestly, on the whole, it’s a damn good show. No matter what horrible taste the Ayu arc left in my mouth, I cannot forget how riveting and wonderful Mai’s and Shiori’s arcs were. Makoto’s certainly pulled on my heartstrings and inspired tears here and there, but its execution was a bit rough, however miles better than Ayu’s episodes of emotional manipulation.

On the production side of things, KyoAni impresses once again. I can only remember one episode where things looked noticeably off and there were some stiff episodes every now and again, but overall the show was drop dead beautiful. I commend them for being able to keep up such quality for 24 episodes. Directing wise, Ishihara is more mellow here compared to his previous work on Haruhi (for good reason.) Nothing was particularly striking about the direction, but it was better quality than your normal TV show. Not Hideaki Anno level, but damn good. Especially the last episode. Beautiful stuff.

I don’t know when I’ll get around to watching this again. I’ve still yet to rewatch Air after watching it about two (?) years ago. Maybe I should just have some Key/KyoAni marathon once they complete Clannad. However, I fear I’ll lose any semblence of manhood I have left after that. Not even Giant Robo would be able to save me at that point…

Also, Shiori is my new favourite girl. Sorry Nayuki, blame the writers.

First off, let me applaud you on your work with the Kanon remake. I like it a lot. It’s a great show. Rather, it was a great show. Yes, you guys pretty much fixed all of Toei’s major errors. You made the artwork better, improved the animation, gave it a longer episode count; all that good stuff. However, you neglected to fix the most important thing: the winning girl.

As any sane person may have assessed, the main thing that ruined Toei’s rendition of the Sad Girls in Snow epic was who eventually won in the end. Ayu is not a good character. She is uguu, taiyaki, pounce and then repeat. A story around such a person does not make for a compelling series finale. However, a cousin does. Not just any cousin, though. A cousin who holds an unrequited love for the (dashing) male lead who (for some reason) doesn’t give her the time of day. There’s just… so much stuff there. Far more stuff than some girl the main character met when he was younger who died because she was stupid and fell off a tree, and then comes back as a ghost. Who cares? She is dead, a stiff, gone to meet her maker, and ate her pancakes. You can only write so much about a dead girl. And whether the viewers care or not is a whole another issue you have to wrestle with. It is quite clear that everyone cares for Nayuki. Furthermore, it is far more plausible for a romantic relationship to form between Nayuki and Yuuichi given their history. Ayu and Yuuichi’s relationship is forced. Right from that kiss at the end of episode 19. There was nothing leading up to them “loving” each other. Sure, close friends maybe, but love? Give me a break, KyoAni.

Sincerely, Wildarmsheero

P.S. I did appreciate the Mikuru look-a-like in episode 23. However, I still won’t forgive you for the Ayu ending. Not even for a strawberry sundae~

P.P.S. What a slut (nsfw)

Shiori, why must your life be so horrible? :(

Original Post

Nayuki fanart added and ero Meer (NSFW) fanart added. Eventually this site will get a redesign and an ero-only section only will be made. When I have time.

Will be posted to my art site once I finish the Meer ero pic.