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

Shin Koihime†Musou: Otome Ryouran Sangokushi Engi

The good thing about all these sequels is that they all seem to be doing a good job of delivering what people loved about their predecessors. This is great for shows I loved, like Natsu no Arashi and Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu, but it’s not really helping Koihime†Musou. This first episode reacquaints us nicely with the cute cast from last season, along with a  taste of the various formulaic situations they are to be tangled up in. This was fine for a single season, but after Shin Koihime†Musou’s opener, I don’t think I really need more. In fact, I’d be more content to just manipulate myself to the game CGs.

This one is probably getting cut loose, but I may marathon it on a dead weekend for the sake of completion.

To Aru Kagaku no Chou Denjihou (Railgun)

Unlike all the sequels this season, To Aru Kagaku no Railgun–the spin-off series to To Aru Majutsu no Index–makes it quite clear that Things Will Be Different right off the bat. The tone is a lot lighter; free of the oppressive amounts of exposition that hurt Index, and is instead replaced with cute character interaction and some decently composed action. However, after two episodes, I’m not feeling much from this show. I’m not sure if it’s the drastic shift in tone from Index, or the fact that it’s just not to my tastes. I think once I get to know the characters a bit better, I’ll start to enjoy it more.

The animation is great, but that goes without saying. I feel sorry for the dudes who have to draw all those flowers on Uiharu’s head.

Anyamaru Tantei Kiruminzuu

Along with being one of the shows with the least English-language press this season (it’s not even been subbed!), Anyamaru Tantei Kiruminzuu is also one of the strangest shows of the season. The show itself isn’t that strange by the standards set by 60 years of Japanese animation, but the fact that both the opening and ending themes are sung in an Asian langauge that’s not Japanese, along with the show’s curious placing at 17:30 makes you wonder just who the target audience for this show is. Well, from the overly cutesy design work and the premise, this show is clearly meant for children and pedophiles, but the issues of the songs and timeslot are curious.

As far as the show itself goes, there’s not much to say about it aside from the fact that it’s just adorable. Given the nature of the show and its 50 episode length, it’ll be a slow moving affair, so there’s not much to write about aside from the fact that it’s just cute, and it has some really cute girls doing some really cute things while dressed in really cute animal outfits. One notable thing about this show is that it’s Tange Sakura’s return to anime after 10 years of inactivity. That said, I’ve only ever heard her as Sakura in Cardcaptor Sakura, so her role here didn’t really stick out to me as her until I checked the credits.

This show will be one to keep an eye on, at any rate.

Between mediocre anime and really great anime lies one’s comfort shows. These are shows that generally don’t aspire to much, but do their thing well. At the same time, there are also shows which fall short of their expected potential, but are still quite entertaining regardless. Here’s a list of 2008 shows that fall into either of those categories.

(more…)

Ok, time to blog about stuff

Koihime Musou

Koihime Musou was extremely generic and not at all offensive. There were parts I liked, parts I was mildly entertained by, and some parts which just didn’t capture my interest. Simply put, it was fine. I did come to like some of the characters more than I expected to, though. Aisha was cute whenever she blushed and all of the lolis were generally adorable (especially the spoiled tanned one who was in those couple of episodes.)

What did surprise me about this one was how well done the animation was. Some of the fights in this show were just great.

Sekirei

This one was a surprise. Well, it was a surprise in that it was actually extremely well done in every respect. The animation and direction were all solid, and overall the show was just very entertaining. One problem I did have with the show was the main character, since he was too spineless for even me to tolerate, but he didn’t bother me all that much. The story was pretty half-assed, but this is just the first part of what will presumably be a more epic saga, so it ain’t done yet. I just hope in the next season Kuu-chan gets more lines aren’t MMMMMMMMMMM.

World Destruction

The theme of this post seems to be shows that surprised me in some way. World Destruction was another one which exceeded my low expectations after about episode 2 or 3. It became a fairly light and fun action adventure show that was simply focused on entertaining you. Toru Furuya and Shuuichi Ikeda voicing cute teddy bears also helped in making the show quite amazing.

I should also note that while I did really enjoy all of these shows, I would never ever watch them again. Funny how that works!

Original Post

Really, one has to wonder if these two are even friends, considering that they never seem to have a nice conversation with each other. One also has to wonder why Hikki has an Ideon poster. And why him and Rets share the exact same expression. I kind of like this comic. I don’t like it as much as the last one, but I still think it’s ok.

A podcast happened earlier on in the week. I talk with omo and lastarial about 5cm Per Second. It’s a pretty good episode, so you should listen to it.

I’ve signed up for Project Wonderful. It’s working pretty decently right now. Please bid on this ad space if you want it. That’s all I got to say.

Real life’s been making pretty harsh assaults on me as of late. I’m trying my best to find some work for the next two and a half months. I need some money for various personal endeavours. One’s quite big, and other is quite… small, and cute, and probably smells good. Hopefully these three applications I’m filling out at the moment will get me somewhere. I just need money, man!

Lots of summer shows are coming to a close, and the fall season is just about a week away. Zero no Tsukaima season 3 ended in usual 0nT fashion, in that in crammed way too much into one episode and nothing was resolved. But hey, you don’t care, since Louise is hot, Siesta is hot, and Tiffania is hot. That’s what really matters. Nogizaka Haruka ended pretty well, albeit predictably. One thing that kind of bothers me about the series is how, even in the last episode, the animation never got back onto the level that it was in the first episode (and arguably episode 7.) Hopefully they’ll cleanup the show for DVD. It certainly doesn’t look bad, but it could stand to look better. Both Koihime Musou and Macross just ended, but I haven’t gotten around to them. Macross hasn’t been subbed yet, and I haven’t had time to get to Koihime yet. But I will.

Windy Tales is pretty interesting. I thought the first two episodes laid on seriousness a bit too much, but episodes three and four had a good slice-of-life vibe about them. I can appreciate the art style, but I’m not really sure if I like it. I’m going to stick with it, even though I’m not totally sold on it.

That’s all for this week. I don’t know what I’m going to do for next week, but with luck we’ll see an update.

Current
Chi’s Sweet Home: Pretty easy to catch up on considering each episode is only three minutes. I watch them in sets of four here and there.
Code Geass R2: Oh lawd.
Golgo 13: ….
Hidamari Sketch x365: This show almost has the best Shinbo opening ever. Almost, since the best Shinbo opening is the second SZS opening. Neko Mimi Mode gets an honorable mention.
Koihime†Musou: Still junk food. Half-way done.
Kyouran Kazoku Nikki: Yuuko Gotou is a butterfly girl. Win.
Macross F: I kind of don’t care anymore. Not like I don’t like it, but eh. Who cares.
Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu: Has slipped into being kind-of-sort-of generic, but I don’t care. It’s done well and I’m actually archiving the episodes!
Sekirei: I can enjoy me some tits, too.
Slayers Revolution: Where is it.
Strike Witches: Still the best of the season.
To Love RU: SAIGO NO CHANCE NOW IS THE TIIIIIIIIIIIME. Better than Rosario+Vampire.
World Destruction: Disposable action series. Has Toru Furuya.
Zero no Tsukaima ~Princess no Rondo~: Almost as good as season two. Kind of slipped down into season one level of good.
Zettai Karen Children: Plot’s getting pretty intense.

Birdy is on hold.

Will write about the upcoming season soon. Lots of regular looking stuff.

Current
Chi’s Sweet Home: I’m almost confident that I have not seen an episode within the past month. Oh well.
Code Geass R2: Feeling really Gundam Seed Destiny at this point. The stupidity is actually getting to me now.
Golgo 13: ….
Hidamari Sketch x365: Liking it better than season one, possibly because subs are coming out regularly and the episodes are slightly faster paced.
Koihime†Musou: Junk food anime. Tasty but forgettable.
Kyouran Kazoku Nikki: Fun to watch– a curious mix of serious stories with comedy-like execution.
Macross F: Uh, I have no idea what this show is about anymore, I just like Ranka Lee. Sheryl can die in a fire etc.
Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu: I support anime about hot otaku girlfriends.
Sekirei: My Kanokon for this season– well produced fanservice fluff.
Slayers Revolution: Fun fantasy series– want to get around to the originals eventually.
Strike Witches: DELICIOUS FLAT CHESTS CROTCHES AND PANTIES ALL OVER DEAR GOD BEST OF THE SEASON
Telepathy Shoujo Ran: Ok kids thing. Have three episodes waiting to be watched– if they suck I’ll drop it.
Tetsuwan Birdy Decode: I liked the first two episodes… where’s the rest??
To Love RU: Why can’t THESE types of Jump shows run for 100+ episodes?
World Destruction: Has turned into a surprisingly fun adventure/fantasy series. Completely disposable, but I like it.
Zero no Tsukaima ~Princess no Rondo~: Girls, girls, GIRLS!
Zettai Karen Children: Watching it raw at this point. Hopefully Chihiro will continue on with it now that Deculture has folded.

Dropped Natsume Yuujinchou because it sucked.

Sitting on a bunch of DVDs and manga, too.

Man, so much anime, so little time. I work 40 hours a week, dammit!

Story is, almost a month ago I got the March issue of Megami from J-list. The mag came in one piece, but was kind of bent up due to a poor choice in shipping materials (a thin as fuck paper envelope with DO NOT BEND written on it in black Sharpie.) Once I got back into contact with my Friend in Japan, I complained to him, and he in turn complained to the rest of company. Minutes later I received an email from a J-list employee offering to replace the damaged magazine. However, they were out of issues of March Megami (I took the last one w) so he offered to send me the latest issue. I immediately canceled my order for this new issue on Animenation and took up the good man’s offer.

This is probably the most value I’ve gotten out of an issue of Megami, since I hung up all the posters except for one. Pretty good, especially since I paid absolutely zero for it. It is at this point that I’d like note favourite posters, but all of them are so good that I’d just list them all. A good lead up to issue 100, which is sure to be quite epic.

Also, I tried to put all of these up without taking down in posters. After some slight rearranging of things, I managed to get them all up, and as such I’m nearly out of wallspace. Eventually I’ll take new pictures of my otaku lair, complete with the hug pillows and bedsheets I normally hide when I’m at home– just for the full experience.

Previously…

Third three~

Hidamari Sketch x365: I’m actually liking this one. My problem with the first series was its pace, and I could only really enjoy it while in the right mood. I suspect it’s the same with this one, since it’s just more of same, but I just know when I should watch it now. The first episode is an unrelentless attack of fluid animation for about 15 minutes, then in the last half it goes back to business as usual. If you liked the first series, you’ll like this one.

Also, for some reason I totally forgot Yuuko Gotou was in this…!

Koihime†Musou: I generally steer clear of shows that involve badass fighting women, but since all the boob shows this season are of that ilk, I decided to submit and give some of them a try. One of these shows is Koihime†Musou.

I was pretty surprised by how much I liked this one. I usually like the pure, soft-spoken maiden types of girls, but the badass women in Musou don’t seem all that annoying, even if I’m not totally moe~ for them. The animation is solid, the writing is solid and the boobage solid, so I don’t see any reason not to continue unless it goes bad.

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu: This show is just so adorable. Studio Barcelona has won me over again, but this time with the cutest otaku girlfriend ever, and not mischievous lolis. Haruka, the title character, is just so hot and is the sole reason why I am watching this. It’s not like she’s the only good part, though– the production values are great and the show has a great opening and ending.

The only off putting thing is Mamiko’s acting, but that’s only because I’m used to her playing a spineless shota…