The Smiting Hand of the Flaming-Haired Burning-Eyed

[NOTE: This post is very old and no longer reflective of my opinions or writing style.]

Title: Shakugan no Shana
Genre: Supernatural, Shounen Action
For Fans of: Zero no Tsukaima, Shin Megami Tensei
Length: 24 episodes (season 2 coming soon)
Availability: 6 DVDs by Genoen (meaning buy them with much speed!)

The Pros: – Pure style. Dark tones remniscent of the Shin Megami Tensei games.
- Great characters who all play their roles wonderfully
- Interesting mythology

The Cons: – Rather poor writing/directing all around
- The ‘we’re in a hurry, so let’s stand still for 10 minutes’ syndrom
- The ‘groups of enemies just surround you and don’t actually attack, while single enemies hold off on finishing the fight until it’s too late’ syndrome

Story: HERE

I really enjoyed Shana for several things – the awesome style and great characters, and since both of those facets remained consistant throughout, I managed to have a lot of fun with this series, and I look forward to the next season. Admittedly, the show had a number of problems. Despite the great style, the animation isn’t anything wonderful and the fight scenes are not particularly exciting. The worst thing in my opinion, though, was the writing.

Mind you, it wasn’t all bad in that department, but I think it degraded as the show pushed on. For instance, as ‘life force’ slowly went from the power of being alive to the enemy’s power level (luckily this didn’t become to horrible, though it did go OVER 9000!!!!) Also, people say some really confusing things. I mean, just hen you think you’ve figured out the situation, suddenly you’re not sure wat the hell the plan was on eithe side. Stll, though, if you look at the fighting and plotting all as background to th character development then it isn’t so bad.

While Shana doesn’t have the most original plot of all time, I think it has some really interesting characters. A lot of people compare Shana to Louise of ZnT, Nagi of Hayate no Gotoku, and some other character from Nanoha (partly because they all have the same voice actor, and partly because al of them have tsundere quality) however none of them are really al that alike, and Shana is by far the most believable and great of them. Her and Yuuji make a great duo and they’re just plain fun to watch together, especially in their happy moments.

Margery Dawn is fun too, though Marcotious is the real star of the duo. The smart-mouthed book has the best voice ever and he is hilarious. Ah, my beautiful goblet MARGERY DAWN! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Also, there’s her minions who were both awesome. I think they played really well off of each-other. Most of the enemies were memorable as well and interesting. The twins were my fvorite, of course, with their constant making out and all-around craziness – they’re hard not to love. I also wish we could have seen more of the Undertaker since he was a fun character, and I have the sneaking suspition that rainbow-skeleton-man Shiro will be back too. But that could just be me getting my hopes up.

The Big, Convoluted-ass List of Increadible Pain

[NOTE: This post is very old and no longer reflective of my opinions or writing style.]

This is where the buck falls. This is where time eats it’s own head. This is where destiny and eternity combine. This is Zettai Unmei Mokushiroku. THIS. IS. LIST!!!

Okay, so this list is very stupid and frivolous, yet holds the fate of m world in it’s hand. It is the sacred all-encompasing, all-describing Watching List of Unbelievable Horror. Follow the rubric, and try not to loose your mind and devour face in hatred.

Number (mans something later) – Title – Priority (out of 3*) (CHECK is reccommended highly to me)- eps seen/eps available – ep time (if it’s special) – DL = Downloaded, DLing = Downloading, toDL = plan to DL, Inter = will use streams (only if I’ve already checked and they are great) – Thoughts

A * after everything means I may go for the DVDs

Mahou Shoujo Tai Arusu

SECTION ONE: Complete series that I plan to watch on the computer with the possibility of one day buying

1. Strawberry Panic! – 2* – 17/26 – Inter (good so far at least, great characters but corny plot)
2. Kaleido Star – 2* CHECK – 1/52 – DL (energetic and pretty, which is good)
3. Kurogane Communication – 1* – 1/26 – 15 min. – DL (dub is bad, but seems interesting)
4. Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha – 2* – 0/13 – DLing (It’s Shinbo and it’s popular)
5. Honey and Clover – 2* CHECK – 0/24 – DLing (good romance comes rare~)
6. 12 Kingdoms – 1* CHECK – 1/52 – Inter (I had low expectations but the first ep was great)
7. Mahou Shoujo Tai Arusu – 3* – 3/40 – 10 min. – Inter (really unique and trippy – melikes) *
8. Kamichu – 3* CHECK – 0/16 – DLing (supposedly one of the best comedy out there)
9. Kokoro Toshokan – 1* – 1/13 – Inter (cute slie of life)
10. School Rumble – 2* CHECK – 0/26 – toDL (looks hilarious) *
11. Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou – 2* CHECK – 3/4 – 30 min. – Inter (so… relaxing…)
12. Hidamari Sketch – 3* CHECK – 9/12 – Inter (There is reaally no good excuse for not having finished this…)
13. Tsukuyomi ~Moon Phase~ – 2* – 0/26 – toDL (what can I say? Shinbo fanboy~) *
14. Yamamoto Yohko – 3* CHECK – 0/26 – toDL (see above comment~) *
15. PLANETeS – 1* CHECK – 0/26 – toDL (seems like an interesting concept)
16. Black Lagoon – 1* CHECK – 0/26 – ? (I’m being pressured into watching it)
17. ARIA – 1* CHECK – 2/? – Inter (Only cuz it has so many fans >_>)
18. Rozen Maiden – 2* – 2/26 – Inter (It’s popular and the fights are cool) *
19. Lucky Star – 3* – 11/24 – Inter (gunna marathon it with some friends)
20. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann – 3* – 15/27 – toDL (soon as the last sub drops I’ll run through it)
21. Someday’s Dreamers – 1* CHECK – 1/26 – ? (chalk up anothe slice-of-life with an interesting concept)
22. Figure 17 – 3* CHECK – 3/13 – 45 min. – ? (had stopped cuz of long ass eps but it left an impression, so I want more) *
23. Ichigo Marshmallow – 3* CHECK – 0/13 – toDL (It looks to be straight-up great) *
24. Scrapped Princess – 2* – 10/26 – Inter (not bad just not amazing) *
25. Zero no Tsukaima (and ~Futatsu no Kishi~) – 2* – 10/26 – Inter (My bro likes it a lot)

WTACHING ORDER for those shows listed above, so as not to make you keep moving the page way up:
Watching Soon/Now: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 14, 19, 20
Watching Later/In the future: 10, 13, 15, 16, 17, 21, 22, 24
Random/Unknown: 9, 18, 23, 25

Baccano!

SECTION TWO: Shows that aired recently and either aren’t complete or haven’t been subbed fully (all are being wited until subs and show are complete)

26. Baccano! – 3* – 1/13 – Inter (first ep was crazy awesome)
27. Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei – 3* – 3/12 – Inter (Shinbo at his absolute best)
28. Mononoke – 1* CHECK – 1/13 – Inter (honestly, I didn’t like ep 1 at all but a friend will not shut up about it!)
29. Moetan – 2* – 1/13 – Inter (Will wait for DVD rips)
30. Sky Girls – 1* – 1/13 – Inter (Dumb but fun)
31. Sisters of Wellber – 2* – 6/13 – Inter (suggested watching not in a row)

Haibane Renmei

SECTION THREE: Shows I’ve been watching when I buy the DVDs. Will replace to -DL- with number of DVDs owned/number available

32. Gankutsuou – 3* – 16/24 – 4/6 (The Count is god)
33. Gunslinger Girl – 3* – 8/13 – 2/3 (Based on my favorite manga!)
34. Haibane Renmei – 3* – 7/13 – 2/4 (I REALLY need the next 2)
35. Mushi-shi – 3* – 14/26 – 1/2 (Can’t wait to break the already seen territory)
36. Pani Poni Dash – 2* – 10/26 – 2/6 (Shinbo’s other funny school show)
37. Coyote Ragtime Show – 1* – 4/12 – 1/3 (UFOTable and their wackiness)
38. Generator Gawl – 2* – 6/12 – 3/4 (OMG I havenn’t watched volume 3 yet)
39. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni – 2* – 5/26 – 1/2 (I might contnue if I were to have extra money or something)
40. R.O.D. the TV – 2* – 10/26 – 1/6 (should prolly continue that)
41. Raxhephon – 1* – 5/26 – 1/6 (got the DVD by accident, but may continue)
42. Soultaker – 3* – 3/13 – 1/4 (More Shinbo madness. Also not Nurse Witch Kugomi)
43. Texhnolyze – 1* – 3/23 – 1/7 (I’m an ABe fanboy. Sue me.)

Shakugen no Shana

SECTION FOUR: Shows I am interested in starting

44. Shakugen no Shana – 2* – 26 eps (season 2 soon) (I dunno, looks cool)
45. Utawarerumono – 2* – 26 eps (a lot of mixed opinions I’ve read, so I’ll have to see for myself)
46. Le Chevalier D’Eon – 1* – 26 eps (heard it’s just so great, and the manga seemed cool)
47. Lovely Complex – 1* – ? (lotta friends watching)
48. Potemayo – 1* (see 45)
49. Touka Gettan – 1* (just cuz Shiro thinks it’s the best damn thing since time)

Nadesico

SECTION FIVE: Things I forgot to list in the other sections cuz I’m a dumbass

50. Hayate no Gotoku – 3* – 23/25 – Inter (it’s hayate no gotoku!)
51. Martian Successor Nadesico – 3* – 2/26 – ? (legendary)

Blue Drop

SECTION SIX: The Coming Season

52. Blue Drop – 3* (Yuri action/drama show of the season)
53. Mokke – 2* (I thrive on the unique)
54. GHOST HOUND – 2* (all about the director)
55. ef ~a tale of memories~ – 1* (wait and see~)
56. kodomo no Jikan – 3* (the OVA was simply amazing)
57. Minami-ke – 2* (slice of life sisters – of course)
58. CLANNAD – 2* (KyoAni never fails)
59. Genshiken 2 – 3* (ZOMG GENSHIKEN!)
60. Shion no Ou – 2* (interesting…)
61. Bamboo Blade – 1* (another wait and see)

Movies and Manga can come some other time.

Gooey, Delicious Nacho Cheese – AKA Senseless Violence and Boobs – AKA why the 80s are great (Project A-Ko)

[NOTE: This post is very old and no longer reflective of my opinions or writing style.]

You can’t really beat a movie that is totally pointless, ignores reality, has a boob shot in the first 5 minutes and unleashes ruthless, hilarious destruction with some of the coolest fight scenes ever. Oh, and yuri undertones.

Well, I happened to catch Project A-Ko on te Funimation network. Normally, I would have ignored it after one look at the character designs (yes, I’m that silly) but since I’d recently seen it on a yuri show list, I decided to watch it. And I’m glad I did, because it was great. If I were to compare it to something, it would probably be Ranma 1/2 since both involve oddball destructive comedy mixed with kewl action scenes. I don’t think Ranma ever racked up quite the kill count A-Ko does, though, lol. Tell me, what’s a more fun way to get to school than pulverizing several houses on your way? Not much.

Some things that deserve noting – boobs are awesome, C-Ko was adorable throughout – mechs explode REALLY easily – the all-female alien race was simultaneously hilarious and very disturbing – GIANT BLACK TRANSVESTITE!!! – your average Japanese high school is indestructible.

The battle between A-Ko and B-Ko inside the school was fucking great, even though it defied rationality constantly (spinning A-Ko by her legs, yet they were aout 2 feet away from the wall, lol.) The only parts that ere lame were when the fight was about to start and it suddenly cuts into outer space for some randm fight, and again when the fight is nearing conclusion and the aliens come to earth – the whole dogfight between the earth forces and aliens was cool and all, but horribly paced with the rest of it. I just ended up loosing attention during those parts, but the rest was good enough.

Anyway, the movie was obviously horribly cheesy and therefor mondo-awesome. A must-see for action fans.

I am Otaku, Hear Me Roar (or 70000000 series and only 2 OVAs to eat them with) (or "Busy")

[NOTE: This post is very old and no longer reflective of my opinions or writing style.]

So I’ve been quiet a day longer than usual, so I will say a lot. Also, since someone said ‘do less reviews, more other stuff!’ I said ‘can do holmes!’

First of all, if I were to detail what I’m watching now I think I couldn’t say more than ‘stuff; because I’m not even sure what I’m up to right now. At first, after running out of subs of Sisters of Wellber I went ‘crap now I have nothing to watch. I got 2 episodes into Kannazuki no Miko and promptly dropped it for lack of ability to care about anything going on in it. I watched the first episode of Kokoro Library which I intend to watch more of but don’t intend to block watch. I watched the first 3 Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou and haven’t gotten around to the last one. I also watched the Kodomo no Jikan OVA (my first torrent ever!) as well as started on Strawberry Panic! which oddly enough I chose just for the hell of it and ended up really liking it so I decided to continue.

Thing is, there’s all that, and if you were paying close attention to the last paragraph, you know that a new window of opportunity just opened for me as far as anime goes. Over the past couple months there have been 4 shows I wanted to watch (PLANETeS, Kaleido Star, Kurogane Communication, and Yamamoto Yoko) that I will now be able to. It’s like… a MASSIVE EXPLOSION of anime I need to watch and just knowing that it’s all coming at me at once makes it hard for me to watch anything ^^;; If all that weren’t enough, I wanted to watch all the shows from the spring and summer seasons that I stopped halfway through (Gurren-Lagann, Lucky Star, etc.) before the fal season starts… and then there’s the fall season itself!!!

Anyway, I also watned to talk about a problem I’ve been having lately that I’m sure many of you have dealt with. Extreme objectiveness. I can’t sit through a damn episode of an anime without thinking ‘oh this is too much like this and that’s so cliche bla bla bla’ and it hurts shows that otherwise I’d be enjoying. This was mostly true for SP! because there are so many ways that it… almost rips off Marimite (but I won’t say that, cuz I don’t know which came first) and for most of the first ep I kept going on about how it was too similar, but really there is more than enough to set it apart. I think I need a good slap in the face, hehe.

For the time being, I think I’ll start with Strawberry Panic! since I like it a lot thus far. It’s almost the weekend, so block watching it shouldn’t be too hard and I’ll be able to squeeze in another whole show this weekend if I’m skillfull about it. That one will probably be Yamamoto Yoko since It’s Shinbo and I’ve heard a lot of praise for it. And it’s Shinbo.

Also, about KnJ OVA

It was spactacular – even way better than I expected. Rin is wonderfully complex. The perfect mix of mature and childish – she’s female Japanese Tom Sawyer I swear to god. Mimi falls under a steriotype I normally dislike but un this case, she actually miht be my favorite character. Also, she totally has implants XD. I couldn’t catch the third girl’s name but she is also awesome, and not just for her gayness! (but mostly for her gayness). Also, I already like Rin’s brother. I respect him a lot (as an older brother myself).

Start watching Sisters of Wellber, dammit!

[NOTE: This post is very old and no longer reflective of my opinions or writing style.]

Title: Sisters of Wellber
Genre: Fantasy Action
For Fans of: El Cazador de la Bruja, Noir, Madlax
Episodes: 13
Availability: Subs only (8 eps)

Unlike many of the anime posts I do, this is actually a show I’m only just starting, and it ended a couple months ago. So why am I not waiting till I’m done? Because for some reason, pretty much NO ONE has seen this – at least that’s how it seems to be over here on the US side.

Ssiters of Wellber starts off with two things going on – the first being that a female theif has been looting the capital city for the past few days and eluding capture rather nicely. Meanwhile, in the palace, the princess is receiving a visit from a prince from another kingdom who she is to mary soon. Well, said theif, having seen a monster treasure in the palace the night before, goes to loot the place and stumbles upon the princess and prince standing nude together… and the princess is covered in blood! The prince’s body falls to the ground to reveal a dagger in the princess’ hands! Guardss storm te room and the theif, not wanting to be suspected of causing this, makes a quick escape with the princess.

The next day, after spending the night at the theif’s house, the princess is attacked by soldiers. One of her loyal men tells her that the king has been forced to but a 1,000,000 cur bounty on her head because if she is not executed, the country where the prince comes from will encite war and wipe out the nation. Her guard tells her to escape to a southern nation, and the theif, having a need to go there herself, gets the princess to hire her as a bodyguard. After a narrow escape thanks to the help of… a tank?!… the team’s adventure begins.

After 3 episodes of this show, it mostly reminds me of Bee Train’s girls-with-guns trilogy, hence all the shows lsted above. though since this show is half of any of their length, I’m sure it takes a different direction than they do. The feel is very Final-Fantasy to me. It’s not anywhere near as steam-punk as an FF game, but it’s the kind of atmosphere.

the highlights of the show are the great animation (thank you Production I.G.) but more entirely the excellent music. This is definitely an OST I want to look into.

Starship Operators

[NOTE: This post is very old and no longer reflective of my opinions or writing style.]

So, another seris finished in a short period of time – Starship Operators. Aside from having one of the coolest first episodes I’ve ever seen in an anime and some of the greatest battle scenes, this show earns the spot as my favorit space/military show since Robotech.

[SPOILERS]

Episode 2
Oi. 2 episodes into Starship Operators – this show is insane and I love it. The first episode easily ranks in my top 5 favorite first episodes of an anime – it doesn’t fuck around at all. Brass-tax, non-stop tension, and if you don’t pay close attention to what’s going on, you’ll surely get lost. The concept is original and presented beautifully.

But best of all comes down to the battles. Not much in the way of visual fights, but my god the tension is heavier than any swordfight I’ve ever seen and pulls off some of the coolest space stuff I’ve ever seen (I’m usually not a big fan of space anime, but this one turns that all around) plus as a huge tactics nerd, I find the intelligent battles to be totally fun and cool.

Episode 3
No battle, but the same no-nonsense attitude that keeps me on the edge of my seat throughout. Gotta say, the producer guy is probably my favorite character so far – he’s practically evil, lol. I also find it interesting how many secrets seem to be touched opun in each episode. I get the feeling we’re looking at massive plot twists to come.

Episode 6
Episodes 5-6 of Starship Operators were absolutely brilliant, also, unexpected boob shot!!! Though it sucks that it had to be as Rena was dying, since she was probably my favorite of he girls, but still, bewb shot >_> I gotta say I’m imperessed, this is pretty much the second military show I’ve ever liked (the other being Macross)

(I watched the rest all at once so I didn’t have time for individual reviews)

Anywho, the most important thing about this show from beginning to end was that it was fast-paced and exciting every minute and moved so quickly that each episode felt half it’s length. Episode 8 and I believe it was either 10 or 11 (the one where they fight 5 ships at once) were not only the wo coolest space battles of all time, but simply two of the greatest battles ever.

The series wasn’t completely without flaws, mind you. The biggest one I saw was that in the last 4-5 episodes it seems like they gave up on character development. Throughout the early episodes there was always romantic stuff on the side and little excerpts of the characters lives, but after Shinon’s boyfriend died (relatively quickly, I might add) the characters seemed to fall back and the est of the story concentrated on te plot strictly. My best guess is that this was because of only having 13 episodes to work with. Not that the series should have necessarily been longer – I think if they had spanned it out more it mght have lost that constant tension and energy that was almost ever-present throughout. Still, I definitely would have liked to look more into some of the more interesting characters’ lives.

Looking at the series in review, I think the highlights would have been the 6th and 8th episodes. The episode with the 5-on-one fight may have been the coolest battle in the series, but it was at the point when the story had become a little too political for me – not that I didn’t still enjoy it. The ending was effected by this as well. I think that the series ended the way it should have, but it ended too soon. If I had been more intimate with the characters sooner to the end, it would have been more impactful, and utterly perfect.

Still, despite these flaws, it was an excellent series that I might like to see redone with a higher budget and maybe more episodes, if it could be done right. After all, I think the flaws were completely with circumstance rather than writing issues. On that note, I notice that it is in fact based on an ongoing series of novels which I’d love the chance to read, though I will likely never get it, lol.

Anywho, my favorite characters from this show were Shinon, Rena (boob shot!), and the ever-awesome Peter. If he wasn’t enough of a badass already, his part at the end of the series makes him the true best dude evar.

Kashimashi raped me! (I kinda liked it…)

[NOTE: This post is very old and no longer reflective of my opinions or writing style.]

Sometimes it’s nice to get a little lighthearted romance in-between heavier shows that you’re paying attention to. After watching so many ZOMG great shows in a row, it’s fun to just chill for a day and watch something completely fluff. Kashimashi fills in that gap.

BTW, this show is better than a lot of people gave it credit for (it doesn’t help that the opinions I heard were all either absolute hate or pne guy who loved it to death.) I mean, mind you, there is pretty much nothing that makes the show stand out, but nothing that really deminishes it, either.

One of the chief complaints I heard about this series was that ‘they reuse the same jokes in every episode’. Let me tell you this – if you thought the series sucked because of that, you are a dick. A bitch ass dick, for real. The repeitive jokes take up about 30 seconds of combined time in each episode, some don’t appear in certain episodes (last episode is dumb-joke-free and second-to-last was mostly) and the show is only 12 damn episodes long. Plus, sometimes the jokes are funny in certain alterations.

Anyway, getting down to the show itself, first let me say that this show IS an erection. That’s why I claimed it ‘raped’ me. After all, I couldn’t manage to watch for more than 5 minutes without getting an erection all seres long. Here we have 3 girls with great personalities, awesome character designs, nice boobs and THEY ALL WANT TO HAVE SEX WITH EACH OTHER…. COME ON!!!!! The hentai material is endless! (BTW, i haven’t had the chance to go on a Kasimasi porn hunt, so I’ll surely get to that soon enough…) Not to mention the guy who becomes a girl was already girly to the point that he was practically a chick. I guess there’s the alien guy’s ass’ multiple appearance to cancel it out, though.

As for the actual story – like I said, it’s fluffy romance. Now, there is the twist that the main character used to be a boy and a space-ship crashes into him, turning him into a girl, the girl he’s got a crush on [spoiler] can’t see men, and he lives with aliens [/spoiler]but the romance itself is pretty standard love-triangle stuff. The funny thing about the characers in this show is that we have three girls who are almost stereotypical – the physically active girl who’s a childhood friend and secret admirer, the quiet girl who the main character falls in love with, and the increadibly girly girl (who was once a guy >_>) – and yet all of them manage to break (I’m tempted to say ‘fall from’) these steryotypes. All three of them have the ‘care about them, don’t want to hurt them’ attitude towards each other that they can’t seem to conquer, and there’s the indiciciveness on all sides (right down to the last episode even.) Either way, I enjoyed the characters (I’m an unbearably indecicive person myself) and generally had fun from start to finish.

Naturally, there were a few things I didn’t like about the series. The whole ‘can’t see men except you’ thing was prroly done, I think. I mean, how the hell can you turn down a girl who can only see you? And this comes even more into play when she’s not only unable to see anyone, but if she falls n love she can regain vision – AND help a whole alien planet. The choice was rather obvious by then.

The other major problem was the ending. Wow. We get a 24-minute episode and more than half of it is dedicated to the girl she didn’t choose?! not to ention she only spends about 1 minute of screentime with the girl he did choose. But here’s the clincher – after all that ‘things can’t be the same’ whining, everything just foes back to how it was before, only with more romantic involvement on the chosen girls’ part. Seriously, what the hell were you all crying so much over? And anyway, there’s the obvious cliffhanger saying ‘go watch the OVA – episode 13′ but I’m not going to, since from what I hear it’s basicaly just ‘she chooses the other girl’ which I think is lame and pointless, not to mention I supported the choice she makes from the beginning.

So despite the bad ending, I thought this was a pretty cute fluffy show that, like most courtship romances, I wish I could see a continuance of >_> In any event, it’s not a bad way to waste a day. (Though honestly, if it weren’t for t3h yuri, there’s no way I’d have gven this show a second thought >_>)

Jesus Has Gotten Fat! (The rest of Marimite)

[NOTE: This post is very old and no longer reflective of my opinions or writing style.]

The Marimite OVAs have probably been the highlight of the series for me. mostly because Yumi is the main character in all 5 of them, but also becasue they use the whole cast to their advantage. The first episode was really the only one that was kind of off on it’s own in that it only really focused on Yumi and Sachiko, but it did an awesome job of strengthening their relationship to the point that it’s hard not to look at them as lovers. The scene when they’re about to walk into te party (‘loading their weapons’ as I’ve titled it) was brilliant.

New characters and stuff were great, new places to see (like Rome!) and the best quote ever (“My, our Jesus has gotten flabby…”) as well as the most fun stories all show. But none of that is what’s reall important here (it isn’t?)

Marimite is the first (I think) show that I have actualy felt is strengthend by it’s length. I simply can’t get enough of it – this show could continue on forever and it’d still be a great show simply because the characters are so awesome (actually, I really do hope they end it when Yumi graduates, or else create a future season). Either way, I can definitely say that I’m awaiting season 4 with open arms.

Also,, the DVD specials were freaking hilarious.

The Tears and Smiles of Spring (Maria-sama ga Miteru ~Haru~)

[NOTE: This post is very old and no longer reflective of my opinions or writing style.]

Oi. Now with 2 seasons under my belt, Maria-sama ga Miteru has warmed up to me enough that I like it a lot – not a favorite or anything, but definitely an excellent show that I look forward to continue watching (which is convenient cuz the series just keeps going and going…). Season 2 was a lot more fun than season 1 on basically every level for every reason there is. As I said before, it took me over half of the first season to really start enjoying it, and it wasn’t until the last few episodes that I recognized it as something I enjoyed. Starting off season 2 with a few funny episodes and the fact that I knew all of the characters’ names and their basic personalities really helped (probably because it’s the exact opposite of season 1′s start.)

Now, like everything I watch, the characters are really what make Marimite for me – which is all it could be anyway – the show is just characters and nothing else. And boy, are they very complicated people, heh. Seriously, I wish I had friends who were as three-simensional as these girls (though really, if the show is any indication, it would only make my life harder ^^;;). Character interaction is the foundation of Marimite in that every little thing that goes on when the characters talk is taken into account. A distracted glance; a fluttering tone; or simply the way someone is walking all effect the perception of the characters not only by the viewer, but by the other characters.

In some ways, it makes me wonder if the characters are all robots, but then I remember that this is anime, and characters are allowed to have super-awesome communication skills. Besides, robots could never have the pure emotion that is shown in every second of Marimite.

Nothing is ever wasted in this show. Well, that wasn’t true as much in the first season, but this time around I think that there were almost zero wasted words ever. No meaningless conversation, throwaway jokes, or pointless remarks that are ever-present in your average anime. EVERYTHING has meaning in this show, and in that respect, I’d say it has some of the best writing I’ve ever seen.

On that same coin, though, there were a couple things that did bother me about ths season. The first being that it has started to repeat itself a little. Now, mind you, the style of showing only one character’s perception and then pulling a twist on you when you hear the others’ side of the story is a great tactic in my opinion, because it feels like you are right there with the character, feeling what she feels. When Yumi is wondering why Sachiko seems to have abandoned her, you wonder why yourself and feel as heartbroken and flustered as Yumi does. While I do enjoy that tactic, though, I think it might be overused a little, especially in the case of Yumi and Sachiko’s relationship. It’s not an overly large complaint, but it’s one that could become redundant if it keeps happening in future seasons.

Anyway, season two was far more impressive than the first one, and left a far larger impact (rather than ending it saying ‘oh, the last few epsiodes were nice’ I’m thinking ‘wow, those were a great 13 episodes’). I can’t wait to keep going.

Mai-Review (Mai-HiME)

[NOTE: This post is very old and no longer reflective of my opinions or writing style.]

WARNING: DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN ALL OF MAI-HIME.

After ep 2
Anywho, started watching Mai-HiME because of a lot of hype and my curiosity. After 2 eps I can’t decide what the hell to make of it. The action scene in the first ep was pretty kickass. There’s so many characters that for every one I hate there’s one I know I’ll like (whilst Mai herself has simultaneously become my favorite character in he show and one of the most annoying besides that ungodly silver-haired guy. i hope he dies >_>). I hope that there are many more fanservice moments with her and that strange feral girl
After ep 6
After 6 episodes of Kujian Mai-HiME I find the show addicting and fun and hilariously cool. And plus, Mai is an awesome lead.
After ep 10
Holy shit. I was just joking when I said that Mai-HiME was secretly Kujian, but after episode 10, I’m not so sure anymore. I can hardly even believe that episode was real XD even so it was so hilariously cheesy that it was brilliant. Also, Akira-kun is probably now my favorite character. Add onto that the Nordic terms springing up in eps 8 and 10 and this is quickly becoming a favorite of mine.
After ep 19
episode 19, holy fuck shit balls! I knew this shows had gotten crazy and a little sad, but this was downright depressing. Seriously, I can’t see very many happy endings arising from all this, period.

It took a while, but I finally completed Mai-HiME – easily one of the most impressive anime I’ve seen and my favorite since Welcome to the NHK. I’d lie to start by saying that, pacing wise, this anime was absolutely superb. In most anime there might be a certain part of the show that was slower or faster that didn’t feel right with the rest, or just an episode or two that were out of place or uninteresting. Mai-HiME never had any parts like that. 100% of the way through it was an awesome, eventful, fun, crazy thrill ride which could compete with s-CRY-ed in the world of over-the-top action/drama that leaves ou glued to the seat and begging for more.

My favorite part of this show was most definitely it’s share of ‘holy fucking shit!’ surprises. Starting from the moment the first Child is slaughtered and the instant realization that this show isn’t playing around, the action was constantly building and never ceased to amaze or become monotonous. Surprises waited around every corner and even things that you kinda see coming are twisted into something crazy and thrown back at you.

Adding onto that, I was completely addicted to this series throughout, but it was in episode 19 and onward that it officially grabbed the rank of one of my alltime favorties. At that point, I think I had fallen in love with every single member of the entire cast. There are probably no other shows I can say that about – I’ve always managed to hate someone. Even in Eva I hated Asuka, in Gankutsuou I hate that blonde guy, in NHK i hate the class rep girl, but I cannot hate anyone in Mai-HiME. So naturally, watching each of them get thoroughly crushed both physically and emotionally was a moving experience. Not to mention absolutely awesome.

Episode 19 laid the seedsd of dispair, and boy did it grow rapidly. Killing 2 main characters in episode 20 took me by surprise (even if Mikoto is already back by 21, but I didn’t watch it till 2 days later, so I was still freaking out, lol). From there on out the whole show wwas pure epic and win. Amazing battles, great drama, just all-around kickassery. And oh! Let’s not forget yuri rape, masochist nun, psycho-12-year-old-whore, explosing schools, and the reverse-trap. Might I also mention that said yuri-rapist and victim are my official favorite yuri couple ever (so why can’t I find more decent, non-dickgirl porn of them?!). I think it’s important now that I tackle the ending.

I’ve heard a lot of bad things about the ending of Mai-HiME, so I was braced for the worst. Honestly, though, by the time I had pressed play on episode 26 I already knew i would love the ending. With a show like this that I loved that much, nothing could fuck it up, period. And, of course, I loved it. I think it’s rather obvious, though, why some people hated it – extreme case of deus-ex machina. Seeing the reception of Kanon’s ending, it’s no surprise. I, for one, adored it. More happy endings like this, plz!

Also, since the sub I watched was nice enough to leave notes afterward about the entire mythological backgrounds of all the Childs, I was extremely impressed at the mythological undertones. I had only really caught the nordic ones since I’m a huge Norse mythology fan, but all of them were great.

Anywho, even though I’ve been advised against i, I’m gunna check out Mai-Otome just in case. Chow!