Spring popcorn with butter

The new season of anime has begun...Chii's Sweet Home was cute, but here comes more substantial shows--

xxxHolic◆Kei 1! A Japanese/English blog translated the Kei to 'Connections' which sounds like the most appropriate translation that I've run across.



( Pluses and minuses under cut )

Quick summary ~ In the first episode, the story goes straight for the 'clampesque' eyeball story where a character sacrifices an eye for the one 'they want to shag'. There's a random 'Alice' scene, too. The opening and the extra scene in the episode give away what is to come this season. Looks like they may catch up to the manga.



Quick opinion ~ The pacing and background music always make me feel bored by the middle of the episode. Perhaps, because of the fact that I've been reading the manga, nothing in the anime feels new or revolutionary..outside of the nice opening. But this doesn't stop me from anticipating the rest of the season. If you've watch the anime 'Mononoke', then that is always what I had hoped xxxHolic would feel like.

One more before I pass out...

Always a sucker for something that sounds different...
Allison & Lillia 1! First up is Allison's story. From the writer of Kino no Tabi, we get a pseudo-historical tale of an aviator.



- Bland opening & ending songs and visuals put me to sleep.
+ This takes place in a unique world
- with a charming, but formulaic couple.

Quick summary ~ On a continent divided by a mountain range, a spunky female pilot, Allison, and her down-to-earth friend, Will, get caught up in a treasure hunt/rescue mission to stop the war between those on each side of the mountain range.

Quick opinion ~ Although I had high hopes for this adventure story, it didn't really grab me. Might need a couple more episodes to see if the popularity of the novels have sound backing. Will's seiyuu was familiar...she's using her CCS-Syaoran voice.

And here's Maaya Sakamoto's PV for Trianguler. I'm a tad disappointed that her voice sounds like that in the beginning. It's a little....screechy? The opening video to Macross F sounds better. Hm...wow, some of the youtube links are down within a couple hours of posting. Oh well.