...what are you watching...

Holiday weekend

Mon, 04 Jul 2016 00:24:59 GMT

Sailor Moon Crystal 31-39! the end of this season. Got to hand it to Usagi and Mamoru for talking about Uranus and Michiru in a open manner. Kudos to Chibi-Usa for setting them up. And it's nice that they have new vocals for the opening and a new character song for the ending. Tuxedo Kamen's ending theme is amusingly bad. Despite the occasional drop in animation quality, the quality is still better than the previous two seasons and the story content is still true to the manga. It's a darn shame that Professor Tomoe does not have the maniacal laughter he had in the original anime. He's bland in this series. ~8/10 rating~ for the nice upgrade in this anime and decent production of the manga. The original anime actually did a better job on the character development with this arc especially with Professor Tomoe.

Boku no Hero Academia 4-13! the end of season one. In the first few episodes, we learn about the students and teachers. Midoriya and Bakugo get to face off, and in their own way, reconcile. Hopefully, they mature beyond the crybaby and bully personalities in the next season. The climax of the season is when a group of villians infiltrate the school to kill off All Might, the No. 1 symbol of peace. ~7/10 rating~ the anime did not live up to the hype as most of the characters had cookie-cutter anime personalities and the plot again, we've seen before and done better before. Naruto, Soul Eater, Shingeki no Kyojin all had more unique school settings. And One-Punch Man and Tiger & Bunny had much more amusing hero vs. villian worlds. On the positive side, this had no competition in the genre this season, and each episode flew by quickly.

Flying Witch 4-12! the end. There's no conflict or climax to this anime. It's a nice slice-of-life anime to put on in the background while doing something else. If Harry Potter was about Harry living in the country occasionally learning a bit of magic, you'd have this. ~6/10 rating~ for simple and cute, but wouldn't want to watch reruns.

Magi: Sinbad no Bouken 1-8! Sinbad had his own manga and OVA spinoff and now has a proper tv series. This is good, because he was one of the more powerful and charismatic characters in Magi. We already know from the original Magi series that Sinbad captures seven Dungeons, so it's fun to watch a show where we know the hero will win big. Episode 1 shows us how his father dies and episode 2-3 is a rehash of the ONA where Sinbad conquers his first dungeon. 4-6 is about his capture of the Dungeon at Imuchakk. Sinbad learns about the trade business from the King of Balbadd in episodes 7-8.

Kuroshitsuji: Book of Murder OVA 1-2! I had forgotten about these movies. This takes place after the Book of Circus arc. The Queen orders Ciel to host a banquet for a lord and several other high-class nobles during which several murders take place. This is the mangaka's fanfiction-like take on a Sherlock Holmes mystery in which Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and a Jeremy Brett-like character star. Like a Sherlock mystery, a lot of emphasis is place on the explanation of how the murders were done. ~7/10 rating~ There were definitely some slow spots in this so-so story. The viewers would never believe Sebastion was dead, so the suspense or mystery never built up. Looking forward to movie, Book of the Atlantic, since this was one of the stronger story arcs from the manga....but sad that it won't be out until 2017.

Bakemono no Ko (The Boy and the Beast) jmovie! Also got around to watching this movie directed by Mamori Hosoda (Wolf Children). It seems that this is takes place in the same world as the Wolf Children. A young boy finds himself a student of a lazy beast in the Beast World. Both boy and beast mature and become stronger in many ways. ~7/10 rating~ Fun, but forgettable movie. The antagonist, the Sasuke-like character, was too predictable.

Code Geass: Akito the Exiled 4-5! the end of the OVA/movies. The tv series ended in 2008, so having these OVAs released on a rather uneven schedule slowly afterwards killed much of the hype surrounding the series. On the other hand, the quality of the production is quite stunning to watch. If that's what took them so long to release the episodes, it may have been worth it to get the visual candy. The mech battles were great despite me not liking the mechs-on-skates design.The plot and characters were not as strong. They really could have trimmed much of the complexity and the number of characters. The last two episodes showed us the contrast between Shaing's geass and Leila's geass and their affect on Akito. It also ended the war between EU and Brittania. Joining the gypsies seems more like fanservice than actual character development, so those last scenes were rather odd in the scheme of things. ~7/10 rating~ for some lovely mech fights. While the whole arc seemed to parallel the original Code Geass story, the story and characters weren't as compelling.

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Spring showers...

Sat, 30 Apr 2016 23:15:46 GMT

Totally acknowledging the fact that nobody uses LJ or DW anymore, but I find Tumblr and other trendy social media areas only good for images rather than writing. At least some blogs continued to survive and continue to provide interesting well-written posts. (not that you'll have that here...this is my own resource) ;)

Below are the new anime airing this spring and my first impressions:

Sailor Moon Crystal 27-30! The start of the Mugen/S series. The style of this season has changed as the director and most of the main animation staff has changed (for the better, I think). Gone is the odd CGI-ed transformation sequence, and a new cleaner transformation takes its place. The character design is a little more cutesy, too...actually closer to the original anime and farther from the original manga that the 1st two season tried to emulate. "Jupiter Coconut Cyclone"...hahaha..the attack names are still as great as ever. In these episodes, Phaorah 90 sends dark egg things to possess people. Michiru and Haruka are introduced. Their seiyuu sing the ending theme. This is probably the best story arc out of the whole franchise and despite the production still not being Macross quality, there is an improvement and I think I'll enjoy the silliness.

Boku no Hero Academia 1-3! has a ton of hype around the manga of the same name. Izuku Midoriya is quirkless in a world where 80% of the people have a quirk/supernatural power. He wants to become a hero despite that weakness. Crybaby main character - check. Rival/bully - check. Mentor - check. Multiple fight scenes - check. School/training setting - check. It's entertaining, but I'm waiting for the Izuku grows out of the crying stage and I'm also waiting for the story makes itself distinctive from all other shounen anime.

Sakamoto desu ga? 1-2! is about the perfect student, Sakamoto, and the classmates who are jealous of him or want him. Sakamoto's over-the-top perfection reminds me of Sebastian from Kuroshitsuji. It's mildly amusing, but not enough to hold my interest. Dropped.

Tanaka-kun wa Itsumo Kedaruge 1! is about a lazy, sleepy student, Tanaka. This is a slice-of-life anime that probably should be cute and funny, but I think you get as sleepy as Tanaka watching him not do anything. Dropped.

Flying Witch 1-3! is about a witch that moves to a relative's house as a part of her training to become a full-fledged witch. This is adorable and well-paced.

Kums Miko 1-2! A young, country miko wants to go to school in the city. The bear god at her shrine tests her knowledge of the city. I thought that this would be a cute, harmless anime, but after the story about the bear seducing a miko and them having bear offspring that can speak, this contains both typical Japanese kawaii and ecchi humor. The bear just had to mention he was neutered lest we think even more perverted thoughts about this show. The ending song is cute.

Joker Game 1-2! An army lieutenant oversees a group of trained spies, the D Agency, who enjoy playing a psycological 'joker game'. This is set in the 1930's. They are ordered to find proof of a potential traitor's activities, but the lieutenant finds that the joke may be on him. The tone is a little pretentious, but the actual weakness is that the suspense and intrigue are not as alluring as they try to make it seem.

Bungou Stray Dogs 1! A detective agency made up of pretty people who have special powers. They meet a boy who can turn into a wolf in episode 1. Nothing special here.

Super Lovers 1-3! The BL anime this season is about an orphaned boy who hangs out with wolves and a teen twice his age whose family eventually takes him in. The underlying icky age factor isn't as bad as what happens in Usagi Drop, but it's there.

Macross Δ 1-2! the latest from the Macross franchise. There is a disease that turns Zentradi violent and there's some sort of war going on. A singing girl group mitigates the disease's effects. An overly genki girl stows away on a cargo ship so she can audition to be in the group. A dock worker who likes to dance in his mech takes it upon himself to protect her. Like previous Macross series, the production quality is pretty high. There's plenty of Valkyrie air battles and catchy pop songs. But dropped anyway... Macross Frontier was genki enough for a lifetime.

Ace Attorney 1! I've never played the game but I think all the informational pop-ups are lifted from the gameplay. In episode 1, Naruhodo's first case is to defend his childhood friend from a murder charge. It's as overly dramatic and predictable as you'd think it would be. Dropped.

Enride ! A young boy with a crystal obsession gets sucked into another world where crystal stones in the body create weapons. He also meets his slash fanfic buddy, a prince of said world. A lackluster premise and generic characters make me sad. Dropped.

Koutetsujou no Kabaneri 1-2! the one also airing on Amazon Prime is a high quality production that about zombie-like creatures, kabane, that infect humans through their bite. Can't say that the characters or first couple episodes stand out enough to keep me interested, but the gore probably has a good audience out there.

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Mild weather is nice

Mon, 08 Jun 2015 00:35:10 GMT

Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works 18-22! Poor Lancer...there has to be an version of Fate/Stay where he gets to win. Archer versus Shirou continues in epic ramblings and some cool fighting. Gilgamesh finally shows his true colors, and Shinji gets what he deserves.

Arslan Senki 5-10! I like the world building as Arslan continues to gather allies and tries to figure out a way to save his kingdom. Neither Pars nor Lusitania are countries with rulers or ideals worth rooting for, so it'll be interesting to see how this works out. The humor between Narsus and Daryun begs for fanfics. In episode 10 Arslan see that freeing the slaves isn't quite the easy fix he thought.

Kekkai Sensen 6-7! Thought that the underlying plot would present itself but so far the episodes have only been mostly episodic. Still waiting for the characters to develop some. May drop this now or marathon this later.

Sailor Moon Crystal 22-23! Sailor Moon saves her friends but loses Chibi Usa and Tuxedo in the process. This part of the story is dragging a bit. Usagi's jealousy and general incompetence is a negative rather than the usual intended 'cute'.

Durarara x2 5-12! the end of the first part of season two. I decided to marathon the rest of this to pass some time and it was better as it went on. Shizuo and Celty are fun to watch. The weaknesses are Masaomi's indecisiveness and Izaya's arrogance, but episode 12 throws a twist into their bland characters. Thankfully, the second part of this starts back up in July.

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Spring anime

Mon, 04 May 2015 01:28:54 GMT

Some of the spring offerings...

Vampire Holmes 1! is another 3 minute gag anime. Vampire Holmes doesn't solve crimes despite how much his assistant, Hudson, pushes him to. It's not really funny nor is it produced well.

The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan 1! is an AU spin-off of the Haruhi series in which Suzumiya Haruhi is not a character (random background street cameo instead). It's a typical shoujo anime. Yuki has a crush on Kyon and plans the literature club's Christmas party. It's quite dull actually and the production is a step down from the original series. Probably not worth the watch.

Kyoukai no Rinne 1-4! has that old-school anime charm going for it. A young girl can see dead people. She meets a cash-strapped shinigami who guides the ghosts to the afterlife. From the creator of Inuyasha, we get another cute male and female lead characters who are instantly likable. The first episode is about a cursed cell phone and the caller who left something important behind. Episode 2 explains how Mamiya Sakura can see ghosts. There's also a cute talking cat...you can't not like him.

and the decent stuff...

Kekkai Sensen 1-5! The citizens of New York City get exposed to some sort of gas/fog and a few citizens gain powers or turn into mutant-like beings. Some are good and some of evil. Libra is an organization that suppresses the evil. A young boy joins to learn why his eyes were replaced by 'god' eyes. This show has a style like Baccano with its sometimes-jazzy music, flow to the scenes and variety of characters, but it's there's also an X-men-action feel, too. The first episode gave the viewer and good understanding of the whole story really quickly, but the plot doesn't progress too much through episode 5. The opening theme from Bump of Chicken and ending theme from Unison Square Garden are fun. I wish FUNimation's stream was sharper...or the production better. Can't tell who is to blame there.

Arslan Senki 1-4! Arslan is the young prince of Pars, a country at war with Lusitania. Pars uses Lusitanians as slaves. Lusitanians believe in a god that teaches that all men are equal...and it's ok to kill for that belief. The King of Pars is of course a harsh, undefeated king...until episode 3. Arslan is depicted as having a very gentle heart and healthy curiosity for all people. The show is the definition of an epic war fantasy..but darn, the novels that this show is based on are not completed, so I assume the anime will be left undone. (Again, I wish FUNimation's stream was a sharper quality..yes, the pirated show is sharper.)

Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works 13-17! back for the 2nd part of the story. Yes! My only gripe with episode 13 is the out-of-place fanboy service scene with Saber. But everything else with the return of the anime was up-to-par. Rin and Archer confront Caster only to have Archer betray Rin. We see a glimpse into Caster/Medea's past where she betrays her former master...a blond pimp. In episode 15, Illyaviel and Berserker face off against Gilgamesh and lose pretty badly. Berserker didn't really get to show off any real skill at all. Thankfully, Rin's battle with Caster and Archer versus Lancer were both lovely to watch.

Sailor Moon Crystal 19-21! So Chibi Usa takes Sailor Moon, Venus, Tuxedo Mask and the cats to the future to save her mom. Sailor Pluto takes a swipe at them. It's so sad that the animation quality sucks. They find that Sailor Moon is Queen of Tokyo in the future. When you can live hundreds of years and have the crystal of power, I suppose becoming the Queen eventually happens.

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Spring?

Mon, 23 Mar 2015 01:13:09 GMT

Nanatsu no Taizai 16-23! Enjoying the super-fast pacing of the story. Elizabeth is captured and teleported away. Meliodas, Ban and Gowther follow to the castle..the others soon follow. On the other side is Arthur and Merlin; Merlin being the last Sin. Pretty bloody fun fights featuring Diane, Gowther and King so far. As always the good guys are losing....but only until they get a chance to show their true strength. Lots of heads flying when they get to the 'main boss', but gotta love the anime miracles. It's a shame the pig had to die.

Durarara!! x 2 4! sorry...other than a passing interest in Celty, the rest of the cast put me to sleep. Dropped.

Assasination Classroom 2-3! each episode seems to focus on one student's personal problems and how Koro-sensei is able to help them through 'tough love' via assassination attempts. Unique premise, and mildly interesting...but knowing that the manga hasn't ended yet prevents me from having interest in seeing what happens in the anime.

Sailor Moon Crystal 15-18! introduces the Black Moon arc. Glad to see Sailor Pluto in the opening. So in this arc, the Sailor Soldiers power-up only to be abducted. Thankfully, in episode 18, Tuxedo Mask gets his 'la smoking bomber' attack....haha, the attacks were funny in the original and are still funny.

This spring's lineup looks more entertaining...
Nagato Yuki-chan no Shoushitsu
Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works Part 2
Kyoukai no Rinne
Kekkai Sensen
Arslan Senki
Digimon Adventure tri...lol.

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Monthly post?

Sun, 01 Feb 2015 14:27:07 GMT

I guess I am posting monthly now....too many other distractions and lack of exciting anime:

Nanatsu no Taizai 1-15! Standard, but enjoyable shounen anime about the a young boyish-man, Meliodas, who comes to the rescue of a princess. It's fun to watch the seven 'sins' gang come together to fight the corrupt holy knights. So far the episodes are generally action-packed and funny. It's not completely fluffy even if they have a talking pig. There's blood and death that brings out the dark-side of Meliodas. Episode 13 brings out new opening and endings. A potential weakness to this anime is that it will catch up to the manga soon, but I think there's enough manga story to last another season. I enjoyed the twisted intro to the sins of lust character, because most of that episode was pretty confusing.

Durarara!! x 2 1-3! I know I liked the first season, but I can't really remember what actually happened (it's been like 4 years). I'm glad this continues the story..I suppose I'll have to rewatch or wiki the first season. Anyway, this episode takes place 6 months after the first season and introduces some new characters and reintroduces old ones. (I really wish they'd continue Baccano!)

Yuri Kuma Arashi 1! The title gives away the content of the anime clearly...lesbians, bears and a storm. Alien bears who can change into girls have come to 'eat' humans. An all-girls school is the setting. Ikuhara Kunihiko (of Utena fame) has created another weirdo anime with rather blatant sexual innuendos all over the place...there is possible deeper symbolism...but really, he just likes to create girl on girl action.

Yoru no Yatterman 1! A young single mother raises her daughter with a couple 'bodyguard' type friends. She tells her daughter stories of a lengendary hero. Well, no quest is born without the loss of parents, thus the mother dies due to poverty and the lack of medicine, and the daughter then decides to go to find why the 'hero' didn't help. Mediocre production, but somewhat interesting.

Death Parade 1! has a fun opening, but bland episode. A newlywed couple is brought to a bar where they have to play a death game...well, they find out that they are dead and the game's outcome determines their fate. The production is pretty nice.

Assassination Classroom 1! is about an octopus-shaped alien who destroys part of the moon and threatens to do the same to the Earth. He allows Earth a chance at survival if a student can kill him while he is teaching. Turns out the class he teaches is a delinquent class and that he is a good teacher. The class is motivated by the government's 10 billion yen prize for killing their teacher, too. Decent animation production and one of the more original twists in a GTO-like storyline make this interesting. The tone of the first episode is quite like GTO where a young boy is buillied into a suicide-bomb plot to kill the teacher, but the teacher is able to protect him while teaching the other kids a lesson.

Tsukimonogatari 1-4! the end. is the next part of the Monogatari series. Araragi has to refrain from using Shinobu's vampire powers so that he does not turn into one himself. Ononoki helps out when circumstances test him. This was definitely a blander story arc out of everything so far. ~7/10 rating~ I think I missed a story arc....was there a movie? Ah ha, Kizunomonogatari never aired yet...

Sailor Moon Crystal 14! the end of Metalia and the beginning of Chibi-usa. Go little gun-wielding girl!

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Wrapping up the fall season

Sun, 04 Jan 2015 22:13:24 GMT

Fate/Stay Night - Unlimited Blade Works 5-12! Shirou and Rin call a truce so that they can defeat a Master and Servant targeting students at their school. Their heart-to-heart is actually sweet. Archer is proving to an attractive badass. His confrontation with Castor and his amusing arguments with Shirou were fun. Shinji was easily booted from the game in episode 8, but whines his way in. Shirou learns to project some familiar weapons similar to Rin's vision. I like this version of everyone's relationships and interactions. Everyone is less stupid....well, Shirou is slightly less stupid. Episode 12 is the end of the season and with its extra long episode, throws some surprising twists into the story. Saber's face is so sad. And Kirei looks to be trouble. Ugh, a four month break until the series picks up again. ~10/10 rating~ for this season.

Sailor Moon Crystal 10-13! Nephrite and the others briefly remember their pasts before Queen Beryl wipes their memories again. It's a shame the animation is so bad here. They could be bishounen if they weren't so weak as characters and so badly drawn. Mamoru also gets brain-washed. To someone knew to anime, Usagi isn't the best hero in the original manga. She plays the tragedy card and tries to kill Mamoru and herself, gets absorbed into Metalia, the other Sailors know they are too weak but are at least able to wake Usagi up enough for her to use the Crystal after she realizes everyone is still alive. I still don't understand why the production is so bad even when this is so marketable. Plot flaws aside, the nostalgia is fun. The next episode will conclude this arc and move onto Sailor Moon R.

Shingeki no Bahamut Genesis 6-12! the end. So Amira (half-demon girl with the god key), Favaro, Kaiser and Rita get captured by the kingdom. The angels come and decide to use the king so that Amira will reveal where the other key is. They wish to use the key to seal the Bahamut..or so they say. Jeanne D'Arc defeats the demons when they attack. The king feels threatened by her, burns her at the stake, she turns into a demon. Amira is captured by Beezlebub and remembers who is 'mother' is. Things get near the climax as everyone tries to prevent the Bahamut from getting free. This is still a messy anime as far as the plot and dialogues goes. ~7/10 rating~ for an unusual cast, bounty hunter with an orange afro, former knight with elvis hair, zombie girl, standard pink-haired girl...talking duck. The angels and demons were also interesting.

Garo: Honoo no Kokuin 6! I thought that the plot would pick up by now. zzz...dropped.

Orenchi no Furo Jijou 6-13! the end. Bubble bath mischief and then the sister visits. More sea-creature characters are introduced. This is cute, and random...maybe I like the half-bishie sea creatures. ~6/10 rating~ other than the attractive characters and sometimes funny skits, the 4 minute episodes were of little substance.

Mushishi Zoku Shou 16-22! the end. 16 is about two girls with a connection in the dream-like world. 17 is about a mother, son and a robe she weaves. And 18 is about a girl and a well full of stars. 19 is about a mother and her water baby. 20 is about a boy who attracts lightening and his mother who cannot love. These keep getting a little darker. 21 is about a man who murdered his brother. 22 is the last episode of this season and thankfully was more uplifting. It was also about a mushi that Ginko couldn't do anything about, but helps the infected man share a tree's history to help his village. This season contained more diverse mushi stories. Episodes that were about Ginko's past, stories that weren't too positive and of course, ones that were the usual poignant stories. ~8/10 rating~ for this season.

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Anime catch-up post

Tue, 04 Nov 2014 03:32:12 GMT

Sailor Moon Crystal 8-9! Minako as Sailor Venus lets the other girls think she is the moon princess. When Tuxedo Mask takes a hit for Sailor Moon, the trauma restores the memories of her previous life....much kissing and crying is had. While I see the gaping plot holes, terrible animation and sub-standard characters (compared to characters created nowadays), I do enjoy the nostalgia.

Fate/Stay Night - Unlimited Blade Works 2-4! Rin takes Shirou to see Kotomine Kirei, so that Kirei can explain the Holy Grail war to him. Illyaviel and Berserker meet them outside. Berserker's regeneration makes him pretty invincible against Saber and Archer. Great fight nonetheless. In episode 4 Shirou take Saber to school...everyone is suspicious. I do like this version of Shirou and Saber more than the first Fate/Stay Night. Shirou doesn't coddle Saber as much. And the school teacher is toned down so she is likably outgoing rather than a loud annoyance.

Shingeki no Bahamut Genesis 2-5! Favaro is the orange-haired bounty hunter who grew a tail after promising a 'demon' girl, Amira, to take her Helheim. His rival, Kaiser, now thinks he is a demon, too and goes after him. Kaiser also thinks Favaro caused the death of his father. Favaro sells the girl out to knights that are after her, but in the end inadvertantly saves her. There are other parties interested in Amira because she has the key of god. The pacing of the show is a little awkward and the characters try too hard to be funny, but the characters and setting are unusual enough to keep me interested. I'll give it a few more episodes to get better. I like the fantasy elements of the show; the character design, creatures and setting are pretty high quality.

Garo: Honoo no Kokuin 3-5! Flame-boy and Wolverine go to an alchemist so that they can get a magic ring that can help the boy control his flame-iness. Stuff happens. The prince meets another knight and becomes his student in order to save his parents. Hoping that this ramps up soon.

Orenchi no Furo Jijou 2-4! is about how Wakasa, the mermaid, tries to help Tatsumi with his budget after he finds that his use of hot water puts them in a financial bind. The opening to this anime made me think it was going to be a drama, but it's just cute stuff. Episode 3 introduces Wakasa's octopus friend. I was wondering if there'd be a little BL flavor here...and yes, just a little. Episode 4 is a trick or treat episode.

Mushishi Zoku Shou 13-15! Haven't written about the previous episodes but enjoy the quiet story-telling. 13 is about a younger, more naive Ginko who makes a mistake in regards to a mountain god. 14 is Groundhog's Day for a man to whom Ginko gives advice...does he follow the advice? of course not. 15 is about the consequences of stepping on someone's shadow.

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da feels

Mon, 06 Oct 2014 02:25:48 GMT

Hunter x Hunter 2014 144-148! the end...after 3 years of fun. Killua and Alluka reach Gon's hospital room while Pariston, Leorio, Mizu-cow and Cheadle are the top candidates for the Chairman/President position. Pariston wins but resigns to let Cheadle lead. If the recent manga chapters are any indication of what's to come for him, we've only seen a small part of his twisted personality. Gon is healed and finally meets his father. Killua had sooo many touching scenes in this series and the one with his sister is another great one (episode 146). I do enjoy the fact that Killua and Gon's goodbye isn't very sentimental. After the ant arc, it seems natural that they became independent of each other. It is also interesting that Gon was the stabilizing force for Killua in the beginning of the series, and Killua is that to Gon at the end. Out of the two, Killua's character developed the most. The episode with Kite is unusual as we see a slightly darker side of Kite that his previous self did not show. It was an interesting transition to how the show closes out.

Ging and Gon's episode is fittingly laidback. The series wraps up by showing little snippets of other characters where they are at now. I initially thought the coin-butler survived, but I suppose the animal-creature is taking his place for the sake of Killua? ~10/10 rating~ for this series. My only hangup with this retelling was the skippable theme songs. Overall, Hunter x Hunter is seriously on par with Full Metal Alchemist in quality storytelling and nail-biting cliffhangers. It's too bad the mangaka continues to have health problems as Ging and Pariston's arc looks very intriguing.

Sailor Moon Crystal 6-7! without the monster-of-the-day episodes, there is more of a sense of anticipation for each new episode. It's actually rather annoying to have such a drop in animation quality with the every other week schedule. Anyway, it's nice to see a more down-to-earth Tuxedo Mask. He admits to having no powers and thinks that the crystal is the key to lost memories. And Tuxedo Mask/Mamoru Chiba coming clean with Usagi was a good thing, too. Episode 7 was amusing in that Zoisite took advantage of Sailor Moon's speech to get her in a choke hold. And Tuxedo Mask got to show off his manly punch? LOL.

New season reviews are next...

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Out all day...tired now

Sat, 20 Sep 2014 01:40:17 GMT

Didn't one season anime used to last 11-12 episodes?

Kuroshitsuji: Book of Circus 7-10! the end. Ciel and Sebastian confront the man guilty of kidnapping and torturing the children. He has indirect ties to Ciel's past. The circus people attack the Phantomhive mansion but are confronted by the Phantomhive servants. The humor and dark aspects of the show are showcased. The servants are pretty brutal and kill all the circus people that attack. Sebastian burns the perverted guy's house, kills the circus doctor and Joker...and the drugged up zombie children. ~9/10 rating~ for this delightfully twisted arc. While sad, I thought it appropriate that Ciel goes to the orphanage to find that the circus people were supporting the pervert's deeds for nothing. I hope they animate the future manga arcs; no fillers please.

Love Stage 7-10! the end. After Izumi is rejected by the manga publisher, Izumi sulks in Ryouma's place. Ryouma being the nice guy that he is, doesn't take advantage and helps him get his life back together. Izumi is then encouraged to debut as an idol...zzz....He then realizes that he loves Ryouma, smut happens, the end. This BL anime was kinda cute. The main characters pretty much acted on their own without too much waffling and Izumi even fought off some perverts on his own. The character design was bland (actually ugly in my opinion), but the production was consistent and better than most anime. ~7/10 rating for a short, sweet boy meets boy story.

Sailor Moon Crystal 5! Sailor Jupiter's episode was pretty nice. Makoto is a more interesting character than the others.

Hanamonogatari 1-5! wraps up Kanbaru Suruga's story. A former middle school rival comes out as a 'devil' who is 'helping' people, and Kanbaru figures out her true motive. She also sorta resolves her feelings towards her mother and Araragi. Kaiki has a small cameo...which means he didn't die. And Araragi plays a small part...which means he also survived after graduation. Like the previous stories, Kanbaru's arc has a pretty satisfying conclusion.

Magi: Sinbad no Bouken OVA 1-2! is about young Sinbad conquering his first dungeon. His story isn't too original-- a young boy born to poor parents who is good and beloved by everyone is pushed into joining the army so that he can get the power in the dungeon to help fight against tyrannical rulers. Oh yeah, his father passed away and his mother is sick. Even though Sinbad's story is as cliche as it gets, he is still a likable character.

The new Juuni Kokuki illustration for the exhibit and new artbook (released 7/31/14) is really beautiful. Unfortunately, from the review on amazon.jp, the artbook only contains artwork to 2006 and mostly b&w illustrations; not the new illustrations from the re-released novels.

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Monthly post?

Wed, 20 Aug 2014 01:59:14 GMT

Hunter x Hunter 2014 138-143! The Hunter Association continue to have multiple elections runoffs to vote for the new chairman. Killua returns to his family's home to get Alluka to help save Gon. Hisoka and Illumi's conversations are pretty hilarious at certain points. Those two have an unexpectedly likable friendship. And Killua and Alluka are too cute! After the seriousness of the Ant arc, these scenes are quite refreshing.

Kuroshitsuji: Book of Circus 3-6! Amusing episodes as Ciel and Sebastian join the circus to try to find the culprits who are kidnapping children. A shinigami is standing by as a lot of deaths are expected. I like the consistency in the animation and good pacing of the episode. The tension between Ciel and Sebastion is nice when it is done well.

Love Stage 3-6! it ain't true love until someone is in tears while being molested. I am amused that Ryoma turned into a big blob shadow during that scene. Thought the story would degrade from there, but it's not that bad. It's nice that both characters are clueless about everything.

Sailor Moon Crystal 4-5! Sailor Mars joins the team. I'd forgotten how dull monster-of-the-day anime can get until now. I'm a tad disappointed at the animation quality. For show that's every other week and for its anniversary remake, it should be better.

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Summer time

Sun, 20 Jul 2014 00:18:18 GMT

Hunter x Hunter 2014 137! The Zodiac members including Gon's father gather to decide on how the new chairman should be elected. It's nice to see old characters during the election even the pervert, Hisoka. Despite my fondness of the series, the opening and ending theme songs are probably some of the worst anime songs ever. I did enjoy the new visuals...even though they essentially spoil the rest of the anime.

Barakamon 1-3! A cute show about a calligrapher who gets a bad review at an art show, and then moves to the country at his father's suggestion. He encounters a little scamp and the friendly locals. It's light fun...though a tad dull after the first episode.

Aldnoah Zero 1! Humans who colonized Mars want to start war with Earth..blah blah blah...their princess visits Earth, she is supposedly killed, war starts. Flamboyant knights from Mars are itching to take over Earth. And...zzz.

Kuroshitsuji: Book of Circus 1-2! picks up from where the original anime diverged from the manga which is good since the anime-only plot rather sucked; (ie. killing off Ciel and Claude?...ugh) . Episode 1 is a manga one-off and also serves the purpose of reintroducing us to Ciel and his servants. Sebastian is awesome as usual. As I recall, the circus arc was ok, but it's the cruise ship arc that was really good, so I hope the popularity of this anime yields another season.

Zankyou no Terror 1-2! Shinichiro Watanabe and Yoko Kanno team up again, so it's inevitable that I should watch. While far from light-hearted, as their other collaborations, the quality of the anime is great. This anime starts off with two troubled, young boys terrorizing the Tokyo with bombs. A young girl who is a victim of bullying by her classmates is pulled into their scheme. Unfortunately, the characters are a tad boring.

Tokyo ESP 1! think X-men with 'espers' instead of 'mutants'. A bunch of bad espers want to kill off humans or something like that. Near the end of the episode, some good espers show up to save the day. Not totally original, but somewhat entertaining.

Love Stage 1-2! it's yaoi! Most live-action boy on boy shows are pretty depressing, so if you want some uplifting, cheesy boy on boy romcom, you have to go to anime. From the opening visuals, this looks like your typical boy meets boy (accidentally dressed as a girl) story. It's cute. Even though I don't really like the character design, the production through JC Staff is pretty darn good. A crybaby male otaku whose family is full of talented actors and such gets roped into doing a wedding commercial. His costar has a crush on him. That CM splash should probably be more disturbing than it is. The show is pretty amusing.

Sailor Moon Crystal 2! ouch, the animation quality dropped...I've been spoiled; I thought shows didn't do that anymore. As in the manga, Usagi is able to accidentally find her other sailor soldiers fairly quickly. Ami is cute, but for all her brains, she doesn't really do much throughout the series, does she?

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Make-up!

Sat, 05 Jul 2014 15:50:28 GMT

Sailor Moon introduced me to the addicting world of anime, so of course I'm watching the not-really-remake, but yes, it's a remake.

Sailor Moon Crystal 1! Just like Full Metal Alchemist and Hunter x Hunter, the Sailormoon manga by Naoko Takeuchi has gotten a more faithful anime production. As far as I can tell, it is more faithful to the manga with the updated character designs and the silly engrish attacks. I'm still amused by the pastel and sparkles when boy meets girl. Anyway, I am looking forward to more. The public outcry against any edits would probably louder now than...22 years ago...ugh, that old? so hopefully Viz knows better than to change Zoisite into a woman. (The new opening and ending themes were mostly forgettable. I wasn't too fond of the original's either.)

Hunter x Hunter 2014 127-136! Well, angry Gon and Pitou head off to their fight or to save Kite. Pouf and Youpi find the Ant King's body and feed themselves to him to revive him, but he has lost some of his memories. When they finally reach Gon and Pitou's fight, like all of HxH's 'big' fights, it was unfortunately short and one-sided with an interesting twist. Moving on, the way Welfin's character turned himself around was one of the best not-so-bad guy stories yet. And finally by the time you get to Mereum and Komugi's end, you've got to realize Togashi's brilliance at writing such one-of-a-kind characters and stories. Not many other writers could pair up an all-powerful evil creature with a little girl with boogers constantly hanging out of her nose and convince an audience of their devotion. Episode 136 is the aftermath of the Chimera Ant arc and the set-up for the Election Arc. The Ant arc was more thought-provoking than the prior arcs as it went beyond the simple revenge plots or strong versus strong. Togashi definitely tried to express his thoughts on politics, humanity and history through this arc. The only criticism is that with Gon's optimistic antics gone, the tone of the show was more complex and often sad. People have said that it is their growth out of childhood. Oh well, I think the next arc should come as a good follow-up story.

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Sailormoon

Sat, 18 Jan 2014 00:32:09 GMT

Ok, I'm looking forward to the new Sailormoon anime in July. :)

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