...what are you watching...

Hunter x Hunter 2013 87! Thought Gon punched Knuckles in the groin or something. That was a confusing scene. Nevertheless, Kite is being turned into a Frankenstein-like doll. Netero and the other two are slowly killing off the chimera ant leaders. And Gon and Killua continue to train now with Knuckles' help.

Shingeki no Kyojin 13.5! skipped the recap episode.



Monogatari S2 1! It's a new school year and Hanakawa meets backpack-less Hachikuji on her way to school. She also sees a white tiger and her house burns down. Senjougahara finds her sleeping in the abandoned cram school building and forces her to stay with her. Araragi is not in this episode. It's female bonding/fanservice time.

And the new shows:


Uchoten Kazoku 1! Humans, tengu and tanuki.

+ Attractive production (Zetsubou Sensei-ish...with a wider color palette)
- Bland episode

Quick impression~ A young male tanuki dressing like schoolgirl runs errands for his grandfather. It appears that this should be a comedy, but it's lacking effective humor. The episode doesn't do much to get you interested in whatever story it's trying to tell.



Makai Ouji: Devils and Realist 1! I like how fanboys post 'yaoi' warnings when describing this anime show. This is based on a Zero-sum manga, so there's bound to be some light bromance.

+ Eye-candy
+ Goat-butler!

Quick impression~ A straight-A bocchan finds that his uncle has lost their family's fortune. William Twining and his one loyal butler search his home to find something to sell so that William can pay his school's tuition. I like that he attends a Catholic school but doesn't believe in god and such. They find a demon in the basement, but William believes him to be a con artist. The demon sees William as the descendent of Solomon who will choose the leader of the demon world while Lucifer is hibernating. This was actually fairly comedic. Unfortunately, the manga is not complete so the anime will unlikely cover much of the meat of the manga.



Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi 1! The Sunday without God

+ Interesting title and premise
- Really? a loli-gravedigger? (...well, 'gravekeeper' with a decorated shovel)
+ the main character's father's name is Humpnie Humbert...WTF...LOL.

Quick impression~ Heaven and Hell were too crowded so God forsake the world. Humans couldn't die or reproduce. Apparently, a gravekeeper could grant a peaceful slumber to the zombies that form after a human is 'killed'. Ai is the town's gravekeeper. One day she meets a traveler with her father's name and finds that all of the residents have been 'killed'. If Ai wasn't so annoyingly loli, this may be an interesting show.



Blood Lad 1! Ao no Exorcist vibes....

+ Bright, colorful production
+ Amusing

Quick impression~ A young, well-endowed female human wanders into the demon world. Staz, a vampire, is a big otaku and the leader of the gang who finds the girl. The girl is inadvertantly killed; she is now a ghost. Staz vows to turn her back into a human. Judging from the opening song, this is your typical shounen fighting show, and like typical shounen shows, it's fun. I do hope the female character gets some sort of power. (Vampire, ghost, and werewolf characters...sounds like the 'Being Human' trio..anime style)

Hotaru no Hikari movie! picks up after the tv drama. Hotaru and 'Buchou' plan to go to Italy for their honeymoon despite Hotaru's extreme reluctance to travel. They meet a woman and her brother who share Hotaru's himono onna characteristics. Through some misunderstandings and such, they help the woman gain a new perspective on life. The movie was a very cute addition to the series. The plot was light-hearted. You'd think that after 2 seasons of the same characters, the humor would feel redundant, but Hotaru is still quite likable and it's easy to smile at her antics. ~8/10 rating I want to visit Civita, too.

Maoyuu Maou Yuusha 1! Spice and Wolf analogies are apt. A hero confronts the demon king, a well-endowed one.

+ Cute humor
+ Interesting plot
- CGI animation is stupid-looking sometimes

Quick impression~ Fukujun and Ami Koshimizu team up again in another dialogue-heavy, thoughtful story. Rather than economics, this time they join forces to try and stop war between humans and demons.

Nekomonogatarai (Kuro)! is four-part prequel to Bakemonogatari. It is about Araragi's crush on Hanegawa...or his desire to fondle her breasts. As with the other stories, the humor is a little off-color (ie. Araragi and his sisters), but the production is very appealing. While Hanegawa wasn't very interesting in Bakemonogatari, her importance is made clear in this story. So Kizumonogatari is still on my to-watch list...when it that coming out.

Pretty cool trailer for Kizumonogatari (prequel movie to Bakemonogatari). And a trailer to Nisemonogatari (sequel tv series for Bakemonogatari). Great music choices for both.

Laruku's XXX PV...very Jojoshi video with more clothing. One of the best parts of this particular release news is that they'll be releasing an acoustic version of I'm So Happy with the single. :) Yay, no more P'unk and more L'Acoustic.

House of Five Leaves 12! the end. Such an elegant way of telling a story. Part of Yaichi's past is resolved at the end. The manga seems to have more going on, since it is only now ending this month. Anyway, I only knew the mangaka from the oji-san romance story and some of her yaoi stories, so I wasn't sure if this was true BL. And while I was expecting more action especially from Masa, it turned out to be more of a touching character study. The unique character design and lovely backgrounds also kept me hooked when the story lagged in the middle. ~7/10 rating~ worth sticking out.


Arakawa under the Bridge 13! the end of season 1. The last episode focuses on completely new characters for the first half of the episode, and introduces some new bad guys in the final few seconds. The series wasn't laugh-out-loud funny and didn't have any high drama, but it had some amusing gag humor and sweet touches of romance. Riku and Nino turn out to be a cute pairing and the supporting characters are all likable. The production wavers at times, but I enjoy the background palette. ~7/10 rating~ for this season. I look forward to the next.


Bakemonogatari 15! the end. Tsubasa Cat gets resolved. I'm not sure if all the delays and online broadcast added anything special to the show, but I do hope it gets licensed in the US. The production was excellent, and the story did well in its moe humor and its seriousness. I really liked the stylistic gore and clean, straight background designs. Even though it seemed a little like a typical harem anime, the harem characters were likable in their weird way. NISIOISIN wrote the xxxHolic novel which I wrote a positive review about (but haven't posted). He's quite a verbose author, and it translated well into the anime. I think these novels are probably quite worth reading (should they ever reach state side). ~9/10 rating~ I think this is a rewatchable series for its visuals and story. This is only the 2nd series to tempt me with their $100 moe figures.


...And onto the new season?

Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi 1! this wasn't on my list, but I was bored.

+ Decent production
+ Cute characters
+ Neko-neko knuckles
- but uninspired tsundere main character and typical cast
- and reminds me of a ton of other high school club animes

Quick impression~ Loosely based on various fairytale characters, a group of high school kids belong to the 'Otogi Bank', a club that helps people. Ookami Ryoko is the tough, stubborn main female character. Morino Ryoushi is the timid, newbie male character who has a crush on her. The first episode focuses on Ryoushi's attempts to be helpful and to be accepted into the club. Eh, cute, but not for me. May'n sings the likable jpop opening theme.

Bakemonogatari 14! the next online episode covering the Tsubasa Cat arc. Shinobu goes missing. Araragi gets his harem to help him find her since she can control Hanekawa in her cat form. Hanekawa then joins in the search since Shinobu is important to Araragi. Still a great show. My only criticism is that the new opening song isn't as cute or interesting as the Nadeko Snake opening.

Durarara 8! Is it weird that Celty's typepad has the english alphabet which types in japanese? Awesome twist at the end of this episode. <3

Nodame Cantabile: Finale 7! Nodame continues her lessons without Chiaki while he gets ready for his performance with Rui. As a side note, it was a tad disappointing that the couple didn't get a performance together at the end of the manga, but I suppose there is still hope since the Opera arc of the manga is still going on. Can't really say that that arc is as charming though.

Letter Bee 21! Looks like a 2-part arc featuring a flashback to Gauche, Dr. Thunderland...and a filler character? Mana Jones....not the worst episode, and at least they haven't forgotten about Gauche. Read that they've announced another season which might mean that they won't get to Niche's arc this season...which would annoy me since it was the only reason I was trudging my way through this.

Bakemonogatari 12! I was expecting the Tsubasa Cat song, but the episode was actually about Araragi's first date with Senjougahara. Their relationship is probably one of the most original ones in anime; the best example of tsundere that is not annoying that I've seen. It was also very random. The relationship wasn't actually convincing until the end of this episode. The last three episodes were announced to be online-only....ugh, jp and your random broadcasting plans. I hope the streaming quality preserves the awesome animation.

Bakemonogatari 10! The CUTEst opening ever! also, an obvious nod to Chobits with a bit of CCS. Araragi seems to be showing Natsume-like qualities (besides his identical voice) when he blames himself for not saving everyone or is that Superman qualities. I thought that Nadeko would be a larger part of the problem as it was with the other girls, but na-da this time.

Eta: This Gundam 00 extra is quite insane.

Bakemonogatari 8! Ah ha, new opening for the end of this arc. *spoilers* Getting swung around by one's intestines is a new visual that I haven't seen in anime. Got to hand it to the animators for making the fight more stylish than graphic. I am enjoying the twisted sense of humor; sooo twisted. We see a little bit of Shinobu's role in this episode.


Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei 7! The intros seem to be time wasters, but this episode was pretty good in a normal way. They address deals that aren't real, converse with General Frost and deal with surprises. The omake seiyuu drawings at the end are cute.

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle must be the only shonen manga in which the character action is trumped by non-human feather, smoke, fire, water and/or wind action.

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood 19! Brilliant character action. We haven't really seen Mustang being this awesome until now. I'm sure there was some swooning at the chest scene...of both genders. A 'ten' episode.

Bakemonogatari 6! Sometimes the piano-based background music reminds me of Charlie Brown. Anyway, back to the staple porn song for this episode. I wonder if the average jp viewer has a hard time reading the speedy text. In this arc, Araragi meets up with an athletic girl who seems to be stalking him, but most of the episode was focused on his warped relationship with Senjougohara.

Random music musings: Not fond of FMA's 2nd opening or ending. I do enjoy Bakemonogatari's ending song by supercell. The other current anime song I like is Akino Arai's Mitsu No Yoake for Spice and Wolf.

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 1-2! a young girl, Mirai (ha, ha), totally jaded and bored with life experiences an 8.0 earthquake.

+ Nice, simple animation
- Somewhat depressing and overly sappy

Quick impression~ This show is tries to take a realistic approach to the experience of an earthquake and the aftermath. Mirai and her little brother are visiting Odaiba when the earthquake strikes. They are helped by a random woman. For a story where my disinterest is at a high level, the 2 episodes went by quickly and created a twinge of curiosity.


Bakemonogatari 3! Koyomi Araragi and Hitagi flirt a bit before Araragi notices a young girl who seems to be lost; a lost snail? In contrast to TM 8.0, despite how awesome this episode looked, it moved at a snail's pace, but hit a better note near the end of the episode.