...what are you watching...

Darker the Black S2 OVA 4! the last one... Fills in Yin's capture. Excellent action and overall pretty awesome episode. These gaiden episodes were more entertaining than the Suou-centric season which was pretty good in itself. I liked seeing so much of the Hei x Yin interaction. The production and bgm were impressive as always.

Shiki 3! The new family of creeps introduce themselves around town...at night...cause they are obviously vampires..but nobody notices.

Denyuuden 4! Still progressing from the previous episode, Ryner is imprisoned for two years, and spends the time writing about his ideal country; a country where afternoon naps are possible. The end of the episode was very cute as Ryner is taken out of his cell thinking that he is going to be executed, but finding Sion has been made king. Lucile via Sion orders Ryner and Ferris to undertake a journey.

Hotaru no Hikari S2 3! is about goya which Hotaru loves and Buchou hates. Very, very entertaining.

Evangelion 2.22: You Can (Not) Advance jmovie! While I have no love for the original series, and thought that the first movie was mildly entertaining, the 2nd movie clearly triumphed over the prior releases in excitement. It took more liberties veering off of the original tv series, and the production jumped a few levels. This should definitely go on anyone's wishlist. The visuals were excellent, the characters' personalities were more gripping and the action...again, the visuals were just refreshing. My only real gripe is that they disposed of Asuka almost flippantly to give way to the new character, Mari, who seemed like another version of Asuka; bold, overly-enthused Eva pilot. She's more likable than Asuka...maybe it's the bigger bra size and glasses? or the lack of teen angst thus far. If the last two movies are as good as this one, it'll be worth the wait. Looking forward to what Kaworu does next. (Note about the numbers, 1.0 & 2,0 are the theatrical versions while 1.11 and 2.22 are the director's cut with more scenes, 1.01 was the first dvd version...hopefully, they don't release 1.2 and 2.35 or something ridiculous like that.) ~8/10 rating for this movie.


Darker the Black S2 OVA 3! Yin and Hei meet some contractors who let Hei in on the rumors of the prophecy. Yin is taken. I'm liking how they've fleshed out everything in these flashback OVAs. Great stuff. One more to go. Are they gearing up for another season?

Nodame Cantabile: Finale 11! the end. (of the tv episodes) Chiaki's thoughts were funny as Nodame inadvertently insults him, rejects him and sorta breaks up with him. Very nice ending. ~8/10 rating~ smooth transition from the previous season with the same likable characters progressing in their lives. The animation was the same mediocre, but not horrible production. Nodame and Chiaki are still my favorite anime couple, since they compliment each other so well and humorously.

Letter Bee 25! the end (of this season). What a terrible manga-to-anime production. The last 15 minutes were more interesting than the previous 24 episodes, and the point was only to set-up the 2nd season. We learn that Gauche became a Marauder named Noir working for Reverse, an anti-gov't org. He shoots Lag and leaves him...credits roll. ~6/10 rating~ for an anime with wasted potential. The first couple episodes set up something unique (mailman anime!) with twisted (sometimes perverted) humor, but the half-arsed writers threw in so many fillers that you forget all the interestingness. It seems like they are saving the meat of the original manga story for the next season.


Darker the Black S2 OVA 2! continues Hei and Yin's run, but now with more Yin craziness and a touch darker. It also had more fanservice...for the guys. The detail to the setting was really nice..HK?

Durarara 12! Felt like Celty, Mikado, and Harima & Seiji all had their tentative resolutions. Izaya keeps pulling strings though. Becoming a fan of Celty and the doctor, but don't see it lasting.

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood 50! Mustang and his men/women continue their coup, while Ed and the others try to reach the Escaflowne-esque bearded bad guy. Good stuff. Wish the series had some hour long episodes.

Darker Than Black S2 OVA 1! Hei and Yin are on the run after the first season. Brilliant episode as we get to see how their relationship has evolved from the first season to the second. They pose as husband and wife while traveling. These OVAs look to be filling in the gaps in major ways..Hugs for all.


Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood 42! mmm. Kimblee and Hohenheim each meet up with Pride. *suspenseful*


Inuyasha: The Final Act 18! Another new ending, but I think all of Inuyasha's theme songs blend into each other since they all sound like 80's anime pop. This was a good episode nonetheless as Kagome returns to the 'real' world to take tests. The little things in this episode were hilarious.

Eta: And to cap things off, I found this really cute couple's website about their life teaching English in Korea. Their kpop dance video made me laugh.

Letter Bee 12! a politically correct filler. The bees play 'Holy Night' messengers and deliver presents. Terribly written filler, but we learn a little about Zazie. The animators are very good at making filler characters look rather crappy with their insect/zombie eyes.

Darker Than Black - Ryusei no Gemini 11! mmm. enjoyed the ooompa music while Hei was cooking. Enjoyed the very cool rest of the episode, too. Hope it ends well.

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood 37! badly animated episode featuring Kimblee being smarmy and Hawkeye discovering Pride.

More Geass!


Darker Than Black - Ryuusei no Gemini 9! I'm fond of Kiko the fangirl-spreading fangirl. Good episode with a twist.


Naruto Shippuden 138! Nicer visuals. Anti-climactic, predictable, but interesting end to the brotherly love. I can't say that I'm fond of what Sasuke learns from this as it is a bit lame that his actions in the manga prove low intelligence, but the past two anime arcs were good (well, good characters died). I think that's enough Naruto anime until the next interesting arc.

Was hiding out most of the weekend...*sigh*

Community covered a humorous version of Somewhere Out There last week.

Darker Than Black - Ryuusei no Gemini 7! oh noes, a pervy lady tries to sell July. A pervy man kidnaps the kids....and tapes Maou to the window...hahaa. I enjoy small touches of humor mixed in with serious drama.

Letter Bee 8! Lag is wondering why Gauche is no longer a postman and meets Sylvette. Niche has some adorable scenes here. Random note: whenever they say, 'Akatsuki,' I am reminded of the show below.

Naruto Shippuden 135-136! As expected, the animation was stylistically interesting for the fight between Sasuke and Itachi, but there were definitely moments of cheap-arse animation. I like how most of the characters are associated with an animal; snake and crow here. After reading the manga and watching this part of the anime, Itachi's motives are a bit skewed for the sake of the brotherly drama, and consequently, Sasuke's actions after this battle seem even more convoluted. Logical thinking doesn't really play a part when boys just want to fight and battle.

Kuroshitsuji OVA! the cast of the series perform Hamlet for children on behalf of the Phantomhive company; Hamlet for children? Well, there was a 'seaweed' character. The episode was pretty horrible. The one or two cute scenes probably weren't worth wasting 26 minutes of one's time.

Winter Sonata 3! misunderstandings...zzzz....

Hey, Yen Press has somewhat found a fan-friendly solution to the 'localized'/fugly novel cover dilemma. Letting the online retailers offer free jp covers...if the retailer wants to offer it.

Darker Than Black - Ryuusei no Gemini 5! That family was an unexpected development. It's still puzzling that they seem to contribute Hei's current state to the loss of Yin. I was sure he lost Amber, his sister and Huang, but not Yin. Maybe there's something in the past they haven't shown. The 'wish' lady reminds me of Yuuko.

Darker than Black 3! Death and birth of a contracter revealed. Plus, blond twins. So we've got the X-Men version of Kobato and Chise & Chiho here. And a flying squirrel!

Letter Bee 4! Broccoli forest...hehe. Niche becomes Lag's dingo. The perverted humor is occasionally puzzling.

Winter Sonata 1! I think the general consensus among the anime bloggers is that episode 0 was dull. This episode starts from the beginning when Joon-sang starts as a new student at Yu-jin's school. It is revealed that he is looking for his father. Can't say that episode 1 was any more exciting that episode 0, but I haven't given up on it yet.

Darker Than Black - Ryuusei no Gemini 1! Nothing bad to say about this show at all. I remember very much enjoying the first season...although, not totally blown away until the end of the season. This season starts off great with a few kids, and the development of contractors among the kids. Hei appears at the end...a bit more scuffy. I'm a tad sad that Yoko Kanno is not doing the music for this, and Pizza Hut was nowhere to be found, but Studio Bones did an excellent job with the production. Just a side note: Kana Hanazawa plays Suou who seems to be a new character focus...and Suou sorta looks like a Bones version of Kobato with her hair down. This season is reported to be only 12 episodes, and I'm definitely watching.