...what are you watching...

The Full Metal Alchemist live-action trailer is online. Looks nice! I hope it's entertaining like the Kenshin movies, and not like the badly-written Attack on Titan movies.

ClassicaLoid 2-6! Beethoven continues to obsess over gyoza while Mozart is convinced Kanae is in love with him. Sousuke tries to find out what triggers their 'muzik' transformation. Chopin/Cho-chan shows up in episode 3 as a painfully shy character. Liszt also shows up as a busty woman. Schubert is a character obsessed with Beethoven. We find that they were created by Kanae's eccentric father so she doesn't feel lonely...or something like that. Though unusual, the show gets repetitive as Kanae continues to worry about money and continually tries to kick the classicaloids out. Dropped.

Drifters 2-4! We learn that the ones pulling the strings are the megane blond, Murasaki, and evil-looking, black-haired girl, Easy. Episode 2-3 continues scenes of extreme violence with weird comedic breaks. 3 was pretty confusing with all the different Drifters showing up, but near the end, they reveal that they are wanted to fight the 'Enders' who are insane and evil Drifters. I don't know enough of the historical figures to care. Dropped.

Saiki Kusuo no Psi Nan 41-90! 45 was about how Saiki can sorta cheat on exams to stay unnoticed at school, and how it backfires on him when he places below brainless Nendo. The next story arc covers the school trip to Osaka. It's nice to see that despite his internal grumblings, Saiki somewhat cares for his classmates. Looks like this show got more episodes on order which is fine by me since each 4 minute episode is fun to watch.

Fune wo Amu 3-5! Majime's landlady's granddaughter comes to live with her and becomes Majime's love interest. The characters also overcome the threat of the dictionary becoming cancelled.

Natsume Yuujinchou Go 2-6! Small youkai children are the cutest and Natsume can't help himself from solving their problems. In episode 3-4, Matoba manipulates Natsume into doing what he wants but fails to get him to join the Matoba clan. Unfortunately, there are some large plot points like Natsume's grandmother, Matoba's grand plan, if any, and Natori's shiki tattoo that seem to be forever unanswered.

3-gatsu no Lion 2-6! We are introduced other shogi players and their outgoing personalities. Episode 4 was about how Nikaido meets the sisters and it was adorable. And Rei tells us about his past and how he was adopted into a shogi-obsessed family after his biological family passed away in a car accident in episode 5. This anime hasn't really educated the viewer on how to play shogi yet, but apparently Rei is very good. Ah ha, the live-action movie trailer is up. Looks good!

Full Metal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos movie! I can't really remember what the first movie was about, but there were Nazis and gypsies, right? The first movie wrapped up the first version of the series in a weird way. This new movie is about a border country whose residents are looking for the star of Milos for power...salvation...etc. Three guesses on what the star is. This takes place before the end of the manga story. Ed and Al meet a female journalist, her brother, some corrupt border officers, and a group of people who need saving. Basically the journalist and her brother mirror Ed and Al. It's a decent movie with great action. Nonetheless, the story pales next to the actual tv series. ~7/10 rating~

Nisemonogatari 7! so the climactic action featured Karen pummeling her brother, and not Araragi against Kaiki. Cute.

Hunter x Hunter 2012 20! I think the first series' recap of the matches was better than this version, but the interaction between Killua and Illumini made more sense here than it did in the past. It's nice that the recent manga arc mirror this part in the anime...or at least provide resolution of some sort.

Inu x Boku SS 6! Ririchiyou becomes friends with Roromiya and Watanuki. Despite the cast's potential, the show is sorely lacking in good dialogue and a good story. The rare moments of supernatural and cute aren't enough to fill the episode. Zzz...dropped.

Hungry 6! Curly-haired Smap guy challenges Eisuke again. He says the food is delicious but not French.

Lucky Seven 5! I don't think the Nitta arc was very well written (or well translated). I suppose it left the bigger questions open to resolution later. After the first episode, the show hasn't been as good, so plop, dropped.

Akino with bless4 performing the opening to Aquarion EVOL. Lovely voice, but she looks older than I thought, and the fashion and dancing is sooo...jpop.

is at 6pm tomorrow?

The new Hagaren trailer looks mildly interesting. The new characters look like they are coming from another show.

Good Luck My Way would be an ok title if they inserted another word in there somewhere. And it sounds unsurprisingly like their other Hagaren songs. L'Arc En Ciel's 20th Anniversary song...makes me smile anyway. If only it meant that VAMPS was going away. Hyde has some interesting pants in the video. :)

FT Island released their first Japanese album last week. I think it's pretty good. They need to make more PVs. Treasure on youtube. They have a new Korean mini album coming out next week.

And CN Blue is taking a break. Byebye. Time for them to participate in dramas and variety shows.

The new Full Metal Alchemist movie's trailer doesn't have Nazis that I could recognize...which is a plus, and hey, L'Arc~en~Ciel has a new song. They already provided three other songs for the franchise, so I look forward to their new song.


Tegami Bachi: REVERSE 25! the end. Lag is able to shine enough to distract the Cabernet from its path toward the artificial sun/his mother. Lag quickly disposes of it. Life goes on. While Maka's knowledge of Lag and the revelation about Lag's mother were interesting, the anime doesn't really delve deeply into what, why, & how. ~7/10 rating~ The anime lost its weird and mildly perverted humor when it strayed from the manga, but the anime was cute and original.

For various reasons, I kept missing BBC's new Sherlock while it was on tv, but the three episodes are online at PBS. It's probably wrong to say that it reminds me of House MD without the hospital (since it should be the other way around). I liked the introduction of Sherlock's brother.

Hey, no surprise, there will be a new Full Metal Alchemist movie. The trailer features Al in his armor, so random filler it is. "finally tell the story of forbidden bonds"..I laughed at the tagline.

Tegami Bachi: REVERSE 7! Finally to the juicy parts of the story. Lag travels north as rumors of Noir spread. He is able to see what happened to Gauche after he lost his memories (but not how it happened). Niche remembers that she was born in the nearby town..cliffhanger.

Kuragehime 4! Tsukimi, Kuranosuke and his older brother go to the aquarium. Tsukimi is not wearing her glasses, can't see them, and thus, is more comfortable with the brothers. Plus, she is excited about the jellyfish. Kuranosuke gets irritated when he sees his older brother comforting Tsukimi. Love triangle established.

Denyuuden 19! Ryner visits a refuge where other children with 'special' eyes gather while leaders at Roland and Gastark are wondering about who Ryner is. Luke catches up to him; cliffhanger.

A couple shows have wrapped up, so spoilers ahead, but no worries, the final episodes just read, 'buy the manga'...

Kuroshitsuji S2 12! the end. While I enjoyed the WTF-LOL between Claude and Sebastian, I didn't particularly like how they warped Ciel's personality to fit the anime-only story. So Alois didn't want the butlers to have Ciel's soul, so he made a contract with Hannah to make Ciel a demon. So Ciel blandly accepting his fate, abandons his life as a human, and hangs out with Sebastian for all of eternity (since Ciel made a new contract with Sebastian so that he would remain his butler). Other than Ciel and Sebastian being together, I don't think Ciel should have that kind of non-personality...and I didn't think Sebastian would lose to Hannah/Alois. ~7/10 rating~ like the first season, I like the atmosphere that Kuroshitsuji presents; macabre with humor. The anime's story however, never ends well.

Uraboku 24! the end. I liked Takashiro's entrance, but man, was that final fight anti-climactic. This is the other type of original anime ending that is annoying. Not an original ending, but it is an open-ended episode. Yuki spreads his God's Light and the bad guys retreat; supposedly, the light makes them see their mistakes. The last we see of Reiga is him sitting by a window looking all forlorn...boo hoo. The 2nd half of the episode was the Zweilts being involved in comedic BL activities. It's a shame Yuki and Luka never got to explore their past; this calls for NC-17 fanfics pronto! ~7/10 rating~ for eye-candy and a tinge of BL.

Denyuuden 12! While Frouade was taking care of troublesome nobles & his perverted father on his land, another pink-haired guy (probably related to the ones after the Alpha Stigma users) attacks him. They have matching glowy rings.

Katanagatari 9! Shichika's next opponent refuses to fight him, if he does not use a physical weapon. She then chooses to train him. Togame eventually conceives of a plan to beat her with Shichika's bad sword skills.

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood OVA 4! shows a little bit of Roy Mustang and Maes Hughes's time in the army when they were about 18...bittersweet.

Hotaru no Hikari S2 10! Bontaro!

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood 64! the end, but wait, they announced a movie! I hope Arakawa is involved. I was wondering how they'd draw out the epilogue, but it was nicely paced. Ed's proposal was awkward and cute. Looking back, one of the best parts of the story was how Arakawa revealed Father's plan, and then how it was revealed that Hohenheim already took precautions. I also liked how Scar's brother's research was tied into the solution. Arakawa combined so many parts of her story together without making it too obvious or cheesy. It was also awesome when you like all the characters, good or bad. Though I thought the Xing characters were miscellaneous, by the end, none of the characters were not worth watching or reading about. It was fun to root the Elric brothers on, too. ~10/10 rating~ not saying that it was without its flaws, but it was definitely a show with a perfect mix of great comedy, action and drama. It's one that you can come back to rewatch. Another great part of the whole franchise is that the first anime series and movie gave you a so-called alternative type of ending while this time, you see what was originally intended from the beginning.

Now, if all manga-turned-anime shows could get redone with the same care.


Kuroshitsuji II 1! Hand porn..eh hem. I suppose most people who are interested have already seen the episode by now.

+ Nice opening visuals
+ Dancing!
- Wtf plot

Quick impression~ Ok, the writers went 'oops, we killed off the main character last season, we need him back somehow. Let's put together some new characters and there needs to be some random tap-dancing.' The new bouchan and butler are Alois the bratty and Claude the not-as-cool-as-Sebastion. They are basically the new Ciel and Sebastion, but wait? what are Ciel and Sebastion doing there? Other than establishing that Alois is bratty and insane, the episode revived the original characters for unknown purposes. Totally watching the rest for the destruction of the fandom.

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood 63! thought that they would end mid-way through the action, but having next week full of aftermath isn't a bad prospect. Totally enjoyed seeing this part of the manga animated.

Uraboku 12! Hotsuma waves his badass ugly sword around uselessly for half the episode. Yuki gets to see that his childhood friend is evil...dramaaatic. Is this really a 24 episode series? It'd be nice if they continue to pick up the pace as they have been doing recently. Is the lack of true BL or shoujo the reason for the quiet fandom? or is it because it is terribly cliched?


Can't say I'm jumping up for any of the new summer anime series after Hagaren finishes, but here's a list of what might appeal to me:
Kuroshitsuji 2 - the first season lacked proper writing, but maybe the new original cast and story will be better
The Legend of Legendary Heroes - sounds like a comedy.
Shiki - based on Fuyumi Ono (of Juuni Kokki)'s horror manga.

List of summer jdramas to check out:
Hotaru no Hikari 2
Natsu no Koi wa Nijiiro ni Kagayaku - Matsujun and Takeuchi Yuko
Moyashimon

The magazine is printing the last chapter in next month's magazine again...awesome news.


Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood 62! Al x May = cute aaaaw. I wonder if Ed's seiyuu will have permanent vocal cord damage after she finishes this show. I enjoyed how every character takes part in the last fight.

Uraboku 11! Yuki, Hotsuma and Luke try to save Shusei. Apparently, the anime is cutting a lot of the manga funnies out. Ah well, the pajama omake dialogue is cute.

House of Five Leaves 9! Masa saves Matsu, and Yagi gets the stolen passes back. Ichi is jealous of Masa's new boyfriend, finds out that Yagi is a police officer. Masa's cute little sister comes to Edo after running away from an arranged marriage. Amusing episode.

Uraboku10! So not only does Shusei get captured, Tsukumo also gets injured and/or captured which says alot about how effective Yuki's lucky charms are. Good to see some action, but I think their mansion needs a makeover. That wallpaper is in every single room!


Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood 61! Found the thumb-sized Selim-baby to be one of the creepiest-looking things in the series. Brilliant episode (seriously gonna miss this series when its done..there better be more omake episodes on the DVDs).