...what are you watching...

More Keepers...


Garo: Honoo no Kokuin 1-2! has one of the most original opening visuals this season. Through the influence of his 'evil' Jafar-like advisor, an ill king orders the death of a 'witch'. During the pyre, a baby was born. A mysterious knight runs into the fire and saves the baby.



I'm amused that the knight who resembles a blond Wolverine spends most of episode 1 naked in bed with a prostitute who turns out to be a demon. The baby has grown up to also become a demon-slaying knight. The animation is a mix of old school animation and cgi. The knights' armor is very stylized and interesting. This is surprisingly very intriguing.



Orenchi no Furo Jijou 1! is based on another 4-koma comic, and these episodes are actually 4 minutes. A young man has a merman living in his bathtub. The characters are cute....keep, keep.

Probably Nots...


Kiseijū Sei no Kakuritsu 1! Does it age me if I recognize the Parasyte manga as the one that I skipped over when it was published in Mixx? This about a young boy and an alien parasyte in his right hand. There are other parasytes who are able to infect whole humans and kill other humans. It's actually rather dull....maybe it gets better later on, but the main character is dull.



Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso 1! Undoubtedly a tween version of Nodame Cantabile...this is about a young piano prodigy who quits when his mother dies. He meets a free-spirited classmate who is about to bring 'color' and classical music back into his life.



Donten ni Warau 1! is about three orphaned brothers who protect a town during the Meiji era. They help the police by ferrying criminals to a prison in the middle of a lake. It's got a bit of humor and angst. The production is so-so, but the appeal of it seems to be that it is a reverse harem anime.

Gundam Reconguista in G 3! the Capital versus Ameria (haha) over energy. The interaction between the genki boy, cheerleader, tsundere, and mute-ish girl is quite dull. Throwing in the trigger-happy boy and you've got enough mech cliches to convince me to drop this show.

Fate/Stay Night - Unlimited Blade Works 1! It's awesome that this is also a forty-some minute episode. The episode is basically the same day as episode 00 but from Shirou Emiya's point of view. It's also pretty similar to the beginning of the original anime from 2006, but with 10x better production and tone.

Keepers...


Fate/Stay Night - Unlimited Blade Works 00! Within the first two minutes of this, you can tell that this rendition of Fate/Stay Night is going to top the prior series in all aspects. Apparently, this may focus on Rin's point of view. And I'm glad this prologue fleshed out her character beyond the stereotypical tsundere female we got in the first series. She has a strong competitive spirit and cares about her classmates. Her relationship with Archer is amusing in this episode.



This hour-long prologue is how she mistakenly summoned Archer while trying to summon Saber. Her naivete is actually quite likable. The production is lovely and awesome. Yay for pretty swordfighting!



Shingeki no Bahamut Genesis 1! The main character is a bounty hunter with an orange afro mullet-like hairdo (looks a bit like a female in the screencap). His encounter with a female demon results with him growing a tail the next morning. The beginning of the show started out with knights, demons and dragons, but later on, the show reminded me of Cowboy Bebop in an RPG fantasy. His rival has a greaser-type hairdo with long sideburns, but also has barrettes holding his hair back. The characters certainly have got a certain unique style and the animation is pretty good, too. The only thing missing is quality humor.

Maybees...


Gugure! Kokkuri-san! 1! Based on a 4-koma comic, this is a cute anime about a young emotionless girl who calls forth a fox deity for companionship. Kokkuri-san decides to stay with the girl when he finds out she has no parents around and only eats instant ramen. The episode consists of snippets of their first encounter rather than having the regular pacing of an episode. It was rather cute.



Gundam Reconguista in G 1-2! Please tell me the pink-haired cheerleader who is looking for a husband won't be showing up too much...ugh, seems like it. Japan, you are so terrible sometimes. Hopefully, the tsundere pirate girl doesn't fall too much into the typical anime cliche. Anyway, the main character seems to be Bellri Zenam, a happy-go-lucky, smart, young boy, who happens to be able to pilot a space pirate's Gundam suit much to her surprise. The production is a mix of old-school-like character animation and modern cgi. There are some interesting background designs and architectural things going on; the mobile suits are typical mobile suits. They sure do love the space elevator concept. It was mildly amusing, but some of the anime cliches get irritating.

Probably nots...


Terra Formars 1-2! Cockroach mutants versus cockroach/human-enhanced hybrids? Fighting over Mars. This should have been better than it was.



Madan no Ou to Vanadis 1! a fantasy anime with swords, bow & arrows, dragons and magic. Nice quality production, but can't prevent the snoozing.



Ookami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji 1! a shoujo anime about a girl who lies about having a boyfriend to her classmates so that she can make some friends. She gets the class 'prince' involved. He agrees not to blow her cover if she obeys his orders like a dog; ie. typical shoujo anime.