...what are you watching...

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.

Gin no Saji (Silver Spoon) live-action jmovie! based on the manga by Hiromu Arakawa. A young, aimless boy, Yuugo Hachiken, enrolls in an agricultural high school to get away from his parents. Compared to Hagaren, this is a quiet story from Hiromu Arakawa that aims to teach as well as show the growth of the young characters. Hachiken stumbles along as he learns about the farm life and its industry and about making friends. The manga's story and characters kinda put me to sleep, but it does less so in the live-action movie. It does well to teach the viewer about the hardships of farm life and where food comes from. The movie doesn't really have any highs and lows, but intermingles small conflicts such as Hachiken's disapproving parents, Mikage's horse competition and Komaba's loss of his family's farm. Everything is showcased without too much drama. The movie equally shows the viewer of the cuteness of animals and the deliciousness of them. I do recall that the manga characters loved to eat meat. Because the school teaches humane practices, there is no turn-off toward eating what they raise. 7/10 rating~ for cute baby pig and delicious-looking bacon.



Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler) live-action jmovie! is an alternative presentation of the manga of the same name. I was disappointed to hear that the main character of Ciel was being replaced by a female character, but the movie is actually not that bad. It is set in modern times, but still retains some of the old fashioned Victorian style. Genpo Shiori is the young woman who runs the Funtom Corporation as a male after her parents are killed. She continues her family's tradition as the Queen's watchdog. Her situation mimic's Ciel; dead parents, revenge-time, contract with Sebastian...and the plot of the movie also resembles the first manga story arc with big hollywood-style plot changes. I enjoyed Sebastian and Rin (the maid)'s fight scenes. The choreography was fun especially with Sebastian's dinner knife. There are some typical bad guy faux pas's in the movie like how long they wait to kill Shiori...answer, just long enough for Sebastian to show up. This weakness didn't detract too much from the entertainment value. 8/10 rating~ for a live-action movie that retained the manga's black humor, snarky dialogue, horror-elements and mystery. Warning: the movie did leave the end open to a sequel.



Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno live-action jmovie! is the first part of the manga's Shishio story arc. The first movie was not as bad as I thought it might have been and this is also not that bad. There's plenty of fun swordplay to watch and the cast is pretty good. I do enjoy laughing at Shinomori Aoshi again. The only thing that does not translate well into the live-action movie is the manga/anime's humor. Kenshin's 'oro's just don't work without the SD faces. As the title suggests, the movie climaxes at the Kyoto fire plot and the gathering of Shishio's 'swords'. I look forward to the conclusion. 8/10 rating~ for that scene with Aoshi...hahaha.

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.

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.

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?

Live-action Kuroshitsuji movie? Yes, please.

Interview with the cast of Ouran Host Club: I have very low expectations for this drama. The actors have to be really good to be able to sell those characters.

Just read the recent chapter of Kuroshitsuji. I'm glad Elizabeth turned out to be more than just the innocent girl obsessed with cute things. Yay for kickass fighter and girl power qualities. Since she is now suitable to be Ciel's fiancee, there goes the most of the BL factor. It's a shame the anime took such bad turn with its storytelling; killing off Ciel. The manga had some pretty good story arcs that the anime never got it.

Tiger and Bunny 12! Jake still holding the city hostage, challenges the Heroes one by one. I was expecting Tiger to do something unexpected, but nope, he gets defeated fairly quickly.

Kuroshitsuji S2 OVA 1! the Ciel the Wonderland episode really tried to be funny, but uses really bad puns and lame visual humor. The fact that Ciel had to dress up as Alice was still cute fanservice.


Otome Youkai Zakuro 10! When did this show turn into some sort of horror series? While not knowing much about the manga, I can't tell if the anime writers came up with this just to bring it to a quick climax and resolution. Anyway, Zakuro is kidnapped by Hanadate (again, any character with eyes that narrow has to be evil). He wants her to have his children..eh? I think he had a thing for her mother (but the preview makes me think her mother was his sister?). The Black Widow runs rampant when she finds out. Zakuro finds a cage full of half-demons and learns that females look normal while males look...well, like black blobs. Very strange turn of events.

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!

Rejoice, lj does care that people hate them. Why haven't they gotten rid of the flash pop-up ads yet?

Kuroshitsuji S2 11! interesting twist with Hannah the maid.

Denyuuden 11! a serious episode as Ryner and Ferris find another kid with the Alpha Stigma eyes whose parents get killed before them. And it seems Sion creates some internal promotions to rouse the nobles' ire. Incidentally, I cleared up some of my questions, and spoiled myself by looking at wiki. I hope the anime gets more than 26 episodes because with 35 novels, it doesn't look like the anime will even get close to some of the more interesting fantasy plot points.