...what are you watching...

Another week of 2012 left...

Magi 11-12! The princess of Kou arrives to do more damage but is distracted by her sudden crush on Sinbad (cause the good guys clearly need time to power-up). The others try to recover after that battle, Alibaba whines about his uselessness, but the people turn to him to heal the country. Kassim wants to do something more destructive, so Alibaba finally turns to Sinbad to help. Alibaba whining these two episodes....grow a spine...ugh.

Hunter x Hunter 2012 59-60! The beginning of the Greed Island arc..with new opening visuals (but sadly, the same opening song), new ending song and visuals, and new ending omake. Biscuit is a blond? Gon and Killua start the game.


Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun 12-13! the end. Episode 12 is from Natsume's POV, and the last episode is a slice of winter episode in which the gang is looking for Haru who is looking for something. This was an enjoyable shoujo anime which brought a group of young kids together for some comedic laughs. The budding relationships didn't really progress, but then again, for a 13 episode series, the main characters got the confession and kiss out of the way. ~8/10 rating~ for light-hearted teenage interactions with very little to dislike. I appreciate the production's consistency.

Zetsuen no Tempest 11-12! They find a way to bring Hakaze back to the present time, but both sides stall for more time. She comes back and the trees go berserk. Both Mahiro and Yoshino are killed, but Hakaze and Samon try to revive them. The story makes no sense, but does present some good drama.

Magi 10! Aladdin faces off against Judal, also a magi, unfortunately, a war-loving one. Ugo makes a sacrifice. I think I missed the reasoning as to why Ugo left his head behind.
Hunter x Hunter 2012 58! The end of the spider arc. There's a quick flashback to someone in Kurapika's past who will apparently be featured in the movie. Hisoka's face when he realizes what happens to Chrollo?...lol. Looking forward to the Greed Island arc.

Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun 10-11! Christmas party episode...very cute. And then an episode that was mostly from Yamaken's POV...also cute.

Psycho-Pass 8! Really thought that the story arcs would get better, but the interaction between the naive detective and everyone is rather inane. This episode is about man's reliance on technology and one man's obsession with immortality. Good potential, but meh. Dropped.

Zetsuen no Tempest 10! Yoshino gives Hakaze a bit of hope with a terrible theory on time travel while making Samon appear ridiculously desperate.

Magi 9! Alibaba reveals himself as the illegitimate son of the late king and with Sinbad's support tries to convince his brother to treat the poor people fairly...or something like that. Bad animation ruined some of the more interesting scenes.


Hunter x Hunter 2012 57! Kurapika kidnaps Chrollo. Gon and Killua's Huncyclopedia kills me.

Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun 9! New crushes have developed...rather expected ones.

Psycho-Pass 8! While Kogami is able to figure out who the murderer is at the all-girls school, he and the police are unable to capture her. Her sponsor-like mentor helps her escape only to have her killed. Wish that the full episode was as interesting as the short action scenes.


Zetsuen no Tempest 9! Mahiro abandons Hakaze after the whole time travel thing. Samon gets irritated when Yoshino takes control of the situation.

Magi 7! Aladdin and Morgiana meet happy-go-lucky Sinbad who is already an accomplished king with seven djinn. They also finally meet up with Alibaba who now leads a group of thieves. Storywise, the time that has past doesn't feel as long as it should...It's only 4 episodes since Aladdin has seen Alibaba. Sinbad reminds me of En-Ou from Juuni Kokki; feels like a playboy, powerful, beloved by his servants...time for the newbies to learn something.

Hunter x Hunter 2012 56! Kurapika x Phantom Troupe showdown comes closer. Gon and Killua get caught as a distraction. Good stuff.

Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun 7-8! This is actually getting better as the show progresses. So far it hasn't fallen into any shoujo genre traps; angst, excessive misunderstanding, annoying third-parties. There's really no progress in these episodes, but they are still cute.

Psycho-Pass 6! The cops try to figure out who is pulling the strings behind the recent crimes while something creepy is happening at an all-girls school.

Zetsuen no Tempest 7! A few flashbacks to Yoshino's relationship with Aika. Dramatic background music is dramatic. I don't know enough of Shakespeare to figure out which one is Hamlet, but both Yoshino and Mashiro seem equally likely to die...or wait, don't most of the characters die in Hamlet?

Magi 6! Morgiana takes down a slave trader and a band of thieves before meeting Aladdin again.


Hunter x Hunter 2012 55! Kurapika allows Gon and Killua to help in his plans to kill the spiders despite Killua's not-so-obvious telepathic messages.

Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun 6! Shizuku and Haru keep confessing and then backing out of their confessions...and it's actually not that annoying...yet. Cute transitional episode.

Psycho-Pass 5! The avatar arc comes to a close...zzz. The last 30 seconds were mildly interesting.

Zetsuen no Tempest 6! The not-incest-if-not-blood-related plot twist is out there now...no surprise. Zzz...

Magi 5! Aladdin wipes out the traitorous army with a swipe of his djinn's hand. And meets another djinn who informs him of his role as a magi...to pick a king...which he already did...and which was already explained...right?

Hunter x Hunter 2012 54! Enjoy the fact that Killua is the only one who seems to have a change of clothing. The spiders have their fortunes told and learn that half of them will die. I know that the original OVAs were pretty good with this arc, but I can't remember them enough to point out any differences.

Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun 5! Shizuku learns a little more about Haru from his brother and then from Haru himself.

Psycho-Pass 4! is an arc dealing with online communities and avatars. A serial killer is targeting community leaders. A tad dull...

Zetsuen no Tempest 5! Mahiro and Yoshino escape from another of Samon's henchmen. There's a flashback to Yoshino's secret relationship with Mahiro's sister. Hakaze sends the boys to pick up a talisman from her friend.

One of those days where only bad emails were received...grrr

Magi 3! Aladdin and Ali baba quickly clear the dungeon. I have a feeling the anime is really speeding through the manga. There was a 1 second flashback to Morgiana's past where she met the sharif...who was probably not insane back then. The djinn of that dungeon send them back to the real world, but they are dropped off in different locations. I like how the djinns are all Disney-like blue. :)

Hunter x Hunter 2012 52! Killua's father and grandfather take on Chrollo. Hope the fight lasts longer than half an episode.

Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun 4! Haru's friends meet his brother.

Little Busters 3! A bored student with deep cleavage joins the Little Busters. The reoccuring jokes are failing to get laughs. Dropped.

Magi 2! Aladdin is pretty darn cute. Although this show is most likely for children, it doesn't hold back on some story elements like the the sharif who abuses his slaves. The quick pacing is awesome.

Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun 3! The back and forth confession was pretty cute as was the episode. Haru and his new friends try to build a chicken coop.

Brrr...Chilly weather makes me want to stay in bed....



Ixion Saga DT 1! Parody of an RPG anime trying really hard to be funny

+/- Mediocre production
- Terrible humor

Quick impression~ A young boy is transported into an RPG game, but things aren't how he would like. The princess is a child, the hot maid is a boy, ummm...etc? The problem with this is that it pokes fun at fantasy/game tropes, but is ineffective at the joke delivery.

Hunter x Hunter 2012 50! Gon and Killua escape from the Phantom Troupe. Cute. Noticed the emphasis on Killua's flashback to his brother.

Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun 2! The opening song reminds me of the Lovely Complex opening; cheerful, overly-cute jpop. Unlike the last shoujo anime I fully viewed, Kimi ni Todoke, this one contains characters that are decisive. The new character is quirky (and hey, does not create a love triangle). I like the fact that Haru's tutoring skills suck, and Shizuku's advice is simply to learn the least amount of information to get out of remedial classes. It's nice to see star pupils with flaws.

Ah~ the fall season, when girls go back to school and dream of having an anime boyfriend. Decided to watch more new shows than I was originally interested in. The following posts are in order of entertainment value.


Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun 1! The funny shoujo story this season.

+ Excellent production
+ I have no idea who the seiyuu are, but the voice acting is pretty good.
- Standard shoujo humor

Quick impression~ Confession and kiss in the first episode...refreshingly quick progress for a high school shoujo story. A cold-hearted, school-oriented girl attracts the attention of the school bully who is actually a simple-minded (but secretly book-smart) boy who just has a hard time making friends (of course). While nothing surprisingly new about this show, I did enjoy the fist in the face scene.


Sukitte Ii na yo 1! Kiss and confession again in the first episode...modern shoujo characteristics?

+ Excellent production
- Standard shoujo scenarios

Quick impression~ The most popular boy in school becomes interested in the girl who has no friends. She hates him at first. It starts with the standard misunderstanding, and the 'boy saving the girl' scene; reminds me of Kimi ni Todoke or Hana Yori Dango. You can probably predict the whole show, but it had some cute moments and the attractiveness of the characters will undoubtedly attract popularity. This tries to be the more serious romantic anime this season in comparison to Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun.



Kamisama Hajimemashita 1! more tsundere...

+/- Mediocre production

Quick impression~ A young girl abandoned by her debt-ridden father finds herself living in a temple as the Earth deity by mistake. A fox deity, a servant of the previous deity, refuses to acknowledge her. ...Feels like a shoujo-esque version of Inuyasha.