...what are you watching...

The Thermae Romae live-action movie looks great. Abe Hiroshi! Little old men!

Some feel-good movies recently about the net:

Kimi to Boku jmovie! a live-action movie (not related to the manga of the same name). This short film is about a budding, young mangaka who finds and raises a little kitten. The kitten is voiced by Maaya Sakamoto. The kitten observes the young man through the years and keeps him company. ~6/10 rating~ for cute cat. Story, of course, is bittersweet..possibly not exciting enough for most audiences.


Usagi Drop jmovie! the live-action version of the manga of the same name is expectedly sweet. It has good pacing and covers much of the highlights the anime version covered. The story is well-edited in that respect. Kenichi Matsuyama does a great job as Daikichi; though not quite as tired/grumpy as the manga/anime version. And the young actress who plays Rin is perfect; definitely looks like a little bunny-like child. ~8/10 rating~ for some welcomed fluff. The dance sequences are the only wtf additions...not terrible, but just weird.


Hotarubi no Mori e jmovie! from the mangaka of Natsume Yuujinchou, is an animated movie based on the manga of the same name. Hotaru, a small child, gets lost in the forest. She is found by a youkai named Gin who helps her find her way. They become friends with a catch; that being that Gin will disappear if Hotaru touches him. She visits him each summer through the years. ~8/10 rating~ The movie doesn't have any extraordinary production, but it is very cute and bittersweet.

And last week in animeland:
Chihayafuru 21! The gang pass their school exams and start the qualifying karuta competitions.

Nisemonogatari 9! Araragi and Karen's sibling perversions are at work again. Two new characters arrive. And Araragi and Hachikuji do their thang.

Hunter x Hunter 2012 21! After the exams. Gon et al get stuck in traffic on the way to the airport. There's more than that, but the traffic jam was the only new scene.

BLOOD-C 10! Saya only has one classmate left, but still sings on the way to school...uh huh. She's still downing the 'coffee' and marshmallows like an addict. CLAMP + Production IG's Tsutomu Mizushima make badly paced, rather mediocre anime shows; xxxHolic and this being examples.


Usagi Drop 11! the end. Well, Rin's two front teeth come out. It's been an adorable show. Kouki doing normal boy things was pretty funny. ~8/10 rating~ for the high quality, consistent production and a great optimistic slice-of-life series. I haven't read any of the manga, so I don't know exactly how they progress to that relationship, but I wonder if this will get another season to cover Rin's teen years...hehehe.


No. 6 11! the end. There's a sunset, kiss, and a baby. Who knew? ~9/10 rating~ Let's face it. I liked the BL fanservice. The production was also consistent and very lovely at times. The story was very rushed and obviously made for readers of the novels (or to create new readers). I think anime bloggers forget that anime is made for the Japanese audience, so if someone were watching this show, they could easily pick up the book at their local bookstore or library. Thankfully, there are at least 2-3 people translating the novels which entertainingly fill in the gaps. The dystopian sci-fi part was iffy...the killer bees?Yoming?pointless in the anime, but you get a sense that the story is mostly about the conflicting world views of the two main characters...which the anime does well enough. I'm glad for once that they animated a novel from beginning to end, rather than leaving off at a random place, or creating an original end.

Mawaru Penguindrum 10! the lesser-Shaft-like episodes are a bit dull, but the plot thickens. We meet another penguin hat.

BLOOD-C 9! After her whole class dies (less Yukito lookalike), Saya starts using her muscles and defeats the poorly designed monster. Saya now starts asking questions...though her follow-up on getting answers fairly sucks.

Usagi Drop 10! Rin gets a cold. It's interesting to see how cute they can make a mundane activity.

No. 6 10! I like how people are trying to say this is not in the boy-love genre as if they are trying to convince a larger audience that it's deeper than that....right. It is more sci-fi, but the core of it is the relationship between the boys. And I like that even at this stage that the characters are developing even more. In this episode, Sion and Nezumi head up the compound to save Safu. One of the weaknesses of the show is that it moves too quickly. There isn't much time spent on Sion's horror at his situation, or his slight bout with insanity. There's a ton of little novel details being left out. It's still a good show, but would have been a great 24 episode show.

Here's a nicovideo (on youtube) of illustrations made by a person who's read the novels. Pretty interesting video, since it looks like the person did this before the anime started. Tons of spoilers.

Natsume Yuujinchou San 9! Natsume lets his insecurities bother him during the school's cultural festival.

BLOOD-C 8! I guess the Touya-lookalike is not gay for the Yukito-lookalike, but there's hope for Saya's father and the suspicious cafe owner. What is he feeding them anyway? Watanuki-dog is not impressed by Saya's D-cups. And then the fight...CLAMP's version of Saya is plain terrible at the whole saving people thing. I'm assuming this is some sort of dream or some weird story which involves killing off every single bystander.

No. 6 9! After Natsume Yuujinchou, this is possibly the best anime this season. It does help to read the fan translations/summaries since the anime is trying to squeeze 9 novels into 11 episode. There's plenty of amusing dialogue being left out. After surrendering to the No. 6 human clean-up crew, Nezumi and Sion finally make their way into the correctional facility to save Safu...though I suspect she isn't human anymore.

Usagi Drop 9! is about how Kouki interacts with Rin and Daikichi. He's such a typical young boy.

Mawaru Penguindrum 8! Ringo's deluded plan gets cut off because of a typhoon (same one from Usagi Drop's episode?). Shouma saves Ringo from a car...Ringo's story has been getting stale...good to see something else pushing the plot along.

Blood-C 7! The dog runs a shop that grants wishes....and is voiced by Watanuki/Fukujun. Oh the CLAMP fans are rolling their eyes. I have to compare Saya's blank slate to Magical Madoka's indecisiveness; both taking up way too much air time and both being very annoying. BUT that being said, the series could turn itself around at the end. I'm guessing that Saya will remember being a vampire near the end of the tv series and the movie will be more badass. She did try to lick the blood-covered ground...maybe she'll remember that she isn't a moron sooner rather than later.

Usagi Drop 8! It's O-bon time and Rin almost figures out how she is related to Daikichi.

No. 6 8! Old man explains it all. Nezumi, Sion, Inukashi and Rikiga plot to infiltrate the correctional facility. Curious as to what Safu is doing in the lab or what the scientists have done with her. Also curious as to why the old guys all have a crush on Sion's mother; Rikiga, the legless, old man, Yoming (who is a tad creepy now). Hey, Nezumi sings prettily in this episode.

Ouran High School Host Club 5! I think the actor playing Tamaki has collagen injected into his lips. It's the beach episode....where all the crabs are already cooked & bright orange? There are a few changes to the story, but the characters are slowly developing; ok, only Kyouya's character is. The twin episode is next.

Ouran High School Club 4! Renge comes looking for her uki-doki prince. The climax was rather badly acted. Makes me want to watch the anime again.

Usagi Drop 7! Daikichi's cousin and her daughter come to visit after running across some marital bumps. Looks like she returns to the ungrateful bum at the end.

Mawaru Penguindrum 6! Ringo wants to relive her deceased sister's life.

No. 6 7! Kinda funny that the hangers-on kept with the series up to this point still hoping it wasn't that type of relationship. Anyway, Shion and Nezumi work behind each others backs when they discover Safu's abduction. There's a goodbye kiss and an amusing fist match afterwards. Best couple ever!

Blood-C 6! Saya kinda sucks at the whole saving people thing. Is it Nico that is censoring the episodes with streaks of white and blobs of black over the graphic scenes? I should watch a fansubbers version. Didn't expect both twins to be gone so soon..or not. The dog, of course, says some cryptic things via CLAMP style. This is a terribly written/paced show.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica 8-12! the end. Amused that the opening visuals tell you what the show is not about. I figured I should zip through the last few episodes to see why many consider this to be one of the best anime shows early this year. Last episode we learned that Mokona Kyubey took the girls' souls and plopped them into gemstones, so essentially they are walking corpses.


Sayaka wallows into depression after this knowledge darkening her gemstone, and after finding out her crush has no interest in her, she turns into a witch. The turn of events is quite interesting, but it's only the last 4 episodes where the characters become understandable. In all the episodes before that, there's a bit of a dull lag while the characters whine & cry about their lives. I did find that Sayaka's fate in each reiteration to be a nice touch. Despite all the Madoka merchandise, it's Homura who is the star of the show. Many pluses for time-traveling, method of gun acquirement, and bomb-making.


~8/10 rating~ If you can sit through the first 8 episodes, the rest is worth it. The anime production is top quality though I'm not a fan of the character's facial design. Going back to the beginning, Mami's death is worth seeing since the cosplay it inspired is pretty awesome.

Usagi Drop 6! Rin learns what cereal is and gets a tree. Sweet!

No. 6 6! Safu returns to No. 6 for her grandmother's funeral, gets nosy about Sion, and then gets captured by the police. Nezumi and Sion bicker. Looking forward to a Safu and Nezumi throwdown.

Arakawa Under the Bridge 1! jdrama! Hey, another 30 minute drama. Based on the manga of the same title, a young businessman, Kou Ichinomiya, is saved by a self-proclaimed Venusian girl living under the Arakawa bridge. Since he hates being in debt to anyone, he agrees to become her lover. While I like the quirky story, the anime was better at timing its jokes. The drama picks up a little near the end. [FYI, Ouran and Arakawa are being speed-subbed by the same group.]
No. 6 5! The background voice in the opening song sounds like Sugizo, but it's not. The song is by LAMA...There are cute lamas halfway through the PV. Safu attending school in No. 5 and Nezumi playing Ophelia on stage both hear the same song and...pass out. Interesting character developments happening in the episode. There's a lovely, lovely dance scene, too. It was fairly brilliant in terms of everything the episode covered, and how pretty the animation was.

Usagi Drop 5! We see Rin's mother who is a ditzy, young mangaka. Daikichi and Rin are adorable. I like the little extras before the episodes starts.

Mawaru Penguindrum 5! Ringo redeems herself after being such a dull character the previous episodes. The Imagine scene was actually funny..

BLOOD-C 5! It doesn't even come near the above shows in terms of entertainment, but the episode did attempt to reveal a little of the plot in a sad, lame scary story scene. My guess is that the dog knows everything.

BLOOD-C 4! Ouch! that's one awkward landing position. Tokizane is apparently not the token homo-homo character (yeah, I don't get it. What's the point of having characters who look like Yukito and Touya if they are not already married). Fumito, the cafe guy, makes Mokona bento sides...thus, he must running the whole show and evil. The pacing of the episode is better, but still not great. The anime seems to be using CLAMP's one-phrase plot driver to its disadvantage. I really don't want to spend 20-some episodes wondering what 'honor thy covenant' means only to learn that you won't find out until next year's movie. *rolls eyes*



No. 6 4! I should stop watching this. There's only 11(?) anime episodes planned and 8 or 9 novels. I'll be annoyed if they don't carry it through to the end. :) Sion's mother proves that she's not a boring bystander in this episode, and *spoilers* I and everyone else thought the bromance was just fanservice, but it's not. *score* Interesting sci-fi & BL story! Sion's erratic behavior makes more sense if you take the spoiler into account; thought he was a bit bipolar before...haha.



Usagi Drop 4! I like the Charlie Brown furrowed brow. In this episode, Daikichi meets another single parent, and makes a call to Rin's mother. Way to end an episode.

No. 6 3! The pacing of the show is a little speedy, but we see Sion at his white-hair stage now. He tends to bounce from ansty-ridden to easy-going rather unexpectedly. And the bromance is developing nicely though Nezumi wants to see No. 6's destruction while SIon wants to save it from the killer bees.



Usagi Drop 3! The couple reviews I've read have praised this show, but have been put-off by their knowledge of how the manga ends. Apparently, they have not read enough manga. Anyway, Daikichi deals with Rin's bed-wetting in this episode; cute.

Mawaru Penguindrum 3! slow progress with Ringo, but craving curry now.

Blood-C 3! It's sorta like Haruhi's Endless Eight...Saya eats at the cafe, sings while going to school, acts dense around her friends, fights monster again. Ok, a little more variety this time. Saya lets the baker get squeezed to death, and a narrator hints that someone will change. Hopefully, sooner rather than later.