October Round-up!
Right, now everything I’m vaguely interested in covering (aside from Karin, which I’ll probably hate, and I’ll pass on Japanese Folk Stories and Ginga Densetsu Weed for now) has aired, here’s a round-up of how I hope things to play out from here:
Blogging:
Black Cat - I’m really only waiting on the widescreen version before blogging more of this - I don’t care if it mangles the manga, I really like how stylish and fun the show’s been so far (I’ve seen the first two episodes now).
Blood+ - true, it’s slow-burn, but I’m a sucker for girls with swords when there’s no fanservice hijinks involved - plus Hagi is a CELLO PLAYING DEMON SLAYER. SO awesome.
Cluster Edge - is it really as awful as it seems to be? I like the cheese factor, and I THINK it’ll be interesting once we’ve got going on the plot properly.
Mushishi - the first episode was absolutely awesome, and I love the imagination and detail that’s gone into it.
My-Otome - yeah, I know, so’s everyone else. I can be a sheep if I want to, though - besides, I think most people have very different perspectives on the show as it is.
Noein - I’ve watched episode 2 around five times already, and I’m still not bored of it. Simply incredible, if the quality keeps up Noein will easily be one of my all-time favourite anime series.
Paradise Kiss - I’m not TOTALLY sold on it yet, but I admire Osamu Kobayashi’s chutzpah in direction and it’s really very stylish. Plus the OP and ED rock SO hard.
Rozen Maiden Traumend - it’s good fun, and I hope there’ll be some interesting stuff later in the series.
Shakugan no Shana - while the show can be a little shakey in animation and story quality, there’s no denying Shana is a wicked main character and I have hopes for the storyline in general.
Watching, Not Blogging
Animal Yokocho - I’m deeply ashamed to say I LOVE this show. It’s so psychotic! IYO-PPE BEAM!
Aria the Animation - nice does not equal interesting blogging content, so I’ll probably keep up with this for a while for something relaxing to watch of an evening.
Blogged but Dropped
Capeta - don’t like the sports cliches, although this looked nicely done.
Fighting Beauty Wulong - boring, badly animated, and ugly. Yuck.
Happy 7 - 90’s throwback; very retro and very unoriginal, but it’s not awful or anything.
Hell Girl - the second episode was basically the same as the first, and it’s just not that exciting unfortunately. I like the style, but not the execution.
Idaten Jump - stupid toy show. TOBIDASE!!!!!
IGPX - boring kid’s show hiding behind gorgeous animation. Meh.
Kotenkotenko - silly little kid’s show that might be fun for a 6 year old but not really for me.
Solty Rei - Gonzo and AIC team up to produce a mishmash of all their worst qualities - lame CG from Gonzo, cliched stories from AIC. And dear GOD, the HAIR!
Not Watched/Not Blogged:
Akagi - just never got around to it, loved the weird-ass character designs though.
Canvas 2 - “Onii-chan, hentai!” DELETE DELETE DELETE GET IT OFF MY HARD DRIVE NOW
Ginban Kaleidoscope - never watched, but sounded like Kaleido Star but without actually being good.
Gunparade Orchestra - despite the presence of a trenchcoat-wearing penguin, I never watched beyond the OP.
Nanoha A’s - will watch when it’s all out fansubbed, I can marathon and avoid the boring bits then.
Ramune - even more boring than To Heart 2!
To Heart 2 - boring bishoujo tedium. Why can’t they all be like Air?
So a rather bumper season of goodies thus far! Nothing quite compares to Noein in my mind, but it’s got some decent competition - my next picks are Mushishi and Blood+ for sheer enjoyment, but ParaKiss and Black Cat both show serious chops in the production department even if they’re not quite as interesting plot-wise.
And yes, I WILL finish watching Tsubasa, Gerad and Trinity Blood. Some day.
October 23rd, 2005 at 6:48 pm
Wow, you’re taking on quite a bit there, which probably goes to show its a better season than most give it credit for. I fully expect you to drop Otome into the “not blogging” band before long, mind you (although I think you’ll enjoy #3 once it gets into the second half - the first half is a little too far on the HiME-service side).
I’m in two minds about A’s - on one hand its got some kick-ass magical girl battling, on the other it kind of makes me feel like a paedophile at times ^^; We weren’t quite batted around the head about it so much in the first series.
October 23rd, 2005 at 6:52 pm
Having just watched Otome 3, the second half was indeed awesome. The first half wasn’t TOO bad, though, I guess I probably didn’t notice the HiME service to such an extent as most since I didn’t get into it so much.
I managed to watch the original Nanoha and was convinced not only that Fate (Feyt?) and Nanoha WERE just friends, but also that she might have had a little bit of a thing for Yuuno. If they’ve really overdone the paedophile yuri I’ll be giving it a miss, I suspect.
October 23rd, 2005 at 7:02 pm
Its not really the yuri I find overdone (I do think the viewer is supposed to think thats whats going on, though - it is a very male-orientated show), but those transformation scenes I’m finding just a little bit creepy, to be honest. At least in the series 1 OP they had Nanohas pantsu materialise before her skirt, and they avoided playing it to death, but I’m finding it a little overdone this time around. I know its tradition for the genre, but thats not the only thing bugging me somewhat.
Its a shame, because the action really does kick huge amounts of ass, and otherwise I find it to be a really rather pleasant show (which, admittedly, I’d have had zero interest in if AS hadn’t directed series 1).
October 23rd, 2005 at 7:32 pm
I think you’re severely underestimating Canvas2, which has turned out to be a very good show, in fact. But if Ren-ai game conversions aren’t your thing, there’s no use in trying to convince you of the values of the show ;)
I expect BluWacky to stay on the Otome train no matter what - and indeed hope he does. He’s bound to be more critical. The cheerleading will me done by other people ^_^
October 23rd, 2005 at 8:22 pm
Woo! Noein, Blood+, Mushishi, and Shana (in order of awesomeness)… that’s all I need, and I love you for covering them because, like Mentar said, you’re usually more critical than other bloggers. :)
October 24th, 2005 at 12:03 am
I love your comment about Canvas 2 =).
October 24th, 2005 at 10:26 am
Mushishi rocks. Akagi is kinda intense for its genre and I absolutely love the OP theme. Haven’t gotten around to watch most of the shows yet except for a few others like Black Cat. Oh, and Ginban Kaleidoscope, cheesy and average as it is, is unexpectedly hilarious. Then again, I buy cheap laughs.
LOL, must check out Animal Yokocho. I’ve been avoiding it like plague but if you enjoy the show, there must be something in it then… Or maybe not. ;p