SCREEN SHOTS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Ichigo Mashimaro Encore ep1
OMG yessss, I've been waiting so impatiently for this – I was looking forward to it nearly as much as the Lucky Star OVA. Ichigo Mashimaro is one of my absolute favorite anime/manga because it manages to be both absurdly cute and gut-busting hilarious at the same time without resorting to any ecchiness or fan service. While Miu is at the center of most of the humor, all the characters are funny and loveable in their own ways and have their own little quirks. (Ana is my personal favorite.) With the Encore OAV here rekindling my love, I'm trying to get the TV series and maybe the first OAV into the Anime Club, but if it doesn't make it I've decided to rewatch them on my own.
Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru ep10-13
While it never amounted to anything grand, this series got better towards the end as the drama started piling up. I mean that literally, too, because ep10 showed the production of Romeo and Juliet that I mentioned last week. Watching Takako in in full tsundere panic mode due to both pre-performance nervousness and being around Mizuho was fun. And, of course, there had to be a mishap on stage for Mizuho to improvise around and set Takako off even more. Meanwhile, Mariya finally managed to sort out her feelings for Mizuho just in time to be jealous. Love triangle gogogo!
Ep11 switched its focus back to Mariya, with her being jealous and distant until she's confronted, then embarrassed and clingly. Mizuho is all nice and understanding through the whole thing but you can tell he's thinking the whole time, "WTF is wrong with this girl?" The best part, though, is when he goes all Chuck Norris on these suspicious characters trying to kidnap Takako (who still doesn't yet know Mizuho is a trap, by the way.) and kicks their asses. Traps can be dangerous in more ways than one!
Ep12 was the proper ending to the series but it was a little disappointing. Sure, the preceding drama was resolved nicely (and we got some good shots of Takako being a sad girl in snow), but that alone felt a little empty. It ended with Takako's and Mariya's feelings for Mizuho left completely unresolved, right at the point where you'd expect the love triangle drama and hijinks to come into play. I'm not sure if it could've sustained a whole second season, though, which put it the awkward position of needing about six more episodes.
Ep13 was a DVD bonus episode parodying the Cinderella fairytale, with bits and pieces from other fairytales mixed in for good measure. It was one of the most funny, weird, and twisted bonus episodes I've ever seen. Every time I thought it could not possibly get any more so, it proved me wrong. And most of it was done in the series's chibi style, which is weird and a little creepy in itself. There's just... not really any way I can adequately describe this episode, so I shall leave that to the multitude of screen shots.
Aria the Natural ep3
This is the episode where Aika develops her crush on Al and she spends most of the episode alternating between screaming and blushing. Seeing her so out of sorts is fun because she's normally very prim and proper; she's not really a tsundere but she's got some little quirks that are similar. It's also one of the few episodes where Al actually gets a decent amount of screen time (though at the cost of less Alice), which is always nice. And, of course, the presidents provide amusement – and a neck warmer – to keep things from getting too sappy.
Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya / Nyoron Churuya-san ep2
Haruhi-chan was amusing again but I think I'm actually going to end up liking Churuya-san more. When she started typing 「スモークチーズ」 into Google I smiled at the reference to ep1 ('cause I can read the kana and didn't have to wait for the subtitle to appear lolz), but then when the image of Kyon came up with the "No No," I totally burst out laughing. Those sorts of odd and random bits of humor that Churuya-san has been featuring are exactly my kind of thing.
Kemono no Souja Erin ep3
I continue to be enthralled by this series's art. As I've mentioned a few times in chat, it's like Zelda: The Wind Waker's art (not the in-game animation, but the official art) in animated form and with less stylized character designs. It's the only series so far where I've regularly taken screen shots of misc. scenery as much as I have of the characters.
As far as the story goes, the series is still in introduction mode. There's a lot of different directions it could take, which has me interested. So far, it seems almost like Spice and Wolf with the same, slow-paced fantasy setting – though that's where the similarity ends.
Shugo Chara!! Doki ep70
This mandatory Valentine's Day episode, complete with Amu spazzing over chocolates and Tadase, was actually pretty good. The ? egg of the week character was cute and sweet and even had a bit of tsundere goodness to go along with the glasses. Her ? character transformation looked good enough to eat, too. (See what I did there?) But Amu pulled out her Amulet Clover hax again and totally pwned her.
I have a feeling the story is going to start moving again soon. I've noticed that Ikuto seems to be hiding out near the school, Lulu has even been going inside the school the last couple episodes, Utua is showing up a bit here and there again, and Nagihiko is starting to get a bit careless with his secret. Is it all coming together finally?!
Clannad ~After Story~ ep11
SS-Eclipse finally got another widescreen episode released! It's killing me to have to wait so long between episodes, given the high tension in the story right now, but I'm still resolute to wait for the delicious widescreen goodness. I can really feel Tomoya's regret and frustration at not being able to spend more time with Nagisa but it's hard to see how much it's actually affecting Nagisa. Needs MOAR episodes!
Hetalia: Axis Powers ep4 (web source, no screens)
Ah, Japan and its serious-but-crazy-otaku ways. Don't ever change.
To Aru Majutsu no Index ep19
Well now, it's not often that both the main characters in a series get zero screen time in an episode but that's what happened. However, the show got a +1 to its loli count so it's all good. And this new plot with Accelerator and MISAKA Last Order looks like it'll be interesting. I'm liking how characters don't just disappear from the show after the mini-arc that features them is over.
Sora wo Miageru Shoujo no Hitomi ni Utsuru Sekai ep5
Whereas ep4 focused on events from the second OAV that took place in the heavens, ep5 showed what was happening with Yumemi and her friends down on Earth. And, once again, it cut off just before the conclusion, which I fear will take up the entirety of ep6. That leaves six or seven episodes for new content (unless it's a two-season show?), which I guess is enough when put together with the old content. It's just annoying to sit through half a season of recapping to get to it. Oh well, we'll probably get to see Munto kick some more ass next episode so that's something at least.
Hayate no Gotoku! ep1-3
I was in the mood for something stupid to laugh at so I started up this series and it delivered perfectly. It pulls off the weird/crazy humor really well while also tossing in tons of little references to other anime and stuff. Seriously, there's been a lot just within the first three episodes and I'm sure there were some that I missed. I don't expect the series will become a favorite but if it can keep its humor going it'll definitely be a worthwhile comedy.
Kugimiya Rie and Tanaka Rie playing the two lead females is also a big plus, especially since I haven't heard Tanaka in many main roles before. Kugimiya voicing a tsundere loli character is nothing new but, you know, I don't care, I still love it. Nagi is terribly cute with her blond twintails, and she leans a little more towards the deredere side than most of the other tsundere characters of hers that I've seen which makes her even more adorable.
About the episodes themselves, minus the hijinks they've basically just served as an introduction to the main characters and the setting. Hayate's parents suck and leave him with a huge debt, he gets roped into being loli-rich-girl Nagi's new butler due to his crazy strength and resourcefulness in order to pay off his debt, etc. etc. Like with all shows of this type, no one cares about these details, it just needs an excuse to hold such a wacky situation together.
Nyoron Churuya-san ep3
So I kind of figured this from the start but this episode really drove home how the show is all about Churuya-san getting the shaft. It almost makes me feel bad to laugh at it, since she's so cute (OMG I want one too!) and seemingly ever-cheerful, but I can't help it. Not that I'll love it any less if it turns into one of those guilty pleasure sort of things.
Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya ep3
Now this is what I'm talking about. Konata Haruhi-chan really picked up with this episode and made me laugh a lot. The back-and-forth bantering between Haruhi and Kyon was always the funniest part of the main series for me and I'm glad to finally see more of that in Haruhi-chan. Though, of course, it wouldn't be complete without poor, abused Mikuru, and Yuki being... Well, being Yuki.
Maria Holic ep7
Mmmmm. So much sparkliness this episode... They really went wild with the ultra-shoujo style art this episode. It seems to have a pretty direct relationship with Kanako's fantasies, come to think of it. But anyway, we got to see Yuzuru's jealous side in this episode but she still made me go all d'awww. She's like Miyuki from Lucky Star; no matter what she does, you can't help but like her. Also, Kanako's moment of despair took me completely off guard and had me laughing so hard I had to cover my mouth to keep from waking people up in the middle of the night.
Lovely Complex ep15-16 (Anime Club, no screens)
Could it... Could it be?! Ootani is finally developing (admitting?) feelings for Risa?! Thanks to magical Maity-sensei, the drama has been renewed yet again. We've got some good episodes coming up with rather large developments, if I remember right, which should be a lot of fun. And I think Seiko and Haruka will pop up more often now, too, which is always good.
Kurenai ep3-4 (Anime Club, old screens only)
Murasaki and Shinkurou are still banging their heads together as they try to understand one another but they made some good progress in these episodes. And Murasaki is even cuter than usual when she's getting along toying with Shinkurou, so she just gets cuter and cuter throughout the series. We also got a look at Shinkurou's past, which will continue next week. As always, Yayoi is love.
Clannad ~After Story~ ep12
Wow, I was so engrossed in this episode that I barely took any screens. Shinmaru was right when he told me that Clannad was getting really good. I've gotten a little misty-eyed from the last few episodes but hearing the story of Yuusuke's past and then getting hit by Tomoya's situation with his father at the end really made me fight to keep the tears back. Once more, I was reminded why Clannad is my favorite romantic comedy/drama anime.
Maria-sama ga Miteru 4th ep6
I'm, like, nearly foaming at the mouth for more Marimite after watching this episode. I can't wait to find out more about what's going down with Touko's family situation. And I think Yumi is really close to choosing Touko as her petite soeur; Yumi seems to finally be realizing how much she cares about Touko and it seems only a matter of time. On top of that, we get to see more Nana next episode! She piqued my interest as soon as Yoshino ran into her and I'm really looking forward to seeing how she'll fit in with the rest of the girls.
