Yeah, I'm starting this over again. =p
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House of Five Leaves ep1: So I found out about this anime from looking at the Spring Preview over at ANN and thought the plot seemed interesting enough to give it a shot.
The basic story goes like this: Akitsu, a ronin, is something of a hapless guy who has a very demure and softhearted personality, and for that reason, is unable to hold a job as a bodyguard. Yaichi is a slightly shady guy who turns out to be a professional kidnapper and is looking for a putz to back him up when he goes to browbeat a “client” into giving him his ransom money. Put them together and you have House of Five Leaves (which happens to be the name of Yaichi's kidnapping organization, btw). Oh, and while Akitsu may not have the boldest personality in the world, he's basically Kenshin. I'm not kidding.
From what I've seen so far, it looks like a pretty solid series. The first episode wasn't too all over the place and did a good job of setting the foundation of what the series is supposed to be about and explained the backstory well. It seems that the biggest gripe people have with the series is the character designs (which are quite atypical), but I find them to be intriguing and reminiscent of the designs from Mushi-shi. The characters might not all be bishies and whatnot that are running around, but they're appealing in their own way (I think Yaichi is pretty hot, myself). All in all, I'd definitely recommend this to period fans that want something far and away from a series like Hakuouki.
Angel Beats! Eps. 1, 2 and 3 Angel Beats! is something like World of Warcraft meets school-based romcom meets fighting game. In a good way, if you can believe it.
The story basically starts when we meet Otonashi, who wakes up in a strange place with no memories. He's promptly greeted by the sight of a girl taking aim at another girl with a sniper rifle, who asks him if he's willing to join her battalion. Turns out all the people in this world are already dead and participate in something like a giant high school simulator where a girl named Angel “controls” everything and can make you disappear if you go along with her plans for you. Yeah.
Odd opening aside, from what I'm gathering, this is all about people that are fighting their fate in their own way. Otonashi and Yuri sent off an immediate Haruhi-Kyon vibe just in the first five minutes of their meeting, but it's sort of mellowed out from feeling like a full-fledged clone of the relationship. The art style is kinda iffy on some of the character designs, but Aniplex is handling the actual animation and seeing the Girls Dead Monster concert in the third episode just made me squee a little. AB! also is sporting my favorite character in the from of TK, with his random English and beatboxing ways. He also has a bandana. :D
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood ep52: Okay, now for a series that everyone's actually familiar with.
So, Al's got hold of Kimblee's old Philosopher's Stone (which I wouldn't touch with a 39 ½-foot pole because it's been in his mouth for so damn long) and proceeds to become the Terminator. Turbo Timmy (which I have dubbed Pride) is, of course, being haxx as usual with Kimblee helping him and they seem to gain the upper hand (again), when all of a sudden, Mufa—I mean, Heinkel jumps back into it because that BAMF Marco came in and healed him with all the dust floating around. Then Yoki comes in and actually gets a BAMF moment of his own (and he lets you know it, too). Then it's a mad dash back to Central while Turbo Timmy muwahahas after them.
Meanwhile, back in Central proper, we get treated to Ed and the others having moar zambie-killin' time with a random OP in the background. Seriously, what the hell was that about? Not only was it completely unfitting for the scene, the OP for the home stretch of the series is just a bit weird for the whole series itself. Oh, well. Everyone's getting overrun when Scar tells them to go for the legs and everyone suddenly gains an eighth wind and go back at it.
Upstairs, the Armstrongs are being made of awesome as usual while taking on Sloth. Alex manages to stop Sloth for a few minutes by putting a friggin' pillar through his head, just in time for the dumbass Amestrian army to come in and try to arrest Olivier again. Of course, Olivier being badass as she is, she basically says “I dare you, I DOUBLE dare you, mother[wha?]!!” and proceeds to tell them how dumb they are by pointing out if they arrest/kill her, they'll be completely screwed when Sloth regens. And then he does and they go “Shit.”
Back downstairs, Ed & Co. are getting tired when all of a sudden, here comes Mustang busting in, ready to blow shit up and make no apologies about it.
And according to the preview, that's what the next episode is all about. ...squee. :D
I'm currently working on getting caught up on Durarara! also. :3
And that's it. Overall, an interesting week. I'm looking forward to what's coming up.
