Forgive the all caps title. >>; (Also, forgive me, because this post is a mortal lock to move into tl;dr territory. Don't say I didn't warn you.)
Anyway, friendly reminder that Anime Club is tonight, starting at 10 p.m. Eastern Time (7 p.m. Pacific), with the chat room opening a half hour before that. We'll be watching eps 1-3 of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, so if you love comedy, you will love what is in store tonight. :)
This season has been the most active for me in terms of the sheer volume of shows I am watching. I've been jotting down thoughts in the fall season thread at OB, but I want to offer some thoughts for those who might be interested in some shows and who don't go to OB all that often:
Definitely keeping:
-- Clannad ~After Story~: First of all, it is Clannad, so of course I am going to watch the second season. How could I not after the awesomeness of the first? The first two episodes have definitely not disappointed, however. They have focused more on comedy than the overall plot -- although it appears as though what started in the second ep is going to springboard into some heavy things in the next episode -- but the comedy has been fantastic. Sunohara, against all odds, has somehow become even funnier. Don't ask me how this was possible. I also like how the show is subtly showing Tomoya's increased maturity. The ending of the first ep is a big step forward for him, and his reaction to how Sunohara's hunt for a fake girlfriend is unfolding shows me he is becoming increasingly uneasy, just like Nagisa. He is starting to see that tweaking Sunohara -- hilarious as it is -- can also be cruel, and can have bad results for other people.
-- Toradora!: Two shows have made very surprising decisions so far this season; one show's choice saved it from an early death for me (at least for one more episode), while the story choice Toradora! made has me more excited than ever about where the show is going. On the outside this appears to be an average series -- misunderstood guy and tsundere girl team up to help each other land their respective crushes but develop an "unexpected" bond along the way. Hilarity ensues. However, what sets Toradora! apart is how subtly the friendship between Taiga and Ryuji has developed. There have been no huge events that shout "THESE TWO ARE FALLING IN LOVE" -- they have just grown closer because of the nature of their personalities. Also, the interesting choice I spoke of earlier is Taiga confessing to her crush in the second episode of the series. That sent a lot of manga fans into a hissy fit, but it is actually intriguing because there are so many directions the series can go in from here. I am confident Tordadora! will develop into something wonderful instead of devaluing the risky decision J.C. Staff made.
-- Shikabane Hime: Aka: Mostly because I needs my frivolous, crazy action. Gainax was a big draw, but after reading the premise, I was careful not to set my expectations to ridiculous levels. The first ep gave me exactly what I expected -- good action, nice gunplay and a few laughs here and there. Sometimes you don't need more than that.
Series I am on the fence about:
-- Hyakko: This is a much stronger on the fence than the other series included with it. The first episode is solid, has some damn funny moments and got me to like all the main characters. Pretty good for something whose main story involved four girls wandering around school trying to find their way to class. I am thinking the second episode will solidify this onto my "definitely keeping" list.
-- Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka: Against my better judgment, I stuck with Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu for the duration of its run in the hopes that it would get better. Unfortunately, that did not happen. The same warnings are flashing everywhere with this series. It has an enormously stacked cast (Aya Hirano + Rie Kugimiya + Marina Inoue + Ryou Hirohashi + Rie Tanaka all in one series?????????????), but the first episode is so average. It has a couple of laughs, and the series could develop into something funny, but I don't know if I want to take the chance again. Maybe the second episode will surprise me.
-- Ga-Rei -Zero-: The season's other surprising story choice (that I have seen, anyway) came from this series. Unfortunately, it came at the end of an episode I absolutely despised. It is laughably grim and serious (without pulling it off well), the monsters -- especially the ghostlike creatures -- made me snort and the characters are pretty boring. The only part I liked was the awesome Bike Fu by Natsuki. However, any series that seemingly kills all its main characters at the end of the first episode at least deserves a second chance, I guess. If it develops in the direction I am supposing it will, though, no radar will be able to measure how quickly I drop this series.
-- Kyo no Gononi: A bit of a shame because the OVA is flat out hysterical (although probably incredibly offensive for a lot of people, haha). But the more spread out budget and tougher restrictions for what can be shown on TV have definitely affected this adaptation -- the character designs and animation are rougher, and it is noticeably tamer. (Whether that is a good or bad thing is up to the viewer to decide, I guess lol.) The two stories in the first episode paled in comparison to how the OVA handled them; however, the episode picked up with the latter two stories, which were not in the OVA. I'll keep up with the series if it goes the route of newer stories, because constant comparisons to a superior product will not help it at all.
-- Yozakura Quartet: I am mainly holding out on the strength of the premise because, what can I say, I like superheroes. The first episode is decidedly average, though. It is only 12 episodes long, apparently, so hopefully it will shift right into the main story and get exciting quickly.
I still have Chaos;Head to watch -- and I see subs have come out for it, yay! -- which, unless Dagger is steering me wrong (which would surprise me), will go straight onto my must-watch list. Good times!
Outside of the current season, I am catching up with awesome series of years past that I have missed. I recently finished Eureka Seven, which immediately became one of my all-time favorites. Thanks again to Fasteriskhead for recommending it! What I love most about that series is how positive, inspiring and life-affirming it is. During pretty much every episode after ep26 -- where Eureka flies out of the Gekko-Go in search of Renton, and then Renton rescues her, in one of the most thrilling action sequences I have ever seen -- I was ready to lay down my life for Gekkostate (ESPECIALLY after Holland grows up and protects Renton and Eureka with his life -- <3 Holland), and I was just watching the damn series, haha. Also, Captain Jurgens' awesome speech about how the military should not stand by and let Dewey Novak buttfuck the world into oblivion legitimately moved me to tears. Dear lord. Expect an OB post of tl;dr length in the near future. >>;;
Right now I am watching Black Lagoon, which I am enjoying immensely through two episodes, even though I was distracted to all hell yesterday. Right now I am figuring this will be my anime-watching schedule:
-- Black Lagoon + Second Barrage
-- Saikano
-- ef - a tale of memories + a tale of melodies (I figure a large chunk of the season will be out, at the very least, once I am finished with all this)
After that is a mystery. I still have all the suggestions from when I asked for some before, and more are always welcome.
Anywayyyyyyyyyy, this entered tl;dr territory about 20 minutes ago, so I will mercifully end things here. Now to watch Chaos;Head!
