I am finally in double digits! Should I be proud or ashamed?
(Also, don't forget to check out the harem post below this! lolololol)
Anime discussed: The Big O, Kurokami, Kyo no Gononi, Lovely Complex, Maria Holic, Minami-ke Okaeri, Mobile Suit Gundam 00, Pani Poni Dash!, Tales of the Abyss, Toradora!, White Album, Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
-- Big O eps 1-26: Solid enough series -- some good ol' mecha action every once in a while never hurt anybody. Plus, the film noir/Batman style of the show is pretty awesome. Speaking of awesome, R. Dorothy. <3 Everyone's life would be better with a sarcastic android along for the ride. I would never stop hearing it from her, but my life would be better, anyway, so WHATEVER. I liked Schwarzwald, too; I'm glad he was a recurring antagonist of sorts, because I never really got into Alex Rosewater as the main villain.
-- Kurokami ep1: A better first episode than I expected. It looks good, and the action is pretty thrilling, though it remains to be seen how long that will last. There is some decent mystery to the plot, too (doppelgangers, people being killed off by a shadowy conspiratorial group, etc.). Kurokami has some definite potential behind it; hopefully, it will pay off. The fact that it's at least somewhat interesting from the get go is promising.
-- Kyo no Gononi ep13: The show ends similar to the OVA, with an episode centered around Ryota and Chika. Ryota's misunderstanding regarding what Chika told her friends is pretty amusing (I vaguely remember the OVA going that route, too, but I am not exactly sure). The very end is sweet, too, with Ryota finally getting a win. Poor kid needed one, haha.
-- Lovely Complex eps 1-2: Man, why did I not watch this before?! First two episodes are a hilarious, frenetic bolt of energy and romantic madness. Risa and Otani are both wonderful lead characters, too -- their fighting is consistently funny, and it's almost as funny when they unknowingly end up on the same page. Their facial expressions are always fantastic, too. They have so much character behind them, haha. Overall, this impressed the hell out of me. If you haven't seen it before, you should catch the first two episodes and join us in the Anime Club tomorrow evening.
-- Maria Holic ep1: About as funny and awesome as expected. Kanako is an infinitely amusing lead; I love that she is basically Yumi from Marimite, if Yumi were one step away from being a shameless pervert. Mariya and Matsurika are great, too -- every evil, cross-dressing boy needs an emotionless maid to cater to his every whim. And, of course, it's SHAFT + Shinbo, so the series looks fantastic. Some people can't stand him, but I love that he's so out there with the visuals. I am going to enjoy the ride for the rest of the season.
-- Minami-ke Okaeri ep1: It's Minami-ke, and therefore, awesome. Kana is my favorite of the Minami girls, so I am glad she took the lead in this episode -- I've said this numerous times in various places, but I enjoyed Kana doling out advice in romance, only to be completely clueless when Fujioka ended up being her destined husband. The nurse/substitute teacher is also funny, coming to the Minami household and shamelessly flirting with Takeru. No Mako-chan (but he got a LOT of screen time in Okawari, so I won't complain much), but the episode ends with -- maybe -- the promise of more Hosaka. Yay!
-- Gundam 00 eps 13-14: I forgot how much awesome stuff is in ep13 -- Graham owning Setsuna, Hong Long's kung fu skillz, Lockon's l337 sniping skillz and Setsuna doing one of the first REALLY awesome things he does in the series. Hooray. Ep14 is important as the debut of Kati. And what a debut! Patrick will be feeling that for days. <3
-- Pani Poni Dash! eps 1-13: I got another dose of Shinbo with this series. So far I am enjoying it greatly -- I love that Rebecca is so adult (not mature; adult lol) and so childish at the same time. I get the feeling this is what Chiaki Minami would be like if she became a teacher right at this moment. The various kids Rebecca teaches are funny, too. Some of them I liked right away (Rei, Miyako, Kurumi) and others took me a few episodes to warm up to (Ichijou and Himeko, most notably). Mesousa (the rabbit) makes me laugh the most, though. Maybe it's the sadist in me, but he is so downtrodden and depressing, and it cracks me up all the time. Of the human characters, I actually think Serizawa is the funniest. Her method acting is hysterical (especially when she dresses as a robot). Two other things worth mentioning: 1) Tomokazu Sugita as an alien (he is popping up in everything I watch now, and I wholeheartedly encourage it) and 2) Hiroshi Kamiya plays two roles -- one is normal for him (a sarcastic student) and the other (a frightening cat god of sorts) is the weirdest voice I have ever heard from him. I still cannot believe he is doing it.
-- Tales of the Abyss eps 1-5: lololol. I'm liking it so far; it looks really good, especially the crazy magic (the sooner Jade gets his magic back, the better). Random thoughts: Luke is OK -- not as bad as I expected, but not really that good, either. My pops is pretty awesome. Tear + cheagles = lulz. Guy + fear of women also = lulz. Anise is full of lulzy awesomeness, too. As much as I want to like him, Van makes every red flag go off in my head whenever he is onscreen. Don't know what it is, exactly, but I cannot completely trust the guy. Lastly, Dist is a long lost member of Team Rocket. I am convinced of this.
-- Toradora! ep14: OMG, I love this show so much! <3 It definitely slows things down slightly after the fantastic thirteenth episode, but this episode does a lot of things very well, so it doesn't matter at all. There's great comedy (the Legend of the Happy Palmtop Tiger xD) and great advancement with several relationships that will set the course for the rest of the season (Taiga/Kitamura, Taiga/Ryuuji, Ryuuji/Minorin, Ryuuji/Ami). And it's all done so seamlessly, too! Jeez, even with set-up episodes this series does not fail to impress me. I have high hopes for the final 11 episodes, and I do not doubt Toradora's capacity to make them memorable.
-- White Album ep1: Good first episode. It doesn't do much other than introduce the characters and hint about the situations/relationships, but that is not such a bad thing. This show could become really interesting, I think. Plus, in all likelihood, Aya Hirano and Nana Mizuki will sing every week, and everyone comes out a winner there. Seriously, this series has some great music behind it -- I enjoy both the OP and ED, and the in-show music is pretty good, too.
-- Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei eps 1-2: Zoku wastes no time in setting the crack level to 11 by destroying any sense of continuity and giving Nozomu one of the more bizarre backstories I have ever seen. I went "WTF?" when I first saw it long ago, and I went "WTF?" last Saturday, haha. Forgot how creepy Kafuka is in the latter half of ep1, yeesh.
