Man, 15 weeks! My gosh, I get shocked every time I go to post this and look up at the number lol. Here's to more sets of 15~
Anime discussed: Asu no Yoichi!, Axis Powers Hetalia, Clannad ~After Story~, Code Geass R2, Hare+Guu, Hare+Guu Deluxe, Kemono no Souja Erin, Kurokami, Lovely Complex, Maria Holic, Minami-ke Okaeri, Mobile Suit Gundam 00 s1 + s2, Munto (TV), Rideback, Shugo Chara! Doki, Soul Eater, Tales of the Abyss, To Aru Majutsu no Index, Toradora!, White Album, Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
-- Asu no Yoichi! ep5: Dating is srs bizness. So serious, in fact, that Yoichi has to get some practice in before embarking on the real thing. This is a decent episode -- Yoichi's cluelessness is still funny, and it's fun to see him have a good time with Ibuki. Washizu's fantasy about Ayame becoming his sister cracked me up. He's like a poor man's delinquent version of Hosaka from Minami-ke. GET THAT MAN MORE SCREEN TIME PLZ. I hope the storyline with the people coming after Yoichi doesn't make this show too serious, though. Don't ruin a good thing, creators.
-- Axis Powers Hetalia ep3: lol, once again, Italy and Germany are awesome together. Italy's song to Germany cracked me up, and Germany's horror at constantly having to deal with Italy is great. Appears as though Japan will be the focus in the next couple of episodes now that we have moved on to World War II.
-- Clannad ~After Story~ ep17: OMG USHIO IS SO CUTE!!!!! *feels his wannabe father mode go into overdrive* Ahem. Anyway, wow, five year time skip between episodes. Those five years must have been incredibly rough for Tomoya; he has certainly regressed quite a bit. He has slipped into a machine-like routine that allows him to forget his emotions and cut himself off from all "unnecessary" interaction with people. On the outside he can still be somewhat nice and charming, but there is also a coldness to the way he acts around certain people, especially Ushio. I don't think Tomoya hates Ushio -- he certainly wouldn't spend this amount of time with her if he did -- but she is a definite reminder of the pain he wants to forget. Her distinct resemblance to Nagisa probably does not help much. I really hope spending time with Ushio helps Tomoya realize what a crappy parent he's been, though, and enables him to get out of the rut he's been in since Nagisa's death. Tomoya is too good a person to throw his life away being just another fool.
-- Code Geass R2 ep11: Some excitement in the early parts, especially with the Chinese Federation eunuchs getting owned by Lelouch, but it's kind of slow after that. What I love about all the Ashford stuff is that random things keep getting thrown in there (now a Lelouch stand-in and Gino and Anya) that serve just to make it more bizarre and insane. Looking forward to seeing the next arc in the series, especially if more light is shed on C.C.'s past and what Jeremiah and V.V. are up to.
-- Hare+Guu eps 25-26: Pretty good ending to the series, although I hoped it would be a tad funnier (the relative lack of Clive also disappointed me). The story with Hare helping Weda reunite with her mom is sweet, but I enjoy Hare+Guu more for the comedy than the story bits. The mecha!Guu stuff in the beginning of ep26 is gold though. Famicom controller ftw. I also love that she has control over everyone in the jungle, apparently. Quite the scary power for Guu to have. Anyway, definitely enjoyed the series overall -- it's very funny.
-- Hare+Guu Deluxe eps 1-2: Killer start to the show, with the insane teacher who goes from one extreme to the other in the drop of a hat. I get the feeling Hare will be flung into many a wall in this OVA. The fact that she has also fallen in and out of love with just about every guy on the show (including Hare, in a hilariously creepy moment) is also very amusing. I also enjoyed the retread of the game show from the first season -- everyone wants Weda's hand, eh?
-- Kurokami ep5: Good fight between Steiner and Kuro. Steiner and his partner are skipping off for now, but they appear to be quite important to the plot, which is good news for me. I like that their allegiance is ambiguous right now. They've portrayed themselves to be on Kuro and Keita's side, but they've also got something going on behind the scenes (and have apparently found something they're looking for). If it leads to Jouji Nakata getting to be all evil and whatnot, then I am all for it.
-- Lovely Complex eps 11-12: Ootani is still wavering because the idea of being in a real relationship with Risa is still quite bizarre to him, but his actions indicate that he is slowly warming to the idea. A part of me is with everyone in being like, "Ootani, you dumbass, just love her!!" Another part of me understands that he just cannot jump into it without being completely sure, though. His friendship with Risa is just too important, I think. But he'll come around eventually. Risa just needs to chip away at him a bit longer, and he'll be good to go!
-- Maria Holic ep5: This is the funniest episode yet. Kanako's ridiculous plans to secure Kiri's friendship are hysterical ("Marry me!"). She's so fantastically desperate for attention lol. God's list of items people can't bring into dorms is also great. We now know that God approves of the Virtual Boy due to its tragic past. The tentacle monster, though, is just weird and creepy.
-- Marimite 4th ep5: Things are getting a bit more interesting between Yumi and Kashiwagi. She admits to being jealous of Kashiwagi's closeness to Sachiko, but it appears as though she has misinterpreted Kashiwagi's feelings for Sachiko, even though he is to marry her (either that or he is being deliberately coy with Yumi, which I don't think he is). Kashiwagi likes Sachiko, and he knows Sachiko has fun with Yumi, so he is trying to give Yumi more confidence in his own way. Mainly this is one of those episodes that serves to develop the relationship between Yumi and Sachiko, and that is always fun. I like seeing those two have a good time together. Also, I totally thought Yumi was Nana based on the episode preview in ep4. Different hairstyle is different.
-- Minami-ke Okaeri ep5: I like the water theme in this episode. Makoto's appearance in the beginning had me psyched for some Mako-chan hilarity, but unfortunately (s)he made just a short appearance in the final skit with little fanfare. Oh well. Chiaki's bizarre plan to become more like water is amusing, as is Kana being her normally thick-headed self and not realizing that her friends want to invite Fujioka and his pals to the pool. The funniest part, though, is the game of tag at the end, where Fujioka is uncomfortable tagging girls, and then of course tags Touma Minami in, er, not so comfortable places. Dramatic irony ftw.
-- Mobile Suit Gundam 00 ep25: 'Gome hit the nail on the head earlier this week, but seriously, SciFi scrunching a season two teaser off to the side is incredibly dumb. WTF were they thinking?? Still enjoyed the final episode -- Alejandro being continually bitch slapped by Setsuna is great, as is Ribbons doing the only good thing he's done since the start by stabbing Alejandro in the back -- although my beloved Graham vs. Setsuna scene isn't quite as awesome in English as Japanese (but, really, it'd be difficult to match Yuichi Nakamura going against Mamoru Miyano, so hey). Overall, I enjoyed the dub. I prefer the original version, but the dub is not bad at all. I'll probably buy the boxset when it comes out.
-- Mobile Suit Gundam 00 s2 eps 12-18: I was afraid the series would be slowing down a bit, but this set of episodes assuaged those fears nicely with tons of action and plot movement (although the bits with the destruction of multiple Memento Moris is too repetitive for me). The biggest event in these episodes is the death of Col. Smirnov. I'm sad that it happened, although I suppose it isn't too surprising in retrospect. Because of that, we have the return of Soma Pieres (Marie, we hardly knew ye), and Andrei has become a bigger douche than ever before. Also, Saji has finally grown a pair and decided to fight for Louise no matter what -- I still hate Saji, but I like Louise a lot now, so I hope she ends up reasonably happy in the end. She has weathered too much pain, seriously. The Anew/Lockon pairing is fun, too. (I am hoping beyond hope that Anew is unaware that she is essentially the Innovator version of the Bat Signal. Lockon is putting two and two together, though, at the very least.) Lastly, it amuses the hell out of me that Ribbons is surrounded by so many backstabbers. Who knows what Regenne is planning, but as long as he is sticking it to Ribbons, then I am all for it. The little prick probably has other aces up his sleeve, though.
-- Shugo Chara! Doki ep17: Hilarious episode is hilarious. Saaya is almost always gold whenever she shows up, so I am glad she has an episode of her own. The celebrity battle between Saaya and Amu in the beginning is awesome, as is the snipping between Saaya and Lulu in the middle. Then ... it gets really epic. Saaya changing into Amu and then yoinking all her Character Transformations and attacks is beyond fantastic. What a fun episode.
-- Soul Eater eps 9-34: Ah, I wish I could keep plowing through this series, but unfortunately I have hit the fansub wall. Time to wait with Des for AllHailExcalibur to release more episodes! But, yes, I am loving Soul Eater, especially now that the story has really picked up. The first big arc is really well done -- Medusa (voiced by the wonderful Houko Kuwashima) is a damn good, creepy villain, and I love how the Maka/Crona story turns out. It really says a lot about Maka's inner strength that she sought not to defeat Crona but to empathize with him/her and reach out to Crona's heart. When she decides to use the black blood, I was like, "Are you insane???" but it turns out for the best. The current storyline is also good so far. Not sure how I feel about Arachne right now (aside from the fact that I love her voice -- Michiko Neya ftw), but Giriko is a good Ali Al-Saachez-type villain I can't wait to see destroyed. Also loving the inner struggle with Dr. Stein combating his madness. That will lead to some good stuff. Mifune is all kinds of awesome, too. I am glad his fight with Black Star early in the series wasn't his only appearance. Speaking of Black Star, I think his character progression has been interesting in the past few episodes. His drive to become stronger is incredibly obsessive; it has been hinted that he has a demon-like figure in him similar to the one in Soul (which would make sense, considering how close the two are). I'm curious to see where that goes. As is obvious from my avatar, I am also a big Excalibur fan. His episodes are too much fun. FOOLS!
-- Tales of the Abyss ep19: Epic plot twists are epic. :O It's easy to see something is up with Anise from the start of the episode, and when Mohs showed up I figured he was blackmailing Anise, but I never thought she was a spy from the very start. And then Ion dying is sad. At least he helped out a bit more before he passed on. From the episode preview, I suppose this will springboard into a larger conflict between Anise and Arietta.
-- To Aru Majutsu no Index ep18: Decent come down episode after the strangeness of the previous arc. Although, WTF @ the skin stealer/disguiser villain. Buffalo Bill, anyone?? But, yeah, more Touma/Misaka interaction is fun, and Touma kicking ass is always good. With episodes like this, though, I am becoming increasingly suspicious that there will be another season of the show. It just does not seem like To Aru is heading down the home stretch.
-- Toradora! ep19: LOL, Ryuuji looks like a Mafia hitman in his getup during this episode. Fantastic. That is a pretty kickin' suit, though. I'm sort of jealous. Anyway, this is yet another in a good set of emotional arc closers. The biggest part of this episode is that Taiga has made clear her feelings for Ryuuji -- whether this is actual love, or just an extremely close friendship that Taiga does not want to abandon, remains to be seen. However, Minorin definitely thinks Taiga loves Ryuuji, which is why she rejects him in an abstract way at the end of the episode. It's clear this is not how she feels; she could not look Ryuuji in the eyes while she rejected him. But she is willing to bear with that if it means Taiga will be happy. This is why she didn't want to go to the Christmas party, after all. Ami's behvaior is also interesting. She is frustrated with how Ryuuji is approaching his relationships with Taiga and Minorin (she basically predicted how it would turn out), but she cannot seem to take the next step in regards to her feelings for Ryuuji. There are a lot of conflicting actions with Ami: She gives Minorin a bit of a prod, but then she warns Ryuuji to re-evaluate his feelings. What I get from her right now is that she's trying to be the adult in this situation; however, she's just as afraid as anyone else of what will happen when she lets out her true feelings. Ami has worn that mask for too long to stop clinging to it, even though she's made good strides. On a lighter note, I would like to say how happy I am that Haruta and Noto have received bigger roles in the past few episodes. I love those two.
-- White Album ep6: An OK episode -- Misaki's problems don't really grab me that much, since we've seen relatively little of her compared to Yuki and Rina, although it is a bit intriguing that the girl at the train station has shown up again (not really a surprise), and that she believes Misaki is Yuki, which is probably not a good thing for Touya. Yuki's manager continues to situate herself between Touya and Yuki; her attempted kiss means she's going to continue being assertive so that Touya does not get in the way of Yuki's career. If Touya really cares for Yuki, though, he needs to be more assertive in his desire to see her. Just the sight of the manager's car is enough to put doubt into his mind and make him shrink away, apparently. Not cool, man. Not cool.
-- Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei eps 12-13: Ah, sad to see the series end. At least it finishes on a good note. The approach speed stuff in ep12 is amusing and has a great ending, with Nozomu's butting in causing the school year to begin earlier for all the students. Ep13 has two epic skits in the stray demon+everything else bit (Nozomu becoming a stray teacher is awesome) and the bit where everyone auditions to become Meru's voice. The tsundere cafe (which was the source of this week's Anime Club password) is also fun. Overall, Zoku is definitely stronger and funnier than the first season. Bring on more of Goku!
