Before I get started with the animu, I want to do some quick plugging: A few months back, my sister got into one of Fox's many victims over the years, Wonderfalls. She received the series box set for Christmas; I have been watching episodes with her lately, and now I love the series. Wonderfalls is about a cynical college graduate, Jaye Tylyer, who has a crappy job and who somehow gains the power to converse with fake animals (toys, drawings on t-shirts, pictures, etc.). These animals compel Jaye to help people in a series of complex plots that often make no sense to Jaye until the end of each episode. (These guys LOVE Xanatos Gambits.)
The premise sounds silly, but the show is well-written, intelligent and hilarious. Its only season is just 13 episodes, too, so it wouldn't take too long for someone to breeze through. Check Wonderfalls out if you ever get the chance to watch it. :D
Anime discussed: 07-Ghost, Axis Powers Hetalia, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Golgo 13, Higashi no Eden, Ichigo Mashimaro, Kanon (2006), Kemono no Souja Erin, K-On!, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Natsu no Arashi, Pani Poni Dash! OVA, Sengoku Basara, Shangri-La, Shugo Chara! Doki, Souten Kouro, Valkyria Chronicles
-- 07-Ghost ep3: Hm, more of a set-up episode here. The leader at the military academy wants Teito back at all costs, and the appearance of the old man at the church should set off red lights for everyone but Teito (to pound the suspicion in further, the guy even has the same sinister, red-tinted eyes as Ayanami when he is interrogating Mikage). This episode also shows that the church dudes are pretty tough, and they are more than willing to help Teito, although I guess he has to fit in one dumb hero blunder before he's willing to accept their help. That's the way it goes!
-- Axis Powers Hetalia ep13: Haha, I love the beginning, with Italy's idea of being strict (he squeezes a cat's paw instead of patting it on the head), and I cracked up when the cat committed "mutiny" against Italy by licking his face, whereupon Italy totally freaks out. Italy, you are so goofy. England's plan for revenge after Germany kicks his ass is hilariously bizarre. When in doubt, consult the occult, I guess. And Russia is still freaking scary. Good lord.
-- Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood ep3: Another exciting episode. The beginning is fun with yet another group of people assuming Al is the Fullmetal Alchemist and leaving Ed to stew in his own annoyance. I also like Ed being half arrogant and half ironic when he comments to Rose about scientists being the closest thing to God even though they don't believe in God, since with his short retelling of the myth of Icarus and Daedalus he definitely has in mind how he and Al failed to bring their mother back from the dead. Ed knows all too well the limitations of power, which is why he tells Rose to stand up and move forward when she wonders how she can go on living without any hope of resurrecting her dead love. (The way Ed outright dismisses the existence of God is interesting to me, too, considering his ordeal after the failed human transmutation. Plus, I doubt there is a wholly scientific explanation for why human transmutation does not work. But enough of the n00b speculation, haha.) The battle between Ed/Al and Cornello is cool, as expected, and the bits of comedy peppered among the fighting got some snickers out of me. (Ed and Al skipping down the hall. xD) And, um, yay for moar Lust. Evil!Kikuko Inoue. <3 I'm definitely curious about Lust and Gluttony and why they supplied power to Cornello's fake Philosopher's Stone.
-- Golgo 13 eps 11-19: Golgo 13 is the most awesome sniper ever. That is all.
-- Higashi no Eden ep3: Some more interesting things come out into the open. First, the heavy implications that Akira did not do especially kind things as a Selecao agent before he wiped his memories (they are basically assumptions at this point, although we obviously don't know the whole story behind the NEET incident). The graffiti on the wall indicates Akira was not particularly liked down there. (Also, an interesting tidbit -- I finally looked up what "noblesse oblige" means, and it is essentially "with great power, comes great responsibility" for the noble class. It is noted that this phrase can be used derisively to describe the responsibility of the rich to care for the poor. Higashi no Eden certainly falls into the derisive camp at the moment, with Kondo using his cash to kill people and Akira buying a friggin' shopping mall.)
Second, there are more people behind the Selecao agents -- Supporters, who I suppose are the people who actually get what the agents need. Perhaps Juiz is merely a catch-all voice modulator to protect the identities of the Supporters, or maybe Juiz is the in-between for the agents and Supporters (which seems like needless bureaucracy to me, but hey lol). The Supporters, death coming to agents who spend all their allotted money and the fingerprint safeguards on the phones appear to exist to ensure the agents do not stray too far from the plan (whatever that is). These Supporters can manipulate whatever information the agents put into their phones -- Kondo says as much when he reflects on why his wife came to Kabuki-cho instead of whomever he originally texted. (Kind of sucks that Kondo is dead so quickly, btw. I expected him to be a more important antagonist.) Lastly, whatever this mission is, it is driving agents to the brink of madness and nihilism. Before he dies, Kondo says that even he fought on the side of justice when he started as a Selecao agent, but that the "game" the organization forces agents to play makes it impossible to clean up the corruption in Japan. Mindwipe!Akira seems like a decent guy, so maybe he went down a similar path. Random question: I wonder if the organization has agents worldwide, or if it works strictly with Japanese agents? Is it one branch of something much larger? I like how the series is developing so far. Things are slowly becoming clearer while also allowing more room for questions. I love thinking after each episode of this show, haha.
-- Ichigo Mashimaro eps 7-8: Miu continues to be far and away the best part of the series. I've gotten over the cuteness of the girls, for the most part, so it's mainly Miu's randomocity that's carrying me through the episodes (which is not to say I am not enjoying it). Her weird documentary is hilarious, as is the expected reaction to it. (Protip: Miu should wear a helmet at all times.) And then ninja!Miu and Miu running amok at the festival are also quite amusing. I also lol'd at Miu throwing rings on people's heads, after which they'd adopt a Golgo 13-esque facial expression. haha
-- Kanon (2006) eps 7-8: So, wow, the big reveal this week is that Makoto is actually the personification of an injured fox Yuuichi took in years ago and nursed back to health, and years later the fox simply wants to be with Yuuichi, so it traded all its memories and its life for the chance to be with Yuuichi as a human. I knew going in that Kanon would be on the mystical side, but damn, the show isn't messing around, even early, haha. I feel kind of blindsided by the story at the moment (although it is, sort of, foreshadowed, with the focus on foxes early in the series, Makoto's natural friendship with the cat, etc.), but I am sure it will develop into something emotionally worthwhile in the next couple of episodes. That girl, Mishio Amano, has become suddenly interesting to me, too -- how does she know what Makoto did to become human? What is her connection with Yuuichi?
-- Kemono no Souja Erin eps 9-10: Yay for more episodes coming out. The bad feelings from Soyon's death are still lingering in Erin's heart, but she is slowly recovering from the shock. The bee episode is cute and makes for a nice metaphor about breaking away from family to grow up in the world. Plus, Jone and his bees are awesome. (I also lol'd whenever he tricked Erin. It's like a much lighter version of what Calvin's father does in Calvin and Hobbes.) Ep10 sees the return of the two failed thieves. They are good for some lulz, and it appears as though they want to stick with Erin. Fine by me! I hope Ial makes more appearances in the future, too. That guy is badass. And, hey, Erin finally has the harp she sports in the official art! Whee! The appearance of Mr. Mysterious Mask hints that the story will move in a darker direction. w00t.
-- K-On! ep4: Haha, I like how KyoAni basically says, "Look, we know we can't avoid doing a beach episode or a hot springs episode, so let's just get them out of the way quickly, OK?" Predictably, Mio's original plan to have the light music club use this trip to get some good practice fails because Yui and Ritsu are both enormous spazzes and take about .0000001 seconds to bolt for the beach after arriving at Tsumugi's villa. But I do like how the sense of togetherness and bonding enables Yui to really grasp the guitar and become a bajillion times better. (As her make-up test results show, when Yui puts her mind to things, she is really good at them -- she is just really bad at getting her mind to settle down. xD) Cute episode overall. Not as hilarious as last week, but K-On! is cruising along at a nice pace.
-- Mobile Suit Gundam Wing eps 19-49: Yep, I definitely see what people mean when they say Gundam Wing's political twists are confusing. It is Code Geass-esque in the absurd amount of twists that the viewer is bombarded with during the final stages of the story. To Wing's credit, I am pretty sure the twists are purposefully confusing (to make a wider point about war and how malleable "good" and "bad" can be during wartime), but understanding that doesn't make it any less difficult to follow, haha. But, also similar to Geass, the series is still pretty exciting near the end as it straddles the line between being a compelling story with a ton of crazy action and being an utter trainwreck. The pilots aren't as interesting overall as they are in Gundam 00, although I did like Trowa, Heero and Wufei more as the series went on. Trowa especially benefits a lot from growing to be more than Heero Jr. lol. It pleased me to see that Zechs fulfills his potential as an awesome, important character, as well. He's not quite as cool as Graham from Gundam 00, but at least Sunrise didn't put the kibosh on his story halfway through the series. I want to heap more praise upon Takehito Koyasu, too. Even when some of the plot twists involving Zechs get a little, er, ridiculous, Koyasu brings the right amount of emotion and strength to his voice acting. I seriously think this is one of the best performances I have heard from him. Ended up liking Gundam Wing a bit more than I expected, even with its flaws, so I am happy.
-- Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz eps 1-3: Hm, it has a little more oomph with the visuals, and the fights are good, but aside from providing a bit more closure with Wufei and Trowa, I think this is completely unnecessary. The whole story just rubbed me the wrong way from the start, and the way it ends is kind of meh and typical. I didn't feel it at all.
-- Natsu no Arashi! ep2: After being thrown into the thick of things with the first episode, the second episode rewinds to the very beginning of the series, when Arashi is just starting out at the Ark Cafe and Hajime rolls into town for the summer. Similar to the first episode, though, I kind of enjoyed it but wasn't really as drawn to it as I've come to expect from a SHAFT series. (The show does ooze with style, though.) Sayaka's antics in the final third of the episode pick things up -- her hustling Hajime out of his clothing and her mo-ped race against Murata are funny. Overall, however, I'm not especially feeling Natsu no Arashi! It's still on the bubble for me. I think one or two more episodes will be enough to see whether it's worth keeping.
-- Pani Poni Dash! OVA ep1: Did I really see a Heat reference? Hahaha. Wow, that is so out of nowhere that I cracked immediately upon seeing friggin' Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro. SUCH a weird joke, haha. Anyway, this OVA would be a solid episode if it were included in the original series. Basically, a bunch of the students fail at life a test and are forced into playing a game of kick the can (which seems more like capture the flag in this, but I digress), or else they will be forced to re-take that test. Becky is great in this OVA; I love her cocky laugh each time of the students compliments her on how quickly her plan is unfolding (she is leader of a squad trying to foil the students). She has a great "rich snob" laugh. Good to see all the kids back in action. Best parts are Serizawa pulling out her ol' spy costumes and Uehara getting pissed off in the prison and scaring Becky. Ichijou scaring Becky yet again with her Vampire Hunter D-esque hand is hilarious, too. Pretty much any time someone scares Becky is comedy gold, really.
-- Sengoku Basara ep3: I guess this is a breather episode of sorts after the villains come in and pretty much announce, "WE'RE GONNA RUN SHIT" in the last episode. Main stuff is the new guy, Keiji Maeda, trying to round up people so that Oda and his cronies won't totally beat the crap out of everyone and everything. He tries to recruit Masamune, but ol' Date isn't having any of that and challenges Maeda to a solid battle. Then, after a talk with his bud, Masamune decides to go out anyway. Yay! Also Takeda hits Sanada. Hard. Ow.
-- Shangri-La ep3: Decent enough episode, with poor Miiko getting into a sticky situation at Atlas and becoming one of that crazy, bratty princess' maidens. (Job security: Low.) Kuniko decides she wants to see Atlas as well, because she has a dream regarding her past there, and she wants to better understand what makes the place worth living in. And, uh, what she finds is a bunch of soldiers want to kill her and her buddies, and that there's plenty of room for everyone to live, but it's not filled up because the people who run the place are douches. That is pretty much all there is to the episode. Not bad but not particularly memorable either.
-- Shugo Chara! Doki ep27: Poor Amu and Tadase. Amu learned last week that she needs to be more open and honest with people, and not be secretive just because she thinks she will hurt people's feelings, but I suppose she needed that lesson pounded into her head just a bit more, haha. But with some inadvertent help from Lulu (who is hilarious in this episode), and of course some help from her friends, Amu seems to be on the right track now. (When in doubt, twins are always the answer, amirite?) Kiseki makes sure Tadase learns that lesson, as well, so he and Amu should be on their way to reconciling in the next episode ... or WILL THEY? Amu fighting with Ikuto would appear to hint that these problems will not wrap up in such a tidy way. Also, lol @ Ran and Miki fawning over Kukai's hot older brothers in the episode preview.
-- Souten Kouro ep1: Damn, I've been waiting a few weeks for a group to begin subbing this lol. First episode is solid -- maybe a bit more violent than I expected, haha. The violence is not quite as ridiculous as in Sengoku Basara, but it's a lot bloodier. It's like an ancient Chinese Kill Bill in terms of violence, haha. Basically, this episode establishes that Cao Cao is not a man to fuck with, and if you do fuck with him, he will wreak unholy vengeance upon you. I'm down with that.
-- Valkyria Chronicles ep3: Now we get to see everyone in action, yay. Welkin does well in his first battle as a leader, pwning some Imperial fools with his tactical skillz. Pretty ballsy move on his part to use the Edelweiss underwater, even though he wasn't entirely sure that the waterproof patches he and Isara installed would keep the water from the river from flooding the tank. Now Welkin has those doubting Thomases on his side, although you can't say the same for poor Isara. I'm guessing there's something relatively serious behind Brigitte's hatred of the Darcsens beyond "lawl they sux". (Also, holy crap, Houko Kuwashima is Isara. I didn't even notice until I looked it up. *fail*) Welkin's buddy, Falkio, seems interesting, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of him in the next episode.
