On the Tenth Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me: Ten Long Anime

On the Tenth Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me,
Ten Long Anime,
Nine Delicious Openings & Endings,
Eight Digiboy Top Anime,
Seven Franchise Continuations,
Six Top Tier Anime,
Five Nyanpire Kitties,
Four Marvel Anime,
Three Teachers,
Two Anime Buddy Challenges,
and an Underrated Anime

I watch all the long running shows with my boyfriend. Sometimes he's really into it, other times... not so much. Here's all our thoughts on these 10 long running shows that we have been watched all year long.

Note: There might be some spoilers in our thoughts. So read at your own risk!

Naruto Shippuden

chii: Honestly I think I block a lot of Naruto stuff out. I barely can think back to much of what happened this year in it and what I can remember I hate. But well, if this happened this (spoiler alert) year that was something special. I hate you Naruto fillers!

Tamerax:  When they aren't doing stupid filler episodes, this show is full of awesome. The store is great and I really enjoy the characters (except for the rapping brother guy... he can eat a wang and choke on it to shut up).  When they ARE doing stupid filler episodes,  this show is like pulling teeth that has already been lodged into my anus (under mysterious and no doubt unpleasant reasons).  Point is, those suck....

Gintama & Sketdance

chii: KYAAAAAAAA Gintama is BACK! Sket Dance is the poor man's Gintama. It has ok characters but that's about it. It's really hit or miss with the comedy and I can't stand that it's about high school kids. My favourite character is Switch because he's pretty unique among all the others. The few crossover episodes they did with each series were priceless.

Tamerax: I enjoy these shows but Gintama is definitely better of the two because they just do more weird and wacky stuff. When they do actual main story line (serious episodes), they are awesome and serious but still keep a lot of the funny aspects. When Sket Dance does it, I just don't feel right.  Also, Sket Dance doesn't have nearly as many poo and fart jokes and let's be honest, those are the true essence of comedy.

Toriko

chii: GUTS GUTS GUTS! Now that I have that out of the way... I'll just say that I REALLY PROMISE TO START BLOGGING THIS SHOW AGAIN COME THE NEW YEAR! Embarrassingly I've only watched the first umm 2 episodes... But I can say without a doubt that it is one of my absolute favourite anime.

Tamerax: I can't say anything about this show because chii won't ever watch them.  Instead, here are some ASCII boobs:    (.)(.)

Beelzebub

chii: At first I wasn't really in love with the show. We watched the jump special and it was pretty good so we decided to give the series a try. It starts off how imo Kateikyoushi Hitman Reborn! does, kinda crappy for the first few episodes then all of a sudden it hits you with awesome and you end up looking forward to it each week. The characters grow on you and you start to actually care what happens to them. After a while it won't bother you that the kid never wears pants!

Tamerax: I liked the show and then I got bored and then I started to like it again and then trailed off...just like Reborn.  I was starting to get interested again with the "knights" story arc. For some reason, this is the one anime that makes me sit back and go, "these high school students sound like they are in there 30s".

Cardfight!! Vanguard

chii: I didn't think I would enjoy a little boys show about yet another cardfighting game... 50 episodes in and I'm still ready for more. I love the OP and ED's to the show too. Oh and the cute cat that lives at the game center is pure love.

Tamerax:  ...this makes want to play Magic again. That's about it. 

Detective Conan

chii: We got a real treat near the beginning of the year I believe involving that main plot behind the show. It was pretty darn awesome. Movie 15 came out and it was the longest to date. I really enjoyed it.

Tamerax:  TELL HER ALREADY!  @#%@#%@#$^!!!

Fairy Tail

chii: Back when this show started in 2009 I'd say we got through about 20 episodes before we stopped. It wasn't because the show sucked. It was more because I wanted the episodes to build up! I find that marathoning long shows like this to be the best way to consume them. I loose too much detail if I have to wait week by week. This drives the bf crazy because he wants the episodes every week! HAPPY is awesome and the arc that focused on him and Charle that just ended was amazing.

Tamerax: This one actually took me a bit by surprise because it took a while for it to grow on me. As the arcs progressed, I enjoyed it more and more.  I really like the characters even if there are like 3252346346 of them but unlike One Piece, most of them don't have some annoying aspect that makes me want to hate them. I also like that they don't drag out plot questions for too too long. Most questions get resolved in a few episodes or so... most of them. I like that.

Bleach

chii: urg... There is only one thing that is memorable to me from this year and that has to do with Gin. I hate how they always build up Aizen as the baddest dude of all but always shrug it away quickly when shit finally goes down. Bleach has become a show I still watch because the bf wants to. I hate Bleach fillers more than Naruto ones... At least we got a time skip to counter some filler that I'm sure the Bleach people would have loved to make us watch instead...

Tamerax:  It felt like we waited for SO long for the big battle to happen... all the training and BS filler episodes... just to have it done and over with in what boiled down to like 5-6 episodes (remember they kept starting the battle and then buggering off for some crap filler arc for a while and then come back again).  If they are gonna do anything not directly story related, do more fun episodes like the beach one from a while back. At least the arc with the personified swords had some fun moments.  Do that more.

One Piece

chii: This was an emotional roller coaster all year long. I'm so glad the crew is back together now! What a time skip that was! Ace ;__;

Tamerax: Finally back together. Despite my slagging of it above, this is one of my all time favourite shows.  Still... that Ace bit was unexpected and well... kinda crappy. Not as crappy as the filler arc that came after with them all as a kids... bleh. I think with all that emotional energy devoted to watching everyone try to save Ace... well, they could have actually done it.  uh... spoiler alert

Tuesday Tally Week 7-8 February 15-28 Finishing Up and Catching Up

I spent most of these 2 weeks catching up with my long running anime and finishing off a lot of big series I had on the go. Added in a lot of movies here and there that I had been wanting to watch for quite some time now and some not so much. *Glares at Gundam Seed*

February  15-18

Gintama episodes 172-175

Z-mind, Project Blue SOS, and maybe Twin Signal OVA's will all be featured in a Snack of the Week post so look out for those.

Puss in Boots Movies 1-3

Overall: A delightful re-watch of the first followed by the other 2. Puss in Boots are great family movies that anyone can enjoy. It helps if you like cats a lot too I suppose.

Kiddy Grade Movies 1-3

Overall: Only really worth watching if you have seen the whole series before hand. Which is exactly what I thought about the Fate/stay night movie. Although if someone just wants some action with a decent enough plot this'll be fine too unlike the Fate/stay night movie where you pretty much have to have knowledge before watching what it's all about. I think I got more out of these movies having seen the series but it did cut out a lot of blaa blaa I found so I almost enjoyed the movies more than the series.

February  19-22

Naruto shipooden episodes 189-199, Bleach episodes 301-309, One Piece episodes 480-487, and Gintama episodes 176-192. Shounen madness! All caught up finally with the big 3 and almost finished Gintama which is my favourite of the 4 easily. Naruto finally got back to some story. One Piece had some crazy shit go down after building it up for like 50 episodes or something (probably less but I can't be bothered to check at this point) Bleach had some kick ass stuff happen with Gin that was way more interesting than anything that has happened with Aizen.

Touch episodes 49-89

King of Thorn Movie

Overall: Better than I expected it to be honestly. I saw the end coming a mile away but I was interested in this world so that kept me watching. I might pick up the manga someday because I hear that people liked it more than the movie but we'll see. We all know how I am at this point with picking up manga XD I really loved how it looked. I watched it right after Welcome to the Space Show so I wasn't expecting anything just as awesome visually as that movie was but it works out nicely. Kind of made me want to play Resident Evil 2 again.

Welcome to the Space Show Movie

Overall: <3 I expected awesome and I got awesome. Rare but it happens sometimes! The visuals were out of this world gorgeous! You know that tingly feeling you get when you are just so excited about what you are seeing because it is SO gosh darn pretty? I got that. The last time I had that feeling was when I watched Gundam 00 on my big tv in the basement. So people wanting some eye candy will not be disappointed with this movie. It's a little confusing plot wise at times especially towards the end but overall it's a really nice story about kids bonding and going TO SPACE. Oh how I would have killed to be one of these kids and go on such a great adventure!

February  23

Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Spiral Labyrinth episodes 1-28

Overall: I wanted to make my 2000th anime special to me much like I did for my 1000th anime. So what better of a choice could I have made than to finally watch one of the extra stories of my favourite anime of all time Legend of the Galactic Heroes. I gotta say I enjoyed the first 14 or so episodes the most since those featured Yang. When the Reinhard episodes came around 2 of his arcs were amazing but one of them was a complete snore fest that involved dueling for the nobles. The last 2 episodes were a link to the main series that made me almost want to re-start it up again and watch it. I will re-watch it eventually but I think my hands are full with the anime I have chosen to watch this year already. So here's to another 2000 anime!

February  24-28

Gintama episodes 193-201

Overall: I'm sad that it is over but so happy that it's coming back in April. I'm rather glad that I marathoned it honestly because waiting for the awesome each week would have sucked. That's the only thing I'm not looking forward to about the next series.

Touch episodes 90-101

Overall: Who would have thought I would enjoy a baseball romance drama! I went in skeptical and came out rewarded and glad I'm not afraid to try new things even though I think they won't be good for me. Solid 8/10.

Touch Movies 1-5

Overall: Movies 1-3 were bad re-caps of the series honestly. I got a lot more out of watching the 101 episodes than those first 3 movies that sum it all up. Movies 4-5 were extra stories that were fun but still left us hanging.

Gundam Seed Movies 1-3

Overall: I kinda wish I just watched these instead of the series...

Astro fighter Sunred episode 50

Zenryoku Usagi episode 42

Here is Greenwood OVA

Overall: I said my piece here.

Wounded Man OVA

Overall: Boobs, sex, and violence.

Fairy Tail episodes 20-67

Overall: I had been meaning to catch up with this for a long time now and since I caught up with all the other shounen I decided to include this one as well. It's a lovely combination of Naruto and One Piece for me honestly. It has the character love I have for One Piece mixed with the music love I have for Naruto. Great friends helping each other out as all go on a wonderful journey to accomplish their goals. Simple but oh so good. I love Happy and Plue!

~

Episode Count: 186 +  5 Specials/OVAs +  16 Movies

Manga Count: o

Review of 2009 Anime Part 4 ~Fall~

Fall is another big group of airing anime and most are still going onto the new year, so most anime are just being judged on half of the shows total episodes for fall but sometimes that's enough. Some sequels were aired from earlier shows in the 2009 year. The only one I didn't get around to was Darker than Black: Ryuusei no Gemini. I just didn't have time in this busy year to catch up watching the season 1 of it. I will be watching it in the new year and looking forward to the OVA coming out around spring 2010 or so. I've heard magnificent things about the show so I hope I will not be disappointed.

Other than DtB the only shows I didn't watch were ones I couldn't get or well Battle Spirits: Shounen Gekiha Da... do you really blame me for not watching that? Gokyoudai Monogatari has no subs that I'm aware of but I don't think I'm missing much there. Shugo Chara Party! is another sequel that I have yet to watch as the other 2 two long magical girl series that come before it have yet to be viewed by me. It'll wait till later. Anyamaru Tantei Kiruminzuu is a show about girls that magically turn into animals because they found some strange device in the attic. Sounds cool but it's kinda weird at the same time. With only 3 episodes out though, I have dropped this series and put my energy into all the other shows for the fall season. Maybe someday I'll get back to it if anyone picks it up and finishes subbing it.

Fairy Tail is likely to be the next really long airing series. Being a Weekly Shōnen Magazine manga it's sure to go on for quite some time. It hasn't won me over yet but then again I've only seen 10 episodes out of who knows how many there will be. I do like seeing Plu again. XD wooo Rave Master hahaha. Earlier on in the year I heard that Inuyasha: The Final Act was actually going to air. So I thought what perfect time to finally watch this show that so many fans complained about never ending. It was a long 167 episodes and 4 movies to get to the finale but I'm glad I finally watched this show that is loved by so many fans out there. Lame and annoying at times sure, but there is great action and the plot is rather good.

Best Show of fall for me so far is Aoi Bungaku Series. This series is made up of six classics of Japanese literature: No Longer Human (is getting a movie which makes me happy as this story really messed with my head 5/5 alone for this one), Run, Melos! (which is a updated version as there is another older Run Melos! movie. Very interesting twist), Kokoro (very thought provoking), Hell Screen (very thought provoking as well), The Spider's Thread (strange), In the Forest, Under Cherries in Full Bloom (a weird love story) I highly suggest checking this out if you like shows that tell many stories in one. More details on the synopses here.

Worst show of fall for me I know for sure is Kampfer. There's just no way anything else that is still airing will be able to screw up as much as this show did. I seriously should have dropped this show and saved my eyes and brain the headache each week but I just didn't. (stupid goal) At least shows like this are easier to get through when they are current airing. Forget trying to marathon this crap. I'll watch Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo again gladly before I touch Kampfer.

Here’s my big list of Best to Worst shows so far of fall 2009:

1. Aoi Bungaku Series 8/10
2. Nyan Koi! 8/10
3. Natsu no Arashi! 2 8/10
4. Sora no Otoshimono 8/10
5. Fairy Tail (still airing) 8/10
6. Armed Librarians: Book of Bantorra (still airing) 8/10
7. Letter Bee TV (still airing) 8/10
8. Tentai Senshi Sunred 2 (still airing) 8/10
9. Winter Sonata (still airing) 8/10
10. Kimi ni Todoke (still airing) 8/10
11. Miracle Train ~Ooedo-sen e Youkoso~ 7/10
12. Inuyasha: The Final Act (still airing) 6/10
13. To Aru Kagaku no Railgun (still airing) 5/10
14. Shin Koihime Musou 7/10
15. Queen's Blade: Gyokuza wo Tsugumono 4/10
16. Kobato (still airing) 6/10
17. Thriller Restaurant (still airing) 6/10
18. Cheburashka Arere? (still airing) 6/10
19. Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu: Purezza 6/10
20. Kuuchuu Buranko 4/10
21. Sacred Blacksmith 5/10
22. 11eyes 5/10
23. Asura Cryin' 2 4/10
24. Yumeiro Patissiere (still airing) 5/10
25. White Album 2nd Season 4/10
26. Anyamaru Tantei Kiruminzuu (still airing) 5/10
27. Sasameki Koto 3/10
28. Kiddy Girl-and (still airing) 2/10
29. Seitokai no Ichizon 2/10
30. Kampfer 1/10

Surprise enjoyments: Nyan Koi! Put cat's in anything and I'm sure to like it. It helps that the characters were good too. For a harem/comedy being unique is a good thing. White Album 2nd Season. I hated season 1 of this anime A LOT but it really upped it's game more in season 2. It still isn't the best thing ever but for having such a shitty first season it was a surprise that it got me interested enough to care what happened at the end. (still pretty lame though)

Surprise fails: Sacred Blacksmith. The first episode was alright enough but after that it really just was a sword chick with big boobs with her other sword buddies doing some boring stuff. Kiddy Girl-and. I can't really say how much I'm disappointed with this show. I know it isn't suppose to follow the other series at all but I at least expected some awesome aspects from it. So far all we've gotten is ridiculous fan-service... It's kind of how I feel about To Aru Kagaku no Railgun but at least that show still entertains me.

Guilty pleasures: Sora no Otoshimono. Flying pantsu!!! The parody's were very hilarious, I laughed at every episode. Miracle Train. Bishies on a train that try to help women in trouble. Yeah it's silly but I watched every episode with a smile on my face. I kinda hope they make more. XD

Honorable mentions: Armed Librarians: Book of Bantorra. I went in not knowing a thing about it and expected a boring tale about books. I got something way more awesome than that. I can't wait to see what comes next. Winter Sonata. Is a hidden treasure hiding behind the oh so popular Kimi ni Todoke. It is Korean made but a romance/drama that has my interest even if it's a little slow. I wish more episodes would come out.

Fall 2009 First Impressions

I've decided to watch everything since fall tends to be the best season to see awesome stuff in the anime world so I've noticed. Here's what I've watched so far and a small blurb on my first feelings of each series. I'm slowly catching up with everything so some stuff is missing as I haven't gotten around to them yet.

11eyes (based on 1 ep)

It's ok so far. It caught my attention. A tad cliche but whatever. If it proves to go somewhere interesting it could be good.

Aoi Bungaku (based on 1 ep)

This series interests me. I still have no idea what it's about or anything like that but it looks very promising.

Asura Cryin' 2 (based on 2 eps)

Meh I didn't overly enjoy S1 and S2 is proving to be nothing special as well.

Fairy Tail (based on 1 ep)

Very fun. Will be interested to see where it will go. I like the characters a lot.

Inuyasha: The Final Act (based on 3 eps)

It's moving along a hell of a lot faster plot wise than the first series ever did. Good to see fans of the show finally getting an ending.

Kampfer (based on 3 eps)

This show is shit. I should drop it.... We'll see...

Kimi ni Todoke (based on 2 eps)

I've found a mushy school/drama/romance show that i like! shocking! About time for another one to shine through the crap.

Kobato (based on 2 eps)

Bleh I don't get it..... Although seeing the Wish bunny at the halfway point makes me smile. CLAMP is quite interesting with their character cameo's.

Kuchu Buranko/Trapeze (based on 1 ep)

WTFWTFWTFWTFWTF?!?!?! No it's not the weird art that bothers me... I'm generally all for artsy farsty shit but this show... I don't even know what the hell it's about. I just felt like they were shoving odd visuals/characters down my throat for 20 mins...

Letter Bee (based on 2 eps)

SO PRETTY!!! The plot is pretty decent too. I saw the ova to this a year or so ago and wondered when they were going to make an actual series to it. glad I didn't have to wait long.

Nyan Koi! (based on 3 eps)

Guilty pleasure anime of the season so far. It's so typical but I guess if you add cats to almost anything I'm bound to like it.

Queen's Blade: Gyokuza wo Tsugumono (based on 4 eps)

Yup living up to S1. LOL BOOBIES!

Sacred Blacksmith (based on 2 eps)

I don't even remember what this show is about right now... I remember swords and a chick... Hopefully it'll get less forgettable.

Sasameki Koto (based on 2 eps)

Yuri at a nice boring pace... Is it so hard to ask that someone actually makes an interesting yuri based anime that doesn't totally blow???

Shin Koihime Musou (based on 1 ep)

My girls are back and just as awesome!! Can't wait to continue the journey watching my favourite black haired beauty.

Sora no Otoshimono (based on 3 eps)

All I have to say is wow... I generally don't like ecchi shows... And this one doesn't do anything special that we haven't all seen a million times over but... Episode 2.... If you don't bother watching anything else in the series.... You NEED to see ep 2... FLYING PANTSU. This episode goes into the list of awsome single eps from shows for me. Second guilty pleasure of the season.

Tentai Senshi Sunred 2 (based on 1 ep)

Picked up where they left off very nicely. Interesting humor and wacky characters. I will enjoy this as time goes on as S1 made me laugh quite a lot.

To Aru Kagaku no Railgun (based on 2 eps)

Meh I know it's an extra story revolving around one of the other characters but it isn't grabbing me and kinda sucks compaired to S1.

Yumeiro Patissiere (based on 2 eps)

I'm still on the fence with this one... It's too girly for me... But it's about food... I love food...

Miracle Train ~Ooedo-sen e Youkoso~ (based on 3 eps)

Men ride a train. Magical hot bishies and help women who need help. LOL