First Impressions of Spring Anime Batch 5

I was going to do 2 more posts for impressions but I decided to put them all together in one post. If you like to read what I thought about the other current airing anime this spring you can go HERE and follow the other links to get to everything. All Impressions are based on the first 2 episodes of the series.

Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei AKA The Tatami Galaxy

We follow Watashi as he remembers all the odd interesting times he had while he was in school. His goal was to find love and make lots and lots of friends. Each episode is a new adventure with 3 characters that are intertwined somehow by fate. I haven't quite grasped exactly what is going on with that yet but I'm interested to find out.

 

Aside from the super fast talking this anime is pretty interesting. It has unique animation that makes me think of Kuuchuu Buranko but I like this one a whole lot more because the theme is more suited to what I'm interested in. The OP and ED are nice and interesting. They complement the animation that goes with them very well. I'll look forward to more short adventures with Watashi as the series goes on.

Senkou no Night Raid

We're in China! Some people are sent in from Japan to carry out missions. It started off a little slow but once the girl started talking to her partners telepathicly my interest jumped in a whole lot more. Her partners have super powers of their own which is also quite interesting. So far it's just been mission after mission with some twists and turns in it along with a little bit of background. The characters I find are quite colourful and it gives off a Baccano! feel which is ok by me.

Animation is nice and clean. The images I find to be very pretty. I like the old feel it gives off for the time period as well. Then again 1919 is easy enough to pull off time period wise. Old cars and classy hats. The OP and ED for each episode are the same and with each different episode a different song is played. At least that's what it is like so far. (I sneaked and watched episode 3 and it is different so my theory is correct so far)

Rainbow: Nisha Rokubou no Shichinin

WOW! The very first episode wasn't anything amazing but it was amazing. Everything about it just clicked in a smooth way. It was subtle but very powerful telling what was going on. We meet 6 boys who are sent to prison. They are greeted with a strange doctor that pretends to be their "friend" but violates them in his sickly perverted own way. I don't like how they make the prison keeper look like a Nazi SS office. Like seriously, is that REALLY needed >.< Or maybe it's just the way I see him... Then again it is set right after WW2. They get tossed into a cell where we meet the last boy. He's a tough badass with a sharp tongue. After a fight between the boys they quickly learn that in there, they are the only ones that they can trust. They bond over a cigarette.

 

The OP I find to be too harsh at the beginning but once the metal screaming stops it settles into a fitting sound for the series. The ED is much better at giving off a feeling that the series brings. I love the animation. The stop and talk pictures I have always enjoyed. Simoun was another anime that did this very well and had a positive effect on me.

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Anime that have a Season 2 airing! Really short little blurbs about these ones because hey, why not?

Hetalia: World Series - It's Hetalia! I love it. Slower than it's other seasons at the moment but It'll get there. I can't wait for the movie coming out in about another month.

Shin Koihime Musou: Otome Tairan - Clearly only watching this because I have seen every other series attached to it. (actually not true I actually an enjoying it XD) Of course I NEED my romance of the three kingdoms fix as well. No matter how bazaar it is. XD So far it's matched up fine with all the other series it is related to.

Ookiku Furikabutte: Natsu no Taikai-hen - I found season 1 to be a little more interesting. I find it's moving really slow and that I don't care as much what happens. Still enjoyable though. Surprising since I don't like baseball anime too much but Ookiku Furikabutte is just somehow unique with it's characters that it keeps me entertained.

K-On!! - Really... Not going to bother with saying how much I find it boring. Oops just did.

Not watching Major... seriously one baseball anime is enough for me and catching up with 5 seasons while I *could* do it if I wanted to... I really don't want to. Ikkitousen I'm highly interested in but I haven't seen all the other seasons yet and probably won't get around to them in quite some time.

Just thought that I'd mention that I've officially dropped Kiss x Sis. Episode 3 was too much for me. I'll never understand why people like to see drooling like that in their anime. Hell I've seen hentai that does this kind of plot better. Less drool.

Working!! and SD Gundam Sangokuden Brave Battle Warriors are the winners for episodic blogging for me this season! I know I'm behind but I'll catch up in no time

Ohhh yeah! Spring!

I'm not the only one posting spring line up thoughts late so that makes me happy. With the help of awesome charts from Chartfag and from an Anime Countdown site to help me schedule my anime, I've looked around a lot to see who has been saying what and what I'm interested in seeing myself. Unlike last season this one has a lot more to choose from so the chances of finding a lot of awesome always go up along with finding the terrible. Chu-Bra holds my title for worst show of the year so far, although Kiss X Sis could upset Chu-Bra from this title.  Scamp has created a very nice preview as well which was very fun to read and gives a lot of extra little background information to each anime.

* means I'm looking forward to it. Onward!

Angel Beats Everyone is looking forward to this one... I'm skeptical. I have a strong feeling I'm not going to like this because it's made by the same people that made Kanon and Clannad... But this one does have a different formula than their usual dish. Action. Don't screw it up for me studio Key.

* Arakawa Under the Bridge I think this would be the one I'm looking forward to the most aside from the several ROTK anime. Girl meets boy, they have to live under a bridge because that's where she lives. lol ok.

* Battle Brave Warriors (SD Gundam Sangokuden (ROTK) It's going to be fun seeing ROTK characters played out in mecha form

* Betrayal (Uragiri wa Boku no Namae wo Shitte Iru) Ang­sty bish­ies with yaoi tones. Could be good, probably will be average or even below average.

B-Type H-Group Looks like a trashy smut manga. Could be entertaining in a groan kind of way as most smut is.

Giant Killing Football (soccer) anime. I'll give it a whirl. Never watched an anime based on this sport before oddly enough.

Hakuouki: Shinsengumi Kitan Anime based off a game hardly ever do it for me. But since I haven't played the game it could be ok as I have no expectations for it that way.

Heroman I think it's going to flop... I'll be very VERY surprised if I like it.

* Hetalia 3 already started and I'm already very much a fan.

Ichiban Ushiro no Dai Maou More magical academy anime but this has lots and lots of fanservice. Gonna be another boring harem trying to be unique.

Kaichou wa Maid-sama Ladies vs Butlers without the fanservice. (At least not to that extent) Definitely looks like it's more aimed at girls than boys this time around. Gives off an Ouran feel to it for me.

Kiss X Sis Inces­t is fun but not when it's done like this. The ova was... Special...

K-On! Season 2 I watched S1 with a friend and that same friend wishes me to watch it with him again. I'll do it for him as I really have no interest in watching a S2 of girls playing instruments in school. Image above done by ~shaoron.

Mayoi Neko Overun Nyaa! Loli cat in a box. Oh boy. I love cats and all but I don't think this anime is going to get very far enjoyment wise unless something super interesting happens plot wise.

* Rainbow - Nisha Rokubo no Shichinin Dark and gloomy. It's about some boys that go through hard times but they always look towards a better place.

***** Romance Of The Three Kingdoms After almost a year of waiting the time has finally come for this remake to be aired in Japan. I loved the first one when I watched it last summer (Made it my 1000th anime watched) and thought to myself, wouldn't it be great if they remade this with today's graphics. Little more than a month later this showed up on my radar and my wish had been granted. Now I can only hope that someone will pick it up to be subbed as other really awesome ROTK anime seem to not have quite the following (Souten Kouro).

* Sarai ya Goyou (House of Five Leaves) Edo-era Japan with the sho­guns. I'm there.

* Senko no Night Raid Fighting secret wars in China, I'm game. Looks like a lot of fun with pretty animation.

* Shin Koihime Musou Otome Tairan Huzza more of my black haired beauty and her interesting friends are back for more crazy action and odd ecchi moments.

* Working! Read my PreRelease thoughts here. Basically I like it.

Yojo-han Shinwa Taikei Looks quirky so we're in for some weird animation. Plot seems to be interesting enough as well following a person reminiscing about their past.

Yutori-chan 1-4 already aired. She works for a telemarketing company. Random stories and fun occur including some close encounters with the boss, cellphones, and illness! Could be cute. I like that it's short episodes.

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That's it for everything that I will be watching/airing. Oddly there are a lot of things I'm interested in and of course a lot that I have no interest in either. There are always lots of OVA's and some movies that come out but I won't really bother talking about those. GINTAMA movie!!! Also everyone seems to be really hyped about the ova Black Rock Shooter. I personally don't care either way about it but I will watch to see exactly what all the hype is about. Here are some second seasons or beyond that I probably will not get around to. But I can hope.

Jewelpet 2nd and Marie and Gali 2 No one will probably pick these up because both their S1's were dropped.

Ookiku 2 and Major 6 Both are about baseball... ewww. But I did just get Ookiku S1 so since it's only 25 episodes and ONE season to worry about, I'll be watching it next week most likely. I hope it's good and not boring like almost all other baseball anime I have watched.

Ikkitousen If I get around to watching all the other seasons I'll pick it up. Highly unlikely. I do want to start this series someday though. I'm a sucker for Romance of the Three Kingdoms knockoffs as you all already know.

Ring ni Kakero 1 Highly will try to watch the older one(s) first. But since I haven't even done that with Cobra it's unlikely that it'll happen. Although it is 24 episodes between the 2 of them so it's likely to be watched next week along with Ookiku.

Iron Man Originally was on the line up but sadly will be delayed till Fall The live action movie Iron Man 2 will have to make do till then. Can't wait!

Bakugan... We'll see as I just finished S1 and half way through S2... Don't ask why...

Hime Chen! Otogi Chikku Idol Lilpri Uhhhg what a title. I honestly don't even know what this is about. Something to do with card games and magical girls. No thanks. Looks like Pretty Cure mixed with Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch... >.<

365 Days of Anime Characters: Day 45/365 China

Day 45/365

From the anime Hetalia: Axis Powers, China is... well China! AKA Wang Yao, he tries to act as an older brother to the other Asian nations, but fails to be treated as one. Especially by Japan. He is one of the oldest nations, therefore he is generally depicted as being immortal.

Why I like him: It's always highly entertaining to see China interact with his fellow Asian nations. Cooking being a passion of mine seeing him generally walking around with a wok cooking up meals is hilarious to me. And of course fighting with them too.

Why I hate him: It is not possible for me to hate anyone in Hetalia.

Overall: HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR 2010!

The Most Anime Birthday I’ve Ever Had

So on the 16th of January it was my birthday and I wasn't expecting anything at all to be honest. Really just expected a quiet day alone with anime and my boyfriend. We started out by watching Naruto for about 6 hours. LOL that's right Naruto on my birthday. I don't even overly enjoy the show (don't hate it either) but my boyfriend likes it a lot. I made a post about it here. I haven't been wanting to watch anymore Naruto since then either haha.

I made my character of the day post about my favourite anime character ever, Yang Wen-li. <3 (great picture from ghostlightning's blog) He's super awesome and I hope more people watch Legend of the Galactic Heroes. I actually plan on re-watching it sometime. Probably not this year though unless I manage to get through more of my other anime goals. Mononoke, Kaiba, My-Hime (plus all relations), Simoun (all enjoyed by me!) and started Naruto is all I've done so far off of that list. I'm going to start watching Nodame Cantabile very soon because of the current airing Finale. I plan on making February Macross month. So expect a lot of Macross posts in the near future.

Anywho back to the birthday. After all that Naruto and blogging I went to sleep. Woke up to someone at the door. It was a friend from Montreal that my boyfriend invited down to celebrate with us which was a super awesome surprise because he brought beer and gifts. So after bumming around for the day at home we went out to a nice Thai dinner where another friend from the area meet us. She brought a lovely bottle of wine as a gift to me that was literally dressed in jeans. Has a cute pocket and everything.

After that delicious dinner we returned home to watch some movies and open presents I went to the computer to check my e-mail and messages only to have all the lights turned off and people started singing  "Happy Birthday" and a cake entered the room. This cake right away made me laugh. I'm a weird gal so I expect weird when it comes to gifts and whatnot. This cake had what looked like a dead clown on the top made of bright icing. LOL

We moved to the kitchen to slice up that cake and start on gifts. Took some silly pictures of the slicing action as well hehe. First I opened my friend from Montreal's gift. It turned out to be a book. But not just any book. An anime book! More specifically "Manga: The Complete Guide" by Jason Thompson, published at the end of 2007 so it isn't even that much out of date. It's super awesome as well because this book will help me with my manga goal for this year to read more than just one shots. It tells all sorts of information about over 900 different series.

Then it was time to open my boyfriends gifts. He had 2 bags of stuff that I wasn't expecting. First bag had some awesome chocolate and random pocky that he actually found at the local grocery store. There was some delicious port in there as well and a hilarious CSI Miami card with Horatio Caine on it (points to the wine bottle picture) and he says something about looks (it was a talking card). Very hilarious. After giggling over the card for a while, I opened the second bag and this is where things got totally awesome.

Inside there was a green box. The same green box that comes from a local store around here. In the past I have gotten sheep (I have a sheep figurine collection) from this store in said box, so obviously I was expecting another sheep treasure to add to the sheep masses (there's more where those come from).

Boy was I wrong. Inside there were 9 little Hetalia mini figures .  I love this show to bits and was super excited. These are my first figures EVER haha. They came with flattened boxes that my boyfriend took out and showed me right away, along with one bigger box, also flattened. Sure I have anime posters, some manga, and dvd's  but I never ventured into the figure part of my anime obsession because, well, I just don't have that much money kicking around.

He then showed me another little bag that was filled with more little figures. They are all Final Fantasy characters that he said came with the deal he found wherever he got them. Now FF isn't exactly anime but having little figures of these characters is just as awesome as anime because FF is awesome. They also came with an awesome engrish message that had a little sun magnet attached to it made out of wood. Very random lol.

So now I have all these little Hetalia guys staring at me surrounding my computer screen. We put the FF characters downstairs in the studio where a lot of other strange oddities surround them. This was the most anime oriented birthday for me ever. Generally it's only me getting anime goodies for myself but I think that more and more of my friends are starting to understand my small little fandom world of anime.

After this wonderful day I managed to catch a terrible cold that knocked me out for a whole week which is why all you saw was character posts last week. I feel kinda bad about that as it is so early on in blogging journey but well... these things happen. At least I was conscious enough to do my characters. I'm feeling "better" now and back to doing what I love. Writing, chatting, and watching lots of anime.

(P.S. I know I suck at taking pictures )

Review of 2009 Anime Part 1 ~Winter~

So I made a goal at the beginning of this year to watch all anime that started airing in 2009. I made a few exceptions of course. I didn't watch series that I hadn't seen the first season to and knew I wouldn't get around to in time (Major, Ippo, Before Green Gables). Overall I think I did pretty good in watching everything I could get my hands on for 2009. Anyway on with winters aired anime reviews.

For winter everything was watched that aired but Major...5... and Hajime no Ippo: New Challenger. Kupuu!! Mamegoma! was never picked up by anyone so that wasn't watched either. I do plan on watching both of those sports anime but not quite ready yet to take up getting into a baseball (I hate baseball) or boxing anime quite yet. Kupuu I don't think will ever get picked up so that's off the list as well unless magically someone does do it. And really... who wouldn't be interested in a show about seals.... yeah me either. lol

Hetalia: Axis Powers started up and surprisingly gained a lot of popularity. It is still airing right now and shows no signs of really stopping. Hetalia takes the world's countries and turns them into people. Hilarity ensues with the interactions between the countries as they go to war, problem solve world issues together, and do lots of other funny stuff. The show does require you to know some of your history but also teaches it to you as well. Quirks of countries are portrayed quite well too right down to the stereotypical behaviour you'd expect of someone from that country.

Winter proved to be a very good season for me enjoyment wise. I only have 4 shows that I was disappointed with and 1 of those I already knew before it started that it was going to be bad because of its ova's. (Munto) I hoped it would prove me wrong but sadly it didn't. The winter season had a lot of sequels that aired. 9 to be exact which is almost half of the shows that aired. It also holds the anime that I think was the best show overall of 2009 (Kemono no Souja Erin) and the worst show of 2009 (Girl Who Leapt Through Space).

Best show of winter for me, aside from Kemono no Souja Erin because that is the winner for overall best anime of 2009, would be Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou. This was the second season to Natsume Yuujinchou that aired in 2008. I enjoyed this slow paced tale about a boy who could see spirits and inherited a book from his grandmother called the 'Book of Friends'. His grandmother could also see and talk with spirits so she made this book by putting all the names of the spirits that she defeated in it to kept control over them like that. Natsume's journey continues with his goal to release all of the spirits from the book. I loved all the stories that were told in this anime and I especially liked the cat Nyanko-sensei or Madara. I know for a lot of people that this character ruined the anime for them but I loved the humor he brought to this anime. That and I have a soft spot for cats in anime.

Worst show of winter for me, aside from the winner of worst 2009 anime overall Girl Who Leapt Through Space, would be Akikan!. I knew this anime was going to be bad from the start. Cans that turn into girls... right... And have to fight other can girls to see which model is the best... I hoped it would just be silly fun which I suppose for some people it was, but in general it made my eyes and ears bleed. Daichi the useless male lead pissed me off. None of the can girls were remotely interesting and in general everything about this anime just sucked.

Here's my big list of Best to Worst shows of winter 2009:

1. Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou 10/10
2. Hetalia: Axis Powers (still airing) 10/10
3. Minami-ke Okaeri  10/10
4. Birdy the Mighty Decode 2 9/10
5. Shikabane Hime: Kuro 7/10
6. Asu no Yoichi! 6/10
7. Chrome Shelled Regios 6/10
8. Kurokami The Animation 6/10
9. Ride Back 6/10
10. Genji Monogatari Sennenki 6/10
11. Slayers Evolution-R 6/10
12. Maria Holic 6/10
13. Viper's Creed 6/10
14. Maria-sama ga Miteru 4th 6/10
15. White Album 2/10
16. Munto TV 1/10
17. Akikan! 1/10

Surprise enjoyment: Asu no Yoichi, a harem comedy with some ecchi tossed in there. Why I liked it is beyond me. The only thing that stood out about it was that it had a samurai theme to it that I highly enjoyed.

Surprise fail: Viper's Creed, a Mecha Post-apocalyptic anime. Taking my rating aside it just didn't really do anything for me. I don't remember much about it and it didn't really have anything new to offer. It's a very forgettable series.

Honorable mentions: Maria Holic and Ride Back. Both were enjoyable series but ratings from me aside they both fell short of being super awesome.

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