chikorita157

Part 3 of the Taste Test: Amagami SS Episode 3 and the Love/Hate Fest

July 18, 2010 by Chikorita157 12 Comments

amagami-ep3-scr1 — Just don't ask what I'm watching...

Something tells me that Amagami SS looks like a generic harem with ideal archetypes. On the other hand, after I watched this episode, I enjoyed it. Is this the “guilty pleasure” anime I was watching? It sure is since Amagami doesn’t have the greatest character development. It has the over the top situations where the male lead and/or the girl do silly things that make the show sound so funny and enjoyable. Even some people can’t admit that they enjoy the absurdity of the actions in Amagami. However, that is okay since it’s a guilty pleasure after all? Right?

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Category: Amagami SSTag: AIC, comedy, opinion, romance

K-ON!! Second Season – Episode 13 – Azusa and the Summer Memories

July 16, 2010 by Chikorita157 2 Comments

What most people do during Summer Break? Stare at the wall or computer!

I spent most of my summer having my eyes glued to the computer with some exceptions. Now, I am on vacation in Wisconsin/Minnesota and I felt refreshed since staying at home all summer was boring and I wasn’t doing much except sitting at the desk doing programing work, blogging and chatting with other bloggers.

Azusa suffers the same fate with Yui, Mio and Ritsu having a study session in the library and Mugi vacationing Finland. Azusa spends time with Ui and Jun to get away from the summer boredom.

The dream flashback is rather strange, but silly.

Throughout the whole episode, Azusa falls asleep. In the dream sequences, we get a flash back of memories for all the four girls on what happened during the summer. They range from silly to completely funny. The flashback includes Yui eating the wrong combinations of food, Mio watching scary movies, Mugi trying to win a prize with Azusa winning a trip to Finland and Ritsu pushing Azusa down with a bowl of Yakisoba on top of her head. I couldn’t help but laugh since they did silly things.

I'm surprised they had such a movie within an anime like K-ON!… Also, the doggy was so cute!

Of course, those dream sequences that we are shown have some consequences… For instance, Azusa forget what she was doing or misses an entire movie… It happens when you are tired during the day and decide to take a nap while you were doing something like listening to a lecture. It’s not a good sign…

They had a fun time without the whole crew…

Most people think that summer is long… In reality, it’s not. Sitting in the house in front of the computer is no way to spend the whole vacation. If you want an enjoyable summer, you need to go on one vacation at least and enjoy what it has to offer. I’m doing so right now and It’s a breath of fresh air. Even though there isn’t much things to do in Wisconsin, I enjoyed some of the sightseeing in the state. I don’t regret it.

Besides the flashbacks Azusa had while she was sleeping, this episode was rather enjoyable. However, it wasn’t as enjoyable as the last episode. Its pretty much the trend where we have one episode being very enjoyable and the next… well a mixed bag. It’s not a bad thing, but I wished that the enjoyability factor was a bit more consistent. At least they aren’t repeating content like they did in the last season.

Next Episode: Time to study for those exams?

Rating

8.6/10

Category: K-ON!Tag: comedy, kyoani, moe, summer

ef – a tale of memories – Episode 1 – First Impressions

July 16, 2010 by Chikorita157 1 Comment

The typical introduction, boy meets girl… girl meets boy…

I don’t care about minori scolding me for watching their materials since they don’t want to show outside Japan. I’m going to watch it since it was just collecting dust. Last year, I was going to start ef ~ a tale of memories, but I never did since I got sidetracked with other shows. Since I’m not watching much this summer, I will do it now.

Unlike the previous visual novel adaptations, ef has two male leads instead of one. This is because the original source material, ef: a Fairy Tale of Two had two separate stories. The first story consists of Hiro Hirono, Miyako Miyamura, Kyosuke Tsutsumi, Kei Shindo, and Yuko Amamiya. The second consists of Renji Aso, Chihiro Shindo, Shuichi Kuze, Mizuki Hayama, and Yu Himura. The way they adapted the story is pretty organized since they show the first story first and then the second. Combining both stores would make a big mess and it wouldn’t be enjoyable that way.

The first part of the first episode involves with the first male lead, Hiro on Christmas Eve. On his way home to the Christmas Party, some girl took his bike to try and get the purse back from the snatcher. Later, Hiro finds her unconscious on the street with his bike completely broken. The girl gains consciousness and she reveals herself as Miyako. She gives up on getting the purse back and then drags him to someplace. The second par of the episodet involves with another male lead named Renji who finds a mysterious girl at an abandoned train station named Chihiro. She keeps a diary and suffers from amnesia (she only has a memory span of 13 hours). Towards the end of the episode, Renji promises to become friends with Chihiro and leaves…

The story itself is rather interesting and a bit more down to earth than some of the visual novel adaptations I seen. That said, the series is nicely animated, but there are some of the usual “SHAFT” elements like this:

Don't worry, you just got SHAFTed in the first episode!

This weirdness they have in some of these scenes simply don’t make any sense. It looked as if it was some “Mind F*ck.” Besides from that, the scenes and the characters looked rather nice and colorful.

From the first episode, the adaption of the ef visual novel looks very promising. Although not on the same level as Clannad, it’s definitely going to be pretty much the same, except that its more realistic (then again, Clannad is more realistic than the other two visual novels Key made). Because of this, I will most likely to continue on with the series since I’m interested on how the male leads will fulfill the girls’ dreams.

Not to mention, Miyako, Chihiro and the girls are rather cute!

Category: ef ~ a tale of...Tag: drama, moe, shaft

sola – Episode 7 and 8 – Aono vs Matsuri… over Yorito

July 16, 2010 by Chikorita157 Leave a Comment

Forget about Matsuri and like me instead…

After Matsuri’s disappearance caused by Aono’s promise to Matsuri, she finally gets her chance to win over Yorito and start life over again as she did in the past. However, Yorito does not like this and tries to find Matsuri…

Given Aono’s past of being forced to live forever because of Matsuri, it’s no surprise that Aono wants Yorito back. So, why not do some sleazy trick to persuade Matsuri to leave forever so she would have Yorito for herself? It’s a genius plan and she even goes on a date with him.

Aono actually looks pretty cute in that outfit…

Like in Episode 5, Aono gets a chance to go out with Yorito and make him forget about Matsuri. She goes to some places such as the plush shop and riding the rails. In a later scene, she loses her umbrella like Matsuri did in the first episode and gets really wet. Yorito tries to buy a towel, but he finds Matsuri and chases after her. Aono tries to prevent him, but couldn’t. She weeps while Yorito finds Matsuri in an abandoned building and reminded her of the promise she made. While kissing, he mindlessly stabs Matsuri and it gets into his dreams (and of course, Matsuri self-heals from that stabbing).

In this condition, Yorito really needs serious help…

How about brainwashing Yorito to make him forget about Matsuri and tell her that she is gone? This is Aono’s plan all along. We knew that she was up to no good by hiding everything away from Mana… Mana eventually gets back into the house and bring him back to his senses with a picture of Matsuri that one of her friends took and sent.

I never knew that Aono would be that malicious. She was always seen as a very quiet girl that doesn’t talk often. After I seen the actions from her, I was proven completely wrong. Probably there is reason she wanted to get rid of Matsuri. If Aono gets rid of Matsuri successfully, she would be cured from her “Yaka” status and could stay with Yorito forever. Or maybe, she is jealous of Matsuri since Yorito spends way too much time with Matsuri and not with herself? Whatever the reason, Aono seems to be serious in achieving her goals…

From the two episodes, I have noticed that the pacing of the story sped up in a tenfold like CCY mentioned in his comparison post:

While both are pretty slow through the first episodes and only kick in about halfway, sola feels a lot faster and feels a lot more breakneck with the plot twists.

Although plot twists like shown in episodes 7 and 8 aren’t so bad, it’s definitely not the smoothest as the excitement ends suddenly at the end of the episode. It was shown with episode 8 when Aono and Matsuri started to have their battle against each other. It makes people wonder, who will win? We will have to find out in the next episode.

And this isn’t the last plot twist, there are more plot twists coming where that came from.

Verdict:

8.7/10

Category: solaTag: Diomedea, drama, jealousy

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha – Episode 3 – Magical Powers comes with Big Responsibilities

July 15, 2010 by Chikorita157 2 Comments

nanoha-ep3-scr1 — Being a magical girl is hard work... and thus drains you.

Nanoha had done a pretty good at being a magical girl since she already got 5 jewel seeds shortly after becoming one? The three Jewel Seeds since the second episode is giving me vibes of Kobato where Kobato’s bottle mysteriously filled up with konpeito within a few episodes!

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Category: Magical Girl Lyrical NanohaTag: drama, fanservice, mahou shoujo, moe

Two Episode Taste Test – Amagami SS

July 14, 2010 by Chikorita157 Leave a Comment

Amagami-ep2-scr1 — Huh? What are you doing here?

I lied about not trying out any of the Summer 2010 Anime. I decided to check out Amagami SS since everyone in the blogosphere was talking about it and there isn’t many things I can do in Wisconsin. From looking at it, Amagami SS was a pretty enjoyable show from the two episodes I watched so far.

This is a two episode taste test. This is the overall impressions I have for this series over the two episodes. The third episode will ultimately decide if I should continue the series or drop it.
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Category: Amagami SSTag: AIC, comedy, drama, first impressions, harem

Angel Beats! – Final Review

July 12, 2010 by Chikorita157 2 Comments

Angel Beats is a very odd Anime. It’s a anime original that was hyped not only because Key was producing it, but PA Works who worked on “True Tears” and “Canaan” was going to animate the show. What we got is the Tsundere of Anime with inconsistent storyline and out of place drama and comedy. Even though I enjoyed Angel Beats, it felt like an experiment.
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Category: Angel Beats!, ReviewsTag: final impressions, key, PA Works

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha – Episode 2 – The First Jewel Seeds

July 11, 2010 by Chikorita157 Leave a Comment

Done perfectly on the second capture!

This episode pretty much showed how Nanoha uses her newly given mage powers for the first time. Nanoha also captures Jewel seeds (two of them in this episode). Yuuno explains more to Nanoha about the Jewel seeds via the “Raging Heart” while she is at school while Yuuno is at home after the first jewel seed capture. I have to say, Nanoha did amazingly well on the first try without knowing all the magical spells/skills!

The way of how Nanoha battles seems very familiar to Card Captor Sakura where Sakura battles some kind of creature and seal them into some kind of cards. Nanoha has the same concept, except they take form in black blobs and oddly shaped seeds. The battles were very interesting to look at, but there is nothing else I can say about them. It’s a typical Magical Girl episode and it feels nostalgic. When Fate comes in, things will hopefully get a bit more interesting than just watching Nanoha capture Jewel Seeds. It just needs more conflict than what I am currently seeing right now.

Verdict

8.6/10

Category: Magical Girl Lyrical NanohaTag: mahou shoujo, moe

We will see you soon!

July 9, 2010 by Chikorita157 2 Comments

0328ab34f3905be5a753f64621eed0d9 — Ready to go…

Will be away for two weeks on vacation… so see ya until those two weeks are over. I will still be updating this blog, although the post rate might go down a little. I will be back on the full schedule once I come back.

If you want to keep track what I am doing on vacation, check my Twitter profile or my sideblog, Shiori’s Diary. I’ll try and keep up to date with my Anime watching since the hotel have free wireless internet and I can just download the fansubs on my remote computer and SSH them back to my laptop. In the meantime, I will be lurking around the interwebs on my iPhone 3GS, so stay tuned.

For now, so along. 🙂 (and this is NOT a hiatus since I never do those.)

Also, fanart used in this post is made by ななつ

Category: UncategorizedTag: update, vacation

Kaichou wa Maid-sama – Episode 14 Impressions

July 9, 2010 by Chikorita157 Leave a Comment

Did Yukimura came out of the closet?

Well, Usui was tricking the woman-hater and we all know Yukimura is a great crossdresser as proven in the last two episodes.

Episode 14 was a enjoyable episode, but not much advancement. As we all know, Kanou Soutarou of Class 1-7 hates women. He is basically a genderbent version of Misaki, except that he is more violent. With the growing population of females attending the school, he fears this the most. He tries to take down Misaki who is pushing this trend, but it fails. This makes me think that this female hater is a bad guy. He really needs serious help to get rid of his hatred of women. If he can’t, why not go to a different school or be home schooled if he can’t deal with it.

As with Aoi-chan hypnotism of believing that he is an actual girl, Usui can never get hypnotized, even by that female hater. However, everyone else can because they were tricked into believing it. The female hater goes so far and places a spell on Misaki to hate Usui. However, Misaki sadly slept 5 minutes before the spell comes in effect… The result could be funny since Misaki is pretty much a tsundere when it comes to the relationship with Usui. In reality, Misaki loves Usui, but she doesn’t want to show it.

With the concern of Misaki and Soutarou’s spell, what will truly happen to her? Will she hate Usui or not? Not to mention, open house is the next episode and we know that Soutarou will try to sabotage Misaki’s plan. It makes me wonder on how it will turn out, especially that Yukimura is crossdressing yet again. Man, Yukimura crossdressing will probably top off Aoi’s crossdressing by the rate its going.

Verdict

8.6/10

Category: Kaichou wa Maid-samaTag: comedy, JC Staff, shoujo, tsundere

Clannad – Kotomi’s Arc – Final Impressions

July 8, 2010 by Chikorita157 1 Comment

watchout — Watch out for her violin playing! Its nasty...

Since I still have a shortage of quality subs and I have watched Kotomi’s arc over again in the first season, why not finish her arc in the Visual Novel? The anime adaptation of Kotomi’s Arc is done the same way Mai’s arc was done in the Kanon (2006 remake) Anime. However, there was a few differences in the visual novel material, so I will explain them along with my overall thoughts. (Contain VN spoilers)
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Category: Clannad, ReviewsTag: drama, final impressions, key, opinion, visual novel

Clannad – Dub Impressions Episodes 1-3

July 6, 2010 by Chikorita157 Leave a Comment

evaluate — Another excuse to watch Clannad again...

This is an unbiased review on the new dub. Since I have watched the whole season back in 2009 when it was only in fansubs, why not take advantage of viewing it in English? It seems fun, right?

The dub wasn’t all that bad. I’m pretty lenient and don’t complain why it doesn’t sound like the original because it’s difficult to imitate the pitch since it’s a different language. As long it’s not 4Kids, we are fine.

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Category: ClannadTag: key, kyoani, opinion

Kimi ni Todoke – Episode 1 – First Impresions

July 6, 2010 by Chikorita157 1 Comment

kiminitodoke-ep1-scr1 — Whoa you scared the crap out of me... oh wait... What are you doing here?

In real life, the physical appearance of a person is important, especially when you are a girl. The truth is that most people prefer good looks over ugly looking people. This leaves people who are unattractive to have low self-esteem and feel a sense of loneliness.

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Category: Kimi ni TodokeTag: drama, IG Productions, shoujo, slice of life

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha – Episode 1 – First Impressions

July 4, 2010 by Chikorita157 8 Comments

nanoha-ep1-scr1 — She just woke up from a weird dream.

I haven’t watched a mahou shoujo (magical girl) series for a long time ever since Sailor Moon and Card Captor Sakura stopped airing. Just a few months ago, I stared to have some interest in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha after reading something about it somewhere… Thus, I decided to start the series.

Unlike Sailor Moon and Card Captors, Nanoha uses the typical magical girl formula plus the addition of moe (except StrikerS, which I will not be watching). The main character is no exception to the moe. The moe is pretty much on par on this series unlike the more moe filled series like K-ON! for example. I also doubt that I will see any moeblobs even though the ferret and the girls in this show are really cute.
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Category: Magical Girl Lyrical NanohaTag: comedy, first impressions, mahou shoujo, moe

Kaichou wa Maid-sama – Episode 13 – Meeting a Old Friend

July 1, 2010 by Chikorita157 Leave a Comment

maidsama-ep13-scr1 — From the looks of it, are they making some kind of movie?

Traps and Delinquents… What else can you wish for?

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Category: Kaichou wa Maid-samaTag: comedy, drama, it's a trap, JC Staff, tsundere

Working!! Final Review

June 30, 2010 by Chikorita157 6 Comments

When I watched the first few episodes of Working, it felt like it was going to be a typical slapstick comedy anime. Not to mention, the running gag of Inami punching men was getting out of hand that I complained about it. However, that pretty much changed when we got to the more interesting and entertaining parts with Souta’s sisters, Yamada who now lives at the restaurant and Souta crossdressing to save Inami from her father.

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Category: Reviews, Working!!Tag: A1 Pictures, comedy, final impressions, moe, review

Working!! – Episode 13 (END)

June 28, 2010 by Chikorita157 3 Comments

working-ep13-scr1 — I'm thinking that they done this on purpose to force Souta to crossdress...

The result? It turned out to be a very enjoyable finale…

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Category: Working!!Tag: A1 Pictures, comedy, it's a trap, moe

K-ON!! Second Season – Episode 12 – The First Summer Music Festival

June 27, 2010 by Chikorita157 1 Comment

Let’s play some games!

They decide to go to a Summer Festival before hitting the training camps… and guess what? Sawako had 6 tickets!

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Category: K-ON!Tag: comedy, kyoani, moe, music

Kaichou wa Maid-sama – Episode 12 – Sports Festival and Maids?

June 26, 2010 by Chikorita157 Leave a Comment

There is not much to say about this episode since it’s a sports festival episode. The contest is against the freshmen, seniors and the girls team.

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Category: Kaichou wa Maid-samaTag: comedy, it's a trap, JC Staff, moe, shoujo, tsundere

Hayate no Gotoku – Episode 13-14 – The Transfer Test and…

June 25, 2010 by Chikorita157 3 Comments

hayate-s1-ep13-scr1 — I never seen someone this excited over school.

In Hayate’s quest to protect Nagi, Hayate gets to go back to high school by transferring into the same school Nagi goes to.

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Category: Hayate no GotokuTag: comedy, JC Staff, moe, tsundere

Working!! – Episode 12 – Getting Ready for the First Date…

June 22, 2010 by Chikorita157 Leave a Comment

working-ep12-scr1 — Did I become unpopular?

This is a Popura centered episode even though it’s quite obvious what happens in the end. Souta still doesn’t want to crossdress to make Popura happy… Also, its pretty obvious that after she saw his tall sisters, she lost faith in him.

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Category: Working!!Tag: A1 Pictures, comedy, moe

Scanlations… and the State of the Manga Industry

June 20, 2010 by Chikorita157 1 Comment

After the Credit Crisis of 2008, the economy was taking a downward spiral of unemployment, foreclosure, loss revenue and such. Add the BP oil spill in the Gulf and it looks pretty dismal. It’s no doubt that the Manga industry is taking a big hit not only because of the recession, but the existence of scanlation sites and the lack of viable and legal alternatives.
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Category: EditorialsTag: editorial, fandom, manga, opinion, scanlation sites

K-ON!! Second Season – Episode 11 – So Hot!

June 19, 2010 by Chikorita157 Leave a Comment

k-on-s2-ep11-scr1 — So hot... Can't move...

Ah, summer, it’s that time of season where you want to be at the beach (unless your beach is polluted by BP’s oil spill, damn bastards) or at the pool. What happens if you are stuck in school? Well…

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Category: K-ON!Tag: comedy, kyoani, moe, summer, swimsuits

Working!! – Episode 10 and 11 – Love Triangles and Stuff

June 16, 2010 by Chikorita157 2 Comments

working-wp10-scr1 — Oh dear... look what we have started here!

After Souta reluctantly crossdressed as “Kotori-chan” so Inami could keep working in the restaurant, Popura, the one that Souta likes now have a desire of wanting Souta to crossdress as a girl. You know that most males do not want to crossdress… They would not even do it for love? Also, in Episode 11, it becomes so tense that Yamada thought about this love triangle between Inami, Popura and Souta.

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Category: Working!!Tag: A1 Pictures, aniplex, comedy, moe