I just tried a little bit, and it wasn’t that bitter…
I was tricked.
This episode primarily focuses on Koyori and Aono of course…
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Sola – Episode 4 Thoughts and Impressions
drama
sola – Episode 3 Thoughts and Impressions
It’s a secret!”
Not much happening in this episode except Yorito acting strangely, trying to hide Matsuri away from everyone, especially his older sister. Mana knows that he was acting strangely, so she gets off work early to check on him.
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Kobato – Episode 11 – Thoughts and Impressions
Not much happened, but it was a pretty fun episode. Kobato gets to wear a waitress outfit that shoot moe levels up to the roof… and the outfit seems like something that CLAMP won’t come up with.
The story is pretty simple. Kobato decides to take a part time job at a bakery since she want to help out the nursery. Chitose finds Kobato a job at a bakery where she was introduced to Ueda and Yumi, who recently injured her hands. Throughout the episode, we learn that Ueda feeling uneasy and Kobato decides to investigate about it. Finds out that he wanted to hire another person thinking that Yumi is being overworked, but finds out that the injuries came from her trying to brake her own cake, which turns out good… Thus another Konpeito in the jar.
Overall, I got to say… It was a pretty fun episode… Kobato is an airhead as always… It seems all female leads in CLAMP’s works are airheads… Also, reminds me of that cake song. Holy cow… Not to mention, Kobato moe levels skyrocketed when she was dressed in the waitress outfit… not only that, her usual clumsiness brings it even higher… well yeah. Also, detective Kobato is pretty cute and also very funny.
Also, no new episode until another week… so you might be a bit disappointed… oh well.
Verdict
8.7/10
Clannad – Kyou’s Arc – Final Impressions
If you have recalled, I have written a review about Kyou’s arc several months ago. However, the visual novel contained a lot more plot, which was missing… The actual Kyou’s arc in the visual novel is a big emotional roller coaster ride towards the end of her arc compared to the OVA… Well heres why…
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Kobato – Episode 9 Thoughts and Impressions
Fillers galore, we are yet hit with another filler episode. While not having reading the manga since I don’t really have the interest to do so, it was a good episode, but there are some flaws and pretty much cliched.
This episode starts in the start of summer and Kobato wants to go to the summer festival while she was bathing Ioroyogi. The flier flew off and somehow Natsuki got it and Kobato finds her with it. She hands it back and notices that her hands mere a mess. Natsuki gives a cloth to Kobato to clean her hands. Then, another girl Yukino trips and falls onto the ground while she uses her cellphone and they left. Kobato forgot that Ioroyogi was still wet and she squeezed the water off him. He was angry and about to spit fire, but couldn’t. While Ioroyogi was drying, Fujimoto told where that girl’s school was which was a all girls school. After she goes there and watch through the window, she finds Yukino and Natsuki, but gets caught by a teacher. Kobato runs and hide in the bushes and Yukino finds her while trying out a camera. They went to the pool area where Natsuki was working and handed back the towel…
Why do I need to tell you this… Well, the rest of the story is about Natsuki’s and Yukino’s friendship becoming distant ever since Yukino started to act strangely. In the past, they had matching phones and they needed a way to tell the phones apart. They got their charms and they exchanged it (Natsuki gets a snowman and Yukino a watermelon slice). With their friendship distancing, Natsuki decided to work harder in school. Not knowing that Yukino was working in a part time job to buy a new camera and finally got the money to buy one at a sale, Kobato goes to the mall and she finds Natsuki looking at the two other girls and Yukino. Without thinking, Natsuki said something that she didn’t intend to say, but it was hurtful.
You guys are so stupid! Even photographs that just mimic an advertisement can be seen as pretty good, so alot of people are mistaken about good photography…Even though you’re an amateur with no talent, you pretend you’re a pro. You’re pathetic
-Natsuki
That moment pretty much sums up this episode… Well, the accusation of Yukino being a poser is pretty lame, don’t you think. Also, the charm which Natsuki was panic about when the charm is missing go through the trash and with Kobato taking notice of it, helps her but finds it near a bucket… HOW DID IT GET THERE? It must be some kind of magic since it couldn’t walk off like that. Natsuki finds it and Kobato takes a picture of it and sends it to Yukino. When Natsuki meets Yukino, she reveals that she kept her charm on a necklace… thus their friendship is healed and Kobato gets another konpeito.
Although this episode is not that bad and was good… it was pretty much cliched… How many shows employ this kind of plot? Does anyone know. Another complaint I am hearing that Kobato is butting into others people’s problems, although it’s the thing she does best, or she wouldn’t be healing these people.
Another thing that bothered me is Yukino using her cellphone during class. Why would you use a cell phone during class? It seems like alot of teenagers in high school spend their time texting on their phones secretly during class while the teacher is teaching and high schools usually ban cell phone use… In college, they don’t even care, but it’s quite risky since you might lose important information on a topic. Yukino did not realize that using a cellphone camera will make a noise… I noticed all Japanese mobile phones does that, except my iPhone 3GS since I can turn off that sound by turning on the silent switch. A great way to get caught easily…
Is this the last of the Fillers? Who knows, but they aren’t that bad considering that I haven’t read the manga or have any interest to do so.
Not to mention, Kobato looks really cute in her new outfit, especially in her yukata…
Verdict
8.8/10
Winter Comes Again. Time for Kanon Again?
I’ve always live in this town, but cold is cold. But I love this town… In winter, it’s covered by white snow… In spring, the streets are full of falling sakura petals… In summer, it’s noisy with cicadas… In autumn, I’m surrounded by the falling leaves and then, the snow starts to fall, and the winter that I love begins again. This town is nice, isn’t it?
– Nayuki Minase from the Kanon Visual Novel
Winter is a few weeks away and with the latest snow storm that hit where I live reminds me of something. What is it?
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Kobato – Episode 8 Thoughts and Impressions
Episode 8 is really Nyandaful cute. Why? It contains a really cute kitty, which Kobato tries to take care of and also try to find a home since pets aren’t allowed in the apartment. However, this brings trouble to everyone when she tries to find a home for it and soon the Chi twins tries to help. Who wouldn’t want to keep a kitty that is so cute!
She tried many places, including the nursery. Kobato actually brings it there and all but one of the kids enjoyed him… Why… He had cat allergies… (does this remind you some other anime about cats?) and to the point where Fujimoto say to Kobato is that she is only bringing trouble by bring the kitten in and should of left it alone. Ironicly, Fujimoto helps find a home for the Kitten by telling to one grandmother that Kobato helped her with the crying baby by singing a song. Chi twins and Kobato when they got back to the apartment decides to give the kitten to the grandmother since her grandson enjoys animals and don’t have cat allergies. With this, the Chi twins had the feeling of sadness of missing the kitten… Who wouldn’t since noone want to really part from their pet they beloved most.
They insists on Kobato singing the same song that she sung before and she accepts and sings… Oddly enough, the twins went to sleep and Kobato receives more konpeito… two of them… but Ioryogi having to deal with the kitten gives her a 0, although she is excited of getting it since it’s just as round the bowl the Kitten was using and he actually makes it her grade, which causes to complain…
Domoto makes an appearance again and tries to help, but this time, Fujimoto helps out… This make me think that there is some kind of love triange with Domoto and Fujimoto with Kobato in the middle of it… Oh, this will be interesting if this was actually a romance anime, but it’s not really…
Verdict
8.9/10
Seitokai no Ichizon – Episode 9 Thoughts and Impressions
Episode 9 is a mix of serious and funny moments and focusing more on Chizuru.
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Kobato – Episode 7 Thoughts and Impressions
Sorry for the delay… but you can never be late for Kobato, can you?
Continuing Kobato’s quest of getting more konpeito, she finds out from being a dojikko with the paint and spilling the paint all over the place that she got Fujimoto angry again… Fujimoto always seems to be one of those characters that get mad easily and Kobato takes it the wrong way when she calls him mean for not helping the girls at the university. Whoops!
Why in the world sould Fujimoto bail out irresponsible college students that go off and party and not do their homework or take notes? I wouldn’t and he is right… but it seems that Kobato takes it the wrong way and saying it’s right for people to copy your work so they can get a better grade… What ever happened to Academic Integrity? Hell, my university won’t allow me to get bailed out for being absent most of the time… No way jose… You earn your grade… so remember college students or students that will enter college next year, YOU have to earn your grade and no one is going to BAIL you OUT or you might get caught cheating! It’s not fair when students get bailed out when I have to work my butt off to get the best grade, but it happens… However, Domoto, the nice guy he his (way too nice than Yuuto from Nogizaka Haruka) and let others take advantage of him and Kobato okays that…. Wow… that is messed up, but it’s better than having a jerkass like Shute Shutherland…
On a side note, the robots from Chobits makes a reappearance since Episode 3. The funny thing is when the children play hide and go seek with them… one girl don’t know which one and as a result, she got found. =O
Besides the pet peeves with someone actually bailing out students and Kobato saying that it’s okay to do so, I find the episode rather funny… and cute… Kobato may as well be the biggest dojikko out there… more so than Yui from K-ON!
This reminds me of something… I have finals coming up in a few weeks. =o
Verdict
8.7/10
Kobato – Episode 6 Impressions
I have to admit, while this episode of Kobato is pretty good, it was slower than normal… and Kobato being the a complete Dojikko, which is shown more in this episode than earlier episodes with her tripping and hitting her head.
This episode is basically the nursery goes on a field trip and Kobato while getting her bag answers the phone call from the loan shark villain saying that he will shut down the nursery. She goes and tell Fujimoto what happened and he said to not to tell Sayaka because it will upset her. While they went on the trip, Ioryogi goes into another dimension and ask the wolf to investigate what happened to the nursery. After while, Kobato came back from the trip and brought back a four leaf clover. However, Ioryogi is bothered by the findings the white messaging bird brought back telling that the master who owned the nursery was forced to take a loan from a loan shark before he died two years later and now they are harassing Sayaka, which brings them a difficult task of filling up the bottle and saving the nursery at the same time.
The episode itself introduced to Ioryogi’s buddies and also the situation of the loan sharks that happened in the last episode… seeing that, what previously looked like a fluffy and soft anime just have turned into a dark and dramatic… Again.. it’s the working of CLAMP again… =p
Verdict
8.5/10
Kobato – Episode 5 Impressions
It seems like ages since Kobato aired since there was no Kobato last week since there was a baseball game going on (damn baseball games, they ruin everything! (refer back to Lucky Star Episode 4)). Anyways, Loansharking can never get this dangerous… and actually illegal in the 50 states. Well, Kobato seems to save the day oddly and drove all those delinquents and Ioryogi actually bites one of the delinquent’s foot (that got to hurt).
The episode is basically about a writer who sits on the park bench and does not want Kobato to read the book about fireflies. It was revealed later that it was the last book written by Mr. Mori. Knowing this, she goes to the library to find information and the books eventually went on top of Ioryogi. Then Kobato asks Mr. Mori to look at fireflies at night and they did. There, he tells a sad story about his ex-girlfriend who made the cover of the book and she wanted to look at fireflies, but he couldn’t since he was busy. The accident happened that causes her to be injured badly and she wanted to look at the fireflies badly. When they got to the spot in the book, they found out that there are actually fireflies. After seeing them, he regained his motive to start writing again and thus Kobato healed another heart.
The episode itself is good, but tear-jerking a little bit with his story. most of the series so far have been comedy-based, but it seems that we hit some drama, haven’t we? Anyways, I feel that this episode was pretty heartwarming and was actually good…
Verdict
8.9/10
sola – Episode 2
Not much development in this episode, but Matsuri seems to do stupid stuff like demonstrated above… It makes me wonder, should I even bother with Kobato after watching this?
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Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu Second Season – Episode 1 and 2
As I recalled, I skipped the first episode because of prejudice, but after watching the first episode, the episode consist of 65% fanservice and 35% actual content… The first episode wasn’t bad, but with the fanservice going on, it was too much. As I thought about the first episode after it aired, isn’t the title “Purity” a oxymoron?
The second episode however…. You have to find out by clicking “read more”.
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sola – Episode 1
Wait? Why this animation looks so familiar… The Sky? Didn’t I heard about that before…
Not realizing this, this show is made by the same studio that is made Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu… Although some themes are familiar to a very famous visual novel, it’s not the same…
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Clannad – Motion Film Final Impressions – Grade: 6.8/10
Wait, there is a Clannad Movie? I decided to watch it this Sunday afternoon and after watching 30 minutes of it, it’s nothing that special, but still continue to watch it anyway. Unlike the Clannad TV series which I could say Kyoto Animation did a great job of being faithful to the original source for both seasons, I can’t say for the movie. The Clannad Movie which was made by Toei Animation, who worked on the Air Movie and the first season of Kanon (before it was remade in 2006) released a month before Kyoto Animation’s version was aired on television.
My impression it… Not great, as expected since I have already completed Kyoto Animation’s version and now the movie feels inferior to the television series… Most Key/Clannad fans would feel this way because Toei Animation in the past aren’t that faithful to the original source, meaning the visual novel.
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Air in Summer – Final Review
Air in Summer was essentially the extension of the Summer arc which covered parts in the Air Visual Novel that was abridged in the main TV series. The difference with Air in Summer that it is actually more lighthearted than the whole TV series.
This special mainly focuses on a more detailed escape from the temple at night, the relationship between Kanna and Ryuya more in depth (in the first part) and also the scene where Kanna lowers her Kimono to show her love towards him after hearing his story as Uraha instructed, but ended up as a failure (in the second part).
Content
Well, as you expect, Air in Summer looks out of place compared to the Air TV series since there isn’t really a whole lot of melodrama in the special. You might find that the two episodes to be rather enjoyable, to the fact that there is a lot of comedy, mainly in part of Kanna, who qualities almost resemble a tsundere.
As you expect, Air in Summer is a continuation of the Summer Arc with parts that were not covered in the TV series. Air in Summer pretty much clears up the ambiguity or the feeling that something is missing or rushed from the Summer Arc in the TV series. The special mainly put focus on the relationship between Kanna and Ryuya and Kanna learning about things in the outside world. Although, Kanna may be conceited and irritated easily (such as water being poured on her head and herself fighting with a chicken), she eventually warms up to Ryuya,
Characters
Like already presented, there are three characters in this arc:
Kanna, or Kannabi no Mikoto is a young girl which have wings on her back. She pretty much stays at the temple and believed to be the last winged being. She wanted to see her mother again so the three decided to escape the temple to go on a journey to find her mother. Kanna, being at the temple most of her life, have not experienced the outside world and learns from the other two.
Kanna, in my experiences of watching is a tsundere which vasty resembles Makoto Sawatari from Kanon since you know that Kanna seems to be naive and does not have enough knowledge of the outside world. She also irritated at Ryuya the most, although she eventually warms up to him, in contrast of Makoto warming up to Yuuichi after the 7th episode.
Then, you have Ryuya, which is a low-ranked, but skilled samurai which he protects Kanna. Like suggested, Ryuya resembles Yukito, obviously, but like with male leads, they sometimes are sarcastic which probably is why Kanna gets irritated with him most of the time.
Lastly, you have Uraha, which is a servent at the temple and also a friend of Kanna. The last thing you want to do is to get her upset by burning those ancient poems and say breakfast was tasty after burning the poems. Also, she tells embarrassing stories regarding Kanna.
Animation
Like with Air TV, Air in Summer Animation and Art style pretty much remained the same, since the special was aired several months after Air TV have finish airing.
Like with Kyoto Animation, the animation was great, considering it was 2005… but sure, the animation will surpass some of Kyoto Animation’s not so great art style to the likes of Lucky Star, K-ON! and Suzumiya Haruhi Second Season.
Music
Music sounded great, although, I don’t quite understand why they use the same exact OP and ED… although they change some of the OP animation for the special.
Conclusion
Air in Summer is a great way to ending Air’s bittersweet ending… since it’s just too lighthearted… The animation, story and the characters are great as expected with Key… The lightheartedness of Air in Summer may make some people prefer this over the main series. Overall, this is a recommended watch if you have finish watching Episode 8 of Air or already completed it.
Overall Rating
9.5/10, A
Air in Summer – Episode 2
As the second episode shows, Kanna is offically a Tsundere… well because she seems to become modest after hearing Ryuya’s story.
After hearing Ryuya’s story about his past, Kanna shows her love by lowering her kimono and…
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Mai’s and Sayuri’s Arc: VN and Anime Differences
Instead of wasting my time watching Endless Eight and ending up with unnecessary rage, I decided to play more of the Kanon visual novel and now this time… Mai’s and Sayuri’s arcs. Although there are a few differences from the Anime and the VN concerning Mai’s and Sayuri’s arc, they managed to adapt the whole arc with some changes… ones that will be mentioned below (contains VN spoilers)
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Shiori’s Arc: VN and Anime Differences
As I have mentioned several months ago about Shiori being my most favorite character and it still is… but I started on playing Shiori’s arc in the Visual Novel… but noticed some differences… but the anime seems to be very accurate and also left out some parts since Ayu is the principal character that Yuuichi ends up in the Anime.
This is what I noticed: (VN spoilers ahead)
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Clannad Series Impression
As with life, all good things must come to a end. Clannad and Clannad ~After Story~ has ended up as a masterpiece which has exceed the level of Kanon (2006) in terms of storyline, music, and character development, but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t have flaws… just a few.
(Click Read More to read the review since it contains spoilers)
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Does Kyoto Animation really wants you to become a emotional wreck?
Kyou disapproves this!
Since I have found a blog post on Kyoto Animation wanting you to cry, here is my take on it.
I have only watch 2 of Key’s works (which have really good story line, music, and animation.) Clannad (2 seasons) and Kanon remake, I have to say that it did make me sad, but did not make me a emotional wreck. As you already know, Key’s stories have always been tragic, but at the end, they are still masterpieces because the way they tell the story. These stories are supposed to develop your emotions and also have a bigger impact at the end of the story. If we go though only happy moments, it’s not going to teach you anything. A person have to go though a time of sadness to become stronger.
Does Kyoto Animation and Key wants to take over the world and make everyone a emotional wreck? No… but I do recommend watching any of Key’s adaptations (AIR, Kanon, Clannad,etc.) who are interested in romance, school life, or slice of life anime to check it out, you won’t regret it!
Note that Kyoto Animation make other adaptations other than Key’s stuff…
Clannad ~After Story~ Episode 20
Fuko appears again… to save the world!
(56k Warning, contains alot of pictures)
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Clannad ~After Story~ Episode 2
Sunohara tries to find a girlfriend before his sister (Mei) comes.
Also contains Sanae-san cosplaying scene.
(56k warning! Alot of pictures)