With everyone raving about Fractale despite the mess that Yamakan cause with the disruption of the simulcast, I actually enjoyed it. The first three episodes impressed me with the animation and of course, the story. (Image Source)
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first impressions
Taste Test Part I – Hourou Musuko (Wandering Son)
In some shows, most notably Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu, they use crossdressing as comedy. This mostly involves a male dressing as a female to make it really difficult to tell the real gender of the person. However, in Hourou Musuko (aka Wandering Son), the show takes a more serious and realistic approach. They focus on the issues of transgender people similar to what transgendered people faces and growing up through two people, Nitori and Takatsuki.
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Taste Test Part I-II – Rio: Rainbow Gate! (SCCSAV Livewatch)
Many people in the blogosphere have been talking about Rio: Rainbow Gate, one of the shows some consider to be “so bad it’s good”. Do I agree with them? Not really since I watched the show with Roghek from the SCCSAV over Skype. Overall, my impressions about the show went south. The show was so bad it was terrible because there are so many fundamental problems with it, which I want to share.
Just to be clear, I am criticizing the show based on the two episodes I have seen, not bashing it.
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Taste Test Part I – Gosick
It seems that this year winter season has so many shows with lolis that I couldn’t keep count. Besides Madoka, there is Gosick, which is a mystery story that involves a Gothic Lolita girl and an ordinary boy solving various mysteries. However, it’s not just any ordinary case… It’s the really difficult ones! (Image Source)
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Taste Test Part I – Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica (also known as Puella Magi Modoka Magica in Latin) has to be one of most anticipated Magical Girl in the 2011 Winter Season. This show has some similarities with Nanoha since Akiyuki Shinbo directs this show. Subsequently I enjoyed the show and wish to share my thoughts about the first episode.
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Aria the Animation – Episodes 1 and 2 – First Impressions
Many have suggested me to watch this show ever since I have watched K-ON!!. That series was Aria, a scientific fiction slice of life, which had some similarities to the mentioned title minus the excess moe. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the first two episodes with its nice animation, music and a interesting story. Therefore, I have to share my thoughts about Aria the Animation, the first season of the series. (Image Source)
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Winter 2011 Anime Season Preview
Since all of the Fall Anime has finally ended, there is the Winter 2011 Season that will premiere early next week. Its pretty surprising to see a whole year fly pass by with 2011 in the horizon after two days. Therefore, I will discuss my thoughts on the shows I will potentially watch and cover.
Also, Melative provides all information for the shows I will possibly watch. (Image Source)
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Tears to Tiara – Episode 1 & 2 – First Impressions
First off in the DVDs I have got, I decided to take a look at the first two episodes of Tears to Tiara, an eroge RPG game made by Aquaplus’s Leaf. Basically, it’s takes dark ages that involve an empire like Rome with various myths associated to the time period.
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Amagami SS – Episode 17 – Rihoko Sakurai’s Arc Part I – The Unlucky Childhood Friend
Well it’s a new arc and the focus is now on Rihoko for whom she is a very unlucky childhood friend of Junichi. Unfortunately, Rihoko’s love towards Junichi seems to be unrequited even though they are best friends. I wonder why?
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Obligatory Three Episode Taste Test – Otome Youkai Zakuro
Since I have dropped Yosuga no Sora because it was too provocative for my tastes, I was able to pick up another show to fill the emptiness. Aorii from Major Arcana suggested that I should watch Otome Youkai Zakuro, which is a fantasy and alternative history kind of show. To be frank, I have read her editorial on it and I found the show rather interesting, so I decided to try it out myself…
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Taste Test Part I – Tantei Opera Milky Holmes
Stupid Tantei Opera Milky Holmes! It’s not like I want to watch you or anything… but the cuteness pulled me in!
Yeah, I am pretty tsundere when it comes to anime and this is no exception. Tantei Opera Milky Holmes is a magical girl detective story with extremely cute girls fighting against the villains. At the same time, the first episode was pretty brutal since they lost their powers 9 minutes into the first episode. After they lost their powers, things kind of went in a downward spiral.
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Taste Test Part I – Shinryaku! Ika Musume
It is a known fact that human beings neglect the majestic part of Mother Nature… the sea. The sea provides us the food, transportation, recreation and natural resources. Sadly, the mistreatment of the sea from man-made disasters from overfishing and countless oil spill disasters like the Deepwater Horizon have driven this one Squid Girl into extreme dissatisfaction. As a result, she wants world domination so that human beings will never mistreat the sea.
The problem is… nobody really takes her seriously because she looks like a child…
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Taste Test Part I – Yosuga no Sora
Well, this is probably one of the strangest visual novel adaptations I ever saw so far. Yosuga no Sora is simply crazy on what they throw at the viewers in the first episode… We have this pretty white hair guy, a sister of the same age, an already made harem and of course the risque scenes[3. Because of the nature of the content, I couldn’t place that many snapshots since the blog is PG-13] of some girl doing you know what and some twin incest. Because of the rather mature content, It makes me feel so guilty when I watch this show that it could even be considered a guilty pleasure [1. A bit of an understatement], more so than Kampfer ever will be.
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Taste Test Part I – Ore No Imouto Ga Konna Ni Kawaii Wake Ga Nai
This is probably the 4th most popular Anime that everyone is talking about this season. Ore No Imouto Ga Konna Ni Kawaii Wake Ga Nai (or My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute) takes on the Otaku culture which was focused vaguely in Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu. Instead of a boy meets girl kind of thing, it has an older brother and younger sister!
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Taste Test Part I – MM!
Perhaps bile fascination[1. What else would attract me to this show… Cute girls?] had driven me to watch anime that some people love to hate. If you read the show’s description, the show gives you a thought about something rather perverted. That thing is Sadomasochism, a fetish that is all about getting pleasure from giving/receiving pain. This is the central them of MM since the male lead is such a masochist.
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Two Episode Taste Test – Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakamatachi
It is one of those shows I picked up late and probably the one that everyone is talking or complaining about. Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakamatachi is a slice of life, romantic comedy that parodies a good number of folklore out there. If you have seen in the picture above, Ookami is the wolk and Akai is Red Riding Hood. A better and comprehensive explanation written by Aorii from Major Arcana gives you a very good idea which folklore the characters are based from. If you know a lot of folklore, you probably recognize them pretty easily.
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Two Episode Taste Test – Seitokai Yakuindomo
I thought there is already a show with a Student Council filled with girls with one male character? In a sense, yes… but that one had a ton of Anime and Otaku references. As you noticed, Seitokai Yakuindomo is completely different since all the girls are rather perverted. ironically, the male character seems to be the only sane person in the school.
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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Two Episode Taste Test – Amagami SS
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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Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha – Episode 1 – First Impressions
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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Angel Beats! – Episode 1 Thoughts and Impressions
Imagine yourself in a virtual reality… this what it is, except that anything that is out to kill you won’t actually kill you, although it will hurt a hell alot. This was obviously an introduction episode and from the look of it, the show is probably something that isn’t like the previous works. Nevertheless, it’s still pretty good so far. Animation is pretty good, especially on the second half, but the glass was half empty… Animation on the first half was meh until the second part where it got better. As with people are in the afterlife, they do not age and also the so called NPCs (Non-Player Character) don’t either… Damn, is this some kind of RPG or what?
Well, Yuri, wants to get rid of Tenshi, who is the chairperson of the student council and she tries to target her in the beginning of the episode… Obviously Otonashi doesn’t believe her and had Tenshi attack him. Afterwards, he agrees to join the SSS and plan this operation where they use the concert as a diversion and attack Tenshi. He takes a shot at her, but it hit her the first time, but the second time failed. Everyone else starts targeting her with their weapons and firing at her, but in the end… it didn’t turn out well as planned.
Anyways, that was pretty much the whole gist of the whole episode. It was interesting, but then again, it’s obviously different than before… Intense battle scenes with gore and stuff… As long it turns out interesting… then I’ll keep watching… 🙂
Verdict
8.3/10
Mayoi Neko Overrun! – Episode 1 Thoughts and Impressions
I was forced to watch it though a suggestion on Melative and I did so. It was decent and enjoyable, but like with my experience with Haruka, I’m weary on the fanservice on the show. Anyways, The premise of this show is of course cats and Nekomimi in contrast to Nyan Koi, this is another one of these romance comedies which could only mean one thing… Fanservice! Ugh… Okay… maybe it’s not as distracting as Purezza, but yeah…
Well the premise of this episode is well… Takumi Tsuzuki, a boy lives with her sister, Otome Tsuzuki (not blood related!). Also, Fumino Serizawa is another girl which is a violent type A Tsundere… Just make sure you don’t make her angry… and they own a cake shop that has alot of stray cats… After school, they find that cake was eaten by some cat and Fumino Serizawa and a little boy go out to find it. Meanwhile, Takumi and his friends makes the cake again… They almost find the cat, but couldn’t catch it… After delivering the cake, Takumi finds out her sister brought home a cat girl back instead…
Ok, it was decent, but not really a show I’m really in to since I’m not that into fanservice anime. Fumino is very tsundere, so much anger in her that she actually kicks people and also got angry at Chise Umenomori, a spoiled Oujo-sama who wanted to dress Fumino in a skimpy cosplay outfit… and yeah… Funny thing is that there are actually a cameo from you know… Anyways, I am still on the fence on continuing it, but not bad so far… I’ll wait and see, unless someone forces me to watch the next episode… lol…
Nyaaaaaaaa~
Verdict
7.4/10
Working!! – Episode 1 Thoughts and Impressions
Working is one of those slice of life animes that have… well… Moe~… However, Working is sorta enjoyable and had some potential, but this episode was mediocre at best. For the first part, the animation seems to be a slight disappointment. After seeing Sora no Woto’s nice animation from A-1 Pictures, I thought they can do just as good… but not in this case… A good thing is that the animation is better than Fairy Tail, which is a big mess.
Obviously, Takanashi got a job at the family restaurant because he can’t resist Taneshima’s cuteness. Taneshima is definitely a moe~ character and really cute and all, but suffers the height problems like Kurimu did in Seitokai no Ichizon, where she is made fun of her height by Ken. The difference is, Taneshima is not a pettanko (flat chested), so no DFC here. Anyways, we are introduced to other characters and well more moe… including Kyouko… well, never ask how old a woman is, or you may suffer the consequences… and lastly that girl that is afraid of guys punches Takanashi in the face… Ouch…
Overall, Working is sorta like K-ON!, moe~ except that it’s not all girls and that it’s in a family restaurant. I enjoyed it, but not enough to keep watching at the moment. I might continue on if it gets better, but for the time being, It’s on hold…
Verdict
7.3/10
Kaichou wa Maid-sama – Episode 1 Thoughts and Impressions
Well, an unexpected anime pretty much caught my attention. Traditionally, I hardly covered any shoujo anime, but heck, why not since this one has maids… Anyways, the episode was the first part was interesting, but rather slow. Misaki Ayuzawa, a rather strict president and the first female president at this school which was previously a all boys school, but now a 80% male and 20% female school (sounds like my old college I transferred from where there were mostly males and not that many females, being that it was a engineering and tech college). However, Takumi Usui, a really attractive boy with high grades and stuff catches Misaka working at a Meido cafe… and well, you know what happen… she becomes nervous and tries to drive him away, thinking that he was mocking her. One day after she was piled with alot of work was taking a break back of the maid cafe when she was caught by the three boys that she punished and… Usui saves the day and promises to keep her job a secret…
Overal, it was a okay episode, but not great since it was a little slow… Pretty amusing of course since it had maids and lots of them. However, the storyline is so similar to Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu, except that it’s shoujo, no fanservice/ecchi, girl as the main character, not so lame male lead… and maids! I will probably keep watching to see what happens next, but this show will be low priority since I want to cover Angel Beats and K-ON 2nd Season first… So yeah, it’s not bad at all… Animation is ok for the most part with some… super deformity.
Verdict
7.6/10
Hayate no Gotoku – First Impressions
What sorta interests me about this anime is pretty much the third episode of Nogizaka Haruka Purezza, although the parody of a episode is similar to Hayate no Gotoku, but the original always a bit better. Touka and Nagi, ironically is voiced by the supposed by the Queen of Tsundere, Kugimiya Rie, the voice of other famous loli-tsundere characters like Shana, Louise and Taiga.
From watching the first five episodes of Hayate no Gotoku, it was pretty entertaining comedy. Hayate, a unlucky, ordinary sixteen year old boy is forced to work since eight years old since his irresponsible parents and he ended up getting fired because of his age. Knowing that his parents sold him to some “very nice people” (actually a Yakuza, Japanese mafia) and he runs away. He ends up in the park and sees a little girl and then confess to her with his intentions to kidnap her, but that girl actually took the confession seriously. He tried his plan, but failed and collapses. A woman gives him a scarf and he wakes up. He finds out that Nagi was kidnapped, so he took the woman’s bike and cases after the kidnappers and eventually saves Nagi, but he was injured and he was treated at Nagi’s mansion where his wish comes true, he gets a job as Nagi’s butler. He becomes officially a butler after proving himself by defeating the robot, although he ended up getting electrocuted and having to be treated again.
The episodes were pretty funny and had several references to other anime and also a complete parody of the typical action shouen anime, although there isn’t really much action to be seen and it’s mainly for comedy purpose. Oddly enough, although Hayate is pretty strong, his appearance looks vastly young and rather effeminate, a main reason why Nagi and Maria would eventually dress him in feminine clothing… (haven’t got there, but it would be pretty funny.) Like always, Nagi is a uber tsundere paired with her twin tails… more so since she is voiced by the tsundere queen. The animation was good, so I have no complaints about it…
Would I continue…. Yes, I probably would, but I would get the DVDs first before continuing, but would I blog it… Not so much since the number of episodes are pretty big (52 episodes) and it would take alot of work to blog it.