Azure Flame Reloaded

I can now exclusively reveal that the reason my blog is so HARD GAY is because I have Lui chained up in my basement.

As the days became depressingly short and winter tightened its grip upon the land, I had the great idea of summarising all the 2006 series I watched in one great ‘Annual Round-Up’; hardly an original idea since everyone likes to do it, but nonetheless a course I became determined to take. Little did I realise that such an innocent decision would lead to a massive fifteen page document that took over a month to compile; in fact, if I had any sense, I would take the lazy route of posting this over several days in order to avoid having to write anything else for a week or so. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately, depending on your perspective), I’d rather just include it all in one guide so that I can get on with writing newer and more interesting things to spice up the inevitably dull and grey January.

I shall also take this opportunity to thank necromancer, whose screencaps made many parody posts and Tuesday Rumble sections possible, as well as my blogging ‘sempai’, who can identify himself if he wishes.

For once, red is not for generally poor series, just for the ones I dropped before the end of their run (mostly because they were generally poor). Series in blue are my top picks for the year. Links lead to earlier reviews, rants and parodies of the series in question.

Continue Reading »

This week on Aria: citizens warned to watch out for giant cat.

It’s been a comparatively slow week, particularly for the rather sparse manga section, which blows my tentative plan for making the round-up twice weekly out of the water for now. In the meantime, I’ve cobbled together a pathetic excuse for a poll which can be accessed from the sidebar- if you enjoyed my Weed parodies and want me to do the same for the prequel series Gin (or alternatively, if you want to stop me from doing anything of the sort), then be sure to vote. Poll removed due to lack of functionality and interest.

Reviewed this week: Aria, Higurashi, H&C II, Keroro, ROTK, School Rumble, NHK, xxxHOLiC, Innocent Venus (Ouran will be back next week for double, or possibly even triple fun, along with some new additions to the roster)

…and in manga: Fruits Basket, Solanin Continue Reading »

To celebrate the fortnight anniversary of the Weekly Round-Up (or rather, because I just thought them up), this week sees two new additions to the format-

1. Series in red are on Zero Tolerance, which basically means that they have 1-2 more episodes to impress before being dropped entirely.

2. Whenever a series introduces a new OP/ED, I will try to specifically comment on it. For now, I won’t be extensively ‘back-commenting’ on existing OP/EDs.

Reviewed this week: Aria, Chocotto Sister, FLAG, Good Witch, Higurashi, H&C II, Innocent Venus, Keroro, School Rumble, Tsubasa, Shadow Warrior Chronicles Utawarerumono, NHK, xxxHOLiC, Night Head Genesis

…and in manga: .hack//4Koma, .hack//GU+, Furuba, Mai-Otome, Tsubasa, xxxHOLiC, Yotsuba& Continue Reading »

Amazingly, the round-up survives to celebrate its one week anniversary; this week, I’ll be trying something akin to organisation by placing the various titles in alphabetical order as opposed to “whatever order I watched them in”. I’ll also be trialling a new ‘caught up with…’ section for series that, quite unsurprisingly, I have recently caught up with.

Reviewed this week: Ginga Densetsu Weed, Higurashi, H&C II, Innocent Venus, Keroro, Mushishi, Night Head Genesis, Ouran, SaiMono, School Rumble, Utawarerumono, Kamisama Kazoku (sorry, but Aria will have to wait until next time).

…and in manga: .hack//4koma, Aria, Caramel Milk Tea, Furuba, Mai-Otome, NHK, REC, Risky Safety, Tsubasa, Bokurano, Fate/Stay Night Comic Battle. Continue Reading »