It’s been a year of ups and downs, of anime gems and utter disappointments- a year when I’ve alternated between craving more and feeling utterly fed up with the continuing deluge of episodes that take no account of the fact that people might have other things to do than stay in and watch all day. Nonetheless, in true years-end tradition, we must review all the new series in an Annual Round-Up, a project which I meant to periodically update through the year but ended up writing at the last minute again.

As always, red titles are those which were dropped, and blues are the picks of the year. Come back on Tuesday for the New Year Rumble, in which we take a look at the year in the life of Azure Flame.

STILL RUNNING FROM 2006

Asatte no Houkou

The beginning of the year saw the end of Asatte no Houkou, a series that had started as a strong character drama and slice-of-life piece, but lost it somewhere with its slow pacing and plot contrivances. Ultimately, the series was a ‘curate’s egg’, good in parts but sorely lacking in others.
Final words: The series may have been called ‘The Direction of the Day After Tomorrow’, but sadly the plot sometimes lacked direction.

Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto

Last year, I labelled the emerging Iroha as a tentative pick of the year, but in retrospect, it was more silver than the gold tier it seemed at first. Despite remaining generally enjoyable throughout, the series got mired in a repetitive storyline, numerous historical cameos and an ending that defied sense and explanation.
Final words: Good for those who like action or historical series, but sadly not worthy of entering the hall of classics.

Busou Renkin

Ah, Busou Renkin, a series replete with cheesiness, ridiculous special abilities and Shounen Jump clichés- on the surface of it, hardly something worth writing home about, and yet an important series in its own right. A prime parody candidate, every week of Busou Renkin brought more hilarity than the creators had ever meant to include as Kazuki found himself torn between the worlds of HARD GAY, STRAIGHT and BI.
Final words: I wouldn’t actually watch the series ever again, but parodying it was a lot of fun- blogging hasn’t been the same since.

Le Chevalier d’Eon

At the end of last year, Chevalier was going strong, and it lost very little of its appeal as it moved into its closing episodes. Yes, the ending didn’t make a great deal of sense on close inspection, but with strong characters, worthy action scenes and an unfaltering sense of historical atmosphere, Chevalier remained enjoyable throughout.
Final words: Good enough to parody twice.

La Corda d’Oro

Last year, I had an optimistic view of Corda; this time around, the tale of a Neoromance reverse harem would surely have decent characters and some kind of a plot- or so I thought. Unfortunately, it was not to be- whilst our lead cheated her way through the music competition with a magical violin, the shallow supporting characters and slow pacing did nothing to disguise the general lack of substance.
Final words: Another game adaptation hardly worth writing home about.

Death Note

I enjoyed the Death Note manga, but in anime form, it wasn’t a series that could work for me- the long exposition scenes never seemed suited for an animated format, and attempts to bring the story to life only made Light seem overly theatrical under his red spotlight. After many episodes of thinking “well, the next arc will be better”, I decided to terminate my relationship with the series.
Final words: It didn’t flourish in animated format.

Kanon

As we must all know by now, after the first few episodes, Kanon failed to do much for me- Yuuichi was always too sarcastic and cruel to the girls, who were in turn too one-dimensional to do anything about it. Despite the series’ attempts to tug at the heartstrings, overall it failed to ignite for me, ending up as only another excuse for parody.
Final words: Sad girls in snow don’t make me cry.

Mai-Otome Zwei

Most trainwrecks have the grace to stop and let the rescue crew hunt for survivors, but not Mai-Otome- it just keeps rumbling on. Aside from one or two good action scenes, this whole OVA proved to be a waste of time, introducing a pointless enemy and filling every spare moment with character cameos and fanservice. There was no real reason to expect anything else, but why do I keep getting sucked into this franchise?
Final words: Why do I already know I’ll be watching the next sub-par Otome OVA?

Red Garden

Despite attempts to make its mark with a distinctive art style and a New York setting, Red Garden managed to utterly fail at either the horror or character drama it was presumably aiming for. With four angsty leads who spent most of their time whining or crying and a mystery that dragged on into a totally ridiculous conclusion, Red Garden was a largely dull experience that never rewarded the patience of those who dared to persevere with it.
Final words: Don’t bother with it. Really. It doesn’t get better later on.

Saiunkoku Monogatari

On the strength of its first season, SaiMono established itself as one of my favourites; far from the reverse harem series it first appeared, it actually proved to be an absorbing tale of intrigue, politics and character interaction as one woman chased her dream of becoming her country’s first female official. Of course, the attractive character designs don’t hurt, but to consider this series shallow just because of that would be to do it a great disservice.
Final words: I don’t see why anyone reading this blog wouldn’t have watched SaiMono yet, but if you haven’t, get to it now.

Shounen Onmyouji

A fairly generic tale of a young onymouji being sent to fight the strongest demons just because he happens to be the main character, Shounen Onmyouji was often pointless and rarely very good, but somehow managed to retain interest by having twelve spirit summons who were gradually introduced over the course of the series- and with many of them having little more than a basic appearance, the series even seemed to demand a second season in which to adapt more of the novels.
Final words: Large casts usually work against a series, but in this case it was a draw for an otherwise average series.

WINTER 2006/7
Winter is traditionally a slow month for anime, but could the fledgling 2007 break the curse of the cold months? Sadly, with only a couple of worthy series that were worth following to the end, it seemed that it could not.

Deltora Quest
Despite numerous failures, I’ve always kept my eye out for decent fantasy series, but sadly, Deltora Quest was not one of them. Despite being so packed with cliché and unintentional hilarity that it could have made a good parody candidate, the fact that the series needed to resort to budget saving flashbacks and stills as early as episode four was far from a good sign, and when the next episode proved to be even more dull and uneventful (consisting as it did of answering riddles), the series was quickly shelved, never to be touched again.
Final words: Classic fantasy in anime needs drastic reinvention.

Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight
School comedies have always been hit or miss for me, and Manabi Straight struck right out in its first episode. With an energetic and clueless lead who somehow becomes school president, Manabi Straight didn’t do a great deal for me, and was quickly assigned to the Recycle Bin.
Final words: Not for me.

Ichigo Mashimaro OVA

Basically a continuation of the TV series, the Ichigo Mashimaro OVA offered three more episodes of Nobue and the girls’ everyday adventures. Despite dragging a little in the second episode, overall the OVA was as entertaining as the TV series, with apt observations and polished delivery and timing turning basic activities into a source of amusement and entertainment.
Final words: A nice coda for a strong TV series.

Les Miserables Shoujo Cosette
As an attempt to adapt the original novel to a fifty-episode series aimed at the younger audience, Cosette seemed determined to make life hard for itself, and the results were appropriately unspectacular. With its emphasis on the Cinderella-esque life of Cosette, the series dripped with twee sentiments and overused plotlines to the exclusion of the good parts of the story.
Final words: Almost painful in its execution.

Maria-sama ga Miteru OVA

Prior to this OVA, I liked MariMite- despite all the angst, it managed to deliver a worthy tale of school life with a sprinkling of HARD YURI. Unfortunately, it was not a format that could make the transition to fifty-minute OVA episodes with any grace- everything became terribly long, drawn out and dull, whilst the HARD YURI content took advantage of its newfound freedom to reach new and unforeseen heights.
Final words: I’ll still be trying season four, but this OVA was a major setback for the franchise.

Nodame Cantabile

The only real noteworthy TV series from the winter season (aside from Hidamari Sketch and Himawari!!, both of which I still need to start), Nodame Cantabile promised to be ‘Honey and Clover with music’, but instead became tantalisingly inconsistent. At times, its insights into its two leads- one a technical genius, the other an intuitive talent- made it compelling viewing, but all too often the off-kilter humour and wacky side characters ruined the mood, whilst an air of Shounen Jump “let’s level up and make the strongest orchestra!” always lurked in the background. Despite these flaws, however, Nodame was overall a worthwhile investment of time, and with the manga still ongoing, a second season would be welcomed.
Final words: Snatches of greatness kept the series appealing even as the wackier elements suggested switching off would be the way to go.

SPRING 2007
Spring is usually the best season for anime, and indeed there were lots of promising contenders right out of the gate. When it came to the long haul, however, which would make it to the finish line, and which would run out of steam?

Bokurano
As readers may know, I love, adore and worship the Bokurano manga, and so I was delighted to hear that it was going to be adapted into an anime…right up until the moment I heard Studio “adaptation trainwreck” Gonzo would be handling it. Nonetheless, I went into the series with an open mind, only to find disappointment with major story changes and a complete lack of tension in the pacing- worse yet, the director himself claimed that he didn’t even like the original! I took his advice and chose not to watch any more.
Final words: If someone tries to pretend this anime even existed, I shall stick my fingers in my ears and sing loudly.

Claymore

I’ve managed to upset many Claymore fans by not rating the manga very highly, but let’s face it- faults aside, I’m still reading after seventy-four chapters and I do want to know how it’s all going to turn out. The same could not be said for the anime, which bucked me off like a recalcitrant horse after a mere eleven episodes thanks to uninspiring characters, dull fight scenes and a washed out colour scheme.
Final words: Give me Berserk any day.

Darker than Black

During its early episodes, I had the highest of hopes for Darker than Black- it seemed slick, well directed and packed with the perfect mix of exposition, mystery and action. Unfortunately, despite such a strong start, the series soon began to flounder, adopting a pacing more suited to a fifty-episode series as it introduced minor characters, packed in last minute explanations and generally failed to live up to those early days. Even Yoko Kanno’s work on the music didn’t seem up to her usual high standard, ensuring that no aspect of the series really lived up to its potential.
Final words: Darker than Black it may be, but it wasn’t better than good.

Dennou Coil

Ah, Dennou Coil, how much more can I praise you? I accept that this series wasn’t perfect, but if you’ll excuse the lapse into informality, it was damn close. Never before has a series so deserved to be lavished with internet praise along the lines of 1337, awesome and w1n, all thanks to an intriguing setting and story, combined with memorable and well developed characters. Mere words alone are not enough to praise this series, which was surely the best offering of 2007.
Final words: I worship at the shrine of Dennou Coil, and encourage others to join.

El Cazador de la Bruja

Better known as “El Caza-bore”, this third instalment in Bee Train’s girls-with-guns series did indeed contain girls and guns, but not in any combination that produced action. Instead, what we got was the most dreary road trip through a version of Latin America that contained only cacti, roadside diners and various other dusty clichés. Just watching all twenty-six episodes was an effort in itself, and one I only pursued for the sake of creating a superior parody version of events.
Final words: You haven’t experienced boredom until you’ve watched El Cazador.

Heroic Age
A series about a character named Age rather than an age of heroes, Heroic Age tried to create an epic setting involving space battles, legendary tribes and the like, but somewhere along the line it all became a dull universe populated by rejects from other Xebec series. With even the cameraman opting to stay well back from the action, there seemed little reason for anyone else to try to examine it closely.
Final words: Another average offering from Xebec.

Hitohira
A series about a shy girl who gets so nervous that she can’t speak (yet somehow gets into the drama club due to her occasional ability to shout), Hitohira was something I stuck with for a mere two episodes, before deciding that it wasn’t going to bring me anything particularly worthy. With forgettable characters and hints of HARD YURI, Hitohira seemed to patch together elements of other series like Tsuyokiss and Gokujou Seitokai- hardly a recommendation.
Final words: Like its lead, Hitohira remained quiet and unnoticed.

Koutetsu Sangokushi

As a fan of the Three Kingdoms era, I was looking forward to a series that would surely present it better than the forgettable 1990s effort- but sadly, despite superior production values, Koutetsu Sangokushi was not to be that series. Although Koutetsu should be praised for focusing on the kingdom of Wu, it loses points for its extreme levels of ridiculousness, from a super-HARD GAY gender-confused cast to the inclusion of special sentai powers for the main characters- somehow I just don’t remember these things happening in the original novel.
Final words: As far as historical adaptations go, this one is just laughably ridiculous.

Lucky Star

A series that attracted both hate and adoration in adoration, Lucky Star did very little for me; I didn’t despise it, but for me it just did very little- episodes would pass by and I would sit in front of them, almost completely indifferent to them. Occasionally I would laugh, but much of the series was just white noise.
Final words: Ichigo Mashimaro and Minami-ke make everyday life amusing, but Lucky Star just rambles on and on.

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS
The first two seasons of Nanoha weren’t great, but they won me over with their attractive character designs and worthy action scenes; sadly, the first thing StrikerS did was to introduce new characters to an already bloated cast and throw out actual battle in favour of training against robots. Whilst the leads were forced to wear limiters to remove their God Modes, everything was left in the hands of the newbies, whilst what had once been a simple world of magical girls fighting evil became tied up in pointless bureaucracy. It may have improved later on, but after six episodes, I bailed out.
Final words: No more Nanoha for me.

Murder Princess
An OVA from Bee Train, Murder Princess told the tale of a princess and a bounty hunter who rather randomly end up swapping bodies, but unfortunately, what looked like it would at least be a mildly entertaining fantasy series was ruined by ridiculous elements such as a mad scientist and his two loli androids. In the end, even a mere six episodes of this seemed like too much.
Final words: Nice character designs, shame about the rest.

Oh! Edo Rocket

With its low profile and childish-looking character designs, Oh! Edo Rocket initially didn’t seem like something worth watching- but how wrong I was. After some positive recommendations, I reversed my position and took the plunge, and it was eminently worth it. A series so crazy that you cannot help but love it, Oh! Edo Rocket is nominally about a fireworks maker trying to create a rocket that can go to the moon, but there is much more packed into it- from secret ‘Men in Black’ with special powers to aliens, monsters and a metric ton of pop culture references. It’s crazy, hilarious, sometimes a little dark, and a cut above pretty much every other anime that relies so heavily on humour and parody.
Final words: If Dennou Coil is the best series of the year, then this one must deserve the silver medal.

Romeo X Juliet

Adaptations come from many sources, but could anime really make something out of a Shakespeare play? Whether or not it could, Gonzo was determined to try, and in their usual fashion, they glanced at the original, threw it out of the window, and created a version that involved magical trees, flying horses and an aerial city that just happened to be named Neo Verona. Despite the general lack of similarity to the original, the series started well enough, and seemed as if it would go down as inoffensive light entertainment; unfortunately, as it progressed, the plot became ever more lacking and ridiculous, whilst the leads hardly inspired one to care for their plight. In the end, it found its greatest worth in the parody arena.
Final words: Romeo X Juliet? More like Ridiculous X Joke.

Saiunkoku Monogatari II

After such a strong first series, was it any surprise that I wanted more SaiMono? Unfortunately, with subs having dried up, I had to go it alone into the domain of raws, which for such a dialogue-heavy series meant relying on Impz and usagijen to help me through. Unfortunately, this approach distances me a little from the action, so that whilst I still enjoy the series and think it is good, it just doesn’t hook me in as it did before. Is it the complex web of storyline that I can’t follow in raw, the introduction of a few too many new characters, or the decision to slow down the pacing a bit to accommodate the fact that the series is catching up with the novels?
Final words: I love it, but I want to spend more time exploring the main characters- maybe a full immersion in the world of the series is what is needed.

Sakura Taisen New York
Having enjoyed the first two Sakura Wars OVAs and the TV series, I felt it was high time to branch out into the later OVAs- only to discover that with New York, I had chosen a poor place to start. With a brand new lead and his harem of shallow girls, this failed attempt to recapture the original Sakura Taisen magic completely and utterly fell flat, forcing me to abandon it by its second episode.
Final words: The original cast cannot be bettered.

Seirei no Moribito

It had the most beautiful of settings, but after a strong early start, that ultimately seemed to be all Seirei no Moribito could offer. Although its slow and tranquil pacing satisfied some, for me it was a case of being a series where not only did nothing ever happen, but it took a long time about not happening. There were a few worthy action scenes, but the rest of the series was drenched in sitting and talking- and so many episodes of static conversation can grow stale.
Final words: Instead of making anime, let’s just sit and talk about it.

Shining Tears X Wind
RPG adaptations are renowned for not being up to much, and when the source material is reputedly “the worst RPG ever” (and its sequel), you can’t really expect much. Even so, Shining Tears somehow managed to achieve new levels of awfulness, with its pointless and forgettable leads, incongruous elements (tanks and lasers in a fantasy kingdom) and general lack of anything that can be praised. I once considered Disgaea to be the worst anime ever, but this series has taken that spot.
Final words: It was a pile of Shining Tears X Wind.

Shinkyoku Soukai Polyphonica

Despite having encountered disappointment with the likes of YoakeNa, I still found myself drawn to eroge and visual novel-based series with worthy character designs- hence my brief relationship with Polyphonica. Unfortunately, even the lovely Corticarte could not disguise the fact that Polyphonica was pretty much entirely pointless filler- and when a beach episode appeared as early as episode three, I knew it was time to bail out.
Final words: Have I learned my lesson this time? I hope so.

SKULLMAN
Skullman, Skullman, does whatever a skull can…sits motionless, on a shelf- well, you get the idea. Based on a retro manga and series, SKULLMAN was not a series well-adapted for life in the twenty-first century, and by its first episode it was already floundering. With spoilers on wikipedia recounting a miserable background and fate for the eponymous anti-hero, it hardly seemed watching any more.
Final words: He’s a man… with a skull for a head! Bet you couldn’t guess that from the title, eh?

Victorian Romance Emma Second Act

The first season of Emma was highly enjoyable, but the fact that it only covered two volumes of the manga left the story hanging. With that in mind, a second season seemed a true blessing, although ultimately it was not one that was handled as well as it could have been. Despite having a further five volumes to cover and only twelve more episodes to do it in, Second Act began with a filler episode, before proceeding to cut out large chunks of the story (although admittedly the manga storyline of Emma being kidnapped and taken to America had seemed a little farfetched at the time). All in all, it was still a highly worthy series, just not as good as it could have been.
Final words: You can’t go wrong with Emma, but this still didn’t quite live up to its potential.

Wellber no Monogatari ~Sisters of Wellber~

The tale of a thief and a princess trying to flee one country and make it to another before a deadline, Wellber was another of those series that didn’t seem to bring anything original to the table, but nonetheless appeared entertaining enough to watch. Unfortunately, elements such as predictable storylines and a talking tank conspired against it, but overall it just managed to pull through as a piece of light entertainment- not least because of the unintentional hilarity that cropped up in most episodes.
Final words: Mildly entertaining.

SUMMER 2007
In principle, summer is when everyone is enjoying themselves in the great outdoors- and so why bother to air much in the way of good anime? Still, given the poor showings of summer 2005-6, 2007 might just have the edge over them with its single digit selection.

Baccano!

With a wealth of named characters and a timeline that jumped back and forth through early 1930s America, Baccano was never the easiest series to follow, and indeed, even now I cannot say I had much of a clue what was going on throughout large chunks of it. Even so, the sheer enthusiasm and attack which the series brought to our screens was so infectious that one could not help but enjoy it- whether it was a tense shootout or just Isaac and Miria getting up to their usual antics, Baccano was always entertaining- and with many more novels left to adapt, hopes for a second season are high.
Final words: Every season needs a good historical series, and this was the summer’s candidate.

Doujin Work

A short series focusing on a young woman who believes she can make her fortune drawing doujinshi, Doujin Work was never going to be anything very special, but despite the budget animation and predictable jokes, it was somehow entertaining. And with the actual episodes running at only fourteen minutes (the rest of the time slot was taken up with a live action guide to making doujinshi), it isn’t a huge investment in time either.
Final words: Light entertainment done right.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai

After the first season, Higurashi had generally failed to impress, but having embarked upon the franchise, I felt I had to carry it through- a feeling that eroded with every week of watching Kai. Everything just felt so drawn out and over the top, especially Satoko’s situation (I would applaud the series for at least having a go at tackling the difficult subject of child abuse, but then again, is that something I really want to watch for entertainment?). Even the introduction of Hanyu to the mix couldn’t save the plot, and in the end I decided to leave the citizens of Hinamizawa to their miserable fate.
Final words: It fails in the execution.

Mononoke

Having been largely bored by Ayakashi, I approached its spin-off with caution- what if it was more of the same excruciatingly slow pacing? Nonetheless, having watched and enjoyed Requiem from the Darkness right before it started to air, I decided to take the plunge, and although Mononoke did indeed have its weak points, it turned out the be the right decision. With an intriguing lead character, unique art style and slicker direction than its predecessor, Mononoke managed to hit all the right notes for supernatural fantasy. A second season would not go amiss.
Final words: It succeeded because it didn’t have ‘Ayakashi’ in the title.

Mushi-Uta

Call me shallow, but the whole reason I wanted to watch Mushi-Uta was because the title seemed to label it as the bastard son of Mushishi and Utawarerumono. In fact, aside from a masked character who resembled Hakuoro, it bore very little resemblance to either, but after a shaky start, Mushi-Uta finally came up with the goods. Although the mixture of giant bug battles and high school life was often confusing, and in spite of the fact that I could barely get a grip on the characters’ names, the story slowly drew me in, to the extent that I even cared about the fate of a minor character. As with several other series this year, it needs a second season.
Final words: Sometimes randomly picked choices can work out well after all.

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei

Since the blogworld once had its own Hopeless Sensei, this anime seemed almost destined to be watched, and happily it was a series well suited to SHAFT’s randomness. A classroom comedy with a twist of bleak despair, Sensei was much like any other comedy- funny when it hit the mark, but somewhat random and a little tedious when it didn’t. Coupled with a distinctive high contrast art style, it made the series memorable and unique, but not always for the right reasons.
Final words: Somewhat inconsistent, but with some highly worthy moments.

Tetsuko no Tabi
It’s hard for me to really appraise Tetsuko no Tabi since out of thirteen episodes I’ve only seen a badly subbed version of the first one, but nonetheless I’ll include it for completeness. A series based on actual train journeys, Tetsuko no Tabi had an interesting enough first episode, but without more material to work with, I can’t really form a proper opinion on this.
Final words: Won’t anyone sub this?

Zombie-Loan
DearS never looked promising, and Peach-Pit had already disappointed me with Rozen Maiden, but nonetheless for some reason I just had to try Zombie-Loan. Unfortunately, the series proved to lack much in the way of appeal, coming across only as an inferior version of xxxHOLiC and Tokyo Babylon.
Final words: CLAMP already did it better.

AUTUMN 2007
Like the spring, the autumn is meant to be replete with series worth watching, but let’s face it- Autumn 2007 was a big fat disappointment. Yes, there were some good series, but somehow the preponderance of mediocrity combined with circumstances in the outside world ensured that anime enthusiasm reached new and previously unexplored lows.

Aria the OVA ~Arietta~
For those of us who needed more Aria to keep us going, this brief OVA would have to make do between the long-finished second and upcoming third seasons. There’s not much to say about it, really, other than that it was another gentle and tranquil half-hour of life in Neo-Venezia, and in fact proved to be so worthy that I sat and watched it without even wanting to disturb my concentration by taking screencaps.
Final words: Punyu!

Clannad

I enjoyed Air and disliked Kanon, so it seemed likely that Clannad would fall somewhere in between, and indeed, so far it has. With a more likable lead than Kanon, it immediately scores over its predecessor, but unfortunately there seems to be a limit to the number of “sad girls” stories one person can swallow before becoming a little blasé about the whole thing.
Final words: It’s not bad, but I just can’t fangirl over it.

ef- a tale of memories
Whilst Owen and the others raved over it in their multi-post extravaganza, ef for me was a title that needed to be put on hiatus after episode three- the idea of someone being unable to retain their memories for more than thirteen hours was intriguing, but watching ef felt like following three different series, of which only one was worth following. I shall one day go back and watch the rest of the season in one go, but it wasn’t something where I wanted to put the effort of watching weekly.
Final words: I’ll get back to it…later.

Genshiken II
I enjoyed the first season of Genshiken, and so it seemed a foregone conclusion that the second would strike gold as well- after all, it had the rest of the original manga to work with. And indeed, Genshiken 2 quickly launched back into familiar territory, with familiar situations, character development and the sad realisation that many of our favourite personalities were graduating and moving on.
Final words: Now onwards to the manga.

Gundam 00
After Seed Destiny, my relationship with the Gundam franchise hit something of a rocky patch, so much so that it would take something far better than the usual Sunrise fare to repair it. Sadly, Gundam 00 wasn’t about to do that for me, and after a few episodes of pointless factions and a group who planned to enforce world peace by instigating wars, I decided to put the whole series on the heating element behind the normal back-burner.
Final words: Watching it can wait until 2008.

Hero Tales
With a name like ‘Hero Tales’, it was pretty obvious that this series wasn’t going to be up to much- even the FMA mangaka couldn’t really weave a good story about a boy with a destined sword. After watching an episode to assess its parody potential, I decided that even the gods of parody couldn’t expect me to watch something so boring in aid of a few laughs, and so it was put aside.
Final words: As original as its title.

Kaiji

Series dripping with GAR MANLINESS aren’t usually my thing, but having enjoyed Akagi so much, it seemed only logical to see what Madhouse could make of one of the mangaka’s other works- ‘Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji’. Whilst Kaiji is more emotional and less cold than Akagi, the twists and turns of his story are still worthy viewing- although one cannot help feeling a little sorry for poor Kaiji as his mammoth efforts in trying to win games dreamt up by sadistic yakuza only seem to result in him getting ever more in debt. I fear that twenty-six episodes won’t be enough for this series.
Final words: This series should be shown to everyone who finds themselves in danger of incurring debt.

Minami-ke

Keen for an extra dose of Ichigo Mashimaro, I went forth into Minami-ke, a similar tale about the everyday lives of three sisters. Despite trepidation that it would turn into another Lucky Star, Minami-ke had the required wit and delivery to make it entertaining rather than dull, and already a second season (albeit a retelling rather than a sequel) is set to air this January.
Final words: Forget choco cornets, melon pan and taiyaki, this year’s in-food is cream stew.

Mokke

Ever since enjoying Shrine of the Morning Mist, I’ve been on the lookout for the next entertaining silver/bronze tier supernatural series, and Mokke seems to be it. It may not be anything special, but the episodic tales of a pair of sisters- one who can see spirits, the other who gets possessed by them- has largely proven to make for enjoyable viewing, and the addition of a cat with special powers is just the icing on the cake.
Final words: Bronze tier entertainment.

Moyashimon

As the latest series to air in the vaunted noitaminA block (I know it’s ‘Animation’ spelt backwards, but it still sounds like some kind of vitamin or mineral to me), Moyashimon had a lot to live up to, but fortunately, all it needed was its uniqueness to make it a hit. Unappealing as a series about microbes may sound, when you take into account the fact that to our lead these microbes look rather cute, the whole thing takes on a new dimension; in fact, you wouldn’t go far wrong if you were to watch the series for this novelty alone. Fortunately, the rest of the content is solid enough, even if the characters are a little wacky.
Final words: I never once thought I’d say that I wanted a plushie of Aspergillus oryzae, but I want one.

Rental Magica
Where the search for supernatural light entertainment brought some successes in 2007, it also racked up a few failures, and Rental Magica was one of them. Populated by rejects from other series, Rental Magica seemed sure to at least mildly interest with its episodic tales of a company of magic users solving problems, but apart from a master of cat shikigami, there was little to engage the viewer.
Final words: Something to go back to when you have absolutely nothing else to watch.

Shakugan no Shana II

Even though I enjoyed it at the time, in retrospect the original Shakugan no Shana had a lot wrong with it- not least of which were the pointless and uninspiring villains. Even so, a second season would surely forge ahead into interesting and unknown parts of the novel series- or maybe not. For instead, Shana II decided to diverge into an uninteresting game-based tale that seemed determined to shake off all but the most devout of fans. With last season’s confession revoked and the love polygon once again taking hold, it seemed as if this was one series worth bailing out of.
Final words: There’s completion, and then there’s masochism- watching Shana II was surely the latter.

Sketchbook ~full color’S~

Every year needs a good slice-of-life series, and whilst Sketchbook was not to be in the Aria/YKK class, it was still an enjoyable series, not least because of the high volume of cats and fat chickens contained therein. Although it times it seemed as if it was trying too hard to capture a calm atmosphere that should just come naturally, Sketchbook was still worth watching, and after initially thinking little of the shy and quiet lead, after a while I began to identify with her- all too often I end up thinking a lot more than I actually end up saying (but no more! Now I shall never shut up!).
Final words: Full of cats.

And so, 2007 has shown us both good and bad (much like every year, really) and all we can do is await 2008 and the offerings it shall bring us. See you next year!

Long before StrikerS came along and irretrievably damaged the reputation of the Nanoha franchise, I decided to acquire the eight chapters that comprised the Nanoha A’s manga. By the time I came to read it, I wasn’t even sure if I still wanted to, but since it was a) bearably short and b) sitting on my hard drive with a silent determination to be addressed one day, I decided that I might as well go ahead and get it out of the way.

Although it may sound like a straight manga adaptation of the second season of Nanoha, these few chapters are somewhat more interesting than that, for instead of treading the same old ground, they are actually a collection of standalone chapters that slot in before, during and after the A’s timeline. If, like me, you felt that that series had promise but was ultimately lacking in character development, you’ll be pleased to hear these chapters help to fill in a few gaps, giving us some additional insight into Hayate and her guardians, and even helping to flesh out Nanoha and Fate that little bit more. Surprisingly, even action scenes translate well into the manga format, with training sequences offering the impression that Nanoha and Fate take an active role in battle instead of relying on their intelligent weapons to fight whilst they stand around and entice the fanboys.

Whilst it is certainly a nice complement to the anime, however, it should be noted that this manga is clearly not meant to be a standalone series. With its gap-filling nature, short length and lack of overarching plot, this is one for fans (or at least viewers) of Nanoha only- if you have no knowledge of the anime, this will be a pointless and disjointed exercise at best. You can’t even read it to get a feel for whether you would enjoy the animated version- it simply won’t work if you’re not already familiar with the characters and storyline.

Visually, it’s hard to go wrong with Nanoha’s superior character designs, but even so, artwork is hardly this manga’s strongest point. Like many manga adaptations of anime series, there isn’t really any flair or personality to the style, which instead relies heavily on simplistic shading and backgrounds and an overuse of screen tone. Characters remain solid and recognisable enough, but even they suffer a bit in distance shots, and overall the general aesthetic is functional and ‘good enough’ rather than particularly noteworthy.

Final Thoughts
Unlike the StrikerS manga, which was confusing and bogged down with endless characters, these few chapters are actually quite a worthy accompaniment to the series whose name they bear. If you’re a Nanoha fanboy, then you’ll no doubt have already read this already, but even if you only mildly enjoyed the first two anime series, this manga may give you an added appreciation for them.

Whilst the new domain picks up steam, what are people looking at over on the old WordPress blog? Naturally, the Uta game FAQs remain popular (you’d think everyone who wanted to would have played the games by now), but Winter Cicada is also getting a lot of views. Does hard yaoi have the staying power over mere HARD GAY?

In other news, my new laptop has arrived; not only is it the laptop of the gods but it’s also one of the few that doesn’t force Vista on you straight out of the box.

Reviewed this week: Aria 24, Iroha 25-6, Bokurano 4, Cazador 6, Ichigo Mashimaro OVA 2, KouSang 5, StrikerS 6, Nodame 16, SaiMono II 6, Seirei 6, Emma II 2-3

…and in manga: Bokurano 42

ANIME

Aria the Natural 24: It’s a rainy day episode of Aria this time around, as our three undines to be hold a study session in Aika’s room, and learn a few unpleasant truths about how generics can become jealous of accomplished named characters. Whilst hardly the most exciting or memorable episode of Aria, this instalment is still as soothing and sweet as it should be, with some nice President Aria moments.

*COMPLETE* Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto 25-6: After many erratic bursts, the subbing of Iroha is finally complete, and we can look back on a series that started out as incomprehensible, before turning compelling and then throwing it all away in a somewhat laughably ridiculous denouement. In these final two episodes, Akidzuki enters the contrived and senseless final boss castle to face Kakunojo and Soutetsu. It is certainly gold in the parody arena, but unintentionally amusing as the finale was, it does bring into question the point of the entire series. Oh well, it was a fun ride, if a far from perfect one.

Bokurano 4: Zearth’s second pilot, Masaru Kodama, is a pragmatic boy- his father is a corporate tycoon, and he has learned from him that life is divided into the chosen ‘haves’ and the unimportant ‘have nots’, whose very lives are unimportant. And when the time comes to step into battle against the latest enemy, this perspective is surely going to colour the way he fights.

At the risk of repeating myself, I have to admit that the pace remained slow in the first half, and it was only in the second half that it truly picked up and became gripping instead of feeling like a slow recap of what I’ve already experienced. Of course, as a reader of the manga the big reveal at the end wasn’t news to me, but knowing what I know now about the true nature of the enemy made certain parts of the episode more poignant than they would have been to the uninitiated. Nonetheless, I may put the anime on hiatus for a while, as it doesn’t bring me anything the manga cannot offer in less time and with more impact.

El Cazador de la Bruja 6: In principle, it should be a welcome change to have an episode that differs from the normal routine, but when it comes to trying a new story, Cazador somehow manages to mess it up even more. In this episode, Nadie runs into Miguel, an ex-boyfriend of sorts who once double-crossed her, and having learned her lesson in the past…she promptly lets herself get tricked by him again. Unfortunately, what the writers have failed to grasp is that in order for such a story to be believable, you have to build up a strong relationship between the people involved, whereas Miguel and Nadie seemed to be barely acquaintances, and I certainly couldn’t swallow that she had deep feelings for such a one-dimensional sleaze ball. In short, it was a disappointingly out of character episode for Nadie, and like Kanon, I probably wouldn’t still be watching this if not for parody.

On a more positive note, however, the animation actually looked a lot better this week, although that may be because I’ve switched to a monitor that isn’t breaking down.

Ichigo Mashimaro OVA 2: It’s time for another round of pointless yet somehow addictive antics with the IM gang, and whilst this episode seemed even more random and slightly less compelling than usual, it was still another dose of inexplicably enjoyable entertainment. I was hoping the salesman segment from manga chapter 31 (my favourite chapter) would feature, but hopefully this will feature in the next OVA episode.

Koutetsu Sangokushi 5: It’s time for another round of Three Kingdoms style cheese in this episode, although at least some of the worst elements like arrows from nowhere and generic purposeless enemies are gone, ensuring that this episode is at least an improvement on its predecessors. Unfortunately, there are still some questionable decisions going on (why does Liu Bei look like a little girl with a pink afro, for example), but the series has at least settled down now, and I’m quite looking forward to seeing what happens next.

*DROPPED* Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS 6: In this laughably pointless episode of Nanoha, the New Characters undergo some more training, Evil Scientist does some vaguely evil things and an infinite array of side characters appears for no real reason. To be fair, it was less excruciatingly dull than some of the earlier episodes, but then again, so is waiting for a bus.

Nodame Cantabile 16: Whilst Chiaki and his orchestra practise an oboe concerto, Nodame’s teacher desperately tries to get her to stop skipping his classes- but can these two conflicting personalities ever get along? Whilst there were a few too many magical changes of heart in this episode, overall it was a solid instalment, and I hope that we’ll see Nodame learn and grow as a pianist from now on.

Saiunkoku Monogatari II 6: It’s conversation heavy episode even by SaiMono standards this week, as Shuurei meets up with Kai You, and Eigetsu visits Hei Taishi to discuss a method of preventing the mysterious illness. It is clear that Eigetsu’s time draws near, and although I have basked in spoilers this past week, there is still more I need to know and see in anime form. In other revelations, it turns out that Doushu was actually a genius doctor, but he gave that up to go and work ‘in the field’, so to speak, whilst Kai You was Eigetsu’s guardian for a time. Kai You has turned out to be something of an amiable ladies’ man- I have to admit I had anticipated him being more cunning and disagreeable, so this was a pleasant surprise.

Seirei no Moribito 6: Seirei continues to draw me in with its lush settings, although luckily it’s still proving that it has the content to back up the visuals. In this episode, Balsa and Chagum begin their flight from the Emperor’s search teams, but with the Eight Evil Men chasing after them, how far can they get? All in all, this another strong instalment that seems to indicate that Seirei will easily be making it into the picks of the season.

Victorian Romance Emma Second Act 2-3: Although it initially sounded unfamiliar, at least some (and perhaps all) of the scenes in episode two proved to be from the manga, as we see Eleanor and the Jones family visit the Crystal Palace, whilst Emma continues to settle into her life at Molders’ House. Even though episode one was hardly bad, this still managed to be several degrees above it; at the point where Emma started crying over William and the life she left behind, I couldn’t help but feel for her in a way much more genuine than the level of emotion most series are able to invoke.

Even so, episode three manages to raise the bar yet again, using some superbly placed music and sound effects (I always notice and love the sound effects in the best series) to really bring the world of Emma to life. In this instalment, Emma and her mistress go to visit a certain ‘Mrs. Trollope’, who also happens to be William’s mother, whilst William himself is finding it hard to get on with his life with the memory of Emma so fresh in his mind. Any lingering doubts I may have had about whether the series would succumb to ‘second season syndrome’ are totally erased in this episode, which perfectly drew me into its world and left me desperate for more- despite having already read the manga. Bokurano, Death Note and the rest take heed- this is how you do an anime adaptation.

MANGA

Bokurano 42: The anime may still be near the beginning, but at the cutting edge of the Bokurano story, Anko’s tale is coming to an end. In this poignant wrap up to the arc, the fight with the enemy is concluded, even as we see the distance between Anko and her father, and how desperately she wanted to close the gap. This is the point I hate, however- the wait for the next chapter, and ultimately for the ending, whatever it will be.

Although I will invoke the wrath of a million fanboys, the first two seasons of Nanoha were not particularly good. Oh, they were enjoyable enough in their own way, and I certainly do not regret watching them, but let’s face it- outside the boundaries of that deadly category known as light entertainment, they could hardly aspire to being picks of the year or all-time classics. Even so, they managed to get right what StrikerS has so far got horribly wrong- but just where did it all fall apart?

In order to answer that, we first need to back to seasons one and two, and see just what appeal they had for anyone who didn’t have an unhealthy interest in watching nine year old girls undergo naked transformations. Even for such viewers, the series was most likely a guilty pleasure- the story was so predictable that it was almost comforting, but the brightly coloured character designs, superb animation (you can save a lot of budget by having all the characters speak telepathically) and delightfully over-the-top battles all contributed to its charm. It didn’t matter that the girls were effectively standing there and letting their weapon AI’s do all the work, or that the better designed enemies would ultimately become friends in the end- it was all good fun, and it was never too demanding on the brain.

Nonetheless, I knew I could live quite happily without any more Nanoha, and so it was that I was largely indifferent to news of a third season- I didn’t really need it, but it would be nice if it invested some time into much needed character development for a cast that was already getting quite extensive. The news that it would be set a decade in the future was also welcome- no longer would the loli level be so insanely high. It would, as jpmeyer put it, surely be “Nanoha: The College Years”.

As always seems to be the case, however, any degree of anticipation of a series only seems to make the end product worse, and so it was that StrikerS was not only worse than predicted, but could be best likened as being to the first two seasons what Mai-Otome was to Mai-HiME. The focus shifted to new characters, the cast expanded immeasurably to include numerous insipid personalities destined to have some 2-3 seconds of airtime, whilst the original characters were shoved to the sideline (although naturally the promise of cameos from them was intended to pull in the viewers). It was still called Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, but it may as well have been Magical Girls and Shota Extensive Ensemble.

Arguably worse than this shift in focus, however, was the pacing of the new series, which seemed to have taken the idea that “slow and steady wins the race but bores the audience along the way” to heart; in the old days, to be a magical girl all you need was a transformation, a mascot and enemies of the week, but now the whole thing is regulated by a Bureau of Magic that imposes all sorts of rules, regulations and power limiters on everyone. Red tape and fun are not known to mix, and indeed this extensive bureaucracy of mages could only ensure that the light entertainment factor totally vanished in a sea of paperwork and shades of dull grey. In these new times, four minutes per episode could be spent ensuring that every single character underwent a transformation sequence, but it would take some thirteen minutes for any fighting to actually occur- and even when it did, it seemed oddly lacking. And as if that wasn’t enough, the once brilliant animation was now clearly being taxed by having to stretch the animation across twenty-six episodes- and when Nanoha stops looking good, you start to notice all the other things that are wrong with it.

Final Thoughts
There is still plenty of time for it to improve, but with so many other spring series I want to follow, Nanoha StrikerS has already been consigned to the drop list. The pain of Mai-Otome will not easily be forgotten, and thus sequel series of this type cannot afford to open with six episodes of bland and forgettable content if they wish to retain their audience.

For months I have been going on about the impending demise of my laptop, and it seems that the poor thing has finally demanded retirement, forcing me to order an expensive but hopefully eminently worthy “laptop of the gods2 that must last at least five years.

What we want to happen to Raki in Claymore
Even though I’m assured Raki’s role will be cut back in the future, I was already inspired by last week’s comments to create a special section detailing how Raki could have already been written out in the first four episodes of Claymore.

Episode One

After Clare defeats the Yoma, Raki is left all alone, with no family.

Raki: Oh no, my brother was a Yoma and now I’ve got no one left! What should I do?

Clare: Sorry I had to kill him, but that’s life, kid.

Clare starts walking away.

Raki: But now I’m all alone! How am I going to support myself?

Clare: Yeah, you might want to think about getting a job.

Clare picks up the pace.

Raki: Hey, wait! You’re supposed to feel responsible and take me with you!

Clare: What was that? I couldn’t quite hear you.

Raki: I thought Claymores had superior abilities.

Clare: Nope, I really can’t hear a thing you’re saying. Well, goodbye.

Clare breaks into a run, leaving Raki well behind. The apparently dead Yoma brother stirs and grabs Raki’s leg.

Yoma: Well, bro, looks like you and I will be having plenty of HARD GAY together.

Raki: NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

Episode Two

Clare is about to kill her fellow Claymore before she turns into a Yoma when Raki runs towards her.

Raki: Wait, you can’t do this! Main characters are supposed to find another way! CLARE!!!!!!!

Not realising that Raki is behind her, Clare swings her sword and decapitates him.

Clare: Hmm, I thought I heard something.

Episodes Three-Four

Raki: Isn’t it great, Clare? In this episode we get to pretend we’re brother and sister.

(Clare: This is so embarrassing.)

After an episode of running around, Clare decides to defy the script and set her own trap for catching the Yoma.

Clare: Okay, Raki, I want you to act as bait.

Raki: This will be safe, won’t it? You’ll protect me, right?

Clare: Yes…yes, of course I’ll protect you.

The Yoma is lured out, but with the help of the two warriors, it is defeated before Raki is harmed.

Raki: I was worried there for a moment, but I knew Clare wouldn’t let anything happen to me.

(Clare: Damn, looks like it’s time to switch to plan B.)

Clare: Oh, by the way, Raki, I’ve arranged with the bishop to have you stay here.

Raki: You what? But I want to go with you!

By the time Raki has finished speaking, Clare has already disappeared over the rooftops. The bishop approaches.

Bishop: Well, it looks like I’ve got someone new to warm my bed tonight.

Fanfiction suggestions for SaiMono
There is much amusement to be had from trawling the depths of Fanfiction.net, but when it comes to SaiMono, it seems that the writers are letting us down- they are far too busy with Reishin X Kouyuu, Shuurei X Ryuuki and the like to bring us what we need- solutions to some of the greatest mysteries of the series. It is for this reason that I have put together suggestions as to what I would like to see in future SaiMono fanfiction.\r\n

• “Shouka: The Mystery of the Closed Eyes”- find out how and why Shouka is able to lead his life without ever opening his eyes.
• “Yuushun and Rin: The Early Years”- the details of their ten year love.
• “Seiran and HORSE: A Guilty Pleasure”- just what is the connection between Seiran and those brown horses?
• “Tales of the Condors”- amusing standalone stories about the young Condors.
• “Kouyuu: A Day Spent Trying to Find the Bathroom”- Kouyuu gets lost in the palace, with disastrous consequences.
• “Ryuuren’s Fashion Tips”- follow Ryuuren as he picks out his rather unique wardrobe.
• “Soujun vs. Wood”- Soujun decides to have a showdown with his greatest rival.

And now, for a taste of my own SaiMono fanfic rip-off: “Seiran slowly unsheathed his blade. “How do you like it, Ryuuki?” he whispered, his hot breath playing over his lover”s ear. “From behind, ani-ue,” was the excited reply.”

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS 5

“Sorry, I’m only interested in women.”

“Two Hand Mode is only for large weapons and extremes of Self Pleasure.”

Fate plans her next conquest.

“Gwakaka, marvel at my futuristic magic CCTV setup!”

SKULLMAN 1

Generic hears of a new type of Pleasure that is taking hold in Tokyo.

“HARD GAY, what’s that?”

“Are you asking for Pleasure?”

Short Parody: Kaleido Star

Sora arrives at the Kaleido stage.

Sora: Sorry I’m late for the audition!

Kalos: Don’t worry about it; since you’re the DESTINED main character I can let you in anyway.

Fool: Hello, Sora- I am here to constantly remind you that you are the destined main character.

Mia/Anna: Just because she’s a main character, she thinks she doesn’t have to work hard like the rest of us.

Layla: I agree. If you can’t do this special manoeuvre that only I have ever mastered, you must leave.

Sora: With training and DESTINY, I will master it!

Mia/Anna: We hated you five minutes ago, but now we realise that the only way to get screen time is to become your friends! Go, Sora- we’re behind you!

Sora pretty much masters the manoeuvre.

Layla: I guess I have to accept that my skill and expertise is nothing compared to DESTINY.

Sponsor Mr Kenneth arrives at Kaleido Stage.

Mr Kenneth: Layla is very skilled, but she isn’t the main character, is she? I think it’s about time you cast Sora as the lead.

Kalos: Well, she’s only been here five minutes, but sure- why not? Things will go wrong at first, of course, but by the end of each episode of trials, it will all work out.

The series passes, and Yuri reveals he has a grudge against Kalos.

Yuri: I’m sick of having no personality, so I’m turning evil and taking over the Kaleido stage!

Kalos: Go on then, take it- since you aren’t DESTINED, it will all go wrong anyway.

Yuri: Now that I am evil, I had better start doing evil things, such as walking around with my shirt off.

After many trials, Sora and Layla practise the Legendary Great Manoeuvre.

Sora: I’m not sure if I can do this.

Layla: Of course you can- DESTINY will see you through. I’ll be able to do it too, but as I am not DESTINED, it will come at a price.

Ken: Come on, Sora, let’s do some intense and unrealistic training.

After the training is complete, the pair do the manoeuvre on stage, and somehow manage to float in the air for a while- proof that DESTINY is stronger than even gravity.

Yuri: All this time, I was evil, but now I see that I was wrong. Let everything go back to the way it was- well, maybe changed a little in preparation for season two.

This Week in Anime

Rigorous HORSE is exhausting and difficult to master, but also rewarding.

Various fruits come together for a conference.

One DOG just isn’t enough anymore.

After a long absence, magatamas are spotted again.

Watermelon makes the first of many appearances in Kono Mini.

Anime Awards

Longest Transformation Sequences of the Week can only go to Nanoha, which has minute upon minute of transformations as every single fighting character gets in on the act.

Largest Final Boss Castle of the Week goes to Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto, as created and controlled by Soutetsu with his immense variety of switches.

Worst Web TV service of the Week must be the one used by Rosenberg in El Cazador de la Bruja, which shows…old episodes of El Cazador de la Bruja.

*NEW* Anime and Game World Tour: .hack
This feature will share a slot with HARD GAY/YURI corner.

Welcome to this brand new tour feature, your essential guide to all those anime, manga and game worlds you may or may not want to visit! This week, we make a visit to the world of .hack, although to be perfectly honest, you won’t want to be spending much time offline there, as it’s a place filled with scary pervert reporters and poorly designed characters. Instead, why not take out a subscription to The World, the planet’s biggest MMORPG. Sure, there’s the almost certain ever so slight possibility that you’ll end up hospitalised and in a coma just from playing the game, but in the meantime you can wander around a number of identical looking fields and dungeons, choose from an extremely limited range of character designs, pay to chat with other people as you would via a free chatroom or instant messenger, and, if you’re lucky, ride a grunty!

Unfortunately, if you go too far into the future, you will have to log onto The World:r2, and while in principle this should be a better and more advanced game, it actually seems to be uglier and more boring, with a whole new sort of grunty that cannot be ridden.

Plushie Review: Bandai .hack plush grunty To the uninitiated, this plush grunty may look like a bizarre and undesirable mutant, but to those who have fallen under the spell of the grunty, his strange shape and colour pales in comparison to his appealing huggability. Although it isn’t as easy to get your hands on one these days, this sturdy and well-made plush is a must for any serious .hack fan, and is the reason the words “grunterrific” and “gruntable” were created[1].

Licensing Reactions

• Pumpkin Scissors (ADV): Another series that only lasted one episode on my viewing schedule, Pumpkin Scissors seems to exist only for parody, and isn’t something I would watch again, let alone buy.
• Red Garden (ADV): Another Gonzo series, I managed to get to the end of this one, but it was an incredibly dull ride, and not one that I would ever subject myself to again.
• Welcome to the NHK (ADV): I managed to watch about ten episodes of this; however, not only was this a lacklustre adaptation, but it even made me question the quality of the original work. Another one to avoid.
• Black Blood Brothers (FUNimation): It really is the dregs of licensing this week, isn’t it? Another series where I barely knew or cared what was going on onscreen, BBB had some nice visuals but little else. Even twelve episodes seemed far too long.
• Simoun (Media Blasters): I can think of a couple of fanboys and girls who will jump at the chance to own this, but for me, the first episode was just too dull and ridiculous. Who can take a series seriously when the protagonists have to initiate special attacks that draw pretty lights in the sky by kissing in mid-air?

Mini-editorial: What can we gain from using labels like shounen and shoujo?
Back in January, I was arguing with Michael Ono on 9rules about the merits of classifying everything as either shounen or shoujo, where my point was that such labelling is hardly useful when it doesn’t cover everything- what about seinen and josei, for example? Anyway, such a debate inspired me to (eventually) create this piece, which was originally intended to be a full editorial until I realised I didn’t have a huge amount to say.

So, to get to the point, what exactly can we get out of broad labels like shounen and shoujo? The obvious answer is that invokes an archetype that most anime fans can identify- shounen is the spiky-haired Destined Hero and assorted sidekicks fighting increasingly stronger enemies, and shoujo is an insipid girl angsting over whether the bishounen of her dreams is her One True Love. Yes, this is a very generalised description, and fans of various series will no doubt be along soon to argue the specifics, but the point is that it helps us understand the content of the series in a concise fashion.

Beyond that use, however, we should perhaps be a little more careful. The first pitfall is in trying to classify every single series under these two headings- how, for example, could one fit Mushishi into this? The other pitfall is in adhering too closely to the idea of who the target audience should be. Isn’t it arrogant to assume that girls will not like Naruto when many, in fact, do watch it? Is Os trying to tell us something more personal when he says he likes shoujo (don’t hit me for this, it’s just an example)? They may be helpful labels for producers looking to target a particular demographic, but for the rest of us, saying “you didn’t like that series because you’re a girl” is more idiotic than insightful.

Ultimately, then, whilst these labels, like many others, can be helpful in establishing general ideas (and of course, in parodying clichés), we must always be wary of relying on such stereotypes to the point where we become unable to function without them.

In Your Reflection

This week we have a head-to-head between Elfen Lied’s Nyu and Chobits’ Chi. Although the tone of their respective series may be very different, both are amnesiacs who come to live with the male lead, and can only say a single word at first (causing them to be named after this word). Each has a darker alternate self and past locked away inside them, with details coming to light as the series progresses.

Fashion Police: Sei

Although the Fashion Police have been receiving reports of urgent fashion disasters in other series, they have decided to remain in Burst Angel world a little longer to finish what they started when they first arrested Jo. This week, Sei is taken in for questioning, for whilst she looked stylish enough in the trousers and jacket, the second they saw what was underneath, they knew they had to do something. Not only is her top fabric-deficient beyond belief, but it somehow manages to defy the very laws of gravity by somehow holding her breasts in despite having no support whatsoever underneath. How is this accomplished? Will they ever fall out? Surely these burning questions are more important than the entire “plot” of Burst Angel.

Fashion sense: C-

Amusing Search Terms

Whatever happened to you toube this week?

hard yaoi: could this become an old favourite in time?

adaptations of a basilisks: maybe you should focus on just the one Basilisk.

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha hentai sex: one more lolicon reveals himself.

fate stay night manga baka: Arguably it is a bit idiotic to waste time on this mediocre manga.

parody of it wasn”t me: It wasn’t me who parodied it.

hard gay .hack: Ah, have you visited my blog before, by any chance?

fanservice manga: I was telling you not to read it

[1] These words may not actually be in common usage, and may have in fact been randomly made up by the writer.

That damned patch worker should die for everything he”s done to us…wait, who is he anyway?

So there I was, with plenty to do on Thursday evening, when I managed to add even more tasks to the list by deciding to move to ikimashou.net. At the same time, I’m also dealing with a new Phantom Brave addiction- will there ever be enough time to get everything done and work on the HiME RPG?

Reviewed this week: Iroha 23-4, Cazador 5, Claymore 6, DtB 5, Koutetsu 4, Nanoha StrikerS 5, Nodame 15, RxJ 4-5, SaiMono II 5, SKULLMAN 1

…and in manga: Chevalier 3, Mai-Otome Arashi 1, Solanin 7, Tsubasa 152

It should come as no surprise that Heroic Age has been officially dropped.

ANIME

Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto 23-4: Iroha draws even closer to its finale with this duet of episodes, which sees the end of the English chess piece team and the fruition of Soutetsu and Enomoto’s evil plans- complete with floating final boss castle. To be honest, by this point in the series, it’s become less about what it actually delivers and more about the hilarious parody interpretation, in which Akidzuki fights for a world of HARD GAY even as Enomoto and Soutetsu try to convert everyone to BI.

El Cazador de la Bruja 5: If there’s one thing that can be said about El Cazador, it’s that it’s amazingly consistent; which, when cast in a more negative light, means that every episode follows the exact same pattern. First, Nadie and Ellis stop off at a building or town that contains generics (who assist them for no other reason than that they are the main character), then some semi-generic bounty hunters come after them and the whole thing culminates in a care chase whilst Ellis uses plot powers and L.A. films it all. Meanwhile, back at the base of evil, Rosenberg enters chat rooms to ask for cybersex, and Blue Eyes gets a line or two of dialogue along the lines of “Gwakaka, Rosenberg, your plans are sure to fail!”. Sadly, it was dull the firs time, and it only gets worse with each subsequent replay- would it be too much to ask that something happened, or that the irritating generics actually died for once?

Claymore 6: Teresa’s story continues in this episode of Claymore, which continues to feature a refreshing lack of Raki, but is somehow not quite as satisfying as last week’s instalment. Teresa is still “1337″, “awesome” and “w1n”, but the bandit situation in the face of the “Claymores can’t kill humans” rule seems overly contrived. I can understood the Claymore organisation not wanting these powerful women abusing their powers against normal humans, but surely there must be provisos that allow them to defend themselves against the various bad guys out there, or at least some sort of “court martial” if their powers are used against humans, to decide whether it was justified or not?

Darker than Black 5: Even when I’m watching it right before bed and partially falling asleep in the process, Darker than Black still proves to be a worthy experience. The opening episode of the latest two part arc slips in some not so subtle references to Alias and Lost as it focuses on Havoc, a “Lost” contractor who can no longer use her once deadly powers. As always, the series skilfully blends action and exposition, and it soon becomes clear that Havoc is the key to understanding a good portion of the workings of the DtB world, as well as providing some insight into Li/Hei’s character.

Koutetsu Sangokushi 4: Although I would like to one day see an ROTK related series that is actually good, Koutetsu Sangokushi seems to prove that all they are good for is unintentional hilarity. This episode sees a boss battle of sorts between the Wu generals and the evil not-quite-generics who murdered Sun Ce in episode one, with even “I want to be a civil servant” Lu Meng and “I don’t want to be on the front lines” Zhuge Jin getting in on the action. If there’s one thing that can be said for it, it’s that this series is consistent parody white gold.

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS 5: Nanoha, how long can I continue to watch your dullness before admitting that challenging you to do your worst in the spring preview was not the nest of ideas? Even though the end of last episode saw our heroines about to attack the enemy, it takes thirteen minutes and no fewer than six transformation scenes (five naked, nipple-less girls and one clothed shota) before the fight actually begins, and by the time it does, it’s hard to actually care about the New Characters and their Engrish speaking weapons. Even the Evil Scientist revealed at the end of the episode is depressingly generic, although his magic CCTV set up puts many of his contemporaries to shame.

Nodame Cantabile 15: Although it make a slow start, Nodame 15 soon kicks into gear when Chiaki and Nodame return to college- but whilst Chiaki is busy organising The Strongest Orchestra, Nodame runs into difficulties when she is assigned a new instructor. With this episode, we finally get a glimpse into Nodame’s past, and, brief as it is, it quickly becomes clear that the relentless ambition of her father(?) is most likely what turned her away from studying music seriously.

Romeo X Juliet 4-5: The course of true love never runs smooth, especially when you’re hopelessly enamoured with your flying horse- a fact that Romeo and Juliet soon discover in episode four. As before the series remains solidly entertaining, not to mention drenched in stunningly beautiful architecture and odd blushes whenever our lead couple gets anywhere near the horse; amusing as this is, however, the plot takes a more serious turn in episode five, as the generic Montague soldiers of evil menace evil citizens in an attempt to track down the Red Whirlwind. It’s actually rather enjoyable in its own way, although it would be even more so if the irritating Conrad didn’t exist.

Saiunkoku Monogatari II 5: Before I discuss the episode itself, I should say that everyone who is hungry for SaiMono details should try either usagijen’s superlative season two summaries, the SaiMono LJ community or these novel summaries. Anyway, getting back to this episode, Hyou Riou has finally stepped forward into the plot, with a confrontation with Shouka that stretches back to the past, when Shouka took Riou’s “bara-hime” (Shuurei’s mother) from him. Meanwhile, after thinking it through, Kouyuu is finally able to put aside his stress about being told to marry Shuurei by not letting himself be rushed into a decision, and Eigetsu and Kourin finally admit their feelings for each- right before Eigetsu leaves to do something meaningful with his last days. It seems that Yougetsu was once a separate person who went into Eigetsu’s body to save his life, whilst apparently Doushu had half of Eigetsu’s soul- I’m not sure how this latter works or fits in with everything else, but it seems that Doushu’s death is an indication that Eigetsu’s time is near. I hope that there’s a way for him to live on, since whilst he isn’t my favourite character, that’s no reason to want him to die, especially just as he’s making some progress with both his career and his love life.

“I am too bishie for most people to endure.”

*NEW/DROPPED* SKULLMAN 1: Have I mentioned before that Skullman has a skull for a head? It’s just that I’m not entirely sure that everyone is clear on that point yet, or how having a character with a skull for a head must immediately make a series dark and gritty. Unfortunately, where I was hoping that this series would therefore either be laughably cheesy or actually good, it turned out to be largely boring, following the unremarkable exploits of a flat-capped reporter as he tries to ferret out the truth behind Skullman. Accompanying him is a girl who has similarly poor taste in headwear, although unfortunately I’m not quite clear on whether she’s his little sister or just some unknown who tagged along to be the token female. Whatever the case, these two hardly make for fascinating viewing, with the only good part of the episode being Skullman’s appearance at the end (he spends most of the episode off polishing his skull). Even then, I cannot really hold out much hope for it, since it seems he’s meant to be a sadistic mutant who got burned to death in the original rather than the tortured yet honourable anti-hero I was hoping for.

Seirei no Moribito 5: It says a lot about the ambient quality of Seirei that I can sit and watch what is effectively a half-exposition, half-setup episode and enjoy it more than the best instalments of the average anime. In this episode, shaman Torogai gives us some detail on the exact nature of the water spirit living in Chagum, whilst Balsa is forced to plan her next few moves when the Emperor organises a large scale manhunt for the woman who supposedly burnt down the Second Palace- it may be straightforward, but it’s also strangely addictive.

MANGA

Chevalier 3: When a formerly illiterate baker magically gains the ability to read and write, it is clear that something is amiss, and so it is that d’Eon is sent to investigate what seems to be the emergence of a new Poet. Unlike the lacklustre opening, this chapter is actually quite worthy, and whilst it is clear that the manga will never grab me in the way the anime did, I’m more enthused about reading it now.

*CATCH-UP* Elfen Lied 1-75: At long last, I’ve made the effort to get up to date with the translations of the Elfen Lied manga, although disappointingly it doesn’t hold the same appeal as the anime did for me- for where the anime used superior presentation to override my basic dislike of gratuitous violence and fanservice, the manga just drenches the whole thing in unpleasant bodily fluids. The only consolation is that by volume 8, we have finally gone beyond the anime, and so I remain interested to see where the manga version of the story will go from here.

*NEW* Mai-Otome Arashi 1: No matter how much I struggle, I can never be truly free of the monster that is Mai-Otome, and so it is that my long absence from its manga incarnation has come to an end with the first chapter of this sequel to the original manga. With evil Sergey long gone, Manshiro is enjoying a life of being pressed against his harem’s breasts at Garderobe, when Nagi’s previously unmentioned younger brother Arashi shows up to demand that he and “Queen Mashiro” get married- thus setting the stage for a whole new adventure packed with nudity and over the top fanservice that makes most other series look tame.

Solanin 7: After many months, we finally get a new chapter of Solanin, and it’s crunch time for our lead as she realises her dwindling finances mean she will have to make a decision about her life soon- but did she quit in the first place just to see how it would affect her relationship with her boyfriend? Although the last couple of chapters took a bit of an unexpected detour into the lives of side characters, the story is now back on track and as strong as ever, although I’ve suddenly come to notice how ugly the character designs can look at times.

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle 152: Just as Fye is about to give up the sight in his remaining eye, the power of friendship kicks in, and Syaoran-real, Kurogane and Mokona all agree to come along with him and pay a quarter of the price as they head to Celes to recover Sakura’s body. In the meantime, the long absent Fei Wong stops watching Sky Movies to pay attention to his magic CCTV, in which he notes that the original course of events was to have Fye stab Syaoran-real, and that when Fye gets back to Celes, he will find himself bound by another curse (the first one having apparently been broken). I still don’t know where the story is going, but let’s hope it gets there soon- although it must be said that I’m hopeful this arc will be better than the last three.

Gundam Pizza Hut
Many of you must have wondered where the Gundam franchise would go next, or how it could possible top the masterpiece of angst, pointless characters, flashbacks and long stretches of boredom that is commonly referred to as Gundam Seed Destiny. Fortunately, Tuesday Rumble can exclusively reveal the next title in the long-running Gundam franchise- Gundam Pizza Hut!

In a universe where numerous factions on Earth and in orbiting space colonies are in constant conflict for no good reason, delivering pizzas can be a dangerous task. After numerous pizza-carrying Zakus are destroyed, Pizza Hut designs five new mobile suits- Gundams- designed to safely deliver pizzas to all corners of the solar system. When four of the Gundams are stolen by rival pizza restaurant Domino’s Pizza, however, an epic battle begins. Can KirAthruShinn, pilot of the Cheese and Tomato Gundam, outwit the Domino pilots of the stolen Hawaiian, Olive, Pepperoni and Stuffed Crust Gundams and ensure that hungry customers get piping hot Pizza Hut? Find out on Gundam Pizza Hut!

KyoAni presents Toilet Cleaners, or A Guide to Hype
When KyoAni announces that they will be producing a new anime about the working lives of toilet cleaners, the fanboys go wild. Let’s chart their reactions.

1. At first, there is general upset- a season spent on Toilet Cleaners is one less season for Haruhi, FMP and the latest Key adaptation.

2. Nonetheless, the discord soon passes- after all, this is KyoAni, and so Toilet Cleaners is bound to be great.

3. Numerous blog posts based around promotional artwork, CMs and general anticipation of Toilet Cleaners start to infest the BlogWorld. Some people start reading the Toilet Cleaners manga in order to be prepared for the anime, whilst Hung gets upset that this will stop a.f.k. from subbing more Animal Yokocho.

4. By the time Toilet Cleaners is ready to air, the anticipation is at fever pitch. Every fanboy is thoroughly excited about this exciting anime that will expose the heretofore unseen lives of the humble toilet cleaners.

5. Episode one airs, and even those who do not know a word of Japanese rush to download the raw. Up to twenty five minutes are then spent watching it.

6. When it comes to viewers’ attention that an anime about cleaning toilets cannot be anything other than utter crap, a complete backlash occurs. In short order, everyone is posting about how awful Toilet Cleaners is and how the hype has led to disappointment.

7. Within the next week or so, a subbed version appears, episode two airs, and more people pick up the series. It now become popular to buck the trend of hating Toilet Cleaners and post about how it really isn’t that bad, and is in fact quite entertaining in places.

8. By the time the fourth episode has aired, hardly anyone cares anymore…unless of course the series does something high profile like changing director.

Reideen Pick and Mix

“I’ve finally worked out how to beat Solitaire!”

“Are you saying you want to have HORSE?”

“How many times do I have to turn you down before you’ll realise I don’t want to go out with you!?”

“But you’re the only one who can arouse me!”

“Don’t even bother to try that old line- I’m just not interested.”

New Wang’s headquarters are spotted.

“I think that will result in a better HARD GAY experience overall.”

Random Thoughts: Nanoha

This week we catch Nanoha on set during the filming of the latest episode of StrikerS! We know you’ve all been dying to hear her thoughts on this new series, so listen carefully!

So, Nanoha, you were only nine years old when you first starred in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha. Was it difficult being a child star, especially one that so many lolicons were ogling over?
Well, although not many people know this, I’d actually already played a sixth-grader in Triangle Heart, and it was from there that I got the job for Nanoha. It was a bit strange to go back to playing a third grader, and to be honest, I always wondered why more people didn’t question the fact that it was left to a bunch of nine year olds to save the world. As for the whole lolicon issue, I honestly had no idea that kind of thing was associated with our series- I thought they were watching it because of my acting skills.

How do you answer accusations that Raising Heart is the one that does all the work in battle whilst you just stand there?
Raising Heart: That is correct- Nanoha is useless-

Nanoha: Shut up! Next question, please.

Well then, moving on to StrikerS, did you expect to be sidelined for a whole bunch of new characters that, quite frankly, no one cares about?
I guess there’s no point hiding it anymore- that tight-fisted studio weren’t willing to pay us recurring characters the fee we deserve, and we ended up in court arguing over it. Since they couldn’t exactly make the show without us with a huge backlash, we eventually came to a agreement that we would accept the lower wage but work in fewer scenes. We honestly thought that the studio would realise their folly and eventually agree to pay us more, but those skinflints just brought in a bunch of cheap to hire newcomers- can you believe it?

Could you also explain the logic between using a limiter to downgrade your impressive power?
That’s obvious, isn’t it? This series has to last twenty-six episodes, so they can’t just have us blowing away the enemy right at the beginning. Instead, we have to act like weaklings and wait for those damned newcomers to level up.

And finally, are you allowed to drop any hints as to what we can expect to see in future episodes of StrikerS?
I have to keep the specifics strictly confidential, but you can expect a lot of transformation sequences and fights against generic enemies.

This Week in Anime

Onions, potatoes and carrots decide to undergo essential bonding by going on a camping trip together.

Kenichi finds himself at the mercy of an apple infection.

The cure is swift but dangerous.

…and re-infection is always a problem.

Anime Awards

Most enjoyable flashback of the week goes to Claymore, which seems to have improved with the advent of its flashback arc.

Most forgettable OVA of the week has already been forgotten, but is a prize that deserves to be shared between Sakura Taisen New York and Murder Princess.

Widest angle scene of the week appears in Heroic Age, which gives widescreen a new meaning with its needlessly wide angled battle scenes.

HARD GAY corner: Gundam Seed
Kira and Athrun were HARD GAY partners from childhood, but a cruel fate saw them separated and forced to fight on opposing sides. Although Athrun had new lovers in the form of Yzak, Nicol and Dearka, he longed for Kira’s skilled embrace, whilst Kira’s Coordinator skills made all his Natural lovers seem unskilled- only Mu La Flaga could even come close to satisfying him.

After numerous experiments with passing lovers, and even brief dabbling in the world of STRAIGHT, Kira and Athrun were eventually able to reconcile with each other and experience a new form of HARD GAY known as ‘SEED’, but little did they know that their idyllic days were numbered.

To be continued in HARD GAY Corner: Gundam Seed Destiny.

OST spotlight: Phantom Brave
As the bonus disc that comes with the Phantom Brave game, this short CD isn’t one I would have bought on its own was it not provided. That’s not to say it is bad; in fact, the melodic orchestral blend of lilting themes often reaches quite a high standard for game music- it may not be able to challenge the greats, but it is still worthy on its own merit at times. Unfortunately, it isn’t really consistent, with some of the slower vocal ballads feeling more dull and interminable than engaging.

Notable tracks: Thinking of You, Grand Melody, Game Braker, Strange Wind, Sorrow

Licensing Reactions

• Saiunkoku Monogatari (Geneon): This isn’t unexpected since Geneon already acquired a SaiMono domain name, but now it is finally official, and whilst I love the series and want it in DVD, 39 episodes across singles will a bit too much of a strain on the budget, forcing me to wait for a boxset.

Mini-editorial: How similar should the anime and manga be?
I’ve talked about anime adaptations that have been better or worse than their original manga, but when it comes down to it, how similar should the two be? As we all know, changing the story in order to better suit the pacing of a twenty-five episode, adding in filler or changing the ending because the manga is unfinished are hardly uncommon, and yet they are also often cause for vocal complaints as a solid original story gets turned into something inferior. Then again, if the anime follows the manga exactly, no only does one become disinclined to experience the exact same story over again, but a certain amount of impatience and boredom creeps in due to knowing exactly what will come next.

Slice of life series such as Aria, Mushishi and Honey and Clover seem to be at their best when they echo the manga exactly, without ever feeling dull- and for some reason, it was the same with the faithful Hikaru no Go. Other faithful series such as the exposition-heavy Death Note, however, just feel surplus to requirements for anyone who is already familiar with the manga. On the flip side of the coin, the changes made to series such as Chobits only end up making the anime feel slower paced and more painful, perhaps because the original material is not that strong to begin with. Perhaps ultimately, this is a situation that needs to be taken on a series by series (or at least genre by genre) case, with consideration towards what works in each medium, and of course the quality of the core story.

Harem of the week: Keitaro Urashima- Love Hina
The luckless loser destined never to get into Tokyo University, Keitaro was a handed a harem of sorts by becoming manager of the Hinata Apartments, an all-female dormitory.

Harem

Naru Narusegawa: The main girl, and tsundere locked in a perpetual cycle of softening towards Keitaro and then beating up when he makes yet another unintentional faux pas.

Mitsune Konno (Kitsune): The laid back and forward older woman (in terms of attitude rather than age), has a fondness for drinking and causing trouble for others.

Kaolla Su: The eccentric inventor loli, can transform into an adult form under certain circumstances.

Shinobu: The quiet loli, shyly adores Keitaro.

Motoko Aoyama: The tough girl, a kendo expert scared to reveal a softer side.

Mutsumi: The sick girl, a childhood friend and love rival.

Sarah McDougal: Another loli, this one the aggressive and unruly type.

Rivals

Professor Noriyasu Seta: The object of Naru’s crush, and when she later turns to Keitaro, Kitsune reveals her feelings for him.

Lamba Lu: Cousin of Su, she seems to have feelings for him before giving him up to her sister Amalla.

Kentaro Sakata: An early rival for Naru’s affections until he becomes too minor to be a threat.

Fashion Police: Meg
The second entrant in our Burst Angel month of fashion diasasters, Meg illustrates what Selphie initially taught us- there are certain shades of yellow that should not be used extensively in clothing. Where Selphie wore a rag, however, Meg does at least cover herself up a bit, although much of the upper body and thighs are left exposed, with only the hideous yellow chaps attempting to compensate for a skirt so short that her panties are inevitably exposed. And above all else- why don’t her breasts pop out of the laughably small bit of fabric that is holding them in?

Fashion sense: F

Amusing Search Terms

Old favourites: busou renkin hentai, pr0n toube, you toube

romance of the three kingdoms III winxp: Not here, I’m afraid.

Ginga Densetsu Weed Theme Downloads: people actually want this as a computer theme?

rotk rpg: Can’t find ROTK III? Make your own RPG instead.

autumn flame grass: what is this?

“love slave” baka updates: Maybe try Baka Updates instead of Azure Flame?

rpg maker xp stargate: Stargate the RPG, coming soon to a galaxy near you.

May has arrived, and that can only mean that the time for pruning many of the series picked up in April is at hand. In the meantime, visit this thread to learn about the world’s most hilariously awful book.

Reviewed this week: Bokurano 3, Cazador 4, Chevalier 22-4, Claymore 5, Darker than Black 4, Heroic Age 5, Nanoha StrikerS 4, Murder Princess 2, Nodame 14, ROTK 44, SaiMono II 4, Seirei no Moribito 2-4, Sisters of Wellber 1

…and in manga: Nothing this week!

ANIME

Bokurano 3: Just as I feared, Bokurano is beginning to feel slow-paced compared to the manga (although truthfully I have to reread the earlier chapters to refresh my memory), and so whilst there is nothing really wrong with this episode, it just couldn’t grab my attention as much as I would like. The episode deals with the aftermath of the first battle in Zearth and Waku’s subsequent death, and as with Death Note I can feel myself thinking “well, it’s a bit slow now, but the next arc will surely be good”. Yes, it’s the same old reaction, but will it be the same outcome of dropping the series partway through?

El Cazador de la Bruja 4: Every episode I hold out hope that the irritating cross-dressers will not return, and each time they dash my hopes by showing up once more for no better reason than that Bee Train doesn’t seem to have come up with any better minor antagonists. This week, Nadie and Ellis take shelter from the cross-dressing bounty hunters in a convent, whilst Rosenberg acts evil and Blue Eyes provides more exposition scenes than are healthy for a single episode. I suppose the best thing that can be said about it is that the episode is more tolerable than the first three, but it still isn’t great.

*COMPLETE* Le Chevalier d’Eon 22-4: I’d already watched these three episodes in raw, but the chance to pick up on any little scraps of information I missed first time around could hardly be ignored as one of my favourite series of recent times officially draws to a close. It may have been far from perfect, and it certainly teetered on the edge of cheese more than once, but at the same time Chevalier was a compelling and addictive experience, weaving a tale of dark mysteries set in an appealing historical setting. Now, if only there could have been more arcs…

Claymore 5: As I’d hoped, Claymore takes a turn for the better as we finally begin the patented Flashback Mode arc, in which we learn how a Claymore named Teresa once found herself reluctantly taking a girl named Clare under her protection. If I was ever to break out words like “1337”, “w1n” and “awesome”, it would surely have to be for Teresa, for whilst she is hardly the most appealing or complex of characters ever to grace an anime, her cool personality and prowess in battle wins her many points for sheer style.

Darker than Black 4: Darker than Black continues to rank highly as the second two-part story draws to a close, in which we learn that Mai is a Contractor ‘in moratorium’ (a state in which the Contractor does not have to fulfil their contract, but cannot control their power), a condition that is a result of her father’s research into suppressing a Contractor’s powers. Once again, the story is an absorbing mix that perfectly blends action and exposition, whilst protagonist Li/Hei seems ever more like Seishirou as he switches between friendly ‘student’ and calculating Contractor.

Heroic Age 5: There’s only so long something can remain inoffensive before it becomes downright boring, and it seems that Heroic Age has finally reached that point. Whilst Age (now oddly endowed with girly eyelashes) fights another Nodos, the Argonaut is kept occupied with a space insect attack and the declining animation proves that the budget is being spent on Age’s transformation sequence. I don’t even know if I’ll watch next week’s episode, but I’ll leave the option open for now.

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS 4: If ever proof was needed that Nanoha is not a series that should be given 26 episodes for a season, then it was this episode, in which it takes no less than twenty minutes just to give the new characters their weapons (I hear that next episode is all about transformation scenes). Why are we subjected to these pointless new characters? This was supposed to be about Nanoha all grown up, not Nanoha all grown up and taking new underage lovers.

In other news, hilariously Nanoha, Fate, Hayate, Vita and Signum all have limiters on their power to stop them owning the enemy too quickly (the excuse being that so many high level mages wouldn’t be allowed in the same unit otherwise), whilst the new characters have special limiters that give them a smooth levelling up curve. Why not just define a nice levelling up curve in RPG Maker and be done with it?

*DROPPED* Murder Princess 2: You know how it is with OVAs- you tell yourself that since the episodes will be released more slowly than a TV series, you’ll be able to handle even a mediocre series by virtue of watching it slowly. Unfortunately, this is simply not always enough to erase the waste of time that some OVAs end up being, and whilst Murder Princess isn’t wholly awful, I just don’t fancy devoting another two hours of my life to watching the last four episodes.

In this instalment, we are subjected to some twenty or so minutes of dull non-events as Faris takes the place of Alita and prepares for her coronation, whilst the real Alita adopts the role of her maid Milano. Only at the very end are we given some action, and whilst it may be good when compared to the rest of the episode and Bee Train’s usual standard of action scenes, it cannot be said to be more than mediocre in the general scheme of things (and it is rather disheartening to see Doctor Dull and his two loli-robots back again). The only good point about this episode is that Faris actually respects and listens to Alita- based on the first episode I expected her to just do whatever she liked and force poor Alita to desperately make herself heard.

Nodame Cantabile 14: Graduation is over, but Chiaki’s troubles are only just beginning when his uncle calls him back to the family home- once a place of music and enjoyment, but now pervaded by a tense and stale atmosphere. Whilst not an episode that is particularly imbued with the things I like best about Nodame, nor does it contain any of the elements I tend to complain about, resulting in a solid if not outstanding effort.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms 44: It’s just as well that ROTK is coming to an end soon, because now it’s beginning to drag. With only three episodes left, it hardly seems as if the Chi Bi arc can be done justice, although expecting a series where Liu Bei is good and Zhou Yu has a twitching eye to do anything justice may be pushing it a little. Let’s just get it over with and learn a valuable lesson- no more watching this sort of retro cheese.

Saiunkoku Monogatari II 4: This week on SaiMono, oranges take on a heretofore unseen plot importance, whilst Kurou gets more lines than ever before and Reishin continues to skulk around in the background. Although solid, this wasn’t my favourite episode of the season so far, although it was entirely worth it for Hyou Riou’s first meeting with Shuurei at the end- he was immediately compelling and terrifying in equal measure.

On another note, I’d also like to see Reishin finally reveal himself to Shuurei since his skulking is getting a bit old now, although at the same time that would be an additional plot thread to deal with when there’s already plenty going on right now.

Seirei no Moribito 2-4: From its solid beginnings, SnM has turned out to be one of the strongest picks of the season, weaving an interesting story into its beautiful setting. From the hints of magic, mystery and intrigue, to action scenes so well-executed that they set a new standard for animated action, SnM has proven to be far more than it first appeared, and I’m all too eager to be taken along for the ride.

In related news, the SnM parodies will be on hiatus, since I feel there are other series in more urgent need of immediate parody attention.

*NEW* Wellber no Monogatari ~Sisters of Wellber 1: Although I wasn’t particularly planning to watch this, I ended up thinking ‘what the hell’ and trying it anyway, although I can sense that my relationship with the series may not be a long one. It’s not that the series is particularly bad, just that I already cannot bring myself to care much about what’s happening on screen as our fugitive princess and female thief set off on their journey.

There still seems to be too much anime to keep on top of, with only dull and infrequently released OVAs thus far being worth the chop. Still, I must try to keep on top of it, for matters will only get worse if I get horribly behind.

Reviewed this week: Bokurano 2, Cazador 3, Chevalier 21, Claymore 4, Darker than Black 3, Heroic Age 4, Koutetsu Sangokushi 2-3, Nanoha StrikerS 3, MariMite OVA 3, Nodame 11-13, Romeo X Juliet 3, SaiMono II 3, Sakura Taisen NY 2, Emma II 1

…and in manga: Bokurano 41, Cazador 1, Meine Liebe omake, REC 29, SaiMono 6, Tennai 25, Tsubasa 151 (I successfully resisted the urge to download School Rumble)

Since I’m lazy when it comes to text parody, Seirei no Moribito 2-3 will appear next week.

ANIME

Bokurano 2: One problem with watching any anime adaptation of a well-loved manga is the inevitable impatience, you want it to get to the ‘good stuff’ now, but the ‘good stuff’ always seems to be the next arc. This is just a general comment, but it should be noted that it may affect my impressions of the Bokurano anime in the future.

Getting back to this episode, I’m still torn between wanting to enjoy it and being scared to be too optimistic, with this instalment offering evidence for both sides. The first half seems a little slow paced, and Dung Beetle’s voice isn’t what I imagined it would be (although I can and will adapt to his actual voice), but once the action kicks in and the children fight their first proper opponent, the lure of the original manga becomes evident- and this is only the least developed character’s turn at the robot. Hopefully pacing issues won’t mar my future enjoyment of the series.

El Cazador de la Bruja 3: Cazador continues onwards in its own spectacularly dull way in this episode, which sees Nadie and Ellis stop off at an abandoned house during a rainstorm, with bounty hunters and the mysterious L.A. on their tail all the while. Much like Roots, this series seems to be more about promising that something will happen in the future than ensuring that it happens in the present, and so my interest remains low.

Le Chevalier d’Eon 21: When Teillagory reveals his true allegiance and supervises the capture of d’Eon for Orleans, it is left to Robin to rescue him, but with almost everyone now following their own secret agenda, his task will be far from easy. Despite some inconsistencies in the goals of the various antagonists, this is a solid enough episode which delivers on the action whilst setting up various threads for the finale.

Claymore 4: After leaving Claire in critical condition, the Yoma decides to withdraw until later in the episode, allowing our lead to scan everyone in the cathedral in case the Yoma is within them (why wasn’t this done in the first place?). Naturally, the beast shows up later on and battle begins, resulting in an episode that felt more contrived than it was interesting- although next time Claire’s back story arc begins, which will hopefully see an upsurge in quality. I’m starting to think about parodying Claymore- feedback on this decision would be appreciated (as in “yeah, do it” or “don’t bother, it won’t be funny”).

Darker than Black 3: Darker than Black turns in another compelling instalment in this episode, which starts a new two-part story which sees Li encounter a girl and her estranged father. Of course, there is much more to it than that, and in short order we are drawn back into the world of Contractors, mysterious powers and darker than black talking cats. Apart from SaiMono, which resides in a class of its own, this must surely be the best entry of the season.

In DtB, as in life, cats are in charge.

Heroic Age 4: As Heroic Age continues on its own inoffensive way, I don’t really care much about wherever the story is going (although I am glad to see Age wearing actual clothes even if his shirt remains open), and so apart from the emergence of some potential generals of evil, there isn’t much to say about this episode. In the future, I may look back and wonder why I wasted my time with this, but as with last week it remains watchable for now.

Koutetsu Sangokushi 2-3: Our hero of destiny Lu Xun is back for two more episodes, starting with an instalment that somehow manages to combine the monotonously dull with the utterly ridiculous. If we’re not stuck in a tedious conversation scene about minor plot trivialities, then we’re watching Lu Xun somehow magically fly through the air setting fire to thousands of physically improbable arrows. Meanwhile, episode three follows plot conventions by having the named characters undergo a trial of strength against Taishi Ci before being allowed to join the Wu army, whilst the duty of forwarding the plot is left to Zhuge Liang. Many of my early hopes for the series have already been dashed, but thanks to its parody potential it must continue to be watched.

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS 3: Although it still can’t be said to be particularly worthy, the third episode of StrikerS is at least free of the complete and utter monotony that permeated its predecessor. This time around, we have a fairly standard instalment that sees the dull and pointless new characters begin their training whilst the more interesting returning personalities are sidelined yet again. The action is at least more like what I want from Nanoha, although the animation has taken an unwelcome downturn, and I’m annoyed that the characters I actually like are clearly never going to get the development they need.

Maria-sama ga Miteru OVA 3: Ah, another fifty minutes of blatant HARD YURI (it may have been implied in the TV series, but no longer) – who could resist? I have to say that whatever attracted me to the TV series is long gone by now, with this episode split between Yumi getting followed by an obsessive first year who thinks men are more dangerous than lesbian stalkers and a visit to the terrifyingly bizarre Hanadera Boys’ School culture festival. In fact, aside from some unintentionally hilarious moments such as Sachiko running towards Yumi in a panda suit, this is all about as subtle and enjoyable as getting hit with a sledgehammer.

Nodame Cantabile 11-13: Since I didn’t realise that episode 11 was out until the amusingly named “HARD GAY fansubs” released episodes 12-13, it’s been a Nodame triple bill this week, which perfectly illustrates both the strengths and weaknesses of the series. Starting with Chiaki’s performance in the school festival concerto and Stresemann’s subsequent departure, Nodame turns in a rollercoaster ride of both good and bad moments, much like the rest of the series so far. There are times when I’m utterly captivated by the flashes of brilliance in the character insights and development, but unfortunately there are also moments when an irritating supporting character or an over the top piece of attempted humour will just ruin the mood. I’m also oddly distracted by the CG hands seen when Nodame and Chiaki play the piano- there’s just something fundamentally wrong about them.

Romeo X Juliet 3: RxJ shows previously untapped parody potential this week, as Romeo tries to get some quiet HORSE above the city, only to be interrupted by everything from his father crushing grapes to Juliet appearing in various guises. The series still remains entertaining, but now more than ever it seems to be begging to be put on the parody backburner.

Saiunkoku Monogatari II 3: Whilst Shuurei awaits the arrival of governor Kai You (and getting exasperated with Ryuuren in the mean time), back in Sa Province, Eigetsu is having difficulties of his own- there’s a mysterious cult who counts Lin Senya amongst its members (probably the real one rather than Sakujun), a plague, and if Yougetsu is to be believed, Eigetsu’s own time is short. As always, SaiMono delivers an episode that proves to be absorbing even when I barely know what is going on, although this week I have wonder how someone with a wanderlust as strong as Ryuuren’s can ever be expected to be a stable clan leader. Hyou Riou’s actions must also be closely observed- could he even be responsible for the snow fox that seems to be spreading the plague?

*DROPPED* Sakura Taisen New York 2: Even with franchise completion nipping at my heels, I couldn’t make it past the halfway mark with this episode, which throws the light entertainment of ST out of the window in favour of throwaway harem style fun with hideously insipid characters. Let us never speak of this dire OVA again.

No, Gemini, men can’t get pregnant outside of parody and Star Trek Enterprise.

*NEW* Victorian Romance Emma Second Act 1: Finally, what all Emma fans have been waiting for is here- a continuation of this excellent series in anime form. At the end of season one, Kelly’s death saw Emma take the train back to her hometown in an attempt to leave William and their impossible romance behind forever; now, a month has passed and she has found employment as a maid for the Molders family. Oddly enough, although this season has up to five volumes of manga material to cover (the first season managed only two), it chooses to begin with a filler episode about the ladies’ maid of the house stealing items in order to keep her boyfriend interested in her- only to pin the blame on new girl Emma when she is in danger of being caught. Although it didn’t seem quite up to Emma’s usual incredibly high standards, this was still an enjoyable episode, and a solid start to the new season.

MANGA

Bokurano 41: The cameras are rolling on Zearth’s latest battle, but Anko finds it hard to put on a good show against this enemy- not only do they have the ability to fire acid filled darts, but the lasers just aren’t responding. When it proves to be all Anko can do just to defend against her opponent’s attacks, it seems as if Zearth’s hopes of winning this battle are slim indeed. As always, Bokurano delivers another gripping chapter that makes me want to have the rest of the series here with me right now.

*NEW* El Cazador 1: I don’t know how diligently I’ll follow this manga, but it must be said that only for a Bee Train series can static black and white images have more action and movement than the animated version. A compressed version of episode one, this chapter features all the blood, action and fanservice that the anime couldn’t show (Nadie even gets naked at one point), whilst taking significantly less than twenty-five minutes to get through.

Meine Liebe vol 2 extra: Concluding the second volume of Meine Liebe is this extra chapter which sees Orphe take Erika out for the day whilst the other bishies prepare a birthday surprise. Somehow, Erika fails to realise that it is for her own birthday, and assumes the surprise is for Orphe, and although it all works out in the end, I do have to question her intelligence after that. Also, since I selfishly want this manga to be finished, I must point out that Kagami need scans and a new translator in order to continue this project.

REC 29: Matsumaru has a new Nekoki picture book to show Aka, but when he gets caught short on the train and there’s no toilet paper available, he is forced to rip out the last page in order to use instead (I’m not joking here). Naturally, Aka finds the torn up picture book in the park the next day and starts reading it to a conveniently placed crying child, but what will she do when she gets to the ending? I guess you have to give the mangaka points for coming up with a storyline that you don’t see every day, but seriously, is this series ever going to swap the lowbrow and near-hentai moments for some actual story development?

Saiunkoku Monogatari 6: It feels somewhat odd to go back to the very first arc of the series at this stage, but even so, who cannot help but love SaiMono just as much the second time around? This chapter sees Seiran confront Sa Taiho whilst Ryuuki heads off to rescue Shuurei, with the only real complaint being that the artwork seems a little rushed in places.

Tenshi Nanka Janai 25: In the world of shoujo, what happens after you break up with your One True Love and try to go out with your Childhood Friend? Naturally, even though Childhood Friend is devoted to you and completely devoid of the troublesome secrets and emotional baggage that One True Love carries around, you just can’t develop feelings for him, and so it is that in this chapter, Midori breaks up with Ken shortly after developing a bad reputation at school for two-timing Akira. As before, it’s all standard stuff, but it’s still enjoyable in an easy on the brain fashion.

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle 151: Thought Tsubasa was pointlessly convoluted enough already? Welcome to chapter 151, in which the group learns that Sakura went into the dream to find feathers in order to avoid collecting the ones in Fye’s home world Celes, and that Syaoran-clone will be joining her to assist in the search. Meanwhile, Fye decides to offer Yuuko the sight in his right eye in exchange for being sent back to the very world he spent 151 chapters running away from, effectively rendering him blind until his left eye is recovered. Poor Fye, he’s now a blind cursed vampire…can things get any worse for him?

There seemed to be altogether too much anime to watch this week, but somehow I made it through it all- with the exception of Koutetsu 2, which needs to be given full parody treatment.

Reviewed this week: Iroha 20-22, Cazador 2, Chevalier 19-20, Claymore 3, Darker than Black 2, Heroic Age 2-3, Nanoha StrikerS 2, Romeo X Juliet 2, SaiMono II 2, Shining Tears 1-2, Winter Cicada 2

…and in manga: School Rumble 221, Tsubasa 150

ANIME

Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto 20-22: After the promised improvement, we have a rather dull episode of Iroha, which has Gold worth in parody, but only minor merit for serious viewing. Featuring the obligatory one-shot characters that exist only to rescue Akidzuki, question his purpose and ultimately see him on the right path for the final arc, episode 20 is tiresome in its mediocrity, and even Enomoto and Hijikata’s re-enactment of Hu Lao Gate cannot save it.

Unfortunately, episode 21 continues the trend of dullness, offering what is little more than a procession of minor historical characters discussing where the plot should go next. Eventually, episode 22 enables us to move onto the next phase of the series, which discards the monotony for the first hints of the over-the-top theatrics that will permeate the final episodes. At this stage, I have to admit that I don’t know what to make of Iroha overall- the series has changed in tone and content quite a lot from the early days, and I can’t say that I’m watching it for its current merit as much as the promise it once held.

El Cazador de la Bruja 2: If episode one of Cazador seemed vaguely promising, then episode two has lost all promise in favour of a dull twenty-five minutes that feels more like three hours. Having broken down in the middle of nowhere, our heroines stop off in a conveniently placed diner run by a former bounty hunter who quit her profession when it caused her daughter to leave her. Perhaps we should care, but since I have an aversion to dingy desert diners whenever they appear on television, I just wanted the whole to be over, and eventually it was.

Le Chevalier d’Eon 19-20: For once, knowing exactly what was coming and having to write a parody at the same time did not affect my love of Chevalier, with these two episodes offering the excellence that the series has so often proved capable of. First up, episode nineteen sees Durand attempt to set some machinations in progress, only for him to fall prey to a rather unpleasant end; afterwards, episode twenty wraps up all the loose ends in the England arc (arguably a little too conveniently, but we are getting low on time here), before sending our heroes back to France for fresh machinations and betrayals. It’s times like this that I just wish Chevalier was longer- imagine where it could have gone with some additional arcs.

Claymore 3: Claymore graduates from monster of the week to monster of the fortnight in this episode, when a Yoma attacks the Holy City. Unsurprisingly, non-human beings like Claymores are strictly not allowed to enter such a city, so veen though Clare has been hired by priests, she has to sneak in undercover by taking special pills that temporarily suppress her abilities. It’s a pretty standard story as this sort of thing goes, but nonetheless it remains entertaining in its own way- although the desire to get rid of Raki remains strong.

Darker than Black 2: As the first two-part story comes to an end, Darker than Black shows no sign of losing the quality that characterised the first episode, with an intriguing tale that skilfully weaves action and exposition to such an extent that even the dropping of a plate is somehow absorbing. As our lead goes on the run with his neighbour, pursuit from all sides heats up, but who will win in a battle of Contractors?

Rising food prices force one man to start eating flowers.

Heroic Age 2-3: For some reason, I felt a strong aversion towards watching the next two episodes of Heroic Age, so when the time came to actually tackle them, they weren’t as bad as I had built them up in my mind to be. Whilst the lead remains an irritatingly inferior version of the dislikeable Apollo from Aquarion, and I couldn’t really care less about the various tribes, these two episodes are somehow inoffensive, neither particularly engaging the interest nor causing time to drag. I’m content to keep watching for now, although it’s anyone’s guess how long my interest will last. Oh, and if you’re wondering why I haven’t said anything about the plot, it’s because there hasn’t been one so far- hopefully this will change soon.

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS 2: Where the first episode at least pacified me a little with its action, this second episode seems to exemplify just why Nanoha shouldn’t attempt a 26 episode run. Even though we get some needed glimpses of Vita et al, the new girls are still taking up too much screen time, and in a predominantly exposition focused episode, it just doesn’t fly. Let’s have some ridiculously overpowered magical battles, not ridiculously dull waves of generic new characters.

Romeo X Juliet 2: Our star-crossed lovers return for another episode of aerial cities and flying horses (I’m quite taken with those horses, so I’m going to keep going on about them). Juliet has reached her sixteenth birthday, which means she can stop dressing a boy and find out about her Capulet heritage, not to mention start becoming infatuated with Romeo. I’m trying to divorce this in my mind from the original play, which helps to make it quite watchable and enjoyable in terms of light entertainment, although like some other entries from this season, it is currently uncertain how long I’ll continue to want to watch them.

Saiunkoku Monogatari II 2: Whilst Shuurei does her best to get the plan for Sa Province approved by the necessary people, Kouyuu is unsuccessfully trying to adjust to the idea that she might end up becoming his wife; meanwhile, back in Sa Province, Eigetsu reflects on his past and the mentor who helped him become the man he is today. Whilst it is good in principle to get some back story on Eigetsu, I have to admit that it wasn’t the most gripping part of the episode since I’m far more interested in the Kouyuu/Shuurei marriage situation. Shuurei has already admitted that there things she won’t give up for love, but nor does she seem like the sort of person who would accept marriage for purely political reasons, so how will the situation pan out? If she does get married at this point, will it jeopardise her credibility, with the general opinion being that she ‘played’ at being a government official before settling down and doing what all good women should do in getting a man? Meanwhile, the white bishounen has been revealed to be the head of the Hyou clan, Hyou Riou; it will be interesting to see his role in the story, especially as this clan is noted for having special powers.

*NEW/DROPPED* Shining Tears X Wind 1-2: Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new candidate for Worst Anime Ever! Well, okay, I can think of a couple of series that seemed worse at the time, but with the passage of time having taken the sting out of their memory. A dire fantasy romp that makes Eragon look original, ST sees students who resemble Haseo and Mahiro meet up with a girl who looks like Tabby and then go to a fantasy world of randomness, furries and swords. For no reason whatsoever, ‘Mahiro’ pulls a sword out of herself for ‘Haseo’ to fight the enemies with, before they go to a kingdom of talking animals and end up fighting an elf army that their friends just happen to have joined. Perhaps it was wrong to watch an anime just to see how bad an adaptation could be made of the so-called ‘worst RPG ever’, and with the character designs looking much less appealing than they did in the promo artwork, this must be put in the Recycle Bin forever.

Winter Cicada 2: When I started this OVA, I took the yaoi warnings a little too lightly, thinking it would just be angst and kissing level- only in this episode was I to discover that there was an actual sex scene involved. Even seeing our heroes getting hot and heavy over each other (assuming you like that sort of thing, which I can’t say I do) cannot save this episode from the monotony that has now gripped it. Why did I even start watching this series?

MANGA

*DROPPED* School Rumble 221: Farewell, School Rumble, I no longer know or care what happens in you. For those who are interested, however, this chapter sees Hanai prepare to give a speech prior to the student council elections, but after Mikoto gives him the confidence he needs with a stone striker, she manages to light Tougou’s poster on fire, thus delaying the speeches anyway. Everyone must know of my growing dissatisfaction with SR by now, and although I tried to struggle on, why bother?

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle 150: Following her stabbing, Sakura’s body and soul have separated, with her body going to Ceres, and her soul ending up in a tube owned by Yuuko. Apparently, this is all part of Sakura’s attempt to change the future and save her friends, a move that smacks of X/1999 but without the benefit of originality.