Ikkitousen: Great Guardians

It’s already started airing, I know, but I won’t be watching even the first episode- the senselessness and gratuity of Ikki Tousen put me off long, long ago. One for the fanservice fans only.

Telepathy Shoujo Ran

A series about a girl with telepathic powers, Telepathy Shoujo Ran sounds like the coming season’s answer to the episodic supernatural genre. Bearing in mind that the last series of this type I watched was Mokke, I’m not expecting this to go above mediocre, but I may give it a try.

Sekirei

We’ve seen harem and battle royale series aplenty, but like Fate/Stay Night, this anime combines the two, introducing the typically useless male lead into a world where bishounen and beautiful girls battle each other with special powers. I suppose if it’s well animated it could make for a staple of the light entertainment category, but can it really offer us anything we haven’t seen before?

Koihime Musou

An eroge adaptation which promises to remake ROTK with cute girls, Koihime Musou seems destined to be the bastard child of Koutetsu Sangokushi and Ikki Tousen, but even so I adore the character designs. I know I should resist as I’ve been burned before under almost exactly the same circumstances, but I may not be able to help myself.

Ultraviolet: Code044

A series about a genetically engineered warrior who ends up fighting both modern day vampires and the government who created her, Ultraviolet does have Studio Madhouse’s involvement to boast about, but even so it hardly smacks of originality. I’m on the fence as to whether to try it.

Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto: Natsu no Sora

For those of you who are unfamiliar with its Japanese name, this is the latest Someday’s Dreamers spin-off series, based on new main character Sora. Although I wanted to see the Spellbound manga animated, this new series will serve just as well- I’ve always enjoyed the tranquillity and beautiful artwork of the franchise, and the first chapter of the manga was worthy enough to make me want to know what happens next.

Slayers Revolution

Slayers has always been good fun, and even though it’s not based on the novels, this new series should deliver us some more tongue-in-cheek fantasy action from our favourite characters (although I hear it’s hinted that Xellos will be taking over from Lina as the main character). Whatever the case, this should be the perfect series to kick back with over the summer months.

Hidamari Sketch x 365

Like the Xbox 360, the second season of Hidamari Sketch jumps ahead a bit numerically, and whilst I’m ashamed to say that I’m only just about to begin watching the first season, I hope to have it complete in time to jump on the bandwagon for this second outing.

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu

A light novel adaptation, this series has echoes of Kare Kano about it, with our male lead discovering that the school’s perfect princess is actually a closet otaku. Fair enough, but where does the story go after that? I may watch it, but it’s not a must-see.

Antique Bakery

If I told you there was a manga about four gay guys running a bakery, would you laugh? If I told you that this anime is the adaptation of that manga, would you start believing me? Either way, I’m not making this up, and I have to admit that this does sound a little like the gay cake version of Bartender, but since it might be a nice little episodic slice-of-life piece, I feel compelled to give it a try- I at least want to see some tasty cakes.

Strike Witches TV

Gonzo doing a mecha series- isn’t that always a recipe for disaster- even if it is mecha-musume rather than the conventional mobile suit? And yet the character designs are so appealing that I’m going to have to take care, or I’ll end up watching this and falling into disappointment (and perhaps despair) once again.

Tetsuwan Birdy Decode

A remake of an OVA about a guy and a girl who end up in the same body, not only does the TV series lack Madhouse involvement (Il Teatrino, anyone?), but the visuals look far inferior to the original. Anyway, I need to watch the OVA first to decide if I like the franchise.

Yakushiji Ryoko no Kaiki Jikenbo

A light novel-based series about a beautiful detective who has to deal with a male rival and all sorts of supernatural phenomena, this is yet another one of those series that sounds like an amalgam of things we’ve all seen and heard before. One to perhaps watch only if the viewing schedule is light.

Zero no Tsukaima: Princess no Rondo

Yes, ZnT has a third season and no, I won’t be watching it. If you stuck it out for two seasons, I’m sure you’ll want another, but if not, there’s no point in bothering.

Neo Angelique Abyss: Second Age

Why oh why do they even keep making Angelique series? I must admit that at least this season has a cat in the promo artwork, but can that even be enough to overcome the deficiencies of bishounen-heavy, plot-light Neoromance series? Somehow, I doubt it.

Mission-E

Just as I was thinking to myself “hmm, this sounds like it could be a sequel to Code-E”, I looked it up and realised that yes, it is actually a sequel to Code-E. Since I didn’t watch the former series, there’s hardly any point my picking this up.

World Destruction

Do I hear the cries of “oh no, not another RPG based series” resounding across the land? Based on an upcoming DS title set in a world where humans are the slaves of beastmen, World Destruction focuses on a committee who want to do just that, using the power of a destined main character. Presumably by destroy they simply mean putting an end to the current beastmen regime rather than destroying the entire world, but either way I’m not particularly interested in this one.

Natsume Yuujinchou

In a sort of reverse Card Captor Sakura, this series sees a main character using his ability to see spirits to dissolve the contracts with spirits whose names are written in his magical book. Apart from the idea of returning things to where they belong instead of collecting them, this doesn’t sound particularly original, but because the main character has a spirit cat at his side, I’ll have to watch it.

Blade of the Immortal

Normally you might expect a series about a man who has to kill a thousand enemies to be packed with action and bloodshed, but the fact that Bee Train is animating it probably means that he’ll be killing them offscreen on a bus somewhere. I must not be sucked into watching this, unless it is for the great parody cause.

Mahou Sensei Negima!: Shiroki Tsubasa Ala Alba

Another Negima OVA; I may or may not watch depending on my mood at the time of release.

School Rumble: San Gakki

Once, I would have jumped for joy at a School Rumble OVA, but these days I barely care- as I understand it, this OVA covers the trip to England, which I’ve already read about in the manga, and which I don’t really need to relive. I may watch for completion, but School Rumble has long since lost its lustre for me.

After graduating from magic academy, ten-year-old Welsh wizard Negi Springfield dreams of following in his father’s footsteps and becoming a Magister Magi. The last thing he was expecting was to be sent to Japan to become a teacher in an all-girl junior high school- but that’s exactly where he has been assigned! Can the pint-sized teacher cope with a class of thirty-one teenage girls?

Given my experience with Love Hina, and the whole creepiness of a ten-year-old boy surrounded by fanservice, I initially wasn’t interested in venturing into Ken Akamatsu’s juggernaut. Nonetheless, curiosity eventually got the better of me, and when combined with yet another chance to raid a sibling collection, I decided to give the series a go.

As I feared, fanservice was indeed to be a big part of the Negima experience, and although it greatly reduces after the first few volumes, it never entirely goes away. Normally, this wouldn’t be too much of an issue if the series had something else to offer, but there’s something creepy about fourteen-year-old girls getting naked in front of a ten-year-old boy- especially when they start peeking under his towel and taking a look at his ‘tackle’.

If you can live with this, however, Negima isn’t actually too bad a story, although it counts as ‘solid’ rather than good. Seemingly a mix of various different elements such as magic, romance, shounen-style tournaments and enemies, nothing is particularly original, but it is varied and well-paced enough to keep you reading. All in all, it’s not something you should prioritise if you have better series waiting, but if you’re stuck for something to read, then this will fill a gap.

Fortunately, Negima does have one trump card to play- compared to the usual run of dislikeable male lead, Negi is actually a rather pleasant character. Of course, he does have the usual destined powers and tragic past, but beyond this he is a hard-working, determined and optimistic person, far from the irritatingly arrogant or clumsily incompetent leads that we have seen so many times before.

Negi aside, there are also 31 girls to get to grips with (and that’s before considering any other supporting characters)- a mammoth task for the creator, let alone a reader. Admittedly, even after thirteen volumes I can’t remember all of their names and some are blanks in term of personality, but it’s surprising how many characters have had the chance to move into the spotlight and have their back stories revealed. And with so many to choose from, everyone is bound to find one or two characters that they like- whether it’s hot-headed ‘main girl’ Asuna, quiet librarian Nodoka, warrior Setsuna, class rep Ayaka, android Chachamaru or one of the many other choices on offer.

Artwork has always been Akamatsu’s strong point, and Negima is no exception- say what you like about the content, the character designs are always attractive, and amazingly enough, apart from a couple of lesser characters, it is easy enough to tell everyone apart. Settings and backgrounds have all been designed on computer, and are all highly detailed without feeling cluttered- there is enough content on each page to ensure that reading one volume takes longer than average, but at the same time it never feels too eye-achingly packed or crowded.

Final Thoughts
Despite appearing to be some sort of unholy fusion of Harry Potter and Love Hina, if you can get past the initial stigma attached to the series, Negima isn’t all that bad. It may not be poised to win any awards for quality or originality, but if you fancy some light reading and attractive character designs to while away a few spare hours, you could do worse than occupy yourself with this.

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

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

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

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

STILL RUNNING FROM 2005
I’m only including series I was still watching in the New Year; several others had long since been dropped by this point.

Ginga Densetsu Weed
A bloodier canine version of a shounen action series, Ginga Densetsu Weed follows the adventures of young dog Weed as he recruits allies to fight evil dog Hougen. It ranges from dull and predictable to laughable and predictable, but the parody potential and novelty of having dogs as the main characters conspired to keep me watching this right through to the end.

Final words: It’s not good to be a generic brown dog; you always get killed.

Jigoku Shoujo
When it first started, Jigoku seemed like a compelling series, the tale of people driven to such extremes that they would accept eternal damnation in order to remove their tormenters. Unfortunately, it all became a little ridiculous and far too repetitive after about four episodes- not only did the basic concept of each episode lose a lot in the execution, but there are only so many times you can watch tales of revenge before getting thoroughly bored.

Final words: Revenge is a dish best served sparingly.

Karin
Karin is a strange series; it’s too tasteless and generic to even be mediocre, but at the same time it feels like it could be good- only I can’t really quantify just what is needed to make it better. The tale of a ‘blood-making’ vampire and her slow romance with a human boy could at least have made for light entertainment, but the inclusion of irritating supporting characters and the gimmick of having blood spurt out of Karin’s nose with alarming regularity are more than a little off-putting.

Final words: No, just no.

Mai-Otome

It’s hard to believe, but there was a time when I thought Mai-Otome was actually going somewhere; an illusion that was soon dispelled as the series moved into its closing episodes. Despite the numerous flaws of this series, it somehow remains memorable, burned into the brain by hype, wasted potential and the presence of fat grey cat Mikoto.

Final words: Fat cats may improve a series, but even their furry bulk cannot compensate for a lack of plot.

Mushishi
Although I took my time starting on Mushishi, I’m glad I finally got around to watching it, since it turned out to be one of the better series of recent times. An absorbing and atmospheric folk tale-eqsue collection of stories featuring the laid-back Ginko and the myriad strange phenomena he encounters, Mushishi is recommended viewing for anyone with even a passing enjoyment of fantasy, drama and slice-of-life.

Final words: If your memory is bad, blame it on the mushi.

Noein
When it first swept onto our screens, Noein seemed to be the sci-fi series that we had all been waiting for- a mixture of complex storyline, grandiose action scenes and alternate worlds that would surely only improve as it went on…or would it? Unfortunately, the studio was so busy spending money on CG house shots that it forgot that the series actually needed a proper plot (not to mention decent animation), and so by the end, Noein became little more than a pretentious but ultimately empty series that never lived up to its early promise.

Final words: The quantum mechanics of Noein is not clever- if you want clever, then come to some theoretical physics lectures.

Rozen Maiden Traumend
Given the excellence of the first series, another season of Rozen Maiden was highly anticipated, but somehow it just couldn’t live up to what had come before. Rearranging and diverging from the manga material led to some continuity issues with the first season, whilst the plot itself had numerous pacing problems. Despite promising that the battle royale Alice Game would be getting underway right from the start, it took nine episodes to get down to business, after which the writers chickened out of going the whole way so that things could be left open for a third season. Even the new characters introduced in this season were less than inspiring, although overall the series was not a bad experience, just one that did not live up to expectations.

Final words: If you thought dolls were scary before, wait until you watch this.

Shakugan no Shana

A tale of swords and sorcery mixed with high school romance and comedy, Shana proved to be a solid enough source of light entertainment, but unfortunately turned out to be lacking beyond that. Disappointing villains and a story that proved to be flawed on close inspection ultimately prevented the Shana from reaching the heights it initially promised- whilst by no means a bad series, it was certainly in need of improvement in key areas.

Final words: urusei, urusei, urusei!

WINTER 2005/6

Ayakashi
A collection of three separate folk tales collected across eleven episodes, Ayakashi promised period horror, but in the end, it brought only contemporary boredom. What would have been perfectly enjoyable as a three episode OVA became drawn out and monotonous in TV series form, so much so that watching it was something of a struggle.

Final words: Rap OPs never work- no really, they don’t.

Binchou-tan
Having convinced myself that Binchou-tan would be sickeningly cute, I avoided watching it for a while, only to predictably regret that when it turned out to be far better than I had imagined. A series that really does embody ‘simple and sweet’ Binchou-tan is a delightful slice-of-life tale that really needs more episodes.

Final words: Unexpectedly worthy.

Ergo Proxy
To be fair, I only watched a single episode of Ergo Proxy, but I never could bring myself to continue with it. Despite the echoes of Texhnolyze, the fact I neither knew nor cared what was going on in the first episode was not much of an incentive to continue- the animation may have been slick, but that could hardly make up for the lack of comprehensibility.

Final words: When people say ‘hard sci-fi’ they must mean pretentious, nonsensical crap.

Fate/Stay Night

Admit it, you want a Caster figure too.

There was a time when Fate seemed filled with potential; yes, it had a spiky-haired hero, but it also had the incredibly worthy Rin, not to mention the prospect of a hard fought battle of wits and strength between legendary heroes and their Masters. Unfortunately, Fate never lived up to its promise, instead turning out to be a combination of insipid characters, flimsy story, and Shirou’s harem exploits.

Final words: I will make ‘True Fate’ one day.

Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora
A short and sweet hospital-based tale of drama and romance, HanTsuki was an almost overlooked series that turned out to be a hidden gem. Within its six episodes, the series managed to weave a tale that was bittersweet, heart-warming and entirely worthy.

Final words: Natsumi is evil.

Meine Liebe Wieder
Despite promising something in the way of a plot this time, the second season of Meine Liebe turned out to be an inferior rehash of the first, featuring increased angst, more HARD GAY, additional characters and Beruze’s latest puppet duke attempting to take the throne of Kuchen. It wasn’t bad, but it could have been so much more.

Final words: Ludwig-sama is an A-ranked bishie.

REC
An oddly addictive series about the romance between a voice actress and a salaryman, REC is enjoyable while it lasts, but is over all too quickly. In retrospect, it was perhaps a bit too angst-filled, but it made for an entertaining experience while it lasted.

Final words: Umai-ki!

Shinigami no Ballad

Yet another brief series, this time about a pure white shinigami and the people she meets, SnB was filled with character pieces, but was oddly short on death. Whilst it never really had the impact that it could have done, SnB was an enjoyable series that didn’t overstay its welcome.

Final words: The RPG episode was the best one, but the series overall gains points for the winged talking cat.

Pale Cocoon
Having been told that Pale Cocoon was somewhat incomprehensible, I went into it expecting not to understand anything, only to be pleasantly surprised at how much I could actually grasp (of course, the accompanying pdf file helped). A brief yet worthy glimpse into the far future, Pale Cocoon may be short on explanations, but is nonetheless a worthy snapshot of a distant era.

Final words: Watch it now, it won’t take long.

Hellsing Ultimate
It was the event that all Hellsing fans had been waiting for- a more accurate adaptation of the manga material that would surely blow them all away. Unfortunately, having realised that I really didn’t like Hellsing all that much, this wasn’t something I was inclined to keep following.

Final words: When are we going to get a good vampire show?

SPRING 2006

.hack//Roots
Hard as it is to believe now, I was actually looking forward to .hack//Roots- I was in the middle of my Item Completion obsession phase, and somehow I convinced myself that it would be a series that married the addictive qualities of SIGN with the action and faster pace of Legend of the Twilight. After several episodes of deluding myself, however, I came to realise that Roots was not so much a case of a train wreck as of the train simply not leaving the station in the first place. Characters came and went, but the plot never arrived- in the end, it was just too boring for me to watch anymore.

Final words: The origin of the screencap parody format.

Ah! My Goddess: Sorezore no Tsubasa
I’ve said it on more than one occasion, but a second season was just too much for the Ah! My Goddess- how much can you actually squeeze out of a harem story about a regular guy living with goddesses? Admittedly, it did seem like a bit of harmless light entertainment for the first few episodes, but it soon fell into the realms of the utterly boring, especially when Peorth arrived.

Final words: Sometimes, less is more.

Air Gear
I have to admit that Oh Great’s artwork is good, but since I’m not particularly interested in nipple shots, ridiculously oversized breasts or Bob Makihara’s penis, the actual content of his manga does very little for me. An unholy fusion of Tenjho Tenge, Ikki Tousen, Beyblade and Shaman King, Air Gear is the tale of spiky-haired Ikki, his buxom companions, and the rollerblading sport of Air Trak- or to put it more succinctly, it’s complete dross. No matter how much curiosity compels you to watch this, take my advice and give it a wide berth.

Final words: With breasts like that, those girls must get backache.

Aria the Natural

The first season of Aria was excellent, but Natural goes one better by doubling the episode count and giving us a full 26 episodes of sweet and heart-warming gondola life on the planet of Aqua. From the beautiful setting to eponymous fat cat President Aria, everything about the series is right on the money in terms of creating a simple yet absorbing world. Bring on season three.

Final words: Punyu!

Disgaea
Since RPG-based series are rarely worth watching, I wasn’t really planning to investigate Disgaea- at least until I watched the trailer. An ironically hilarious take on the RPG world, Disgaea’s trailer promised much, but the actual series itself delivered all too little. As it turned out, the reason the trailer was so good was because the entire series budget had been spent on it- meaning that the episodes themselves were poorly animated cyclical repeats of the same tired and worn jokes.

Final words: Pizza in the face? Excuse me while I try to force a laugh…oh wait, I can’t.

Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid Tessa OVA
Much as I like Tessa, this OVA didn’t really do much for me; aside from a select handful which hit the mark, most of the jokes fell completely flat. It’s something you watch for completion rather than enjoyment.

Final words: Dull, dull, dull.

The Gargoyle of the Yoshinagas
The tale of the Yoshinaga family’s animated stone guardian, Gargoyle may seem like a kid’s show at first glance, but it is nonetheless a highly entertaining story. In Gargoyle’s hands, everything from battles between stone monsters to talking to flowers takes on a new vitality. It’s funny, off-kilter, and eminently worthy.

Final words: All hail Gar-san.

Gintama
I only watched the first twenty-five minutes of Gintama, but what I saw didn’t really click with me. Apparently it’s meant to be a tongue-in-cheek approach to Shounen Jump, but I just couldn’t force myself to pay attention to it.

Final words: I liked that large white animal, but nothing else drew me in.

Good Witch of the West – Astraea Testament
When it first started, Good Witch seemed to be the fantasy series we had all been waiting for; a fairytale of intrigue and romance set in a magical kingdom. Unfortunately, within the space of a few episodes, Good Witch had become so bogged down with different plotlines that it was difficult to tell where it was supposed to be going. After continuing in this manner all the way to the end, Good Witch left viewers with plenty of story threads, but not much in the way of coherence- maybe the manga is better, but I’m not about to risk wasting money on it.

Final thoughts: It’s the sample book of plot directions.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
It may have started as a tense psychological horror, but after the first few episodes Higurashi’s main draw was its sheer gore factor. A somewhat inconsistent series that mixed moments with greatness with more pedestrian sections, Higurashi may have only covered six of the eight game arcs, but spoilers revealed that the solution to the mystery was too obvious to be satisfying.

Final words: “It wasn’t me, I am not evil or suspicious at all.”

Hime-sama Goyoujin
Truth be told, I shouldn’t really be writing about Hime-sama- I only saw about eight minutes of the first episode, and I had so little clue as to what was going on that I couldn’t bring myself to watch anymore.

Final words: Utterly confusing.

Jyu-oh-sei
One of a rare few series which I picked up months after dropping it, Jyu-oh-sei made good parody material, but had little worth as far as entertainment went. The bulk of the series, which saw cycle-wear model Thor stranded on jungle planet Chimera, was average and predictable, but was nonetheless sheer excellence when compared to the laughably ridiculous ending. A rushed story with a nonsensical ending- if I hadn’t wanted to parody it, I would never have watched past episode four.

Final words: If you want to attain at least a shred of credibility, magical DNA is not the way to go.

Kamisama Kazoku

At first glance, Kamisama Kazoku looked to be the spiritual successor of Kamichu- a sweet and simple series about a youthful god. In fact, to borrow a phrase from a lecturer of mine, Kamisama was a very different animal- a series that ranged from juvenile to infantile in its fanservice laden lack of hilarity. After struggling all the way to the third story arc by virtue of the show’s worthiest character- Tenko- I realised that I simply could not take anymore and crumbled a mere four episodes before the end.

Final words: Look, Mama is naked in an apron!

Keroro Gunso: the Movie
Series-based anime movies are as formulaic as they come, and unfortunately the Keroro movie is no exception. There are a few entertaining moments, but not really enough to justify spending an hour of your life watching a story that has been done a thousand times before.

Final words: Giant Keroro is the worthiest aspect of this movie.

Kiba
Like Tokyo Underground, Kiba is one of those series that just seems like an inferior amalgam of numerous other series- there’s industrial word, pastoral world, summoning of destined monsters, and numerous other ideas that have been done better many times before. Roia was truly the only worthy aspect of this seemingly never-ending series- in fact, is anyone even watching it anymore?

Final words: Series and games ripped off by Kiba include Tokyo Underground, Ergo Proxy, .hack, Yu-Gi-Oh!, YuYu Hakusho, Dragonball Z, Pokemon, Hunter X Hunter Greed Island OVA, Mai-HiME, Dynasty Warriors and Suikoden.

Love GetChu!
Due to slow subbing, I have only watched four episodes of this series so far, but it has already proven itself a worthy source of light entertainment. The tale of a group of young girls trying to become voice actors, Love GetChu! does exactly what Kiba failed to achieve- it takes ideas used in earlier series, and combines them into a worthy whole. There’s a ditzy lead, standard personalities, a Maison Ikkoku style apartment and a hint of romance, but somehow it all comes together to make something enjoyable rather than tiresome.

Final words: Please sub more, or I’ll have to start on the raws.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Once an obscure series of novels, Haruhi catapulted to fame after its first episode captured the fandom, but as the series progressed, opinions became divided. Although there now exists a small but vocal “yay Haruhi great lol” group, still others (myself included) concluded the series with a more sceptical view on the whole franchise. The characters were insipid, the stories were disappointing and not at all helped by being aired in a random, non-chronological order, and the humour had all but dried up after episode three. It may have gained cult status, but I can’t help wondering why.

Final words: I did actually like the fourth novel.

Nana
The tale of two very different girls both named Nana, Nana was an interesting shoujo drama in manga form, but unfortunately the transition to anime turned it into something far more dull and boring. With the bulk of the series’ focus falling on ‘Hachi’, the less interesting of the two Nanas, Nana failed to engage the attention, and was eventually indefinitely put to one side.

Final words: Less Hachi, more Nana.

Ouran High School Host Club

The delightfully over the top story of one poor girl and six rich guys running a host club at the prestigious Ouran High School, Ouran delivered standard jokes with such infectious enthusiasm that it was impossible not to laugh at them. A fewer weaker instalments and too many episodes focusing on twin brothers Hikaru and Kaoru prevent this from being a pick of the year, but it is certainly worth watching.

Final words: Kyouya is god.

Ray the Animation

Ray is another series I dropped after a single episode, but unfortunately it didn’t really seem to merit any more. As someone with various family members in the medical field, ridiculous conditions like tumours that retreat into the heart when operated on are a bit too much to swallow, and thus this medical-themed series was not fated to last long.

Final words: Monster remains the only decent medicine-related anime.

Saiunkoku Monogatari

At first glance, SaiMono looked to be yet another period series featuring a girl and her attendant bishies, but how wrong I was. SaiMono is leagues beyond the likes of Fushigi Yuugi in terms of quality- this isn’t a reverse harem romance, it is an absorbing tale of political intrigue in the fictional country of Saiunkoku, blended with the the story of Kou Shuurei, a young woman dedicated to improving her country through breaking precedent and becoming a government official. Every episode of SaiMono is like an addictive drug, leaving you desperate for your next fix.

Final words: I need more! More, more more!

School Rumble Nigakki
After thoroughly enjoying the first season of School Rumble, I was looking forward to the continued antics of Tenma, Yakumo, Eri and the rest, but unfortunately, Nigakki failed to deliver. With its crazier humour and lack of plot progression, Nigakki soon grew stale, especially when it meandered into the realms of filler during the latter half of the season.

Final words: Please, let it end.

Simoun
I was actually looking forward to Simoun before it aired, but upon actually watching the first episode, all my expectations for the series were shattered. A poor woman’s HARD YURI version of Last Exile, Simoun features ugly snail-like craft that are not only powered by the pilots getting out of the cockpit and kissing whilst in mid-air, but also have special abilities like drawing pretty lines on the sky. With no discernible plot whatsoever, the series had to be dropped.

Final words: HARD YURI power is an eco-friendly solution to dwindling supplies of fossil fuels.

Tsubasa Chronicle season 2
Whatever it was that made Tsubasa season one so enjoyable (and in retrospect, was it really all that enjoyable?) seemed to have vanished by season two, which devolved into a slow and dull mix of lacklustre adaptations and mediocre filler, all animated in Bee Train’s trademark “stills only” style. When each episode started featuring no fewer than three insipid insert songs, it was time to put the series to rest.

Final words: Go, you filler bus! Drive along that road, carrying your passengers!

Utawarerumono

It started as a pastoral fantasy, only to slowly reveal its flaws and turn into a harem series with ill-fitting sci-fi elements, but nonetheless, somehow Utawarerumono merited its own addiction phase. The series itself was lacking, but it led into the game, the mini-game, the parodies, and sparked many ideas simply due to the potential the setting contained. Not a pick of the year, but notable for being integral to the life of this blog- even now “gwakakaka” is still going strong.

Final words: Karura and Touka are all.

xxxHOLiC
I love the darkly stylish xxxHOLiC manga, but when the time came to turn it into an anime, something seemed to go terribly wrong. The high contrast art style became a washed out version of its former self, stories were slow and filled with dull exposition scenes, and the overall result was none too tantalising. I completed the series out of loyalty to the manga, but in retrospect I would have been better off not to do so.

Finally words: This could have been so much better.

Yume Tsukai
At first glance, I thought that the story of three dream masters would be a touching slice of life piece in the vein of Kokoro Library. At second glance, I awoke to the fact that this was not the case; instead, this was a poorly animated and poorly constructed series of tales in which one of the main characters has a fetish for underage girls. Shrine of the Morning Mist simply blows it out of the water.

Final words: It could have been good, but let’s face it, it wasn’t.

Zegapain
Sunrise, when will you learn that churning out endless mecha series doesn’t necessarily mean that any of them will actually be worth watching? Apparently Zegapain improves later on, but the starving man’s Aquarion vibe given off by the first couple of episodes (not to mention the unnecessary nudity) was enough to ensure that I never actually reached those episodes.

Final words: The apples that appeared in episode one were the best characters.

SUMMER 2006

Binbou Shimai Monogatari
The evening before watching the first episode of Binbou, I read sixteen chapters of the manga, almost all of which began with a variation on “Mother died; Father ran up gambling debts and disappeared.” In case you hadn’t guessed, that is the setting for this anime about two sisters living in poverty, which is perhaps the most lifeless and half-hearted slice-of-life series that I’ve encountered. An angst-filled example of how poor the genre can be, Binbou went through the motions, but achieved nothing more.

Final words: I don’t know if you’ve heard this before, but Mother died and Father ran up debts and disappeared.

Bokura ga Ita
One of the first ever series to feature in my Weekly Round-Up, Bokura ga Ita’s tenure in my viewing schedule was nothing if not brief. A poor man’s version of Kare Kano, Bokura ga Ita featured all the angst and drama, but completely neglected the elements that would have made the series enjoyable. After struggling through a dull episode populated by dislikeable leads and a Nagato Yuki clone, I gave up on it.

Final words: Not my cup of angst.

Le Chevalier d’Eon

Despite treading perilously close to the realms of cheese, Chevalier consistently manages to deliver an absorbing historical fantasy despite its lack of much in the way of accuracy. The tale of d’Eon, a French knight who not only gets drawn into a shady underworld of magic and manipulation, but also ends up housing his sister’s soul, Chevalier’s only inconsistency in its animation, which starts well but soon goes downhill.

Chocotto Sister
Haruma has always wanted a little sister, and one Christmas, Santa delivers just that. Choco, as Haruma names her, is entirely devoted to her big brother, but unfortunately she is so completely lacking in life skills that she has to refer to a notebook. This could have been a passable slice-of-life series, but unfortunately it chose the route of excessive fanservice instead- when a series needs to use police tape as a censor, it is never a good sign.

Final words: What, you don’t like naked aprons?

Coyote Ragtime Show
Aside from its infamous turn as the “Great ANN Ad”, Coyote Ragtime Show is a series best forgotten- even the name serves a warning. A tale of MANLY men and gothlolis for every month of the year, Coyote Ragtime Show lacked anything even approximating worth; I went into it with low expectations and was still disappointed.

Final words: ADV licensed this? They think it’s good? Where is Kurau!?

FLAG
Years ago, when my supply of anime was less plentiful, Gasaraki happened to be one of the few series that I had access to. Despite appearing to be quite bland and boring on the surface, I forced myself to keep watching the series until I finally gained something of an appreciation for its intricate politics; with that in mind, I was determined to give FLAG- a similar series from the same creators- a fair chance. Unfortunately, once the novelty of having the story told through monitor stills and the lens of a camera wore off, FLAG proved to be a dull series with bland character designs and ugly mecha. I feel slightly guilty for not giving it as much of a chance as I did for Gasaraki, but then again, there’s more to watch these days.

Final words: Gritty realism with issues relevant to today’s society? Take it back, please, and come up with a phrase that’s less overused.

Hanoka
No matter how poor it was, I was confident I could sit through a series where each episode was only five minutes long, but as Hanoka went out of its way to demonstrate, that wasn’t the case. Animated in Flash, Hanoka looked like an amateur piece, complete with a generic storyline to accompany its unimpressive looks- in the end, it had to go.

Final words: Five minutes of boredom is five minutes too many.

Honey and Clover II
I loved the first season of Honey and Clover, and perhaps it was because of that that I was secretly sceptical about a second season; the last thing I wanted was for my high opinion of the series to be ruined, but unfortunately, that’s just what happened. Although it did indeed have its moments of excellence, H&C II lost points for focusing on minor character Kaoru before turning into some kind of “who gets Hagu?” dating sim (with added “Mayama the stalker”). Yes, I understand the deeper arguments behind the resolution and the characters’ choices, but it was simply handled too flippantly for me to enjoy it.

Final words: One word- disappointing.

Innocent Venus
Innocent Venus may have looked vaguely promising before it aired, but when it turned out to be a poor rehash of ideas from numerous different series (not to mention completely unable to retain the attention), the adventures of Jo, Sana and Jin had to be put aside. Thanks to this series, however, there are various unwelcome images that will forever be burned into my mind- the irritating pirate captain and his busty first mate; the Last Exile psycho killer team; blood pooling out of a man’s smashed faceplate and those ugly, ugly mecha. After the series finished airing, I did consider giving it another chance, but happily I think I’m over that phase.

Final words: I already posted this list way back when I was watching the series, but let’s refresh our memories as to the series IV ripped off- Last Exile, Wolf’s Rain, Kurau, Hunter X Hunter, Burst Angel, Mahou Shoujotai, Arc Twilight of the Spirits, Stand Alone Complex, Gasaraki, .hack//Roots.

Kemonozume
If appreciating Kenozume’s artwork is supposed to indicate some kind of superior taste, then I’m happy to call myself inferior; yes, technically it has its strengths, but on purely visceral grounds, I find it hideous. The tale of a clan of demon hunters, one of whom falls in love with demon, the relationship between Kemonozume and I was destined to be short from the moment they showed a man losing bowel control onscreen.

Final words: Sex and defecation- how mature.

Koi Suru Tenshi Angelique
With its nine brightly coloured bishies, Angelique was clearly never going to be marvellous, but I went into believing that it would at least offer up some light entertainment. Unfortunately, what I got was an insipid mess with even less plot than its sister series Haruka 8; unless watching a dull lead wandering around a castle and chatting to bishounen sounds exciting to you, be sure to avoid it.

Final words: It’s like a computer game in which you can’t ever leave the hub world and actually play a level.

Night Head Genesis

Featuring a pair of brothers pursued due to their unique psychic abilities, NHG had the potential to be a chilling and compelling series that would have been the spiritual successor to Kurau, but as it turns out, reality was far less kind. A barely comprehensible string of scenes that seemed to thinly disguise a HARD GAY propaganda piece, NHG become downright painful by its fourth episode, and was thus swiftly removed from the viewing schedule.

Final words: Give me Kurau and Christmas any day.

Otogi-jushi Akazukin TV
It was always abundantly clearer that Akazukin was aimed at a younger audience, but in the early days it nonetheless exuded a simplistic charm that was enough to keep it watchable. Unfortunately, as the series progressed with no hint of a plot outside of our fairytale-based heroes fighting magical monsters of the week, it all started becoming a little tedious. I haven’t actually dropped it yet, but I’m only a hair’s breadth away from doing so.

Final words: I hate those damned Sweet Phones.

Tsuyokiss
Tsuyokiss was one of those series I watched just because the name got stuck in my head after the “Great Tsundere Debate of 2006”. Unfortunately, after assembling a cast that was generic beyond belief, and throwing in some awful scenes about a drama club, it managed to drop into the red after just one episode. I had originally intended to watch a little more of the series, but when the subs dried up, so did what little enthusiasm I had for the series.

Final words: It may be Cool X Sweet, but it tastes more like Generic X Dull to me.

Welcome to the NHK
Just prior to watching the first episode of NHK, I finally started on the manga, and was instantly amused at its bleak comedy. As I well knew, however, Gonzo are not the best at adapting manga series into animated form, and indeed, no amount of optimism could disguise the fact that they messed up with NHK, somehow sucking out all the humour and turning it into a bland romance instead. Apparently the series improves in its second half, but I really didn’t have the will to keep watching past episode eleven.

Final words: Damn you, Gonzo, for messing up ultimate moe!

Zero no Tsukaima
Although the novels are quite entertaining, Zero no Tsukaima takes what could have been an interesting (dare I say Harry Potter-esque?) story about an Earth boy interacting with the students of a magical school and turns it into insipid, fanservice-ridden fluff. This was yet another series that I briefly toyed with picking up again, but when every cell in my body rebelled against it, I was forced to abandon that plan.

Final words: Guiche is no Tamaki.

AUTUMN 2006

Asatte no Houkou

Despite the fact that I have yet to watch the ending (which sounds quite bland from what I’ve read), I’ve tentatively given Asatte ‘Pick of the Year’ status for the ease in which it drew me into its world. It does have its flaws, but the series certainly deserves points for taking the age-old idea of having a child suddenly become an adult (and vice versa) and turning it into a compelling drama instead of playing it just for laughs.

Final words: The manga just sounds scary.

Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto
The final title to earn ‘Pick of the Year’ status, Bakumatsu was not a series I could easily get into; trying to penetrate just exactly what was going in the first few episodes was pretty much beyond me. Over time, however, it began to exert an irresistible lure; from the beautiful OP and general atmosphere to the refreshing novelty of a series set in period Japan that isn’t an action or Shounen Jump title, there is much of worth here.

Final words: Like Chevalier, it takes the cheesy and transforms it into the highly worthy.

Bartender
When I first heard of a series about a bartender who helps his customers by finding their ‘destined drink’, I knew I had to watch it for the novelty alone- and I was secretly hoping that it was one of those series that sounded laughable but actually turned out to be worthy. As it turned out, Bartender was the kind of series that leads only to boredom, fidgeting and irritation- especially when you try to swallow the fact that a mere glass of a particular cocktail can radically change someone’s entire life.

Final words: I don’t even like alcohol, so I should have known I wouldn’t like this series.

Black Blood Brothers
“Oh dear” is all that can be said to the prospect of yet another series featuring a moody bishounen vampire and his unhelpful sidekicks fighting against generic evil vampires, and indeed, BBB had nothing to bring to an overworked franchise. By the third episode, it proved entirely impossible to concentrate on what was going on, and so the series had to be abandoned.

Final words: I played Go through much of episode three.

Busou Renkin

Upon learning that Busou Renkin was from the same creator as Kenshin, I was actually looking forward to it- little did I know that where Kenshin was solid and sound, BR was the dumping ground for all the mangaka’s strange and twisted ideas. A standard shounen series filled with everything from the terrifying (Papillon’s thong) to the bizarre (Moon Face), Busou Renkin is far from great, but I watch it partially for Tokiko and mostly for my parodies.

Final words: I pinned all my hopes on Moon Face, but his special technique is a big disappointment.

Code Geass- Lelouch of the Rebellion
The latest stage in the search for that elusive good mecha series, Code Geass turned out to be yet another product from the dango-addled minds at Sunrise. Despite boasting CLAMP character designs, Geass proved to be little more than Gundam Seed Destiny Remix, complete with Kira, Athrun, Lacus, Flay, Lunamaria and more (not to mention added rip-offs from various other sources). Had I known from the start that it was going to be fifty episodes, I wouldn’t have struggled with it for as long as I did.

Final words: How many times am I going to have to say that the cat was the best part of a particular series?

La Corda d’Oro

Despite my bad experiences with fellow Neoromance series Haruka and Angelique, Corda’s focus on music made it seem worthy and so it was duly tried. Despite the extreme predictability and the fact that giving the lead a magical violin amounts to little more than cheating, Corda is an enjoyable series which mixes brightly coloured bishies with an actual plot.

Final words: Behind every good natured lead are multiple bishounen backing her up.

D. Gray-man
Although there was a brief period in which D.Gray-man looked like it might be the one shounen action series I followed this season, this poor man’s FMA blew it early by killing off its most interesting character (unsurprisingly, a fat cat which I have named “Big Boss”). The series never really recovered from this loss, and by the third episode, it was clearly time to put it aside and focus on shounen series which could at least be parodied.

Final words: Why is it called D.Gray-man anyway?

Death Note
Despite my quibbles with the second half of the series, I did enjoy the Death Note manga, and therefore it might seem quite odd that I always seem so negative towards the anime. Unfortunately, the fact of the matter is that the battle of wits between Light, a student with a notebook that can kill people just by writing their name in it, and L, the detective appointed to stop him, is simply too exposition heavy to succeed in animated form. Excepting those laughably theatrical moments when Light and L seem to phase into a coloured ‘Justice Mode’, Madhouse have done the best job they can with the material, but this is really a series that needed to be told through straight prose, not animation.

Final words: Justice Mode, engage!

Ghost Hunt
In case you hadn’t already guessed, Ghost Hunt is about hunting ghosts…or at least, standing around and arguing over what to do about said ghosts. Featuring the by now familiar ‘eclectic bunch of heroes’, Ghost Hunt seemed to be nothing more than the autumn’s Ayakashi- a series that made mediocre stories even worse by playing them at 1/3 speed.

Final words: Generic by name, generic by nature.

Hataraki Man
When I first read about Hataraki Man, it sounded like it could easily become a pick of the season- what could be more enjoyable than the tale of an overworked journalist? Unfortunately, my hopes for a superior slice-of-life series were instantly shattered by the first episode, which portrayed the main character as just the sort of ‘I need a REAL MAN’ woman that I really dislike, and surrounded her with a group of dull and generic supporting characters. A single episode turned out to be more than enough.

Final words: It’s strikeout time for Moyoco Anno.

Kanon [2006]

Given how much I loved Air, I was expecting Kanon’s ‘sad girls in snow’ to elicit the same feelings of enjoyment, but unfortunately, after the first couple of episodes, it was clear that Kanon just wasn’t in the same lead. With an overly sarcastic lead whose main pastime seemed to be verbally abusing all the girls around him whilst they smiled and asked for more, Kanon proved that its main worth lay in parody.

Final words: Yuuichi is one of the foremost villains of the era.

Mai-Otome Zwei
Like the very dango that Sunrise subsists upon, Mai-Otome may not be good for the health, but an unhealthy fascination draws one back to it. The first episode of this OVA sees an evil Shadow Otome start petrifying and absorbing various main characters, whilst Queen Mashiro and Meister Arika’s bond is tested to the limit in preparation for the angst, forgiveness and destiny phases later on.

Final words: At least we got to see some fat cats.

Maria-sama ga Miteru OVA
I enjoyed the first two seasons of MariMite, but having been expecting this OVA since around March, I had pretty much lost enthusiasm by the time it finally rolled around. Episode one sees Yumi accompany Sachiko to her summer villa, only for her week of HARD YURI to be spoiled by general apathy and evil lesbians. The next episode looks like it will be better, but this one was far too standard to truly entertain.

Final words: Onee-sama!

Negima!?
Although the idea of a ten year old boy teaching a class of thirty-one junior high students was never really one that appealed to me, Negima is one of those big name titles that you have to try just to say you have. With my progress into the manga going slowly and my knowledge of the first anime season basically nonexistent, this new series seemed like an ideal place to start. Unfortunately, our relationship was never destined to be a long one- the animation may have been good, but the story left far too much to be desired. With too many insipid characters and a divergence from the very manga arcs I was interested in, Negima!? had to go.

Final words: That ferret is creepy.

Pumpkin Scissors
Gonzo series must always be watched in case they turn out to be the next Last Exile, but as Pumpkin Scissors demonstrated, most of them have no hope of ever entering the same league as Claus and Lavie’s tale. Another FMA-lite tale, this time with Blonde Heroine 10658 at its head, Pumpkin Scissors failed to inspire to such an extent that it was abandoned after the first episode. It will, however, be making a comeback in parody form.

Final words: The Pumpkin Scissors must cut through the pumpkin-esque layers of corruption like a pair of scissors. I’m not kidding.

Red Garden
Another Gonzo effort, Red Garden is effectively ‘Gantz with girls’, featuring four teenage girls who have been revived after their deaths in order to fight slavering men. Despite being drenched in angst, Red Garden looked to have an interesting mystery at its core, but with each passing revelation the truth behind it all becomes ever more laughable and ridiculous.

Final words: KEITO! KULAIR! ROSU! RACHERU!

Rozen Maiden Ouverture
Great visuals and average story were what I expected from Ouverture, and predictably, that is just what this two-part special delivered. The tale of Shinku first met Suigintou and turned her into the psychotic witch we know and love, any enjoyment Ouverture had to offer was simply overshadowed by the amount of plot holes in the Rozen Maiden story.

Final words: More explanations, less ‘wtf’, please.

Shounen Onmyouji
After a poorly subbed first episode, my time with Shounen Onmyouji seemed destined to be short, but fortunately Yoroshiku saw fight to pick up the series, and it was a given a second chance. As the title indicates, Shounen Onmyouji covers the adventures of youthful onmyouji Masahiro, grandson of Abe no Seimei. Together with his destined powers and sidekick Mokkun, Masahiro set out to battle evil foreign demons from the West, but can he prove himself worthy of being Seimei’s successor? A surprisingly fun series that is, if not gold, at least parody silver.

Final words: Imagine how good it could have been if Bishie-Seimei was the lead, and Guren wore proper clothes.

Tenpou Ibun Ayakashi Ayashi
Yet another in a long line of period series, Ayakashi Ayashi is about…well, I actually can’t recall what it was supposed to be about. The only images burned into my brain are those of a disturbingly HARD GAY male bathhouse scene and a fight between two monsters, one with a head shaped like a wang, and the other which looks like three wangs joined together. With that in mind, is it any wonder I chose not to watch past the first episode?

Final words: I should have known that a series with ‘Ayakashi’ in the title was to be avoided.

Tokimeki Memorial
As the doyen of all dating sims (not to mention the one that gets parodied most often), it seemed only right to watch Tokimeki’s long overdue anime incarnation. After just a single episode, however, all such feelings of duty had long since evaporated in the face of the fact that this series was completely and utterly crazy and random- and not in a good, Pani Poni Dash sense. Apart from the chick in the first episode, there seemed little to recommend this makeshift collection of scenes, and so it was quickly swept under the carpet.

Final words: I think I’ll stick with Ukidoki Memorial.

Yoake Mae Yori Ruriiro Na ~Crescent Love~
If you discount the sex scenes, H-game CGs always look good. Anyone got any from Jingai Makyo?

A series that I wanted to watch purely on the strength of some promo artwork, YoakeNa follows the romance between earth boy Tatsuya and Feena, princess of the Moon. Admittedly, it did start out as light fun, but as the weeks passed both the animation and story quality deteriorated to the point where each episode was more an excuse to take a nap than anything else.

Final words: I dislike the series, but I need that figure.

Looking Ahead to 2007
I had planned to try my hand at the obligatory ‘winter season preview’ post, but when I realised that my three paragraph effort would be a firefly as compared to the moon of Hung’s multi-part season preview posts, I quickly abandoned that idea in favour of putting a few words at the end here.

To be honest, the coming winter season doesn’t really look that exciting- do we really need more episodes of Angelique, FLAG and Kamisama Kazoku, much less a remake of Ikki Tousen? Despite the danger of not enjoying the most hyped series, I can’t help looking forward to trying the Ichigo Mashimaro OVA and ‘Corda but better’ Nodame Cantabile; I’m also slightly curious about Les Miserables, although fifty episodes of that does seem a bit much. The likes of ‘chibi-HiME’ Venus Versus Virus and anything dating sim or virtual girl based will most likely be avoided.

Looking further into the year, we have the disappointing news that Bokurano’s anime adaptation is being handled by ‘let’s mess up the story’ Gonzo, as well as a Spring debut for the third season of Nanoha, now with less loli. And regardless of whatever else there is to watch, there’s always more Otome Zwei and MariMite episodes- what fun…

Join me again on Tuesday for the New Year Rumble.

I hate resizing images. Picture heavy posts are always tough and tedious work, because up until now I’ve been resizing them manually. It was only last night that I finally discovered the power of the batch resizing program, a device which shall make my life infinitely easier. No longer shall I spend hours at my computer painstakingly editing images- now I can go out and live (or more likely, stay in and spend time at the computer doing something else).

Reviewed this week: Asatte no Houkou 4, Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto 3-4, Busou Renkin 5, Bartender 2, Code Geass 4, Death Note 5, Hecatan 1, Kanon 5, Keroro 63, Chevalier 9, Negima!? 4, Otogi-jushi Akazukin 15-16, Red Garden 4, ROTK 29, SaiMono 20, Shounen Onmyouji 2, YoakeNa 5

…and in manga: Furuba 133-4, GITS 1.5 1, Gokinjo 33, Otome 33, Spiral 17-18, NHK 32, Haruhi Suzumiya novel 4.4

ANIME

Asatte no Houkou 4: It’s up to Shouko and Karada to convince Hiro that they really have swapped ages, but can he be persuaded to believe that his little sister is all grown up? Apart from some touching moments towards the end, this episode wasn’t quite up to the level of the previous three, but it was still enjoyable nonetheless (not to mention far ahead of most other recent releases). I really can’t recommend this series enough, and am almost considering promoting it to the hallowed ‘top ten’.

Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto 3-4: As Bakumatsu forges ahead, I continue to have less and less of an idea what’s actually going on, but somehow it remains entertaining. From the excellent FictionJunction OP to the atmospheric setting and slick action scenes, the series’ presentation comes together to such an extent that the story itself doesn’t really matter. It may sound like a case of style over substance, but it isn’t so much that the substance is absent, just that I’m finding it a little impenetrable.

The Millennium Eye from Yu-Gi-Oh makes an unexpected return.

Busou Renkin 5: It’s standard shounen all the way as Kazuki and Tokiko face off against the third general of evil, the eagle homunculus. Unfortunately, the fast pace that characterised the first few episodes is now slowing down, and there are a few too many “only the destined hero can do it”-style clichés, but the series still manages to remain watchable.

*DROPPED* Bartender 2: I can’t say that I’ve ever felt fidgety and irritable after watching an anime episode before, but somehow the second episode of Bartender managed to achieve just that. I want to like the series, but I just feel divorced from the events of the episode due to the presentation; the narrator’s voice sets my teeth on edge and the incessant piano playing that passes for background music intrudes too much on my consciousness. This episode saw a woman come to the eponymous bartender in the hopes that he could identify a drink related to a story of her past- unfortunately, it is impossible to care about her tale when the characters seem so lifeless.

Code Geass- Lelouch of the Rebellion 4: With Suzaku having been arrested for the murder of Prince Clovis, Lelouch decides to don his ‘Zero’ mask and rescue his friend- cue lots of running around from people with brightly coloured hair. Whilst not as appealing as the previous episode, Code Geass (aka Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Geass) still manages to hang on by virtue of being fairly entertaining.

Death Note 5: It’s a turning point for Light this week, as he goes beyond merely ‘judging’ criminals and starts using the Death Note against those attempting to catch Kira. Now that events are moving, the quality of the series improves as we are given a respite from the lengthy exposition scenes. The background music is also worthy of note for its simple yet atmospheric style.

That being said, I must digress here in order to air a mini-rant about an annoyingly sexist part of this series (and yes, it was in the manga as well).

Perhaps five screencaps is a bit excessive to make one minor point, but even so- “Woman, you are now my chattel and must cease having any kind of life or identity of your own; instead, get to pumping out and raising strong sons whilst I go off and do MANLY things.”

Itadaki no Hecatetan 1: The follow-up to Shakugan no Shanatan, this instalment takes the series of short extras to new and disturbing places. As the title indicates, Shanatan is joined by the chibi Hecatetan; potentially interesting as this may seem, all it does is lead to a special filled with HARD GAY and penis fondling. Unless you have a strong stomach or an unnaturally strong urge for completion, avoid at all costs.

Normally I would have to take this out of context to make it HARD GAY, but let’s just say that this time any alteration to the original intent is unnecessary.

Kanon 5: Despite being advised not to do it, I just had to start watching the old Kanon series this week, and as someone who hasn’t played the game, I’m finding it more enjoyable than the remake. This week sees Yuuichi enter new levels of evil as he tightens his hold on Makoto and begins pursuing Mai and Sayuri; once again it just feels that the development is spread too thinly around all the girls.

Keroro Gunso 63: Season two continues to slowly improve with this episode, which features Keroro coming into school (in Pekopon suit) to teach Fuyuki’s class, followed by an impromptu visit from Keroro’s father in order to announce an arranged marriage for his son. The first half of the episode isn’t particularly inspiring, but whilst it lacks in originality, Keroro’s attempts to convince his father that he is already engaged to Natsumi are reasonably amusing. Of course, I’m a sucker for Keron-style resonance, so the ‘Natsunatsunatsu” scene immediately won points for the episode.

Le Chevalier d’Eon 9: The Russia arc gets into full swing as the Four Musketeers apply their skills to foiling a plot to assassinate Empress Elizabeth. Despite a drop in animation quality, the content remains as good as ever; the only trouble with Chevalier is that one episode at a time is never enough.

Negima!? 4: I don’t greatly enjoy watching Negima, but as before, I’m sure that next episode will win me over. This time around, Negi must combat an encroaching darkness that may be related to the theft of the power Star Crystal; the shoutacon obsessed girls and naked transformations are disturbing, but I can get through each episode by virtue of the visuals alone.

Otogi-jushi Akazukin 15-16: Since Hansel, Gretel and Randagio have lost so many times, episode 15 sees Cendrillon decide to send out mecha-witch Trude, the next recurring enemy. After turning most of the party into wooden dolls and thus trapping them in another dimension, Trude stands around waiting for the heroes to save the day, but from the looks of things she’ll be back many times despite her limited repertoire. Not a particularly enthralling episode, but one that marks a bit of a turning point for the series by adding some variety to the standard formula.

Episode 16 takes our heroes to Ibara’s home land in order to give the sleeping beauty some much needed backstory; it’s an interesting episode by Akazukin standards, which finally answers the question of why she falls asleep so often.

Red Garden 4: The only reason I’m watching Red Garden is to answer the question “why have high school girls been revived in order to fight slavering men?”. I really couldn’t care less about the development of the annoying and dislikeable leads, and hence episodes like this one fail to capture my attention. It is quite possibly more realistic to have them whining and crying all the time, but sometimes realism must sacrificed for the sake of entertainment; until these girls get their act together, this is going to be a painful ride.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms 29: The end of Guan Yu’s stay with Cao Cao seemed to promise a reduction in HARD GAY hilarity, but fortunately ROTK stays in form this episode as Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and Liu Bei reunite. Unfortunately, poor Sun Quan only gets a “and by the way, Sun Quan exists” mention, which is something of a blow for Wu fans, but otherwise it remains as unintentionally amusing as ever.

Saiunkoku Monogatari 20: Shuurei and Eigetsu are off to Sa Province, but before we get to their adventures it’s time for some back story. Focussing on Seien/Seiran and Ryuuki’s formative years and the Saiunkoku civil war, this episode may not further the story much, but it does a good job of filling in some of the blanks. To put it simply, SaiMono is always highly enjoyable, and this episode is certainly no exception.

Shounen Onmyouji 2: With decent subs, SO immediately upgrades from “what the hell is this?” to light entertainment; it may still be a poor man’s Tactics, but now that the dialogue is no longer cobbled together from Google translations, it becomes an enjoyable series for fans of fantasy and action. This episode sees Masahiro pay a visit to the Minister of the Left after his coming-of-age ceremony, complete with Mokkun’s backchat, introduction to female lead and a monster-of-the-week for our hero to face.

Yoake Mae Yori Ruriiro Na ~Crescent Love~ 5: It’s the obligatory swimsuit and summer vacation episode this week, as Tatsuya and his harem take to the beach. Whilst this is somewhat more entertaining than last week, the series is still some way below the “light fun” level it initially promised.

There’s been a lot of HARD GAY this week, so here’s some HARD YURI to even it out.

MANGA

Fruits Basket 133-4: As Fruits Basket grinds slowly towards an ending, Tohru’s classmates discover that she is now dating Kyo, leading Hanajima and Uotani to demand that they accompany Tohru and Kyo on their first date. With lines like “it could take ten years” and “this is just the beginning”, it is hard to imagine the series ever actually finishing (although apparently chapter 136 will be the end of it all).

*NEW* Ghost in the Shell 1.5 1: I probably won’t be reviewing the rest of this, but having read the first chapter, it seemed a bit pointless not to include this in the Round-Up. This first chapter sees Togusa assigned to a mission involving a potential ‘zombie’ under remote control; the story isn’t bad but the artwork is a little too rough and cluttered.

*OMAKE* Gokinjo Monogatari 33: Having thought that I’d already finished Gokinjo, I was surprised to see the release of this extra chapter, but it actually turned out to be the ending the series needed. Taking place somewhere between the events of Gokinjo and ParaKiss, the series ties up the adventures of one set of protagonists whilst introducing their successors. Even if you’ve only read Paradise Kiss, it’s worth looking at this chapter for some interesting back story.

Random trivia: Arashi of ParaKiss is the son of Gokinjo’s Risa; apparently she got pregnant whilst still in school, presumably just after the series ended.

Mai-Otome 33: In the aftermath of Mai’s attack, the real Mashiro and Sergey plan further evil, whilst Manshiro, Arika and the others retreat for now with help from Mimi (yes, Mimi is back, and she actually has a better design in the manga). Very little actually happens in this chapter; it’s more an excuse to show off various cast members and remind us that while the fanservice has been in abeyance of late, it’s never too far from the page.

Spiral 17-18: I had pretty much given up all hope of ever being able to read more Spiral, so to have not one, but two additional chapters is a welcome boon. Those familiar with the anime will recognise these chapters as corresponding to the mid-series arc in which Narumi competes with Kousuke and Rio for both Hiyono’s freedom and a tape implicating the Blade Children in a murder; as expected from the series, it’s an absorbing ride which ends too soon.

Welcome to the NHK 32: Although I’m sceptical about how long it will last, this chapter actually looks like a turning point for our heroes, as Satou and his sempai work out their feelings for each other, and Misaki contemplates her future. Could this be heading towards a conclusion, or will they just rollercoaster down into a new wave of depression?

NOVEL

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya vol 4, chapter 4: Given the way I keep writing about these novels, you’d be forgiven for thinking I was a big fan of the series instead of someone who has written two rants about it. This chapter sees Kyon travel back in time once again as part of his attempt to repair the future; despite the headache inducing number of ‘temporal variants’ I’m still enjoying this volume and not particularly looking forward to the series reverting to standalone stories in volume five.

There’s going to be a bit of a parody break for the next few days; not just because of the Jyu-oh-sei HDTV incident, but because I’ve been spending a lot of time on the Mai-HiME RPG (despite a tendency for the victory music to play in unwanted places, episode three is generally going well). If you’re a parody fan, however, don’t worry, because they will be returning soon.

Due to a general apathy towards the series, I have yet to watch Keroro Gunso 62 and will be leaving that to next week. Also, there are some pretty big spoilers for the Tsubasa manga towards the end, so don’t read if you’re not up to date and want to maintain the element of surprise.

Reviewed this week: Aria the Natural 15-16, Asatte no Houkou 1-3, Ayakashi Ayashi 1, Bakumatsu 1, Busou Renkin 3, Chevalier 7, Code Geass 2, Death Note 3, Gargoyle of the Yoshinagas 3, Kanon 3, Keroro 61, Negima!? 3, ROTK 26-7, YoakeNa 3

…and in manga: Emma Bangaihen 1-3, Higurashi Onikakushi-hen 1, H&C 12, Otome 32, MariMite 20, Tsubasa 133, NHK 31, xxxHOLiC 9.7, YoakeNa 1, Haruhi Suzumiya novel 4.3

ANIME

Aria the Natural 15-16: After such a long wait, any new Aria is gratefully received, but unfortunately, episode 15 was not one of the series’ stronger moments. The episode sees Al and Akatsuki join Akari at a café and relate an event from their childhood on the Floating Island; however, whilst the flashback is worthy enough, the framing scenes fall too far on the side of the saccharin sentimentality that Aria usually manages to avoid. Perhaps it was simply due to the lack of Aika keeping things down to earth with her “embarrassing lines are prohibited”.

Fortunately, episode 16 is a far more satisfying instalment, as Akari makes one last outing with her gondola prior to getting a new one. A quiet and gentle segment even by Aria standards, this is one of those episodes that ensures that Aria continues to outshine the competition.

*NEW* Asatte no Houkou 1-3: Although it didn’t penetrate at first, at long last the fanboying about AnH has come to my attention, and I duly decided that I might as well investigate the first two episodes. The series sees lead Hiro leave his girlfriend Shouko for some siscon to look after his little sister Karada, only for Shouko to turn up years later. Now, through a wish on a magical stone, Karada becomes an adult, whilst Shouko reverts to a little girl; it may sound like the perfect excuse some loli ‘fun’, but actually this is a rewarding character drama that has swiftly become one of my top picks for the season.

*NEW/DROPPED* Tenpou Ibun Ayakashi Ayashi 1: I really should know better than to trust any series with the name ‘Ayakashi’ in the title, but I convinced myself that this might have some parody worth. Apart from the historical setting, however, Ayakashi Ayashi really doesn’t have much going for it. The series seemingly consists of two types of scene- the ultra-boring and the incredibly scary (it’s not so much horror as “how long do we have to look at fat naked men in the bathhouse”). Even the monster at the end has a head that looks like a giant penis; I may joke about HARD GAY, but that is going a bit too far.

*NEW* Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto 1: After dismissing Ayakashi Ayashi, the next stop was ‘that other samurai series with the long name’, featuring a lone ronin who inadvertently ends up as part of a performing troupe. It’s not particularly worthy, but it’s good enough to keep watching for the time being.

Busou Renkin 3: Another week, another episode of mostly generic but somehow entertaining adventures. With seven days to go until Tokiko becomes a Homunculus, Kazuki enters the training phase, and is fortunate enough to discover his destined battle during a battle with one of the generals of evil. It’s nothing special, but the episode earns points for the speed at which the generals of evil are defeated, and of course for Tokiko, the number one reason to watch the series in the first place.

Le Chevalier d’Eon 7: Russia is still some way off as our intrepid team stops off in Cologne and runs into some minor agents of evil. It’s an entertaining and action-packed episode, as well as the easiest one to parody so far. Russia is taking longer to reach than I anticipated, but I’m looking forward to actually getting there next week.

Code Geass- Lelouch of the Rebellion 2: With his new powers and an almost irrational hatred of tea, Athrun Lelouche uses his Eternal Sabbath powers to coordinate the rebellion against Brittania, whilst Kira Suzaku is picked to pilot the destined mecha that fights against him. Already the vague promise that the first episode offered is beginning to fade away, and if not for the fluidity of the sequence which the Lancelot mecha launched its attack, I probably wouldn’t be inclined to watch any more.

Death Note 3: Upon watching the recap of episode two, I couldn’t help wondering why I hadn’t laughed at Light proclaiming “I am Justice!”. Nonetheless, as the episode moved into new material, it settled down into the realms of “solid enough”, as Light and L move into the first stage of their battle of wits. To be perfectly honest, Death Note isn’t really the kind of series that needs to be animated (I’m sure I could get just as much out of the story if it were a visual novel) but it’s still entertaining enough within the limitations of the medium.

The Gargoyle of the Yoshinagas 3: There’s a new rival for Gar-san when the phantom thief Hyakushiki puts in an appearance and challenges the gatekeeper to guard against him; matters soon become more complex, however, when Hyakushiki makes the acquaintance of Lily, a little girl with psychic powers. Putting aside the joy of getting another Gargoyle episode less than five months after the last one, this instalment isn’t quite up to the level set by episode two, but it nonetheless proves to be entertaining.

Kanon 3: There’s something of an uguu~ and auu~ overload in this episode as the energetic Makoto comes to stay with Yuuichi, bringing a new sound bite and a large appetite. Whilst not a bad episode by any means, this one felt a little too overloaded to attain the oddly enjoyable quality of the first two episodes- I’d rather see fewer girls covered in more detail for a given episode than have a large chunk of them paraded out for a token scene.

Keroro Gunso 61: Whilst Fuyuki meets a mysterious transfer student with amazingly bad luck, Natsumi’s fortunes seem on the rise after Saburo comes over- that is, until they get trapped in a rocket together. Before any Saburo fans get excited, however, I must warn you that he spends most of his time off screen; it’s hard to believe there was a time when I anticipated him being somewhat important to the story. Overall, the episode isn’t a bad way to spend twenty-five minutes, but it’s hardly outstanding.

Sunrise puts in a bulk order for dango.

Negima!? 3: I don’t really enjoy Negima, but I keep watching because for some reason I always think “next episode, it will all be worth it”. Hopefully, this will actually be the case next episode, as this week’s showdown between Negi and Evangeline was not terribly engaging.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms 26-7: When episode 26 introduced Zhuge Liang as a poorly disguised excuse to have a clip show (here’s what happened whilst Zhuge was growing up!), I was almost tempted to drop this show entirely, but fortunately the swift release of episode 27 proved to be a boon in keeping it alive. By getting back to Guan Yu’s stay with Cao Cao, the episode washed away the dull flashbacks with all the unintentional hilarity and HARD GAY references you could ask for- it now seems increasingly likely that I can see this through to the end.

Yoake Mae Yori Ruriiro Na ~Crescent Love~ 3: Cooking competitions can usually elevate even the worst series into the realms of entertainment, but unfortunately Yoake does better at the non-cooking scenes than the actual competition in this episode. What starts off as another enjoyable instalment of light fun deteriorates a little when the content gets started, mainly because the actual cooking part of it takes place off screen. The animation also seems weaker this episode, especially as I have now seen the quality of the game CGs.

MANGA

*NEW* Emma Bangaihen 1-3: The main Emma manga is still locked in the legendary backlog pile, but nonetheless I made a random comment last week about including Bangaihen in this round-up, and thus thought I’d better come through. Fortunately, as the title indicates, this series is just about side stories; the first two chapters see a young Kelly and her husband save up for a trip to the Crystal Palace exhibition, whilst chapter three begins a new tale centring on Eleanor. If you enjoyed Emma, this is highly recommended.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Onikakushi-hen 1: I haven’t even finished reading the Watanagashi and Tatarigoroshi volumes, but that’s not the kind of the thing that’s stopped me before. This opening chapter is basically an expanded version of the first anime episode, introducing Keiichi et al and setting up the mystery. The character designs look a bit off in some panels, but the content is still good.

Honey & Clover 12: A day out gives everyone a chance to meet a giraffe and get some fresh air, whilst Shuu tells Mayama about his past with Harada and Rika. There are some easy targets to make fun of in this chapter, but it’s still an enjoyable segment that manages to pack in everything from emotional drama to light-hearted comedy.

Rika is left out whilst Shuu and Harada enjoy some HARD GAY.

Mai-Otome 32: It’s HiME-service from hereon out as the real Mashiro summons Dark Mai to her side in order to fight Arika and Nina. There’s still no sign of anything resembling a coherent plot (and I doubt there ever will be) but there’s plenty of action and a look at Dark Kagutsuchi.

Maria-Sama ga Miteru 20: Corresponding to around episode ten of the anime’s first season, this chapter takes us a year into Sei’s past and relates the relationship she struck up with a first year girl, a relationship deemed inappropriate by Catholic standards (even if everyone at the school is clearly HARD YURI anyway). After a certain contact overhyped this arc in the anime, I wasn’t able to enjoy it as much as if I’d come to it with an unbiased mind; now that I can take the manga version at my own pace, I’m finding it a lot more heartfelt and emotional.

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle 133: It’s taken 133 chapters, but a plot has finally appeared, albeit one that has as many holes and questions as the previous lack of plot. For reasons best left to CLAMP, Yuuko is suddenly able to enter exposition mode and explain that Fei Wong’s plan to gain the power of dimensional travel hinges on Sakura having journeyed to different worlds. For that very reason, he used his powers to turn Sakura’s memories into scattered feathers, killed Kurogane’s mother, made a clone of Syaoran (the original somehow knew his plans) and manipulated Fye; yet despite being able to do all this, the ability to freely go to another world still eludes him. Now all that remains are 600 more chapters of collecting feathers before the confrontation at Final Boss Castle.

Welcome to the NHK 31: Satou is now staying with Senpai in his old flat, but apart from that, everyone is as miserable as ever. Obviously recovering from the problems that beset our leads would be far from easy in real life, but at the same time, NHK is meant to be a form of entertainment, and if it continues in this rut for much longer, the readers themselves may end up suffering from depression.

xxxHOLiC vol 9 chapter 7: Yuuko, Watanuki, Doumeki and Mokona gather together to exorcise a spirit…by playing Mah-jong. As you can probably deduce from that statement, this is a slightly bizarre chapter, which also happens to be somewhat unrewarding.

This is actually from the previous chapter, but the implications are clear.

Yoake Mae Yori Ruriiro Na 1: Yoake completes the set by getting its own manga version, but whilst this first episode seems a little more detailed than the beginning of the anime (see last week for synopsis), the artwork leaves a lot to be desired- even the animation drop in the latest anime episode cannot compare to the simplistic nature of these designs. Given the beauty of the original game art, it’s a shame (if not unexpected) that this manga series cannot do it justice.

NOVEL

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya vol 4, chapter 3: A world free of SOS Brigade randomness sounds like a pretty good thing to me, but Kyon is determined to get the universe back to the way it used to be. To that end, he goes on a mission to find Haruhi in this reality…and actually succeeds. Another entertaining chapter from the series’ best volume so far.

If there’s one thing I’m not too keen on when watching fansubs, it’s mkv format. According to its proponents, mkv is new and ‘1337’ whilst avi is old and outdated, but the fact remains that mkv is a pain to play. The picture gets stuck, it uses up more CPU resources than I’m willing to give it (I like to run a lot of programs simultaneously), the softsubs can be problematic, and VLC media player doesn’t like them. I may get comments here telling me that mkv is good or to use a different media player, but that’s not going to stop me ranting about how annoying it can be.

Aria, Death Note, Emma Bangaihen and possibly Ayakashi Ayashi will be covered next week.

Reviewed this week: Bartender, Busou Renkin, Chevalier, Code Geass, Corda d’Oro, D.Gray-man, Ghost Hunt, Hataraki Man, Kanon, Mushishi, Negima, Otogi-jushi Akazukin, Red Garden, Yoake Mae Yori Ruriiro Na

…and in manga: Mai-Otome, NHK, REC, Tsubasa, xxxHOLiC

ANIME

*NEW* Bartender 1: When I first learned of the existence of an anime about a bartender, my initial thoughts were, “hmm, I can probably give that a miss”. Nonetheless, as often happens, the title got stuck in my head, and over time I began to wonder if it might actually be quite interesting. Fortunately, episode one did indeed prove to be worthy, as the eponymous bartender helped a weary businessman past his hatred of bars. The presentation wasn’t perfect, and I could have done without the sections where the protagonists sit by themselves and talk directly to the audience, but this could be an interesting customer-of-the-week style show. Then again, it could equally turn into a Jigoku Shoujo, “same story every week” series, but for now I’m content to keep watching.

Busou Renkin 2: Under the new, harsher regime, I probably should be dropping this about now, but Busou Renkin was actually a big improvement on the first episode, in that I actually felt compelled to pay attention to it instead of playing Go whilst leaving the episode running (yes, my dark secret is out- I often do this during a boring episode). Even so, I have to admit that Tokiko is the main reason I am watching, so I am less enthused to see that she’s going to be out of action whilst spiky-haired lead trains and presumably defeats the arc one enemies.

Le Chevalier d’Eon 6: Although I had assumed our heroes would be heading to Russia in this episode, I forgot that the obligatory ‘nothing happens but we’ll file it under character development’ episode had to come first. In that vein, it can hardly be said that this was Chevalier’s finest moment, but I’m confident that things will get back on track once Russia is actually reached.

*NEW* Code Geass- Lelouch of the Rebellion 1: CLAMP character designs and mecha- even with Sunrise and their sweet potato dango getting involved, it seemed worth a try. The series sees noble Japan invaded by the cruel, tea-sipping Britannia Empire as led by Mars Cubehart Prince Clovis. Naturally, there is a terrorist group fighting against the oppressors, and in due course our hero, now imbued with special powers, will no doubt join them. Not a particularly outstanding episode in and of itself, but there are enough interesting threads set up to make watching episode two a necessity.

*NEW* La Corda d’Oro 1: Since this is yet another series based on a Neoromance game (albeit one that was itself based on a manga), it isn’t surprising that it features a girl who meets lots of bishies. What is different, however, is that Corda d’Oro not only takes place in a music school, but it also has something in the way of a plot. The first episode sees non-musical lead get chosen to participate in the school’s music contest- now the next stop is to actually learn to play. An enjoyable opening episode for a series that will hopefully not be obscured by angst later on.

*DROPPED* D.Gray-man 3: After episode two, I thought that D.Gray-man would prove an interesting diversion for at least four or five episodes, but when I found that I could barely concentrate on this one, I knew it was time to put at end to any further pain. Allen’s FMA: Shounen Lite adventures have outstayed their welcome, and it is time to put them on the drop pile where they belong.

*NEW* Ghost Hunt 1: In case you can’t guess from the title, Ghost Hunt is about hunting ghosts, not that much of that happens in the first episode. This opening instalment is basically about introducing us to more characters than we can possibly hope to remember, and setting up something for them to do next time. I can’t say that it was particularly interesting, but as the plot hasn’t really got going yet I’m going to stick with it for now.

*NEW* Hataraki Man 1: Damn you, tj han for making this sound like something I would really enjoy, because in actual fact this didn’t do a lot for me. Oh look, another angsty shoujo heroine who pretends to be strong and masculine whilst being frail, weak and in need of a REAL MAN deep down. Even better, another group of generic office workers borrowed from the supporting character cloning factory. I’m just not connecting with any of the characters here, and because of that, the entire thing falls down for me.

Kanon 2: As Yuuichi settles in and prepares for his first day at his new school, Kanon proves to be highly enjoyable in its second episode- it’s still lagging a little way behind Air, but the slow and sweet storyline is proving to have the same oddly addictive quality. There have been complaints about the pace dragging a little, but I’m content with the way it’s going so far.

*COMPLETE* Mushishi 26: Although it is with a pang of sadness that I realise that there will be no more Mushishi, I’m also glad to finally be able to put the series on ‘complete’ status. Mushishi is always good, but this episode is one of the series’ stronger offerings, telling the tale of the developing friendship between the heir to a mountain and a young traveller. Ginko barely appears this time around, but his scenes as both a little boy and a full grown man provide a nice resolution to the story. A worthy ending to an excellent series.

Negima!? 2: At this stage, I’ve come to realise that I couldn’t really care less about the plot of this series- I barely know a handful of the girls, and the storyline doesn’t exactly inspire me with its originality. The only reason I’m watching is because I really love the character designs; it’s just a shame that a good portion of the animation budget is concentrated on just a handful of scenes, meaning that the rest has to make does with stills and simplistic sequences.

Otogi-jushi Akazukin 12-14: Yes, the triple bill situation has occurred again, although this time it was somewhat to the detriment of my enjoyment. Episode 12 sees Randagio forced to summon a mediocre monster of the week after an alliance with the Lycans (werewolves) fails to emerge- observant viewers will notice that the former king of the Lycans was called Valhan, and realise that this can surely be none other than Val.

13 is the weakest of the trio, featuring some annoying villagers who worship a dragon god, complete with yet another monster of the week and the destined powers needed to defeat it. Fortunately, 14 proves to be slightly more interesting, covering Gretel’s ill-fated attempts to defy the plot and defect to the side of good.

Red Garden 2: Our four leads were living normal teenage lives- right up to the point where they found out they were dead and that their continued existence depended on fighting slavering men at night. Unfortunately (if not unpredictably) this could only mean an excess of angst and screaming, although Claire wins points for keeping her cool. I can’t say that I particularly like any of the characters here, but it’s the kind of thing that keeps you watching just to find out what the hell is going on.

*NEW* Yoake Mae Yori Ruriiro Na ~Crescent Love~ 1-2: The only reason I wanted to watch this series was because I liked the promo artwork, but as it turned out, this H-game adaptation proves to be a refreshing dose of light-hearted fun. The series follows the adventures of Feena, princess of the Moon, after she comes to live with lead Tatsuya and his two sisters on Earth. Both setting and characters are a fairly predictable high school/harem/comedy mix, but the series is nonetheless entertaining, and I’m looking forward to the promised cooking showdown in episode three.

MANGA

Not that I’ve ever mentioned it on this blog before, but I’m dropping Future Hero Retro Story (a prequel of sorts to Outlaw Star). It’s the kind of manga where you don’t really know what’s going on, and nor do you care.

Mai-Otome 31: The death of Nagi has been a long-awaited event in the Mai- universe, and this time it finally seems to have happened (hopefully he won’t return like he did in the HiME manga), freeing up Nina to make a contract with Manshiro and rejoin his harem. Amazingly, Nagi is actually likable for the few panels before he breathes his last, whilst the Otome robes remain more aesthetically pleasing than their anime counterparts- apart from that, this is an average chapter which spells the opening of the Dark HiME arc.

Welcome to the NHK 27-30: It seems as if every named character is now descending into the pit of their own fear and depression as NHK leaves black humour behind in an attempt to see just what kind of hell it can put its protagonists through. With so many threads now being followed, the breakneck pace is slowing up now, almost as if the creator is stalling for time before deciding whether or not to bring Satou and the others out of the abyss they have fallen into.

REC 17: REC seems to have reached the point where it isn’t really going anywhere- I want to see Matsumaru and Aka’s life together continue to develop, but instead the series seems to be stuck in a cyclic rut. This time around, rumours are flying about Aka having an affair with a colleague, prompting her to wonder (for the fiftieth time) if she should reveal her real relationship with Matsumaru.

Tsubasa Chronicle 132: Whilst Fye argues with the others about heading out to back up Sakura, our heroine manages to make it all the way back by herself- and that’s about the sum total of what happens in this chapter. Unfortunately, the scanlators only seem to have a limited grasp of English, so the tone of the characters’ “voices” is obscured by a complete lack of grammar.

xxxHOLiC vol 9, chapter 6: I know that another group has released more up to date chapters of xxxHOLiC, but since the chapter numbers are different in the magazine and tankoubon releases, I thought I’d just stick with the BWYS release and avoid any potential confusion. Anyway, this is another brief chapter which sees the real Syaoran stop by and have Yuuko send him to meet with the Tsubasa party.

Under the new, harsher regime, I’ve decided to drop a few more series that I haven’t watched lately, but have no desire to get back to. This means that Chocotto Sister and FLAG are gone from the anime line-up (I hadn’t even realised that FLAG 3 was released last month, which shows how closely I’ve been following the series), and Melty Blood is dropped from the reading list.

With the influx of new anime, I’ve largely given up on the OP/ED impressions section for now, simply because they all seem to be so similar and dull. I’ll probably phase it back in when I hear something I like, or alternatively, something so awful that is has to be pointed out.

Reviewed this week: Busou Renkin, Chevalier, D.Gray-man, Death Note, Gargoyle of the Yoshinagas, Kanon, Keroro, Negima!?, Red Garden, ROTK, SaiMono, Shounen Onmyouji, Tokimeki Memorial, Tsubasa, xxxHOLiC

…and in manga: Chokotto Sister, Nanoha A’s to StrikerS, Tsubasa, Utawarerumono

ANIME

*NEW* Busou Renkin 1: Oh look, another spiky-haired hero discovers destined powers…why do I even watch these generic shounen series? In Busou Renkin’s case, my interest was purely motivated by the fact that it was from the creator of Kenshin, but that really isn’t enough to elevate it into the ranks of worthiness. I predict this will be another series I’ll watch for a few episodes of ‘fun’ before the inevitable drop phase.

Le Chevalier d’Eon 5: With Callon out of the way, the hero party continues their pursuit of the ‘evil Russian’ Volonzoff, but can d’Eon catch up to him and still have time to attend confession? Although not the strongest of episodes, this instalment is nonetheless a solid effort which picks up towards the end.

D.Gray-man 2: The FMA rejects are out in force as Allen makes his way to the creatively named Dark Religious Organisation and takes up his destined main character duty of collecting 109 pieces of a golden cube. This somewhat disheartening news could see the anime stretch on forever, but for now it remains the one shounen series of the season that I may follow for more than two episodes.

*NEW* Death Note 1-2: Given the popularity of the manga, Death Note has been a highly anticipated title, but I have to admit that I had my reservations as to whether the series was really suited for an anime adaptation. The episode, which covers high school student Light Yagami’s discovery of a notebook that kills anyone whose name is written it, is something of a mixed effort, but fortunately things take a distinct turn for the better in episode 2. There’s always going to be an element of impatience when you know exactly what’s going to happen, but by the second episode the anime seems a lot more confident in its presentation of the story. My main complaint is Light’s attitude; at this stage in the manga, he still seemed quite calm, but here he is already coming across as more overtly unbalanced.

The Gargoyle of the Yoshinagas 2: I’d almost lost hope that I would ever get to see another subbed episode of Gargoyle (I’ve been hesitant to watch the raws since it looks it will be beyond my meagre abilities) but finally the second instalment is here. This time around, Futaba ends up staying at the home of a rich company president whose true goal is to lure out Gargoyle and test his abilities. It’s nothing outstanding, but it is well animated and thoroughly entertaining.

OP impressions: Far too saccharin and cheerful, but the video is bright and colourful.

ED: Another cheerful number, slightly amusing video.

Or, to quote the Yu-Gi-Oh abridged versions, “screw you, I have money”.

*NEW* Kanon 1: Having neither played the game nor seen the Toei version of Kanon, my only prior experience with the title has been through reading the excited ravings of the fans. With that in mind, it is hard not to have high expectations for the series, but even neglecting the outside influence, this was quite an enjoyable episode, featuring the obligatory return of a male lead to a hometown filled with attractive girls. My impressions right now are of “Air: winter version”, and so I’m hoping the series will manage to achieve the same oddly addictive effect that Air had.

Visually, the animation is just as impressive as advertised (this will be one series where I’ll be keeping my finger on the screencap button), although the background music does sound like it’s been ripped straight from the game. Having Kyon’s VA as Yuuichi is a bit disappointing, though, since it brings back unwelcome memories from Haruhi.

OP: gently atmospheric, but I kept wanting the Air OP to play.

ED: Cheerful and upbeat in a worthy rather than cloying sense.

Keroro Gunso 59-60: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again- Keroro’s second season isn’t as good as the first, and episode 59 only seems to prove that point. Whilst the first half, in which Keroro feeds items to a model castle in order to make it grow, was fairly inoffensive, I could barely concentrate on part B, in which the castle heads off to Kyoto under its own steam and threatens the Gunpla factory.

Episode 60 starts a little more promisingly with everyone getting miniaturised and using household items to stage a high speed race. Unfortunately, the jokes get a little too worn towards the end, whilst the Mois-centred second half is the latest in a long line of weak B-sides.

*NEW* Negima!? 1: My familiarity with the Negima franchise extends as far as having read a single volume of the manga, so without the “omg it’s so much better than the last anime series” factor, Negima!? doesn’t do a great deal for me. The character designs are easy on the eye, but whilst the story has potential, it hasn’t really gone anywhere in this first episode, which just sees Negi get his assignment to teach in Japan, and meet the 31 girls under his tutelage. Hopefully things will pick up in the next couple of episodes- at the least, we should see some well-animated action scenes.

*NEW* Red Garden 1: Even after watching the first episode of Red Garden, I can’t say I know a great deal more about it than I did before I started- most of the episode was devoted to introducing the various dislikeable high school girls who will form the main cast, before a twist at the end turned the series into something a little more eerie and supernatural. This twist is the only thing keeping the episode off the red, since it leaves me curious to see what course the series is going to follow. Shallow as it may seem, however, I am greatly put off by the art style- those large noses and oversized lips do very little for me.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms 25: In the last few episodes, ROTK has become incredibly HARD GAY, and this latest instalment does nothing to alter the trend, as Cao Cao works to bring Guan Yu over to his side. This is one of the parts I remember well from the novel, so my interest is rising again, especially with the accompanying hilarity.

Saiunkoku Monogatari 19: Having proved her capability via a tough oral exam, Shuurei awaits her first proper assignment as a government official, but just where will she be sent? This episode may just be for the purposes of wrapping up the current arc and putting things in place for the next one, but nonetheless it remains as absorbing as ever, and it looks as if things are only going to get better. It is a little sad to think that we’re almost halfway through the series already- I want much, much more.

*NEW/POSSIBLY DROPPED* Shounen Onmyouji 1: I decided to watch this on the basis of it looking a little like Tactics, but unfortunately, it turned out to be Tactics-ultra poor version, consisting of typical shounen lead and a mascot/semi-bishie sidekick rolled into one. Our lead will no doubt want to defy his useless beginnings and become the best onmyouji around, with friends cheering from the sidelines and villains challenging him at every turn. Even so, I could probably derive some mild entertainment (if not parody potential) from the first few episodes, however the subs are so awful that they make the series seem that much worse. I may watch episode 2, but only if another group picks up the series.

*NEW/DROPPED* Tokimeki Memorial 1: As the respected senior of dating sims and target of a thousand parodies, it almost seemed wrong not to give this series a try, but now I wish I had left well enough alone. If this had been a sedate harem series, I probably could have derived some mild enjoyment from it, but unfortunately the first episode offers more of a nonsensical “wtf!?” story as our lead transfers to a bizarre new school, a place where teachers are picked from the local freak show and animal ears are the reward for good grades. In a series of out of sequence scenes, said lead is chased around the school by students desperate to relieve him of a pair of pink nekomimi. It’s all very over-the-top and pointless, and I can’t bring myself to watch any more.

*DROPPED* Tsubasa Chronicle 41-2: I thought I could at least stick it out until the end of the second season, but in the end I crumbled a long before the finish line. If season one and fellow Bee Train series .hack//SIGN were like swimming through treacle, then this series must surely be more akin to swimming through granite- certainly it was equally painful. These two episodes tie up the Rekord/Lecourt arc in preparation for another stretch of filler that I simply cannot face; the three insert songs in episode 42 alone seemed to indicate that now was a good time to extricate myself from the whole mess.

*COMPLETE* xxxHOLiC 24: It is with a profound sense of relief that I can finally announce that I have finished watching xxxHOLiC, and need never view it again. A while ago, I recall reading a very short chapter of the manga about a disembodied hand that spirited children away, and thinking that it couldn’t possibly be turned into an anime episode. With the addition of a flashback story about Watanuki making a friend (perhaps his first experience of HARD GAY), that very same hand chapter makes its anime debut here, and unsurprising, it proves to be as dull and mediocre as I’ve come to expect from the series. If there is aa second season of this, I can’t see myself having the will to watch it.

MANGA

Chokotto Sister 35-6: A surprisingly fanservice-free pair of chapters this time around, which see Chitose forced to wear her old thick-rimmed glasses after breaking her current pair, and Choko running into a panther after deciding that she’d like her own pet. It may sound a little ridiculous, but in practice these are both the kind of sweet and simple chapter that keep me reading despite all the scarring fanservice.

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A’s to StrikerS 1: A chapter set in the ‘six years later’ time that StrikerS is to take place in, this brief instalment reintroduces Nanoha, Fate and the rest, and sends them out to retrieve some more Lost Logia. It makes for a rather underwhelming start to whatever this manga is planning to cover, and even the artwork is far below the usual Nanoha standards, opting for a simplistic, low-contrast style. It is worth noting, however, that Chrono and Amy are now engaged.

Tsubasa Chronicle 131: Sakura: FFX-2 version takes on a hydra without any assistance from Syaoran or Mokona in this brief chapter; the action scenes were a little confusing here, and there’s an overwhelming need for CLAMP to just get on with the story.

*DROPPED* Utawarerumono 5: When I opened this chapter and saw how badly Karura was drawn, I knew that it was time to put the manga behind me. This chapter sees Eruruu angst over generic soldiers getting injured in practice battles, a pointless topic that somehow manages to be even less interesting than the prior chapters of the manga.