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

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

STILL RUNNING FROM 2006

Asatte no Houkou

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

Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto

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

Busou Renkin

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

Le Chevalier d’Eon

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

La Corda d’Oro

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

Death Note

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

Kanon

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

Mai-Otome Zwei

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

Red Garden

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

Saiunkoku Monogatari

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

Shounen Onmyouji

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

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

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

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

Ichigo Mashimaro OVA

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

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

Maria-sama ga Miteru OVA

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

Nodame Cantabile

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

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

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

Claymore

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

Darker than Black

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

Dennou Coil

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

El Cazador de la Bruja

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

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

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

Koutetsu Sangokushi

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

Lucky Star

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

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

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

Oh! Edo Rocket

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

Romeo X Juliet

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

Saiunkoku Monogatari II

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

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

Seirei no Moribito

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

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

Shinkyoku Soukai Polyphonica

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

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

Victorian Romance Emma Second Act

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

Wellber no Monogatari ~Sisters of Wellber~

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

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

Baccano!

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

Doujin Work

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

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai

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

Mononoke

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

Mushi-Uta

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

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei

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

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

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

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

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

Clannad

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

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

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

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

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

Kaiji

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

Minami-ke

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

Mokke

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

Moyashimon

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

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

Shakugan no Shana II

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

Sketchbook ~full color’S~

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

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

With his life under threat from his own father, Second Prince Chagum flees the palace in the company of the legendary female bodyguard Balsa, a woman who has sworn to repay those who died because of her by saving one life for each of them. Now Chagum must learn to live the life of a commoner, even as Balsa protects him from the inevitable wave of assassins, whilst various powers try to find the truth behind the so-called ‘water fiend’ that possessed Chagum and forced him into this situation in the first place.

Despite not rating it highly in my spring preview, when it first started, the future looked bright for Seirei no Moribito- admittedly, the tale of a prince and a bodyguard running away from the Eight Evil Men glimpsed on the website didn’t feel like something that would take up twenty-six episodes, but even so, the early episodes had much to offer. The settings were beautifully animated, the characters ranged from inoffensive to likable and the action scene in episode three was so fluid and well choreographed that it blew away most of the competition.

Unfortunately, after such a promising start, my relationship with the series was to quickly go downhill. Complacent after the strong beginning, Seirei was quickly to sink into a whole new regime, one that could be summarised quite simply as Sitting and Talking. Week after week, this was all the characters seemed to do- the villains sat around and talked about plans to catch Balsa; Balsa and Chagum sat with their allies and discussed the plot, and even supporting character Shuga spent all his time sitting in the royal archives, reading texts and occasionally talking to his superiors. For some, the slow pace was charming, but sadly for me, it was just frustratingly dull- and yet, having persevered with the series for week after week in the hopes of improvement, I felt I had to see it through to the end.

That being said, I’ll go so far as to admit that it wasn’t all bad, and indeed even in those days of endless monotony, there were still a few notable scenes- those being Balsa’s flashback episode (and accompanying action sequence) and the final battle between the Eight Not-So-Evil-After-All Men and the monstrous La Lunga. Sadly, such moments were few and far between, oases in a desert where the plot never advanced and the characters never did anything.

Although on paper it has many cast members, the focus of the series is always on Balsa and Chagum- although perhaps this is just as well when many of the characters seem to be as lacklustre as the plot. The only truly memorable supporting character is Torogai, an older shaman who isn’t afraid to dive right into the middle of peril if it means she can see something interesting. As for Balsa and Chagum themselves, they are certainly inoffensive and generally well developed, but in general they just do not stand out.

When it comes to visuals, Seirei at least manages to get one thing right- no matter its other flaws, the settings are always sumptuously detailed and attractive. Less attention is given to the character designs, which are solid rather than complex or distinctive- although at least this fits the tone of the series. The series’ music is largely forgettable.

Final Thoughts
If it had been a two hour movie without all the extraneous filler, Seirei no Moribito would have been excellent, but as a twenty-six episode series, it just doesn’t work. The good moments are too few and far between to justify wading through the reams of dullness and monotony- just marvel at screencaps of the beautiful scenery and leave it at that.
Tier: Wood

The judges’ verdict
Beige: Dull, dull, dull.
Pink: When it started, I thought it was going somewhere, but it soon became clear that it wasn’t. Seirei no Moribito- more like Seirei no Yawn.
Blue: What was up with all that messing around? We want to see action scenes like the one in episode three.
Orange: Well, it was a lot like Watching Paint Dry, wasn’t it?

Reviewed this week: Clannad 2, ef 2, Genshiken 2 1-2, Gundam 00 2, Hero Tales 1, Higurashi Kai 14, Kaiji 2, Minami-ke 1-2, Mononoke 12, Moyashimon 1, Mushi-Uta 12, Rental Magica 2, SaiMono II 21, Seirei no Moribito 25-6, Shana II 2, Sketchbook 1

..and in manga: Elfen Lied 78, HxH 262, Tsubasa 169

ANIME

CURRENT SERIES RANKINGS

1. Dennou Coil (1) – the best of the best of the best, sir!
2. Oh! Edo Rocket (2) – I love this show!
3. SaiMono II (3) – art thief
4. Baccano! (4) – eternal life
5. Kaiji (5) – nice gambling boat
6. Mononoke (7) – bake-neko <-complete!
7. Mushi-Uta (6) – big bugs <- complete!
8. Minami-ke (-) – Ichigo Mashimaro II <-new!
9. Genshiken 2 (-) – Comi-Fes <-new!
10. Mokke (8)- seven flowers of autumn
11. Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (9) – I’m in despair
12. Moyashimon (-) – cute microbes <- new!
13. Sketchbook ~full color’S~ (-) – lots of cats <-new!
14. Clannad (10) – sad girls in springtime
15. Gundam 00 (11) – double balls
16. ef- a tale of memories (14)- tomorrow’s me won’t be the same
17. Rental Magica (13)- episode seemed to go on forever
18. Koutetsu Sangokushi (15) – pure HARD GAY
19. Shakugan no Shana II (16)- harem+1
20. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai (17) – Takano meets Hitler
21. Hero Tales (-) – generic and dull <- new!
22. Seirei no Moribito (18) – the end at last <-complete!
23. Romeo X Juliet (19) – what’s the point anymore?
24. El Cazador de la Bruja (20) – the end is in sight

Clannad 2: Two more characters are introduced in this second episode- Kotomi, a genius who spends her time in the library cutting up books, and Fuko, who likes to carve wooden stars (I know there’s a plot reason for this but I forget what it is). Meanwhile the series continues to combine the amusing (such as sidekick falling down a chute and Tomoya announcing to his class that Kyou is BI) and the dramatic (the whole issue with Tomoya and his father) and whilst watching it raw means I can’t get the most out of it directly, it remains solid enough. Don’t ask why I’m even watching it raw when it’s being subbed so quickly, I just took it into my head to make it a ‘raw project’ to assess my understanding level.

ef- a tale of memories 2: I really wish SHAFT could stop taking the mind enhancing substances for a moment and try animating something without a lots of jumps, cuts and random imagery- yes, it works for their peculiar brand of comedy, but in a more serious show like this, it isn’t doing the audience many favours. Anyway, this time around our mangaka is dragged to school purely to skip class and meet the girl from last episode, whilst Renji spends more time with Chihiro and learns that she has Sick Girl Syndrome, which in this case manifests in some kind of persistent short-term memory loss (for whatever reason, she can’t remember anything that happened more than thirteen hours ago). Yes, it’s an illness that raises many questions, but as with so many anime ailments we just have to take it at face value and not poke at the plot holes.

*NEW* Genshiken 2 1-2: I have to admit that I still haven’t got around to watching the Genshiken OVA, but never mind, I’ll get my hands on that soon and just start on the second season in the meantime. Anyway, the new season opens with Genshiken getting a place at Comiket, but now the heat is on to produce a doujin to sell there. Although it lacked some of the humour in favour of moving the story on, this was a solid enough first episode, only marred by the appearance of the irritating manga club guy and his manipulations. At least the mess he made was easily undone.

Episode two jumps ahead a month, and despite the best of intentions, neither Sasahara nor Kugayama has made any progress on the doujin- and they are both quick to blame each other. With just three days left, can Genshiken pull together and actually produce something? Even though over half this episode is basically sitting and talking, it still manages to be entertaining, but it seems that episode three will be where the story really heats up, with the doujin finally going on sale.

Gundam 00 2: Oh Sunrise, why do you even bother with all this political setup when we all know that by the end you’ll get bored and the series will turn into Gundams vs. Final Boss? Anyway, this time around Celestial Being decide to pursue their agenda of peace on earth and goodwill to all men by, er, intervening in a civil war and murdering numerous generics- surely a good example to set. In the meantime, our lead seems to be undergoing the first stages of SEED mode, whilst Haro steals the show with his “short straw!” line.

*NEW* Hero Tales 1: Even though all the promotional material indicated that it wouldn’t be any good, I knew I had to give Hero Tales a try, if only out of loyalty to FMA. Unfortunately, as expected, it was rather generic and boring, featuring a villain who wants to rule the world for some reason, and the Seven Destined Heroes led by Generic Shounen Lead. I’m not sure whether to stick with this for the sake of parody and general mockery, or whether such a thing will be too draining on the schedule.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai 14: It’s Takano’s turn on “Villains: the Early Years” this time around, as we learn of the depressing childhood that put her on the path to evil- spanning everything from the death of her father, time spent in the world’s most miserable Generic Cruel Orphanage and the meeting with Adolf Hitler that led her to pursue a similar path of evil. Yes, I do feel sorry for her and regard her as more than the mere ‘gwakaka’ class of villain that she was before, but it did seem that there were some gaps in the story (is there more to be told), and just because this was more interesting than the bulk of episodes this season does not make it more than mediocre in the grand scheme of things.

“…and I am also Hitler!”

Kaiji 2: It’s time for that all-important game of Restricted Rock-Paper-Scissors to begin, but in a game that’s mainly about luck, some people will take any measures to win- and our naïve young hero manages to get himself conned by one. Now backed into a corner, Kaiji must search for a way out, because if he doesn’t, then we’ll have to watch him toil away in a forced labour camp for the rest of the series. Once again (and I suspect I’ll be saying this every week), it’s very GAR and MANLY, but also highly enjoyable. Unlike Akagi, however, I don’t have the luxury of being able to watch the whole thing in one long marathon to compensate for the measured pace.

*NEW* Minami-ke 1-2: I was initially reluctant to try Minami-ke- as a tale of three school-age sisters living together, it could either turn out to be good Azumanga/Ichigo Mashimaro league, or poor Binbou/Lucky Star style. Fortunately, it turned out to be the former- an enjoyable slice-of-life tale instead of a merely dull attempt. Aside from little oddities like the drop-shaped mouths of the three leads, this series has made an amusing and entertaining start with nothing more than short sketches about the daily lives of the characters- I must write about what makes series of this type work as opposed to those that fail miserably.

*COMPLETE* Mononoke 12: The medicine seller’s journey has finally come to an end with the unravelling of the mystery behind the dead reporter who triggered this series of events. All-in-all, this was a solid arc and a nice conclusion to a series that managed to deliver overall, but it just seems a shame to cut it short here- if only we could have both a second season and some insight into the character of the medicine seller himself.

*NEW* Moyashimon 1: The latest anime to air in the legendary noitaminA block, Moyashimon tells the tale of a boy who can see microbes with his naked eyes (they look like cute little chibi shapes) as he starts studying at an agricultural college in Tokyo. Naturally, his teachers are very interested in his apparent ability, but whilst one of them is ready to believe him, the other will take some convincing- and how much time does he want to spend with a pair of professors who have a taste for raw and rotting meat? Although the premise does seem a little strange, the microbes are so cute and well done that it is worth watching for them alone.

*COMPLETE* Mushi-Uta 12: It’s a CG bug extravanganza as the first season of Mushi-Uta comes to an end, complete with Kakkou facing off against Nanahoshi is giant final boss form, Shiika trying to survive being stabbed and the legendary Voracious Eater watching from the sidelines. It did seem as if they tried to pack in a few too many story threads into what turned out to be an extended final boss confrontation, but overall this has been an enjoyable series despite its tendency to cover everything from normal high school interaction to giant bug fights. Bring on season two.

Rental Magica 2: Even though it wasn’t particularly slow-paced or dull, this week’s episode of Rental Magica just seemed to drag on forever, and it certainly puts my long-term relationship with the series in doubt. This time around we seemed to jump back in time to the days when Itsuki was angsting over whether to become Astral’s president, during which time we see his first meeting with Adilisia and learn about a past connection with Honami. The hints about how he got his demonic eye were at least interesting, but the rest was a bit too standard to enthral. I must also note Gintama as an influence since the cat-user Nekoyashiki looks a lot like Gintoki.

Saiunkoku Monogatari II 21: Yes, I know I’m a week behind (totally unacceptable for a series I profess to like so much), but these things happen so bear with me. In this episode, Shuurei and the others continue to investigate the art forgeries, with Santa’s laid back attitude getting on both Shuurei’s nerves and that of the audience. I must admit I’m somewhat put off by the number of new and minor characters that have taken precedence in this arc, but apparently it’s building into something worth sticking around for.

*COMPLETE* Seirei no Moribito 25-6: At last the long slog is over- the egg has hatched safely, Chagum is back in the palace, and Balsa has gone on her way for now. I have to admit that episode 25 was one of the best instalments in a way, with a tense action scene as the Eight Evil Men fight off a mass of La Lunga, but whilst it is usually welcome to have some sort of epilogue for a series, in this case it only meant that 26 was more on the dull side that we’ve come to expect (although Chagum and Balsa’s parting did raise a tiny bit of emotion).

Shakugan no Shana II 2: The raw project begins this week with the second episode of Shana II, which includes the usual harem elements, action and disappointing villain, as well as a rare chance to see a bento box entirely stuffed with melon bread. After dreading how bad this was going to be, it was actually quite a manageable episode, although the appearance of Hecate (?) in school at the end seems to indicate that the tiresome harem-go-round will only escalate.

*NEW* Sketchbook ~full color’S~ 1: Quirky capitalisation aside, Sketchbook offers a first episode that can only be called ‘nice’- as slice-of-life goes, it isn’t particularly outstanding, but it is so gentle and filled with cats that one cannot be offended by it. The series follows various members of an art club, with the lead, Sora, being the typical thoughtful and not very talkative type- she may be perfectly erudite in her head, but she does come across as somewhat bizarre thanks to her lack of communication skills. Even so, I must stick with it to see the promised glut of felines.

MANGA

Elfen Lied 78: Bandou finally meets his long-delayed end in this chapter, which is basically a tearful goodbye between him and Mayu. It should be an emotional moment, but since he’s cheated death so many times, it’s more a case of relief that he’s gone now.

Hunter X Hunter 262: It’s been over eighteen months, but Togashi has finally produced a new chapter of HxH- the question is, was it worth the wait? Sadly, not really, for whilst the artwork is better than before, backgrounds are still completely nonexistent and the story has yet to go anywhere- let’s just start end the preparations and start the attack on King before Togashi gets ‘ill’ again.

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle 169: CLAMP must have been reading FMA of late, because this time around Fuuma shows up with an artificial arm for Kurogane, the payment for which is the last of Fye’s magic. That aside, the time all the fanboys have been waiting for is here- after many, many volumes, Seishirou is finally back, but it remains to be seen just what he is after this time (possible Fye since he is now a vampire).

Reviewed this week: Baccano! 7, El Cazador 24, Clannad 1, Darker than Black 24-5, Higurashi Kai 12-13, Mononoke 9, Mushi Uta 11, Oh! Edo Rocket 16-18, SaiMono II 20, Seirei no Moribito 24

…and in manga: Bartender 2, Chokotto Sister 45, Spiral Alive 8-10

ANIME

CURRENT SERIES RANKINGS

1. Dennou Coil (1) – the best of the best of the best, sir!
2. Oh! Edo Rocket (3) – I love this show!
3. SaiMono II (2) – four men in a closet
4. Baccano! (4) – eternal life
5. Mushi-Uta (5) – best episode yet
6. Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (6) – I’m in despair!
7. Mononoke (7) – incense
8. Darker than Black (8) – it’s over <-complete!
9. Clannad (-) – sad girls in springtime <- new!
10. Doujin Work (9) – this is becoming a guilty pleasure
11. Koutetsu Sangokushi (10) – pure HARD GAY
12. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai (11) – evil uncle
13. Seirei no Moribito (12) – the egg must hatch
14. Romeo X Juliet (13) – what’s the point anymore?
15. El Cazador de la Bruja (14) – the end is in sight

Baccano! 7: It’s a change of pace this week in Baccano, as we jump back in time over 200 years, to a stormy night in 1711 when a bunch of seafarers eagerly awaiting alchemist Maiza’s attempt to summon a demon and thus gain the knowledge of the Elixir of Life. Although it doesn’t really help me with unravelling the plot in the present, it’s good to have an episode where I can actually follow what is going on, as we learn of the truth behind the immortality elixir, as well as Szilard’s origins and the reason for the ‘incomplete product’ of earlier episodes. It’s somewhat odd that what I thought was going to be a straightforward historical series has now taken such a definite turn into the realms of fantasy, but I’m all for it if the result is good.

I should also remember this time around to comment on the show’s music, which has some good tracks mixed in.

El Cazador de la Bruja 24: The time has come for Nadie and Ellis to confront Rosenberg in the shootout of all shootouts, in an action-packed episode filled to the brim with gunfights and tension…but then again, we could just have a dull exposition-filled exchange before Rosenberg goes off to have HARD GAY with LA and set him up to kill Ricardo (if you’re in any doubt as to which option was chosen, you clearly don’t have the first inkling about this series). I have to admit the first part of the fight between LA and Ricardo had the one tiny piece of decent action we’ve had all series, but once again it was a struggle to sit through the entire episode without wanting to resort to self-mutilation.

*NEW* Clannad 1: Since I randomly felt like watching this raw, the first episode of Clannad has been watched, and whilst it didn’t wow me on any front, it was entertaining enough to warrant continuing with. Although not as visually accomplished as Kanon or as blessed with good story as Air, Clannad gets off to a reasonable start with some light-hearted content (and hints of not-so-light-hearted back story), as well as the new fetish food of the season- anpan (throw out that taiyaki and those choco cornets).

Yay, a cat.

*COMPLETE* Darker than Black 24-25: It came in with a bang and out with a whimper (get your minds out of the gutter, people), but now Darker than Black is over, and for me, it was a journey not unlike that of Noein (without the ridiculous wait for episodes to be subbed). For the first few arcs, I adored this series, but in due course all its “1337er than 1337” seeped away, leaving only “duller than dull”. Call me foolish, simplistic or unaccomplished for not appreciating the second half of this so-called masterpiece, but it truly did waste its potential (ironically after FUNimation announced the license), dragging itself over the finish line in such a way that made me cease to care about the characters and the world they inhabited. Better luck next time, BONES.

“Don’t mind us, we’re naked.”

The Naruto cosplayers are out in force.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai 12-13: I think my enthusiasm for Higurashi can be plainly seen by the way I acquire episodes and then forget to watch them for at least a week, resulting in these staggered double bill reviews. Anyway, in between bouts of laughing at the ridiculousness of ‘Hinamizawa Syndrome’, I made it through another two episodes, in which Takano reveals herself to be a shallow gwakaka-class evil, before everyone dies…again. I guess this whole arc would have been more interesting if I hadn’t read detailed spoilers beforehand, but there you go.

“Gwakaka, I am evil! I bet you didn’t see that one coming!”

Mononoke 9: The incense arc concludes in this episode, in which the medicine seller must unravel the mystery of the mansion, with a few twists that you may or not guess before their revelation. This has truly been my favourite arc so far, and it’s at times like this that it seems a shame that Mononoke only clocks in a twelve episodes total- unlike Ayakashi, it had the potential to go on for a lot longer.

Mushi-Uta 11: It’s the penultimate episode (of the first season, at least), and Mushi-Uta isn’t about to hold back in putting its lead characters through hell, as Rika finds the odds stacked against her at GARDEN, Shiina meets up with the ‘Voracious Eater’ who helped to create Hosts and Daisuke reaches his limit. It’s a bold move for a series that’s secured another season, but it does make for some good action and drama, with a few revelations about the origins of Hosts and an evil bishie thrown in for good measure.

Oh! Edo Rocket 16-18: It’s time for another welcome triple bill of Oh! Edo Rocket, and with the series well into its second half, our characters are about to learn that some secrets cannot be kept forever. Naturally, the status quo (such as it is) is turned entirely upside down when Ginjiro’s identity as a Man in Black and Sora’s true form are revealed, but how will our eclectic cast react to these discoveries? Will Akai and the blue monster turn over a new leaf, or is any act of kindness on their part just a means to an end? Will Seikichi lose heart, or is he still up for finishing that rocket to the moon? Will the magistrate ever bother to update his review blog? Find out all this and more on Oh! Edo Rocket, the only show that can bring you action, drama, comedy and some darker moments, all wrapped in one well animated package.

Saiunkoku Monogatari II 20: After all the drama and seriousness of people dying, SaiMono is plunging straight into a lighter arc, involving fake paintings, our new characters, and a reminder to Shuurei that career may not be the be all and end all of life (even so, the last thing I want is for her to give up her ambitions). Although much of the humour cannot be appreciated at my low level of comprehension, no translation is needed for a hilarious scene in which Ryuuki, Shuuei, Seiran and Kouyuu all end up in a small closet together. Parody was born for moments like these.

Seirei no Moribito 24: Since my harsh words on Seirei last week upset David, I’ve decided to present my views in a more euphemistic way this time around. This week, our leads spent a solid amount of time in reasoned and stationary debate, before proceeding forth to find Chagum and La Lunga before the poor boy gets ripped apart. Unfortunately, there are still more details to be revealed about the nature of the egg within Chagum, and when it seems as if it will be problematic no matter what, Torogai must decide what to do next. In the meantime, the flowers that made a brief yet important appearance in an earlier episode now prove to have some relevance to the main story, which would be a nice touch if this were two hour movie and not twenty-six episodes of measured pacing.

MANGA
Bartender 2: It’s been a while, but I finally have another chapter of Bartender to read, and happily it remains a lot better than the animated version. In this chapter, our eponymous bartender must try to guess the favourite drink of a particularly hard-to-please customer, who wants it made just like “the master” used to. Well, it’s the same old formula, but at least here the bartender isn’t invincible, and the conclusion is rather amusing.

Chokotto Sister 45: It’s crunch time in this chapter as Haruma’s cousin teases Chitose by pretending to be his pregnant lover, leading an exasperated Makoto to tell the rather dense Haruma that Chitose has feelings for him. Once again, it’s standard fare, but at least the story has inched ahead here.

Spiral Alive 8-10: Rio shows up in this triplet of chapters to assist Kousuke with his investigation into the murders, but how will Ryouko fee; about being left out of developments- even if it is only to protect her? Meanwhile, Kiyotaka is finally properly seen “on-page”, but as always- what is his master plan? With so many familiar faces now in play, the series has really picked up momentum, and the next chapter is nigh essential.

Reviewed this week: Baccano! 6, Dennou Coil 15-16, El Cazador 23, Mononoke 8, Mushi-Uta 10, RxJ 20-1, SaiMono II 19, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei 7, Seirei no Moribito 23, Shounen Onmyouji 18, Sisters of Wellber 9

…and in manga: Chokotto Sister 42-4, Tsubasa 167

ANIME

CURRENT SERIES RANKINGS

1. Dennou Coil (1) – the best of the best of the best, sir!
2. SaiMono II (2) – recap, damn it
3. Oh! Edo Rocket (3) – bizarre yet fun
4. Baccano! (5) – I don’t know what’s going on, but I like it
5. Mushi-Uta (6) – best episode yet
6. Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (4) – I’m in despair!
7. Mononoke (7) – incense
8. Darker than Black (8) – caring at minimum
9. Doujin Work (9) – this is becoming a guilty pleasure
10. Koutetsu Sangokushi (10) – pure HARD GAY
11. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai (11) – evil uncle
12. Seirei no Moribito (12) – Flashback Mode
13. Romeo X Juliet (13) – what’s the point anymore?
14. El Cazador de la Bruja (14) – useless Nadie

SLOW RANKINGS

1. Tetsuko no Tabi (2)- demoted to slow
2. Sisters of Wellber (3) – predictable but fun
3. Shounen Onmyouji (1)- now getting its own musical!?
4. Love GetChu! (4)- light entertainment

Baccano! 6: You’d think I’d have some idea of what was going on in this series by now, but with each passing episode I actually have less of a grasp of what’s meant to be happening. This time around, there is a confrontation and some bloodiness on the train, before catching up with various other characters such as Ennis and the past adventures of Isaac and Miria. I wish I could say more, but my grasp of events in this series is slipping away, even though my enjoyment remains consistent.

Dennou Coil 15-16: Dennou Coil, no matter how many times I pledge my worth to you in these paragraphs, it isn’t enough, so let me once again dedicate my life to serving as your high priestess. I now feel unworthy for even fearing that the series could not continue to outdo itself, for in this pair of episodes the bar is raised once again, as we learn more about old space, 4423 and the deepening twists and mysteries of the Dennou world. Both Yasako and the deceased Kanna could use a power called Imago to detect old space- but was that the reason Kanna died? Is it true that those who go too far into old space and remove their glasses lose their souls along with their Dennou bodies? Is there any reason why I can’t visit the reality of this most excellent anime? I want to know and watch everything this series has to offer, but at the same time, I never want it to end.

El Cazador de la Bruja 23: There is a fairly well-known quote that goes “Parsifal – the kind of opera that starts at six o’clock and after it has been going three hours, you look at your watch and it says 6:20” and with a few changes here and there, this saying could surely be used for El Cazador. Every five minute interval of this show stretches into eternity, until it seems as if it must surely never end before you expire and quit this earth once and for all. Anyway, somehow this episode was completed, in which Ellis heals Nadie’s HP, Blue Eyes offers plenty of exposition, and Rosenberg takes a plane to the final boss location (begging the question as to why he didn’t just fly there with Ellis in the first place). Watching this is a pain, but I’m going to love ranting about it in due course.

Mononoke 8: An interesting new arc begins in this episode, in which four men gather for an ‘incense battle’ in which correctly identifying various scents will win them the hand of the contest setter, Lady Ruri. When one of the men fails to show up, however, a certain medicine seller takes his place, in search of a Mononoke he believes is close by. Even disregarding the fact that there is more going on, the incense game in itself is interesting in its novelty- I almost want an Incense Battlers anime to come out.

Mushi-Uta 10: Our three leads have started finding out the truth about each other, and now it’s time for the revelations to continue as Rina discovers that Daisuke is actually Kakkou, whilst Shiika wonders if her status as a Host means that she should stay away from the people she cares about. Along the way, we learn more about the shadowy GARDEN (echoes of FF8, anyone?), learn that the evil bishie knew everything from the start and was trying to manipulate everyone, and witness a confrontation between Rina and Daisuke. The latter is somewhat predictable- why bother pitting main characters against each other when they are both protected from death status? Aside from this predictable turn of events, however, this is a generally good episode- roll on the finale and then season two.

Romeo X Juliet 20-1: As we approach the final stretch, the plot is finally moving in Romeo X Juliet, but naturally, it is a case of too little, too late. Whilst Juliet learns that she may have to become a tree to save the world, Romeo’s Harvest Moon dreams crumble to dust, forcing him to return home and confront the city-burning Montague. It all seems like an exercise in pointlessness, with time wasted on such trifling aside as “oh, by the way, Benvolio and Cordelia have been having a relationship off screen and are now getting married”, but it is a slight improvement on the long middle stretch.

Saiunkoku Monogatari II 19: After the disappointment of recap last week, SaiMono is slowly beginning to build into a new arc, introducing two new characters and seeing Yuushun sworn in as prime minister- complete with ten conditions designed to prevent the abuse of power. Once, Yuushun seemed like a mere one rung above generic, but with his ten resolutions he secures himself in the realms of 1337, whilst the new characters also look interesting, even if the cast is getting a little unmanageable by this point.

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei 7: As a mere gaijin, I felt unable to get the best out of this episode- whereas the many references of this type of show don’t usually bother me, this time around I floundered a little and was unable to appreciate much of the humour. Fortunately, whilst the doujinshi scene and the later part with the pi prodigy and other people being lauded didn’t do much for me, I did gain a measure of entertainment from the coloured chicks (nice PPD reference there). I hope I’m not going off this series, but perhaps I just need to reschedule when I watch it to reduce distraction.

Seirei no Moribito 23: Last episode, I barely noticed when all of winter passed in the space of a few minutes, but this time around I tried to be ever so slightly more engaged as the parade of dullness marched on. Whilst Chagum grows up enough to start wearing a new costume, the Tanda x Balsa angle is played a bit more (leave it alone, please, it’s too late for that now) before something finally happens when Shuga and the others find Chagum in time to help defend against La Lunga’s attack. I have to admit the closing scene was one of the more engaging parts for a while, but really by now I just want to get it over with.

Shounen Onmyouji 18: A rather pointless episode this time around, in which Masahiro’s previously unmentioned older brother and his family are menaced by a baboon demon, and Mokkun starts acting strangely- simply because he doesn’t like children. Although it initially appears to be the start of a new arc, this episode ends up being a standalone story, and one so pointless that you have to wonder at its inclusion. The only thing of note is the proper introduction of another Spirit Summon, Kouchin, but this series really needs a second season.

Wellber no Monogatari ~Sisters of Wellber~ 9: it’s an entirely predictable episode this time around, with Tina making a promise to stop stealing, only for a female thief to show up soon after. Naturally, we in the audience know that Tina is innocent, but Rita cannot help suspecting her on the weight of some apparently damning evidence. It’s all content we’ve seen before, but staying in this sort of safe territory is what makes Wellber a decent piece of light entertainment.

MANGA

Chokotto Sister 42-44: Over the last few chapters, it’s been tempting to assume that the mangaka had grown up a little and thrown out the fanservice in favour of a proper slice-of-life/romance combination, but alas, it seems he ran out of ideas and reverted to type in this chapter, which introduces new nipple shots and a new character in the form of Haruma’s cousin. Having run away from home, said cousin promptly blackmails Haruma into letting her stay with him (after all, does he want his family to know he’s living with a little girl that ‘Santa’ gave him?), before establishing herself as the ‘forward’ harem member type. I’m not too enthralled about this new twist in events, but since chapters come through at a trickle, I shall keep reading.

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle 167: Okay, so in the last chapter Kurogane gave up his left arm so that everyone could get out of Celes (I totally missed that), and now he and Fye are in Nihon country with Tomoyo- and from the looks of things, Fye wants to end their HARD GAY relationship now that he knows Kurogane is secretly STRAIGHT for Tomoyo. In the meantime, Syaoran (whichever one it is) has just met with Watanuki, but why? What’s going on? Does the fact that we’re visiting the home worlds of the leads mean that the series is finally going to end? And if it does, how will CLAMP earn their money?

Reviewed this week: Aria OVA, Darker than Black 22-3, Dennou Coil 14, Higurashi Kai 10-11, Koutetsu Sangokushi 13, Mushi Uta 9, Oh! Edo Rocket 7-15, SaiMono II 18, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei 6, Seirei no Moribito 22

…and in manga: Aria 26, REC 33, Shinigami no Ballad 3

ANIME

CURRENT SERIES RANKINGS

1. Dennou Coil (1) – recap, but still good
2. SaiMono II (2) – recap, damn it
3. Oh! Edo Rocket (5) – bizarre yet fun
4. Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (3) – I’m in despair!
5. Baccano! (4) – I don’t know what’s going on, but I like it
6. Mushi-Uta (6) – best episode yet
7. Mononoke (7) – masks, and lots of them
8. Darker than Black (8) – caring at minimum
9. Doujin Work (9) – this is becoming a guilty pleasure
10. Koutetsu Sangokushi (10) – pure HARD GAY
11. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai (11) – evil uncle
12. Seirei no Moribito (12) – Flashback Mode
13. Romeo X Juliet (13) – what’s the point anymore?
14. El Cazador de la Bruja (14) – useless Nadie

*ONE-OFF* Aria the OVA ~Arietta~: Although OVA sequels to TV series are usually a disappointment, I had every faith the Aria would be different, and indeed, as usual it came up with the goods. A quietly introspective tale which sees Akari worrying about the day she will head Aria Company, and Alicia thinking back to her early days as a prima, Arietta is basically like a TV series with higher production values, so enjoyable and good looking that although I wanted to hammer the screencap key, I could do more than just sit and drink it all in.

Darker than Black 22-3: Whilst episode 22 rounds off the penultimate arc with Mao getting captured by Evening Primrose (prompting a most illogical resuce from Hei), episode 23 pushes forth into the final arc with a look into Hei’s past and various motivations revealed. The trouble is that it now feels as if all the layers of depth and mystery that once made the series seem so good have all been abandoned in favour of a conventional ending that seemingly wraps everything up without really answering anything.

Dennou Coil 14: I’m no fan of recap, and indeed I was longing for something a little more exciting after waiting so long for the series’ return, but it’s a credit to the sheer brilliance of Dennou Coil that this is by far and away the best recap episode I’ve ever seen, and is also a lot better than non-recap episodes of many series. Anyway, this episode is framed by Fumie’s brother Akira as he collects data on his sister and her friends via his miniature cyberpet Mizzet (such a cute little cat), finishing up with some story development as Haraken encounters a mysterious boy who may well be 4423. Now roll on episode fifteen, for never again must I go without Dennou Coil for so long.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai 10-11: After yet more campaigning, Satoko finally finds the courage to ask for help and is saved from Evil Uncle Teppei, but even though it seems as if fate has been cheated, disaster is just around the corner as Takano finally reveals her evil nature. Since I knew this was coming, I can’t say I really care, although I do find the whole ‘Hinamizawa Syndrome’ element of the story disappointingly ridiculous, whilst Satoko’s abuse storyline continues to annoy.

Koutetsu Sangokushi 13: There’s even more jealousy, HARD GAY love and pure cheesiness in the latest episode of Koutetsu, which sees Wu’s army idle around and do nothing whilst Zhou Yu and the Pleasure Rangers head off to fight Wei (that’s seven people against an entire army). Meanwhile, Lu Xun is having some teenage tantrums because Zhou Yu had sex with Zhuge Liang ordered Zhuge’s death, but after a whole episode of his petulant attitude, he ultimately has to accept that Zhou Yu is a destined main character when he too gains the power of the Pleasure Rangers. As you can tell, there’s no point even reviewing this series seriously- when you’ve got sentai teams in ancient China, it’s clear no one is meant to watch it with a straight face.

Mushi-Uta 9: Mushi-Uta is back, and whilst its two week hiatus has thrown the momentum off for me, this is still an enjoyable enough “it had to happen eventually” episode. Yes, Shiika has finally plucked up the courage to go out on a date with Lead, which inevitably leads not only to Rina finding out about their relationship, but sees Lead discovering that the two lead girls are both Hosts.

*CATCH-UP* Oh! Edo Rocket 7-15: Nine episodes later, and I absolutely love Oh! Edo; this is the show that has everything- comedy and craziness nestle alongside action, darker elements and surprisingly, an actual plot. From an episode where several characters accidentally get turned into cats to an enemy with a penchant for draining the blood of young women, everything about this series is memorable, enjoyable and addictive- why did I take so long to watch this series? If anyone hasn’t started this yet, clear a space in your schedule.

It’s nice to know they’re thinking of us.

Saiunkoku Monogatari II 18: I waited for weeks whilst SaiMono went on hiatus and showed recaps, and now we get back to the main series just in time for a –recap episode? I thought I must have read it wrong, but even though this counts as part of the main series, it is indeed a recap, framed by Ryuuki, Shuuei and Kouyuu discussing recent events in Sa Province. I’m a little sad to see Ryuuki so completely reduced to a comic relief character here, although for the most part I just let my brain go into idle mode as the flashbacks played. At least next episode looks to be introducing Suou and Seiga, even if the ‘golden tanuki statue’ seen in the preview looks a bit fillerific.

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei 6: At long last, another episode of Sensei is available, and whilst it isn’t up to the level of the first few, it is still very welcome. In the first half, Kafka visits the doctor, only to discover that he is Nozomu’s brother, which somehow leads to all the girls visiting the Itoshiki family home during a rather bizarre arranged marriage ceremony in which mere eye contact corresponds to tying the knot. It’s delightfully random, but somehow it just didn’t take my fancy as much as the earlier episodes.

Seirei no Moribito 22: After a touch more action in the flashback arc, Seirei returns to Sitting and Talking for the remainder of the episode, with Balsa having a nice long chat with Chagum, before Chagum almost gets trapped in a vision of Nayug and Tanda steps in to effectively confess his feelings to Balsa- oh yes, and there’s also a Chagum training montage with obligatory insert song. Unfortunately, I’m past the point of really caring, and much as I hate to admit to sloppiness, I did end up scrolling through a Makai Kingdom FAQ whilst the mid-section of the episode was playing.

MANGA

Aria 26: The sixth volume of Aria commences in style, with another segment I recall from the anime in which Alicia and Athena relate how the three senior unidines met and trained together just as their juniors do now. It’s getting hard to review Aria now, though, because what can I do every week except gush over how much I love it? The artwork is beautiful, the stories are charming, touching and all sorts of other complimentary adjectives- in short, it’s one of my favourites,

REC 33: The nascent love triangle heats up in this chapter, in which Matsumaru collapses from exhaustion in the middle of an errand for the animation studio, causing Aka to take over for him- even if this means confronting her sister Ao. Naturally, as typically happens in this situation, Ao is willing to forgive her estranged sister- but only if she hands over her boyfriend. As always, it’s a formulaic and predictable story, but just worthy enough for me to keep reading.

Shinigami no Ballad 3: The first volume of SnB’s manga incarnation comes to an end here (and yes, the chapters are extra long), as Momo visits a dying grandmother who wishes to relate a tale of a young girl who waited six years for her first love to return, only to find that in the process of growing up the reality had become very different from her dream guy. It’s a storyline that’s been used before, but somehow this manga makes it good nonetheless- in fact, I think I appreciate this series and its healing qualities much more as a manga than in animated form. Hopefully the novels are even better.

Reviewed this week: Baccano! 5, Doujin Work 6-7, Oh! Edo Rocket 2-6, Seirei no Moribito 21, Sisters of Wellber 8

…and in manga: Akagi 5, Aria 24-5, Spiral 53-6, Tsubasa 166

ANIME

CURRENT SERIES RANKINGS

1. Dennou Coil (1) – Don’t make me wait!
2. SaiMono II (2) – I need the next arc, and soon
3. Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (3) – I’m in despair!
4. Baccano! (4) – I don’t know what’s going on, but I like it
5. Oh! Edo Rocket (9) – bizarre yet fun
6. Mushi-Uta (5) – best episode yet
7. Mononoke (6) – masks, and lots of them
8. Darker than Black (7) – caring at minimum
9. Doujin Work (8) – this is becoming a guilty pleasure
10. Koutetsu Sangokushi (10) – pure HARD GAY
11. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai (11) – evil uncle
12. Seirei no Moribito (13) – Flashback Mode
13. Romeo X Juliet (12) – what’s the point anymore?
14. El Cazador de la Bruja (14) – useless Nadie

SLOW RANKINGS

1. Shounen Onmyouji (1)- now getting its own musical!?
2. Tetsuko no Tabi (2)- demoted to slow
3. Sisters of Wellber (3) – predictable but fun
4. Love GetChu! (4)- light entertainment

Baccano! 5: It’s been a while since I had any new Baccano, and whilst I still don’t have much idea of the overall story, it remains highly enjoyable. Whilst the events on the Flying Pussyfoot continue on course, elsewhere we learn more about the product that can render a person immortal, as well as see Firo join up with a mafia group. Memorable scenes include the well-choreographed knife fight, an evil boss sucking in this body and memories of an underling through his hand, and of course any scene in which the energetic Isaac and Miria appear. More of the same, please.

Doujin Work 6-7: It’s been a while, but now we have a double dose of Doujin Work, in which Najimi continues to pit herself against her newfound rival. Whilst episode six, in which both Najimi and Rival attempt to improve their drawing skills, is merely passably entertaining, the true hilarity returns in episode seven, in which Rival gets the wrong end of the stick and becomes convinced that Hoshi is HARD GAY for Justice. Yes, this joke has been done before, but somehow the series makes it amusing again.

*SLOW CATCH-UP* Oh! Edo Rocket 2-6: Oh! Edo Rocket is a strange series; along with the likes of FLCL it should be completely random and nonsensical, but somehow its bizarre elements combine to make a greater whole. Alongside the story of fireworks maker Seikichi trying to make fireworks that can go to the moon, we have sky monsters, Men in Black (complete with transformation sequence), a raccoon fetishist, chibis and much more, and yet despite the complete disregard for conventional storytelling or even the period it is supposed to be set in, the series seems tailor made for the more random side of my personality. The only reason I haven’t caught up yet is a simple lack of time.

Seirei no Moribito 21: This week on Seirei no Moribito, Balsa sits down and talks- about her past with Jiguro. Actually, I have to admit to a soft spot for this sort of character developing flashback episode, and with the return of decent action scenes for the first time since episode 3, this actually marks an improvement from “completely dull and pointless” to “largely dull and pointless with one or two good parts”.

Wellber no Monogatari ~Sisters of Wellber~ 8: Whilst Rita and Tina decide to speed things up by taking a boat to Greedom, our evil megane villain decides to return to the plot- only now he genuinely wants to marry Rita. This is another mildly enjoyable episode with some potential for parody, but the series still isn’t breaking into the league of true worth.

MANGA

Akagi 5: Very little happens in this chapter, in which the Yakuza guys call their rep player and Akagi explains his reasoning in the previous round, but as always, the series manages to be both absorbing and enjoyable. This is truly one series that can get away with being slow paced.

Aria 24-5: Volume five concludes with these two chapters, which again cover stories we’ve already seen in the anime- first we see Akira giving Akari and the others a training session, before Akari spends a pleasant afternoon at the Café San Marco. Once again, since Aria is so good, there is no problem in experiencing the same material twice, although I also yearn for new stories.

Spiral 53-6: Kudos to the scanlators for keeping up an insanely fast pace in translating this series, enabling us to reach the end of volume eleven only a week after I read volume ten. Sadly, these chapters are basically one long round of exposition, explaining the origin of the Blade Children, as well as Kiyotaka and Ayumu’s place in the grand plan- somehow, with all these revelations, the series is starting to lose its uniqueness, and so I fear this is the turning point where it all begins to go downhill.

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle 166: Ah, Tsubasa, I now see that the reason for reading you is to see how many ridiculous plot twists CLAMP can throw in before the end. After the death of King Ashura, a secondary curse that was apparently set by Fei Wong activates, trapping our heroes so that they cannot move on to the next world- cue a scene in which Kurogane slices off his own arm to give vampire-Fye (it’s okay if you’d forgotten he was a vampire) the power to set them free. Syaoran-real is also supposed to be taking white Mokona’s earring to black Mokona for some reason, although I’m not sure what bearing this has on anything.

Reviewed this week: El Cazador 21, Darker than Black 21, Higurashi Kai 9, Mononoke 6-7, Seirei 20, Wellber 7

…and in manga: Claymore ES 3, SaiMono 8, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei 7-11, Spiral 51-2, Tsubasa 165

ANIME

CURRENT SERIES RANKINGS

1. Dennou Coil (1) – Don’t make me wait!
2. SaiMono II (2) – I need the next arc, and soon
3. Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (3) – despair!
4. Baccano! (5) – I don’t know what’s going on, but I like it
5. Mushi-Uta (6) – best episode yet
6. Mononoke (7) – masks, and lots of them
7. Darker than Black (4) – caring at minimum
8. Doujin Work (8) – this is becoming a guilty pleasure
9. Oh! Edo Rocket (9) – bizarre yet fun
10. Koutetsu Sangokushi (10) – pure HARD GAY
11. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai (11) – evil uncle
12. Romeo X Juliet (12) – what’s the point anymore?
13. Seirei no Moribito (13) – standing and talking
14. El Cazador de la Bruja (14) – useless Nadie

SLOW RANKINGS

1. Shounen Onmyouji (1)- a new episode after so long
2. Tetsuko no Tabi (2)- demoted to slow
3. Sisters of Wellber (3) – predictable but fun
4. Love GetChu! (4)- light entertainment

El Cazador de la Bruja 21: Ah, the boredom, the exquisite experience of having monotony raised to an art form- I’d like to say that in a perverse way, I’ve come to welcome it, but that would be a complete lie. In this episode, Nadie and Ellis fall for a conman’s trick and spend the entire twenty-four minutes trying to catch a vulture, whilst Blue-Eyes waits over a nearby ridge with orders to put a bullet in Nadie. Naturally, with Nadie’s main character protection there’s no tension whatsoever, only the faintest flicker of amusement as something obstructs the sight of Blue-Eyes’ rifle for the umpteenth time. Poor as it was, even Madlax had some semblance of a plot going by now, but a scant five episodes before the end, and El Cazador makes its leads catch birds. It’s .hack//Roots all over again.

Darker than Black 21: There comes a point in certain series when you realise that you’ve weathered so much disappointment and loss of quality that you simply do not care anymore- and for me, this episode was that point. Featuring the return of the evil Chinese contractor, alongside a blonde with a fondness for getting naked whilst teleporting, it seems as if the series is ready to use any tricks it can to keep viewers’ eyes from wandering. Sadly, it now looks like the finale will be a “one faction attempts to destroy the gate, it disappears but Hei somehow sacrifices himself to save Tokyo, only to turn up in the epilogue” affair, wrapping things up in a way that explains none of the mysteries that drew me into the series in the first place. There’s still a chance of recovery in the last five episodes, but count me both disappointed and pessimistic about any possibility of a return to form.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai 9: It’s “let’s save Satoko” week on Higurashi, as practically everyone in town bands together to convince the child protection agency to do something about her uncle’s abuse. There’s just something superfluous and out of place about the whole child abuse storyline in this series; I can’t put on my finger on it, but the way it is handled feels wrong, and ultimately leaves me feeling irritated rather than at all sympathetic to what’s going on.

Mononoke 6-7: Another arc comes and goes in these two episodes, in which the medicine seller ends up sharing a prison cell with a woman convicted of murdering four people. Suspecting that there is more to this case than meets the eye, the medicine seller concludes that a mononoke is involved, and resolves to exorcise it as per usual. Although there was a slight overuse of certain flashback scenes and a bit too much “is it this? No, actually it’s this” to get your head round, this was a solid and enjoyable arc overall, and probably represents the average standard of Mononoke as a series.

New record set for world’s largest RAGING HARD-ON.

Seirei no Moribito 20: Had enough of sitting and talking? Maybe you’d like a spot of something more exciting? Never fear, because Seirei has just the antidote for you- standing and talking! After opening with an eight minute scene in which Torogai stands and talks to the Eight Evil Men (one does draw his sword, but after standing motionless he puts it away again), our heroes trek up to Hunter’s Cave, where they start laying in supplies for the winter- exciting stuff, eh? Yes, there are nice shots of scenery, but it’s hardly worth sitting through twenty-five minutes of monotony just to see them.

It’s shots like this that make you feel really up close and personal with regards to the action.

Wellber no Monogatari ~Sisters of Wellber~ 7: It’s another on-the rails episode of Wellber, in which a pickpocket steals both Rita’s gold coins and the very petition she is supposed to be taking to Greedom, resulting in ‘hilarious’ consequences as they try to recover the lost items. There’s a definite and even slightly painful air of having seen it all before in this episode, but as always it remains mildly entertaining and thus a grade or two above the RxJ/Seirei/El Cazador tier.

MANGA

Claymore ES 3: The third Claymore side story proves to be as enjoyable as the other two, filling in another gap as it explains how Priscilla came to meet with Isley. As before, I’m enjoying this more than the main storyline, although admittedly I would like to get back to that soon and see where it plans to go next.

Saiunkoku Monogatari 8+extra: Whilst chapter eight ties up the last loose ends from the first arc and gives us a closer look at the character’s emotions (Shusui’s especially) than the anime did, the extra story is the real draw here, offering something we haven’t seen before as we learn how Shouka and young Ryuuki struck up a friendship, with the help of Shuurei and her mother’s manjuu buns.

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei 7-11: With these five chapters bringing us to the end of the first volume, all the characters have been introduced in brief chapters which pretty much follow the anime word for word. I’m eager to get to a point where the manga goes beyond what I’ve seen in the anime so far, but it’s still entertaining enough to be worth experiencing in both anime and manga form.

Spiral 51-2: In the aftermath of the battle with Kanone. Ayumu and Madoka have both been hospitalised, but it won’t be long before events start moving again, as the ‘devil’ to Kiyotaka’s ‘god’ prepares to take centre stage. In the meantime, Ayumu decides to confess his feelings to Madoka- not because he wants to act on them, but because he must put them aside before he delves even deeper into the mystery of the Blade Children. This is, I believe, a prelude to the arc where the series is said to go downhill, but I’m going to keep enjoying it right up to the point where it really jumps the shark.

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle 165: I still don’t really know why I’m reading Tsubasa anymore- by this point, each chapter barely makes sense. After some sort of confrontation, Ashura dies (no, Fye didn’t kill him), leading into yet another flashback to the Fye/Yuui days, before Fei Wong claims that everything is still going to plan. Yes, Fei Wong, you sit in your chair supping wine, watching magic CCTV and taking inconsistent and irregular action, so of course everything is going to plan!

I’ve been awfully negligent about these introductions lately, haven’t I? To make up for it, here are links to some amusing videos- Minesweeper the movie and Facebook Off. Trust me, they’re worth clicking on.

Reviewed this week: Baccano! 3, Darker than Black 20, El Cazador 20, Higurashi Kai 7, Koutetsu Sangokushi 11, Mai-Otome Zwei 4, Mononoke 4, Mushi-Uta 7, ROTK 47, RxJ 18, Seirei no Moribito 19, Sisters of Wellber 4

…and in manga: SaiMono 7, Spiral 48, Twin Spica 5+flashback

ANIME

CURRENT SERIES RANKINGS

1. Dennou Coil (1) – no more until the 25^th? Don’t make me wait!
2. SaiMono II (2) – who will win Eigetsu’s heart?
3. Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (3) – despair!
4. Darker than Black (4) – not bad, could be better
5. Baccano! (5) – I don’t know what’s going on, but I like it
6. Mononoke (6) – what do you fear the most?
7. Mushi-Uta (7) – stabilising in the pretty good zone
8. Tetsuko no Tabi (8)- train adventures
9. Doujin Work (9) – this is becoming a guilty pleasure
10. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai (10) – Hanyu makes it all better
11. Koutetsu Sangokushi (11) – pure cheese
12. Romeo X Juliet (12) – what’s the point anymore?
13. Seirei no Moribito (13) – an exercise in monotony
14. El Cazador de la Bruja (14) – useless Nadie

SLOW RANKINGS

1. Shounen Onmyouji (1)- a new episode after so long
2. Love GetChu! (3)- light entertainment
3. Sisters of Wellber (2) – Rita gets a new job
4. ROTK (4)- done and dusted <-complete!

OVA RANKINGS

1. MariMite (2)- more HARD YURI than ever
2. Mai-Otome Zwei (3)- white cat <-complete

Baccano! 3: With this episode, I have even less of a grasp of what is going on, but much like Iroha in its day, I am enjoying myself nonetheless (in fact, I’d go so far as to say that this has the potential to be better than Iroha. In this episode, we follow the threads of various characters, as criminal activities mix in with a mysterious ability to cheat death. I may not know what’s happening, but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying it.

Darker than Black 20: Another arc concludes and we’re still no closer to finding out the truth about this world; instead, the episode is spent trying to rescue Shihoko and getting to Alma. Some interesting contract remunerations are revealed, but aside from that, there’s not a huge reason to care about the deaths of yet more characters we just met. Although I’m appreciative of how this arc fleshed out Huang beyond his initial shallow and dislikeable image, it once again feels like something we should have seen nearer the beginning of the series, not six episodes from the end.

El Cazador de la Bruja 20: After nineteen slow, boring and pointless episodes of El Cazador, the twentieth episode marks a change by being…slow, boring and pointless. Having succumbed to the green-eyed monster of jealousy when he sees how close Ellis and Nadie have become, L.A. decides to enlist the police to capture and kill Nadie, only to change his mind and decide to kill her himself mere minutes later. Meanwhile, Ricardo and Lirio show up to help out, Blue Eyes appears to observe and Nadie proves herself to be so useless that even a generic can cause her to trip over a dustbin lid. Whatever immunity I had last week also seems to be breaking down, as this once again felt like about fifty minutes rather than twenty-five.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai 7: Unlike previous worlds, everything seems to be conspiring to make sure that none of our leads spirals off into a psychotic rampage- thanks to dream-memories of earlier tragedies, each takes the action needed to prevent disaster. Even so, Hanyu is sure that this world will end in failure as well, and even though detailed spoilers tell me how everything will turn out in this arc, it is still proving to be more satisfying than Higurashi has been in a long time.

Koutetsu Sangokushi 11: It cannot be denied anymore- Koutetsu Sangokushi is not just cheese, it is pure unadulterated mature cheddar. In this episode, our heroes condense the historical battle of Chi Bi into a battle against Wei’s implausible ship, the Red Cliff, and never have I seen something so unintentionally hilarious. After a lot of HARD GAY innuendo and predictable moves by our characters, our six main heroes actually get teleported inside the Sovereign’s Seal (or, as I call it, the Lord’s Cube), where they are each given magical Gundam Musou Dragoon Ranger powers, and the whole thing turns into a sentai show. As always, it’s not what I was expecting when I started this show, but the whole thing is a laugh riot.

*COMPLETE* Mai-Otome Zwei 4: I think it’s time to accept that Mai-Otome will never leave my life, but that doesn’t mean we have to be comfortable bedfellows. I want to leave the full shredding to its own dedicated post, but suffice to say that this final instalment in the Zwei OVA is basically a boss battle against the evil shadow Otome (now in the shape of giant Fumi), and Arika and Nina defeat it (Nina makes a contract with Mashiro) whilst Mai fights Kagutsuchi and the other Otome tackle nameless monsters off screen. It’s poor quality, senseless and largely pointless, but because it actually has fighting scenes, it is one of Otome’s better moments. And as if the wasn’t enough, a new prequel OVA(?) is said to be coming soon- Mai-Otome S.ifl. More on that this Sunday.

Mononoke 4: The good yet bizarre second arc of Mononoke continues in this episode (and yes, it’s definitely to be continued), as an Umizatou (basically a monstrous fish man with hideous smacking lips) boards the ship and asks everyone what their greatest fear, before showing them a disturbing and hideous illusion. By the end of the episode, we discover who brought the ship to this place and why, but on the way there’s plenty of creepy and borderline imagery to see- and to my surprise, I’m actually enjoying it.

Mushi-Uta 7: Whilst three new characters arrive in town to search for Fuyuhotaru, Asami continues to adjust to her new powers- and it seems certain that the various factions will be coming after her soon. I finally feel as if I have a somewhat more solid (if not complete) grasp of what is going on, although as before I am more drawn to the character interactions and their double lives than to the whole Bug Master aspect that I initially expected to be the most appealing element.

*COMPLETE* Romance of the Three Kingdoms 47: Well, it’s finally over, and with that this series can be put to rest. In this episode, the battle of Chi Bi concludes with the fire attack on the Wei ships, and although the narrator tells us that this is only the beginning of the Three Kingdoms era proper, as far as this series goes, it is the end of an era of mixed cheese, unintentional hilarity and stretches of boredom. No one else should ever attempt to watch it.

Romeo X Juliet 18: Francisco and Conrad have ordered some swords for the previously unmentioned mounted cavalry strike on Neo Verona, but since doing such a thing would advance the plot too far too fast, everyone decides to break off and perform one of Shakespeare’s plays (that’s the Shakespeare in the series, not the genuine article). Meanwhile, Romeo and his prisoner friends start making the abandoned village prosperous again- if this was some kind of simulation game, it might be enjoyable, but this is an anime, and right now it’s anime that’s going nowhere, and will probably continue to go nowhere right up until the end.

Seirei no Moribito 19: This week on Seirei no Moribito, the exciting crunch time continues as our characters try Sitting and Talking! Talking! Talking! Try not to fall off the edge of your seat as our undefeated heroine Balsa seats herself on a mat and takes on Tanda in the mightiest conversational battle you’ve ever seen! Tremble with fear as no fewer than Eight (that’s Eight, ladies and gentlemen) Evil Men skulk around the edge of a village and politely ask questions about our heroes! Feel the adrenalin flow as Chagum tries to Slowly Walk Away From Home with a village girl, only to meet Balsa in the Showdown of the Century! Will he run her through with her own spear so that he can go home to Mummy and Shuga, or will she easily deflect the untrained boy, slap him in the face and tell him to stop being so Damn Annoying? Find out by calling your cable provider and asking them to hook you up to Seirei no Moribito! Don’t watch this all in one go, because the excitement will Blow Your Mind!

Wellber no Monogatari ~Sisters of Wellber~ 4: It’s been a while since we had any Wellber, but now episode four has appeared, in which Rita is forced to hide in what turns out to be the red-light district. Naturally, Rita’s complete lack of understanding first sees her almost getting employed as a prostitute herself, before deciding to campaign against the evils of women selling themselves (surely a counterpart to the recent TV show Anne Widdecombe vs. Prostitution) and then ultimately leaving all the characters of the week behind to continue her mission. It’s all rather standard and not particularly exciting, but the occasionally parody-worthy nature of this show has inspired me to consider “Saturday Special”, where I parody hand-picked episodes from various series.

MANGA

Saiunkoku Monogatari 7: It’s all the way back to the first arc once again in this chapter, as Shou Taishi’s scheme is revealed and Sa Enjun takes the fall- with his life. It’s good to relive these early parts of the story in such a compact form, although it would be even better if it was getting released a bit faster. Yes, this manga may be a mere extra course to the main meals of novel and anime, but it’s still worth having around.

Spiral 48: The confrontation with Kanone is, er, still going on, but luckily for Spiral, it remains good enough that we can pretend not to notice how long this fight has been dragging on for. Ayumu and Kanone are face to face once again, but whilst Kanone is certain that nothing can deflect the predetermined future where Ayumu kills him, our hero is about to play his last few cards. Everyone will be walking an extremely thin tightrope, but if everything comes together, their plan might just come together. I’m guessing it will, but that doesn’t make it any less interesting to read.

Twin Spica 5, flashback 2: After another flashback in which Asumi nearly drowns and visits the world between life and death (complete with some familiar faces), it’s time to get on with the present story in chapter five, which sees our heroine travel to Tokyo to start her first term in Space School. I’ve seen this all before in the anime, but even so Twin Spica is good enough to make it dramatic and heart-wrenching all over again.

Chagum’s Spinning Coins

Ever wished for something a little more exciting than the sitting and talking of Seirei no Moribito? Then Chagum’s Spinning Coins is the one for you, an exciting tale based on the episode where Chagum plays the spinning coin game! Can young Chagum, a beginner at Spinning Coins, master the game and rise to the top in time for the upcoming world tournament? Can he defeat the evil forces hoping to use the power of Spinning Coins to take over the world? Tune in and find out!

FF7: E-Z of spin-offs

As we all know, Final Fantasy VII has spawned four money-making spin-offs lettered from A to D- Advent Children, Before Crisis, Crisis Core and Dirge of Cerberus. It is clear that is only the beginning of a whole A-Z of FF7 cash-ins, and here on Tuesday Rumble, we plan to document the future of franchise spin-offs.

Elena- A Life in the Turks: Play as Elena as she becomes a Turk and rises in the ranks.

Fort Condor: Remember how much you loved that Fort Condor mini-game of pain and excruciating slowness? Well, now you can play an entire game based on protecting Fort Condor from endless waves of enemies.

Gold Saucer: An entire game based around the mini-games at Gold Saucer, now expanded for additional “enjoyment”.

Hojo’s House of Horrors: Before he died, Hojo left a house filled with dangerous experiments, and when the security went down, they all escaped. In this action game, you must enter the house and put a stop to their rampage- for good.

Icicle Winter Olympics: The 2010 Winter Olympics are to be held at Icicle Village, and you can join in! Enter different events and try to score that elusive gold medal in snowboarding, skiing, ice skating and more!

Joe- Chocobo Champion: Play as Joe as you go from being a rookie in the chocobo racing world to the top man in the business.

Kalm Days: You have just bought a farm on the edge of Kalm Village, but can you make it into a thriving business?

Lucky Sevens: Play Cait Sith’s slot machine- infinitely!

Mog House II: A sequel to the popular Mog House game in Gold Saucer, feed moogles kupo nuts so that they can find their one true love! Look after generations of moogles as they learn to fly and impress prospective mates!

Nibelheim- The History: Play through the “missing” five years in Nibelheim history from the time the town was burned down to its current state.

Odin’s Sacrifice: Learn the history of Odin and how he became sealed in a materia in this tragic visual novel tale.

Priscilla’s Dolphin Training: Play as Priscilla and swim with the dolphins as you train them to perform tricks.

Quadra Slam: Play an exciting card game based on Triple Triad and Tetra Master, but for FF7!

Red XIII’s Tale: Play as Red XIII for five hundred years, ending at the final scene of the original game.

Seventh Heaven: Help make Tifa’s bar a thriving business in this game inspired by the likes of Burger Rush and Chocolatier.

Tifa’s School of Martial Arts: Pull off combos and become a martial artist in this free-roaming beat-’em-up.

Underwater Adventures: Explore the underwater world of FF7 in your submarine in this exciting game.

Vincent’s Valentines: In this alternate universe dating sim, Turks Academy Vincent must win the lovely Lucrecia’s heart before she gets stolen away by Hojo.

Wutai’s War: A tactical RPG based on the war that Godo and the others fought.

X Marks the Spot: Dig up treasures in sites of archaeological interest such as Bone Village. Make your way across the world in search of rare and elusive items buried deep beneath the surface!

Yuffie- Materia Hunter: Play as Yuffie and travel across the world in search of materia.

Zack’s Story: Play as Zack as he joins SOLDIER and tries to reach the highest ranks.

More Kenichi

Yep, that’s pretty much it.

“Do you think it’s more of an Ezo than a Liang?”

The monkeys that survived battle in Heroic Age have created their own how to fight books.

“I never thought I would witness HARD GAY with my own eyes!”

…or alternatively, be terrified of next time.

Kenichi is worried about the size of his Liang.

“I already gave him HARD GAY yesterday.”

“His Liang looked fine to me.”

“I will not rest until it is destroyed!”

“…about HARD GAY.”

“…and if you can Pleasure me, then I will pay you.”

“But if your climax is merely average…”

“…it will be the end of our relationship!”

“I’ve never seen one before!”

“The internet isn’t just about sex!”

“It isn’t?”

“Let’s play Yu-Gi-Oh!”

“I summon the Blue Eyes White Dragon!”

Random Thoughts: Prinny

This week we interview a generic prinny from Disgaea! Prinny, even though you are a downtrodden damned soul, do you feel that you got the last laugh by becoming a recurring presence in various Nippon Ichi games?

Dood, everyone loves prinnies! If only Etna didn’t keep taking our pay from all those games, we’d be rich!

What is it like, working under Etna?

It’s hell, dood! We work day and night for a pittance, and if we’re lucky, we don’t get exploded before the night of the red moon.

Do you get any of the proceeds from the sale of prinny plushies?

Plushies? Those are real prinnies, dood!

And finally, what do Celestian prinnies look like?

They’re white, dood, with feathery wings and haloes.

This Week in Anime

Mobile HORSE spreads to a new town.

Vegetables make a comeback after fruit domination.

All generics are seated together for convenience.

“Hey, are you eating an apple?”

“It’s my apple- stay away from it!”

“Fine, then- I’ll just make do with some naked men and this DOG.”

Fat cat is revealed to be an impostor after it deflates.

Ah, good old tea, which we English sup whilst visiting libraries and waltzing at balls.

Nuts begin their campaign.

HARD GAY corner: Heat Guy J

Daisuke Aurora first learned HARD GAY at the hands of his brother Shun and old man Shogun, but in later years, their busy schedules prevented them from having the time to service him. Fearful of having to rely on Hyper Self Pleasure, Daisuke took on a robotic lover, J, tuned to perfectly fulfil his every desire. Even when J became damaged or started to malfunction, Daisuke insisted that he be fixed, fearful of losing his ideal lover.\r\n

Thanks to the experience gained with J, Daisuke became the envy of many a man, and soon gained other lovers in the form of older man Edmundo, bishie mafia leader Clair Leonelli and Boma, a man with the face and appetites of a beast. Nonetheless, Daisuke still longed for the strong embrace of his brother, and was understandably upset to learn that not only was Shun the main villain, but that he had turned to STRAIGHT with his assistant Phia- at one point. In an attempt to show his brother the power of HARD GAY, Daisuke organised a group session with all of his lovers, even including J, who Shun had tried to reprogram for STRAIGHT. In the end, Shun was shown the error of his ways, but after tiring of his current lovers, Daisuke decided to leave the city in search of fresh Liangs.

OST spotlight: Avenger

Ali Project are often accused of being a one-trick pony, but this opportunity to provide the music for an entire series proved that when they want to, they can actually compose different themes. Although their gothic and borderline discordant style permeates the entire OST, there is still plenty of variety packed in, from fast and energetic tracks that wouldn’t be out of place in a platform or action game, to slower and more melancholy themes. The only real weak piece on the whole CD is the vocal track “MOTHER”, an almost painful slow and dull theme that lasts for over five minutes.

Notable tracks: Gesshoku Grand Guignol, Reinforcement of Happiness, Babylon Café, Death Becoming Unavailable, Taming the Young Woman, Puppeteer, Trompe-l”oeil labyrinth, The Season of Hell, Mirai no Eve

Mini-editorial: Tackling depression in entertainment- who should be saved?

Depression and entertainment hardly seem like comfortable bedfellows, but in the likes of NHK, we see characters who are suffering from various related problems that prevent them from interacting “normally” with society. The purpose of their inclusion may be for dark comedy or to view their salvation, but ultimately, how should it be handled in the long term? In real life, such problems may take months or even years of treatment, but the good thing about anime (or indeed any form of fiction) is that it doesn’t have to be realistic- it is far more satisfying to see the characters improve over the course of the series than to see them stuck in the same old rut.

Admittedly, I haven’t read the last few chapters yet, but NHK was a major offender in this regard, keeping its characters sequestered in misery and despair long after the humour of the situation had worn away. Similarly, Eva, whilst admittedly intended to reflect Anno’s own state of depression in the past, failed to “save” its characters, making them annoying and repetitive instead of people whose journey endears them to us.

In Your Reflection

This week we have a head-to-head between two silver-haired juveniles- .hack//SIGN’s Tsukasa and Get Backers’ Makubex. Both are trapped in a virtual world of sorts and aren’t particularly keen on the company of others, but each ends up as part of a group of friends.

Amusing Search Terms

This week on Amusing Search Terms, someone wonders “El Cazador yuri?”. Another person is more confident, and insists that “El Cazador de la Bruja is yuri”. They must be hoping to link up with the “lusty lesbians”, who were also on the hunt for “yuri romeo x Juliet”, “the yuri & friends incest english ver”, “yuri+manga+sex+incest” and “yuri incest”.

what romeo x juliet character are you: You are Benvolio, a person with so much time on their hands that they have to look up “what Romeo X Juliet character are you?”

“saiunkoku monogatari”"2″: For some reason putting the 2 in quotation marks amused me.

Koutetsu Sangokushi dub: Aren’t you getting ahead of yourself? It isn’t even licensed yet.

“utawarerumono” AND “Download”AND”Direct: Some people just want everything, don’t they?

rpg games were there is a fat ginga boy: What?

the best of gay: Is this an album, like “The Best Dance Music Ever… Part II”?

Amusing Spam

"scary movie reviews...

It can on occasion get bothersome to extract the insightful ''horror movie'' work from the dreadful...."

I agree; where do you begin?

"whether all for you well�  

� a lot of useful information, thank you to you� � �  much scorched tem here�  spam all right I went away to meeting�  

key mesage for you�  

sex group link for you"

I couldn’t follow all of this, but at least they admit it was spam.

"Rafael...

I think this post is relevant but slightly biased & I would like to see more equal information..."

That’s the last time I get Rafael to write anything for my blog.

"The resourceful thing to do is to do your statistical study efficiently...."

I agree.

"Elk and Bear Hunting Tips...

� 

We are extremely thrilled that you''ve found this webpage dealing with hunting guides...."

I’m really happy too; at last I can begin my new hobby of hunting the numerous elk and bear native to the United Kingdom.

"click here...

It is tiresome attempting to total the hours we have spent looking up fx chat room pages...."

Tell me about it.

"Best site for meeting people for sex! 

A lot of local girls need sex right here"

They do? Shame I’m not into HARD YURI, then.