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!

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

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

Episode One

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

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

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

Clare starts walking away.

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

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

Clare picks up the pace.

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

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

Raki: I thought Claymores had superior abilities.

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

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

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

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

Episode Two

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

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

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

Clare: Hmm, I thought I heard something.

Episodes Three-Four

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

(Clare: This is so embarrassing.)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS 5

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

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

Fate plans her next conquest.

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

SKULLMAN 1

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

“HARD GAY, what’s that?”

“Are you asking for Pleasure?”

Short Parody: Kaleido Star

Sora arrives at the Kaleido stage.

Sora: Sorry I’m late for the audition!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sora pretty much masters the manoeuvre.

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

Sponsor Mr Kenneth arrives at Kaleido Stage.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sora: I’m not sure if I can do this.

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

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

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

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

This Week in Anime

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

Various fruits come together for a conference.

One DOG just isn’t enough anymore.

After a long absence, magatamas are spotted again.

Watermelon makes the first of many appearances in Kono Mini.

Anime Awards

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Licensing Reactions

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

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

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

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

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

In Your Reflection

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

Fashion Police: Sei

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

Fashion sense: C-

Amusing Search Terms

Whatever happened to you toube this week?

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

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

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

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

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

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

fanservice manga: I was telling you not to read it

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

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

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

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

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

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

ANIME

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MANGA

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

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

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

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

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

Anything in red probably won’t be touched, blue will be watched for at least a few weeks, and black is indifferent/undecided. Edit: the blue got messed up when I pasted from Word so it may not be entirely correct.

• Keitai Shoujo: Five girls, one average 17 year old high school student, a mission to get a girlfriend…haven’t we been here before? It sounds like the most contrived harem ever.
• Doujin Work: It’s based on a 4-koma comedy about a girl who starts drawing doujins, so it could either be amusing in an Azumanga-esque way, or more likely, completely dull and random.
• Burst Angel OVA: I’d like to forget that I ever watched Burst Angel, but a small particle of curiosity suggests that I might like to watch this OVA. At least Meg isn’t exposing as much flesh this time, although her fashion sense is still questionable.
• Hitohira: A shy girl who gets so nervous that she can’t even speak gets recruited into the drama club- I get the feeling it’s going to be a painful procession of the main character messing up, angsting about it and occasionally getting it right when the plot allows. My ‘pain sense’ indicates that this will be about as enjoyable as a Tsuyokiss and Gokujou Seitokai marathon.
• Murder Princess: It’s a Bee Train OVA, and I should know better by now, but it won’t be the first time I’ve watched something just because I liked the promo artwork. Apparently a bounty hunter ends up in the body of a princess and takes over her role, which probably means the whole thing is just stills of her sitting in the castle.
• Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann: It has mecha, cheerfully generic looking characters, and since it’s from Gainax, there’ll probably be some blatant advertising references to Evangelion as well. I may watch the first episode out of curiosity, but I don’t see my relationship with this show being a lengthy one.
• Hayate the Combat Butler: A boy gets sold to the yakuza, and then becomes a butler; I can’t say it interests me in itself, but when a title gets mentioned a lot prior to its release I tend to end up checking it out just to see what all the fuss is about.
• Gegege no Kitaro: A remake/continuation of a series that started 14 years before I was born…I don’t think I’ll bother.
• Seto no Hanayome: Man is forced to marry mermaid, his family tries to break up the relationship whilst remaining unaware that she even is a mermaid…even if they aren’t really alike, I can’t help thinking of Urusei Yatsura, and even that vague hint of similarity is enough to keep me away.
• Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS: The lolis are all grown up, but they’re back for another 26 episodes- if it’s anything like its predecessors or that dull manga that came out a while back, the story won’t be much to write home about, but somehow when the animation is this good, I don’t mind.
• Heroic Age: An age of heroes that look an awful lot like every other hero designed by Hisashi Hirai, with Eiji “KirAthruShinn” as the Destined Lead. It just sounds too generic too be worthy.
• Touka Gettan: It seems to be a spin-off of an adult OVA from 2001, and that’s about all I know. The artwork looks nice, though.
• El Cazador: It’s Bee Train’s latest girls with guns series, and even after getting burned with Madlax and to a lesser extent Avenger (not to mention the general dullness of Tsubasa season 2 and .hack//Roots), I know I’m going to end up watching it.
• Idol Master Xenoglossia: Take one game in which you turn one of ten girls into an idol, and change the story so that they are now mecha pilots. The fact that it’s produced by Sunrise makes me wary that it’s going to be another Otome/Destiny/Code Geass but I quite like the character designs, and may just be persuaded to watch the first episode.
• Saint Beast – Kouin Jojishi Tenshi Tan: When I first saw all the bishies I thought it was going to be something like Angelique, but it actually looks to be a prequel to a series about good angels fighting evil angels who escaped their seal. I’m guessing it will be all bishies and not much substance.
• Wellber no Monogatari- Sisters of Wellber: A princess stabs her groom in protest at an arranged marriage and goes off to have HARD YURI with her bodyguard. Just reading the synopsis of this made me fall asleep, so I don’t anticipate it being anything special.
• Ohedo Rocket: I’m not entirely sure, but this seems to be about fireworks makers in the Edo era; perhaps it should be applauded for originality, but the character designs look fairly childish and it generally lacks appeal.
• Sakura Taisen- New York: I know it isn’t great, but I have a certain fondness for what I’ve seen of the Sakura Taisen franchise, so I may as well give this OVA a go.
• Kiss Dum- Engage Planet: A destined hero fights against invading aliens and a female scientist finds a mysterious book- it’s like a cut and paste of ideas we’ve seen many times before. Even the character designs seem generic.
• Shining Tears X: I already said that no good can come of RPG adaptations, and apparently Shining Tears has been called the “worst RPG ever”. I must try to resist the lure of those character designs.
• Claymore: Last year I read a review of Claymore, and I have to admit it didn’t sound great- if it’s just going to be girls with swords having HARD YURI I’m not too interested, but if it turns out to be female Berserk, maybe it will be worthy.
• Kono Aozora ni Yakusoku wo: By the looks of it, this eroge adaptation is the season’s answer to YoakeNa, although hopefully not quite as awful as that. Still, I’ve learned my lesson about this kind of light entertainment (for the time being, anyway).
• Shinkyouku Soukai Polyphonica: Based on the title, I thought this was going to be about collecting polyphonic ringtones (gotta download ‘em all) but it actually seems to be a love story set in a world where fairies live on music. I may have to watch the beginning out of curiosity, but it sounds a little too sickly sweet for me.
• OverDrive: All I know is that it’s a sports anime and the lead looks like Kazuki from Busou Renkin, but since I’ve never been a fan of straight-up sports anime, I won’t be starting on this one.
• Romeo X Juliet: It may look like Romeo x Firiel from Good Witch on the promo image, but sheer curiosity drives me to try this anime adaptation of the one Shakespeare play everyone knows inside out. I have to admit that my expectations are not particularly high, however.
• Kishin Taisen Gigantic Formula: Not, as you might imagine, one of New Wang’s signature products, but a series in which teenagers pilot giant robots in a post apocalyptic world in order to establish a new world order. Couldn’t they have found a less clichéd way to do it- even having chickens pecking each other would be more exciting.
• Kotetsushin Jeeg: This appears to be a spin-off of a retro robo series from 1975- shouldn’t the franchise have long been laid to rest by now?
• Nagasarete Airantou: A boy gets stranded on a tropical island with only girls- could this be the ultimate evolution of the harem genre? The character designs alone give an indication of just how many times we’ve seen this set of characters before, and there’s no real need to see them again.
• Koutetsu Sangokushi: I’m almost finished with ROTK, so maybe this should be my next stop for Three Kingdoms related material…only apart from the fact that it has Liu Bei et al in it (dammit ANN, give their Chinese names, I can’t work with the Japanese ones), I have no clue what it’s about.
• Kamichama Karin: I never did get around to reading the manga, but I have the feeling it may be almost unbearably sugary for my tastes- however the character designs look nice, and the cat may be a descendant of Mikoto. Since I periodically have to satisfy odd cravings for this kind of magical girl/romance series, I may have to give it a try.
• Darker than Black – Kuro no Keiyakusha: Hell’s Gate appears, and people gain evil powers- hopefully in the hands of Studio Bones this can be turned into something compelling instead of laughably brooding and angsty.
• Saiunkoku Monogatari series 2:Yes, this has already started airing, and yes, I haven’t even finished the first season yet, but more SaiMono can only be a good thing. If one of my favourites from 2006 can continue for even longer, all the better.
• Lovely Complex: Tall girl and short guy- are just good friends or will they develop into something more? Since I recently got my fix of generic shoujo with Tenshi Nanka Janai, I don’t think I really need to bother with this since it just looks like something along the same lines.
• Furusato Japan: A movie set in a Tokyo elementary school in 1956; I can’t say I’ll ever get round to watching it but it sounds like it might be quite charming in a Whisper of the Heart sort of way.
• Seirei no Moribito: A prince is chosen to guard a magical egg, an older woman becomes his bodyguard to protect him- nothing about the story really screams “watch me” so I’ll probably just let it fade into obscurity.
• Terra E…: A remake of an 1980 series that was itself based on a classic manga, this is classic sci-fi as we all know and love it (or not, as the case may be), complete with powerful computer systems and psychic children. The character designs are a little simplistic for my tastes, but the sci-fi fan in me wants to watch this anyway.
• Blue Dragon: Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe this is a game adaptation with character designs by Akira Toriyama- whatever the case, it looks a little too childish for my tastes.
• Kaze no Shoujo Emily: A novel based series about a typical free-spirited girl who ends up living with her strict aunt- why do I get the feeling it’s going to be as painfully predictable as the anime version of Les Miserables?
• Kiddy Grade Ignition: And so the Kiddy Grade movies begin…character designs aside, I didn’t have much in the way of good things to say about the series, so I’ll probably let this one slip by.
• Eikoku Koi Monogatari Emma- Molders Hen: Also known as Victorian Romance Emma Season Two, this is something I’ve been looking forward to ever since I first heard about it. Emma is an excellent series, and provided second season syndrome doesn’t strike, this should be the continuation we’ve all been waiting for.
• sola: Apparently it’s about a boy who likes the sky- and that’s all I know. The character designs seem to have been ripped off from several other series but that in itself is an invitation to watch, for with its undefined plot and Engrish title, it surely has to be laughably bad if nothing else.
• Bokurano: In manga form, Bokurano is one of my favourites, and so I was overjoyed when I heard it was getting an anime- right up until I learned that Gonzo were in charge. I’m fervently praying that they don’t mess up this adaptation, although with the manga still unfinished I can see it diverging at some point anyway.
• Lucky Star: Another 4-koma based series, seemingly based on the little things that make up our day to day lives. Here’s hoping for the next Azumanga.
• Bakugan Battle Brawlers: Here it is, the show we’ve all been waiting for- Bakugan Battle Brawlers! Join generic shounen hero and his friends as they persuade you to buy cheap plastic toys by battling with them! Yes, it’s the spiritual successor to Beyblade and B-Daman, yet a part of me wants to watch and have a good laugh at how hilariously bad it will inevitably turn out to be.
• Kaibutsu Oujo: A demon princess resurrects the main character and the resulting bond means he has to fight monsters on her behalf- I’m not entirely convinced this can bring us anything we haven’t seen before but I may try it out if early impressions are favourable.
• Kaze no Stigma: Could this be the next Shana? Is that even a good thing? The character designs look quite appealing but I sense a generic story lurking behind them.
• Ookiku Furikabutte: Another sports series, this one about a baseball team. I think I can live quite happily without ever touching it.
• Kino no Tabi the Beautiful World Country of Illness -For You: It’s been a while, but at last we’re getting another Kino movie. I’m wholeheartedly looking forward to it.
• Shakugan no Shana Movie: Perhaps this movie will help impart some point to the Balle Masque organisation, but even if it’s just “heroes band together to fight powerful but previously unmentioned evil”, I’ll probably watch it just for the sake of completeness.
• AIKa R-16- Virgin Mission: An OVA about a female salvager, some high school girls…and a pair of large breasts. It looks a lot like the ocean-based version of Stratos 4 (sans fat cat), and so it can probably be passed over without loss.
• Skullman: “Skullman, Skullman, does whatever a Skull can…” Self-indulgence aside, I can’t help but laugh every time I see a picture of Skullman, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to see this, or hoping that it will turn out to be worthy.