Tegami Bachi and other fall series

[lucathia]

I'm actually keeping up with some series. Scratch some. A LOT OF SERIES. This isn't going to last at all. XD; I tried watching some series from summer and spring, but they haven't kept my interest. There's something about following series as they come out that makes them more appealing.

Tegami Bachi 1-3

I'm enjoying this one so far. Don't like the 3D monsters too much, but I like the main two (three?) characters and the atmosphere and the fact that this is a series about postmen. I was surprised by who the main character turned out to be though.


I was very amused that Fukuyama Jun, who voices Gauche, is once again voicing an older brother who's giving his all for his younger sister who can't walk. After Code Geass with Lelouch and Nunally, I'm seeing this situation everywhere, both here and in Basquash too. The horse on the right amuses me way too much. So cute!


I didn't expect Lag Seeing to be the main character. I totally thought the main was Gauche. Took me a bit to adjust to Lag as the main character with the 5 year time skip. I'm really glad Lag grew up a bit. His voice is so much less annoying now! And, he grew up to be quite an earnest softie. I have a feeling that Gauche is probably in trouble and needs saving from Lag. The girl Niche is probably going to turn out to be Lag's dingo...this term just sounds wrong.

Kampfer 1

Boy transforms into a girl and is forced to participate in Kampfer fights, which is limited to girls. This would be interesting if he kept changing back and forth between a guy and a girl, but it looks like he's going to be stuck in girl form for the rest of the series. This is turning out to be like all the other boy turned into girl or dressed as a girl series where the boy just looks and acts entirely like a girl. Really, what's the point.

Kobato 1-3

Very peaceful anime so far about Kobato's trials in healing people's hearts and collecting candy in her jar from that. She has a mean stuffed dog called Ioryogi, who provides much of the comedy. Kiyokazu, the guy on the right, works at a kindergarten and has been mean to Kobato so far. I like the cute designs from this CLAMP series.


Kobato is an enigma so far. She doesn't have any memories? She sings? She's pretty naive and doesn't seem to know much about the world. She lives in the park before the kindergarten teacher Sayaka finds an apartment for her (which is a lot to do for a stranger. Is Kobato going to be paying at all??). There are lots of previous CLAMP characters showing up, like the apartment manager Chitose and the twins who look like Chi. Then, Wish characters showed up at the end of episode 3. :O I did not think that so many other CLAMP characters would be showing up in this. This isn't Tsubasa or anything!!

Miracle Train 2-3

Haha, so I'm continuing with Miracle Train. It's actually a pretty...relaxing series. Makes me want to visit Japan again since they're pretty much giving tours of all the stations. Second episode featured Tochou, which is not a station I'm familiar with. Third episode featured Shinjuku. I laughed when the Shinjuku brothers showed up, West Shinjuku, East Shinjuku, New Shinjuku. XD; I really want to see the Chuo line stations...


They're going overboard with all the train trivia. I find it interesting, but really, won't people in Japan already know most of this? Hm, I'm finding the bgm at the beginning of each episode quite catchy. My favorite station is still Roppongi.

Inuyasha Kanketsu hen 2-3


Shoot, I don't have a screencap of Kagura, but KAGURA MADE ME CRY. With the wind blowing and her words about being free...I loved her character. Really great to see her part animated, and even though the anime is really compacted, with her death coming in the second episode, I still felt her death hit hard. I guess it's because I was already attached to her character...really, this series is entirely for people who have followed the series all along. Wouldn't have an impact at all for people who haven't followed the series from before. I love Kohaku and all, but his decision to walk towards his death to defeat Naraku was entirely overshadowed by Kagura. Shippo's part in episode 3 made me laugh. Great to see him being a kid and practicing his kitsune powers. Sesshoumaru is still being his cool self in this series. So much stuff is going on in each episode.

Kimi ni Todoke 2-3

Still so peaceful and cute. ♥ ♥ I am loving the soft colors of this series and how hard Sawako tries at everything. Kazehaya has a small possessive streak too. Yano and everyone are such good friends!! Ryu makes his appearance!! Kazehaya is totally in love with Sawako and she's slowly starting to realize her feelings. But ah, looks like the rumors are spreading. I'm not going to be enjoying the next few episodes so much.

I love the opening and ending of this series. This will probably be the series I end up making a moodtheme for. XD;; Was taking screencaps...but man, my C drive is getting full from having way too many Prince of Tennis pics around for Twist Serve TCG.

Nyankoi! 2-3

The cats are so cute. I want a handmade Nyamsus plushie!! XD; I'm loving Junpei's childhood friend, Kanako, who I knew was going to look much nicer without the makeup. I usually don't like characters like Kaede, but I'm finding her amusing...she landed on her feet instead of sprawled over Junpei, and she's actually the top of her class. A bit too maybe.


I was so hoping the person on the right was a guy, but from the voice...looks like this character's a girl. Darn. Was hoping there would be some variation (like meeting some new guy friends) because seriously, Junpei is just meeting a bunch of girls now that he can talk to cats.

Aoi Bungaku 1

This series is disturbing. Very dark. I think 6 (or was it four?) Japanese novels are going to be animated for this 12 episode series, so that's...2-3 episodes per story, I suppose. The character designs for this first one, Ningen Shikkaku, was done by Obata Takeshi. I'm looking forward to seeing Konomi Takeshi and Kubo Tite's designs for the other stories. The only novel I've read is Natsume Souseki's Kokoro. I'll be looking forward to that one.

Fairy Tail 1-2

I started reading the manga for this after Fanime when one of the people I hung out with dressed up as Gray. The manga hasn't interested me all that much yet. The start of Akaboshi Ibun Suikoden reminds me a lot of Fairy Tail, which is another series I couldn't get into. I think it has something to do with how Lucy joins an already established organization with so many characters. Hm, I guess the same thing could be said of D.Gray-man...


I've always appreciated shounen series more when they're animated though because fight scenes are so much better in motion and with sound effects. Lucy's not a bad female lead. I look forward to her acquiring more keys. I didn't remember that Natsu was raised by a dragon...this series is quite out there sometimes. XD; This series might turn out to be the next long running shounen series with no end...or maybe it'll run short of the finale like Rave. I hope it won't end abruptly. ^^;;

Oh man, out of all these, I'm probably only dropping Kampfer. Still planning on checking out other series too, though I'm not sure what else there is now. XDD

Comments

[hibimaosuki.livejournal.com]

I think it was ep2 where the train trivia reached, like, seven within the first three minutes? XDDD ROPPONGI IS MY FAVORITE, TOO. Followed by Shinjuku. Aaaaaaah, I hope I get to see those stations when I go in April...

[lucathia]

The trivia kept piling up! All the stations were doing whatever their station's known for. They really make me want to visit each station though. Eee, if you're going to take the Oedo line when you're there, that's going to be so fun recognizing all those places. XD

I kind of hope one of the later episodes comes back to Roppongi!! He's just been stuck doing reports!

[hibimaosuki.livejournal.com]

I don't mind report-making!Roppongi, we get him in glasses ♥ But yeah, I do want another Roppongi episode. He's such a sweetheart!!

[lucathia]

Report making Roppongi made me happy, especially when everyone else was goofing off. XD; I'm wondering if there's a "main" character in this or if they're all equally not main. Roppongi looks like he's sort of near the center in the ending pic. XDD

[just1kinkybitch.livejournal.com]

Gonna totally watch all of them except for Kampfer & Miracle Train. I'm surprise you decided to pick it up... as much as I like my bishies... I do not like them talking about trains lol...

and omg Kagura dies!?!?!? booo she was one of my favorite character in inuyasha T___T. Seshomy needs to get off his arrogant horse!

[hibimaosuki.livejournal.com]

Oh, they're not talking about the trains. Not really. They're the personification of the stations and throw retorts at each other that reference a fact about the station (for example, Shinjuku called Shiodome a kid, and the fact here is that Shiodome is the last station to open on the Oedo line).

[just1kinkybitch.livejournal.com]

Umm... yeah I probably wouldn't get that aspect because I've never been to Japan or know about the train lines in Japan...

[hibimaosuki.livejournal.com]

I've never been there either XD Text boxes containing the trivia pop up throughout the episode.

[lucathia]

Anything else you're watching? Other than Darker than Black...I still need to watch the first season. :3 Kampfer is totally blah. Haha, well, after my Japan trip, the thing I'm missing most is their public transportation. The trains were awesome. Though...I don't think they translate well into bishies. They feel more like hosts on the trains than train stations.

Do you watch Hetalia? Miracle Train is kind of like Hetalia, except it's train stations as bishies instead of countries as bishies. Each character is a train station...and they like talking about their own station.

I say, watch it for Roppongi. He's hot. Or, just watch the opening. That's probably enough. :3

Kagura was awesome. ;___; She's out of the picture so quickly in this new series though!!! Sesshoumaru gets to be sympathetic...at least that's what I think he's feeling. He also gets a cool new move. The plot's moving so fast.

[just1kinkybitch.livejournal.com]

OMG Why haven't you watch Darker than black yet!?!?!? Hei is soooooo hott~~~

Yeah I believe it would get rush considering there's 21 volumes worth of stuff to be crammed in and they're probably under a limited episode frame.

but I am planning to also watch: tatakau shisho: book of bantorra
Seiken no katanakaji (though I will probably regret this)
Next season of Shugo Chara after Doki!
And I did dl To Aru Kagaku... but considering how bad To Aru Mahoujin no Index was.... I may not watch it...
And kuchu buranko looks good since its by the producers of Mononoke which I like~

[lucathia]

It is totally on my list of things to watch. Maybe I should watch it sometime this year since the second season is coming out. I miss watching epic series!! Would you say DtB fits that criteria? XD;

I think there's only going to be 26 episodes to Inuyasha...so yeah, very compact.

I haven't heard of Seiken no Katanakaji...no idea what it's about. I might give Tatakau Shishou a try too. You've been following Shugo Chara? I stopped somewhere in the middle of Doki.

Are those two series of To Aru connected? I haven't watched either.

[hibimaosuki.livejournal.com]

ROPPONGIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII~~~~

*pops back out*

[kedi-kedi.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the recs! Tegami Bachi and Aoi Bungaku caught my attention, will definitely be checking them out.

I watched the first episode of Miracle Train and found it rather disappointing (though in fairness the only thing that kept me watching was the boy candy |D) But yeah, I don't want to be completely shallow about it, but we'll see how I feel after watching the 2nd ep! :P

[lucathia]

Both of them are worth a watch. I'm looking forward to next week's Tegami Bachi. I'm not so much looking forward to Aoi Bungaku because it's so depressing, but it is very different from the usual anime. I'm also super curious how the other character designs are going to turn out!

Haha, I don't think the second episode gets much better if the first episode was disappointing. It's much of the same thing. XD; But...I learned what the swirly things outside Oedo stations are called. XDDDDD

[just1kinkybitch.livejournal.com]

It ranks high because it has a high fan-base. Oh not to mention a huge line of popular seiyuus in it. Yes the seiyuus.

However in my own personally opinion it's filled with shounen-cliche every corner. Even the fights are cheesy and doesn't relatively reflect what real life would possibly be (seriously apparently people in the sengoku period can leap 100 feet off the ground and stay there in mid-air and have fireworks blow up in the background as a fight???). But if that's what everyone else like they are free to think otherwise.

[lucathia]

I haven't gotten far with the Sengoku Basara anime, but the animation and art was pretty. My only concern was that I couldn't make sense of what was going on with so many characters popping out and fights going on...hopefully further episodes will make more sense. I haven't played the games either, so I might be a bit more lost?

I like the art of most shounen anime, like D.Gray-man for one. Sometimes I find that the manga counterpart really doesn't make sense for me because of the way the mangaka does the panels. =/ Also, some scanlations make my mind hurt. I much rather hear the original Japanese.

I haven't checked GA Art School Design out yet. I'll do that sometime.

[lucathia]

The only manga I followed out of these series was Kimi ni Todoke. So far, the anime has been just as charming and heartwarming. Heh, Aoi Bungaku...surely the actual novels would be better? I'm not sure how the series compares with the novels, but the first episode was very chilling. It's not what I usually enjoy. At this point, I'm mostly watching it for the character designs.

Hm, Trapeze? I haven't heard of that one.

[gem2niki.livejournal.com]

re: Kampfer 1

didn't watch this series, but every time i read stories about that, its really pointless. I think its an excuse to create some sorta yuri manga without it being technically gay.

re: Nyankoi 1

watched first episode! its cute! haha. tho i hate harem anime ugh....

[lucathia]

The first episode of Kampfer wasn't too bad with the entire business about finding out he got turned into a girl. It was fairly entertaining how different some of the people's personalities were after they transformed. But that was pretty much all the redeeming factors for the series. Because other than that, it was all fanservice and ecchi shots. >__> Some other gender bender series needs to be animated instead of series like these!! Like...Tokyo Crazy Paradise or W Juliet.

The kitties in Nyankoi get even cuter. *___* At least, this harem anime is more than just a harem anime. I hope the next episodes don't completely derail into fanservice. Please keep the cute kitties and the humor!!

Haha, although I hate most harem anime, I adore reverse harem ones. I wonder why harem series are a lot more ecchi when reverse harem ones are generally not. Male audience versus female audience? Female audience wants more eye candy instead? Hm.

[gem2niki.livejournal.com]

Holy crap, Skip Beat mangaka! I never saw her earlier works hahaa....her style looks so different in the beginning like in the early 90s manga style. Must share this with Susie! She likes those gender bender stuff.

I swear, don't a lot of girls watch anime??? Yeesh, not enough shoujo manga gets in anime. And a lot of time, suffer from quality.

The opening in Nyankoi was fanservicy for me haha..

Haha I'm alright about reverse harem. But I prefer a balance of both gender because it gets sticky when these love triange/polygon etc stuff that happens.

[nagu-nagu.livejournal.com]

Miracle Train and Aoi Bungako looks interesting~
thanks you for the info.
lol, Nyan Koi, you are right! that handmade plushie is awesomely cute, i want one too.

[lucathia]

Miracle Train is quite relaxing. You get to see good looking guys, and you know the girls' problems are never too serious. Aoi Bungaku is quite dark. Definitely very unique for anime! Hope you end up watching some of these. :)

I've fallen behind with most of them and am only watching Letter Bee (Tegami Bachi) weekly now, but I do plan on catching up with these later.