![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lucathiaUm wow, this post has just turned into a monster. =___= This is what happens when I haven't written a round-up for the longest time. XD;
Now that the spring anime season has started, here's my round-up for stuff I finished watching before the new season. Though some shows aren't even from the winter or fall seasons, haha. I planned on following a few more series but never did. I've been pretty lax with writing my impressions... This was last season's. This season, I basically only finished series I was already watching from the fall season!
recently ended series
Ginga e Kickoff!
A boy does his utmost to form a soccer team, from gathering players to finding a coach. Their goal? To be number one in the galaxy!
A 39 episode soccer anime focused on elementary kids. I loved this series so much. After being disappointed by the pacing and animation of Area no Kishi, I appreciated this series even more because the soccer was much better animated (like, they actually animated the kids kicking the soccer ball, whereas in Area no Kishi, it was mostly just upper body shots...). Then again, I stopped watching Area no Kishi, so I don't know if the animation gets better. (I think I was really disappointed with AnK because of how much I had been looking forward to it... I had really high expectations for AnK. I hadn't even heard of Ginga e Kickoff before its anime, so pretty much no expectations). I ended up liking GeK so much that I took screencaps for every single episode, and I bought the two novels that it's based on. :D I've only read the very beginning of each novel so far, but I hope to read them completely one day.
There was a lot to like about this anime. The character designs are adorable, and there are girls on the team. \o\ (Go Eirika and Reika!) Co-ed teams are awesome. The families are very involved too! Also, triplets. XD; Not just twins. Triplets. Kouta, Ouzou, and Ryuuji are just awesome and so very arrogant. I also loved that Kouta was voiced by KENN. XD; /swoons Ouzou was voiced by Hosoya! All of our mains have great expressions (so lively!), though the same can't be said of many of the opponents, haha. (Many are quite generic). It makes me wonder how much (if at all) the opponents are covered in the novel. I'm assuming many of the matches are just summed up in a few pages or sentences, while the anime actually expands on them, but I won't know until I actually read the novel. All those matches happen in a single novel after all... (The other one is a side novel).
The series does soccer well, and outside of soccer, it also made me care about the characters. :)
Oh, have I mentioned that this show is filled with seishun? 8D It's very motivating. And I really envy Hanashima for having such a good relationship with his players. If only I could build such a rapport with my students. ^^;;
The pacing of the anime could have been better! While I loved the first half before they form their final team, that first "half" took a lot more than half the episodes, barely leaving any episodes for the Mirai Cup. The second half feels rushed, though I like that we were shown the entire tournament (and not just told that they went to Spain, the end!). I'll miss these kids. ): The ending montage was really, really lovely, showing us what happens one year later. I'm sad that they all went their separate ways, but I know they'll never forget that summer they had together. :) They dreamed big, and it payed off!
Bakuman Season 3
A mangaka duo continue their struggles to make their dreams come true, to have their manga turned into an anime..
Wow, season 3. Are you even the same Bakuman as season 1 in terms of pacing? Season 1 took it really, really slowly (like, one episode per chapter or two). Season 3 does it completely differently (what felt like several chapters in one episode, or chapters completely skipped). The pacing is really fast. I wish it could have slowed down just a bit because there were some tidbits I wish could have made it in, like Fukuda's radio show or Heishi's showing off, though in the end, they aren't main characters... I did like that the anime pretty much glossed over Nanamine. His first arc was okay. It shook Ashirogi up. His second arc was completely extraneous and overwrote any character growth he had, so it was great that the anime skipped that arc altogether. (I did like how that arc showed us what older mangaka have to face, but I wish it wasn't done through Nanamine, and I suppose, in the end, that arc didn't really bring much to the main story, which was why it could be cut out with very little impact to the overall story.)
It was really awesome seeing animations of PCP and Reversi. <333 Still, Reversi is far from my favorite out of Ashirogi Muto's works. I don't find it all that interesting from what they've detailed of it, and I guess part of the reason is because it just sounds a lot like Death Note. I thought they'd be more creative than that! PCP was okay while Tanto sounded really boring. My favorites were Detective Trap and Money & Intelligence, which, ironically were Ashirogi Muto's earlier works.
I liked how the anime added more to the ending! If the more rushed pacing before episode 25 was so that they could fit in more of an epilogue, well, great decision! Episode 25 wrapped things up better than the manga, which sort of just left things hanging. Another page or two in the manga showing the other characters would have made the manga ending feel more conclusive.
Too bad Bakuman couldn't have taken its time with season 3. If only the seasons could be added together and averaged out so that the pacing is more spread out across all three seasons, the Bakuman anime would be perfect. XD;
After 75 episodes, the Bakuman anime is now over. I felt it had a pretty good run, and it's touching that the series is now completely animated. I love that both the anime and the manga managed to deliver on Saiko and Azuki's promise. I am sad that I have to say goodbye to the series once again though. ;__; I will miss Saiko and Shujin!! Bakuman was a very inspirational series about hard work and chasing dreams, making dreams into reality. The glimpse into the manga industry that the series provided was quite awesome too. I felt like I learned a lot. :)
Zetsuen no Tempest
The fate of the world may possibly rest on the shoulders of two boys and the word "boyfriend." Will this story of revenge be happy, like the Tempest, or tragic, like Hamlet?
This series surprised me. I didn't think I would end up liking it so much. It was one of the series I randomly watched the first episode of, and out of those, I only kept up with this one. In one word, I'd describe this series as EPIC. I envy the writing. I wish I had the skills to write a story where standing around in the same place, talking for episodes on end, could still be interesting and suspenseful. The first half of the series is grand, like setting out on an odyssey. We're given all these pieces to a puzzle, but we don't even know what we're piecing together yet. The second half is more like a comedy with romantic aspects, so a romantic comedy, I suppose! I enjoyed both halves of the show, though the first half is more epic in scale while the second half felt cozier. More personal. Even though Mashiro and Yoshino had always set out for Aika's sake (especially in the first half), the second half is where I felt everything became personal.
The characterization and world-building made the second half believable for me~. While the second half isn't epic, it does its job in answering questions and bringing the plot to a believable ending. I'd wondered at one point if the series could deliver with how many things it was setting up! It's too bad the ending doesn't feel grander, but it did stay true to the series and worked within the series' logic.
I liked the quotes from Shakespeare, and I loved the music! The music really set the tone for many of the scenes. Made things feel more dramatic. :) I've read some of the manga too and feel the anime adaptation did an awesome job. There was one episode near the start that showed Mashiro and Yoshino's past, which was not in the manga. That episode really made me appreciate Mashiro and Yoshino's friendship a lot more. There are some things shifted around with Yoshino (we're shown that he works with Evangeline pretty much right away in the manga, while the anime doesn't clue us in until way later), and I feel it was all to make things more dramatic. It worked. XD; Mashiro had to fight to win Yoshino back from Hayakawa, haha. It made me feel like Mashiro really valued Yoshino a ton in the anime. I haven't finished reading the manga yet, but I plan to! Considering how much I liked the twists and turns in Zetsuen no Tempest, which is written by Shirodaira Kyou, and how much I liked Record of a Fallen Vampire, which is also written by the same author, I should really finish reading Spiral one day... (also written by the same person).
In the end, my favorite character from the series was Samon. He, like the series, took me by surprise. XD;; When I first saw him in episode 1, I disliked him right off the bat. XD;;; I'm not fond of characters with the deep voice + long hair combination, hahahaha. But then he was so completely thrown off by Yoshino and Mashiro and was so easy to empathize with!! Serious, straight-laced, unintentionally funny. :) He gets things done and thinks of all the possibilities. He sure isn't afraid to take action and always thinks of the bigger picture.
Oh, and I guess I should mention how surprising it was to find out that Toyonaga Toshiyuki voices Mashiro (who has a rough, badass voice). This is the person who voiced Shun from Kimi to Boku, Mikado from Durarara!!, Irie from Reborn!... Just wow. :3 Funnily enough, Yoshino is voiced by Uchiyama Kouki who voiced Yuuta from Kimi to Boku. XD;
Senyuu
A hero and a soldier set out to defeat the demon king.
There seem to be several shows focused on demon kings recently! This is a short series with each episode being around 5 minutes or so. I just watched all the episodes in one day, and then I stopped when I caught up. Very humorous series, haha. The opening... it's hilarious how it keeps changing. I hadn't finished watching the series when I wrote this post, but I just went to finish watching the series right now, hahaha... Since it's so short!
This show is very... random. Just, very very random. The characters are stuck in jail for like, half the show, so we always see them in their striped prisoner outfits. The ending is not much of an ending, though things are brought to a head (even with the hero still stuck in prison). There will be a second season, so I guess things will continue right where this one leaves off. There are 12 demons involved but we're only shown three, I think. They're named after the months~.
older series
Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai (Ano Hana)
Five teenagers are brought back together after drifting apart by the memory of their sixth friend who died years ago but whose influence hasn't waned. They just don't know that one of them can see her ghost. Together, they try to fulfill her wish.
I marathoned this all in one day. Always wanted to give it a watch. It's bittersweet. ): Friends drifting apart. Regrets from the past... (Don't I know this well! DDDDD: ) Except, they all have the death of their friend hanging over them, which is worlds apart from my miniscule worries.
Still, I wasn't all that affected by most of the series. I was watching it and thinking, "Oh, somehow I'm not feeling much over what's happening. Man, I just wish Menma would move something in their presence already and show them that she exists." Haha... =____=
Last two episodes had me crying buckets, ahhhhhhhhh. ;____; OMG, THOSE TWO EPISODES. ESPECIALLY THE LAST EPISODE. THE LAST FEW MINUTES OF THE LAST EPISODES. Menma, mitsuketa! ;______; And then, that ending song, ahhhh. *puts it on loop right now* The ending song. It was really perfect, and it played its part in making me cry. =/
So my one word for Ano Hana? Tearjerking. =/
Toradora!
Two misunderstood teenagers become like family and try to help each other with their love interests.
I also marathoned Toradora! somewhat recently. I remember I watched the first episode at some convention. Either Fanime or Anime Expo, I don't remember which. =___= It seemed very fascinating from the screening, but then I never did watch the rest.
Toradora is at heart, a romantic comedy. The characters are great, and I love Ryuuji's kindness and how obsessed with cleaning he is. I really loved how Ryuuji and Taiga were such great friends that they were like family. Taiga was always eating at Ryuuji's house, and he would pack lunch for her, make breakfast and dinner for her, etc. They'd wake each other up, walk to school, solve each other's problems, and basically look out for each other. Ryuuji's mom didn't even bat an eye at how Taiga was always over at their house. I kept hoping that they would actually maintain this relationship throughout because it was so sweet. ;___; Why can't they just be super great friends who were so close they were like family? But of course, with this kind of set up, I'd known from the start that it was most likely that Toradora would be like High School Debut where the people who helped each other with finding love would end up with each other.
I did like how Taiga and Ryuuji both found people who understood them, that despite their scary outer appearances, they're not defined by how they look. :) I was surprised that I ended up liking Ami quite a lot! She really drove things forward.
Although the end pairing was not one I was rooting for, the last two episodes were touching to the point of making me cry. ;__; (Then again, I cry easily. *sigh*) Family reunions though. They get to me!
For me, Toradora was all about kinship.
Wagaya no Oinari-sama (Our Home's Fox Deity)
A fox deity adapts to the modern world while protecting two teenage boys who are often attacked by spirits.
This was conveniently on Crunchyroll, so I marathoned it. XD; Even better, it had 1) foxes 2) a fox who has both a female and a male form. I was so rooting for Kuugen to take his male form more often. I loved his male form. XD;
From the pictures, I thought this would be like a harem or some sort of love story where the main guy character falls in love with the fox deity, but surprisingly, the series was all about family. <33333 Which meant I adored the series. It was quite episodic and was more about Kuugen and Kou getting used to the modern world than about fighting demons and spirits, though there was fighting involved. Sometimes. Mostly the other gods wanting something to do with Tooru. I liked that the series featured two brothers and neither were love interests for Kuugen. Loved the focus on family~. All the gods and spirits reminded me of Natsume Yuujinchou but without any of the heavy stuff. This series is quite lighthearted.
I quite enjoyed Misaki's character as well (she was like comedic relief). I wish she had more of an impact on the story! Like... actually finding out everyone's identities.
In the end, this series was very episodic, and the ending didn't feel like much of an ending. I was hoping for more! I thought about purchasing the light novels, but after reading the summaries of the books, the books don't seem like they cover much more than the anime does. There probably isn't much of an ending with the light novels either. ):
The dad is so nonchalant and rolls with just about everything. XD; You want a fox deity as your pet? Go ahead!
still following
Uchuu Kyoudai
After seeing a UFO, two brothers dream of becoming astronauts. Years later, the younger brother has succeeded, but what about the older brother who has pledged to always be one step ahead of his brother?
Congratulations, Uchuu Kyoudai, for reaching one year! \o\ I hope the anime will be continuing for quite a while more. It's been moved to the time slot before Detective Conan. Is this... like being in prime time then? :D
Mutta is an awesome protagonist. His mind is a great thing to be privy to. XD; The way he thinks. He's just... hilarious. XD; I find Mutta very admirable and easy to relate to, perhaps even more so because he is an older character unlike protagonists of shounen or shoujo shows who are high school freshmen or the like. Must be because I'm now older myself...
Like Kouta from Ginga e Kickoff, Hibito is voiced by KENN. I have a bias towards characters voiced by KENN.instant liking, seriously
Brothers in fiction. I love it. I'll be diligently following this series to the end. It details astronaut life and astronaut selection very well. I'm learning lots as I watch, in addition to enjoying the plot and the characters. XD;
Uchuu Kyoudai, I find, is generally slow-paced, driven by the characters. I feel a lot for the characters! There was one arc though, that was intense and made me hang on by the edge of my seat with every cliffhanger. Those episodes, man... They made me feel like I was suffocating! D:
In any case, usually I find Uchuu Kyoudai to be uplifting. My favorite arc was the sealed room selection. :)
Chihayafuru season 2
Three friends, connected by karuta, continue striving to improve for their own reasons.
Season 2 is like a straight continuation of season 1. I decided to read the manga, so nothing's really new for me. I can't wait for later scenes in the manga to be animated! I still find Chihayafuru to be very charming, and I've been enjoying the episodes. Like the episode with Tsutomu and how important he is to the team? I was tearing up!!! (And then I checked out what other people were saying about the episode, and they didn't seem to feel the episode was all that magical). ): I have this feeling that people don't think season 2 is as magical as season 1 because Taichi and Chihaya don't have as much of the focus at the moment. The focus seems broader, on the team as a whole, and we're also shown the opponents a lot too. But seriously. Don't despair. Taichi is going to get to shine later on. =/
Chihayafuru is focusing a lot on the national tournament, and I believe this national tournament will be most of season 2. There are plenty of awesome matches coming up. It's going to be intense. Probably not everyone's cup of tea, but I love sports series and tournaments like this one, so I know I will be enjoying this. XD I do hope there will someday be a season 3, since season 2 will only bring us so far.
behind on
Kotoura-san
Because she can hear thoughts, she has always been isolated and shunned. Until now.
I watched a few episodes of this but now I'm very behind on it. Wasn't going to watch it at first, but hey, Kotoura can hear thoughts! I thought the premise was interesting enough. The first episode... wow. It's very heavy on the "you should feel sad for Kotoura!!!!" but I can't say it didn't make me feel exactly that. The pacing of the series is questionable (too fast). In three episodes, it covers what would likely be the entire series for, well, other series. I'm not sure where the series is headed after the quick start it had, but hopefully I'll finish watching it and find out.
Magi
A young boy meets an older boy, and together they decide to clear a dungeon.
Not sure how to summarize this, so I just alluded to the very beginning. XD; Eventually the manga spirals into something a lot grander, but I don't know how well the anime does it, or if it gets that far. I really liked Alibaba from the manga, but I haven't watched enough of the anime to know if I'll like him in the anime too. Don't know if I'll watch more since the anime hasn't been very exciting for me with how the scenes have been presented. Aaaand I've seen![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
gem2niki rage about manga readers complaining about the anime. XDDDD;;;
Maoyuu Maou Yuusha
The Demon King meets the Hero, and together they decide to revolutionize the world through economics.
A fairly thought provoking series! Maou talks a lot about economics. And I like her personality. I fell behind with watching this though, and this doesn't seem like a good series to try marathoning to catch up, haha, since it's mostly talking and lessons on economics.
This series makes me want to check out Spice and Wolf, since I've seen a lot of comparisons between the two made.
Tamako Market
The daily life of the Usagiyama Shopping District. With a talking, narcissistic bird thrown in.
Seriously, that bird steals the show. Cute show. I haven't gotten very far, but I'll probably finish watching sometime. Very slice-of-life with endearing characters. And a zany bird.
spring season
I'll be checking out the following:
Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai.
After not getting along for the longest time, brother and sister bond after the brother discovers that his sister is an otaku who is into eroge.
First season was quite sweet with how supportive Kyousuke was, and I enjoyed how they grew closer with each other. (Yay, family! Though will this go down a different path in the future...) I watched the first episode, and it seems like this second season picks up right where the first one left off... the "true ending" that is, since the anime ended differently from what happened in the light novels. I believe there were some episodes released after the anime ended that depicted the true ending where Kirino went to America, but I haven't watched them. Still, I get the gist of what happened, so I wasn't overly lost with this first episode.
Hataraku Maou-sama!
The Demon King, after retreating to Earth, ends up working as a part-timer.
More demon kings. XD; First episode was hilarious. (I haven't read the manga) XD; Fish out of water scenario, haha! They spoke this made up demon language that sounded really funny. XD; Too bad the second half of the episode already has Maou accustomed to his part time job. I was hoping to see more of his struggles. I guess that's not the focus. Wonder if I'll like the second episode considering Maou is already accustomed to life in Tokyo...
Karneval
Nai is searching for someone important with only a bracelet as his clue.
I read some of the manga a while back and remembered liking it, so I'll be giving the anime a try. (Nai is precious~, and Gareki is very handsome, haha). Haven't watched the first episode yet.
Arata Kangatari
Two Aratas from two different worlds end up changing places.
I've read quite a bit of the manga but am very behind on it. I also don't remember much from the manga, but I did like it. I hope it'll be a long anime and isn't just a 24 episode show like the adaptation of Ayashi no Ceres. There is so much material! Here's hoping for a good adaptation!
I randomly watched Majestic Prince episode 1. I'm not very fond of mecha so I was bored by half the episode, but the characters seem interesting so far. I wonder if the Rabbits will make a name for themselves. Don't know if I'll keep watching.
Anything else I should be checking out? :3
Now that the spring anime season has started, here's my round-up for stuff I finished watching before the new season. Though some shows aren't even from the winter or fall seasons, haha. I planned on following a few more series but never did. I've been pretty lax with writing my impressions... This was last season's. This season, I basically only finished series I was already watching from the fall season!
recently ended series
Ginga e Kickoff!
A boy does his utmost to form a soccer team, from gathering players to finding a coach. Their goal? To be number one in the galaxy!
A 39 episode soccer anime focused on elementary kids. I loved this series so much. After being disappointed by the pacing and animation of Area no Kishi, I appreciated this series even more because the soccer was much better animated (like, they actually animated the kids kicking the soccer ball, whereas in Area no Kishi, it was mostly just upper body shots...). Then again, I stopped watching Area no Kishi, so I don't know if the animation gets better. (I think I was really disappointed with AnK because of how much I had been looking forward to it... I had really high expectations for AnK. I hadn't even heard of Ginga e Kickoff before its anime, so pretty much no expectations). I ended up liking GeK so much that I took screencaps for every single episode, and I bought the two novels that it's based on. :D I've only read the very beginning of each novel so far, but I hope to read them completely one day. There was a lot to like about this anime. The character designs are adorable, and there are girls on the team. \o\ (Go Eirika and Reika!) Co-ed teams are awesome. The families are very involved too! Also, triplets. XD; Not just twins. Triplets. Kouta, Ouzou, and Ryuuji are just awesome and so very arrogant. I also loved that Kouta was voiced by KENN. XD; /swoons Ouzou was voiced by Hosoya! All of our mains have great expressions (so lively!), though the same can't be said of many of the opponents, haha. (Many are quite generic). It makes me wonder how much (if at all) the opponents are covered in the novel. I'm assuming many of the matches are just summed up in a few pages or sentences, while the anime actually expands on them, but I won't know until I actually read the novel. All those matches happen in a single novel after all... (The other one is a side novel).The series does soccer well, and outside of soccer, it also made me care about the characters. :)
Oh, have I mentioned that this show is filled with seishun? 8D It's very motivating. And I really envy Hanashima for having such a good relationship with his players. If only I could build such a rapport with my students. ^^;;
The pacing of the anime could have been better! While I loved the first half before they form their final team, that first "half" took a lot more than half the episodes, barely leaving any episodes for the Mirai Cup. The second half feels rushed, though I like that we were shown the entire tournament (and not just told that they went to Spain, the end!). I'll miss these kids. ): The ending montage was really, really lovely, showing us what happens one year later. I'm sad that they all went their separate ways, but I know they'll never forget that summer they had together. :) They dreamed big, and it payed off!
Bakuman Season 3
A mangaka duo continue their struggles to make their dreams come true, to have their manga turned into an anime..
Wow, season 3. Are you even the same Bakuman as season 1 in terms of pacing? Season 1 took it really, really slowly (like, one episode per chapter or two). Season 3 does it completely differently (what felt like several chapters in one episode, or chapters completely skipped). The pacing is really fast. I wish it could have slowed down just a bit because there were some tidbits I wish could have made it in, like Fukuda's radio show or Heishi's showing off, though in the end, they aren't main characters... I did like that the anime pretty much glossed over Nanamine. His first arc was okay. It shook Ashirogi up. His second arc was completely extraneous and overwrote any character growth he had, so it was great that the anime skipped that arc altogether. (I did like how that arc showed us what older mangaka have to face, but I wish it wasn't done through Nanamine, and I suppose, in the end, that arc didn't really bring much to the main story, which was why it could be cut out with very little impact to the overall story.)It was really awesome seeing animations of PCP and Reversi. <333 Still, Reversi is far from my favorite out of Ashirogi Muto's works. I don't find it all that interesting from what they've detailed of it, and I guess part of the reason is because it just sounds a lot like Death Note. I thought they'd be more creative than that! PCP was okay while Tanto sounded really boring. My favorites were Detective Trap and Money & Intelligence, which, ironically were Ashirogi Muto's earlier works.
I liked how the anime added more to the ending! If the more rushed pacing before episode 25 was so that they could fit in more of an epilogue, well, great decision! Episode 25 wrapped things up better than the manga, which sort of just left things hanging. Another page or two in the manga showing the other characters would have made the manga ending feel more conclusive.
Too bad Bakuman couldn't have taken its time with season 3. If only the seasons could be added together and averaged out so that the pacing is more spread out across all three seasons, the Bakuman anime would be perfect. XD;
After 75 episodes, the Bakuman anime is now over. I felt it had a pretty good run, and it's touching that the series is now completely animated. I love that both the anime and the manga managed to deliver on Saiko and Azuki's promise. I am sad that I have to say goodbye to the series once again though. ;__; I will miss Saiko and Shujin!! Bakuman was a very inspirational series about hard work and chasing dreams, making dreams into reality. The glimpse into the manga industry that the series provided was quite awesome too. I felt like I learned a lot. :)
Zetsuen no Tempest
The fate of the world may possibly rest on the shoulders of two boys and the word "boyfriend." Will this story of revenge be happy, like the Tempest, or tragic, like Hamlet?
This series surprised me. I didn't think I would end up liking it so much. It was one of the series I randomly watched the first episode of, and out of those, I only kept up with this one. In one word, I'd describe this series as EPIC. I envy the writing. I wish I had the skills to write a story where standing around in the same place, talking for episodes on end, could still be interesting and suspenseful. The first half of the series is grand, like setting out on an odyssey. We're given all these pieces to a puzzle, but we don't even know what we're piecing together yet. The second half is more like a comedy with romantic aspects, so a romantic comedy, I suppose! I enjoyed both halves of the show, though the first half is more epic in scale while the second half felt cozier. More personal. Even though Mashiro and Yoshino had always set out for Aika's sake (especially in the first half), the second half is where I felt everything became personal. The characterization and world-building made the second half believable for me~. While the second half isn't epic, it does its job in answering questions and bringing the plot to a believable ending. I'd wondered at one point if the series could deliver with how many things it was setting up! It's too bad the ending doesn't feel grander, but it did stay true to the series and worked within the series' logic.
I liked the quotes from Shakespeare, and I loved the music! The music really set the tone for many of the scenes. Made things feel more dramatic. :) I've read some of the manga too and feel the anime adaptation did an awesome job. There was one episode near the start that showed Mashiro and Yoshino's past, which was not in the manga. That episode really made me appreciate Mashiro and Yoshino's friendship a lot more. There are some things shifted around with Yoshino (we're shown that he works with Evangeline pretty much right away in the manga, while the anime doesn't clue us in until way later), and I feel it was all to make things more dramatic. It worked. XD; Mashiro had to fight to win Yoshino back from Hayakawa, haha. It made me feel like Mashiro really valued Yoshino a ton in the anime. I haven't finished reading the manga yet, but I plan to! Considering how much I liked the twists and turns in Zetsuen no Tempest, which is written by Shirodaira Kyou, and how much I liked Record of a Fallen Vampire, which is also written by the same author, I should really finish reading Spiral one day... (also written by the same person).
In the end, my favorite character from the series was Samon. He, like the series, took me by surprise. XD;; When I first saw him in episode 1, I disliked him right off the bat. XD;;; I'm not fond of characters with the deep voice + long hair combination, hahahaha. But then he was so completely thrown off by Yoshino and Mashiro and was so easy to empathize with!! Serious, straight-laced, unintentionally funny. :) He gets things done and thinks of all the possibilities. He sure isn't afraid to take action and always thinks of the bigger picture.
Oh, and I guess I should mention how surprising it was to find out that Toyonaga Toshiyuki voices Mashiro (who has a rough, badass voice). This is the person who voiced Shun from Kimi to Boku, Mikado from Durarara!!, Irie from Reborn!... Just wow. :3 Funnily enough, Yoshino is voiced by Uchiyama Kouki who voiced Yuuta from Kimi to Boku. XD;
Senyuu
A hero and a soldier set out to defeat the demon king.
There seem to be several shows focused on demon kings recently! This is a short series with each episode being around 5 minutes or so. I just watched all the episodes in one day, and then I stopped when I caught up. Very humorous series, haha. The opening... it's hilarious how it keeps changing. I hadn't finished watching the series when I wrote this post, but I just went to finish watching the series right now, hahaha... Since it's so short!This show is very... random. Just, very very random. The characters are stuck in jail for like, half the show, so we always see them in their striped prisoner outfits. The ending is not much of an ending, though things are brought to a head (even with the hero still stuck in prison). There will be a second season, so I guess things will continue right where this one leaves off. There are 12 demons involved but we're only shown three, I think. They're named after the months~.
older series
Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai (Ano Hana)
Five teenagers are brought back together after drifting apart by the memory of their sixth friend who died years ago but whose influence hasn't waned. They just don't know that one of them can see her ghost. Together, they try to fulfill her wish.
I marathoned this all in one day. Always wanted to give it a watch. It's bittersweet. ): Friends drifting apart. Regrets from the past... (Don't I know this well! DDDDD: ) Except, they all have the death of their friend hanging over them, which is worlds apart from my miniscule worries.Still, I wasn't all that affected by most of the series. I was watching it and thinking, "Oh, somehow I'm not feeling much over what's happening. Man, I just wish Menma would move something in their presence already and show them that she exists." Haha... =____=
Last two episodes had me crying buckets, ahhhhhhhhh. ;____; OMG, THOSE TWO EPISODES. ESPECIALLY THE LAST EPISODE. THE LAST FEW MINUTES OF THE LAST EPISODES. Menma, mitsuketa! ;______; And then, that ending song, ahhhh. *puts it on loop right now* The ending song. It was really perfect, and it played its part in making me cry. =/
So my one word for Ano Hana? Tearjerking. =/
Toradora!
Two misunderstood teenagers become like family and try to help each other with their love interests.
I also marathoned Toradora! somewhat recently. I remember I watched the first episode at some convention. Either Fanime or Anime Expo, I don't remember which. =___= It seemed very fascinating from the screening, but then I never did watch the rest.Toradora is at heart, a romantic comedy. The characters are great, and I love Ryuuji's kindness and how obsessed with cleaning he is. I really loved how Ryuuji and Taiga were such great friends that they were like family. Taiga was always eating at Ryuuji's house, and he would pack lunch for her, make breakfast and dinner for her, etc. They'd wake each other up, walk to school, solve each other's problems, and basically look out for each other. Ryuuji's mom didn't even bat an eye at how Taiga was always over at their house. I kept hoping that they would actually maintain this relationship throughout because it was so sweet. ;___; Why can't they just be super great friends who were so close they were like family? But of course, with this kind of set up, I'd known from the start that it was most likely that Toradora would be like High School Debut where the people who helped each other with finding love would end up with each other.
I did like how Taiga and Ryuuji both found people who understood them, that despite their scary outer appearances, they're not defined by how they look. :) I was surprised that I ended up liking Ami quite a lot! She really drove things forward.
Although the end pairing was not one I was rooting for, the last two episodes were touching to the point of making me cry. ;__; (Then again, I cry easily. *sigh*) Family reunions though. They get to me!
For me, Toradora was all about kinship.
Wagaya no Oinari-sama (Our Home's Fox Deity)
A fox deity adapts to the modern world while protecting two teenage boys who are often attacked by spirits.
This was conveniently on Crunchyroll, so I marathoned it. XD; Even better, it had 1) foxes 2) a fox who has both a female and a male form. I was so rooting for Kuugen to take his male form more often. I loved his male form. XD; From the pictures, I thought this would be like a harem or some sort of love story where the main guy character falls in love with the fox deity, but surprisingly, the series was all about family. <33333 Which meant I adored the series. It was quite episodic and was more about Kuugen and Kou getting used to the modern world than about fighting demons and spirits, though there was fighting involved. Sometimes. Mostly the other gods wanting something to do with Tooru. I liked that the series featured two brothers and neither were love interests for Kuugen. Loved the focus on family~. All the gods and spirits reminded me of Natsume Yuujinchou but without any of the heavy stuff. This series is quite lighthearted.
I quite enjoyed Misaki's character as well (she was like comedic relief). I wish she had more of an impact on the story! Like... actually finding out everyone's identities.
In the end, this series was very episodic, and the ending didn't feel like much of an ending. I was hoping for more! I thought about purchasing the light novels, but after reading the summaries of the books, the books don't seem like they cover much more than the anime does. There probably isn't much of an ending with the light novels either. ):
The dad is so nonchalant and rolls with just about everything. XD; You want a fox deity as your pet? Go ahead!
still following
Uchuu Kyoudai
After seeing a UFO, two brothers dream of becoming astronauts. Years later, the younger brother has succeeded, but what about the older brother who has pledged to always be one step ahead of his brother?
Congratulations, Uchuu Kyoudai, for reaching one year! \o\ I hope the anime will be continuing for quite a while more. It's been moved to the time slot before Detective Conan. Is this... like being in prime time then? :DMutta is an awesome protagonist. His mind is a great thing to be privy to. XD; The way he thinks. He's just... hilarious. XD; I find Mutta very admirable and easy to relate to, perhaps even more so because he is an older character unlike protagonists of shounen or shoujo shows who are high school freshmen or the like. Must be because I'm now older myself...
Like Kouta from Ginga e Kickoff, Hibito is voiced by KENN. I have a bias towards characters voiced by KENN.
Brothers in fiction. I love it. I'll be diligently following this series to the end. It details astronaut life and astronaut selection very well. I'm learning lots as I watch, in addition to enjoying the plot and the characters. XD;
Uchuu Kyoudai, I find, is generally slow-paced, driven by the characters. I feel a lot for the characters! There was one arc though, that was intense and made me hang on by the edge of my seat with every cliffhanger. Those episodes, man... They made me feel like I was suffocating! D:
In any case, usually I find Uchuu Kyoudai to be uplifting. My favorite arc was the sealed room selection. :)
Chihayafuru season 2
Three friends, connected by karuta, continue striving to improve for their own reasons.
Season 2 is like a straight continuation of season 1. I decided to read the manga, so nothing's really new for me. I can't wait for later scenes in the manga to be animated! I still find Chihayafuru to be very charming, and I've been enjoying the episodes. Like the episode with Tsutomu and how important he is to the team? I was tearing up!!! (And then I checked out what other people were saying about the episode, and they didn't seem to feel the episode was all that magical). ): I have this feeling that people don't think season 2 is as magical as season 1 because Taichi and Chihaya don't have as much of the focus at the moment. The focus seems broader, on the team as a whole, and we're also shown the opponents a lot too. But seriously. Don't despair. Taichi is going to get to shine later on. =/Chihayafuru is focusing a lot on the national tournament, and I believe this national tournament will be most of season 2. There are plenty of awesome matches coming up. It's going to be intense. Probably not everyone's cup of tea, but I love sports series and tournaments like this one, so I know I will be enjoying this. XD I do hope there will someday be a season 3, since season 2 will only bring us so far.
behind on
Kotoura-san
Because she can hear thoughts, she has always been isolated and shunned. Until now.
I watched a few episodes of this but now I'm very behind on it. Wasn't going to watch it at first, but hey, Kotoura can hear thoughts! I thought the premise was interesting enough. The first episode... wow. It's very heavy on the "you should feel sad for Kotoura!!!!" but I can't say it didn't make me feel exactly that. The pacing of the series is questionable (too fast). In three episodes, it covers what would likely be the entire series for, well, other series. I'm not sure where the series is headed after the quick start it had, but hopefully I'll finish watching it and find out.
Magi
A young boy meets an older boy, and together they decide to clear a dungeon.
Not sure how to summarize this, so I just alluded to the very beginning. XD; Eventually the manga spirals into something a lot grander, but I don't know how well the anime does it, or if it gets that far. I really liked Alibaba from the manga, but I haven't watched enough of the anime to know if I'll like him in the anime too. Don't know if I'll watch more since the anime hasn't been very exciting for me with how the scenes have been presented. Aaaand I've seen
gem2niki rage about manga readers complaining about the anime. XDDDD;;; Maoyuu Maou Yuusha
The Demon King meets the Hero, and together they decide to revolutionize the world through economics.
A fairly thought provoking series! Maou talks a lot about economics. And I like her personality. I fell behind with watching this though, and this doesn't seem like a good series to try marathoning to catch up, haha, since it's mostly talking and lessons on economics.
This series makes me want to check out Spice and Wolf, since I've seen a lot of comparisons between the two made.
Tamako Market
The daily life of the Usagiyama Shopping District. With a talking, narcissistic bird thrown in.
Seriously, that bird steals the show. Cute show. I haven't gotten very far, but I'll probably finish watching sometime. Very slice-of-life with endearing characters. And a zany bird.
spring season
I'll be checking out the following:
Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai.
After not getting along for the longest time, brother and sister bond after the brother discovers that his sister is an otaku who is into eroge.
First season was quite sweet with how supportive Kyousuke was, and I enjoyed how they grew closer with each other. (Yay, family! Though will this go down a different path in the future...) I watched the first episode, and it seems like this second season picks up right where the first one left off... the "true ending" that is, since the anime ended differently from what happened in the light novels. I believe there were some episodes released after the anime ended that depicted the true ending where Kirino went to America, but I haven't watched them. Still, I get the gist of what happened, so I wasn't overly lost with this first episode.
Hataraku Maou-sama!
The Demon King, after retreating to Earth, ends up working as a part-timer.
More demon kings. XD; First episode was hilarious. (I haven't read the manga) XD; Fish out of water scenario, haha! They spoke this made up demon language that sounded really funny. XD; Too bad the second half of the episode already has Maou accustomed to his part time job. I was hoping to see more of his struggles. I guess that's not the focus. Wonder if I'll like the second episode considering Maou is already accustomed to life in Tokyo...
Karneval
Nai is searching for someone important with only a bracelet as his clue.
I read some of the manga a while back and remembered liking it, so I'll be giving the anime a try. (Nai is precious~, and Gareki is very handsome, haha). Haven't watched the first episode yet.
Arata Kangatari
Two Aratas from two different worlds end up changing places.
I've read quite a bit of the manga but am very behind on it. I also don't remember much from the manga, but I did like it. I hope it'll be a long anime and isn't just a 24 episode show like the adaptation of Ayashi no Ceres. There is so much material! Here's hoping for a good adaptation!
I randomly watched Majestic Prince episode 1. I'm not very fond of mecha so I was bored by half the episode, but the characters seem interesting so far. I wonder if the Rabbits will make a name for themselves. Don't know if I'll keep watching.
Anything else I should be checking out? :3
