The color and finish of Filicia’s fountain pen are somewhat similar to a Nakaya Long Cigar in Aka-tamenuri or Heki-tamenuri. It could also be a Neo-Standard. The nib looks to be either stainless steel or rhodium-plated gold. Strangely, the nib is rotated to the left a lot, indicating an oblique nib. However, extra-fine (judging from the line thickness) oblique nibs are exceptionally rare – I’ve never seen any thinner than a fine in fact. And she’s got some fine handwriting.

picture of said pen for comparison

On a somewhat-related note, Ed’s (from Fullmetal Alchemist) is most similar to a Waterman Charleston.

Noël using a ballpoint! A sadly generic-looking clicker. I initially thought that fountain pens would be a mainstay in the series, given their age compared to ballpoint technology. Since the show’s practically confirmed to be in some sort of post-apocalyptic setting, more modern technologies would give way to the rather antiquated ways – and what better way to imply it than with an “old-fashioned” writing implement. I guess not though. I take it she has some sort of supplier for the ink, since modern ballpoint ink is surprisingly complex.

And Noël’s left-handed too.

Going back a few frames, we can see that Noël’s using a magnetic compass without a lens. One has to wonder how she can properly navigate when a) she only has a compass without any other aids like protractors; b) the map she’s using doesn’t have any gridlines or proper marginal notes; c) the compass isn’t exactly oriented to the north – not that you need to when looking for the general direction of an objective. Oh, and the map itself has a river running straight through mountains. By the way, you probably shouldn’t use a ballpoint when working with a map! Pencils are best.

This scene was pretty interesting. A fish swims against the current in the rather pristine river waters. Seeing as the fish swims against the current, we could guess that it’s a salmon, which only goes back to its birthplace in the river to lay its eggs before swimming back to the sea. Kanata then exclaims:

It’s possible to attribute her sense of wonder to her personality, but this also kind of jives with the statement Noël made an episode earlier:

Perhaps we could also say that she was delighted to have seen a fish in its more natural habitat, than wherever else they normally see them.

This scene really reminded me of a chapter in ARIA, “Town Treasure” (v3, ch13), except rather than a lively, bustling Neo-venezian town, the three girls see a barren wasteland, which is of course beautiful in its own way.

Said scene from ARIA manga

Kanata and Rio’s names are in Kanji, and so are Filicia’s and Noël’s, but Kureha is also in Roman characters? I’m no expert in Japanese, but Kureha is quite decidedly a very Japanese name.

バカとテストと召喚獣OP
Title：　Perfect-area complete!
作詞：　畑　亜貴
作曲/編曲：　前山田健一
歌：　麻生夏子

Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu OP
Title: Perfect-area complete!
Lyrics: Hata Aki
Composition / Arrangement: Maeyamada Kenichi
Vocals: Asou Natsuko

Kanji:

放っといて育つものなんだ　なんだろう？

one more chance, one more chance
never never give up!
one more chance, one more chance
never give up!

出会いましては簡単すぎるよ
最初に決めた答えはひとつ
ときめきました合格しますか？
恋も勝負もあわてない

コツコツコツと徹夜に溜息
私のなかに天才dreamer
思うことみな叶えばいいな
他人＜ひと＞の世界はきにしない

（にゃ！）

Perfect-area complete!
絶対ここで待ってるんだ
Perfect-area 望む声が聞こえるよ
ah! EAR EAR!!

Why? とまらないすれちがい
私が相談相手なら
「友達かい？」　「友達です。」
悲しき０点だね
No! やりなおしかきなおし
本気で one more chance please
いまやり素敵な未来があるのに
いまやり素敵に my life, my life, my life!!

願いましたよ月にも星にも
科学的にはどうにもならず
かがやき増したあしたを夢みて
恋でガマンを学んだね

ムクムクムクと広がる雨雲
私をぬらす瞬間squall
悩みごとほら流れたみたい
泣き言なんて忘れよう

（よし！）

Passive-nature conversation!
感動したいもっとずっと
Passive-nature 自分次第変われるよ
hi! EAR EAR!!

What? さりげなくきいてみた
私は勉強不足で
「可能性…」　「ありますか？」
試験は何点かな？
Yes! だれだってきみだって
間に合う give up? It’s wrong!
これから始まる季節にあいさつ
これから始める my love, my love, my love!!

気がついたときには　うまれてたなぜだろう？
さあね　意識はもう育ちつつあるよ
つよくつよくね

Why? とまらないこのきもち
私の勉強不足で
「可能性…」　「ありますか？」
それとも０点かな
No! やりなおしかきなおし
本気で one more chance please
いまやり素敵な未来があるから
いまやり素敵に my life, my life, my life!!

–

Romaji:

hottoite sodatsumono nanda nandarou?

one more chance, one more chance
never never give up!
one more chance, one more chance
never give up!

deaimashite wa kantansugiru yo
saisho ni kimeta kotae wa hitotsu
tokimekimashita goukakushimasuka?
koi mo shoubu mo awatenai

KOTSU KOTSU KOTSU to tetsuya ni tameiki
watashi no naka ni tensai dreamer
omoukoto mina kanaeba ii na
hito no sekai wa kinishinai

(nya!)

Perfect-area complete!
zettai koko de matterun da
Perfect-area nozomu koe ga kikoeru yo
ah! EAR EAR!!

Why? tomaranai surechigai
watashi ga soudan aite nara
“tomodachi kai?” “tomodachi desu.”
kanashiki reiten da ne
No! yarinaoshi kakinaoshi
honki de one more chance please
ima yori suteki na mirai ga aru no ni
ima yori suteki ni my life, my life, my life!!

negaimashitayo tsuki ni mo hoshi ni mo
kagakuteki ni wa dounimo narazu
kagayakimashita ashita wo yume mite
koi de GAMAN wo mananda ne

MUKU MUKU MUKU to hirogaru amagumo
watashi wo nurasu shunkan squall
nayamigoto hora nagareta mitai
nakigoto nante wasureyou

(yoshi!)

Passive-nature conversation!
kandoushitai motto zutto
Passive-nature jibun shidai kawareru yo
hi! EAR EAR!!

What? sarigenaku kiitemita
watashi wa benkyou fusoku de
“kanousei…” “arimasuka?”
shiken wa nanten kana?
Yes! dare datte kimi datte
maniau give up? It’s wrong!
kore kara hajimaru kisetsu ni aisatsu
kore kara hajimeru my love, my love, my love!!

ki ga tsuita toki ni wa umareteta naze darou?
saa ne ishiki wa mou sodachi tstsu aru yo
tsuyoku tsuyoku ne

Why? tomaranai kono kimochi
watashi no benkyou fusoku de
“kanousei…” “arimasuka?”
soretomo reiten kana
No! yarinaoshi kakinaoshi
honki de one more chance please
ima yori suteki na mirai ga aru kara
ima yori suteki ni my life, my life, my life!!

Nowadays, the airwaves are flooded with less-than-satisfactory adaptations of eroge/bishoujo games, but as we trace back their roots, we end up at a little anime called To Heart. A dinosaur by today’s animation standards, To Heart really got me with its old-school charm and styling. From what I’ve read, To Heart originally aired in 1999 – over 10 years ago – in a time where people saw the potential of bishoujo game anime adaptations to be nothing more than ero-anime, To Heart turned heads by airing on national TV as a decidedly slice of life show.

Everything about the show feels so… old. In a nonnegative way. The music, the visual styling, the animation – especially the characters. It’s a breath of fresh (decade-old) air. Unlike many of today’s eroge type characters where there are strong dividing lines between archetypes, and that we can basically cherry pick from a list of moe “traits” to form an instant character, To Heart’s many heroines aren’t as hardcoded. Unfortunately, the fact that this is such an old work also shows, particularly in the pacing of the episodes. For the most part, the progression of the show is Hiroyuki meets girl -> Hiroyuki gets to know them better -> Hiroyuki solves problem. Although it’s circumvented by having usually having a combination of the main group of 4 – Akari, Hiroyuki, Shiho, and Masashi working on the problem, it more or less works out this way, after which the girl just sort of vanishes into nowhere. It would have been better to see more interaction among the girls even when it isn’t their arc anymore.

Another aspect of the show that really drew me to it is its slice of life factor. A lot of eroge adaptations often have contrived, complicated plots with plot twists, drama, and so forth, but To Heart is a kickback to the good ol’ days of high school romance (not exactly). It’s nice to just see the characters live their lives without getting them so messed up in needlessly complicated matters that make the viewing experience a more intense one. I hesitate to call this “iyashikei”-type anime, but it wouldn’t be difficult to associate it with the words “gentle” and “pleasant”, because those are perfect descriptions of the show.

It came at a great time for me, really. Had I watched this in my earlier days of “actual” anime fandom, I would have shunned this as a borefest, as I watched stronger and more action-oriented titles like Bleach, through fansubs, and things like GTO and GetBackers through Animax (you know, when it didn’t suck). Over the years, I’ve mellowed out; skipping on action-oriented shows and heading straight to the shoujo, seinen, and other less-manly-sounding shows has become the norm. I suppose tastes evolve over time.

Sadly, the To Heart anime franchise was succeeded by the rather infamous To Heart 2, whose production quality was so abyssmally bad that upon trying to watch episode one, I dropped the show 2 minutes past the opening theme. It is just that bad.

To Heart and To Heart 2 (2005) were animated by Oriental Light and Magic, now know as OLM Inc. Their most prominent works are Utawarerumono, To Heart… And Pokémon.

Despite To Heart’s vintage, the show was only recently picked up for English stateside release. Though Rightstuf recieved the master copies around 2005, being a cel-animated work captured entirely on film and not on a digital format, the remastering process the company was forced to undertake took another two years, pushing back the show’s American release to 2007. I suppose a low-key title like To Heart would’ve been ignored, despite the licensing frenzy that happened during the anime boom that occured years back. Furthermore, it’s most probable that typical American audiences, who were more used to the sex and violence stereotype that anime was so well-known for in its earlier days, couldn’t digest this peaceful piece of work.

Ultimately, I think I was lucky to have picked this during the drawing of lots[1] that took place last month. It hit all the right places – endearing characters (who unfortunately don’t show up much outside of their own arc), a peaceful atmosphere, nice music (asides the OP, whose vocalist was a bit grating to my ears)… All of these factors came together to form a lovely slice of life show that still works well a decade down the road.

[1] – Full disclosure: in a Filaniblogger Christmas get-together, ghostlightning (who is now a 33-year old daddy) decided to have us draw lots containing short shows each of us nominated and have use blog anything about what we watched over the month of January. This is the last entry in this “series”, so to speak. Sorry if I let you down orz

Seems to be a trend with winter being a slow season, which I suppose is good. School’s been picking up again, and lately I’ve been feeling horribly drained and empty. But on with the impressions!

Shows covered in this post:

• Chu-Bra!!
• Seikon no Qwaser
• Dance in the Vampire Bund
• Ladies vs. Butlers!
• Omamori Himari
• Durarara!!
• Ookamikakushi
• Sora no Woto
• Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu

Chu-Bra!!. Man, it’s really hard to not associate this show with fanservice. I mean, a girl who has an interest in women’s undergarments. To be honest, judging by the premise alone, the anime would probably turn out to be, well, crap. Rather than being full-on fanservice comedy, it seems to be telling one of those coming-of-age stories with the three girls, and how they use the magical wonders of lingerie to overcome their problems! (probably).

There’s really nothing that makes the show stand out to be honest, even with Chihara Minori’s voicing and all. Overall, it wasn’t really engaging, or interesting, but I do admit, the premise really has me being judgmental about it all. There’s actually quite a number of things that you could learn about women’s underwear (like that bit about children vs. adult panties); not that the non-female half of us can make use of it, however. I suppose it’s just a matter of wait-and-see if things get any better (hopefully so).

I had a quick peek at Seikon no Qwaser’s online webcast and suddenly WHOA NIPPLES AND LACTATION. The TV broadcast didn’t have that, but it had some of the most poorly implemented censoring ever: zooming in on half the picture, destroying the picture quality and making an awful lot of camera angles look even weirder. I didn’t bother watching any other part of it after that. I suppose I shouldn’t have expected anything less, however.

SHAFT likes to mess with things. Sometimes, as in the case of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, it works quite well. Other times, not so much. Dance in the Vampire Bund falls under the latter case. The entire thing felt so off from the source material that the entire show, there was a sense of incompatibility between the media. And while I do acknowledge the differences in media, there is such a huge disconnect that the liberties taken with the show almost come off as insulting to the manga, which I had been reading two months prior.

For a minute or two, I couldn’t help but associate Ladies vs. Butlers! to Gurren Lagann, thanks to Miss S. Flameheart’s twin drills that would pierce the heavens. Excuse the bad joke. Moving on, what have we got? Middling production values, less-than-satisfactory music, and the censoring was painfully strong in this one.  It’s one thing to use censoring to drive DVD sales, but it’s another thing when over half the screen’s whited out. Hell, the entire show feels like an exercise in mediocrity. And the biggest problem for me – the characters are boring and one-dimensional. For a show like this, where the characters are the lifeblood of the entire gig, writing their personalities to be as flat as a board – the complete opposite of just about every girl in the show, mind you – is just going to cause the  viewers pain.

The second episode though, for some reason, was quite enjoyable to watch, if only for the above  scene.

Omamori Himari was one of the shows I was really looking forward to this season. After the first episode, I was just kind of speechless. It felt so, weird. What I can definitely be sure of is that the anime production designs really don’t convey Matsura Miran’s (really really hot) character designs. Some people likened them to Kanokon’s and of the little I’ve seen of it, I would have to agree. Also, apparently, the voice actor for Makoto (of School Days and Nice Boat fame/infamy) is doing Yuuto’s voice, and he is using the exact same Makoto voice! Yuuto’s a pretty decent lead, I would say, and to constantly associate him with one of the most pathetic, most useless leads just kind of irks me.

The first episode’s camera work in the fight scene was a huge disconnect from the rest of the show, cinematography wise. Whoever was in charge of that had a real fetish for cut-ins, I think. Half the freakin’ scene was made up solely of cut-in shots. All in all, it doesn’t manage to make a big impression. Hopefully the succeeding episodes won’t have the just-satisfactory feeling that this first airing had. And even if it did turn out to be mediocre, I’d probably watch it anyway because Koshimizu Ami does antiquated dialects so damned well. Plus Lizlette is too damned cute.

Durarara!! (or Dullalala!!) is penned by the same guy who came up with the highly enjoyable Baccano!, and it’s animated by the same studio too – Brains Base, also responsible for Spice and Wolf II, among other shows. As with Baccano!, there is an ensemble cast with a lot of interweaving stories, but rather than a pulp fiction sort of setting in the prohibition era, it’s set in trendy modern-day Japan.  It just oozes with style, and despite the slow start in the first third or half of the first episode, it quickly picks up the pace in the latter part and never really gets boring. Hopefully it’ll keep this up through its run.

Lately, Ryukishi07’s  been on a spree of bad luck, with both of his works (Cicadas and Seacats) being rather mercilessly butchered by Studio DEEN, but here comes Ookamikakushi! It wasn’t released under 07th Expansion proper – rather as a commercial game with the scenario written by him and character designs by Peach-Pit. Overly round heads aside, the show looks to be another one of those guy-goes-to-town-with-weird-traditions-in-the-middle-of-bumfuck-nowhere-and-suddenly-mysterious-murders-replete-with-killer-lolis plots. Not that I have any problems with that! Lolis are cool! Yeah!

A load of people related a bajillion and a half different anime to Sora no Woto (or So・Ra・No・Wo・To), and despite the fact that it’s (probably) not all copying, I assume that the K-ON!-like character design was most definitely because they wanted to pander a bit to the moe-loving crowd. And of course, the archetypes – clumsy girl, serious girl, jealous loli, lazy/sleepy girl, and carefree girl. But I suppose this is a bit harsh – with the huge variety of shows available to the casual viewer today, we could probably classify any character X under any archetype Y, which I suppose could be the result of having watched so much anime within any period of time.

Anyway, onto the show – it does feel like a slice of life anime; girls in an oft-overlooked military installation just spending their days. It’s almost iyashi-kei, but it’s yet to truly cross that line, I think. I love the setting of a peaceful, rural French town, with a defunct yet high-tech tank sitting in the hangar for a pinch of contrast, and then we have the strange mishmash of Western and Eastern cultures which others have covered in greater depth and breadth than I ever will. It is a very interesting point of discussion though, but as it stands, I have nothing in particular to point out about it. Personally, I would hate it if the show ended up shifting into high gear and getting serious at one point or another, because as it stands, Sora no Woto is perfectly fine as it is.

Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu is apparently done by SILVER LINK. but it feels so SHAFT (because apparently one of Shinbo’s staff is working on this). Color filters, blackboard scribbles, and all. Not quite the thriller that say, Ookamikakushi could be, nor is it laced with fanservice like Omamori Himari or Chu-Bra!!. Honestly, I can’t put my finger on what kind of show this is – almost like Seitokai no Ichizon, in that it’s very much character driven and that one never needs to truly take this show seriously. I like that, and I like this a lot.

And I’d Hideyoshi. Totally.

This goes a little more in-depth from the previous post, noting trends in the shows I watch and things like that. Note that I’m only including anime with seasons from 2009; thus, all movies and OVA are not included, as well as (re)watching of older shows). Some shows that are unfinished are ranked while others are unranked, depending on the show, extent of watching, etc.

Again, this isn’t indicative of the year itself, given that the shows picked are out of my own choice/discretion and therefore, are not in any way a good measure of the year itself, but rather what the year was to me. (eg: subjective statistics(?!?))

Anyway, hit the jump for the numbers and (wait for it-) graphs. Oh my, Jason Miao would be proud.

excel spreadsheet for reference

Graph1

Here we have some pie chart thing with the percentages and exact numbers of great vs. good vs. okay vs. shit anime. As you can see, there are a similar number of good versus okay shows. Honestly, there should have been more shows that ended up as a great show, but ended up falling down to merely good, or sometimes just okay in my opinion. They ended up getting shifted down usually because of only one or two factors or flaws big enough to bring down the show as a whole (see: Haruhi S2 / Endless Eight, Phantom / Ending). Similarly, there were a few shows that were close to being considered as shit, but a few factors influenced my decision to keep them in the realm of just-okay or sometimes all the way back up to good (see: Kampfer / Character Designs, NEEDLESS / Lots of girls).

Edit: Forgot to mention: Not that there are very few I marked as “shit”. I attribute this to my fluctuating standards when it comes to anime. That is all.

Graph2

A nice little line graph showing the number of anime watched (finished or otherwise) from each season of 2009. It all averages to 17 shows per season, which I think is around the typical number of shows watched and/or blogged about by the normal anime viewer.

Graph3

As one may notice, there is a huge climb from winter to spring. If memory serves me right, winter didn’t really have much to offer in terms of shows that I liked. I think. There was some pretty good stuff like RideBack and Sora Kake Girl, but it was pretty barren otherwise. Spring had a lot of stuff to offer, like K-ON! and Saki, Eden of the East, Phantom, and Sengoku Basara, and I watched much of it. However, only 8 were completed, a little over a third of the shows that I initially started with. Summer was where the year’s anime really picked up. Loads of great shows, and barely any crappy stuff; Taishou Yakyuu Musume, Sora no Manimani, Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, and of course, Bakemonogatari – all aired in summer. Fall didn’t let up and delivered shows like Sora no Otoshimono, Kimi ni Todoke, and Darker than BLACK’s second season. Also airing in fall was  Aoi Bungaku which, to be honest, I haven’t gotten to watching yet. I’m never really fond of the constantly serious stuff.

Graph4

A line graph would work best in displaying the progression of each season’s quality. As I said earlier, winter offered little in terms of content for me, which is why there’s barely any good shows at all. Spring took place during the gap between high school and college and therefore explains the sudden spike in activity (see graph 2). With more time on my hands, I could be more indiscriminate about what I watched, leading to an overall increase in each category. Summer began alongside the first term of college, which meant I had to be pickier with my shows. This, combined with the shows of the season, led the what I would say was the best season of 2009. Fall follows up with an equal number of great shows, but a general decline in quality. There are a lot less good shows, and more of the mediocre stuff, as well as a shit show – technically infinity times greater than summer’s. Though admittedly, the said show is 11eyes, and I marked it as such because it’s a pretty awful adaptation of the eroge, speaking from the viewpoint of one who’s already played (a bit of) it.

Overall, if I had to rank everything, it would be as follows:

• Summer 2009
• Fall 2009
• Spring 2009
• Winter 2009

Summer and fall however, are both very good in terms of content, but when it comes to the shows in general, summer wins by a hair. Winter on the other hand, was kind of a disappointment in general, while spring is a very typical season.

2009 Year in Review Posts to come: Expenditures

Totally got caught up in ECO that I forgot to type this up; I’m cramming all the anime I watched in the whole 2009 so this is probably the longest post I’ve ever done for the year, though it’s already 2010! (I’m sure it’s still 2009 somewhere).

And without further ado, hit the jump for the rest of the post:

Estimated time spent watching anime: Approx 341 hours

(shows marked with an asterisk denote that they aired only partially or not at all within the year)

I suppose you could just skip this and head straight down to my top 5 of 2009.  Or just read the massive wall of text.

Great shows:

*Ga-rei Zero: As I wrote in my 12 moments series of posts last year – pity I didn’t join in this time – the show starts with a bang and ends with one too. Damn good stuff.
*ARIA the ORIGINATION: Man, the last few episodes were really powerful, and I really felt this sense of loss when I realized that the show had finally ended. We need more things like this in the world.
*Kannagi: Though a lot of people didn’t like it for the sudden loldrama at the end of its run, we can’t discount just how enjoyable the show as a whole was. And Tomatsu Haruka’s voice acting was superb, and a great lead-in to her work in Polyphonica Crimson S (shame about that show thought)
*CLANNAD~after story~: Honestly, I STILL haven’t finished this damned show. It’s too depressing for me to watch, even though I know the ending will make me feel all warm and fuzzy. That doesn’t mean it’s not great however. It is, plot-wise, and KyoAni’s superb animation only helps to carry that all the more.
*Hidamari Sketch: Likewise, I still have yet to finish this. Went through it halfway, but I ended up putting it aside for a while. Maybe I’ll get back to it when I go on an acid trip. (not really)
*Hitohira: I don’t remember who recommended this, but it was a very charming little show that really pushes its characters forward. Lots of great characterization and development, and it’s relaxing to watch too. I keep stopping at the beach camp arc though.
Sora Kake Girl: Apparently, this was like Mai-Hime in space or whatever, except I never watched it so I don’t get the analogy! What I do know though, is that it’s a very entertaining watch. It doesn’t take itself too seriously and by god, no one dies. I think.
K-ON!: Moeblob show, but it’s a moeblob show done right. It hits all the right notes (pun intended) and it’s never a bore to watch. The drama moments feel slightly disjoint from the rest of the flow of the episode, even though it’s really how the manga goes. Weird.
Eden of the East: Damned good stuff. One thing I learned this year is how incredible Production IG is in making some really great shows – Eden of the East is a great show of just that. The first episode on its own is such a great reel that you can’t help but watch (their Johnnies).
Hayate no Gotoku! S2: Just right. A bit of a departure from the first season rife with references, and less focus on the plot. The second season sticks to the manga and lightens up on the random jokes, which is a good thing. It initially felt weird though, since there was such a huge shift in production quality, that I was thrown off for a while. Not that that’s a bad thing, of course.
Saki: Oh man, this made me get into actually playing Mahjong over the net for some time. I still do, on occasion – that’s how awesome and fun the whole show was. Really, if Gonzo did more shows like this and Strike Witches, they wouldn’t be in such a horrible financial situation right now.
Hatsukoi Limited: Hm, it’s almost like watching a number of interconnected short stories. On first loves. A lot of people (me included) compared it to KimiKiss, but honestly, this tops that. Completely.
Taishou Yakyuu Musume: Whoever reads this place on a semi-regular basis (who in their right mind would) would know that I’m a sucker for slice of life, and TYM does it well. With an ensemble cast even. It’s also a nice peek at a Japan’s history of women’s baseball. I think.
Bakemonogatari: Oh man, this show. So awesome. The source material, the direction, and the peak of it all – the dialogue. I could just watch any two characters of the show talking and already it would be interesting enough as it is. And let’s not forget Senjougahara Fascination; I’m sure many others were taken in by her too. I’m a Nadeko supporter, however! Go go Nadeko~
Sora no Manimani: A sleeper hit and a charming slice of life/comedy. Or perhaps comedy/slice of life. The two genres mesh so well together in here that it’s difficult to separate the two, or put one in front of the other. It’s a real pity that this slipped under the radar of a lot of bloggers, because this was and is a really, really good series.
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0: God this was depressing. Depressing as hell. But boy it was good. Bones knows how to make shows. After this and DtB, I’ve really looked up to them now.
Seitokai no Ichizon: Surprisingly, DEEN makes an adaptation that is better than mediocre! I thought they had no hope, after butchering Fate, Higurashi, and Umineko. I suppose maybe they just need to stay the hell away from serious stories. And CG dragons.
Sora no Otoshimono: I may get bashed for this, but Sora no Otoshimono is damned good. “But it has flying panties!” you may say, but the show does it all very well. Comedy is comedic, slice of life is nice and lifey, and serious moments are SRS, especially in the latter half of the show. Heck, the author, Minadzuki Suu, is the same person that penned Watashi no Messiah-sama, and well, that was one damned good series. I really wish that they didn’t go with such a short 13 episode run though, it’s left me wanting for more, and at the moment, only the manga can supply my fix.
Kimi ni Todoke: Really feel-good stuff, this show is. Perhaps the one thing that makes me smile so much is Sawako’s innocence; never does she assume that people are bad, or that they do bad things. I suppose it’s got something to do with her lack of self-esteem, but the way she’s so positive about everything around her just warms my heart.
Darker than BLACK S2: Man, this was not enough. Not enough at all. We need more now. But Hei should keep his face shaved at all times, and his hair trimmed and kempt. Otherwise, he looks evil.
*Kara no Kyoukai movies: This shit is cool. Period.
First Squad: The Moment of Truth: It’s an interesting take on the World War, and is presented in such a way that you’d almost think it’s real (I almost did). Plus Russian-dubbed anime is pretty rare and interesting in itself, though the VA’s weren’t very… “into it”?
Summer Wars: Every single one of the characters is likeable. Squeezing such a huge family into the span of two hours, you’d think a lot of them would be shoved aside, but as the climax proves, a family together is a real force to be reckoned with.

Good shows:

*Toaru Majutsu no Index: Too much exposition, which ultimately made the show kind of boring and full of random yak-yak instead of action. And Index gets shafted later on. Not too shabby a show though.
*Toradora!: It was good, but not that good. And apparently the episodes started fluctuating in quality later on.
*Spice and Wolf: Short arcs meant it had to be paced right, but it was not. Gotta love the Holo/Lawrence dynamic, however.
*HidaSketch x365: It doesn’t quite match up to the original, really. But I suppose that’s it. A fun show nonetheless.
*Xam’d: Very interesting, but sometimes I just Didn’t Get It. Your mileage may vary, I suppose. Still, it’s a very intriguing watch.
*Shigofumi: I’d kept watching, but it was just so damned depressing. Depressing is okay, but I can’t take it for the whole 25 minutes. Beneath that veneer is a gold mine though, which I really need to get to digging.
*Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei: More of the same, I suppose. Not so bad, I guess.
*Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka: The only reason why this didn’t end up in great was that totally random ending. Everything had already pointed to a Yuuhi end, but they ended up turning the tables on the very last minute and gave everyone a happy incest end. (though I suppose there’s nothing wrong with that too)
Maria†Holic: An enjoyable watch, and Kobayashi Yuu always makes for a whacked-out, crazy as hell character. Not much actual rewatch value though, aside the laughs.
Asu no Yoichi: An inoffensive show. Nothing bad, nothing special. And nothing else.
RideBack: Initially enjoyable, but when everything started getting serious, the show just slowly sloped downhill from there.
White Album: I suppose I’m not rating this too badly because I didn’t realize how much of a dick Touya was until the second season. His character alone makes me rage at the show, actually. Unfaithful bastard.
Kemono no Souja Erin: I only had this for like one, two episodes, and then got dropped. It’s not bad per se, but it just didn’t suit my tastes.
Haruhi S2: Absolutely brilliant, had it not been for Endless Eight. That was – excuse the language – some of the dumbest fucking shit I have ever seen pulled off.
Valkyria Chronicles: It had great production values, but just not enough going for it to sustain my interest.
Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~: Bee Train, in its quest for artfaggerjackery, totally ruins the ending of what could have otherwise been a great series by going against the canon ending by instead killing Reiji. Dumb move guys, dumb move.
Tears to Tiara: Superb production quality, but the whole show has this sort of dumbness to it, with lines like “Swords don’t lie!” and things like that. And it’s quite formulaic in its execution.
Shin Mazinger Z: First episode was filled with MEGA AWESOME GAR, but I ended up dropping it because I don’t like mecha in the first place. Whoops.
Sengoku Basara: More GUTS AND PASSION GAR, but for some reason I ended up dropping it anyway. I wonder why.
NEEDLESS: I thought it was absolute crap, but then around episode 5 it just turned into a show with lots of girls (with good character design). Fun for the entire family!
CANAAN: It’s like an thriller/action movie chopped up into a 13-episode series. Which sounds cool, except the pacing is godawful bad. By the time the episode ends you’re wanting more, but by the time the next one starts, you’ve already lost your drive.
Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei: See Zoku SZS.
Princess Lover!: As with Asu no Yoichi, it’s an unoffensive show (asides the lolicon I suppose) and actually quite enjoyable if you get into it. Sadly, it won’t be anything more than that.
Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou: Though the premise was pretty interesting and the characters fun, it didn’t really seem to go anywhere with it. Too bad, since the cast was a fun bunch.
Spice and Wolf II: An improvement from the first season; there were only two main arcs, which let the story build up nicely and allowed the plot to get a foothold. In turn, the pacing was vastly improved, and the show as a whole felt very coherent. Not at all rushed or lacking.
GA -Geijutsuka Art Design Class-: Talk about a redundant title. It’s funny, but not really laugh-out-loud funny, but it has a certain cohesiveness that some other gag shows lack.
Nyan Koi!: A fun series with a well-rounded cast. Plus cats. Cats are cool. What definitely was not, however, was the ending, which was kind of cheap. I would’ve preferred a different way to end it, rather than the whole Junpei turning into a cat thing.
Toaru Kagaku no Railgun: Railgun eschews the exposition that plagued Index thankfully. Still, I can’t help but feel that there’s a certain (scientific) thing missing, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.
Cencoroll: An amateur production just about animated by a single person. It’s interesting on its own but it would have benefited from some further exposition, or more dialogue, because it has a very dry, rough-around-the-edges feel to it.
To Heart: Very retro. Very. But it tickles my interests because despite its eroge roots, it is firmly slice of life. At least, according to bluemist it is.

Okay shows:

Macademi WAsshoi!: Fun, cheap laughs. Lots of nakedness.
*Soukou no Strain: Beginning is really, really good, but plummets around halfway point (Lavinia filler episodes, especially).
Minami-ke Okaeri: Lost the charm that the original series had.
Hetalia Axis Powers: Cute, but kind of pointless. Good for a few laughs though.
KuroKami: An injustice to the manga.
Shoujo wo Miageru Hitomi ni Utsuru Sekai: The only mediocre thing KyoAni’s put out in recent history.
Asura Cryin’: Totally lost interest. Not very good to begin with, now that I think about it. Seven Arcs should just get back to Nanoha already.
Shinkyoku Soukai Polyphonica Crimson S: Bad budget, everything feels a bit dumb, but man Tomatsu Haruka’s voice acting is fun to listen to.
Tayutama -Kiss on my Deity-: Having played the game prior, I can’t help but make comparisons at every corner. All of which are in favor of the game.
Natsu no Arashi: As I mentioned earlier, I just can’t get along with the art direction. Nasty stuff, man.
07-Ghost: I thought it’d be even half-worth watching, but it was just full of pretty boys anyway.
Pandora Hearts: I blame my classmate for being such a rabid fangirl about this that I ended up hating the show. Alice is a great character though.
Shangri-La: Started off okay, but in typical Gonzo style, turned crap pretty quickly.
Ristorante Paradiso: I gave it a chance, but… no. Just… no.
Fight! Ippatsu Juuden-chan: Hm. Pissing your panties. Lovely. Not that bad though.
Umineko no Naku Koro ni: It’s watchable, but the typical DEEN massacre is all over the place. Some people noted that it wasn’t so bad, but… eh. They rode too much on the killer loli thing.
Kanamemo: Initially interesting, but the only fun thing that remained after a few episodes was loli-molesting.
Umi Monogatari: The characters really made a bad impression on me that I ended up dropping it posthaste. I think
Tatakau Shisho: The Book of Bantorra: The show is very disjoint and throws around a lot of events that seem to only forward the plot. And good heavens, the OP is by Ali Project.
Kampfer: More like Mein Kampfer. Character designs are very nice though!
White Album S2: Touya’s continuation of being a dick just irks me too much. Far too much.
Seiken no Blacksmith: It’s decent, but the katana fetishism really gets to you sometimes. I suppose if you ignore all the cliches and stuff, there’s nothing truly offensive, by my standards (they are low).
Shin Koihime Musou: Just random hijinks from our wonderful feminized ancient warriors of China! Maybe I should give this a second chance and see if it improves?
Kobato: I was kind of hyped to watch this because my old Newtype issues had the first serialization of the manga, but I was just disappointed.
Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu S2: Inoffensive, but mediocre, unlike say, Princess Lover!.
Trapeze: It’s like a series of short stories, except the way they’re presented in is annoyingly pretentious. Please don’t pretend to be Shinbo kthx.

Shit shows:
Akikan!
Queen’s Blade
Arad Senki ~Slap Up Party~
11eyes

Top 5 anime of 2009 (in no particular order because I will be lynched otherwise):

• Bakemonogatari
• Eden of the East
• Summer Wars
• Tokyo Magnitude 8.0
• Kimi ni Todoke

2009 Year in Review Posts to come: Anime Statistics, Expenditures

Edit: I may be getting air dates and stuff messed up; shows that aired before 2009 are marked as such… to the extent of my memory.

Lately there’s been a ton of stuff going on IRL, but that’s not quite the scope of this blog. So I guess I’ll write about the rest of the stuff I haven’t yet written about! I suppose.

Nyan Koi is quite the fun show; it’s like a rom com with talking cats! Cats are cool, right? To be honest, given the name, I expected it to have catgirls or something ridiculous and end up being a mindless fanservice sort of show the way Kanokon was. Except with catgirls instead of fox/wolfgirls. Though I suppose a female cat would technically count. It veers into harem territory a few episodes in, it has that refreshing, enjoyable feel that don’t often turn up in shows like this. Also, twintail twins pop up around the 6th episode.

I’ve just been catching up on Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu ~Purezza~ and I must say, there’s nothing at all to say about it. It’s the same show as it was a few seasons ago. Later episodes seem to focus less on the Nogizaka Haruka and the Himitsu part, it seems, but I haven’t gotten there yet. Lately, there seems to be a number of references (ie: ToraDora, replete with tiny tiger). Not totally sure if the show intends to take that direction, given its closeness with anime/manga/etc-related culture though I suppose a joke or two wouldn’t hurt. Just please don’t blend that together with SeiZon. That… Just won’t work.

I don’t quite remember who recommended Kimi ni Todoke, but I owe him/her my thanks. There’s just so much I love about the show. I mean the main cast of characters is such a likeable bunch, like how Sadwako always frets over every little thing so much that you just want to jump over and pat her and go “Aw, it’s alright.” Or how Kazehaya always helps bring her out of her conundrums.
Having just watched episode 5, Ayane and Chizuru’s talk on the bridge at night was one of the highlights of the episode for me. The way two friends can just have a heart-to-heart talk on something that was bothering them was really something for me; I like to joke around a lot and avoid serious discussion – it’s always hard (near impossible) for me to really talk about what I’m feeling and stuff. That they were able to sympathize with each other about their thoughts and feelings about Sawako so openly was just touching.
And I suppose that is exactly how this series on a whole feels. Sawako makes friends with Kazehaya and co. and enjoy being with each other. There are a lot of problems and misunderstandings along the way, but through communicating with words and gestures, their own feelings reach each other, as they reach me.

Trapeze, or Kuuchuu Buranko, for those who want the romanized official title, is an odd beast. It’s loaded with all sorts of crazy visual effects, probably some rotoscoping, random animal heads, and what appears to be three different personae of the same doctor, but behind all the sparkly filters lies a pretty simple show. The structure goes in a particular pattern: A patient comes down with a particular disorder; he gets sent to the psychiatric ward. The good doctor Ichino does some weird diagnosis which isn’t really much of a diagnosis. Though there is a massive vitamin shot which he really gets off to. After that, he basically becomes the push for patients to realize that it’s something within them that they need to change, which they do. They walk off cure, and bettered as persons. Or something.
It’s almost like an Iyashi-kei show. Except, high on psychotropics. It’s visually taxing, but surprisingly, but once you’ve gotten used to the abstractness of it all, light viewing at its very core. Or I could be missing something and all the weird stuff is actually a ton of symbolism thrown all over the place. Not that I can manage to decipher all that.

After over two years, Bones follows up on its rather brilliant (which I hadn’t realized til way later) work Darker than BLACK -Kuro no Keiyakusha- with Darker than BLACK -Ryuusei no Gemini-. Hm, to be honest, I have no clue as to how to evaluate this. It seems to be going with a harder, edgier feel, starting from the soundtrack’s industrial-ish tone, to our beloved pinup boy, Hei, who has turned from consuming boatloads of food to consuming boatloads of alcohol. Nothing wrong with it, though I do miss Yoko Kanno’s lovely jazz/postrock work. And let’s not forget the scoring on Yin no Piano and Tentai Kansoku. The soundtrack was one of the defining aspects of Darker than BLACK, and I’m not sure if the soundtrack will be as memorable as the last one was.
And another peeve – do we really need to see the pseudo-mahou-shoujo-esque cut of Suou bringing out her outdated anti-tank rifle every single time? It just doesn’t feel right when you watch the show – the flow gets interrupted as the show shows you a naked girl grabbing heavy arms teleported in by a little pendant. As does seeing Hei all rugged. Shave plz.

A lot of (two) people (whose online aliases I’ve forgotten) have compared to To Aru Kagaku no Railgun to “older” shows. I do get where he comes from… Vaguely. If anything, I could compare the show to… You’re Under Arrest? Okay bad comparison, but the point is that unlike other shows where you have a grandiose plot with a big bad enemy and evil underlings with all the trappings, TAKanoRailgun tosses all of that away and instead goes with a more down to earth setting with girls just living their lives. It just so happens that a good number of them have ESP to spice up the show, is all.

Like Kiddy Girl-and, except that happens in space.

Oh, another thing – many people expressed their dislike for Kuroko’s rather particular voice, but I find it to be… Fitting for her character. Plus seeing her go wild (over Misaki) is just entertaining as a whole.

Seiken no Blacksmith is a fantasy anime staring a magical blacksmith guy with an ego, a 50-year old girl that transforms into a sword that doesn’t actually need to hit anything to hit anything, a gutless girl who loves to proclaim her social position, occupation, and name – usually in that order, and a loli voiced by Toyosaki Aki. Also that was a very long run-on sentence.
It’s incredibly, incredibly plain, boring show that runs the gamut of the usual clichés (whoa, accent mark!) like “Fighting for my friends”, and a mysteeeeerious hooded black guy that does bad things, I dunno, to terrorize people/to achieve his own evil ambitions (which may or may not have a heartrending backstory/explanation)/just for kicks.
Except this is made worse by the Katana faggerjackery (thanks lolikit!) and self-wanking about how this magical sword cuts through just about everything like a knife through butter, albeit like a very fragile knife.

White Album:
Touya is still a dick.

Also: Bakemonogatari 13th installment shows that it is still awesome as hell.

On Kobato. – the writeup on bianki’s post here suits it well. While I am a bit fond of shoujo – and this is very shoujo, in comparison with a lot of other shows – I hate it when the female lead’s a dumb moeblob. Heck, Ioryogi strikes me as a funner character. The first episode was bearable, but I don’t know if I’ll go on any further. Though I would like some of that Kobato Stew.

A continuation of the last season, Shin Koihime†Musou is well, pretty much the same as before. Except unlike the more entertaining hijinks of the first season, they decided to make the episode about a topic rather done to death – using true/personal names to address each other. As moritheil wrote – “While this might be instructive to five-year-olds, it’s just not that appealing to someone who already understands the distinction.” In other words, more food jokes + SD + yuri please.

Kämpfer is like Sekirei iwth a transgender and multiple personalities AND yuri. However the problem I had with Sekirei, is the same as this – the plot. I’m just not fond of a girls-fighting-each-other-for-no-particular-slash-specified-reason sorta show, which is exactly what these two are. On the other hand, the character designs are a little to my taste and animation is still of decent quality (unlike Seven Arcs non-DVD QUALITY), so I think I can stick around with this a little longer.

As a final word on things – I’m still a little hesitant to echo bianki’s words of “Fall Fail”. I’ll keep up watching as many (good?) shows as possible and see what sort of gold surfaces from the horrible, muddy rivers.

Given its clear-cut distinction about its target audience (that is to say, people who understand these jokes – otaku being a large percentage of this), the number of people who could possibly enjoy this show is marginally low (in comparison to other shows that have more mass appeal). I guess you could equate it to masturbation (in a figurative sense, of course) – no meaning, no hidden intention. Just mindless fun and pleasuring oneself. I mean, it’s a show about nothing but jokes on otaku-related works and terms. It’s as meta as an anime could be, really. Whoever said Bakemonogatari was a circle-jerk of a show made for otaku can eat their words – SeiZon is miles ahead in terms of this distinction. This sort of show was made for otaku, period.

However, those people who do fall within its target market may quite enjoy it – as I have. This may sound awfully elitist, but the way the show works, it’s almost like it panders to the people knowledgable about its jokes and references – namely, us. It’s just like going to an IRC channel and watching the people randomly talk about anime; you laugh at some of the jabs and some others just fly right by you. Since the show is essentially a mini-dump of jokes, gags, and references on current shows and other media, I doubt it’s one of those things that people who don’t already know what the show’s talking about will enjoy it.

I hesitate to get pretentious and call it a brilliant social commentary on the current state of otaku media affairs; it could be, but I can’t quite find the words to fully describe how exactly it could. What I can say about it is that for those who like a little bit of pandering for their otaku selves, it won’t fail to satisfy. And I’m quite satisfied, even for just a little while.

Side Note: I was supposed to toss in a nice header image, but fail uni internet won’t let me upload anything. orz

Alright, so I’m not really thinking straight anymore. I’ll just post my thoughts at the moment, because I also lost all my notes and there’s no way I’m rewatching 4 hours of stuff and spending another two trying to remember what I was supposed to write.

Shows covered:

Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
Aoi Hana
Princess Lover!
Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou
Spice and Wolf II
Sora no Manimani
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0
GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Class

Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei

More of the same, but not in a bad way. Kumeta’s work is still satirically sublime, and SHAFT x Shinbo has never failed to render it just as well in its animated form. It’s not really timeline-dependent, so I guess you could just watch random episodes and you could probably still follow along with the story – or the apparent lack of it.

Aoi Hana

“Slice of Life, Drama, Probably Yuri” is what I imagine this to be. Being the slice-of-life fanatic that I am, this show was already a given. And it’s yuri to boot. I’m more on the happy side of things though, so I hope the drama doesn’t get too heated.

Princess Lover!

If there was anything I could say about this show, it’s very unoffensive. The animation is strikingly well-done, sometimes to a point where they overanimate some scenes/character, like jitters and eye movements and all that. It’s enjoyable, despite the sometimes dumb nature of the probable “destined girl”. A great watch after a long day or somesuch happenstances, since not really “thought-provoking” (ie: Bakemonogatari).

Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou

Two points really stuck in my head the whole way through; first, Nonaka Ai doing Koyomi made me think too much of PotatoImo-chan and Kafuka instead, but I guess it’s really how her voice works. Second, Koyomi was going no-pan in the first episode. She should just stay that way for the rest of the series.
Those aside, YWGM is a strangely relaxing show. You have a nicely rounded mostly-female cast, and you have magic… code… stuff. And of course quite enjoyable.

Spice and Wolf II

Boy, I missed Horo’s sort of character. Witty, playful, sardonic to some extent. And Koshimizu Ami’s performance constantly does not disappoint. Fukuyama Jun, methinks, still lets his Lelouch voice leak out every so often, but perhaps I can attribute that to how strong his performance in Geass was that rather than him speaking that way, it’s me relating Lawrence to Lelouch. But enough of that. This second iteration’s pretty much the same as back then. Which is to say, it’s still as enjoyable.

Sora no Manimani

Somebody please explain what “manimani” is. I can’t help but imagine a night sky – except the sky has peanuts for stars. Anyway, to be honest, I thought Sora no Manimani would be some horribly dull shite, but to my surprise, SnM is great fun. There’s always a joke on every corner, and the show just exudes a positive aura (mostly thanks to Mihoshi). Comedy is just over-the-top great and sort of kind of reminds me of Honey and Clover’s humor. One of the best titles this season.

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0

Similarly, I also thought this would be a horrible show, with the characters just moaning and groaning about how shitty their life has become thanks to the quake. Thankfully, of the three main characters, one’s mature and another an optimistic little kid. Unfortunately, the other’s an annoying whiny bitch. I can understand the whole hormones and “rebellious age” bit, but so many of her actions constantly cause trouble because of her constantly negative outlook on just about everything. Of course, I’m just three episodes down the line – a long way to the finish – which means there’s plenty of time for her to mature, and for me to grow to love the little bastard.
Additionally – that a ton of research went into making the show (according to the show, anyway) nets the studio respect. At least these guys studied their stuff before possibly saying stupid about earthquakes and such. I presume that the after-earthquake damage, resulting landscape, and factors along the way were, to some point, based on simulations as well. That’d be pretty cool if it was true.

GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Class

Redundant title is redundant.
GA is probably a sped-up, LSD-free version of HidaSketch. The whole pictogram segment was pretty damned funny, and it was kinda fun all throughout. Still doesn’t hold a candle to Sora no Manimani, however.

I guess that pretty much covers all the potential shows for now, but there are a few more yet to be aired, if I’m not mistaken.