May 2011 Anime Rankings

Red Shows are trending up significantly.

Blue Shows are trending down significantly.

Green Shows have not been watched since the last ranking and are at risk of being dropped from the ranking.
*means this series is making its debut in the rankings.

#1 Anohana*(short for "Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai XP):

Childhood friends reunite to finally come to terms with the death of one of their members, which initially drove them apart.

Justification: I've been so starved of quality dramas in recent years that this one is pretty much the oasis in the desert that isn't a mirage. I'm loving it!

#2 Stein's Gate*:

A group of rejects/pseudo-scientists attempts to uncover an Internation timetravel-related conspiracy.

Justification: This season's best new character is Okabe Rintaro, a paranoid, self-described mad scientist who leads his unlikely band of followers. This guy is pure win.

#3 Gosick*:

A Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson loosely-inspired mystery series that takes place in a fictional European country in between both world wars.

Justification: My only holdover from last season, it was one of the two best shows of the winter (the other being Kore wa Zombie Desuka).

#4 Nichijou TV*(pictured above):

An anime adaptation of a 4-panel gag manga about school life. In the mold of Pani Poni Dash!

Justification: It has fared reasonably well after a homerun of a first episode. It's striking the right balance in key gag criteria such as timing and delivery. It has really great lines, as is demonstrated above. Instantly quoteable.

#5 Tiger and Bunny*:

Superheroes in a futuristic world have to deal with the realities of 24-hour news network that rank their exploits in a point system and the hardships of pleasing their corporate sponsors.

Justification: I'm loving the artstyle and setting. The heroes have an old-time feel to them. Go Origami Cyclone! lol

#6 Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko*:

A high school student moves to a new town to live in his aunt's house. There he meets his futon-wrapped cousin, who claims she is an alien.

Justification: Great characters and art style. Possibly the best character designs of the new season.

#7 Hen Zemi*:

12 minute long episodes of a college clubs for the perverted.

Justification: Pretty much the case of one or two "normal" characters who play the straight man role to the shocking behavior of everyone else in the club. Still, it's hilarious.

#8 Tono to Issho 2*:

2 minute segments of an OVA of a gag manga about the heros of Sengoku era Japan.

Justification: Pretty much more of the first season. Its way to short to be annoying. Not much of a commitment. Basically, the time-investment price is right.

#9 Hidan no Aria*:

Two students of a fictional kind of school for military/police/intelligence careers try to hunt down the individual who's been killing their classmates.

Justification: Its pretty watchable but the character's seem kind of stale. The main hero appears to have powers that get awakened when he's aroused but this mechanic has only been used in the first episode so far so it hasn't been cheaply exploited yet. Hard to get a read on this one.

#10 A Channel*:

Another adaptation of a 4-panel gag manga about high school girls.

Justification: Not feeling this one nearly as much as Nichijou. I find the jokes are more stale and predictable and they're relying on a "cute reaction" for their effect. A little bit more like K-ON!(minus the band premise), whose second season I couldn't even be bothered to watch.

#11 C*:

Wow, this one is hard to explain. Selected people have access to an alternate reality where they use money to power the attacks of their partner so they can win duels, which earns them money in the real world.

Justification: I really don't know about this one. Its just not believable in the slightest. Still, it is at least original enough to stay in the middle of the pack.

#12 Kaiji 2*:

Kaiji, after failing to win the original "game" in the first season, is sent to a secret prison camp to work off his debt. There he must use all his tricks and logic to gamble his way out of hell.

Justification: I really have a soft spot for these gambling/puzzle series(Kaiji, Akagi). I like how you can follow the logical train of thought of the characters as they work out the situations in their head. Sadly, the incredibly slow pace so far makes this pretty much unwatchable to non-fans.

#13 A0 no Exorcist*:

Orphan kid who finds out he is the son of satan decides to train as an exorcist to fight off demons.

Justification: This series suffers from slow pacing and dumbed down drama. I just hate it when the main character is surprised at everything that's happening. Unlovable idiot. Follow the Monkey D. Luffy model of being an idiot. Be dumb, but nonchalant about developments. Then you can be cool.

#14 The World God Only Know 2*:

Our VN-killer hero returns for a second season after a short winter sebatical. Katsuragi continues to use his visual novel skills to free young women of the dark souls possessing them.

Justification: I was amused during the first season but the show seems to be getting stale. I like the parts where he's using his VN knowledge to anticipate heroine reactions. However, those parts seem to be getting surrounded by more and more filler. Still ok.

#15 Deadman Wonderland*:

Guy gets falsely accused of killing his entire class and is sent to a prison theme park. There he must compete in events in order to delay the execution he has been sentenced to.

Justification: The stinker of the new season. There are probably worse ones out there, I just haven't chosen to watch those. This series had a great opening where the guy's class gets absolutely destroyed. Everything after that has been meh. I don't like any of the characters and the dialogue is stupid. I guess the setting is ok, but its not being used...or even explained. I'm predicting this will be dropped, how long from now remains to be seen.

That's it for this month. I have another series that I was gonna include (Honto ni Atta! Reibai-Sensei) but I forgot so you'll just have to wait until next month. I'll remind all of you that Gintama has started again. I won't be adding it to the rankings because it would always win and its one of those goes on forever series (a la One Piece) so I don't want to skew the rankings with it. If you're not familiar with Gintama, its the hands-down best gag anime of all time. Go watch it right now! You're so lucky, you've got over 200 episodes of unwatched glory to explore. Bastard!

Just to be clear. I've only included a blurb for each series because I'm introducing them to you. Don't expect this every month. Bye-Bee!

FuwaFuwaAnime version 2.0

Hello everyone!~

After a hiatus of over 2 years, I've decided to pick up the pen again, figuratively speaking. I won't be attempting to cover all the anime that has happened in the last 2+ years, as that would just discourage me immediately and I would probably give up as soon as I started. Besides, I wasn't that reliable at covering all the anime that was happening even when I was active. I know myself well enough to know I won't achieve reasonably ambitious goals, let alone incredibly daunting ones. I may choose to review some material of the past, at my fancy. However, I'd like to stress that this is a fresh start.

For the record, this blog officially died 2 years ago. It's over. I considered starting a new one entirely but ultimately chose against that, purely for convenience sake. Besides, I will still be convering fansubbed anime so there's no reason to not take advantage of this already existent foundation. However, I will be giving version 2.0 a more general theme. It will also serve as my personal opinion blog. My views on music, films, books, television, video games and just about anything will be posted here. Still, I don't consider myself as much of an expert on those things so the main focus will remain anime. The monthly anime rankings will also be making a return! I'm especially excited to start that later today as I've been diligently following a considerable amount of the new spring season series. It's gonna be the bomb!~

Here's to hoping we have yet to see the best from this blog. Let's build this mother fucker to the moon!! Bye-Bee!~

More reviews!

Kyouran Kazoku Nikki: While I complained about this show being annoying because it was trying to be wacky, crazy and creative, I think what annoyed me most KKN what the sappiness. While the setting and characters were pretty good and the writing had its moments, the sappy moments burdened too large a chunk of the demographic. Namely the not-clinically-retarded/not-Michael-Jackson demographic. I can't imagine a bunch of anime writers/producers spending their evenings hammering out the screenplay for the next episode and feeling that the sappy lines were pleasing to them. They probably just thought, "I hate this line but kids will probably like it". Next time, make an effort dipshits.
4.5/10

Allison to Lillia: A real treat! A series that goes against conventional trends in storyline, settings and animation style. Simple and wholesome, yet challenging and entertaining. The complete opposite of Kyouran Kazoku Nikki, which was complicated yet as challenging as blowing your nose, unless you're Michael Jackson. It's probably very challenging for him to blow his nose, or what's left of it. Can't really say he's not to blame for that problem though.
9.2/10

In case you're asking yourself "why the Michael Jackson references?", the answer is: I'm lazy.

Itazura na kiss: An odd one for sure. It starts out as such an overused stereotype. Dumb,average girl falls for perfect guy except that he's a jerk to her and everyone. Somehow, girl moves into his house. More conflict ensues. Girl wins over guy with GUTS!!! Pretty conventional right? But it doesn't stop there. They get married while going through college. They enter the jobforce together. Eventually they have a child. The series just never quit. It goes over years and years. Despite its best efforts to break some somewhat new ground, this is still a pretty boring romance series. I watched it through because I can tolerate pretty lame productions of the genre. It must be my achille's heel. Still, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
5.5/10

Natsume Yuujinchou: I was initially hoping this would become a Mushishi-esque production. It didn't close. Still, I would still call this series a success. It has a good mix of supernatural elements and storytelling, like Mushishi. It just feels a tad dumbed-down and more conventional. All that being said, its still way above-average fare. Check it out.
8.5/10

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu: Closet-otaku perfect girl falls for ordinary, yet kind guy, when he discovers her secret anime obsession. Pretty regular high school romance/harem fare. It's a winner though because the character designs are to die for. Haruka is a totally adorable yet hot babe. Definitely in the top 3 character designs of the year.
8.0/10

I've got the rest of the spring reviews and some fall reviews still to do but they'll have to wait until next time. Bye-bee!

Happy New Year!

For two years now I've held a groundless position that 2009 would be the money year, whatever that means. Now that we're here, I find myself...doubting?...no that's not it. I guess I just never knew what I meant by that, "the money year". I'm quasi-certain it doesn't mean I'm going to somehow fall into money. In fact, if I had to guess, I would predict that I will be WORSE off financially by the end of 2009. I guess I just meant that it would be a noteworthy year in my life because I expect (or at least hope) that some serious changes will lift me from my worryingly stagnant lifestyle. I feel I've fallen into a routine that falls way below of what I expect of me. I feel that if I don't start dancing now, I may never attain what I truly desire. And like the sheepman says in Murakami's "Dance Dance Dance":

"Dance, you gotta dance. As long as the music plays, you gotta dance. Don't even think why. Start to think, your feet stop. Your feet stop, we get stuck. We get stuck, we're restuck. So don't pay any mind, no matter how dumb. You gotta keep the step. You gotta limber up. You got to loosen what you bolted down. You gotta use all you got. We know you're tired, tired and scared. Happens to everyone, okay? Just don't let your feet stop. Dancing is everything. Dance in tiptop form. Dance so it all keeps spinning. You gotta dance. As long as the music plays"

A motivating cry to move if I ever heard one! Happy 2009 everyone.

I'm alive and so is this blog! (for now at least) - Review Session

Well, I guess it's safe to say I couldn't be bothered to do some posting for the last 3 months. That's all you're getting in the way of an explanation. Ok, I'll also add that the hockey season has been taking up some of my time as I've been blogging about hockey a lot on another website. Go Habs Go!!

xxxholic kei: More of the same in terms of content. The returning characters make it pretty important that you've seen the first season. The ending was conclusive but not necessarily fulfilling. Still, pretty interesting as a whole.
8.2/10

To Love-Ru: Really nice character designs save this from being unwatchable. Rito has the love of the two main girls and he has a crush on ONE of them but it somehow still remains a love triangle through the whole series. Still Haruna is the hottest character of the season!
6.0/10

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: I have to admit that I wasn't as enamored with this as most of my anime brethren. The execution was near flawless but the core remained a humanity vs. alien and humans can win against all odds with GUTS!!! Think of a perfectly executed, nicely animated version of the Power Rangers. Thats Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, especially in the second half. Actually, the series starts off like a masterpiece but after Kariya dies, the series never reaches the same level again. Still worth a watch though because for better or for worse, its the most significant anime series in the last 3 years in terms cult appeal and you'll feel left in the dark with all the parodies, references and comparisons you're sure to see in the future.
8.2/10

Code Geass R2: Absolute masterpiece. If you haven't seen the first season, don't you dare start watching this until you do. Actually, even if you HAVE seen the first season, watch it again before you watch the second. The combination is the best anime series since Mushishi. The ending was predictable, I actually had it figured out for weeks before it aired. It was the only way Lelouch could be redeemed in the eyes of his sister and the viewers. In the end, he was able to remain the hero of the series. I've made some Code Geass comparisons to Death Note in the past, mostly because of the similarity between the protaganists, Yagami Light and Lelouch. Both use a keen intellect and an unshakable sense of justice and lets them determine their actions. They both accept the fallout of their actions as their price to pay for the ability to make a difference. Both are giving a supernatural power to help them create their revolution. The allure of their demise reflects their main difference. Light kept furthering his plans until he was defeated, an eventuality without a doubt. His plans never had a scheduled ending. He was going to continue indefinitely. Lelouch, on the other hand, made his plan, ended it with his own sacrifice and could take honor in his accomplishement. He had one thing Light did not have: attachement to a person. Light used his father to further his plans. He cared for nobody. Lelouch's more selfish but less egotistic motives of improvement to his sister's future helped him set more definite goals. Anyways, I have debated LOTS of aspects code geass so I could go on forever but I'll stop because these are supposed to be abbrieviated reviews. I have some soft criticisms of Code Geass too, and you'll probably hear about them if you spend enough time with me but I'll leave them for now because they are, for the most part artistic choices and should in no way discourage you from watching this.Even if you're a casual anime viewer, you're making a grave mistake by not following Code Geass.
9.8/10

More reviews to come but for now I'm worn out.

Monthly Anime Ranking - August '08

1. Code Geass R2
2. Allison to Lillia
3. Natsume Yuujinchou*
4. Macross Frontier
5. Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu*
6. Sekirei*
7. Soul Eater
8. Golgo 13
9. Itazura Na Kiss
10. Kyoran Kazoku Nikki
11. To Love-ru
12. Koihime Musou*


Graduations:

-xxxHolic Kei (Review Coming Soon)


Stalled projects:

-Wagaya no Oinari-sama
-Nabari no Ou
-Vampire Knight
-Real Drive


I've started a stalled section for series that have been inactive for two months. I see myself dropping 2 and picking up 2 of them sometime in the future. For now however, they're sitting in limbo. I've added 4 new series this month so let's get straight to them.


Natsume Yuujinchou: Really nice series about a high school student who can see spirits. Reminds me a bit of Mushishi but on a lower level and not as serious or epic. I would like to see a bit more of a continuous plotline since its been mostly episodic stories so far. Still Natsume remains a very well-produced and entertaining series, the best of the summer series so far.


Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu: A cute story about an accomplished female student who befriends a male student who knows her double identity as a closet anime fan. The show is a very tame introduction into otaku culture with visits to Akihabara district and Comiket. The character designs are really nice too, especially Haruka.

Sekirei: A pretty decent harem/magical-girl series. The genre is limited in its appeal and the concept is not very original. The male lead is your typical ordinary, bordering on pathetic, student who somehow becomes the "master" of an impressive group of female "sekirei". Aside from that the story moves along quite nicely and the character designs are simply AWESOME. I would watch it for the character designs alone.

Koihime Musou: A crappy version of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms with a full female recast based on a Japanese game. For some reason, there is no Liu Bei. I wouldn't be surprised if I don't watch another episode of this ever again.

Code Geass R2: Code Geass is at its best right now, preparing us for the season (and it looking like the series) finale. Important characters are dying left and right, plot twists and developments are numerous every episode and always ending on a cliffhanger. If you can only watch one show right now, make it Code Geass. If you can watch two, watch it twice.

Macross Frontier: Frontier has been labouring a bit these last few weeks. The pace has been a bit stagnant, some more unlikeable characters have taken some prominence and some of the main characters have been less featured. I feel that the series probably turned a corner during the last episode and I expect it to get back on track as we approach the ending.

I'm sorry I've been a bit distant these last few weeks but its the summer so get a life. I've been picking up some extra shifts at work and as you all know, this blog is always the first thing to go when I'm shorter on time, waaaaay before I stop watching anime. I'll try doing the xxxholic review in the near future. If you're waiting for my review to make up your mind on whether you are going to watch it, go ahead and watch it. It's a good series.

Monthly Anime Ranking - July '08

1. Code Geass R2
2. Macross Frontier
3. Allison to Lillia
4. xxxHOLIC kei
5. Soul Eater
6. Real Drive
7. Golgo 13
8. Wagaya no Oinari-sama
9. Nabari no Ou
10. Vampire Knight
11. To Love-Ru
12. Kyoran Kazoku Nikki
13. Itazura na Kiss

Graduations:
-Kurenai (9.0/10)
-Library Wars (7.3/10)
-Kanokon (8.4/10)

The first thing that becomes noticeable is that a number of series haven't been updated. All of these are affected by the fact that the fansub group I was following have not released any recent episodes. To be fair, I could have easily switched to another group but the fact that they aren't that great of shows didn't make it urgent. I would say these shows are at a crossroads for both the viewer and the fansub groups that initially starting subbing them. Most probably many groups will drop some of these projects but they each have enough appeal for them to be picked up by another one. For myself, I probably will stop watching themfor a while and most likely stop watching a couple and start watching a couple again. For now, I'll just let them sit in the rankings since I haven't made up my mind yet.

Allison to Lillia keeps impressing me with how enjoyable it is to watch. The series is at a halfway point, switching from Allison and Wilhelm to her daughter Lillia and some guy called Treize (french for thirteen by the way, so it's a pretty crappy name). It'll be interesting to see if the cast change is smooth enough to keep me interested. I'm guessing it will be. Allison to Lillia has an old-school feel to it that has disappeared in recent years. It's definitely refreshing to get a wholesome yet challenging show.

Soul Eater is the biggest loser this week, mostly because I haven't watched a lot of the lesser shows and the other better shows are doing well. Soul Eater had some filler-like episodes (i.e. Excalicur) and that's why it's in the red. It's still an entertaining show and I have no doubts it will rebound fairly quickly.

Other Observations:
-For some reason, I'm enjoying Golgo 13 despite (or maybe because of) its lame macho-ness. I guess that kind of show is ok in low doses.

-Macross has been great, but things are getting a little crazy in terms of plot development so we'll soon see if it lands on it's feet. All signs say it will.

See you next month when we add some new shows to the rankings. Bye-bee!

Kanokon - Completed Review

What is it?

Two spirit girls have the hots for the most average boy in the world.

What's good about it?

Really attractive character designs. I mentionned there are two girls but really, this show is all about Chizuru. The whole show is her endless quest to get into Kouta's pants with various people conveniently (or inconveniently) getting in their (really her) way. She's hot and she uses a lot of creative and funny come-ons.

What's bad about it?

This isn't really deep at all. It's a shamelessly fanservice-oriented series. Story and plot are non-existant and the character development is not that rewarding anyways. And I don't find it cool when she merges into Kouta to become an all-powerful form. Kouta is not cool and giving him ears and superpowers can't possibly fix that. Oh, and using fox spirits is about as original as doing a butler show.

Final Verdict

I honestly really enjoyed Kanokon. I fell for Chizuru despite the fact she was aiming for a pathetically helpless stunt-growth. The show was not deep but it wasn't putting on airs either. As long as it doesn't try to do more than it should and keeps me entertained, I can live with (and actually enjoy) lighter fare. I probably won't watch this again, but then again, I rarely rewatch series. The true test is answering if I would watch a sequel, and in this case, I pretty sure I would.

8.4/10

FYI- I'll probably do something else tonight but here's what's on tap:

-July anime rankings

I'll also start a new feature for reviewing ongoing shows that I have no idea when they will ever end. I will provide you with snapshots of a few good series that I can't review because they just won't end. I'm actually considering reviewing their individual arcs as they progress. This will apply to really old shows like One Piece and Bleach, and more recent ones like Gintama and d. gray-man.

Library Wars - Completed Review

What is it?

The Japanese Government has passed censorship laws giving the power to a conservative arm to make library inspections and decide what books are suitable to the public. After a library's staff is massacred by a right-wing group, a new law is passed giving libraries the authority to arm themselves. Kasahara is an idealist and enthusiastic new recruit to the library Corps' armed division and she hopes to defend her ideals and find her childhood hero.

What's good about it?

Entertaining plot. Good action. A decent mix of unique characters.

What's bad about it?

While the setting makes for entertaining drama, I just couldn't buy into the it because it was too implausible. The logic just wasn't there. I just can't see where the public support for the bad guys(Media Enhancement Commitee) is coming from. The story informs us that even the MEC's soldiers are really just hired guns who don't really care about the ideals of the group, yet the Library Corps are constantly being attacked by the public and the media for not giving into them. The library Corps are basically defending free speech, yet they are usually blamed for the attacks on the libraries. I just don't understand why the public are so wishy-washy on such an obvious choice of policy. I also can't conceive of any government who's solution to censorship concerns is to allow two independent groups to wage battles against each other in the middle of their cities. That's endorsing a policy that's barely an improvement on mob rule.

Final Verdict

Besides the setting, library wars is a pretty entertaining series. The dialogue is a little weak at times, but the story moves fast enough and there's a decent amount of action. I just can't overload the implausibility of the whole situation however, and for that the rating must suffer. This is playing itself as a pseudo-realistic drama, so I have to be able to understand the reasoning behind things.

7.3/10


FYI- I should have my Kanokon review and my July anime ranking up within the week. I'm still working on my summer pickups but I've got some additions I can confirm as of now:

-Mugen no Juunin
-School rumble third term
-Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu
-Natsume Yuujinchou
-Sekirei

and possibly:

-Yakushiji Ryoko no Kaiki Jikenbo
-World Destruction
-Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto: Natsu no Sora
-Koihime Musou

It's actually shaping up as a potentially great summer lineup, which would be welcome after a sub-par spring. (I'm especially giddy in anticipation of the new school rumble season. Yakumo!) In fact, if there are a lot of interesting series coming out, I may consider dropping some of the lesser spring ones I've been covering up until now. More details to follow. That's all for now. Bye-bee!

RANDOM PIC

Can you guess where this is from?

Kurenai - Completed Review

What is it?

Kurenai Shinkuro is a high school student who works as a part-time mediator. In most cases, this involves him resolving issues by physical means. One day, his boss puts a 7 year old girl in his care. The girl, Kuhouin Murasaki, has led a sheltered life and must adjust to living a more modest lifestyle, an opportunity she soon relishes. While she discovers the joys of everyday life, their life together is threatened by the Kuhouin family, for Murasaki is the key to a dark secret of her family, going back generations.

What's good about it?

Great setting and story. Awesome animation with good action scenes. Character designs are voice acting are appropriate and likeable. The dialogue and episode themes are, for the most part, creative and entertaining, especially when it concerns Murasaki, Shinkuro and his roommates. The better character development also involves these characters.

What's bad about it?

Shinkuro falls into the most-used mold of the indecisive and naive hero. Until the last few episodes, he suffers from self-esteem issues and must often get a confidence boost from those around him, like his boss, Benika. The producers may have been a little too eager to demonstrate the depth of their versatility. You get an musical episode, some slice of life drama, some modern social observational discourse, some science-fiction abilities and some martial arts fighting. While most of it is very well done, I can't help but feel the series would have profited from more plot focus, especially since there are only 12 episodes and the initial theme and setting promised a more compelling series. I also wasn't satisfied with the ending. The outcome and dialogue at the end seems irrational and unauthentic.

Final Verdict

Despite its irksome shortcoming, Kurenai remains a hit that was one of the most entertaining and worthy series of the spring anime season. Plot development was thin until the end, with the first three quarters of the series focusing on character development. Since it was equally interesting however, the effect of the lack of pacing is diminished. Kurenai makes a lot of its shortcomings seem lesser by producing worthy alternatives. You can't make a bad series if your mistakes are still above-average.

9.0/10


FYI- The summer season is starting in the next few weeks with some new series debuting, most exciting of which is the third installement of School Rumble!, one of my all-time favorites. If you haven't watched the previous two seasons of School Rumble, nows a perfect time to make yourself familiar with the series before the third season starts. You won't regret it!

I've also got the review for Library Wars and the July anime ranking coming in the next few weeks.

Bye-bee!

Monthly Anime Ranking - June '08

1. Code Geass R2
2. Macross Frontier*
3. Soul Eater
4. xxxHOLIC kei
5. Allison to Lillia
6. Kurenai
7. Real Drive
8. Wagaya no Oinari-sama
9. Kanokon
10. Nabari no Ou
11. Library Wars
12. Vampire Knight
13. Golgo 13*
14. Kyoran Kazoku Nikki
15. To Love-Ru
16. Itazura na Kiss

A couple of new additions this month:
Macross Frontier: Awesome. To be honest, I only loosely watched previous macross series but this one is the revelation of the season for me. Good mix of mecha fights and love triangle coupled with great character development and story setting. Yoko Kanno returns to supply us with another must-have anime soundtrack, much of which figures prominently in the actual plot. This is the model Gundam series should be trying to follow.

Golgo 13: Golgo 13 is an assassin who always gets his man. I would swear he was a robot if not for his apparent need to create needlessly complicated plots at times to drive the investigators mad. Character development is non-existent since Golgo 13 never says anything unnecessary or emotional (he doesn't have emotions). So much so that we usually see the story from the point of view of the client or target, since they at least can usually considered human. This show is one of those "man who is impressed by how manly another man is" and should be avoided if you can't see the humor in how over-the-top it is.

Since I can't say any series has noticeably improved since last month, I'm withholding the biggest winner award. Most shows at the top of the list have held steady this week while those in the bottom half have mostly worsened, which is to be expected after the novelty of the first few episodes wears off.

Kurenai and Kyouran Kazoku Nikki are my biggest losers for this month. Kyouran Kazoku Nikki, which started off decent enough, has become plain irritating. It's trying to be crazy and creative and wacky but the episodes are very similar and it's not funny. At all.

Kurenai is still a very good show but it just can't seem to meet it's potential. What started off as a dark fighting/slice-of-life series became a light hearted slice-of-life series until recently. Though it still gets high marks for creativity, especially for an ambitious musical episode, I can't help but feel the series is underachieving. Some of that is probably because I don't like how pathetic Shintarou can be at time. He suffers from bouts of depression and self-doubt fairly regularly. There are signs in the last few episodes that that trend may be changing. I hope so because I still really enjoy this series and still think it can develop into something great. All the pieces are there.

Here are other observations for the month:
-After a grandiose and successful opening arc, I was fairly certain Allison to Lillia would suffer a letdown in the following arc. However, Allison held steady with a decent effort in the second arc and I expect a similarly good arc to follow it.

-Library Wars appears to be missing some direction. The initial setting was intriguing enough but library wars seems undecided on where it wants to take it plot-wise. It needs to make a move because character interactions are stagnating and repeating themselves.

That's all for now. I don't really have any reviews on deck so I might not post anything till next month. Maybe I'll write a retro review for something next week. Enjoy your summer ~Mina!~ Bye-bee!

Baccano! - Completed Review

What is it?

A hodgepodge of inter-connecting events and characters weave a tale that mostly spans the years 1930 to 1932 in depression era Chicago. The story mixes fantastic elements like immortality and folk legends with the historical setting of mafia families during the prohibition.

What's good about it?

Baccano! gets an "A" for effort. The first episode delivers some of the ending elements from the start and the story begins to be told mostly in order from there. Still, during the whole series the story shift between events spanning the three years during which the story takes place. I love this kind of creative mapping. The ensemble cast of characters is quite diverse and interesting. The story and setting are great. Great soundtrack.

What's bad about it?

Short at thirteen episodes, a lot of the characters are vastly underdevelopped. The story begins without much explanation which leads to confusion at the start.

Final Verdict

During the opening credits we are reminded of the names of the cast which goes a decent way towards adjusting to the starting pace. After the first few episodes, the pace does slow down to a more conventional pace though this isn't as obvious due to the continuous event shifting. All that being said, Baccano! still gets high marks for creativity and entertainment value. I'm certainly glad I ended up seeing this because there was so little buzz about this series which is quite odd for such a unique product.

9.1/10

FYI- Expect the June anime ranking in the coming week. I've picked up a couple of more shows so look forward to my first impressions on those. They are:

-Macross Frontier

-Golgo 13

Bamboo Blade - Completed Review

What is it?

A high school kendo club, inspired by the arrival of a talented freshman, aims at tournament glory. This is one of those typical "let's sweat our youth away together in a sports club" themed series.

What's good about it?

Good characters and character designs. Well-plotted with good pacing. Animation is above-average. All in all a good production.

What's bad about it?

The whole series was a little too vanilla for me. The jokes were nothing much, the problems they faced were either not that impressive or never really amounted to anything important and the subject matter as a whole didn't really push the enveloppe in terms of intellectual content. By the first couple episodes I was already sick of the whole "DAN-KUN!!" and "MIYA-MIYA!!" thing.

Final Verdict

All the cute characters and decent entertainment value probably won't stop me from forgetting about Bamboo Blade a few years from now. It just doesn't have any really strong points to focus on. Despite that, Bamboo Blade remains a good watch and a decent all-around series.

7.9/10

Monthly Anime Ranking - May '08

1. Code Geass R2
2. Kurenai
3. Soul Eater
4. xxxHOLIC kei
5. Allison to Lillia
6. Real Drive
7. Kanokon
8. Library Wars
9. Kyouran Kazoku Nikki
10. Nabari no Ou
11. Wagaya no Oinari-sama
12. Vampire Knight
13. To Love-Ru
14. Itazura na Kiss


The purpose of the monthly rankings is more to denote trends in terms of quality during the life of a series. It won't necessarily reflect the rating of the completed review. Some shows start or end strongly but I try and look at it as a whole when making the completed review. The monthly review will reflect how the series is faring at the moment. I'll name a biggest winner and biggest loser for the month. This will be determined by my opinion and not necessarily in the number of ranking spots changes. Lastly, I'll make observations about how trends are developing in some series.

FYI- If I have failed to see any(or not enough) episodes for a series since the last month - be it because of a failure to release episodes by fansubbing group or a personal choice on my part- the series will be highlighted in green and it will not change in ranking opinion for that month (it may be passed or pass another in ranking position if I determined a series I did watch has surpassed it during that month or vice versa).

First Impressions - Spring Anime Season (Part 2)

I'm very proud of myself. I've watched at least 3 episodes of every single show on my spring anime list. I usually fall quite short of that. I'll put it down to good show scouting on my part. Oh, and since I'll be premiering my monthly anime ranking soon, I won't bother writing these in any particular order.

Vampire Knight: Vampires and humans attend the same school(unknowingly for the humans), though at different times of the day, in an experiment of unity between the two groups. Anyways, at lot of vampire stuff happens with a bunch of vampire related flashbacks and intrigue surrounding, you guessed it, the vampires!
Early Impressions: Not very entertaining(as of yet) angst-filled vampire tale.

Kyouran Kazoku Nikki: A newly-formed family that includes, among others- a lion, a cyborg, an octopus, a god and an effeminate yakuza- attempt at living a normal family life together. Over-the-top in both story setting and pacing, KKN is shaping up as a good comedy.
Early Impressions: Crazy cast of characters try being normal. Ok so far.

Allison to Lillia: A great action/adventure series starring a pair of childhood friends. One being a rash, decisive pilot and the other being a talented student with a thirst for knowledge. So far it's been a fast paced ride with an old school type production. Good character development too.
Early Impressions: A strong adventure series.

Kurenai: A high school student/professional mediator is given the task of guarding a little girl who was previously leading a sheltered life in a wealthy family. This is probably one of the strongest series of the new season. It has a great setting with interesting and likeable characters. There's also some great action scenes spread in there.
Early Impressions: Great start to a potentially great show.

Wagaya no Oinari-sama: A carefree guardian spirit (a fox spirit again!?!!) to two young brothers protects them from spirits who wish to eat them. A lot of the comedy is that the fox (and the priestess also protecting them) are unfamiliar with regular modern life (the fox having the excuse of having been sealed away for many years). Elemental-themed battles versus spirits take place every episode. Not the strongest series so far. Characters are kind of dull so far.
Early Impressions: An average fantasy/comedy/slice of life show.

Soul eater: A fun series about Death God's minions, who are trying to catch souls in order to become his weapon. The characters are diverse and funny. The artwork is strange and intriguing. The fighting is entertaining and creative. One of the stronger efforts so far.
Early Impressions: An amusing fighting-comedy type series.

Real Drive: A futuristic setting where people use their consciousness to dive into the virtual world. The story is interesting but the pacing is a little slow. The characters are likeable but simplistic. This series reminds me a bit of Ghost in the Shell in that it should be great but is tiresome to watch at times.
Early Impressions: Good futuristic/fantasy show with pacing issues.

Library Wars: Libraries have armed themselves in an effort to fight the risen tide of government and private censorship efforts. Good characters with heavy development. Really more of an urban military type setting then of a librarians with guns versus terrorists type (I wish!). Slow pacing at times. Repetitive plotlines hurt. For example, the main character is taken lightly and force to prove herself and be recognized, only to be taken lightly again the next week and forced to prove herself all over again.
Early Impressions: Decent military/action type series.

Nabari No Ou: A modern-day ninja series revolving around a boy carrying a special power sought after by the big bad ninja clan. The good guy ninjas swarm around him and try to protect him and free him from his fate. The early great comedic success by the main character totally disappears after the first few episodes when the plot turned suddenly more serious. Its hard to say if that's temporary or not. It could go a long way in my enjoyement since I'm so sick of ninjas(samurai are cooler!).
Early Impressions: More ninja fighting.


Well that's it! Man I'm bushed. I feel like the quality of my writing really took a nosedive after the first few reviews but I'm too tired to care about that now. I'll write up the rankings tomorrow.

They Are My Noble Masters - Completed Review

What is it?

Incredibly, it's ANOTHER butler themed anime. This time with a brother-sister duo serving a group of 3 "noble" sisters.

What's good about it?

Some really nice character designs. (I've noticed I start a lot of reviews with character designs. It may not seem that important but in these types of shows, that is the harem-comedy genre, a lot of the draw and the comedic impact depends on how likeable the characters are, and the designs have a sizeable impact on that. In fact, I believe I would have been less annoyed with the pink-haired sister(the only one I didn't like) if her design wasn't so lame and unoriginal. Anyways, I digress.) Decent character development for a 13 episode show with more than 13 characters.

What's bad about it?

Besides the amazingly over-used butler theme and the annoyingly long title, TAMNM (forced to anagram) doesn't have many glaring weaknesses. The flipside however, is that it has almost nothing original or creative to offer.

Final Verdict

If your not a hardcore student of anime like myself who feels he has to see most significant series that comes out, you can go without seeing They Are My Noble Masters. It is an ok series with little originality in both concept and material. If you really like the specific genre, that being the butler themed series(there must be some fans since they make so many of them), it might be worth your time.

7.4/10

Clannad - Completed Review

What is it?

A bitter delinquent with a heart of gold decides to put his entire energy into building up a complete stranger's dream, the theater club, and along the way they are constantly distracted by other strangers in need and stop everything to help these newcomers. After their "arc" is completed, that person throws their lot in with the theatre club's efforts.

What's good about it?

High production values coupled with, at times, witty dialogue and funny comic gags. Secondary characters offer a strong showing.

What's bad about it?

I don't care at all for the character designs. The plot is incredibly formulaic and the outcomes are quite predictable. The comedy bits are winners, but the series remains a drama at heart and those parts can be excrutiating. The attempts at romance were so pitiful it was laughable. The two main characters only start going out in the very last episode and they blush and freeze up at the thought of holding hands or even calling their boyfriend/girlfriend by their first name. Grow a spine. No one is like that these days (or have ever been like that).

Final Verdict

Alas, the parents of the main female character can't save this series (I loved the bit about the mother's breadmaking skills) because like the other successful characters, they only have side-roles unlike their daughter who is quasi-unbearably lame. That is more proof of the show failure at drama than of miscasting. Characters unattached to the plot are more likely to be there for comic support, which is where the show does ok. The main characters are forced to get serious to advance the storyline, which leads you to want to strangle them. (It's ok to feel that way). There are better series out there. Don't bother with this one.

7.3/10

FYI- Here's what on tap for the rest of the week:

They are my noble masters! - Completed review

Bamboo Blade - Completed Review

First Impressions - Spring anime Season (Part 2)

Monthly anime ranking - May 2008 *(new segment)

I hope to have at least 3/4 of those done by next week. Stay tuned.

First Impressions - Spring Anime Season (part 1)

It's been a week and I've started watching a handful of the spring season lineup additions. Keep in mind that my computer has had a meltdown and my backup is an older model that can't play files encoded with the H264 codec. To put that in layman's terms, shows that are being released strictly in HD will not be reviewed (or watched) for an indefinite period. Now moving on, let's jump right into the early impressions (which is all these are so let's not read too much into them).

Code Geass: ...wow! Easily the best show of the season. I'll eat my hat if this ends up not being the best show of the year (and I love my hat!). I can't remember ever anticipating the next episode of a series week after week like I do with Geass. I'll leave all the spoilers for the formal review in the fall but I'll say that Geass does a fabulous job reconciling the incredibly high-tension cliffhanger ending of last season and starting off the new season at a fabulous pace. The adjustment is done very cleverly using flashbacks to fill in the gaps left over from last season without slowing down the action. The Code Geass franchise is shaping itself up as the series of the decade and if there's only one series you can watch, make it this one!
Early Impressions: GOD STATUS

xxxHOLIC kei: A decent start to a very good show. I just noticed I've never written a formal review of the original xxxHOLIC so I'll give you a quick impression of that since this season is shaping up very similarly. Holic is an entertaining show with nice characters and good stories but with very little to no character development and plot development. After a mystery is solved or a curse is removed, the characters come back the next week and take on their next challenge. We don't learn a lot about the characters and many plot lines go undeveloped like romantic interests or supernatural abilities. xxxHOLIC is a great show that is unwilling to take risks to elevate its product, a common flaw in CLAMP works.
Early Impressions: Great but flawed and unambitious.

Kanokon: A surprisingly good harem that is unapologetic about it's genre. Kanokon features insanely over-the-top amounts of ecchi and fan service. In fact, it's practically all that happens. The character design for our lead female is attrative and fresh. Add in a dash of funny material like the thoughrougly abused onii-chan, the Yuki Nagato-like(from Haruhi Suzumiya) rival character's deadpan deliveries and the classroom comments from the sideline cast and you've got an enjoyable show.
Early Impressions: Rare decent harem series.

To Love-Ru: A definitely lesser ecchi series. It feels like the material is more recycled, the character designs are a knotch lower and the comedy attempts are more hit and miss. To love-ru will need to go more outrageous and do less switching between funny and heartfelt moments.
Early Impressions: A more common, lesser example of the harem/ecchi genre.

Itazura na Kiss: This kind of series irritates me to no end. Girl confesses to jerk-guy. Jerk rejects her. Girl forced to move in with jerk's family. Girl doesn't give up on jerk and uses extorsion, confrontation and tenacity in an attempt to bag the guy. Sound like fun?
This is a romantic comedy that is unfunny with two unlikeable characters. The animation and character designs reek of low-budget and the setting is the furthest from unique. I will probably struggle to make it through this series if I do at all.
Early Impressions: Bad romantic comedy.

I've only watched the first 3 episodes of these series so my judgement is reserved only to them. That's it for now. I'll watch some more and get back to you with more early impressions and reviews for Clannad and Bamboo Blade in the coming weeks. Bye-bee!

~Early~ Spring Anime Season lineup

This is an early list that is likely to be significantly altered once all the series have begun and have been picked up by fansubbing groups.

-Code Geass R2
-xxxHOLIC kei
-Vampire Knight
-Kyouran Kazoku Nikki???(The only reason I'm considering it is because it has been picked up by the excellent joint fansub group SS-Eclipse)
-To Love-Ru(same reason but picked up by moetaku which did a great job on True Tears
-Allison to Lillia
-Itazura na Kiss
-Kurenai
-Wagaya no Oinari-sama
-Soul Eater
-Real Drive
-Library Wars
-Kanokon

A lot of these are liable to be dropped for personal reasons (i.e. they suck or are boring me or both) or for production reasons (i.e. no fansub group is releasing it to my satisfaction) or logistic issues (i.e. I have too much on my plate).

I'm hoping my premature feelings are wrong since I haven't watched any of these yet but so far the number of good series this season seems to be alarmingly on the low side. I'm hoping there are quite a few pleasant surprises here and that my ominous impressions are unfounded. If they are bad though, you can expect funny, insulting reviews that are sure to entertain you even if the series don't.