Portayal of a pathetic lifestyle, seen on acid!

My weekly fix of WELCOME TO THE NHK! has been a welcome relief since the show's debut some odd 4 months ago. Definitely the funniest thing running this side of Jupiter, NHK follows the life of Sato Tatsuhiro, a 22 year old, unemployed, paranoid, college drop-out recluse, who is making weak attempts at taking back his life. Helping him are his high school underclassman kaoru, a self-delusional otaku, and neighborhood resident self-taught psychoanalyst, Misaki, whose motives remain hidden. Though this anime may only be accessible to those familiar with otaku culture ( Bishoujo games, MMORPGs, anime, Doujinshi), or at least with some knowledge of the current Japanese social situation, it is already a classic of the genre, a-la-GENSHIKEN. Sato, already an experienced shut-in, is given his first taste of the otaku lifestyle and his obsessive nature leaves no room for moderation. MisakiKaoru Sato (Obviously!)

School Romance Anime (ahhhhhhhh!)

Bokura ga ita is probably the best school romance anime currently airing anime. After a strong start, the series has languished somewhat with a very slow-moving handful of episodes while the relationship is in limbo after a jealousy quicky dump by the female lead Nana. The following episodes feature Yano, the male lead, making weak attempts at getting her back, alternating between playing the proud guy and being a pathetic clingy whiner. His best friend Take has also developed a crush on Nana but the likelyhood of a love triangle is slim since Nana is still Yano-obsessed. It appears the riff has been healed but we are probably in for a couple of flashback episodes, which I personally abhor. Still, this is pretty good by Shoujo anime standards so I'm likely to keep following it.


Tokimeki Memorial: Only love has so far been pleasently surprising. The first two episodes have been fast-paced and wacky which is always a plus. I honestly expected this to be a borefest a-la-to heart 2 but so far the show is light with glimpses of funny. So far the characters look like there might be more to them then appearances might indicate so I'll be keeping an optimistic eye on this one and keep you in the loop on changes in tempo.

Welcome Welcome

Well lets not waste time on formalities and jump right into the currently airing shows.

The top fansubbed anime currently airing is Black Lagoon subbed by Shinsen. After a superb first season that featured what was the best anime episode of the year (episode 7 Calm down,two men), BL season 2 is off to a strong start with a pair of rampaging creepy goth twin lovers as the vilains. The characterization is strong and the interactions between Rock and Revy alone make this anime a must watch.

(Characters, from left to right: Benny, Rock, Revy, Dutch)

I've got a bunch of other shows I want to mention but I am currently pressed for time. Stay tuned for Bokura ga ita and gintama reviews shortly.