Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo

Thoughts: Imagining Lelouch as an eyeball is pretty amusing.
Blogging?: No
First off, the episode itself wasn’t bad. It’s just, I don’t think I could stand blogging this show for more than 2 episodes. It’s a very unique show, and I don’t mean that in a bad sense. Anyways, the best part is that Jun Fukuyama (Lelouch of Code Geass) was also doing the voice for the robotic eyeball named Leopard. That was the major source of comedy in this episode. Otherwise, the potato robots that were hanging around the humans were pretty lame. The female lead wasn’t that interesting either. The cat-eared character looks like they could have some potential in the next episode. Though, I will keep watching the series since it has Jun Fukuyama and it could get better.

Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou

Thoughts: Nyanko-sensei never gets old.
Blogging?: Yes
The first episode was amazing. The OP and ED scenes dazzled me and I got excited to resume watching this series again. I do like how the OP and ED portray winter, since we’re in the winter season of anime at the moment. The comedy is still fresh and it looks like the side characters will possibly play more important roles now that we’re getting further into the story.  We’ll see even more interesting spirits pop up around Natsume in a few episodes I bet. It’s also nice to see that the character designs seem a bit better too.

White Album

Thoughts: This series has the best music out of the entire winter season.
Blogging?: Yes
The characters were portrayed with a lot of emotion focused on them. I’m glad to say that this doesn’t look like just another romance story. The plot looks like it has an actual direction to go in, rather than some other series that start off randomly at some points. It looks like it could be a bumpy ride from what Touya’s dream has shown about Yuki’s decision to become an idol. Yuki has a lot of potential to grow and become a good character if done correctly, and it’s important to have her become more decisive. Having Nana Mizuki helps this show out a lot I’d say. The OP and vocal song sung by Rina were fantastic. Hopefully we see good results from Yuki.

Thoughts: Two Nyanko-senseis are double the trouble!
Overall Rating: 9
This series really turned out to be worth the wait. Many other series just do not make me laugh like this one does. The sequencing of the scenes in the opening song were well done. The music fit perfectly in with everything, and I asked myself if this was the same Natsume Yuujinchou I had watched before in the previous season.

We start off with Natsume getting hit in the head with a soccer ball while he’s laying on a wall. After falling over, a demon crawls out from the bushes and chases him. Natsume runs into a similar seal that unsealed Madara from his prison in season one. A black version of Nyanko-sensei pops out and follows Natsume home. Gotta love Nyanko-sensei laying right next to his counterpart. The black cat snatches the Book of Friends and Natsume and Nyanko-sensei chase after it. Natsume runs into a spirit named Beniya, and it turns out that she knew Madara. She helps disguise Natsume as a spirit to let him mingle with the demons in the festival in order to find out where the black cat went.

This episode stayed true to the first season, in that it had some comedy mixed in with the usual spirit and demon encounters. The pace of the episode went pretty fast considering it was just episode 1. It makes me wonder how much plot development we’ll see in the next couple episodes. I do hope that Natsume opens up about seeing spirits to a few of his classmates. It would make the story much more interesting.

Thoughts: A lot of emotion was in this episode.
Overall Rating: 9
I didn’t think that this would be such a serious series right off the bat. It was also nice seeing a lot of different side characters introduced in just one episode. It really helps keep you interested in what their connection was to the main character. I was stunned by the OP song. Nana Mizuki really did a great job on it. It’s my favorite opening of the season so far.

White Album starts off with the main character, Touya, having a dream about his close friend Yuki. In the dream, Yuki becomes an idol and won’t be able to stay with Touya any longer. By the looks of it, this will be an important plot device for future episodes. They’ll probably make Touya keep thinking of this dream in order for him to get more motivation to ask Yuki out seriously. The thing I didn’t like was that Touya was basically a lazy bum and spaced out quite a bit at times. His apartment was a mess, and he got fired from his part time job for being late. I understand it’s just the first episode, but I’m still tired of seeing lazy bum character meets pretty girl.

Eventually, Touya meets up with Yuki at the school and only gets a couple minutes to actually talk with her. It’s obvious he needs to be a little more assertive. He meets up with a few acquaintences and one helps him get a job at the store Echoes. It was pretty nice to see that his friend had a crush on Misaki and hasn’t asked her out for 5 years. I’m hoping we see more of them in the future.

Ogata Rina looks like a really interesting character. I’m curious to know how Yuki knows her so well. Maybe they grew up together or went to the same school. Yuki also needs to get some confidence in herself. Her character has potential, but I just hope she won’t be a useless character for the entire series. It’d be nice if Rina and Yuki were the ones who rang the doorbell at the end of the episode. I can see the second episode being possibly funny if Rina is introduced to Touya. Overall, the episode was really top-notch with great character designs. The music and vocal song Rina sang were very good. I can’t wait to see if Yuki sings in the later episodes.

Shikabane Hime Kuro

Thoughts: We finally see Oori starting his training to become a contracted priest.
Blogging?: Yes
Let me first start out by saying, I was very disappointed by the lack of new OP and ED scenes. Sure the ED song is different, but it doesn’t really fit the scenes very well. Overall, the episode was good and showed how Oori is now working towards supporting Makina. The new Shikabane Hime introduced ruined some of the seriousness this episode had with some fan-service shots. I think they’re showing her off as a foreigner with an accent? Her contracted priest also reminds me a bit of Keisei, since they both obsess over anime girls and figurines. I’m sure the next episode will bring more depth to the story, since this one was more light-hearted.

Akikan

Thoughts: A can that transforms into a girl. What more is there to say?
Blogging?: No
I really thought that this series might work, since it was somewhat creative and could have been very funny. However, I quickly changed my mind after seeing how bland the characters are. This seems like a horrid attempt to make something like To Love-Ru. The male lead practically did nothing besides go to school and drink melon soda. I did find a few scenes to be funny, but it wasn’t enough to change the quality of the show. Which to choose, a melon soda can or a real girl to fall in love with? Seriously… I’ll keep watching to see if it picks up though.

Maria+Holic

Thoughts: A girl who wants to find her destined love at a school? How corny!
Blogging?: Yes
The lead character is a girl who gets hives after coming into contact with a boy. At first, I wasn’t very interested in this show. However, when I learned Maria’s secret near the halfway point, it became much more interesting. The maid was a very nice addition to keep the conversations funny. The dorm mistress’s appearance was a surprise to me. The character designs are not that bad either. Overall, the show has a lot of potential, but it’ll depend on how they develop Maria’s relationship with Kanako in the future. Kanako isn’t that interesting of a character at the moment, and there isn’t anything I particularly like about her. It’ll be interesting to see where all this goes in only 12 episodes.

KissXSis

Thoughts: They went overboard with the whole sister thing.
Blogging?: No
The first few scenes at the beginning ruined all hope for this show to deliver anything but fan-service. Our male lead lives with his two stepsisters who have fallen deeply in love with him. Sharing the same bed right at the start of the episode was odd enough as well. He wasn’t even the slightest bit disturbed. The whole concept doesn’t even sound interesting. The second half of the episode picked up and became more emotional. But, I doubt there will be anything else in this show to keep me interested. Man, where did all the good shows such as True Tears go?

Kurokami The Animation

Thoughts: Finally a decent looking action series.
Blogging?: Yes
This show was much better than I expected. The ED music was a pretty nice touch too. The plot seems interesting with something much bigger going on. There are some mysterious deaths and people who have doppelganers walking around. The show somewhat reminds me of Shakugan no Shana, and I really enjoyed that. The character designs and graphics were also nicely done. My only fear is that the main character may end up doing nothing while Kuro does everything for him. I’m hoping the next episode might reveal more about what’s going on behind the strange deaths.

We’re finally at 2009! The new series that will air look very promising with shows such as Shikabane Hime Kuro and Birdy the Mighty Decode 02. Shikabane has already aired and is still in the process of subbing, so I’ll wait for that to start off the new season. I’ll have a more detailed list when better previews or episodes come out.

Looking forward to:
Shikabane Hime Kuro: The first season was brilliant and I can’t wait to see how Oori develops.
White Album: It looks promising with the nice artwork. Hopefully the plot is interesting enough.
Maria†Holic: This show starts off with a not-so obvious trap. Could be interesting.
Zoku Natsume Yuujin-chou: Season 1 was amazing. The plot really captured me. I have no doubt season 2 will do the same.
Kurokami: I love the music. I just hope that the main character isn’t a jerk like in the manga!
Birdy the Mighty Decode 02: I don’t know what the creators plan to do now that season 1 is over.
Chrome Shelled Regios: The graphics look fantastic and I am hoping for a good plot.
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei: Not too sure what this one is about but I’m looking forward to it.
Kodomo no Jikan Second Term: This could be a major failure or actually turn out to be entertaining.

Not Looking Forward to but will watch:
Akikan: I still can’t get over a can turning into a woman.
The Tower of Daruga ~The Sword of Uruk~: I never really got into the first season and the plot seemed all over the place.
Hajime no Ippo: Not really my cup of tea. Never really liked sports anime besides One Outs.
Asu no Yoichi: I just hope it doesn’t turn into another harem anime with 4 sisters. I’ll give it a chance though.

Here’s the anime schedule for Winter 2009 if you want it to keep a look out for the new airings.

Image Source

テイルズ オブ ジ アビス

Alright! I’m going to start blogging this anime. I can say right away that this won’t be mere reports of what happened, because I have played the full game and remember most of it by heart (I’m a huge fan of it.)

I’m going to do my best to point out similarities and differences between the game and the anime, which hopefully will make this a bit more of an interesting read.

This post will be split up into two segments as it will contain two episodes. I haven’t seen episode 3 just yet (I’ll be quicker next week ^^; ) so it’ll be in a new post~

Episode 1

First of all, I have to comment on the Intro video:

I’m really glad they’re using Karma again because that song definitely can’t be played too much. It seems to me like they’re giving homage to a few too many big spoilers in it, but that might just be because I already know what’s going to happen. It definitely wouldn’t have hurt for them to use more of the Game OP for inspiration though. They even cut out the awesome bridge fight =<

Oh and the lyrics? They basically spoil the outcome of the entire game ^^ I advise you to not analyze them too deeply ;P

Moving on to the episode itself, I must say I’m happily surprised. My main gripe is the art-style, but that’s just because the game itself contained anime-cutscenes with a slimmer character-style. It feels kinda odd to see them like this (especially since Tear looks a bit more manly than I’m used to.)

Anyway, the episode itself is all great. They summarized the basics of Luke’s past and the Order of Lorelei pretty well, though it definitely appeared more awkward than the game. They had to squeeze in twenty minutes of explanation into a few minutes though, so I don’t blame them.

"We have all been aware of this for seven years, but I’m going to mention your kidnapping and lost memories one more time just in case anyone of us forget it. It’s not like we have been feeling bad about it for all these years or anything." - Uhh…Yeah. It could have been worse though. They could have used a narrator for it, thus leaving poor Luke in the dark~

The most notable change from the game’s turn of events is Luke’s trip into the forest on the mansion grounds. In the game that didn’t happen, Natalia wasn’t introduced and Luke’s headache came when he was going to leave his room in the morning. Guy showed up right after that too.

All in all though, I feel they managed to capture the game pretty well. It definitely made me anticipate the next episode.

What’s on my mind: I wonder if they’re going to do away with the scene in the game where Guy’s girl-phobia was revealed. I hope they don’t, because it’s a pretty cute scene :3

Episode 2

Moving on to episode two then. I must say I appreciate the way they transfer into the Opening. Those first few seconds of the game OP were almost annoyingly pointless xD

Ahem, time to talk about the episode then.

Again, they’re doing a good job of telling the story. Most notable is that they’re properly conveying the most important part: Luke is a spoiled asshole. You remember how he talked about getting his shoes dirty? He really meant it, ok? More on this in future episodes.

The biggest differences between the game and the anime are, well…It’s almost entirely the same. Sure, you walked around a bit in Engave and sure, Jade joined you in that fight utilizing his full arsenal of spells rather than using Indignation. Those are only really minor things though. I really hope many more episodes are going to be like this, because then this would easily get on my top list of anime (The game is competing for the title of my favorite game after all.)

I only wonder why they had to give Mieu those eyes. God, those horrible eyes. THEY HAUNT MY NIGHTMARES AT NIGHT! (Because yes, one clearly does not dream nightmares during the day. That would be a daymare or something…I wonder if that would be a good word to describe 4-hour classes?)

We got to see a little bit more of the action here too and it’s looking good. I’m very glad they kept in the over-the-top jumping ability and power that Luke possess. They had better include the meaning of birth fight in this game and it better cover the entire song ;P More on that sometime around episode 22 or 23.

What’s on my mind: OH GOD, THE EYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!

 …At least the "mieu mieu!"-spam was in there…

Well I think I’ll start to blog a few of the new seasons. I had a busy summer and am back in college. Hopefully some of you remember me from awhile back.

As I didn’t really keep up with everything last year, I’ll try to only blog what I can. I’ll always make sure to put a first and final impression of the overall series. This should help keep things a little more organized.

Now, I’d like to know which of these series you wish me to blog? Thanks for any input.

Gundam 00 Season 2
Soul Eater
Shugo Chara Doki
Bounen no Xamdou
Jigoku Shoujo Mitsuganae
HYAKKO
Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka
Kannagi
Tales of the Abyss
Kurogane no Linebarrels
Yozakura Quartet
Clannad After Story
Kuroshitsuji
Rosario to Vampire Capu2
Shikabane Hime Aka
Hakushaku to Yousei
Toradora
To Aru Majutsu no Index
Ga-Rei Zero
Vampire Knight Guilty
Skip Beat

I’ll get around to the updates as best I can. Give me until this Tuesday to write something since University has been eating up time. Code Geass R2 is my top priority.

In other news, Mana Khemia 2 for the PS2 looks great. The character designs really are nice! Old characters will also make appearances which is interesting.

Expect some first impressions from:

Amatsuki
Vampire Knight
Soul Eater
Junjou Romantica
Toshokan Sensou
RD Senou Chousaashitsu
Allison to Lillia
KurenaixxxHolic Kei
To Love-Ru

True Tears has been one emotional ride. Dealing with Shin’ichiro’s feelings and understanding the others around him is something this series definitely focuses well one. This series promotes change within the family and acceptance as well.  I haven’t once despised True Tears. It’s one of those series that will definitely having you guessing and your jaw gaping for more. The sad truth of it being only 13 episodes saddened me. It could have had much more potential if it was 26 episode. The graphics were a definite plus. It really did have a beautiful OP and a fun ED.

The creators did decide to be creative near the end. Boy were they creative. Also, the inclusion of Noe’s brother did hurt the finale I felt. The series would have ended just find without him being selfish and untruthful. He did spice it up though at the beginning which was basically his main purpose.

I did feel that the character development could have been better. We were able to see the past events of Hiromi, Shin, and Noe. However, it would have been nice to see the rest of the character’s included. The past of Shin’s parents intrigued me. I really wanted more explained about them. Though, it’s understandable with only 13 episodes. More development on Ai would have been nice as well.

True Tears is definitely a great watch. I highly recommend it if you like romance and don’t mind using a few tissues in the process. The plot of the picture book that Shin draws made it even more enjoyable. So give True Tears and try and I doubt you’ll regret it!

I ended up not blogging the rest of this series due to time constraints, but I wanted to blog the final episode since I did greatly enjoy it. This episode definitely proved that you can easily fool the viewer into thinking a relationship is set in stone. Noe is still in the hospital due to falling from the tree. However, she was saved by the piled snow and received a hurt leg. Shin’ichiro asks Noe’s brother for forgiveness but is not forgiven.

Shin’Ichiro’s mom seems to have changed quite a bit since this series started. She’s now supportive of Hiromi’s effort to be with Shin. She even brings some leftover food over. I always pictured her as a heartless and mean person at the beginning. It’s nice to know that she was able to change and become a better aunt.

Shin goes to see Noe but is refuses to read his picture book. He then decides to throw it away since she was his inspiration to write it, and yet she won’t read it. Noe does really want to read it and follows Shin to the beach to find the pages ripped out. They gather all of the pages except the last. Noe never doesn’t find out the actual ending Shin intended because of this. Noe leaves and understands he loves Hiromi more. Shin knows that he wavers when he sees Noe but it still hurts him inside to part. Shin goes pretty overboard singing the song Noe usually does. Basically he screams most of it. I feel that it ruined the mood. However, everyone faces situations differently and I respect that.

Hiromi is not at her apartment when Shin tries to meet her. He checks the bamboo field and finds her walking alone. He is direct and says "let’s go out". Hiromi refuses at first. I’m guessing she doesn’t want to rip Noe and him apart. However, Shin keeps expressing that he in fact does want to be by her side and she can read the picture book anytime. That hug was a very emotional moment for me. I’m glad to see that Shin was able to wipe Hiromi’s tears and especially since she was his reason since episode one. I honestly thought we’d have a Noe ending thanks to episode 12’s foreshadowing. I’m glad I was wrong.

We also get to see that Ai and Miyokichi’s relationships stays strong. Noe’s brother moves on with his life and leaves Noe’s house since their feelings were not mutual. The guy really felt like a jerk throughout the whole anime. It also seems that Noe is able to move on and socialize more with her friends. Quite an awesome yet emotional episode. I’m glad it didn’t leave a bitter-sweet taste like some other series have.