Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica's Ending Explained!

It's really been a while since I last posted but with the hustle and bustle of university assignments coming to a close with exams approaching, I finally have it in me to get back to blogging. I haven't neglected it for so long since my O' levels(or was it AS levels? I forget) but even then I had daily manga reviews lined up for automatic posting for a whole month. Hopefully I'll really be able to get things back on track soon and renovate this place because change is in order, starting with the shoutbox since spambots have gotten into it somehow. I've got a whole bunch of new website designing skills at my disposal so I'll be experimenting with what I can get away with on blogger. Look forward to it to whomever's actually following my words.

Now onto the subject of this post - Madoka's ending. An ending with such a huge shift in tone when compared to its prior episodes that one would think this was a last minute change to the story due to executive meddling or something. I myself would have held fast to that theory but it seems that Urobuchi Gen, the writer behind the series, intended on this all along since he wanted to make a "healing" anime, which the ending actually pulled off. Seriously not what you'd expect from the guy who came up with Fate/Zero and Saya no Uta.

For its ending, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica chose to go out with Madoka wishing so that she personally sees to it that magical girls in all of time and space never become witches. By doing this she ends up recreating the entire universe and ascends from a mere human being to an omniscient, omnipresent sentient concept surpassing time that governs the end that magical girls meet. Essentially a god as Kyuubey predicted but in my opinion a "god" isn't quite right as she's more of a "rule" now. No one but her little brother and Homura remember her ever existing and the Incubators' magical girl powered entropy fixing system has changed for the better. This seeming "way out there" ending really gave Madoka Magica the last touch it needed to be called the Evangelion of this generation. I doubt it'll spark as many heated debates as the super controversial mecha series though. Pretty every loose thread's been taken care of so there's not much left to discuss except how much people like the ending and why.

In spite of the page on wtf endings that SHAFT and Urobuchi seem to have taken out of GAINAX's book, Madoka Magica's ending was actually quite well done and had little to no mindfukery to dick the fans around with. Sure, it does give off the impression of being an all too convenient suspension of disbelief shattering deus ex machina that was way out there and far more than a bit "much" but once you get past all the weirdness, you'll find that everything worked right within the established bounds the series set up beforehand and that had it been handled a little bit better, it wouldn't have come off as such an underwhelming finish for roller coaster ride that was this series. Let's review the main issues people seem to have with the ending:



Madoka's Wish
If it was as simple as wishing for no more witches why didn't anyone wish for it before? Simple, because no else but Madoka could have made it work. From what I can tell, Kyubey's wish granting system works based on how much potential a girl has when they go magical and the extent of their wish depends on that potential as it is implied that there are limitations to what can be wished for when Kyubey questions if Madoka's wish can even be granted. Her potential as a magical girl built up over the countless loops that Homura's been through and judging by the fact that she managed to oneshot Walpurgisnacht by the fourth iteration, there was just no way anyone but her could have pulled off that wish. Madoka also had what most magical girls seem to lack, a thorough understanding of what becoming a magical girl means.

Scene at the End
We see Homura walking all alone in a dessert with dark murky ethereal wings and we hear Madoka cheering her on. I've seen speculation on this taking in the far future where human civilization is mostly gone and that those wings are signs of her ready to witch out but I highly doubt that(though I really wouldn't put it past her). The most likely explanation behind this scene is that the demons raised up a barrier and Homura just happens to be fighting them alone because she's gotten THAT good with her powers. Right after the Sayaka scene we see a demon burning up and the scenery around it depixelating. Given that there had to have been a good deal of damage done to their surroundings had they been fighting the 3m tall demon in the train station, the lack of any visible damage to the station indicates that they fought inside a barrier like they did with witches. As for the wings... the power of eternal love between Homura and Madoka?



The New System
Under the new magical girl system, the girls no longer turn into witches and instead disappear when they were supposed to. Curses now manifest in the form of the giant robed demons for them to fight and generate emotional energy in the soul gems for improving entropy instead of collecting. The Incubators directly have to function as grief seeds for them to unload all their grief so they no longer have to fight each other for resources or be "cannibals" by slaying witches. It's now in QB's best interests to keep the girls safe since they'd just lose all the potential grief they could have reaped from the soul gems meaning that the girls won't get actively screwed by the ones playing the role of their magical pet.

However, I feel I do have to point out that the girls are generally still just as expendable and renewable as entropy staving resources as they were when witches existed. Not quite back to the traditional models of magical pets but still pragmatic enough to leave QB the same as ever, just no longer as a potential enemy. I also have to wonder about the curses manifesting as demons. As shown in the episode with Sayaka, Madoka's basically collecting grief energy and allowing magical girls to die in peace but what does she do with that energy? The Incubators don't seem to be capable collecting it once the soul gems are gone and curses never manifested as demons in the former universe so the only logical conclusion is that Madoka's causing that grief to turn into these demons. I'd even go as far as to speculate that she's converting them herself and that the demons are her familiars in order to maintain universal balance. Madoka having to endanger the girls herself certainly adds a seemingly sinister consequence to her wish but it's still objectively better for the girls this way and I do like how much more bitter this theory makes the ending. Sorry if this ruins your happy impression of the ending but you should know that out of all the characters, QB the pseudo-schadenfreude was the only one I could relate to.


mfw when I wrote the previous paragraph. Also happens to be a few of my display pics.
In the end, I must say that Madoka Magica's ending is not an easy one to appreciate with just one sit through. They pulled a Decon Recon Switch in the span of one episode and the result is a very difficult finale to process properly. Too much was done in the last installment and all the developments overwhelm underlying emotion behind the scenes. It took me a rewatch to genuinely like the ending for the emotions in it and not just the consistency of the writing. They also really could have stood to tone down the cosmicness of Madoka's and Homura's farewell scene so it wouldn't have come off as more supernatural than touching and cut down the epilogue time so that it doesn't take away the power of the epic first half of the episode as much. While the finale did let me down by not ending as strongly as it the series was built up to be, it didn't detract from the show's overall quality. Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica was not quite a masterpiece in my opinion but it came really close.

[EDIT] Okay then... We now have a Church of Madoka. Should have seen it coming but I really didn't. I can't imagine how ridiculous this is going to get.

Fractale Ending Rant

Original hair colors here. One less plot hole in the manga.

Just finished watching the last episode of Fractale and in all honesty it was rather disappointing. The fact that I'm actually taking the time to write this rant out should be quite indicative of how annoyed I was by the way the series ended. The series was actually pretty good overall with its fascinating setting but then they wasted all the building up they did when the last episode rolled around. It was as if they decided to switch out the original ending with something that would look more mainstream. It really wouldn't surprise me at all if that was the case since the whole hair recoloring thing was supposed to be so that the series would appeal better to regular folks who only watch Ghibli films for their anime experience. I was expecting something more epic as the truth behind Phryne and Nessa being the key to rebooting the Fractale system. Here's how I think the series should have done with it:

It's revealed that the Fractale system isn't just a worldwide augmented reality system but is actually a reality within a reality simulation that everyone's plugged into. Every time they reboot the system, they're actually creating another iteration of the reality and sending everyone's consciousness into the new reality hence the reason the series is named after the word Fractal - "A rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is (at least approximately) a reduced-size copy of the whole". It'd explain why exactly rebooting would save them all when the problem with the system is the hardware deterioration of the satellites and why is it that Nessa can exist in those dead zones where the system isn't supposed to work.

From there I even speculated that Dias and the high priestess were the previous iterations of Clain and Phryne that knew the truth behind the system and that they took polar views on what should be done about it. That part was mainly because of how intentionally similar they made him look like a grown up Clain along with the whole clone thing but even I think that's a bit of a stretch. Thinking about it now, that theory could still fit in there with the ending but that doesn't make it any less of a letdown. Yamakan has failed to save anime but will that actually stop him from acting like the drama queen he is? I think not. People like him just don't give up so I doubt he'll actually follow up on his threat to leave the industry. Just hope he's learned to shut his big trap and actually puts his money where his mouth is in the future.

Gurren Lagann Parallel Works Series 2

Heard about the new set of parallel works quite a number of months ago but I somehow forgot to check them out. From what I saw here, it seems that those rumors about Gainax animators loving their job were not unfounded. I could also see that they were working up to Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt with these cause I can see Stocking's swords in Big Building and plenty of English in Kittan Zero. All the videos are pretty interesting though if I have to pick a favorite it'd have to be The Sense of Wonder for it's great fairy tale-like ambience. The music in that one reminded me of Legend of Mana for some reason. Goodbye Dai-Gurren and Kittan Zero come pretty close too, it was nice seeing what the cast did off screen. I would like to get a full version of that jazz song in Goodbye Dai-Gurren though but I doubt that'll ever come to be. If you missed out on these videos in the past months then I would suggest you take some time and watch them. The staff put in a lot work into these and their dedication for their work shows. Also, Gong Xi Fa Cai to all who celebrate it!


Kittan Zero


The Sense of Wonder


My XXX is the Best in the Universe


Goodbye Dai-Gurren


Big Building


Kiyal's Magical Time, Three Minutes Before


Gunmen Symphonia

The End of 2010

Well 2010 is now coming to an end and 2011 is knocking at our doorsteps so it's time for my year end of post. Time sure flew by quick this year but I suspect that has more to do with biological conditioning more than anything else. Oh well, let's start off with the usual list:


Top 10 Anime of 2010

1) Katanagatari
2) Durarara!!
3) Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin
4) Angel Beats!
5) Shiki
6) Shinryaku! Ikamusume
7) Kobato
8) Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt
9) Star Driver
10) Super Robot Wars: The Inspector


There were some pretty good shows this year though not as quite as many grabbed my attention like last year. There were plenty of good OVAs and movies that came out this year to make up for that but I'd rather have more interesting shows in the season line-ups instead of the all too many harem and fanservice shows this year. Though I do disagree with the controversial bill 156 that'll take effect halfway next year, I do hope that this will get the studios to stop producing crap like Ladies vs Butlers and Ichiban Ushiro no Dai Maou. I hope to see some more plot oriented series next years and that Kyoto Animation finally stops wasting their talents on stuff like K-On!!. I'm a fan of the manga and it's humor but I really feel that they screwed up with the anime cause they stretch it out as much as they could taking out all the funny so they could trick moe-addicted saps into worshipping fictional characters doing everyday stuff in dull and melodramatic ways. That's what I have to say about that matter so let's move onto the "Best of the Year" bits.


Best Animated Movie - Rebuild of Evangelion 2.22: You Can (Not) Advance

It's was a pretty close one here between this and the Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi but let's face it, Eva 2.22 was so much more awesome. Disappearance had the best animation work of the year and had lots of good scenes but Eva 2.22 had amazing mecha battles with awesome moments that just keep topping the one before it.


Best OVA - Darker Than Black Gaiden

With four episodes to it and a lot of great moments that explained plenty of things from the first and second seasons it’s a real no brainer here.


Best Animation - The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi

Is it unfair to give this one to a movie when it obviously has the budget to win? No, not when Disappearance not only blew everything else from this year out of the water but everything else from the years before it. Kyoto Animation put in a LOT of work into this one and it really, really shows.


Best Anime Soundtrack - Katanagatari

This one was very hard to choose from with all the amazing soundtracks from this year. Besides Iwasaki Taku's powerful and occasionally quirky feudal themed compositions there were also Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt's awesome techno beats and Black Rock Shooter's amazing tracks. Katanagatari had some of the man's best works with songs like "Gettouka" and "Bahasa Palus" in just the first OST album. There were quite a few other tracks that I loved that weren't in the first one while the other two already had theirs fully bared. Mind you though, this only applies to the anime cause Murray Gold's magical work for series 5 of Doctor Who is nothing short of spectacular and easily triumphs over them all.


Best Song - "God Only Knows"

Eight minutes long, composed of several chapters and sung in an epic hymn-esque fashion to usher in the Capturing God himself, "God Only Knows" is the clear winner of the year. The anime was a bit of a disappointment but this song was just so goddamned amazing. Honorable mentions go to "Gettouka" and "Bahasa Palus" of Katanagatari, Supercell's "Hero" as well as "I am the Doctor", "Amy in the TARDIS" and pretty much the rest of series 5's albums.


Best Character - Ika Musume

Ika-musume wins this year hands down. Shichika saw some of the best character development this year but nothing can beat the invader from the sea. I totally called it when I said that Ika-musume would make a great mascot when I reviewed her manga series.


Best Comedy - Seitokai no Yakuindomo

Well this might be a bit odd considering I put up Shinryaku Musume up on my top ten but not this but watching a bunch of perverted girls crack innuendos and dirty jokes was both absolutely hilarious and incredibly refreshing to watch. If you must know where exactly I place this series on my rankings this year I'd say at 12th, just behind Kuragehime and after Hanamaru Kindergarten. Speaking of Hanamaru Kindergarten...

Most Memorable Scene - Hanamaru Kindergarten, The Panda Neko Taisou

I will probably never forget this dance for the rest of my life. If I ever have a daughter I swear to God that I'm getting her a Panda Neko costume just like Hiiragi's and have her do this dance!


Biggest Disappointment - Iron Man

Remember when I said The World God Only Knows was a bit of a disappointment? Well, the Iron Man anime was a complete and utter failure. The trailers made it look like the awesome shit that the movies wished they could be but then Madhouse turned it into the shit regular shit shits. I really wonder what went wrong during development that made it that way. On a slightly related note, the missing battle between Sabi Hakuhei and Yasuri Shichika.


And to wrap up my last post for the year, here's a list of things to look forward to in 2011:

• Doctor Who Series 6
• Sherlock Series 2
• The Fate/Zero Anime
• The Stein’s;Gate Anime
• The Nintendo 3DS
• The English Versions of Pokemon Black & White
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part II

Movie Review: Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha The MOVIE 1st

Finally got around to watching the Nanoha 1st movie that’s been hiding around somewhere amongst the other things I’ve got to get around to watching and I have to say I didn’t feel like I wasted two hours and ten minutes on this remake. I considered the first season of the Nanoha series to be its weakest but this retelling has me putting it on par with the second. By that I mean I thought the movie was pretty big improvement from the first season much like A’s was.

The movie recaps the events of the first season and chronicles the very beginning of Takamachi Nanoha’s life as a magical girl and her relationship with Fate Testarossa. Some sources like this one say that the movie itself is not only an alternate retelling but also exists in the franchise’s universe as well as a semi-biographical “based on a true story” movie, one that apparently that had consultation from the main characters as well so any changes anyone feels they’d like to complain about should voice them out to the in-universe production staff as well as Nanoha and Fate themselves but I think they’d find that the metaphorical meta wall is going to make that very difficult.

This actually is official promo art.

So what are these changes they made to the movie exactly and what do I think of them? The biggest one much to amusement is the fact that they downplayed Yuuno’s importance in the movie. Even after Nanoha found out that Yuuno was actually a boy and not a ferret she still let him sleep in the same room with her as a ferret and we get no mention of what happens to him after the incident is over. He basically demoted from an actual person to a magical pet. Make that of what you will but I’m taking that as further proof that Nanoha and Fate are two loving mamas happily raising their daughter with little to nil involvement from Yuuno. They obviously had a reason to increase the subtext behind their first meeting cause I definitely don’t remember Fate saying Nanoha’s name over and over again with increasing joy or their farewell hug being quite so intimate and long. You’d have to be blind not to see it by that point cause well… You know what, let me just show you:

I present the evidence right here

Exhibit A


Exhibit B


Exhibit C


Exhibit D


Exhibit E

Take that YuunoxNanoha shippers! NanohaxFate is the one true pairing!!!

Ahem! Well, my yuri fanboy tendencies aside they really did make quite a number a good changes to the movie. They cut out pretty much every bit of padding the first season had and replaced it with much better flowing scenes and great new action sequences and added in new scenes to show Nanoha’s development better as well as more backstory on Precia and Fate that really made the story even more tragic than it was before. The animation’s obviously improved by leaps and bounds compared to the original series but it’s not quite at the standard you’d come to expect from anime movies nowadays but more like a high quality OVA. That however does not apply to the battle scenes which are as I have said before are quite good. My favorite one was where Nanoha shot out a Starlight Breaker at Fate and leveled an entire city in the process proving that nine year old girls are a force to be reckoned with and possibly feared, especially with magical girls like Nanoha. There are many reasons why Nanoha is often compared to a Gundam and that right there is one of them – not very many Gundams are capable of demolishing an entire city in one blast. I think she probably still had it on stun too when she shot that cause there’s no way Fate could have survived it otherwise.

Just imagine what she really could do with this

All in all it was pretty good remake of the original season. They really improved on a lot with this one. Music, animation, emotional depth, logistics – everything really. They even paced the whole thing nicely enough that you’ll feel that two hours and ten minutes was just right for the movie. While I’d like to see a fourth season animated with the quality they put into the movie I’m pleased to know that the 2nd movie, the remake of the second season, is already in the works and is set to premiere in 2012. I’m really looking forward to that one since A’s was the best season of the series and am hoping that they somehow improve Nanoha’s Divine Buster sniping scene since that was the best part of the series. Here’s to even better Nanoha movies. Let’s hope that the Mayans aren’t right and we’ll get to live long enough to see the StrikerS remake.

My favorite frame of the movie

Movie Review: The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi

The long awaited animated movie adaptation of the fan favorite fourth installation in the Suzumiya Haruhi light novel series finally went on sale around two weeks ago and I am very pleased to say that Kyoto Animation pulled it off perfectly. It’s been years since I last read that particular novel but it’s still as clear to me in my memory now as when I had first read it which really is a testament as to how brilliant that book was. Having declared that I can honestly say with the utmost confidence that it is most faithful movie adaptation of any novel that I’ve ever seen.

The movie runs 2 hours and 43 minutes long and revolves around Kyon who suddenly woke up one day that the world around him had changed overnight as he slept. He doesn’t realize this at first but he slowly comes to this shocking revelation that all the odd discrepancies between his and everyone else’s memories culminating with the impossible return of his attempted murderer Asakura Ryouko in place of the ever troublesome brigade chief he’s come to know in the past few months of his life. Coming to grasp this world so similar to his and yet so significantly different to the one he has known all this time he must discover the truth behind the events that put him in this situation and find a way to fix things so that they go back to the way it was.

I don’t mean to come off as fanboy of the series with what I’m about to say about the movie but this is in my opinion one of the very best things that anime has to offer. The animation work seen in this movie is its biggest plus and deserves absolute praise as they just piled detail upon detail upon detail here. Every character named and unnamed feel like unique individuals while the scenery can be just so mindbogglingly breathtaking that you have to wonder just how much work they put into all of it. The audio that went with the visuals was also made use of superbly and conveyed the ambience and tone of the movie perfectly. We’d get quiet sombre melodies when we were meant to feel Kyon’s anguish and alienation in the world while uplifting, hopeful tunes when he’d find some form of a clue out of his predicament. Subtlety was clearly the key to making this as good as it is. They went as far as to show very small things like Yuki stroking a teapot to show just how timid she is in the new world and even put in sounds like the flapping of arms and the low humming of lights, sounds that we’d just ignore and tune out. KyoAni did far more than go the extra mile with this one, they ran a whole marathon just for the heck of it.

Kyon's defining moment

Though the movie is called the Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi, she doesn’t really do much in the story and most of the focus goes to Kyon and Yuki. Disappearance is there to show just how much the two of have changed and what their roles in the messes that Haruhi brings them into means to them. When you think about it, there really isn’t much plot and is pretty much secondary to the characterisation but that more than makes up for it. You’re probably not even going to realize that with how great the scenes are. My favorite parts were when they played Asakura showing up in class like a horror scene, Kyon’s expanded inner conflict scene and also when Asakura showed up at the end to “protect” Yuki. Asakura showing up was just as good as the novel made it out to be but they really outdid themselves with Kyon’s inner conflict with whole symbolic way they went about it when it was just a bunch of lines in the book. As for Asakura’s protection, I just loved how psychotic she was while giving Kyon that pleased smile of hers.

Asakura the Happy Knife Wielding Psycho. My favorite character of the series.

I do have to point out that they did exaggerate some of Kyon’s reactions, particularly his outburst at Asakura but I think that just made the later scenes even more powerful, especially so for the self-confrontation scene. The movie can also seem a little draggy in the beginning but I suppose that was intended as bit of a refresher for fans since even Kyon lampshades the fact that it was a very long prologue. The rest of the movie though is quite enjoyable though so you’re probably not going to feel the length till maybe the end with Koizumi but that’ll wear off when you get to Yuki.

When I read the original novel I thought that Tanigawa Nagaru painted an amazing picture with his words but what I saw in its movie was an even grander one that surpassed. It really did make up for the whole Endless Eight troll they pulled on us in the second season and it was most certainly worth the wait. You might even want to watch it twice if you don’t mind the sitting down again for it for another few hours. Even if you don’t want to make just make sure wait till after the credits are done cause there’s an extra scene they threw in as fanservice for Yuki fans. Another really nice touch that wasn’t in the book.

This wasn't it but I thought it deserved to be shared

Mai Waifu! Widget

An acquaintance recently brought this interesting widget to my attention and while I have seen similar ones, I have to say this one is pretty impressive. I've tried a number of handles and names on this thing and the results are both consistent and varied. Whoever made this put in a lot of effort to get it to work this way so it's worth checking out. All you have to do is enter your name and click the button. The link is at the bottom of the post so you know where to click. Try not to get jealous just because I have some pretty good names.

Leecher Handle - Yui of Angel Beats, July 18th 2012

Scanlator Handle - Akiyama Mio of K-On!, February 20th 2013

Real Name - Kaname Chidori of Fullmetal Panic, September 13th 2011

Know Your Waifu!

Movie Review: Rebuild of Evangelion 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance

Just spent two hours watching the Blu-Ray release of the second in the Rebuild of Evangelion Tetralogy(A 4-part version of Trilogy) and I must say that it simply blew me away. I only wish I had a larger screen and surround sound to watch it with cause damn it all if it wasn't anything less than widescreen-worthy. I'm also putting up screenshots here since it gives me an excuse to use my spoiler tags.

Click for Spoilerific Images!

Eva Mark Six in Development... IN SPACE!


Asuka's new plugsuit. The change is actually plot relevant.


Unit 02 in Beast Mode


Unit 01 in triggering Third Impact


Eva Mark Six Descends

The movie picks up just some time after where it left off from the last one but it starts off with fast and hard with a battle between one of the new Eva units exclusive to the remake movies and the third angel. This Makinami Illustrious character is very much a female bespectacled version of Kamina of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann fame as her battle tactics really don't follow any strategy other than shaking off the damage, attacking head on and having fun.

After that's done we're treated to the scene where Shinji and Gendo meet at Yui's grave and this is the scene where the difference between the Shinji in these movies and the Shinji in the TV series becomes apparent through a subtle gesture on his part. That one simple gesture that he did in these movies shows how much more of a positive character this one is than the original one. Also, this is the point where you know things are going different this time around.

I'd rather not go into depth about what happens from here until the unit 03 shows but things basically go the same way the anime did with several scenes thrown in there to flesh out the characters. Asuka is slightly more mellow and much less shrill than her TV counterpart while Rei steadily becomes more and more human as the movie goes on. Even Gendo somehow seems to be more fatherly, with much more still not very obvious, in this incarnation than any other official one that I've seen. These changes make it so much easier to sympathize with the characters and also strengthens many scenes in the latter part of the movie regardless of whether or not you actually like the characters themselves.

The real divergence point comes up in the form of the new pilot selected to test out unit 03. Like I said, the new depths that were developed in Asuka's character made her a much more likeable character so when it came down to the Dummy Plug vs Unit 03 scene, it was much, much more powerful than the original one. What made it more horrific than it should have been was the children's song that played while unit 01 tore unit 03 inside out culminating in a brilliantly stretched out scene of unit 01 grinding munching down on unit 03's entry plug.

It then returns back to the series for a little bit before the final battle in the movie begins. We're treated to an awesome scene where Makinami hijacks unit 02 and goes berserk on the newest angel along with unit 00 armed with a nuclear missile sans the launcher. They fail, unit 00 gets absorbed by the angel and Geofront turns into the wasteland. After seeing what had transpired while he was in the shelter, Shinji makes his way to unit 01's cage and gets back on the horse just in time to stop mission control from being destroyed with a point blank laser. Shinji takes it outside and tries to subdue it when the power runs out.

This is where you really see the difference is this Shinji, this is where he refuses to stop and forces unit 01 to move for him in some never seen before "Awakened" mode that grants his unit the strongest AT field so far along with eye beams. I kid you not, beams of energy shoot out of unit 01's eyes and takes down the angel so he can rescue Rei by somehow transforming it into an Eva sized Rei through sheer determination. It's no wonder why people have been saying that the movie has been taking notes from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. The once whiny and scared Shinji had grown into a real man with the balls to get what he wants. It makes for one of the most heartwarming and intense scenes so far and all those fleshing out scenes finally pay off here.

I have to say that this was an excellent movie and I liked all the changes they've made to the plot and characters. The mind screwiness is toned down along with all the angst that franchise has been famous for and what we get is an Evangelion with a better overall balance between characterisation and plot. They even managed to fit in some rather charmingly I myself couldn't help but be reminded of the Evangelion: RE-TAKE doujin series while I was watching this as there were several scenes that paralleled it. I'm even wagering that Hideaki Anno picked up the doujinshi at one point and it inspired him to come up with the Rebuild movies. I mean both featured the characters with more well rounded personalities, both were handled much more optimistically and both played the idea of their events being repetitions of the original series. Who among those who have read RE-TAKE didn't feel that Rei's dinner plans didn't mirror Asuka's marriage plans in the doujin? Seriously, this just has to be based on RE-TAKE.

I'm definitely looking forward to the release of Rebuild of Evangelion 3.33 Quickening but sadly I expect that'll be sometime in mid 2012 since these films seem to be going by a two year gap between movies. In any case, I hope Anno delivers some more of this awesome shit he's shoveling onto the silver screen since the sales for the movies are record high. The finale of the "original" plot will end with the next film and the fourth movie is supposedly a further extension of the events after that - getting RE-TAKE vibes again. Oh well, RE-TAKE or not, more awesomeness seems to be in store for us in the next one. After all, Kaworu impales unit 00 and stops Third Impact in time so what else can I expect but awesomeness?

Movie Review: Evangelion: You Are (Not) Alone 1.01

I recently managed to get my hands on a DVD for this movie from Chong Hock and while I’m not quite an Evangelion fanboy, I did like the manga by Sadamoto Yoshiyuki enough to want to experience the other incarnations of the original anime. I myself have been unable to find a way to watch the original anime series but I have watched the End of Evangelion movies in their RAW format for which I’m not sure whether or not would have been more disturbing had I understood the terminology heavy parts. It runs a reasonable 98 minutes for a movie of this fashion.

First of all I need to point out the reason for the title of the movie. I very much lack skill in the field of sarcasm so I honestly cannot tell if that (Not) is meant to be played straight or subverted but I do know the reason for the 1.01 numbering. Most fans should know that the 4 remake movies are to be thematically title “You XXX (Not) YYY 1.0/2.0/3.0/4.0” but there’s an extra bit to that. You see, GAINAX loves their remakes. They love them enough to make 3 versions of the same movie only to make the latest version even more visually spectacular than the last. To my understanding of this particular Sankaku Complex article, 1.0 is the movie shown at the cinema, 1.01 is the first DVD release and 1.11 is the re-remastered release and they altered scenes in each release despite the story content being the same. It’s basically a downgraded version of the Endless Eight debacle but in this case the changes might very well be worth it considering the excellent action scenes. What’s my take on it? I wish that my source had 1.11 in stock instead of 1.01.

Now, onto the contents of the movie itself. I really have to say that the first 10 minutes of the movie were a whirlwind intro with pacing that the word “rushed” would only begin to describe it. I’m comparing this to my experience watching the first EoE movie which was more disjointed than rushed which it still was. It doesn’t really get better in terms of pacing after that but the next few minutes of Unit 01 fighting the fourth angel and going berserk was an absolute adrenaline rush. This particular scenes had an excellent blend of action, mind screw and music. Unfortunately, that was the best fight in the movie and despite it being an excellent way to capture the viewer’s attention I wished they had upped the Holy Shit! factor on the following fights. It’s not that they weren’t great but you really shouldn’t throw out the best part at the beginning of the movie.

After that first fight, they padded it with scenes of Shinji adapting to his new environment and his role in the survival of the human race. I vaguely remembered this part from the manga and assuming that these scenes were taken straight from the anime then nothing significantly different was done here except for maybe the scene where Shinji meets the penguin which I found hilarious in this incarnation. I also thought that Misato was harsher and more cynical in these scenes than in the manga though. The actual struggle between unit 01 and the fifth angel lacked intensity of the first fight in the movie so it really wasn’t very impressive. This part of the movie was well done though thanks to the bits of mind screw they put in here. The Eva’s glove armor melting off to display human hands underneath and Shinji’s desperation really worked wonders for the fight. The former was quite easy to miss in the manga by the way while the latter is better animated.

I pretty much glossed over the next part up till the coming of the 6th angel since I remembered this part of the story from the manga quite well so I have nothing in particular to say about it. The appearance of the 6th angel was pure brilliance though. It’s hard not look on in absolute fascination and/or abject horror when it hypnotisingly changes shape and begins melting away everything in the way of its wave motion cannon. Between this and their rematch it was very much the a good deal of development between Shinji's relationship with Rei. The sniping scene was very much the same as in the manga except for how Shinji bails Rei's entry plug out ofunit 00. Those squelching sounds when Shinji pried open the back hatch with his progressive knife were rather unnerving albeit effective. The movie ends right after he rescues Rei from the entry plug followed by a teaser of Kaoru on the moon. Not just any moon but the blood scarred moon from End of Evangelion, a total mind screw to those who thought this was a simple remake.

There were some really interesting changes made in this movie alone. Lilith replacing Adam in Terminal Dogma and Adam and Kaoru being on End of Evangelion's scarred moon are indicate that the story will not end the same way in this universe. I'm thinking that these movies might be inspired by the famed Re-Take doujin which managed to find a way to tie in all these evangelion spin-off works while adding onto the original ending. The second movie's trailer show us a new character and eva unit so that means this movie is a slow start to what seems to be an incredible sequel to the series. I'm eagerly anticipating the next movie which I hope will be soon.

BEST Anime of 2009

Now it’s time for my last post of the year and I’ll be using it to list down my ten lists concerning anime. Enjoy!


BEST Anime of 2009

1) Bakemonogatari

“Best Dialogue and Direction”

2) Darker than Back: Ryuusei no Gemini

“The coolest fights and powers”

3) Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~

“Deadly Entertaining”

4) GA Geijitsuka Art Design Class

“It’s Lucky Star on High with Art”

5) Sengoku Basara

“Super GAR Samurai Show with powers”

6) Birdy the Mighty Decode 02

“One of the best character driven series I've seen”

7) Eden of the East

“Great plot and epic finale”

8) Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu 2009

“Best Troll Ever!”

9) Shikabane Hime Kuro

“Best Antagonists”

10) Seitokai no Ichizon

“Loads great references”

BEST Beginning

1) Eden of the East – “Naked man in front of the house with revolver. LOL”
2) Bakemonogatari – “One second panty shot countdown in slow motion + Senjogahara Stationary War”
3) Canaan – “Gun-Fu!”


BEST Finale

1) Bakemonogatari – “Easily the most romantic scenes I’ve seen this year.”
2) Eden of the East – “BANG!”
3) GA Geijitsuka Art Design – “Yaminabe is such an awesome thing, I must try it. Hehehehe.”


BEST Anime OP

1) Bakemonogatari 5th OP - Renai Circulation

“Too damn cute!!”

2) Eden of the East - Falling Down

“Coolest Spoiler OP featuring Kinetic Typography”

3) Pandora Hearts - Parallel Hearts

“Very fitting melody”

4) Umineko no Naku Koro Ni – La Divina Tragedia ~Makyoku~

“Awesome latin chanting!”

5) Tower of Druaga ~ Sword of Uruk~ – Questions?

“Great plot teaser with catchy music”

BEST Anime ED

1) Bakemonogatari – Kimi no Shiranaimonogatari

“SUPERCELL does really good work”

2) Gundam 00 – Trust You

“Beautiful and hints at the originally planned ending”

3) K-On! - Don’t Say Lazy

“Best Rock Song”

4) Cencoroll – Love & Roll

“Great rhythm”

5) Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo – Espacio

"Highly soothing”

BEST Soundtracks

1) Darker Than Black: Ryuusei no Gemini “Lots of awesome Hip-Hop and Techno”
2) Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~ “Ranges from sad sorrow to fast paced action themes”
3) Birdy The Mighty Decode 02 “Captures the characters and mood perfectly”


Favorite Characters

1) GA Geijitsuka Art Design - Noda Miki

“The Alchemist of Darkness”

2) Bakemonogatari – Hanekawa Tsubasa

“I don’t everything. Only things I know.”

3) Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo – Leopard

“Soul Shout!!”

BEST Manga I’ve picked up this year

1) Pluto
2) Team Medical Dragon
3) Shinseiki Evangelion
4) Hoshi no Samidare
5) Yotsubato
6) 20th Century Boys
7) Goodnight Punpun
8) Kieli
9) Stray Little Devil
10) Beelzebub


BEST Ongoing Shonen Manga

1) One Piece
2) Fullmetal Alchemist
3) Nurarihyon no Mago
4) Kekkaishi
5) The World God Only Knows
6) Beelzebub
7) Karakuri Douji Ultimo
8) To Aru Kagaku no Railgun
9) Psyren
10) Mahou Sensei Negima


Biggest Cop Outs of the year

1) Naruto Vs. Pain Arc where everyone who dies comes back from the dead. You have no balls Kishimoto! NO BALLS!!
2) The Disappearance of The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi arc in Haruhi 2009. The movie is coming but I was really hyped up about that novel in the anime.
3) Not showing the final battle of Shikabane Hime Kuro featuring Hokuto vs. Makina. Goddamnit!
4) Tower of Druaga could have been an epic RPG based anime if it weren’t for the Neeba ending
5) Munto’s ending. What happened KyoAni? It was going so well too.

*Not Anime Related* Sylar Vs Petrelli Brothers. For that matter the entire 4th Volume of Heroes.


SPECIAL MENTIONS

A) Needless – Stupidest (In a so bad it’s good kind of way) manga and anime of the year
B) Hatsune Miku Project DIVA– Most addictive game I’ve played. I went through all the songs at least 5 times to unlock stuff.
C) Evangelion Re-Take – Best doujinshi I’ve read and I just read it yesterday, t’was amazing.
D) Jack Rakan of Mahou Sensei Negima – Best nickname, “The guy you could stab swords into all you want but it still won’t do a thing damnit!”
E) Mahou Sensei Negima – BEST YURI SCENE! Konoka & Setsuna’s pactio scene. HELL YEAH!!
F) Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~ 2nd OP - Most WTF OP. In context that is. It was really big shock when I first watched the OP.

That's it for my last post of 2009. Let's hope the next year will be even better.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Fate/Stay Night Movie!!

For those you who are unaware, it has been recently announced that Fate/Stay Night is getting a movie adaptation. Fans have been waiting for follow-up adaptations for Type-Moon's famous 2004 Visual Novel game since the release of the anime back in 2006. I know I have because after I finished watching it back then, I looked the game up and was delighted to discover that there are two other routes in the game and that the anime was a mix of the three routes with Fate being the main plotline. Needless to say that I myself was hoping to hear about an OVA for the other routes but as the years passed, I lost all hope for it... until now.

The company has set up a web site for the movie and my expectations for it are very high since the image on the site is hinting at an Unlimited Blade Works adaptation. A new story would be nice too but it better have Archer doing some actual fighting and a remix of his theme song. We'll also probably see some shout outs to the other type-moon works since they're all supposed to be in the same universe. Incidentally, CANAAN will be getting movies as well as part of a trilogy. I am expecting Kara no Kyoukai levels of animation for both of these movies.

For those of you who are too lazy to check out the site itself, here is the cause of my great anticipation:

If you are unaware of what to expect from an Unlimited Blade Works movie, here's what to expect:

• Shirou being GAR
• Archer being one GARsome bastard!
• A look into Shirou's reason to be a hero
• Rin as the heroine
• More Lancer
• Shirou's gang vs. Berserker at the Graveyard
• Lancer vs. Archer part 2
• Shirou vs. Archer
• Saber vs. Kojiro
• Shirou vs. Gilgamesh in civilian clothes

Look forward to the movie.

Adaptations: East meets West!

I can see that I am getting quite a few Americans to my blog so I'll post this up for people who are into Marvel comics and Halo. I'm not particularly into either of those but I did like Spiderman when I was kid. Also to Canadians out there, your country has a catchy name. So catchy that I think that's the main reason why I hear so many Canada jokes on tv. Other than Canada I also like the words "Taco", "Tako", "Pangolin" and "Pastrami". There are a few more but those are the ones I can right remember right now.

Basically for those of you who do not follow the news of the anime world, Marvel has decided to make anime adaptations of several of its titles including X-men, Wolverine, Cable, Hulk and Iron Man. There were two more announced with Iron Man and Wolverine when I first heard about it sometime last year I think but I've forgotten what they were. These anime are slated to premier sometime next year as 12 episode shows done by Madhouse. Incidentally this isn't the first time Madhouse has made an anime adaptation of western entertainment as they have made a Stitch anime as well. And for reasons I do not understand my cousin missed the fact that Powerpuff Girls Z was an anime from japan so let's just make that clear. Also, several studios are making short clips of an anime version of Halo called Halo Legends like the way Gotham Knight was done.

This also applies to manga. I bet you guys aren't aware that there are manga versions of these comics and that the creator of Spiderman, Stan Lee, has actually worked with the creator of Shaman king to make a manga called Ultimo. Heck there's even a manga version of High School Musical and also a soon to be released Manhwa(Korean Manga) version of Twilight. God knows how much I loathe that story but it serves as too good of an example not to use. I do not look forward to whatever backlash that it will create on the internet but I am interested to see whether or not there will be lots of complaints about it being inferior to the books since Stephenie Meyer is actually overseeing the series before it gets released. To add to that, I just discovered that there's a light novel version that is getting bad reviews on the art style while looking for the link to the manwha's info. Apparently standard shoujo art clashes with a trashy romance stories, who knew?

On the flip side of this coin, Hollywood has been looking to adapt more and more of Japan's softpower export as Hollywood movies. They've done Speed Racer, Dragonball and Blood: The last vampire and are planning to make a movie of Cowboy Bebop, Old Boy and Fullmetal Panic. From what I understand they are still producing an english version of Death Note but the fan reaction has not been good. I myself liked the Speed Racer and Dragonball movies and I'm more than willing to give a chance and see Hollywood's take on these stories but their track record for adapting stuff hasn't been all that good. The fact that they're importing story ideas can only mean that they're running out of fresh ideas to use so it's rather obvious why most fans won't like seeing Hollywood grab hold of their favourite anime and turn them into potential trainwrecks. When it's the other way around though, people usually sing praises and wait with high expectations.

Following my logic, he reasons for this double standard concerning cross culture adaptations are:

1. Anime adaptations of stories are expected to have high budgets when they're based off famous stuff but are normally given low budgets when anime are adapted into live-action movies. Keep in mind a low budget Hollywood movie (30M) still beats a high budget anime (0.5M) by a huge margin.
   
2. The ratio of good to bad anime are roughly equal but the ratio of good to bad movies are favouring the bad.
3. Anime has plenty of controlled variables that the staff are able to change as long as they have the budget for it while live-action movies are limited by the actors, physics and time constraints regardless of budget.
4. Anime adaptations usually turn out good and exceed expectations but Hollywood adaptations will NEVER match up to the original no matter how much better it is in terms of storytelling. The Fandoms are severely tight-assed about that. Much more so than those newspaper critics(Trolls who get paid to troll) who like to slam popular stuff just to be different.
   
5. Hollywood is known for milking cash cows but anime is still a struggling industry despite the rapid globalization in recent years.
   

That's about it for my thought on the matter so please enjoy these trailers of the anime adaptations of IronMan, Wolverine and Halo. And yeah, I don't get why Wolverine has long hair in the anime but Iron Man WILL be, to quote Danny from Hot Fuzz, "Off the Fu*kin' Chain!!".

Iron Man Anime PV


Wolverine Anime PV


Halo Legends Anime PV

ALMOST FORGOT - MY COUNTER IS OVER 9000!!

Summer 2009 Anime Season *UPDATED*

This is what I think of the shows for the new Summer 2009 anime season. I’ll be using the explanation below in what I look for in anime as part of the template for every season end or start I post about. The shows are in order of what I liked the most first and the least last regardless of what I score they got. How brilliantly done a show is and how much I like it are two different things.

1) Staff – I like to see new works of good directors and studios. If it’s an unknown, it gives me a good reason to see how well they do. I will also take a look just based on what seiyuu are working in the cast. My reason for watching Hayate no Gotoku, decent but not quite GOOD, and Tayutama, either iffy or good based on the episodes, is because Norio Wakamoto is on with them.
2) Story – Without an interesting premise, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy myself. Spice and Wolf had a mundane concept but was quite good in other aspects.
3) Direction – The series has to have it’s own style and not just copypasta from similar works.
4) Music – This is pretty important since it can make or break the direction of a scene. I’ve actually decided to finally watch Higurashi no Naku ni because of the beautiful song ‘Dear You’.
5) Characters – I want to watch memorable characters that can make me chuckle and make me go “Yeah!”.
6) Meaning – I watch slice of life for fun and serious shows for story. I couldn’t care less if it was supposed to symbolize hypocrisy of people and how religion would save us all by dishing justice to non-believers. I don’t believe in justice anyway. Power dictates who’s right and who’s wrong.


Bakemonogatari by SHAFT
AWESOME
This was by far the most impressive first episode of an anime that I’ve seen in a long while. From start to finish the show just pulls you in with SHAFT’s original stylings. I’ve always enjoyed fight scenes animated by SHAFT since their fight sequences are always dynamic – when they don’t run out of budget that is. The first few episodes of Negima?! were pretty good and Setsuna’s fight in episode 6 was half a minute of pure ownage. The lines for this show are pretty good and so are the character interactions. I’m a little bit disappointed that I heard that Hitagi isn’t a main character but is just a recurring character since she was just so interesting. Hopefully we’ll still get to see more weaponized stationery when she comes back around. My expectations for this series are pretty high since SHAFT’s visual styles will really boost up the horror in this series. I still remember those “Why?” and “Yuuko’s Scars” scenes from Ef Melodies and they got their point across really well. They really shouldn’t have been broadcasted back to back though. Basically I’m expecting this to be a downgraded version of Kara no Kyoukai but that doesn’t mean it won’t be impressive. I also noticed that a few of the animebloggers criticized about this lacking depth but I think the main point of a TV series is not to make people think or feel superior but simply to entertain the viewers. Besides it’s only the beginning, there’s still time for development later.

Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou by NOMAD
GOOD
I actually had pretty low expectations for this show when I first saw this on the list of shows but I was proven wrong when I saw episode 0. The characters are quite likable and the jokes are actually funny and go with the flow. I already like Yumiko’s character a lot but that’s to be expected considering how much fun she was in that episode. I’ve also watched the official first episode and was pleasantly surprised to see them start off with a time travel episode to six years in the past where we see Yumiko as an elementary school student. The fight scenes were decently done and actually involved more than just blasting and getting hit. The music for this show is pretty good too, I already counted two different BGM’s involving incomprehensible latin chanting. Also despite how she looks in the present, Yumiko’s most likely very close to Koyomi’s age. Apparently as proven by the Nanoha series, being a magical girl gives you a killer figure during your teenage years; Vivio even got hers early. Yeah, I think I’ve taken a liking to magical girl shows, they just keep on surprising me. Still haven’t watched the Precure series but it’s not like I want to watch every magical girl show out there. Plot direction needs a bit more work but hopefully they can come up with a good balance of story and humor for the rest of the series.

GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Class by AIC PLUS+
GREAT
Finally got to watch this series and it's very interesting. The characters aren't just good their chemistry is just perfect for a slice of life comedy series. They all get the chance to show their individual takes on a subject in the jokes and add a new layer to it. The pacing is fast and we get 30 minutes worth of jokes crammed into 20 minutes here. It actually got a couple of LOL's out of me while I was watching. It's also oddly educational about how artists work. I haven't done any artwork since my last art class WAY back in primary 6 so I really have no clue what my friends did during their classes once we started secondary school. Also, I am motivated to make some ridiculous pictionaries for fun. Just hope there's a program out there to make them easily.

Aoi Hana by J.C. Staff
GREAT
I’ve read some of the manga and like the first time I tried reading Hourou Musuko, I was completely lost at how the events were progressing. Unlike the managaka’s current work, which is long but quite interesting, Aoi Hana is of a genre that I have read a lot of, enough to know which tropes will play a part in the story. Incidentally I am also at the level of genre savvy where I can identify a trap straight from the character introduction. I have yet to see how things progress after the first volume but I think I’ll just stick with the anime since the first episode was pretty good. The director also worked on Honey Clover and the first season of Nodame Cantabile so I’m expecting very good things from this show. It helps that I’m fan of yuri so it’s almost guaranteed that I’ll stick with this all the way through.

Spice & Wolf II by Brains Base
GREAT
I watched the first season just two months ago so seeing the sequel so soon let me have a good look at what’s gotten better in the second season. It’s quite amazing at how much the main characters can make such an entertaining show just by talking to each other. It reminds me of the times where I talked to this one guy who remarked that our little chats always sounded like a pair radio hosts. The people around us who were listening to us had no choice but to agree since they chuckled a lot while we talked. Funnily enough I’m actually learning about economics here so I can actually say “I’m watching it for the economics”. The art’s improved a whole lot and so has the direction. I’m looking forward to what they have in store for us this time.

Umineko no Naku ni by Studio DEEN
GOOD
This comes from the same guy who made Higurashi no Naku ni so this is going to be good. The anime is considerably tame compared to the manga but at least I’ll get to see how the story will unfold faster. The game is supposed to be a fantasy rather than a mystery but that doesn’t stop it from having some really good ones. The direction was decent but I wished they put in all the details that the manga had.

CANAAN by P.A. Works
AWESOME
This is supposed to be an adaptation of the game made by Type Moon’s Nasu so I will expect more of the excellent action scenes from the first episode. I am also expecting a few good GAR-filled scenes since this is the same guy who came up with Fate/Stay Night. I have to remind myself to get around to finishing off Heaven’s Feel route sometime in the future. The characters have a lot of potential here and I do like the idea of using synesthesia as an ability in this show. Speaking of which, do you guys see flashes of light when you hear things with your eyes closed? I see them every time I hear something like a door closing when I try to go to sleep. Is that a normal thing? Anyways I have high hopes for this show since things will be moving fast four this one season length show.

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 by BONES
GOOD
This was a little disappointing actually. I thought it’d have something epic like people running around screaming like they were about to get hit by the apocalypse. It’s got an interesting premise behind it but it’s lacking showmanship. It’s supposed to show us how Tokyo would react to a 8.0 magnitude earthquake and so far it’s been solid as usual for a BONES show. I just wish they wouldn’t take so long to develop their shows and just get right into the action. Darker than Black was good but they never really took it as high as it could have been during its run.

Hetalia Axis Powers 2 by Studio DEEN
GOOD
Technically a second season but it’s more like the second half of the series that just got renewed for another season. I’ve read the comics and also seen half of the first season so I have no reason not to watch this. I haven’t actually seen any of the second season yet but I know what to expect. The comics themselves have very interesting stories and this is also educational in some ways. For example, I now know how to identify Germans from their eating habits. I could get along with those guys quite well seeing as I’ve always wanted to try throwing my cup down onto the floor after chugging it all down. I’m hoping that we’ll get to see Cuba and Canada along with the time England goes to stay over at Japan’s house animated.

Umi Monogatari by ZEXCS
GOOD
Surprisingly ZEXCS did a good job for the first episode but completely lost focus in the second. From what I’ve seen from ZEXCS, they always make shows that are decent enough to watch with potentially good characters but like BONES they never really take it any higher. BONES usually has good writers to deliver shows with a solid plothole-less story but ZEXCS doesn’t have that. Here is a show that is a good example of a certain rule about anime; if a show has a great first episode followed by declining production ratings in the second and third episode, then the show doesn’t have the budget to maintain a high quality series and therefore will not turn out to be great. I’m sure there’s a better way to phrase that but can’t think of it at the moment. Sankaku Complex has a way of saying it but people who are new to the “Internet Hate Machines” won’t understand what it means. I’ll give it one more episode but if they still make a messy episode then I drop this thing.

NEEDLESS by Madhouse
GOOD
It was interesting and it did have a lot spirit but it really, really, really felt kiddish. I’m not against watching kid shows but this really felt like I was watching Beyblade again. It didn’t help that the green haired kid is wearing a jacket straight out of Yu-gi-oh GX. I’ll leave this alone for a few episodes before I get back to it since this could turn out to be a ridiculously cheesy action show for kids or one of those once in a blue moon hotblooded shows that I never fail to enjoy. GET YOUR GUNS ON!!

Taishou Yakyuu Musume by J.C. Staff
MEDIOCRE
I was hoping for this to be a show where we see the antics of girls who are complete n00bs to baseball but so far it hasn’t been all that funny. I’m not even sure if it’s meant to be funny but with such a set-up it’d be a waste not to make it funny. I’ll probably watch it for one more episode but if it’s as dull as the first episode was then it goes away.

Kanamemo by Feel
GOOD
Hmm… I’m not exactly what to feel about this one. Feel CAN make good episodes but there’s usually an almost equal ratio of good and bad episodes when Feel does a show. Nagasarete Airantou was decent and ended surprisingly well. Shikabane Hime Kuro had a run of dull episodes followed by ones just short of pure ownage but the ending completely pissed me off. It makes me feel RAGE just thinking about it. They better release a bonus episode for the ending -_-. Anyway, the jokes for this show do hit their mark but Feel tends to re-use the same joke over and over again in the same episode no matter what series they do. Like the characters of Shangri-la, the characters here annoy me. They’re all types I’ve seen before and so I have nothing new to look forward to. We have a good cast of seiyuu that include Horie Yui, Mamiko Noto and Toyasaki Aki but the characters they’re voicing just aren’t good. Comedies and slice of life shows are completely dependent on the characters, the director and the writers and none look very promising for this series. There’s still the redhead in OP so whether or not I keep up with this show completely depends on whether she can bring something new to the table. I do like the ED song though but it’s not the kind I would like to hear over and over again. If the full version was a bit better then maybe I would.

Sora no Manimani by Comet
GOOD
I’ve also read the manga for this and despite how solid the episode was, I just can’t help but feel that the plot is very uninspired. You have a guy who moves back to his old town and meets up with his childhood friend and has to join a club to save it from being dissolved. Then love interests spring up in the form of new characters and through character developments and the guy has to angst about how undecisive he is about his lovelife and his future. In the meantime the people around him will have character dedicated arcs to explain a particular trait and will move on with their lives. I’m not saying there isn’t potential for it but when you’ve seen and read as much as I have, this just doesn’t look very interesting. I could say it’s a bit of a cross between Nodame Cantabile and Toradora in terms of characters and development only without any interesting or original characters. A show like this can only depend on its director for success but looks like there won’t be any epically awesome things coming out of this one based on the first episode.

Seitokai no Ichizon by Studio DEEN
PENDING

That’s it for my thoughts on the new anime season. I’ll update it when I get the chance to watch the last two. I’ve heard good things about the slice of life show GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Class so I’ll probably like it a lot. As you can see there are a LOT of good shows this season so it’ll be hard for me to give up any of them. Even if I drop everything below Umi Monogatari, I’ll still have 9 new shows not counting GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Class. Add that to the 4 shows from the last season and I have at least 13 to keep up with. Woe is the life of an anime lover, gone are the days where you only had a handful of shows that you liked and could easily keep up with along with the amount of disk space left in your hard drive. Incidentally there is a difference between an Otaku and an Anime Lover – the former collects anime merchandise and while the latter collects merchandise on a small scale or not at all. I am the former and I said anime lover because Otaku are a subset within the Anime Lover set. Also for Inuyasha fans, the new season of the Inuyasha anime will start this fall and it'll animate every chapter after where they left off at the end of the first season so I'll have some good moments to look forward to.

Next time I’ll either have a review on the Hatsune Miku: Project Diva PSP game or the Konata Winter Uniform Version Figma I ordered, depending on when I get the latter. Annoyingly enough I just found out yesterday that they’re releasing a Summer version of her that comes with her cousin’s head so August has become another expensive month for me. Luckily enough, her being a reserved item means I can wait till the end of August to get her due to the other stuff me and my friends ordered.

Damn it... R.I.P. Wallet... Kidding! I always find ways to revive it fast.

UPDATED - Added GA series impressions. Still no sight of Seitokai Ichizon though