What anime are you watching?

[Atria35]

Guess whose local theater was playing From Up On Poppy Hill?! YEP! The newest Ghibli release in the US.

I was really, really pleased with the first half. It built some great momentum, with some blunt, dry humor (very unusual for a Ghibli film, but it was excellent) and can be surprisingly self-aware, about a girl who is really, really trying so hard to run a house and still dealing with the death of her father. She gets involved with a boy who's trying to save the school clubhouse - and I adore this clubhouse. Many, many Ghibli films have places that are almost entities on their own, from the bathhouse in Spirited Away to the Castle of Howl's Moving Castle, and the clubhouse is no exception. It's awesome to see the students get together and fix it up. The second half loses a bit of the momentum and doesn't really feel conclusive - the whole thing seems to go a bit overboard about the plot and really probably have been cut without losing any of the charm or loveliness that the first half went.

[Vilo159]

Watched the first episode of A Certain Scientific Railgun. And... how about no. While the premise seemed kinda interesting, it wasn't nearly enough to make it worth having to wade through so much crap that the younger sister made. I read some reviews after, and they all pretty much said that it doesn't get any better. Not going to keep watching. But if fanservice is your thing, I guess it would be pretty good. It's such a shame when they have to take a good idea and ruin it for those of us who prefer unnecessary fanservice by filling it with junk that just doesn't need to be there.

[GeneD]

I finished Magi and Tamako Market on Thursday last week. Magi was all neatly wrapped up and I'm excited for season 2, although I was a bit disappointed that almost every villain seems to have some sort of tragic backstory.

Tamako Market was cool and I thought the end kind of fits with the whole thing. I think episode 10 was my favourite. Thinking back on it one of the things I enjoyed the most was all the little subversions they did, mostly with the relationships.

SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Like which of the two boys Anko had a crush on. And at first it seems like Midori will become involved in a love triangle but no, she's just jealous for her friend. Again with Midori in episode 10 when she's sitting in the music shop and can't think of a baton routine, at first it looks like the record that the owner puts on will inspire her, but then nope, she needs the help of her friends to solve her problem.

[KazeShiki]

I enjoyed Death Billiards even more than LWA, though that's no doubt a result of the genre.

[skreyola]

I'm plowing through Phi-Brain's second season. So glad it's almost over. Everything after the first half of the show is just painful to watch.

Why would you do that to yourself? Are you going to watch season 3 too?

I didn't know there was a third season. I did that to myself because I was going to review it for CAA and didn't know I had a chance to stop at the end of the good episodes.

[SierraLea]

I am still up to my ears in Case Closed. I cannot stand the Scooby-Doo gang's stupidity, not after watching Conan kick some serious tail.

[ClaecElric4God]

Just finished Guilty Crown. I could have survived without watching that one. I understand when a show is supposed to build up beautifully, get your hopes up, so on and so forth, and then disappoint you at the end (kill everybody or have a depressing conclusion or whatever), but this show was just disappointing all the way through. I kept going hoping that maybe the end would wrap things up nicely or I'd at least be content with something at the end, after everything they put me through. Nope. SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Everybody I loved either died or was evil at some point in the story line. I mean, seriously! I think Hare and a couple Funeral Parlor members are the only ones who didn't at least have a moment of "bad-guyness".

[MangaRocks!]

ef - a tale of memories. ep.'s 1-12 (sub, complete): First, I have to note that the way things are portrayed onscreen/the directing and editing/etc. is unusual in that it's quite symbolic and dramatic; but I think that worked well for this, since it definitely heightened and enhanced the drama of the story. As for that story, aside from the romance (which there's quite a lot of ), all of the characters are also trying to figure out what paths they should take in their lives overall, and there was some good stuff in there about that, IMO. Speaking of the romance, though , I have to say, I really liked the relationship of the main pair in particular (Renji and Chihiro), which is at turns adorable and quite moving. And the other relationships also become surprisingly interesting when SPOILER: Highlight text to read: one character is shown to have some emotional issues due to her family past and another reveals an unexpectedly nasty side-- though both of them work through those issues eventually. Plus, the series also had one of the more satisfying endings that I've seen recently.

And then there's the sequel, ef - a tale of melodies. ep.'s 1-12 (sub, complete), which weaves little pieces of the current lives of those original main characters with the new main story of two other couples (said couples actually consisting of the minor characters from the first series that hadn't gotten fleshed out very much before. It's pretty neat how everyone in these two series are connected). One of those couples is Yu and Yuko, whose backstory is finally revealed... and wow-- that was a whole lot darker than I expected. SPOILER: Highlight text to read: In fact, I haven't seen a backstory that chilling since Mawaru Penguindrum. At least the two of them were able to have some happiness together for a little while, though. The other main couple here is Kuze and Mizuki, which may seem odd at first (especially since, in the beginning, Kuze's... uh... character {if you know what I mean } is as annoying as it is humorous )... however, to my pleasant surprise, in the end it actually not only worked, but was quite good-- and even moving-- as well! Also interesting about this series is the fact that (as mentioned above) there are parts of it that are far, far darker than the first series, and yet there's also a lot more humor, especially earlier on (including one very funny surprise reference to SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Star Wars ). Oh, and to top it all off, the song "A Moon Filled Sky" (both versions of it) is one of the most beautiful pieces I've heard (and I'm a violinist and pianist myself, as well as being a music lover in general, so I'm not saying that lightly, here ). All that said, I suppose you could say that there was something about it that didn't feel *quite* as satisfying in comparison to the first series (there's a little bit more of a catharsis at the end of the first one, for example {or at least there was for me }); however, IMO the production/direction/etc. on this series was actually better-done than the first one, and in terms of the story and characters this built upon the foundation of the first series while simultaneously wrapping everything up beautifully-- so I have absolutely no complaints.

In short, both of these were great (IMO ), and well worth my time.

[the_wolfs_howl]

Clannad episode 16 - Thankfully, the joke introduced in the previous episode was dispelled, though I still think that Tomoya is too comfortable with letting such misunderstandings go unexplained. The basketball match was surprisingly exciting.

[SierraLea]

I took a break from Case Closed to try out The Good Witch of the West. I'd read the first six volumes but couldn't find the last two. Maybe the anime will fill in the gaps.

[rocklobster]

What a coincidence, mangarocks, I just started Ef: A Tale of Melodies.

[MangaRocks!]

^ Great minds think alike!


La Maison en Petits Cubes, a.k.a. Tsumiki no Ie, short film: I was scrolling through the shows on Crunchyroll and noticed that they had this, and I'd heard a lot of good things about it, so I went ahead and watched. And... well, it was certainly good, but I think I may have been a little bit spoiled by Pixar's Up in terms of the *emotion* of that kind of story, because while this was somewhat similar, I have to admit that it personally didn't touch me anywhere near as much as that sequence in Up did. Emotions aside, though, this was quite nicely drawn (really liked its warm, sketchy style) and quite well-scripted, too. (Plus, the slowly-flooding-higher-and-higher setting was fascinating, as well.) So, yeah, it's definitely worth taking the 12-or-so minutes of time to watch.

[Makachop^^128]

Just finished Tamako Market, super cute anime and really innocent (apart from a few bath scenes) the characters were really cute :)

[skreyola]

I've been watching a little bit of Kobato. People over at MAL keep saying it reminds them of Chobits, which is making me very curious about that show.

[minamikaome]

Finally getting to watch Code Geass R2 and oh my this anime is blowing my mind. All the twists and turns are amazing. I'm on the last for episodes and I can't wait to see what happens.

[FreddyCast]

I recently watched 2 new animes
Maoyuu Maou Yuusha- Fantasy, Romance, Comedy

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai Dai 2-ki
Comedy, Harem

The first was very enjoyable. I liked the interesting story and the politics. Not too fond of the two main characters view on religion (the religion shown is an imitation of Christianity, specifically the Roman Catholic Church), but it's to be expected. The art and visuals is very good and pleasing to the eyes. The ending wasn't really an ending *sigh*, but I very much enjoyed watching all the episodes.

As for the second anime, just like the first season, the second season is DISTURBINGLY comedic, but then again it doesn't take that much to disturb me. Yes, there's fanservice, but not as prevalent as some of the other animes out there. However, there is full blown nudity in one point and foul language is used at certain times. I would not recommend this anime, but I wouldn't say it was bad either. It's ok, especially for a harem anime, the comedy was pretty much the only thing that kept me watching it. The characters are so messed up in the head that it made me laugh pretty hard at times, especially the roller coaster ride.

[bigsleepj]

Tried watching Demonbane. A lot of good ideas on paper, but I thought it was badly executed writing and design-wise. Don't think I'm going to watch it to the end.

[skreyola]

Finally done with Phi-Brain ssn 2. Ugh. It got worse and worse, if you can believe it.

[AndrewinIce]

I'm four episodes into the first Hellsing. Man, it's...Well...Let's just say that Alucard makes all the guilt worth it Seriously, its bloody, adult, bordering on sacrilege. Yet the character of Alucard makes it worth it.

[skreyola]

Finally broke down and went to Crunchyroll for the last two episodes of Girls und Panzer. I enjoyed it immensely, and I thought they did a good job with the end of the battle. I really didn't know which way it would go until it was decided. Great fun. Tanks for all the memories.

[SierraLea]

I watched a little Case Closed over the weekend, but got bored with the lack of a true storyline, so I switched. I'm watching Kenichi, The Mightiest Dicsiple instead. When He's not whining, Kenichi is a pretty cool character, but my favorite is the guy who started teaching him first. Tell me, is he blind, like literally?

[Juliannesan]

Finished Yuki no Joou (Snow Queen --2005) Everyone should watch this show. Yes, it was that good.

Guess whose local theater was playing From Up On Poppy Hill?! YEP! The newest Ghibli release in the US.

I was really, really pleased with the first half. It built some great momentum, with some blunt, dry humor (very unusual for a Ghibli film, but it was excellent) and can be surprisingly self-aware, about a girl who is really, really trying so hard to run a house and still dealing with the death of her father. She gets involved with a boy who's trying to save the school clubhouse - and I adore this clubhouse. Many, many Ghibli films have places that are almost entities on their own, from the bathhouse in Spirited Away to the Castle of Howl's Moving Castle, and the clubhouse is no exception. It's awesome to see the students get together and fix it up. The second half loses a bit of the momentum and doesn't really feel conclusive - the whole thing seems to go a bit overboard about the plot and really probably have been cut without losing any of the charm or loveliness that the first half went.

That is interesting. I haven't seen it yet, but from what I heard... They were in the process of finishing the movie when the Tsunami hit, and because that happened, it disturbed the momentum they had in the beginning and I think Hayao Miyazaki decided to still finish the movie when he set out to do it, instead of taking extra time to finish it conclusively...so I think he rushed it. Or something like that. Somewhere I read about that.

[Juliannesan]

Double post. Sorry admins!

[skreyola]

I watched a little Case Closed over the weekend, but got bored with the lack of a true storyline, so I switched. I'm watching Kenichi, The Mightiest Dicsiple instead. When He's not whining, Kenichi is a pretty cool character, but my favorite is the guy who started teaching him first. Tell me, is he blind, like literally?

I don't think any of the instructors are blind. They're all fun characters, in their own ways.

[wildpurplechild]

Watched the first episode of Karneval. The premise is certainly interesting enough, but there are no more eps on Hulu

[rocklobster]

Started watching Black Cat.

[the_wolfs_howl]

Clannad episode 17 - I'm getting a little tired of absolutely everyone falling in love with Tomoya, but I know that's just part of the genre. The stuff with the "charm" was hilarious, though

[SierraLea]

I finished the first season of Kenichi, The Mightiest Disciple. I loved all the character growth, especially Takeda and Kenichi. I wish we didn't have so much perverted behavior.

[Vii]

Rewatched Anohana this past week. Excellent show.

[SierraLea]

Finished Kenichi. I absolutely loved the end of the second-to-last episode. It made me laugh so hard I almost fell out of my chair!