Monday, May 31, 2010

[Dropped] Saraiya Goyou: Slow, Slow, Slow


I think 6 episodes is quite a chance for any anime to redeem itself, especial for a short season series. Because it's from the author of Ristorante Paradiso, I gave it more than a fair chance. But unlike Restorante Paradiso, this just isn't an interesting enough topic, at least to me. It's been dragging ever since episode 2. With my backlog slowly piling up again, I really just have to let it go.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Giant Killing: Exciting


Currently finished: Episode 7

Remember in the preview post I said sports animes tend to be 50/50 hit/miss? Well, I can tell you right now that Giant Killing is definitely in the "hit" 50 percent. Not only it's a "hit", I have not seen any sports anime lately that makes me look forward to see the next episode at the end of every episode since the premiere. Grant it that I know almost nothing about soccer, so unlike Princess of Tennis where I actually have insight knowledge about the sport, this anime is actually leading me to believe what they want me to believe (i.e. I'm taking in everything it tells me at its face value). Still, I think even without the technical aspect, the story provide enough excitements to be very interesting.

If you like a good sports anime, I suggest you start watching this right away.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Durarara: Wow


Currently finished: Episode 18

It amazes me that how quickly and smoothly it went from a somewhat complex but still single threaded storyline to a massively complicated muti-threaded mesh. Just like Baccano!, everything in this story is so intricately crafted that they fall precisely into the right place even though almost all key events were introduced to audiences out of order. I think this is by far the best dramas from January 2010 anime season. Therefore, I'm handing it:

Drama of the season for January 2010 season

Yojouhan Shinwa Takei: What the...?


Currently finished: Episode 4

I know this is a weird anime, but at least the first three episodes somewhat made sense. But this episode, to me, just isn't making much sense. Anybody who does understand it care to explain?

Friday, May 21, 2010

Rainbow: Hope vs. Despair


Currently finished: Episode 6

Despair brings hope, hope ends in despair. This has been the recurring theme of the story so far. Rainbow has painted a vivid picture (literally) of how brutal the lives of post World War II Japan had become. This is definitely one of the darkest reality anime I've seen lately. Even though I can't really relate to anything happening in the story, recent events in my life has just made this anime the best mood setter whenever I feel like thinking about them.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou: A Slightly Different kind of Harem





These sequences of caps are just too fun to not post them. But e really have nothing to do with what I'm about to say about this anime.

Currently finished:
Episode 6

As much as it looks like a stereotypical harem anime, it actually breaks away from the typical harem formula, well, kind of. For one, as much as they're trying to go off to a perverted direction, that's not what they're focusing on--it's really just a method of trying to attracting more audiences. In the commercial driven world where rating means everything, it does make sense to do something like this. But I wonder, how many audiences would they have driven away for the exact same reason.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Angel Beats: Getting a Weird Beat


Currently finished: Episode 5

One thing I love so much about Key/VisualArts (in this case, their story writer, since this isn't technically a Key/VisualArts production, only the story writer from Key/VisualArts is involved in making Angel Beats!) is their talents of creating mood swings at extreme levels--one moment you'd be laughing so hard that you can't even sit up straight, the next moment you'd be wiping tears off your eye because you couldn't bear the feelings of sorrows towards the characters.

Some people hate stories like these because of that. But to me, that's the ultimate gold mine. Because this can fills me with so much emotions, and emotion is what I always look for in any story.

Back to the story itself, from these seemingly random yet cleverly organized events, I'm definitely sensing a weird beat that is hidden beneath everything. Something that I can't quite get a grasp on just yet other than the feeling that it's going to be the ultimate truth that has the potential to shock everybody. I just hope it does not end like Clannad After Story where the lamest miracle in the history gets the last laugh.

Yojouhan Shinwa Takei: Infinite Reboot?


Currently finished: Episode 2

Either I'm confused with the timeline or this is one of those infinite reboot series. Either way, it's a pretty weird series so far, I just hope it keeps being interesting.

Monday, May 10, 2010

[Dropped] Hakuouki


I'm sure there are enough people think this is a very interesting anime, but I'm just not equiped with enough knowledge about Japanese history to think it's interesting.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Katanagatari: Still interesting, but...


Currently finished: Episode 4

Katanagatari is indeed a somewhat unique piece of work. However, at this point, I can help to feel that the story seems to be missing a "soul". The story is interesting and all, but at the same time, it feels all characters are very two dimensional (literally and figuratively).

The twist in the most recent episode might help a little. But really, if the story doesn't start to have some depth, I may soon just have to give up on it.