Sunday, January 31, 2010

Kaidan Restaurant: Psychological Horror


Currently finished: Episode 9

Although not nearly the caliber of Ghost Hunt in terms of complexity or depth, Kaidan Restaurant is set of pretty well written horror stories that give you the creeps. If you're a big fan of psychological horror (as opposite to graphical horror) like me, you wouldn't want to miss out on this.

[Dropped] Ladies versus Butlers: Pointless and Tasteless


Even for the harem genre, this is about pointless and tasteless anything could go. I'm surprised that I didn't drop it right off the back. If for any reason you like a stupid brainless anime that is nothing but fan service, go right ahead. Otherwise, just skip it all together.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Durarara!!: Daisy Chain


Currently finished: Episode 3

Very much like Baccano!, this story takes a very unorthodox approach to storytelling. But instead of using a massive parallel layout like Baccano!, it uses more of a daisy chain approach. This is just as an effective method as the other, because the story gets into the huge cluster fuck situation just as quickly as they did in Baccano!.

Also, I thought the characters looks somewhat familiar. Then, episode 3 tipped me off with one of the character waving a Yozakura Quartet manga and talking about going to get it signed by Yasuda sensei. That's when I recognized that all characters here look just like the ones from Yozakura Quartet. It turns out, Suzuhito Yasuda, the artist behind Yozakura Quartet is also responsible for the character design of Durarara!!

[New January 2010] Katanagatari


Japanese title: 刀語
Info/Download: http://www.animesuki.com/series.php/1565.html
Genres:
Action? / Drama
I've watched: 1 episode

Summary: One of the most deadly sword fighting style during warring period Japan is one that doesn't use any sword at all. After the war is over, the ruler is afraid of the power of the style, he exiled the warrior to a remote island. 20 years later, someone came to the island looking for him...

First impression score: 86 ~ Weird Looking

Voice actress: Yukari Tamura (田村ゆかり) as Togame. It's not hard to recognize that she's the voice of Rika from Higurashi, Mostly, the adult Rika voice, with little bit young Rika voice here and there in between.

Personal comments: This one has a very strange looking art style--very simplified style. It's so simple, characters looks almost like they only exist in two dimension. It feels very strange, but it's a good kind of strange, you know, like Mononoke or Gankutsuou kind of strange. Also, there's some interesting attempted 4th wall breaking. Oh, also, this anime has long episodes, meaning each episode is actually 2 normal episodes, about 50 minutes per episode.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Omamori Himari: Harem Harem


Currently finished: Episode 3

For some reason I didn't recognize it in episode one, but as soon as she get in that flirty voice, I recognize Himari is voiced by Ami Koshimizu (小清水亜美), the voice of the beloved wise wolf Horo from Spice and Wolf .

As for the story, let me just say I'm not very impressed. So far it's just a stereotypical harem anime. However, I have to say, the chemistry between the main guy and gal is kind of nice, nicer than many other harem animes I've seen lately.

Also, it seems so far it's getting progressively heavier on fan service as the story goes. The style of the fan service, somewhat reminds me of Kampfer, except somehow, to me, this is a lot more likable than what they had in Kampfer. I guess this is just a personal taste. But I would appreciate if they can get on with the real story...if they have one that is...

Seikon no Qwaser (uncensored): #%^&@^&&$~!!


Currently finished: Episode 1 (uncensored)

After having seen Queen's Blade and Aika series, I thought that's as bad as far as a "normal" broadcast anime would go without getting into the forbidden realm of hentai. But I was wrong, totally wrong.

While visually, this uncensored version of Seikon no Qwaser is actually no worse than any of the Queen's Blade or Aika episode, but at least the latter two limits its own fetishes within the visual perception, where the characters within the story are still trying to achieve goals that isn't quite in align with how they were exposing themselves. Seikon no Qwaser, however, tries to set an bizarre fetish as its fundamental concept while accompanying it with some visual effect. In my opinion, it crosses the line way more than QB or Aika does.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against it. I'm simply amused how far anime producers in Japan is willing to push their boundries. For those who would have problem with these kind of things, I suggest you either stick to the censored version, or drop it all together.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Dance in the Vampire Bund: Old Concept


Currently finished: Episode 2

Lycans? Seriously? I thought they'd be more creative than using Lycans for the major role of a vampire anime. Seriously, too many nowadays are using the Vampire/Lycans relationship as the ground to build a story upon. Can't they get a bit more creative than this?

On a separate note, much of the syle of animation and conversation reminds me of Bakemonogatari. Because it's totally different from what the first episode is, I don't know whether they're just trying out all kinds of new styles or they're going to stick with this one.

Ladies Versus Butlers: Worse than Aika?!




Currently finished: Episode 2

Sometimes I put certain screen caps here so people haven't see the episode could let loose their imagination and misinterpret the image. But this, there is no need for misinterpretation--this is exactly what it is: an anime about 90% contents dedicated to fan service. Seriously, I think this is comparable to Aika R-16 or Aika Zero series if not worse in terms of how they try to create fan service every step along the way. I might find it amusing enough to follow it all the way till the end like I did with Queen's Blade. But the more likely scenario would be me dropping it before I even finish episode 3.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

[Movie] Summer Wars


From the directory of Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo (The Girl who Leapt Through Time), comes another heart pounding story.

OZ is a virtual online world system where many business, games, even cell phone system hooks into. It's essentially the new Internet and more.

Kenji Koiso is a high school student good at nothing but math. One day, he's asked by his senpai Natsuki to do some short term part-time work. Little does he know there's a big surprise waiting for him.

This is a very interesting blend of real life family drama and Dennou Coil like computer virtual world drama. The concept may sound a little far-fetched. But come to think of it, it's really only a slight exaggeration of today's world. This may be closer to the reality than we think.

The story starts of a little slow, but it gets more and more intense as the it develops. Just bear with it for the first 10 minutes, you'll find this movie is plenty interesting.

Anger, sorrow, joy, pity, shame, regret, guilt, different elements from this story covers almost the entire emotion spectrum. On top of that, it is super rich in characters. One of the most interesting aspect of this story is how that many stereo typical personalities interact with each other in times of troubles, whether with each other or against each other. Although it eventually become one of those everybody come together to save the world feel good story, still, this is one really nice piece of work.

And yes, I did realize how similar its plot is to the movie War Game, but this is not War Game, it merely happens to have a similar concept.

Score: 93

Monday, January 18, 2010

Kiddy Girl-AND: Not Quite Sure What to Make of it...


Currently finished: Episode 13

After every couple of "intelligent" episodes, there's an awfully retarded episode. Every time when it seems there's some solid development in the plot, the retarded episode just wipes right off. Kiddy Girl-AND came pretty close for me to drop it a while back. The only reason I held onto it is my respect for the original Kiddy Grade. But if they keep doing things like this, even that wouldn't be enough for me to keep watching it.

Friday, January 15, 2010

[New January 2010] Hanamaru Youchien


Japanese title: はなまる幼稚園
Info/Download: http://www.animesuki.com/series.php/1573.html
Genres:
Comedy / Children
I've watched: 1 episode

Summary: Stories about some premature kindergarten kids and a male kindergarten teacher.

First impression score: 82 ~ ...

Personal comments: Age inappropriate jokes, high school teach-student relationship, too many things in this anime are common (maybe) occurrences in stories originated from Japan that the western civilization would see as socially unacceptable. It's somewhat interesting, but due to its childish nature, I'm not sure how much of this I can stand.

[New January 2010] Nodame Cantabile Finale


Japanese title: のだめカンタービレ フィナーレ
Info: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10950
Download: No English Sub Available Yet
Genres:
Comedy / Drama / Musical
I've watched: 1 episode

Summary: The final chapter of the best musical anime ever created -- Nodame Cantabile.

First impression score: 88 ~ Still Amusing

Personal comments: Nodame is now facing new challenges. This new chapter will wrap up the story once and for all.