I dunno, the thing that pissed me off was how much time we spent on Minori acting all weird and having personal problems, and then just when you started to believe maybe her problem was something non-predictable, nope, she just likes Ryuji, nice and predictably. If she was really determined to just get rid of Ryuuji and set him and Taiga up, she also could have just told him she doesn't like him, which would have saved everyone a lot of time and effort, not to mention saved her face from being on the receiving end of Ami's fist.
I dunno, the thing that pissed me off was how much time we spent on Minori acting all weird and having personal problems, and then just when you started to believe maybe her problem was something non-predictable, nope, she just likes Ryuji, nice and predictably. If she was really determined to just get rid of Ryuuji and set him and Taiga up, she also could have just told him she doesn't like him, which would have saved everyone a lot of time and effort, not to mention saved her face from being on the receiving end of Ami's fist.
I dunno, the thing that pissed me off was how much time we spent on Minori acting all weird and having personal problems, and then just when you started to believe maybe her problem was something non-predictable, nope, she just likes Ryuji, nice and predictably. If she was really determined to just get rid of Ryuuji and set him and Taiga up, she also could have just told him she doesn't like him, which would have saved everyone a lot of time and effort, not to mention saved her face from being on the receiving end of Ami's fist.
Yeah, her feelings towards Ryuuji were pretty obvious. I mean, I guess it would have been nice to have a side story about why she's always taking part time jobs and then build on her relationship from there, but that was a missed opportunity.
Winter Sonata is getting stupid hilarious. Yujin is fainting so much, she's doing it in the previews now.
God, I almost want to watch real K-Dramas just to see if melodrama in real life is as hilarious as it is in cartoon form.
Oh well, at least the first half was somewhat interesting.
I finshed it recently, despite trying to convince myself throughout it's whole run, that i did not like the show (it's typical moe trash etc etc). I haft to admit, i found it very entertaining, although, why wouldn't it be, i watched the whole show from start to finish.:lol
I feel a distinct lack of love for Cobra : The Animation. While the animation isn't that great the show is still somewhat entertaining. You can feel the watchful gaze of Buichi Terasaw making sure there was lots of ass on display as well. Yet even more important then that is the ludicros opening song.
I feel a distinct lack of love for Cobra : The Animation. While the animation isn't that great the show is still somewhat entertaining. You can feel the watchful gaze of Buichi Terasaw making sure there was lots of ass on display as well. Yet even more important then that is the ludicros opening song.
A tsundere fantasizing about the guy she loves abusing a (supposedly 19 year old) loli nurse? Apart from representing everything that is currently wrong with anime I don't see any problems there.
A tsundere fantasizing about the guy she loves abusing a (supposedly 19 year old) loli nurse? Apart from representing everything that is currently wrong with anime I don't see any problems there.
It's not the fact that she obviously was into Ryuuji (which is a no duh since it's that kind of series), it's that she was acting idiotic enough from Episode 15+ enough to start believing she had some sort of problem more deep than just she really likes Ryuuji. It just seemed like there was going to be more to her character than that, and there wasn't.
I would also mention that I found her personally annoying. Even more than LouiseShana Taiga.
Really? So far all that's happened is, the eternal loli appeared on a Japanese variety show, then she flirted with an amnesiac werewolf until her superkawaiilolipowah made him remember he had superwerewolfpowah, then she went to his (her) school and made everyone bow down to her because she was like the Chairman and shit while they chased after werewolf-kun like it was a low-budget episode of Code Geass.
I'm not saying DitVB won't become good later, because maybe it will, but so far it's been an endless parade of anime stereotypes, the creativity of the bad Japanese variety show parody in the pilot notwithstanding.
Really? So far all that's happened is, the eternal loli appeared on a Japanese variety show, then she flirted with an amnesiac werewolf until her superkawaiilolipowah made him remember he had superwerewolfpowah, then she went to his (her) school and made everyone bow down to her because she was like the Chairman and shit while they chased after werewolf-kun like it was a low-budget episode of Code Geass.
I'm not saying DitVB won't become good later, because maybe it will, but so far it's been an endless parade of anime stereotypes, the creativity of the bad Japanese variety show parody in the pilot notwithstanding.
Really? So far all that's happened is, the eternal loli appeared on a Japanese variety show, then she flirted with an amnesiac werewolf until her superkawaiilolipowah made him remember he had superwerewolfpowah, then she went to his (her) school and made everyone bow down to her because she was like the Chairman and shit while they chased after werewolf-kun like it was a low-budget episode of Code Geass.
I'm not saying DitVB won't become good later, because maybe it will, but so far it's been an endless parade of anime stereotypes, the creativity of the bad Japanese variety show parody in the pilot notwithstanding.
It isn't a question of what happened (altho I disagree with you a bit on what happened), more a question of how it happened, the pacing, the directing and that kinda stuff.
I'm finding the direction (and the directing) good, with characters that to me seem interesting. It's also interesting the way the plot unfolds, with the human girl doing the telling here and there.
As far as stereotypes, I don't have a problem with them (like I didn't have a problem with them in Bakemonogatari). They seem well managed and well done so far.
I feel a distinct lack of love for Cobra : The Animation. While the animation isn't that great the show is still somewhat entertaining. You can feel the watchful gaze of Buichi Terasaw making sure there was lots of ass on display as well. Yet even more important then that is the ludicros opening song.
It isn't a question of what happened (altho I disagree with you a bit on what happened), more a question of how it happened, the pacing, the directing and that kinda stuff.
I'm finding the direction (and the directing) good, with characters that to me seem interesting. It's also interesting the way the plot unfolds, with the human girl doing the telling here and there.
As far as stereotypes, I don't have a problem with them (like I didn't have a problem with them in Bakemonogatari). They seem well managed and well done so far.
i agree with you on this. the first three episodes where quite enjoyable so far and it seems like it isn't one of those series you can guess the whole plot after watching the first episode. the first episode rather surprised me in its execution which is why i am watching this now since i had no interest when i first heard of this series.
Durarara! 3: Why is Mikado so annoying. AND HIS ANNOYING FRIEND WHOSE NAME I CAN'T REMEMBER.
Where's my Isaac. Where's my Jacuzzi.
What the fuck is this. One episode on introductions. One episode for philosophy and half an episode for more mood setting.
(WHY WAS THAT GUY MASTURBATING THROUGH HIS POCKET.)
Orihara and Shizuo are shaping up to be as great as Ladd vs Claire (except not because Baccano's psycho pair was interesting from the start, at least Ladd was).
FINALLY SOMETHING INTERESTING HAPPENED.
I hate wimpy protagonists. OH WAIT THEY ALL ARE.
Final Thoughts: Trying too hard to be as interesting as Bakemonogatari. Less boring dialogue, more action, I know they are capable of it so I'm not sure if it's budget or time or what. Izaya, Shizuo, Neko-helmet and Simon are the only interesting characters out of like, what, 15?
Bakatest 3: 4 minutes in and I already laughed, whereas it took Durarara! 15 minutes and the best characters.
In a fight between losers, Akihisa would win by virtue of his harem. All Mikado has is his gay best friend since he fails at white knighting.
Akihisa now has a bromance (two if you count Yuuji) , Mikado officially has nothing going for him.
Okay, two bromances.
(Lol at the limp arm)
Mr. Ironman needs his own minishow.
Reusing animation is bad. Abusive quiet girl is good.
Cockblocked by lesbo.
Shimizu am genius.
Final Thoughts: This show is turning out to be amazing for me.
It isn't a question of what happened (altho I disagree with you a bit on what happened), more a question of how it happened, the pacing, the directing and that kinda stuff.
I'm finding the direction (and the directing) good, with characters that to me seem interesting. It's also interesting the way the plot unfolds, with the human girl doing the telling here and there.
As far as stereotypes, I don't have a problem with them (like I didn't have a problem with them in Bakemonogatari). They seem well managed and well done so far.
I'm not saying it's awful, but it's certainly not quite good. I'm still following the show in the hopes it ends up being more than just Vampire: The Masquerade with a loli, or Underworld where Kate Beckinsale looks like she's 11 years old. It has potential, that's for sure. Apparently the people who've read the manga have said the manga is quite good, though the anime is purposely not following the manga's story directly by the author's orders.
I wish they would stop pronouncing the word 'bund' as "bunned", it's a German word, the correct pronunciation is "buuned".
I really like the OP and the title animation, despite the overuse of flower stills. I wonder if this show actually will have the budget to animate the ED or is Shaft just late animating the ED or something.
Sora no Woto 1 - Actually good... okay, the stereotypically moe characters are nothing special, but the story seems like it could be interesting and the background art was just amazing... some really beautiful stuff there. The town, the underwater skeleton or whatever it is, and more, just great artwork. The character designs are also a little interesting, the girls are actually wearing sane military costumes! How often does THAT happen? I mean, it's usually stupid miniskirts-and-thighhighs "uniforms" or something like that, not something sane like these pants-and-army-jackets uniforms. It's interesting that they went with it, it must hurt the show by reducing the fanservice quotient quite a bit. I'm not complaining at all though, I think it was a good decision. And yeah, whatever the background story is, it looks like it could be interesting. Anyway, the characters definitely seem pretty stereotypical, but it seems worth continuing even so.
Baka to Test 1 - Okay show, but nothing great. Might watch more. Very predictable episode... of course they can never upgrade to a better room even if they earn it, it would counter the whole point of the plot right now! That was so predictable, but so stupid... oh well.
Ladies vs Butlers 1 - Abandoned halfway through the first episode because of the sheer stupidity of the show. Won't be going back to this one.
Oh yeah, and I'm still watching Fairy Tail and have seen all 14 episodes. It's nothing special for its genre, but if you can enjoy these shows it's decent entertainment. Plus there aren't 400 episodes yet to make it so intimidating to start watching...
Other than recent stuff, I also finally got around to watching some of Mushishi, and saw eps 1-7. It's definitely a very good show. I do kind of dislike how
the people affected by Mushi often seem to get suicidal, want to die, want to stop being human and become Mushi, etc -- like being affected by these creatures destroys their will to survive... it's sad, and frustrating too when they do similar things episode after episode. At least the Mushishi himself does NOT believe that stuff and does try to save people from their stupidity, but he doesn't always succeed... so yeah, it's kind of sad.
Still, really good show, I definitely will need to watch more. Definitely one of the better ones out there, it's not the equal of a Lain, Haibane Renmei, or Kino's Journey (my three favorite animes ever, in that order), but it's good, and I can see why it would be mentioned with shows of that kind. It's slow paced, has no action, and has an interesting, fantastic setting. The main character is intelligent and always working at solving the problem Mushi at hand. Each episode is quite interesting and well done. The whole tone of the show is done fantastically well, with the musical presentation, story, and art fitting together perfectly.
On a completely different note, I also watched all 12 episodes of Koihime Musou and the first three episodes of Shin Koihime Musou. For some reason, and despite definitely not expecting to when I watched the first episode, I actually liked the first season, as silly and light as it was. The second one isn't quite as good so far I think... it's okay, but not great. They upped the amount of fanservice compared to the first season, for one thing, but it's all covered by steam or sunlight beams or stuff like that, so it just looks lame, and the change wasn't really needed. Ryuubi doesn't really make an impressive first impression either... still, I will keep watching it, I think. It's entertaining enough at least. (It is kind of unique, I think, in that it is an anime based on an H-game, but the main character guy of the game doesn't even appear in the anime at all, so it's just the (many) girls of this ROTK-but-with-all-the-characters-as-girls-and-a-much-less-depressing-version-of-the-story (than even the version in the games, evidently, from reading the Wikipedia descriptions) anime.
I actually haven't really watched ROTK-based anime before, I watched a couple of episodes of Ikkitousen but found it somewhat intolerable and didn't get far at all. (The main character is such an idiot... there's one contrast with Koihime Musou, Kannu is definitely not stupid. I know stupid main characters are extremely, extremely common in anime, but they definitely get annoying after a while. I like smarter ones I think... and that's probably why Ryuubi annoys me some, she's much more the "stupid main character".)
Of course, I am a fan and student of history, so the ancient China setting is a definite plus, despite all the stupidities of random anime-character designs that don't fit actual ancient settings at all, as always. Medieval periods always have fascinated me... the point is, the fact that it's set in medieval China, even silly anime fantasy Japan crossed with bits of China, makes it a lot more interesting than it would otherwise be, I think.
Yeah, I like it too. It's not hugely action packed or anything, but it has a great mood to it and some interesting characters.
Sora no Woto 1 - Actually good... okay, the stereotypically moe characters are nothing special, but the story seems like it could be interesting and the background art was just amazing... some really beautiful stuff there. The town, the underwater skeleton or whatever it is, and more, just great artwork. The character designs are also a little interesting, the girls are actually wearing sane military costumes! How often does THAT happen? I mean, it's usually stupid miniskirts-and-thighhighs "uniforms" or something like that, not something sane like these pants-and-army-jackets uniforms. It's interesting that they went with it, it must hurt the show by reducing the fanservice quotient quite a bit. I'm not complaining at all though, I think it was a good decision. And yeah, whatever the background story is, it looks like it could be interesting. Anyway, the characters definitely seem pretty stereotypical, but it seems worth continuing even so.
It's got some good points to it, like the ones you mentioned about the setting and the clothes styles. The main thing holding it down is that it's not really ABOUT anything, just the same standard slice of life highschool stuff only set in some displaced European village with characters that are in the military.
It's got some good points to it, like the ones you mentioned about the setting and the clothes styles. The main thing holding it down is that it's not really ABOUT anything, just the same standard slice of life highschool stuff only set in some displaced European village with characters that are in the military.
Well I was sort of thinking that while it looks cool but I don't know if it's going to go anywhere with it, maybe I should go back and actually watch more of Allison and Lillia, which also had a WWII-ish theme, but actually had a plot... there's no reason why I stopped watching that after four episodes...
But anyway, yeah, Sora no Woto's the plot does go nowhere, that is disappointing. Why set up an interesting backstory and then not use it? Kind of pointless. Just having it not be yet another highschool show does give it at least SOMETHING interesting, though, I think...
Also, the random mixture of Japanese and Western elements was pretty entertaining. I mean, it looks like WWII-era Europe, but they're having a very Japanese town festival, with some Japanese-style costumes there too... and they use Yen as their currency. And the main character's orders were in English I think, but her stamp was a Japanese character. Um, right, that all makes perfect sense...
Oh, as far as K-On! goes, I watched some of it back when it came out, but didn't like it much and managed to slowly stagger through about six episodes before finally stopping to watch the thing completely. It's just completely plotless and seemingly has no point for existing except to make moe fans want to love it, or something... I don't know, it kind of felt like they were trying hard to nail down everything they could to get that fanbase to love the show. It worked perfectly, of course... but I found the results often suffocatingly annoying. I've never liked Western "stupid humor" comedy shows at all (Scrubs is one of the only sitcoms I've actually not disliked, for instance), and this kind of thing isn't much better than those. I don't hate moe or anything, but this show just completely overloads on it without having anything else in it to make it worth watching. Ugh.
I'm watching a few shows from this season. Dance in the Vampire Bund, Sora no Woto, Omamori Himari, Seikon no Qwaser, Ookami Kakushi, Durarara as well as some on-going series like Brotherhood and Kimi ni Todoke.
From what I've seen, I'll probably drop Omamori Himari and Seikon no Qwaser. Both are, um, utter crap to say the least. Cool character designs in Seikon no Qwaser, but the plot and the way hey execute it is a bit too much for me.
All the others however, I will continue to watch. Dance in the Vampire Bund, despite the loli-ness, is pretty awesome. Never read the Manga but everyone says it's nothing the same. Honestly, I don't care, I'm just there because I rather enjoyed Bakemonogatari.
Sora no Woto seems fun. A hope it will be a little more serious that K-ON (Because people seem to think they are pretty much the same eg, art style, 5 girls, yadda yadda), but so far it seems interesting. Plot spoilers
the whole legend of the 5 maidens may play a part in it, but I don't think they will go with the whole sacrifice thing at the end, just to please the fans.
Ookami Kakushi seems good, despite being an almost identical Higurashi. I can get past the fact that they are both 7th Expansion and same director, but I reckon he could do a bit better than recycling the same sort of setting and characters. Can't wait to see where the plot will eventually end up, despite it being rather obvious.
Durarara looks cool. Not really characters I will enjoy (Bar the wtf motorcyclist) but the plot seems like it could go anywhere, which is always good. Art style is great too, and it looks brilliant on my PS3. Gonna watch episode 3 later, been waiting all day to see it.
I guess I don't need to say anything about FMA or Kimi no Todoke, despite that they are freakin' awesome. Hope they will just get better.
Well I was sort of thinking that while it looks cool but I don't know if it's going to go anywhere with it, maybe I should go back and actually watch more of Allison and Lillia, which also had a WWII-ish theme, but actually had a plot... there's no reason why I stopped watching that after four episodes...
But anyway, yeah, Sora no Woto's the plot does go nowhere, that is disappointing. Why set up an interesting backstory and then not use it? Kind of pointless. Just having it not be yet another highschool show does give it at least SOMETHING interesting, though, I think...
Also, the random mixture of Japanese and Western elements was pretty entertaining. I mean, it looks like WWII-era Europe, but they're having a very Japanese town festival, with some Japanese-style costumes there too... and they use Yen as their currency. And the main character's orders were in English I think, but her stamp was a Japanese character. Um, right, that all makes perfect sense...
Oh, as far as K-On! goes, I watched some of it back when it came out, but didn't like it much and managed to slowly stagger through about six episodes before finally stopping to watch the thing completely. It's just completely plotless and seemingly has no point for existing except to make moe fans want to love it, or something... I don't know, it kind of felt like they were trying hard to nail down everything they could to get that fanbase to love the show. It worked perfectly, of course... but I found the results often suffocatingly annoying. I've never liked Western "stupid humor" comedy shows at all (Scrubs is one of the only sitcoms I've actually not disliked, for instance), and this kind of thing isn't much better than those. I don't hate moe or anything, but this show just completely overloads on it without having anything else in it to make it worth watching. Ugh.
It's Japanese and French in Sora no Woto... and yep, the background is the main draw for me as well.
As for K-On, I'll still say that if you can ignore all the moeblob-bait, there's a fairly charming show about a group of friends trying to form a band. Not exactly the most original show, but at least it's not yet another harem show or loli-fest.
DRRR 3, felt really slow especially with the vague/philosophical narration. Doesn't help that I recently watched Baccano so it's fresh in my mind and hard not to try to compare.
Vamire Bund 3, atleast it isn't as ridiculous as the cliche back story dump they did in ep2 probably to make up for the interesting but somewhat empty first episode.
Kimi ni Todoke 14, Kurumi is really cute for an antagonist this show consistently makes me dawww.
Railgun 16, I wish there was more fighting and less filler...
Started watching Cromartie High too and maybe my sense of humor is broken i'd say maybe about 1/4 (if that) of the jokes resonate.
Isn't that common for stereotypical gangsters in anime? I remember seeing things like that many times in comedic gangster anime/manga. Thought it was the norm.
Durarara has been awesome so far, haters be damned. I agree it's not as immediately compelling as Baccano was, but give it time. DRRR is 24 episodes vs Baccano's 13 (+3) and it seems to be adhering more to a standard storytelling structure.
And finally the phone stomping episode appeared and I could make a higher quality avatar.
As a side note, Durarara is the popular (and official) romanization of the title, but Dullalala makes a lot more sense. A dullahan is a headless horseman and there's the headless motorcyclist complete with horse noises. Oh well.
(It is kind of unique, I think, in that it is an anime based on an H-game, but the main character guy of the game doesn't even appear in the anime at all, so it's just the (many) girls of this ROTK-but-with-all-the-characters-as-girls-and-a-much-less-depressing-version-of-the-story (than even the version in the games, evidently, from reading the Wikipedia descriptions) anime.