July Summary

July 2007 Rankings As you can see, this section’s got a few new features. Someone requested to give out series ratings of the past month, and I decided to give it a try. Rating individual episodes was clearly a bad idea, but I liked the idea of monthly ratings, so I decided to let my rating system loose on these series. It’s working fine so far, I’ll continue till this feature turns out to be a bad idea. #46 (new): Buzzer Beater – (3,2) – I think it’s safe to label this one as the worst show of the season. Don’t even touch this one with a ten-foot pole. Dropped. #45 (36): Shining Tears X Wind – (3,7) – Episode 12 had to be THE cheesiest episode I’ve ever seen. Yes, it was that painful. #44 (new): Moetan – (4,6) – Nice to see that the creators went for a subtle approach for this series. [/sarcasm] Can it get any more blatantly obvious? Dropped #43 (new): School Days – (4,9) – Ugh… that main character… that horrible, horrible main character! This show had better have an amazing climax to make up for the annoying first four episodes. #42 (32): Kaze no Stigma – (5,1) – Okay, I give up. I tried watching this show, but it still disappoints me. The characters are just way too annoying to enjoy them. Dropped. #41 (new): Doujin Work – (5,1) – Basically, this show didn’t stand out to me in any way, so I never bothered to check out its second episode. Dropped. #40 (28): Devil May Cry – (5,9) – I dropped this series when episode 2 and 3 didn’t feature the great direction of episode 1. #39 (33): Lucky Star – (6) – I’m glad to see that Lucky Star finally introduced new characters to introduce some (gasp) variation. Still, what they were doing before they were introduced is beyond me. It’s especially strange that it took Kagami no less than 16 episodes to mention that she’s got two elder sisters, and we still have no idea what happened to Konata’s mother. Overall, this month has been better for Lucky Star than the previous one, but it’s still too much moe and Haruhi-references and too little substance. #38 (26): Romeo x Juliet – (6,2) – It’s sad to see that a potential classic boiled down to the story of a bunch of angsty teenagers. While it still holds the potential to become good in the end, right now, it’s obnoxious. #37 (34): Heroic Age – (6,3) – It’s annoying that Dianeira’s brothers basically only exist to make Dianeira look better. This series would have been so much better off without them, and you’d wonder how humanity managed to survive with both of them in command. Really, this show is trying too hard to make its protagonists look good. #36 (new): Sky Girls – (6,4) – I still don’t know what to think about this series. On one hand, it’s a nice story between three girls. On the other hand, it’s blatant lolicon-bait that makes no sense. There is a reason why the real military doesn’t use any child pilots: their bodies are too weak, and they’re mentally too unstable for such a delicate job. One thing I’m also missing in this series is the effects of a nuclear war on humanity Right now, you wouldn’t suspect that the worms were wiped out by nuclear weapons. #35 (new): Nanatsuiro Drops – (6,5) – Despite the annoying Sumomo, this series turned out to be actually watchable. I don’t like, however, how it shamelessly ripped off Akazukin’s main tune #34 (new): Kenko Zenrakei Suieibu Umisho – (7,1) – When fanservice isn’t involved, this series is entertaining. It’s got characters that go beyond stereotypes, and it’s probably the only fanservice-show that’s actually funny. When fanservice is involved, however… *headdesks* #33 (24): Kishin Taisen Gigantic Formula – (7,2) – This show seems to be missing something, but I can’t exactly point out what. Perhaps it’s the excessive amount of angst, or the fact that we just know that Russia is going to be the main final enemy who has to be defeated. #32 (23): The Skull Man – (7,3) – While everyone already finished this series, I’m waiting for the subs of the final episodes that are not HD .mkv ones. -_- #31 (21): Tokyo Tribe 2 – (7,4) – Despite the predictability, the ending was definitely fun to watch, especially Skunk and Buppa in their last moments. And I really thought that Skunk was the one who committed the murder in the past, and it was a nice surprise to be proven wrong. #30 (35): Murder Princess – (7,6) – The fourth episode was definitely better than the third one, and it was an enjoyable watch, despite the cheesiness. I’m just afraid, because I didn’t hear many good things about episode 5. #29 (new): Potemayo – (7,6) – I am getting a bit worried about this series. Episode 3 and 4 were nowhere near as brilliant as episodes 1 and 2. Please don’t let the creators run out of ideas! #28 (16): Tetsuko no Tabi – (7,6) – Even though nothing much happens, and I usually dislike otaku in anime, I really like Yokomi and the other characters who travel along with him. I also like how every episode comes with a different cast, and that we don’t just get to see the same group over and over. #27 (new): Higurashi no Naku Koro ni – (7,6) – I really like Higurashi, but the current arc isn’t part of its highlights. Episode 1 was awesomeness, though. #26 (new): Baccano! – (7,7) – The first episode already surprised with its huge amount of characters. It’s also got a great style, the question now remains: will everything come together in the end? #25 (???): Shoujo Jang Geum no Yume – (7,8) – Whoa! Where did this come from? Despite the fact that only one episode gets released in half a year, I must thank Ppalgan-anime that they’re willing to fansub this series. It turned into quite an adorable shoujo-series, and another great example of the greatness of neglected series. #24 (???): Code Geass – (7,9) – The finale was quite good, for Code Geass-standards. There were a couple of minor flaws, but overall it was enjoyable watching this series. I especially liked Orange-kun, despite the lack of explanation where he came from. Still, it’s sad to see that the creators went for the most predictable cliff-hanger in the end. #23 (new): Mushiuta – (7,9) – While episodes 2 and 3 were rather dull, episode 4 showed great promise. This can turn into a great series, if it does things well from now on. #22 (11): Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS – (7,9) – The subs have now reached up to episode 15, though nothing much happened, and the series is still building up. There was one mission, but apart from that we mostly saw the cast training, and the introduction of a rather obnoxious yellow-haired girl. Still, I’ve heard great things about the upcoming episodes. It’s just a shame that the character-designs start to look worse, every time I look at them. #21 (22): Gurren Lagann – (7,9) – Simon couldn’t have chosen a better day to propose to Nia, could he? While this does feel a bit cheap, I like the time-leap so far. Especially Rossiu turned out for the better, and Yoko’s gone now. #20 (25): Reideen – (8,1) – While I dislike Reideen’s habit of using Deus ex Machina for its climaxes, it is doing a lot of things right. The atmosphere still is great, and especially the storm-arc and the subway-arc were a great watch when the focus turned to the characters. #19 (14): Kekkaishi – (8,2) – Up till now, I’ve been watching this series raw, but with the sudden introduction of a plot, I gave in. I’ve basically been rewatching the past few episodes this month, while waiting for the subs to catch up with me. This series has a really nice rewatch-value, by the way. #18 (new): Zombie Loan – (8,3) – I like the atmosphere of this strange combination between a shounen and a shoujo-show. There’s definitely chemistry between the characters, which more than makes up for the lack of fights #17 (17): Gintama – (8,4) – You have to see episode 34, for it’s brilliant forum-parodies. Episode 33 also was genius, though its conclusion was disappointing. #16 (new): Shigurui – (8,5) – This is one disturbing show, and definitely not recommended for younger audiences. It’s incredibly detailed, and if you combine that with the gore and atmosphere, you get an incredibly tense result. #15 (10): El Cazador de la Bruja – (8,5) – It’s great to see that the plot finally starts moving, episode 17 should never have been aired, though. #14 (13): Claymore – (8,5) – While it does make me worry at times, these worries aren’t necessary at all. The climaxes for Claymore have been truly excellent, and Claymore has turned into a series that just about anyone will be able to enjoy. #13 (22): Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge – (8,6) – There seems to be some general rule among comedy-series with storylines that the final episode has to suck and disappoint. Therefore, it was great to see that Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge even screwed this rule, and came with a really enjoyable ending, that had me laughing over and over, and still was really touching as an ending. #12 (new): Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei – (8,8) – I think we’ve got ourselves another brilliant comedy-series here. We’re three episodes in, and it still continues to get better and better. It’s just a shame that afk refuses to give information about the obscure references, like gg did for Pani Poni Dash. I’m not sure how many people picked it up, but the name for the female lead, Fuura Kafuka actually comes from a German writer, named Franz Kafka. I’ve read one of his books for school once, and let me say that you can’t get more desperate than that guy. Hence the irony of Fuura’s name, as she probably is the most optimistic character you can think of. ^^; Another thing I really like is how it talks about so many taboos in modern society. I especially loved this for the foreign girl. Here, we all think that Asians are good at studying, and in Japan, people think that it’s the foreigners who are the smart ones. ^^; #11 (7): Ooedo Rocket – (8,8) – For the past few episodes, the plot has started to get going, and the characters are really turning into multi-dimensional ones, and I found myself really caring about them, due to the time that the first half of the series spent on them, fleshing them out. #10 (new): Code-E – (8,8) This show did just about everything right, apart from the character-designs for the male lead. The characters were surprisingly addictive for me, there was some great chemistry between them, and the climaxes are really nice to watch, when the main character’s power gets out of control. While this definitely isn’t for everyone, it’s great to see that Simoun’s director can even make such a slice-of-life series work out greatly. 🙂 #9 (15): Darker than Black – (8,9) I can hardly believe it, but the past two arcs have been amazingly good. Especially episodes 13 and 14 featured some of the best minor villains I’ve seen in a long, long while, and I’m finally beginning to feel Yoko Kanno’s magic. Now let’s see how this series will close itself off. #8 (3): Saiunkoku Monogatari – (8,9) And finally the first major climax of the second season has come, and despite the rather cheap twist of episode 16, the scenes especially involving Eigetsu were real tear-jerkers, and the other characters also turned out to be delights to watch. #7 (new): Mononoke – (9) I think it won’t be necessary anymore to declare my love for this series, as the past few series have been really, really good. If you’re a psychological horror-fan, you just have to check out this piece of awesomeness! #6 (6): Les Miserables – (9) And finally this series starts getting really awesome! Despite the fact that this series is meant for kids, it doesn’t go out of its way to hide deceit, death threats, prison and abuse, and the past few episodes have been true roller-coaster rides. The only problem is the chronic lack of subs. Seriously, we’re already at episode 30, and the subs have been stuck at episode five for months! An epic like this one doesn’t deserve this much negligence. #5 (9): Seirei no Moribito – (9,1) Now that the shadow hunters have returned, this series suddenly has become much better again, and it’s finally time to move out of the quiet mood and get the conclusion of the series started. I seriously wonder how the creators are planning to do that. #4 (12): Dennou Coil – (9,1) Dennou Coil has been pure excellence for this month, with an effective combination between gripping drama and hilarious comedy, and it seems that the creativity of the creators still hasn’t run out. #3 (4): Kaze no Shoujo Emily – (9,3) Kaze no Shoujo Emily continues to be one of the best slice-of-life series I’ve ever seen, and every episode is one big heart-warming success. Especially when an episode comes and introduces some beautiful background tunes. #2 (1): Bokura no – (9,3) Okay, you know you’ve got a success when even a recap episode turns out worthwhile. The climaxes of this series have been incredibly intriguing, and they give a total new dimension to “we’re not alone”. #1 (5): Toward the Terra – (9,3) Epic, truly epic. Toward the Terra has really surpassed itself this month, with some of the amazing plots and scenes as the result. Keith is the perfect example of a good villain, due to the time that the previous episodes have spent on fleshing the guy out. If you’re a science-fiction-fan, you absolutely can’t miss out on this one. Top 5 Episodes This time, not only did I take into account the quality of the episodes themselves, but the impact they made also played a huge role in my selection. #5: Bokura no – 15 While the episode started out mundane, the twists at the end were OMG-worthy. #4: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni – 27 A perfect aftermath, and while nothing much happened, it was awesome to see some of my favourite characters return, including seeing how they changed. #3: Les Miserables – Shoujo Cosette – 29 One huge turning-point for the series in terms of mood. While only two episodes ago, we saw people reuniting a mother with her daughter, this episode turned into an incredibly dark one. #2: Dennou Coil – 09 For me, this was the episode that really convinced me of Dennou Coil’s awesomeness, when suddenly it comes with such a grand episode. #1: Bokura no – 13 The word that can probably best describe this episode is “shocking”.]]>