#1: Shirokuma Cafe – 11: Polar Bear Cafe, you just surpassed yourself. The first half of this episode was just surreal, and pretty much was the funniest thing I’ve seen all season. I couldn’t stop laughing while watching it. – *** (Awesome)
#2: Medaka Box – 11: So yeah, this arc was completely different from the rest of the series, but it worked. It was so over the top, but at the same time it used the development of the first half of the series and I also liked how it toyed with the shounen conventions. I have no idea how this show plans to wrap itself up in just one episode, but still this was Shouji Saeki‘s best work as a director on a full series. I guess it really helped that he was both the director and the main adapter, because as flawed as this series is, it does have one thing: a big picture, and that can’t be said of every incomplete adaptation. – ** (Excellent)
#3: The Legend of Korra – 09: I’m not really fond of how the creators continue with the love triangle and all, but the second half of this episode took some really interesting twists and turns here. I like how there are many different parties who are up against each other here and it makes for a great plot. But what will this show do once everything is over? – ** (Excellent)
#4: Kimi to Boku – 23: This episode was about Mary, and as expected it got a lot of very neat character development in. What I didn’t expect was that the twins also got some unexpected character development; it was subtle, but definitely there. Both worked really well here. – ** (Excellent)
#5: Yondemasuyo, Azazel-san OVA – 03: Azazel-San’s latest OVA came out this week, and this one takes place directly after the TV-series. It’s 30 minutes long, with an OP that hints at many characters who haven’t appeared yet, so the creators are definitely planning more of these OVAs. This episode introduced Lucifer, a very narcissistic Koala, and the direction was in top shape all over this episode, with a creative direction and a lot of hilarious visual jokes. – ** (Excellent)
#6: Poyopoyo Kansatsu Nikki – 23: This was another one of those episodes in which the creators tried to cram as many different sketches into one episode as possible. people chatted, launched themselves, rode a bus, visited a movie, cleaned for spring, were bothered by lots of rain and… are these episodes really just 2 minutes long? – ** (Excellent)
#7: Sankarea – 00: A ton of shows are on hiatus this week, but Sankarea did have an OVA coming out. And really, I expected to be this pointless OVA of some sort, but it actually had a very clear point to it. It was a tad uneventful and that coincidence at the end was just unnecessary, but as an explanation behind the notebook, and therefore the concept behind the entire series, this was actually a pretty interesting use for a prequel OVA. – *+ (Great)
#8: Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou OVA – 01: So apparently Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou has DVD specials that contain extra sketches. This one was just two minutes long and was mostly just buiding up to one joke. And despite being rather corny, that joke made me laugh. – *+ (Great)
#9: Saint Seiya Omega – 11: At the very least: the stakes are now much higher and more interesting beyond high school tournaments. This episode was not as impressive as the previous two weeks, but still it had its merits. Just don’t let this drag on by again having one episode focus on a different cast member, because that’s getting really formulaic. – * (Good)
#10: Jormungand – 10: Hmm, this may have been me not paying attention, but was it explained how Koko was able t find that Balkan leader so easily? I’m still trying to puzzle out why this series leaves me relatively indifferent, even though its subject matter is pretty interesting. This episode also had interesting dogfights… but it all just goes too easily for out main cast. – * (Good)
#11: Nazo no Kanojo X – 10: This week… was building up to something really corny here. And I am not sure whether it’s smart to end the series with that, people. Childhood crushes are a dead horse by now so it was very tedious to see the writers use that to create a love triangle. It’s a good thing that Tsubaki and his “ex”-crush were well acted so they managed to save this episode with that, but this show will be ending in two weeks. This isn’t the time to introduce cliches. – * (Good)
#12: Kingdom – 02: Dear god, I can’t watch this series anymore. It’s one thing to be dramatic, but this was some of the most overblown melodrama I have seen in years. On top of that the script tends to repeat the obvious over and over. I unfortunately got my hopes up way too high for this one, and it’s definitely the biggest disappointment of 2012 so far. Dropped. – — (Bad)
actually i heard the next episode of nazo is pretty funny
About Nazo no Kanojo X .. I’m not sure that it was really all that of a cliche episode. It’s not like feelings that Tsubaki had for 3 years suddenly get turned off just because he starts dating Urabe and I think that is what the writer wanted to explore in this arc. Also .. If I remember correctly there is going to be a TRUCKLOAD of fanservice in the next episode!
RE: Nazo No Kanojo X: If nothing else this arc with the middle school crush is more believable ( and shorter) than the arc where Urabe and Imai Momoka meet and switch places etc, with all the cliches and dumb that go along with that. I will say overall the author handles even the most cliched situations fairly well with the character motivations and their actions being realistic once you get past the premise.
While we believe this was the weakest episode of Nazo, we appreciate how it took the cliche of a love triangle being manipulated by one scheming party and made it just as earnest and realistic as all the other issues the series has dealt with.
Tsubaki’s will isn’t strong enough to resist Hayakawa out of hand out of loyalty to Urabe, and we know this, because he can’t even stop drooling over a girl who looks like Urabe but isn’t. We hear all his unguarded thoughts, proposing things to him that would betray Urabe.
Because Hayakawa comes to him dumped, abused, and emotionally unstable, he agrees out of a combination of chivalry, pity and the thrill of living out what had been his dream in junior high, but not in equal parts. It’s a selfish act he can pass off as selfless, because he’s making an unhappy girl happy. Only it’s the wrong girl.
Where Tsubaki falls down is when he lies to Urabe, but it’s no wonder he does; she’d never agree to him pretending to be anyone else’s boyfriend, any more than she’d let him ogle photos of her look-alike.The episode left us (who’ve not read the source material) anxiously wondering how on earth he’s going to get out of the huge mess he made for himself.
What will this show do once everything is over?
Um…end?
I feel like psgels is unable to appreciate this show for some reason despite its depth. I don’t like the romance either, but every other part of it is fantastic.
It probably helps that most of us have seen the original series. Not seeing the original Avatar before Korra kind of makes some of the neat little details go to waste. With that in mind, she’s seeing it from an entirely different perspective than the majority of us are, so I can definitely see where she’s coming from. (AFAIK, anyway. I’m not under the impression psgels has seen the original series.)
There is also going to be another season after this. Dunno of psgels is aware of that, or if that information makes a difference.
*s/he I should say. I’m not a frequent enough reader of this blog to know or to have steady grounds to assume.
psgels is a he
How did you get that impression? I get the impression that he’s really digging it except the romance subplot.
Um actually, it will run for 2 seasons (26 episodes (with an option of upgrading)), and I’m pretty sure Psgels meant what will happen in the 2nd season
So no, it won’t be ending yet.
The strength of Nazo no Kanojo X is that the author take cliche situations do interesting twists all the while keeping the characters believable, so I’d cut it some slack since it’s clearly a setup episode to the climax
Couple thoughts about Legend of Korra. We got to see some of the original series folks which was cool. And Korra ran away from the bad guy which is very unusual for a an action adventure show.
The part when Korra run away from Amon was intense. She was all weak she didn’t eat in the hole day she hear how Amon beat Tarlok and how he was inmune to bloodbend, and also if she proplong the battle Among’s gang will just came to make it all hard. She isn’t retard she did was it was best.
Unfortunately the childhood friend horse is just as lively as ever, and they’ll keep using it as long as it sells.
Ahaha, I had my hopes up for Kingdom too, and… JUST NO. Won’t be watching it. T~T
Is it a childhood friend unrequited love cliche???
I mean he had a crush on her for 3 years before he met Urabe. I would consider that more of a past crush rather than a childhood friend unrequited love… point in case they weren’t really friends, he was more like stalker collecting her hair than a friend.
Also we cant really be sure that this is a love triangle yet. Hayakawa doesn’t really seem interested in Akira romantically, its more like she is vulnerable (after her breakup) and wants the attention that Akira use to give her to feel better. I get the feeling she is more like a villain/troublemaker than a love interest.
Why else would she tell Urabe to come?
You might rethink Kanojo X episode 11 if they do episode 12 properly.
Koko was given the intel through HCLI, this was revealed after one her radio conversation with scarecrow.