February Summary

+ Top 11 Anime With One Episode Released/Subbed I was going to scrap this category after last month, but this time, I actually managed to create quite a list, so I decided to keep it for the moment. #11: Afro Samurai Any surprise this little bugger ended up last? Cos was right, the last episode was the worst yet. #10: Yes! Precure 5 I adore a good mahou shoujo. Too bad this isn’t one of them. #9: Yoshinaga-chi no Gargoyle This isn’t a series you need to see once in a month, unlike Ayatsuri Sakon. This really is a series you need to marathon. #8: Ayatsuri Sakon Like I mentioned above, I finally realized that you don’t want to see too many episodes after each other. Once-a-month releases are perfect for this series. It’s nothing special, but greatly entertaining. 🙂 #7: Mai Otome Zwei Call me crazy, but I actually liked the second instalment of Mai Otome Zwei. Probably because it kept a good balance of comedy and drama, in comparison to the series, but also because it focused on one of my few favourite characters from the series. The one who got turned to stone, and ironically, I can’t remember her name anymore. #6: Chevalier I would have ranked this higher, it’s just that I just can’t remember what the episode was about. It was a good one, that’s for sure, and the psalms made people kill each other and stuff, but I really can’t remember anymore what exactly happened. It’s an excellent show, but apparently forgettable. Either that, or the subs are veeeeery slow. #5: Popolocrois 2003 An excellent episode, but a recap remains a recap. Still, I’m pretty excited for the final four episodes. #4: Moonlight Mile Okay, I didn’t understand a heck of it, but it was damn good to see it. I can’t wait to find out what actually went on when the subs arrive. ^^; #3: Rocket Girls Okay, so it may not be the most believable story. Heck, there are so many parts that don’t make sense. But if you ignore this petty little detail, then the first episode started off nicely. #2: Reideen I wonder why no more episodes have been released since the first episode. Same with Giant Robo. Both great shows, but I don’t hope that they only had one episode. Still, slow mechas Rock. #1: Popolocrois 1998 After an absence of six months, this anime returned, and how it returned. Gamigami, Hyuu, Ston and Sanda all were awesome. 🙂 + Top 20 Anime with More than One Episode Released/Subbed I may be the only one, but February was an excellent month for anime. January may have had a lot of good anime, only a few of them were excellent. This time, I saw a lot of different excellent series, scenes and moments. One thing I also noticed was that especially the more unknown and unpopular series took a turn for the awesomeness. 🙂 #20: Juusou Kikou Dancouga Nova Okay, the anime turned out bad. But it sure turned out a great anime to mock and laugh at. So many clichés are used so seriously that it actually becomes funny. ^^; What I did like, though, was how the brat didn’t turn out to be the main character. #19: Naruto Shippuuden It’s been a long while since Paradise Kiss that there was a series where the main reason for me to watch it was the OP. In the end, this series isn’t different from the first season of Naruto in the fact that it drags. The characters have made steps in the right direction, though. I like that. #18: Hanoka Hanoka ended like how it begun: cute. The final episodes were nice, considering that only 2 minutes per episode were really available. Still, that final enemy in the end was a wrong decision. It only made the anime more rushed than it already was and it contributed in no way to the overall story. #17: Ghost Hunt Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate this series, but I’d just wish that Mai would be more than just a damsel-in-distress. Ghost Hunt may be based on a Shoujo-manga, that doesn’t change the fact that I’ve always rather disliked characters who just stand by and do nothing useful. #16: Manabi Straight It’s interesting that this series actually turned out good enough for me to keep watching it. Okay, it may have too much fanservice at times, but the experimental elements in this anime are greatly appreciated. Another thing I really like is how most of the episodes don’t focus on Manabi at all, even though she’s the main character. #15: Demashita!! Power Puff Girls Z I wish I knew what’s going on inside the minds of the creators, but it’s hard to guess, now that they’ve started using common, everyday objects as their main source of enemies. I thought that anime usually went from the less challenging enemies to the more challenging ones, but this is just ridiculous. Still, the episodes in which animate beings were the main antagonists were really enjoyable. And Mojo Jojo really gets better and better with each of his appearances. I like what the creators did with his character. Instead of a hateful maniac, he just wants to be accepted. But because he looks scary and uses unorthodox measures, nobody wants to be near him. 🙂 #14: Tokyo Tribe 2 Galileo owns. Really, his character was really funny in episode three. Overall, Tokyo Tribe has really surprised me so far. I’d just wish that the gore would stop. #13: Code Geass For episodes and episodes, I just couldn’t get into this series. Mao’s comeback after being impaled by dozens of bullets also wasn’t really that good of a plot-twist. But then Lelouch found out about Suzaku. At that moment, I felt that I finally noticed some of the emotions of the characters. Suzaku really is needed to make this anime shine. Lelouch’s mission to create a perfect world where his sister can live happily may be nice and all, the thing that originally attracted me to this series was the conflict of Suzaku’s and Lelouch’s interests. That had been taking the background for the past ten episodes or something. #12: Death Note Not as good as the previous month, but then again, nearly all it did this month was building up to the next arc. “Good Light” also isn’t as exciting as “Evil Light”. L, however, was as good as usual. ^^ #11: Kekkaishi I think that with the arrival of Yoshimori’s brother, this series took a major turning point from episode-based to plot-based. If I also have to believe Whai Whai, this series is about to turn incredibly good. Well, I can’t wait. This month was as strong for Kekkaishi as usual. #10: Soukou no Strain Soukou no Strain ended with some excellent, though predictable final episodes. They really made a big bang out of it. And I loved the little touch with the ending. #9: Jigoku Shoujo The episodes in Jigoku Shoujo this time ranged from decent to excellent. Especially the excellent episodes were so worth seeing, and finally we get some proper background information about Ai’s dolls. But why the fanservice? #8: Saiunkoku Monogatari Shuurei was inside a small dip this month, being thrown off-guard like that. Still, when she got out of that dip, she really shined like no other. Ryuuki, Kouyuu and Shuuei also were great. #7: Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge When I saw the first glimpse of the new OP, I nearly fell off my chair laughing. Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge really has been funnier than ever this month. XD #6: Master of Epic Master of Epic has been as funny as ever. I’d just wish the creators would stop recycling characters this much. It gets confusing! #5: Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto Especially episode 18 was awesome. Right now, it looks like this series is all set for its final episodes. They’re promising to be awesome. 🙂 #4: Tenpou Ibun Ayakashi Ayashi There’s one thing I really, really like about this series: its themes. I can relate so much to having different faces and selves. This series really has been excellent so far. Why the heck is it so unpopular!? #3: Les Miserables – Shoujo Cosette Les Miserables turned out amazing, and that this early in the series. It’s too bad this series isn’t getting so much attention. It’s really amazing to see the things Cosette, Eponine, Fantine and Jean have to experience. #2: Red Garden Red Garden has really surprised me this month. With episode fifteen, the pacing of the series switched another gear up and ever since, things really have been like a roller-coaster ride. So many things happened, and we still have nine episodes left. #1: Otogi Juushi Akazukin Otogi Juushi Akazukin = Love. Ever since episode 30, it’s been dishing out one awesome episode after the other. It’s such a pity to see that I’m about the only blogger who still follows this series. + Newly Announced Anime + Not many anime got announced this month, when compared to others. It’s strange, as I expected lots of new series to be announced for the spring-season. Guess that didn’t happen. Ah well, the good thing is that more than 50% of these anime looks worthwhile. 🙂 Kodomo no Jikan “Daisuke is a 23 year old new schoolteacher. He ends up being put in charge of a 3rd grade elementary school class since the previous teacher quit, and in that class there’s a girl who’s quite a troublemaker — Rin Kokonoe. You could call her a masegaki (used to describe a kid that acts more like an adult in some ways), and she’s also part tsundere (though more dere than tsun). She’s somewhat similar to Miu from Ichigo Mashimaro, I guess. Besides Rin, Daisuke’s got other problems to take care of — one of the students in his class, Mimi (one of Rin’s friends), hasn’t been attending school recently.” – Taken from Matthew – I can’t really say from the concept whether I like it or not. The whole school-thing doesn’t really appeal to me, but I like a girl who acts as an adult. Gegege no Kitaro “Kitaro is a yokai boy born in a cemetery, and aside from his mostly-decayed father, the last living member of the Ghost tribe. He is missing his left eye, but his hair usually covers the empty socket. He fights for peace between humans and yokai, which generally involves protecting the former from the wiles of the latter. Kitaro has an assortment of strange weapons at his disposal, including: remote-controlled geta sandals a detachable hand, also remote-controlled, a magic chanchanko vest which can protect its wearer from danger, Spiny hairs which can be shot like arrows and another hair which can serve as an antenna for detecting spirit activity.” – taken from Wikipedia – Sure, it’s a shounen-fighting series. But it sounds like a damn funny one. The powers of the main characters are hilarious. There’s also a walking eye-ball, who happens to be the father of Kitaro. Then we also have an old hag who throws sand in the eyes of her enemies, and an old man who takes out his victims by clinging to them and turning into stone. ^^; Mushiuta Nothing really is known about this anime apart from that it’s based on a series of light novels, and the covers of these novels. So far, the art looks cute, but that may be a bad sign, as it’ll probably turn into a moe-based anime based on those. What I do like, however, is the title. Mushi = bug and uta = song. I wonder what the creators had in mind for this, especially since it’s listed as a fantasy-show. Shigofumi ~Stories of Last Letter~ “A story about a miracle, involving Fumika, a quiet but hard working girl who wears a uniform that of a mail carrier, and her talkative staff and partner Mayama. The Shigofumi is a posthumous letter, the last resort of relaying a deceased person’s last message to his/her loved ones: family, friends, and significant other.” – I’m trying not to get excited by this, since the last time I saw a similar concept I got dished with a mediocre Shinigami no Ballad, but whoa. The concept really sounds interesting. And add that to the fact that the character design done by the same guy who did Kino no Tabi. It all depends now whether the original stories feature some interesting enough twists. A strange thing is that the anime for this series has been announced on the same day that the first volume of the novel it’s going to be based on got published. This probably means that the creators are expecting a lot from this story. While this isn’t always a good choice, I like how they didn’t choose the most popular story, but instead went with a concept from which they didn’t exactly know how good it would sell. Code-E A story might be known about this anime, but I couldn’t find it. Most probably because it chose such a horrible name to find in Google. 😛 Still, the people behind it sound promising. It’s being directed by the director of Full Moon wa Sagashite, A few episodes of Simoun, among which the amazing episodes 16 and Ginga Densetsu Weed (I seriously had to double-check when I saw this. This guy really likes to do different genres. Full Moon wa Sagashite and Ginga Densetsu Weed… WTF!?), three series with all some amazing moments. Actually, now that I take a look at even more of the cast, I realize that a lot of people who worked on Simoun also work on this one. Woohoo!! Shining Tears “In the beginning of the story, an elfen girl named Elwyn finds Xion washed up on the shore of a river. She checks if he’s still alive and as she looks, a ring fell by the water. As Elwyn tried to take it, Xion was on the verge of death so she took him quickly to the village doctor, Pios. When Xion wakes up, he finds himself in The Heroes’ Hearth, the tavern of the town Heroes’ Way. He is then confronted by Pios and Elwyn, questioning him on what happened. He would say he can’t remember and even vaguely remembers his name. The two introduce themselves to him and he finds both his hands with two strange rings. They wouldn’t come off his hands as Pios tries to investigate the rings. The two then explain that the rings could possibly be the Twin Dragon Rings, the legendary rings of power. Discarding the thought, Pios investigates more on the rings as Xion falls asleep.” – taken from wikipedia – I’m really looking forward to this series. Not necessarily because it’s based on an RPG, although that does make it even more interesting. Not because I know it’ll be great. It’s because I’m not sure whether it will become great or not. You see, it’s directed by Hiroshi Watanabe. He’s the genius behind some magnificent anime like The Law of Ueki and Jigoku Shoujo. Heck, he even directed Orphen, which had one of the best fantasy stories I’ve seen. However, he also did a number of failures, like Mär, Ah! My Goddess and Star Ocean Ex, which can still be considered as the king of Deus ex Machina. I’m really hoping right now that he’ll go the right way this time, as a well-executed RPG-adaptation is always welcome. + Top 5 Episodes + #5: Jigoku Shoujo – 44 Jigoku Shoujo has been dealing either hits or misses so far, but episode 44 definitely was one big hit. Even though it was mostly the usual formula, the antagonist was perfectly fleshed out. I could really sympathize with the father who had to make a very difficult decision. #4: Les Miserables – Shoujo Cosette – 08 Seriously, for a children’s show, I never expected it to go this disturbing. I can’t believe how Fantine turned out in the end. O_o #3: Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto – 18 Finally, after episode 13, episode 18 came with another awesome episode. Looking forward to how the series will end. 🙂 #2: Popolocrois Story 1998 – 22 In case you have yet to hear my rave about this episode, I LOVED it. This series SO is the perfect example of an awesome neglected series. #1: Otogi Juushi Akazukin – 32 I’m serious about how much I cried during this episode. That was such a sad episode, even though you wouldn’t say it.]]>