Some quick first impressions: Boku ga Ita, Tonagura! and Chottoko Sister

Holy god… I never knew that this season contained so much rubbish. Ah well, a bad season once in a while doesn’t hurt either, as it gives me the chance to concentrate on the good stuff from the previous seasons. So far, I’m still hoping for Angelique, Night Head Genesis and Kemonozume to produce something worthwile. Let’s hope they do. Anyway, we now turn to the next batch of new shows, and it isn’t really exciting. All feature bland relationship between a boy and girl, destined to be together.

Boku ga Ita

We have this girl, who falls in love with an extremely popular guy. And well, that’s what this anime’s about. Some people might like such a love-story, though I found it incredibly boring. Nothing really happened in the twenty minutes of this episode and seeing the girl be embarrassed was so annoying to watch. And why are the characters missing an eye at times? Budget savings?

Tonagura!

I was indeed fearing for this series, and my fears have been confirmed after watching. Stay away from this series at all costs. We have a girl who still remembers her shildhood love from ten years ago. The boy meanwhile moved away, though now, ten years later he’s coming back. She’s so longing to see him again, until she finds out that he’s a horny bastard. The side-characters don’t really help either, as each and every one of them fits into the fanservice-clichés perfectly. The entire series seems to be aimed at fanservice, and of course the two main characters will be ending up together.

Chottoko Sister

If I had to describe this series, it’d be something like “Chobits goes loli”. The description of the anime really turned me off: a guy wishes he has a little sister, and on one Christmas Eve, his wish gets fulfilled when Santa personally brings him a little 10-year-old sister. Still, it works better in the anime. First of all, the guy was seven when he wished Santa for a new sister, after it became clear that his mother would never be able to have the sister he so longed for. It’s indeed very hard for a seven-year-old boy to deal with things like deaths, and especially premature deaths. The eccentric Santa also made up for a lot of things, I really appreciated that. Still, the fact remains that the guy has a new cute sister, and the sister keeps clinging to him. The focus of the anime indeed is clear. I might watch it, though this show will never be able to step out of the boundaries of mediocrity.

Simoun – 16 – Awesomeness



This episode was just… incredible… It focuses mostly on Dominüra and Limone, with a bit of Paraietta. The title of the episode already gave away what was about to happen… but god… I never expected it to be this awesome.

We continue with where we left off at the previous episode. Neviriru, Morinasu, Kaimu, Dödoreamon, Aruti, Furoe, Mamiina and Yun are still gone, and most of the episode therefore only shows Aaeru, Dominüra, Limone, Paraietta and Wauf. (Interesting note: the OP has changed. Okay, not a bit, though there are small parts which are different).

Wauf is worrying about the things which are happening. After all, things are quite strange, with four Simouns gone. Dominüra meanwhile is praying to Tempus Patiem. Limone, meanwhile, managed to find Rödoreamon’s doll. She and Aaeru have a bit of fun, and Paraietta gets angry at them. After that, another alarm goes off. This time, it’s not just one enemy plane, it’s an army of them. Wauf commands the Messis to dive into the trees for shelter (it seems that they haven’t been spotted yet).

Paraietta, Aaeru, Dominüra and Limone head off to scare the enemy planes away. Dominüra surprises Waporifu by admitting that the Simoun are God’s Crafts. Meanwhile, Paraietta feels quite left behind when she suggests to charge in, while Dominüra and Aaeru find it a better idea to defend the Messis. Limone was too cute when it appeared that she brought the stuffed toy along.

On a side-note, the background music definitely changed for the Simoun-battles. The accordion is totally gone, and it has made way for a psychedelic, futuristic tune. I have to say, that it fits perfectly! The enemy manages to leave without being able to spot the Messis. Paraietta gets even more confused when it seems that she acted too rash once more. When everything seems clear, she doesn’t notice the scouts of the enemy. Only because of Aaeru, they don’t get sighted.

Dominüra and Limone meanwhile have a touching discussion about the Emerald Ri Maajon. Limone understands how Dominüra feels. Later in the Messis, Wauf comes with two possible options, if the enemy were to attack again. 1. Wait for the four Simouns to return and hold defences until that happens. 2. Flee, and leave the other Simouns to die. Paraietta is so confused that she immediately assumes that it’ll be option 2. She then suggests to look for the others (aka Neviriru). The others disagree with her. Paraietta answers this by slapping Aaeru, in order to make her point. I wonder how she’ll turn out, as the rest of the episode focuses around Dominüra and Limone.

The former enters the church again, in which Waporifu is praying. Dominüra then fully acknowledges the existence of Tempus Patiem, and forbids Waporifu to mention the incident, a couple of episodes back. Then the alarm follows, and Wauf makes the logical decision: wait for the other Simoun to return. After all, he values their lives more than his own.

Limone again forgot to put Rödoreamon’s stuffed toy back. The Simoun head out, and they start to attack the enemy crafts. It then seems, however, that the enemies have exponentially increased their speeds, and they’re starting to be able to dodge the Ri Maajons. Dominüra and Limone try out all sorts of highly destructive Ri Maajons, but they don’t work. Dominüra then suggests the Emerald Ri Maajon. What follows is Dominüra claiming that what she saw a couple of episodes back completely destroyed her beliefs. Does that mean that she abandoned her superiors as well?

What follows is Wauf deciding to use the Messis as decoy for Simoun to escape. Neviriru, meanwhile, begins to feel that someone’s making the Emerald Ri Maajon. Paraietta also begins to yell at them, without any success, as well as the other Sybylla. Neviriru even screams, though Dominüra and Limone are totally relaxed, accompanied by an awesome background tune.

In the awesomeness which follows, Dominüra and Limone have disappeared, with the enemies still intact. Then, the other four Simoun return and the Arcus Prima appears. Even though this is a Deus ex Machina, I don’t care at all. It cleans up neatly after the major events of the scene. This also closes the Messis-arc.

Overall, this was just totally awesome. Without a doubt, this was the best episode of Simoun yet. And that has to say something! I can’t wait to find out what the last part of Simoun will be like.

Just one thing…

What the heck happened to Limone and Dominüra?

The Third – 09 – Paife



The Third really continues the awesome path it set before. It especially managed to deliver during its climaxes, when it really needs to. The rest of the time, it spends building up. While this building up may seem a bit boring when you see it, the effect it gets is awesome.

In short, the woman from the previous episode indeed has an important role in the anime. Her name is Paife, and she’s sent to spy on Honoka by the same company that hired her. For some reason, Paife acts totally different near Honoka than the way she acts normally. I guess she’s probably fascinated by her. That’s shown in the previous episode, when her strange hypnotization technique doesn’t work, and this episode, when Paife really gets astonished by Honoka’s fighting ability.

Interesting points:
– Paife has heard of Ikus. (I’m still calling him Ikus, by the way. I like that more than Iks)
– Ikus has something to do with the warped space. He either caused it, or he tried to prevent it.
– Honoka really has put her mind on Ikus ever since he left. She was very glad when she saw him again.
– The Third are planning to blast the warped space with something called the Wormhole Driver. It’s something that the Great War left them, though they never had to put it to use.
– We still have no idea what the “Great War” is (that, or I simply forgot), though it seems it was pretty significant for the story.
– Honoka’s extremely tolerant to people she trusts. That becomes clear when she sees that Paife’s an ordinary murderer.
– In this world, people are known to transform into monsters. Why this happens and what it’s got to do with the Great War still remains unclear.
– Honoka’s too nice, when the managed to give Joey an opportunity to study further. He was really happy when he found out. ^^
– The music really was amazing in this episode. It really accentuated the climaxes.
– There are a lot of things unclear about the cult, though they seem important to the story in some way. And what were they doing near the warped space?
– What’s Gravestone?
– Honoka was shocked after the mutant guy was killed. NOT after she saw Ikus. That happened afterwards.

Overall, The Third was amazing, it is amazing, and hopefully, it’ll continue to be amazing. So far, all signs point to yes.

Memorable moment: Paife killing off every person Honoka knocked out, while Honoka watches her.

Tsubasa Chronicle – 37 – Gao! Gaaaaaoooo! Gao!!!



Okay.

THAT was awesome!!!

I never would have thought that Tsubasa Chronicle would be able to produce such an incredible episode. The following happens: Mokona transports the foursome to another world, after which they immediately get captured by a feather, which turns them into a story, into chibi-mode. Not only was this extremely cute, Mokona also had total control over this story. That resulted into some of the most hilarious scenes ever! I SO loved that!

Even though Tsubasa Chronicle may be a mess at times, this episode showed that the anime still remains awesome. I really cared for the characters, it really does an incredibly good job in familiarizing the main characters with the viewer. I so kept hoping for Sakura and Syaoran to kiss together. Something that doesn’t really happen often. But ah well, I guess that the dimensional witch put a halt to that one. It seems something will happen once the two of them kiss. Something which will break her spell.

Overall, everything in this episode was incredibly cute, and incredibly awesome. Ranging from Sakura and Syaoran being together to the playful Fye, and of course the ferocious Kurogane in his new outfit. ^^

Memorable moments: the entire episode. ^^

Tsubasa Chronicle – 36 – Suddenly, Everything Makes Sense



Duh!

Okay, let’s recap:
– When Ashura and Yasha fought in Sakura’s flashback, Ashura killed Yasha because the latter caught an illness.
– The next day, Yasha showed up like nothing happened, while in fact it was a feather which replaced him.
– Kurogane pretended not to know Syaoran because the latter would not take his training seriously if he did.
– Fye pretended not to know Syaoran because he pretended to be a silent warrior, because he couldn’t understand anyone in the Yasha-country, because Mokona was too far away.
– Something in the Yasha-country changes the eye-color of its inhabitants to black.
– Ashura and Yasha became gods because Ashura asked Yuuko for it.

Okay, everything makes sense now. Everything felt so incredibly obvious when all was revealed. Maybe a bit too obvious. Still, I’m happy with this arc. Everything was nicely told, not to mention the story was great. Kurogane was awesome once more as well.

Oh, by the way, I’m back again, and I have a lot of catching up to do. I started with Tsubasa Chronicle, as I heard that the next episode will become an awesome one. Apart from that, I’m also very interested in The Third and Simoun, so these ones will come in first, after the rest. Also, as there’ll be a lot to blog, be sure to expect a lot of short posts.

I’ve also discovered that Blogspot stopped allowing hotlinks. That doesn’t make me too happy, as it’ll make my first posts without any images. Fixing this will be a hell, though I’m at least planning to make Mahou Shoujotai to look good. After all, one of the best series ever deserves that.

Popolocrois 2003 – 05 – And I’ll Be In A Temporary Hiatus



Before I continue, I have some announcements to make. This will probably be the last post I’ll make, as tomorrow, I’ll be entering a short hiatus. I’ll be off to Britain, in order to enjoy some vacation. I’m not planning to make use of internet, so I’ll be gone for the next week. I should be back at July 24. By then, I’ll probably face a huge ordeal in trying to catch up with the week of anime that I lost. Ah well, back to the episode, and it was a great one. 🙂

Another character gets introduced: the Fire Seirei. Pinon, Luna and Marco head back to Popolocrois Castle. Marco tagged along, as he’d like to see some royal sweets. In any case, things are incredibly hot, which probably means that the fire-seirei has been captured. Then, they notice a shop on fire. Pinon messes up, and has to be saved by others, while Luna and Marco save the shopkeeper, who was trapped inside with the fire.

This really keeps gnawing in Pietoro. He really can’t see the great things that he’s done, as he keeps focusing on his own failures. This episode, was mainly meant for Pinon to realize that he’s got friends who can help him. It’s interesting that the episode wasn’t focused at Marco at all, while he did get his own Seirei. The Fire Seirei, by the way, is just too cute. It’s a strange combination between a chicken and a red pengiun, who can breathe fire. It seems that he took a liking in Marco.

I still don’t know what’s up with Papu. It seems that all of the Seirei are scared of him, though he quickly tells them not to be. In any case the episode itself featured events which succeeded each other in high pace. Especialy Marco was great. (*note to self: when writing an entry, write it right after seeing the episode, do not take a break. Ohterwise, you get garbage posts like this one*)

Memorable Moment: Pietoro mistaking a headless mannequin for the real shopkeeper.

Popolocrois 2003 – 04 – Dried Fish



Yup, the third and final main character gets introduced this episode: Marco. He’s a pretty interesting and funny guy. His voice-acting also works really well. His mother (Leona) also seems to be a good friend of Pietoro, and he could be the son of Shirokishi as well, though that’s not sure yet. Still, I like the way that he’s got no sense of direction at all. ^^

Anyway, a lot of interesting things happened. The most important one was Pinon, who still struggles with the fact that everyone sees him as Pietoro’s son, and always expects things of him. Marco really helps him see this, as Pinon is in his eyes just a weak little wimp. After all, at their first meeting, Pinon hides behind Luna. While this is extremely cute, it does show that Pinon lacks any form of confidence. He even gets to the point at whishing he never made friends with Luna, as making friends is just the same as fighting with each other. This really shows that Pinon is horribly shy and locked up. I like these sorts of main characters. They’re so much better than the impulsive little brats.

Punpun and Kotoro also were quite interesting. While they didn’t contribute to the main story at all, I just couldn’t help but love the situations they get thrown in. While they aren’t as awesome as their father, these situations did make them very enjoyable. The mushroom also was awesome. Even though their inventions lack a visual trademark, it still was hilarious to see a huge mushroom in the middle of a forest like that. I also liked the running gag of the dried fish which was included. Marco was on an errand to bring his mother some dried fish. He loses them, and they drop in the river, near Punpun and Kotaro. While Kotaro’s fishing, he gets extremely surprised when he catches a bunch of dried fish, of all things. Later, it seems that the creators haven’t forgotten this fish, as Kotaro actually attempts to roast the fish. The fish eventually end up as the lunch for a hungry griffin. (^^) It was interesting to see Kotaro running around with these dried fish on a stick.

Overall, this was a very nice episode. I’m beginning to like this anime more and more. I’ve still got two issues: Pinon’s voice-actor and the three little kids that keep bugging Pinon. Though the latter do make Pinon depressed, so I guess they’re okay. I’m also wondering what happened to Ulala. We haven’t seen a clue from her ever since the first episode. In any case, I’m liking Pietoro and Luna. The two of them look really cute together. ^^

Memorable Moment: Seeing Punpun and Kotoro emerge from the giant mushroom.

Some quick first impressions: NHK ni Youkoso, Le Chevalier d’Eon and Kirarin Revolution

We now turn to some more heavily anticipated anime, and one show which seems to have been lost in the shadows. I was fairly surprised when I saw the latter of the three appear on Tokyo Toshokan. In any case, all of the main characters in these shows are interested in some way in a character who stands or stood high above them.

NHK ni Youkoso

This show is about a NEET, or Not in Employment, Education or Training. Ever since his first day at college, he ran to his apartment, and stayed there for more than three years. When you stay for three years inside a single apartment, it does very strange things to you. And indeed, the main character gets some very interesting theories. About how the NHK (actually a Japanese broadcast company) is actually the source of all evil. Another major plus of this series is the music. It really works along with all of the scenes. Overall, this seems like a very interesting series. I like the main character and his theories, though the girl has to have some very good reason to come to him.

Le Chevalier d’Eon

Another very anticipated show. I have to say, that so far, it lived up to its hype. The most notable aspect of this anime is the incredibly fast pacing. You really can’t afford to miss even five seconds, otherwise you’ll have no idea what’s going on. Though if you do manage to follow it, the effect it gives is great. Still, I wonder where this anime is going. It’s only been the first episode, and they already killed off half of the cast before the end of it. Still, this anime will probably become very interesting.

Kirarin Revolution

This still is from the spring season. Yes, spring season. It actually took more than three months before this show got its first subs. It’s a shoujo-anime. It’s got a lot of annoying elements, though I have to say that I enjoyed it in the end. We have this incredibly energetic young girl (Kirarin), who falls in love with an idol while she doesn’t know that the guy is an idol. In the eyes of the idol, Kirarin, is just one of his many fans. I think the anime will follow Kirarin, trying to win the idol’s respect. her first step: becoming an idol herself. Even though she knows nothing about singing. This anime reminded me a lot of Full Moon wa Sagashite, so I decided to give it another chance. Kirarin’s voice-actor is incredibly annoying, and she may be a bit too energetic at times. The idol’s costume looks totally ridiculous. But the few serious moments in the first episode were really convincing. Let’s hope that this anime doesn’t ruin itself.

Simoun – 15 – Paraietta



OMG Paraietta! She really was incredible in this episode. The episode wasn’t really focused on a select number of characters, but Paraietta’s case was amazing. Apart from that, Furoe, Neviriru, Aaeru, Limone, Dominüra, Morinasu, Waporifu and Yun also received a healthy dose of character development.

We start the episode with Limone and Yun, outside of the Messis. Yun is collecting a few branches in order to make a cradle. Yun’s a tough nut to crack. The fact that she’s serious, and exactly knows her goal give her a very strong and level-headed personality. Though she’s still hiding something, I believe. It’s also very interesting to see Limone opening up more and more to others beside Aaeru, as we see her later in the episode trying to make a cradle of her own.

Yun also suggests Limone to stay by Dominüra’s side, as she’s the closest to her. Meanwhile, Aaeru and Neviriru get back from their day-long journey. Neviriru leaves immediately, along with Paraietta. We switch to Morinasu and Waporifu, who seem to have gotten into a fight. Last episode totally destroyed Waporifu as well, as she indeed sees the Simoun as sacred crafts, who shouldn’t be touched by anyone.

Later, the Alarm goes off, as an enemy has been spotted. Dominüra still is in shock, so somebody else has to take control. Aaeru still tries to go with Neviriru, though Paraietta stops her. Paraietta feels that with Dominüra gone and Neviriru tired, she has to yet again act as a leader. Still, there’s one major difference with the beginning of the series, when she had to do this as well: at the beginning of the series, it was only natural for her to take the lead. This time, she forces herself in the lead. Most of the Sybilla don’t really like this. Although Aaeru’s the only one who listens to her.

Still, Paraietta’s so occupied with being in the lead, that she forgets the most important thing: determining who gets to be sent out. All she does is forbid Aaeru to go with Neviriru, nothing more. She keeps clinging to protect Neviriru so that she can’t see the big picture anymore. Yun corrects her mistake by taking the initiative, to go along with Kaimu.

Back in the dorms, Mamiina, Rödoreamon and Aruti wonder why Aaeru was so obedient. Furoe gets pissed off by this. It seems that she kind of enjoyed Aaeru’s cool and direct personality, and it must be annoying to see Aaeru different like that. Furoe then gets too cute when she tries to hide her jealousy of Aaeru to the others. ^^

Furoe then notices Aaeru walking outside, and goes after her. It seems that Aaeru headed to Neviriru, in order to apologize for making her feel horrible. Neviriru, however, simply walks away from Aaeru. Quite cowardly, and Furoe indeed scolds her for that. This finally makes Neviriru see that both Aaeru and Amuria were using her as a tool to get them higher. I don’t think Neviriru will be flying with Aaeru anymore. It was also nice to see Neviriru break down when she realizes this.

Then, another enemy shows up. Furoe, Aruti, Mamiina and Rödoreamon get sent out, even though Yun and Kaimu still haven’t returned. Aaeru begins to wonder about the enemy’s plans, and wonders whether Paraietta, who sent them out, made the right decision. Paraietta takes this way to highly, and thinks of it as an insult. Though Aaeru does make sense. The enemy has only been spotted, it hasn’t attacked. All Paraietta’s been doing is sending out troupes, without using some kind of plan.

Meanwhile, it starts to rain, and Aaeru, Morinasu and Limone are left alone in the dormitories. Quite bored. Morinasu then suggests a play of hide-and-seek. It’s quite interesting that such a thing can be included. It seems interesting to play hide-and-seek in such a huge ship. It’s got lots of opportunities to hide. ^^

In any case, Limone runs into Dominüra’s room. For some reason, Dominüra is singing the song of Aaeru’s wind machine. Could it be a coincidence that she was singing this, or was there some kind of meaning behind it we still don’t know? In any case, Dominüra has a strange look in her eyes. She’s like a zombie, though she does recognize Limone, and talks to her.

It’s still raining, though Paraietta’s still standing on the same spot since we left her before. It seems that she’s in deep thoughts after what Aaeru said. She decides to check up on Dominüra, though when Limone emerges from her room, she gets doubts. She’s incredibly indecisive, and she knows it. What follows is an amusing scene in which she relieves her anger on a wall, not noticing Aaeru, who still is hiding, near her.

What follows is an amazing scene. Even if it was just because one of the most awesome background tunes being played. Another enemy has been spotted, and Paraietta forces herself to send another pair after them. She chooses Aaeru as her pair, though Neviriru, of all people corrects her. Neviriru then decides to go for herself, and take Morinasu, of all people, as her pair. Paraietta tries to stop her, in order to protect her, though Neviriru refuses to listen to her. This is what breaks Paraietta. An amazing scene. Probably the best scene of Simoun yet.

Another thing I love is the fact that something is going on with the other Sybilla. Something is keeping them occupied, but we never know what. Right now, they’re just plot devices in order to remove some characters so that some character development can be more focused without other people unnecessarily arriving. While that in itself is amazing, there has to be something happening with the other Sybilla. But what?

We have to wait for that answer till the next episode, as the story focuses on Dominüra. Limone tells Aaeru that Dominüra’s eyes looked like the eyes of a dying person (interesting note: how does she know what the eyes of a dying person look like?). Limone was wrong about this, as they see Dominüra walking in one of the corridors. After eating A LOT, Dominüra seems to recover. When Paraietta sees this, she asks for advice, though the former quickly blows the latter down with a snide remark. That’s the last we see of Paraietta in this episode.

Meanwhile, Dominüra and Limone agree to do the Emerald Ri Maajon some day. Limone wants to make the most perfect Ri Maajons, while Dominüra is the former member of a Chor whose sole existence was to make the Emerald Ri Maajon. We’re in for an amazing sixteenth episode. 🙂

Overall, Simoun is just getting better and better. Paraietta was amazing this episode, and Furoe also had a very nice role.

Memorable Moment: Neviriru choosing Morinasu.

.Hack//Roots – Kuhn Will Be An Interesting New Character



This was a very enjoyable episode. Even though it was just a filler, it had some great moments. Almost all of the main characters, Haseo, Ovan, Shino, Tri-Edge, Yata, Naobi, Pai, Ender and Savuro are all cast aside, and stay out of the entire episode, in order to make it focus around Tabby, with Phyllo, a new main character called Kuhn and two newbies as side-characters as support.

Tabby’s still struggling with everything that happened, though she does decide to remain in The World. Unlike others. Then, she runs into a couple of newbies, and decides to help them. It’s a shame, however, that Tabby herself is a complete newbie as well, so the three of them end up dying. Phyllo, meanwhile gets visited by what seems like an old friend. I immediately was reminded of Kurim from .Hack//Sign, though Kuhn (the name of the guy) seems a bit more playful than Kurim.

Still, I like Kuhn. He’s pretty funny. Especially when he tried to beat some sense into one of the newbies. (^^;) The two newbies also have their own story, which was pretty interesting to watch. The two of them are brothers, and the youngest one is currently in the middle of studying for his high-school entrance exam. The older one failed that same exam. This made their mother turn a bit desperate, and she now absolutely wants the younger brother to succeed in the exam, which results in lots of studying. The older brother felt sorry for the younger brother, as he didn’t have any free time at all. That’s why he decided to take the younger brother to The World, while their parents were away. In the beginning, the younger brother doesn’t like this. Though Tabby and Kuhn make him glad in the end.

Another thing which made me glad is that finally some moral issues were introduced. Finally, some issues which forced the viewer to think appeared. I’ve been waiting for that. Now that I’ve seen this episode, I indeed realize that that is what .Hack//Roots has been lacking all this time, and why .Hack//Sign always was the better one. If the show can keep this up, I’ll be very happy.

Tabby also revealed something about herself in real life, inspired by the two brothers. It seems that she has an older sister. While Tabby isn’t really great at studying, her sister is really smart. I think that she can relate to the younger brother in a way.

Overall, this may have been a filler, though it does remain a very enjoyable filler. It also finally made me realize the thing which .Hack//Roots has been lacking. If the creators also realized this, the results can become awesome.

Memorable moment: Kuhn chasing the younger brother.