June Summary

Well, here is my summary of the month June. Every time I do a post like these, it gets a bit more structure. At least, I hope. I’ve tried out a couple of new ideas, and kept a number of the old ideas. But damn… ranking series can get hard at times. Especialy when there are so many awesome ones.

+ Top 9 of series which got one or less episode subbed +
I’ve decided to split up the rankings again. This time, in series which were actively subbed/released and the series who only got one or less episodes released/subbed. Otherwise, the rankings would be just too hard. I’d base some things on just one episode, which is just too little.

9: Yoshinaga-san chi no Gargoyle
See Blood+

8: Blood+
I wish I could say something about this series. I wish I could rave about this series. Weren’t for the fact that there hasn’t been one release out for an entire friggin’ month! Did something happen at the fansubbers’ end?

7: Gun Doh Musashi

Extremely corny and cheesy samurai-show. I’m giving it a few more episodes before I decide whether to drop it or not. Still, I’m not crazy enough to touch the rubbish that the fansub group named “Best” produced, so I’m waiting for another fansub group to pick this show up.

6: Hime-Sama Goyoujin

Surprisingly funny for such a low-budget show. If the amount of comedy keeps up, I’ll keep following this. Still, you don’t want to watch this if you want to see some characters with an IQ of above 60.

5: Pani Poni Dash

Hilarious once more, though not as good as the previous episodes. I wonder what the creators had in mind for the final episode.

4: Gintama

I decided to drop this show, though somehow, I felt the urge to watch this again. The characters are turning less annoying by the minute. This surely is one of the underdogs of the season.

3: Noein

While not as strong as episode 22, episode 23 still was just totally amazing once more. I really can’t wait to see the ending. I wonder which one manages to finish first: Noein or Pani Poni Dash. They both need one more episode to be subbed.

2: Ginga Densetsu Weed

This show must have been doing something incredibly good, in order to be able to beat an episode like Noein 23. And it did. There was only one episode released this month, but during its climax, I was really clinging to the screen in order to not miss even a millisecond. This episode just SO totally captured me, it was almost freaky.

1: Mushishi

Episode 21 showed along with the total amazingness, the fact that the OVA’s are even better than most of the episodes of the series. Pure brilliance.

+ Top 21 of series which got two or more episodes subbed/released +
21: Bleach

I never, ever had such incredible hate/love relationships with an anime as with Bleach. Episode 86 was just amazing. But nothing will make up for the piece of garbage that the creators dared to show on episode 84 and 85.

20: Ouran High School Host Club

Ouran’s getting weak, unfortunately. The latest episodes just had a few funny moments, but Honey SO ruins this show.

19: Naruto

The latest arc had a great buildup, but it ended horribly, unfortunately. The best filler remains, of course, the end of the curry-of-life arc.

18: Witchblade

The little girl is too cute. She so manages to save this anime from being turned into garbage.

17: Kamisama Kazoku

Tenko was awesome. Though, she was the only thing that makes this anime worthwile.

16: Soul Link

A decent ending for a pretty decent story with pretty decent characters with horrible art, music and voice-acting.

15: Utawarerumono

Finally this show is getting a bit worthwile again. Still, only at episode eleven the garbage ended. I’ve also heard from certain sources that the show will experience a huge plot twist at around episode seventeen, so I’m curious enough to continue watching.

14: Jyuu Oh Sei

The ending was solid. It managed to recover pretty well, after a bad middle-part.

13: Tsubasa Chronicle

The series remains a bloody mess. Still, it’s a very enjoyable bloody mess.

12: Eureka 7

It seems like the season-long intermezzo has ended, and the anime’s now building up for a grande finale. It promises to be something very worthwile.

11: Good Witch of the West – Astraea Testament

Despite the huge flaw of Good Witch, the heavy drama still works perfectly.

10: Saiunkoku Monogatari

Ryuuki is just too funny in some of his antics. ^^;

9: .Hack//Roots

Around episode ten, this show fell heavily. Still, it managed to pick up, and it’s on a good way to turn out to be even better than before.

8: xxxHolic

The stories continue to be great. Not to mention the antics of Yuuko, Watanuki and Domeki.

7: Simoun

The atmosphere is just great, and not to mention that the setting’s incredibly original. I like the main character, Aaeru.

6: The Third

The third remains the show with the best character development ever. The episodes which came out this month showed a number of amazing scenes. Though not amazing enough in order to beat the five below.

5: Black Lagoon

That maid was just awesome. Black Lagoon proved itself to be able to go along with the big guys. Too bad it’s such a short anime.

4: PopoloCrois Story 1998

The plot progression isn’t as rapid as it was before, but still, Ston, Sanda and Gamigami remain awesome. Pietoro, Narcia and Hyuu remain too cute. I’m really keen on finding out about the later half of the anime.

3: Makai Senki Disgaea

Episode 7, 8 and 12 were okay, though 9, 10 and 11 were just totally incredible. It’s too bad the series ended.

2: Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni

After the weaker second arc, the third arc returns just totally amazing. I’ve yet to see any flaws in this, except for the low-budget artwork. Still, the way Keiichi has acted was just totally amazing. Not to mention the great mystery it features.

1: Ergo Proxy

Ergo Proxy just keeps getting better and better. The atmosphere it manages to set is just totally amazing. Each episode just strengthens this effect.

+ Interesting Anime for the Future +
Well, my preferences for the next season are clear, so I thought to give a small list of interesting looking anime which will air after the summer-season. It’s a new part of the end-of-the-month-summaries I’m trying out, in which I try to find some future anime which have yet to air and are worth mentioning, or about which I’ve got something “interesting” to say. I’m also trying to not list the anime who’ve already been listed before in articles like this one (only one of them has, but let’s ignore that little detail). After listing them, I’ll be trying to give them a ranking based on how much I’m looking forward to these series. Thanks to AniDB for the info, by the way.

10: Strike Witches

“The world had received the attack from the existence of the mystery that appeared suddenly. Only girls who have magic can fight against them. They install arms in an own body, and fight in the sky, the land, and the sea. Fights of girls who defend the world start now.” Another series a lot of people are incredibly looking forward to. Another series I don’t like. The skimpy outfits didn’t really help. The concept reminds me a bit of Gunslinger Girl, though this time with more action and fanservice. Too bad that the parts which made Gunslinger Girls good were neither of these.

9: Pumpkin Scissors

Yeah, I know. The title sounds totally ridiculous. When I looked at the show´s logo and found out that Gonzo was producing this series, I kept gazing at the screen for a couple of minutes, wondering whether I was having some strange joke. Still, when I looked at the character designs, I had to admit that I saw things I liked.

8: Hataraki Man

“This is one-shot stories of working people drawn from the viewpoint of Matsukata Hiroko, who is a 28-year-old single woman and is an editor of Weekly Magazine, JIDAI.” I have no idea what this’ll be. You’d think that this would be a slice-of-life series, though somehow the show is labeled as seinen. This series can turn out to be good, though I’m worried about the amounts of fanservice it’ll contain.

7: Hayate Cross Blade

“The main lead of the story is a girl, Hayate, who is going to a special swordsmanship school that her twin sister, Nagi, was supposed to go to. However, because her sister is in the hospital, she`s taking her place. She arrives and discovers that the students at the school occasionally have challenges when a certain bell rings. They`re supposed to “take” the stars that are on each other`s uniforms, and they get monetary rewards for doing so. As a rule though, they have to fight in pairs. At first, Hayate`s not interested but she finds out that her friend`s apartment got vandalized and needs money, so she decides to participate. Hayate, who eventually gets discovered as a fraud but is allowed to remain, joins forces with a reluctant Ayana and their lives as students there start.” Err… Utena, anyone? The thing I like about this is the fact that duels always happen in pairs of two. I’m hoping for some strategic battles this way. Also, the anime is listed as shoujo ai, which could also become a plus.

6: Red Garden

“New York…girls who approach together being introduced by cruel fates…conflicts, and feuding over their sense of values… Kate, Rose, and Rachel go to a same school. Since the morning, they’ve been feeling something strange. They are informed of a sudden death of a classmate, Leeds. In the evening, being in grief, the girls gather in an empty warehouse street as if they were led by something. Usually, they are not in company, but coincidentally, they had the same strange feelings, and they lost their memories of the last night. When they hear someone’s footsteps and turn, there is a strange couple. The woman notifies them a surprising truth sounds like a lie; ‘You are dead'” This description gives a nice introduction, but I still have no idea what this series will be about. Let alone that the sentences in the description don’t make any sense. So, the main characters are dead, so what will they be doing afterwards? Still, this does sound very promising.

5: Asatte no Houkou

“Karada is an elementary school girl. She lost her parents in the accident, and she has been living with his big brother. Because she doesn`t want be a burden on her brother, she hopes to grow soon. On the other hand, there is a woman named Shoko. She used to be called “genius”, and she always misses those days. Those two happen to obtain mysterious stones to grant their wishes. They change their “time”. Karada turns to be an adult, while Shoko becomes a child. However…” This actually seems pretty interesting. An elementary student and a grown up woman get to play the main characters. This will be providing a nice twist. I’m also happy about the “However…”-part of the description.

4: Sumomomo Momomo

“Koushi Inuzuka is a smart high school student who aims to become a public prosecutor. Unfortunately for our good guy, he was born into a martial arts family whose head (ie his father) only knows one language: violence. When Koushi was still a baby, his father made a pact with his biggest rival to marry Koushi to his opponent-turned-friend`s daughter. The union of the two blood lines is supposed to bring forth Earth`s strongest martial arts clan. Skip forward: Koushi is in high school, oblivious to the marriage arranged for him at his birth. Enter Momoko Kuzuryuu: sugar bomb, airhead, loli martial arts artist and Koushi`s self-proclaimed bride (the strongest on Earth, no less). Her wish for sexual intercourse meets with Koushi`s square refusal as he has absolutely no desire to get it on with someone who looks like she could be his little sister, not to mention that he doesn`t have the foggiest idea who she actually is. Meanwhile, a war has broken out between the martial arts families. For Koushi, this means that numerous fighters are out to challenge him. As if that weren`t bad enough, our protagonist also has a fight phobia due to a traumatic incident that took place in his childhood. Now it`s up to Momoko and her superhuman fighting skills to protect her “husband.” Will the two sweethearts survive the trials and tribulations ahead of them? More importantly, will Momoko get her way receiving a baby from Koushi?” I have to say, I’m impressed. The concepts sounds like it’ll be the best of its kind (as in, high-school boy gets bothered by girl who’s fallen in love with him), it kindof reminds me of Ramna 1/2, which was brilliant, in my opinion. I’ll probably love the parts in which this “Momoko” keeps chasing Koushi and Koushi keeps getting bothered by people who want to challenge him. ^^ Still, there is that matter of the two of them being destined to end up together. I hope the serious scenes stay away from an anime like this, as they can ruin everything… *coughMagikanocough*

3: Gothicmade

“It is a colonized planet, Planet Carman called “Madder Earth”. It is a small planet where people are forced do hard works to send resources to the Planet Alliance. The consolidations of those who work hard are women called “Utame”. They have abilities to hand down their memories for generations. Their accumulated memories bind people divided into nations and tribes, and their words lead them to good direction.
A 16-year-old girl, Perin, was chosen a new Utame, and when she is going to the Capital, Hari, Trihalon who is the third prince of a military nation, Donau, is sent to guard Perin because the terrorism is plotted. He is supposed to accompany her all the way to the capital. However, their thoughts and characters are completely different. What will this journey to the capital bring them?” This seems like an interesting concept. The two of them will definately fall in love, but I like this setting. I’m also a big fan of the character design. The long limbs look good on the characters.

2: Seirei no Moribito

I’ve talked about this one before, and it really seems like a solid fantasy title. “Chagumu, the second prince of New Yogo Kingdom, is the person who is chosen once in 100 years to be deposited an egg by a water fairly, and he must become the guardian of fairies. Thinking of him as a nuisance, the king tries to kill him, while the queen asks a female guard, Valsa, to protect him. However, the beings live in another world, Nayugu, aim at him to eat an egg laid in Chagumu’s body.” If you ignore the fact that the description doesn’t make any sense at all, the thing it’s trying to tell seems impressive.

1: Tales of Symphonia

I’ll be looking out for this. Why? Because this is the first anime at which I managed to see the original product before I get to see the anime based on it. This gives a good chance for some great comparisons to the game. I’m also SO looking forward to seeing Presea animated. She was my favourite character in the game.

+ Top 5 Episodes +
As usual, I close my summary with a small list of the best episodes which aired this month. Here they are:

Honorable Mention: Popolocrois Story 1998 – 14
One of the best standalone comedic moments ever. I laughed so hard at this moment. This series really deserves credit in this. ^_^

5: The Third – 05
Millie… so sad. Honoka was just great once more. Awesome episode.

4: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni – 11
I don’t know how others are in this, but in my opinion, this episode was so greatly executed that I really felt along with Keiichi as he carried out his plan of murdering that guy. The fact that he messed up incredibly only made this better, as I kept fearing that he’d do something which would give him away.

3: Ergo Proxy – 13
Iggy was just brilliant in this episode. Totally brilliant. The way he did the things he did and the impact this had on Real was just incredibly awesome.

2: Makai Senki Disgaea – 11
This was just such an incredible episode. The secret of the prinnies finally gets revealed, and not to mention the part that Laharl’s mother gets to play in this.

1: Mushishi – 21
Mushishi returns with its OVA, and immediately shows us the awesomeness it’s capable of. This episode displayed a truly magnificent story, about a mushi who wants to survive, no matter what.