Kuruneko Review – 80/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews



Ever since 2009, we’ve seen a huge influx of series with really short episodes. Setting aside the obviously awesome Gag Manga Biyori and Marie&Gali, most of them were just mindless fluff. Kuruneko however, turned out to be a surprisingly good one. It’s a very relaxing slice of life series about a woman who lives together with her cats, and it’s got quite a bit to laugh at as well.

This is another one of those shows for cat lovers, but it’s also very different from Chi’s Sweet Home, for those who were expecting similarities. It’s true that both series are about the adorable antics of a bunch of cats, but Kuruneko is much more calm and relaxed. The jokes are delivered with wit, rather than energy. Another big selling point is just the downright adorable way in which the woman voice overs all of her cats’ dialogues. Throughout the series you really come to know her as a genuine animal lover who really enjoys the company of all the different cats around her, despite the troubles they tend to cause.

What also helps here is that this series evolves over time. We start out with just one cat who lives together with the lead. Over time, we get to see new additions to her family as they grow up from cute kittens to fully grown felines. While it is a comedy, this is one of those series that’s also very enjoyable to watch when it’s not funny, due to the subtle charms of the characters, combined with how all episodes are just two minutes long.

This was a series that I could always count on to relax me. Akitaro Daichi definitely pulled it off. However, this is Akitaro Daichi we’re talking about. He’s capable of directing so many awesome series, and it’s been years since he really came with an ambitious series. I’d love to see him push himself to his limits again, like what he did with Now and Then, Here and There or the second Jubei-chan series. This is a very safe and easy to create series, especially for someone as talented as him. It’s nice that Kuruneko is going to have a second season and all, but damn: show something more about yourself, dammit!

Storytelling: 8/10 – Subtle and witty, yet relaxing.
Characters: 9/10 – We really get to know these characters and see the cats all grow up. Very solid for a supposed comedy, these characters are enjoyable to watch even when they’re not funny.
Production-Values: 7/10 – Very simple graphics that don’t stand out.
Setting: 8/10 – Um, yeah. Not the focus at all here, but doesn’t get in the way.

Suggestions:
– Chi’s Sweet Home (the first, stay away from the second season).
– Niea Under 7
– Tetsuko no Tabi (if you can find it, that is)

Some Quick First Impressions: Mitsudomoe, Shukufuku no Campanella and Kuroshitsuji II

by psgels, posted in Kuroshitsuji II, Some Quick First Impressions

Mitsudomoe

Short Synopsis: Our lead character has to teach a class containing three really annoying problem children.
Granted, some of the jokes in this episode really were terrible, but this still is a series that turned out better than I expected. I thought that this would be another one of those dull moe series like there are so many of this season, but it actually got a number of chuckles out of me. There are a ton of problems in this show, and some parts are just plain wrong, but I admire that in the genre of moe comedies, it attempts to do things a bit different by having cute girls make no attempts at acting likable. There are a TON of fanservice jokes in this series, but think of it this way: who didn’t at the age of ten make tons of stupid sex jokes that you didn’t understand? At the moment, some jokes worked and others didn’t, so this series still can go anywhere at this point. The biggest problem with this episode was its forced stupidity. The teachers are supposed to be the straight men in this series, but at times they fail their job at building suspense of disbelief. At a certain point the girls all asked the male teacher to pull down his pants, and he just obliged to that request without questioning it, just for the sake of a small penis joke. As a straight man, you should build up some sense of realism that can be broken by the comedic characters. This guy is unfortunately too bland for that, and his female teacher love interest is just entirely terrible.
OP: Obnoxious, yet somehow catchy.
ED: Hmm, works surprisingly well.
Potential: 45%%

Shukufuku no Campanella

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a mind-numbingly boring git.
I… have nothing. Seriously. What was that? It’s these kinds of series that really give anime a bad name. I already suspected that this show would be bad, but the depths that this series would reach were even beyond my imagination. This series is just… unbelievable in how incredibly dull it ended up to be. The characters, the dialogue, everything seems so designed to sap any sort of energy out of its viewers. The characters, and I mean EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM, become a goddamn chore to watch and listen to when they open their mouth. They just kept yapping and whining about the most pointless stuff, but the worst part was the way in which the creators seem really keen on reminding us viewer how incredibly beautiful the main cast is. Seriously, they just keep going on and on about that. The only way in which this show stands out is that girls can now get pregnant at the age of three. Worst show of the season BY FAR, this is pandering at its worst.
ED: Generic J-pop
Potential: -50%

Kuroshitsuji II

Short Synopsis: Our lead character has some sort of uber butler.
Okay, let me first explain how I went into this series: I have only seen the first episode of the original Kuroshitsuji, and I don’t really feel like checking it out at this point. The first episode felt too formulaic, it tried too hard to make Sebastien look cool and Ciel like a damsel in distress. It was too forced. However, with the new staff, new cast and new approach, I became interested in checking out the second season. And holy hell is it an improvement! I’m not sure whether I can watch or blog the rest of the series without knowledge of the first season, but nevertheless, this episode was wonderfully camp. The lead character here is an just crazy, and his butler here does things ten times crazier than what I saw in the first season. The scene especially between him and his maid was just…. WTF-worthy. And at the same time, the creators also managed to stuff in enough depth on the inner psyche of this kid, along with the weird relationship he has with his butler. It was wonderfully acted, it went over the top, yet it also had plenty of quiet and subtle moments that gave a ton of depth to these characters. Here’s definitely a big surprise this season.
OP: Standard J-rock, but very nice visuals.
ED: Nice ballad
Potential: 85%

Yojou-han Shinwa Taikei Review – 92,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Yojou-han Shinwa Taikei




The Noitamina time-slot surely rocked beyond belief this season. Alongside Sarai-ya Goyou aired the possibly even better Yojou-han Shinwa Taikei, the latest product of Masaaki Yuasa of Kaiba-fame. This time, he went for a ton-of-dialogue artsy character-study slash college life series, in which we follow the lead character as he explores a wide variety of different clubs and lifestyles during his years in college throughout many parallel dimensions. And it works out wonderfully.

At first sight, the way in which this series keeps resetting itself after every episode may seem weird at first, but it actually was a brilliant method to flesh out its different characters. Because of its very frequent resets, this stands out even more than series that did similar things in the past, like Higurashi and Umineko. Because of this, we get to see a ton of different sides of the characters that would never have been able to been shown without these resets, and the most important part is that we see Watashi develop in many different ways throughout each episode. The different side-characters all have their own parts to play in Watashi (the lead character)’s world and everything comes together wonderfully in the final episodes.

All of this is accompanied by some truly excellent dialogue. This series is based on an actual novel, rather than a manga or light novel, and it really shows. The dialogue is incredibly fast and you really need to pay attention to keep up with it, but as a narration it offers very detailed descriptions of the situations that Watashi finds himself in, which is nearly always very imaginative in the ways that it does so, with quite a number of witty remarks.

One potential pitfall could have been for the series to lose itself in either its dialogue and visuals, but neither happens. There are a ton of details stuffed into this series in order to make all episodes stand out, but in the same way the main message and characters remain deceptively simple on the outside. In comparison, while Kuchuu Buranko felt a bit like a loose cannon at times, every moment of Yojou-han is instead meant to bring colour to the life in which Watashi is living, and build up for the episodes that are still to come. Because the huge amount of building up, the first half of this series is decidedly less impressive than the second half, but the build-up is definitely worth it.

It’s a series that doesn’t try to provoke the biggest emotional response, but as a character-study it really stands out as a minor masterpiece here, in the way that it very subtly manages to flesh out and characterize its entire cast. Especially after the final episodes, it stands out as my favourite show of the series that premiered during the past spring season.

Storytelling: 10/10 – Fresh, and varied, skillfully combining repetition with new ideas to flesh itself out. Top notch narration.
Characters: 9/10 – The formula really allows the characters to come alive and show many different sides of themselves.
Production-Values: 9/10 – It’s Masaaki Yuasa. Do I need to say anything more?
Setting: 9/10 – Spoilerific to go in detail here but yeah: this one rocks too.

Suggestions:
– Mind Game (another one of those movies that I’d review entirely different if I were to watch it today)
– Amatsuki
– Revolutionary Girl Utena

Yojou-han Shinwa Taikei – 11

by psgels, posted in Yojou-han Shinwa Taikei



Well, so here it finally is: the ending I’ve been looking forward to the most this season. And indeed: this really was the best ending of the season for me. It was a wonderful wrap up of all of the build-up that this series has done.

So in this episode, Watashi continues to wander through all of the parallel worlds of his own life that he’s been trapped in, but the big difference with the previous episode was that he finally starts piecing everything together in an attempt to get out of that maze in which he can only eat castella and fish burgers that are lying around.

Most of this episode actually was a summary of what happened in the previous episodes, but by finally thinking about them and piecing everything together, Watashi finally started to notice that Mochigumo that kept hanging above him. Like expected, that was indeed the opportunity that kept dangling in front of him. That part really was the only potential pitfall of this episode: many shows have failed with such a cheesy romantic conclusion, but the way in which Watashi finally realized that he developed a crush over Akashi was well portrayed, and subtle. In fact, his entire confession was wonderfully different from what you usually see. It wasn’t dramatic at all, and instead just felt very natural. Or as natural as you can get a guy to act, wearing nothing but a scarf and talking about disappearing underpants.

Instead, the dramatic climax was… about Oz. Watashi finally came to terms with Oz as a character, and accepted him for who he was. Interestingly, Oz’s facial expression also completely changed here. It shows even more that we see all of this from the perspective of Watashi, in which he’s this evil bastard and therefore also has this continuous grin on his face. the same goes for the fortune teller: she also looks totally different now.

Overall though, it’s awesome to see that Masaaki Yuasa is constantly trying to improve himself. The big weakness of Kaiba was its rushed ending, so here instead he comes with a perfectly planned out series across eleven episodes, in which the final episode is really meant to give closure to everything. Whether Yojou-han surpassed Kaiba… nah. The rest of Kaiba was just that good. Nevertheless, Yojou-han was a really well written character-study that has a good chance of becoming the most unique series of 2010.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Sarai-ya Goyou Review – 90/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Sarai-ya Goyou




One of the things that made the past spring season awesome was the fact that it didn’t have just one, but two Noitamina series. And boy, it sure came with a couple of amazing series to start off this new feature!

Sarai-ya Goyou is a character-study, set in the Japan of a number of centuries ago, and it unites Manglobe with Tomomi Mochizuki, of Toka Gettan, Porfy no Nagai Tabi, Kimagure Orange Road and a ton of other series. He’s a true veteran in the anime business, and he did an incredible job of bringing these characters to life.

The animation in nearly every scene in this series is full of detail, with a ton of subtle movements. This really allows the creators to put as much meaning into these scenes as possible, giving them a surprising amount of depth and development in only twelve episodes. Even most of the side characters get some development throughout the series that already is short on time and despite this limited length, it never tries to rush through things in order to fit as much as possible into its airtime. There comes a price to this, of course: it’s unfortunately an incomplete series, and stops after animating about half of the manga. The main plot threads are skillfully wrapped up at that point, but it’s clear that the storyline isn’t over at that point.

Airing next to Yojou-han this season, this series faced some incredibly tough competition, but it really shined out there despite this, and is a great recommendation for those who are looking for a short character-focused series. There is one arc that isn’t as good as the others (the Matsu arc), which breaks the flow of this series a bit, but apart from that the stories that it tells about its characters are all incredibly thoughtful and engaging.

Storytelling: 9/10 – Very detailed. Tries to put as much meaning into every scene as possible, and succeeds. Never loses itself in its pacing, though the story itself has plot threads that aren’t wrapped up.
Characters: 9/10 – Deep, well developed and thoughtful.
Production-Values: 9/10 – Manglobe does it again with excellent animation that focus on bringing its characters to life instead of over the top action scenes. Haunting soundtrack.
Setting: 9/10 – Excellent portrayal of Japan at the time, with a great analysis of the types of problems that people faced around these ages.

Suggestions:
– Mushishi
– Porfy no Nagai Tabi
– Seirei no Moribito

Sarai-ya Goyou – 12

by psgels, posted in Sarai-ya Goyou



Okay, so we all know the circumstances of this series: it’s Noitamina, it only got 12 episodes, and so it only had the room to animate the first half of the Sarai-ya Goyou manga. Next week, we’re going to get treated to Shiki and a live action Moyashimon for some reason, so the creators had no choice of wrapping this up right now, with little chance at a sequel, knowing the sales.

With this in mind, I believe that the creators couldn’t have done a better job here. The final episode ranked for me among the most emotionally intensive episodes of the series so far, and I’m really happy with how it turned out. What made it such a wonderful episode was the way it put so much meaning into just one simple revelation: the fact that he was lied to that the first Yaichi was the one who contracted the kidnappers. It brought forth so many emotions in Yaichi, and that’s exactly why I originally fell in love with this series. I also realize that it’s exactly that that felt missing in the Matsu arc. That was the reason why this series fell into a bit of a dip.

Yaichi only had one point at which he really let his emotions go. After that, he was back to his old self immediately, without any sort of attempt to drag that scene on. It was really well portrayed, and typical of Tomomi Mochizuki, the director: Porfy no Nagai Tabi also had quite a few of these moments.

So, how to rate this? Well, let me put it this way: out of all of the series in Noitamina that didn’t get the full time they deserved (Jyu Oh Sei, Moyashimon, Library Wars, Genji Monogatari, Eden of the East), it’s my favourite. It’s consistently well executed, and instead of trying to cram the entire manga into one series, the creators opted to just give the scenes that they wanted to show their full attention, and just end at a given point. The animation by Manglobe was just wonderfully detailed, and Tomomi Mochizuki did a really great job in bringing it alive. Whether it’s better than Porfy no Nagai Tabi, however… I can’t say that. Its fifty-two episodes really allowed it to develop its characters in a way that Sarai-ya Goyou would only be able to beat if it was fully animated.

Either way though, I’m definitely a fan of Natsume Ono now. Her mangas turned out to be very successful as anime, and I really hope that more of it is going to become animated in the future.

This was easily the best final episode I have seen this season so far. Manglobe, you really gained my faith back after Seiken no Blacksmith.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Some Quick First Impressions: Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu, Amagami SS and Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi

by psgels, posted in Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu, Some Quick First Impressions

Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is looking for some legendary hero or something.
Aagh! Dilemma! I’m well aware that this is from the creators of Koukaku no Regios. That series also had a first episode that had quite a bit of potential… only to never realize any of it. This first episode of Legend of Legendary Heroes used a ton of tricks that other series like to use in order to impress wit their first episode. The action-scenes here were the best looking scenes that Zecxs has ever animated, the background art in this series is just gorgeous, but it just screamed “yeah, we blew our budget on this thing”. The comedy was the best I have seen this season so far, but that doesn’t mean that it’s also good. The comedy in this series is of the shotgun type: it tries to deliver as many jokes as possible, of which some of them end up actually funny. Let me put things this way: if this series can fulfill the potential it showed in this episode in its upcoming 25 episodes, then it will be quite entertaining. It’s a tongue in the cheek fantasy series that doesn’t take itself seriously, and the way that the deadpan female lead and expressive male lead keep snarking to each other had both its annoying and amusing moments. The side-characters… they’re varied and can become interesting with a little depth and development. I’d love to be able to give a favourable review for this one, but I know the director and his tendency to not use any sort of potential that’s handed to him. I’ll get back on this one in a few more episodes.
OP: Well, decent I guess.
ED: Again, decent.
Potential: 35%

Amagami SS

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is bland, shy but very kind, so he’ll probably date a bunch of cute girls throughout the series.
Here we have the first of the onslaught of AIC Moe series this season, but at least this one looked to be the most solid. And indeed, whether this series is going to work out right is a little more complex than with Ookami, but this series has a number of huge flaws against it. First of all it’s a harem based on a dating sim, and the creators really spent no effort to defy from the cliches that this series usually suffers from: annoying sister (who he’ll probably get to date eventually as well), the spunky best friend girl, the incredibly popular girl, the weak girl, and of course the male best friend of the lead character. The premise is utterly terrible, but there were a few hints at at least a bit of substantial drama. For one, the lead character isn’t entirely bland, but had his crushes in the past. That’s like an entire novel worth of background for your average harem lead! He also got rejected when he tried to confess to a girl he only got to know on that day, so at least the characters and females aren’t morons here, but in the end, the series is just too constrained by its premise. This episode showed the lead characters hop back and forth between all of the girls that he’s supposed to be dating in the future, making for an incredibly forced first episode. I know that this is by the creators of Solty Rei, which also had a very unimpressive first episode. But really, you can do a lot more neat stuff with science fiction than another one of those shows set just in high school.
OP: A tip for whoever sung this: stay away from English lyrics. You’re not good at them.
ED: Boring j-rock
Potential: 35%

Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is socially awkward, completely bland, but actually a pretty nice guy so of course he gets a cute girl as a semi-girlfriend.
Well, so the first real premiere of the summer season… turns out to be a disappointment. I was actually looking forward to how the creators would interpret the fairy tale premise that they had to work with. And somehow… they chose one of the blandest ways to do it. In the end, this is just another one of those series about a weird club in high school, with a tsundere, maid, typical lose lead guy, sarcastic boss, and really annoying best friend. There also is a narrator, and while she sometimes tries to actually say something witty, she loses herself way too often in small boob jokes. The fanservice here is just utterly pointless, bland and uninspired, which makes it even worse. The production values are nice, I grant it that, but this is exactly the kind of moe high school show that I’ve gotten more than tired of by now. If it had something interesting about this episode, it might have been serviceable, but this had just nothing. It was all just bland. No hints at potential whatsoever. This is only for the people who like moe humor.
ED: Annoying j-pop
Potential: 20%

June Summary

by psgels, posted in Monthly Summaries

I think what mostly set this month apart was a lack of disappointments: all of the series I’ve been following were interesting and enjoyable, and actually none of the series that I watched (22 of them) felt like a waste of time for me. Series that once were annoying redeemed themselves, and even the shows I liked to bitch about has plenty of good stuff to like.

Overall, This season was average: it wasn’t among the best seasons I’ve seen, but also not among the worst. It set itself apart with well thought-out settings, which was definitely what I liked about this season overall the best. The worst about this season was that there are just too many series that were too short. But that’s a dead horse that I think is already beaten enough.

#22 (new) – Sekirei – (7,5/10) – The first episode pretty much was what the first season was, only with even worse comedy. Yeah, I know it’s a fanservice show and all, but it’s among the better ones. The only reason you’d want to watch this if you’re not horny is the plot, but still, it’s pretty decent and solid for its genre.
#21 (20) – Hetalia World Series – (7,5/10) – The biggest problem with this series is its balancing issues. Yes, we know that Prussia is an evil bastard, can we finally move on now? The thing is, that this is called Hetalia WORLD SERIES, but it has only been focusing on European politics of three hundred years ago.
#20 (21) – Marie&Gali – (7,75/10) – I’m getting used to the new main character. I’m not sure whether it’s supposed to be a good thing for one to get used to a mosquito buzzing around your ears for a week and a half, but the fact remains: the creators have not lost one ounce of their creativity. Even with annoying presence of ‘her’, they still focus on making explaining science fun.
#19 (15) – Heroman – (7,75/10) – Here’s the thing with this series: its initial premise really was riddled with cliches, staple characters, and plain idiocy. But really, the creators took this concept, and actually developed it quite well. Most of the major characters have grown by now, the plot is completely different from what it was ten episodes before, and while the government people are sometimes portrayed a bit too stereotypical, it definitely makes for an interesting intrigue plot.
#18 (19) – Uragiri wa Boku no Namae wo Shitteiru – (7,75/10) – There are a lot of faults in this series I like to bitch about. But really: at its core it’s a solid series. Characters are solid in their interactions and build-up, the atmosphere is very good, I like how it uses its CG. There are a number of plot-holes, but nothing major.
#17 (16) – Kaidan Restaurant – (7,75/10) – A rather abrupt ending, but it remained as enjoyable light horror until the end. The final episode was a good way to close off, albeit a bit forced.
#16 (12) – Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou – (8/10) – Well, this series did what it was supposed to do: make a very entertaining finale that was consistently fun to watch. Sure, it made no sense at times, but that was nowhere where the appeal of this series lay for me. The action-scenes were fun, the characters themselves did their job, and didn’t become boring or tedious to watch at all. I also liked some of the crazier plot twists it pulled. I know it’s a guilty pleasure of mine, but I personally enjoyed it a lot. Shouldn’t that be enough?
#15 (11) – Katanagatari – (8/10) – This month’s episode wasn’t the best, but nevertheless very solid. Making use of a well known trope didn’t hurt the overall dialogue at all.
#14 (17) – Kuruneko – (8/10) – I’ll review this one as soon as I can find the final three episodes, but seriously, they’re almost impossible to track down. It’s a bloody shame that Akitaro Daichi’s series are so incredibly underrated, because Kuruneko has been consistently enjoyable from start to finish.
#13 (18) – Anymaru Tantei Kiruminzoo – (8/10) – I’m pleasantly surprised here. The series still consist of random episodes, but you can really see things develop very, very slowly. Characters are starting to think about what they can do themselves, Riko got some surprisingly touching moments that made her quite a colourful character, and the humour still ranges from cute to hilarious.
#12 (8) – Angel Beats – (8,25/10) – I’ve said this before: I’d rather watch a series with a ton of hiccups, but a ton of interesting ideas and concepts, than a series that might not have any holes in its plot, but also doesn’t take any risks at all, has no originality and doesn’t attempt to think outside of the box. Angel Beats was chaos, but it was fun, enjoyable, and varied in the way that it actually succeeded pretty well with all kinds of different genres. The climax did not live up to Key’s usual standards, but nevertheless it stood out in its ideas. That is for me enough to make up for the lesser parts of the series.
#11 (14) – B Gata H Kei – (8,25/10) – I really thought that at the halfway point this series would just go downhill and not match the fun of the first episodes. And then it turns out that the creators saved some of their best jokes for last. A number of priceless scenes, along with some actually surprisingly solid development of the lead characters ended this series on a very good note for me. It has definitely become my favourite fanservice comedy (and it’s ABOUT TIME an actually good one showed up).
#10 (13) – Durarara – (8,25/10)

This is a bit of a response to the criticisms I have received for my review of this series, most notably “how come show X (in this case Daimaou and Angel Beats) is rated as high as Durarara?” Now first of all: why are you comparing a show as Daimaou with Durarara? They have completely different purposes, I rated the former the way because it succeeded as entertainment that kept me engaged from start to finish. I rated the latter this way because for a show with substance, it could have done better and was a bit overshadowed by other series with substance, including its own first half. In fact, I still really like the character-development, and if a Durarara sequel will pop up, there is no doubt that I’m going to rate it higher. But the past arc just wasn’t the right one to quit the series with.

#9 (7) – Senkou no Night Raid – (8,25/10)

The thing I loved about this series is how thought provoking it ended up to be, combined with its characters who, while bland at first sight, had this air of maturity and lack of overacting that made them a very solid cast to watch. The big problem is a number of plotholes and characters changing sides a little too easily, but despite that it’s been a very solid finale.

#8 (9) – Rainbow – (8,5/10)

It’s impossible to talk about Rainbow this month without mentioning spoilers, but I do want to say that I absolutely love that SPOILER, and not only that, but also SPOILER. With 13 episodes lift, this opens the door to so much character-development!

#7 (6) – Gag Manga Biyori – (8,5/10)

The best of this month was the manga artist episode. It’s brilliant how the creators carried on that one single joke, and instead they built further upon it rather than dragging it out. It’s really sad to see this show go now, though. It’s definitely been my favourite comedy of the past two seasons, and I can’t imagine anything surpassing it as my favourite comedy of 2010.

#6 (10) – Ookiku Furikabutte – (8,75/10)

Definitely the best month of the second season. It was rushed, sure, but even under these circumstances the creators delivered an awesome match. The animation was consistently excellent throughout and the creators really showed the ins and outs of baseball.

#5 (5) – Heartcatch Precure – (8,75/10)

We’re about to get to some turning points, but in the meantime this series continues its delightful trend of heart-warming stories along with its incredibly addictive and engaging main cast. The animation really allows the creators to show a ton of different emotions and really make them dynamic characters.

#4 (4) – Giant Killing – (8,75/10)

This month was nearly all about one big football match. This really allowed the creators to get the best out of the involved character, and make it a real turning-point for the series. Not just for the players, but everyone round it: the supporters, the coaches, the managers, the press. Everyone is important in this series. The only downside is the strange includes of recaps at the beginning of each episode.

#3 (1) – Sarai-ya Goyou – (8,75/10)

My favourite parts of this series still are located in the middle, but the past month has also had a number of very impressive episodes. Especially Yaichi’s background is handled really well.

#2 (2) – Yojou-han Shinwa Taikei – (9,25/10)

Deciding my number one for this month was a very tough decision. In the end, I decided to put Yojou-han second, mostly because we haven’t seen the end yet. It’s already a masterpiece, but that ending could even make it surpass itself even more than that it did this month. The way the creators developed Watashi, putting everything around him into context was just masterful. Masaaki Yuasa definitely did it again. I can only imagine how amazing that conclusion must be.

#1 (3) – Full Metal Alchemist – Brotherhood – (9,25/10)

The climax of this series was amazing. Everything came together wonderfully, the action was epic, and the characters showed their best sides. I love how nearly everyone helped in their own ways. It’s awesome to see that this everything that this series has been building up for during the past five seasons has come together.

Rainbow – 13

by psgels, posted in Rainbow



Recap. I didn’t really feel like watching it entirely so I just glossed through it, but it did not have any new content aside from some monologues of Mario that didn’t really say anything new. This was really meant as a break for this series.

Either way, it came at a rather annoying moment, just when the series is really getting interesting. Oh, if the creators play their cards right this is going to make for a VERY interesting second half.
Rating: — (Recap)

Gag Manga Biyori+ Review – 85/100 (Again)

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews



Last season I accidentally posted a review of this series before it had actually ended. No worries, though, because this just give me another excuse to try and hype the hell out of this series. With thirteen extra episodes, I have no doubt that this is going to end up as my favourite comedy of 2010. I know that this series has a really obscure reputation, but really: it’s absolutely hilarious.

The formula of the fourth season is 50 percent recap, and 50% original episodes. This makes it an excellent way to get introduced to the series for even those who haven’t watched it, and the thirteen new episodes are as hilarious as ever. In fact, from what I’ve seen of the series, it’s actually gotten better by time.

The thing that really sets this series apart from all other comedies is its energy. Seriously, you will not find a series that is more hyperactive than this. Even the Excel Saga, Sexy Commando Gaiden and Gintama feel slow. The dialogue leaves absolutely no time to catch your breath. The voice actors are all excellent in the way that they keep the energy going, finding a great combination between overacting and deadpan tones.

The subject matter of this series varies widely, but episodes can generally be divided into two types: the historical parodies and the anime parodies. My personal favourites were the latter, but that’s mostly because I have more affinity with it, compared to the surprisingly obscure yet important historical figures that the former addresses.

Either way though, this series may be known as random, but that also does a bit of injustice to its premise. Sure, the characters here are all morons, but very often you can see episodes build up to some kind of punch-line, some of which are just brilliant in the tropes that they make fun of. In fact, these are the best episodes of the entire series, with my personal favourite being the spaceship episode.

I know that Humour is something personal that’s different for everyone, but if you’re looking for hyperactive humour, then you really can’t get more hyperactive than this. I know that I keep teasing everyone during my monthly summaries with my huge praises of this series, but I really want to give it as much exposure as possible, in the hope that it’ll eventually get noticed by a fansub group who want to pick it up. This is an awesome addition to the comedy genre in anime, it doesn’t deserve to get forgotten like this!

Storytelling: 9/10 – Insane pacing. Never fails to keeps the balls in the air and deliver great jokes with an unrivalled hyperactivity.
Characters: 8/10 – A bit hard to judge in this context, but there are surprisingly few cliched characters in this series. Most characters only have up to five minutes of airtime, but they still manage to be hilarious. Well written in its own way.
Production-Values: 8/10 – A rating of 8 here obviously doesn’t mean eye candy, but the animation is solid, and never gets in the way of the humour. In fact, the simple graphics are refreshing for the anime medium that way too often goes for moe and bishies.
Setting: 9/10 – Clearly spent a lot of time thinking up ideas for tropes that it was going to parody. Great finds, and references to surprisingly underrated historical figures.

Suggestions:
– Excel Saga
– The other Gag Manga Biyori Seasons
– Kodomo no Omocha
– Sexy Commando Gaiden