Deltora Quest
While I wrote my Winter Season Preview, I told myself that I’d continue watching Deltora Quest, no matter how bad the first episode turned out to be, seeing as the premise I read about did spark my interest. Still, after watching it, I can easily say that I have absolutely no reason to drop it. From the outside, this looks like another one of these teenage-boy-who-has-to-collect-number-of-crystals-stories. Well, that’s exactly where the stereotypes end. What we have here is finally a pure fantasy story, taking place in the country of Deltora where it features our main character, who travels along with his caretaker and some girl we’ll probably meet in the next episode. This anime already separated itself from all those other shounen-adventures by giving an outline of the history of the country of Deltora, and making the main character more than an ignorant brat. I definitely want to see more of this. It’s been a while since such a good pure fantasy story with no other focuses appeared.
Koi Suru Tenshi Angelique 2007
I gave on this show up after reading Azure Flame’s review of it, though I decided to give it one final chance. I’m not sure whether that was a good idea. I was shocked when I found out the truth about this anime. This show just kicks the nine bishounen from the first season out like it’s nothing, and introduces a WHOLE NEW SET OF NINE BISHOUNEN! Or at least, eight bishounen and yet another guy who just looks too much like a female. This isn’t monster of the week, this is bishie of the week! Not only that, the creators tried to give a bit of variation by making the main character go to each of these bishounen’s worlds and retrieve them. NINE FRIGGIN’ EPISODES OF ARRIVAL IN WORLD, BIT OF TALK, RELUCTANCE TO GO, MORE TALK, EMOTIONAL SCENE, AGREEMENT TO GO. Actually, this can be done right, though I highly doubt that this anime will succeed. Especially after seeing next week’s preview. This is just too cheesy. Dropped.
Major 3rd Season
I’ve never seen anything of Major, and this seemed like a good moment to check whether or not that was a good choice. Still, I don’t think that I’m going to watch any more of this series. It’s not necessarily bad, or anything, but this episode didn’t motivate me to go download the first two seasons, unlike shows as Sasami Mahou Shoujo Club and Futago Hime. It had some interesting points, like when the main character watched the two baseball teams play against each other, but the guys, especially the main character, were just a bit too annoying. Dropped.]]>
Red Garden – 12
Interesting. This episode is almost entirely focused on the love-relationships of Rachel, Claire and Kate. In Rachel’s case, things get worse, in Claire’s case, things get better, and in Kate’s case, things get introduced. It wasn’t as good as the previous episode, though that doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy it.
One thing I love about this series is how you can’t say “now, X’s problems have reached their climax, now it’s Y’s turn to take a similar path”. No, every character has her own problems, and these continue throughout the series. It isn’t like, Character A has had problems with love relationship, now it’s Character B to experience something similar, unlike some other series *coughKanoncough*.
Anyway, I absolutely loved Hervé during this episode. The irony of it all starts when Rachel starts falling in love with him, and reckons that he has gentle eyes. This probably comes from the care for his little sister, and now he unconsciously keeps using that expression everywhere. It’s probably why his father doesn’t take him too seriously. Still, you can say a lot about this anime, but the fact does remain that it’s got a greatly developed antagonist. I also loved how sadistic he acted towards Lise. Now that he’s back in his element again, he says some pretty cruel stuff to her, and continues to drop overly obvious hints to her. I really like this guy now. ^_^
Another clue gets revealed about Rose’s father, by the way. The guy did disappear, but whatever he’s doing, he does send money to his family on a monthly basis. If I had to guess, he’s either involved with Hervé in some way, or he did something horrible, and can’t face his family because of that. Lulu and her companion also were hilarious when they spied on Kate and Hervé. With this discussion, the two of them definitely stepped away from the usual antagonists with their evil plans, and became a bunch of humans.
I’m actually interested in episode 13. Most anime pack out greatly for the end of the first season. If Red Garden is the same, then we may expect some heavily emotional scenes. The ED also surprised me a bit, though I quite like it. It’s just as strange as the previous one, though it’s much more interesting than the EDs I usually see.
Also, credits for this anime for featuring a date which didn’t annoy the hell out of me. :)]]>
Sasami Mahou Shoujo Club – 25
The previous episodes had been rather disappointing. Sure, Misao and her feelings were nice and all, though the anime didn’t delve as deep into the characters as the first season did, and neither did it have the mystery of the first half of the second season. It’s been rather straight-forward and predictable, with as best point the great graphics. Because of this, I didn’t suspect much out of the current episode.
But boy, that was so incredibly charming. At its semi-final episode, this anime suddenly takes a step back and focuses on the characters again, and how the past few episodes and Amitabu have affected Sasami’s and the others’s lives. My faith into this series was immediately restored again. Especially Ami-chan and Sasami were so touching. 🙂
Now that Misao’s problems have been solved, she actually turned much more cheerful, so that the final two episodes can really focus on Ginji, Ami-chan and Sasami. Misao also made up with Monta, and the two are head into a good direction. ^_^
Sasami, meanwhile, is getting a bit annoyed at Ami-chan, who keeps clinging to Ginji whenever he has the chance, quite hilarious. It appears that Ginji was the only one who ever showed kindness to him. I also like how he also is content with spending time with Sasami, whenever Ginji is away. The two of them were SO CUTE when they were alone. At a certain moment, Ami-chan also started singing the same song that we’ve heard from him a number of times before. Really, that really works every time I hear it. Cute!
Then there’s still this matter of the other Ami-chan being released. He’s causing quite a havoc, Kanbu is about to die again, and he even crossed over to the normal world. Itoki noticed this, and she heads to Washuu to warn her. Washuu, by the way, also seems to have her eye on someone. ^_^ Anyway, things get even better when it seems that Ginji has to involve Ami-chan once more, in order to make the other Ami-chan disappear. This is quite a shock for both Ginji and Ami-chan, with some great results. The definite highlight of the episode was when Ami-chan found out, ran away, Sasami chased after him, and the two of them make up. Great moment. 🙂
Well then, the question does remain: will this anime end well? It does seem that the creators took a bit of time for it, so it probably won’t be incredibly rushed. This episode also made sure of some interesting development between the different characters, which also can be good. But what can the creators do to make this interesting?]]>
Some quick first impressions: Afro Samurai, Saint October and Kyoushiro to Towa no Sora
Afro Samurai
Ah, so this is the long-awaited arrival of Afro-Samurai. It’s quickly become famous for being produced and starred by no other than Samuel Jackson. And as expected, this one’s got a great style. It takes place in a dark and gritty world, focusing on a person who lived his entire life for revenge against his father’s killer. So far, I’m impressed. I expected this to be all style and zero substance, though the story and characters definitely were interesting to see. From the barmaid, and the various challengers to Afro Samurai himself. All that’s left now is to hope that the story will progress into something interesting over the next episodes. There are just two complaints I have with this. At times, the gore becomes a bit too much, and at my version of the episode came enclosed by a trailer of a new Hollywood movie called Norbit. Seriously, even though it’s just a trailer, one could torture, just by showing that piece.
Saint October
Cool! A mahou shoujo. And a pretty good one as well. The art may look rather low-budget, though what I love is how this anime mixed cliché’s along with totally original and fresh ideas. I’m not sure how to describe it, but it seems like each element in this anime has an original point and an overused point. It gives this anime a cheesy, yet fresh feeling. The setting and mood also were very interesting. What we have here is a semi-futuristic setting with magic elements, which seem to be related to certain cards. The mystery-element also seems to become very interesting. Why does this girl have the ability to transform? What are the bad guys after?
Kyoushiro to Towa no Sora
Right from the first moment in the first scene, this anime just screams Kannazuki no Miko. If this isn’t the sister-anime of Kannazuki no Miko, then I don’t know anymore. I knew that there were going to be resemblances, though I never thought that there would be this much. Especially the soundtrack is almost exactly alike, with its classical instruments. For Kyoushiro to Towa no Sora, the creators also turned up the elegance two gears, which looked quite interesting. Still, the fact remains that it’s a cheesy love-story. Complete with action, a love rival and a prince on a white horse in a flower-field (seriously, I’m not kidding, and the anime isn’t either). The new main character is just as annoying as Himeko, though a bit less helpless perhaps (so far, at least. The ending of the episode suggested that the next few episodes will reduce her to a romantic damsel in distress). I’m really thinking that this anime will even surpass Kannazuki no Miko in terms of cheesiness, seeing as the drama already went into the boundaries of laughable after only its first episode. Will this anime be able to get out of the depths of cheesiness and melodrama? Well, there’s only one way to find out.]]>
Night Head Genesis – 23
Very interesting, Ark really is gone now. I didn’t realize that after the previous episode, but with Okuhara’s death, they really are gone now. Right now, Night Head Genesis is working towards its finale with its final case. And surprisingly, it even introduces a bunch of characters with just two episodes to go! Was this a good idea, or would it have been better for this series to consist of 26 episodes?
If you look at it from one side, the fact that the creators are trying to cram the final arc in two episodes is a bad sign. They’ve skipped eighteen months, and now introduce the second of the two people (with Okuhara being the other) who predicted the “upheaval” beforehand. She predicted the place where everything would start, and the creators introduced the major characters involved with it locally. This does mean that in terms of development, these characters are far behind all of the others in terms of development and fleshing out. There also are quite a lot of questions left unanswered, and I hope that the creators will manage to cover all of them.
On the other side, if it’s done right, a fast-paced ending really works. If the creators manage to actually know what they’re doing, the ending can become very interesting. I think they have to waste as little time as possible, and introduce Shoko as soon as possible, seeing as it’s almost impossible for her not to be involved in saving the world.
Still, it’s interesting to see how Naoto and Naoya have changed. With 1,5 years passing, they’ve both become a bit more relaxed and concentrated, not to mention that their hair grew a bit. ^_^ It seems that they just lived their lives peacefully during that time. Even though I would have liked some scenes during that time, if it actually does turn out that the creators ran out of time for the final, these scenes would have been the best to be scrapped. There needed to be some time dedicated to the newly introduced characters. After all, even though they’ve been introduced so late in the series, it would have been worse if just some place was pinpointed on the map of Japan, Naoto and Naoya would head there and they’d solve the world’s destruction. After all, there wouldn’t have been anything for the viewer to relate to. And besides, the newly introduced characters might provide a twist or two.
I highly doubt that the final episode is going to equal the awesomeness of the previous episode, unless something really amazing happens. Still, I’m interested to see how this will end, as it’s not your standard ending. I especially like the lack of Ark. You would expect them to last till the final episode, though the final episodes are saved to show how the upcoming upheaval affects the lives of a small amount of individuals.]]>
Saiunkoku Monogatari – 24
Holy god, this anime is just getting better and better! I loved this episode to bits. Not only was it hilarious, some of the speeches, monologues and dialogues were brilliant! I can’t believe how much thought has been put into this anime. Now that we’re nearing the hearts of books 4 and 5, Saiunkoku Monogatari gets more interesting by the minute.
It already starts out good when Sa Kokujun comes to free Ensei and Seiran. He’s the third grandson of Sa Chuushou, if I recall correctly. He’s been stationed alongside his eldest brother, Sa Soujun, whom we saw in the previous episode and kept an eye out on Kourin, Eigetsu, Ensei and Serian while they were captured. He’s in love with Sa Enjun’s granddaughter, Sa Shunki, I’m not sure whether this is known to the rest of the Sa-clan, but the fact remains that they don’t find him suspicious and he’s not too happy with their plans. In any case, I loved how Ensei lectured him when he released him. He’s one of those guys who keeps hoping for other, stronger people to do something. He hoped that Ensei would just go and rampage and everything would be all right. This also showed how easily influenced he is, as we later see him in the episode take initiative to guide Eigetsu and Kourin to Kinka.
Speaking of Kourin, I’m surprised how strong she became after her stay in the Sa-Province. When she still was a servant of Sa Enjun, she just was a random scared servant. Same with when she returned. She was just too scared to be hated by Shuurei to show her true strength. But now that she’s shown her side when she’s not scared, she’s become awesome. 🙂
I also love how each of the characters go their own way, and do what they have to do in their own way. While Shuurei (she looks great with her hair down, by the way) is in the merchant’s guild, travelling without being seen, Ensei and Seiran travel a bit faster, while working as bounty-hunters, capturing the Satsujinzoku in the meantime and Kourin and Eigetsu have to make sure that nobody finds out that Kokujun has betrayed the Sa clan and Kourin actually is Shuurei.
And yes, Ensei’s picture was hilarious.
Also, I keep wondering what’s up with Senya? He’s definitely got an eye on Shuurei, but who does he work for? He seems to know Shuurei’s identity, as he’s been dropping lots of hints about Shuurei and her companions, which means that he definitely wants something from her. But is it to protect her in some way, by marrying Shuurei before the Sa-clan gets the chance to do so, or does he work for the Sa-clan and is simply luring Shuurei to where he wants her?]]>
Review Index – Rating – (90-100/100)
Mahou Shoujotai – (TV) – 97/100 Noein – (TV) – 96/100 Birdy the Mighty Decode 2 – (TV) – 95/100 Bokura no – (TV) – 95/100 Gankutsuou – (TV) – 95/100 Kaiba – (TV) – 95/100 Monster – (TV) – 95/100 Revolutionary Girl Utena – (TV) – 95/100 Simoun – (TV) – 95/100 Strange Dawn – (TV) – 95/100 The Third – (TV) – 95/100 Figure 17 – Tsubasa and Hikaru – (TV) – 94/100 Haibane Renmei – (TV) – 94/100 Kaze no Shoujo Emily – (TV) – 94/100 Les Miserables – Shoujo Cosette – (TV) – 94/100 Mushishi – (TV) – 94/100 Shion no Ou – (TV) – 94/100 Toward the Terra – (TV) – 94/100 Asatte no Houkou – (TV) – 93/100 Baccano! – (TV) – 93/100 Dennou Coil – A Circle of Children – (TV) – 93/100 Hi no Tori – (TV) – 93/100 The Dog of Flanders – (Movie) – 93/100 Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Boku-Tachi wa Mada Shiranai. – (TV) – 92,5/100 Aoi Bungaku – (TV) – 92,5/100 Armed Librarians – The Book of Bantorra – (TV) – 92,5/100 Full Metal Alchemist – Brotherhood – (TV) – 92,5/100 Himitsu ~The Revelation~ – (TV) – 92,5/100 Infinite Ryvius – (TV) – 92,5/100 Legend of the Galactic Heroes – (OVA) – 92,5/100 Maison Ikkoku – (TV) – 92,5/100 Mawaru Penguin Drum – (TV) – 92,5/100 Michiko e Hatchin – (TV) – 92,5/100 Mouryou no Hako – (TV) – 92,5/100 Mysterious Cities of Gold – (TV) – 92,5/100 Nana – (TV) – 92,5/100 Phantom – (TV) – 92,5/100 Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 – (TV) – 92,5/100 Yojou-han Shinwa Taikei – (TV) – 92,5/100 Ghost Hound – (TV) – 92/100 Jigoku Shoujo – (TV) – 92/100 Mermaid’s Forest – (TV) – 92/100 Otogi Juushi Akazukin – (TV) – 92/100 Tokyo Godfathers – (Movie) – 92/100 Eternal Family – (Movie) – 91/100 Eureka 7 – (TV) – 91/100 Higurashi no Naku Koro ni – (TV) – 91/100 Le Chevalier d’Eon – (TV) – 91/100 Millennium Actress – (Movie) – 91/100 Natsuyuki Rendezvous – (TV) – 91/100 Now and Then, Here and There – (TV) – 91/100 Seirei no Moribito – (TV) – 91/100 Air – (TV) – 90/100 Amatsuki – (TV) – 90/100 Anne no Nikki – The Diary of Anne Frank – (Movie) – 90/100 Ashita no Nadja – (TV) – 90/100 Black Jack OVA – (TV) – 90/100 Casshern Sins – (TV) – 90/100 Clannad After Story – 90/100 Cowboy Bebop – (TV) – 90/100 Flag – (TV) – 90/100 From the New World – (TV) – 90/100 Giant Killing – (TV) – 90/100 Gintama Episodes 1-100 – (TV) – 90/100 Glass Mask (2005) – (TV) – 90/100 Gunslinger Girl – Il Teatrino – (TV) – 90/100 Hi no Tori Houou-Hen – (Movie) – 90/100 Hi no Tori Uchuu-Hen – (OVA) – 90/100 Honey and Clover – (TV) – 90/100 Hunter X Hunter OVA – (OVA) – 90/100 Kaleido Star – (TV) – 90/100 Kodomo no Omocha – (TV) – 90/100 Kurau Phantom Memory – (TV) – 90/100 Kyousogiga – (TV) – 90/100 Level E – (TV) – 90/100 Metropolis – (Movie) – 90/100 Mobile Police Patlabor OVA 2 – (OVA) – 90/100 Nodame Cantabile – (TV) – 90/100 Perrine Monogatari – (TV) – 90/100 Porfy no Nagai Tabi – (TV) – 90/100 Rose of Versailles – (TV) – 90/100 Rurouni Kenshin – Tsuiokuhen – (OVA) – 90/100 Saiunkoku Monogatari – (TV) – 90/100 Sarai-ya Goyou – (TV) – 90/100 Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei – (TV) – 90/100 Seikai no Senki II – (TV) – 90/100 Shiki – (TV) – 90/100 Spirited Away – (Movie) – 90/100 Tales of Phantasia – (OVA) – 90/100 The Law of Ueki – (TV) – 90/100 Twelve Kingdoms – (TV) – 90/100 xxxHolic: Kei – (TV) – 90/100 xxxHolic – (TV) – 90/100 A quick indication on what all the ratings mean: 100/100: The perfect anime. I’ve yet to encounter one, though. 97,5/100: The best of the best of the best, my all-time favourite(s). 95/100: Truly amazing and outstanding series, the best of their genres. These series made a huge impact on me. 92,5/100: Simply fantastic anime. These series have many areas in which they stand out like no other. 90/100: Anime that achieved exactly what they set out to do. Incredibly solid productions with so many things to like about them.]]>
2006 Summary
Okay, it’s time to list my favourites of 2006. My 2006 Summary is going to be a bit different from my usual montly summaries, seeing as it just consists out of a bunch of awards and one top-10. Still, seeing as it’s been a very good year this time, I’ve got lots of awards, and I had a really tough time deciding for some. Here’s hoping that 2007 will be even better. To those who already are in 2007: Happy New Year! For those (like me) who still need a few hours to go: Happy New Year In Advance!
Funniest Anime: The Law of Ueki
The series, entirely devoted to comedy like Muteki Kanbanmusume and Magikano may have been hilarious, none cracked me up like Ueki did. It’s hilarious cast of characters combined with their special powers just cracked me up majorly during some of the better fights in the series. Special credit goes to the guy with the sewing-talent and the badass punk guy who could change his sacred treasures into cute and fluffy animals. ^_^
Most Pleasant Surprise: Ayakashi ~ Japanese Classic Horror
After the first episode, I expected NOTHING of this show. Just another dull anime about medieval Japan in which some bloody things happened. Then the second episode came. Boy, did it blow me away with all its brutal killings, murders and people going crazy. And if I even knew at that time how amazing the third arc ended up to be.
Best Music: .Hack//Roots
I actually had a tough time choosing between .Hack//Roots, Noein and Night Head Genesis. Night Head Genesis has some brilliant atmospheric music, while Noein just blasts out of the speakers at times, while at other times it produced some extremely sad tunes. Still, in the end, I dediced to go with .Hack//Roots, seeing as the ALU Project really knew what they were doing. The music also was one of the reasons the final few episodes turned good again.
Best Not Really a 2006-Anime: Popolocrois 1998 and 2003
Yeah, even though these anime never really appeared in 2006, only now they started to get subbed. Still, that doesn’t means that I don’t love both series. The 1998 series had some incredibly funny moments and action scenes, while 2003 especially turned awesome with its second half. Both series have some great characters and character developments. At this point, I can’t choose which one of these is the better. I’ll do that as soon as the entire series have been subbed. I hope that happens fast, as there haven’t been any subs appearing at all lately.
Best Old Anime I Happened To See This Year: Revolutionary Girl Utena
I blogged this series, even though it aired eight years ago, for a reason. It’s got some of the best character development and studies ever, and especially the latest episodes were insanely good. Honorable Mention: Hi no Tori.
Best Thought-Provoking Anime: Ergo Proxy
There’s some heavy contending with Mushishi here. While Mushishi asks questions about life itself, and how to spend it, Ergo Proxy keeps toying with the minds of its viewers over and over again with some very interesting cases. While the later part of the anime may have become a bit stale, the first two thirds were excellent in this.
Best-Looking Graphics: Noein
There’ve been some anime with interesting graphical approaches in the past year. Kenomonozume, with its messy art, for example, or Good Witch of the West with its beautiful approach to both character designs and backgrounds, or xxxHolic, with its rather simple character designs, which in the end did turn out great. Still, none of them managed to beat Noein. Its great blend of CG and messy character designs immediately had me captured from its first episode.
Best Drama: Mushishi
This was a very tough choice between Simoun, Mushishi and Asatte no Houkou. Still, in the end, I went with Mushishi, seeing as most of its stories truly are unrivalled. The extremely serious approach to the stories, some of which are hopeless cases, while others can be cured, though each of them affect the lives of the people involved tremendously.
Cutest Anime: Otogi Juushi Akazukin
Seriously, the characters turned out so incredibly CUTE. This goes for both the male and the female ones. Akazukin, Shirayuki, Ibara, and the others just have the greatest character designs, while the males, like Souta, Hansel and especially Baru are extremely cute in their behaviours. Especially Baru has to have it hard, being surrounded by people such as Shirayuki and Ringo. ^_^
Best RPG-adaptation: Tales of Phantasia
I have no idea what people have against RPG-based anime. Okay, Final Fantasy Unlimited may have been garbage, and Star Ocean EX’s final episodes may have been the king and queen of Deus ex Machina, but when it’s done right, it really works. Just look at Popolocrois, Ragnarok the Animation and Makai Senki Disgaea. In any case, the best one in this year definitely came from Tales of Phantasia. It’s a great four-episode OVA adaptation of the game, Especially Arche, Klarth and Suzu were awesome. 🙂
The this-anime-seems-to-have-gone-up-in-smoke-award: Hime-Sama Goyoujin
Remember this one? It only got one episode subbed, and that’s all. After that, nobody talked about it, or said anything about it. It’s a shame, seeing as the first episode was rather funny. It actually was a tough choice, along with Shoujo Chang Geum no Yume, though the latter managed to save itself from this award when its second episode got subbed. Still, I liked both series, and hope to see more of them.
Biggest Disappointment: Ouran High School Host Club
It’s a shame. It started out so good and funny, though because it kept milking the same jokes over and over, it sort of ruined itself. It’s a pity, as it really had a great concept. I almost wanted to put Haruhi Suzumiya here, seeing as it went from an excellent first episode to just a mediocre show, till I dropped it at episode 4, though I feel that because I only beared the first few episodes, I had no way of knowing whether the later episodes would turn out good or not. Not that I expect them to, or something.
Top 10 Anime 2006
Okay, these are my favourite series of 2006. This definitely has been a great year for anime. 🙂
#10: xxxHolic
When it comes to Watanuki’s antics, no one can beat him. He’s been a great character through the course of the show. The situations he was thrown at, the decisions he made, his annoyances at both Yuuko, Domeki and Mokona turned this into a great series. The cases of each week also were extremely interesting to see. From a woman who lost herself over her internet-obsession to a pipe fox who eats evil spirits.
#9: Saiunkoku Monogatari
When it comes to strong female characters, Shuurei definitely has to be mentioned. I love how much thought has been put into this series to provide a nice political drama about a woman, rising into a male-dominated society. The antics of the different side-characters also helped this series a lot. I really hope to see more of this in 2007.
#8: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
Okay, it may have had it’s bad moments. The animation when characters went berserk did look fake, and the fifth arc was a hell to get through. But when this series turned good, it really turned GOOD. It successfully managed to combine horror, touching characters and a plot full of mysteries, mysteries and even more mysteries. I’m a fan of all three of these parts, so that means that I really enjoyed this anime.
#7: Eureka 7
A surprise hit for me, seeing as it only started getting good after ten episodes. Still, after that point, this series turned out extremely touching, and even more disturbing. The final episodes also turned this show also into one of the few anime that made me cry about its characters.
#6: Otogi Juushi Akazukin
I’m surprised to see such lack of interest about this show, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t love this one. I really love well-executed fantasy-stories, cute character and a good dose of mystery, and that’s exactly what this show has to offer. Each of the characters are a joy to see, and I really look forward to each week’s instalment.
#5: Mushishi
We now turn to the anime that made a huge impression on me this year. The first one being Mushishi. Nothing much happened during the episodes, there wasn’t any action of some sort. But the stories, holy god, the stories. Whether sad or happy, they blew me away, especially the better ones.
#4: Simoun
Simoun created a large cast of amazing characters for its setting. Through the course of the anime, we got to know them, love them, hate them and feel along with them. That resulted in some truly magnificent scenes. The ending, although unorthodox, was a great way to end this series.
#3: The Third
Ah, Honoka. What an amazing character you’ve been. You definitely were the best female character of 2006. When you combine that with some other absolutely great characters, great action scenes and a great story, the result becomes amazing. When it still aired, I really loved this series.
#2: Noein
The only negative thing I can say about Noein was that the subs were coming out rather slow. Apart from that, it really has been one amazing ride, from start to finish. It’s huge number of plot twist, incredibly touching characters and amazing story turned this anime into one of the definite highlights of the past year.
#1: Mahou Shoujotai
Yes, I know that this technically isn’t a 2006-series, but seeing as its final two episodes got subbed January 1st, I do consider this as a part of 2006. Besides, this anime is too awesome to leave out of this list, seeing as it’s one of my favourite shows of all time. Too little people really know about this hidden gem, and it definitely needs more love than it’s getting right now.
Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto – 13
Boy, that was AWESOME! I didn’t understand 25% of the episode, but who cares! The things that I did understand turned this episode into a great one. This definitely was the best episode of Bakumatsu so far!
So many things happened during this episode, I don’t know where to start. Let’s begin with Kanna, as we finally see some of his history as well. He indeed grew up in England, along with some woman (his mother, nanny?). Then, at one point this woman was taken away from him against her will by some selfish guy. If I understood things correctly, he sees this woman’s reflection in Kakunojou. Parkes also introduces four new characters this episode. Code-named Knight, Queen, Luke and Bishop. If I understood things correctly, they’re some kind of elite of the English forces.
Then the play. If I got things right, then the troupe always uses its last performance of a certain play to add something extra. With the previous one, it was the image of Nakaiya Juubei. This time, it’s a bit more extravagant: a plan to catch Nakaiya Juubei. Of course, all is a clever plan of Soutetsu. This is what I understood. He hid the lord’s head at a place near the newly set-up theatre of the troupe. Under some docks, to be exact. He then lures Juubei to that place, right at the same time of the troupe’s performance, and in the middle of the play, Akizuki suddenly comes, destroys the curtain and reveals the threesome of Kanna, Juubei and Soutetsu, who are talking at that time. That’s where the awesomeness started. I have to say that I was as surprised as the crowd when Akizuki suddenly did his thing.
What I didn’t understand was why Soutetsu just let Juubei escape with the Lord’s Head. It may be because he counted on Akizuki and the others to stop him, of was it because of something he said or thought? Another thing I didn’t understand was Parkes’s role in all this. For some reasons, he ordered his minions to fire a cannon at the docs. Where did he hear that things like these were going to happen? Kanna?
Still, it doesn’t matter if I didn’t understand these things, as the things that followed were brilliant. Nakaiya tries to escape, though the cannons are rather bothersome to him. Akizuki and Kakunojou end up in a boat chasing after him, though they’re almost hit by a cannon, and they fall down. Kanna, who happens to be near and sees this suddenly has a flashback from his past, in which he sees Akizuki as the guy who took away the woman he looked up to. This episode didn’t do anything regarding this, though I suspect that the future episodes will. ^_^
Meanwhile, everyone’s chasing after Juubei and fighting each other. Then, Ebisu actually manages to capture him, and god damn it, the English actually manage to hit both of them, killing both Nakaiya and Ebisu off at the same time! I love it when a character is killed off unexpectedly with an impact, and Ebisu’s death truly was memorable.
Akizuki, meanwhile, attempts to slay the Lord’s Head and fails. This causes the lord’s head to escape and take over Emimoto, the one introduced during the previous episode. And with this, I really mean take over, as in it goes inside of Emimoto’s head. He orders the retreat of the English forces, and Soutetsu smiles very suspiciously. I’m not sure what’s behind that, but we’ll probably find out soon.
Overall, if you were wondering whether Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto would turn out to be worthwile, well, so far it has! With the second half of this anime about to begin, I’m expecting some great things from this one. 🙂
Black Lagoon Review – 78/100
Black Lagoon is a perfect example of a series which starts out magnificent, but gets rather ruined later on by such small elements. It’s a real shame. It’s an action series, featuring a salaryman who ends up delivering a package for his company, somewhere in the Asian side of the Pacific Ocean, gets attacked by modern-day pirates, abandoned by the company he works for and in the end, joining the same pirates that attacked and kidnapped him.
The pirates appear to have a sortof delivering company. The first thirteen episodes showcase some random jobs who have to be accomplished, with some of these jobs attracting quite some dangerous people. I really have to say that these episodes were amazing to see. I loved how they sketched a realistic picture of the hell Rock (the new name of our main character) ended up in. This first season also managed to create some of the scariest antagonists ever. Especially keep an eye out for the maid with glasses. I also really liked the cast of main characters. Rock, Revy, Dutch and Benny formed an excellent combination when they were with the four of them, with each one of them having their own unique personality.
Then the second season came. It started out quite nicely, with a great tragedy about two siblings who give the term “killer loli” a whole new meaning. But that’s also where this series starts getting off-track. While the first season featured random jobs, the second season places our main characters into situations, just because Revy is looking for a fight. What the second season also does is place Dutch and Benny into the role of mere “side-characters”, even though they were a large reason why the first season turned out so good.
To make matters even worse, the second arc of the second season also contained way too much useless action and way too little substance. Sure, the fights were nice, the aftermaths for the side-characters were interesting, but during the fights, I kept wondering what their meaning was. The third and final arc could have saved this, and indeed, it had an interesting story, but I was too much bothered by the horrible use of Engrish in the beginning. The creators tried to find a way to show a good conversation between characters who only speak English and the characters who only speak Japanese, but that didn’t work at all, seeing that we’ve seen the English characters speak Japanese for ages.
It’s such a pity. This could have become one of the major series of 2006, but because of these small elements, it just didn’t make it. Still, I definitely recommend Black Lagoon, if it only was because of its first season.