Kuro's Little Blog.

Moved...

2005-11-09T23:41:00.000+08:00

Well, thanks to Maestro's graciousness, I've moved to AnimeBlogger.net under Kurogane's Anime Blog :).

Seriously speaking, Blogger.com's features were really restrictive to my blogging styles so I made the move. Now with Wordpress 1.5 and my own webspace, I can enhance my blogging styles with more stuff ^_^.

This blog will still remain here for archiving purposes and a backup blog, in case Kurogane's Anime Blog fails :P.

Mai Otome 02

2005-10-15T16:16:00.000+08:00

Summary

Continuing from Ep.01, Arika is impressed by Shizuru. She immediately asks Natsuki to let her become an Otome. Sergey then advises Arika to not show her pendent out, to which Arika says her baa-chan already told her that(hmm..). Mikoto (I still cannot believe that she’s a neko!!) appears and Mashiro’s identity is revealed. Arika then asks Natsuki to let her into Garderobe.

Arika then explains that she wants to be one after seeing Shizuru in action,plus that her mother used to be an Otome, surprising both Natsuki and Tat…Sergey. Natsuki asks what’s her mother’s name but Arika says she doesn’t know as her baa-chan died/disappeared before telling her that(speculated, she didn’t complete the sentence, I’d say disappeared though, more drama potential), silencing them.

Shizuru steps in and says she’s glad that someone looks up to her that much. She then proceeds to kiss Arika but glances at Natsuki(OMG!! Such a tease, Shizuru hasn’t lost her yuri touch yet ^^;) and blows wind in to Arika’s ear instead, causing Arika to overload from overexcitement.

Shizuru then takes the chance to retain Arika in the academy, citing exhaustion XD. Sergey butts in saying that Arika is a witness in this case but Natsuki coolly asks him, where is he now, which shuts him up(nice one, Natsuki :thumbsup:)

The next day, it’s business as usual at the Garderobe Academy. The Coral students are cleaning up the school compound when Akane walks in. The Corals greet her and Akane encourages them to ganbatte.

Over in a corner, a group of Corals are discussing about yesterday’s incident and it seems that Nina has been imprisoned(not accurate! Wait for Mentar, Jpnese failed). One of them then asks another Coral, called Tomoe, now that Nina is gone, she can become number one(apparently, Tomoe is the number 2 student). Their conversation is interrupted by the appearance of one of the teachers.

Nina is being imprisoned meanwhile(!!) and she reminisces about yesterday, when Sergey asks if Arika’s GEM caused the airplane to fly and she answers probably. The teacher, Miss Maria, then reprimands Nina for misusing her Otome powers. Nina monologues, saying that her father will hate her if this goes on.

Switch to Arika, where she seems to be in the research room,sleeping on some kind of MRI lookalike. She wakes up and knocks her head (painfully) on the machine.She also discovers she’s totally naked, except for her sheet ^_^. The person-in-charge (ok, I forgot her name) greets her and brings a drink for her.

Meanwhile, Mashiro is having difficulties waking up. After waking, she complains that the room is small ^_^;;, prompting her maid to wonder( who won’t, see the screencap).She opens the window, to discover that her castle has had a little ‘accident’.

Sergey is inspecting the damage to the castle when he remembers something from his childhood. It seems that he’s seen the previous owner of Arika’s pendent, Souten no Seigyoku(who’s with me that the baby is Arika?).

Back in Garderobe, Mashiro is whining to Natsuki but Natsuki gently ‘reminds’ her of her responsibilities and the true cause of the incident, casuing her to storm off, brat-fashion. After she leaves, Natsuki and Shizuru have tea(who spotted Fumi here? Seems like Sunrise is putting in a lot of Fumi cameos,). Didn’t understand what Natsuki says, but Shizuru comments that the hime is the real one or not hasn’t been known.

Back to Arika, she’s had her meals.Yoko-sensei(thank Arika for mentioning her name) asks Arika to be patient while her clothes are being readied.Arika asks if she’ll be an Otome but Yoko says that it’s up to the decision of a council, which is comprised of representatives of various states that are connected to the Academy.

Mashiro butts in, saying that’s impossible and introduces herself as the Princess of Windbloom. Arika feels that she’s not like what she imagined, pissing off Mashiro who teases Arika back. Arika doesn’t give up and begs Yoko to let her go to the council, who refuses.

Undaunted, Arika makes a makeshift dress from the sheet and runs out, but she’s lost ^^. The council has started in the mean time and Nina is taken to be questioned.

Back outside, we meet Shiho who reprimands some of her kouhai for comments about Nina.But as soon as they’re gone, she changes 180° and takes out a voodoo doll, but her cursing is seen by Arika, who innocently asks her the way to the council. Shiho, being Shiho, goes berserk and chases Arika around the campus, meeting up with Chie and Yukariko and not to forget, Nao.The chase scene is a MUST WATCH for all HiME fans, suffice to say.

Meanwhile, things are heating up at the council, with Sergey complaining about the breaking of a treaty and Mashiro barging in to declare that Nina has no right to become an Otome, when Arika finally arrives, causing a large ruckus.

Nagi appears, apparently he’s a count of some kind now, and says Arika is quite interesting.He asks Arika if she wants to be an Otome at any cost and suggests a competition between her and Nina, when she affirms it. The council ppl are against it but Nina agrees to it, ending the episode.

Opinion

Phew.. that was a long summary. I went a bit overboard , tehe. But is was a really eventful episode, bound to satisfy old-timers and newbies alike. There was multiple plot developments in this one too, complemented with tons of service, making it a remarkable episode.

The return of the other Mai Hime characters was done splendidly. Shiho was hilarious, with her psychotic side in full swing. Chie was soooo damn kakkoii!!! The way she literally ‘swept’ Arika off her feet was soo damn awesome.I’d always wanted to see her ‘manly’ side after listening to the Drama CD XD, since she didn’t get much screentime in Mai HiME. Guess the production team was listening ^^. Yukariko’s chalk throwing skills were really 1337. I’m sure that no one dares to sleep in her class. Nao, being mischievous as usual, I see XD.

Arika gained quite a few points in this episode to me.Her hair is really useful, lol. She was also less irritating (wonder if the production team read our comments?) in this episode. The sheet dress fits her really, in an very elegant sense.

I’ve also formed some theories in Mai-Otome from this episode. Who’s Arika’s obaa-san? Mashiro and Nagi also seem to be connected in some way? Maybe they’re bethrowed? Sergey also seems to have been in Windbloom previously, and seem to know the previous owner of the Souten no Seigyoku. But oh well, lets all leave the speculation to the master, Mentar ^^.

Next episode, Mashiro’s coronation ceremony. I can imagine lots of action.

Blood+ 01

2005-10-13T22:27:00.000+08:00

OP: "青空のナミダ (Aozora no Namida)" by Hitomi Takahashi
ED: "語り継ぐこと (Gatari tsuzugu koto)" by Chitose Hajime
Watch Status: Subbed (Live-Evil)

Summary

Somewhere in (what seems to be) Vietnam, a war is going on and a girl with a sword is going on a rampage, killing everthing in sight.

Fast forward, and we see, Saya, a who’s living a normal high school life. She’s missing all her memories except from a year ago.She leaves her shoes at school and goes back to take them, but instead gets to see her teacher killed by a monster and kissed by a guy with a creepy hand. Then, she gets flashbacks. End.

Opinion

One of the most anticipated new series by a lot of people. It’s supposedly connected to Blood: The Last Vampire, but sadly haven’t seen it, so the hype isn’t on me. It’s slated for a 52-episode run, so we’ll be in for a long run.

Blood+ hasn’t left an outstanding impression on me for this episode, but I’ll wager the good parts are coming soon. The opening massacre wasn’t anything brutal or artistic, just kinda… boring.

The later parts intro’ing Saya and her family are nothing much, still boring.It gets better when the action starts though, had a little shock when the sensei was pulled up by the monster into the tree. A bit too sudden, haha. Not to mention he was doing the classic “shine the torchlight on face”.

Art is done well, considering it’s from Production I.G, seems Gainax also had a hand in it too.OP and ED are OK as well.

Overall, still good, but not on the “must-watch” list yet.

Black Cat 01

2005-10-13T22:05:00.000+08:00

OP: "HIKARI/ダイアの花 (HIKARI / Daia no Hana)" by Yoriko
ED: "ナミダボシ (Namidaboshi)" by PUPPYPET
Watch Status: Subbed(Oyasumi Subs)

Summary

Show starts with some funny flashbacks(typical shounen) and then we get in to real time where some guy has been elected governer. Then a one-eyed guy seems to wanna catch him as he’s a gangleader of some sorts.

One-eye guy is very poor and can’t afford food. After helping a waitress-in-distress, he gets it. Then he’s at a party for the governer and he meets the guy he’s supposed to catch. His other eye(turns out it’s not blind) can see the future and it turns out the target will die in 5 mins by some guy.

He tries to get to him 1st but is beaten by other guy, who has XIII(13)engraved on his chest.He confronts the guy but the target’s underling comes and disturbs. After that, one-eye guy goes to a pawn shop to try and get some money, buy the shopkeeper throws him out after he reveals he met the XIII guy, supposedly a shinigami.End

Opinion

Well, picked it up just because it seems nice. But just standard shounen fare for this season. There’s just tons of similarities with other titles though, with the eye thing and Kurapika. Not really surprising since I’d read an article on a local mag about the tons of similarities of BC and HXH.

I haven’t read the manga yet, so I can judge this somewhat ‘unbiased’ly.Well, comes with experience from tons of bad manga-anime conversions *coughnegimacough*. Luckily, I don’t see the XEBEC word anywhere, so it should be better.

The show seems quite OK, but the pacing needs some changes. The flashing back was quite jarring to me. Art is done quite good, but nothing outstanding(unlike Negima,*stabs XEBEC*).

OP and ED are quite nice to listen too, not outstanding like Shakugan( damn, I just can’t resist mentioning Shakugan, WHEN ARE THE SINGLES COMING OUT!!!!!!!! ) but still nice to listen too.I kinda find the ED sequence a bit creepy, with all of them turned into cats, taking the ‘Cat’ part of ‘Black Cat’ too seriously I guess.

Overall, still interesting. I’ll follow this one on subs. It’s not gonna be on my “Must-watch” list(a.k.a watch raw).

Shakugan no Shana 02

2005-10-13T17:29:00.000+08:00

Summary

Continuing off from the last episode, Shana says that Yuuji is dead already.Yuuji is clearly shocked by it (who won’t?) and keeps tailing Shana. She explains about the Guuzen no Toma and about the Torches to Yuuji when he keeps tailing her.He has a shock when he realizes that he might not be the real Sakai Yuuji.

They stop for some melon-pan(flashes of DearS suddenly come up) and continue on home. Yuuji asks who’s Shana is and she replies that she’s a Flame Haze,(apparently, Japanese failed here) exterminator of the Toma and Rinne, and leaves Yuuji surprised.

Shana discusses with Alastor(her pendent) about the attack and Yuuji, the misutesu. Bad guy also discusses with the doll, Marie about the Flame Haze.

Next day, Yuuji wakes up realizing it’s not a dream.After breakfast, he leaves for school but meets Shana again. Shana explains that he’s a misutesu, a treasure coveted by the Toma(?, again not accurate), and she thinks that it’s easier to get her job done by following Yuuji around, since he’ll be targeted.

Then Hirai-san passes by and her ‘Torch’ is going to be exterminated. Sakai doesn’t want this and spends the day trying to cheer her up, including trying to hook her with his friend Ike,whom Hirai’s interested in.

Unfortunately, all his efforts go to waste and Hirai-san disappears.Shana appears and says that’s what happens to a Torch. Yuuji then asks Shana her name. She says she’s only a Flame Haze and has no name. Yuuji then gives Shana her name and introduces himself as Sakai Yuuji, in an attempt to acknowledge each other’s existence.

Opinions

Shakugan is not letting me down yet. This episode gives some explanation on the Torches and other things in the Shakugan universe.

Torches seem to be the replacements of the human souls that the Toma eats in order to keep the balance of the world in order. Seems that once the fire burns out the person will be forgotten.

Shana, the Flame Haze, is the counter force for the Toma and there seems to be more than one. While Yuuji, the misutesu, possesses some kind of treasure coveted by the Toma and also gives him some power, like not being influenced by the spell in Ep.01 and also remembering Hirai, even though she’s disappeared.

Shana was also kinda cute in this episode. Rie Kugamiya does a fine job voicing here. It was surprising to discover that she was the voice of Al in FMA. My personal high points of Shana:

‘setsume owari!!’ – moé +5

Melon-pan fetish – moé +7

The part when Yuuji names her – moé +5

Yes, ‘melon-pan eating girls that use swords are incredibly moé!!!!!!’. XD XD.

The next episode seems to introduce a second Flame Haze, the big breasted woman(every moé anime needs them I guess) and an attack by the bad guys in the school.Looks interesting. I kinda thought that the woman was one of the bad guys all the while. Well, I can imagine much comedy ahead.

Jigoku Shoujo 02

2005-10-13T16:42:00.000+08:00

OP: 「逆さまの蝶」 by SNoW (Sakasama no Chou)

Summary

Poor girl, Kyoko(voiced by Ai Shimizu! Moé +5), is being harassed by a pervert. She tries the Jigoku Tsuushin out of desperation and the pervert is nicely dealt with by Enma and her associates.

Opinion

Well, I guess I’m lacking a bit in the energy dept. so the summary was short. Anyways, Jigoku Shojo will be following the same formula so, it’s expected.

First off, Kyoko DID NOT DESERVE TO GO TO HELL!!! And Enma didn’t torture that damned perverted stalker bastard enough! He needs more punishment. Well, I guess that Ai Shimizu playing the victim added to the sentiment much.

I guess this shows the seriousness that Enma conducts her ‘business’. No choice left when you really wish ppl to go to hell. Ahh… the darkness of people’s hearts.

In any case, there’s much more involvement of Enma’s associates this time around, as nicely referenced in Random’s post but nothing too specific. Enma also lives with a yet-to-be seen grandma, the previous Jigoku Shoujo maybe?

Also, the animators must really not like Microsoft. The browser of choice seems to be Firefox while Enma uses an old Macintosh PC. But still, it was really funny to see the Mac in Enma’s place.

Sakasama no Chou also sounds really good. Somehow the tune really fits with the series. Even the Engrish was done nicely, haha. Can’t wait for the appearance of the singles. Damn, all the anime this season could’ve sucked but I’d still be darned satisfied with the music only.

Shuffle! 12

2005-10-13T16:09:00.000+08:00

(No screencaps starting for this post onwards. I have a serious problem once I start getting screencaps as evidenced by my latest posts. Well, if there’s intersteing things, I’ll put them up)

Summary

It’s time for the summer vacation homework and Rin, Sia and Nerine are trying to finish it together. Rin-kun gets a bit ‘overexcited’ but manages to finish ahead of Sia and Nerine. He proceeds to finish off his last assignment, which is a landscape sketch, and decides to draw the riverbank. There, he meets up with Asa-sempai who proceeds to ask Rin which girl has he decided on, prompting embarrassment from Rin, especially when Asa-sempai says he’s going for Primula-chan ;). On the way back, Rin and Asa bump into Kareha-sempai, who proceeds to ‘misunderstand’ when Asa says they’ve just came from the river(damn, she’s really funny) and also Itsuki, who adds oil to Kareha’s fire, haha.

But back home, Primula suddenly faints when she tries to help out Kaede water the plants, freezing the whole garden in the process. When, Rin gets back, he discovers that Primula has a 50°C fever. He asks Sia and Nerine if they know what’s happening but both have no idea. Then, Shin-oh and Ma-boh, call him over and they reveal that Primula is an artificially-made life under the Yggdrasil project. It seems that Primula’s soul is the only success but she has no emotions.It seems that being with Rin has awakened Primula’s emotions causing her to lose control of her powers.Primula stubbornly refuses to go back to the Makai for treatment but Rin finally makes her go. They sadly part. Back in the Makai, it seems that Primula will be unable to go back to the human realm anymore.

Opinions

Shuffle! starts to get serious with this episode, especially with the revelation of Primula’s background. I haven’t played the game yet, but I did get spoiled, thanks to Animesuki forums, so this wasn’t much of a shocker here. I expect more drama and angst soon. Wonder who will Rin end up with? Well, me being a KKK and AAA member, I do hope that Kaede or Asa gets him. I like Kaede’s back-story the most, though.

Shuffle! is also abusing the R-15 rating, evidenced by the eye-catch, which has now changed to be more ecchi and serious BGM.. The title screen also had some changes with the black background and red wording.

The preview for the next episode, shows much drama, with glimpses of Kikyou, and Rin talking to Nerine on the swing they met in the 1st episode. Being spoiled, there’s not much surprise to me, but still I want to watch it and see how will they end the anime.

Tadaima~~~...

2005-10-10T22:44:00.000+08:00

Ahh…. damn, it seems that Vampire mode isn’t suited for my body unless I get bitten 1st :(.

On Friday, the overexertion of my body finally took it’s toll and I got a very very painful stomachache.I went to a nearby clinic to no avail and finally, a good Samaritan visiting the clinic sent me to the hospital, where it turns out I have kidney stones. Had to stay in it for 3 days to get tested :P.

Well, finally I’m out and I’m back at my home with my family. I’ll resume blogging as soon as I can, although probably not at the same rate as recently, maybe I’ll take the chance to migrate to other blogging methods.. Hmm, seems I’ve missed quite a lot.

Mai-Otome - 01

2005-10-07T09:46:00.000+08:00

OP: 「Dream☆Wing」 by 栗林みな実
ED: 「乙女はDO　MY　BESTでしょ？」 by 菊地美香 and 小清水亜美(sucks)
Watch Status: Raw
Genre: Fantasy, Mahou shoujo

Warning: Lots of screencaps, 56-kers be warned.

OP Sequence

Summary

In a medieval world, a castle is being attacked. An injured women is running away with something. She reaches a stream and lowers what’s she’s carrying into it. It turns out to be a baby and with a beautiful pendent. She wishes the baby to live and watch as it floats away. Then her pursuers catch up with her, and she starts to fight. Fast forward 14 years later, in the middle of a desert, where a girl is stranded in it. A ship passes by (anyone notice the resemblance to Mai-HiME?) but it doesn’t stop to rescue her. The girl follows the ship to some kind of port where she tries to steal someone’s drink but trips and makes a big mess. Later, she wakes up to be confronted by her ‘victim’, Nina Wong, and her father, Sergey Wong. The girl introduces herself as Yumemiya Arika. She follows Nina on to town where she’s fascinated with the sights and sounds. Suddenly, they see a girl confronted by 3 guys on top of a building and they save her. Then they reach an airport (I think) where the girl they saved reveals her ring and she seems to be someone important. A giant monster attacks them and Nina asks the girl to be her temporary Master where she changes into an Otome and fights off the monster but she’s too weak. Arika’s pendent shines and the aircraft they’re sheltering in lifts off with the monster, called a Slave, on it. Natsuki sends Akane and Shizuru on a rescue mission where they successfully complete it. They land down and Arika proclaims she’s going to be an Otome after seeing Shizuru’s prowess ( who isn’t, lol). End.

ED Sequence

Opinions

One of the most anticipated new shows of this season, Mai-Otome, the spinoff of last year’s dramatic Mai-HiME, doesn’t disappoint on the first episode. You *cannot* argue on the greatness that is Shizuru, period.

In any case, Otome is set in a somewhat Victorian-style fantasy world, most probably to exploit the meido theme for this year. Speaking about that, there’s still Rozen Maiden: tràumènd to come… ahhh, the anticipation.

It is nice to see all our old favorite Mai-Hime characters back in action, especially Natsuki and Shizuru. God, Sunrise made them much much more cooler. ARIGATO GOZAIMASU~!!! I’d actually thought that Nina Wong’s gonna be Natsuki’s version in this story but thankfully I was wrong. And god damn, Shizuru is damn cool,especially with her trademark scythe. Second only to my fetish on girls with swords, is scythe users(especially girls). In Mai-Hime, I’d felt that Shizuru’s capabilities was wasted but it’s good to see Sunrise changing that. More Shizuru plzz~~!!!!!!!!

As for the main characters, Arika is definitely no Mai. Mai had more charisma and undoubtedly Arika loses in that department. She feels really ‘noisy’ and kinda resembles Momono in Gunbuster 2. Well, we’ll see what she’ll be when the drama kicks in.

Nina Wong plays a good job as the coolheaded one of the team, up on par with Natsuki in Mai-Hime. Funny that, Tate’s version in the universe is her father. Wonder is the Sunrise team are hinting something, hmm….

Mashiro is…. bratty, I’ll say. Far cry from her days as the stoic Mashiro in Mai-Hime. Still, it’s only the first episode and it’s kinda funny to see her acting like that, still prefer the old one though. I can see a lot of tsukkomi opportunities with her and Arika to Nina.

On the art and animation side, Sunrise keeps the style of Mai-Hime and the animation work has not much fault. The action scenes are fluidly done, especially the Shizuru parts \(^_^)/

But the OP & ED are big letdowns for me. I didn’t really like the Mai-Hime OP and ED much and the ones for Mai-Otome sound really uninspired especially the ED. OP sequence was done really nicely though, but the ED sequence just plain sucks. BGM is a different matter though, with Yuki-sama doing her best as usual. The BGM used on Shizuru and Akane’s ‘launch’ sequence(well, coming from the studio that created Gundam, no surprise there) is really good and gives me high hopes for the OST.

Overall, Mai-Otome shows much promise on the first episode.Can’t really judge what’ll become, look at Mai-Hime. It’ll be on my blogging list even if the first half is just boring fanservice. Well, we’ll just have to wait and see if it can match up to Mai-Hime.

BTW, who noticed Tate and Fumi?

ARIA - 01

2005-10-07T03:08:00.000+08:00

OP: "ウンディーネ (Undine)" by Yui Makino(I’m starting to like Yui Makino’s voice)
ED: "Rainbow" by ROUND TABLE feat. Nino
Watch Status: Raw
Genre: Slice of life

Note: No OP Sequence in this episode, I think. And no it’s not because I’m lazy.

Summary

The show starts off with the main character, Mizuhashi Akari awoken by a breeze of wind through her open window. She’s living with someone named Alicia and they start of their day pretty normally. They also have a pet named Aria Shachou (Chairman Aria). Alicia and Akari own a Gondola operating business and Akari is Alicia’s apprentice. After Alicia leaves, a guy and a girl calls in asking for Alicia(who seems to be very popular). Akari then leaves for practice but finds a girl in her Gondola. After some “persuasion”, Akari takes the girl, Ai, for a Gondola ride in Neo-Venice(I presume, since the resemblance is obvious). They meet with Akari’s friend, Aika, and go together. They stop for some baked potatoes where Aria Shachou falls in the water and gets swept away. Akari attempts to save Aria but Alicia does it instead. After that, Ai mentions about her sister( not going into detail here) and when they get back to shore, Ai presents Akari with an envelope addressed to Alicia. Alicia later opens it and it turns out to be one of her customers. End.

ED Sequence

Opinion

Well, I had doubts about watching this show since from the summaries I’ve read, it sounds like a shounen feature, I mean, “adventures of a girl trying to become the best Undine” really sounds like a description for a sports/adventure series. But, well, I kinda decided to try it since, well, if the girl is cute, what the heck, hehe.

But it really turns out otherwise. From the beginning, the show already permeates a relaxing mood with the great backgrounds and sounds. The character designs are quite good (although Garten thinks otherwise) and the usage of SD and funny expressions was quite good.

As for the music, the OP done by Yui Makino sounds nice and relaxing, her voice kinda does that to me, dunno why, though I kinda suspect that her role as Sakura in Tsubasa Chronicle plays a part in it. She’s also a rising star nowadays it seems. The ED done by Round Table Nino is also nice, but not on par with their work on Gunbuster 2. I guess it’ll grow on me later on. Besides, I’m having an obsession now with "Yowake Umare Kuru Shoujo" ;). Didn’t notice much about the BGM’s but still, I guess my brain was too relaxed to notice.

I guess I’ll be blogging this series as well, if I have time off from Shakugan. But it’s mostly slice of life so expect short and sweet entries on it.

Shakugan no Shana - 01

2005-10-06T11:23:00.000+08:00

OP: 「緋色の空」 by 川田まみ ("Hishoku no Sora" by Mami Kawada)
ED: 「夜明け生まれ来る少女」 by 高橋洋子 ("Yowake Umare Kuru Shoujo" by Takahashi Yoko)
Watch Status: Raw
Genre: Action/ Supernatural/ Girls with Swords/Fantasy

My most awaited anime title of this season, second to Jigoku Shoujo. Purely because I have predilection for girls with swords. Well, the art is gorgeous as well…. anyways, on to the entry…

(I’m putting in some changes in this entry. All the pics now are reduced thumbnails that link to the original picture, except for the OP, cos of a little mistake)

OP Sequence

Summary

We’re introduced to Yuuji Sakai, normal high school student (hell, any *named* high school student isn’t gonna normal). He has a idyllic, carefree life. The day starts as usual and we see him going on with life as usual. After school, he suddenly decides to do a side trip and ends up being attacked by monsters who can freeze time and suck in human souls (I’m assuming this only, my Japanese failed me for this episode). However he is saved by a girl, Shana, who is an expert at using swords and no doubt very appealing (moé +50). Have I told you all, how big a crush I have on Setsuna-sama from Negima…. Oops, off topic. Ok, anyways, the girl restores everything back to normal and Yuuji, of course has a lot of questions to ask and he starts to whine, irritating Shana who reveals that he’s not human anymore, but he’s dead and he’s a thing (mono). Well, there’s a more detailed explanation but my Japanese failed me again, so wait for subs.

ED Sequence

Opinions

First off, as Random puts it, the OP & ED are fantastically done, especially the OP done by Mami Kawada from I’ve Sound. ED is also quite catchy one you warm up to it. Well, Takahashi Yoko is good at it and I’ve liked her works, especially the infamous Zankoku na Tenshi no TE-ZE, OP for Evangelion.

Next, the art. The art and animation is one of the best I’ve seen for this season, only rivaled by Jigoku Shoujo, understandably, the animation work is done by J.C. Staff, one of the best animation studios around. The action sequences are done fluidly, check out when Shana defeats the “ball of faces” thing in this episode, overdramatic nonetheless but still very very nice. Damn, I can’t wait for the deluge of wallpapers ;).

Of course, the main attraction is Shana, heroine of the series. Her 1337 sword skills (moé + 25) and chibi-ness(moé + 25) is what made me watch anyways. While Yuuji, supposedly ‘hero’ of the show, really comes off to me as too soft. See how much he screams when he was attacked (otoko -5) and how much he whines when Shana cuts him(otoko – 15). Well he didn’t really score too high to me. The bad guys though, show much potential and uniqueness, seen from the OP sequence.

Overall, this series isn’t too be missed. With many talents doing this show, it’s a must watch for this season, if only for the art and nice music. Damn, can’t wait for next week.
So far, this series has been licensed by Geneon, so no info on sub groups doing it. But well, everyone knows what it means…so just wait ;).

Desktop 03 - Sakura x Syaoran.

2005-10-06T02:03:00.000+08:00

Took this gorgeous wallpaper off AnimePaper. Beautifully reconstructed from a 2 page scan and made in to wallpaper thanks to the efforts of WhiteBlaze.Also discovered the usefullness of widgets.

Link to download : 1600

Jigoko Shoujo - 01

2005-10-05T05:17:00.000+08:00

OP: "逆さまの蝶 (Sakasama no Chou)" by SNoW (actually, there’s no OP sequence, but the credits are shown)
ED: "かりぬい (Karinui)" by Mamiko Noto
Watch Status : Raw
Genre : Horror/occult anime

Warning: The author has an illogical bias for Noto Mamiko. Do not expect views to be balanced for the general public.

Summary

The show starts off with some explanations that I don’t get, so wait for the subs. Anyways, we get thrown into a generic high school situation. Some money has been collected and, Hashimoto Mayumi, the class representative is assigned to keep it. But the money suddenly disappears and suddenly one of her classmates appears to help her out.

The classmate(didn’t get her name, but from now on I’ll call her the bitch) uses it as an excuse to bully Mayumi around. She overhears about the Jigoku Tsuushin which apparently appears at 12 midnight. Back home she decides to try it out, but freaks out at the last moment.

Later, after the bullying gets worse, she finally does it and submits the bitch’s name. She receives a message afterwards from the Jigoku Shoujo. But after that, nothing happens.

Then, one day, the bitch forces Mayumi to pick up guys for money but she can’t do it. The bitch then threatens her with a photo, causing Mayumi to commit suicide but she meets the Jigoku Shoujo instead. She introduces herself as Enma Ai and gives Mayumi a doll with a red string tied on it and explains that if she really wants to kill the person, she can remove the red string but her soul will be brought down to Hell once she dies. That done, Mayumi comes back to the real world.

Next day, the bitch sends the photo to the school, causing trouble for Mayumi. She decides to remove the string. Enma springs into action. The bitch is invited to school at night and she is brought around to experience horrible things, and finally, she witnesses a reenactment of her crime. Enma then proceeds to bring her to Hell :).

Finally, Mayumi has returned to her normal self after the death of the bitch. But a mark on her chest appears, signifying that her soul will be brought down to Hell once she dies. End.

ED Sequence

Opinion

A not too bad introduction to the series. It seems that the following episodes will follow the same trend of having some extra character victimized and Enma will bring them to Hell.

There wasn’t any introduction to the other main players, apart from Jigoku Shoujo, herself. She seems to have 3 other subordinates but they aren’t introduced in this episode. Hopefully the next episode will.

Apart from that, the focus of the episode was more on Mayumi. Noto Mamiko didn’t really speak much as Enma, but her voice acting is still top notch. Her voice is, undoubtedly, perfect for such roles.

Overall, might not be interesting to majority, but still, it’s a good change from the current pace of animes out this year.How rare is it to see occult/horror anime nowadays from the h-game and moe anime trends? Besides, the art is nicely done and Noto Mamiko is in it :).

Pani Poni Dash 01-03

2005-10-04T22:40:00.000+08:00

OP:"黄色いバカンス (Kiiroi Vacances)" by Momotsuki Gakuen 1 Nen C Gumi
ED: "ガールッピ (Girlppi) " by Momotsuki Gakuen A ☆B Gumi
Watch Status: Subbed

WARNING: Tons, I mean TONS of screenies in this post. 56k-er’s be forewarned.

OP Sequence

Character Profiles
Rebecca Miyamoto : Main character of this show. Nicknamed Becky. 11 year old genius who graduated from MIT at 10 and now teaching Class 1-C of Momotsuki Gakuen

Mesousa: Becky’s pet. Frequently abused.

Miyako Uehara: Has a large forehead and nicknamed benkyou-mushi(study bug).

Kurumi Momose: Her specialty is being plain.

Rei Tachibana: Acts like the class representative and likes to bully Becky ^_^;;, causing Becky to nickname her as ijimekko(bully girl)

Sayaka Suzuki : Likes to say “of the year”(yes, in English) and nicknamed dekaribon(big ribbon)

Himeko Katagiri : Chou genki(very active) and likes Becky because of her chibikko-ness. Nicknamed ahoge after her hair.

Ichijo-san : The ‘true’ class representative of 1-C. Acts mysteriously and DO NOT EAT ANYTHING SHE GIVES YOU. Remember Watanuki, remember Watanuki.

Jijii : Class teacher of 1-D.

Akira Miyata : Dojikko. Has the ability to fall just about anywhere.

Akane Serizawa : Member of the drama club. Likes to act overdramatically.

Behoimi : Mahou shoujo. Her name is spoof of a healing spell of a popular RPG.

Tsurugi Inugami : The model student guy. Has good tsukkomi abilities.

Misao Nanjo : The rich girl.

Hibiki Watanuki : Part of the student council's information gathering squad. Currently MIA.

Saotome : P.E. teacher. ’nuff said.

Suzune Shiratori : In Saotome’s class. Gives off the impression of being slow.

Otome Akiyama: Short but athletic. Target of bullying by Suzune.

Summary
Episode 1 : We’re introduced to Rebecca Miyamoto, 11-yr old genius and graduate of MIT. She’s come back to Japan to teach in Momotsuki Gakuen. She gets lost on her first day and reaches class late. After a finger and a kawaii attack, she settles down with her class.

Episode 2 : Rebecca hasn’t memorized her student’s names and calls them by nicknames instead, complaining that their names don’t match their personalities. One of her students, Kurumi is depressed because Becky calls her plain, making Rebecca try to cheer her up but the class representative screws it up (^.^);;;. After more things happen, she finally manages to memorize her name, cheering Kurumi up :).

Episode 3 : One of the students from another class, Watanuki, tries to find out more about Becky, thus she hides behind the blackboard in Becky’s class… but she gets stuck. Meanwhile, Becky grows an ahoge , causing Himeko to squeal in joy. Pissed off, she pulls off Becky’s ahoge, causing her to lose all energy. Becky proceeds to lose the ahoge and tries to make an artificial one, with poor Mesousa becoming the guinea pig ^_^;;. After numerous failed attempts, she succeeds and Himeko gains back her energy, albeit a little bit too much than before ;). While, poor Watanuki... gets..oh, well..

ED Sequence

Opinion.

This is what’ll you get if you cross Excel Saga with Azumanga Daioh. I kinda downloaded it for fun and god, I wish I’d downloaded this earlier. The gags are damn funny and seriously makes me go WTF?!!! at times.

Also Rebecca’s seiyuu is damn good. Chiwa Saitou just gained a place in my Top 10 seiyuu list. Her voicing of Becky is soo talented, turning from sarcasm to chou kawaii-ness without missing a beat. Check out episode 1, where she actually shows the ‘Finger’ to her class and shouts at them only to be hit by one her students to cower behind the curtains. Damn, moé + 100.

Another character to mention is Himeko, her antics really cracked me up and with Orikasa Fumiko’s voice, she’s me second favourite character after Becky-chan ^_^.
The rest of Becky’s class is also unique and funny, esp. Ichijou-san, with that permanent spaced-out look and killer foods.

Vanilla Yamazaki does a nice job voicing Mesousa, Becky’s poor pet rabbit. It’s really a nice contrast to her genki Haiji in Tsukoyomi and she pulls off Mesousa’s depressed voice real nice.

The other classes also have their fair share of funnies. Jiji’s class has a mahou shoujo, overdramatic actress, dojikko, rich girl who likes animals(I stress the animal part) and the model student(only guy in the show).

The 3rd episode was also a blast, with Himeko losing her genki power after Becky removes her ahoge. Saotome’s class also was really funny, esp. on the part where Suzune pokes Otome on the head in an attempt to stunt her (already stunted) growth. Was LMAO at that point. Also I pity poor Watanuki, innocently accepting Ichijou’s ‘drink’, resulting in her ‘MIA’-ness. -_-;;;

The tons of anime/manga references are also a nicely done. I have to comment Oyasumi Subs for such a nice job in doing research for the references.

The OP sequence is also to die for, with the 60’s/70’s touch. Really reminds me of James Bond movie OP sequences somewhat, with the catchy OP. The ED is also done nicely. Well, off to watch the remaining 4 episodes. And before I go, a *modest* screencap gallery.

Screencap Gallery

Uncomprehensible Random Stuff

2005-10-04T06:52:00.000+08:00

Turning in to a vampire can be somewhat boring. So here’s some random stuff I typed while surfing the whole night away.

DISCLAIMER: Author does not guarantee any correctness or truthfulness in this post. The Author has been awake for more than 22 hrs at the time of submission of this post and is not thinking straight. The author would like to thank MS Word’s spell-check function for even making this post comprehensible.

Firstly, I’m having some funny obsession with Matt’s blog. I mostly think it’s due to the Shoutbox and the “Recent posts” column. I guess 5 months of no Internet makes you do this.

Secondly, I’ve fallen in love with AnimePaper.net. A lot of talented people making a lot of nice wallies over there. Too bad, I suck at art much. But TBH, I kinda feel that the general forums are a bit too boring and clichéd. I mean, the anime forums consist of “what’s you’re fav. Anime?” , “who’s your favorite character?” kinda threads. Well, I don’t blame them, guess they’re all trying to reach Community Member level. The walls there are to die for… 15 papers is very limiting…..

Thirdly, Microsoft should adopt the OS-tans as mascots for Windows. Heck, find and pay some talented artists like Akamatsu-sensei, to create the designs. Then add them in as default wallpapers and theme packs. I assure you, sales of Windows will suddenly boost up especially among otakus.

Hmm… what else… ah, yes. I have this weird problem with BT nowadays. It seems for some funny reason, I can only connect to *remote* peers. I can’t connect to local ones. Mostly, only reason is because of no port forwarding, that you can connect to local ones. It kinda feels that my problem is the opposite of it (^_^;;). I can still get good speeds but torrents take longer to start. Anyone knows any possible reasons and/or solutions?

Oh, and Friendster is annoying to use nowadays. Ever since they’ve added the “Add CSS, music or video” feature to the site, I’ve seen profiles where it takes quite a while to load and they add in all sorts of stupid streaming video/audio feeds to it. The distastefully done scrolling text in some profiles annoys me. I’ve been keeping away from Friendster mainly becos of that. The default profiles are much better and nicer looking anyways.

Now, back to surfing….. or perhaps sleeping….. maybe….. saaa~~~~…..

Canvas2 ~Niji-iro no Sketch~ - 01

2005-10-03T18:06:00.000+08:00

OP: [PLASTIC SMILE] by YURIA(yay!)
ED: 「NA NA IRO」 by YURIA(again, yay!), 小池雅也, and K杉
Genre: H-game anime.

OP Sequence

Summary

H-game protagonist type A wakes up to find his “imouto” (ooo) sleeping next to him. After morning glomps by imouto, he makes breakfast and imouto wants to marry him. They head to school and we discover a nice twist, h-game protagonist isn’t a high school student!!!! .He’s imouto’s guardian (o.0…ooo). School starts off and Chairwoman, Saginomiya Saya, gives her speech. After that, Saya-san has a word with HGP(ok, I got lazy of typing H-game protagonist, what’s his goddamn name?!!) and she hopes that Kamikura-san(so, he’s finally named!) will paint something for her office, but he refuses.

After that, he heads to the library, and we’re introduced to Hagino, Lolita of the series. She has a laptop and asks a lot of questions. Looks like Kamikura is a sensei (ero potential(EP) +2) and imouto-san might not be his imouto after all (EP +2 again). She then asks something about kissing to which at this point, my nihon-go failed me.

Green-hair girl appears, apparently named Takeuchi and asks him to do something. It turns out to be an art appreciation section and Kamikura is the art-club advisor.Imouto-san appears and intro’s herself as Hosen Elise(gaikoku-jin? EP +3) and she’s actually Kamikura’s itoko. A member appears carrying a bunch of red roses, the next theme for painting, and Kamikura asks Elise to paint with them, but she refuses, in a bad way. She gets scolded and runs off.

Back home, they reconcile and Elise asks him to resume painting but he refuses.The next day, Elise is accused of sabotaging. She gets mad and runs off when Kamikura asks her.But it seems that he actually doesn’t think that she did it. He runs in with Lol…Hagino and she questions what’s hidden beneath Elise’s blue rose painting earlier. Some girl named Hikari-chan passes by and they both go greet her. She hides something and Hagino becomes curious. Hikari reveals that she’s the culprit, causing Kamikura to go find Elise at the supermarket.

Apology accepted, they go home but Elise freaks out when the traffic lights go red.It seems she has a traumatic past (moé +5) where her parents died in a car accident, her being the sole survivor.

After reaching home, Kamikura explains about the culprit on the phone with Takeuchi and Elise makes yakisoba, which is apparently bad.Another day comes, and they’re late for school. Rushing, they pass by someone when Kamikura suddenly stops. Looks like he just met an old crush……

ED Sequence

Opinion

In continuing this year’s slew of h-game anime’s, Canvas2 ~Niji-iro no Sketch~, offers nothing much interesting or new(unlike Shuffle!). We get the normal h-game protagonist, imouto,osananajimi, Lolita, meganekko and etc. I don’t really think I’ll be following up this series, unless I have free time from Mai-Otome, Jigoku Shoujo, Rozen Maiden 2 and Shakugan plus my current watchlist. Well, Canvas2 does have the advantage of airing on Sundays, which is relatively free to me. I might use it to practice my ECM powers, though probably won’t be on par with moy’s level, since I’ve been away from blogging for quite awhile. One funny part I found, is the preview for episode 2, of which Elise and Hiroki(the guy’s name,revealed in the end) discuss about osananajimi’s and imouto’s

On art, Canvas2, which considering the side theme is art, is quite OK. Character designs are kinda clićhed to which I find none of the girls really attractive to me. But the animation work is still OK. Seiyuu work is also decent, though none of my favorites are in it, so -5 to

One plus point is the OP and ED, which has YURIA in it. Ever since hearing YOU, Shuffle!’s OP, and Mirage Lullaby, the Shuffle! game OP, I’ve been interested in her. The OP and ED are quite good, but still pales in comparison to YOU, IMHO. I’ll be waiting for the singles to come out, though.

Overall, Canvas2 is just the average,run-of-the-mill, h-game adaptation. I suggest only picking it up for your free time, if only for the okay art and animation. Other than that, I don’t really think it will be a memorable title.

P.S. : I don’t know why, but for some reason, my PC hung 5 times in a row while I was trying to post this up. I’m posting it because of Microsoft’s AutoRecovery and sheer willpower :).

Review (rant) of Gundam SEED Destiny.

2005-10-02T12:05:00.000+08:00

(I apologize for the lack of pictures… too damned lazy to get it, besides other blogs have tons of pics)

Disclaimer: I’m having a lack of sleep and utter disappointment, so what I’ve typed here is not subject to accuracy blabla bla…(other normal disclaimer crap).

First of all, my first brush with Gundams was actually with SEED Destiny, so I don’t have much to refer back to from other Gundam series’ which I haven’t watched yet. I did watch Gundam SEED though :).

Seed Destiny starts off promisingly. I admit, watching Shinn’s family getting blown in to pieces was a much interesting way to start off a show, rather than SEED’s peaceful life in the Heliopolis colony.

The subsequent parts of Armory One’s attack, Minerva’s pursuit of Girty Lue and the Junius 7 drop was quite good in fact… I’d even spawned an unhealthy obsession to Stellar-chan. Too bad she died early ;_;.

IMO, things started to spiral down from Stellar’s death and the subsequent conversion of Shinn to the Dark Side(yes, numerous Star Wars references abound in Seed Destiny). The plot also really suffered as Fuck… Fukuda employed numerous flashback episodes. Besides, the story was getting really imbalanced as due to the power of company executives, Kira and Athrun were re-elevated to main character status after the initial focus on Shinn. That was what really made it sucky.

Also, the traditions of SEED (stock footage and flashbacks) came back with vengeance as I’d like to put it in simple terms … “If they’d cut out the flashbacks and stock footage, GSD would have finished in 24-26 episodes.”

Pacing also sucked as they had 2, I mean 2, goddamn flashback episodes in the span of the last 10 episodes. Running out of budget I guess. Not to mention that they’d dedicated 1 episode to a (mostly) useless character instead of the more major characters.

The ending also didn’t really solve much of the plot successfully although Talia, Gil and Rey got some character development in the end.. to which I scream “Why did Meer get her own episode while Talia, Rey and Gil gets only 5 minutes?” . Totally illogical :p.

Some of my guesses were also shot though, Luna was on my “to-die” list since 45. This means a possibility of Seed 3 or at the least an OVA(which is semi confirmed already). Ahh…I can see it, Seed 3, where Luna and Shinn go open an orphanage or something and Maaya Sakamoto will *finally* get to use her singing voice, lol. Also Shinn really sucked for the ending, I mean, he just cried like a baby, damn… -10 to manliness.

In all, GSD had good potential, but no thanks to the power of commercialization, marketing executives and “no-balls”ness(*coughfukudacough*), GSD is relegated (to me) into the “average anime” category.

Wallpaper : Ren v2.

2005-10-01T20:40:00.000+08:00

I just can't seem to keep walls, hehe. But well, I had a good reason to change. Found this great wall off Minitokyo of Ren-sama, my current idol for worshipping ^_^ . Enjoy :)

Link to download original : 1024

Shuffle 11

2005-10-01T20:27:00.000+08:00

Well, I’m going to restart blogging, and I’ll start off with Shuffle 11. Bear with my sucky layout for now, I’m going to redesign it soon ^_^.

For this episode of Shuffle, the focus is on Mayumi and Big Bre…Nadeshiko-sensei’s. The animators also took a unique approach by having the 1st half to Mayumi and the 2nd to Nadeshiko-sensei, so I’ll summarize both POV’s

Mayumi: After ending her extra summer classes, Mayumi runs off and bumps into Rin, resulting in a potentially embarrassing scene. Rin shows how much stress by having 5 girls on him, pissing off Mayumi royally. She then goes off to Kareha-sempai’s part time café to have a drink but discovers she’s lost her purse. Kareha-sempai, in a bout of kindness, lets her pay it off by working for a while. So Mayumi decides to go along but an unfortunate ‘accident’ results in a verrryyy embarrassing situation. After that she goes back home, only to meet with Rin-kun half way who returns her purse and her “daijin no mono”.

Nadeshiko-sensei: After shouting reminders at Mayumi, she is confronted by a student asking her some stuff (my Japanese failed me at this point, so read the subs when it comes out ^_^, it’s not gonna be much important anyways). After a ordinary teacher-student lecture, she finds Mayumi’s wallet and runs into Rin-kun, where a slight remark made by Primula-chan almost ends up with her laying the smackdown on Rin-kun. Man, you gotta love Rim-chan’s ‘stoicness’. After that, a guy tries to flirt with her with the lamest pick-up lines and she shows off her 1337 powers by slicing the guy’s bottle into half, barehanded. Then, Itsuki, teaming up with Ma-boh, tries to flirt with her, resulting in a big shock for Itsuki….. After a meal with Asa-sempai, Nadeshiko-sensei reaches home to a message(lecture) from mom about her in time to get married. After a nice display of her assets, she does normal boring everyday stuff and finally decides to go to Mayumi’s house, a public bathhouse.

In the end, Mayumi and Nadeshiko-sensei have private bath where they discuss things. Well, it’s basically a fanservice moment, so I won’t go into much detail here, other blogs, like moy’s have screencap’d this to hell :).

The animators for Shuffle! are doing a nice job with it, having episodes dedicated to each character even for the minor ones like Mayumi and Nadeshiko-sensei. Mayumi’s part offers a lot of laughs and I daresay…’too much excitement’, esp the wind blowing part, lol.

Meanwhile, we get a much slower pace with Nadeshiko-sensei’s part showing a normal adult’s life with the nagging and stuff.Also we seem to get some hints concerning Asa-sempai and Nadeshiko-sensei. They seem quite close. Partners-in-crime (for hiding crushes on Rin-kun), I guess.

Well, don’t trust me much on this though, my Japanese has gone down the drain a bit, so it might be quite inaccurate, esp. on parts where lots of talking is involved. I guess it’ll get better, later.

Ren-sama.....

2005-09-28T13:40:00.000+08:00

Well, in an effort to make myself blog more, I'm taking a leaf out of moy's book and posting up my recent wallpapers. Hope you don't mind, eh. I guess a little bit of exhibitism has grown in me :).

Well, TBH, my monitor isn't really a fancy LCD or anything. It's a 2 year old trustworthy 17' CRT by LG. Well, i would want a LCD but.... binbo desu..

Anyways, here's my recent desktop, Ren-sama from Erementar Gerad!!! For those who've been reading me recently would know I'm having a Ren moe thing going on. Well, just snatched this nice wall off animepaper.net, so if you want to get it, go over there(registration requirted though) and support those guys :).

Similarities.

2005-09-27T04:17:00.000+08:00

Well, I was spamming Erementar Gerad until 22 when I found something interesting.....

I was in a state of confusion at that point, because both of them have the same stoicness, hair(well, almost) and looks. Heck, I'd thought that I'd somehow loaded in Shuffle! instead, haha.

In any case, I WANT MORE REN!!!!!!! Dang, now I wish Eval Power would hurry with their manga scanlations, cos the anime Ren isn't as cool as manga Ren... nevertheless, both Ren's are great.

Oh, and I look forward to more of moy's nicely done D.C.S.S entries.

Omedeto Tanjoubi again and some rants.

2005-09-26T01:56:00.000+08:00

First of all, I'd like to wish Inoue Kikuko-sama a very Happy Birthday. A bit late though as I was quite busy recently. She's the seiyuu for countless infamous "onee-sama" type roles which include Belldandy from Aa! Megami-sama(no doubt her most famous role), Kazami Mizuho from the Onegai! series, Chitose Hibiya from Chobits and most recently, Agnes from Okusama wa Mahou Shoujo. I wish her prolonged success and a happy future ahead ;).

That settled, rant time! :).

I've been getting attached to Reverie "Ren" Metherlence. Ren-chan wa chou kawaii desu yo!!!! It's a freaking pity the anime was done by XEBEC, which means it sucks. Even with Yuki Kajiura-sama's music, it doesn't help the show. I really can't believe though I'm watching it purely for 1 character, haha. The seiyuu's are doing a fine job by the way, but it's a freaking waste of talent for Akira Ishida to go around saying, "Kimi ni mamoritai da" or "Ore-wa tsuyoku narerunda". So bloody cliched.

The manga is much more better(obvoiusly) and I've read the 1st volume thanks to Eval Power. Ren-chan gets powered up in the manga, haha, with kawaii +10 and "sharpness" +10, making me go 'Ren moe-power' +100.I WANT MORE REN!!!!! AND WHY THE FUCK ARE PPL STILL TRUSTING XEBEC TO MAKE MANGA-ANIME CONVERSIONS!!!!!!! XEBEC treatment = -1000 coolness. We should all start an anti-XEBEC petition to do manga-anime conversions.

As for the others, there's nothing much noticable with this season's anime except for Hachikuro. I get very depressed everytime I watch it but I still want more of it! My favourite part right now is the relationship of Rika-Mayama-Ayumi. Don't know why, but i really like Rika and I'm rooting for her.

The other ones are Shuffle! and FMP:TSR. The Sia arc now is disappointing me. I'm behind Kaede all the way. Kitto Kitto Kaede-chan!!!!! FMP:TSR subs are also kinda slow, but i guess being spoiled on the novel wasn't good.Already know what happens, haha.

Well, there's always next season to look forward to. Mai Otome, Jigoku Shoujo, Rozen Maiden ~traumend~ , Shakugan no Shana and Blood+. I'll probably revert to watching raws as the fansub community seems to be slow recently. Well, I don't blame them, the season is really disappointing anyways.Just hopefully, they'll finish off all their projects.

Omedeto Tanjoubi.

2005-09-20T17:40:00.000+08:00

It's been a while since i've blogged. IRL, i'm busy with my projects and my Finals are coming. The good news is my Final's last day will coincide with the beginning of the Fall Season. I've also lost my voice now due to overexertion......

Well, anyways, I'm blogging today is to wish Yui Horie-san a very happy birthday. For those who dunno, she's a prolific seiyuu with a lot of famous works under her name, most notably for her roles as Naru Narusegawa in Love Hina, Honda Tohru of Fruits Basket and most recently Tamami of Mahoraba ~Heartful Days~.

She's one of my favourite seiyuu's (Ayako-sama being top now) and I wish her luck and success all the way ^^.

General : Isshashiburi desu ne....

2005-09-06T23:42:00.000+08:00

Ah yes. It's been quite a while since I posted anything. I still really don't have any energy to post up anime entries. Lack of involvement also seems to be a factor. I think I got disconnected a bit too long. Still recovering from the "No Internet" Syndrome.

Truth to be told, I'm catching up on the backlog of 5 months of anime I missed. I can feel my linemates cursing at me though !_!, as to how I abuse the line so splendidly ^_^.

As a reference, this is my current watchlist:
Gundam SEED Destiny (fucking Fukuda)
Shuffle! (KAEDE-CHAN!!!!! [guess which group I'm in])
Trinity Blood (Vampire Vash)
Okusama wa Mahou Shoujo (only cos Inoue Kikuko's in it)
Okusawa wa Joshikousei (only cos Ayako Kawasumi's in it)
Honey and Clover (BEST. ANIME. EVER.)
Speed Grapher (Gonzo's not losing steam, yet)
Saikano OVA (who isn't watching this?)
Full Metal Panic:Second Raid (need to change groups, Bakakozou = turtle)
Ichigo Mashimaro (to satisfy the lolicon in me)

And also Fall's coming in,I'll probably gain back the energy to blog by that time so here's a list of potential shows for me :

Mai Otome (Like "DUH!")
Rozen Maiden 2 (Shinku rulez)
Jigoku Shoujo (occult anime, hmm...)
Blood+ (Gore? Yummy!)

Fall anime also seems to contain more harem anime(I'm starting to get sick...). Bleh, why can't there be more creative types of anime. I'm starting to get anime based on :
1. Art
2. Character Designs
3. Seiyuu Powaaa!!

... instead of storylines already.Ah well, 2005 is a so-so year for anime I guess. If Mai-Hime had a better ending and GSD wasn't Fuk-u-da directed.... well.Shuffle's my only main obsession now. I should go try MAR, ES21 perhaps...

General : Hehehe.....

2005-08-30T13:33:00.000+08:00

Well, to put it short, I've finally left EP for my new place. A few shortcomings here and there, but nevertheless, it's a 100 times better than EP. I'm finally able to use the internet as it's meant to be used :). For the time being, I'm sharing off a line with some housemates while waiting for my line to come, so I won't be downloading too much anime lest I earn the wrath of my housemates,:).

Benefits of my new place:

1. A good night's sleep for the 1st time in 3 months.
2. I finally get to use my blanket.
3. I can listen to music as much as I want.
4. I can use the Internet.
5. No more listening to wannabe Idols, motor gangs and shouting idiots.
6. I get to exercise more... (not sure if you can say this as a benefit, sometimes.)

I'll blog more later. I need to get some sleep....

Oh and head over to DarkMirage for some funny stuff.I especially like his blog.

General : Another weekend....

2005-08-20T23:00:00.000+08:00

Well, I went back home this weekend to catch up a bit on my backlog of anime and I'm glad I did so because..... MAHORABA 24-26 CAME OUT!!

Yatta!! Finally I can finish off Mahoraba ^^. Froth-Bite sure took their time, but well, all's good, hehe. Oh not to mention also catching up on Shuffle! and getting Iriya 6(final episode). I'm not watching those for now, leaving it for later ;).

A lot of really good things came out this weekend, like FMP:TSR OP/ED and OST. So far, Mikuni-san hasn't let me down with her songs. I do have a slight preference for the ED though.

Another piece of good news, is I'm finally moving out from the crap place that EP is. I've found a single room somewhere else and looking forward to getting my DSL line to abuse *evilgrin*. Expect more activity for my blog soon :).

Well, done with the customary comments/rants/misc stuff and on with my anime thoughts:

FMP:TSR : Watched eps.5. They're finally starting off the main story of the novels. Kyoto did nicely animating the car chase scene, although I did think it was a bit short. And they really should have switched scenes between Sousuke and Chidori more during the phone conversation, lol. But then, when i read the novels, I get overactive imaginations so , bleh :). But seriously, the phone conversation part was one of the funniest parts of the novels I've read. I'm sooo waiting for the hijack part...oops... spoiler here,hehe. Well, I'll wonder if they'll do "A Dancing Merry Christmas" for this season. For those who've been wondering why there's no Christmas humour for FMP yet, there's a good reason why ^^.

R.O.D. TV Series : Thanks to EMiNA, I've gotten hooked to this series. I've been marathoning it until eps. 20(?) thanks to a friend. The paper action is really spectacular but what I like the most about ROD is that goddamn, super relaxing BGM, R.O.D no Theme. It really calms me down. The rest of the music is really good as well, done classily. Thank you Nipponsei for still having this on Nippon|Smoker (worships Nipponsei's crew).

Gokusen : Borrowed it from a friend. It's a... so-so series. Feels too much of a GTO rip-off. Admittedly, the lack of creativity for the supporting cast(the students) turned me off. They were too one-dimensional and kinda easy to predict. Plus the fact that the art isn't exactly top-notch turned me off. I've heard a lot of better things about the TV Drama series though(Yankumi looks 100x better), so I'll reserve this comments for the anime version.

Utena : Another borrowed series. I've watched a few episodes and... well.. a few things stand out, yuri, fangirl attacks and bishounens. I'll catch it up later when I'm done with ROD TV.

Mahoraba : Yes, of course, I do need to put my thoughts about it. After a looonng wait, Froth-Bite released the whole series. The ending was done quite nicely, although 1 thing I didn't like was... NO SHIRATORI KOKUHAKU!!!! Well having read the manga till volume 9, the Shiratori and Tamami coversation and Shiratori's subsequent confession was one of the best parts of it. And the true reason for Kozue's MPD is still open in the manga. The anime explanation was logical, but still I like an official confirmation by it from the manga. But overall, it was a good show and definately anime I would recommend to others to watch.

Aa! Megami-sama TV : Marathoned this series after downloading it 2 weeks ago. Stays quite true to the manga and isn't too bad. I noticed that Skuld is more childish in this series and Urd has +25 to "Nee-san"ness.Ending felt a bit rushed though, but Lind APPEARED!! Though more of a cameo role than anything. "Gahh!!!" at the producers. I wanted more of Lind... and Peorth went missing, lol. Hopefully there's a second series. I want to see Peorth's appearance, the Queen Sayoko arc and the rubber band wars, lol.

Well, that's all for now. Expect more regular blogging up soon. Jaa~~ mata ne~~!
*EDIT* : Funny little 4-koma, Bokusatsu Tenshi Tsunami-chan?

General : Paradise found? ...kamo....

2005-08-09T12:58:00.001+08:00

Well for the time being I'm back in Melaka and with the (even more) suckier-than-dial-up hostel LAN. To anyone who's going to MMU, PLEASE DO NOT LIVE IN EP IF YOU WANT TO USE THE INTERNET!!
/rant...

Ok rant out of the way, I've found another place to rent.Hopefully it'll work out well and I'll be having unrestricted access to my own DSL line (hoho).

Well, i don't have much to say about my own affairs so on to the anime thoughts of the post:

GSD: Sunrise is really threading the fine line between genius and fool. Ep.41 was such a bloody waste of money. 42 is.... just a bit almost there as well. I sooo wanted to see Infinite Justice in action! Instead, they wasted the whole episode with more fight scenes, showing how sucks Cagalli actually is with a MS(but well she did nicely punch the ball-less bastard Jona) and how Lacus can go on and on and on and on.... you get the idea. I'm like, Lacus, just kick Athrun in IJ and eject him out instead of talking cock and waiting for him. In the end, it was:

*fading in of Kimi to boku ni niteiru music*
"Athrun Zala, Justice, deru-zo(?)"(and he flies out)
*KIMI NO SUGATA-WA......(song)"
(Me:...............)

Oh well, you get the idea. It's kinda irritating for me. On the plus side, there seems to be some changes to the tradition of the trio chars piloting some prototype MS with them on the good(?) side instead of the bad one. The Lacus Groupie trio was quite good with their MS(what model is that? *edit* oh they're called DOM's). I hope they didn't organize something like LLL(Love Love Lacus) or on the lines of it. Oh man, I'm getting infected by Shuffle!,lol. On the topic of Shuffle!...

Shuffle! : Watched 3 and 4. I do not want to mess around with Nerine-chan liao. The "lesson" she taught those guys is ..... scary, lol. But well, she did get Loyalty +10 from me. It seems to me that Nerine = mahou-tsukai while Sia = chair master.Oh, and Primula-chan just looks sooo sexy when she was wearing Tsuchimi's shirt not to mention deadly as well when she was pointing that knife to Tsuchimi, almost choked at that part, lol. I also noticed that there's 2 Rin's in the series, so I'll be using Tsuchimi and Nerine for ease of identification.I'll reserve more comments for Episode 5. Being a Kaede lover also, I'm hearing some good things about her and ep.5.

*Addition* : Just watched Ep.5. Yup as they say, definitely a Kaede episode.The perfectness of Kaede's care earns her +50 on my moe meter, lol(I'm stealing terms already). And sick Kaede look, kawaiiness + 100(pics later). There seems to be something in past with Kaede and Tsuchimi, with the "YURUSENAI" thing. I wonder what could it be, hmm... Oh and Asa-sempai, nee-chan-ness +5, Primula-chan, +10 on the Rei lookalike scale.

Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid : Watched ep.4, some nice catfighting between Mao and the yuri twin. Good mecha action as well with the nice strategy of "All Creatans are liars". Screwed up Blueno nicely. And so finally, next episode will be the start of the real story of the FMP:End of Days novels. Expect some nice car chases, Mao's sexiness and SousukexChidori humour. Buying crabs anyone?

Speed Grapher: Marathoned till Ep.15. Somehow,I feel Gonzo's losing the momentum already. Generally, Gonzo starts to screw up their shows around middle part and it's seeming that way already. SG has some nice execution and a fairly good story(in the end though, isn't it just a loli-lover's dream, running away with a 15 yr-old girl). It's kinda getting repetitive with them sending more of those "Euphorics" to hunt him down. I hope that Gonzo won't screw up royally again. Oh, and I really really like Kagura-chan ^^.

Gunbuster 2: Marathoned this also. Ahh.... can't wait for the rest. Gainax shows off their mastery with the FLCL-style storytelling again with this show. Some parts are a bit illogical though (-1 billion degrees Celcius anyone?). Anyone know when's the ED is going to be released?

Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu: OMG, sooo damn sad.... I pity Iriya and the male lead(forgot his name). I hear there's only 6 episodes so I might up a review once the last ep's out. Marathoned it until ep.5 liao.

Well's that's all I have to say for this post. Hopefully the next will be in my new place with my own DSL line instead of going to a cyber cafe, hehe. Untill then, ja mata.

General : Sayonara... kamo...

2005-08-06T00:33:00.000+08:00

Well, I'm going back to Melaka tml, ending my fun time with DSL haha. I might or might not be able to update the blog as often as I can, so just posting a few thoughts up:

Speed Grapher: Watched the 1st 3 episodes and I can say I'm impressed. Gonzo should keep this up. I soooo wanna kill the bitch that's Kagura's "mom". She starved her daughter just because she's jealous. That bitch!!! Grr... though i can't deny she did "persuade" Kagura's sensei "nicely".

Shuffle! : Watched episode 2 (yeah, I'm slow) and I'm already falling for Kaede thanks to this :

oh , and phr4r Sia's 1337 skill with chairs:

Well apart from the the cliched plot devices like the kind, amnesiac, indesicive protagonist and the stereotypical girls, the fun parts are really with the KKK, SSS and RRR people.Obviously, females of such perfection deserve an army of slaves devoted to them, lol.

I'm also attracted to Primula-chan , well, since i have a predilection for quiet and "sticky" loli's. Hope to see more of her coming soon. I should go make PPP(Pretty Pretty Primula-chan) in the mean time.

General: Paradise's End

2005-08-04T23:04:00.000+08:00

Ah, without noticing, a week's almost gone past. I'll be going back to Melaka on saturday :(, which means no DSL line *sob sob*. Oh well, this week also has been productive to say the least, with me almost filling up 80% of my HD with anime, mostly catching up on past shows.I'll be needing DVD-R's now.

I've been watching a few new shows such as Sousei no Aquarion(orgasmic gattai) and Shuffle!(a situation which i'll gladly die infinite times over to be in). I'm getting quite addicted to Sousei's OP song, with the catchy

"一万年と二千年前から愛してる
八千年過ぎた頃からもっと恋しくなった
一億と二千年あとも愛してる
君を知ったその日から僕の地獄に音楽は絶えない"
(Ichimannen to nisennen mae kara aishiteru
Hassennen sugita koro kara motto koishikunatta
Ichioku to nisennen ato mo aishiteru
Kimi wo shitta sono hi kara boku no jigoku ni ongaku wa taenai)

and also Shuffle!'s OP which is quite pleasant. Thank god for Nipponsei and DarkMirage for the lyrics.

And now for the anime thoughts section(yes i'm still lazy to do a full entry):

Sousei no Aquarion: Orgasmic gattai's and cheesiness aside, there seems to be some attraction for me to it, making me unable to put it down. Me, being someone who abhors cheesiness(transformation/gattai scenes), attributes it to the mythical references and "ichimannen to nisennen mae.....". Seriously the OP is addictive.

Shuffle!: Being adapted from a renai game, obviously the protagonist is put in a situation which is totally(*infinity) impossible IRL. Ok, so you've got a cute-to-die-for childhood friend who's totally devoted to you already.

But, nooo..., being a renai game adaptation, you'll still need choices, so comes 2 absolutely pretty girls who are infatuated with you and each of them are the princesses of the God and Demon Realms respectively. Oh well, I won't say anything about my absolute jealousy with the guy or how desperate I'd like to be in his
position, I'll just wish him luck and continue watching on for the characters(honestly, no one cares about the story right).

I've also been downloading some stuff like Gunbuster 2, Iriya , AMS(to complete watching it) and I've heard some great things about Speed Grapher.I'll put up my thoughts later on.

Meanwhile, I'll just cross my fingers and hope desproxy works.If not, well, suffice to say my blog's gonna be neglected for a while.

General : Laziness strikes again.

2005-08-02T12:12:00.000+08:00

Well, I did say about putting up some posts but it seems that getting back internet after such a long deprivation of it tends to make me forget doing other stuff :p. I'm thinking of migrating my blog away from using blogger and totally redesign it when i move out and get my own line next month. I'll have much free time during that period and what better hobby for an IT student than to redesign his own blog ;).

As for anime thoughts, I'll go through the stuff I've been watching one by one:

GSD:Nearing the end, things are moving quite fast. There's about 10 eps. left I guess, if it's a 50-episoder like GSEED. And damn, Strike Freedom is teh pwn@g3. I wanna see Infinite Justice as well.... And who agrees with me that Akatsuki's full gold colour is a little bit ghey?

FMP:SR : Kyoto animation has done a great job judging from the 1st 3 episodes, especially eps.2 (FUTAGO YURI ACTION !!!! :nosebleeds:). The action scenes are choreographed quite nicely as well,almost pissed in my pants watching eps.1. The half bald bastard is now my most hated/irritating anime character.

Judging from what I'm seeing though, Kyoto is doing some serious modifications to the story for those who've read the FMP novels (I've read Owaru Day by Day, Dancing Merry Christmas thks to Boku-tachi). But I'm glad it's actually much more better and interesting ( not to forget more fanservice :). For example, the yuri twins in the novels were actually guys... I don't think yaoi twins would have went down well with the audience :vomits:.

Shaman King: Well I got this series from my housemate and marathoned it. I'm missing the last 10 episodes though :p.It's quite a normal shounen show,though for some reason, my cheesiness detector seems to be malfunctioning during the show.I guess the lack of things to watch will do that.

R.O.D: I've watched it during EMiNA screenings and I'm getting addicted to it. The OVA was quite nice but the TV series is really the one I'm interested in. Looking at all the "OMFGWTF" things they do with paper, I'm not gonna look at paper in the same way anymore.

General : TADAIMA!!!!!

2005-08-01T15:43:00.000+08:00

Hehe, finally it's midterm break time, \o/. 1 week of broadband internet usage... oh I'm so gonna abuse it!!!!

But seriously, my hostel is getting worse by the day. I'm going to move out by the end of this month to get my own DSL line outside. It's really kinda ironic that I'm in IT but I've no access to the "I", haizz.....

On the anime watching side, I've marathoned Shaman King 1-54(yes, missing 10 eps), got introduced (and addicted to ) ROD TV 1-2 (thanks to EMiNA's screenings) and currently crazy about FMP:SR (HAWT YURI ACTION!!!). Expect posts about FMP:SR after this :)

Well, basically that's all for now. Just a small placeholder post before starting off my anime postings.

Gundam SEED Destiny 36 : Athrun Defects.

2005-07-02T21:27:00.000+08:00

Watch Status: Subbed (Haro^2 Tori^2)

A pretty intense episode of GSD with much action and drama.I've just been speed watching up the previous episodes from 25-35 and GSD is really getting more and more intense by the episode, making it much better than GSEED. Now if Sunrise would just cut out so many of the flashbacks....

The episode starts off with the Chairman intro-ing Athrun and Shinn on their new units, Legend and Destiny.Shinn is excited while Athrun is still bearing a resentment on the recent operation to sink Archangel. He questions Dullindal on the neccessity of the action but Dullindal counters him back by asking why didn't they join ZAFT. Athrun keeps quiet about his knowledge of Lacus's assasination.

Dullindal then launches into a long-winded speech about Kira and etc... He envisions a world where people can live to their fullest. Athrun isn't pleased about it.

Back outside, many of the EA have broken off and joining ZAFT at the Gibraltar base.Talia voices her concern about the EA ships and Arthur makes a cold joke about how they're gonna be fucked up if they're actually betraying ZAFT. Ma. Ai kawarazu ne, Arthur-san.

Meanwhile, the LOGOS have retreated to Heaven's Base, the last standing bastion of EA power( I think). Talia wonders if a decisive attack on it will finally end the war.

Dullindal and Rey meet and discuss recent events, unaware that Meer is eavesdropping on them, to which she discovers a photo taken by Lunamaria of Athrun meeting Kira.

After the eyecatch, Athrun is reflecting back on recent events, wondering who's right or wrong.He's interrupted by Meer who rushes in and reveals to Athrun that the Chairman is going to "dispose" of him. Meer urges Athrun to do something to show that Chairman he's not useless but a squad knocks on the door asking for Athrun.

This forces Athrun over the edge and he decides to escape.He easily defeats the soldiers sent to catch him.He takes Meer with him and persuades her to escape as well but in a moment of self-delusion, Meer refuses.

Athrun escapes into Meyrin's room to hide.But it's useless as the soldiers are checking each room. Meyrin helps Athrun out using an "unconventional" tactic. Meyrin then sets off an alarm creating a diversion for Athrun.

Both of them escape to the hanger but Rey discovers them. After a shootout, Athrun takes Meyrin together and escapes with Rey and Shinn in hot pursuit in Destiny and Legend.

Finally some major plot development, and they made Meer and Meyrin... useful! Heh. But seriously, that's the best thing that Meer has done on the show up to now, by inadvertantly warning Athrun about Dullindal. And for Meyrin, she just got elevated status from background character there, with the bath thing and helping Athrun. I prefer her hair down actually.

Athrun also finally gets over his indecisiveness and tries to take Meer to escape as well.That's seriously the first time he's done things right for a change.Athrun was getting quite annoying with his indecisiveness.

In the next episode, Athrun faces off Legend and Destiny, and I'm getting a feeling that death's in the air, maybe.

Mahoraba 20 : At the School Festival.

2005-07-02T14:56:00.000+08:00

Watch Status: Subbed (Froth-Bite)

One of the best Mahoraba episodes I've watched to date :). It's been a long time since I've done a anime blog post so my skills might be dulled, bear with me, eh, people.

This episode starts off with Kozue-chan and Tama-chan inviting the gang to their school festival.

Once they reach there, they're suprised by the amount of stalls and the atmosphere.The gang seperates a bit to check out the stalls.Asami and Sayoko goes to a goldfish scooping stall where Asami gets a free go at it because of her cuteness while Sayoko, well, ermmm..., employs the "Jiiii....." technique.

Kozue and Tamami visits an archery stall, where Tamami ( in a moment of Tomoyo-ness) decides to go win the price for Kozue.She hits all the bulleyes at once (+1 forehead) suprising the stall operators (and me).That's some nice shooting there.

After that, the gang go indoors and Momono drags them to watch a "local" production.The movie really cracked me up. B-grade would be a gross overestimation to call that movie, suffice to say. Needless to say, the whole gang (except Momono) gets a "....." moment.Even Tama-chan(hillariously) declares that her evilness was sucked out.

After that, the gang continues to explore around the school.They pass by a haunted house(hillariously) and meet with Buchou, who takes Asami and Sayoko for a fotune-telling session (not to mention Tamami-chan, forced to perform her "duties").

The gang then visits Kozue's classroom, who's doing an art and craft exhibition.Suddenly, one of her classmates,Hiro-chan, who's in a bit of pinch. Hiro-chan, the head of the Symphony fan club, is scheduled to do a perfomance but the players had an accident and they're short of 2 people, a violinist and a pianist. Surprisingly, Sayoko volunteers (?!) and Momono takes the piano.

The perfomance starts and everyone is suprised when they play flawlessly.Mahiru-chan, the mysterious girl also watches the perfomance. Hiro-chan is revealed to be the sister of Mahiru's dojikko maid, Sakura.At the end of the performance, they're all moved by the spectacular perfomance.

After the performance, the group gathers backstage. The symphony club thanks the group for helping them out. Shiratori comments that there's still much that they don't know about each other.

Scene-switch and we see Mahiru commenting mysteriously about "seeing an unexpected side of her in an unexpected place". Scene-switch again to Tachibana, the other maid, being questioned by her goshujin about Mahiru meeting with Sayoko making him angry. Hmmm... mysterious.

A great episode of Mahoraba.The art was exceptionally cuter this episode, with literal employment of deformed modes, especially on the eyes. The episode also balances finely with filler stuff and plot development, one of the best parts of Mahoraba story-telling. Definately a great anime. Can't wait for the ending.Please let there be a season 2 as well....

Next episode is about the sceret of the Kurosaki family. Froth-bite, please hurry it up....

General : State of Things.

2005-07-01T10:53:00.000+08:00

Well, going around blogs recently, it seems some of the spring shows have ended, like Futakoi Altenative. Negima and Mahoraba also ended recently. Now if Froth-Bite would just increase their speed ;).

On anime watching, I've havent done too much yet, but I've watched Mahoraba 20 (great episode!) and GSD until 36. For the rest of the time, I was playing No One Lives Forever 2... ahh the fun, "man-crates", lol... Next stop, Half Life 2.

On the side of my studies, I have 2 assignments to do for now involving Powerpoint, sex ed (fun!) and some celebrity. My hostel has really done a good job of infuriating me as the DAMN line is so DAMN slow. WHY CAN'T THEY JUST LET US GET OUT OWN LINE!!!! I can't even do decent research for the assignments. sob sob... and I have to live with that for a year......

So due to the crappiness of the net there, blogging has become quite impossible. Heck, I can't even open my own blog there. Luckily, I still can go back home to use the net.

Well, this is generally a rant post, so I'll stop for now. I'll put up a post on Mahoraba 20 and GSD 36 later. They ignited my blogging fire for shows. Honestly, I was quite thinking of stopping until FMP:SR comes out.

General : New Computer... YAY!!!! .... and anime catchups.

2005-06-25T17:01:00.000+08:00

Ah finally, I've gotten myself a new computer. Nothing too fancy or out of the ordinary, just a decent one with gaming capabilities. Now to try out Half Life 2 :evilgrin: . My old one was quite satisfying for me even though for the lack of gaming capabilities, thanks to the net and fansubs :) . But getting a new one is also quite alright ;).

Currently I'm just enjoying myself on my new computer. Havent done too much with it for the 5 hours I've had it, just trouble shooting and sharing my joy on the blog.

I've been also catching up on anime. It's quite a shock to find out that after 2 months, Wannabe still hasn't finished SR, only up till 22 , but it's all good. After a long break from Sukuran, it's still as funny as ever. I had just watched 19-22 and the "Hige" part was hillarious. They're also using the habit of people adressing by surnames to "create" confusion and tension between the guys, which I just noticed.

I've also been watching Mahoraba 12-17(still another incomplete series). Few things to note here, Tamami is sooo cute when she was younger.They did a nice job explanding her personality more and giving out the reason of her dedication to Kozue. She just elevated herself as second favourite Mahoraba girl for me ^^ . Shiratori's kawaii little story in 14-15 also was quite touching, or maybe it's her nymph-like rendition of Kozue, Natsume's also quite funny and cute, and I like the way she has with cards, though I've heard that they left out some parts of her involving ladders. Oh well, I do have a penchant for misunderstood and anti-social types, especially for the cute ones.

Also did watch Emma for 1 episode. It's quite OK for now. I'm still d/lding the rest from iichan, so I'll put up more thoughts about it later on.

General : Things I've Noticed.

2005-06-24T12:50:00.000+08:00

After 2 months of inactivity on the anime community, I've been revisiting blogs around to see what's hot and what's not. The general consensus I've reached is that this new season of anime has been quite lacklustre than the previous season.

One of the few titles that seem promising is Honey & Clover based on comments reached on Garten's post. I've also caught the 1st episode of Basilisk and it seems interesting but sadly has been licensed. I could hunt down the subs but I'll just get it from my fellow otaku, Kazuki. Loveless has also been garnering some nice comments so I might go get it, if I get the chance.

Based on my observations, Mahoraba seems to be going strong as well, which explains why I'm now mass downloading 9-18 from Froth-Bite. I'm having limited time to download any of the things I want though. Luckily now I have my broadband back in my house as my dad finally paid the bill as I'm going to be in Melaka for a long time. I guess the only good thing is I can come back on weekends and d/l all I want for that span of time. I'm going to catch up on Bleach and A!MS when I get the chance.

On the downside, Tsubasa Chronicle has been living up to my early expectations (and most people also(the Sakura seiyuu bashers) ) and flopping spectacularly. I don't really dare to say it solidly as I've only watched as far as the 3rd episode. But my opinion on them was also " good music, bad art and bad storytelling". I'll stick to the manga for now. I will get the OST though, can't resist Yuki Kajiura.

On the RL side of things, with anime deprivation, I've been going around with friends to cinemas and watching some of the more hyped shows from Hollywood. I've caught the full Star Wars series (except for VI, stupid scratched DVD) and I'm quite inclined to say, it deserves the attention. It's quite anime-istic though, with the Force and lightsabers.

Another movie I've seen recently was Mr. & Mrs. Smith. It was surprisingly good enough for me to watch it twice. Angelina and Pitt really have some good chemistry with each other (justifying the Bradgelina rumours) which was really the centerpiece of the show. I'm also finding that some movie critics nowadays are really strict people. They're bashing M&M Smith for the "lack of plot" and "no background info" and blah blah.. etc. I'd say they really just can't let their pants down.

But for me, my love will always be with the eastern side of the world, with anime and manga taking the centerpiece of my entertainment.

Now, off to find http anime hosts.

General : My Status

2005-06-23T16:51:00.000+08:00

As most of the readers might have noticed, I have stopped blogging for over 2 months now. I have to thank my parents for that. Oh well, otakuism is soo easily misunderstood.

For me now, I'm now in University(sort-of) attending Foundation in IT. The university of my choice is Multimedia University and they conduct the classes in Melaka so I'll be independent for a year. I will restart blogging but maybe not as anime-centric as now.

I'm finding difficulties getting anime there though, as my hostel totally blocks off BT, IRC and (unbelievably) FTP connections :rollseyes: . To top it off, the line is being shared by...umm... 2k inhabitants which equates to it being slow as hell. I haven't really experienced it as I'm lacking a computer for now over there, which means I'm gonna flunk classes as all the assignments, notes and etc.. are done online. I'm now "persuading" my parents to get me a new computer with decent graphic cards, as I'm sure I'm mostly gonna be gaming now that anime d/lding is almost impossible.

I guess my only salvation is that MMU has an active anime club, EMiNA (yes, it's anime written backwards), and there's also quite a lot of anime fans around to supply some of the more popular ones, including the uber-commercialized Naruto and (thankfully) GSD as well. I'm quite dying to continue watching GSD after stopping somewhere around 24 or 25 (sob sob). I hear there's quite a big shocker soon as Sunrise continues on with their "traditions".

Another series which I'm quite looking forward to is FMP:SR. Luckily it's starting next month so I can get sometime to try and find alternative ways to either (a). hack the hostel server and open BT/IRC ports or (b) find http anime fansub hosts or (c) persuade someone with streamyx line to d/l it for me. Oh well, hope it all goes well. I'll update more later.

Gundam SEED Destiny 24: Diverging Gazes

2005-04-09T17:56:00.000+08:00

Watch Status : Subbed(Haro^2 Tori^2)

I had a lot of problems getting this episode due my dial-up failing for 2 days :P. Damn, I miss my broadband *sob sob*. Anyways, after the action last episode, it's time for the mandatory R&R/character development episode.One word here, Sunrise seems to be on CHEESE Mode recently so get ready for rolling eyes. And I might say, there's a "shocking" development of one character in particular.

After the conclusion of the battle, Minerva docks at the town of Tarcuius to finish her repairs. The Minerva MS team mourn the loss of Heine, with Athrun angry at Kira.Later, Rey is seen doing some file copying on a disc. We all should know that means, right ^_^.

Athrun then asks Gladys about the Archangel's whereabouts, saying he wants to talk to them.He gets permission to disembark from the ship to find them.Athrun then launches out in Saviour, leaving Lunamaria in puzzlement.

Meanwhile, Miriallia is taking a walk in a local market. Sunrise is taking every chance to put in Meer's version of Shizukana Yoru ni . Athrun bumps in to her coincidentally and they have a little talk, updating on each other's status. Eventually, Athrun asks her to contact Archangel so he can talk to them.

The scene switches to Archangel, also in a period of R&R. Ridiculously, they have an onsen on the ship, lol. So we get the customary fanservice when it comes to this places.I have to say, peace is really gettting to them.Onsens on ships?! This takes the cake as cheesiest part of GSD to date.Add that with Lacus doing the "water gun". What a faux pas.We're also getting too much flashbacks here, I swear that from 24 episodes of GSD currently, if the flashbacks weren't done, we'd only be at episode 15.And does anyone notice that in the eyecatch, Lacus's breast size is seriously increased? I'd almost think that Kira'll ditch Lacus and go for Meer instead ;p and that's what we're seeing in the eyecatch.

After all that, Shinn and Rey is being assigned a mission to check out a supposed EAF research facility.He's really funny here, with him forgetting about etiquette when asking Arthur and quickly adding "de arimasu ka" every time he speaks.We also apparently see that Rey's the one "ordering" the mission.

Athrun, in the meantime, has bunked up in a hotel.He's being watched by someone though, who turns out to be Lunamaria. God, she's a fanatic.I wonder how did she get allowed to stalk Athrun. Someone's gonna have a fit later.

Miriallia has successfully sent her message to Archangel. Kira and Cagalli decide to go meet Athrun to know more about the situation in PLANT and they leave the Archangel at their hiding spot for safety reasons.

After setting the meeting up, Athrun goes in Saviour with Lunamaria trailling behind in a chopper.God, she's fanatic.Meanwhile, Shinn and Rey are going off to the research facillity.

Upon reaching the site, Kira and Cagalli get a surprise when Miriallia reveals that Athrun has returned to ZAFT.Right on cue, Athrun arrives and they start to talk.Cagalli questions Athrun's return to ZAFT.Athrun questions Kira's actions with Cagalli fiercely replying that they were trying to stop ORB. She get scolded by Athrun instead for allowing ORB to sign the treaty and join EAF.Athrun further supports ZAFT and says that Dullindal is sincere in making peace.

However, Kira questions the fake Lacus and reveals Lacus's assasination attempt by the Coordinator Special Forces, suprising Athrun(and Lunamaria, eavesdropping).Kira states that he'll not trust PLANT unless he finds out the true intention of the attack.Meanwhile, Rey and Shinn are investigating the facillity, which seems abandoned. Both of them enter some room full of tubes containing human parts causing Rey to break down suddenly *hint hint*.The show ends on a slow and nice rendition of Life Goes On. I have to say, I quite like to get the differrent versions of Life Goes On.

Next episode seems to be revelations and some fighting involving Stellar-chan(yay!).Well, tommorow then, heh. I'll wait for Haro^2 Tori^2.

A quite revealing episode this time, figuratively and literally.Now we know what Lunamaria does in her free time when she can't stick to Athrun ^_^. Archangel's onsen was seriously cheesy and ridiculous.Lacus just got her score lowered with the water gun faux pas.

But seriously speaking, I suspect Lunamaria might not be eavesdropping just because she's infatuated with Athrun.I suspect that she might be working for Dullindal to notify him of Athrun's movements.Now that's she's discovered some shocking stuff, she's high on my list of candidates of people to die next, though a lot of people will not like it(Lunamaria fanboys for one).But then, when you get Maaya Sakamoto to voice someone, it's kinda hard for the writers to kill her off for the sheer name power, so I'll keep it to heart, but then Sunrise isn't forgiving so... and I wish that they'll snap out of CHEESE Mode soon. Their recent stuff is soooo full of it *coughMH26cough*.

We also get confirmation that Rey is another clone/artificial human. Hey, he's voiced by Rau's seiyuu, there's bound to be some connection.Neo's related to Mwu is already an open secret so I hope that Sunrise will reveal it soon, rather than waiting for episode 4x like in GS, making it feeling rushed.

I didn't really take too much screencaps for this one.Not that much are caption-worthy. I just take ones that are really funny and captionable ^_^.I'd suggest moy's life line by line entry for more pics, just a counter plug for his plug of mine for GSD 23 ;).

Mai HiME 26 : Shining Days

2005-04-05T23:00:00.000+08:00

Watch Status:Subbed(yesy)

Warning: Due to an inclusion of an unknown factor codenamed "Cheese",Mai HiME 26 may induce eye-rolling, nausea, vomitting and cases of corniness.

Finally, after 26 weeks of following one of the most intriguing, exciting and tragic(pre-MH26 days), Mai HiME finally comes to an end. I had expected a more...shocking ending, something with death in it, but Sunrise continues on their "shocking" part for Mai HiME and injects enough cheese in it to sway Mai HiME from my personal top 5 to top 10. Well, it should be expected when the episode title is "Shining Days".

The episode starts off with Miyu hitting the Anti-Materializer to maximum in the MIP pillars, causing a disturbance and breaking the crystal which Mashiro resides in.Mashiro then rises to the surface,emerging at the center of the school's atrium(i think that's what they call it).She releases a beam which changes the sky outside to become the same as inside the Kokuyougo and mentions that it's now time to break free from destiny.

Inside, Kokuyou no Kimi(KnK) states that the destiny of the star cannot be changed.Mai asks about the pillars to which KnK answers that this festival has 1 extra HiME(refering to Alyssa). After the usual melodramatic conversation of "why you're fighting" between Mikoto and Mai (what a waste of time), they start off the fight( yeah, now we're talking).

Back outside, Mashiro uses her power to conjure up HiME signs and sends them off to all the other HiME's appearing as ghostly representations of herself and we see of what happens(Finally!) to the other HiME's, who are in various states of helplessness and despair. She even resurrects the dead HiME's, well better than a reset I guess.Finally, at the pillars, a suspiciously familliar looking outline emerges.

Back to Mai vs Mikoto, Mai is not fighting seriously against Mikoto, only defending from her attacks, while their Child's,as usual, have different ideas about compensation for damage to public properties.KnK asks Mai for one last time to become his wife, but she refuses.KnK asks why, and Mai retorts back with a "A world the way someone wants it is disgusting."

Suitably pissed off, KnK draws his sword and as he attacks Mai, someone comes and deflects the blade away.It turns out to be Tate, resurrected from the dead and we enter CHEESE Mode.

Not enough with Tate and dead HiME's Mashiro promptly resurrects all the MIP's as well and we go on full CHEESE Mode here. Haruka and Shizuru rules this show.

Back to the main fight,KnK and Tate are having the pre-fight macho man banter with Tate uttering his coolest words of the show(sadly) here. The fight resumes with Mai vs. Mikoto and Tate vs KnK.Mai unsummons her elements and receives one of Mikoto's strikes as she embraces her and says she likes her, causing Mikoto to snap out of her trance, releasing her from KnK's control.

Back to Tate vs. KnK.Sunrise is using all the standard fight cliches here blah blah, so I feel lazy to comment.When a fight culminates with someone shouting "I love you!!!", you know it sucks.Poor Tate, he can be so cool and turn so cheesy in a few minutes.Mezame is sooo wasted here.

Apparently, Mikoto can't stand the cheesiness as well and attacks KnK, destroying the purple charm and releasing KnK's control on Reito.The real KnK, gets fits and proceeds to inhabit his "true" form, adding to the collateral damage on the way.After the cliched crap that's required of bad guys, when they get screwed, Mai summons Kagutsuchi to give him a nice tan but fails because the dagger on Kagutsuchi's mouth is under KnK's control.

CHEESE Mode comes in at this moment, as we get Chiisana Hoshi ga Oriru ~Piano Version~ and the scene changes outside to reveal the HiME's charging with their Childs to the Hime Star.It has to be said, that how can a dog, squid, horse, frog and spider fly? They've could've least made them run on land or something.Shizuru steals the whole scene with her "Kannin, na" though. And pity Midori, her scene gets stolen by Natsuki.To make a long story short, all of them ram in to the Hime Star, destroying it.

With it gone, Kagutsuchi proceeds to BBQ KnK. Nagi gets a splitting headache.And time miraculously flys to the next morning.CHEESE Mode rides high here and we see a "heart-breaking" scene between Mai and Mikoto. I had kept my hopes up here for Sunrise to redeem themselves after all that cheesiness but sadly my hopes are dashed. Kagutsuchi redeemed it a bit here though.

After the "Mikoto death" fiasco(bleagh! smelled it from a mile away),we get time skips again and it's spring with the graduation ceremony in full swing.The school is being rebuilt by Haruka's family, Fumi is the Board Chairwoman, basically everyone's well and in full spirits, which can only mean Comedy mode being engaged.I'm lazy to summarize, so I'll let the screencaps say for themselves.Sister Miyu and Sister Nao rules.Haruka, a riot as usual and Natsuki is sooo kawaii...

Finally, the show ends with Mashiro and Nagi, returning to some place and a pan out scene of the whole academy, The End.

Admittedly, I had expected more from Sunrise about Mai HiME's ending, but sadly,it didn't live up to my expectations.Apart from that, I felt that they could've changed the pacing a bit and put the MIP's revival later, after ol' KnK got incinerated. The comedy was quite out of place in the show at the fight scenes and the Hime Star destroying part.Comedy after is good but comedy during = bad.But still, it was quite funny, especially when Shizuru did her stuff.

Kokuyou no Kimi is also screwed up as a bad guy.Why can't they make good bad guys this days?!! Remaking the world is sooo cliched.Anyways, I digress.People should go read Artemis Fowl,now that's one great bad guy.

Sunrise also ruined Tate a bit. He turned from cool to cheesy so faster than you can blink,but it's at least better than "Mikoto Death", that was sooo corny, I could sense it from a mile away.Damn you, Sunrise.And Natsuki DID NOT deserve to utter the "Hime Sentai" line.

Overall, the ending felt like a rollercoaster ride, Sunrise ruined such good build-up with a descending ride to cheesiness.I'm not really against happy endings, but I would've liked it if they executed it a bit more better, without the cheese.

But in all, Mai HiME remains in my heart as one of the most thrilling and twisting anime of recent shows.Sadly, the execution of the ending leaves much more to be desired.But it's still likable and I'm hoping for a FMP:Fumoffu style spinoff, involving onsen trips, Mai "expertly handled" by Shizuru and Mikoto being "psychologically scarred" by a wild birthday bash ;),maybe titled as "Mai HiME:Kannin,na", heh.

Anyways, a review will be up soon.And it's quite a chore to label 66 screencaps :P. I really should stop taking 2 hours to write up.

AIR : Series Review and Impressions.

2005-04-02T19:38:00.000+08:00

Just finished watching AIR 12,ending off one of this season's most beautiful anime.T'was a bittersweet ending though and I didn't understand fully the ending.But in all, it was a good show nonetheless.

AIR was from Key, a famous game company in Japan that produces dating sim games(correct me if I'm wrong), so understandably, AIR also originated from it's game, which from what I've heard, has quite a fanatical following in Japan, so, news of the anime followed with a heavy promotional campaign which released quite a lot of previews,in fact, I've seen AIR previews subbed in September last year(from what I've remembered). The amount of publicity was what attracted me to watch it in the 1st place.

On watching the first episode of the anime, the first thing that instantly strikes the viewers is the awesome art(which Stripey aptly puts it as having the budget of the GDP of a small country) which encompasses the whole of AIR from the character designs to even the backgrounds.In fact, Kyoto Animation's background rendition of the sea, clouds and the sky(one of the hardest things to draw) are one of the best ever and most detailed ever seen for an anime.

Not only the art is good, it's also detailed and full of movement, unlike some animation studios which employ the still techiniques to reduce costs.I have not come across any usage of stills in the anime yet, with even mundane parts animated with movements.I was suitably impressed by it and AIR will definately hold the title of best & most detailed anime art for times to come.Kudos to Kyoto Animation for that.

AIR also features a superb cast which are all likable and cute.Yukito is definately a breakaway from the traditional stereotype of the protagonists in this genre.He exudes an aura of coolness yet he's very approachable and understanding.I definately liked him a lot, in fact, it was him that made me stick to AIR ;). The 3 girls of the show, as usual are cute and pretty, keeping up to standards of this genre of anime, but personallly, I like Tohru the most ;), too bad she's gone after Episode 6 :P (oops spoiler).

Which brings me to one the weakness of the anime, the pacing. It was quite sad to see that after wrapping each individual's arc, the girls will inevitably be left out of the anime :P. Understandably, in the original game, the players had the choice to choose which girl he/she likes and go on to finish the game with different endings for them.I understand Key's choice to only focus a bit of each girls and then proceed to the ending with the most popular one(Misuzu in this case) but it would be much better for the viewers to see what happens to the others as well. The pacing of the anime was also highly criticised in Japan, apparently because the plot was going on way too fast for their liking, but IMO(w/o the bias from the game), AIR develops quite good and manages to make me feel as if 1 episode were 2 instead, very hard to do,I assure you.

Plus, the anime isn't fully understandable, especially in the later episodes, for those not who have not played the game before. That definately took out some fun of the anime for me.The ending also is very biitersweet and quite unexpected, ending in somewhat a loop.Maybe a sequel in the works? I wonder.But as they say, sometimes the journey is more important than the destination and AIR is definately of this type, for me.

In all, AIR is a great show, a must watch for the great art in itself. Even though suffering from some setbacks and weakness, AIR still manages to entertain and awe the viewers.Those looking out for a nice romance drama will find AIR good enough to fulfill their needs with an apt doses of humour, joy, sadness and love in equal settings.

+Great Art
+Characters
+Good Drama
+Yukito-san
-Where are the other girls?? I need more of them!!
-Sufficient understanding of the original game is needed to understand some parts.

Rating : 8/10
Definately recommended for those to see the full potential of anime art.

Gundam SEED Destiny 23 : The Shadow of War.

2005-04-01T12:43:00.000+08:00

Watch Status: Subbed (Haro^2 Tori^2)

Continuing from last week, where Kira employs his CALM technique resulting in the the destruction of Minerva's Tannhauser positron cannon, shocking everyone.

The resulting explosion seriously damages Minerva and forces her to land on water.Archangel arrives at the scene soon after and Cagalli lauches out in Strike Rouge surprising everyone with this recent development.Cagalli demands that all the ORB forces cease fire and retreat.

While waiting for the answer, Cagalli flashes back earlier when they received news of the ORB attack.Kira is being awfully harsh to his sister here ^_^;; as he points out that this inevitably will happen when ORB joins with the EAF, making Cagalli to ask them all to help stop the battle.

Back to the battlefield, Jona(Yunna) is pissed off. Neo contacts him and asks the meaning of this.Jona finally claims that the he doesn't know who's that after being pressured by Neo,prompting the launch of Chaos,Gaia and Abyss to participate in the battle.

On the ORB flagship, Jona claims that the Strike Rogue is an imposter and orders an attack on it.Freedom easily counters the attack.The attack surprises Cagalli.

EAF takes the chance and launches a full-scale assault with their MS'es on Minerva.This sparks off a 3 sided battle between the ORB/EAF, Minerva and Archangel.Kira enters SEED mode and promptly pwns everyone in the battlefield(not killing them though) to stop all of them.

Heine's Gouf Ignited squares off with Stellar's Gaia.Heine's eletric whip weapon gives him the upperhand against Gaia.Heine is being positively evil here(I thought so!) as he fights with Gaia.Meanwhile, Shinn fights Abyss and Athrun fights Chaos(can't remember the other 2 names)

Cagalli gets her butt saved by Waldfelt in modified golden Murasame as she doesn't want to fire back at her own troops.

Kira and Archangel, then randomly pwns everyone in an attempt to stop the battle.Athrun tries to contact Kira to stop him but fails.The battle culminates with Heine pissed off with Freedom and tries to engage him but he gets attacked from the back by Gaia resulting in his death, shocking Athrun, not too far away.

The show then ends off with Freedom and Archangel retreating and both sides suffering significant losses.

Good episode of GSD with all the formulas that make it successful, war, MS action, death...Nothing much of plot development here but with Athrun being pissed off with Kira, it could be interesting to see what will happen when they meet next.

Heine meets a painful death, albeit a bit too fast. He's just only on for about 5-6 episodes, I think.But I have to say his Gouf Ignited is quite good with the arm gatling beam gun and the electric whip.The part where he faces off with Gaia reminds me of an animal trainer(lol :).

Freedom is still good as usual, doing his job of pwning everyone but reducing the death toll :).But I have to say, Kira has gone a bit harsh recently and he seems apathetic from his Gundam SEED times.I guess I would be like that after all that's happen, especially with meaningless wars being fought. He seems more mature and stronger now, compared to his days in SEED.

Next episode seems to be character development as Minerva gets repaired back at base. Athrun angst fest detected :). There's also emphasis on Shinn and Rey as well from the commentary.

Happy Birthday!!!

2005-03-31T19:00:00.001+08:00

Totally forgot this yesterday because of Mai-HiME 25, but yesterday,the 30th of March, was the 29th birthday of Ayako Kawasumi, prolific seiyuu in the Japanese anime industry particularly famous for her roles as Fuu(Samurai Champloo), Mahoro(Mahoromatic), Chikane Himemiya(Kannazuki no Miko,couldn't resist that.:),Ruriko Ikusawa(Gatekeepers) and much more.

She's one of my favourite seiyuu's and I'd like to take the chance here to wish her a very Happy Birthday and continued success in her future ventures.

General : Of Bells,Legends and Curses.

2005-03-31T12:47:00.000+08:00

After reading the other blogs on Mai HiME 25, I neglected to mention of the legend of Kiyohime, Shizuru's Child.Sunrise actually did homage to this legend in MH 25 with the trapped-in-bell-Natsuki scene.

In Japanese folklore, Kiyohime was the daughter of an innkeeper.One day, a young and handsome monk came to stay in her inn and she was instantly attracted to him.But being monks and all, he can't accept her feelings and ran away.Kiyohime chased after him until they reached a river where she turned into a serpent to cross the river. The monk hid himself under a bell but Kiyohime wrapped herself around the bell and they both died from the heat her lust which melted the bell(wow).

I didn't spot it at first as I've only read a shallow summary from Athena's Blog. But it's fun to see that Sunrise is putting in references in the anime.Kagtsuchi, Mai's Child also has a legend of it's own which goes like this:

"Kagutsuchi burned his mother, Izanami,to death when she gave birth to him as he was the god of fire(ouch). In a fit of rage,his father, Izanagi, chopped him(double ouch) into 8 pieces from which 8 mountain gods sprung out from his body and 8 other gods from his blood."

I would really wonder if Sunrise might incorparate this legend in to the final battle, maybe Kagutsuchi getting owned by Mikoto's "Excaliborg Lite"(from Momotato) and he suddenly revives with 8 more copies? It would be extremely funny or cheesy I guess.Anyways, about 12 hours more for MH 26 to come out in Japan, so let's keep out fingers crossed for a nice ending eh?

On to other matters, I had an extremely funny experience playing my Necro last night.I was already Lvl 23,.clearing out Tal Rasha's fake tombs, which have gotten considerably harder, due to the ungodly amount of monsters behind each door. I swear, I can never run out of corpses to explode or revive.Confuse is godly in v1.10.Having the monsters beat each other up is always better than hitting my "pets" right?

Anyways, after clearing off all the tombs, I set off for Duriel.I reached him easily with all my "pets" and as expected, he massacred all my skels in one shot. At that point, panic was setting in as Amplify Damage sucks. In my desperation, I hit the Iron Maiden hotkey and cursed him with it and suddenly I have inspiration. I kept summoning out Clay Golems and ran around his chamber luring him to hit my golem while I kept Iron Maiden on. Surprisingly, after about 10 rounds, I killed him with his "own" damage,LOL.

I'm never gonna go boss fighting without Iron Maiden again :).

Mai HiME 25 :Towards the Time of Fate

2005-03-30T14:04:00.000+08:00

Watch Status: Subbed (yesy)

After 5 days of waiting and bad connections, I finally downloaded MH 25.Ahh... the sweet fruits of labour.Well, off with the crap and on to the summary/review.

I'll start of with a few comments on Yesy's subs.The font and typesetting were quite good but the translation of the OP and ED need some grammer checking.Other than that, I guess that's really good for a speedsub as I don't find any major errors.

The episode starts off with Chie and Aoi bidding a tearful farewell to Mai. It seems that the whole school has been evacuated leaving only the HiME's behind.Chie says that they like her and Mai says she'd be touched if Chie was a boy instead.Chie reminds Mai that Tate is the one she loves though, triggering a painful reminder of Tate's death. This part really shows the strong friendship that has been forged between Mai, Chie and Aoi(although we don't get to see it) as we see that the train is empty meaning that's the last train to leave.The scene zooms out with the Hime Hoshi already almost reaching the Earth.

Next, Natsuki and the Sakomizu-sensei are at the cliff where Natsuki's mother died with Natsuki getting in terms with the fact that her mother sold her off to Searrs.

Natsuki:Maybe, because people have something precious, they make mistakes and get lost.
Sakomizu:Maybe so. Fujino-san...she... fell in love with you, that's why she did such things.
Natsuki:Then I don't want to know what "love" is.
Sakomizu:But, it's because people have that they are able to live on.
Natsuki:*smiles*

We then reach back to Mai, sitting in her class,sadly reliving all her memories.Natsuki comes in to find her and both of them have a heart-to-heart talk about school and learning while they walk around the desolate campus, looking at all the stuff they have missed doing.

Reito, or Kokuyou no Kimi(KNK), and Nagi, meanwhile, are discussing stuff. Nagi complains on not finding Miyu and Shizuru running berserk. Reito/KNK states that it's more interesting this way as this Festival is totally different from the ones before. Nagi says that he's changed but Reito/KNK denies it.Suddenly, Reito/KNK's charm glows and he clutches it in pain(hmm, strange) making Nagi ask if there's anything wrong but he denies it.

The following part is nicely done as we see all the characters having a last night of peace as a prelude to the following events tommorrow.Nicely done with a slow rendition of "Ensei"

The next day, Mai and Natsuki depart from their dorm. Before leaving, Natsuki prophetically says she'll not live through this and she entrusts everything to Mai.They part off gracefully as their last meeting.Reito/KNK, Mikoto and Nagi also make their moves as well with Reito/KNK stating that a new world will be made by him and his wife.

Mai meets up with Miyu on the way to the Kokuyougo. Miyu asks(threatens) Mai to reveal the entrance and also why she's here as her MIP is already gone.Mai answers that she just felt like doing it.Miyu looks back at her reactivation when Midori chose not to reset her memories and says that she doesn't understand them doing this.Miyu then proceeds to the Kokuyougo's entrance.

Natsuki and Shizuru then face off each other.One note here, they fought to the tune of "Tokiiro no Mai",quite funky and groovy.Artfully done :).The fight continues on with Miyu and Mikoto facing each other as well.Didn't expect Miyu to have so much different modes(and colours too).Kinda reminds me of GSD's Impulse's Variable TPA.Mikoto and Miyu's fight was quite nicely done although short.

Mai reaches soon after but Mikoto has brought the fight away from the place. Mai enters and has a conversation with Nagi(at his evilest) and they both head off.

Natsuki and Shizuru continue their fight.Shizuru reiterates that she'll make Natsuki hers no matter what.Natsuki summons Duran, who's gotten considerably bigger due to Natsuki's feeling of her most precious.

Nagi and Mai have reached the place where the pillars stand.Nagi explains everything and Mai goes around, reminiscing the lost HiME's. Nagi states there's an extra, meaning that someone has lost as well.Mai instantly thinks of Mikoto.

Natsuki and Shizuru's fight reach the remains of the church.Natsuki gets trapped in the falling bell and Shizuru takes the chance to capture Natsuki.Natsuki kisses Shizuru, surprising her, and states she can't have feelings like hers although she likes her.Natsuki orders Duran to shoot Kiyohime committing double suicide and they both disapper in a breeze of green sparks.

The pillars marking Shizuru and Natsuki rise up meaning that Mai is the sole survivor of the Festival and the gate to the Fuuka Shrine will open for her.Mai enters the door to the Kokuyougo. Nagi remarks that Mai is the best HiME he's seen from all the HiME's as she heads off.

Miyu arrives not long after Mai's departure. Miyu demands to go through but Nagi refuses.Mai reaches the Kokuyougo and is shocked by the changes.She notices Mashiro encased in a giant crystal.Reito/KNK explains the purpose of the Festival to her and says that Mai will be his wife instead and they will make a new world to replace the current rotten one.Mai refuses it.Reito/KNK asks if she hates him but no, she just feels sad for him.Reito/KNK challenges Mai to call on Kagutsuchi and defeat him eventhough her MIP's are gone.Mai retorts saying she still has feelings for Tate in her heart and summons Kagutsuchi.Mikoto suddenly appears with her Child as well.

Miyu and Nagi are still fighting. Miyu feels Alyssa's presence and activates her secret mode,suprising Nagi.She strikes her sword in the middle of the pillars and activates her Anti-Materializer at maximum causing an explosion and the show ends.

Mai-HiME continues to keep up with expectations with the fights and plot development.Enough is revealed but not too much to give the ending the final revelations(I hope).This episode is a fittingly done as a prelude to the final episode.I have to say that Natsuki has gotten more open now and smiles a lot more, too bad she double suicided with Shizuru,although it was quite expected I guess.Miyu almost stole the show with her fights and her attack modes.I WANT TO SEE HER OTHER MODES!!.

In all, I'm anxiously waiting for the ending which will be out tommorow, although, I'm going to have to watch it considerably later.I really hope that Sunrise will be able to keep up the great work they've done for Mai-HiME and make a fitting ending.The preview already hints that someone might die *coughmikotocough*.

Coming up! GSD 23 and AIR 12.

General : Aftermath

2005-03-30T11:44:00.000+08:00

This day, 1 week ago, my DSL was cut :(. I still remember the pain and anguish of waking up and trying to connect to the Net but instead getting the error message of invalid password.

1 week on and I'm still trying to salvage my life back to its former glory of broadband and anime watching. So far I've missed, MSN 11, MH 25,AMS 12, GSD 22, Mahoraba 12,Bleach 24 and much more else to list.I've only downloaded so far, MH 25 which is still stuck at 85% :p. I guess I'll be able to finish it today and GSD 22 in 2-3 days time.To think that this week is MH 26..... sob sob....

As for money making, so far I've only got U$1.01 from Adsense, which is quite good I guess considering that I've just made my blog for a week or so.well, U$24 to go heh.

Well, in the aftermath of DSL loss, I've tried to do stuff to spend my time on the comp while I make sure that my dial-up doesn't go disconnecting and other stuff that hampers the downloading process.

I've rediscovered Diablo 2, which I'm sure any self-respecting gamer would know about it.My affair with Diablo started off from Diablo I,which was one of the first games I'd played. I was quite hooked to it and I still remember how anxiously I waited and followed the news when the sequel was annouced. I still remember how excited was I whenever they revealed new character classes and skills, especially when they said that players could make potions from monster remains(Find Potion, Barbarian) which I thought was really cool(but turns out to be quite useless, LOL).

Anyways off with the history lesson.The last time I left Diablo 2:LOD, I was at v1.09 and didn't really get to play v1.10. This time, I downloaded 1.10 and found out it's really a free expansion pack to D2:LOD.The monsters are quite tough and improved already, making it much more fun to play already :)(for now, that is).

So far,in keeping up with my tradition for a new character every install(about 5 times already, including this time), I've made a Necromancer.Before this, I didn't really like the Necromancer because I thought his skills were pansy stuff and hard to use. But this time round, I find nothing more satisfying than having your own personal army killing off mosnters for you while you stand back and pick up the loot, occasionally casting curses to increase damage or make the monsters fight themselves(my favorite).My Necro, Shinikaze, has reached Lvl 20 for now, at the Arcane Sanctuary, having fun and kicking monster butts about. Ahh... how I like Confuse....

Well, for now, it's back to Diablo 2, while i wait for MH 25 to finish off in umm... round 2 hours I guess(and hope).

General : Status Report and Google's Adsense.

2005-03-27T13:06:00.000+08:00

For those still visiting my blog, I sincerely apologize for the lack of updates. My anime downloading has basically got kaput due to the unreliability of my dial-up which frequently times-out, disconnects itself and just basically slow as hell. I used to get speeds of 6kb/s on it, now, I'll be lucky to even break 3kb/s. That basically beats the purpose of me using it to download anime, as by the time I've downloaded 1 episode, the next two episodes will be out already :P.

On another note, I've appiled and got Google's Adsense, which I hope will be able to support my broadband costs of U$ 25 a month(exchanged from local rates).To anybody visiting, I sincerely hope you'll click on at least 1 ad(which is on the bottom of the side bar below the tag board) or maybe use the Google Search bar on the bottom of my blog to help me out. In the meantime, I'm trying out various methods(short of crime) to pay my bills and get back my broadband. A big thanks to all who's still supporting me.

Mai HiME : Vol.1 DVD Omake

2005-03-23T22:28:00.000+08:00

The loss of broadband has hit me hard. I feel like losing an arm and leg already.It took me 2 HOURS just to download this :P which makes out to a ratio of roughly 1 hour to 1 minute(ouch).I'm thinking of appying for Google Adsense to offset costs and afford broadband myself, so if I do get Adsense, I hope some kind visitors will click on some ads to help me out ^_^ .

Anyways, off with the ranting. This was subbed by yesy, with the torrent up on Tokyotosho earlier today.It consists of 2 parts and is quite short at 2:17 minutes only.

The first part features Mai as she elaborates on how she got her first bra, which only means fanservice here ^_^ and we do get that, featuring both Chibi-mode Mai and herself in full glory ;). It's really like a radio drama with images though, as there's only 3 of them which are below ;).

The 2nd part is a hillarious ad on Fuuka Gakuen hosted by Mashiro and sprinkled with some "censored" footage of the various HiME-related events in the school.There's even a full-fledged advert at the end offering a class in "Killing monsters while putting love on the line" at the end, ROFL. Here's the screenies:

The ad was quite funny, especially when you get it :) . I'm more interested in the 2nd Omake featuring our resident Chikane-wannabe, Shizuru and Natsuki ;).

General : Status report and random stuff

2005-03-23T12:29:00.000+08:00

Due to differences in opinion and generation gaps, my broadband access has been suspended for a while :p.While I try to get it back, I'll be reverting to dial-up(ouch).I'll fight on nontheless and I'll continue to blog anime even though it's gonna cost me 10x more and 12 hours per episode.

I really live in a funny country (or the ISP is plain stupid) where dial-up costs 2.5 cents a minute but the broadband is RM 88 a month for unlimited access so technically, I can rack up bills of thousands a monthon dial-up yet only pay RM 88 if I use my broadband continuosly for a month.Well, that'll be a sign of protest, I guess, when the bills come(hope I don't have to resort to that though :P ).

On another note, a local radio station at my place seem to be using a lot of anime and game BGM's for their radio dramas.So far I've heard FF8 BGM's and also Aa! Megami-sama BGM's(the chorus version of coro di dea ~megami-tachi no utagoe and others). I'm pretty sure I must've missed more.

I've also created individual pages for each anime series I'm following on the watch list.So far, I've only managed to finish off a few.The rest will be up later.

Mai HiME : Vol.1 Bonus DVD extras

2005-03-22T17:01:00.000+08:00

The torrent came up on Tokyotosho earlier today, so I went to download. The DVD consists of a recording of the Seiyuu Line recordings and interviews with them and also a 3-min. long promo of Mai HiME.

All of them are in Raw format. The 1st bonus: The Seiyuu Line recordings are standard affair with them acting out parts of episode 2 and 3 and also the interviews.I haven't really gone through it though,maybe later. Kinda funny though, seeing them with the characters voices but different looks, especially Mikoto's seiyuu(must be the age difference).

The main surprise was the 3 min long promo. It sports Mai HiME with a totally different look than in the anime, not to mention some(a lot) fanservice :), enough to warrant a look for all you Mai HiME fans out there ;).

Some screenies from it:

There's also some changes of art for Natsuki's Child and Elements and a Orphen that wasn't used.

Looks somewhat different don't they.Looking at this promo, it seems so easy that Sunrise could've just made a generic "mahou shoujo" type anime but we're all glad they didn't, no ;).

Samurai Champloo : A review and Final Impressions.

2005-03-22T15:47:00.000+08:00

Samurai Champloo, the crazy hip-hop + samurai anime has just ended last week with 26 episodes in total. Being a follower of this anime, I'll post my thoughts and reviews on it.

Admittedly at 1st, I had my doubts about this anime. The thought of infusing Hip-hop/Breakdance and samurais sounded very crazy yet funny and interesting at the same time.I wasn't around to catch the airing for the 1st season due to some reasons (no broadband and FMA) but I managed to watch it on local VCD's(ugh! stupid subs) on a really bored night.

My doubts were cast off after the superb 1st episode (I need to rewatch.....) and as I watched on, I was turned a fan. Anyways, on to the review.

SC infused nice fight scenes and parodied humour to the max.there was a lot of humorous parts which will be unforgettable like:

Jin dressed as a Geisha
Bushido=yaoi foreigner(LOL, Harakiri = ass-rape)
Fuu pigging it out
Mugen being played by the female ninja(what happened to her?!!)
Fuu, the veteran hostage
Porn ukiyo-e(LOL)
Graffiti battle
Baseball match between Japan and America(this had me ROFLMAO)
... and the numerous other run-ins with historical figures and stuff.

The highlights of SC are also the expertly chreographed fight scenes.Jin's mastery of swordsmanship is only matched by Mugen's unconventional Breakdance style fights.

SC fully expands and explores each of the character's past and providing them with a relevent backstory to explain their origins and what makes them tick.The storytelling can be mediocre at times as the early parts of the anime suffered from the "filler" syndrome with out much focus on the main plot which gets developed only in the later episodes.

In the end, SC ended off nicely with all the plot threads closed and fully explained.But,yet it still remains unsatisfying and makes me long for more of the trio's adventures.It feels like losing something I've taken for granted. Well, all good things must come to an end i guess :P .

+ Over the top humour
+ Unique concept
+ Superb ending that leaves you wanting for more
+ Great chreography of fights
- "Filler" syndrome sometimes

Overall: 9/10

Highly suggested to be watched by any anime fan.

Mahoraba 11: Memories..

2005-03-21T17:00:00.000+08:00

Watch Status: RAW(accuracy not guranteed).

For a more accurate summary of Mahoraba 11 go to Matthew's entry.

Momono episode this time as we focus on Narutaki-sou's resident partymaker and drunk ^_^ .

Episode starts with her trying to write a letter but fails. Then we see her at her campus (so she does go to college..) cafeteria surrounded by couples acting rabu-rabu and she complains ("Is today Couple's day?!"). Then she wanders around, watching a movie and sending a letter.

After that, she runs in to Shiratori who's trying to pacify 2 kids fighting over a piece of taiyaki.He finally buys another one for them, and they run off happily (aww.... same thing i would've done). Momono teaches him a more efficient way to split them.She also invites Shiratori to go out with her tommorow when she leaves.Then Kozue-chan comes out from a store (shopping deeto-ka?) and we get a cute scene when they try to buy taiyaki but it's out of stock.

The next day, Shiratori's getting dressed for the outing with Momono.He almost doesn't recognise Momono at first (there's not many pink-haired girls around,you know, Shiratori). Momono says it's a date,making Shiratori freaking out but Momono says it's approved by Kozue-chan (oo, interesting, so Shiratori now belongs to Kozue-chan, eh).Kozue-chan appears and greets them happily and even sends them off with itterashai making Shiratori feel a little bit "lonely".

Then, they head off for a date going around places and doing "date" stuff. Shiratori comments on Momono-san's kawaiiness. Then, they both watch a movie and we get flashbacks of Momono's past(the flashback BGM is quite good), seems she had a relationship with a guy back in middle school and he flew off somewhere to study about films.

She cries after the flashback and when the movie ends, she wears back her glasses( she was wearing contacts for the date).Momono then apologises to Shiratori suddenly,saying that she was testing.(I totally did not get this part so refer to Matt's post on it). Both of them then go to a park and Momono explains everything. She feels bad about putting Shiratori through this and asks him to punish her.........which Shiratori doesn't do (obviously).

Both of them then head home with Shiratori bringing back a bag full of taiyaki but.... uh-oh... Kozue-chan also bought some taiyaki earlier and we all know what happens right. It's time for TAIYAKI ENKAI !!!.Oh, and Momono receives a letter from the guy too, making her happy ^_^.

A nice episode centered on Momono-chan this time.Her backstory wasn't cheesily done and there was some nice parts on Kozue-chan and Shiratori's interaction(they seem to be more of a couple now ^_^ ).IMO though, Momono isn't too attractive for me but her younger self looks quite nice, giving off a "cool" feel. She needs to have longer hair and no braids please.

Next episode will be a beach episode. Somehow, the title reminds me of School Rumble.Must be the sentence structure.

Gundam SEED Destiny 22 : Sword of the Azure Sky

2005-03-21T14:43:00.000+08:00

Watch Status: Subbed (Haro^2 Tori^2)

After the more relaxed atmosphere of GSD 21(Stellar-chan!!), we get back on business with this episode.This episode starts off with Orb getting sent to the Black Sea to "evict" ZAFT presence in the area.Orb sends Takemikazuchi and the ghey Yuuna as the supporting force for the EAF(lackeys!!).

Then we see Stellar gettting her maintenance with her memories of Shinn getting erased (aww.... :P ).Heine is up next, with him socializing with the MS pilots of Minerva saying that they are all equal and blah blah blah. his attitude might be said as happy-go-lucky but for some reason, I don't really like him to much. He kinda sounds domineering to me.

We then switch back to the ORB fleet currently going around the Cape of Good Hope(ouch..) to the Black Sea. The really cool Captain of the Takemikazuchi, Todoka is really a character I would like to have around.Too bad he has to get bossed around by that ghey Yuuna(hah, you live on an island yet you get seasick,nice for you :P )

ZAFT gets wind of the plan and gets ready to intercept the EAF forces. Athrun gets a really nice shock on learning about ORB's involvement.The ORB fleet becomes the vanguard of the attack with Neo's fleet as the back to trap Minerva.

Well, Shinn and Athrun make mincemeat out of the 1st wave of ORB Murasame's and Astrays.As the 2nd wave begins, Minerva gets in position to fire her Tannhauser positron cannon at the ORB fleet but is stopped in time (more like destroyed) by Kira's Freedom. Everyone is shocked at seeing Freedom.

Overall, an OK episode of GSD to set up the plot for the upcoming episodes.Kira as usual, employs the CALM(Coming-At-Last-Moment) tactic on Minerva, ouch.It would be interesting to see what happens if Kira&co. find out that Athrun is on ZAFT's side and what would Athrun do after this.

Next episode seems to be the appearance of Archangel and Cagalli persuading the ORB fleet to stop (will someone please kill off that ghey Yuuna?!).Only 6 more days....

General: Hiatus over.

2005-03-20T15:57:00.000+08:00

Finally i fixed my ISP problem. Turns out they gave me bad software :P, damn them. Anyways, i'll be officially starting blog anime starting with the Spring 2005 season.There are quite a few shows I'm anxiously waiting for, like Tsubasa -Resevoir Chronicle, Full Metal Panic:Second Raid. There are also some shows that might prove interesting such as He Is My Master(for all the loli maid fanatics ;-). I'll also be blogging some shows that i'm currently following when I get to it, like Mai-HiME(only 2 more episodes!!), Ah! My Goddess(is it me or is Urd stealing the show now?), AIR(bit too late isn't it?),Gundam SEED:Destiny(Stellar-chan!!!), Mahoraba ~Heartful Days~ and others when i feel like it :P. For a disclaimer notice,some of this shows are watched RAW(as in no subs) so accuracy isn't guranteed. I welcome all opinions, criticisms, suggestions and corrections.

General: Grand Opening

2005-01-29T20:27:00.000+08:00

Well, just created this little blog for the fun of it and to post impressions of what's on my mind and such. Primarily, this blog will be focused on anime and manga sprinkled with random stuff i might decide to throw in from time to time.I hope everyone would enjoy their visit here and offer comments and suggestions from time to time.

On another note, i would really like to find some free webspace to host this blog as for some reason, my ISP blocks anything with .blogspot on it :(. I can only access this blog via dial-up connections so this can become a pain at times. If anyone's willing, I'll only need about 10 MB of webspace or so. My posts will mostly be text based as I think I can leave the pics out. If anyone can help, email me at kur0gan3[at]gmail.com.

Mai HiME

2004-12-13T12:00:00.001+08:00

Summary

Tokiha Mai is a normal school girl, juggling between her school life, work and caring for her brother Takumi who’s suffering from a heart condition.

One day, she receives a scholarship for her and Takumi to study at a prestigious private academy called Fuuka Gakuen and accepts the offer.

On the way to the academy, the ferry that they both are travelling becomes a battlefield for 2 girls possesing supernatural powers.In the chaos, Mai discovers that she posseses the same power, the power of a HiME.

Upon reaching the academy, she discovers that it’s not what it seems to be and the academy is being attacked by monsters called Orphens which can only be defeated by the power of the HiME’s of which the academy has been gathering all along.

Ultimately this leads to a battle of destiny of the HiME’s, forcing them to put their most important things on the line between life and death.

Episode List
(Taken from Anime News Network)

01.	That's a Serious Matter for a Young Lady
02.	After School Secrets
03.	Dance of Flames / Star's Oath 『炎の舞／星の誓い』
04.	Prank of the Wind 『風のイ・タ・ズ・ラ』
05.	Rain- -. Tears.....
06.	The fiery age of 17 (^^;) Moeru juunana-sai (^^;) もえる十七歳(^^;)
07.	The Lost Kittens Maigo no koneko-tachi 迷子の仔猫たち
08.	An Important Thing. Taisetsu na mono. たいせつなもの。
09.	The sea, the maidens and Natsuki's secret ♪ Umi to otome to Natsuki no himitsu ♪ 海とオトメとなつきのヒミツ♪
10.	Cake Wars!!!
11.	Rondo of Light and Darkness
12.	Angelic Smile
13.	Night of the Tamayura
14.	Academy at Target
15.	High School Girl ﾐ☆Through the Galaxy 『天翔けるﾐ☆ 女子高生』
16.	Parade ♪
17.	Deceitful, Lips 『うそつきな、唇』
18.	――Beginning. 『――はじまり。』
19.	Labyrinth in the Heart 『こころの迷宮』
20.	Dance of Flames / Tearful Destiny 『炎の舞／涙の運命』
21.	You the Dark One, Time to Come Forth 『黒き君、目覚めるとき』
22.	Breaking Down...... 『くずれゆく......』
23.	Love and Friendship, Cold-heartedness 『愛情と友情、非情』
24.	Love is a Battle 『コイ・ハ・タタカイ』
25.	Towards the Time of Fate
26.	Shining☆Days

Extras

Mai HiME Vol.1 Bonus DVD extras.
Mai HiME Vol.1 Omake.

Mahoraba ~Heartful Days~

2004-12-13T12:00:00.000+08:00

Summary

Shiratori Ryuushi, who aspires to become a children's book artist, moves to Tokyo to attend art school.In Tokyo, he rents a room at Narutaki-sou, an inn in the middle of busy Tokyo.

Arriving there, he is greeted with the occupants of Narutaki-sou, who each have their own quirks and share of strangeness.He also falls for the lovely and cute landlady, Aoba Kozue who is his distant relative. He seems to have met with her in the past as she knows his ambition of being an artist.However, Kozue-chan also has secrets of her own....

Episode List
(courtesy of Anime News Network)

	01.	Welcome to Narutaki Villa ようこそ鳴滝荘へ
	02.	Ooya-san's Secret 大家さんのひみつ
	03.	An Important Place たいせつな場所
	04.	Carefree ぬくぬく
	05.	Negaposi ネガポジ
	06.	Tama Check Tama chekku 珠チェック
	07.	Hide and Seek かくれんぼ
	08.	Shopping おかいモノ
	09.	Correct! これくと！
	10.	Sketch スケッチ
	11.	Memories... 想い…
	12.	Summer! Swimsuits! Day at the Beach! 夏だ！水着だ！海水浴だ！
	13.	The Treasure of Narutaki-sou 鳴滝壮のタカラモノ
	14.	When Summer is Over 夏の終わりに
	15.	... Maybe …かも "Kamo" can mean "duck" as well

Gundam SEED Destiny

2004-12-07T12:00:00.000+08:00

Summary

Sequel to the highly acclaimed 2003 anime series Gundam SEED and marks the first ever sequel in an alternate Gundam universe.In C.E. 73, a year and a half has passed since the first Great war between Coordinators and Naturals which ended in the signing of a peace treaty by both sides after the tragic Battle of Jachin Due which both sides suffering tremendous losses.

However, the hands behind the war, the Blue Cosmos terrorist group have not been eliminated and the fragile peace will once again be shattered.During a conference between the ORB Union and PLANT on Armory One, a group of elite EAF soldiers commit a daring act by stealing three of PLANT's newest prototype Mobile Suits(MS).

In the aftermath, PLANT's newest prototype MS carrier battleship Minerva is assigned to hunt down the three MS'es and retrieve them.On board is Shinn Asuka, pilot of ZAFT's prototype ZGMF-X56S Impulse Gundam and Athrun Zala, war hero of the previous war and now affliated with ORB Union.

With Shinn hating ORB for causing the death of his family 2 years ago and Athrun questioning his role in this war and the breaking of the fragile peace forged on the blood of his comrades in the past war, the two now have to face a new chapter in this blood-stained conflict caused by clashing ideals and try to regain peace once and for all.

Episode List
(courtesy of Anime News Network)

	01.	Enraged Eyes 「怒れる瞳」 Okoreru Hitomi
	02.	Those Who Cry Out For Battle 「戦いを呼ぶもの」 Tatakai wo Yobumono
	03.	Ominous Gunfire 「予兆の砲火」 Yochou No Houka
	04.	Battlefield Of Stardust 「星屑の戦場」 Hoshikuzu No Senjou
	05.	The Scar That Never Heals 「癒えぬ傷痕」 Ienu Kizuato
	06.	The World's Final Hour 「世界の終わる時」 Sekai no Owaru Toki
	07.	The Dazed Earth 「混迷の大地」 Konmei no Daichi
	08.	Junction 「ジャンクション」 Jyankusyon
	09.	Prideful Fang 「驕れる牙」 Ogoreru Kiba
	10.	Father's Curse 「父の呪縛」 Chichi no Jyubaku
	11.	The Chosen Path 「選びし道」 Erabishi Michi
	12.	The Sea Dyed With Blood 「血に染まる海」 Chi ni Somaru Umi
	13.	Revived Wings 「よみがえる翼」 Yomigaeru Tsubasa
	14.	The Departure Towards Tomorrow 「明日への出航(たびだち)」 Ashita e no Tabidachi
	15.	Return to the Battlefield 「戦場への帰還」 Senjyou e no Kikan
		Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny -Edited- 「機動戦士ガンダム SEED DESTINY -EDITED-」 Special Recap Episode
	16.	The Indian Ocean Deathmatch 「インド洋の死闘」 Indoyori no Shitou
	17.	A Soldier's Qualification 「戦士の条件」 Senshi no Jyouken
	18.	Attack the Lohengrin! 「ローエングリンを討て！」 Rooengurin wo Ute!
	19.	The Unseen Truth 「見えない真実」 Mienai Shinjitsu
	20.	Past 「PAST（パスト）」 PAST
	21.	Roaming Eyes 「さまよう眸（ひとみ）」 Samayou Hitomi
	22.	The Sword of the Azure Sky ｢蒼天の剣｣ Souten no Ken

	23.	The Shadow of War 「戦火の蔭」 Senka no Kage
	24.	Crossing Glances 「すれ違う視線」 Surechigau Shisen
	25.	The Place of Sin 「罪の在処」 Tsumi no Arika
	26.	Promise 「約束」 Yakusoku
	27.	Unreachable Feelings 「届かぬ想い」 Todokanu Omoi
	28.	Remaining Life, Scattered Life 「残る命散る命」 Nokoru Inochi Chiru Inochi

Bleach

2004-12-02T12:00:00.000+08:00

Summary

Kurosaki Ichigo, 15 years old, High school 1^st year student.Apart from his bleached orange hair, he seems to be a normal, moody high school teenager.

However, unknown to his friends, Kurosaki has a special ability, that is too see, talk and touch with ghosts and spirits.

One day, he meets a girl wearing black named Kuchiki Rukia who claims she’s a Shinigami(God of Death) and she’s hunting down evil spirits called Hollows that walk the land.

A Hollow suddenly attacks Ichigo’s family, forcing both of them to fight it.However, Kuchiki Rukia is injured in the confrontation, forcing her to transfer her Shinigami powers to Ichigo, finally defeating the Hollow.

And thus begins the life of Kurosaki Ichigo, 15 years old, high school 1^st year and SHINIGAMI.

Episode List
(Taken from Anime News Network)

	01.		The day I became a shinigami Shinigami ni natchatta hi 「死神になっちゃった日」
	02.		A shinigami's work Shinigami no oshigoto 「死神のお仕事」
	03.		The older brother's wish, the younger sister's wish Ani no omoi, imouto no omoi 「兄の想い、妹の想い」
	04.		Cursed parakeet Noroi no inko 「呪いのインコ」
	05.		Beat the invisible enemy! Mienai teki wo nagure! 「見えない敵を殴れ！」
	06.		Fight to the death! Ichigo vs. Ichigo Shitou! Ichigo vs Ichigo 「死闘！一護VSイチゴ」
	07.		Greetings from a stuffed toy Nuigurumi kara KONnichiwa 「ぬいぐるみからコンにちは」
	08.		June 17, a memory of rain Rokugatsu juunananichi, ame no kioku 「6月17日、雨の記憶」
	09.		Unbeatable enemy Taosenai teki 「倒せない敵」
	10.		Assault on trip at sacred ground! Burari reiba totsugeki no tabi! 「ぶらり霊場突撃の旅!」
	11.		The legendary Quincy Densetsu no Kuinshii 「伝説のクインシー」
	12.		A gentle right arm Yasashii migiude 「やさしい右腕」
	13.		Flower and Hollow Hana to horou 「花とホロウ」
	14.		Back to back, a fight to the death! Senaka awase no shitou! 「背中合わせの死闘！」
	15.		Kon's great plan Kon no UHAUHA daisakusen 「コンのウハウハ大作戦」
	16.		Encounter: Abarai Renji! Abarai Renji, misan! 「阿散井恋次、見参！」
	17.		Ichigo dies! Ichigo, shisu! 「一護、死す！」
	18.		Reclaim! The power of the shinigami Torimodose! Shinigami no chikara! 「取り戻せ！死神の力!」
	19.		Ichigo becomes a Hollow! Ichigo, horou ni ochiru! 「一護、ホロウに墜ちる!」
	20.		Ichimaru the silver shadow Ichimaru gin no kage 「市丸ギンの影」
	21.		Enter! The world of the shinigami Totsunyuu! Shinigami no sekai 「突入！死神の世界」
	22.		The man who hates Shinigamis Shinigami wo nikumu otoko 「死神を憎む男」
	23.		The sentence of Rukia, before the 14th day Rukia shokei, juuyokka mae 「ルキア処刑、14日前」
	24.		Assemble! The 13 divisions Kesshuu! Gotei 13 tai 「結集！護廷13隊」

Aa! Megami-sama

2004-12-01T12:00:00.001+08:00

Summary

Adapted from one of the longest running and famous manga in Japan, Aa! Megami-sama tells the story of Keiichi Morisato,college student and general good guy but who’s always down on his luck and unpopular to girls due to his short stature.

One day, while house-sitting for his seniors at his dorm, he makes a wrong call to a place known as ‘Goddess Help Line’ and suddenly a goddess named Belldandy appears in front of him to grant him a wish.

Keiichi is shocked by this and he wishes for the goddess to stay by his side forever and to his surprise, his wish is granted and so now begins a new chapter of luck in his life.

Episode List
(Taken from Anime News Network)

	01.	You're a Goddess? 「キミは女神さまっ？」 Kimi wa Megami-sama?
	02.	Ah! Can the one who believes be saved? 「ああっ信じる者は救われるっ？」 Aa! Shinjiru Mono ha Tsuwareru
	03.	Ah! Studying, My Family, and a Goddess! 「ああっ修行と我が家と女神さまっ」 Aa! Shuugyou to Wagake to Megami-sama!
	04.	Ah! The Queen and the Goddess! 「ああっ女王さまと女神さまっ」 Ah! Joou-sama to Megami-sama
	05.	Ah! Living under one roof! 「ああっひとつ屋根の下でっ」 Aa! Hitotsu Yane no Shita de!
	06.	Ah! Unexpectedly finding something blessed? 「ああっ掘り出しものに恵アリっ？」 Aa! Hori Dashi Mono ni Megumi Ari?
	07.	Ah! A place to express your feelings! 「ああっ想い伝える場所っ」 Aa! Omoi tsutaeru bashou!
	08.	Ah! Taking An Examination of Love, Starting with A Deviation Value of 30! 「ああっ偏差値３０からの恋愛受験っ」 Aa! Hensatsuchi Sanjuu kara no Renai Juken!
	09.	Ah! The Secret of the Queen and the Goddess! 「ああっ女王さまと女神のヒミツっ」 Aa! Joou-sama to Megami no Himitsu!
	10.	Ah! Will the Auto Club Win? 「ああっ自動車部は勝てますかっ？」 Aa! Jidoushabu wa Katemasuka?
	11.	Ah! A Devil has Come and is Creating Calamity! 「ああっ悪魔が来たりて災いを成すっ」 Aa! Akuma ga Kitarite Wazawai wo Nasu
	12.	Ah! Compare and Contrast Goddesses and Queens? 「ああっ女神と女王を天秤にかけてっ？」 Aa! Megumi to Joou wo Tenbin ni Kakete?

AIR

2004-12-01T12:00:00.000+08:00

Summary

Yukito Kunisaki, a traveller, is searching for a winged girl who flies in the sky who was given the task by his dead mother. On one summer, he reaches a small town by the sea and tries to make money there.

While there, he meets 3 girls who each are mysteriously connected to the winged girl he’s searching for and so he decides to stay in the town to search for the girl and he finds it it’s connected to a tragic love story 1000 years ago.

Episode List
(Taken from Anime News Network)

	01.	Kaze ~breeze~ かぜ～breeze～
	02.	Machi ~town~ まち～town～
	03.	Koe ~whisper~ こえ～whisper～
	04.	Hane ~plume~ はね～plume～
	05.	Tsubasa ~wing~ つばさ～wing～
	06.	Hoshi ~star~ ほし～star～
	07.	Yume ~dream~ ゆめ～ｄｒｅａｍ～
	08.	Natsu ~summer~ なつ～summer～
	09.	Tsuki ~moon~ つき～moon～
	10.	Hikari ~light~ ひかり～light～
	11.	Umi ~sea~ うみ～sea～
	12.	Sora ~air~ そら～air～
	13.	Recap episode (総集編)