At times I feel like the only person who legitimately enjoys Toaru Majutsu no Index II outside of Japan. I know the show is a silly little shonen urban fantasy show so I go in with the appropriate expectations. I also never have a problem with the exposition or pacing but that is just my personal tolerance showing. It might also be the fact that I don’t view the show as the world’s least efficient Rail Gun delivery service or the Accelerator Show where the main character is surprisingly absent. So when these two charters are merely side characters I am never surprised they don’t show up more. My tolerance of fan-service has gotten to the point were I just accept it and move on gracefully although it is often gratuitous in Index during the down periods.  The show can goofy but I always viewed it like it was a really crazy game of Mage: The Ascension and therefore I cut it some slack in that sense. Plus I always like the idea of a secret battle between science in magic in the modern world.

Kimi ni Todoke 2nd season started out extremely frustrating but thankfully ended in a way that left me satisfied.  The first season was a leisurely show that was a delight to watch because the characters involved were lovable and usually made smart decisions. Misunderstandings occurred, as is natural in shojo anime, but they were quickly cleared up so you were never beating you head against the wall. The second season starts off with people making bone headed moves and this growing frustration over the actions of everyone involved. You can clearly tell that the original story was stalling for time to extend the run of a popular series but that does not excuse the anime from the same frustrating pace. Eventually they decided they have wasted enough time and the show went back to delivering what it did so well in the first season. Those last few episodes really hit it out of the park and let your forgive what came before. I don’t regret watching this season but that first half really could have been cut down and been much more effective.

Star Driver was a fun show for me. It distinctly had its problems but in the end I was happy with what I got. I know some people will be unhappy with the lack of explanation of how much of the world worked and the ending is like a kung fu movie where the ending comes seconds after the climax with no falling action. While I would have liked some more answers and a bit of a cool down I enjoyed the ride enough that I can forgive those flaws. I am a surprised that notable segments of the fandom turned against this show but I suppose that can be the curse of high expectations. To steal a joke from Gundamn they felt that Star Driver was the worst Revolutionary Girl Utena since Melody of Oblivion. In many ways it was Utena with mecha but in ways people did not like. I don’t think it was as good as Utena but Utena is my favorite anime so I don’t think anything is as good as Utena. They did well enough to adapt the Utena formula into something I could enjoy.

Fractale is just wasted potential. The world introduced in Fractale had so many places it could have gone or meaty concepts it could have explored. The first episode seemed like it was living up to all the promise of the hype surrounding the show before it premiered. Then the show sort of stumbled along showing amazing promise from time to time but never capitalizing on any of the great ideas it brought up. It never investigated any part of the plot deeply enough that you felt satisfied so the overall plot was inoffensive but shallow. When the end came the villains were either silly or cliche and the climax was all sound and fury, signifying nothing. Sadly my odd feeling that this would be the next Brain Powered was right on the money.

Super Robot Wars OG: The Inspector was the boobs and robots show. I know some people found this show confusing but I thought it was dead simple for me to follow for better and for worse. While I enjoyed it I find it a hard series to recommend. The plot of the Super Robot Wars games are supposed to invoke your favorite robot shows themes and tropes in one tidy little strategy game package. But when you animate them and lose the interactive nature the inherent cheap particle board nature of the plot becomes apparent. Still  I looked forward to each episode ever week so I would eventually see the bad guys get what is coming to them and see some sweet (but sometimes cheap) robot action. You do not have to  go out of your way to watch this show but it is fun if you need a bit of a mecha fix. The again I might also just really like Excellen Browning.

Wandering Son remained consistently high class and entertaining. I found it very sad that the winter season of Noitamina was considered a failure because of what Fractale did wrong but that seems to overlook all that Wandering Son did right. It told a strong, consistent, and mature dramatic story that was not filled with otaku pandering. It tackled a sensitive and often ignored social topic in an even handed manner that could have easily fallen into the realms of melodrama or self indulgently dark storytelling. By making you feel the pain of the characters while keeping a hopeful core at its center it gave you just the right amounts of dark and light to tell a wonderful story. If you have no objection to the content there is no reason you should have ignored this wonderful little masterpiece.You should support the manga to get the whole story and promote some diversity in the market.

Bakuman did what it needed to in my opinion. It adapted the story from the manga fairly well and made you interested in Mashiro and Takagi’s struggle to become manga artist while getting some dramatized insights into the industry. Like any other Shonen Jump franchise it seem to have people who would scream bloody murder about how much they hated every episode, how it was ruining the manga, and the come back next week and do it again. I thought the pacing was hardly breakneck but I never felt they were spinning their wheels to kill time so I was never as annoyed as other people with the flow of the anime. I was impressed that I came to enjoy Eiji Nizuma who I hated at first and disliked Ko Aoki who your figured I might enjoy for reasons outside the show. I look forward to the next season unless I decide to just cut out the middle man and go straight to reading the manga.

Speaking of Bakuman it seems that Level E proves an important point mentioned about Shonen Jump manga mentioned in Bakuman. During a discussion of how Shonen Jump manga is judged they mention that manga artist tend love odd experimental manga because it is nothing like they have ever seen before but editors tend to favor solid but standard works because they could be serialized forever. Level E was the sort of manga that other manga artists would love but editors would hate. If feels very different with its unusual humor style and varied story telling but I suspect that is exactly what killed it so early in Shonen Jump. On the other hand that is what makes it an interesting 13 episode anime. In then becomes a short anthology series tied together by the Prince. As with any anthology series some of the stories are better than others. My favorite stories involved Yukitaka Tsutsui but sadly they only used him sparingly. The end was satisfying for me because the mastermind finally got played expertly which is exactly what you wanted to see throughout the series. It is an interesting curiosity to say the least and worth watching for its originality despite its inconsistency.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica was probably the show that got the most amount of positive otaku buzz during the winter season. It was an interesting examination of the darker elements that could be extracted from your standard magical girl show. The characters are very archetypical but it was mostly done so the viewer would know who the characters were quickly so when things go pear-shaped it throws you off guard. The ending was an odd mix of a deus ex machina happy ending and incredibly depressing conclusion which is about the oddest oxymoronic mixture you will get. I have a feeling that people will be debating how good the ending was for years much like a certain mecha show from Gainax. It is worth checking out just to see what it does with the genre. I was a bit worried it might go into major creepo territory like Nanoha. It did dip its toes in the skeevy end of the pool but thankfully in never stayed for any long period of time.

I watched some of the various Detective Conan OVAs 1-9 stretched across many years. OVA 10 I haven’t gotten my hands on yet, and the Magic File OVAs I’ll leave for a separate post as they relate to the movies. It’s worth noting that they didn’t start making Conan OVAs until the 2000′s and they continue to make them despite the deadness of the OVA market but hey it’s a huge franchise. For the most part they are silly romps, some not even containing a real case, but not very memorable either way. The better ones are two containing Kaito Kid, perhaps I am just totally bias, OVA 1 which is actually very funny and OVA 4 where Conan and Kid end up on the same train with a precious jewel; OVA 3 guest stars Heiji who teams with Conan to find a missing kid; and finally OVA 9, which was probably my favorite despite not having a case, where Conan sees what the future might hold should he never find an antidote. These OVAs are really just supplemental material that aren’t required viewing so they are easy to just grab a few or skip all together.

As a long time fan of the Phoenix Wright games I had to check out Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective to see how the spiritual successor stacked up to the original. While it is very clearly a Shu Takumi game it is a very different in terms of mechanics and flow. In Ghost Trick you start the game after just been killed. You are a ghost who cannot remember who you are, how you died, or who killed you plus on top of that have only until sunrise to figure it all out. You do have a few remarkable ghost powers to help you interact with the land of the living. You can jump from various inanimate objects and manipulate them in a Rube Goldberg fashion. So if wanted to alert someone before they were shot you could say jump into a fan, have it turn on, then jump into a piece of memo paper kicked up by the fan, ride it to a bicycle, and then have the bicycle ring its bell. But if that warning was not enough you can jump into the body of the recently dead and rewind time to 4 minuets before they died. So most of the game is you jumping around trying to save people in hopes that one of them will lead you discover who killed you and why. Ghost Trick has the same snappy writing of the Phoenix Wright games while being a solid departure from the courtroom drama. The twists in the game were clever and shocking but were not out of nowhere especially if you were paying attention. Ghost Trick could easy rank as one of Narutaki’s top 10 games of the year just because you team up with a lovable Pomeranian named Missile during the course of the game. The puzzles were decently changeling without every being unfairly difficult. There are some when you just have to try everything until you see a change. Also sometimes you just have to go through a section, see where you utterly mess up, rewind time, and then avoid the trap they set you up for. The only thing that is completely and utterly unchanged from Phoenix Wright is the music which while great could very easily just be mistaken for the soundtrack for Phoenix Wright 5. It is a really fun game that could be a franchise that equals its older brother.

I was very excited about another season of Kimi ni Todoke. And the operative word here is “was.” Now that it is upon me and I’ve floated through three episodes, I feel it is a case of be careful what you wish for. Introduced is a new character, a laid back blonde guy who takes an interest in Sawako, we don’t know much about him yet but he is clearly a rival for Kazehaya. At the same time a rift (for no apparent reason) starts to occur between Sawako and Kazehaya. This is basic form for shojo series that get popular, but I was impressed with S1 and how it flipped my expectations. I don’t feel that happening so far in S2, the misunderstandings are dragging out far too long. In short, the series has taken giant steps backwards in terms of Sawako and Kazehaya’s progress leaving me very unhappy. And I have a feeling this entire season will work to fix the ridiculous gaps that occur between these first installments, thus ending the season at about the exact same point of relationship progress they had in the first.

I noticed that Funimation started streaming Spice and Wolf II so I had to continue the journey of moe economics. Kraft and Holo continue their journey North to find the village that Holo once called home. In the first major storyline of the season Holo catches the eye of a young merchant named Amati who tries challenges Kraft for Holo’s hand in marriage. The seemingly lovable and meek Amati quickly shows that he is a ruthless merchant to the bone during their battle. The whole contest brings the palatable sexual tension between Kraft and Holo to the surface. I don’t think it is a huge spoiler to say that Kraft wins but I must point out that Kraft and Holo beat Amati in about the most vicious way possible. I am sure that Amati will appear again if for nothing else I would want revenge if anyone did that to me. The second storyline involves a shady deal, the church, and some dirty politics. Much like the first series this was a fun little series with a very unusual slant of the medieval fantasy adventure. The show is always smart with its economics and Kraft and Holo’s banter is even sharper. There is usually a good deal of tension at the end of each storyline but the buildup before that will put some people to sleep. Also I can see some people shouting, “HAVE SEX ALREADY! YOU OBVIOUSLY BOTH NEED IT!”  at the screen by the fact what while Kraft and Holo keep getting closer but the author refuses to have them cross that obvious threshold. I am still entertained by the series immensely and hope they can get around to making a third season one day especially since the novel series is wrapping up soon.

I watched the independent OVA Kowarekake no Orgel. It is the familiar story of a guy finding an abandoned robot girl in the junk heap but in this case no romantic intentions ensue. Keiichiro is quiet and lives along and seems to have pulled away from society a bit. He fixes the robot and names her Flower who begins to be a sort of housekeeper. We learn about Keiichiro’s past as Flower helps him open himself up to the world again. It’s a quiet tale on purpose but it also didn’t seem to have any life in it either.

And speaking of the novels since I have been going to the library lately I noticed the first Spice and Wolf Novel on the shelf. I was curious to see how different it was (if at all) from the anime. The first book about Kraft and Holo meeting and then getting involved in the currency speculation affair like in the anime. The story plays out the same in the overall structure but I did notice that the anime added some additional material. Chloe’s involvement with the currency speculation and her whole romantic subplot with Kraft is totally an anime addition.  In the novel Chloe’s part is played but Yarei who more of a minor character. While they added some complexity of plot in the anime we get more of Kraft’s inner workings in the novel. As is the general strength of most novels the larger amount of room lets you have details the anime does not allow. While I can’t see the novels winning over anyone who disliked the anime it was an enjoyable read despite the fact that I already knew the story.  I hope if nothing else Yen Press can finish the novels so I get some resolution to the story.

Please Kimi ni Todoke, make me happy again.

Kimi ni Todoke’s 2nd season starts off with a 0 episode devoted to a sorta recap of the 1st season while also giving us a closer look at Kurumi. Kurumi has excellent growth in the short time we meet her, but that doesn’t hinder her mean-spirited, though cleverly hidden, nature. She becomes a character that you really enjoy seeing as she progresses forward. But enough of that seriousness, I laughed quite hard to see what I could only describe as a mini-Death Note homage in this episode!

Kimi ni Todoke reminds me that although I may associate Production I.G with smart action shows like Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Le Chevalier D’Eon they can do all type of shows really well. The series just gives you a warm feeling throughout. It is a fabulous series to pick you up and reassure you of the good things in life. We learn more about everyone as they learn more about each other as well. And we want to learn these things because these are delightfully positive characters.  Everything we said about the first episode remains true throughout. If you liked the first episode you will be just as happy with the last episode. I never felt any of the story dipped in quality which is great. If you need an utterly conclusive ending that says, “This is where we stop” you have to hope the manga gives you that. The anime picks a good place to end where you can imagine where everything is going and be happy but if you got a second season you would not feel it was tacked on. The best series of the fall season and a wonder anime to hook a certain type of new anime fan as well as satisfy an old hand as well.

Kimi ni Todoke was always an especially bright spot in my weekly anime watching, it really has an uplifting feeling that is followed by a satisfied sigh. As the story takes a close look at friendships and love it creates an incomplete, but no less fulfilling, picture about growth. Few people could hope to be as endearing as Sawako, however, no one would ever know that had she not decided to come out of her shell. This is one of the many reasons I listed her as anime woman of the year for 2009, she is afraid but she moves forward and succeeds. I love Kimi’s ability to make you believe (or in my case remind me of what I have always known) that people change everyday, for many different reasons. I found the development of Chizu a surprising extra to the series, as well as how much I enjoyed Kurumi, Yano’s reveal of being somewhat of a mastermind, and how deeply I felt Ryu’s love. Each character added something to the mix never coming off as extraneous side characters in a love story about Sawako and Kazehaya. But that love story is wonderful, subtle, and fits in along side all of the other slow and sweet relationships that develop in Kimi ni Todoke. The shy quality that comes over the otherwise outgoing Kazehaya and the utter freaking out of Sawako are touching and hilarious as is the knowledge that they will end up in the right place someday, one small step at a time. Kimi ni Todoke deserves a spot as of one of the best of 2009/2010.

The next stop on the trip through the iterations of Cutey Honey was Re: Cutey Honey or as I like to call it Re: Super-Obvious-Lesbian-Sub-Text Honey. Re: Cutey Honey was made by Gainax as a companion to the Hideaki Anno movie. Once again Honey Kisaragi must battle Panther Claw after they killed her father. The biggest difference is now instead of Seiji Hayami being her love interest with a good deal of lesbian subtext to her adventures they outright have Natsuko Aki as her love interest. Also Honey is now an office lady instead of a student. Overall the formula is still the same one I mentioned on The Speakeasy and it does it well. The fan service is sort of off the hook in these OAVs. There are naked breasts all over the place and the racy material you expect from a Go Nagai work with a modern Gurren Lagann feel. The action is also rather well done and the fights are exciting and amusing. I’m actually quite surprised this has not been picked up. It’s only three episodes, the animation is quite good, and it delivers on all fronts that U.S. fans usually like.

I went to see the play Enjoy by Toshiki Okada translated from Japanese over the weekend but it struck me as almost more of a conversation rather than a production. The narrative revolves around a bunch of part-time workers at a manga cafe in Shinjuku. There is virtually no set or props to speak of so the crux of everything hinges on the stories they are telling to each other and the audience, often speaking directly to you the viewer. The speech used is worth noting because it really is street level, repeating yourself, stopping and starting, skipping things, filler words, very “real.” There is a bit of a divide in the cast, some are 30 (or just turned so) and the others are between the ages of 22-27, everyone makes frequent mentions of this. Much of the conversations revolve around societal pressures about jobs and relationships, but more to the point is this close look at a phenomenon of college grads who only work part-time and still live at home without being able to move on to the next stage. I found this concept an easy one to see in American culture as well. There is a presence of humor certainly in the quirkiness of many of the characters in the first half, but also a melancholy that gets more pronounced in the second part. In fact, while even some characters recognize their flaws throughout the play, it never really feels like they will move forward because of it. But in this way and others the characters are very tangible, you know these people or are/have been these people, you want to hear their story, sympathize, listen, encourage, advise, and talk to them. Enjoy doesn’t really come off as positive or negative, and is certainly never preachy, it is a play about what goes on, what is, and it succeeds in making you mull over all that you saw.

I made it to the next leg of Victory Gundam with episodes 15-30. These episodes all take place in space giving us a good deal more insight in the Zanscare Empire, their queen, the the rest of the players behind this war. We discover some shocking secrets about Shakti but they do seem to ever reveal her true birth name, Princess Peach. I say that because boy does this girl get kidnapped. The cast passes around Shakti like a hot potato. At the end of these 15 episodes Uso finally meets up with his mother and we get from her the requisite mid season upgrade to the Victory 2.  In between we get a betrayal from a certain character that is not entirely unexpected but is sort of jarring. We gets a bunch more dead characters because if Victory Gundam is not murdering the cast at an incredible rate it does not know what to do with itself. I’m still having a good time but Tomino’s depression is quite apparent in the grim and brutal nature of the series.

After watching each episode of Durarara!! I have a habit of saying “I don’t know about this show.” And I have maintained that attitude for 12 episodes. It has an intriguing pace, characters that are interesting to say that least, and an attitude about it that feels very hip. The twist came when it needed to, I was getting a bit bored by the character it pertains to so it was a perfect transition. However, I don’t like the relationships portrayed but thank goodness they are not the entire focus of the show. And even more importantly, they peeked my curiosity in the last minutes of episode 12, important because without that moment I would have more than likely dropped the show. This is a hard show to talk about without giving things away, and I’ve done a poor job of it, but Durarara!! is still worth seeing where it all will lead.

It took me a bit of hunting to find a picture that really captured what makes Kimi so good. There was lots of well done pictures but this one is prefect:

Would also love to hear other people’s picks for some of these categories as well! By the way, some of this stuff happens to have come out in years gone by but we first watched/read/whatnot this year so that’s why they’re here, I’ll hear no guff about it! I really enjoy this part of the year, all the posts seem to be more fun and this one is no exception.

Best Anime of 2009 or Show that Infuriates You to No End When Someone on MAL says “If you like this show you will love Dance in the Vampire Bund.”

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0
The noitaminA is your go to animation slot when you are looking for something that is simultaneously different, mature, well produced, and smart. Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 is no exception to this rule. An exceptional look at ordinary people involved in an extraordinary but still extremely feasible situation. It is a superb mixture of intense character study and survival drama. I know some people feel the end is weak but I thought it did well in capping off this  powerful and thought provoking show.

Eden of the East
It is a little bit mystery, a little bit drama, and a little bit suspense wrapped around an intriguing concept. It’s a wonderful series to watch unfold and since Takizawa doesn’t remember what has happened there is a wonderful element of discovery that comes. Takizawa himself is a refreshing and mysterious guy but you always get the feeling, or I did, that he was a good guy even when things looked dubious. Also he loved dogs, can’t be bad. The game was able to engross and impress me from episode one and continued to do so throughout its broadcast.

Anime Man of the Year or You Must be Swift
as a Coursing River

Battler Ushiromiya
Have you ever wished Phoenix Wright could be the star of his own supernatural murder mystery anime? Well if so then someone heard your prayers. In Umineko no Naku Koro ni we have Battler Ushiromiya who is a clear homage to Phoenix Wright with dramatic finger pointing, manly crying, and split between having to do detective work and acting like a lawyer. He may have his flaws but no matter what he keeps marching forward despite numerous set backs and tragedies. Plus he is just plain cool whenever he is on the counterattack. His casual charm and iron clad will set the tone for the anime as much as they do the games it was based on.

Guin
After thinking this over way too much, I finally decided on Guin for a few reasons. First being that after more than 100 books about his quest on the bestseller list, Guin finally got an anime. Adding to that is that Guin may arguably be the most manly character animated in 2009. If you watch just the first episode, this will become obvious. I also read about Guin in novel formthe first time this year myself. And finally, and sadly, Guin’s creator Kaoru Kurimoto passed away in 2009, a woman who was still writing about her most popular creation.

Anime Woman of the Year or I am Woman Hear Me Roar

Canaan
Canaan is a competent kick arse girl with a gun. That is usually all that you need to sell me on a character. The fact that Canaan has her rather slick synesthesia ability which I thought was a very original superpower. She has a stoic and cool feel to her but it she still cares for the people she wishes to protect and gives her all to do so. I also think that her competence on the battlefield but her awkwardness in personal relationships gives her a good mixture of strength and weakness that make her a serious version of Sousuke Sagara. I also think makes her an interesting character to me.

Sawako
Picking a woman of the year became a lot easier the more I watched Kimi ni Todoke. Sawako has a special strength of character that uplifts you, just as she does to the many characters around her. She is humorous and endearing and you never doubt that she will succeed and grow in each new scenario she encounters. Sawako’s positive attitude, even after endearing so much isolation is a true testament to the human spirit and the ability to change.

Favorite Classic Manga Release or Get Off My Lawn and
Read This Manga Instead You Whippersnappers

Astroboy
I bring up Astroboy for several reasons. The first is the releaseof the critically acclaimed manga Pluto in the U.S. which is based on one of the most famous Astroboy stories. While Naoki Urasawa makes the story his own, there is much to be gained from reading the original story. The second is the release of the Astoboy CG movie. It might be weak but it shows the lasting legacy of the Mighty Atom. The third is the fact that premier Tezuka scholar and Astroboy fan Frederik L. Schodt was an excellent guest at Otakon 2009. If any of these things interest you I suggest you pick up Astroboy and see where it all began.

Swan
Okay, so this didn’t just start in 2009 but the fact that it is still being released is something to celebrate. Swan continually wows me with its style, layout, and melodramatic storytelling exemplary of 70′s shojo.

Worst Thing I Watched or My Eyes! The Goggles Do Nothing!

Queen’s Blade
Oh Queen’s Blade you are so bad that you are not even good at accomplishing the simple goal you set out to do. You want to be a dumb little fantasy adventure series with enough titillation to captivate an audience. You go far enough to be grossly excessive in your fan-service but pull back from being porn almost in a chicken sort of way. Also all the humor is rather misogynistic or bizarre. In fact much of the series is just utterly misogynistic. They decided to try to turn everything up to 11 including the breast size but they forgot not to turn the knob for bad up to 11 as well.

Akikan!
Akikan! has a lot more wrong with it than its stupid premise of soda drinks transforming into girls. All the characters are either annoying, creepy, losers, or all of these things in combination. The character designs are awful and the animation quality is way below sub-par. Akikan! is the type of show that makes you say “I didn’t know they made anime this bad anymore!”

Best Convention Guest or I Need to Get an Autograph
with a Haro On It.

The Tomino
As anyone who has read the blog for any amount of time has seen Narutaki and I have very similar tastes. But when it comes to what we are the most passionate about we tend to be very different. But there is one place where both of our passions are about equal and that is for mecha. And one of our favorite mecha directors is Yoshiyuki Tomino. It was amazing to be able to meet the man behind the real robot genre. He was as blunt and cranky as you expected him to be but he seemed to be genuinely appreciative of his fans which was nice to see. Seeing him was the highlight of the year.

Tomino
Tomino Con 2009 was the highlight of many a fan’s year! Obviously we are no exception. What more is there to say other than there is a reason we both put him!

Thing I Wish People Would Stop Talking About
or SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!

Kyoto Animation
I wish people would stop talking about Kyoto Animation fro two reasons. The first is the second season of Haruhi. Yes Endless Eight was a very silly idea that might have been one of the biggest missteps with an anime franchise we will ever see. If they stopped watching Kyoto Animation might have learned some sort of lesson. But it seemed like after a point people just started watching episodes just so they complain about it the day after. The second is K-On!. I wish people would just stop talking about K-On! because I did not think it was that good. Also because if I bring up K-On! we won’t hear Narutaki’s thoughts on K-On! and that would be less than pleasant believe me.

Studio Shaft
I am just tired of hearing the constant internet love letter to Studio Shaft. What little interest I had in them thanks to Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei has promptly been washed away by masses of people decreeing they can do no wrong. The fact that Dance of the Vampire Bund is coming out next month just compounds my disinterest.

Series I Unexpectedly Liked or Chili and Chocolate

Mirai Nikki
Mirai Nikki is a much smarter and more entertaining manga than I first thought it would be. Mirai Nikki turns out to be the smart little thriller with a good mixture of action and psychological horror. The different diaries each had interesting powers and seeing how Yukiteru has to overcome them is fun an interesting because he has to out think his opponents and find the weakness in their diaries. Plus when the manga needs to turn the creepy factor on it does it quite well. It is a fast moving series I am am pretty sure the end is coming soon. I hope it ends as well as it has started and I look forward to Sakae Esuno’s next work. I will say that I am still a little scared by the huge Yuno Gasai fan-base who sort of scare me.

Taisho Baseball Girls
While I was saddened there were no more musical numbers after episode one, it was a wonderful little story of baseball and friendship with just a touch of romance in the mix. Koume is a great lead who is a warm girl on the edge of a modern age. And while Baseball Girls does explore some feminist themes, it does so with the right amount of force for these characters. This is a show I was happy to say was one of the best of 2009.

Favorite Opening or Last Night a DJ Saved My Life

Umineko no Naku Koro ni – Katayoku no Tori
The opening to Umineko no Naku Koro ni is just as epic as the opening to the game and that is no small feat. It has some great vocals with a mixture of Italian and Japanese by Akiko Shikata. The lyrics are a delightful insight into the story if you are paying attention. Also I love that after every arc you will notice that they have added something new to the opening. It keeps the introductions interesting without raising the budget significantly. I can’t wait to see the opening for whenever they make a Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru anime.

Eden of the East - Falling Down
Best opening has to go to Eden of the East for me because of its great combination of design and sound. What I loved most was the use of graphics more than animated sequences. And Oasis just rocks.

Best License Announcement or Time to Sell Some Blood

Fist of the North Star
It has been the common sentiment that Fist of the North Star is just one of those titles that would never sell in the U.S. after its previous failure and therefore would never be completed. Then it started streaming online which was mind blowing. Then Discotek Media picked it the DVD rights. For the longest time Fist of the North Star has been one of those series that is popular elsewhere in the world but not in the U.S. Now hopefully the small but dedicated fanbase will get what they have always hoped for.

Sengoku Basara
Not only was I personally super excited that this series got licensed, but it is also a smart choice by Funimation. Crazy fighters and over-the-top characters in an insane interpretation of feudal Japan animated by Production I.G. That is basically a winning combination for me right there. Did I mentioned choreographed dancing samurai in the opening? Fun times all around!

Best Short Manga or Sometimes I Would Like to Read a Manga Series Under 30 Books Long

Tanpenshu
Tanpenshu is a short story collection in two books by Hiroki Endo the author of Eden: It’s an Endless World! The stories are often self-indulgent as Subatomic Brainfreeze said when he commented on the blog but I feel if you are going to be self-indulgent do it in short story form. It is a great collection that shows Endo’s range as an artist and storyteller. It is a good mixture of funny stories with dark stories but all of them are mature tales. It is a great read if you are looking for something a bit out of the ordinary.

Palette of 12 Secret Colors
I have basically spent all year praising Nari Kusakawa up and down to anyone who would listen, this I will continue now. Palette of 12 Secret Colors features an exotic island where the birds and their “palette’s” (human partners) provide the colors of the world. Cello is training to be just that but with only middling success and a string of clumsy color accidents under her belt. As such see often talks with Dr. Guell and things go forward from there. These two have such a hilarious chemistry that it is infectious. It is lovely the way that romance and choosing a future are combined here with an emphasis on what loving someone means. With all of Nari Kurakawa’s series there are elements of magic combined with romance and humor topped with heaps of charm.

Most Horrible Piece of Merchandise or Things Too Tacky to Place Next to Your Big Mouth Billy Bass

1/8 Sheryl Nome NA Ver PVC Figure
I realize that one of Sheryl’s biggest appeals is that she has a smoking hot body. I don’t think anyone is going to disagree with that. So as expected you are going to get some rather risque figures of her. But this figure crosses the line from sexy to downright vulgar. Her outfit is a bit gratuitous but it’s nothing that is inappropriate for a sexy figure. The thing that makes this figure utterly reprehensible is Sheryl’s pose above that huge shell with the phrase Rise Up !! on the base of the figure. It is about as unsubtle as you can get. It just makes the figure so crass that I can’t see anyone but people who buy the figures with the clothing you can take off or the figures with the “real” breasts to buy one.

Char figures that you can put your own face on
I wish I was making this up. To be blunt, no one should want to see their own face in place of Char’s. NO ONE.

Funniest Series or The Best Medicine

Hyakko
I said it once and I will say it again. I really feel that Hyakko is an unappreciated series. It is an excellent school based comedy with wonderful characters, good comedic timing, and a lively sense of energy that can be all too lacking in slice of life series. Torako is a great energetic and spunky girl to interacts off the rest of the class quite well. These is also a good amount of male characters who get face time which are easily forgotten in certain shonen school comedies. Although the manga has not been licensed the anime is streaming for free.

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s
Yes, it is unintentionally funny but funny nonetheless. They have card duels (which is pretty funny itself) on motorcycles! Everyone in prison (there is a prison arc) has decks of cards which are used to decide who is boss! I am ready to marathon this show!

Favorite Mecha Anime or The Char Aznable Award for Excellence

Shin Mazinger Shogeki! Z-Hen
As Narutaki joked if we did not include this series in the list several people we know would probably jump us and then force us to edit this list so it was included. Possibly multiple times and even in categories where it did not belong. But this is for a very good reason. This is Yasuhiro Imagawa firing on all cylinders. It is not just an excellent giant robot show it is an excellent show all together. It has great characters, a full structured plot that was mostly written out from the start with amazing twists and turns, more Go Nagai references than you can shake a stick at, and of course blood pumping robot fights. If you watch one hardcore mecha series this year it should be this one. I mean it has Rocket Punch! 100 Rapid Shots! and what more could you ask for?

Eureka Seven
Okay, yeah I am way behind on the Eureka Seven fan train, okay? I just watched it this year and it makes me wish I had done so much sooner! It was a wonderful combination of characters and their growing, changing relationships. Both the looks at love seen through Eureka and Renton plus Holland and Talho captured me almost instantly. And equally thrilling is the shows combination of mecha and surf culture, very fun and unique. To round it all out is a world of mysteries that are slowly, but surely, revealed. Eureka Seven had everything I wanted in spades.

If I Never See This Type of Character Again or Characters Who Will Be the First Against the Wall
When the Revolution Comes

Fake strong female characters
I am just sick in tired of female characters that are supposed to be strong but are anything but. I don’t need every female character to be strong but don’t sell me a false bill of goods. Don’t give me the strong swordsman who is just a princess waiting to be kidnapped with and armor and a sword instead of a dress. Also don’t give me weak women who pretend to be strong by being total monsters and they try to sell me on the being fine either. Made real strong female charaters or don’t make them all.

Teenage girl who has the brain capacity of an 6-year-old
I think that pretty much sums it up, but if I have to elaborate I will. I’m not saying every girl needs to be genius level intelligence or anything, but really could they atleast go an entire episode without falling down for no reason or perhaps talk at a level someone their age should? I see this more than should happen and really it leaves the worst taste in my mouth.

I went to see the Japanese horror movie House (also known as Hausu) during Halloween. I say horror movie but what I really mean is 1970′s b-movie hilariously badly wonderful horror movie. Oh, did I mention the director let his 11-year-old daughter write the story? As you can imagine, things for the most part aren’t very scary at all. The basic premise is about 7 high school girls (are you ready for these names? Gorgeous, Fantasy, Melody, Sweet, Mac, Professor, and Kung-Fu) who visit a house in the country, but the house is evil! And one by one the house eats them up. There is also an evil cat(s?), a crazy aunt who is only randomly disabled, and a most spectacular array of bad special effects. As a person who doesn’t like horror movies, I highly recommend this one. It will leave you laughing!

And owning a PSP logically means that I would go out and get all the Type-Moon games I could. I got Fate/Tiger Colosseum in Japanese mostly because it’s a simple game to play even if you don’t understand Japanese. The game is mostly a simple Power Stone style fighting game. The main draw is the bizarrely humorous story mode where the characters run around being silly each in their own special way like with Saber beating people up because her food tasted bad and Rin and Rider involved in a story of cursed glasses. I oddly enough enjoy trying to figure out what the stories are despite the fact that I know a handful of Japanese words. I am pretty sure Soichiro Kuzuki story mode is the standard “We stole your woman! You must now fight through my minions to get her back” played totally straight for maximum comedic value. I also think that Archer’s story is about him beating the snot out of people to teach them not to solve their problems with violence. I can’t see how that would not be hysterical. Plus the game made me realize once again that Bazett is unfairly looked over despite her inherent sexiness. It also makes me want someone to translate Fate/Hollow Ataraxia as soon as possible.

Kimi ni Todoke was the show I practically named best show of the season in the fall review and having watched up through 5 has not altered my opinion one bit. It continues to bestow upon the viewers little treasures in each episode. Sawako is shy but in a way that isn’t tedious or annoying that some people feel towards such characters. Equally endearing is Kazehaya’s emotions that seem right on the surface but are continually misinterpreted. The focus has been more of Sawako’s overall emergence into friendships at school rather than being solely on the slow romance. Though truly I want to see that move along soon. The plot also has the uncanny ability to lull you into a sense of familiarity and then breaking it, then doing it all over again. Kimi ni Todoke is a grand ole time.

I also experimented with downloadable games when I got Fate/Unlimited Codes. Fate/Unlimited Codes is the much anticipated Fate/Stay Night fighting game. It has a good roster of characters and the game play seems solid. I did notice that some characters were notably absent but I am sure they left them to throw into sequels. The moves are easy enough to pull off but there is an obvious bit of complexity to the overall fighting system. Then again I have never played the arcade version and I am hardly any sort of expert of fighting games. I am mostly a button masher that admires fighting games from a distance. It has not and never will be released in stores but you can get a translated U.S. version of Fate/Unlimited Codes by downloading it to your memory card. Apparently this is the direction of purchase Sony is aiming for especially with the release of the PSPgo. I found it convenient but I much prefer the option of being able to buy disks as well as download games. The downloadable game is a great release option for niche titles but I think a dual release would be better for big name titles.

I finished up Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box the annoyances I mentioned in my previous post about it still hold true, and in fact were practically driving me nuts by the end. The first game doesn’t overestimate your intelligence, but the second one seems content to lead you by the hand from place to place. Also, upon completion I can safely say the puzzles were easier than the first game’s offerings and the final solutions to the game are far and way some of the most obvious riddles in the entire game making it a bit of a let down. The story itself wraps up in a most curious manner and I am still undecided on how much I like the truths behind the box and all the happenings. However, I still love Layton and Luke and the teaser picture for the next game had me excited so I can say without a doubt I can’t wait to pick up the third installment. Whenever that is.

It is the the all powerful master and and ever studious student of the Tiger Dojo:

If you were previously unaware I feel it is my duty to inform you that anime is over. Yup this is the final season of all of anime. No more after this. Pretty sad when you think about it. Oh wait. This may be a weak season but it is hardly the end of everything. I can’t say I went into this season super jazzed about anything but I can say I do see a glimmer of hope in a few series. But seasons like this will come every so often. We have had some great seasons lately so a less than spectacular season was a bit overdue. Still I will only start complaining when I don’t find at least 1 show to watch from any particular season. While there seems to be a good number of mediocre shows this season I hope we can help you find some shows that rise above the rest.

Letter Bee
(Winner of the Award for Most Stylish Use of a Bedazzler on a Hat)

Ah, Letter Bee. For some reason I feel that you will get the same reception in America that D.Gray-Man does. You are both stylish series with unique well thought out worlds and well made charters. But they are both not Soul Eater so no one cares. Letter Bee is set in the land of perpetual night called AmberGround. Letter Bees are mailmen who deliver items between the towns and are trained to fight the armored beasts that live in the wastes between. While on one of his mail runs Gauche Suede find a boy named Lag Seeing who has a package slip on him. So Guache takes it upon himself to successfully deliver the boy to his destination while they both brave the dangers on a sunless world. The animation is top notch and capture the feel of the manga quite well. Gauche is an engaging character so far with a gentle charm. Also I am very curious to see if they give any explanation to how this world came to be with it’s artificial sun and giant mechanical bugs.  They take a whole episode episode to go through half of the the first chapter of the manga. I appreciate the idea of faithfully adapting the manga but some things need to be sped up in animated form. I will probably just continue reading the manga but I might check back just due to the fact that it is legally streaming on the Internet.

I was looking forward to this show and then at the same time I wasn’t. For the most part I prefer to read Jump series, just because they often get so unwieldily long. However, Letter Bee may or may not fall into that pattern. The series has plenty of style to go around, and this is not lost in animated form besides it having a fairly good budget (the monster are CG-ified which I’m not a fan of though). I also really like the focus on these letter carriers, I’m not sure why maybe because it is just different. Unfortunately, while these things are cool, the first episode doesn’t do a great job of highlighting the actual story. It is rather slow-paced, with a large chuck of exposition in the middle, drawing out this first chapter doesn’t do anything for bringing in new watchers. Especially considering it only half-reflects what the overall plot is.

Nyan Koi!
(Winner of the Award for Best Chance to Get Scott VonSchilling to Watch Fan-subs)

Hooray for the power of lowered expectations. I went in thinking this was going to be a lame harem show with cat girls and fan-service. I got a bizarre comedy instead much to my pleasant surprise. This is the cat version of The 100 Lives of Black Jack Savage. Junpei Kosaka is allergic to cats so when he accidentally breaks the statue of a cat god he finds himself with a curse. He is able to talk to cats to helps facilitate him in aiding 100 cats in repentance. If he is not able to complete his task he himself will turn into a cat. Also Kaede Mizuno, the girl he likes from school is a huge cat lover in that Elmyra Duff way. The comedy is solid so far with some genuinely funny moments that made us both chuckle. The main problem on the horizon is if the show will stay funny or sink into horrible harem territory. There are a bunch of attractive girls that seem to hint that the show will go downhill but that is not necessarily the case.

Funnily enough, we watched this show first and it was a last minute addition to the list. We had a feeling it was going to be terrible but could maybe, sorta, be entertaining. Overall, we were kind of right. While the opening reflects everything I expected it to be, there in comes the terrible part, but the actual show was funny in moments. It has the potential to be a funny story about a boy who has to save his town (and the cats of said town) while trying to win the girl he is in love with at school. Junpei is a rather weird guy, but doesn’t fall either into the awesome or horrible human being category. And the girl of his dreams loves cats but her house is a dogs only place, so while I totally fault her for not loving those dogs, she was still okay. Then you watch the ending and you are back to the “Oh, yeah this is going to be a fan-servicy, harem show” parts. I liked this first episode, but I don’t trust it. It’s like it is lulling me into a sense of security and then will strike back!

Fairy Tail
(Winner of the Award for Most Light-Hearted Look at White Slavery)

Lets get this out of the way right away. All the cool kids have been saying that Hiro Mashima has been cribbing off of One Piece since he started writing Rave Master way before he started doing Fairy Tail. Lucy Heartfilia aka fake Nami is a summoner looking to join the prestigious Fairly Tail guild of wizards. After running into a phony member of the guild she is saved by a young man named Natsu Dragneel who is a skilled fire mage despite his goofy appearance. This is just another shonen show that follows the tried and true shonen formula. It is a fine formula that consistently produces many an enjoyable show but is also makes many a bland and boring show. While I feel that Fairy Tail will have it’s fans there was nothing that hooked me to continue watching. Lucy just struck me as a try a strong female character in a shonen show but feels more like a swing and a miss. Natsu and his blue talking cat, Happy did not stand out to me in any way what so ever. The fights were serviceable but did not pop with any excitement. Also the opening credits seemed really cheap as it was the level of in-show animation which is never a good sign of any sort of budget. A decent fix if you are thinking of picking up a new shonen show. But then again why not just watch Kekkaishi?

So since I kept hearing that this was a One Piece rip, I thought there was going to be pirates! It’s kind of pirate like but not and make everyone wizards. We even had to make the joke as we were watching the intro readying ourselves to hear about Gold Merlin (unfortunately this did  not occur). Lucy is the main character but you know this show is absolutely about Natsu. Lucy comes off as a not quite as clever as she thinks she is so most of this episode is spent with her bumbling things up and saying Natsu’s name whenever appropriate. Natsu reminds me more of Lina Inverse than Luffy, and that works to some extent. In fact, I found the show to have a much more Slayers vibe to it than anything else. But not as successfully since most of the gags fall flat and the fight seemed boring and too long since it was obvious Natsu was far superior. 

Armed Librarians – Book of Bantorra
(Winner of the Award for Repeatedly Talking about Meat)

There is a major lesson that the creators of Armed Librarians never learned. If the audience does not care about the characters they will not care about the complex mysteries surrounding them. In the world of Armed Librarians when people die they turn into stone tablets that detail the life of the person who left them behind. The Armed Librarians are an organization that protect these “books”. There seems to be a church group that that is feuding with librarians and is trying to gather the pieces of a book of one of their most important members. To show the church is made up of nasty dudes they use human bombs they call Meats. One Meat absorbs a fragment of the book the church is after. There are some other subplots but I don’t care. Everyone in the show looks like they were called into work while they were at a costume party were you got a prize for the worst outfit. The boss of the armed librarians is a woman who has the most incongruous bunny print cleavage shirt ever. The character you care most about is the unnamed human bomb who hardly gets any dialog. There might be a good story behind all this but I don’t care to find out what it is.

Truly, the main reason I wanted to watch this show was the title. After the opening, which I liked quite a bit, we are thrown into the midst of a battle which I assume we were supposed to be on the side of the eclectically dressed bunch. This became a running joke since no one seems to be dressed appropriately but like one random side guy. There was the throwing about of the word “meats” a lot. That’s about all that I remember about it, there was nothing worth thinking about. As far as first episodes go, I found this one poorly put together and trying much too hard to do much too much. And thanks to that connecting to anything or anyone on screen was virtually impossible. I have to agree the best character was the unnamed guy who appears for a totally of probably 2 minutes.

The Sacred Blacksmith
(Winner of the Award for Second-Best Use of Breasts in Combat)

Once, twice, three times a failure. Cecily Cambell’s father died so she took over as the guardian of her hometown. Too bad she is a useless female character masquerading as strong female knight. After she breaks her ancestral sword losing to a berserk knight she is saved by Luke Ainsworth a swordsman and blacksmith with a katana and his cute companion Lisa. When Cecily goes to Luke to reforge her sword he winds up saving her two more times from monsters unleashed on a local caravan. The animation is nice. Luke seems aloof but pleasant. Lisa is super cute and seems like a fun character. The problem is Cecily is a bottle of lame sauce all over this show. The only useful thing she does is block a fatal blow with her impossible shirt armor. If I felt she was able to grow as a character I would give this show a chance but I just get the feeling she is going to say the same unless mess she is at the beginning of the series. I love swordswomen so you have to go out of your way to make me dislike one. Good job The Sacred Blacksmith.

If there is a fantasy show coming out, I can’t help but give it a chance. Though truly, I didn’t really have any expectations going in. The episode starts with the end of a battle, which makes the ending of the episode less of a cliffhanger than they seem to realize. I rather liked Luke and his assistant Liza, they seem to have a very typical relationship of the quiet genius and his sweet supportive assistant. However, there is another piece to the puzzle, Cecily. Even though it is obvious that Cecily isn’t the brightest bulb, she still makes decisions that make no sense given her dialogue. She throws a tizzy about not being able to use any other sword but her family’s then turns around and wants Luke to make her a cool katana. She is very gung-ho which isn’t a bad thing per se, but the first episode gave me little confidence that she will ever back up her moxy with actual skill though I didn’t find this show without some bright moments.

Trapeze
(Winner of the Award for Best Documentary on Metal Disorders)

Wow. That was an unusual show. Ichirou Irabu is psychologist who helps patients with a  unique style. The first case is, Kouhei Yamashita, a trapeze artist that is suffering from insomnia and therefore cannot perform correctly during his act. I get the feeling that each week there will be another patient whose case tied in with one of the other cases. Next week seems to be the case of a government clerk we meet during this episode. That might not seem to unusual but first of all the animation is a strange mix of traditional animation, live action, and animation over live action, and some times all thee at once. Ichirou has two voice actors both male and female because he has three distinct forms that he switches from throughout the show. This show is distinctly for people who want to sit down and puzzle out why each shot is they way it is. What is the symbolism of each transition of Ichirou? Why Is Kouhei sometimes a man, sometimes a man with a bird’s head, and sometimes live action? This is not a show for everyone. Other than art house movie fans I am not sure who this it is for but if you are looking for something different here you go.

Hum, what to say about this…it is unique. With the combination of animation, stop motion, and live action there was always something visually interesting on the screen. At first the combination of styles didn’t strike me as purposeful but once you realize everyone is totally mental, it works much better. I was laughing hysterically when the Yakuza guy kept trying to poke out his eye but was continuously foiled by the goggles he was wearing. If saying that doesn’t tell you what kind of a show this is, well then nothing does. While it certainly adds something new to the canvas the show is not for me but I have to give it props on an artistic level.

Kimi ni Todoke
(Winner of the Award for Most Liberal Adaptation of The Ring)

If someone told me that Kimi ni Todoke was part of the noitaminA block I would have unquestioningly believed them. Kimi ni Todoke has fluid animation, great storytelling, lovable characters, and a strong but not exclusive appeal to a female audience. Kimi ni Todoke is the story of Sawako Kuronuma a socially awkward loner who is a dead ringer for Sadako from the Ring. Most everyone at school avoids speaking to the spooky girl until Shota Kazehaya tries connect her to the rest of the class. Could this be the start of a bit of romance between the most dashing boy and the scariest girl in the class? Production IG animates this series like it was Ghost in The Shell which is delightful for a shojo romance. Sawako is funny and charming and instantly has you rooting for her. We don’t learn a lot about Kazehaya directly though too much exposition but it is quite obvious why anyone would fall in love with him. The scenario is not particularly new but it is approached with such a refreshing grace that you can’t help but get sucked into this show. If they can keep up this energy and fun then this might be the show everyone is talking about this season.

I was struck by this show for a myriad of reasons, even before I had watched it. First, the manga has been talked about quite a bit though I haven’t had a chance to read it. Second, Production IG was working on the anime and if you take a look, Kimi ni Todoke isn’t their normal type of work. But that hasn’t stopped them from making a gem, they introduce you to Sawako, endear her to you, and make your hearts soar by the end of just one episode. Kazehaya is this wonderful combination of laid back and positive while still  not revealing too much of himself in this first episode. We, just as Sawako, will learn more as the story continues. This is a simple school romance story, but that doesn’t mean it won’t surprise you. It is subtle, but it takes these typical side characters and makes them break out of what you expect of them. Basically, an everything done right romance that makes it easy to declare: if I’m committed to watching one show this season, it’s Kimi ni Todoke.

Yumiero Patissiere
(Winner of the Award for Best New Excuse to Eat Cake)

This is a kids show and as long as you understand that can still mean enjoyable for everyone I think there is a lot to like here. Yumiero Patissiere has a simple, sweet, and richly delightful flavor just like the pastries in the show. Ichigo Amano has lived her life in the shadow of her sister the piano protege. Her only talents seem to be her extremely clumsiness and her incredible love of eating cake. After a chance encounter with a handsome pastry chef Ichigo realizes that her sense of taste would help her become an patisserie like her grandmother. So she sets off to become a pastry chef. This is just a heartwarming tale of discovering of talents and perusing your dreams. There is nothing super challenging so far in the show but it is not supposed to be filled with pathos and melodrama. It is supposed to leave you with a fresh and happy feeling and so far it has succeeded. There seem to be magical faeries in the opening but they have yet to appear. I am not sure how they are going to effect the dynamic of the show but I am sure they will just add more cute.

Let’s be very clear, this show is aimed at 8-12 year-old girls. Beyond Pretty Cure, few shows like this get released each season and the last time (Gokujou!! Mecha Mote Iinchou in the spring) was pretty horrifying. Yumeiro Patissiere however revitalized my faith. Ichigo is rather typical, she is very wide-eyed and cute and a little clutzy. But she has a very discerning palette, especially when it comes to pastry, but she doesn’t realize it’s a talent till she meets Henri (a totally hot blond chef!). This encounter, along with the memory of her grandmother, and her zealous mother push Ichigo in the right direction. It is unclear from the first episode whether or not this is a magical cooking show or whether the fairies seen in the opening are just a imaginary element, but either way this show has easy childlike appeal which is should, after all it runs in Ribon.

Kobato
(Winner of the Award for Best Attempt at Bringing the Rat-Tail Back in Style)

CLAMP does another magical girl show about collecting items. I have a feeling that you will know what your opinion about Kobato will be after you read that sentence. Unless you never saw Cardcaptor Sakura in which case go and watch that and then come back. Kobato is a strange girl who must heal people’s hearts with the help and guidance of her stuffed animal companion Ioryogi. If she helps enough people she will be able to have her wish granted but she seems not be be from Earth so she does not quite get things that should be obvious. Other than that is has a light airy feel much like most of CLAMP’s fun works. Kobato is cute and Ioryogi has the comedic effect of being a demonic task master in a cute blue dogs body. This is not going to be the series that wins over people into liking CLAMP or magical girl shows. But for people who want a new CLAMP series or a new magical girl show I recommend it. I had a good time and look forward to seeing what Kobato’s wish is.

The premise seems quite simple, heal those who have troubled hearts. Through this Kobato learns about humans and life on Earth. It certainly has a very naive quality about it but at the same time I wouldn’t call the show young. We don’t yet know where Kobato hails from nor do we know her motives beyond wanting to go “somewhere.” But it’s obvious that she has the purest intentions and works hard to become helpful in order to aid the people she encounters. She is also randomly saved from wandering rapists by a guy who I can only assume is important later. I thought the show had charm but the dog was used overmuch. I can’t believe I just said that about a dog.

11eyes
(Winner of the Award for Most Artistic Panty Shot)

Some shows never reach for the brass ring and still succeed at being thought provoking and exciting despite not trying to be intellectual or super innovative. 11eyes on the other hand shows up and does his job and punches out without standing out in any way what so ever. Kakeru Satsuki is an orphan with an overly elaborate eye patch and Yuka Minase is is wispy wanna be girlfriend who grew up in the same orphanage. They soon find that they keep slipping in and out of a strange parallel red tinged world filled with monsters. With mysterious students transferring to their class, strange girls stalking them, and armored knights talking about them it is obvious that they are going to be pulled deeper into some sinister. I can’t say anything really bad about this show but nor can I say anything good about it. The characters are all so very obviously from an erotic visual novel but none of them are horrible. There is a good deal of fan service. We get panty of Yuka shot so detailed the audience can tell if she has an IUD. The school nurses breasts bounce for no apparent reason other than to show how stacked she is. Maybe I can’t really even attempt to get mad at a show like this after watching Chaos;Head. My one word review is “Next”.

It’s obvious from the first scene of this show that it is walking in the footsteps of other shows which combine cute, cute, cute with gore and violence. Kakeru is an orphan high schooler (who somehow lives in a nice apartment) with a traumatic past and a very over-the-top stylish eye-patch. Yuka is his childhood friend on which he relies as well as protects. She is not totally dumb but not really that smart either, I’m not sure if Kakeru is smart, he just rarely talks. I’m not really sure what the plot is, but it certainly revolves around this violent mysterious past and how it will now come back. Oh and panty shots, definitely part of the plot. I was forgetting this show as I watched it.

Sasameki Koto
(Winner of the Award for Best Roundhouse Kick)

Yuri romance has finally come into it’s own when you can watch a generic yuri romance show. Ushio Kazama is a lesbian who loves cute girls but seems constantly destined to fall in love with other girls who want nothing to do with her. Sumika Murasame loves Ushio but does not have courage to confess fearing her rejection. Sumika keeps supporting her friend while suffering in silence. Narutaki put it best when he said this show would be an utterly boring and predictable romance anime if Sumika was a guy. Making her a girl does not make the story anymore engaging. Where as Aoi Hana immediately roped you in and made you want to know about the characters there is no such connection with the charterers in Sasameki Koto. It’s another show this season that is not bad it’s just not fun. I will state that there is no lesbian exploitation that I could see so far. If you need a yuri fix or a romance show in general it is serviceable but not extraordinary.

There has been quite a few lesbian centered shows popping up in the last few seasons, or at the very least with lesbian undertones. Sasameki comes out of the gate saying this is a show about two girls falling in love. Despite this strong intro, the show is rather bland and limp. I felt like I learned nothing about these characters in the first episode. Also, this is just random but Sumika looks almost exactly like Fumi from Aoi Hana. This show came off as extremely generic and making it two girls as apposed to a boy and a girl isn’t enough to set it apart (atleast not to me).