Sometimes there are tasks so horrific and horrible than only an expert who has been to hell and back can tackle them. And sometimes a show is based on an already established property so we don’t review it in the main season preview. That task is less frightening. So I the great detective Hisui shall attempt to look at some shows solo.
Category: Anime
Spring Fever: Sping 2009 Anime Guide
As we get better at this we seem to add more and more shows that we review each season. I don’t think I would ever want to review more shows than we did this season. This season had a pretty good selection for all the major anime food groups. Some selections were rather lackluster but overall it was an enjoyable selection. Look back on Wednesday because I will be looking at some shows that Narutaki decided to avoid this season. Often times with good reason.
Alright, it is worth noting that we had to do this enormous review not once but twice! It is amazing that it is done at all. Anywho! This is becoming a standard when the new season starts up. However, I think this is the first time that there are way more shows that I want to keep up with than is humanly possible. It is shaping up to be a good season. I think these first episode reviews are worth doing, first impressions are important and it’s fun to see how right (and wrong!) we are when the dust has cleared.
Ongoing Investigations: Case #040
Picked up Bride of the Water God volume one from Dark Horse. This is one of their manhwa releases. It is the story of a girl who is married off to the God of Water to prevent the village from further hardship because of a drought. When she arrives she runs into a little boy who ignores her when she speaks to him. He is of course the Water God. There is a large cast of other Gods as well as the Water God’s attendant who girl’s name mistakes for the God when she first arrives. Both girl’s name and the Water God have sad pasts that are more than hinted at. The artwork is very nice and that is probably the strongest thing about it. The story wasn’t bad but it wasn’t especially well done either. Most of the side characters are just thrown in her and there without real reasoning. It may have held my interest if girl’s name fell in love with attendant’s name rather than the Water God, but that isn’t the case.
Color of Water flows from the first book (Color of Earth) without missing a beat. Ehwa had two potential relationships that failed to bloom but soon finds herself falling for a young wrestler. Her mother continues her relationship with the traveling calligraphist. If the theme of the first volume was discovering love then the main theme in this volume seems to be waiting for relationships to develop and dealing with long distance relationships. The closeness of Ehwa and her mother grows a little more distant. As with any teenager, Ehwa needs to develop a little more away from her mother and she begins to keep much more to herself. The frank nature of discovering your sexuality continues into this book especially when it comes to masturbation. Overall the storytelling and artwork remain top notch.
Reverse Thieves 