Current Mood:  Disappointed

Okay, look. I’m as aware as anyone that anime and manga steal borrow character designs from each other, and that sometimes a particular kind of design just gets popular, right?

But still, isn’t this a little much?

That’s Karen from Sky Girls, Mugi from Hitohira, and Michiru from Zombie Loan. All three are shy girl types, with Karen and Mugi both even having problems speaking (though in Karen’s case it’s only talking to guys). And Karen and Michiru have the same bizarrely grey hair color. But of course, the link between all three is those super-skinny pigtails/braids! WTF?…End rant.

Posted by gia in Spring '07 Series, Summer '07 Series • Comments (2)

Current Mood:  Determined

Okay, time to get down to business: summer 2007 anime, so far. This is all best on ONE ep, since none of them have more than that out, so take it all with a grain of salt, folks.

DoujinWork
Status: …May give it another episode.
I was pretty with-it with this series (especially OMG LESBIAN SUBTEXT!) until “Justice” and the five-year-old doujinshika loli appeared. They could have been funny, but instead they just seemed…creepy. I also just felt kind of embarassed watching the main character decide to do doujinshi to make money. I may watch another ep to see if I can get over it, but I was really underwhelmed with ep one.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai
Status: Gonna try ep 2…
Okay, I already posted on this one, but it bears repeating: MOST BORING FIRST EP EVER. I understand you wanna recap, but christ, find a way to make it interesting.

Kenko Zenrakei Suieibu Umisho
Status: Intrigued
Another one I already talked about, which is not quite as over-the-top wacky-funny as I was expecting (a la Love Hina at least at first), plus the female lead isn’t quite as “cool” as I was expecting (she sounds like she’s six!). But it’s pretty cute, so I’ll keep watching.

 Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei
Status: Addicted
This is definitely my favorite so far. The first one to actually make me laugh, with excellent animation and a soundtrack I’m already dying for? Yes plz. I also love all the goofy jokes on the chalkboards in the background. ♥

Sky Girls
Status: Intrigued
Not as much of a loli-fest as I expected, it looks kinda sweet. I’ll keep watching. But look for my next post about some AWFULLY SIMILAR CHARACTER DESIGNS this year.

Zero no Tsukaima
Status: Watching
I liked season one. I’m enjoying season two. This is not exactly a deep, thoughtful anime…it’s sort of the anime equivalent of a summer popcorn movie, it’s just enjoyable.

Zombie-Loan
Status: Watching
The first one I watched this season and discussed here. I’m curious to see where this goes, especially since it’s so crazy different from Rozen Maiden (and/or Shugo Chara! for that matter).

So, that’s 7 out of 21. I have the first eps of Moetan and School Days left to watch, and a lot hasn’t aired yet. For the rest: where are my fucking subs?! (Especially for Mushi-uta, damnit?!)

Posted by gia in Summer '07 Series • Comments (6)

Current Mood:  FAITO!

Ahh, the first episode of Zombie-Loan. I won’t say that it’s brilliant TV, but it’s not bad so far. The art style is a bit weird for me compared to Rozen Maiden (chins and noses are so…damn…POINTY!), but I can live with that. As long as Michiru grows some balls, anyway.

And that’s my first summer show so far (got a few raws to check out though, plus the BSS Higurashi release - so quit trying to tell me about the damn show, people!). Now, on to the usual suspects:

Bokurano - Where are my fucking subs?!
Claymore - I kind of miss Raki, actually. Can it be timejump tiem nao plzz?
Darker than Black - See Bokurano
El Cazador - see Bokurano
Emma season 2 - see Bokurano
Gurren Lagann - Kinda dull right now, honestly. Waiting on another timejump here…
Hayate no Gotoku - The most consistently funny series from spring, definitely.
Heroic Age - Why do I keep watching this? And why has no one killed Deianeira’s retarded brothers loooong before now?
Kamichama Karin - Why do I keep watching this? And why has no one put me out of my retarded misery looooong before now?
Kaze no Stigma - Why do I keep watching this? And will Ayano and Kazuma stop being complete douches to each other?
Lovely Complex - Holy shit, a romantic comedy that doesn’t suck!
Lucky*Star - Dale and I kept doing “bye-bee” symbols at each other at AX. That’s all you really need to know about that.
Romeo x Juliet - Where are my fucking hormones? (No, really?)
Sisters of Wellber - Just started picking this up, and it’s not as bad as I expected. But, protip, subbers: CYRANO DE BERGERAC. Not Bulgerock. Not Voljirakku. THEY’RE TRYING TO SAY BERGERAC. Read maor!
Sumomomo Momomo - …see Bokurano, damnit.

And now, a fanfiction manifesto. Continue Reading »

Posted by gia in Spring '07 Series, Summer '07 Series • Comments (7)

Current Mood:  Determined

So my Summer Preview feature is up at work, which naturally gets me thinking about what I’m going to watch this summer. Above is the stuff I’m definitely interested in: Baccano!, Umisho, Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei, Zero no Tsukaima, Zombie-Loan, and Mushi-Uta.

Baccano! just sounds kinda fun, with the mafia and the alchemy and the 1930’s NYC stuff going on. Umisho…I’m surprised I’m even interested, since it looks kind of like Love Hina but with swimming, but I still want to check it out. I think because it looks like Love Hina but with a crazy chick instead of a dumb tsundere bitch for the female lead. We’ll see.

Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei just sounds like fun dark comedy, and of course I enjoyed season one of Zero no Tsukaima so I’ll watch season 2. I’m curious about Zombie-Loan, especially since Peach-Pit is getting so anime-heavy with Z-L and Shugo Chara! both being made into anime in the same year.

And Mushi-Uta looks kinda neat. I’m more interested in the humanoid mushi with the gun than in the green-haired moe chick or the normal dude though. So we’ll see.

On the second tier, “stuff I’m interested in but not sure about”: Buzzer Beater, Code-E, Doujin Work, and Shigurui. Also on this list are Higurashi and Tokyo Majin, but I didn’t watch the first season of either so I’m not really sure…

But as always, I want to watch at least as many first eps as I possibly can. Which should be easier, since there are fewer. Though I don’t know if I’ll get to (or if anyone will even sub) the kids’ shows, like Happy Happy Clover or Fight Tension School…

Posted by gia in Summer '07 Series • Comments (10)