Due to exams and vacations W50Anime is on hiatus until further notice.
August 10, 2008
Hmm… so I’m pretty sure we have just about covered all the normal ecchi comedy episodes after this. We’ve had multiple pool scenarios, the hotspring… oh shit, have we done beach yet? If there has been one show that I would say sums up the word mediocrity it would have to be To-LOVE-Ru. I didn’t really find this episode enjoyable. There were three redeeming things that happened. Number one: Lala’s twin tails. She definitely needs to keep those. Number two: Yami at a hotspring. Number three: commercial break Yui picture. On the other hand this episode missed two major things that make the show good. Yui and Mikan. What kind of dick leave’s his younger sister behind while going on an underground excavating adventure in search of hotsprings? And please tell me I’m not the only one that wants to break Haruna’s neck. I never found her this irritating in the manga. What is it about her in the show that I just can’t stand?! As much as I want that Trouble Quest episode I really do not want this show to have a second season, and am willing to compromise.
August 8, 2008
Sigh. I had high hopes for this season, which started off wonderfully. Now I seem to be growing tired of the same old Saito getting into trouble and Louise yelling like a bitch and pouting like one too. With eight episodes to go in the season I’d like to see it focus on what was introduced from the beginning. Sure sure, let’s make a really relaxed and comical environment and then try and throw some huge twist at us in the last few episodes, but come on. I was honestly interested in the whole “other void user” and wanted some damn plot progression. Did you really need to sink as low as a bath house episode Zero no Tsukaima? And for the love of god please pull the wool from over your eyes and notice the difference between Saito intentionally grabbing boobs and Siesta the dumb wench forcing him to touch boobs. Just void the shit out Siesta and move on with the plot already! When is the random blue haired girl going to show up? What about the creepy guy and molests figurines? I want answers!
August 6, 2008
What do you think of when you hear the words all-star cast in Hollywood? Obviously the top actors and actresses of their time. So what about an all-star cast for an anime? Well adult visual novel turned anime Akane-Iro ni Somaru Saka is defining what it is to have a knock out cast. Yeah yeah, another anime based on some Hentai bullshit, so what makes you think I’ll give a damn about this one? Well, let’s take a look at some of the cast members shall we? Hirano Aya and Kugimiya Rie, in the same show. If you don’t know these two names then you probably haven’t watched a recent anime “hit series” in the past few years, and are less likely to be reading this. If those two didn’t sell you how about these next few. Katou Emiri [Hiiragi Kagami] and Inoue Marina [Minami Kana, Kitsu Chiri, and Yoko to name a few]. I for one am pumped about Katou Emiri getting some attention. I thought she did a stellar job in Lucky Star. Had enough yet? Hirohashi Ryou [Fujibayashi Kyou], Hirohashi Ryou [Chii], Kobayashi Yuu [Kimura Kaere and Lala Gonzalez], and Fukuhara Kaori [Hiiragi Tsukasa]. HOLY SHIT! Just for the record: Kyou <3. I can’t really comment on the guys though, since what they have done I haven’t seen or it’s been small roles that I don’t quite remember. The only thing that really has me worried about this show so far is all of the connections it has to School Days (another anime based on adult entertainment), that I found to be a travesty. This includes Director Keitaro Motonaga, screenplay by Makoto Uezu, and animation production by TNK. Akane-Iro ni Somaru Saka is due to premier in October of 2008 with an unknown amount of episodes as of now.
August 6, 2008
When I first watched Lucky Star I wasn’t quite sure what to think. I picked the show up pretty early when my anime hobby started. At first I was almost in shock. What the hell was I watching, this can’t be good for my masculinity! I stuck it out and found the show to be a pleasant surprise. Obviously I didn’t get many of the references in the show since I knew little about anime in general. But that didn’t matter to me, the characters had me glued to the show all the way through. It wasn’t until recently that I decided I needed to give the show another watch, and boy am I glad I did so. What used to be a good show became top notch for me. So many little details that I missed the first time around seemed to pop up in every episode. It was a truly enjoyable series. Yet once again it was the characters that really made the show. I cannot honestly say that I disliked a single one of them. I think it has a lot to do with the way the characters are presented throughout the show. You get just the right amount at just the right time: for example, if the show had Miyuki as a more central part I may find it irritating. Instead she was there when she needed to be and enhanced the show instead of detracting from it. I think it also helps that the two main characters, Konata and Kagami, are easily some of my favorite characters. They can make it on their own, but when they are together it is just magic. The back and forth ‘punchlines’ and personal attacks really make the show what it is; a funny yet simple adventure through high school. The voice work for the characters is also spot on, especially in delivery. I checked out the official English dub and found it to be hideous. Maybe I just have the characters chiseled into my mind on how they should be, but the original Japanese cast just shines compared to the English actors. Who would have thought a show about nothing would be so damn good. [94/100]
Pros: Great characters that play off each other, all the little things
Cons: back up voices can be downright hideous
August 5, 2008
Three important things were noticed with this release. Number one: it was subbed by Osu! not Minori-Osu!. Well it turns out Minori dropped the show, Osu! was taken over by \g and we now have this. Fair enough. Second observation: Clean OP. I really enjoy a clean OP, because I honestly could care less about Japanese and kanji flying all over the screen. If I wanted to read lyrics I’d go to the internet. Thirdly, there was an annoying distortion at the top of the screen the entire episode. So… with that we’re back on track with the usual mishaps of good old Zero no Tsukaima. Louise really shined in this episode for me, and I hate to use the term but lets just say “moe.” Although the most shocking revelation in this episode is that I actually liked Siesta… holy fuck! Obvious caught-in-the-act scene at the end was obvious and Siesta made it pure win and I thank her for that. She’s still not off my “you can shove it up your ass and go to hell” list yet but at least she made some progress. Now I just have to decide whether I stick with Osu! or go with Eclipse and be a month behind. I guess I’m almost surprised that Zero no Tsukaima is lacking in sub groups.
August 5, 2008
Author: KEY
Illustrator: Sumiyoshi Yukiko
I was recommended to read this manga after saying how much nice it would be to have an entire story dedicated to the whole Tomoyo x Tomoya situation. At first I was expecting something word for word from the Clannad OVA, but was actually pleasantly surprised. I think the two go hand in hand. The OVA shows the couple’s struggle through high school while the manga shows the couple’s struggle through life after school. I think it even helped that I watched both Clannad and the OVA before reading this, as I got a good understanding of who the characters were and how they acted. I will say that the manga probably could have survived as a two chapter story instead of a four chapter mini series. I really did not care much for Kanako or Tomo and thought they brought little to the table. Even the big twist of the story had nothing to do with either of those characters. Other than that I cannot complain much about this Tomoyo After. It managed to surprise me with an ending I was not expecting at all. In a world of predictable rubbish this was a true breath of fresh air. One thing that I’ve always found manga to fall short of is emotion. Anime, in my honest opinion, has a much better medium for portraying emotions as you can see and hear the characters. Luckily Tomoyo After was able to really tug at my heart during the beef of the final chapter. [87/100]
Pros: Great main characters, touching story, unexpected twists
Cons: Middle two chapters felt like fluff
August 4, 2008
So, a show about some high school girl that’s an otaku. Sounds like Lucky Star right? WRONG. Other than the fact that they both like anime and the such there are no similarities that I can see, which is honestly a good thing. As much as I loved Lucky Star I’d hate to see a show that is so similar but has none of the charm. I’m not saying that Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu is a bad show, but it doesn’t seem to grab me all that much. The one thing I will rage about is Noto Mamiko (the voice actress for Haruka). If there is one thing that I’ve learned over the past year and a half it’s that certain voice actors get more roles than others. This can be good if the person is very diverse with their talent, but when it comes to people like Noto Mamiko I can’t help but cry inside. I haven’t seen every show she has been in, but of the ones I have seen her voice is the god damn same throughout. Fiona sounds like Kotomi who sounds like Kouta who sounds like Yakumo who sounds like Matsuri…….. Ugh. Everytime I hear her voice I get a flood of characters in my mind and they all start to mesh together.
August 3, 2008
Nabari no Ou, I’m sorry for ever doubting you. Yes your homo-erotic moments tend to irritate me, but I still love you. If there has ever been a tipping point for a show this is clearly the winner. The only two words I could use to describe this episode are “utter chaos.” It has literally become one big cluster fuck of betrayals, promises and action. The only thing I can really bash is, once again, Yoite. I quote “You [Yukimi] were the one who said that you hate it when people of the real world are involved… You’re so dishonest.” For someone who just recently found himself sucking the teat of the real world I find it a pretty sad excuse to attack someone. I can only hope that Rokujo can complete his promise as fast as possible so that we can get at least one episode with the Yoite the whiny bitch.
August 1, 2008
The second I saw the title of this episode I knew it was probably going to be a rough one. Saruyama reminds me a lot of Saru [Seto no Hanayome] except for the fact that he isn’t very funny and doesn’t look like a monkey. I don’t mind episodes dedicated to supporting characters as long as it fleshes them out a bit. This episode did nothing of that. It doesn’t help that the show focused around a pregnant wolf with huge tits that wants a human as a souvenir. Which makes me wonder how thick skulled these people are. Did they really just attempt to send a human off to outer space for no apparent reason completely disregarding said person’s feelings? Fuck… if I were Saruyama I’d be moving as far away from this shitheads as possible. Another strike is tallied up when half the show consisted of a giant fish attempting to get a girlfriend. If one thing was more limp than that fish it would have to be the humor that was attempted in this episode.
