Star Crossed

I have moved

2006-02-28T17:47:00.000+01:00

Okay, I'm finished moving. Everyone, please update your blogrolls, etc to:

psgels.blogsome.com

Sorry for the trouble.

Wooot! 100th post!

2006-02-24T00:31:00.000+01:00

Yay! Over the past three months, I managed to make a massive one hundred posts in this blog. *does a happy dance*

Anyway, this seemed a good moment to announce that I'll be moving from blogspot to wordpress (or at least, a variation of wordpress). I should have it done round march 1st. Most likely sooner, but it takes a while to fully set up everything. Plus, converting the entries I already made doesn't go automatically. ^^;;;

Noein - 16

2006-02-24T00:13:00.000+01:00

Recap episode. Well, at least something that looks like a recap episode, as there is tons of new information revealed. I keep wondering how the creators of Noein manage to show these huge amounts of new information each episode.

Anyway, we learn the following things:
- The person Haruka's Father's working for is an incredible bastard. His role will probably be a big one, later in the anime.
- The battle scene shown in the first episode finally gets explained and we learn how Haruka was found by the people of La'Cryma. We also get a few hints of what might've happened to Haruka in the future.
- Noein makes a shocking statement in front of Yuu. I have no idea wether this might be true or not, but if it is, then we'll be in for some really awesome scenes, later in the anime.
- We still don't know who the man with the hat is, and why he keeps popping up in different timespaces.
- The Yuu of the current timespace finally manages to say what he wants in front of Karasu.
- Noein is not invincible.

The episode ended peacefully for once. There was no sign of a cliffhanger this time. I believe that this episode was supposed to be the mark between the first and the second part of the series. Some things we're sure to expect in the second part:
- The truth about Haruka. (duh)
- We get to know what the boss of her father is planning, and what his influence will be.
- La'Cryma also hasn't played all of their trump cards. They will certainly be coming back.
- The two researchers will probably learn about everything, and try to stop the further development of quantum particles.
- Optional: Tobi's child version.
- The meaning of that damned telephone.
- The explanation of how Haruka got her dragon's torque.

Bleach - 70

2006-02-23T23:35:00.000+01:00

This episode consisted of two parts. A part in which the Bounto featured, and a part in which they didn't.

The former wasn't really entertaining. The only good part is that we now know that we aren't dealing with 2-dimensional villains (Well, at least one of them isn't). The snake-guy also wan't really something to be looking forward to. Okay, he's got a power that's completely original. But the way he uses it, it's just as if he just learned how to deal with it.

The latter really was enjoyable to see. The character interaction was top-notch as usual and had me smirking for quite a few times. It was really refreshing to see Rukia's normal side again, instead of her constant worries.

But there's one thing that's been bugging me... Rukia lost all of her powers... didn't she?

Noein - 15

2006-02-23T00:38:00.000+01:00

"Shangri-La is a fictional place described in the novel, Lost Horizon, written by British writer James Hilton in 1933. In it, "Shangri-La" is a mystical, harmonious valley, gently guided from a lamasery, enclosed in the western end of the Himalaya. Shangri-La has become synonymous with any earthly paradise but particularly a mythical Himalayan utopia — a permanently happy land, isolated from the outside world. The story of Shangri-La is based on the concept of Shambhala, a mystical city in the Buddhist religion." - Wikipedia.

Noein's image of Shangri-La tries to explain the mysteries of this utopian place. It's indeed a perfect world, with no problems what so ever. Although the thoughts behind it are horrifyingly realistic.

Once again, we see that Noein is excellent in creating the physical settings of the anime. This goes for Shangri-La, but even more for La'Cryma and the current timespace. Especially the latter one sticks to your mind. Why? Because the creators make such effective use of the tools given to them. For example, the Aeral Tramway to the mountain lookout. This gives a nice overview of the city, which actually makes sense (instead of the usual copy-and-paste-city-views usually seen in movies) and I'm actually able to recognize some of the places encountered in the anime. The fact that certain locations are just unique and keep on returning only contributes to this fact.

Anyway, about the episode. A LOT got revealed this time. We finally get to see Haruka's father as he is in the current timepace, including the troubles he suffers from. The researchers come in contact with Toby and Karasu, thus learning a few things. A certain unwanted guest makes an appearance, and some critical information is shown about Shangri-La. Another pleasant-looking surprise is that the Ouroboros may be something much bigger than we originally thought of. It's always been there, and I took it a bit for granted. But it seems that it'll get a gret role in the end.

I can't say that I didn't love this episode. Therefore I won't. Everything flowed so brilliantly, the music was awesome as ever, there was just one tiny fight, which was better then most anime can accomplish, and the cliffhanger just makes me thirsty for more. (Now that I think of it... the cliffhanger showed in episode 14 hasn't been mentioned at all...)

Jigoku Shoujo - 11

2006-02-22T23:52:00.000+01:00

Our case this time: an editor of a corrupt newspaper published an article thta made some guy's father go to prison, thus destroying his whole family. Some guy wants revenge for this and calls for Jigoku Shoujo. The special thing about this episode (skip this part if you're just like me and allergic to spoilers) is that we have the guy who's been returning for the past couple of episodes (is it me and my memory, or are their names never even mentioned?) meeting up with him, and learning about his plans.

This certainly was a "guy-who's-been-returning-for-the-past-couple-of-episodes"-episode (I think I'll call him the Reporter from now on, until I get to figure out his name). We get to know his character, we see why he's so interested in Jigoku Shoujo, his struggles to prevent her from delivering her revenges and a satisfying ending.

I just had two issues with this episode. 1: Why did the Reporter coincidentally meet up with a victim of Jigoku Shoujo? And why does he have such perfect timing? This episode just let an aweful lot depend on Lady Fortuna, unfortunately. 2: I'm also getting kinda bored with the revenge-delivering scenes. I don't know why, but they seem to be getting boring and repetitive, which is a strange thing for a show like Jigoku Shoujo. It's like that the creators threw these scenes in out of pity. I'm not really happy with this, as these scenes do for a part of the climax.

AoMM's Anime Blog Quality Rating

2006-02-21T00:01:00.000+01:00

Ah well. Every anime blogger suffering from an inferiority complex can breathe easily again. I just compared Jason's newest masterpiece of Anime Blog support, the anime blog quality rating, with Star Crossed. You can see the results below. Let's just say that you're currently reading on the worst Anime Blog yet, as I don't think that anyone will have a lower score.

+1 point for viewable on small (i.e. 1024 x 768) monitors.
+1 point for using good HTML techniques, i.e. specifying width and height tags for images and description tags for links.
+1 point for using e-mail address.
+1 point for about page. (If you count the puny page I have...)
+1 point for at least ten posts a month.
-1 point for any day with more than five posts. (What can I say? I almost always reserve one post per episode. And at some days, I watch a lot of anime ^^;)
+1 point for keeping a blogroll.
+1 point for lack of comment spam.
+1 point for RSS or Atom feed available.
+1 point for valid and Magpie parsable RSS or Atom feed.
+1 point if posts are categorized by series or some other system that makes some sense.
+1 point for screenshots.
+1 point for punctuation.
+1 point for spoiler warnings.
+3 points for not being afraid to go against popular opinion.
+3 points for bringing something new to the table.
+3 points for blogging about shows no one else is at the moment.

This makes a total of 21, otherwise known as a horribly low score. But ah well, you know what they say: the more mistakes you make, the more you learn. :)

Ayakashi - Japanese Classic Horror - 04

2006-02-20T23:40:00.000+01:00

Holy god, this was one paranoid episode. I loved it!

Ayakashi is divided in three parts, each worth of four episodes. This episode featured the ending of the first part. I'm very pleased with it up till now. The first part featured Iemon getting what he deserved. Okay, it was predictable right from episode two, but the storytelling totally made up for it. I don't know if it's just me, but it's fun seeing a sick person like that getting all scared and having illusions. The rats may have been a bit too much, though, although they set for a grand finale.

The second part of the episode told us about the background of the story. This certainly was a nice addition to anyone on par with the Japanese history. When you don't know a lot about it, it might become boring, though.

Revolutionary Girl Utena - 32

2006-02-15T21:03:00.000+01:00

This episode shows the second half of this Nanami arc. After the things she saw and witnessed last episode, she really begins to fall apart. Touga, of course, helps her in doing this. Afterwards, it's also her turn to see the end of the world. I really like what she manages to do afterwards. You could almost put a sign on her with the text: "don't mess with me!" That's the beauty of Nanami: she can be really poisonous at times, with beautiful results.

Anyway, during her fight, this was really noticable. I'm giving two thumbs up for the choreographers for this. The fight itself was short, with not much happening, for a standard Utena-fight anyway. However, the battle choreography-department seemed to extra their best this time. I don't know how, but I could really see Nanami giving her utter best in this fight. I think the way she moved was different...

I'm also noticing that, the longer I keep watching the show, the faster I can be able to identify all of the different symbols used. And I realize that there were far more used than I would have imagined. The freaky thing is, that all of these symbols have some kind of hidden meaning, and they all relate to the main plot.

Popolocrois Story 1998 - 06

2006-02-15T20:26:00.000+01:00

We get another pretty entertaining episode this time. GamiGami returns after having been absent for two episodes, and his plans are wackier than ever. Pietro also shows some signs of character development, Ston and Sanda mess up once again, and I was a bit startled when Hyuu came with her unorthodox idea to find some of the lost wind-kind...

Ayakashi - Japanese Classic Horror - 03

2006-02-15T19:43:00.000+01:00

The goodness continues. Somehow, the third episode managed to follow the second episode's brilliance. The first half of the episode shows several characters struggle with Oiwa's curse. It was lovely to see all of them become so paranoid at her sight. The second half of the episode, we get to see a bit of Osode's story. That one is so full of unexpected plot twist, I really had to control myself not to fall off my chair...

I really like the way this show is heading for. It's not often when deaths of characters are so common, that the creators manage to make each and everyone of those deaths awesome to witness. Not to mention all of the different complots that are going on. At first you might think them to be boring and repetitive, but once you see more of them, you'll be able to see the unique aspects of all these complots.

Bleach - 68/69

2006-02-15T17:25:00.000+01:00

Never did I have such hate/love relationships as with these episodes. Like I predicted, this filler arc ended at episode 68. The good thing is that the awesome bad guys get to stay a bit longer. Let's hope they'll get some nice airtime. The bad thing was, that the way the creators resolved this, was horribly uncreative. It doesn't make any sense either. Why would Yoruichi have interfered with them in the previous episode? Well then, we get some boring explanations, Ichigo discovers that he can't use his bankai anymore (seriously... not the training stuff again? *dies*). Then a sentence appeared that horrified me. "The Hougyouku that he took has another year's worth of preparation before it can be used." I kindof feared that something like this would happen, but are the creators seriously trying to put another year into this? I so hope they find a very creative way to solve this.

Anyway, we have some talk, a new bad guy gets introduced, who appears to be the woman in the ED. I wonder when we'll get to meet the big boss... Ah well, then we finally see what the ED has been hinting all along: the arrival of the three stuffed animals. I'm kindof disappointed with this. The three in their human-like form were extremely amusing, but right now it seems that they'll be spending most of their time in stuffed-animal-mode. Anyway, their reaction to this was certainly amusing. It's just too bad that Kon managed to ruin this with his whining.

The rest of episode 69 shows us a bit more info on the new bad guys. One of them lets just go of Chad and Inoue. I don't see why he had to... apart from being convenient for the creators... The new bad guys themselves also seem like a bit of a disappointment. From the outside, they really look like two-dimensional villains. Especially if you compare them with the previous arc.

The episode ends with something that had to be inavoidable for this show. On one side, it can prove for some nice situations, but on the other side, the creators certainly could have spent a bit more time on thinking this over a bit, as it couldn't have been done in a more cliché'd way.

Bleach shines when friendly characters annoy the hell out of each other. Bleach falls when it tries to be serious. I think that's the best way to describe how I feel about this show.

Jigoku Shoujo - 10

2006-02-14T17:03:00.000+01:00

Jigoku Shoujo's episodes may have been amazing, there was always one clear good side, and one clear bad side. This epidose, even those borders are torn apart, as good and bad change rapidly int each other. I can't say anything other than that I loved it.

The way this episode resolved was also amagreat. It may have been a bit predictable once you see it coming, (about a minute before it actually happens), but the tiny moment you see it coming like that will be blowing you off your chair.

We also see Ai, for the first time, making some decisions, and it's also clear that her servants also don't really know what she's up to all of the time. That might be good for future episodes.

Anyway, this wasn't the best episode yet, but that doesnt mean that it wasn't a great watch.

The Law of Ueki - 36

2006-02-14T00:06:00.000+01:00

Ooh, how awesome. For a minute I was afraid that they were going to let Ueki have all the fights, but right after his first scene, it became clear that this was going to be a Sano/Mori/Hideyoshi episode. You'll get what I mean with this if you watch the episode.

Anyway, I loved this. Both teams have really creative plans (and powers too), and each plan is extremely well though-out, without becoming too vague. It was really noticable that everything was used to its full extend.

As Marylin seems to be superpowerful, I guess the creators wanted to wait a bit until showing her in battle. The reason they used to keep her away from it is pretty creative, especially when you take the last episode and Ueki's "adventures" in account.

Anyway, the next episode probably features Ueki getting back again. I so hope it's not at the last possible moment. Anyway, I'm extremely curious about the coming roles of Mori and Hideyoshi. If they get to shine in the coming episodes, it'll certainly be great. :)

Revolutionary Girl Utena - 31

2006-02-13T20:07:00.000+01:00

My goodness... wow, just wow. These are some very, very, very interesting turns of events. I love it!

We first get the impression of a Nanami episode. This time a serious one, along with her brother playing the role of antagonist. A bit of Utena is shown, but mostly we see Nanami struggle. Then she (and we as well) realize something that was so incredible for the plot, that I don't know how to describe it.

Anyway, if this wasn't enough, we see tons of symbolism (I recognized the four Bremen city-musicians, or however they are called in English), smart dialogue, and funny tidbits. To top this all, we finally get shown what had been hinted for entire seasons. And it's shown in an AWESOME way. I can't wait for the next couple of episodes, as this was one of the best ones yet.

Ergo Proxy - 01

2006-02-13T00:15:00.000+01:00

I think that, along with Wings of Rean, this will be the only new series that I will be blogging this season. It's kinda ironic, as both series are from a genre that I'm not really into. But ah well, this shows that you shouldn't be afraid to try out new things.

Anyway, I was anticipating this show, as it's been done by none other than the creators of Samurai Champloo (which I loved). This was also a show that had been hyped to death. If I have to say, it lived up to it pretty decently. It's not the best show ever, but I certainly enjoyed watching this.

I think the best part about Ergo Proxy is the mood it creates. Along with the creepy backgrounds, the awesome audio and the dark characters, this was awesome to watch. I like the main characters, they certainly have potential to turn this into a great direction.

Mushishi - 12

2006-02-10T22:33:00.000+01:00

When I saw a pre-OP-intro, and noticed a shortened OP, I immediately knew this was going to be a special episode. And HOW I was right, but I don't think I can explain this without using some spoilers. I'll be continuing in the comments, just in case someone sees something he probably didn't want to see.

Mushishi

2006-02-10T21:43:00.000+01:00

This was an important episode, as we get some more character informagion about Ginko himself. We learn why he chose to be a traveling mushishi, even though it's only briefly mentioned, and for the first time in the series, we meet up with another mushishi (Majiko). In his younger years, this guy resembled Ginko somehow, before something very tragic happens to him. This episode featured him finally solving this problem he created years ago. We also see Ginko getting nervous for the first time in the series.

Anyway, this was another brilliant episode, typical of mushishi. It was worth every second of seeing it.

Law of Ueki - 35

2006-02-10T20:25:00.000+01:00

Aha, after a couple of weak episodes, The Law Of Ueki shines again. This time, every criminal goon gets poked fun at (aah delightful :)). We basically have a big strong guy versus Ueki. This big strong guy strongly believes that listening to people is the right thing to do. While that's a very noble cause, this guy believes in it a little too much. With hilarious results.

Also his powers are another beautiful piece of creativity you hardly see anymore in anime.

Revolutionary Girl Utena - 30

2006-02-10T18:30:00.000+01:00

Candles, huh? Nice metaphor. Anyway, we finally get another Utena episode. This one is centered around her and Akio. It seems that the creators wanted to put extra emphasis on this fact, as this episode moves much slower than most of the other ones.

It was an interesting watch. There aren’t a lot of anime in which the main character falls in love against his or her will, so seeing Utena struggle like that was nice to see. This episode was also full of symbols, like Akio collecting the shoes of his victims (seriously, what the heck?!), the shadow-play girls performing a little act about the dancing shoes (any connection?) and of course, the candles.

Bleach - 67

2006-02-08T23:10:00.000+01:00

In this episode, there was one imposter among our heroes, and they had to find out who it is. Of course, as all of the main characters have the intelligence of a mortified pineapple, they just randomly did stuff without thinking of the idea to ask each other some smart questions.

Anyway, apart from that, this episode was very enjoyable to watch. It's also been the first time in ages that Bleach really had nearly killed me from laughter on one particularly wrong scene (everyone: don't miss is. ;)).

Okay, next time will probably feature the end of this very special arc. I wonder what it'll be.

Bleach - 66

2006-02-08T21:34:00.000+01:00

This was a pretty entertaining episode. I'm beginning to like the new Bleach. It's starting to turn into the brilliance of the first 30 episodes again. Thank goodness for that.

Okay, it may be a filler. But it sure is a good filler. I just love the way the everyone abuses and yells to each other, Kon's hilarious when he's not near Inue, and finally some problems are presented in which the characters have to use their brains, instead of their muscles. I can't believe a show like Bleach would ever have that in it, to show such intelligence.

Also, Kon's new back-pack-mode is hilarious, and have I mentioned before that the bad guys are great and the ED too cute?

Jubei-chan Siberian Yagyuu Review - 94/100

2006-02-08T16:04:00.000+01:00

Welcome, and say hello to the anime with the most wicked battle choreography ever. I have no idea why I didn't decide to blog this. It's mostly because at the time I started watching this show I felt that I was blogging too many series already. Anyway, this is a series that's recieving waaaay to little publicity than it deserves. So many awesome stuff happens, I don't know where to start.

Apparently, this is the second season of a show called Jubei-chan: The Ninja-Girl. I also didn't know this until they started making references to it in the third episode. Anyway, she is sort of a magical-ninja-sword-girl, who uses an eye-patch shaped like a heart in order to transform into the reïncarnation of a sword-master who lived 300 years ago. This season, another girl, wearing an eye-patch with the shape of spades, arrives, claiming that Jubei's eye-patch is hers. Apart from that, there are some other guys who bear the grudge against the sword-master, and also have been waiting for 300 years, and also want to beat her.

I know, it sounds horribly cliché. This anime, however, manages to make something beautiful out of this.

The power of this anime lies in the fact that it manages to utilize contrasts perfectly. Each and every character has a minimum of two very distinct moods. Mostly a hyperactive one and a serious one. By first showing the hyperactive side of the characters, the impact of the serious sides of these characters (when they get shown) becomes huge. This is also one fo the few anime in which I really like the main character. She is an amazing person, but in the end, you'll feel sympathy for each and every one of the different character. Even the ones who seemed to only have been inserted for comic relief.

The battles are also the most amazing ones I've ever seen. Finally there's an anime which realizes that power doesn't win battles, but skills. And that's what the characters fighting have: skills. Everyone moves so fast, it's almost impossible to keep track.

That doesn't mean that this show is entirely consisted of battles. Most battle usually take just five minutes, in which the show accomplishes what most anime wouldn't even dare to try. The rest of the time is filled with some of the most amazing aftermaths, with one aftermath even taking up as long as four episodes.

I haven't even started talking about the comedy yet. Although it's not the best comedy ever and some misses it's place, when the comedy works, it really works. I can't believe how utterly creative some of the jokes are (sometimes perfectly integrated with the battles, other times just the characters being extremely wacky).

Overal, this is an amazing series. The characters are amazing, the battles are amazing, the dialogue is amazing, and don't forget the catchy soundtrack.

Why you should watch this: if you like wicked battles, heavy drama, or just a good show, then you should watch this.

Final Rating: 94/100

Trinity Blood Review - 79/100

2006-02-08T15:27:00.000+01:00

What do you get when you cross Trigun with Hellsing? Right, Trinity Blood. It plays in a futuristic-like setting, in which both Humans and Vampires (or rather Terrans and Methuselahs) live, but in which social rankings still remain very important.

The story of Trinity Blood rapidly changes from extremely good to extremely bad. Some episodes are unbelievably well thought out. Everything fits, and the plots leave you guessing all the time. At other times, however, the show leans a bit too much on using random coincidences and copies too much from Trigun.

The first half of the episodes feature father Abel Nightroad engaging in a couple of missions, each time accompanied with different side-characters. Some of these episodes may be a bit too complicated to follow. Other, however, were very interesting to see, especially when you were barely able to completely follow the plot, it was great to see all the different surprises.

The second half of the show, the missions begin to connect a bit more to each other, but they also take much longer than before. This may indeed become a bit boring, but the endings of each of those missions are magnificent and they will blow you off your chair. Then we have the ending itself. It consists of the last half of the last episode. I hate to say it, but it felt a bit incomplete. There are so many questions left unanswered. So many things yet to be solved. There was also a bit too much unneccesary action in the ending, which really could have been done better.

The different characters that Trinity Blood features are great. I'm especially a big fan of all the different members of the Vatican, but also the new characters introduced around the later episodes work great. Each of them has some kind of unique thread, which makes them interesting to watch. Their part was also the reason that the ending didn't resolve in a total disaster. The first half of the last episode featured the side-characters in action. I totally loved this. Not even a second was wasted on it and each of the characters showed their utter best. Then the goodness ended and predictability began, unfortunately.

Although most of the characters were wonderful in this anime. There's one character that just does NOT fit in this show: Esther. Somehow the creators took a liking in her, so they decided to give most of the screentime to her, instead of the side-characters. This is such a pity, because now that I think back a bit, I realize that almost all of the lesser moments of this anime featured her in one way or another.

The graphics in this anime look amazing. Especially the CG is top notch. The background music is nice to hear, but it's not really anything special, or something. It's just decent.

Overall, it was a very nice series to watch. Unfortunately, one character had to ruin it.

Why you should watch this: If you liked Trigun and Hellsing, or you are a fan of complicated plots, then you will like this anime.

Final Rating: 79/100

Noein - 14

2006-02-06T20:04:00.000+01:00

...

...

...

Why... oh why, do some guys have to look so much like women!?!

Those who've been reading my blog and paid close attention during this episode will know what I'm talking about. *feels ashamed*

Anyway, what we have here, is another great episode. We finally get to see what Haruka's father looks like, at least, in his younger years. We also get some backstory of Haruka's parents, we get to see a bit of character development from Yuu, and Haruka looked too cute when she was eight.

Anyway, the cliffhanger was again an awesome one. We finally get a bit more information about the grown-up Haruka, and it just makes me even hungrier for more. We also see for 0,3 seconds what the new enemies will be like. It promises to become really interesting.

And also, the old telephone, it was a brilliant idea. I like it.

Law of Ueki - 34

2006-02-06T17:11:00.000+01:00

I was so busy with my rant from last time that I completely forgot about the new intro. It actually reveals quite a lot of things that will be coming in the following episodes, including the introduction of a few new interesting-ooking characters (or just old characters with a new haircut). I have no idea though why they included the scene of Marylin collapsing right at the beginning of th eopening... will there be something special about this? Rinko and Mori also begin to look more and more like the ladies-in-distress, who Ueki and the others have to rescue. This is such a pity, because their amazing personalities deserve way more than that. I'm wondering who the crying kid might be. It is a bit hard to see in such greyscales, but nobody in the show has similar eyebrows... Anyway, he or she looks like an interesting character. It also seems like we get to see God fighting in action. That will be interesting to see, I can't wait for it, but it'll probably be featured somewhere in the later episodes. I'm just a bit worried about the fact that Ueki is going to have wings... it seems awefully cliché... especially when you see him save a falling Mori...

Anyway, about the episode. Thank god this one was better then last time. I know again why I liked Kobayashi's charcter so much. He's just awesome. The new opponents also seem very interesting, especially during their introductions. The last team was a team about artists, this team is a team about soldiers. It works pretty well, and I really liked the way Ueki tricked everyone to buy the others some time. It really shows that the bad guys aren't perfect as well. It also offers lots of possibilities for the next couple of episodes.

Spring Season Preview

2006-02-05T08:59:00.000+01:00

Willuknight did an amazing job again in finding as much info about the upcoming spring anime season. I'm very enthusiastic about it, as there are some pretty good series among them. But then again... there's also a lot of garbage coming up.

2006 Spring Anime Season - AnimeBlogger.net Wiki

Anyway, here will follow a small preview of each of the new series:

Ah! My Goddess 2nd season

The Second season of Ah! My Goddess. I've never seen the first part, so I can't really say anything about this one. Apparently it's the same old formula again: a guy who is nothing suddenly gets to be with a beautiful girl. I'm not really interested...

Air Gear

A rollerskating anime. And of course, the rollerskates have all kinds of technical tweaks, such as engines, etc. And of course, this anime follows a young boy who will eventually be the best of all. Exciting.

Shibawanko no Wa no Kokoro

A show which teaches little children about manners...

Aria The Animation, Second Season

The second season of Aria The Animation (we apparently have an aweful lot of second seasons this season). I've seen the first episode of the first season, but it was just a bit too peaceful, if that's even possible.

Fushigiboshi no Futagohime Gyu!

Second season of Futago Hime. Note to self: watch first season.

Kirarin Revolution

Not another idol-anime... I have a bad feeling about this.

Finalist

Of course, I could have known. This season, of course, isn't complete without a harem anime [/sarcasm] Anyway, I don't have much hope for this, but who knows. After all, MagiKano turned out to be interesting, so why shouldn't this series be as well?

NANA

I don't know if I'll watch this. The summary doesn't really sound like a good premisse...

Love GeCHU - Miracle Seiyuu Hakusho

The only clue about the story I have is the title. Apparently this will be focused around voice-actors, with of course some love. I'm too much reminded about REC...

Ohran High School Host Club

Yaoi, shounen-ai, and all with a female main character. Well, well, well... I really don't know whether I'll watch this or not...

Digimon Savers

Well, well, well, what have we here? Another digimon series. I hope they learned from their mistakes in the past, because the concept remains interesting.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu

I have no idea what this show is about. The only thing I can say is that it will feature a girl in some weird uniform (maid?)

Kishin Houkou Demon Bane
Another Mecha show. I'm not a huge fan of mechas, but we'll see how this ends up.

Gintama

So, science fiction combined with history. I'm somehow reminded of Samurai 7. I don't know if I'll like this, but that will depend on the first episode.

Saiunkoku Monogatari
This one sounds like a very serious harem show. That or it will just be a horrible harem show. If it's going to be the former, then I'll be interested.

Sasami -Mahou Shoujo Club-

Apparently this show was postponed a few months. It's another mahou shoujo-series, but I really don't like the art of this.

Witch Blade

I have no idea what this is, but I don't really like the art...

Black Lagoon

An action series, featuring some kind of international spy who gets captured, an then betrayed by the company he works for. Hmm, this has some interesting drama potential. I think I'll watch this.

Yoshinaga-san'chi no Gargoyle

A... gargoyle... A living gargoyle. A living gargoyle won in a contest. A living gargoyle won in a contest and who appears to be the gatekeeper of Yoshinaga. It'll probably be some kind of comedy. I have no idea whether it will work out or not.

Ju Oh Sei

This looks like the most serious anime of the season. I'm expecting lots of pain and suffering. It depends on how well the creators manage to execute this whether I'll like it or not.

Inukami!

A slapstick comedy featuring a boy who thinks of nothing but women and money and a girl who likes to destroy things. I think I'll hate the fantasies the boy will have, but the premisse of a girl who likes to destroy things makes me interested.

Dai Mahou Touge

Aww, another Mahou Shoujo. This can either be a total disaster, or a very cute series. What will it be?

RAY The Animation

Raycan see through objects, and apparently she has to fulfill some very dangerous assignments. I'll wai for the first episode in order to check the overall tone of this anime.

Renkin 3kyuu Magical? Poka~n

Another mahou shoujo. I like the art of this. I'll definately see it.

Kamisama Kazoku

Okay, if the creators manage to include lots of puns in this, it will become a great anime. But then again, it can also become horribly boring.

Tokko

Hmm, a guy joins a special force to revenge his parents who were ripped to pieces. I'm feeling 50:50 about this one.

Hime-Sama Goyoujin

The spiritual successor of rozen maiden, hun? It could turn out to be pretty interesting.

Simoun

Okay, interesting concept. People are born as girls, and on their fifteenth, they get to decide which sex they will be. This offers lots of possibilities for success, but then again... it also offers lots of possibilities for failure.

School Rumble 2nd Semester

Okay, note to self: finish the second half of the first season before this starts.

Yume Tsukai

A show about dreams. Has some definate potential.

Joshikousei GIRLS-HIGH

An all-girls high school, in which the absence of boys creates a total chaos. This has some serious potential.

KIBA

A fantasy action series. I'm a huge fan of fantasy, so I'll be waiting for this. I'm just a bit worried about the sword-wielding male protagonist.

Soul Link

Interesting. Fourty years into the future, a space ship, which serves as an acadamy gets attacked by terrorists, and our main character, a student in this ship, has to find a way out. I'm also a big fan of the art.

Himawari

The mood of this anime seems very chaotic, judging from the picture and the description. This definately has some potential.

Good witch of the west: Astrea Testament

This sounds like a very cool series. I'll definately watch this.

Utawarerumono

"The main character was helped when he was wounded lying on the ground in woods. When he woke up, he didn’t remember who he was. Furthermore, he had a mask that he couldn’t put off. By favor of the people in the village, who had animal ears and tails by the way, he began to live in the village." I just LOVE the art of this anime. I was a bit reluctant at first when I heard about this series, but I'm getting more enthusiastic by the minute.

Makai Senki Disgaea

So, this is about the conquest of the netherworld. This certainly is on my to-watch list. The art also looks too cute.

Tsubasa Chronicle Second Season

Finally, the second season of Tsubasa Chronicle I've been waiting for. I really can't wait for this.

Higurashi no Naku koro ni

Murder mystery in a small mountain village which is about to be destroyed by the construction of a dam. I like it. The art also looks very cute, so I will be following this.

Shoujo Changguem no Yume
Oooh! This will be some kind of Japanese-Medieval-Fantasy story. The art looks great, I'll certainly be following this gem.

XXXHoLiC

I am SO waiting for this. This will certainly be an awesome series.

Shinigami no Ballad

In march, this awesome-looking series will arrive. I can't wait! :)

The Third

Damn you for delaying this awesome show for another season! *gets excited*

Revolutionary Girl Utena - 29

2006-02-04T22:24:00.000+01:00

Okay! Now it all gets clear. The previous episode was just a big prologue of this one. As expected, it's a Yuri episode, but this one's damn intense. Probably one of the most intense episodes so far in the series. We get to see yuri break down, Ruka being a bigger asshole than he already was and a climax that you certainly will not expect. It also Appears that Ruka was just meant to give Yuri some more character development. I wonder if we'll see him again, as the ending of the episode shows some sign of character development on his side as well...

It's also clear to me that this show doesn't really have a main character. Yes, of course there are Utena and Himemiya, but they don't really get more airtime than the other characters, probably even less. Especially in the latest episodes. It's great to see a variation like this, especially when it's so well carried out.

Anyway, we've had Sayonji, Miki, Ruka and Yuri. All that's left is Nanami, Touga and the school presidend whose name I forgot. This gets more interestig by the minute.

Revolutionary Girl Utena - 28

2006-02-04T20:16:00.000+01:00

Somehow, I've got the feeling that this episode was shorter then the other episodes. However, when I checked the timing, it appeared just as long as any other episode... strange...

Anyway, this time, we see the introduction of another new character, who'll probably get to play some kind of badguy-role. We first get the impression that this will be a Yuri-episode, but after a while it seems that this episode will be focused around the new guy and his new found girlfriend, Shiori. I liked the climax at the end. It shows that this new guy, although annoying as hell, can prove to be an interesting character.

Mushishi - 10

2006-02-04T10:42:00.000+01:00

I may be wrong, but this is the first time i've actually seen hail in anime. Perhaps the first time I've seen hail on television as well... Why are the movie makers and such so afraid to add hail into the show? It happens pretty often, doesn't it?

Anyway, this episode was another masterpiece. We see a certain character return in this episode. This time, his hobby has caused hhim some problems, and it's up to Gin to solve it. The woman's story was also amazingly told. I could really feel along with her. And it was so beautiful to see the kids get healed.

I'm only wondering why it was so convienient fr Gin to be in the neighbourhood, and the woman also lived relatively close by. I wonder what would have happened when they were a fair distance removed from each other.

Popolocrois Story 1998 - 04

2006-02-03T22:35:00.000+01:00

Hmm, we get some Ston and Sanda character development this episode. It was really well done, and furthermore you could really see that each and every one of the characters has a differrent personality. In some cases even unique. I also like that Pietoro isn't the strongest person among his friends, but more like the weakest (after all, he was the only one who got blown away by Ston's attacks, even the old woman didn't move). It's nice to see things like this in a fantasy anime, it gives a good perspective.

This was also one of the few episodes in anime in which some time was drawn out in order for one of the characters to sing a smal song. Of course, the song made no sense, and it was sung by an old woman, but still, it was a nice touch.

The bad guy was again awesome, even though he only got five seconds of screen time. It was an old idea the creators used to involve him in this episode, but brilliantly executed. We just see thunder and his castle, we get a moment to realize what's going to happen, we see his funny reaction, and voila, back to the main story. I liked this.

Anyway, Ston and Sanda were again great in their huge forms.

Revolutionary Girl Utena - 27

2006-01-29T14:34:00.000+01:00

...

Okay, this was by far the weirdest episode I've ever seen in anime. It's a filler, and a Nanami episode. One day, she wakes up, and discovers an EGG in her bed. She then HONESTLY believes that SHE was the one who laid it. I swear, I laughed for the entire episde about all the weird fantasies and thoughts Nanami had about her egg. Especially the curry guys and the shadow-play girls nearly killed me from laughter. I'm still wondering why the egg ended up in her bed in the first place...

Ayatsuri Sakon - 05

2006-01-28T16:58:00.000+01:00

I so hate myself for not remembering all of those names. I get that a lot in anime. It usually takes me four to ten times in order to remember each individual character name. It was the same in this episode. As there are lots of different characters playing in this arc, and all of these characters have a certain name, there were lots of times in which I kept wondering who the hell "Takamura-san" (or any other name) could be.

Apart from that, this episode was just as awesome as the previous one. We really get to know all of the different characters (except their names -_-), while it's still totally unclear who the murderer could be. Sakon still impresses me, and the cliffhanger was once again amazing. I am SO looking forward to the next episode.

Law of Ueki - 33

2006-01-28T16:18:00.000+01:00

Ugh... the battles are turning slowly into power-based battles, instead of strategy-based battles. This episode as well. Rihou starts off well, advising Ueki that he shouldn't abuse his sacred treasures too much. Unfortunately, instead of advising him to use more of his brains, he advices him to use more of his power. What happens afterwards... well... *dies from the countless DBZ-references*

It's such a shame that such an excellent series loses itself like this. The strength of this series was the huge creativeness in the battles, but somehow the creators thought that more power means a better show.

Please, go back to the brilliance of the first season. T_T

Bleach - 65

2006-01-28T12:58:00.000+01:00

The first half of this episode reminded me of those horrible american cartoons, in which someone or something has been caught and the main character has to do some kind of treasure hunt/quest in order to get it back... I'm also curious about the motives of the new bad guys. Why the heck would they capture her? Do they want something from Ichigo, or were they just in the neighbourhood and found it a nice idea to drop by and say "Hi!" in a kindof eccentric way? And why would they organize such a treasure hunt in order to do it?

I do like the bad guys themselves. They show lots of potential, and seem better antagonists than Aizen and his gang.

Oh, and btw, the new ED is too cute. ^^

Ayakashi: Japanese Classic Horror - 02

2006-01-27T23:05:00.000+01:00

Oh my friggin' god! This is one disturbing anime... I had no intention of blogging this anime after seeing the first episode. It really looked like some mediocre concept executed rather boringly with rather dull art. How this episode proved me WRONG!

I repeat: do not get fooled by the first episode. It's just a big introduction of the second one. So many horrible things happen (I can reaaaaaly understand why they called this Japanese Classic Horror), most often considered taboo in anime. Seeing Oiwa kill herself was extremely painful to watch. The other murders that happened afterwards gave me the chills, and when the episode ended with the text: "this is only the beginning", I really had a tough time swallowing.

If you like to see some horror movies, and have a bit of patience, then I'll certainly recommend this.

Jigoku Shoujo - 09

2006-01-22T22:33:00.000+01:00

This episode wasn't anything special. I guess they're developing the little girl bit by bit. The story just was the same. Guy does something horrible, girl gets revenge. It was interesting to watch though, I think I'll never really get tired of these kinds of stories.

Noein - 13

2006-01-22T21:49:00.000+01:00

Oh my god Atori! When I thought the last episode was good, I really didn't know that this one would be even better!

Even though this is just the aftermath of the previous episode, it suddenly became all clear what kind of huge impact it had. I'm most surprised about Atori. This was something I never would have expected. Tobi (I finally know her name. :P) plays a wonderful part once more, and the chase had me laughing for quite a while. It's so nice to see that the total group of protagonists as become so large. It offers a great variety, which is what the series really shows in this episode.

Please, Noein. Give me more awesomeness.

Bleach - 64

2006-01-22T19:38:00.000+01:00

It was great to see everyone who was left behind again after Ichigo set off for Soul Society. Especially Ichigo's father cracked me up. What I found a bit weak was the fact that Renji suddenly appeared. He was getting popular, so the creators certainly couldn't avoid to write him out of the series, so they tried to find an excuse to stuff him into this arc somehow. Furthermore, Inoue gets some serious screentime, probably the first time in fifty episodes, and we already know the goal for the next fifty episodes of the series. We also got a small glimpse of the new bad guys. I don't know why the creators tried so hard to hide their faces, when right afterwards the ED gives us some nice close-ups of our new antagonists. I have to say, I like their art. The little girl is also too cute.

Bleach - 63

2006-01-22T17:49:00.000+01:00

Recap episode. Along with the ending of the ending of Soul Society arc.

"Bleach!"
"Celebration! Rukia rescue!"
"Shine Away! The ten fights of the Shinigami!"
"We will show you your favourite Shinigami!"
"Special!"
"On top of that, we'll show you new developments!"

That's the caption of this episode. I don't know, but it seems a bit desperate. Especially the latest sentence. Are the creators that scared of losing people in a recap episode? I'm a bit sceptic about this. Another thing that I find strange is that they keep talking about the ten fights. Eventually, we just get to see seven of them. Did the creators have something special in mind, or are they just trying to save some budget?

Anyway, the recap itself consisted of almost all of the long fights that had happened in the series, put in just twenty-five minutes. The creators obviously tried to give the fight-loving viewers a little extra, by repeating the "good things" all over again. I, however, hated it.

Then we get Ichigo&co saying goodbye to everyone, and Rukia deciding to stay. That one's an interesting development, but a tiny voice inside of me keeps yelling that they'll eventually end up together again. My intuition says that that'll happen within two episodes.

The thing I enjoyed about this episode was the comedy that finally returned to the series. From Ichigo's arguing, to Kon's blabbering and Inoue's naiveness to Kenpachi's enthusiasm.

About the next arc: I'm getting a bit worried. The fights at the soul society were already incredibly long. I have a feeling that the creators are trying to surpass themselves, with even longer fights. As for Ichigo, I would so love it if he became the bad guy in his Hollow-form. That would be so awesome. But then again... looking at some of the signs of low-budget in this episode, that probably won't be happening.

Shadow Skill Review - 68/100

2006-01-22T16:08:00.000+01:00

This another one of those typical shounen series. With long fights, hugely powerful people and, of course, a male protagonist. I kept watching for the first ten episodes, just because the world, setting and magic system the creators created for this anime is hilarious. Every single nickname of every single warrior is horribly clichéd. So much that it actually becomes funny (for example, the strongest fighter in the kingdom named himself Scarface). When special martial arts techniques are executed, not only do the people executing them say the technique names once or twice, it also appears in huge lettters on the screen, in order to make sure that the viewer knows the name of the moves (which make no sense, by the way). The magic system is even more hilarious. Magic is sealed in cards, and when those cards are summoned, the cards start talking with an excessively overdramatic voice, telling who they are and what they do ("I am a flame! I scorch my enemies!"). When I saw these for the first time, I really couldn't stop lauging.

This series surprised me even more when around the tenth episode, an actual story began to form, which is very rare among most shounen series. We saw some really interesting character interactions, motives and developments. Unfortunately, there were still the extremely long fights and sometimes, the scenes became a bit too dramatic, which didn't do the series any good. The ending, also was (as expected) a horrible mess.

The character art itself looks a bit messy, and mostly typical for a shounen anime. I didn't really care for it. EXCEPT when a character was either extremely beat down, or full of despair. At these moments, the creators managed to produce some of the most awesome-looking images ever, which really grab you, and take a while to let go. The music in this show is also awesome. The tunes realy give a reason to sit through the battles, and they really set the mood for the anime.

Why you should watch this: if you're into shounen anime, you should watch this. But this is also a few good laughs worth for the ones who love shounen-parodies.

Final rating: 68/100

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's Review - 85/100

2006-01-22T13:57:00.000+01:00

This is the sequel of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, another anime I really liked. The series starts out pretty decent. A new enemy appears, who defeats Nanoha in a fight. The premisse of another one of those action series.

Well, those predictions get totally trashed into the ground by the next following episodes. The creators managed to create the most amazing person for the "antagonist" of the show, and the other bad guys have some of the most depth ever seen. Especially the middle episodes are just too sad to watch, and they only get better and better as the story unravels.

But yeah, with a show like this, there was no way for the ending to be not predictable, and yes, the last two episodes indeed seem to go right the way you suspected it. Still, the creators manage to make something decent out of it.

The characters, as I've already said, are extremely well developed. The main characters may look a bit like other main characters, but all the other characters totally make up for it (after all, Nanoha already got her screentime in the first season, so now it's time for the other characters to shine, the creators made the right choice for that).

As for the graphics and sound department, this show certainly delivers. The art looks great, the character art is extremely cute and the CG looks amazing. If you however, compare it to the prequel, it's very hard to see any improvements in it. You would expect that the creators would put a bit more time in the show to make the graphics even better. The music also is wondeful, fitting each and every scene. Well, almost every scene. The ED and the commercial tune really break all of the tension the series had been building up. That is a bit of a pity.

Why you should watch this: If you like cute character art, a heavy dose of morality and furthermore a great story, then you should watch this.

Final Rating: 85/100

Paradise Kiss Review - 57/100

2006-01-22T13:38:00.000+01:00

Paradise Kiss doesn't really rely on heavy cliffhangers or tensions. It's mostly a love story, with people acting, a couple of unstabilities in the relationships, with all of it revolving around a fashon show. The show just has one climax, at the second last-episode, but apart from that, it's just a very laid-back anime, focused on character interaction, no more, no less.

Some people may enjoy this, but I became a bit frustrated by it. The only reason I kept watching was because of the amazing OP and ED. I was looking forward to them every time I watched the anime. But I guess these kinds of shows don't really appeal to me. The first episode was also a bit delusional, as there are a lot of wacky things going on, which had me smirking quite a few times. This really gave the impression that we're dealing with some kind of love-comedy. Well, the comedy stopped entirely after the beginning of the second episode.

Overall, it had its interesting moments. The climax was really enjoyable to watch, the character art is different than other anime, but it looks awesome, and the ending deserves a few thumbs up. I'm just not the type of viewer who enjoys these kinds of love-shows, and twelve episodes long may have been a bit too much.

Why you should watch this: If you're into fashon or romance shows, then this is the anime you should watch.

Final Rating: 57/100

Jigoku Shoujo - 08

2006-01-15T01:28:00.000+01:00

This episode is different from the others as well. When each episode looks so much like the other, you really begint to notice (and appreciate) the tiny differences. This time, along with the usual case, we also see a girl (TOO cute, by the way) who can sense the prescense of Ai. Her father is some kind of journalist who's writing an article about Jigoku Shoujo, so he decides to check it out. At first you believe that the father's justout for money and a story, but when his daughter suddenly gets extremely shocked, he does show that he's a good father. Overall, I like these characters. It seems like they are going to be appearing a lot more in the show. Especially the daughter is an awesome character.

The case in this episode is a girl who's been pushed off a building. Normal anime would in this kind of case show the falling proces, and make use of some cool-sounding sound-effects when the body hits the ground. In Jigoku-Shoujo, this is executed in the exact opposite way: the falling process is never shown, but we do get to see how the body hits a car and ends up unconcious. That only makes it more heartbreaking.

Another thing Jigoku Shoujo excels in, is the character art. They somehow succeed in making each and every character look beautifully. This is extremely pleasant to watch.

I want more. Hehe.

Noein - 12

2006-01-15T00:48:00.000+01:00

Holy...friggin......whatever!

This sure was one awesome episode! The Fukurou and Karasu finally have their serious fight, and right in the middle an uninvited guest appears. Afterwards, things happen you SO NOT expect during this stage of the anime. That made it even more awesome to watch. The fights also got a little messier character art, but the smoothness of the camera movement has increased a lot. The purple haired girl (yes, it appeared to be purple, not pink *slaps memory*) also gets some airtime as well.

With all of this happening this episode, I'm really curious what the second half of this brilliant anime will be about.

Noein - 11

2006-01-15T00:11:00.000+01:00

How amazing the pacing of this show is. Here I was, expecting an action-packed episode, but due to the incredibly fast pacing the action-part only took five minutes. Ah well, not that I'm complaining. :P

Anyway, this episode, we also get some explanations about how the world in which the story takes place is built up. It apparently has something to do with quantum-particles. I've been educated in physics for five years, but I can't verify what's been told there. The overall story sounded pretty reliable, but I don't think anyone with minimum physical knowledge would understand it.

We also learn about some new relatives of a couple of the main characters: Isami's brother, and Harkua's father. The former was a real surprise, including the fact that Isami has another sister, and both of his parents died. Overall, he looks like a nice addition to the cast. The latter has found himself a nice place in the story. This was, of course, bound to happen once during the series, and I guess this is the time. Yuu's father remains a mystery at this point though, so I wonder what the creators have in store for him.

I'm still wondering about the mysterious Noein, who appeared at one point during the series. I'm guessing he's the key figure of all this. I also think that he'll eventually play the role of the bad guy.

Noein - 10

2006-01-14T23:32:00.000+01:00

Wow! I loved all of the conflicts that arose in this episode. The pink-haired girl gets to be more than someone who just obeys others, friends from the future are now treating Haruka and Karasu as enemies and it seems that there's another party coming into play, but this time from the current timespace's government. This is promising to be very interesting. The next episode is going to be awesome.

I'm also looking forward to the moment in which Isami and the others realize what happened with their future-selves. It's promising to be awesome. I'm also wondering whether we get to see the past versions of the pink-haired girl and Atori. It'd be interesting to see what developments they've gone through.

Haruka's getting a bit of a support role this time. It's also nice to see that Karasu gets discovered fairly quickly by Haruka's friends. Most anime wait till the end of the series to reveal this kind of information.

Mushishi - 09

2006-01-14T22:54:00.000+01:00

This episode was again full of ingenious plot twists. The borders of good and bad get thrown aside, even more than what happened in the previous episodes. Furthermore, we get some nice moral issues put in front of us.

Overall, I liked this episode. It is by no means the best Mushishi has ever delivered, but I still enjoyed this while watching. The view of immortality was also nicely executed, without making it seem too powerful. I was also really surprised at the desicion the guy made at the end. Any other character from any other anime would have made the other choice.

Ayatsuri Sakon - 4

2006-01-14T20:56:00.000+01:00

I may have said it before, but the idea that the calm, quiet and unsocial Sakon becomes a total different person when he weilds a puppet, is pure brilliance.

Anyway, this episode started another arc, and itstarts of awesomely. There's a huge load of new, unique characters, each with his or her reasons. Under normal circumstances, I would have hated these kinds of characters. Ayatsuri Sakon however, somehow manages to make me feel along with each and everyone of these characters, and succeeds in not making them annoying or anything for even a second. Some of the characters get explored a bit, and a person gets killed. All of this is executed brilliantly and accompanied by some awesome music pieces.

I'd love to see the outcome of this.

Shuffle! Review - 63/100

2006-01-14T20:13:00.000+01:00

Shuffle! is another one of those popular harem shows. According to a lot of people it's one of the better ones. The setting is a modern-like world, but in which the gods and the devils have made contact with the humans. This doesn't really have an huge influence on the storyline though, except for creating the excuse to include some magic in the show.

The show is basically one guy who gets to have five different girls around him, who are all in love with him. The first half of the series shows us a peaceful pacing, with Rin and the others just having fun with each other. In the second half of the anime, each of the important characters gets their own airtime to reveal, explore and solve their own storylines, with Rin, of course, in the middle. I was very amused when I noticed one episode entirely devoted to two unimportant side-characters.

The problem with this anime is that all goes a bit too easy, and there are lot of events who need some kind of reason, but are based on coincidence. While other events with a reason were better off based on coincidences. Also, the fact that the characters keep telling Rin that they love him gets annoying after a while. Sure once is okay. But ten times, per episode, per character really is a bit too much.

About the individual stories of each of the characters. Some were very interesting, while others a bit disappointing. I also felt that the climax already came in episode 20. The climax itself was extremely awesome, but it did make the last four episodes seem like some sort of epilogue. The story presented in the last three episodes didn't have the power of episode twenty, and it's also very predictable. I also felt that, at the epiloge of episode 24, the only one who changed in comparison to episode 21 was Primula, while her role was extremely small during that period.

This show, of course, also has lots of good points. Each of the characters act very natural among most circumstances, and it's enjoyable to watch the whole bunch just having fun with each other. The side characters all have something unique in them, so that's something to watch out for. The drama moments are also mostly greatly executed. Overall, it was a decent watch.

Why you should watch this: If you're into fanservice and cute girls, you will like this.

Final Rating: 63/100

Some quick first impressions

2006-01-13T23:06:00.000+01:00

So, right now I managed to see the first episodes from a couple of shows the shows that will be starting to air this season. If I have anything to say about it, it will be this: my expectations were totally wrong. The dull-looking series turned out to have a lot of potential, while the cool looking series kindof messed up.

Fate/Stay Night:
This was the most anticipated anime for this season, although it didn't really impress me. The main character is nothing special. Just a guy, who is very kind, has special powers, and somehow ends up with a couple of girls. The magic system may have some potential, but that part hasn't been shown yet. That's why I think I'll follow this for a couple more episodes.

Kagihime:
This was one of the series I was anticipating the most for. It really reminded me somehow of the story of Alice in wonderland, and lots of fairytales. So I was expecting a wonderful world full with lots of different stories and tales, all coming together to one writer. I'm a huge fan of those kinds of stories, so it could have been amazing. Alas. It turned out to be horrible. The show revolves around stories called "Alices". That may be a good premisse, but the awful thing is, that the fact that they exist is mentioned lots of times. But what's in those stories (the most important thing) is never mentioned. Furthermore, this show ended up dedicated to fanservice, instead of storytelling. The characters all have ridiculously huge haircuts. Well, only the characters that play a part in the anime, of course. The main character also, of course, ends up liked by all the girls without having to do anything for it. Sigh, what a disappointment.

Anyway, now the good stuff. :)

Wings of Rean:
Yes, this is an action series. Yes, this revolves around heavy machinery. But still, it does work somehow. The biggest thing I like about this anime is the pacing. It's only been the first episode, but it's already been a roller coaster ride from begin to end. The main characters are also very interesting, you could almost say that they're unique. Let's hope they stay interesting like that. It's also interesting to see that the creators managed to combine the technologies of today with some futuristic air/watership designs. This can be pretty interesting.

Magikano:
I started this series with the image of another dull harem show in my mind. It is indeed a harem show, but that's not the most important thing. This show is one of those select shows that has you laughing from begin to end. I seriously reccommend this to people who are looking for a few good laughs. The characters are each very interesting. They're not unique, but they do have a certain feeling that makes them very enjoyable to watch. My only concern is that the show may not be able to keep up with the same comedy level as this episode.

So, that's it. I may be blogging some of them, but I'll decide that after watching some more episodes.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind Review - 77/100

2006-01-13T16:00:00.000+01:00

What we have here, is a movie that takes place 1000 years into the future. The phenomena called the sea of decay, a huge forest full of highly toxic plants who breathe out poisonous gasses and which is swarmed with huge insects, has devoured a great part of the earth. What do humans generally do when they face this kind of crisis? Right. Declare war on the insects and on each other. The insects, however, have proved to be unstoppable when attacking with millions at a time. The main character, Nausicaa (hence the title) is against all of this, loves each and every insect and is opposed to killing in any way.

This movie works pretty well. The great thing about this, is that you won't be able to tell which ones are the real bad guys. Everyone and everything in the movie, except for Nausicaa perhaps, does some evil deeds, however, all of them have very good reasons to do so. Everyone is a victim of each other. This movie portrays it perfectly. It's great to see Nausicaa trying to calm each and every stakeholder in this.

The movie starts out a quiet, and it takes about fifteen minutes to get into it. From that point, the tension rises by every scene. No scene feels that it's draggin on too much. About halfway through the movie, the illusion is given that the main "bad guy", if you can call her that, will learn her lessons and stop hurting the insects. By not fulfilling this illusion, the creators just made me more curious about how this crisis was to be solved. I also foun it brilliant that the main power of the bad guys never actually gets used to its fullest powers. You rarely see that these days. I appreciated it.

Anyway, from the middle of the anime, almost all the boundaries of good and bad are shifted, until they're shattered at the climax. Each and every character develops thoughout this period. Some may not seem so obvious, but if you pay close attention, you may notice it. The climax itself has been brilliantly done, and for a moment, it does seem that all hope is lost. The ending has been done decently, although it feels a bit rushed.

After seeing this movie, I found out that this movie ahs huge religious themes. I can't help to agree with that statement. After thinking about it, this movie flows with all sorts of Christian and Messiah-like references.

Why you should watch this: If you have the time to watch a good movie, and aren't bothered by the really old-looking character design, then you definately have to watch this.

Final Rating: 77/100

Revolutionary Girl Utena - 26

2006-01-06T23:31:00.000+01:00

There seem to be an aweful lot of recycled scenes in this season: the car scene at the beginning, the bed scene, the student council scene, the second-car scene, the yaoi-ness of Touga and Akio (>.<), the weird-girl's scene, the battle opening, the cars again, the defeat scene, and I probably missed a few. It's a good thing that these cells are used perfectly, and are either full of elegance or brilliance (most often a combination of those two), I can just stare forever at Utena and Himemiya lying down simultaniously and symmetrically. The cars also seem a bit weird, but they do work.

This show follows a clear path for each serious episode. You can always predict this will happen, except in a filler episode. We get an introduction, the person who will fight gets a bit explored, and that person and Utena fight, Utena wins. With in between Utena and Himemya talking while in bed, the student council having a talk, the two weird girls being weird and every recycled cell mentioned above.

The beautiful thing is that outside of these rules mentioned above, that you definately will never be able to predict what will happen. It's sort of like a human body. We have the skeleton, but around the skeleton happens so much more. I really enjoy this. So many tiny pieces are hidden in this show, it's impossible to notice all of them.

It's also great to see that the student council, while discussing, is always busy with something else (mostly just unimportant to pass the time). This time Nanami was exploring a massaging chair. The overall effect was brilliant. My favourite up till now is when Touga is practicing his knife-throwing.

The walking ducky also was a nice touch, and I was startled a bit when the car was suddenly driving on one side, with people in it...

Overall, this has been an awesome episode. I'm really looking forward to the next one.

Mahou Shoujotai Review - 97/100

2006-01-05T12:22:00.000+01:00

This is it: probably one of the best anime ever. At first glance this is just your average fantasy story, but it's so much more. The duration of one episode is, unlike most, just eight minutes, and still, in those eight minutes the creators manage to put something that other anime only can accomplish in three episodes. This anime really is the roller-coaster ride of the roller-coaster rides.

The story is also unique. Every one or two episodes, another plot twist gets revealed that only makes you more eager to watch it. Another amazing thing is that you will not be able to predict what is going to happen next. That's the beauty of this anime. Even in the departments of character development, character design and character interaction this series delivers. Each one of the characters is unique and different, and shows a great and perfectly executed dose of character development.

In order to make this anime, the creators had to create a world in which it was going to happen, along with the rules that make the things flow. You will be amazed by the result: a highly creative magic system, a diversative world, which even make sense and still look good.

The art of the characters is different from most anime. It's a bit messier and dirtier than most regular anime, and the hair of the characters doesn't shine like most shows feature. I have to say that I like this style. It really gives a unique feeling to the show. The panoramas will also leave you gazing upon your screen. You also must listen to the music developed for this show. Everything sounds top notch.

The only negative piece of comment I have for this anime is that the ending felt a bit rushed.

Why you should watch this: Are you a human being? Then watch this!

Final Rating: 97/100

Mahou Shoujotai - 40

2006-01-03T23:24:00.000+01:00

"There's one way to make everyone happy. Each person has to make the person dear to them happy with their own strenght. If you make your one special person happy like that, then everyone can become happy. Definately." - Alice

And so we come to the ending of Mahou Shoujotai. I kindof feared something like this would happen. It looks too much like the "and they lived happily ever after"-ending, which I sortof despise. Although, this was to be predicted... everything lined a bit to much up for an ending like this. It's such a shame that the weak point of one of the best series ever has such an ending.

Anyway, tomorrow, I'll probably have the review up.

Jigoku Shoujo - 07

2006-01-03T22:58:00.000+01:00

This episode was so cool. It starts out as a regular jigoku-shoujo story. A girl with a talent for acting gets surpressed by her famous adoptive mother. We see her acces the website and call Emna Ai. The same ritual, blah blah. But somehow the pacing is a bit too fast, and a few questions are left unanswered. Then, however, we get to see that the girl is actually an enormous SOB, and the mother is the one with the good intentions. When she gets her role taken away from her by an unknown girl, she decides to take revenge upon her, calls a couple of guys and they do something horrible to the girl that took her part. After that, it really gets awesome. I won't tell what happens, but I was extremely amused by the sudden plot twist. The creators carried it out perfectly.

I also think I've figured out the power of Jigoku Shoujo: the element of surprise. The creators build a certain premisse and overall repetiveness up, maintain it, and suddenly break it at just the right time. This has an awesome effect.

Fruits Basket Review - 73/100

2006-01-03T22:17:00.000+01:00

Fruits Basket, the concept of a family in which the members turn into an animal of the chinese zodiac when they hug a member of the opposite sex. There isn't really a story holding this together. Just the main person living her live alongside the family, and meeting different family members. Still this works out pretty well.

The power of Fruits Basket lies in the fact that it's excellent in creating and developing characters. Each one of the huge cast has something unique and even an extremely well developed story of his/her own. This goes along with the incredible writing talents of the writers, which give birth to some of the most impressive speeches seen in anime.

This show also has a healthy dose of comedy stuffed in it. It works pretty well, mostly in the first thirteen episodes. At the second half the jokes become a bit more forced and repetitive, unfortunately.

One thing that turned me off a bit is that in the second half, some characters are introduced just for the heck of it and to fill up some episodes. It just felt like they had nothing to do with the main characters. I would've liked to have seen a bit more of the other ones.

Why you should watch this: if you like heavy drama with lots of very interesting characters, then you should watch this.

Final rating: 73/100

Revolutionary Girl Utena - 25

2006-01-03T21:42:00.000+01:00

Like I said before: it's been a long time since I saw the last episode of this. I believed that I'd seen up to number twenty-three. Just now I realize that I made a slight error in my calculations, making me miss the twenty-third one. It would probably have featured the downfall of the boys of the black rose. (note to self: track that episode down)

Anyway, this episode featured the start of a new season. If you'd ask me to describe it in just one word, I'd reply with "refreshing". The boys from the black rose were good in order to show some in-depth character development of some of the major an minor characters. It really felt like I got to know the personages more and more. However, it also felt a bit empty. The black rose had nothing to do with the main story and I also felt like some important characters were neglected a bit.

Therefore it was nice to see that this season will revolve around the members of the student counsel again. Sayonji and Touga are back, in all of their bishounen-ness. We also get some very obvious hints that Akio is some sort of bad guy. In what ways and how, when, why which and where are still a mystery. The recycled cells are replaced with old ones, Utena gets a new sword, the music gets even more awesome, and the shadow-play-girls are back against the walls where they were in the first season.

The story certainly takes a twist in the good direction this time. I liked the overall plot twists. I'm really curious now who End-of-the-world might be. It also seems that Anthy finally acts beyond her role of the rose bride, the student counsel meetings are just as awesome as ever (this time with baseball!) and the shadow-play-girls are as weird as ever. The stairs also seemed to have made way for a modern elevator (don't you love the modern-day sciende?). All the desks and body outlines shown on the battlefield also got their modernization, as they were repaced by red sport cars, sticking out of the arena, literally (do NOT ask me why). My only complaint is that I almost couldn't take yaoi-scented scenes.

Mahou Shoujotai - 39

2006-01-02T00:55:00.000+01:00

WHAT!?! Oh my GOD NO! Everything makes sense now, but still, not that! Aargh! *screams*

Ahem. Now that that's out, today has been the best episode thus far. A lot of things get explained, and things are starting to make sense now. The plot twist is incredibly sad. Alice also makes a lot of progress. This really was THE roaller coaster ride of the roller coaster rides in anime.

I'm REALLY looking forward to the last episode now, but HOW THE FRIGGIN HECK are the creators going to solve all this in just EIGHT minutes!?!

Mahou Shoujotai - 38

2005-12-31T17:26:00.000+01:00

OMG! Best speech ever! Best tear-dropping moments ever! Best plot twist ever! Best episode EVER! This episode was so utterly incredible, you’d have to see it for yourself. I just love the way Sheila tried to convince Alice not to give up. Eva really looks beautiful now. And the cliff-hanger at the end made me almost explode of curiosity.

Mahou Shoujotai - 37

2005-12-31T17:20:00.000+01:00

I knew it! The character art has changed! The characters really look older now. I first noticed this with Sheila, but no I see it as well with Eva and Alice. How much time did this show span in order to show such features? This show just keeps getting better and better! And I really feel along with Eva.

Popolocrois Story 1998 - 03

2005-12-31T17:18:00.000+01:00

We get an introduction of the knight with a medieval accent. I like him, he seems like an interesting character. The bad guy needed a bit bigger role in this episode, which was mainly focused on Hyuu trying to get home again and eventually deciding that she should stay. It was entertaining, but I expected a bit more of it. We get an introduction of the knight with a medieval accent. I like him, he seems like an interesting character. The bad guy needed a bit bigger role in this episode, which was mainly focused on Hyuu trying to get home again and eventually deciding that she should stay. It was entertaining, but I expected a bit more of it.

Law of Ueki - 32

2005-12-31T00:34:00.000+01:00

This episode was a bit too full of coincidences. For example, I'd like to have had a reason for why Pekol and Gurano have such matching powers. It's also a bit strange that Mori has to be with every fight. Okay, she'll make sure of some good laughs, but it still irks me.

I'm attracted to Pekol's story. I like the way he believes he's weak and can do nothing and I also like the way he realizes that he can be something if he wants to.

About the battle, I believe it was a bit too long. It had a lot of useless time-filling moves, who could've been replaced by other things. I did like the way the second mecha was destroyed. In there, you really could see the creativeness working overtime.

Revolutionary Girl Utena - 24

2005-12-30T23:43:00.000+01:00

Yes, I know. This anime is nine years old. Everybody must've seen this by now. Well, make that everone but me. Blame Holland's crappy anime-industry.

The reason why I decided to blog this series is simple: because I like it. This anime is pure style and elegance. The drama scenes work really well, and even the minor characters get their development (okay, maybe not the curry guys, but you get the overall idea). I've also got to say that each comedy episode is laughing me to tears.

I am also very interested in the shadow plays, which happen every episode. Okay. It may be to save some budget, but it really works. This episode was also full of it and it really gives a certain feeling to the scene. Oh, and I just love the two girls behind the curtains who appear every episode.

Anyway, it had been a long while since I saw an episode of this show, due to the fact that it's so friggin' hard to find. A recap episode, therefore, was a pleasant surprise. The episode is about Tsuwabuki and Nanami. Utena and Himemiya get to know Nanami's secret plans of the first couple of episodes through the help of Tsuwabuki's diary, and it appears that she's been stalked everywhere she went by him, in rather funny ways. This was entirely performed behind a curtain and those moments really had me laughing. Then Nanami found out some secret fantasies Tsuwabuki had. Those were a little painful to watch.

Overall, if you compare it with other recaps from different anime, I'd say this is a pretty good episode. It really is a bit more than just a repeat of some previous important scenes.

Orphen Review - 76/100

2005-12-28T19:33:00.000+01:00

I'm watching more anime than just the ones I'm blogging. I will be trying to provide a small review once I finish them. I'll probably do the same with the anime that I already finished before, although it will take a loooong time for me to do so...

Anyway, what we have here, is a typical fantasy story. It starts out with a decent above-average story, with a few special elements, but it still comes down to girl's in trouble, main hero tries to save her, evil guy tries to stop them. Then, once the second half of the anime enters, one plot twist entirely changes your view of the entire story. From there on, the anime continues with a truly captivating story, that will surely make you feel along with the characters.

This anime mainly is an action/drama series, with a healthy dose of comedy thrown in. The comedy does really work, especially with the two nosy brothers who keep causing troubles. There is just the problem that this anime also tries to be cute at some moments (for example the blue dog-like creature who gets introduced in the show). This doesn't work.

Most of the main characters have been developed excellently. You can exactly see why they did what they did, but still you can't predict them. You'll even feel with some of the less important characters of the show. I do, unfortunately, have to say that the two characters always travelling along with Orpen can get annoying at times. True, they do have their genious moments, but at some times they only seem like thrown in for comic relief that doesn't work.

This story certainly has its creative moments. Mostly in the story and comedy department. Especially at the second half of the anime, the story is like nothing I've ever seen. Do also not miss the episodes devoted to comedy. I'll assure you: you'll have some good laughs.

Why you should watch this anime: if you like fantasy stories, you will definately like Orpen.

P.S. Yes, if you look at the score of this anime, you'll see that my standards are really low. This is the table to which I'm holding myself:
0...10: A worthless piece of garbage.
10...20: Has no good points, you should never watch this.
20...30: Only watch this if you're bored.
40...50: Has a lot of flaws, but maybe some good points.
50...60: Decent anime, but still very flawed.
60...70: Average to good anime. I'd recommend it.
70...80: Anime with some extremely good points. I really like these
80...90: These are so awesome, I'd keep on muttering about them.
90...100: These are the anime that make me go crazy. They are the best anime ever, and with very good reasons.
You may ask why I'm saving so much room for the good anime. Well, I want the good anime to have some extra attention they deserve. Some people all rate their favourite anime between 9.0 and 10.0. I'm finding this extremely subjective. When do you know what's your favourite anime? Is it the one with the 10.0 rating, or the other ten ones with the 10.0 ratings, which may have been 9.0 as well?

Mahou Shoujotai - 36

2005-12-24T22:31:00.000+01:00

OMG! There are really too few people who know about this wonderful anime. This is such a pity, because it is one of the best ever made. This episode as well was nothing but awesomeness. We first get the delusion of a happy ending, it may not be clear if it really is a happy ending, but still everyone believes it and it's noticable by the overall mood. But right afterwards we get smacked down by the reality. I won't spoil what will happen, but all I can say is that I'm really looking forward to the last four episodes of this unique anime.

Well, this concludes my christmas update. Didn't I tell you it was going to be huge? ^_^
Anyway, Merry Christmas everyone. I hope you have a good time.

Mahou Shoujotai - 35

2005-12-24T22:13:00.000+01:00

Just when I thought that this show couldn't get any better. Alice still is the only one who truly acts right, even though that means acting extremely stupid. The world destruction finally is about to happen. We get a few surprises from Alice's dad, and from Alice as well. Furthermore, you can't help but sympathize with Eva, now that she lost her magic, she also lost her bravery and I'm getting more and more respect for Sigma.

Whoa, this series really is a rollercoaster ride from beginning to end. Thumbs up for the creators.

Mahou Shoujotai - 34

2005-12-24T21:53:00.000+01:00

Another awesome episode. We're finally drawing near the end, and the climax is near. But before that, we have five more episodes to go. I'm really curious about what will happen next, and what's going to be the role of Sheila and Eva?

Mahou Shoujotai - 33

2005-12-24T20:44:00.000+01:00

Heh, didn't I tell you the christmas update was going to be huge? And there'll still be more, as Anime-Forever suddenly released a massive six episodes nearly all at once. I've said it before: this anime is my most favourite ever, and this episode only gave me more reasons to believe so.

Alice, instead of hiding from the warlocks, does the most reckless thing you can ever think of, and it still works. Meanwhile, her father may have some escape plans. I'm also currently in a love-hate relationship with the warlock locked up along with him, and the magic world is running more and more, and faster and faster into chaos. Literally and figuratively.

Mahou Shoujotai - 32

2005-12-24T20:21:00.000+01:00

Wha-who-wha-wha-wha-what an awesome episode this was. In just eight minutes, this series accomplishes what some anime only can manage in two whole hours. So many different things happened, so many plot twists... and still everything connects perfectly. I'm not going to spoil anything, this is something you'd have to really see for yourself, but I can definately say that this was the best episode yet of Mahou Shoujotai.

Oh, and I just love the detail the creators brought in with the rose and the healing spell. It was a very nice touch.

Mahou Shoujotai - 31

2005-12-24T19:47:00.000+01:00

Even though this is probably just a prologue of the next episode, this episode was incredible! At the beginning of the just eight-minute-long episode, Ateria acts like a selfish idiot, only after the true magic book. Afterwards, you'll get the respect you had of her back. Meanwhile, I just hate warlock guy who was locked up along with Alice's father, and the three witches seen in the first fifteen episodes make their comeback. Alice educates Renon a bit about fathership, and Atera's castle is being stormed, and SO much more! It was good to finally see an episode of this again. I was getting a bit worried about the inconsistent releases by Anime-Forever, but this totally made up for it, and it remains my favourite show ever!

Law of Ueki - 31

2005-12-24T18:15:00.000+01:00

Okay, let's recap, the members of the enemy team have the following variety of powers:
- The power to change clothes into armor.
- The power to change a sculpture into the real thing.
- The power to change a line picture into a warp portal.
- The power to turn a pun into reality if the victim of the pun laughs.
I'm really curious now to the power of the tiny little guy. Furthermore, on the island the battles are taking place, there are giant meat-eating oranges, who bite your head off if you touch the trees they're growing on.

I just want to know in what kind of mood the creators were when they thought of this. These things are so utterly creative, it's almost inhuman. I especially like the pun guy. If he wants to change something of the opponent, he uses the picture guy to tickle them through the portals so that they laugh. If he wants to change something of himself, he sets up an incredibly fake, but still hysterical and maniacal lauch. The result is quite hilarious.

Anyway, we first have Ueki and Mori get separated in a rather funny way. You have to see if for yourself, but I can assure: you will NOT see it coming. Then Mori meets up with Hideyoshi for a short, but extremely funny while. Afterwards, she ends up right next to Rinko and Sano in a rather peculiar situation... Anyway, Sano and Rinko are having some issues with working together while they are up against a combination of the Pun guy and the Picture guy. The ending, is of course predictable, but the way they manage to beat them at last deserves a few credits.

The next episode will probably feature Ueki versus the little guy and the sculpture guy, while the little guy learns a few lessons from him. And when the hell does Mori get to figure out her powers?!?!

Noein - 09

2005-12-24T17:59:00.000+01:00

This was an interesting episode. The conflict between Yuu and his mom gets fully explored, and it seems like it got solved in the end. Although it was just a side-plot and an excuse to make Haruka discover some of her powers, the creators did a good job into telling this story.

The next episodes will be focused at the main plot again. It was nice to see an intermezzo like this, without any fighting or tension like in the previous episodes. It keeps the anime balanced, I believe.

Noein - 08

2005-12-24T17:23:00.000+01:00

This was a sort-of intermezzo between two arcs. It mainly focused on the relationship between Yuu and his mother, from which we get to see the outcome in the next episode. It also seems that she actually has some kind of reason to do all this, which involves her own sister (Yuu's aunt). I'm curious to know what it is. I'm still loving the depressiveness of Yuu.

Noein - 07

2005-12-24T16:12:00.000+01:00

Oh my god... you just can't help but feeling sad, shocked and angry along with the characters. Something aweful happened in the past of La'Cryma, which probably involved Haruka sacrificed herself for something inevitable. All of the friends she had in the past are having trouble with seeing Haruka again. This effect is only strengthened if you know that she (having the Dragon Torque, and all) must be sacrificed again, in order to protect La'Cryma.

The visuals are amazing as ever. From the character design, to the special effects and to the huge monsters, everything looks amazing, but I really have to give muchas kudos to the artists for drawing the characters while shocked, sad and angry. You really can't help but feeling along with them.

It's just a bit annoying to see this awesome tension being broken when peaceful world comes into picture again. It isn't as bad with Yuu, as I just love seeing him broken like that (call me sadistic, but the effect works really well), but rather when the others are in the image. I don't know, but somehow, it doesn't really fit.

Bleach - 62

2005-12-24T15:45:00.000+01:00

A lot of things happened this episode. Some for the best, some for the worst. The big bad guy is uberpowerful. He manages to execute his plan. And Rukia is no longer needed, so she needs to be killed. I wasn't very pleased with these turn of events. It all seemed to go too easy for the bad guy. Then suddenly everyone arrives right at the same time to help out Ichigo and company. I'm really having love-hate feelings over this. It was of course great to see all those characters back with some roles, especially since it wasn't at the last possible minute that they made their entrance. I also found it highly enjoyable after I saw the first ones appear. But isn't it a bit too coïncidental to make ALL of them appear at the same friggin' time? Well, afterwards, you finally think that they are going to give a nice turn to the story, but no. The bad guys just ascend into heaven and disappear. I guess the creators wanted to have everyone important see the events that were about to happen, for god knows why. Anyway, everyone's happy, everything is over, everyone's still alive (Ugh! >.<), and the bad guys still roam somewhere, probably waiting to be slaughtered by Ichigo in the end.

There are two things I really liked about this episode. The first thing was the fox trying to get to Tousen. At the beginning, this seemed to go totally wrong, as he got slaughtered by the big bad guy in less than a second, but the creators managed to execute this part pretty well. I'm curious about what is about to happen to them. The other thing I liked was Byakuya's explanation of his reasons. These actually seem very plausible, and left me with a good feeling afterwards.

Overall, I'm looking forward to the next couple of episodes. The climax is over now, so there'll probably be more time for comic relief - the strength of Bleach. Let us hope they won't screw this up as well.

Popolocrois Story 1998 - 02

2005-12-24T15:03:00.000+01:00

After watching the second episode of this anime, I decided to blog it. It's actually pretty interesting. Despite the childish drawings, the characters are really well developed and some of them are really unique.

This show also has one of the funniest bad guys ever. Of course, bad guys, obsessed with big machines and with whom everything goes wrong aren't very loved these days (with which I agree, by the way). But in this anime it doesn't matter. You just can't seem to not sympatize with his desire over Narcia and Popolocrois. Another thing I love about this show is that the battles are nice and short, without too much meaningless fighting.

After the first half of the episode, the only characters that seemed a bit useless were the two vegetable-like minions of Hyuu. Those feelings however were completely gone at the end, as they also are more than just 2-dimensional characters. The only thing that turns me a bit off of this anime is the large amount of time spent on Pietoro, Narcia and Hyuu playing around the castle. Of course, they're kids, and of course, it contributes to Hyuu's development, but it feels as if it's a bit too much.

Exams

2005-12-23T16:28:00.000+01:00

Because of my exams this week, I've been a bit busy, which means that I had a very large queue of anime goodness waiting for me. I'll probably be able to catch up to them tomorrow, so be expecting a huge christmas update. ;)

Oh, and P.S. If you have anything to say, feel free to use the comment option. I don't care if I've never seen you or anything, everyone's welcome to comment. It's always nice to see some opinions of other people. ^_^

Winter Season 2005/2006 (and beyond) Preview

2005-12-21T21:18:00.000+01:00

Animeblogger did a very nice job in collecting as much data as possible on the upcoming winter season. You can find it here.

Well then, here follows a preview of the upcoming anime:

Magikano
The description is a bit fuzzy for this one, so I have no idea what to think of it. I believe that we have here a typical harem anime, as all the characters mentioned are females (with the maid and the sempai who's secretly in love, of course, included), except for the main one. I think I'll watch the first episode of this before I make my conclusions.

Kagihime Monogatari Eikyuu Alice Rinbukyoku
"That tale from the heart, where wishes are granted, the endless tale of 'Alice.'" This can be pretty interesting. I'm really into fantasy stories and tales. I'll definately watch this. I'm just a bit worried about the rediculously huge amount of hair this person has.

Tonagura!
A dirty guy returns to his childhood friend after 10 years of absence and tries to hit on her. No doubt this series will have the two of them coming together and accepting each other... I don't think I'll like this one.

REC
Voice actress, that's a new one (if you don't include Puni Puni Poemy, of course). Again, I'm suspecting some kind of love story between the main characters. I may see this, I may not. Although I like the art of this one.

Kashimashi ~Girl meets Girl~
I really don't know what to think about this one: A guy confesses to a girl, and gets turned down. Then he gets hit by a UFO and aliens turn him into a girl. I'm suspecting that this will be Shoujo Ai with a lot of life-lessons. I think I'll watch this out of curiosity.

Shinigami no Ballad
This series consists of six episodes, with each of them a different story, all revolving around a girl in white robes with white hair, who wields a scythe and acts as death. I am SO wanting to see this. The premisse sounds awesome, and the art looks TOO cute.

Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora
While a guy was hospitalized, he kept getting bothered by a girl his age, who was acting extremely rude. After a while, he found out why. This sounds like it'll be good for some interesting drama. I also like the art of this. I think I'll watch this.

Yomigaeru Sora - Rescue Wings
A guy wanting to pilot a fighter gets assigned to a helicopter-rescue-department. I doubt I'll watch this, I hate these kinds of concepts.

Kage Kara Mamoru!
A geeky-like boy is in reality a ninja that protectsone certain family. Judging from the fact that he's surrounded by five girls on the image provided by the link above, I can really say that this will be a harem anime with lots of action thrown into it. I'm not really fond of these kinds of anime, but who knows, I may watch this.

Rakugo Tennyo
Six girls get summoned into the end of Edo period by the power of mystic stones. They become celestial nymphs to protect cities from evils. Each girl obtains her own power. The power one f those girls obtained was “word”. She fights against evils by her “words” that gave people hope. If this gets to be more then just a mahou shoujo series, then I'll be satisfied. I especially like the fact that she got the power "word", instead of the cheesy fire.

Binchotan
"Binchou-tan doesn't have parents. She lives alone in the mountain in her private residence, but someone called Ubamega-san gives her assistance." She also carries a lump of charcoal on her head. Judging from the art, it'll probably be a kids' show. But still, I may see one episode to see how it turns out.

Ginyuu Mokushiroku Meine Liebe Wieder
The second season of Meine Liebe. I still got to see the first one.

Sasami -Mahou Shoujo Club-
No further info is given, except for one picture of it. I'm predicting that it'll involve some mahou shoujo. I may see this.

Fate/stay night
This is the big thing everyone's waiting for. I'll watch it to see if it is as good as people think.

Naikaku Kenryoku Hanzai Kyosei Torishimarikan Zaizen Jotaro
This anime's got an incredibly long title... It's based on a political intrigue detective manga. It has some potential in it. I'll probably watch the first episode of it before jumping to conclusions.

The Third
OMG! I like this! The art looks amazing. I'll really be looking forward to this one.

MAJOR 2nd season
The second season of a baseball anime. It doesn't really catch my eye...

Wings of Rean
Judging by the art, this is going to be some sort of mecha/familiar anime... Maybe I'll check it out...

Lemon Angel Project
Another singing anime, unlike beck more focused to pop music.... yuch. I have a bad feeling about this.

Furthermore, I've also found some interesting titles to appear from this site. I'll be listing a few of them.

Ayakashi~ Japanese Classic Horror
Horror stories. I'll keep an eye on this. The artwork also seems very impressive.

Zero no Tsukaima
I'm liking this. A girl summons a guy from another world so he can become her servant. The art also seems of decent quality.

XXXHolic TV
I am SO looking forward to this series. It's supposed to be similar to Tsubasa Chronicle, and I loved that.

Yoshinaga-san Ie no Gargoyle
I have no idea what this is, but I like the art. :)

Arusu The Adventure
Sorry if I'm a bit scary now, but OMG!!!!!!! I can't believe Mahou Shoujo Tai is having a second season. I'm currently still following Anime-Forever's fansubs, but afterwards, the goodness will continue. I WILL definately be following this.

Hellsing Ultimate
Another series I'll be looking forward to. The original Hellsing went on a totally different path from the manga (which I never read, by the way). This one is following a bit more. I'll be following this one.

Utawarerumono
"The main character was helped when he was wounded lying on the ground in woods. When he woke up, he didn’t remember who he was. Furthermore, he had a mask that he couldn’t put off. By favor of the people in the village, who had animal ears and tails by the way, he began to live in the village." I don't know what to think of this. I'll probably watch the first episode of this.

Highlander: Vengeance
It's got an interesting setting. It's lots of years into the future, and there are lots of celtic influences. I'm really liking celtic aspects, so I'll be following this when it comes out.

Ergo Proxy
This is supposed to be THE anime with the best graphics ever. I'll probably watch it to see if it's really what they say.

Demashitaa! Powerpuff Girls Z
I'm still having twitches from when I discovered what this anime is about. I have no idea what to do: to cheer, or to run away screaming...

Tsubasa Chronicle 2nd Season
Another anime I'll be looking out for. I loved the first season, and I'm hungry for more.

Brave Story
Hmmm, a fantasy adventure story for what appears to be little kids. Still, I like the idea as well. I'll probably watch this.

Afro Samurai
I have just one thing to say: ........

Makai Senki Disgaea
I haven't played the game, but I love the art. I'll probably watch this.

So, that's it. Lots of great is anime coming up in 2006. I can't wait. :)

Ayatsuri Sakon - 03

2005-12-19T22:26:00.000+01:00

This episode was so cool. Finally we get to see an anime which isn't afraid to kill off lots of their characters, and at the same time make every death count. Although it was a bit predictable that the girl stayed alive, and that the creators gave a too obvious hint away before Sakon solved it. Apart from that, I loved this. From the reason the bad guy/girl was doing this and the way the conflict was finally resolved, to Sakon, making his puppet act like one of the murdered characters. I'll definately keep following this.

Mushishi - 08

2005-12-16T20:04:00.000+01:00

The story in this episode was a hopeless case: a man lost his wife on a boat trip through an unfortunate encounter with mushi, and he's been waiting for her for over 2,5 years. Of course she's dead afterwards, but the creators still manage to give the viewer some hope about it. And they also manage to turn this into a great story to tell. I once again loved the semi-sad ending of it. I had some doubts when the episode started, because nothing seemed to happen. It may have been because my computer wasn't listening again, but it also may have been the intention of the creators to tell this story as calmly as possible. And well, they succeeded, because all those doubts were vanished once the ending theme came in. I really felt that this episode couldn't have been more complete.

There's one thing that irks me about mushishi though, and that is the fact that Jinko manages to turn up at exactly the right time to interfere. Okay, in fifty percent of the cases it is because of his intuition and research, but in the other fifty it's just a good dose of luck that he runs into these people.

Bleach - 61

2005-12-15T11:03:00.000+01:00

Yes, so what if most of the screenshots are of the 4th squad vice-chief? I like her, she has an awesome character. Apart from that, this episode has been awfully weak. We finally get to learn the reason why the big bad guy (I'm just calling him this to avoid spoilers) is doing this, but it would've been better if we weren't told. So, in the end, it does revolve around Rukia. Everything that's been happening this series was all well coordinated and directed by the big bad guy. I really liked the uber-powerful soul-slayer-story better. Furthermore, right at the moment when a character's about to be slashed to death, who comes to save him at the last possible minute? Right. And, of all the people, why did Urahara choose Rukia? And why does the big bad guy find out about this only just a few moments after he left? And why did the almighty Ichigo even get involved in this? It seems that almost everything that's been happening in this series was either directed by Urahara or the big bad guy, and for the things they didn't have anything to do with, there the phenomena called "luck" was helping them to make everything go according to plan.

It also seems that the total death count has reached zero once more. Here I was with a sparkle of hope for a minute, but they were crushed as flies. Are the creators too scared to kill of their characters, or something?

Okay, enough about the bad things. Now the good things. The part in which the 4th squad vice-chief let everybody know about the plan of Aizen was perfect. Not only did it include the vice-chief, but it did also show the a lot of characters that haven't been on the screen for a long while. This did good in making me anticipate to see more of them. This made me see that this show does have a lot of good character, which are awesome when they are not in the spotlights. The cliffhanger at the end of the episode also has potential to give a nice twist. At least, if the creators give it a chance.

Law of Ueki - 30

2005-12-11T01:42:00.000+01:00

Normally, I tend to dislike fighting anime. In this case, I'll make a huge exception. This anime is so utterly creative, it scares me.

We have a very eccentric god, who organizes a tournament. 100 middle school students are given special powers, and have to battle each other. The winner gets the special talent he wants (and it can really be ANYTHING, including the power to destroy the world, which instantly takes care of the antagonists). There are just two catches: the first one is that the powers given to the persons are not ordinary powers you often see in these kinds of anime, no, the powers each are unique and beyond anything I've ever seen in anime (for example: the power to turn trash into trees, cotton into spikes, tomatoes into magma, beads into bombs, and those are just the least original of the bunch). The second catch is that each of the powers has a limit, or something that the power user has to do in order to use his powers. (think of: the power to turn water into fireballs if you put it in your mouth, the power to turn lightning into SUGAR when your eyes are open, the power to change your forehead into diamonds when your hands are in your pocked, and of course the power to turn towels into steel if you hold your breath).

This, of course offers for a tremendous amount of strategy in battles. The Law of Ueki executes this perfectly, and manages to put humour in it as well. I could keep on rambling about all the small things the creators thought of, but I'll keep that for a next time.

This episode, is sort of the beginning of the second season. The break is over and the next round begins. The first half features a very humorous explanation of the next round, as well as an introduction of new characters (the ones seen above). It was nice to see some old characters returning. I was fairly surprised when I learned that after the whole explanation the creators still managed to include a fight, as well as finishing it. The fight was also one of the funniest. How many times do you see an enemy who's main weapon is karaoke?

Noein - 06

2005-12-11T01:07:00.000+01:00

This episode, being the first that mostly took place in La'cryma, had a lot of explanations about this certain timespace. I have to say, I like it. There's no wonder why the big guy talked about the peacefullness of the other dimension, as La'crima is a place with nothing but suffering. The creators also did a good job at balancing the suffering, so that it doesn't become too overly done.

I only have to say, that this dimension is based a bit too much on coincidences. It seems that everyone of Haruka's friends is going to play some big role of some sort. Of course, this offers some great story opportunities, but still. A little more randomness could have been okay. But still, the cliffhanger at the ending of this episode really made me hungry for more.

Mushishi - 07

2005-12-11T00:08:00.000+01:00

This episode had the same concept as the other episodes of Mushishi. While not as dark as the other ones, the story did again captivate me, even though it was lighter then in most of the episodes. This episode also ended wonderfully. It was nice to see a Mushishi episode like this for once.

The episode is simply about a man trying to catch a rainbow, who appears to be a mushi. I've found it amazing that the creators managed to put such a concept, which is mostly used in little children's shows, into a serious storyline which actually makes sense, and even fill a whole episode with this without becoming boring. We also get some nice life lessons on the way. As someone who has followed phylosophy lessons, I'm appreciating those little things.

Bleach 60

2005-12-07T23:51:00.000+01:00

Aaaah, so this was the big thing everyone was waiting for. The big bad guy is finally revealed, and next episode we'll learn what he's planning. It's interesting to see how every character will be reacting to this, but I do have some problems with this. The big bad guy just seems too ultrapowerful. It's perfect in any way, and has found a perfect strategy. I so hope that at least a few persons will be able to make him scared, apart, of course, from Ichigo. It was also nice to see a whole episode without him. He's by no means a bad character, but when he does get in the spotlight, especially at this point, you can take poison on that he's going to end up fighting.

It was also nice to see that some people actually DIED this episode. Finally they are moving into the right direction a bit, although the creators have to make their deaths count for a bit, and not make it seem like they wanted to get rid of a few characters because of budgetting problems.

That said, I'm still a bit disappointed with how this turned out. The reason stated above. This episode did make me lose even more interest in the main plot, but ironically it did increase my interest for the subplots. Especially the conflict between the 1st, 8th and 13th captain (read: conflict, NOT fight).

Jigoku Shoujo - 06

2005-12-07T00:40:00.000+01:00

Holy goodness... the story in this episode is so friggin' sad. It's still the usual concept that we know of Jigoku Shoujo though, but this one has been executed very well. We have a girl, whose mother accidentally saw the popular-wife-of-important-person cheating on her husband. Since then, her mother has been tormented by that woman. As her mother suffers, she suffers as well. The creators really succeeding in telling us that the mother was suffering. It was so sad when looking her husband hit her because his job is in danger because of her. I give two thumbs up for this one.

It's also nice to see that the girl and Emna actually have a conversation, apart from the usual "Here is a doll with a red string bla bla, pull the string blabla, you'll go to hell as well etc." I also liked the new preparation scene, and I noticed that the recycled cells took shorter than before. Also the annoying grandmother was no nuisance this time.

Jigoku Shoujo - 05

2005-12-07T00:17:00.000+01:00

Okay, this is what I've been waiting for. Emna and the three others are finally playing an active role, other then just carrying out the revenge, and furthermore the story in this episode is awesome. We have this president of a huge succesful company, with a high school girl employed who's supposed to be her distant family. Everyone believes that girl is aweful with computers, while the president is wonderful with them, but it's just the opposite. The president is nowhere with computers, while the girl is a computer nerd. So far so good? Well, it also appears that the president is using the girl to hack into other companies and administration to her own advantage. The girl can't do anything because of blackmail. We also see that the president is someone who'll do literally everything for a succesful life, including summoning Jigoku Shoujo for her own selfish gains, and killing multiple persons.

This really turned into a great episode. They finally showed a bad guy (or girl) with multiple perspective, instead of the blocky ones they normally show. Emna finally gets to do something other then just riding in a boat or lying in the water. But I could still see the normal pacing I'm used of Jigoku Shoujo.

I'm having some speculations here. If I am right, then this anime will have a first season of slightly normal cases, and once the second season starts, then the cases will turn more extravagant by the minute. I'll be very interested when that happens.

Jigoku Shoujo - 04

2005-12-06T23:42:00.000+01:00

The individual stories are interesting to watch, and although the first two episodes were a lot better then this one, I had an interesting time watching this.

I'm just afraid that Jigoku Shoujo was put into this for just the hell of it. Her actions are becoming a bit repetitive, which is such a pity, as she has a wonderful character. I'm really anticipating an episode that breaks this pattern. But as this show has 26 episodes, there is still lots of hope.

Jigoku Shoujo - 03

2005-12-04T20:29:00.000+01:00

Oh god, I so want the soundtrack of this. Anyway, what we have here, is a website. If you enter it at exactly 0:00 hours, it'll appear. On that website, you can enter a person's name, who will get sent to hell. Ideal for revenges. The only negative part is that you will also get sent to hell, after you die.

When I read this, I really liked this premisse, and so I was looking forward to seeing the anime. I wasn't disappointed. Emma Ai, or Jigoku Shoujo (meaning Hell Girl) fits her role perfectly, and her friends also seem very interesting. Also the stories that this anime tells every episode are awesomely done.

This episode also was very interesting. Not as good as the previous ones, but still worth all the efford watching it. The scene at the funeral has also been executed awesomely. I liked the main character struggling between the truth and his team.

The only downfall to this is that the part at which Jigoku Shoujo takes her revenge becomes a bit repetitive after you seen it for a couple of times. It's also a pity that all the bad guys so far were really bad guys, either obsessed, but they didn't care a bit about their victims. I'd love to see an episode in which the bad guy is half good, and the good guy is half bad, or a variation of this.

Mushishi - 06

2005-12-02T23:53:00.000+01:00

Holy god. This anime really messes with the rules of common anime. Whereas there normally are a good and an evil party, or sometimes a combination of those two, but still you can bring it down to those two concepts. In Mushishi, it is very difficult to see this mark. The mushi may be causing the problems, but they are also just trying to survive. The same goes in this episode. The mushi, although considered evil in the beginning, are just misused by the humans. And although they may be causing humans to experience those things by dying every day, again and again, they do give the humans a feeling of accomplishment and happiness. Is that evil, or is it good? I also loved the way this episode ended. I'm a big fan of endings that aren't totally happy, but still not entirely full of despair. This episode covered it perfectly. At the beginning of the episode, I did have some doubts though, but they were all washed away once the end theme started.

Ayatsuri Sakon - 02

2005-11-30T18:22:00.000+01:00

Okay, this is another one of those awesome shows that deserves more attention than it gets. We have the main character (Sakon), who is a very skilled puppeteer. He himself is a very timid boy, who doesn't speak to often, but his puppet is cheerful, blatant and full of energy. That alone is something you don't see often.

Now the good part: Sakon is very good in solving murders, and so he is often asked as a bodyguard. I've only seen up to the second episode, but I love it already. There's this group of seven adults, who are childhood friends. They return to their now deserted old schoolbuilding because of one of their friends committed suicide when they were children. There the killing begins. I'm not really fond of some of the characters, but they do work perfectly in this case. Slowly, after more people get killed, some of the characters go berserk, which only leads to the pleasure of the killer.

The end of this episode showed a very powerful cliffhanger. Therefore, I can't wait to see what happens next.

Mushishi - 05

2005-11-27T15:00:00.000+01:00

Hmm, not as good as the previous episode, but still, this episode moved me again. We have a girl being sacrificed to stop the flooding of a village, but then she gets rescued by a large green mushi, in the form of a travelling swamp. Her hair turns green, and she doesn't want anything other than to stay with the swamp, while the swamp is actually on its way to die at the sea.

I like the way this anime doesn't try to impress us with fast pacing and lots of action to make the character keep watching. It just calmly tells the horrifying stories the characters have to tell, and that's the power of this anime.

I'm also curious if the creators will introduce an overall storyline in one of the following episodes. If they don't, well then that's fine with me. I'm happy enough with all the individual stories. If they do, however, this can become just as interesting.

And a final note to self: get the soundtrack once it comes out!

Fantastic Children

2005-11-27T00:19:00.000+01:00

Okay, I just finished a marathon of the anime called Fantastic Children, and I have only one thing to say:

WATCH IT!

It's a bit late now at the time I'm posting it, I'm also too lazy to put up some screenshots, but seriously, you should watch this. The pacing may be a bit slow, and the art of the characters looks really old-school, but believe me, you will be captivated by the story.

Tales of Phantasia - 02

2005-11-25T22:14:00.000+01:00

I loved this episode. The art remains stunning and we get some nice life lessons. The dialogue has also been extremely well written, and I really liked the way the characters interacted. Even though this episode was just a prologe of the next episode, and an aftermath of the previous one, it didn't matter.

*really wants to play the game now*

Bleach - 59

2005-11-25T21:53:00.000+01:00

Another one of the series I'll be blogging. I really recommend the first thirty episodes, they're funny as hell, and the story and dialogue has been carried out extremely well.

After the first thirty episodes, however, this series starts falling down a veeerry deeeeep hole. It's almost only people fighting each other and getting stronger, and I'm more and more reminded of a certain Dragonball Z. Hence, this is why I believe it's so popular. I, however, hate these kinds of fights that drag on for episodes.

This episode was also for most of the time two big strong guys, showing off their power, and throwing light flashes at each other. Not very impressive. There were two things I did like here: the hyperactive hollow-like thing that suddenly burst out of Ichigo. He'll make a nice antagonist, I believe. His fight was also extremely short. I like that. That part was really well done.

The other part I like, was at the end, at the place of the cliffhanger. It seems like we finally get to know who's been causing mayhem from inside the soul society. The bad part, is of course that we almost KNOW that it can't be the third captain. All the evidence has been pointed to him, he's been in the spotlights for all the show, so there's no way he can be the real culprit.

Noein - 05

2005-11-24T16:57:00.000+01:00

This is another very interesting show. The art is unique, creative and it looks awesome. It has also one of the better stories around. I've really liked it up till now.

This episode was no exeption to this, and it may have been the best episode yet. The tensions are growing high, and former allies start fighting each other. We furthermore learn that something very tragic is going to happen to Haruka, which made me very curious about what that might be. Also, the way the man and the woman (can't remember their names right now) find out about Haruka has been done extremely well.

I'm looking forward to the next episode.

Mushishi - 04

2005-11-23T19:47:00.000+01:00

Another very interesting, unique series. Rather then having a couple of protagonists and antagonists chasing after each other, or something like that, this anime follows some guy, who knows a lot about creatures called "mushi". Normally mushi and humans can live along with each other pretty well, but there are cases in which they clash. The humans in question then begin to develop strange, supernatural symptoms. This guy then comes as a kind of doctor, to solve this.

It doesn't really sound impressive, but it works actually pretty well. I'm also happy that every episode doesn't have the "ooh, everything is fine and solved now, we can happily live our lives again, nothing has changed" - ending. After each episode, the mushi leave their trace.

This time, the mushi make a random guy having his dreams turned into reality, and thus killing off his entire village. It can't get any better than this, can it? >:)

Tales of Phantasia - 01

2005-11-23T12:59:00.000+01:00

Very interesting. I´ve never played the game, but this does make me want to play it. There´s been a lot of time spent on the characters, I especially like Arche and Klarth. The graphics are also the one of the best I´ve seen in anime, as they look amazing. I´ll be keeping an eye on this one.

Mahou Shoujotai - 30

2005-11-23T00:02:00.000+01:00

I started watching this anime by mistake, but then I realized that it had the most amazing story ever. Since then, it has been my favourite series. At only eight minutes per episode, the story pacing is hugely fast, and nowhere lingering. A lot of other anime can really learn from this.

The plot is basically about a girl called Alice, winding up in a magic world inhabited by witches and warlocks through the cause of a strange magic book. In there, creatures called sprites are used to conjure magic. Alice doesn't like the fact that the sprites are to be captured to be of use to the witches, so she sets them free, and decides that magic should be used to make people happy. And these are just the first two episodes. Through the anime, the story develops more and more.

Another awesome episode. This time, we got a lot of questions concerning the history of Alice and Renon. The plot was also fast-forwarding like crazy. Magnificent. :)