Maschara never ended in Season 2 like Madoka never went on hiatus and have an indefinite schedule.
Yes, Kuroneko, Yes. I’m still waiting for Genshiken to have a third season and it was never over in my mind.
Speaking of OreImo, I’m so frustrated with this show. It can be so horrible and full of faggotry in some episodes, then it suddenly turns into something awesome like this episode. What is this Tsundere-directing?
Farewell Zombie Cast!
I don’t really know how to evaluate this series. First and foremost though, I had a great time watching it. It’s such an ingenious show which plays on stereotypes and bite it against you. I mean for starters, we wanted quiet moe so without further ado we got Eu who doesn’t even talk at all. We get tsundere loli in Haruna’s form and moreoften than not I think the producers are trying to make fun of her. Sharp-tounge paired with big-boobed Sera was a nice addition but the best one of all, which sadly did not get as much screen time was Tomboy-Tsundere Tomonori who completely won me over with her “We’re married afterall antic”. This is the polar opposite of Fractale in which that show had so many interesting, intelligent ideas but failed to execute it properly while Zombie had totally overused mash-upped ideas but executed so amazingly that in ended up being smarter than the former.
On the other hand though, in another point of view, this really is just mindless fanservice with an excuse of a plot somehow (I mean Sera was just included in the plot so they can make her wear a maid outfit and play violin). Thinking back, everything ended so lamely and while I appreciate that the series never took itself seriously, I wish they did when it needed too. The whole point of the last arc was for Eu to kill the former Zombie she made and it turned out to be all a joke with PENGUINS. Maybe its just that last arc because my brain couldn’t take anymore on how inconsistent it was. They try to be funny and then next thing you know its all serious. Maybe its because they had to stop with 12 episodes and made an original ending but still -BAD ARC IS NEVER AN EXCUSE-. Its not as bad as it seems but comparing it from the previous episodes (1-8), it was just a bloody mess.
Production and Aesthetic wise, this series is above average, surprising for a DEEN series. It never looked pretty bad and some parts were ingeniously directed and animated.
All in all though I’m pretty satisfied and its still a solid show, one of the Top Tier this season and I still recommend everyone to watch it (NSFW warning) so yeah.
Rational Rating:
Plot: 42/50
Characters: 18/20
Production: 16/20
Overall Feel: 8/10
Verdict: 84/100 (B-)
*The episode-by-episode rating are only for the series that I blogged (eg. Kimi ni Todoke 2nd season and Index II). An overall Winter Season post will be published after Level E’s done on Monday.
*Uncurrency Anime is now a review column of sorts.
Lolhat ruined the epic screencap
Well, our weekly dose of sparkles, bubbles, kirakira, hatred, frustration, happiness, relief, and a good way to spend the middle of the week when stressing from homework has finally come to a close.
For an ending that wasn’t an ending in the manga (as I remember) this is pretty good. I thank Kurumi for the hatred she released from me and how the whole season was created from a line she said back in episode 1. I thank Kent for making the two confess (albeit frustratingly with the noYOUDON’TLIKEMEKAZEHAYASTOPMISUNDERSTANDING type) and liking Sawako. I thank Yano for being a good reminder that everyone in the series doesn’t misunderstand things. I thank Chizuru and Ryu for being a great sport though their relationship thrown aside for our main stars. I thank Pin for giving us the Unadulterated Kazehaya viewpoint. I will not thank Joe cus he’s retarded. For all the bystanders and side characters, thank you for not bullying my Sawako (except for those annoying Kurumi wannabees this episode). Of course Kazehaya for being man enough to actually confess to Sawako and to handle the situation in the last few episodes of this series without anymore misunderstandings. And of course our beloved kuro-hime, Yuuko potential, bubbles and sparkles all over, pure, innocent, kawaaiii, dawwww Sawako for being one of the best series in the Shoujo genre. I mean who can’t like her dammnit.
As for the episode itself, it was the best attempt Production IG could do since the manga wasn’t stopping at all. There are still a lot of lose ends like Ryu/Chizuru and Yano/Pin(ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww) and maybe Kurumi/Kent(though I just see them as failures bonding to share there faliureship) and of course I wanted to see more Kazehaya and Sawako out of school dating scenes. . . I’m doubtful for a third season but I guess I have to settle for this. If thinking rationally and Kimi ni Todoke does not produce a third season and this is the end then this ending is pretty bad but I don’t think rationally for this series and I just love it the way it is. You could say this is a guily-pleasure series in a way as I do see faults yet I could care less about it as I love it.
Verdict (for the episode): 8/10 (I’m pretty strict on intros and endings if you must ask which would reason out why I gave a 7 in the Katamoi episode and 8 on this episode when I’m blatantly praising it)
Rational rating:
Plot: 45/50 (Gets frustrating but in a good way and raging over characters because of what they’re doing have always been a plus for me. Plus Dáwww end result)
Characters: 17/20 (Kurumi, Kent, Pin and Joe. . . go die in hell)
Production: 20/20 (It’s IG after all. From directing, to animation, to beautiful watercolor backgrounds, this series looks great in my eyes.)
Overall feel: 9/10 (I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE THIS SERIES. I can be a bit of a Shoujofag sometimes.)
Overall: 91/100 (A-, I recommend this to EVERYONE!)
*NOTE: I edited this. . .
Yes this is what the whole episode’s about.
FINALLY AFTER EXACTLY 36 EPISODES AND 13 MINUTES AND 57 SECONDS, THE TWO ARE FINALLY DATING!!!
It feels like the author is relieving all the plans she has with the couple. All the fuwafuwa in her head. Where does it go from here. . . who cares I’m fulfilled.
Well there’s one more episode in my computer and I’m reluctant to play it just because it would be sad to finish this. After I’m done with Episode 12, its 99.9% sure to be in the Top 20.
She doesn’t look like someone who’d have an evil plan… right?
Yay! Yukitaka and Miho are back as main characters! It’s time for the marriage plot and for once Baka-ouji and his men are on the same side. I wonder who’s the eveil guy this time though because all of them look innocent, even the brother and the fiancee. I swear if this is another Ouji prank plot I would kill myself. Though it doesn’t look too far off from that. Considerably, the level of hilarity is rising from last episode to this. Just shows how awesome Yukitaka and Miho are as main characters. If they just inserted these two in the middle episodes then I would have loved this show a lot more (not that I don’t love it now).
Verdict: 9/10 (It’s ending next episode so finger’s crossed for a good conclusive ending.)
I couldn’t even finish the first episode nor make screencaps of it. Gah that was horrible. I was comparing it to 2006’s first episode and its almost exactly the same. . . escept 2002 had no feeling. It felt like I was watching some crap eroge with overly big eyes with no intention of making the animation good (Mind you RahXephon was also 2002 so no excuse there) and GAHHH Toei you suck. I didn’t know it would be this back.
It actually kicked in my mind on the horribleness on this episode when he met Ayu. I remember in episode one of 2006ver. that he met her in the afternoon with the sun almost going down. There was a bit of symbolism there but in 2002’s version, “NO JUST ADAPT. PUT SOME BADLY ANIMATED FLASHBACK AND JUST MAKE EVERYTHING HORRIBLE.” I’m outraged and offended with this version much as I was with the CLANNAD movie which was made by the same studio.
Also the series isn’t the same without Kyon’s voice around. Though I was a bit surprised that all the female characters are with the same VAs, how long has Yui Horie and Yukari Tamura been around??
D’AWWWW END
Kanon has become a pleasant surprise for me to watch. It really became an emotional roller coaster going through the end. From Nayuki, to Ayu, to Makoto, to Mai and to Shiori, and also to the other characters, I grew to love them. They all started as Neo Mikuru’s in Kyon’s wonderland but after sitting through 24 episodes of this, each one of them had depth. Kudos to KyoAni for that as they perfectly dolled up and deepen the Key Visual Game into an animated masterpiece.
One thing that bothered me a little is that half the cast went to the hospital/became sick. Its like there’s no other way to be sad. It’s passable though as I was tugged emotionally on each one of them. Minase, Nayuki’s mom, tugged me the most as it’s the one I did not see coming. . . and in such a brutal car crash. It had the same elements with CLANNAD in which there was a lot of supernatural effects happening, but more so here. I do like the idea of lost memories and finding them slowly through each episode being etched into the core of this series. Smehow this series was the adventure of Yuuichi’s memories coming back through each girl.
There’s also this KyoAni trick (which was amplified in CLANNAD) in which the longer you know the character, the more the emotional string gets pulled when the sad parts come. Makoto’s arc was the longest simply because she’s the first and the producers really want to give their first big scene to tug. When Mai’s arc came, since she was already more and more established in the Makoto arc, hers what a bit shorter and did the same effect of tugging my emotional heartstring. Then Shiori’s too. When Ayu’s arc came into play, it was just so natural because of all the flashbacks and small meetings spread throughout the series. Nayuki’s too with her mom intertwining with Ayu’s just made the last part of Kanon better. I’m definitely sure no other production team can handle a Key game where one knows how to envoke emotions properly.
Well as much as I praised it and loved it, here is my rational reasoning through the series:
MEH->GOOD->AWESOME->AWESOME->GREAT->LEGEND
Pros: Emotional rollercoaster, delicate and masterfully handled by a certain studio, depth of characters
Cons: Loldoctors scene, slow start, neo mikuru designs for the girls(though I got used to it after a while)
Story:49/50
Art/Animation/Production:19/20
Characters: 18/20
Overall Feel: 9/10
Verdict: 95/100 (Well forget about RAHHHHHHHHHHH I’m replacing Luck Star with this on the Top 20)
PS. Lol there was a CLANNAD commercial at the ending of Kanon in what I watched. I wonder how excited people got then?
Because of the delays for both episodes, episodes 11 and 12 of both series were aired ON THE SAME DAY.
-OHH YEAH!!!!!!!!!!! MORE ANIME FOR ME. But then I have to come up with two more posts and then my overall impressions on another post. I have to do Level E’s first, then there’s also Zombie for the overall impressions, then Kimi ni Todoke.
-Loadwork of posts for today. GAHHHH.
-Oh yea there’s also the Kanon endpoint post.
I thought there was some magic voodoo for how they didn’t know each other for eleven freakin episodes.
Well Kanon is certainly quite a surprise for me. After how I thought AIR was horrible, I managed to keep up with this just because I’m wishing its at least as good as 1/8 of CLANNAD or something as CLANNAD is one of the few eroge/game adaptations that I ever liked. Turns out Key is awesome cus this is pretty darn good.
It started pretty slowly though as I died in boredom with the introduction. It is as if Kyon landed in a world full of Mikuru wannabees and there’s no Haruhi to stop him or something. Seriously each girl has their own animal sound like Auuu or Ugyuu or GAHHH. When the Makoto Arc started kicking though, that’s when I thought. . . this is darn good! I was glued to the screen until the end of that arc and it even brought me a few tears along.
The arc I’m currently on is Mai’s arc and so far I’m lovin’ it. There’s also that mystery Misaka sisters (lol reference) and Ayu finally meeting Nayuki. Animation-wise, only when Mai danced in the ball on episode 12 did I realize that Kyoto Animation was doing this. It took a while for me to get used to the art style and animation as they all looked like Mikurus and I couldn’t differentiate one from another. Also the fluidity of the characters movements was a tad bit of a downgrade than Suzumiya Haruhi, their work previous to this. I think its because the animation people know and like now in 2011 is different from half a decade ago. Once I got used to it though, it kicked into my head that this really looks good!
PS. Nayuki’s sleeping face is adorable.
1) I’m watchin Kanon now lol. Once I finish half of it I’ll put a post.
2)Since a lot of shows are ending next week, I’m putting impressions on each one of them (that I watched).
3) I’m thinking of putting a post on my selected series to blog next season.
4)I’m trying to slowly update my Top 20 page. I’m changing it to Legendary Anime but for now Top 20 it is.
5)When you visit the page please do comment cus I appreciate it and it feels like people are actually reading my blog.
6) NO MADOKA YET ME CRY.
Traveler on Revenge 