Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun

My latest dose of Kyaa and Dawww

Well most of you do not know this but I’m a big fan of KYAA AND DAWW. Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun is like Yankee-kun to Megane chan and Kare Kano half breed. It’s a very refreshing manga.

One thing this series has is its straightforwardness. The main leads Shizuku and Haru really hit it off from the start. Heck we already got a confession by the first chapter! The series never goes astray from their main characters which is also an appeal. The main characters themselves are very straightforward. They’re very. . . human I guess. Certain scenes where both are already hot and blushing, they’re still very blunt with what they say.

Shizuku and Haru are very fun characters. It’s so awesome seeing Haru completely win Shizuku off her socks. Well you’d expect from a shoujo manga that she’s already been won over by the bishie male lead (By the way no one even treated him like one until Shizuku told him to smile. That was really lol) but she’s still has ground which is pretty awesome. They’d just fly off jokes like ” Didn’t you say you like me” or “I lied I don’t like you” or just plain rejecting because she’s being bothered by him. You can really see though that they like each other way too much.

Well the most shallow yet the most important thing I look forward to in mangas like these are the blushing. This series has a truckload off it. Gahd I fucking love this manga. It’s your shojo romantic comedy fair that’s actually not trashy and repetitive for once.

Hanasaku Iroha – 09

I WAS WRONG. ;___;

This episode is probably the best episode so far but I’m completely infuriated. Kou was supposed to sweep Ohana off her feet. What’s with this Tohru shit? By this episode, we now know that Kou has no balls. You could’ve just dropped a visit in Kissuiso or something?!!?!?!? I AM MAD. Hopefully something good happens next episode.

Still this is the best episode so far so I give the series props for that. The motorcycle meets train scene was both completely awesome and infuriating at the same time.

 

Anohana – 07 Evil Mom?

Well it looks like the focus now is on Menma’s mom.

I really feel bad for the mom but for now she is the evil character. Just look at that shading in her face!

Nichijou – 08 TSUN-TSUNDERE-TSUN-DERE-TSUNTSUN

Do-don’t gett the wrong idea-I-It’s not like I wanted to post this episode or anything.

That’s like the most Tsundere way to give someone his handkerchief. The guns effect is really awesome. Damn it I need more Misato and Sasahara.

Hanasaku Iroha – 08

Those fucking train scenes are cheating. Why does awesome shit have to happen in trains?

Stuff to point out this episode:

They finally ditched the one-shots.

You know, Okami-san is actually a very awesome character.

That annoying girl from episode 6 is a recurring character? Shit.

Pervert novelist is starting to look more and more like Yamakan.

Biggest surprise (not really but ebdfesdfsdf) of all KOU’S FINALLY GOING TO SEE OHANA. IT WILL BE TEH SHIZZZ.

Ano Hana – 06

If Anohana had faces like Maya’s this show would even be more awesome.

Stuff to point out this episode:

I wanna see Yuki-chan crossdress again.

Poor anal-chan getting into trouble because of that Love Hotel thing, which Yuki-chan smoothly prevented.

Jintan managed to at least have one “Moment of Awesome” with his save on Anal-chan.

Menma’s mom is starting to look a bit whacked out. It really must be hard to have your child dead.

The follow-up with Menma crying that she wants her mom to forget her teared me up a little *sniff*.

What the hell is with “Anal-chan is a virgin” joke. You’re all virgins anyway.

Uncurrency Anime – Haibane Renmei

This series has very nice artwork.

Well, I gobbled this up in one day. I looked at the premise and was very intrigued. The artworks I’ve seen for this series are very intriguing too, seeing people with wings and halos. I started this series thinking very positively. Also I thought this series would look nice in my recommended titles.

Well I’m quite disappointed over this. By no means was it horrible but it wasn’t particularly great either. The story starts off with a girl falling from the sky with some crow. Then she popped out of a cocoon and was taken care off by the “Old Home”. She started sprouting wings and she was given a halo. She was also given a name, “Rakka”, which meant falling. They led everyday lives, with hints of plot like how the man in the clock tower said that he was afraid that one day the Haibane would fly far away, or the wall which no one can go inside or outside except the Toga. One can think that the town is being protected, but another way to think about it is that they are trapped in like a prison. This thinking is what made the second half of the series.

The people in this town are eerily nice. It seems that no one really cares that they can’t go outside, it’s more of them being protected. Even more so for the Haibane as they never complain about the limitations they have been set to do. The Haibane are usually thankful and it was a trait that I really liked about the series. Well until the middle half started.

Plot kicks in, one of the Haibane, Kuu, was satisfied and was able to move on (Very Angel Beats style). This is when I started not liking the series. I get that Rakka was sad, but it was so dragged on (about 4 episodes and this is a 13 episode series) I almost cringed. It didn’t help that the mood was getting somber as winter passes on and that her wings started going black (another new plot). There’s two types of drama. Realistic ones and melodrama. This goes into the melodrama pile. Wait, I don’t hate melodrama yet why do I not like this part of the series? Because there are two types of melodrama. One which actually goes well with the theme of the series (Toradora) and one that seems very out of place. Haibane Renmei falls to the latter. It’s like Rakka started becoming a bit more emotional than usual and her vocabulary increased! I’m sorry I just didn’t like that part.

After that, it just goes downhill. From Rakka drama, they move on to Reki drama, and it had much more DORAMA. Unlike Rakka’s though which felt out of place, this somehow fitted Reki. Her angst did not feel out of place. Wait, but why do I hate it? Again it dragged on a bit too much. By episode 13, I was gnawing my eyeballs out. Still though, I have to commend this series for having a very conclusive ending. While I hate the ending episode itself (Reki dorama really got on my nerves), the way it eneded was very conclusive and fitted for what the series is.

It was still worth watching, but this series just doesn’t fit well with me. I guess it’s not my type of series.The first half was pretty good I guess, but the dorama and plot of the second half was pretty awful. It’s still very well constructed but it’s just not my thing I guess.

Rational Rating:

Story: 40/50 (Well constructed but I did not like it)

Characters: 16/20 (I liked most of them at first but they ruined Rakka a bit with her “character development”)

Production: 17/20 (Actually pretty good for a 2002 show)

Overall Feel: 7/10 (Not bad; just not my thing)

Verdict: 80/100 (Good first half, Bad second half depending on how you perceive it. I still like the series a bit though even with the issues I have with it.)

Uncurrency Anime – Mushishi

Art by: ~Rozenfire on deviantart

Well I finally finished this series. It took me about two months honestly. It’s hard to take it in fast since it’s an episodic series. This is also the reason why it took me so long to do this Uncurrency post.

Mushishi is about some bugs which you can’t see and each episode some expert of this bugs, Mushishi, come and fix the problem. Well this is probably the stupidest way to interpret the series, but all I can say is that it’s a masterpiece. Each episode is done with so much care, and you learn about this Mushi, slowly yet surely. We get new characters episode per episode, and the awesome part of it is that they never stand out too much yet they’re never uninteresting. I mean imagine if they keep making awesome characters, then you’ll have to say “Oh I miss this character” but if they’re uninteresting you’ll be bored. This series has an almost perfect balance with the way it handles its characters.

To the story itself, some can be very lighthearted, some inspirational, and some brutally honest. Ginko, our awesome white-haired, green-eyed main character, usually solves the problems, but when there’s nothing that can be done, it’s shown in a way that there’s something to take in from it. The great part about this series is that every episode is great. There’s never a boring episode or a lacking episode. It has some bar which can go up, but never goes down from it.

Some of my favorite episodes were the Rainbow man, the green children and the robe that embraces the mountain. Well those are what I chose but all of it are great. Surprisingly, even if it is episodic, characters in the episode gets fleshed out a lot. Why I explained that they don’t stand out too much yet they aren’t particularly uninteresting, it’s the beauty of it. It’s the beauty of the series.

Well this is a fucked up review, it went around in circles but really I recommend this one. Even though it took me months to finish this, one thing I must say is that I enjoyed the hell out of it. This is by far the best I’ve seen from the Uncurency Anime that I’ve blogged though I’ve only done three. It definitely makes it in my recommended list. Masterpieces like this need to come more often really.

Rational Rating:

Story: 48/50 (Each episode goes into detail and surprisingly no episode was boring despite being episodic. A masterpiece.)

Production: 18/20 (Very high and you can see it in intense episodes. Music is relaxing and the ED’s are something I can listen to at night lol.)

Characters: 19/20 (The episodic characters don’t stand out but they’re not uninteresting. Something you need very well in episodic series. Ginko is the only recurring character (And his collector friend I guess) and he’s one hell of an awesome main character)

Overall Feel: 9/10 (While it took me two months to finish this, it was necessary. This is something to take in slowly but you’ll be definitely satisfied when you finish it. Anime like this come out very rarely so enjoy it.)

Verdict: 94/100 (Look at my recommended list. It’s pretty high up.)

Mid – Month Impressions [MAY]

How is animu this season lately? It seems that crazy shit has been happening this season. Let’s take a look.

Dropped for a while

Beelzebub -I forgot to DL one episode, now I can’t find time to download so many episodes.

Steins;Gate- Will get back to it after 10 episodes. This type of series is better to marathon than watch weekly.

Hen Zemi – Got bored a bit. I still find it good though so I’ll get to it later

Gosick – I got bored again? I marathoned half the show about a month ago. . . I’ll marathon this again once it finishes.

Tiger and Bunny – Derpy CG. I actually stopped watching C for two weeks because of these derpy CG.

Hidan no Aria – It sucks so badly yet why am I tempting to press the download torrent button on this?

Plan to get into

Astarotte no Omocha – I heard some good comments about it. Is it any good?

Fireball Charming – Again, lots of praises.

DOG DAYS – Yeah. . . Maybe later. . . a lot later. But I am mildly interested.

Dropped Completely

TORIKO – The type of thinking injected here will endanger so many species.

Oretachi Tsubasa wa nai – All I see is a bad game being badly adapted.

Hoshizora e Kakaru Hoshi –I facepalmed watching Akasaka and facedesked when watching its ending. NO WAY WILL I FINISH THIS.

30 Year old Virgins – I actually love B Gata H Kei. This one just. . . sucks.

Sofuteni – Tennis my ass. Tennis Porn.

NOW FOR THE REAL DEAL

My list of the series I’m actually watching in a weekly basis:

11) Kami Nomi II

It’s getting more interesting but it can really get dull sometimes. I like Hacqua though. Nice addition.

10) Deadman Wonderland

Manglobe doesn’t know how to animate action. It feels like Angel Beats where people die as a joke but in Angel Beats they survive and here they don’t. I thought that part of Angel Beats was funny but not in here. Also they can’t get the mood right to this series .One thing they do get right on is the torturing of Ganta. Episode per episode, I just feel sorry for him.

9) Maria Holic Alive

SHAFT SEQUEL. It’s not that funny anymore.

8) [C]

It’s not as breakthrough as I thought. The Pokemon battles got duller; same animation wise. But the plot’s getting along and it’s getting more interesting. The 3D Clown dude maybe more evil than I thought. JUST LIKE KYUUBEY IN THE FIRST FEW EPISODES OF MADOKA. Speaking of 3D, the CG here just suck.

7) Denpa Onna

Again not as breakthrough as I thought. It’s definitely a good series and I’m still very intrigued about the mysteries here especially Erio’s past but all in all I’m lukewarm about this series. It’s very cute and moe though, I’d give you that. The twintails on episode was just overload. Damn Aunt.

6) Azazel-San

Lol Series is Lol. Fucking crazy series this is. It just shits on you.

My TOP 5

5) Hansaku Iroha

It’s gone a bit downhill these past few episodes I must admit. The writing has gotten a bit duller but it hasn’t gotten uninteresting at all. I definitely appreciate the effort of fleshing out each of the characters in this series. I’m sure it will be something to be appreciated once the big plot of this series kicks in which I predict in A few more episodes. They don’t just show Kou in the preview next week for nothing amirite?

4) Ao no Exorcist

Also focusing on the characters a bit these past few weeks, Ao no Exorcist has gotten a bit peaceful. Not a bad thing at all since it’s nice knowing Rin more and also those other exorcist students. This series feels like a Soul Eater/FMA mix.

3) Nichijou

Don’t get me wrong, it still one of my favorite series right now. But dammnit why is Anohana so perfect? Well getting to this series, I must say, as I’ve always repeated, I LOVE THIS SERIES. This is my type of comedy. Random Jokes, Random Characters, Random everything. People are way too harsh on this series. The reason I’m not blogging this is because I do think comedy gets ruined if you start nitpicking every single part of it. Yeah. . . I’ll just enjoy this piece of awesomeness. I am waiting for more Tsundere-chan and her guns + Those soccer team duo that’s always in that room. Also more SAKAMOTO please!

2) Moshidora

A bit unfair to put it here since it finished but yeah. I’m just gonna say that this series is awesome. These baseball animu, are all of them good? I enjoyed this, Ookiku and Cross Game very much. I’ve blabbed about this too much in the Moshidora category on the right. Go click it if you want.

1) Anohana

Again, my rage on why I put this here! It’s just that. . . it’s so perfect. Everything in this series is done perfectly! The likeable characters, the very real emotions, the goal of having Menma’s wish granted, everything. I’m just putting a wild guess here but it seems that all the friends think it’s they’re fault Menma died. Well I did take a wild guess with Yuki-chan and I was WAY TOO CORRECT. I guess it’s too early to call it a masterpiece but it’s completely headed towards to becoming one.

Addendum

So yeah everything’s all and well. There’s already Moshidora that went in my Top 30 series, and there’s many more legendary series here. If right now, I were to pick which series I would think would go to my recommended list, there would be about 5-6 series. A lot more than last season’s two. Though the only ones with even a dearth of potential to go near Madoka Magica is Nichijou (Favorite Comedy) and Anohana (Favorite drama).

Hanasaku Iroha – 07

Tomoe-neesan!

Batshit episode. That was just way too crazy. Are hot spring inns really this crazy? This is making me want to go to one to see if stuff like this happens.

Also my eyes hurted with the Yamakan porn thing.

PS. It seems that shit finally gets serious next episode. They don’t just show Kou in a train for nothing. I knew that twitter thing where someone from the HanaIro spoiled that episode 10 was amazing. I just hope it delivers because the writing this episode was a bit of a mess.