Binbou Shimai Monogatari ep 01 raw
Story: "A junior high school student Yamada Kyo and an elementary school student Yamada Asu are sisters, and live alone. Their father ran away leaving gambling debt, and the mother has already died. In spite of this unhappiness, they don’t gloom but they are living brightly and happily. Kyo works as a paperboy or tutor to support the family. Asu do housekeeping jobs. There are kind people around them, such as the landlord or a novelist Saegusa, and they watch over the sisters gently. They experience a lot of troubles and hard times, but the happiest thing for them is that they are nearby." [edited from animenfo]
Genre: Heartwarming story.
Review: Ugh, the OP song sucked. ^^; Then, that title page had ugly colors. Low budget anime? The ED music is better but seems copied from the OMG OVA song.
The "we are poor but we are happy" got rubbed in too much for my taste, I started to dislike the characters. Besides, it felt fake.
There was already a thread for this: http://4-ch.net/anime/kareha.pl/1150461963/
Otogi-Jushi Akazukin TV ep 01 raw
Once upon a time, the gods sealed the door between the real world and the magic world.
Souta is a normal primary school boy, except that he's the key to break the seal between the worlds.
The witch Cendrillon wants to obtain Souta's power. To prevent her from getting the power, Akazukin and Val, a silver wolf, comes from the other world to help him.
Toy-sponsored kids fighting anime.
High production values, well animated. I wonder if the toy sprouts out a sword when you insert a card in it like in the anime? ^^
Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z 01 (TV) raw
Professor Utonium has a son Ken who is a genius, but bumbles one experiment - giving three random girls superpowers. The girls (13 years of age each) are Momoko, Miyako, and Kaoru. Together, they fight the evils of Mojo JoJo, also the result of the same botched-up experiment.
Magical girls anime.
Not sure who's the target for this one. The very dumbed-down plot and directing makes me think it aimed at kindergartners, but the ED makes me think it's aimed at teenage girls.
Production values fluctuates from medium to high (especially the transformations). My opinion of it also fluctuates: the animation is superior to the original, the overall soundtrack is inferior, the OP song is weak, the ED song is okay, the jokes are kindergarden-level... Meh.
Tsuyokiss CoolxSweet 01 raw
Energetic girl arrives at new school, wants to join the theater club... there isn't any. She tries to get it approved from the eccentric president but it's not easy.
Love comedy anime.
Entertaining. For an h-game adaption, this first episode fared pretty well and looked quite solid. The erotic eyecatches shovelled every few minutes were unnecessary, I thought. Completely out-of-character for the semi-serious scenes at hand. ^^;
Mamotte! Lollipop 01 raw
When Nina happened to swallow a pearl intended for a magical examination, her chaotic journey with the two magical pretty boys Zero and Ichii began.
Slapstick shoujo series.
Frantic female flees from ferocious foes, fun follows.
Zero no tsukaima 01 raw
Louise, the apprentice witch, is apparently so bad with magic that she got nicknamed "Louise the Zero". When summoning her familiar spirit (tsukaima) as part of school practice, she calls in a school student from Earth instead. The boy, Hiraga Saito, tries to escape but finds himself trapped in a strange world with no way out.
Harry Potter anime with Hermione as the star.
Red-hot Shana is back! Good fun.
Le Chevalier D'Eon 01 raw
18th Century, just before the French revolution, multiple religious cults of the dark side are engaged in secret
maneuvers under the name of Revolution. Le Chevalier D'Eon, a special agent working for Louis XIV, is fighting against those cults, and also on a mission to find the killer of his own sister. A mysterious cult organization called "Rose Cross" stands in his way, using evil powers to create a dark creature, "Gargoyle", to over take Europe...
Realistic anime with supernatural elements.
'Looks well done, but I'm not a big fan of serious vampire stories. I may check the next episode to see how the story evolves.
Project BLUE Earth SOS 01 raw
Mysterious events are happening around the globe, brand-new technologies are being swallowed by rainbow clouds. Two genius boys are investigating the phenomena.
Retro sci-fi meets future sci-fi.
Cool stuff. It's Metropolis, The Invaders and James Bond all in one.
> the ED song is okay
PPGZ's song actually gets better if you understand it, which is rare. I don't know who the target audience is either... why would girls wake up before 7 am to watch a clock show in the summer? I guess Japan does have attendance days.
You forgot the British stuff they got that guy's dog from.
Coyote Ragtime Show 01:
Rather transparent attempt to attract Americans. Uses realistic names, has black people, English signs, etc.
The animation and music are much cheaper than Cowboy Bebop.
All the exciting characters were introduced at the very end, hurting the rest of this episode. Also, they think Americans love mindless violent deaths of innocents and made sure to insert plenty of them, but that might not happen later.
Someone do Honey and Clover 2!
Bokura ga Ita 01 raw
Naive young girl meets compulsive lying pretty boy in her new class, falls in love.
Shoujo love story
Is the VA anemic? Her voice is very weak. May be intended tho, the anime's colors are weak/washed out too, the action scenes are weak, the love is weak... I'm surprised I didn't fall asleep, must be the directing: every time I was to slip into a coma, the action picked up a little. Down, down, down, down, down, down, zzz... up.
> Down, down, down, down, down, down
Finally, an anime adaptation of The Mole People!
http://www.designchronicle.com/memento/archives/hachikuro2_ep1.html
>>1
I agree. Badly done animation and the colors are not to my liking. But the story is okay for me. Probably I'll watch some more episodes. But I'd say that I was tricked by the very nice illustration on the official website.
Muteki Kanban Musume 01 raw
Miki is a girl working in a small restaurant, and she helps her mother to run it. She's supposed to be the Kamban Musume (poster girl) of the restaurant. However, she likes to fight and always makes troubles.
Gag anime.
Well-animated but tiring after a while, what's the point? In this episode she fights various people, including the rich girl from the intro. The preview shows she's gonna fight various guys from the neighborhood. And then what?
Naikaku Kenryoku Hanzai Kyosei Torishimarikan Zaizen Jotaro 01 raw
Kenryoku Hanzai Kyosei Torishimarikan - Crime Investigation Agent = C.I.A., get it? ^^;
Zaizen Jotaro is an investigator who's allowed to use extralegal methods to crack down power-abusing criminals, no matter how high-ranked.
James Bond anime for kids.
Cheap, cheap, cheap... reuse of CG animation within the first few minutes, minimal animation, no real animation in the OP and ED, looooong pauses between dialogs, horribly cliched plot... I'll pass.
You forgot to mention his catchphrase is "da bomb".
Coyote Ragtime Show 01 raw
Bad guy in high security prison plans to escape. Female Rambo-like agent is there to prevent it, but things go bloody wrong when a third faction moves in...
Stallone anime with a female lead.
High production values. Very flashy, maybe too flashy; the Over-The-Top-ness (ha!) makes it unbelievable -- I went "wtf!" too many times. The thing that bugged me most: the shuttle is in zero-G, but liquid food flows down into a plate.
I'd need to see this subbed to be sure, but I have the feeling they were inconsistencies in the dialogs/plot as well.
Tonagura! - 01 raw
A childhood friend, Yuji, is coming back after a 10-year absence and Kazuki is eager to meet him again, hoping that he's become a handsome prince. But she finds out he’s become a complete pervert instead.
Ecchi love story.
D'oh, the intro is somewhat copied from the Haruhi's OP; not very orginal -- and not fitting.
Pros: art/animation is decent, funny music is funny, the lesbian girl friend at school looks like an interesting character.
Cons: I find the two main characters unlikable, dialogs are trite, fanservice is kind of so-so, humor didn't humor me.
I wonder what kind of classification applies to the boy? He's two-faced, alternating seriousness/sweet talk that makes girls mellow, and lecherous rampage.
Angelique TV / Koi Suru Tenshi ANGELIQUE -Kokoro no Mezameru Toki- 01 RAW
In the Cosmos of the Sacred Beast, the queen Angelique is forewarned of a great upcoming peril. She asks her nine Guardians to call in all young girls in the kingdom in order to find the Legendary Etoile who is to save the World from the impending doom. Clumsy, bespectacled 17-year-old Ange is amongst the ones called in, but she thinks there must have been some mistake.
Shoujo 1-girl+9-male fantasy anime.
Ugly duckling is chosen to save the Universe.
The rite of initiation was nicely emotionally moving, the rest was standard shoujo fare.
Chokotto Sister 01 raw
Lone boy gets a sister as present from Santa on Xmas.
Sweet romantic comedy.
Whee, another Haruhi-inspired intro. But this time, the transition works much better.
I was a bit surprised, the anime has a somewhat different feel, more "harsh" than the manga. It's the first episode tho, so we'll see how it evolves (or devolves).
Hoshizora Kiseki
"Kozue, a member of an astronomical club, is a girl who longs for a starry sky. During the summer break, she set out a journey with a shining fragment of a meteor, feeling someone calling her, believing that a star will answer to her. During her trip, she meets a boy with sad eyes in a space suit."
Romance mixed with scifi.
A school project? Very unequal performance. Some important scenes were not done, facial expressions were lacking sometimes, much skipping around, I had a hard time decoding what was going on, not to mention paining at sympathizing with the characters. The girl's school uniform is ugly in the back (the front is not that hot either), but the camera insisted to show it anyway. The VAs were not very convincing, I ended turning the sound off to catch some of the story's magic and scenery.
Mobile Suit Gundam Seed C.E.73: Stargazer 01
"Earth is reeling from the devastation caused by the Junius Seven colony drop. ZAFT remnants loyal to the ideals of Patrick Zala take this opportunity to cause further chaos."
Warring mecha scifi.
Production values seemed high. Plot: a shuttle has to take off, debris are falling down from the sky, terrorists destroy things.
I felt like watching a newsreel, minus the feeling that things are real. Watchable and forgettable.
>>19
I wondered if I was the only one to notice the liquid on the plane thing.
FLAG 01 raw
"In 20xx, a civil war broke out in a small country. But, a picture of a flag taken in the battle field helps to accelerate the peace talks. Just before the peace agreement is signed, the flag is robbed by an extremist group. UN decides to send a SDC (Special Development Command), and a cameraman to record their activities. They think the mission is going to be easy because they have the latest, hi-tech armored suit."
Artsy anime; war from the point of view of a photographer.
The guy doing the voice-overs sounded bored, made me bored too. The over-contrasted, over-exposed, wrong-hued scenery, the laid-back "war" atmosphere, the old Japanese slow music didn't help to make me un-bored. The mecha seemed to be possibly interesting but we didn't get to see it in action.
I suppose this anime will appeal to photographers, and maybe to mecha fans; I doubt I'll watch more episodes.
Honey & Clover II 01
Even though it was a recap clip show, because the first season was so good the episode only brought back all the pleasant memories of it. I was nearly bawling by the last bit of the ED.
Solar-IDE are also doing a 720p HD release. Unfortunately my PC doesn't seem up to the task. Has anyone tried them?
Honey & Clover II 02
A medley of hiccup cures, Takemoto is stronger than Morita, and late night katsudon. Suddenly Rika's a whole lot cuter! （*´∀｀)=3
Innocent Venus ep 01 raw
In the year 2010., Hyper Hurricanes all over the world caused severe damage, decreasing the world's population dramatically. Existing economies and militaries were wiped out, and geography got rewritten.
Living conditions are currently dreadful except for the very rich, which rules over the poor using ruthless military power.
Our heroes, Katsuragi Jo and Tsurasawa Hitoshi, barely escape from killer soldiers, taking with them a mysterious young girl, Noto Saya.
Post-apocalyptic world with mechas.
I was not overly impressed with this first episode.It's not bad, but it's not great either. The heroes' lines sounded way too cliche, for one thing.
I suppose it may appeal to mecha fans, and to those who like to see things/humans blow up in a realistic way.
Hoshizora Kiseki
This is the kind of story that someone like Makoto Shinkai could make a wonderful movie out of.
Unfortunately, none of the people working on it were anywhere near that skillful storytellers. It's a heavyhanded and awkward mess that just doesn't work.
Honey & Clover II eps 1-4
It's back! And it's as wonderful as ever. I don't know why I would ever want to watch anything else. They even have a new OP by the same singer, which is possibly even better than the first one, which I loved.
The new OP animation made me go "this is stupid", until I realized it was just too damn weird to be stupid. It's not as in-your-face weird as the first OP animation - it's more subtle this time.
Bokura ga ita ep 1
A very promising start to a shoujo romantic comedy show. The plot is nowhere near original, but the gentle style, the funny back-and-forth dialogue, and the wittiness all add up to something very enjoyable. It's also giving a bit of an Love Roma-esque urge to quote one-liners out of context.
Feels a bit like a H&C lite, and I like that.
Honey & Clover II eps 3-4
It drifts so easily to and fro between comedy, romance, and drama without skipping a beat that it's like watching a dance. I almost find it hard to believe such a work can exist. In a way it's even better than the first season.
The ED theme is also by the same band who did the first season ED.
NIGHT_HEAD_GENESIS_01 subbed
"Two brothers, Kihiraha Naoto and Kirihara Naoya, have supernatural powers. Because of it, they were abandoned by their parents, and have been raised in a laboratory isolated from society. When they run away from the laboratory and get into the normal world, a revolution is about to occur."
Shoujo(?) horror scifi, 2 tormented bishies/1 lonely girl.
This has a feel of old anime, with the eerie music, the focus on superpowered detructive loners, the crappy "scientific" explanations from the sixties ("we only use 70% of our brain") and the subdued colors. Nothing I haven't seen before so far.
I see one solitary girl in the OP, and the two pretty boys in the ED, which makes me think it's gonna be a female harem fantasy. A Jyu-Oh-Sei wannabe?
On the plus side, the background scenery is pretty.
Your review is hereby signed.
Bokura ga ita ep 2
Holy shit, an anime where schoolgirls actually are allowed to say stuff like "shine!"? The main character, even? That's rare.
Innocent Venus ep 02 raw
I still cannot go into this series. There are action scenes, a plot, decent animation, even pirates now -- so why am I so bored with it? Yes the story is cliche and the super-commando is a bit too super, but that never stopped the entertainment industry to be entertaining anyway.
I think it has to do with the sub-par performance of the VAs. Especially the girl, she's the worst one of the bunch, way too flat.
FLAG 02-03 raw
Ok, they toned down the contrast into a tolerable range.
But that "camera vision" is still there, and it gets real annoying real fast.
The mecha has been seen in action, but it's not very exciting. First, because it's viewed from a distance. Then, the scene is green and blurry from the night vision. And it seems that the meacha's weaponry is a mere machinegun. It reminds me of that scene where a helicopter in Iraq was machinegunning a guy trying to go into a car, except that it wasn't green on TV.
Also, a mecha with feet deployed in the desert's sand? Bad move.
Anyway, still boring.
KemonoZume 01 raw
On one side, there are the people who turns into Shokujinki, or man-eaters. On the other side, there are the people who fight the Shokujinki, the Kifuken. Both have fought each other in the shadows for more than 1000 years, without anybody noticing.
Our protagonist, Momota Toshihiko, is a young instructor of Kifuken. One day, Toshihiko has a encounter on the beach with the beautiful Yuka, a skydiving instructor.
Fnatastic(=outlandish) romance, with swords slashing.
Done scribble-style, supposedly compensated by superior animation, I guess. I still fail to see Yuka as beautiful as Momota thinks she is, tho. I would even daresay she's not pretty. ^^;;
But okay, I get the idea. It's not an anime about pretty things (I noticed how they carefully avoided to show the maid taking her shower), it's about drama, conflict, love, and death.
Lot of animated stuff in this first episode, I wonder if they will continue like this in the next episodes?
>>38
Sounds like the Gasaraki mecha.
HANOKA ep 01 raw
"This anime is the first full-fledged TV anime made with FLASH.
The story takes place on a planet Tokinea where human beings and Star Races have been fighting. The story revolves around a girl who was made as “Demon God”, an ultimate weapon against human beings, and a boy who is a partner of the girl." [animenfo]
Short episodes of sci-fi.
Lol, Morinono (www.morinono.net/). I remember being fascinated by his flash animations a few years back. So he made it to the tv screen, that's good. But, if it's on tv, my expectations are greater. Lots of the old imperfections are still there, for example his obsession to make everything move all the time. That old guy in the room, his head moving down was really unnecessary, it looks unnatural. A still shot would have been better. And that cigarette smoke, why to do in flash? It looks bad. I see that various effects were not done in flash -- was it post-processed by someone else? I wish that a pro would give some animation tips to Morinono, the guy has a great imagination and makes wonderful worlds.
For example, when the flying car is moving away in the distance, it suddenly vanishes -- it's jarring, and could have been fixed by adding just a few more sprites. Right now the whole thing feels too amateurish and unfinished.
Tripcodes are for fags. _|-|O
http://astrange.ithinksw.net/fall_2006.html
>>42
thanks for posting
>>42
Sling is a huge contributor to the general 2ch-like bbs and 2chan-like imageboard community. He, if anyone, can post with a name if he wishes, so long as he keeps posting quality content!
>>44
I thought the point of posting anon was to avoid people using famous reputations... Posting anon would make the board look more active anyway!
>>45
Some people just can live without that e-penis, you know!
>>44
I consider myself a hugh contributor to the general 2ch-like bbs and 2chan-like imageboard community, as well.
But, you wouldn't know that. :p
The Wings of Rean ep 02 raw
Summary of the beginning of ep1:
"Because he fired a rocket into a military camp, Aesop Suzuki was being chased. Suddenly, a strange-looking battleship came out from the sea. Dumped into the sea, he managed to crawl up into the battleship, and there was a girl standing there. She said that she was the princess of another world, Byston Wel, and was asking for his urgent help."
Fantasy with mecha.
I haven't seen ep1 but from what I saw from blogs, ep1 is as confusing as ep2. It seems that there are two factions that want dominance in a foreign world. The boy is probably the key to the problem but no one is taking him seriously except the girl.
The cell phone in a fairies world is an interesting addition to a rehashed, same-old story -- tho I have to wonder how it can work at all without relay antennas. ^^;
Honey and Clover II, eps 5-7
More development of the Mayama/Yamada/Nomiya thing. It looks like she's starting to get over it. We get a better look into Hagu's problems with her art. More development on Morita and his brother. They form an interesting parallel to their father and his friend. The direction, art, and music fail to dissappoint.
The ending of ep seven... I feel like I just got punched in the gut.
Sky_Girls 01 raw
Aliens attacked Earth. Earth used ultimate weapon to wipe aliens. Earth now mostly under water.
Years later, signs of alien presence are detected again. Special ship with special new weapons goes at sea to investigate. The special new weapons are called Sakurano Otoha, Sonomiya Kren and Ichijo Eika, aka the Sky Girls.
Sci-fi mecha with barely-legal robots.
Top-notch animation, top-notch voice actors, plot... ultra-simplistic.
Killer robots that put sunscreen oil, drink orange juice and behave like giddy schoolgirls? Earth can rest assured, the alien menace will be defeated... or not.
Oh well, it's cute. ^^
Honey and Clover, ep 8
The beating continues. I think I stretched the muscles in my eyes!
Kanon Prelude
Gah, what the hell is Kyon doing in here? This is seriously distracting. What the hell were Kyoani thinking?
Honey And Clover, ep 8
...made me weep. (;_;)
Now it's got me really hooked, because I have absolutely no idea how things will end up (if we do get an end this season, that is).
Sky Girls
Really bad. Stunningly bad. I am a fan of every individual element in this thing (cute girls, technobabble, giant dinosaurs, robot planes) but everything put together was SO BAD. This is approximately M.D. Geist levels of NOT BEING ANY GOOD AT ALL. Time to kill myself.
I just noticed it's from the director of Love Hina Again and the scriptwriter of all this shit:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=11621
oh wow. invoking the name of MD Geist is one thing, but then THAT SCREENWRITER'S CREDITS. I have to see this shit.
>>54
To his credit, Elfen Lied wasn't that bad. :p
>>54
I guess I'll just wait for Strike Witches. Weren't the action scenes at least nice to look at?
>>52 - Kanon Prelude
whats so wrong with it? I like the Chara Designs, and the rest basically seems to be the same as the old one. They said they wont change the story or smth like that..
Just one think i noticed is that Mai's hair is too bright :|
I just said - the voice actor for the male lead is the same voice actor as for Kyon. So we have two series by the same studio in a row with the same lead voice actor. Distracting like hell.
Black Blood Brothers 01 raw:
In a world filled with vampires warring with humans, a lone, katana-wielding, red-jacketed ubervampire is trying to bring about peace.
Vampire story.
Lots of explosions and vampires turning to dust...
Vampires seem to be portrayed in a semi-favorable light. The superhero has an annoyingly cute blonde brother as sidekick. We get to see a poignant scene where a vampire saves the life of a little girl. Then again, later on when the little girl bares her fangs to say: "Mom, I'm hungry", I get to think that maybe it wasn't a good idea to save her after all.
'Looks well done, but I'm no fan of vampires stories, and this one doesn't seem like it's gonna make me change my mind.
Sky_Girls_OVA subbed:
Ah, I got it wrong in >>50. The girls are real girls, it's the flying exoskeletons that are mechanical.
Continuing the trend of random Honey & Clover reviews in this thread:
INSTANT REVIEW: Honey & Clover ep 11
Everything flows and nothing abides; everything gives way and nothing stays fixed.
>>63 Their circle cannot hold, controlled chaos has intruded on everyone's lives.
La Corda D'Oro ～Primo Passo～ Opus 01 raw
"The high school is separated into ordinary and music classes. Kahoko, who is in the ordinary classes, is nominated to enter into a music contest after meeting Lily, the music fairy, who gives her a magic violin. Thus her step into the music world begins as she meets the other contestants."
Shoujo anime.
Bishounen(pretty boys), rivalries, music and magic.
Nice chara designs, nice animation, nice scenery, nice subject(music), directing for ep1 was nicely entertaining.
The magic bit is a bit jarring in an otherwise realistic story, I thought. Actually, it's not that realistic... all the girls are bishoujo(pretty girls) and all the guys are bishounen!
Oh, and that long-haired guy needs a haircut, badly.
Gaｌaxy Angel II 01 raw
"In the distant future, there is a city named Transvaar on Planet Celdar of the NEUE galaxy. It is a city founded under the affiliation with Planet Transvaar of another galaxy, EDEN. There, Transvaar Army organizes a special squad of five girls, Rune Angel. They are elite pilots, and are supposed to drive the latest fighter to play an important role in the vast universe… However, they are hard to deal with. They always go their own way, and make troubles." [from animenfo]
Goofy kiddie anime
"Galaxy Angels For Dummy Babies" comes to mind.
Intro song is uncatchy and out of whack with the video.
Censorship "DO NOT CROSS" police line old joke is old.
Several chara voices don't fit/sound unnatural.
The new background soundtrack left me unimpressed.
The plot(?) sounded lame. I found the episode so bad that I stopped watching before the end.
Broccoli have a tradition of not understanding what it is that makes their shows popular, and then doing spinoffs that are totally idiotic, like Panyo Panyo DiGi Charat.
Tokimeki Memorial - Only Love - 01 raw
Wimpy guy transfers to new school. But school is full of excentric people, from the nutso teachers to even the chicken. Some people have to wear animal ears - I didn't get why, but apparently it can be used to bully people. Our "hero" gets cat's ears put on him and is tagged as target, and everybody is running after him.
Love simulation turned anime, new re-re-remake.
Lol, "Tono" (Ouran's My Lord) is the voice of the wimp.
Well, I say wimp, but he manages in this first episode to score major love points with all three girls: the classy girl, the energetic girl, and the shy girl, all while running like a headless chicken across the school. Not bad, I guess.
early digi charat is pretty smart and cynical for what it is. then they changed the staff and did a million stupid spinoffs. galaxy angel tv was kind of in the same vein... then they switched staff for this new show. i can't imagine it would have turned out well.
D.Gray-man 01 raw
"The story takes place in a world that looks like the 19th century Europe. The Earl of Millennium plots to massacre all humans with AKUMAs, which are weapons made from machines, spirits, and tragedies. On the other hand, there are people who can stand up to the Earl."
Mild horror anime interspersed with mild comedy.
The first episode wasn't badly done, but failed to interest me.
Main characters lack substance, music tries to be scary but is just obnoxious, continuous black fog is more annoying than a bad Doom level.
There is a babe in the intro and the preview who seems to have some spunk, hopefully she'll put some spice in this insipid soup.
Love Dol ~Lovely Idol ~ 01 raw
Bunch of singer idols make their debut concert, but are rejected by the jury. Manager looks for a lead singer, just like that finds one in the street but she's not interested.
Singing anime with 18 female singer idols and 1 guy/manager.
Princess Soft game adaptation, it seems.
Minimal animation, all the girls have the same face's shape, no effort to do some lighting -- it's all bright, manager looks like he's 16-17, and has a blonde(?) sister. Dialogs are trite.
The girls' singing suck, but hey that's part of the plot. ^^;
I guess this anime may only appeal to very young girls... unless they plan to make him bang the 18 girls? ^v^
Pumpkin Scissors 01 RAW
"The long war against Frost Republic scarred many places of the Empire; famine, plague, returned soldiers who became bandits… Worrying about these war damages, the Empire Army organizes the 3rd section of Information Bureau known as "Pumpkin Scissors", and assign the section the duty of recovery from the war damage."
Post-war anime.
This looks well done, I want to see this subbed.
The scripting and animation is intelligently done. Could be a winner.
Every I try to think of this show, I can't get past the fact that the logo looks like it says "D.Crap-man", and then I just giggle immaturely.
Red Garden 01 RAW
"New York, several girls who go to the same school.
Since the morning, they’ve been feeling strange; they are tired and they lost their memories of last night. Then, a classmate is found killed in the woods."
Shoujo thriller.
The thriller story is interesting so far, but most of the girls' faces are ugly: very long noses, huge red lips, strong facial features.
I was pleasantly surprised to see a gallon of milk in an anime -- altho the proportions were off.
I'm not sure yet, but I think this is gonna evolve into a vampire/werewolf story, which is not my cup of tea, so I'll probably pass.
Ghost Hunt 01 raw
"Shibuya Psychic Research is an office to study physic phenomena directed by Naru. They investigate phenomena scientifically.
Taniyama Mai, a high-school girl, is forced to work part-time at the SPR."
Realistic ghostbuster anime.
Lots of talking in dark places, I need to see this subbed before making an opinion.
The girl is a kind of female Kyon, talking to herself and looking down on people. But she lacks the cynical tone of Kyon to be credible, she sounds too subdued and weak.
Preview for next episode is a simple colored still... Oh yeah, and the OP and ED were just colored moving blobs with elevator music. Low budget anime? That would explain why the overall performance of the VAs is less that average.
On the plus side, the girl makes cute faces.
Shounen Onmyouji 01 raw
"Abeno Masahiro is the grandson of the great Onmyouji Abeno Seimei, but Masahiro is still an inexperienced apprentice. According to his talking furry sidekick Mokkun, Masahiro has the potential to become the successor of Seimei."
Historical Japan fantasy, young boy battling demons.
Looks well done, but too juvenile for my tastes.
Busou Renkin 01 raw
"In a dark alley, Muto Kazuki is stabbed to death by a monster when trying to protect a girl from being killed by the monster. The next moment, he wakes up in his bed unharmed. While at school he wonders if it was just a dream, when the monster appears again..."
High-tech weapons, fighting monsters, romance.
Production values seem to be high, and I enjoyed this first episode. Hopefully it'll continue this way, the manga was boring.
Yoake Mae yori Ruri-iro na -Crescent Love- 01 raw
"Long ago, people settled down on the Moon and established a kingdom there. However, relations with Earth are currently off since a war which was fought hundreds of years ago. There isn't any business going on between the two worlds and travelling isn't allowed. The only link allowed between the two worlds is to be found at the Mitsurugasaki Central Port City.
Today, the princess of the Moon Kingdom, Feena Fam Earthlight, is sent for a homestay on Earth. She's to stay at Tatsuya`s house, a school boy, to learn the customs of Earth."
Romance.
Game turned anime.
Chara design is pleasant, animation is decent, VAs are okay.
First part of the episode was entertaining, but the second part was weak. Hopefully it'll pick up again in the next episodes.
Marginal Prince 01 raw
"A boy named Yuuta gets enrolled in a super special secret school on an island called St. Alphonse Academy, where there’s only about five other students who are all “Marginal Princes”."
Based on a phone game.
Yaoi.
Beautiful rich males striking poses, singing wet under the rain, showing a naked shoulder... but no kissing.
The only female beside the faceless, absent mother, is Yuuta's sister who is not shown because she's behind the camera. In other words, she's the viewer, the intended audience.
Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku wo 01 raw
"Yoshimura Mamoru is a highschool boy who was saved by Beatrice(a special miraculous power) when he was a child.
The first day at school, he meets a girl who proposes to him. Her name is Takasu Ayako. She's in the second grade, one year older than him. She's a powerful Beatrician who can even shoot down satellites. She's called "Witch Beatrice" or "Death Angel in Beatrice", but actually she has a pure heart."
Shota gag anime.
Romance between a superstrong, violent highschool girl and a babyfaced, starry-eyed little boy.
Kanon 2006 01 -overture- raw
"Yuichi Aizawa returns to this city after seven years. In his childhood, he often visited it, but something happened which caused him to block out his memories of the events of seven years ago. The day after, he meets a girl carrying a backpack with wings on it. Her name is Tsukimiya Ayu, and he begins to recall the memories he lost."
Remake of Kanon 2002.
The new animation is awesome, but I have seen the original so I know how the story is gonna develop, therefore my interest is low.
Yuichi sounds nicer than in the original, I'm not sure this is an improvement. The original mean attitude made more sense, with all those crybabies around him.
CODE GEASS: Lelouch of the Rebellion 01 raw
Japan has been taken over by Britannia, it's now a colony known as Area 11. The Emperor has sent his bloodline as proxy rulers in each Area. The main character is a future(?) proxy for the Britannia empire in Area 11. One day, he witnesses an accident which leads him to a strange girl who ends up giving him mysterious powers, and he becomes the Black Prince, bent on revenge...
Mecha, war, superpowers.
Looking good so far, non-stop action.
The chara design is a pleasant mix between Godannar and Gundam SEED. They have noodle legs but it was kept within a tolerable range.
The ED music is that same overused theme that I liked in the Rozen Maiden II's OP and various other animes, but now it's starting to get on my nerves. Thankfully I didn't have to listen to it within the episode.
Sumomo mo Momo mo 01 raw
"The main character, Inuzuka Koshi, was born in a martial arts family, but he dislikes violence and wants to become a prosecutor instead. One day, Kuzuryu Momoko, a girl also born in a martial arts family, comes in to get him to make her bear the strongest child."
Comedy.
Good mindless fun.
009-1 01 raw
"Alternate future where the Cold War has continued for 140 years. The world is divided in two parts, the East Block and the West Block. Cyborg Mylene Hoffman is a secret agent working for the West block... or is she?"
Charlie's Angels with cyborgs.
The girls are pretty to look at, the action is James Bond's-like (007 became 009 after 140 years?), lots of shooting and explosions and sex scenes and betrayals... what's not to like?
So far it seems it's gonna episodic, mission after mission.
Okay, why blow up that hijacked truck within the enemy fortress? Of course the enemy would take action... This was stupid, I thought. >_<
Then, why launching that rocket at all at the end? This was unnecessary. Apparently, the bad guys are stupid too.
Yeah yeah I know, it's for the cool scenes... oh well.
Hapinesu/Happiness 01 raw
Kamisaka Haruhi is a magical girl like many others at school. She was once saved from bullies by a boy who used magic when she was a child. Kohinata Yuuma is a boy at the same school. Haruhi sees him defending a child from bullies, but he doesn't use magic. Is he the same guy from her childhood?
Heartwarming love story.
Cute.
The animation is using shortcuts and is a bit rough at times, but it isn't too jarring. I liked that the anime didn't try to fill the silences with empty chatter, allowing for the emotions of the viewer to develop.
Souten no Ken/Fist of the Blue Sky 01 raw
Kenshiro is born, even though he isn't the main character of the series.
Instead it's his uncle Kasumi Kenshiro, who does an Indiana Jones mild-mannered professor act at a women's university in 1930's Tokyo before going out to dinner with a friend. They're attacked by thugs of the Manchukuo Emperor, who looks like Spock.
Uncle Kenshiro uses Hokuto no Ken to kill the thugs with the table settings, then makes the chief's head explode. ("You are already dead" is used as a subtitle)
Then they cry tears of masculine romance.
The animation is cheap, possibly approaching Zaizen Joutarou, but not Musashi. The OP is boring and not Ai wo Torimodose. The ED is alright.
Yasuhiro "I'm Awesome" Imagawa is scripting, so it should be good. PS watch Bartender.
Kanon (2006) 01 not raw
Kyon changes his name to Yuuichi and moves to a winter town where he's met by a retarded girl. They go home (her mother has the same color hair as her, good touch) and then go out to town later. Kyon gets knocked over by an even more retarded girl named Ayu, who turns out to not only dumb but also a criminal. Canon in D plays, Kyon serves justice by making her pay for the taiyaki she stole. Next episode preview implies she steals some MORE? I guess this is one of those famous Key complete disassociations from human reasoning, like turning into a bird in Air.
I guess they made him nicer so people wouldn't think he was Kyon. It didn't work, but it's the best part about the show. Animation is perfect as expected, though video quality is worse since SS-Eclipse aren't awesome like a.f.k.
I'd review OP and ED but I already forgot them. The OP was molested with EXPLODING SNOW EFFECTS!! karaoke >:(
(Oh, and why is it that the other girl he met seemed normal? Only the ones that become his friends are retards.)
Disclaimer: I liked Kanon, though I'm not sure why. I'll probably try to keep up. Nayuki's mom isn't dumb so is probably the best character.
/The Galaxy Railways (2006) ~Junction to Eternity~ 01 raw/
Main character lives at home with his mother (Not Maetel) and a picture of his father (Not Harlock). He works for the security department of the Galaxy Railways, and saves a train in this episode. A space train. There's also a lot of very good technobabble and they use the phrase "sea of stars" in the introduction.
Production values are all high, as a side effect making the Matsumoto character designs look pretty weird.
I feel vaguely offended by the basic direction of the episode, though. It's about trains in space. That's awesome yet really dumb, so they should sort of be there and be used as background. Instead a train in space actually BREAKS and he has to go out and rescue it. It's too awesome to break! It's treated as seriously as if this was /PLANETES/.
I recommend three-episode test.
Instant Reviews
Negima!? 01 raw: remake. Bleh, it looks worse than the original, which was already awful.
Sasami Magic Girl Club Season2 01 raw: Kiddies show. More of the same.
Kujibiki Unbalance 01 raw: For kids.
Gin-iro no Olynssis 01 raw: Gundam SEED chara designs, bleh. I like the girl who flashes her sideboobs, but the anime looks bland.
Gift eternal rainbow 01 raw: Yet another DaCapo rehash!?? Argh!
Asatte no Hoko 01 raw: Summer fantasy, girl doesn't want to grow and wish to be a child again, then becomes one. Too laid-back(=boring) for my taste.
> Negima!? 01 raw: remake. Bleh, it looks worse than the original, which was already awful.
"Looks" worse? The animation's certainly better. Only problem is it's actually another season of Pani Poni Dash in disguise.
> Kujibiki Unbalance 01 raw: For kids.
Might suck, but it's otaku-bait. I can't believe you haven't read Genshiken :(
>I can't believe you haven't read Genshiken
what
Clarification: when I said Kujibiki Unbalance 01 I meant the new TV version, not the old 3-OVA version.
http://www.animenfo.com/animetitle,3761,pxfjzw,kujibiki_unbala.html
Clarification 2:
When I said Negima!? 01 I meant the new TV version
http://www.animenfo.com/animetitle,3814,ynwhul,negima__.html
not the new OVA
http://www.animenfo.com/animetitle,3778,trhxoh,maho_sensei_neg.html
I know. The new OVA isn't another season of PPD, it's going to be Negima (ie fanservice).
Kuji-an is going to be dumb otaku bait, not a kids' show, whatever happens.
Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto 01 RAW
"End of Edo era, arrival of Westerners.
Behind the curtains of history, two existences collide: the Head of the Conqueror, and the Eternal Assassin. Will Evil triumph over Good this time?"
Samurai anime, historical settings.
Cool OP.
The chara designs remind me of Samurai Champloo.
The story is damn confusing - why is there a red star in the sky in the night? Why is white during the day? Is the super-samurai a human or a cyborg? What is the actual goal of the theatre troupe? What was that thing they were selling at the auction?
Instant Reviews
Death_Note_EP01 subbed: Bored top-of-the-class guy gets a notebook that allows him to kill people, so he gets real busy killing people. Well animated, but morbid tale which is only going to become even more morbid.
Ginga Tetsudo Monogatari ~Eien eno Bunkiten~ 01 raw: Yet another variant to the Galaxy_Railways series. The original Galaxy_Express_999 was about humans and exploration, Galaxy_Railways is about train maintenance, defending the train against attacks, boarding the train on time... For the fan.
Tenpou Ibon Ayakashi Ayashi, A Strange Ghost Story of the Tenpou Era, 01 raw: 1800s Japan is threatened by big monsters that teleport out of the ground and eat people. The main character is a young guy named Yuuki who does odd jobs and looks kind of like Musashi, master of Gun-do.
This is a terrible summary, because people are constantly talking in this show and I couldn't catch a word of it. Animation quality is superior even to Eureka Seven and FMA. Norio Wakamoto appears near the end. One-episode test succeeds, but only if it gets subbed.
Jigoku Shoujo Futagomori, 01 raw: Same as Jigoku Shoujo 01, but more so. The introduction highly spoils the first series, and there's a hint it will develop a plot sooner. For now, it's still episodic though.
Tokimeki Memorial: Only Love 01 raw: Two different shows in one.
#1: normal dating game scenes: main character meets female school idol, main character gets book off shelf for shorter girl
#2: I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE FUCK: the school council (composed of men with enormous ahoges) apparently decides to haze the entire freshmen class at once so forces them all to wear cat ears, also there are some random people with afros and a black guy. Stuff happens that seems to be randomly brilliant, probably because I can't read the constant cell phone messages.
Both happen at the same time, so the main character is wearing a cat ear headband with :3 on it when he gets the book off the shelf.
A+ raw. Am afraid to watch subbed in case it makes sense.
History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi 01 raw
"Shirahama Kenichi is always being bullied by his classmates. Following the advice of a beautiful and strong girl he just met, Furinji Miu, he goes to her martial arts school. However, it's a tremendously difficult school where only the strongest martial arts masters are teaching."
Fighting anime.
Intended audience seems to be 10-12 years old boys, or younger... I'll pass if the next episode comes out to be as patronizing to the viewer as this one.
Tenpou Ibun Ayakashi Ayashi 01 raw
"Near the end of the Edo period in Japan, Edo is beset by supernatural creatures called “Yoi.”
Ryuudou Yukiatsu, a former samurai, and other fighters band together to fight the threat."
Supersamurai fight the supernatural in old Japan.
Bones new series.
I'm not sure yet if to like (or hate) this series, this episode merely introduced the protagonists. So far, I'm not interested.
Katekyo Hitman REBORN! - 01 raw
"Sawada Tsunayoshi is a Japanese boy who is not good at either study or sports. An Italian hitman named Reborn is sent to remedy the situation, and to make him into the fully-fledged boss of an Italian mafia, the Vongole Family."
Comedy.
Directing is simplistic, but ep01 was entertaining.
Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru 01 raw
"Mizuho is a guy who was born in a classy family. One day, he has to transfer to an all-girl's highschool to fulfill his grandfather's will. Then, he's forced to disguise as a girl."
Yuri anime in disguise.
Things happen slowly like in a shoujo/yuri anime, lots of girly stuff for events. And that "guy" blushes all the time...
DaCapo's chara designs work better in a yuri anime, methinks. Those long bodies with those thin arms and legs have not enough meat to arouse the beast in me. The occasional cleavage shots are too far in between to keep me interested in the blushful "plot".
Death Note, eps 1 and 2
A very faithful adaptation of the manga so far, with super-high production values, and very competent (if sometimes a bit overblown) directing. The incredible tension of the battle of wits from the early parts of the manga is there just as it should be.
Unless they deviate from the manga storyline, though, it won't stay this good forever. The manga kind of lost it after a while. For now, though, I'm watching and enjoying it a lot.
PS: The opening is super cheesy.
Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge ep 1
A wacky wacky reverse harem show. Sadly, it's no Ouran, and overall it's pretty cheap and uneven. You could argue that this is a faithfula adaption of the cheap and uneven manga, I guess.
At least the fish-cutting scene is still funny.
Instant reviews
Yamato_Nadeshiko_Shichi_Henge_-_01 sub
"4 pretty boys are going to rent a house for free on the condition that they make the girl of the house a lady. However, the girl is gloomy and a horror movie maniac. She was rejected as ugly by the boy she confessed to when in junior high."
Shoujo gag anime.
Repetitive and cheap. May appeal to girls who like male harems.
D.Gray-man_-_02 sub
Spunky girl from ep1 preview isn't spunky at all, merely mundane.
Wimpy guy repeats everything that is said to him = lazy writing + damn annoying.
Anime still insipid after 2 eps, I'm dropping out.
Negima!? 2006 ep02 raw
Multiple moving frames + shaking handheld camera effects + bright flashing effects + high contrast effects + "I'm going mad" ambient music + disconnected dialogs = making me sick.
Artwork with its thick lines doesn't appeal to me. Dropping this.
Ghost Hunt 02 RAW
More of the same like in ep01, dark most of the time, overexaggerated acting. Plus I'm not into ghost stories. Dropping this.
Instant reviews
CODE GEASS 02 raw: Awesome++. And I love the USB keys.
La Corda D'Oro 02 raw: continuing to look good. And she makes amusing face faults now and then.
Tokimeki Memorial 02 raw: well, it's entertaining enough so far. Watchable.
jigoku shoujo ni kago 01 raw: Eeek, they really upped the horror factor compared to the first season's ep01, not my thing. I passed season 1, I'll pass this one too. :/
Hataraki Man 01 raw
"Matsukata Hiroko is a 28 year old editor. Everyone refers to Hiroko as a masculine woman for how seriously she takes her work. She smokes too much, works too much, and never has sex. However, when it's time to get a story done, she switches into "Working Man" mode where her testosterone in her blood increases, she works three times her normal speed, and all thoughts of life's necessities disappear."
Slice of single female life, shoujo.
Plusses: Nice chara designs, good animation, non-stop action.
Minuses: Girl is tsun-tsun (angry all the time), never -dere (showing a sweet side); boys are all bishounen softies with no real personality; sidekick girls are nobodies. In other words, this is a glorified story for workaholic "Christmas cakes"(women older than 24 who failed to nail a husband).
Bartender, Glass 01 raw
In the bar Edenhall is Ryou Sasakura, the "Glass of God". Some guy who hates bars is interviewing some bartenders for his hotel; they're only average bartenders, though.
He wanders into Edenhall and is overpowered by
OP is ragtime. ED is good but slightly generic, but has a pretty cool, if cheap, live-action video.
Animation budget is about the level of Genshiken maybe.
Anyway, this is clearly the best TV show ever.
Bartender ep 01 raw
"The story follows a genius bartender who won a championship in a worldwide contest in the past and decides to work for a hotel bar. In addition, the patrons who frequent the bar tell the Bartender various stories about their life."
Drinking anime.
Uh, using real pictures as background in an anime? Ultra low budget, or what? Let's see... Minimal animation? Check. Using pans instead of animating? Check. Talking about things instead of showing things? Check.
Okay, this is a cheap version of Cooking Master Boy, but using drinks instead of food. I don't like alcohol (makes me go to sleep) so I'm not the intended audience here. There is a girl but she's nothing special, and her raving ramblings about champagne don't help to make me take her seriously. As for action scenes, the only actions are drink-related. Zzzzzz...
>>111
Sounds like a nice anime.
Yeah, I'm joking.
You'll all be proved wrong when I finish subbing it tomorrow.
Galaxy Angel Ru~ne ep 1
I didn't get past the opening, it was just that disappointing. They managed to cram an hour worth of sucking just into the minute or so of animation before the opening.
Broccoli finally forgot why people like Galaxy Angel, it seems. Just like they did with DiGi Charat. What kind of idiots do they have running their company, anyway?
PS: "Galaxy Angel Ruined", haw haw haw.
>Animation quality is superior even to Eureka Seven and FMA.
I'd like some of the weed you were smoking.
PS: Thread needs more Irohanihoheto. Come on, surely one of you NEETs out there likes samurai stories with supernatural stuff thrown in!
Soukou no Strain 01-02 raw
In the distant future, Mankind is divided into two factions. They have waged a war against each other for so long that no one remembers when it first began.
Sara Viereck is a 16-year-old girl who is currently attending a space soldier academy. Her brother Ralph had been sent to the frontline to accomplish a special mission when she was 11 years old, and it's Sara’s dearest wish to be reunited with her brother. But one day, Sara’s academy is suddenly assaulted by enemy forces...
Sci-fi, army training.
The girl reminds me of Milfeulle, also the combat units are reminiscent of Galaxy Angels' units. The beginning was syrupy soapy stuff, then things turn deadly serious (and interesting!).
Kekkaishi 01 02 03 04 raw
Sumikawa Yoshimori, a 14-year-old junior high school boy, is a descendant of Kekkaishi, or exterminator of monsters. He is vying to be the heir to the family, in competition with Yumikura Tokine. Tokine is older than him, and she's his childhood friend as well as his rival Kekkaishi. To save people, and to make himself stronger, Yoshimori fights against monsters tonight, too.
Fighting ancient monsters in modern Japan anime.
Solid animation. Solid script, maybe a bit too solid, the story is quite straightforward, borderline simplistic, and surprises are few and far in between. So far, it has been a monster-of-the-week anime after the initial characters' introduction, hopefully a larger plot will develop as well.
In short: enjoyable but no masterpiece.