REIDEEN 01 raw
Saiga Junki is a normal high school student. One day, he hears that his father, an archaeologist missing for the past 10 years, was found dead in ruins located at Iwate Prefecture’s at Mt Kurokami. Junki blacks out while in the ruins. Upon waking up, he finds a gold bracelet left beside him with the inscription, "The Great Reideen." At that time, a meteor falls from the sky and a large mechanical beast appears out of a lake..."
Remake of the 1975 series Yusha Reideen.
Robots anime
Realistic-looking settings. 3D is good but dizzying camera angles. The hero had the same dream over and over in the past but when the vision becomes reality all he can say is "what's going on"? He's supposed to be a genius! Oh well - probably intended for kids... but with an adult-looking hero.
Keitai Shoujo ep 01 raw
Guy and girl see each other at school, and also use phones to communicate. Ramance doesn't go well in real life, but the cell phone saves the day. Medetashi, medetashi (so wonderful, so wonderful).
Romance with cell phones.
Very short. The OP and ED are longer than the episode itself!
Black uniforms? Even the sport uniform is black. Those must feel very hot in summer.
The cell' screen colors are ugly and use bad English. Ugh...
Animation is a bit stiff.
The girls in the ED are cute tho.
Idolmaster XENOGLOSSIA - 01 raw
Idols being recruited, meet on the train while going to Tokyo, little strange events happen elsewhere... what is going on?
Sci-fi with idols.
Haha. It starts with a boring presentation, shy new idols being selected, talking about trivial things, with a dumb ambient soundtrack that drowns the girls' conversation. Yawn. I was about to give up on this anime. But then, the key locker each girl received starts to behave strangely from time to time while on the bullet train. Then while visiting Tokyo the girls see strange walls in the streets... At the end, we have a set of giant mechas roaming about with HQ in a panic! And still nothing is explained, altho I can somewhat guess what's going on. I'm not sure if the enemies are aliens or rival idols, tho. Maybe both?
Hitohira 01 raw
"A transferred student Asai Mugi is a painfully shy girl. She is so shy that she can’t speak when she becomes seriously nervous. However, for some reason, she is spotted and recruited as a member of the drama club."
Schoolgirl trying to overcome shyness and become a princess in the limelight.
Lots of reds and pinks. Art/animation is okay. Acting of the characters comes a bit forced, like if they are playing in a drama already in real life. The only ones with a personality are the girls, the (very few) boys are mostly props for the girls to use on the stage. Shoujo.
Seirei no Moribito 01 raw
Every 100 years, a Water Fairy puts an egg into a person who is to become the Guardian of Fairies. This time, the egg is given to the young prince of the New Yogo Kingdom. But they are people plotting to have him killed. A travelling female fighter, Valsa, happens to witness the event...
Ancient Japan(?) fairy tale, with realistic settings.
Beautiful, detailed scenery, using seamless 3D at times. 2D art is very detailed. Story was a bit on the heavy side, with all these old polite phrases and ceremonials, but looking at the preview it seems that it's gonna be more about the tribulations of the inexperienced prince in enemy territory.
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann 01 raw
Boy with a giant drill and his AWESOME older brother live in an underground cavern.
The old chief doesn't want them to try to leave because there's nothing above ground and imprisons older brother.
The boy finds glowing a drill-shaped key and giant robot in a tunnel.
Giant monster and woman (with large gun and large chest) falls into the cavern from outside, they defeat it with the giant robot and the aid of the older brother's totally wicked sunglasses.
Major FLCL complex. Major clock show. Major sunglasses. Major fanservice.
http://img.waffleimages.com/be973a6377c5805e080b917dbe27eb6578af039b/bitchinsunglasses.jpg
http://img.waffleimages.com/33b3d3dbeabcba6334c1aa95390e1b76934c9ffd/ttglboobs.jpg
http://img.waffleimages.com/ce48a5fa28ee3b4c01fc7f6e3dfe0a74ed32d2be/the%20drill%20is%20a%20phallic%20metaphor.jpg
Hayate the Combat Butler 01 raw
Highly competent adaption of Hayate the Combat Butler; I don't want to explain the plot due to it being 4 AM.
Preponderance of flat-chested girls, and also the female lead is a little girl with thighhighs. They are very moe.
Male lead looks like a girl but that is just a style thing.
Frequent narration by everyone's best friend Norio Wakamoto. It makes the anime sound like a Sound Horizon album.
Anyway, I am very good at complaining about things, and there is nothing to complain about here. I would say it's excellent, but I just watched Gurren Lagann, which is less visually impressive but has more burning courage.
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann 01 raw
This show is all about drills, giant glasses and even bigger faces. This is a recipe for pure awesome.
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann - 01 raw
Story: Since immemorial times, people have drilled their homes down deep in caverns. In one such village, a boy named Simon happens to find an ancient artefact while drilling. He goes to tell Kamina, an older boy who believes in the fairy tale that there is another land above. But suddenly an earthquake occurs, and the ceiling collapses, followed by a big monster and her hunter in hot pursuit, Yoko...
Genre: Three puny humans go out of their cavern to tackle a world where giant monsters roam the surface.
Review: Gainax. Lots of non-stop crazy action. The girl is cute, but I'm not sure yet if to like her voice.
Hayate the Combat Butler 01 raw
Ayasaki Hayate was the fastest delivery boy, till he was fired after his employer found out that he was underage. Returning home, he learns that his parents ran away and sold him to the yakuza. Escaping, Hayate decides to kidnap a young girl, Nagi Sanzenin, for ransom money...
Comedy.
I don't like the manga on which the anime is based but this first episode was entertaining enough.
Heroic Age 01 raw
Answering the call of the Golden Race, all sentient races launch into space. The human race, aka the Iron Race because they were the last ones to launch, is under thread of total annihilation by the Silver Race. To save Mankind the Queen sails out toward a far-off galaxy's planet with her people, following the prophecies. There, she finds a boy called Eiji. But the Silver Race has caught up to them and the battle begins.
Sci-fi, mecha, superpowers.
Smooth animation, good art. Nicely thought up, detailed universe. The only thing that doesn't fit too well is the mechas - they can reenter the atmosphere without protection, holding a rifle in their hands? It should have been morphing mechas, with plane/humanoid shapes, or at least the rifle should have been secured for reentry. Even better, why not make the rifle part of the frame? Like this it feels like toy makers altered the original story for ease of manufacturing.
Seto no Hanayome - 01 raw
While visiting his hometown, junior high school student Michishio Nagasumi almost drowns but Seto San, a mermaid, saves his life. However, her family is part of a merfolk mafia, and they abide by a strict rule: if a mermaid is discovered by a man, either he dies, or the mermaid dies. The only exception is if the man becomes a member of the family.
Gag anime.
I liked the manga (well, at the beginning; after a while it petered out) but I couldn't stand this first episode, too manic for one thing. Scenes get dimmed somewhat randomly, not sure why but it's annoying. And the characters don't come off as very sympathetic, except maybe for the mom: it was funny how she fell for the cool yakuza at first sight. Dad must be really useless. They have only one child?
GeGeGe no Kitarou (2007) 01 raw
Kitarou, and his dad who is an eyeball, and his friend who is a catgirl named Catgirl, and his friend who is a, uh, rat guy named Rat Guy, and a talking konnyaku, and some anthropomorphic toilet paper are all youkai (spirits). They go and fight other spirits for being evil.
In this one they fight some kind of water guy, which was fairly entertaining, but it's a kids' show.
Nobody outside Japan cares about this show. Not even torrented. Won't be subbed.
Good song though:
http://astrange.ithinksw.net/fat_nerd/GeGeGe%20no%20Kitarou%20OP%20(1280x720%20h264).mkv
Well, besides us, I mean.
I want to see at least 1 episode...
GeGeGe no Kitarou (2007) 01 raw
More scary and less silly than the original series, which I only caught the one subbed episode of. Overall very entertaining for a kids' show. Also, that guy is not a talking konnyaku, he's a nurikabe!
PS: Ginko = Kitarou.
GeGeGe no Kitaro (2007) 01 raw
"Kitarou, a ghost, spends his afterlife helping humans in need of his skills."
Fighting ancient monsters in modern Japan.
(Video is 1280x720 x264, I couldn't get the video to keep up nor the sound to keep in sync on my trusty but old Pentium 2.4Ghz, even with all post-processing off in MediaPlayer Classic. So I watched it like a slideshow.)
Chara designs pleasant to the eyes, except when the charas go in youka(monster) mode, in other words the horror is toned down overall. Still plenty of horrorific moments tho. Comedic relief is provided occasionally by Kitaro's dad, an eyeball with arms and legs.
El Cazador de la Bruja - 01 raw
A girl, Elis, is wanted for a murder and a large bounty is put up for her capture, dead or alive. A bounty hunter, Nady, finds her in Mexico, but other hunters want the bounty too. Nady decides to help Elis...
"Noir" in Mexico.
I didn't recognize it until they started the music. Then I saw it all: the two-team girls, one girl with a special ability and no memory of her past, the easy gunning, the almost identical music... even the ED is a copy of Noir's ED. So far it's an inferior copy to Noir tho. The new "Mireille" is too clean, the new "Kirika" is too bland, the villain too plain. Another Madlax?
Touka Gettan 01 raw
"To regain his/her memory, the main character goes to the Momoutadai academy." [from the jp wiki]
Romance.
I couldn't keep my interest up in watching sequentially. Something about people in ancien Japan who died in a flash of light and are now reunited in present Japan? Carnelian chara designs so the girls are cute and sexy. But everything happen is slow motion, I can't make much sense of the story, the girls' voices grate on me, the guy has a female voice. Maybe it's shoujo? Or disguised shoujo-ai(girlXgirl)? The voiceover at the beginning and the end is an old lady's voice, she made me laugh with her bored, flat tone of voice, kind of "what the heck is this?"
It's part three of the director's trilogy that started with Noir and Madlax, apparently.
CLAYMORE - 01 RAW
In this world there are demons who eat men's flesh(youma). To fight against them, humans have created special warriors who are half-demon, half-human. They are the Claymore, from the name of the sword they wield, roaming the countryside.
Dark medieval tale of swords and sorceries.
Young boy falls for the killing machine in the shape of a pretty girl who he thinks saved him, and follows her around. As she spends her time hunting vicious monsters and he is a mere human, it doesn't look like this first love is going to end well for him...
Wellber no Monogatari ~Sisters of Wellber~ 01 raw
Since the war between Wellber and Sangatrus ended, there has been peace. But a new war is brewing. The King of Wellber tries to quell the tensions by giving his daughter, Princess Litta, to the Prince of Sangatrus. When the Prince tries to possess her, Litta runs away with Tina the thief.
Light-hearted RPG-style adventure.
About everybody is despicable here. ^^; Litta is clueless, the prince is a boor, the kings are too, the boyfriend of Tina is useless... The thieving Tina is about the only one with a sense of honor(!)
Kono Aozora ni Yakusoku wo~Youkosou-gumi Ryou e~ 01 RAW
South of the mainland there is an isolated island. On that island, there’s a factory and a school. The factory decided to stop its operations. That leaves only the male protagonist and a few girls living there to go to school.
Harem anime.
Everybody sounds and acts retarded... yawn. Is there even a story?
Touka Gettan 01 RAW
This show does not make sense. Sense is entirely the opposite of what this show stands for. Characters appear without being introduced and change names unexpectedly. Lots of cherry petals fall around and the maid is suddenly magical and people get stabbed in the eye with MIND BULLETS for no reason.
I am assured that this is not an artifact of raw-watching in any form; there is no continuity to this story and Japanese speakers have no help to offer.
The old lady narrating is apparently on loan from Mushi-shi.
MURDER PRINCESS 01 raw
In the 4th of Month of Jade, Cyndina Era 672, a coup d’etat broke out in Foreland, forcing Princess Arita to flee the castle. Outside, she bumped into the strongest bounty hunter in history and their souls exchange. Thusly, the strongest (and bloodiest) princess in history was born.
Swashbuckling and rock'n roll.
'Love the hard metal music. I liked the manga, and the anime is even better. Gimme more.
Shinkyouku Soukai Polyphonica - 01 (RAW)
Humans rely on the miracles of fairies in their lives, and the fairies live on the music played by humans. This is the story of the fairy Conticarte and the human Phoron, who live on the Polyphonica continent.
Boy meets tsundere(cold&hot) fairy.
Aw, too mawkish, I couldn't bear to watch much of it. >_< At first I thought it was a Demonbane clone (competent pretty boy is being picked on, variable-size loli/babe has superpowers) but no giant robot, just a transforming motorbike/synthetiser. And what with the old style phones? The synth has hightech light displays but the phones have cogwheel numbers? BTW a synth player for fairies is called a "Dantist" here. Ouch! ^^;
Kissdum -ENGAGE planet- - 01 (RAW)
In 2031, strange life forms called Hardians appear, begin to multiply and assault the population. Mankind creates a special group, the NIDF, to investigate the Hardians. Rurika Yuno, one of Earth's foremost scientists, hears rumors about a certain "Book of a Dead Man". Is this the key everybody is looking for?
Mecha or horror anime? 'Dunno yet.
"I can't see a thing, Captain!" Very dark. This episode reminds me of that other Gundam OVA episode where there is an cataclysm and everybody is running around in the dark but we don't know who is who, the characters have not been introduced yet. So far I don't have a clue why I should care for this anime. On the plus side, we got to see a flying car, woot.
OverDrive - 01 raw
Clumsy schoolboy Shinozaki Mikoto is asked “Why don’t you join our bicycle club?” by a girl who happens to be his secret crush. But he doesn't know how to ride a bike. So he must learn it in secret, and fast.
Boy and bike love story.
Eyeshield-21 clone. Girl is cute, guy is so useless it's painful to watch. ^^;;; But he'll probably attain Super-Sayaijin level, get yellow hair and pass the speed of sound on a bike in a couple of episodes. ^^; Winning is not about hard work and fine tuning, it's all about love magic?
Nagasarete Airantou 01
A 14-year-old boy, Tohoin Ikuto, quarreled with his father, and ran away from home. He fell out of the ship he embarked on and woke up at an isolated island where the locals are all strong possessive females and have never seen a man...
Fast-paced comedy.
Manga awesome, anime awesome, need more episodes.
Romeo x Juliet 01 raw
On the flying city of Neo Verona, tyranny reigns after the Montague assassinated the previous Capulet ruler 14 years ago. Romeo is the son of the new ruler, Juliet is the last of the Capulet and lives in hiding, masquerading as a masked, caped man who defends the oppressed.
Tragic love story.
Pretty scenery and art. Nice 3D flyby around the fortress' walls. Chara design is a bit plain but well animated. I have a little problem with the way the characters behave, it's not very exuberant like Italians are, I feel it's too reserved. I would have envisioned Romeo as someone who is more aware of his good looks, his best friend as more pushy, his assigned girlfriend as more secure, and Juliet less of a pushover... or something. Basically, I didn't feel for the main characters in this first episode. I liked better the performance of that buxomed actress who lost her blind date. ^^
Gigantic Formula - 01 raw
2035, Mankind is recovering from a recent cataclysm. A mecha fight has been proposed by the UN to decide which country will rule the world. Japan finished building their giant robot, and is holding a virtual game at the Tokyo Dome to decide who is the best pilot. Another country decided to play dirty and sent their robot to destroy the Dome with all the pilot candidates in it. A 13-year-old boy who was playing from a remote location is the only pilot left. Incidentally, he was also the best pilot. But foreign men in black are zeroing in on his location...
Mecha fighting.
Yuck, faces are ugly. Rotoscoped animation? Or are they trying for a "realistic" look? But blushes are represented by big unnatural red circles that appear instantly, so it's more likely that it was rotoscoped, or based on 3D models. Mechas aren't very pretty either. Besides, how come the mechas can regenerate? And why do countries have to fight for total domination? Is there an alien threat, or is it just bad writing?
Oh Edo Rocket - 01 raw
In the 13th year of Tempo, people in Edo are ordered to stop living extravagantly and luxuriously. But Tamaya Seikichi doesn't want to abandon his dream to make beautiful fireworks. The next day, Sora, a mysterious and beautiful girl, asks him to make a firework that can reach the Moon.
Historical Japan fantasy-comedy about fireworks.
Reminds me of Gintama, a bunch of eccentric characters doing dumb stuff and running away from the law. Based on a popular manga? The art is clean and the animation is okay, but I'm not very familiar with life in ancient Edo, so I'm probably missing all the jokes.
Darker than Black 01 raw
In Tokyo, an impenetrable field known as "Hell's Gate" appeared ten years ago. At the same time, people with paranormal powers also appeared. The police is faced with violent psychics they have a hard time to put under control. A special agent, Hei, who can deal with such creatures is sent to Tokyo to stop the rampage.
By Studio Bones.
Supernatural thriller.
Nicely animated, nicely directed, a small touch of humor. I'm thinking Hei is a kind of Batman who doesn't hesitate to kill. I'm thankful that the anime didn't rub the nasty scenes in the face of the viewers too much, tho. ^^;
Kotetsushin Jeeg ep 01 raw
50 years after the original Jeeg defeated Evil, a giant clay robot manages to escape its rocky prison thanks to an earthquake. A high school student, Kenji Kusanagi, who is also a bike racer, is told to ride the superbike hidden deep in a shrine. But now the giant robot is going after him - can he outrun it?
Original creator Go Nagai.
Defeating Evil in a retro giant robot before lunch.
Lots of explosions, good animation, clean designs, simple plot. The 3D bikes use a nifty trick, the faces are done in 2D. Did they tone down the fan service? The girlfriends of Tsubaki Tamaki, the main character's love interest, refer to Kenji as a hopeless "sukebe"(lecher), but he isn't anything of the sort. His passions are bikes and food, he isn't even showing any interest in the girl, only her lunchboxes.
Saint Beast - Kouin Jojishi Tenshi Tan - 01 raw
A long time ago, Zeus, the great god, created a hierarchy of angels, although they were supposed to be equal. Also, Zeus appointed 6 angels as Saint Beasts who govern the animals of Earth. The six fulfilled their tasks faithfully. However, Zeus is becoming increasingly tyrannical...
Male bonding fantasy.
Animation is sub-par, fights are lame. Not a single girl in sight. Uses famous VAs, like Suzaku from Code Geass, Lelouch, Kyon from Haruhi, etc. For the fangirl.
Sola 01 raw
Absent-minded guy who likes to take pictures of the sky and sun, meets girl in the night who avoids the sun, drinks tomato juice and sleeps in a church during the day.
Slice of life, romance.
Nice clean chara designs, but the main character's sister(?) looks too much like Nemu from "Da Capo" for my comfort. Like Nemu she seems to enjoy hitting people around her a bit too much. Also she, along with his other sister, seems to be overprotective of him. Where are the parents? Anyway, the title: I suspect it's a pun on sora(sky) and sola("lonely" in Latin). "Tomato juice" drinkers are usually outcasts. ^^; I didn't care much for the characters, so I was kinda glad the "Highlander" guy showed up at the end to kick some reality in this slice of pretty boring, unhealthy life. ^^;
Kamichama Karin 01 raw
Polyphonica 01 raw
Both of these shows really suck a lot, a whole lot, and you shouldn't watch them.
Kamichama Karin at least sucks like Touka Gettan for a while, which was interestingly bad, but cleans up its act and is just terrible afterwards.
Polyphonica is just really boring. Only good detail is the phones, which are EVEN MORE BASE THAN BASE 16! Awful character drawing and moe-super-twintails design.
To Terra 01 raw (Terra e…)
Guy at school in the future has psychic episodes, is taken away by evil police, who then let him go again for no reason. He runs off to a park and has more psychic episodes.
This episode's not so hot, but I can forgive it this time because I know there's more plot coming up.
http://animeworldorder.blogspot.com/2007/03/anime-world-order-show-51-timeliness-is.html
Koutetsu Sangokushi - 01 RAW
Alternate version of the Three Kingdoms China, with a much coveted magic cube added in the mix.
Manly blood and tears on the battlefield.
Luscious artful designs. Battles are not too bad, altho skimpy. The uke(submissive male) hero moans, whines and "ah!" and "ooh!" too much for me to enjoy the story -- oh wait, that's probably intended. ^^; The seme(dominant male) guy comes across as a manipulative bastard. In short, there are no character I would want to like here.
TOWARD THE TERRA 01 raw
Earth is now a distant memory. Stories tell of a planet that was ravaged by an uncaring Mankind. Science stepped in, and computers created a new world where everything is provided. This comes at a price: anything that can disturb the peace has to be removed. Children are artificially created, and at the time of their "adult examination" their memories are taken from them. Those found to be unfit, the MU, are disposed of. Wisdom is that the MU are dangerous people who'll use their powers to destroy the new world.
Sci-fi.
The happy-happy-joy-joy dialogs at the beginning were really grating on my nerves, good job!
The chara designs are also grating on my nerves... good job(?)
The computers are running the Happyville show but they are also people watching everything on monitors all day long? The computers make unhappy faces? The guy became a psychic the day he turned 16? ... bad job?
I smell cheap writing coming up...
Blue Dragon 01 raw
The story follows Shu and his friends as they find themselves able to summon powerful shadows. The main cast will set off on a grand journey that'll determine the fate of the world.
Blue DragonBall without the Z.
Simple chara designs, altho effective enough for the storytelling. Not a masterpiece but entertaining enough. Sponsored by XBOX360.
Shining Tears x Wind 01 raw
Two school mates get teleported to a different world. Now they must fight their way out.
Adaptation of a fantasy role-playing game.
Ugh, people move and behave so unnaturally it's painful to watch. And the fighters are waiting their turn to attack like in the game? On the plus side there is a catgirl. But the wolfman claws out at her chest and not a shred of clothing gets shed? Is this an anime intended for export or what?
Kamichama Karin 01 raw
We meet orphaned this 12-year-old girl named Karin Hanazono. Her beloved cat recently died, she’s getting horrible grades and is forced to live with her mean aunt. One day, Karin meets a boy named Kazune Kujyou, and discovers that her mother’s ring has the power to give her god-like powers.
Cute magical goddess fights evil.
Pita-Ten designs. Cute. Animation uses quite a few shortcuts, but it's not too too bad. The problem is... the soundtrack! Very unfitting background music, IMO. Some sound effects are missing, too. Ruins the Cuteness Overload experience.
WHERE IS NANOHA???
Instant Reviews
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Same cr*p as before. For loliconners.
Saiunkoku Monogatari 2nd Series Same crap. For chicks.
Sakura Taisen 5th OVA New York NY Same crap. For g4merz.
> Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Same cr*p as before. For loliconners.
Man, I highly disagree. But I haven't got a good raw yet.
But anyway.
Shining Tears x Wind 01 Raw
What >>46 said. This entire episode was about as bad as the in-a-game episode of Xenosaga.
On the plus side, there is an amazing catgirl ass shot in the ED.
