Where I dispose of random thoughts on anime I watched recently.
Marimite Season #4 1-4
Predictably, the material from vol.20 of the novels has been left out (they were mostly side stories). They also skipped the Tsutako-Shoko stuff from vol.21 (Souer Audition) and that annoys me – it makes Shoko’s presence in the anime rather pointless. Unless they return to it later on but I wouldn’t hold my breath, the producers seem intent on burning through a novel volume per episode to get to the ‘important’ stuff. I dread what else they’re gonna cut out if they push to cover volumes 22-35 within 12 episodes. Would probably do better to aim for an ending during the events of Bara no Hana Kanmuri (vol.31), when Yumi finally hands Touko her rosary in front of Sachiko.
Well actually Nabatame Hitomi (as Arima Nana) didn’t sound as bad as I thought she would. The scene with Eriko, Yoshino and Nana was pretty surreal though. Naba talking to Haruna talking to Naba talking to Naba… I still think they should’ve hired somebody else for Nana
I nearly missed Tomatsu Haruka (she’s Hidemi, Mami’s petite souer), in fact I had no clue it was her til I saw the episode credits
SoraKake 1-2
Thankfully more My-HiME than idolmaster Xenoglossia. I actually like this – it’s quite a blast, if totally random for the most part.
MAKO and Nonaka Ai collectively turn me into mush, in a good way. Moe overload!
Nanri Yuuka’s weird tsundere twintail is annoying and kinda overdone
Tamura Yukari’s character’s boobs are bigger than my head
Oh hell, I’m voting Fukuyama Jun as Best Supporting CV for next year’s Seiyuu Awards. Leopard is awesome!
Other than that, all the other female characters sped by so quickly I couldn’t tell who was who, though I did mentally tick off Shindo Naomi (big hair), Endo Aya (girl with weird pools of blue at bottom of eyes) and Nakahara Mai (mysterious girl)
WHITE ALBUM 1-2
This is shit. Which girl in their right mind would be interested in the twattiest of twats aka Touya? Amusingly, the people who are telling me that WA is good (and I suck) are all guys. I only watched this to hear Shin’ai and Mizuki Nana so now I’ve had enough of both I can stop rolling my eyes and go watch something that doesn’t have kissing in it.
All the girls except Rina have the personality of soggy cardboard
Which results in all the seiyuu sounding like they’re reading their lines off a cue card
Minami-ke Okaeri 1-4
Crappy animation and ugly designs don’t bother me, as long as the show is funny. Episode 2 appears to be the high point, the others hovered between mildly amusing and downright boring.
I wish they would include more school-based segments and feature less of the Minami households.
Devil Chiaki and Devil Fujioka were delicious. I really like Kakihara Tetsuya’s deep voice, too bad he doesn’t get too many chances to utilise it
Really, Ono Daisuke is a genius. I wonder which parts of the Curry Yosei song were his own ad-libbed lyrics?
Saito Ayaka as Hitomi sounds a bit weird, she’s using a lower version of her Honey-sempai voice and it creeps me out
Kokaku no Regios 1-2
Two episodes was my limit before my brain screamed bloody murder. Regios reminds me of Prism Ark, and that’s really not a good thing.
All Ohgame Asuka (Meicchi) has done so far is giggle, mutter about 3 words and then go fufufu. I don’t suppose I could form a decent opinion of her performance that way
Takagaki Ayahi as Nina Antalk seems like a horrible miscast. Her paper-thin voice definitely doesn’t suit a tough cookie like Nina – it just isn’t strong or forceful (or low) enough. I imagine Asano Masumi could’ve done a much better job with the role, or perhaps Koshimizu Ami. The original CV on the drama CD was Ito Shizuka, she would’ve been much better. At worst – swap Takagaki with Nakahara Mai’s Feri
Come to think of it the whole cast sounds limp, even Nakahara surprisingly sounds lifeless
Maria†Holic 1-3
Everyone should watch MariaHolic straight after Marimite to get back down from planet Yuri to earth.
Kobayashi Yu is perfect for Mariya. Schizo and all that
Sanada Asami is doing OK as Kanako, better than Hirano Aya did on the drama CD but I still think she sounds a bit ‘old’ for the role
I get kicks out of hearing foul-mouthed Inoue Marina. I would gladly be the M to Marina’s S
Kaida Yuko (Ryuuken-sama) is hot. Apart from being hawt, she is also the only link between MariaHolic, Marimite (Minako) and Strawberry Panic (Amane)
Rideback 1-2
Ballet and bikes, a devastating(?) combination. Episode 2 was pretty damn intense. Anyway, I’m in this for the action not the politics, so if it starts waffling about wars & military or whatever, I’ll be getting off the ride.
Man, Toyoguchi Megumi’s character sure is fugly. Her hair looks like the handlebars of a Rideback…
Rin’s creepy stalker reminds me of Saku-chan from Candy Boy
Rin needs a decent hairdryer, or a pair of scissors
Oh Ueda Yuji, you sound the same in every anime
Asu no Yoichi! 1-3
Sort of typical harem anime but sort of entertaining at the same time.
Sato Rina getting typecast as lovely big-boobed onee-san with a mean streak, whee
Washizu Vision! He’d be more loveable if he didn’t have a hideous mullet
I was going to stop watching this and then Makino Yui & Nabatame Hitomi turned up. I can never resist Naba-voiced big-boobed characters… oh, Margery Daw
Zoku Natsume Yujincho 1-3
The first three episodes were so-so, but I don’t think season 1 really hit its stride until around ep 6.
I liked the Yoshino Hiroyuki-Takagaki Ayahi (Gin-Sui) pairing in ep 2
I like the Natsume-Natori pairing more. BL! There’s BL in my Yujincho!
But nothing beats furry catservice
Akikan! 1-2
So bad it’s bad. I might watch the odd episode here and there to brighten up my day.
Fukuyama is horribly good in this one too, but I think Leopard is so much more entertaining
All the girls are squeakier than mice on helium and are very bad for my ears
This is really random but I found a Mr. Melon Pan (is he serious?) on Facebook. For some reason Asians like to give themselves fruity English names (Mango Wong, Apple Hong, Fruit Chan etc) so with Pan being a rather common Chinese family name I figured there’d be a Melon Pan somewhere… yeah
Ichigo Mashimaro Encore OVA 1
More random goodness. Basically the girls just do a whole lot of nothing and Miu continues to make a nuisance of herself, Nobue continues to smoke, and Matsurika continues to weep like a widow.
Lol at Nobue’s okonomiyaki reply to the Hiroshima guy
Miu is dead.
Cause of death: Wanted to be an idol, backflipped and hit her head.
Sasaki/Angel Chika = Lum + Dokuro-chan?
Do all little girls wish they had bigger boobs?
Having a Miu in heaven makes hell all the more desirable
Sucks to be Sasazuka
Anyone ever eaten day-old, sun-soaked sashimi and lived to tell the tale?
Kimagure Orange Road: Ano Hi ni Kaeritai
I decided not to bother with the KOR TV anime (48 episodes!) and jumped straight into the first movie instead. I had no context and knew nothing about any of the characters but it wasn’t too hard to get things straightened out within the first 10 minutes.
Basically this guy Kasuga likes this girl Ayukawa who’s a bit tsundere and can’t admit to herself that she likes him too. So Kasuga instead hangs out with annoying kouhai Hikaru, who fawns all over him, knitting him sweaters and feeding him ice-cream. She also has a nasty habit of calling him ‘darliiiin’ all the friggin’ time.
But we know that guys always go for the tsundere so Kasuga breaks up with Hikaru in a serious, grown-up way but the stupid kid clings on like a leech, refusing to leave him alone and harassing him with phone calls. Thankfully, Kasuga is man enough not to fall for Hikaru’s lame tears and leaves her crying her heart out in the pouring rain! I love guys who can say no to girls. Take that, stupid generic anime harem male leads!
…I have no idea why I wrote a summary for this. But watching KOR is part of my plan to explore a genre I truly dislike (ie romance anime), maybe I’ll finish off Maison Ikkoku next.
Toki o Kakeru Shojo
Time paradoxes… as long as you ignore them, TokiKake is a perfectly enjoyable slice-of-life comedy. It does get a little draggy towards the end though.
Naka Riisa (Makoto’s CV) isn’t particularly great at shouting
Three of the anime shows I watched over the last 7 days featured pudding – this, Minami-ke & Ichigo Mashimaro. This reminds me that I have some honeydew pudding in the fridge I need to eat…
Gonna attempt to watch Hetalia soon.
:O :O :O I’ve been spoiled for Marimite! Well I expected it anyway, but you might wanna remove the spoiler for not so intuitive Marimite fans. Or fans who are blind to the ED. >_> Also, I really hope they focus more on Tsutako and Shoko. I wanna see what that brown line drawn between them on your Marimite relationship chart is all about.
I don’t think they will go through that many volumes this season. The last 3 have only used 6-7 volumes each.
So far in 3 episodes they have used 2 volumes, vol 19 was ep 1, vol 21 was ep 2 and 3. Next episode is Volume 22 part 3, not sure if they will do part 1 and 2, but they have done chapters out of order before.
If I had to guess I’d say they would end this season at the end of 25 or 27 (26 is illustration booklet). No reason to rush to the catch up, Marimite is hugely popular, this upcoming season had the most preorders of any anime on Amazon (#200 or something of all DVD preorders).
Have you seen any info about vol 35? By the title it looks to be the last one or will be winding down, anyone have some spoilers?
I watched the curry song clip on YouTube multiple times, which got me to watch episodes 2-4 of Minami-ke (after putting it off for 8 months). That show plus Kuroshitsuji also got me into trying curry. I know it’s supposed to be spicy, but I like spicy foods, so I’m up for it.
Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo looks like a good movie. A nearby town was showing a special screening of it last summer, but I couldn’t go. I was disappointed. I’ll be getting it on DVD soon, though.
Actually the first two seasons covered 5.5 novels each – half of the 4th one (Rosa Canina) was used in season 1 and the other half in season 2. The third season adapted 5 novels (one per DVD). And they skipped the first two collections of short stories (Variety Gift and In Library).
The first two eps of this season covered “Tokubetsu de nai tada no ichinichi” and eps 3 and 4 covered “Soeur Audition”. This is pretty much the same pace from the other seasons – most novels used two eps, a few used three.
I was also terribly disappointed at the lack of Tsutako in ep 4. The way Yumi handled things in the omitted scenes was just awesome.
BTW, this season will have 13 eps – they’ve announced 6 DVDs (2 eps in DVDs 1-5 and 3 in the last one).
Encore was pretty awesome IMHO. Ana’s “gununu” face made the show for me
~ (btw you misspelled “Matsuri” by adding a “ka”. Freudian slip?)
And yeah, Asu no Yoichi is surprisingly good despite the generic-ness.
I so want a Matsurikenbacker. BTW according to the manga, she’s 100% tsun, so she’s a perfect ドＳ.
>>Takagaki Ayahi as Nina Antalk seems like a horrible miscast.
I’ll bet hashihime’s gonna flip at reading this line. LOL
And I’m shocked to hear that it’s Honey-sempai voicing the new character in Okaeri. No wonder it sounded familiar to a degree, yet I couldn’t place it anywhere.
Lastly, I have no idea why I am still watching WHITE ALBUM. But there’s a delicious tsundere twintail loli in episode 4….. (that episode’s ‘goddess’)
@Neo Horizon
I love spoiling people hahaha. Tsutako-Shoko is basically like, even though they’re so close they’re not souers. So erm, draw your own conclusion in your brain? Lol.
@Man0warr & __getattr__
Admittedly I haven’t been counting how fast they went in past seasons. Cheers for clearing that one up.
Yeah, vol.35 is probably the last one for some time & likely the last that will feature the characters as we know them. Hibiki Reine’s comments in the volume mentioned stuff like ‘So this is the closing of the chapter of Sachiko and Yumi’, and ‘even though this brings to an end a portion of Maria-sama ga Miteru, it is not the end of the (Marimite) world. With a change of ’style’, there will be (new?) meetings – when (I) feel ready for it, please do come along for the stories of Lillian Jogakuen. Gokigenyou.’
@Vness
I actually can’t stand eating curry/spicy foods, it makes my nose runny and my ears go red =_=
@Kurogane
Ahem. I guess I’m too obsessed with Matsurika?
Oh me and hashi agree to disagree about almost everything, so that’s no surprise there. But Takagaki’s Nina does sound forced – she excels more at the sweet ojo-san types. But she was also horrible in DCII & obviously has no idea how to cry, or act like she’s crying.
It seems there’s delicious tsundere twintail lolis in 90% of anime nowadays :3
I did “flip” at reading your line about Niina and the fantabulous Takagaki Ayahi, lol. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Oh, well, to each their own. I’ll think about your opinion — which of course I take seriously to the point of becoming uncertain of my own — when I watch the next episode of this show, which Ayahime is 90% of my reason for watching. Maybe your preference for a heavier voice overwhelmed your judgment? Or maybe mine for Ayahime overwhelmed mine, lol. Fortunately I can take your opinion of White Album with a grain of salt, since you say you hate romance anime, anyway. Finally, although MariaHolic is fairly entertaining, it hardly represents planet Earth. I will not watch it right after Marimite, since I want to retain those planet yuri vibes longer, and not go to planet ijiwaru. Have a great new year!
“Hibiki Reine’s comments in the volume mentioned stuff like ‘So this is the closing of the chapter of Sachiko and Yumi’, and ‘even though this brings to an end a portion of Maria-sama ga Miteru, it is not the end of the (Marimite) world. With a change of ’style’, there will be (new?) meetings – when (I) feel ready for it, please do come along for the stories of Lillian Jogakuen. Gokigenyou.’”
I hope she covers Yumi, Yoshino and Shimako’s year as Roses, plus Sachiko is going to Lillian Uni so she’s not far away
Hmm, i also thought the first episode for white album was pretty boring, don’t know if i’ll keep watching it
- Yes yes yes White Album sucks and we’re not (I get guys telling me I suck too lol). Now that Shin Ai’s CD is out, I have less reason to keep watching it.. except that Rina is one cool bitch I’d love to watch and Nana gets character songs.
- Mariaholic is getting a good hype in Japan too, I even bought the drama CD hahaha. And can’t wait for Hanaji~~ Yuu should get more psychotic roles, it comes naturally for her.
- You’re damn right on Asu no Yoichi. It’s pointless and stupid but the cast line-up is too yummy.
Marimite is going on smoothly, it seems. Though I was kinda ???What?!!?Really?!? over the relationship chart you posted in the previous entry.
I totally don’t get why all the girls are attracted to Touya. No looks, no personality. Urgh. (So that guys can self-insert themselves?) And what I really dislike is how he doesn’t know how much a player he is. The story is kinda okay, though. It’s just everyone being mean to everyone and how everyone’s actions have another hidden agenda.
Yeah, White Album wasn’t the most original anime I’ve seen, but it did have some interesting and beautiful artwork, at least IMHO.
Nice writeup! I agree with most points, so I’ll just give my 2 cents on each anime.
- Sorakake: 1 word – Makino Yui
- Minamike: Genius Ono Daisuke steals the show again XD. There was a niconico video putting the curry song audio against the manga, and about half the lines were exactly the same, with a few extra lines in the anime. I’m guessing none of it was adlibbed because it has to fit the music, though only Ono Daisuke can pull off that kimo singing.
- Regios: Barely noticed Ayahi, thought she did fine, dunno what the fuss is about. Ep3 engrish was surreal.
- Maria+Holic: Brilliant stuff by SHAFT, Asami Sanada is perfect in my opinion (nails the rambling monologues).
- Yoichi: Makino Yui again
- Yuujincho: Excellent as expected.
- Akikan: Nice seiyuu (Fukuyama, Aki, NotoMami) keep me watching.
On an unrelated note, Animate.tv radio hasn’t been working for me since Friday, anyone have any idea why? All other radio works fine, just Animate.tv (says I can’t connect). Even tried using a proxy to no avail. Living in Canada.
@Jigga
I noticed that about animate.tv also over the weekend, though I just tested Kara no Kyokai and Yozakura Quartet radio and both were working fine, albeit really slowly.
re:Takagaki
*shrug* It’s not that her delivery was bad or anything, I just didn’t think her type of voice was the best choice for the character. But I’ve already given up on Regios so I’m not bothered either way.
Now what do you know, you’ve just roped me into watching Minami-ke (even though I haven’t even touched the first two seasons).
And re: Hetalia… It’s not good. Not even bad, just not good. I think I’m going to rip the audio and pretend it was a drama CD all along.
*waits impatiently for someone to sub ichigo mashimaro* =_=
MariaHolic is awesome XD It’s really amazing how Kobayashi Yu can voice characters that are completely different from her normal, air-headed self.
Minami-ke: yes yes! Devil Chiaki and Devil Fujioka were delicious! XD
White Album DOES indeed suck. I forced myself through 3 episodes already… but I seriously don’t understand why everyone always falls for the useless, jobless, totally garbage of a man. I mean, come on… you’re IDOLS! Learn to have STANDARDS! =_=
But White Album rocks! Where else do you get idols falling for the useless, jobless, totally garbage of a man?!?
Ok maybe I am watching it from a guy’s point of view and fantasizing about Nana and Aya. Even then, I have to admit I watch White Album only for Nana and the crazy drama they are serving up. If you absolutely have to watch a Nana show this season, Rideback is a much more accessible and entertaining title than White Album.
I see White Album as a show catered to Nana’s current fans, the people who appreciate nothing more than just hearing her voice and rejoicing as she steals the worthless boyfriend from right under Aya’s nose. I know, because I am one of those people. Rideback is more for the general public and the casual anime fan who simply watches anime for fun.
Thanks for your further mention of Ayahime. Now I get it. I watched ep2 again last night and I see what you may be getting at, although I still love the voice in the role, myself, as well as just liking the voice. I may well not keep watching the show myself, however, lol.
White Album may be less accessible than the enjoyable Ride Back, but the complexities of the characters and relationships — none of which is an idol falling for the main guy, as far as I can tell so far — are fascinating. Aya’s character fell for Touya well before being an idol was a possibility for her, and Nana’s character’s motivations are far from clear. I agree in seeing no reason for her to fall for him. I think she’s making some kind of power play. We — or at least I — will see.
Can’t believe I forgot about RideBack – hands down best show of the season, a real gem. Hope they don’t screw it up.
White Album has promise but feels uninspired at times – I find myself zoning out a lot when watching.
@Jim0ne
Thanks for the quick response, nice to know it wasn’t just me over the weekend. However, its still not working at all for me at the moment >_<. It always gives me the same “can’t connect to server, verify network and proxy settings etc” error. I know its not my computer because I got a friend to check and it doesn’t work for him either. Just hope its a temporary thing, I need my Kurogane no Radiobarrel fix soon XD
Funnily enough, most of the girls I know are liking White Album and it’s the guys that are wondering why they’re still watching it. It’s reminding me of the latter half of NANA for some reason, which might explain it because most of my mates dropped/”paused” NANA in the first ten episodes. And you can really hear the sharpness in Tomatsu Haruka’s voice in White Album, or at least I thought so. That laugh of hers was really bleh.
I’m surprised that I’m liking RideBack so far, since I also tend to hate most anime that Mizuki Nana happens to have a big role in. Cute? girls [because Rin might look cute if she got a decent hair cut] and motorcycles always look like a fun combination…. unless you’re Natsuki from Ga Rei -Zero-.
Geebus wiggly, an Ogata Rin and an Ogata Rina left me confused when I was watching the first episode of each. Maybe it’s just because both are being voiced by Mizuki Nana.
OH GOD, WHO CARES, LEOPARD IS JUST MADE OF SEW MUCH WIN. He’s like the pervy, talkative brother of Orange’s Siegfried a la Coke Geyass…. if it could talk. Maybe. With a name like Siegfried, it’s bound to be somewhat interesting. Or just gay.
My opinion Akikan is funny like Inukami.
maria holic is laugh enough.
now new anime is great.
Marimite – yeah, it seems to be flying by really quickly…
Maria+Holic – OH DEAR LORD, I LOVE THIS ANIME. It’s just so bloody funny.
RideBack – I didn’t even know what RideBack was before I watched it. But I like it a lot for the actionnnn. Yeahhhh, robot-like motorbikes!!!
Thanks for the unmarked spoilers. No, really.