More new anime
More new anime:
Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai: Kodaka looks fierce with his blonde hair, so everyone avoids him. Then one day, he catches ice-queen Mikazuki talking with her imaginary friend. Mikazuki decides to create a friend-finding club, because she thinks the both of them should have some friends and learn some social skills. Then idol queen Sena wants to join: she has lots of admirers, but no real friends -- but Mikazuki seems to hate her guts.
It could turn into a harem plot, but so far I quite liked what I saw. Social misfits banding together should provide lots of comedy.
Kimi to Boku: Four friends grew up together and were in school together from kindergarten to highschool. During various events in their school life, they look back to how things were when they were much smaller -- not with teary-eyed nostalgia but with the sarcastic way boys treat their friends. (Apparently there will be another character introduced later on, but he's absent in the first episode.)
We liked this, because there's a lot of backstory that's told in an interesting way. And they were cute as little boys. ;)
Chihayafuru: Chihaya has become interested in 'karuta', a game where a line of poetry is read out and you have to find the card containing the following lines of the poem. This is a quiet game, unless you play it competitively -- which is what Chihaya's quiet classmate does. This triggers her interest in the game. But in highschool, kids' games are not popular anymore...
Karuta is inherently Japanese, which means it took us a while to understand what it was about and how it works. It's interesting, though it could turn out to be the next tournament anime if it's not careful.
Bakuman S2: Second season of Bakuman! The boys have managed to get serialised -- but now the real work begins! They get a new editor, since Hattori is assigned to other mangaka, and they have to really start churning out the comics, working with assistants and all. If they're not popular, they'll be dropped -- and so they have to compete with the other mangaka for a place in the pages of Shounen Jack.
We liked the first season, and this is a straight continuation -- in fact, the first season ends right where the second season picks up.
Ben-To: Yo starts to attend a highschool with a dorm. His main challenge is to keep himself well fed on a budget. He makes frequent trips to a conbini, and happens to be there when the bento (lunchboxes) get discounted to half price. A fierce brawl breaks out amongst the assembled students, and poor Yo is caught in the middle. His eye is caught by Sen, whose brawling skills have earned her the nickname 'Ice Witch'.
OK, so it's a fighting story featuring females with improbably large busts kicking ass. But the premise is funny and Yo works quite well as straight man.
Hunter x Hunter: Gon dreams of becoming a licensed Hunter -- someone who catches monsters and recovers lost treasures, just like his father (who abandoned him to become one...) When Gon manages to catch the humongous fish in the lake, his foster mother allows him to set sail for the examination. And of course Gon meets other prospective Hunters, and must work together with them.
Kiddie adventure series, with the usual simplistic motivations and plots.
Shinryaku!? Ika Musume: Second season of Squid Girl! Let's hope it turns out to be as funny as the first one, which we liked a lot.
There's more to come later.
Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai: Kodaka looks fierce with his blonde hair, so everyone avoids him. Then one day, he catches ice-queen Mikazuki talking with her imaginary friend. Mikazuki decides to create a friend-finding club, because she thinks the both of them should have some friends and learn some social skills. Then idol queen Sena wants to join: she has lots of admirers, but no real friends -- but Mikazuki seems to hate her guts.
It could turn into a harem plot, but so far I quite liked what I saw. Social misfits banding together should provide lots of comedy.
Kimi to Boku: Four friends grew up together and were in school together from kindergarten to highschool. During various events in their school life, they look back to how things were when they were much smaller -- not with teary-eyed nostalgia but with the sarcastic way boys treat their friends. (Apparently there will be another character introduced later on, but he's absent in the first episode.)
We liked this, because there's a lot of backstory that's told in an interesting way. And they were cute as little boys. ;)
Chihayafuru: Chihaya has become interested in 'karuta', a game where a line of poetry is read out and you have to find the card containing the following lines of the poem. This is a quiet game, unless you play it competitively -- which is what Chihaya's quiet classmate does. This triggers her interest in the game. But in highschool, kids' games are not popular anymore...
Karuta is inherently Japanese, which means it took us a while to understand what it was about and how it works. It's interesting, though it could turn out to be the next tournament anime if it's not careful.
Bakuman S2: Second season of Bakuman! The boys have managed to get serialised -- but now the real work begins! They get a new editor, since Hattori is assigned to other mangaka, and they have to really start churning out the comics, working with assistants and all. If they're not popular, they'll be dropped -- and so they have to compete with the other mangaka for a place in the pages of Shounen Jack.
We liked the first season, and this is a straight continuation -- in fact, the first season ends right where the second season picks up.
Ben-To: Yo starts to attend a highschool with a dorm. His main challenge is to keep himself well fed on a budget. He makes frequent trips to a conbini, and happens to be there when the bento (lunchboxes) get discounted to half price. A fierce brawl breaks out amongst the assembled students, and poor Yo is caught in the middle. His eye is caught by Sen, whose brawling skills have earned her the nickname 'Ice Witch'.
OK, so it's a fighting story featuring females with improbably large busts kicking ass. But the premise is funny and Yo works quite well as straight man.
Hunter x Hunter: Gon dreams of becoming a licensed Hunter -- someone who catches monsters and recovers lost treasures, just like his father (who abandoned him to become one...) When Gon manages to catch the humongous fish in the lake, his foster mother allows him to set sail for the examination. And of course Gon meets other prospective Hunters, and must work together with them.
Kiddie adventure series, with the usual simplistic motivations and plots.
Shinryaku!? Ika Musume: Second season of Squid Girl! Let's hope it turns out to be as funny as the first one, which we liked a lot.
There's more to come later.