(no subject)
So I've been on a massive anime watching spree in the new year, and i felt like sharing a few opinions (in no particular order other than my memory supplying titles):
Kodomo no Jikan: I watched the uncensored first episode and the remaining 11 in their cut-for-broadcast forms.. and I'll say this first (and in bold, because i don't want to hear any bitching): avoid this show if you have issues with young sexuality and Lolita-like behaviors, because that's pretty much at the heart of the show. episode 6 is quite touching and sad, and episodes 11 and 12 are quite dark (in, unusually for this series, a non-sexual way). the other 9 episodes and OAV are packed with Rin, a nine-year old doing her damnedest to corrupt Aoki Daisuke, her fresh-to-teaching (and mid-school year replacement) 23-year old home room teacher (don't worry, it freaks him the hell out too, no pedo activity, but he does have some interesting inner conflict for a good portion of the series), with her two closest friends.. Kuro-chan, a rich gothic-lolita type (often seen in nekomimi gear) with a lesbian crush on Rin and intense distaste for Aoki-sensei, and Mimi-chan, a sweet and somewhat naive girl with a way over-developed body for her age, and a bit of an inferiority complex. a few other teachers are involved in the school setting, as well as the semi-faceless mob of the girls' classmates. Rin's cousin/guardian, Reiji, also makes his share of appearances, most notably in episodes 6, 11 and 12. for the most part i found the show funny as all hell, but i have next to no shame, and i'm ready to laugh at things that would make most westerners scream in outrage or have a mental short out. I'm waiting on the DVD subs to get done so i can rewatch the series, since the TV version censoring is strangely over-done and even misleading in cases.. by way of example, in the uncut versions Kuro-chan constantly uses the term "virgin" to harangue Aoki-sensei, but this is masked with sound effects in the cut. another example is the girls "rewarding" their teacher for his kindness in class by giving him a bit of a heart-attack, raising skirts to flash.. well, no, not their panties, but their gym bloomers.. at him.. this is also blocked out, along with audio censoring of Rin saying something to the effect of "you always need to wear bloomers under your skirt", actually making the show appear far worse than it is if you were to watch the uncensored version. I did have a few sections that made me a bit uncomfortable in the last couple of episodes, but as i mentioned, those were dark and non-sexual in nature. I don't know who i'd recommend this show to, but i can think of several people likely to read this that i'd warn away from it.
Minami-ke: cute, funny, and very watchable. if you liked Azumanga, you will almost certainly love this show. contains: sibling rivalry; sweet and beautiful, yet (potentially) lazy, caretaker eldest sister (Haruka); rowdy, not-overly-bright and slightly thoughtless middle sister (Kana); child prodigy with no tolerance of idiots youngest sister (Chiaki); doses of school life, bad tv dramas, household chores, and the sisters' friends (including a cross-dressing girl and boy from Chiaki's school group, and these two are some of the funniest side characters ever seen in anime). i can recommend this to pretty much anyone, unless you can't stand cute simple comedy with no heavy back story. a second season starts this month, which is great, because 13 episodes are just not enough.
Mahoromatic season 2: starts wonderfully as a continuation of the first season, gets a bit dark, goes utterly depressing, and has one of the worst final episodes since Eva. it's really hard to recommend this one, unless you have a thing for tragedy or bullshit endings.
Lovely Complex: synopsis first.. Take abnormally tall japanese girl, add abnormally short japanese boy, with dashes of friendly rivalry, comedic chaos, romance, betrayal, more romance, total obliviousness and high school life then mix well. and oh my god this show is a fucking emotional roller coaster. I honestly cried in some of the episodes, usually after laughing my ass off a few minutes earlier, while frequently laughing just as hard again a few minutes later. very much a romantic tragi-comedy in episodes 6 onward. it's quite a good story, well written and with a certain sense of realism, but holy hell.. 24 episodes of this show can be really rough if you try to watch it in one go as I did. I'd still recommend it to most people I know (I'd advise the more empathetic or sappy to have tissues handy.. but even some of the more jaded could need them.) I will note that, if you're like me and have had a disturbingly long streak of finding your way into starting a comedy series only to suddenly realize you're watching romantic tragedy (this was quite literally the 7th show in a row following this trend for me), but can't stop because of your OCD-like need to know how it will end, you may want to try something else before you get to this one.
Rizelmine (season 1): this one is kind of hard to call.. it's humorous, and thankfully light on the serious emotional material (which i needed badly when i got to this show) but it's simultaneously incredibly stupid.. it teeters on the brink of so stupid you have to laugh, and so stupid you can't believe you're still watching it. Our hero (no, i don't remember his name off hand) is on his way home from school, having found the teacher he is in love with is getting married, and seriously pissed about it all. as he arrives home he discovers Rizel, a cute 12 year old girl waiting for him. he shortly thereafter discovers that a) she is a bioengineering experiment of the japanese government. b) she will be living at his home with her 3 guardians, Papa A, Papa B and Papa C (yes, those are seriously their actual names, i am not making this shit up) c) she is his wife, by virtue of the japanese government literally laying down the law. add in a few facts like his parents being perfectly bribed and in love with the situation, his "interest" in older women, and the fact that he cannot, under any circumstances, let Rizel cry. because her tears are made of nitroglycerine. really. i'm not joking about this either. i couldn't make this kind of shit up if i tried. he is of course a total dick and gets blown up regularly. I'm actually interested in watching the second season, but more for closure than out of a really love for the show. it's cute, bit it's easily trumped by Urusei Yatsura, which it very very closely resembles in virtually every respect, right down to the opening theme song.
Tsubasa Chronicle season 2, Movie 1 and OAV ep 1: I heart CLAMP = I heart Tsubasa. kind of a disappointing ending episode for the TV series, in a similar vein to Inuyasha's ending (but after 1/10th the episodes thank god) in that it doesn't really conclude, just stops making enough money to get picked up for more TV episodes while the manga continues. the OAV picks the story back up, but at only 3 episodes, will in no way, shape or form cover the remaining manga story. the movie is a non-manga story, and maintains the high quality of the series, being effectively a double length episode with way more animation budget. If you're a fan of Sakura, Shaoran, or pretty much the rest of the CLAMP universes, you probably have already been on the ball with this one.
Gargoyle of the Yoshinagas: A young girl (massive tomboy with tendancies to violence) wins a stone gargoyle in a market raffle.. and it turns out that the gargoyle happens to be sentient, nearly omniscient and armed with some serious magic. add in a great supporting cast, several recurring villains (who more or less reform) and you get some good action, with a lot of humor, cuteness and sentimental moments mixed in. I restarted this after stalling out halfway over the summer, and I'm pretty pleased that I did.. fun characters and good writing, I'd recommend this to most, but you may want to skip it it you're looking for a long story or a less open ending. I'd also suggest skipping the DVD special short, since they're extremely random and not up to the quality of the rest of the show.
All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku TV: in a nutshell, Robot girl with a cat's brain running around fighting an evil corporation and trying to balance this with high school life without blowing her cover as other-than-human.. it should also be mentioned that her mother (her creator's wife) works as an exec for said evil corporation, often wearing a silly stereotypical anime baddy costume and mask in the line of duty. meanwhile her owner (son of aforementioned creator and wife) tries (mostly unsuccessfully) to teach her anything that will help her seem like a normal everyday high school girl. the TV version of the series is not it's high point.. being more or less a parody of robot-girl-attending-high-school-under-cover.. the show never takes itself seriously, and that makes it a good deal more watchable than it would be if you thought it was trying to be a serious series. even the first few minutes every episode after the opening credits when it vaguely explains Nuku Nuku's origins are played for laughs as the primary male character holds up a manga volume and the OAV cassette box and says "that's not quite how i remember it, but whatever.."
Nuku Nuku OAV: a much better telling and origin of Nuku Nuku, somehow managing to be both more serious and sentimental than the TV series while remaining comedy gold. A boy and his scientist father are on the run from the boy's mother, a wealthy heiress to a heavy industries military contractor. while fleeing, the boy Ryuunosuke, finds a kitten, which is killed in some crossfire.. and in order to save the animal, his father inserts the cat's brain into a humanoid android frame he'd developed and was attempting to keep out of his wife's company's hands. comedy follows. very short, as most OAVs are, but totally worth the time to watch it, despite a somewhat shallow end to the series.
Iketeru Futari: older, and far far too short, but hilarious. Perverted guy falls for man-hating hottie, chaos and comic hijinxs ensue. it's not very deep or terribly plot driven, nor does it have much in the way of real sentiment, but it does provide a few "awww" moments. warning: contains a number of pretty explicit masturbation jokes as well as plenty of fan service. i personally enjoyed the show quite a bit, but it's not for the prudish or people who can't take an abundance of cheesecake/pinup type stills closing episodes.
that would be it for now, i may have some more to say here shortly, but as it is, my eyes are burning after sleeping in till late afternoon yesterday then being up all night watching Kodomo no Jikan and Detective Conan episodes, so i'm going to go pass out.
Kodomo no Jikan: I watched the uncensored first episode and the remaining 11 in their cut-for-broadcast forms.. and I'll say this first (and in bold, because i don't want to hear any bitching): avoid this show if you have issues with young sexuality and Lolita-like behaviors, because that's pretty much at the heart of the show. episode 6 is quite touching and sad, and episodes 11 and 12 are quite dark (in, unusually for this series, a non-sexual way). the other 9 episodes and OAV are packed with Rin, a nine-year old doing her damnedest to corrupt Aoki Daisuke, her fresh-to-teaching (and mid-school year replacement) 23-year old home room teacher (don't worry, it freaks him the hell out too, no pedo activity, but he does have some interesting inner conflict for a good portion of the series), with her two closest friends.. Kuro-chan, a rich gothic-lolita type (often seen in nekomimi gear) with a lesbian crush on Rin and intense distaste for Aoki-sensei, and Mimi-chan, a sweet and somewhat naive girl with a way over-developed body for her age, and a bit of an inferiority complex. a few other teachers are involved in the school setting, as well as the semi-faceless mob of the girls' classmates. Rin's cousin/guardian, Reiji, also makes his share of appearances, most notably in episodes 6, 11 and 12. for the most part i found the show funny as all hell, but i have next to no shame, and i'm ready to laugh at things that would make most westerners scream in outrage or have a mental short out. I'm waiting on the DVD subs to get done so i can rewatch the series, since the TV version censoring is strangely over-done and even misleading in cases.. by way of example, in the uncut versions Kuro-chan constantly uses the term "virgin" to harangue Aoki-sensei, but this is masked with sound effects in the cut. another example is the girls "rewarding" their teacher for his kindness in class by giving him a bit of a heart-attack, raising skirts to flash.. well, no, not their panties, but their gym bloomers.. at him.. this is also blocked out, along with audio censoring of Rin saying something to the effect of "you always need to wear bloomers under your skirt", actually making the show appear far worse than it is if you were to watch the uncensored version. I did have a few sections that made me a bit uncomfortable in the last couple of episodes, but as i mentioned, those were dark and non-sexual in nature. I don't know who i'd recommend this show to, but i can think of several people likely to read this that i'd warn away from it.
Minami-ke: cute, funny, and very watchable. if you liked Azumanga, you will almost certainly love this show. contains: sibling rivalry; sweet and beautiful, yet (potentially) lazy, caretaker eldest sister (Haruka); rowdy, not-overly-bright and slightly thoughtless middle sister (Kana); child prodigy with no tolerance of idiots youngest sister (Chiaki); doses of school life, bad tv dramas, household chores, and the sisters' friends (including a cross-dressing girl and boy from Chiaki's school group, and these two are some of the funniest side characters ever seen in anime). i can recommend this to pretty much anyone, unless you can't stand cute simple comedy with no heavy back story. a second season starts this month, which is great, because 13 episodes are just not enough.
Mahoromatic season 2: starts wonderfully as a continuation of the first season, gets a bit dark, goes utterly depressing, and has one of the worst final episodes since Eva. it's really hard to recommend this one, unless you have a thing for tragedy or bullshit endings.
Lovely Complex: synopsis first.. Take abnormally tall japanese girl, add abnormally short japanese boy, with dashes of friendly rivalry, comedic chaos, romance, betrayal, more romance, total obliviousness and high school life then mix well. and oh my god this show is a fucking emotional roller coaster. I honestly cried in some of the episodes, usually after laughing my ass off a few minutes earlier, while frequently laughing just as hard again a few minutes later. very much a romantic tragi-comedy in episodes 6 onward. it's quite a good story, well written and with a certain sense of realism, but holy hell.. 24 episodes of this show can be really rough if you try to watch it in one go as I did. I'd still recommend it to most people I know (I'd advise the more empathetic or sappy to have tissues handy.. but even some of the more jaded could need them.) I will note that, if you're like me and have had a disturbingly long streak of finding your way into starting a comedy series only to suddenly realize you're watching romantic tragedy (this was quite literally the 7th show in a row following this trend for me), but can't stop because of your OCD-like need to know how it will end, you may want to try something else before you get to this one.
Rizelmine (season 1): this one is kind of hard to call.. it's humorous, and thankfully light on the serious emotional material (which i needed badly when i got to this show) but it's simultaneously incredibly stupid.. it teeters on the brink of so stupid you have to laugh, and so stupid you can't believe you're still watching it. Our hero (no, i don't remember his name off hand) is on his way home from school, having found the teacher he is in love with is getting married, and seriously pissed about it all. as he arrives home he discovers Rizel, a cute 12 year old girl waiting for him. he shortly thereafter discovers that a) she is a bioengineering experiment of the japanese government. b) she will be living at his home with her 3 guardians, Papa A, Papa B and Papa C (yes, those are seriously their actual names, i am not making this shit up) c) she is his wife, by virtue of the japanese government literally laying down the law. add in a few facts like his parents being perfectly bribed and in love with the situation, his "interest" in older women, and the fact that he cannot, under any circumstances, let Rizel cry. because her tears are made of nitroglycerine. really. i'm not joking about this either. i couldn't make this kind of shit up if i tried. he is of course a total dick and gets blown up regularly. I'm actually interested in watching the second season, but more for closure than out of a really love for the show. it's cute, bit it's easily trumped by Urusei Yatsura, which it very very closely resembles in virtually every respect, right down to the opening theme song.
Tsubasa Chronicle season 2, Movie 1 and OAV ep 1: I heart CLAMP = I heart Tsubasa. kind of a disappointing ending episode for the TV series, in a similar vein to Inuyasha's ending (but after 1/10th the episodes thank god) in that it doesn't really conclude, just stops making enough money to get picked up for more TV episodes while the manga continues. the OAV picks the story back up, but at only 3 episodes, will in no way, shape or form cover the remaining manga story. the movie is a non-manga story, and maintains the high quality of the series, being effectively a double length episode with way more animation budget. If you're a fan of Sakura, Shaoran, or pretty much the rest of the CLAMP universes, you probably have already been on the ball with this one.
Gargoyle of the Yoshinagas: A young girl (massive tomboy with tendancies to violence) wins a stone gargoyle in a market raffle.. and it turns out that the gargoyle happens to be sentient, nearly omniscient and armed with some serious magic. add in a great supporting cast, several recurring villains (who more or less reform) and you get some good action, with a lot of humor, cuteness and sentimental moments mixed in. I restarted this after stalling out halfway over the summer, and I'm pretty pleased that I did.. fun characters and good writing, I'd recommend this to most, but you may want to skip it it you're looking for a long story or a less open ending. I'd also suggest skipping the DVD special short, since they're extremely random and not up to the quality of the rest of the show.
All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku TV: in a nutshell, Robot girl with a cat's brain running around fighting an evil corporation and trying to balance this with high school life without blowing her cover as other-than-human.. it should also be mentioned that her mother (her creator's wife) works as an exec for said evil corporation, often wearing a silly stereotypical anime baddy costume and mask in the line of duty. meanwhile her owner (son of aforementioned creator and wife) tries (mostly unsuccessfully) to teach her anything that will help her seem like a normal everyday high school girl. the TV version of the series is not it's high point.. being more or less a parody of robot-girl-attending-high-school-under-cover.. the show never takes itself seriously, and that makes it a good deal more watchable than it would be if you thought it was trying to be a serious series. even the first few minutes every episode after the opening credits when it vaguely explains Nuku Nuku's origins are played for laughs as the primary male character holds up a manga volume and the OAV cassette box and says "that's not quite how i remember it, but whatever.."
Nuku Nuku OAV: a much better telling and origin of Nuku Nuku, somehow managing to be both more serious and sentimental than the TV series while remaining comedy gold. A boy and his scientist father are on the run from the boy's mother, a wealthy heiress to a heavy industries military contractor. while fleeing, the boy Ryuunosuke, finds a kitten, which is killed in some crossfire.. and in order to save the animal, his father inserts the cat's brain into a humanoid android frame he'd developed and was attempting to keep out of his wife's company's hands. comedy follows. very short, as most OAVs are, but totally worth the time to watch it, despite a somewhat shallow end to the series.
Iketeru Futari: older, and far far too short, but hilarious. Perverted guy falls for man-hating hottie, chaos and comic hijinxs ensue. it's not very deep or terribly plot driven, nor does it have much in the way of real sentiment, but it does provide a few "awww" moments. warning: contains a number of pretty explicit masturbation jokes as well as plenty of fan service. i personally enjoyed the show quite a bit, but it's not for the prudish or people who can't take an abundance of cheesecake/pinup type stills closing episodes.
that would be it for now, i may have some more to say here shortly, but as it is, my eyes are burning after sleeping in till late afternoon yesterday then being up all night watching Kodomo no Jikan and Detective Conan episodes, so i'm going to go pass out.