Life? What Life?
Ahh, lack of updates thanks to developing hikikomori tendencies ...
I have been holed up in my room for a good while now, watching anime and playing Chaos;Head, a mystery/psychological visual novel whose main character makes me realize how much of an otaku I am (though I'm not even close to him) and how gross/creepy that really is. Sigh.
Series I've finished recently:
Clannad After Story: ♥ ♥ ♥ Granted, a few of the later episodes just made me want to BAAAAW, but it was good overall. Something that sets Clannad far above and beyond other harem series (I can't even call Clannad a harem with a straight face, especially not After Story since, you know, the leads get married) is just how memorable the male characters are. Tomoya is a fantastic character. He grows up a lot through the series, and he's just really, really likable. Akio is a great character too -- and what a difference for a series to actually include parents that act like parents! (OK, so Sanae and Akio are goofy; well, so are my parents. They also know when to behave responsibly like adults.) Anyway, Clannad is good romance, good drama, good slice of life, good comedy. (The only downside is Fuuko. If she didn't exist, things would be even better.)
White Album: This series is pure and utter crap. Typical harem with an idiot lead and lots of girls who deserve better (and at least one who's worse than the lead). There are two reasons why I watched it all the way through: 1) the ending theme is gorgeous, and 2) it was so bad it was almost good. Basically, a train-wreck series that has some very ridiculous moments -- like when one of the haremettes is "stabbed" by her stalker with a knife -- a prop knife! Yes, um, how scary.
Kanon: Since I loved Clannad, I should like Kanon, right? WRONG. While Tomoya is a friend to all, Yuuichi (the protagonist) talks down to all the girls, acting like a father to them. Well, they are (with the exception of Shiori perhaps) severely deficient in the brain cells department. Honestly, I found it kind of insulting to women. (Yeah, Clannad's Nagisa is a ditz, but she's kind, acts her age and has moments of genuine strength.) I know this is fantasy, but when all the girls have some horrible, life-threatening problem that it seems only the main character can solve ... well, I don't know, but it was all kind of creepy to me. I suppose it also goes back to the fact that this is based on an H-game, and though there was little fanservice in the show itself, I kept wondering, "So, when it is that you get an H-scene with this dying girl?" Creepy.
(By the way, there are no H-scenes in Clannad.)
I'd comment on all the stuff I've watched so far this season, but it'd take too much time. I'll at least list them:
-Higashi no Eden
-Guin Saga
-FMA: Brotherhood
-Phantom
-Basquash
-Shangri-La
-Valkyria Chronicle
-07-Ghost
-Hanasakeru Seishounen
-K-On!
-Pandora Hearts
I'm also working on Chrome Shelled Regios, which is a pretty fun (if generic) fantasy show.
Hmm. Real life? Naaw, maybe later.
I have been holed up in my room for a good while now, watching anime and playing Chaos;Head, a mystery/psychological visual novel whose main character makes me realize how much of an otaku I am (though I'm not even close to him) and how gross/creepy that really is. Sigh.
Series I've finished recently:
Clannad After Story: ♥ ♥ ♥ Granted, a few of the later episodes just made me want to BAAAAW, but it was good overall. Something that sets Clannad far above and beyond other harem series (I can't even call Clannad a harem with a straight face, especially not After Story since, you know, the leads get married) is just how memorable the male characters are. Tomoya is a fantastic character. He grows up a lot through the series, and he's just really, really likable. Akio is a great character too -- and what a difference for a series to actually include parents that act like parents! (OK, so Sanae and Akio are goofy; well, so are my parents. They also know when to behave responsibly like adults.) Anyway, Clannad is good romance, good drama, good slice of life, good comedy. (The only downside is Fuuko. If she didn't exist, things would be even better.)
White Album: This series is pure and utter crap. Typical harem with an idiot lead and lots of girls who deserve better (and at least one who's worse than the lead). There are two reasons why I watched it all the way through: 1) the ending theme is gorgeous, and 2) it was so bad it was almost good. Basically, a train-wreck series that has some very ridiculous moments -- like when one of the haremettes is "stabbed" by her stalker with a knife -- a prop knife! Yes, um, how scary.
Kanon: Since I loved Clannad, I should like Kanon, right? WRONG. While Tomoya is a friend to all, Yuuichi (the protagonist) talks down to all the girls, acting like a father to them. Well, they are (with the exception of Shiori perhaps) severely deficient in the brain cells department. Honestly, I found it kind of insulting to women. (Yeah, Clannad's Nagisa is a ditz, but she's kind, acts her age and has moments of genuine strength.) I know this is fantasy, but when all the girls have some horrible, life-threatening problem that it seems only the main character can solve ... well, I don't know, but it was all kind of creepy to me. I suppose it also goes back to the fact that this is based on an H-game, and though there was little fanservice in the show itself, I kept wondering, "So, when it is that you get an H-scene with this dying girl?" Creepy.
(By the way, there are no H-scenes in Clannad.)
I'd comment on all the stuff I've watched so far this season, but it'd take too much time. I'll at least list them:
-Higashi no Eden
-Guin Saga
-FMA: Brotherhood
-Phantom
-Basquash
-Shangri-La
-Valkyria Chronicle
-07-Ghost
-Hanasakeru Seishounen
-K-On!
-Pandora Hearts
I'm also working on Chrome Shelled Regios, which is a pretty fun (if generic) fantasy show.
Hmm. Real life? Naaw, maybe later.