[Summer Anime] Ichi, Ni, San, Shi, Go-HAN!
Shiki - episode 3
Creepiness galore as we have yet another death and some rather disconcerting meetings with the new family that moved in. We finally meet a character who is more of a jerk than Natsuno.
Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakamatachi - episode 5
BOING BOING BOING BOING BOING~ PLOT? WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!
K-ON!! - episode 17
HTT go through just about every room in the school to find a replacement for their music room, which is closed due to construction. Procrastination takes over, and it's only in the last part of the episode that some (rather interesting) progress is made.
Ready to go in-depth now? Click the cut to get the lowdown! (Does anyone say 'lowdown' anymore?)
-----
SHIKI
We begin with Natsuno hitching a ride with a newly introduced character named Tohru, who saves the poor boy a 3 hour walk in the sweltering heat. During the car ride, we hear Natsuno's thoughts about how he doesn't want to get too close to anyone. We see a flashback of Natsuno's bike getting a flat tire, and him refusing help. Tohru, however, is immune to his bitterness and insists on helping, to the point where all Natsuno can do is accept. I guess Natsuno doesn't want to get close to others due to his mindset of "rejecting" the town. This means he's also rejecting the people. He has no intention of getting comfortable here, and can only think of leaving. Tch, what a jerk. Get over it and make some friends!
Tohru is so niiiiice though! Always offering help to Natsuno! Our violet-haired main character really needs someone like this to balance outhis cold nature. He even offers Masao and his friend a ride too...and Masao is the quite possibly the most repulsive creature I've ever seen *cringe*. Even I wouldn't be nice to him.
I like the art style..the hair is so crazy! (Sorry, I was reminded by the Nurse...that ponytail is whack XD)
Sorry for that digression. ANYWAYS, Masao is basically a creeper who hates his sister-in-law and...basically everyone. Even his character design makes him detestable. Those huge eyes, exaggerated pink lips and odd facial proportions...Ugh. The best part of the episode (and most frightening) is where he is speaking to his sister in law, peeking out from behind a corner with a demented expression on his face, slender fingers resembling spider legs and eyes as wide as saucers. "I'm the type of person you hate...." he says, amongst a slew of other self-loathing phrases said in an oddly playful tone.
....See what I mean? SEE WHAT I MEAN?
The other scene which was really creepy was where Sunako met Muroi (does no one notice they have black holes for eyes? Come on townspeople...). Somehow, he is not alarmed that a little girl is wandering to his shrine in the dead of the night, and instead talks to her. She's read all of his books and starts to flatter him. The flattery turns ominous as she basically tells him that suicide is pointless, somehow knowing that Muroi apparently tried to kill himself once. She laughs and disappears into the night.
Nao falls ill. (NOTE: she had bug bites! This may be important! ..and they don't look like bug bites either...Could it be something else?) Toshio tries to console her husband who happens to be his childhood friend, despite knowing she is going to die for sure. Nao's husband has a flashback about a very...odd..meeting with the Kirishiki's. WE HEAR GACKT SPEAK!!! He said like 2 lines, but it was exciting nonetheless! YES GACKT! It sounded good to me so far, we'll see how well a singer can voice act as the show progresses. *ahem* ok, enough distractions.
Natsuno ended up getting comfortable at Tohru's place. The two of them ignore each other for the most part, actually. Masao barges in saying that Nao died and he's actually EXCITED. What a miserable excuse for a human being, just because his life is bad he can only get happiness from the suffering of others. I have no idea why he hates Natsuno so much, (maybe they'll tell us later) but as soon as he sees him the insults start flying. Of course, the level-headed always win in situations like this and Tohru has to restrain the jerk from attacking Natsuno. Eventually he storms off. Um, does everyone just kind of enter and leave Tohru's house at random...? Guess it's a country thing.
Natsuno doesn't want to sleep at his own house because he thinks Megumi is watching so he promptly announces a sleepover and keels over on Tohru's bed. I like how this sideplot is progressing, as paranoia is slowly eating away at Natsuno~ I'm really curious what's going on there! Tohru, once again, is a SAINT and lets emoface use his bed, even putting a blanket over him.
Later on Tohru invites yet ANOTHER stranger into his house, which probably won't end well given the glowing red eye. Never trust a man who carries around a backscratcher.
So far the horror aspect is very subtle and underplayed. It's not the "I'm running away from an axe-murderer" horror, but the creeping "suspicion someone is following you down a dark street" type of horror. It's taking a while to set up everything at this pace, but it definitely has the potential to become something truly terrifying. They need to be careful not to go too slow though, or boredom will set in. But i believe that quietly and slowly..Shiki is sneaking up behind all of us.
Boo! Bwahahaha~
OOKAMI-SAN
This week we meet the head of the disciplinary committee, a lecherous, bi-sexual, busty girl by the name of Momoko. She comes onto both Ryouko and Ryoushi, and is about as deep as a paper plate when it comes to character. We also meet some old guy who is a pervert, but he just oversees everything and isn't important. He's also another cliche...*sigh* I feel like for every moment of character development, we get a chunk of stereotypes. I don't want cookie-cutter characters! This show is suffering in the same way Angel Beats! did for having a large cast of characters who are never fully explored in a meaningful way.
"Protect the millet dumplings" was actually pretty funny this first time. 5 more times later...no.
Anyways, Momoko makes a request to see why the students of Onigashima High School are being so rowdy. Otogi-ginko readily accepts, since they're having a lot of trouble with them too (I mean..Ryouko got kidnapped...pretty serious). The President gives some speech about "being independent is best" as opposed to..I don't know...calling the cops? Anime logic..just don't question it and you'll be fine.
We have a montage of mediocre fight scenes (the only amusing part is the boing boing boing noises as Momoko charges in to attack lol) as they make their way to the Student Council President. Admittedly, there are some fairly funny moments during the whole "Oni-slaying" campaign. lol, gentleman mode...
Everyone gets separated, leaving Ryouko to deal with the final boss. Lo and behold, it's someone she knows! It looks like it was someone who took advantage of her in her past...Probably the one who made her don her "wolf's clothing." Luckily, Ryoushi barges in and.......they talk. Kind of anti-climactic considering they fought a horde of gangsters just to have a chat and then leave.
At the end we actually have a tender RyoukoxRyoushi moment! Looks like SOMEONE is loosening up.
Ryouko is still a really typical tsundere though. -_-
It's fun to watch for the sake of watching, but really, I can't watch more than one episode at once. It's mindless fun at best.
K-ON!!
Another episode of adorable, fumbling moe. What separates K-ON!! from unwatchable dribble for me is how the characters aren't stereotypes (such as the Ookami-san cast) so they're always fun to watch, no matter what they're doing. The group has great dynamics too, something they're only fully exploring this season. (Mugi got alone time with Azusa and Ritsu in the past few weeks and it was wonderful!) Of course, there's awesome music (sometimes...lol) and great animation to back it up.
This episode, however, is another plot-abandoning one where we're just left to purely enjoy the personalities of our favourite adorable girls. That's basically what the show is about this season...think of it as more of a character study. The Music Room is under maintenance, so everyone scrambles to try to find a replacement room. We go through several amusing attempts...one of which is in the gym where they get outyelled by the volleyball team XD. Mio likes watching sports?!?!?!
Keionbu getting owned by some girl training her baton-twirling club to fluffy music
They try to go to a recording studio. I expected them to start being pro and busting out some record-quality music but....they drank tea in the lobby and didn't have enough time to practice. Azunyan is losing it...she was fooling around just as much @_@ At least they discussed lyrics, but everyone's lyrics were so lame, I wondered what happened to everyone's IQ for a moment there. Even Azusa had bad lyrics. Don't even make me comment on Yui's lyrics...
Yui actually pumps out some genuinely good lyrics after A) the band room is fixed and B) Ui catches a cold and Yui has to actually do something. We have a moment of Yui being serious and tender towards her sister, who always cares for her. It's actually really sweet, because Yui is usually an oblivious pig who makes Ui do everything. So she wrote lyrics about her sister~ Aww~
Mio was sad no one liked her SUPAH KAWAII lyrics about "my love is white like a panda I saw" or something like that...lol Mio.
Fairly amusing episode overall. Ui with her cold was adorable~ (she insta-healed the next morning though)
-----
That's all for now! Looks like I rambled for a bit too long about Shiki...I'll try to make it shorter next time! I'll also try to find more screencaps so that you guys (whoever "you guys is". I'm being wistful.) don't get WALL OF TEXT PHOBIA...Maybe I'll look up a screencapping tutorial and put in some effort for this blog, hmm? We'll see how much time I have.
Creepiness galore as we have yet another death and some rather disconcerting meetings with the new family that moved in. We finally meet a character who is more of a jerk than Natsuno.
Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakamatachi - episode 5
BOING BOING BOING BOING BOING~ PLOT? WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!
K-ON!! - episode 17
HTT go through just about every room in the school to find a replacement for their music room, which is closed due to construction. Procrastination takes over, and it's only in the last part of the episode that some (rather interesting) progress is made.
Ready to go in-depth now? Click the cut to get the lowdown! (Does anyone say 'lowdown' anymore?)
-----
SHIKI
We begin with Natsuno hitching a ride with a newly introduced character named Tohru, who saves the poor boy a 3 hour walk in the sweltering heat. During the car ride, we hear Natsuno's thoughts about how he doesn't want to get too close to anyone. We see a flashback of Natsuno's bike getting a flat tire, and him refusing help. Tohru, however, is immune to his bitterness and insists on helping, to the point where all Natsuno can do is accept. I guess Natsuno doesn't want to get close to others due to his mindset of "rejecting" the town. This means he's also rejecting the people. He has no intention of getting comfortable here, and can only think of leaving. Tch, what a jerk. Get over it and make some friends!
Tohru is so niiiiice though! Always offering help to Natsuno! Our violet-haired main character really needs someone like this to balance outhis cold nature. He even offers Masao and his friend a ride too...and Masao is the quite possibly the most repulsive creature I've ever seen *cringe*. Even I wouldn't be nice to him.
I like the art style..the hair is so crazy! (Sorry, I was reminded by the Nurse...that ponytail is whack XD)
Sorry for that digression. ANYWAYS, Masao is basically a creeper who hates his sister-in-law and...basically everyone. Even his character design makes him detestable. Those huge eyes, exaggerated pink lips and odd facial proportions...Ugh. The best part of the episode (and most frightening) is where he is speaking to his sister in law, peeking out from behind a corner with a demented expression on his face, slender fingers resembling spider legs and eyes as wide as saucers. "I'm the type of person you hate...." he says, amongst a slew of other self-loathing phrases said in an oddly playful tone.
....See what I mean? SEE WHAT I MEAN?
The other scene which was really creepy was where Sunako met Muroi (does no one notice they have black holes for eyes? Come on townspeople...). Somehow, he is not alarmed that a little girl is wandering to his shrine in the dead of the night, and instead talks to her. She's read all of his books and starts to flatter him. The flattery turns ominous as she basically tells him that suicide is pointless, somehow knowing that Muroi apparently tried to kill himself once. She laughs and disappears into the night.
Nao falls ill. (NOTE: she had bug bites! This may be important! ..and they don't look like bug bites either...Could it be something else?) Toshio tries to console her husband who happens to be his childhood friend, despite knowing she is going to die for sure. Nao's husband has a flashback about a very...odd..meeting with the Kirishiki's. WE HEAR GACKT SPEAK!!! He said like 2 lines, but it was exciting nonetheless! YES GACKT! It sounded good to me so far, we'll see how well a singer can voice act as the show progresses. *ahem* ok, enough distractions.
Natsuno ended up getting comfortable at Tohru's place. The two of them ignore each other for the most part, actually. Masao barges in saying that Nao died and he's actually EXCITED. What a miserable excuse for a human being, just because his life is bad he can only get happiness from the suffering of others. I have no idea why he hates Natsuno so much, (maybe they'll tell us later) but as soon as he sees him the insults start flying. Of course, the level-headed always win in situations like this and Tohru has to restrain the jerk from attacking Natsuno. Eventually he storms off. Um, does everyone just kind of enter and leave Tohru's house at random...? Guess it's a country thing.
Natsuno doesn't want to sleep at his own house because he thinks Megumi is watching so he promptly announces a sleepover and keels over on Tohru's bed. I like how this sideplot is progressing, as paranoia is slowly eating away at Natsuno~ I'm really curious what's going on there! Tohru, once again, is a SAINT and lets emoface use his bed, even putting a blanket over him.
Later on Tohru invites yet ANOTHER stranger into his house, which probably won't end well given the glowing red eye. Never trust a man who carries around a backscratcher.
So far the horror aspect is very subtle and underplayed. It's not the "I'm running away from an axe-murderer" horror, but the creeping "suspicion someone is following you down a dark street" type of horror. It's taking a while to set up everything at this pace, but it definitely has the potential to become something truly terrifying. They need to be careful not to go too slow though, or boredom will set in. But i believe that quietly and slowly..Shiki is sneaking up behind all of us.
Boo! Bwahahaha~
OOKAMI-SAN
This week we meet the head of the disciplinary committee, a lecherous, bi-sexual, busty girl by the name of Momoko. She comes onto both Ryouko and Ryoushi, and is about as deep as a paper plate when it comes to character. We also meet some old guy who is a pervert, but he just oversees everything and isn't important. He's also another cliche...*sigh* I feel like for every moment of character development, we get a chunk of stereotypes. I don't want cookie-cutter characters! This show is suffering in the same way Angel Beats! did for having a large cast of characters who are never fully explored in a meaningful way.
"Protect the millet dumplings" was actually pretty funny this first time. 5 more times later...no.
Anyways, Momoko makes a request to see why the students of Onigashima High School are being so rowdy. Otogi-ginko readily accepts, since they're having a lot of trouble with them too (I mean..Ryouko got kidnapped...pretty serious). The President gives some speech about "being independent is best" as opposed to..I don't know...calling the cops? Anime logic..just don't question it and you'll be fine.
We have a montage of mediocre fight scenes (the only amusing part is the boing boing boing noises as Momoko charges in to attack lol) as they make their way to the Student Council President. Admittedly, there are some fairly funny moments during the whole "Oni-slaying" campaign. lol, gentleman mode...
Everyone gets separated, leaving Ryouko to deal with the final boss. Lo and behold, it's someone she knows! It looks like it was someone who took advantage of her in her past...Probably the one who made her don her "wolf's clothing." Luckily, Ryoushi barges in and.......they talk. Kind of anti-climactic considering they fought a horde of gangsters just to have a chat and then leave.
At the end we actually have a tender RyoukoxRyoushi moment! Looks like SOMEONE is loosening up.
Ryouko is still a really typical tsundere though. -_-
It's fun to watch for the sake of watching, but really, I can't watch more than one episode at once. It's mindless fun at best.
K-ON!!
Another episode of adorable, fumbling moe. What separates K-ON!! from unwatchable dribble for me is how the characters aren't stereotypes (such as the Ookami-san cast) so they're always fun to watch, no matter what they're doing. The group has great dynamics too, something they're only fully exploring this season. (Mugi got alone time with Azusa and Ritsu in the past few weeks and it was wonderful!) Of course, there's awesome music (sometimes...lol) and great animation to back it up.
This episode, however, is another plot-abandoning one where we're just left to purely enjoy the personalities of our favourite adorable girls. That's basically what the show is about this season...think of it as more of a character study. The Music Room is under maintenance, so everyone scrambles to try to find a replacement room. We go through several amusing attempts...one of which is in the gym where they get outyelled by the volleyball team XD. Mio likes watching sports?!?!?!
Keionbu getting owned by some girl training her baton-twirling club to fluffy music
They try to go to a recording studio. I expected them to start being pro and busting out some record-quality music but....they drank tea in the lobby and didn't have enough time to practice. Azunyan is losing it...she was fooling around just as much @_@ At least they discussed lyrics, but everyone's lyrics were so lame, I wondered what happened to everyone's IQ for a moment there. Even Azusa had bad lyrics. Don't even make me comment on Yui's lyrics...
Yui actually pumps out some genuinely good lyrics after A) the band room is fixed and B) Ui catches a cold and Yui has to actually do something. We have a moment of Yui being serious and tender towards her sister, who always cares for her. It's actually really sweet, because Yui is usually an oblivious pig who makes Ui do everything. So she wrote lyrics about her sister~ Aww~
Mio was sad no one liked her SUPAH KAWAII lyrics about "my love is white like a panda I saw" or something like that...lol Mio.
Fairly amusing episode overall. Ui with her cold was adorable~ (she insta-healed the next morning though)
-----
That's all for now! Looks like I rambled for a bit too long about Shiki...I'll try to make it shorter next time! I'll also try to find more screencaps so that you guys (whoever "you guys is". I'm being wistful.) don't get WALL OF TEXT PHOBIA...Maybe I'll look up a screencapping tutorial and put in some effort for this blog, hmm? We'll see how much time I have.