Anime, Manga, Video Games & More, For Today's Generation
Archive for December, 2009
Anime Review: To Love-Ru (Collection 1: Episodes 1-13)
Dec 29th
When Sentai Filmworks first announced that they would be distributing To Love-Ru (also known as Trouble or Toraburu), at first I was indifferent about it. I had heard of the show before, but I never really thought about it being worth my time because it just looked like another typical ecchi series. I couldn’t have been any more wrong about this. Shortly after the license announcement, Scott VonSchilling of The Anime Almanac started to rave about the wonders of To Love-Ru. So, I decided to give the series a try. I’m very glad I did.
The story revolves around Rito, our perverted male lead character. He’s been unable to confess his love to his classmate Haruna, the love of his life. One day while Rito is taking a bath, a completely naked girl appears out of nowhere. It is soon discovered that Lala, the mysterious girl, is actually an alien from outer space. Shortly after, Rito accidentally (and hilariously) enters into a marriage contract with Lala. Yes, in the anime world, people can even get engaged by accident. However, Rito is not interested in Lala, for he wants Haruna, the girl of his dreams. And that’s the plot. Don’t enter into this series expecting a story, or you will be disappointed. Just enjoy it for what it is: an ecchi harem comedy. And a hysterical one at that.
Bandai Updates ASOS Brigade Website – Possible Season 2 License?
Dec 25th
Bandai Entertainment updated the ASOS Brigade website. What’s interesting about this is what’s in the source code: a very long string of 八 – the Japanese kanji for “8.” Anyone who knows anything about the second season of Haruhi knows about Endless Eight, and this seems to be a big hint.
Seems like a safe bet that Bandai has licensed Haruhi season 2. The only thing I can hope now is that it won’t be sub-only. With a big title like Haruhi, you’d expect them to give it a dub. But with the way Bandai has been doing lately, who knows?
2009 in Review: Top 5 Honorable Mentions
Dec 24th
See also:
2009 in Review: Top 10 Best
2009 in Review: Top 5 Most Disappointing
I’ve already talked about the best and worst of 2009′s anime, but what about those in between? Surely some of those shows deserve attention, too. This post is for the honorable mentions that were good, but not quite good enough to make the “Top 10 Best” list.
2009 in Review: Top 5 Most Disappointing
Dec 24th
See also:
2009 in Review: Top 10 Best
2009 in Review: Top 5 Honorable Mentions
2009 may have been a great year for anime fans, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t any disappointments. In this post, I’ll be discussing the 2009 anime shows that I was looking forward to seeing, but unfortunately turned out to be a major snoozefest. Again, this is only my opinion, and I just know people are going to hate me for what I picked.
2009 in Review: Top 10 Best
Dec 23rd
See also:
2009 in Review: Top 5 Most Disappointing
2009 in Review: Top 5 Honorable Mentions
It’s December, and a new year is almost upon us. 2009 was a great year for anime fans, with a great abundance of new shows coming out. With all these great new shows, it’s tough to pick out the really good ones. Thus, I present to you, my list of the ten best anime of 2009. Please note that the following list is only my opinion and should simply be seen as a list of shows I recommend you watch. I’m sure many people are going to hate what I picked, but hey, that’s why it’s my list, and not yours.
The Gundam Chronicles: 003 – Gundam Wing Part 1
Dec 22nd
So far things have been going well in my “Gundam Project.” I have successfully finished watching Part 1 (episodes 1-25) of Gundam Wing. Part 2 is being shipped to me, and hopefully it will arrive soon.
I’ve been enjoying the show so far. I do have some issues with it, but first the good stuff. The fight scenes are really cool, as expected from a mecha series. Of course, they’re not nearly as visually appealing as today’s visuals, but given the time that the series was made, I’d say they did a pretty good job. The characters are all pretty like-able for the most part. My favorite character thus far has been Duo. I really like his positive attitude about everything, and I think he has a good voice actor too. I like Zechs too, though I think he looked a lot cooler with his mask on. Now he just looks like some generic bishounen character.
Electromagnetic Girlfriend is Many Kinds of Awesome
Dec 16th
One of the things I love about MyAnimeList (MAL) is that you can see what anime your friends are watching. Many times this brings up something that I become interested in checking out. When I saw that some of my MAL friends added Electromagnetic Girlfriend (Denpa teki na Kanojo) to their list, I clicked the link and then saw this come up under the “Recommendations” section:
Anime Review: Blue Drop
Dec 10th
Anime loves to experiment with genres, and it’s quite common to see an anime that combines aspects of many different genres. Higurashi (When They Cry) is an example I love to use in this case, as I feel that it creates a perfect balance and blending of both moe and horror. Who would’ve thought that could work? Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work out so well. Blue Drop attempts to be a crossover between slice-of-life and sci-fi. It’s an interesting and fairly unique concept that I could see working if executed properly. Blue Drop, however, fails to do so.
Five years ago, the residents of Kamioki Island were mysteriously massacred. Mari Wakatake, the only survivor of this incident, lost her memories, and has been living with her grandmother since. Mari is forced to transfer to a new school by her grandmother, much to Mari’s resentment. In the new school, she gives her classmates a cold attitude, and is even more upset when she meets Hagino Senkouji, who upon meeting Mari, immediately tries to strangle her. It is soon revealed that there is much more to Hagino than meets the eye. Essentially, Blue Drop tells two stories: The slice-of-life story about Mari’s school life and the sci-fi story about the mysteries surrounding both Hagino and the destruction of Mari’s hometown five years ago.
Sentai Filmworks Announces Maria†Holic and Skull Man
Dec 4th
Today Sentai (or Section23, or ADV, or whatever they’re called this week) announced that they will be distributing Maria†Holic and Skull Man in February.
I haven’t seen either, but I’m excited for Maria†Holic after gia from AnimeVice showed me the ED to the show. Yes, I judge an anime by its OP and ED. Ok, not really, but I really do love good artistic OP/ED sequences, and they do affect my enjoyment of a show.
So I will most definitely be buying Maria†Holic, not sure about Skull Man quite yet, as I’ll need to research that a bit more.
Expect these releases to be sub-only, which I’m fine with. Dubs would be nice, but by now Sentai has pretty much established that they’re not doing dubs.
I’m very glad that Sentai is licensing some of the more niche titles. I can only hope though that these titles will sell, and can help restore them to their former glory that was once known as ADV.
The Gundam Chronicles: 002 – The 08th MS Team
Dec 4th
My first Gundam experience was indeed a pleasant one, with 08th MS Team. As I was told, the characters in this series are indeed excellent. I particularly enjoyed the love story between Shiro and Aina, which kinda reminded me of Romeo and Juliet – a kind of “forbidden romance” between members of opposing sides. Eledore, Michel, and Kiki were among my other favorite characters from the show.
I also very much enjoyed the battle scenes. Considering the time this was made in, the animation is very well done. The music was great, especially the OP theme song, which got me into the series immediately. I forgot that Gundam has such awesome music. I have actually been a fan of Nami Tamaki and HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR for a long time, and I’m familiar with the songs they did for Gundam SEED and Gundam SEED Destiny.
