Anime : What are you watching?

[Falcon Critical]

[Dynast]

Currently trying to finish watching Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei as fast as it's being released (which isn't too fast, considering the fact that a second season has just been announced for the winter line-up). The black humour is actually quite refreshing compared to the stuff that I've been watching last season (read: Zombie-Loan, which wasn't particularly good in any way), and I'd highly recommend it. The "despair" jokes tend to get a little old after five or so episodes, though.

It's only twelve episodes- so those who aren't looking something too long should definitely try giving it a watch.

Also on the list of anime that I'm watching and re-watching:

[.] Gundam 00 (impossible to miss, everyone and their brother's watching this one)
[.] Blood+
[.] Saiunkoku Monogatari.

[Sailor Sexy]

Well, I probably commented on this one before, but I think right now since I'm nearing the end, Negima deserves another round of comments, mostly negative, from me. I try to view anime and manga version of something as two separate entities. I realize that things would probably be kind of dull sometimes if an anime was a literal copy of the manga and didn't add elements of its own, but the anime version of Negima is terrible. It takes plot elements and totally skews them so they're not even in the same context as the manga. It puts in things that are major changes that were not in the manga.

Case in point. I'm currently on episode 25, but so far the main heroine, Asuna, has died for some reason. I assume they're going to tell why she died, since it was pretty much out of the blue, but the thing is, at least up to the point I'm at in the manga which is way past what the anime covers, SHE DOESN'T DIE! This is what I mean where an anime should not just go off on a totally unrelated tangent. There's no reason to kill her off, even if it's going to be temporarily.

Another development that I didn't like how it was handled in the anime versus the manga is actually one of my favorite parts from the manga, so to see it butchered in the anime like this is very annoying. It's the part where Yue confesses her love for Negi as well. In the manga, she was torn apart by her feelings because her best friend, Nodoka, also loved Negi. She went to great lengths to try to keep those feelings away because she couldn't stand the thought of hurting Nodoka, and when she couldn't hold them back any longer, and when Nodoka heard her admit her feelings, it was one of my favorite scenes where she just panics and flees, ending with a good understanding between her and Nodoka. Good stuff. In the anime though, not only does she do her confession way too early in the timeline, but the way she does it it seems like she's doing it to spite Nodoka. This is way out of character, and I take issue with that.

Finally, I have a problem with the voice acting. Yes, even Japanese language versions have bad voice acting. Just because it's in Japanese doesn't mean it's superior to the English language versions. Well, in this case neither version is any good, because English dubs are always worse than Japanese ones in anime. But anyways, a lot of the voices are just wrong. I especially hate Konoka's voice. She sounds like she's mildly retarded, or has a serious speech impediment.

All in all, this is one case where I think I would have been infinitely happier if I had just left this anime on the shelf and been happy sticking with the manga.
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~Uguu!~

[Overdose]

The other day I purchased Afro Samurai on DVD, its the first season of a mini series with Samuel L. Jackson acting as the voice of Afro Samurai. Ron Perlman and Kelly Hu also appear in the voice cast. I've seen clips and must say its a very good looking cartoon I hope the plot develops as the story goes along.
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"In the rain, I'm calling you dear, find my way, can't you see me standing right here" ~ I.V - X Japan

FOREVER X!!!

[Ikano]

[Demon Eyes Kyo]

Clannad
Myself;Yourself
Bleach
Darker than black
Detonator Orgun
Jojo's Bizzare Adventure
Gundam 00

Anybody recommend anything? I need something else to watch :D
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Return that soul to God.

[Fudozukushi]

[Falcon Critical]

I watched Manabi Straight over the last couple of days, its generally very good and I did like the social undertones with the declining birth rate and that kind of thing. My biggest complaint is indicative of most school anime, by the end of the series they're like 17 1/2 and they still look 12... I mean if one character has such a trait that's fine, but even the athletic girl looked young and plushie right to the end which just annoys me. Still anything to get away with cute little girl protaganists I guess.

The other thing that bugged me was the fact that they had the awesome plotline of the school merger, then they fought for their school fair which was fine, but after the fair the school that took over just left everything as it was? That just didn't sit well with me... they went the whole social commentary angle with the birthrate and everything and school mergers due to declining numbers of students was good... but they should have actually merged, otherwise the school that took over is only going to lose a whole lot of money with the upkeep of two campuses. I dunno it just seemed completely out of character in that last episode.
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[Sailor Sexy]

Well, as for the characters not looking older than 12, that's kind of the point of a Moe series, which this certainly is. As for the other complaint, that's more valid a criticism. I think it would have worked just as well had they gone through with that at the end after Manabi got to experience the school festival. But, all in all, I still liked it. Then again, I like cute things :D
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~Uguu!~

[Falcon Critical]

Well yeh I mean your avatar is ... Manabi Mu-chi ... bah I forget the names... from Manabi Straight anyway ;P

It's precisely -because- it wouldn't have made any difference after the school fair that it really bugged me, I mean the world isn't fair with these things like they went to show with the fair and did show with the old dormitory and were going to show with the school merger, it seemed to me that having the kids win the battle but lose the war regardless (and not care) would be a far more powerful ending. Still - like you say, I'm overanalysing this and essentially its just a Moe series and stays true to that throughout.
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[Sailor Sexy]

So, I just got done watching the School Days anime. In the interest of keeping this spoiler free, I'll be blacking out the text. SPOILERS: So, where to begin. I'm not sure whether I liked this or hated it. The main male character absolutely disgusted me. He was the type of person I hate the most, the sort who fools around with every girl he comes across, even though he's supposed to have a girlfriend. Oh, sure, one could say that no teenager is going to pass up free sex even if they have a girlfriend, but that still doesn't mean I find it any less repulsive. Plus his whole attitude pissed me off. He's just blow everyone off as if they were there to make his life convenient. Of course, the girls are partly to blame for throwing themselves at a loser like that, but he should be man enough to turn them down.

Now, since I despise the main character so much, why is it that I possibly liked it very much? Simple, the ending is absolutely brutal. Basic premise is, he gets one girl pregnant, she yells it to him in school, no other girls want to touch him with a 10 foot clown pole, but the girl he originally was going out with is crazy off her nut, he hooks back up with her, which pisses off the pregnant girl, who then stabs him to death in the gut with a butcher knife. And man, they animated this part to make it seem like he was in excruciating pain, much like I'd assume one would be after being stabbed four or five times in the stomach. Unlike the game this is based off of, where in one of the bad endings she does stab him in the gut, but he doesn't act like it hurts that much, he just sort of suffers and dies kinda quietly. Not here. Oh, and if it wasn't enough to have one aspect of the bad endings from the game, they brought in elements of another one of the bad endings.

On a side note, this game is messed up. It's basically an adult dating sim, but it has three very violent "bad" endings. Usually the bad ending to a dating sim is you wind up with no girls. In this game, one of the three main characters dies in each bad ending.

Anyways, the next part of it that incorporates the bad ending is that after Sekai stabs Makoto to death, she runs out of his apartment and goes and hides in hers. Well, the psycho, Kotonoha, comes in and sees Makoto dead. Then Sekai gets a text message from Makoto telling her to meet him on the roof. She goes up there, Kotonoha is up there and tells her to look in the duffle bag, where Sekai finds Makoto's severed head. At this point, Kotonoha reveals the butcher knife and rushes up to Sekai and slashes her throat. Naturally Sekai dies, and then Kotonoha cuts Sekai open and not finding a baby inside her stomach declares that she obviously wasn't pregnant. The anime ends with Kotonoha on a boat, floating out in the ocean, cuddling Makoto's severed head. Yeah. Weird. The thing is, now I wanna play the game it was inspired from, because I want to set things right. I want to play it so Makoto isn't such a useless tool, that he picks a girl and stays with it. I'd really prefer Sekai, but as long as he doesn't fool around on Kotonoha, I can accept that. Really, the ending just left me all tensed up, although he did get what he deserved. END SPOILERS

Phew, yeah. Anyways, I also watched Da Capo: Second Season and this I found confusing. Unless there's something I don't understand about the Japanese school system, I don't see how the older "brother" here could still be in high school, yet his younger "sister" somehow went through Nurses College in two years time. They were both in the same grade during the first season, and this appears to be a continuation of that season, just two years in the future. Well, I decided to suspend my disbelief, because I couldn't enjoy the show if I overthought things. Again, there were characters I hated, but the ending was sweet and happy, so it works for me. After stressing my way through School Days, I needed something like this.
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~Uguu!~

[Thor McOdin]

I finished Beauty and the Beast, Sword in the Stone, and- -wait. Those aren't anime titles. Huh...

I need to find time to watch Whisper of the Heart, Escaflowne, and Patlabor. They have all been sitting on my shelf for quite some time and it is time that I dust them off.
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Not all ninja codes are brewed equally. Here at Shinobi, we use the choicest Bavarian hops that are ripened to perfection. One sip and we will have you saying...nothing.

[Harmony]

[Crono]

[Scrooge McDuck]

Yes, it is pretty much confirmed that there would be a new season of Afro Samurai coming up in 2008.

Hmm, there are quite a bunch of anime that steal my attention this Winter. However, most of them are spin-offs or a continuation of a previously existing series:

• Aria the ORIGINATION
  I have been excitedly anticipating this one for a quite some time. Needless to say, this peaceful masterpiece of a series goes number one on my anime-watching priority. Judging from the excellent Animation and Natural, I have little fear that this third season would fail to satisfy.
  
• Zoku - Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
  I watched the first episode yesterday and, thankfully, SHAFT still does not disappoint. It is still as quirky as ever.
  
• Minami-ke: Ayakashi
  Immediately after the end of the first season, came the second one produced by another studio. Seeing the unfamiliar character design, I was a bit wary at first. However, after watching the actual episode, I am glad to say that the overall feeling still haven't changed. To me, it is still a must-watch slice-of-life comedy.
  
• Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino-
  I adore the comic series but not so much the animated incarnation (for a very subjective reason, however). I shall be watching the second season hopefully and warily. It will follow the Pinnochio arc, making it potential for awe-inspiring action and drama sequences. I still have yet to find any information on whether Angelica survives the first season.
  
• PERSONA ~trinity soul~
  Loving Persona 3, I hope that the animated sequel would follow the game's footsteps of greatness. I try not to set my expectation too high, though.
  
• Mnemosyne no Musume-tachi
  This is the only completely new animation that caught my eye. Being a mythology fan, the name inclusion of an obscure deity in its title alone is enough to peak my interest. The premise is dark, sci-fi OVA featuring a "hard-boiled new heroine." The promotional trailer and artworks for the show look interesting enough.

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