Spice and Wolf has what is possibly one of the most vivid and breathtaking OPs, with gorgeous animation not seen since Byousoku 5cm, although for all purposes, this high-quality YouTube can only come so close to capturing the enrapturing experience on a full-screen.

This was a real exchange between Jeff Lawson and J. Valdez:

Jeff Lawson: I watch a lot of slice-and-life shows.
Jeff Lawson: And by “slice-and-life”, I mean “slice-of-life”.
J. Valdez: Do you mind if I start calling shows like Higurashi no Naku Koro ni and School Days, “Slice-and-Life?”

Fun times. I reserved the slice of life shows for the last because I had a nagging feeling I was going to like them regardless of when and how I saw them, to say nothing of how viewable subs for Minami-ke were only made available some time back. The wait was worth it, in any case, since I can’t remember the last time I laughed till my chest hurt.

The following are a bunch of shows that wouldn’t really fit anywhere else, or stuff that I got lazy of thinking of categories to pigeonhole them in, and therefore making this quite the mixed bag. Some might say I already ruined the whole category thing by throwing in Blue Drop there with my previous post. I digress. With this are reviews of Shugo Chara, Bamboo Blade, Moyashimon, and Ghost Hound.

Shugo Chara! was an embarrassing affair, a show that I found a whole lot more engaging and entertaining than its intended audience, i.e. my little sister, found it to be. Maybe the magic didn’t really work, pun unintended, because she wasn’t as familiar with Japan’s school life, acting nonchalant for the most part, not laughing where I expected her to, or being as interested overall like I was.

For the record, my sister turns 12 mid-December. Yours truly turns 21 late November. What this all really means is that my liking for the show isn’t unlike the horde of male otaku during the recent Shugo Chara event. Although I’m pretty confident that my fondness for the show stems from more than just a fetish with creepy undertones, of which I don’t have, in case you were wondering.

A competitive gaming (sports, board game, etc) series will inevitably choose to major in one of two areas, both of which are crucial in determining how wide or specialised an audience it will snag: the first, drama; the second, jargon. While the second is important in tapping to a pre-existing fanbase and ensuring a dedicated following, the first is by no means unimportant — too much emphasis on jargon leaves the non-fan alienated, something no self-respecting author or animation studio would want to do.

it’s tough love, making fun of your target audience is

There’s been more of that “balanced” talk around this season more than any other this year given how the harem/bishoujo shows have a strong showing, and for that reason alone I decided to dedicate a post to four shows in said genre, namely Myself;Yourself, Blue Drop, Kimikiss Pure Rouge, and ef.

My reasons for watching harem are twofold: Firstly, the networking aspect. I’ll never write off entire genres by virtue of common sense and not wanting to be like the other bloggers whom, despite not being entirely sound in their reasoning, I read to keep me grounded in terms of bias, and not wanting to preach to the converted. It also helps me keep in touch with other excellent bits of writing I wouldn’t be able to understand fully otherwise, like harem overlord CCYoshi or super siscon Stripey.

Secondly, it’s a motivation out of academic vested interest. Like how I won’t really be able to appreciate Nanoha for being a mix of the shounen and mahou shoujo genres if I haven’t had prior experience with both, so does harem and bishoujo help me appreciate Shana for being a mix of shounen and harem. While it’s convenient, I don’t think I have to settle for second-best while trying to go about being acquainted with what the genre has to offer, so here’s an initial assessment of what Autumn’s got to offer.

Now that the two main first impressions posts are over, I guess I can start to slack off or something. There isn’t a whole lot that I’m expecting in the shounen, action-packed side, but that might be due to how I don’t carry a lot of expectations with me when I watch new shows, unless it’s been hyped to death before its debut. Between you and me, though, I’d take this over the overtly romance/harem stuff I’m due to watch next.

Dragonaut -The Resonance- was concentrated awesome, like Code Geass all over again. It’s one of those anime that you immediately hate or love, and I’m falling hard for this little gem. Dragonaut has everything — a fairly original premise, a hero you can’t help but feel for in his wretched state, a heroine that will have feminists everywhere giving their unanimous approval, and a cast that doesn’t scream “clich�” as much as you’d think those well-endowed girls would be prone to.

Or that muscular, chest-baring guy for that matter, in case anyone’s accusing me of being sexist, which is something Dragonaut couldn’t be found guilty of. To my mild annoyance and amusement, the guys have gone naked more often than the girls have so far (2-1), and as the picture below might indicate, it isn’t the guy that’s brimming with natural, world-changing powers in a bid to save the poor damsel in distress; rather, the inverse is true, which made for hilarious role-reversal when Toa (the girl) carried Jin (the failure guy)to safety before having an epic fight with that Berserker clone.

I saw the Shakugan no Shana movie yesterday before starting on the first episode of Shakugan no Shana II, and I’m glad I did. Aside from refreshing my memory on the whole series and whatnot, it also proved to be a timely reminder on why I’ve always adored the Shana series so much, and no, it has nothing to do whatsoever with her being a tsundere, I swear.

while I don’t see this happening in the canon anytime soon, the catfights have been upped a notch from where we left it, which is always a plus for me (click for hi-res version)

The title is a bad pun on how a lot of bloggers are dumb this time of the year (i.e. first impressions posts) by dissing a lot of stuff they watch, only to reluctantly say they love it at the end of the season, or something. As bj0rn has said, tsundere boners. See Lucky Star for more details. Also, after watching the first episode of Clannad I found out an interesting bit of trivia:

[03:47:15] <+Moogy> fun fact
[03:47:21] <+Moogy> sunohara has more lines than any other character in the game
[03:47:23] <+Moogy> by a wide margin
[03:47:26] <saturnine> …
[03:47:37] <saturnine> and you don’t get an ending with him
[03:47:38] <saturnine> ;[
[03:47:42] <+Moogy> lol you do
[03:47:44] <saturnine> rofl WTF
[03:47:44] <+Moogy> he has his own path
[03:47:47] <saturnine> YAOI END?
[03:47:50] <saturnine> HOMO END?
[03:47:53] <+Moogy> (romance is not involved)

They probably adopt a kid or something, since it’s about family, after all.

I’m sure you’ve been to a buffet before. If you aren’t paying through your nose for it it’s generally a mixed affair, with the quality of food varying from one degree to another, and in the same way too do I liken this Summer to it, because the manner of dishes served at the table more often than not vary in their composition and presentation, and make for a confusing contrast.

The most delicate and compact things can fill you up and leave you wanting more than just a lingering taste, while the larger, flashier ones don’t usually do much beyond the pre-requisite of filling you up. Then there are those who look and taste great while being available in large quantities, which are rare yet.

I was going to put “mass naked child events” instead of “first impressions” as the title but I figured it’d get me all types of wrong traffic. The following shows are basically what I’d like to call fluff, which is where the popcorn metaphor gets its name from. It isn’t a bad thing on its own when done right, although when it’s done wrong it’s terrible, much like that little girl with a curl in the middle of her forehead, assuming you remember your nursery rhymes.

Potemayo hit a home run quite early into the game when it struck me at 5 minutes into the first episode that the main character was a guy. The problem with Eri Kitamura’s voice is that it’s rather androgynous, and that the school uniform was one of those rare types where the guys and girls both wear sailor tops for the uniform, which meant that for a moment I was wondering why Sunao’s friends were crossdressing. Anyway.

I believe this illustrates the faggotry level when I say that it’s a guy in the picture, who happens to be taking a leak too

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is classy, gorgeous, ironic, outrageous, fantastic — all of that at the same time, and whoever disagrees with me obviously lacks good taste. Personally I don’t really think much of the Summer season no thanks to Spring’s prolific QUALITY that ensured anything making its debut now would be overshadowed, but SZS is a good show to debunk that type of thinking.

I’m not sure where exactly to begin, because it’s taken me by the neck and then pinned me against the wall in its strong grip — the art, surely? The colours are of an enchanting, multi-faceted palette, and remind me of Kemonodzume, another series I’ve yet to touch on my backlog. The animation is a noticeable cut above the usual industry standard, with the animators going all out for even the small things, from minute sakura petals to fragments of splintered chalk, and it shows.

I don’t have any real issues with Hayao Miyazaki’s work for the record, they’re pieces of art blah blah critically acclaimed blah blah but it just doesn’t resonate with the average anime viewer. How many of you reading this actually like his work enough to put it at your #1 spot(s)? It’s give or take to me, good thing the latest film he’s working on is purportedly his last.

you know what they say about seeing what you want to see? this isn’t a shop, which makes it even funnier than the Kanon one, displayed after the cut

…wait. There isn’t any “fun” in “Touhou” to begin with. Which is soberingly true, but besides the point. I put my brand-new, 120GB Seagate 2.5″ external to good use today by bringing it over to the house of J, a close friend of mine, and passing him two seasons of Honey & Clover, Code Geass, and Touhou.

Guess which game I showed him first? No prizes for guessing.

now made over 9000% more fun with pictures like these, too

Go on, tell me. Between the lack of coverage and no one making enough noise about it this would be the most underrated and overlooked mecha of the season, if you ask me. If Bokurano�s the sullen, brooding adolescent with black eyeliner and a �bad� hairdo, and Lucky Star Idolmaster Xenoglossia�s the annoying sister on the verge of puberty, then Kishin Taisen Gigantic Formula’s the genius little brother who isn’t taken seriously for playing with his toys too much.

in Japan the mech pilots you, etc.