This was an incredibly hot scene… even if you knew the context behind it.

I sympathized with Kanbaru – even with her murderous intent – because of the hopelessness of her situation. She couldn’t win. Senjougahara’s response to Kanbaru’s confession was honest and unequivocal, but had a softness and empathy to it that I wouldn’t have expected from her. In an episode marked by spectacular colors and gruesome gore, I thought the sepia scene between Kanbaru and Senjougahara was really well done.

In other words, if you haven’t been watching Bakemonogatari, you should.

I’ve been bummed by the initial fall release schedule. Besides Railgun, there wasn’t one other show that seemed interesting, but I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of deja vu. Because I know I said the same thing on a few blogs back when the summer preview was doing the rounds. I think back then, there were only two shows that piqued my interest, and you could argue that both were sequels: Umineko and Spice and Wolf 2. But as it turns out, like Low on Hit Points has mentioned, the summer season has been excellent. I can’t remember a season in which there’s been so many shows that I’d consider scoring an 8-10.

Possibly 10-worthy

• Sora no Manimani has been my favorite show of the season. I just love Mii-chan’s character and the unbounded enthusiasm she brings to the show. It also helps that the show is shipper-friendly, and just flat out hilarious. I’m not sure if Sora no Manimani will get a 10 from me, it’ll probably fall a little short, but however it goes for the rest of the season it’ll always have a special place in my heart, because without it (and the perspectives from a few blogs), I don’t think I would’ve watched Nodame Cantabile – which I devoured in 4 days.

In 8 to 9 land

• Bakemonogatari has been a close second to SNM. The characters are unique and capricious, the artwork is beautiful, the dialogue deftly balances verbosity and hilarity, and the storylines are surprisingly profound. I never really know what to expect from this show, but it always seems to blow away whatever my expectations might’ve been. Add to that my favorite ED of the summer and Bakemonogatari has been a huge surprise for me, as I didn’t have very high expectations for it (mostly because I didn’t know what it was about).
• Spice and Wolf 2, it seems everything I loved from the original Spice and Wolf is back, but I think Brains Base has really done a great job sharpening the edges around both the humor and drama. So the show is that much more enjoyable during its lighthearted scenes, and that much more intense during the dramatic scenes -  Horo’s meltdown being the most memorable moment so far.
• Umineko no Naku Koro ni, the first few episodes were good, but the very quick pacing kept it from being great. But the last episode (#5) felt like it was firing on all cyclinders. The mystery became a million times more interesting. And the battle lines drawn between Battler and Beatrice had me on the edge of my seat. I’d compare it to the scene in Higurashi where reptile-eyed Mion and Rena visit Keiichi bearing needle filled food, and I thought "holy crap, this show is unreal!" Umineko just reached that level, I just hope the future arcs can continue to build on it like Higurashi’s did.
• Toyko Magnitude, I don’t necessarily like Mirai, but I don’t dislike her either, and think she’s generally been acting like how you might expect a junior high kid to act. As much as I love Yuuki, his constant cheeriness may be the most unrealistic part of the show (not that I’m complaining). Every episode though, has been gripping and powerful, and surprisingly interesting for a disaster anime. I wonder if the show can continue to stay fresh without getting too clichéd, but with Mari heading towards her home (I’m guessing there will be tragedy), and the potential Mirai/Yuuki/family reunion to look forward to, there should be plenty of emotional drama to carry through.
• Canaan, I think has the best animation of any of the shows this summer. I mean all the fight scenes are fluid, everything looks fantastic. I can’t imagine this being a really high-budget show, so I’m incredibly impressed by the visuals. Five episodes in, I still don’t have a great grasp on the story though. But with Maria’s cute ahoge, Yun Yun’s meat bun stuffing, all the nudity and the yuri vibes, I’ve found myself watching Canaan similar to how I watched Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo – just enjoying the ride and not asking too many questions.

Possible 7s

• Umi Monogatari, I didn’t know that this was a mahou shoujo, so I was caught by surprised when they dropped that little nugget on us in episode 2, but I’ve still enjoyed it. It’s obviously not super deep or anything, but the designs and the characters are so clean and fresh, it’s been a lot of fun to watch.
• Princess Lover is a good harem, it’s arguably the best harem I’ve seen, depending on what your definition of a harem is. But I think I would enjoy it more if a.) it didn’t use the hackneyed super rich people acting super rich setting and b.) if the girls didn’t have bowling balls for breasts. I don’t know why that second point bothers me so much, it’s not like Kallen Stadtfeld’s ever-growing bosom bugged me, but I just think the proportions are comical. It’s sort of like Nodoka in Saki. You’re not poor. Get a better fitting shirt, girl!

And this isn’t even counting the ongoing spring shows like:

• Hayate no Gotoku, which, even moreso than SNM, is seriously challenging for a perfect 10 score. It all depends on the ending.
• FMA, which got a lot more interesting once they started animating the new stuff. Definitely could get a 9.
• Valkyria Chronicles, which has been getting really good lately (episode 17! nooo!!!), and could end up with an 8.

So maybe I’ll be wrong about fall too. I guess we’ll see.

Both of these shows sucked, so I decided to combine them. Also, I think I’ve covered all the shows I wanted to cover at least once, so hurray!

GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class

Things I liked:

• It’s cute, and it has a unique style. You’re also probably apt to learn something from the show.
• Haruka Tomatsu is amazing. I want to see a video of her performing, because until I do, I refuse to believe that it isn’t Mamiko Noto voicing the megane.

Things I didn’t like:

• Umm, I like doing artsy things and stuff, but I never really enjoyed art class. Similarly, watching a show that’s structured like an art class really doesn’t appeal to me.
• The "humor’ was so rapid-fire that all of it either went over my head or fell flat to me. I felt like this show was created for ADDers.

Random other thoughts:

It lacks the charm of a slice of life, and it lacks the humor of a straight-up comedy. Yeah, it’s quirky, but it just wasn’t very interesting. There’s no story, it’s just a series of random events of girls in an art club doing a homework assignment. GA wasn’t nearly as bad as Kanamemo, but it’s utterly forgettable.

Kanamemo

Things I liked:

• If you couldn’t tell by now, I really love Aki Toyosaki’s voice. And the scene in which Kana’s panicking about being taken away by movers was pretty funny.

Things I didn’t like:

• Just about everything else

Random other thoughts:

I didn’t have high hopes for this show. Maybe that was a self-fulfilling prophecy, because this show sucked. It wasn’t funny. It was random and made no sense in an unfunny way (even moreso than GA above). Somehow they managed to make the yuri unappealing. The artwork and animation was weak. Somehow they managed to snag a very good seiyuu cast though. Thank goodness, because they needed them to salvage this.

Forget these, I’m gonna go back and rewatch Sora no Manimani, that show keeps getting funnier and funnier inside my head and I think I need to check it out again.

I was cautiously optimistic about Sora no Manimani. The description wasn’t that interesting and the character art didn’t seem that great, but for some reason – whether because School Rumble director Shinji Takamatsu was directing this, or because slice of life + romcom is right up my alley – I was intrigued. So did it live up to my modest expectations?

Things I liked:

• It’s a good sign when you like the main character, and I loved Mi-chan. She reminded me of a Haruhi, if Haruhi was more deredere and focused on one particular activity. But like Haruhi, Mi-chan has her head in the clouds (literally) and lets her excitement get the best of her.
• I wouldn’t go as far as calling Saku, the male lead, a loser, but while he didn’t come off as very likeable, I thought he was still hilarious. A self-professed bookworm, who just wants to be alone so he can read, I like that he’s at least honest about who he is, and the scenes in which he tries to avoid his former tormenter, Mi-chan were great.
• Speaking of which, this was just a really funny episode. While not as zany as School Rumble, the bits of gag comedy were really well done and very, very funny.
• The artwork and animation wasn’t anything special, but it’s really clean and fluid. And I love the chibified and disformed design styles.

Things I didn’t like:

• There wasn’t much that I didn’t like about this show. I mean, I was laughing out loud at certain parts which I don’t normally do… so, I guess if it was too much funnier, I could possibly injure a lung.

Random other thoughts:

To answer my rhetorical question above, yes, it met my expectations and exceeded them. Like I mentioned above, I don’t usually laugh out loud at shows (I’m more of a quiet chuckler), but there were a couple instances where I burst out laughing. I was hoping for a School Rumble-style, slice of lifey, romcom, and for at least one episode, this show delivered everything I wanted. If they can keep this up, and don’t pull a School Rumble type fail of an ending, I think this show could become one of my favorites.

Bones returns with one of its shorter series in recent memory (clocking in at just 11 episodes). The name of this game? Realism.

What I liked:

• I’m certainly no expert when it comes to the science behind disasters, but it’s interesting that Bones went out of its way to let us know they did their research in shooting for realism in the disaster scenarios that’ll occur in this anime. In a completely unrelated turn of events, I just read an article about a week ago questioning Japan’s preparedness for such a disaster. I guess we’ll see what Bones is thinking.
• Keeping up with the theme of realism, while the character designs don’t look "real," they’re not very stylized either. So they’re not moe moe, they’re not oozing with cool, nor is there any of the silly artwork that’s become commonplace in recent Bones shows like the new FMA and Soul Eater. But everyone looks average. Not really pretty, sometimes even ugly, but they look like how "normal" people might look if they were adapted for an anime.
• Yuuki’s an awesome kid brother. I think I was like him when I was younger… or at least that’s my perception of myself, who knows how I was in reality. But I wouldn’t have minded having a kid brother like him.
• I really liked the OP, both the song, as well as the scenes of desolation.
• Last couple minutes, nice!

What I didn’t like:

• I didn’t dislike Mirai. But then again I didn’t like her either. And I’d guess that’s what the shows creators wanted us to feel about her. Ghostlightning put together a very nice analysis of Mirai’s character, but basically, I could empathize with Mirai’s frustration and disillusionment. I thought the writers did a good job showing the banal and even disappointing qualities of the people around her. But at the same time, I couldn’t completely identify with the apathy and self-pity she wallows in. She talks about not wanting to be like the others around her, but like a cynic who criticizes everything without taking a position of his own, treats her brother the same way she hates being treated. With that said, I really liked that her first thought when the ground shook was about her brother. It was a nice way of showing she does care.

Random other thoughts:

Ghostlightning actually said it best:

I was so strung along by Mirai’s many complaints and listless passivity towards her first day of summer vacation that when the earthquake struck, I was actually surprised! I suddenly remembered that this was a disaster anime.

The first 20 minutes wasn’t an exciting episode by any means, but I give Bones a lot of credit. I thought they somehow took everyday boredom and weaved it into a compelling story that sucked me in. Next thing I know, there’s a freaking EARTHQUAKE happening! It really should’ve have taken me by surprise, but somehow it did.

If Bones is really shooting for realism, this show probably shouldn’t have a happy ending. But I’m looking forward to seeing where they take the show.

Princess Lover is probably the premiere ecchi harem comedy of the summer season. Hmm, is that an oxymoron?

Fansub group: Hitode

Things I liked:

• I thought the intro scene with Teppei’s parents was actually quite well done. It felt like it could’ve come out from a Key melodrama. Except this harem will probably get played more for laughs and will feature much larger busts.
• Character designs are nice. Well, at least the faces and outfits are. The colossal melons are actually really embarassing.
• Teppei’s a pretty cool dude for a harem lead, and seems like he can handle himself pretty well  (although he did need saving from the ass-kicking elderly butler), similar to another OK harem lead, Yoichi from Asu no Yoichi (and to a lesser degree Washizu). I just hope unlike Yoichi and Washizu, Teppei can get to first base without slipping on any nosebleeds along the way. Eventually someone’s going to learn that you don’t need to be a loser to be a harem lead, it’s alright to have a little bit of the playa gene in you.
• Thumbs up to the horse-carriage chase scene. I mean it’s totally ridiculous, but it was still pretty awesome, if only to see the elderly butler whomping some banchou butt.
• I think I like the premise of the story, with Teppei’s quest for revenge serving as the backbone. It may be somewhat clichéd, but I think it’ll be much better than some of the other lame harem settings we’ve seen.

Things I didn’t like:

• Going back to my point earlier, these girl’s breast sizes are ridiculous. During the episode Princess Hazellink asks Teppei, "do guys like girls with big breasts?" And Teppei sort of weasels out of answering it, because what he really would’ve said is, "yeah, until it gets to the point where it looks like you stuck 2 bowling balls under your shirt." This show gets a 10 from me if the "winning" girl wins because everyone else playing the game bows out due to back injuries.
• The animation seemed pretty uneven. Some scenes looked really well drawn, while other scenes looked awkward. Oddly, most of the scenes featuring Teppei looked alright, while more of the scenes featuring one of the busty ladies looked off. Maybe it has to do with over-animation?

Random other thoughts:

I’m looking forward to seeing the Rin Tohsaka cosplayer, not only because she stole Tohsaka’s outfit, but also because she seems like one of the more normally proportioned girls in the show. (I hate to harp one this, but it’s a sad state of events when the loli has the most normal looking figure in the show.) Otherwise, while Princess Lover probably isn’t going to be anything remarkable, it should be an entertaining ride, mixing in some drama and action with the ecchi stuff to keep us on our toes. Thoughts?

SHAFT zaniness + interesting dramatic story (wait, what!?) = crazy delicious. I had no expectations for this show, but was anyone else as impressed with Bakemonogatari as I was?

Things I liked:

• First of all, a shout out to the one of the most elaborate pantsu shots I’ve ever seen. But along those lines, I loved the design in just about everything in the show. The characters (Hitagi looks like Yomi!), the backgrounds, the pantsus, the office supplies. This show looks great. And it’s backed by some pretty slick animation, featuring the typical SHAFT zany touch. Their animation style can be a hit or miss with me, but in this case, it fits perfectly and even accentuates the design and tempo of this show.
• It has an interesting story!
• I know we’ll get a rotating cast from one short story to the next, but I dug the characters quite a bit, they were an interesting bunch. Araragi’s pretty cool and fitting for a lead. Oshino’s appropriately eccentric. And Hitagi is mysterious and dangerous. I love how Chiwa Saito voices Hitagi, there’s something about the delivery that really amps up her enigmatic nature.
• Hilarious meta humor. The discussion about moe and tsundere characters (I’d be interesting in seeing Hitagi’s dere dere side). The snarky Full Metal Alchemist reference. All in all, SHAFT does their typically great job with the dialogue. It snaps, crackles and pops as they say.
• I loved the ED song. Great melody, cool lyrics. Admittedly, there’s not much to choose from since the summer season just kicked off, but so far it’s my favorite of the bunch.

Things I didn’t like:

• Umm, they didn’t bother to animate anything in the ED? I know, weak. But I really liked everything I saw from this show.

Random other thoughts:

We all know SHAFT does comedies well. But Bakemonogatari, I think, is the first time where SHAFT has provided their unique talents to animating a really interesting, unique, drama-centric story (I haven’t watched Natsu no Arashi, but the premise didn’t interest me). And I have to say, I was thoroughly, thoroughly impressed by the combination. This bumps the first episode of CANAAN for top of the summer pile. I love how they unfolded the mystery that is Hitagi, almost nonchalantly threw in that Araragi used to be a vampire, and took the story further out from there. I was engrossed throughout, and now I can’t wait to see how all this unfolds. I’m tempted to pick this up and write about it, except it seems like the type of show in which you’d struggle every week to figure out what to say. And I also wonder how much fansub support it’ll get, just because of all the extraneous stuff SHAFT sticks in there. I don’t know how many episodes this specific arc is set for, but I can only hope that the characters and stories for future arcs remain just as interesting. If so, we’ve got a winner on our hands.

I know nothing about the game. So CANAAN was one of the summer series that I knew nothing about, but had somewhat higher expectations for, due to some solid general buzz. Did the first episode live up to expectations?

Fansub group: gg

Things I liked:

• I liked CANAAN’s OP and ED quite a bit. The OP song isn’t as good, it’s your standard fast paced J-Rock fare, but it’s accompanied by some fantastic visuals and action sequences. The ED is much more solemn, moody and interesting, but features very little animation accompanying it. Based on the tone of the song and the visuals (Canaan and Maria look dead), I’m guessing this series won’t end on a happy note.
• The animation looked awesome. The action scenes were intense and fluid. Character designs were attractive. The background artwork was great. The festival scene was appropriately crowded. It looks like they went all out for this episode, because I don’t think I noticed any lazy shortcuts. I don’t know what else P.A. Works has done (doesn’t seem like much besides True Tears), but based on their work here, I’d definitely want to see more from them.
• The characters didn’t stand out, since they were mostly running, getting shot and doing the shooting, but I liked what I saw of Canaan and Maria so far. The intro voiceover talking about Canaan being a "victim whose past was taken by war" made me afraid that Canaan was going to be another bore like Setsuna F Seiei, but she seemed to show some personality in her interactions with Maria.

Things I didn’t like:

• I wonder how much this "choosing to see or not see the truth in front of you" theme will carry throughout the season. That’s the only explanation I have for the festival crowd not reacting in abject horror with people getting shot, bullets flying all over the place and blood gushing everywhere. Of all the zany things in this first episode, this was the one nitpick that gnawed at my suspension of disbelief.

Random other thoughts:

Mystery, intrigue, intense action scenes, hot chicks, naked secretaries, this first episode of CANAAN had it all. Pending Tokyo Magnitude, I guess we should consider this our action thriller for the summer season (sans the mechas). Now I just need to get a program to find out who’s who, and what the heck is exactly going on. This isn’t a criticism, per se. I actually like how they threw us into the middle of the action and forced us to follow along. I expect that they’ll take a step back in the next few episodes to fill out all the details. It’s a different set-up than say Umineko, but in this case, worked perfectly, as I’m sufficiently psyched for the series.

The summer’s most anticipated series kicks off with a bang, or at least a vicious slap (~uu~). Have the tables been set for another thriller, mystery masterpiece from 07th Expansion and Studio DEEN? Or are we in for an underwhelming experience like the latest Higurashi OVA? I have no clue. That was just a rhetorical question. It is just the first episode. Thus, this is a pretty spoiler-free writeup. Normal format will follow in the subsequent weeks.

Fansub group: Coalguys/gg

Things I liked:

• Rie Kugimiya as Shannon. I didn’t recognize her at first. Man, I love her non-screechy loli voice. There was a noobier time in my life where I couldn’t get enough of Kugimiya’s tsundere-loli voice and wondered how others didn’t love it. Now I have grown and matured and stepped across that proverbial line into anime umm, manhood, or whatever it is.
• So the ~uu~ turned out not to anywhere near as cute a catchphrase as ~uguu~ or ~hauu~ or whatever else Hocchan has done. But the scene in which Rosa smacked Maria was pretty intense. I liked Battler’s reaction, stepping in without trying to pry too much into family business, it probably would’ve mirrored my own. I don’t think Maria deserved the slapping, but it was a very annoying sound. I don’t know if it was intentional, but she sounded like a seagull. Regardless, I think this is a good sign for the future. It’s only episode one and people are already flipping the $&%# out.
• I know the whole cousin love is ok in Japan, but I sort of cracked up at the Battler’s awkward ogling of cousin Jessica.

Things I didn’t like:

• I suppose my only criticism is that the characters so far seem like cardboard cutouts, and there was such an overload of them, it’s hard to tell who I’m supposed to care about and who I’m not (right now I only care about Battler and Jessica). From what I’ve read from some others is that several scenes from the VN have been cut out, which led to the rushed pacing and some missed opportunities to fill out all the characters. Unfortunately, that probably comes with the territory, because there’s such a huge cast and I’m guessing a bunch of them will start dying off soon. Some background info would’ve been nice, but I trust 07/DEEN.

Random other thoughts:

I haven’t read the VN, so I don’t know what I’m missing out on, but I thought the first episode was solid enough. It introduced all the characters, it filled us in on the background, it established the dying grandpa as batshit insane, and teased us with some hints of supernatural activity. Like I mentioned above, it felt a bit rushed, but not to the extent where I thought I was missing really important information. On the contrary, I feel like I’ve just sat through a 00 OVA, and am now looking forward to watching them get deeper into the actual story and the characters.

Interestingly, Daisuke Ono went with his higher-pitch Koizumi-type voice, versus going with his deeper Sebastian-type voice. I suppose that’s a sign that Battler’s a relatively normal guy? Regardless, every time I see images of him pointing at someone I think of Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney! I hope that finger has powers, like Keiichi’s bat or Rena and Mion’s needles.

I’m looking forward to seeing where this series goes. Whether it’s a by-the-book murder mystery with supernatural elements, or whether we’ll also see the familiar Higurashi mind-warping moments along the way.

Decision? My decision has been predestined by Oyashiro-sama. Umineko will lead, and I will follow.

So the first episode sure lived up to its description – to a T. A ring falls into the sea, two mermaids find it, return it and then certain events lead to one of the mermaids accidentally releasing a demon seal (although it was actually not on the sea floor). That’s what they said the show was going to be about, and that’s what we got. Now to figure out whether there’s enough to like to keep watching over the next eleven episodes.

Fansub group: Ayako

Things I liked:

• The artwork looks very nice. The character designs are cute, and I love the bright color palette.
• Nice, laidback OP, ED and background music. Very Aria-esque in that sense. Although not quite as good. The short story in the ED was really cute though.
• Good pacing – nice start with the lighthearted comedic route and a nice change of pace towards the end when it takes a more dramatic turn.
• Likeable characters. I immediately took a liking to Marin and Urin (bad romanization though), and Kanon seems to be curmudgeon enough to serve as a good counterpart.
• Umm… nice… swimsuits. They’re just normal clothes for mermaids if you think about it though. It’s not like they’re trying to be exhibitionists. For some reason the swimsuits remind me of the skin-tight space-suits in Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo.
• Yukari Fukui’s (Nia, Nono) back! Albeit in a supporting role.

Things I didn’t like:

• Nice, laidback background music works for Aria, but feels out of place when an evil spirit is escaping and enshrouding the whole island. C’mon, mix it up at that point.
• I’m probably going to have a tough time telling apart Yui Horie’s character from the 37 other cute characters she’s voicing this season.
• Mermaids should have tails… Wait a second, are they mermaids? Or just sea people?

Random other thoughts:

Umi Monogatari is directed by Junichi Sato, who also directed Aria, which is why the comparisons are inevitable. Umi Monogatari takes a couple cues from Aria – most tellingly, their soundtracks are almost interchangeable – but based on what happens at the end of the episode, I’m guessing UM will be less of a slice of life and more of a plot-driven fantasy compared to Aria. Oh, there was also more fanservice in the first 30 seconds of UM than in all the episodes of Aria combined. But comparisons aside, it was a pretty entertaining first episode that stood out on its own, with enough to like to possibly make this a pleasant surprise for the summer.

Decision? Will keep watching.