Reviews... cause I can
Apr. 14th, 2006 02:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
demeter918Hoho, the time of year has come, where a crop of new and old are available for feasting, anime... what's for dinner.
That said, I preface this with - these are my opinions and if you don't like them, go and have a cookie. The taste will remind you of better things. This said, I am also following too many series so if I miss a few, I am not guilty or liable for emotional distress, ends of the world, and the destruction of Tokyo Tower...
Shinigami no Ballad - I'm on the fence about this one. There's nothing bad about it, per se, but there was nothing I got particularly excited either. It kind of just was, which is not a good reaction to inspire. However, since I like this little girl who apparently is the (a?) God of Death, I'm going to continnue watching to see what happens.
Utawarerumono - fantasy! SWEET. I haven't watched a proper fantasy anime since... Scrapped Princess? Oh, how much I loved that series and then nothing really to match it since. I love the opening song, but you can already tell who will be the main pairing in this series, so that takes away some of the anticipation. However, there are a number of female and male characters yet to enter the series who interest me very much. Especially that pretty boy who was slashing through all the hordes. And the rugged, scar-faced man. And the girl with wings who bent into the moon. Yes. I'm looking forward to this.
NANA - well. It's NANA. Episode one was episode one. They're sticking to the stick-like art of the first volume so I like that. The colors remind me of... ah, Kodomo no Omocha! Does it for anyone else? Maybe I'm just crazy. Either way, NANA fans will love it. I am a NANA fan but it's been harder and harder to like the series, mostly because the manga is meandering and all the subplots are not exactly threading together. (Except for the awesome Ren/Nana/Reira thread)
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Seriously, WTF? =) But in a good way. The title makes it seem all emo and angsty and then I started and I thought hey, this is a scifi anime? only not, because I continued watching (woot!) and it got progressively weirder. There was all this 'fake' (as in anime!fake) special effects and half way through, I started figuring out that this was some sort thing being filmed by someone else inside the series itself. Chewed my mind for a while. It's hilarious. Dude. Go dl it.
Jigoku Shoujo - CREEPY!! So good too. =) I really love the colors and the animation and the character design and the 'hell girl' voice was really beautiful. Quite a bit of fangirl adoration for this series.
Karin - hee hee, yet another series I didn't expect to love so much. The opening song alone is to die for and it's just so cute and romantic and yet so properly ridiculous. It never takes itself too seriously, but at the same time, you just want to take up Anju and give her a hug. But that's far later into the series. Bonus: they have a bit where Ren goes to an all-boys school and his first taste of human blood is of bishonen, and it's the complete opposite from the manga. Because in the manga, Ren goes to a coed school and the subplot is between him and a girl. I'm not sure why those chose to change it, but the episode cracks me up because it makes fun of the stereotypical boys school yaoi manga. =)
Kage Kara Mamoru - eh. It has shinobi. That's good, no? I wasn't really interested in it, but it is funny, and it's romantic. I suppose it's kind of making fun of the 'seriousness' of the ninja profession. And the shonen hero is one of those nerdy ones complete with thick, bottle glasses who becomes unclassifiably cool when he takes them off to be... NINJA!
Monster - finished the series. *weeps* It was so perfectly done and it was still so fucking tragic and oh, why, why is this mangaka so perfect and wonderful and how does he weave such fantastic stories? Monster is still one of my favorite series of all time. I hope his 20th Century Boys series gets an anime form too. This series was really well done and it worked with the books, which was weird because anime adaptions of manga sometimes fail miserably. But this one worked out and the colors and dialogue still stick in my mind. And JOHANN YOU TRAGIC FUCKER I LOVE YOU. Owari.
Blood+ - Haji is hot. Period. And he plays a big instrument. And he works together Saya. And Saya blushes. And OMG THIS IS SO CUTE AND THERE'S BLOOD EVERYWHERE WOOT. I'm a big fan of splashy puddles of blood in anime and this does fill that strange little fetish of mine. Also. EMO ANGST EVERYWHERE WOOT.
Mushishi - bloody good stuff. Creepy, but different kind of creepy. Quiet creepy. As in, you'll clap your hands over your ear in fear of those, those, those things getting in there.
Daddy Long Legs - Heehee, based on an English novel, it's cute. I like it so there. General story is orphan girl gets a chance to attend an exclusive school and have all tuition paid through a mysterious benefactor. According to the book, the mysterious benefactor will continue throughout the series culminating in... duh duh duh. To say would spoil it. But by episode nine, you can guess who it is and how it'll go down.
Ouran High School Host Club - I'm sure people would attack me if I didn't mention this, so here it is! Very pretty, lots of excellent usage of color, and best of all? A great adaptation of a great manga. The energy in the anime actually manages to surpass that of the manga, since we get to see all the leaping and jumping move fluidly from one screen to the next. Takes the mythical insanely rich school stereotype and dumps it right into our laps. Genderbending, boyboy action, etc.etc. You got it all. One thing I loved about the mangaka was all the stereotypical male shoujo characters she gave us and how much fun she had, well, making fun of them. =) If I remember the manga correctly, there is almost no angst in this series, even though the protagonist's parents are... gone. =) Good stuff!
And that's the anime I haven't reviewed yet. Bleach and Naruto are in filler arcs right now so... no comment.
To be honest, I've been reading more than watching. Books, manga, etc. etc. I can't wait for it to get warmer so I can sit on my balcony, put up my feet, and absorb a good book.
That said, I preface this with - these are my opinions and if you don't like them, go and have a cookie. The taste will remind you of better things. This said, I am also following too many series so if I miss a few, I am not guilty or liable for emotional distress, ends of the world, and the destruction of Tokyo Tower...
Shinigami no Ballad - I'm on the fence about this one. There's nothing bad about it, per se, but there was nothing I got particularly excited either. It kind of just was, which is not a good reaction to inspire. However, since I like this little girl who apparently is the (a?) God of Death, I'm going to continnue watching to see what happens.
Utawarerumono - fantasy! SWEET. I haven't watched a proper fantasy anime since... Scrapped Princess? Oh, how much I loved that series and then nothing really to match it since. I love the opening song, but you can already tell who will be the main pairing in this series, so that takes away some of the anticipation. However, there are a number of female and male characters yet to enter the series who interest me very much. Especially that pretty boy who was slashing through all the hordes. And the rugged, scar-faced man. And the girl with wings who bent into the moon. Yes. I'm looking forward to this.
NANA - well. It's NANA. Episode one was episode one. They're sticking to the stick-like art of the first volume so I like that. The colors remind me of... ah, Kodomo no Omocha! Does it for anyone else? Maybe I'm just crazy. Either way, NANA fans will love it. I am a NANA fan but it's been harder and harder to like the series, mostly because the manga is meandering and all the subplots are not exactly threading together. (Except for the awesome Ren/Nana/Reira thread)
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Seriously, WTF? =) But in a good way. The title makes it seem all emo and angsty and then I started and I thought hey, this is a scifi anime? only not, because I continued watching (woot!) and it got progressively weirder. There was all this 'fake' (as in anime!fake) special effects and half way through, I started figuring out that this was some sort thing being filmed by someone else inside the series itself. Chewed my mind for a while. It's hilarious. Dude. Go dl it.
Jigoku Shoujo - CREEPY!! So good too. =) I really love the colors and the animation and the character design and the 'hell girl' voice was really beautiful. Quite a bit of fangirl adoration for this series.
Karin - hee hee, yet another series I didn't expect to love so much. The opening song alone is to die for and it's just so cute and romantic and yet so properly ridiculous. It never takes itself too seriously, but at the same time, you just want to take up Anju and give her a hug. But that's far later into the series. Bonus: they have a bit where Ren goes to an all-boys school and his first taste of human blood is of bishonen, and it's the complete opposite from the manga. Because in the manga, Ren goes to a coed school and the subplot is between him and a girl. I'm not sure why those chose to change it, but the episode cracks me up because it makes fun of the stereotypical boys school yaoi manga. =)
Kage Kara Mamoru - eh. It has shinobi. That's good, no? I wasn't really interested in it, but it is funny, and it's romantic. I suppose it's kind of making fun of the 'seriousness' of the ninja profession. And the shonen hero is one of those nerdy ones complete with thick, bottle glasses who becomes unclassifiably cool when he takes them off to be... NINJA!
Monster - finished the series. *weeps* It was so perfectly done and it was still so fucking tragic and oh, why, why is this mangaka so perfect and wonderful and how does he weave such fantastic stories? Monster is still one of my favorite series of all time. I hope his 20th Century Boys series gets an anime form too. This series was really well done and it worked with the books, which was weird because anime adaptions of manga sometimes fail miserably. But this one worked out and the colors and dialogue still stick in my mind. And JOHANN YOU TRAGIC FUCKER I LOVE YOU. Owari.
Blood+ - Haji is hot. Period. And he plays a big instrument. And he works together Saya. And Saya blushes. And OMG THIS IS SO CUTE AND THERE'S BLOOD EVERYWHERE WOOT. I'm a big fan of splashy puddles of blood in anime and this does fill that strange little fetish of mine. Also. EMO ANGST EVERYWHERE WOOT.
Mushishi - bloody good stuff. Creepy, but different kind of creepy. Quiet creepy. As in, you'll clap your hands over your ear in fear of those, those, those things getting in there.
Daddy Long Legs - Heehee, based on an English novel, it's cute. I like it so there. General story is orphan girl gets a chance to attend an exclusive school and have all tuition paid through a mysterious benefactor. According to the book, the mysterious benefactor will continue throughout the series culminating in... duh duh duh. To say would spoil it. But by episode nine, you can guess who it is and how it'll go down.
Ouran High School Host Club - I'm sure people would attack me if I didn't mention this, so here it is! Very pretty, lots of excellent usage of color, and best of all? A great adaptation of a great manga. The energy in the anime actually manages to surpass that of the manga, since we get to see all the leaping and jumping move fluidly from one screen to the next. Takes the mythical insanely rich school stereotype and dumps it right into our laps. Genderbending, boyboy action, etc.etc. You got it all. One thing I loved about the mangaka was all the stereotypical male shoujo characters she gave us and how much fun she had, well, making fun of them. =) If I remember the manga correctly, there is almost no angst in this series, even though the protagonist's parents are... gone. =) Good stuff!
And that's the anime I haven't reviewed yet. Bleach and Naruto are in filler arcs right now so... no comment.
To be honest, I've been reading more than watching. Books, manga, etc. etc. I can't wait for it to get warmer so I can sit on my balcony, put up my feet, and absorb a good book.
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no subject
Date: 2006-04-14 07:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-17 01:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-14 05:27 pm (UTC)Looks like I'll have a couple of things to add to my download list! I'm a little behind already due to random internet outages (I'm still leeching off someone! ^_^;;) and becuase I'm dl'ding TeniPuri one episode at a time. >_<; That's one hell of a long series!
I already have the first 5 of Blood+, but haven't watched them. The first episode of Host Club was adorable! I hope it keeps going the same way! 'Uta...' sounds like something I'll have to get for sure. ^___^
Have you dl'd the new shonen ai anime--Gakuen Heaven? If not, get both the Aarinfantasy version and the Live-evil one. It's the same episode, but L-e's is a parody put out for April Fools. It's great!
*Snuggles up to you more* What are the plans for you? Are you staying in Japan another year? Moving to [insert country here]? Coming home for a while? Taking over the world?
I haven't sent out your package yet; can you believe the last time we went shopping we couln't find any fruit rolls-ups??? I looked! I will not be defeated, though! Just need to be sure you'll be there when I finally do send it out...
no subject
Date: 2006-04-17 01:50 am (UTC)I'm (hopefully) coming back in August sometime because my family wants to get a family portrait done since we haven't had one since my grandfather passed away. =)
As for the shonen-ai anime... I don't know. I've never actually liked any of the yaoi/shonen-ai anime yet. They're all, well, pretty bad. ^^;; I may dl it later to see what people are talking about.
I am staying for another year, so I return stateside probably in early August, 2007.
If you can find them, can you send me cadbury creme eggs too? I CRAVE them like nothing else and it's, um, odd. I sure hope they're still there for sale even though it's after Easter...
no subject
Date: 2006-04-21 01:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-15 04:29 am (UTC)I LOVE Mushishi and Jigoku Shoujo. I mean, there's no real strong plot, but it's beautifully creepy and well done episodic shows.
no subject
Date: 2006-04-17 01:45 am (UTC)OMG, yes. I love episodic shows like this and eee, it creeps you out like no other! I love the music of both series, especially the opening song of Jigoku Shoujo.