Fanboy score: Yuumi mauling Mao by a longshot, Asuka pipping Eriko at the post, hopes for Mitsuki to end up with Hiiragi.

For the longest time during this episode, I was getting bored, beginning to nod off, very distressing stuff for a show that I believe is high caliber. The confession was obviously part of the movie, Kazuki continued to grow on people’s nerves both inside and outside the show, and Mao sat around all distressed about Kouichi.

And then, in the last few minutes or so, we went from ’slow episode’ to ’sit up and pay attention’ to ‘Makoto slept with WHO?!’ to ‘RED ALERT RED ALERT BATTLE STATIONS THIS IS NOT A DRILL’. Aroduc at Tenka Seiha hits it on the money by saying that this show is different because “things move.” It may be a down-to-earth, heartwarming romance, but it moves at a pace comparative, if not faster, to a lot of recent shows with half the length.

Leading off with Kazuki’s story, he and Eriko have ‘broken up’, if they were ever really together, after Asuka’s confrontation with Eriko, telling her not to mess with his feelings. I’m not quite sure why Eriko reacted the way she did, and whether she really is in the market for Kazuki or not. She had been flirting with cutting ties with Kazuki for a few episodes, but did show signs of at least getting excited by him, as shown by the kiss-and-seek a little back.

I would like to take this as Eriko backing off temporarily, in order to let Asuka and her ‘more real’ (as some may debate) feelings go ahead. After all, she could certainly observe the experiment from the outside of the relationship. This doesn’t rule out at all, though, her stepping back in at a later time, whether after some more logical or emotional observations.

And, as one AnimeSuki forumite put it, this might just drive Kazuki even more crazy about Eriko, considering how much he thought of her in this episode.

Kouichi’s story is more controversial, and, as a Yuumi fan, worrying. The Mao path is really beginning to show its claws, from the childhood friend (gee, what are the odds) confession scene discombobulating her, to her spaced-out demeanor after seeing Kouichi and Yuumi together. I’m praying to whatever deity I’ve got that Kouichi’s concern is that of a friend or brother, and not something more romantic; I think that it is passable that he cut his date with Yuumi short to check on Mao. But, if this continues, I would be extremely worried.

The number one red flag raiser is Mao going to cry in Kai’s arms and asking him to kiss her - for those keeping track, it would be the second kiss for them, and probably, neither one was one of mutual love. Yuumi’s strongest hope is that Mao’s concern about seeing the two of them stems from her own lack of success in love, and not from jealousy. The way which she stumbles into Kai’s place, though, really sends up warning signs of the opposite.

I suppose it’s fair that this show is really heating up; I never realized we’re just under 10 episodes to go in this series! Certainly it’s the kind of show I wish I could go on forever.

This episode was absolutely huge in terms of the plot, I believe.

I can really see where Stripey and Usagijen were getting at with their dislike of Eriko and Kazuki in general. They were nice enough characters up to this episode but here they’re almost evil. Eriko with the “this is my jealous look” nearly erasing Kazuki - what, time for a more willing experiment - and Kazuki getting disgusted every time it wasn’t Eriko calling.

“It’s just Asuka.” Yeah, let me wipe that dissapointed look off your face.

Interesting developments are happening on the Kouichi side as well. It was a bit typical of the whole ‘let’s leave them alone’ segment followed by the ‘just kidding interruption’, but the end more than made up for it. It’s still strange seeing a beach episode without all the fanservice lollygagging; what worries me about this segment is that Kouichi and Yuumi really seemed like a couple already in this episode, holding hands at the beach and all.

It’s good, but allow me to exercise Nozomu’s “Too Perfect” rule - it’s too good, too soon, and with the preview of Sad Mao in…Guys’..Arms, I’m sensing a shift over to Mao, not to mention the whole ‘now she’s the one that gets confessed to and kissed in the play” thing. I mean, the play talks about childhood friends - that should set off flags!

I’m really, really hoping that Mao’s melancholy over Kouichi and Yuumi kissing (perfectly OK to yell “Victory!” at this moment, by the way) is just her introspective about how Kouichi is more successful in love than she is. On the other hand, she’s got Kai in the palm of her hand, if she chooses to play that card, which she is teasing so badly.

I think my ‘perfect pairings’ for this show are beginning to take shape; we will see whether my slow conversion to a flaming fanboy will affect my love for this show as we begin to hit the rocky patch of the relationships…

To be honest I’ve said a lot about KimiKiss all over the place, so I’ll direct you to my comments and two great discussions going on over at Scrumptious and Hontou ni Taihen Desu.

At first, I was really underwhelmed by E-Card. Compared to the certain death of Brave Men Road, losing an ear or an eye is pretty weak. Still, after some thought, I think E-Card might be interesting after all.

First off, why does Tonegawa offer the choice of organs? 99% of people will pick the ear - if not because of some percieved value, because of the psychological threat that actually seeing something move closer to your eye (after all, you can’t just shut it) will convey.

Secondly, it might be possible to really do some damage here, if it is possible to overbet, and say, gamble 3 centimeters when you are already 29 mm deep. Would this make it go nearly 6 cm in? Or is it just not possible to bet this much, only time will tell.

And finally, it’s a much different gamble from the two previous, which relied a lot on simply surviving. Here, Kaiji has a lot of the power, in that he is fighting to win, instead of fighting to not lose. It will provide some interesting human analysis, to see how greedy Kaiji really is in his quest for 20 million; it’s a different ballgame for sure, because you are not just fighting your opponent, but also your own greed for more money. It’s certainly why Kaiji is falling into an obvious trap, set by Tonegawa or himself, after winning two games.

This game is easy? Not quite. Just wait until you hit the Slave side, Kaiji…

Well, I was a bit off-put by the HAAADO GAYness of Sahara and Kaiji screaming at each other in last episode, but Kaiji’s definitely back in top form in this episode.

I can’t help but think that this Brave Men Arc needs some serious comparison to AIR, what with my remark about Ishida’s death being worthy of Aozora, and now all the “Goal~”ing this episode. Followed by dying, of course.

Sahara’s death really threw me off, though, it was so sudden that I didn’t see it coming, even with Kaiji’s tension. I didn’t think he could die right on the spot, after all. Definitely shocking, and representative of the nature of this show.

Although, I did wish that either Sahara or Ishida would have had a happy ending, because I knew Kaiji wasn’t going to get any cash here. The way which they stripped him of it seemed fitting, and not-too-horribly deux-ex. It’s the kind of logic which makes you hate Tonegawa: it’s evil, yet it makes sense.

Likewise with all the real-world truths that he and his supervisor spout. They’re very chilling in a sense, because although they go against all the good things and warmth every show has taught you, you can’t help but ponder their truth. In a sense Kafuka’s Super Positive Attitude in me has prevented me from being left in despair, so although I end up viewing this more objectively than anything else, it’s still interesting as all hell.

E Card is the next game, and it looks deceptively simple so far, which is strange. I don’t know if they’re going to stretch this out for ten episodes or not, since I don’t see any more games in the ED. And is Kaiji going to play Tonegawa?

Not to mention, what is that thing sticking out of his head in the preview? Only time will tell…

Despite all contrary evidence and rumors of OH DEAR GOD WHY traps (as opposed to “Mako-cakes awesome” traps), I’m pushing on with H2O, if only because of the Shana II Theory of ‘Hey, it might actually not suck…somewhere down the line’. Although H2O hasn’t had one season to prove itself already.

I suppose I should be more aware of the fact that harem shows actually can and will suck, even though I’ve been extremely lucky so far to watch nearly all good ones. Well, we’ll find out as H2O advances. Commence liveblogging!

(It’s at this point that I rue not getting an episode of True Tears, Shigofumi, Minami Okawari, Hidamari Sketch - yes, I’m slow - or just about bloody anything else to watch to tonight. At least this will make KimiKiss in half an hour look uber awesome.)

Hmm, Beaten Up On A Lot Girl has some flashback of Hinata; this in combination with her oh-so-canned “I’ve been waiting a long time” line pre-OP means that she has some hardcore ronery backstory going on or something. Might be an interesting point.

For some reason, I got this huge flash of Asa-sempai when Otoha, or whoever it was, glomp-tackled Hirose. Ooh, she did the back-slapping too. Definitely Asa.

For some reason…it seems I’ve used “for some reason” already. Shame. But anyway, it seems pretty unexciting that Hirose has vision again. You think at least one person would be like “oh my God you can see!” after the seeing-stick -raping-fest of last time.

Hey, Hinata fell in water and didn’t get her shirt all Harem-Show Soaked. We’re moving in the right direction.

There’s some backstory and/or rumor about some demon bringing ruin to the village. Combined with the sudden silence of Hinata, I can’t help but think this is related to Beaten Upon Girl.

“Hamaji…why are you suddenly in maid clothing?” Dead on the money there with that remark.

Ah, he spotted Beaten Up Girl’s school outfit on the other side of the bridge. Ah, he spotted more that at the river. Ah, they gave the ‘lol, girl bathing!’ pan the eyecatch lead-out. Well, this appears to confirms my prediction from five minutes ago.

(Middle schoolers, pshaw, who needs DFC?)

Oh, we’ve gone to a non-serious sequence post-eyecatch, with the girl threatening Hirose with a knife in a ‘I’m going to kill you for peeping’ way. Or was she…dead serious?

I still don’t get what’s going up with Hinata, she’s probably the most redeeming of the show in character and plot. She seems to be the mole - or at least the parent wants her to be. But her family’s evil, because a butterfly flew into the light and burnt! Or something.

The sad part is, I’m finding Beaten Up Girl (if I were funny, I’d change the acronym all the time) a little more attractive, now that she’s showing a hint of dere-ness, not to mention, the whole “I should be hated” thing. ‘Cause I’m a rebel like that. Tell me not to like you, sure. OK, now they’re overdoing it with Hirose waking up Kohinata; although, I did smile at the whole sequence. Easy to please, yes sir.

“Hirose-sama, please make one with me. I want to be with you.” Man, I really love zoning in and out of attention.

Incidentally, they were talking about pinwheels.

Can’t decide if Hirose’s mix of naivete and kindness is heartwarming or frustrating; the same goes with Hinata’s coming on to Hirose, or Kohinata’s vague coldness/tsundereness (or, all the beating done on her; interesting or disgusting?).

Oh, hey, stuff burning. Whose parents died, aside from everyone’s? It looks like childhood Hinata had some trouble too. That’s interesting.

And what’s this about ‘not being able to do anything before’? Does Hirose have some past with Kohinata, or is he just trying to make up for lost time in general? He really is being surprising kind to Kohinata. Is it love, guts, or stupidity?

(Oh snap, happy music and smiling montage. Relationship plusplus.)

I like how Crisu puts it at Borderline Hikikomori: “Status of soul - still not rocked”. I agree in general, although I think there is some saving grace to this show, if not barely. This episode raised quite a few questions, so I’ll hang on to it.

SHE IS WAITING IN THE AIR wait no. Well, they started with a shot of the clouds a la the AIR OP. Not to mention, some monologue slash poem thingy that I would put money on it being repeated in 11 episodes, or 23, or whenever the show’s epilogue rolls around.

A bit of liveblogging this time around, just to go back to roots. Having fun with this feature. And hey, it seems that the much-talked-about ‘weird features’ of H2O are kept in the anime, given by the weird…animal…things in the “Presented By” segment. I wonder why more shows don’t put animated stuff here; that was one thing I liked about Doujin Work.

Can’t decide whether this show is taking itself seriously or not. The beginning says yes, the wild animal chase says no. Should I put “smothered by a girl, entirely not on purpose” on the drinking list? I’ll get the root beer.

At least blind kid went for her face when groping instead of her - wait, never mind. Somehow, I have a feeling if I sarcastic my way through this it will take longer than an episode of Zetsubou Sensei.

Do blind people really walk around with their eyes closed? Ah well, realism in anime, who am I kidding.

Also, they’re middle schoolers. I suppose this is an eroge, so they all failed numerous times so that they are all 18? Or, perhaps, they’re really thousand-year-old artificial life forms? I never fail to amuse myself with that.

Hmm, I think I always start out hating an anime, but then I go all tsundere for it and start liking it; at least, that is what I hope for H2O. None of the characters are particularly likable at the moment, except for maybe the clumsy, spacey Hinata.

Alright, so we’ve established that they like fanservice. And they’re not afraid of panty shots. Good job. Well, Shuffle! still turned out well.

I think we’re supposed to pity Kohinata because the bratty school idol and her stupid followers beat the living tar out of her. Oh, she just smashed some dishes and snapped at the male lead. That’s because she’s just being tsundere, a rebel, and a cold person, who just needs love! No worries!

…Right.

Ooh, y’know what would be fun? If Hinata is actually some evil contract killer out to get Hirose, which is why she’s being so nice and sucking up to him. At least, that’s my crackpot theory of why her grandfather knows his name already, and calls him Hirose-sama. Always talk good about your “clients”.

There’s clearly some supernatural aspect to this…I wonder how much emphasis will be put on this. Additionally, how much of this feel-good “you can do it if you try!” stuff will we get. Way to empower those closet otaku, anime.

Extremely nonplussed about H2O so far, but it’s long and far between shows that really grab me from the first episode. Doubly so for harem shows, simply because the logistics of character introduction and the concept of ‘light-hearted intro segueing into something more interesting’ hold pretty firm. The animation quality worries me though, it’s a bit behind the times; but I’m not ruling this show down yet.

OK, that chibi section at the end of the show was really cute and made the overall taste left in my mouth a lot better. How simple I am, eh? That concludes tonight’s Mystery H2O Theater 3000.

I still think it’s really strange that all the irrelevant characters have everything except faces. It’s a strange mix of laziness and … non-laziness. It feels like a SHAFT thing to do.

Nitpick: did Haruka’s school always use the School Days Desks(tm), with two to a seat? I thought they had theirs in classical style. Otherwise, for some reason, I am getting that ‘back to normal’ feeling with Okawari, compared to last episode.

What’s interesting is that here it felt like Chiaki got a bit o’ the Banchou-ing on herself. Even though all the classmates called her “Princess” instead. We got some weird camera angles of Chiaki as well, I must say, during the hamster sequence.

Never knew there was as many character parallels between Haruka’s and Kana’s schools and character sets; both have the energetic idiot (kind of a Kana-alike) in the friend group - the ones that stole the juice to drink in this episode. Not to mention, there’s a lot of talk about Haruka in both. I do like all this Banchou stuff.

In other news (i.e. yes I am blogging this live), Kana called Fujioka to the roof; it’s too bad we didn’t get a nice tease on that sequence. It was amusing though, the contrast between Kana’s picture of Exciting Banchou Window Washing and Fujioka’s unenthusiastic efforts.

Submarine IV <<< Ninomiya & Sensei: The Game. Having just come off watching Kaiji, I’m trying to figure out the rules of this game that is so much more complicated that canon Battleship. Sonar, depth charge, torpedo, mine plant…zawa zawa!

The Kana-dan? Spawn the Haruhi parodies, do it!

In conclusion - and I say in conclusion because suddenly, it’s the ending and I didn’t quite have enough witty thoughts to give any order to this - this episode has conclusively proved that there needs to be an episode where all of the Minamis are Banchous. Haruka proved herself last season, and Kana and Chiaki showed some serious potential here too.

Oh, and the episode was good too.

Wow, that IS weird walking. Also, in the OP, I expected Haruka to change into Superman or something when she stepped into the phone booth, because, uh, she’s amazing, or something; pardon me, I like Chiaki, but I also like riding the catch-phrase train. Am I not supposed to get the OP? Reminds me of the way they did Genshiken 2’s OP.

Would have to agree with many sentiments that it feels like Minami-ke on fast-forward, which doesn’t work quite as well. Somehow I feel Special Talent Haruka would have been a show-stopper in the other version.

Also, Kana cries.
Also, Haruka’s chest now qualifies as an underseat floation devices.
Also, Fujioka goes all depressed when he sees the girl he likes naked.
And now, for the number one reason why everyone thinks Okawari sucks…no Sensei!! or NINOMIYA-KUN!!

Well, it wasn’t horrible, to be honest. First half didn’t really click but once it got into the second half it started to hit its stride. There were good moments (overflowing spring, ping-pong, “what’s your relationship with Chiaki”), gender swapping Touma and Makoto (plus bonus Fujioka) is still gold, and Kana proved that long hair is always win. Did they take three baths in one day, though? Must be a really comfortable onsen.

SHAFT, you drive me so crazy~

Zetsubou Sensei is back in full force, and I’m a believer in its insanity all over again. There was some random fanservice in this episode with Chii, but overall it still feels more like what it really should be, a boundary-pushing, nudge-nudge-wink-wink show that is a blast to watch.

This episode, as usual, was amazingly over-the-top. Three language tracks in the first segment - one, gibberish language, two, inaccurate (and DBZ-referential) Japanese subtitles, and three, original speech from the manga. It’s brilliant, especially when they differ - although, I do wonder, since a.f.k. inserted the third track, how do people unfamiliar with the manga stand this scene?

The second and third segments are solid, but not standout compared to the first. Some of the new members of the Itoshiki family look to be funny. Kiri’s getting more screentime, which makes me happy, although I worry that her character’s being warped to be too evil. But, maybe I’m used to the soft characters of shows like Kanon, and so I grew to like the catchphrase of “Sen~sei~”.

The OP/ED of SZS are solid as ever, I think Rumba tops Bure, but as good as Romanesque is, Zessei Bijin is the king of, y’know, everything. Just found a remix, Oironaoshi Mode, of Zessei, and it’s the best thing since sliced vanilla ice cream.

Let me preface this impression by saying that it is <i>really cool</i> that True Tears is in HD-huge size, yet still only 170 MB in size. I enjoyed watching shows like Shana II this big, but hated the extra 50 MB tacked on. Maybe I’m behind the times with encoding advancements, but more of this would be awesome.

Back-to-backing this with H2O ~footprints in the sand~; with that one, I blogged it live. This one, I’m doing my summaries after watching the show.

My best summary of True Tears is that it’s another show that I’m far too happy to be irrational about. In many senses it was the same kind of intro episode as H2O. Same ’show all the characters’, same ‘let’s have something almost important happen’, even some mild fanservice - c’mon, the typical ‘peeking in the bath’ thing.

And yet, it was So Much Better.

It’s probably because I’m shallow. True Tears is a looker, especially compared to H2O. It’s characters appeal, perhaps, to a different subset; while H2O has mostly submissive characters that are drawn to the male lead (with one notable exception), True Tears has a few that are decidedly far apart, either emotionally or mentally distant from the male lead. This insight would probably explain a lot as to why I like Eriko in KimiKiss so much; for some reason, the female characters that are cold, distant, unfeeling, in appearance, have always been more appealing. You could even stretch the definition to Mai (Kanon) or Nagato.

It’s weird. Maybe it has to do with the American ideal of working hard for your dream, and that allure of “being able to open up a person to the world, to make them smile.” Odd, considering that anime fans like me probably need a lot of opening up to the Real World.

And so, despite True Tears admittedly being built on a few choice cliches (chance meeting, childhood friend, dirty commentary male friend, etc), it really has a good feel to it so far. I hope it can live up to the expectations now established by people like Owen.

It’s war!

It was amusing here to see, both in this episode and the next episode preview, all the girls going on the attack for Tomoya. It’s almost like a typical harem show, but I hold my breath anyway to see just how KyoAni and Key pull it off.

It started in this episode, with Nagisa scoring some key emotional heartstring pulls - some say this was a sign of the “Nagisa flag” being tripped, only to be cut off by Kyou, screaming something about “putting your own priorities first.” I can’t help but think Kyou believes those words all too well in this scene.

Plus, Tomoyo looks to be at least casually interested in Tomoya, Ryou’s a Shiori/Tsukasa moe machine waiting to jump (and by jump I mean melt all over) Tomoya, and hey, Sunohara ending.

Of course, as proven by Sunohara’s scene in the end of this episode, Tomoya is all Nagisa’s, but I think I can elect Kyou now as the Nayuki Of The Year; even after this episode, she’s a fun character.

Not to mention, the hidden world, as they say, will likely play a role in the story soon, and I look forward to see where that goes as well; Kurogane made an apt observation that it’s similar to The Dandelion Girl as well…

Every passing episode of Clannad only confirms that I’m a heartless bastard.

I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I watch with friends, so I joke more during the show, but I’ve really yet to get really emotional during Clannad. Fuuko got me on the verge but I was essentially cracking wise throughout the whole of Kotomi’s arc.

My sentiments are pretty much the same as most on Kotomi: she’s a drop-dead moe character, but her story isn’t up to scratch. I can’t help but think these two are related somehow.

The closure to her arc continued a bit of the ridiculousness, with her parents throwing away the future of science for their daughter and her teddy bear. Sweet, yes, but touching, no. As a rational person, I just can’t see why.

There were still some good moments, definitely, and it turned out better than I hoped it would (in the end, the party was kind of superfluous), but it just didn’t reach me. I think it was put well by DS over at Daijoubu in that it was a good arc, but one that wasn’t really emotional.

Next episode looks very interesting though, as it’s either Tomoya or Nagisa centric. I can’t help but feel that the preview implies some sort of confession, romantic or otherwise, from Tomoya to Nagisa, and that has my interest peaked. On that note, I hope that they go back into Tomoya’s backstory soon; they’ve been ignoring his father a bit too easily for the last arc or two.

P.S. Kotomi would make a lousy model on Deal or No Deal.

It’s like Tetris…with special attacks! There’s also a single-player mode too. Great for killing time in Computer Science! Check out the Games page (linked in the banner) for the download. Enjoy!

Yeah, just a little post to let you know what’s going on. You probably heard from somewhere that Ikimashou got domain-squatted, but luckily, Randall, the owner of Ikimashou and Dasaku (among other anime domains), had an extra domain ready for his anime blogs (again, woot for that), so service should be normal again. Feel free to change your links.

No real post for today because I’ve been typing up new Track Twos, along with formatting posts (had to re-categorize every post by hand, since the categories got nuked somewhere), but just remember…this blog is pretty. Really pretty. Who needs to worry about content like that?

Anyway, check out all the Track Twos, through the category, or by clicking the “Track Two” link at the top, which links to all the other ones. I hope you enjoy both the posts and the summaries; I would like to know if those help a lot of people.

It’s probably because I was going to work on the ef post again today. Hah! This week for sure, the rewatch is almost done.

(Oh, and I bought Ever17 in a RightStuf sale…looking forward to that.)

For those not keeping score, Shira Oka is an American-made for-sale visual novel currently in development by Okashi Studios. Since they’re local, and since it’s an interesting idea (especially when companies are folding left and right, like the famed Hirameki), I’ve taken a great interest in this project.

They’ve begun releasing preview videos again; this is the first I can remember in a while; this six minute video shows a bit of the main menu screen where you can select what actions your character takes during the week, whether it be studying, hanging out, or whatnot. It seems very Tokimeki Memorial-ish in nature.

I’ve never played the TokiMemo series so I don’t know how exactly these things work, so I can’t say whether this is a good or bad thing at the moment (I don’t know just how much traditional talking scenes there are), but the program certainly looks shiny so far. It flows professionally, the images have charm, and in the one talking scene shown, the character was nicely animated with both body and mouth animation. Very nice.

Definitely looking forward to seeing more of this game unveiled. I wonder, though, whether this game is more of a light-hearted or serious one, as it would look to be the former, but the forums seem to say a bit otherwise…