Not Dead Yet
November 9, 2006 | Television | No Tags
I’ve got my hands full at the moment, so for the sake of posting something (anything!), here are some thoughts on what I’m currently watching…
NHK ni Youkoso! - I still stand by my previous complaints, but I have to admit that I’ve made my peace with the show. The whole Suicide Island arc (”de pain, boss, de pain!”) actually rubbed me the wrong way, but I at least have a bit more sympathy for Satou’s character now compared to before. Still, I find I enjoy the show more when it abuses Satou, so recent episodes have been fun. The pyramid scheme pep rally left me in stitches.
NANA - I’m a sucker for a good soap opera. Ever since Trapnest showed up and Hachi started sleeping around, the story’s been a lot more interesting… addictive, really. I’m such a girl.
Bokura ga Ita - I’ll admit, the whole “they’re back together, oh wait, they’re NOT” thing is getting kind of old, even if it does make for good drama. I’m having a difficult time keeping up with the show, actually… I find myself hoping for some sort of recap at the beginning of each episode, as I can never quite remember where the previous episode left off.
Kanon - I never knew Kanon could be this funny. Amused girls in snow? BONUS!
Asatte no Houkou - I sort of wish the pace would pick up, but with so little original material to work with, it’s not to be. This is a difficult show to write about, to be honest. I enjoy it, but I’m not entirely sure why. Is it the atmosphere? The simplicity? Hell, maybe it’s the pace, and I’ve just yet to realize it.
Hataraki Man - I have a confession to make: I think Mayu is absolutely adorable. I demand a Mayu episode! NOW!
Yoake Mae Yori Ruri Iro Na - I gave up.
Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru - I’m still on the fence. Like I said before, it’s a pretty good show… but the writing and direction are so deliberately over the top that each episode leaves me exhausted. And not in a satisfied way. Perhaps if it were a bit more… graceful?
Tokimeki Memorial - I’ve started each of my comments thus far with a variation of “I”. My 8th grade English teacher has the vapors. Anyway, Tokimeki Memorial has been the big surprise of the season for me. What at first looked to be a pedestrian ren’ai game adaptation has turned out to be something entirely different. Off the wall is the best way to describe it, really. It’s goofy in a way that makes me smile.
[Off-Topic]
Cutest headliner picture ever. Too bad I only watched one half of it.
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Which episode did Trapnest start appearing? I didn’t bother watching the first eps because I’ve already read the manga, but I always wanted to get back into it once Trapnest showed up.
Out of those shows:
Asatte no Houkou ftw.
I’ll stick with Death Note and Bleach.
For some reason, when I see Mayu, I’m just ready for her to yell out ‘Caroline’ (reminds me of Miwako) :P
About Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru: a couple of people who have been watching the show have speculated that there’s a double switcheroo going on, and that “he” is actually a girl. Which is why “he” is so damned cute in drag and why no one seems to notice anomalous presence of unnecessary apparatus on “him”: it ain’t really there.
Any opinion about that?
Asatte no Houkou still continues to engage me. I think if it goes on with the current direction, I might put it as the third best anime for this year. The production team is doing an awesome job making me emphatise with the characters, esp. Shouko-san. I almost wanted to hit Onii-chan though :P.
Otoboku is quite good by it’s own really. I’m so enjoying the over-the-topness.Sad actually to know that it’s only 13 episodes. Damn Hocchan is awesome. /r/ Takako ending for me :P.
NHK ni Youkoso is still in good waters. I am pleasantly enjoying the abuse on Satou-kun for now. Only gripe is that the art is still patchy in quality as usual. The 2nd ED also really is a awesome song. Yui Makino needs to release more singles.
With regard to Mizuho actually being a girl in Otome wa Boku no Koishiteru… I’ve never played the original game, but I have seen plenty of CG from it, including some of the, um, “interesting” scenes, and based on that, he’s definitely a dude. Unless, of course, there’s some twist to the story that’s not effectively conveyed through the CG. I suppose it’s possible there’s a path in the game in which he turns out to be a girl… if there was, however, I wouldn’t think the anime adaptation would follow said path.
Hey, dont worry for the blog postless in these days. BLOG happens!!! So we will be regularly checking this site for updates, showing our support to you…
Currently im into this particular series:
KANON - because of your continous posts about it.
MAGICAL CANAN - very cute, and
SAMURAI CHAMPLOO -
I like all of them…
^_^
http://fariaae.cjb.net
To mention one show not talked about here yet: S-Strain, a scifi/mecha show.
(Warning! minor spoiler ahead)
Granted, I’ve seen but one episode half a week ago, but it managed to positively surprise me (I know there’s second subtitled episode out now, I’ll get to it soonish). Because there’s been nearly zero coverage about this one, my expectations were not very high. During the first half of the I thought those expectations justified, thinking “oh, this is -THIS- type of show, yet another generic one.” Then at the final quarter comes the twist, and what looked like the main cast is, uh, pruned down a bit. I went like, “hey, are they gonna go and - oh, yes they are” at the last - although predictable - twist. At the very least, I’ll check some more of this to see how it all turns out because the sudden turn did take me half off-guard, leaving me with slight positive expectations. Perhaps S-Strain won’t trod down the usual path.
Oh, and to answer your question, Tako… Trapnest first showed up around Episode 17 of NANA, I think.
Otoboku is really starting to wear me down as of 5 episodes. I had hoped they’d play up Mizuho’s TARP-ness and the problems with it, both in the show and in terms of making the watcher of the show question his taste in things :p. However, so far there’s been very little of that, and instead we’ve been following old tracks and been dumped with the usual glomping girls and a cast with waaaaay too squeeky-moe characters, nano desu yo!
Thankfully, typical while she may be, there’s at least one saving grace in the otherwise severly lackluster cast in the form of Takako :p.
But, really, someone really needs to turn the ITS A TARP -knob all the way to the right for the show, because right now the show is not utilizing the one thing that makes it stand out from the crowd; It’s just yet another generic harem series, like all 6495494549 others of its breed.
Other than that, all I’m really watching at the moment is Asatte no Hokou, which I’ve really liked so far. I just hope that whatever awaits in the end, it will not be something akin to Canvas 2…
Oh, and Saiunkoku Monogatari, even if that is a last season’s offering (though it is longer than usual at a total of 39 episodes). Marathoned the 20 fansubbed episodes in 3 days and totally loved it to bits. Bishounens? Not really a problem. Shuurei on the other hand is made of Love and Awsome, and totally makes up for the other shortcomings of the show for me personally. Go Girl!