Clannad - Are there enough episodes remaining to wrap this thing up? I hope the pacing doesn’t get too wonky in the end, because the show has done a pretty good job transitioning from one character arc to another up until now.
True Tears - As much as I’m enjoying this show, I kind of wish the love triangle hadn’t been blown wide open in the span of a single episode. It bordered on being a little too melodramatic, especially following Hiromi’s “confession” one episode prior. That said, I’m pulling for Noe. All the way, baby.
Bamboo Blade - Recently, I was thinking how funny it is that Satori wasn’t introduced until about halfway through the show. You could almost make the argument that the show is just now getting going, despite the fact it’s getting near the end. I suspect that means the show will simply end at a convenient point, with the story continuing in the manga. Of course, it’s not like there’s any continuing story in the first place.
Hayate no Gotoku - A love comedy that doesn’t go anywhere, eh? It’s true, but who cares? It’s still hilarious, and it looks to be headed for a strong finish. I wonder if we’ll see a second season at some point? I’d no doubt welcome it.
Shugo Chara - I’m planning Shugo Chara Sunday this weekend. Please stand by.
Kimikiss Pure Rouge - Honestly, I’ve been wavering in my affection for this show. As much as Mao’s change of heart was telegraphed from the very beginning, it still strikes me as so predictable to be annoying. And since the show took its sweet time establishing all its assorted romantic couplings, we haven’t had any time to bask in the warm glow of each couple’s happiness before conflict was introduced. It’s too much, too soon, and it feels a bit artificial.
ARIA The Origination - I think you know how I feel about Aria by now. And forever more.
You’re Under Arrest - Full Throttle - I’m actually several episodes behind, but given the sitcom nature of You’re Under Arrest, it’s not all that big a deal. I can always catch up when I have the time. Or have nothing better to do. Which isn’t very often lately, I’m sorry to say.
Mokke - I’m going to be awfully sad to see this show end. It’s turned out to be one of the more intelligent and interesting shows of the past year, and my appreciation for it grows with each and every episode. It’s also a nice change of pace from everything else I’m watching, so each episode is a special treat. Shows like Mokke generally aren’t all that popular, however, so they only come along every so often. Have to cherish them.
Haha, I’m worried about True Tears too. (I even made a couple posts)
Kimikiss does feel artificial, and feels overshadowed by True Tears for me.
Bamboo Blade = LOL GAIJIN.
Hayate: its still going!?
ARIA: I NEED FASTER SUBS LOL.
Clannad doesn’t even seem to have character arcs after Kotomi’s - it’s more of a muddle of Tomoyo/Nagisa/Kyou/Ryou.
Clannad - I find it a little disorganized at this moment - they’ve spent WAY too much time on that Fuuko - don’t really know where this series is really going - oh well
True Tears - Don’t like any of the characters, really - all of them are a little, err, stubborn
Bamboo Blade - N/A
Hayate no Gotoku - N/A - really dislike the character design though
Shugo Chara - How can you stand watching this? It’s so…pink and repetitive - it’s like Sailor Moon all over again, but twice as pointless - and that I-think-I’m-too-cool-for-the-rest-of-you cat guy needs to actually start DOING something.
Kimikiss Pure Rouge - Hate Koichi (sp?) - seriously, are all harem male protagonists retarded or something? It’s like that for True Tears too. And Mao has really bad jurisdiction - why would anyone want to go out with Koichi? Kindness? Give me a break. Oh chotto matte, this is a harem, isn’t it - shouldn’t be expecting much in the first place.
ARIA The Origination - great series - although some character movements were less fluid than the previous seasons.
You’re Under Arrest - Full Throttle - watched 2 minutes of two episodes and said: I’ve had enough
Mokke - Shows like these aren’t popular for a reason, my friend. I think we’ve had enough “sister love” or “I can see spirits” anime in the past.
Well, aren’t you a ray of sunshine.
Lawson: You cannot not admit that most of my criticism are true and make sense, though. Some people just find criticisms harsh and hard to accept. A person who makes criticisms does not mean that he or she only finds only wrong things and not see the bright side; the best media productions (any) in the world receive the most criticisms and opinions. You have to admit that quality-wise, this season had some of the worst and pointless series produced.
I’ll agree with asdf that Clannad spent too much time on the Fuuko arc.
Most of the rest of it (particularly the comments about Aria’s ‘less fluid movements’… have you even SEEN the first two seasons???), though, comes across as (to steal a phrase) I-think-I’m-too-cool-for-the-rest-of-you.
Heck, I didn’t even LIKE Mokke, but I thought it could be promising… let me guess, Shigofumi fails because there’s been too many quiet girls in anime, right?
No, I don’t “have to admit” that this season has “some of the worst and pointless series produced.” Because, frankly, I disagree.
You’re entitled to your opinion, of course. And I’m entitled to mine. If you can’t comprehend something as simple as that, however, this isn’t the place for you. I don’t suffer such arrogance gladly. And I suspect the majority of my readers don’t, either.
I like Mokke, my son likes Mokke. Good music, interesting stories, and for the first time, the main point is how to coexist with the spirits, not destroy them whenever you meet them. It also tells a painful reality that you learn only too late: most of your attempt to help people will fail unless those people understand why they need your help. The main characters all try to do best they can without interfering with other people or spirits much, for both spirits and people don’t like being interfered to. In most other series dealing with supernatural, either we have overly antagonistic attitude between some people and spirits, or the main characters very easily manipulates the people around them. So I contend that Mokke is rather unique example of supernatural slice-of-life story.
“You’re entitled to your opinion, of course. And I’m entitled to mine. If you can’t comprehend something as simple as that, however, this isn’t the place for you. I don’t suffer such arrogance gladly.”
Lawson: have I ever FORCED you to agree with my opinions? Have I ever said that you were WRONG? No, I’m simply stating what I think. And as for “have to admit” - it’s a figure of speech - of course you don’t really have to admit, and I think that should be obvious. Also, if you think my opinions are arrogant - wow, you’ve been watching too much anime.
Wonderduck: Yes, I have seen Aria seasons 1 and 2. All three seasons were great.
To all: I am basing my thoughts actually not off of, err, personal opinions, if that’s what you all want to call it. Having taken film and animation classes, and currently taking AP drawing and AP Design, I have been taught about the different principles a film should have. I have been self-studying Japanese animation. Now, I am young (13, if you’re curious), so I guess my knowledge still has holes - but I can immediately distinguish a good series from a bad one - that was one of our class assignments. I don’t know if you’re (not only Lawson, but the general public) basing your opinions off of these standards (pardon me if you are), but series like Shugo Chara, if graded based off of universal grading rubric for Japanese animation, will no doubt receive at most a C. It cannot even COMPARE to series like Denno Coil, GITS, Kino no Tabi, etc.
P.S: I like Shugo Chara’s “Lock On” attack moments though.
Sorry for posting so much - but I looked at your favorites and subfavorites and found out that out all of these: Maison Ikkoku, Cardcaptor Sakura, Patlabor, Ai Yori Aoshi, Angelic Layer, Aria, Battle Athletes, Comic Party, Figure 17, Full Moon wo Sagashite, Fruits Basket, GTO, Honey & Clover, Ichigo Mashimaro, Kaleido Star, Kanon, Kodomo no Omocha, Magic User’s Club, Maria-sama ga Miteru, Planetes, Stellvia, To Heart, You’re Under Arrest…,
- we actually share lots of favorites:
PlanetES is a masterpiece - no other words needed, Fruits Basket and Honey & Clover are extremely deep (love the music too), Kanon, Cardcaptor Sakura, and Angelic Layer are all, again, great works done by great artistic masters/mistresses. Mashimaro was extremely sweet, and Maria-sama (although a little exaggerated) is a great representation of unusual female relationships.
I love Clannad. Its a very sweet and cool show. I like Nagisa a lot.
True Tears…. I enjoy this show also. It has something that makes me watch it.
You’re a pretty taleneted writer for being 13 years old, asdf. I was your age once, so allow me to offer some advice: pay closer attention to the tone of your writing and the manner in which you address your audience. You may not recognize how full of yourself you sound in your above comments, but others will recognize it. And it doesn’t help you get your point across any better; in fact, it’s more likely that people will ignore you.
“So I contend that Mokke is rather unique example of supernatural slice-of-life story.”
While I haven’t seen many of those shows, I really do like how Mokke demonstrates the coexistence of both what we can see and what we can’t. It’s been nice to see Shizuru and Mizuki grow as they start to come to terms with their powers and the responsibilities, abilities and problems that come with it. I’m going to miss this show when it’s done.
I’m also going to miss Bamboo Blade when it’s done as well. So many awesome characters and situations that I would like 26 more episodes to come after this. Oh well. :3
That’s one of the things that surprised me about Mokke, TheBigN… at first glance, it seems episodic, but there’s a lot of continuing character growth on the part of Shizuru and Mizuki that gives the show purpose. Maglor’s comment is very perceptive, too; it’s interesting how the show plays on the “coexistence” theme without being preachy.
I have GOT to catch the hell up on Clannad. You know, with all of that spare time I have, piling up all over the place. (See also: Aria.)
Also: I wholly agree about KimiKiss. They’ve managed to squander the energy and good will built up by a phenomenal first half-dozen or so episodes. Now I’m just hanging on to see if they’ll either play things out in the predictable fashion or turn it into a massive trainwreck. Le sigh.
>>A love comedy that doesn’t go anywhere, eh? It’s true, but who cares?
Is this why people are fed up with it? Because it goes nowhere? I was under the impression that was part of the joke. Lol, people watching Hayate for plot… that’s like reading Kazuo Koike manga for plot.
Only really bringing that up since it seems a section of people have either dropped the show or hate it now :/
I don’t know if you recall, but the show poked fun at itself by having Nagi say something along those very lines in (I believe) Episode 42. That’s why I made the comment… it was a joke referencing a joke explaining a joke. Or something like that. My brain hurts.
Hayate is too often too meta to even bother attempting an explanation.
I remember the first words (paraphrased) I used to describe my reaction to Mokke as “Miyazaki does a TV show.” The characters designs in the first few episodes carried a bit of his style, but simplified for quicker TV production. And the mythologic/spiritual subject matter put me in mind of a lot of his work. I’d be curious to see how the girls grow and mature when the don’t have Grandpa around to know every little bit of Japanese folklore (assuming the show ever goes that far into the characters’ future).
I feel like I’m one of the few people not put off my Mao’s behavior in Kimikiss. She came back to Japan largely because she wanted to be with Kouichi again. She saw that he’d never held similar feelings toward her and had moved on. So she helped him man up and hook Yuumi. Now she’s trying her damnedest (and failing) to stay out of their business, but Kouichi’s too dense and making her job harder.
Bamboo Blade has just been a lot of fun. Miya-Miya’s yandere-ish behavior is probably what gets me most often.
I’m with you, Will. Jeff suggests that he saw the great Mao heart switch coming a long way away, and I’d agree… except that the show immediately turned away from it and made me think that they were going to keep her with Jazz-Boy. The Dumping of Jazz-Boy actually surprised me; I didn’t expect it to happen at all (though it pleased me mightily… I don’t much like the character).
Nothing that’s happened in Kimikiss has made me unhappy with the direction of the show… I’m actually kinda scared to watch the new episode, that whole “happy fear” thing, y’know?
asdf, you said “…but I can immediately distinguish a good series from a bad one.” Allow me to suggest that what makes a series ‘good’ is quite subjective. A fan of, say, Naruto, will probably not find Aria to be a masterpiece, nor is it likely that a fan of Kanon will like DBZ to be their cup of tea. Yet all four of those series are often considered ‘good’ by various people. It’s not just how it fills the criteria out of a book. Is Citizen Kane a good movie? To many people, it’s the greatest American movie of all time… yet many others find it dull and boring.
I’ve even heard that some people don’t like Bamboo Blade!
What the .. was all that, >.> …? Anyway, kimikiss is really tripping on itself, but, Mao did give those signs early on, just the last 6 episodes have provided too much analysis of the problems. I really don’t know how the series will get itself out of the mess, but dragging on too the last few episodes only hurts it overall. Even with a great first half, the overall aspect is drawing nearer, and its just not the same.
Shows that go nowhere? mmm, I thought Kerero is always fun, like Hayate. If it does well at going nowhere, then its probably better than going somewhere even mediocre.
While I enjoy it, I haven’t been able to sit though an episode of Kimikiss in a while. The main character feels flat, and isn’t easy for me to relate to. Which is most of the reason that I like Clannad so much, although I seem to be cursed to never be overly fond of the main heroine in a Key story. Maybe next time?
“I’ve even heard that some people don’t like Bamboo Blade!”
Something’s obviously wrong with those people. :P
Sounds like Mokke stands out as the show to watch from your list! Time to track down some torrents :)