Month: April 2014

Eyeshield 21

It was a long, hard-fought battle full of blood, sweat, tears, and many events with “Death” in the title. It was…Eyeshield 21!

Sena is an insecure gopher whose only visible redeeming quality is his speed, built out of necessity from years of being ordered around. So of course it makes sense to recruit him as a running back for the Deimon Devil Bats! Though the Bats have a rough, delinquent-like exterior, the core group of three guys share a promise and a dream–to get to the Christmas Bowl! Say it with me, the Christmas Bowl! Now to just recruit more losers and delinquents and turn them into a winning football team…can it be done?!

At 145 episodes, this series felt pretty long. Was it worth it? YES! It was sports anime to the MAX (as Monta would say). I loved (re)learning football from a Japanese perspective. I reached a point where I enjoyed watching anime football more than real-life football. I loved the characters, the rivalries, the friendships…learning, growing, working hard, all the stuff that great sports anime should be. And I loved the interaction between Hiruma and Mamori. Hehehe.

My advice would be to watch the entire episode–you have to watch the little snippets after the end theme or you’re missing some of the best parts of the show.

Eyeshield 21 was a fun, gag anime/sports anime combo. Highly recommend.

 

4-13-2014

Nobunaga the Fool Episode 14: This was a surprisingly good episode! I loved this series in the beginning and then kind of started making fun of it but I’m hoping these recent episodes (episode 13 was pretty good too) signal a positive turn. I enjoyed this episode more than I expected and while Caesar’s obsession with Ichihime should be creepy, it’s grown oddly endearing to me.

One Week Friends Episode 2: I want to say this anime is “cute” but it’s almost too complex to be cute. Cute, complex, whatever it is, it’s wonderful.

Rowdy Sumo Wrestler Masutaro Episode 2: The first episode was pretty lousy and this episode does nothing to make us think that Masutaro has any redeemable qualities at all. However, we at least met some sumo wrestlers so I’m hoping it takes off soon.

The World is Still Beautiful Episode 2: I am really enjoying this one. It has a kind of new-spin-on-a-tired-concept feel to it, and I mean that in a good way. The pacing feels good, like we’re plugging right along without a lot of unnecessary angst.

Captain Earth Episode 2: I liked it better than the first episode, things are getting a little more fleshed out. However, it all feels like something I’ve seen many times before and perhaps because of that, the characters all feel pretty generic (for now, at least).

The Irregular at Magic High School Episode 2: Still incredibly boring. I wanted to like this show so much–why is it so uninteresting?

Kamigami no Asobi Episode 2: I won’t lie, this is my guilty pleasure and I love it. It was stupidly refreshing after my “watch the first episode of everything” run. And yes, I laughed out loud at Apollon astride a pegasus with his hand outstretched. I just thought, wow, this is no-holds-barred, these guys know exactly what girls want.

The Kawai Complex Guide to Manors and Hostel Behavior Episode 2: Between this episode and Zeppeli’s bubbles in “JoJo’s” I’m thinking bubbles are where it’s at. I still can’t decide if this show is irritating or endearing. I think I want to be a senpai.

My current favorites:

Haikyu!! Episode 2: This whole thing just feels very well-done to me. The first episode was a hard act to follow but episode two kept it up. The characters are already wonderful and it had that great sports anime feel from the get-go.

Fairy Tail (Season 2) Episode 2: I’ll just say right now that I don’t think there’s an episode of Fairy Tail that I *don’t* like. I look forward to this show every week.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Episode 2: LOVE LOVE LOVE. I marathoned the second half of the first series and I feel like I could just watch JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure forever. It is so bizarre and lives up to the name but I can’t get enough. Just prepare to have “Roundabout” stuck in your head for days.

 

First Impressions (Round Two!)

The Kawai Complex Guide to Manors and Hostel Behavior Episode 1: Dude wants to live alone (his parents moved for work) with the girl of his dreams. He’s living in a complex, so it’s not really alone, but he is with the girl of his dreams…except she’s not as sweet. We have some other characters thrown in, the usual masochistic pervert, the drunk chick with big boobs, and the granny-like landlady. Usually I love trope-tastic anime but at first, I just wasn’t feeling it. However, by the end of the episode I started feeling the humor a bit better.

Baby Steps Episode 1: You all know how much I love sports anime so of course I had to give this one a try. This guy’s hair is so distracting! He reminds me of a rooster. Straight-A OCD kid starts playing tennis to get some exercise…and who is at this tennis club but the cutest girl in his grade! This anime doesn’t have the “sports anime” feel I love so much, but I do want to see more of this mysterious second-year that we glimpse at the end of the episode.

Dai-Shogun Episode 1: When I first read the description, I thought this would be awesome. Everything I saw on twitter, however, pretty much said it was a steaming pile of crap. There is a quite obvious lack of animation (though they did make the effort to animate boob bounce–priorities, I guess). Though they aren’t my preference, scantily-clad women with huge boobs don’t bother me…but at least give me actual animation as a trade off! I felt like I was watching characters pasted on popsicle sticks in front of a background…that devolved into mech hentai? By the end, all I could think was, “This makes Nobunaga the Fool look like a Miyazaki.”

Nanana’s Buried Treasure Episode 1: Nothing really grabbed me in this first episode but it wasn’t awful, either. I’ll see how the second episode goes; I think there’s potential.

No Game No Life Episode 1: At first I thought, oh gee, a brother and cute little sister, bo-ring. Then we hit the part about how life is such a hard game because there are no rules, no parameters, so on and so forth and I was sucked it. Everything was making so much sense! I don’t even like games and I’m not particularly fond of rules, but hey, this really makes sense! I loved the end of the episode because I was just thinking the same thing about the plot–usually the goal is to find a way home, but why would they? I liked this show a lot better than I expected.

Chaika – the Coffin Princess Episode 1: Things exploded from the start, which I liked, but overall I didn’t find it that interesting. A lot of tweeters were really excited about this episode–which is why I watched in the first place; originally the series wasn’t even on my radar. It’s lamost as if I didn’t watch the same episode they did, but I’ll give it another try.

Mekakucity Actors Episode 1: Better than I expected, though I am getting tired of NEETs. Back in “Welcome to the NHK” I thought it was fascinating but now I’m kinda NEET-ed out.

Soul Eater Not! Episode 1: I was a fan of the first/original Soul Eater so I wanted to give this a try. “It tastes weird! It’s the taste of America!” This spring season seems really full of cute girls, boobs, and schools (maybe the winter season was too & I just didn’t notice?) and Soul Eater Not! is part of that girls-boob-school group. However I hope (and believe) it’ll rise above and become something more.

Ping Pong Episode 1: Strangely addictive! During the first five minutes or so all I could think was, “I’m so tired of first episodes! I want to get *involved* in something, no more first episodes!” but this was a great first episode to end my First Impressions. It left me intrigued and refreshed and looking forward to episode two.

First Impressions (Updated)

Winter anime season is over and so many good anime ended… *sob sob sob* But Spring is supposed to be a time of new beginnings and all that, so let’s see what the new anime season has to offer! First off is…

Fairy Tail (Season 2) Episode 1: YES YES YES! I was SOOOOO excited that one of my favorite anime is BACK. I kind of wish I’d been able to watch the final episode of the first season as a refresher but it felt so good to be back in the guild again!

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (Stardust Crusaders) Episode 1: My brother had watched the first series and loved it, so when Crunchyroll picked up the first nine eps of the first series and Stardust Crusaders, I did a marathon. This show is absolutely ridiculous in the greatest of ways. I can’t wait for more.

Kamigami no Asobi Episode 1: Brother saw this in my Crunchyroll queue and said, “When I read about this, I thought, ‘This is right up Sister’s alley.” And…he was right! The beginning sequence was hilarious, the first half pretty boring, but the end theme is hilarious to me and I’m looking forward to the next episode. Like any otome-game anime, this is full of tropes and stereotypes but hey, if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.

The Irregular at Magic High School Episode 1: I don’t remember why, but I was excited about this anime and really wanted to like it. But this episode seemed really boring and I couldn’t wait for it to end.

Captain Earth Episode 1: I didn’t really know what to expect after all the hype. Maybe I have “Episode One Burnout” right now, but this did not keep my attention. I’ll give it another try when episode two comes out.

Rowdy Sumo Wrestler Matsutaro Episode 1: I thought this show had a lot of potential (being about sumo and all). I hope it gets better soon.

The World is Still Beautiful Episode 1: I liked it. I wasn’t sure whether to be annoyed or entertained by some of it–like the characters breaking the fourth wall, which usually I like–but by the end, I was looking forward to another episode. Plus, I think I heard Tomokazu Sugita there at the end…

Haikyu!! Episode 1: LOVE LOVE LOVE. One of the most perfect first episodes I’ve ever seen.

The Comic Artist and Assistants Episode 1: This really has potential. It’s ridiculous and the perviness should be annoying, but right now I think it’s actually really cute.

One Week Friends Episode 1: Great first episode. Very…pure? feeling.