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I'm liking the focus Kaito!

What started out as a heart-wrenching parting of friends turned out to be a comical race against the clock to God knows were. The pace this episode was nowhere near the usual for this show, it was actually slightly rushed but was a pleasant change. At the end of this episode I’m sure everyone who has been following this show was on their toes anxiously anticipating the next moment.

One more episode to go, the grand finale. Will they find the place and promote Earth from level F allowing Ichika to stay? Or will they find something else entirely, something so profound that although Ichika has to leave they all come to a greater realization that it was for the best? While all points to option one Ano Natsu has proven itself to be very unpredictable time and time again (:O is that bus part Optimus Prime??)

Its good to finally have everyone aware of each others feelings and even better that we have things settled Tetsurou x Mio and Kaito x Ichika. Kanna, well unless Ichika leaves then she’ll just have to deal with being alone for now although I love how she screamed ‘You’ll regret it in 3 years’ (even though i’m pretty sure he won’t). Well as we say in le français comme si comme ça (one can interpret it here as.. ‘it is as it is’).Continue reading

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He just looks awesome doesn't he?

Episode 10 of the 12 to air this season and although things are starting to shape up to give us all the nice mellow ending that everyone would be content with, somewhere in my gut there’s a little man screaming out that we haven’t seen all there is to offer. That there is something hidden in the plot just waiting to pop. And while on one hand I really want things to settle so that the anime can end, I also want something BIG forcing there to be a second season (hey I really like that show ok).

As I mentioned today was relatively slow but not in any negative way whatsoever, we had quite a bit of personal growth where Kanna and Tetsurou is concerned and Mio is very gradually coming out of her shell. Although our main characters Kaito and Ichika were not the focus of this episode, the few moments where they had their screen time was nothing less than fastastic (especially at that point where Remon slides Kaito that *clears throat* item ). And for those who failed to notice >.< Kaito not only immediately knew what it was but stashed it into his pocket, and although it seemed as if he only took it so Ichika would not see it. When the need arrives *whispers* Kaito you’re good to go. Continue reading

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Welcome to JurassicPark….I mean, Macademi Wasshoi! One of the finest magician’s academies anywhere, even though it does exist in an alternate dimension and it is a bit of a workout to get to it, but if you want to better who you are as a magician, this is the place to be.

Takuto Hasegawa (far right) lives in two worlds, spending a lot of his time at the Academy. Think of it like Hogwarts, but not as dark or imposing. One day, while preparing for a summoning spell exam, he happens to create a girl (look, I know it hard to get a date as a teen, but really!) whom he calls Tanarotte (the one in the Daisy Dukes soaring through the air). But this creates a problem. Tanarotte can either be a God or a Demon and this throws off the balance between all three worlds (Earth being in the middle).

When emissaries come out from the other two worlds to try and dispatch Tanarotte, they are pummeled into submission by her. She has not made the decision what she wants to be, but since she is hopelessly devoted to Takuto, it is felt that as long as he keeps her happy, things will be OK. To that end, the bulk of the show revolves around how Tanarotte tries to understand her surroundings. However, when she does not understand her full power, which is often, things get out of hand.Continue reading

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This week’s episode of Ano was nothing short of a masterpiece hitting a straight 12 on the Richter Scale. Flashing back to last week we ended with a cliffhanger where the rescue pod that was sent down to pick up Ichika got destroyed (compliments to our tag team of Rinon and Kaito) and with Kaito injured in the process she had to use her ‘skill’ to heal him.

Now of course the explosion of an alien pod is going to attract quite a bit of attention and Ichika’s friends had just enough time to arrive on scene to see Ichika in her vulnerable state. Now I will give it to Ichika, while she could’ve hid it or make up some sort of excuse she didn’t, she immediately decided to fess up and tell her friends what she really is

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Over the last few days i’ve been thinking that the spring season is almost at an end. There’s more or less only a month left for every anime to either wrap up and come to an end or to get the viewers so riled up that the powers that be have to be off their rockers to not allow them a second season.

Now as you should already know I try to keep my anime list organised here http://myanimelist.net/, and one of the requirements that I have set for myself is that I rate each and every anime that I have had the pleasure of watching. This one is no different, currently it has an ongoing score of 7 but I’m strongly considering moving it up to a notch. It may not seem like much but to me it’s a big deal. The difference between a show rated 7 and one rated 8 is a hell of a jump. So now the question remains… How good is this show? Well, for one its good enough for me to be considering a 9.. And how good is that you might ask? Pretty damn good. The only thing that might make its score fall and remain as a 7 is if the producers decide to screw up the momentum as we approach the end.

This week’s episode for instance was a perfect example of why Ano Natsu de Matter deserves such a high score. We have Remon approaching Tetsurou’s older sister with a proposition, one that her busybody nature would not allow her to turn down To catalyst the ongoing struggle for love going on between each of our protagonists. To that effect we have the usual ‘test of courage’, now I believe I need not explain what that is nor what each protagonist hoped the outcome of this excursion would be (all can be inferred from image on top right).Continue reading

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I am always pulled in by clever or interesting titles. “Ladies vs.Butlers” certainly scored high on the list, but you kind of knew what was going to happen halfway through the first episode. I mean, there were really no major plot surprises….almost, but that’s something else

Akiharu Hino has transferred intoHakureiryōAcademy, a school that not only gives an education, but also trains students to be butlers and maids for the snoots of high society. Because Akiharu looks like a delinquent and has the worst spate of bad luck since Joe Btfsplk from “Li’l Abner”, the ladies of the school (of which there is an overwhelming majority) fear the worst of him. Of course, it does not help his cause to knock them over accidently, then grasp upon their prodigious bazooms. And what is it about an anime guy who runs into a lady, knocks her down and finds something soft and squishy amid his hand and when he sees it is some terrified lady’s headlights he is squishing, continues to squish them?

Akiharu, bad enough he is fleeing the female portion of the school, then runs afoul of Selnia Iori Flameheart (whom he calls Drill, owing to that ridiculous hairstyle) and proceeds to humiliate her by….squishing her breasts. A woman of her status and money should not have to suffer these indignities! Yet, it is a constant battle between these two. Aiding things along is Tomomi Saikyō. Theoretically a childhood friend of Akiharu, she spends a lot of time manipulating events and pulling pranks on them, although things start to turn rather mean and vicious.Continue reading

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This was another show that got a lot of buzz. It just came off as no different when the AC kicks on and you hear the hum. A lot of noise for minimal results.

The plot revolves around Natsuru Senō, your typically clueless dense anime male. He wakes up one morning to find that he is a girl (the blue-haired one). What? How could this have happened? What gives? He is told by his stuffed tiger toy that he is a “Kampfer” (German for ‘fighter’) and that he has to fight other Kampfers. On his way to school, managing to regender himself, he meets Kaede Sakura at the bus stop (blondie, dead center). An old and dear childhood friend, suddenly, they are set upon by some mysterious red-tressed woman who tries to kill Natsuru. Fleeing the scene, he manages to switch back into his female form and defeat said fighter.

At school, things get worse. This might as well be the East Berlin School of Academics. Another girls-only school that went recently went co-ed, it is separate but equal. The guys are on one side, the gals on the other and there is a massive concrete wall, topped with barbed wire and packed with guards, to keep the boys away. In the library, Natsuru hooks up with Akane Mishima, the shy, bespectacled librarian…who tried to kill Natsuru. Yes, when she transforms, she becomes an Alpha female, packing a black Springfield M1911A1 .45 pistol and a mouth on her that would make Nixon proud.Continue reading

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I remember a few years back I was going to a friends house when I saw this little poodle in the opposing yard, being as small as it was it slid through the bars of the gate and came into the road barking at me. Being no stranger to dogs I calmly took a step in its direction and shouted BOO! It immediately ran back into the yard, and shot to the back of the house as fast as its tiny legs possibly could and while I stood there literally dying of laughter… I saw him/her coming back with Butch (the name implies all).

The fear and unexpectedness I felt at that moment reminded me of this episode, whereas episode 6 was like that little poodle, it needed to be there to have this grand, final explosion which we call episode 7. We confirmed that Kaori’s sudden feelings for Kaito was partly.. PARTLY! due to her recently having a breakup with her boyfriend and in fact she only made the trip to Okinawa to help her get over it. Of course after having been shot down last episode she decided to be very mature about it and move out of Kaito and Ichika’s way.

Even Arisawa (finally remembered her name) as forceful as she is had to back off when she saw what was going on with Tetsurou and Mio. With that said I feel I should give Mio some recognition, she not only confessed her secret (of being a nudist) to the person she loves and a (semi) stranger and rival, she confessed her love to Tetsurou even while knowing what his answer would be all in one go. I’d say that takes some guts so hats off to you my dear Mio and Good Job.Continue reading

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This week’s episode of Ano Natsu de Matteru was pretty interesting develomentwise but overall I found it to be a tad disappointing, as i’ve said before the thing I loved the most about Ano was its unexpectedness. I’m sure that you all can agree that each romantic comedy has a few cliché elements that well, gets a bit repetitive. As ‘The Droid’ Noted in his post Not a Big Fan of Fan Service

I can pretty much guarantee that every romantic comedy will have at least three opportunities for fan service: a day at the beach, an afternoon of clothes shopping and a night at the bathhouse. Three guaranteed sessions!

 Well today was that guaranteed beach session, I do give though that they tried their best to mix it up somewhat by adding the even more cliché fateful encounter with a childhood friend (who just happens to love you unconditionally) but it just felt somewhat lacking. Maybe its just me for having such a high expectation for the show but hey, lets wait and see.Continue reading

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I feel your pain Junichi

Pretty sure one can tell from when I finally got around to writing this that I’m really not interested in this arc. Since the previous season she was a bit too soft-spoken and shy for my liking and everything progressed so slowly. In fact there was no progression, the guy simply felt sorry for her and joined the tea club. On the bright side we see more definite proof that that Junichi is just as pervy as his guy friends but we still have to bear with Sakurai’s annoying self-consciousness about her weight.

So after grinding through those two episodes, you what happened? Absolutely nothing, was a dud up to the end. True, she confessed.. wait.. no she didn’t, he did, but it was so stretched out and annoying when it came it was like more of ‘good riddance’ than ‘awwwww’. Sigh, why on earth did i decide to pick up this show this season. Could have picked up Nisemonogatari, HighSchool DxD or even Poyopoyo Kansatu Nikki.

I really hope the last 4 arcs are better or at least half as good as the first arc was, and with that I’m ending this here.

Sakurai Arc, an expected disappointment

nuff said