Aku no Hana

Well now, where should I start...

I was couple of weeks late into the series. When everyone was done hyping and spazzing about Aku no Hana, I was just about to check out the first episode. When I saw the animation, it was definitely something that is not the norm. It's like they filmed a real life dorama and then animated it frame by frame. Needless to say, I was impressed. It makes the animation so alive and gives so much personality to the characters. Take the walking of each character for example. Simple things like that, in my opinion, what makes Aku no Hana, in term of arts and animation, so much win.

(c) Doudoude Dou

And then there's the story itself, which is, if not entirely original, it sure is close. Aku no Hana means the Evil Flower in English. It derives from Takao Kasuga's favorite book. He is the male protagonist of this series by the way. The book is complicated and deep as shit, and triggered some very twisted, evil and sinister thoughts. Takao did quote some of the work inside the book earlier in the episode but after the third episode, the story itself takes the center stage.

I personally believe that the story/plot only started when they introduced Nakamura Sawa, the female protagonist who is so fucking original, I fell for her in an instant. She is like the book itself, triggering dark thoughts. Whenever she takes off her glasses, and she only did so with Kasuga, you know she means business.

Nakamura, in Kasuga's mind, is someone who is lonely and is fighting not to drown in this mundane world. Kasuga, for Nakamura, is someone that is similar to her but is afraid for the others to find out. Her mission is to make Kasuga comes out of his hentai closet.

Nakamura Sawa, to put it simply, reminds me so much of  myself that she becomes my muse. Oh, and I think she is awesome as fuck which is why she deserved to be in my most favorite characters list XD

Everything about Aku no Hana is twisted. The ED especially will give you the creep but at the same time so addictive. The somewhat fucked-up OP too is pretty telling that this series is not your average anime series.



There are couple of episodes that left me speechless but I'm sure everyone will agree that nothing can actually prepare you for the greatness of the ending of episode seven. It was liberating in more ways than one, not only for the protagonist but also for me personally as an audience. Then there's episode ten where Kasuga was once again got stripped by Nakamura. The revelation that he had however what makes the episode so enjoyable for me.

At the end of every episode of Aku no Hana, I often felt somewhat hollowed. It makes  me craving for more. It has been a while I got this excited for an anime. In fact, I can't remember the last anime that got me all worked out like this. Needless to say, I think Aku no Hana is a very awesome anime. I definitely recommended it to everyone. I forced my minions to watch it and as predicted they got hooked on it too. They all agree that watching this show is an experience in itself. I guess it helps people coming to terms with their own inner demon, if they have any.

Some people may have complains about the pacing of this show. Well, I don't. I thought it was necessary for the build up of, most often than not, a heart-pumping-fist-in-the-air, ending of each episode. Having said that, their avant-garde ending of the show kind of left me in a blur. I had to watch it for a couple of time to get what it was trying to say. It was all bunched up together incoherently. You either love it or hate it.

I do hope they are not trolling us with the hint of Part 2 of this show. While waiting for that, I am going to make sure that I pick up the manga for reading. It's just that good.

Aku no Hana... a show that I expected nothing from but get everything and more. I love every minute of it.

Arts & Animation 10/10
Sound 10/10
Story 10/10
Characters 10/10
Enjoyment 10/10
Overall 10/10***

p/s: did you know that I have the same moles on my face just like Nakamura's. One on my left cheek and the other on my chin. Talk about coincidence!

Read More

First Impression: Shingeki no Kyojin

This show is produced by Production I.G. That is enough reason for me to check this out. Besides, reading the synopsis at MAL, it seems like the kind of shows that Production I.G. is good at producing so this ought to be somewhat satisfying. Well, at least I hope so.

(c) 7tarooo

And after 24 minutes of sitting here watching the show, I have only two words to say: HOLY FUCK.

Kudos Production I.G. Kudos.

They managed to produced some REALLY GOOD SHIT in one episode of anime. It was mind blowing experience. So good man, so good.

I refused to spoil anything in this first impression post. This show deserved to be watched and appreciated, not read.

It is now in my MUST WATCH list for this season.

Episode: 25
Aired: Spring 2013
Producers:Production I.G.

arts & animation 10/10
story 10/10
characters 9/10
sound 9/10
enjoyment 10/10
overall 9.6/10

Read More

First Impression: Litchi☆Hikari Club

In my preview, I said that this show looks pretty awesome. Either that or it's another scam but the overall character designs from the poster sure is intriguing.

From what I understand, this show which is also known as Lychee Light Club, is an adaptation of a horror manga with the same title. Please do not let the horror tag turn you off  though since this is supposedly to be a comedy show as well. I wonder how this show will translate from manga to anime since it's only 2 minutes long.

Well, worry not. Though it's short, it didn't waste any time with stupid OP or ED. It get straight to the point by introducing us to the characters in a way that won't confused us much. There are 9 boys who are in the club, a robot and a girl name Kanon. Zera is their leader who I think is not much of a leader. Also, I think they came up with the horror tag thanks to the Lychee (that's the robot they created) that listens to Kanon otherwise, this show is brimming with comedic values.

Sadly, I do not recognized any of the seiyuu (which goes to show that my anime skills are not as sharp as it used to be) but I think they sound perfect for their characters so no complaining. I also approved of the arts and character designs of this show. It fits with the whole comedy-psychological-horror theme of the show.

I read reviews that said this show is so far off from the original source. Thank goodness that I didn't read the manga then otherwise perhaps I too would have raged. I ended up enjoying it instead.

I guess this isn't something I will recommend for an avid manga fan but if you are not, I don't think you'll regret watching this. Try it.

Episodes: TBC
Aired: Fall 2012
Producers: Kachidoki Studio

Arts & animation 6/10
Story 6/10
Characters 8/10
Sound 7/10
Enjoyment 7/10
Overall 6.8/10

Read More

First Impression: Little Busters!

From the preview, Little Bastards, I mean Little Busters!, has nothing to offer me. It looks like another typical harem show which most of the time, I am not too fond of. The only reason why I'm curious about this show is the fact that it is produced by J.C. Staff. I have faith in them so lets hope the show won't be too shitty.

(c) Shino

Well... after I have watched the first episode, I did not understand shit and I am not sure whether that is a good thing or not.

The plot is pretty random. Everyone seems to put Kyousuke, the "hero" so-to-say, on a pedestal. He with four others of his friends sort of live in their own world, where most of what they do were on Kyousuke's whim. They are not of the same age though. Kyousuke is the oldest and Rin, his sister is the youngest. Kyousuke is in his third year and will be leaving them soon so in order to do things together like they used to, Kyousuke suggested that they play baseball. Like I said, it's pretty random.

I am not gonna write anything bad about the arts and animation since after all, this is produced by J.C. Staff. They won't do a bad job at it. The character designs however is something that I am  familiar with. Kyousuke especially reminds me Otonashi from Angel Beats! Or is it just me? =\ 

The show surprises me in a way that I actually like Rin. I usually dislike arch-type character like her. If I have any complains, its the male seiyuus. I don't think any of the male seiyuus fit the characters that they voiced for. Kyousuke for example, sounds too... snobbish. I thought that it's kinda odd.

Little Busters isn't shitty but it isn't good either. Another average show in the history of anime. Not sure if I will watch this. Most probably I will end up downloading the episodes but won't watch it anytime soon, or be forever in my waiting list. Perhaps it would be more appealing if I read the visual novel...

Episodes: 26
Aired: Fall 2012
Producers: J.C. Staff, Warner

arts & animation 6/10
story 5/10
characters 6/10
sound 5/10
enjoyment 5/10
overall 5.4/10

Read More

First Impression: Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate

Another show that I am more than ready to dismiss. I hope it serves more than just kids eating food in the food club. That would be another K-ON and I think we all have enough K-ON at the moment. I decided to give this one a try because of the arts and the character designs of which I saw in the preview. Like I said, AIC Build better up their games for this one.

Unfortunately they don't. What I see in the preview does not translated to the animated show. There, I am already disappointed.

because in the anime, they censored it. Also because she's the only likeable character for me personally
(c) Akinashi Yuu

Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate is about a food club that is going to be disbanded soon since it's not productive at all. They just sit there and eat snacks while having yaoi jokes every so often.  So they decided to run for president of the student council and naturally Yuuki was selected to do the honor. The good thing about this show however, it not just that. It has mysteries to uncover. There are certainly villain in this one who ran over a student who is now pretty much brain dead. The said student gathered some evidence of some shit and obviously the villain doesn't want anyone to find out.

So yeah, wasn't bad for a story, except for them eating all those junk food in the club.

Like I said, I was pretty disappointed with how the arts and animation turned out. I was trolled. The character designs are pretty generic and to be honest, most of the characters annoyed the shit out of me, even Yuuki who is voiced by Yuuichi Nakamura. I wasn't sure whether I dislike them because of their personality, character designs or their voices.

Though I am not dropping this show, I wonder if I will ever sit down and watch it at all. Hmm... who knows. Maybe? Perhaps never?

Episodes: 13
Aired: Summer 2012
Genres: Drama, Romance

arts & animation 5/10
story 6/10
characters 6/10
sound 5/10
enjoyment 5/10
overall 5.4/10

Read More

First Impression: Natsuyuki Rendezvous

For some reason I totally forgot about noitaminA shows this season. I can't say that it doesn't has an impact since I did notice people talking about this show a lot on twitter. If I didn't check my preview before I write this first impression post, I would have not noticed that this was featured in the supposedly prestigious list of anime that are featured in noutaminA slot.

Natsuyuki Rendezvous is about this guy Hazuki Natsuyuki who has a crush on a lady who is the owner of a flower shop. That crush turns to love and when opportunity presented itself, he applied to work part time there. He then met the deceased husband Atsushi Shimao, who basically is a ghost, and totally has no respect for the dead even though he's trying to score with Rokka. This show is going to be about acceptance of fate, challenging oneself for the sake of love, and learning to let go when it's time to do so.

Just for the record, I am a fan of Atsushi Shimao. I see a lot of myself in him. At the same time, I am Hazuki who is crushing on his co-worker.

I have no complain about the art, animation, overall sound and other details. I freaking love the OP and ED. It managed to move me the first time I heard it and that's great. Quality anime is full of quality after all.

Watching Natsuyuki Rendezvous is like watching my life gets animated. It wasn't funny or fun at all.  I mean, Rokka and Natsuyuki even work together. That is just too much of a coincidence.

Given my condition at the moment, I have my own reason for delaying with the first impression. I am struggling with my own emotions and feelings towards my crush too so watching this just reminds me a lot about my repressed feelings towards him that it sort of hurts... and as I have feared, I was left with the feelings of bitterness at the end of the episode.

Which mean that this show truly deserved the noitaminA slot, if it can moves me like that. Having said that, I still hate having this feeling though. Just goes to show how fucking vulnerable I really am actually.

If only people bother to see through my facade.

Episodes: 11
Aired: Summer 2012
Genres: Drama, Romance, Supernatural, Josei

arts & animation 9/10
story 8/10
characters 8/10
sound 9/10
enjoyment 9/10
overall 8.6/10

Read More

First Impression: Zetman

Heh, if you read my preview for this show, you see how mislead I was. Here, lemme quote myself

"For some reason I got excited with Zetman. It probably has something to do with that misleading poster. It looks like a guy carrying another guy in his arms. The fujoshi in me squeals in delight."

So for the sake of argument, let just say that I have quite an "expectation" for this show XD

(c) pixiv id 4062951

And holy shit Zetman totally blew my mind away. I got more than what I expected. There was blood and violence and the fighting sequence makes me wet my pantsu. I love it.

Jin is a Player, an experimental creature used to entertain the higher society. Unfortunately one day these Players gain a mind of their own and rebel. They are at large in the society disguising themselves as human. Jin was brought up by the man who created him so he's more human than all the other creatures, and hence our main protagonist. This episode pretty much a history lesson for us viewers and it was done cleverly and interestingly enough to make me want to see the episode ASAP.

I thoroughly enjoyed this episode because of the reasons I have already stated though I am a bit apprehensive with what's going to happen when he's all grown up and met Kouga again. If they end up as enemy, that would be intense.

I'm giving all the compliments that they deserved to the animation studio for job well done with the arts and animation. I was very impressed indeed especially when Jin showed those thugs what he was made of. That was definitely one of the highlight of this episode for me. The other was when Jin being ZET towards the end of the episode.

I guess the creativity part comes from the manga itself.

I have nothing but good words to say about this show. A very good first impression indeed. I'm sorry that I didn't check this show earlier.

Number of episode: 13
Season: Spring 2012

art & animation 8/10
story 8/10
characters 7/10
sound 7/10
enjoyment 9/10
overall 7.8/10

Read More

First Impression: Sakamichi no Apollon

Kids on the Slope is another anime that is featuring in noitaminA for Spring 2012, besides Tsuritama. It is a show that was setup in the year 1966 which is refreshing given that you won't see female students wearing mini skirts to school, and there are no fancy school uniforms. It is all back to basic.

Lets take a walk into the past, ladies and gentlewomen.

(c) pixiv id 3299945

Since I have watched Tsuritama, I can't help but noticed the similarities between the two shows of noitaminA this season. They both deal with the protagonist having trouble adjusting to new school even though both are used to transferring from one school to the other, both has issues with panic attack and then making new friends through something that they have in common. In this show's case, it is music. Specifically jazz music.

But it doesn't necessarily means that it is a bad thing though because the way these two executed their story are very different indeed. While everything is bizarre in Tsuritama, it is quite the opposite for Sakamichi no Apollon. There is restrain and subtlety involved as they delved deeper in the bond that they are creating for these characters. It is more heart-felt in a way.

There is obviously connection made between Kaoru Nishimi and Sentarou Kawabuchi. You can already tell that much by their first encounter. It was too obvious to not notice the chemistry between these two. Sure, Nishimi went all red whenever Ritsuko said something cute but it wasn't her that cure him from having seizures/panic attack. Like he said, what kind of magic is that?

It's BL magic of course!

Nishimi keeps transferring school because his dad is a Marine officer and isn't around much so he has to stay with his relatives from time to time. He sorta looks up to his father and adores him. He plays the piano to fill in the emptiness in his heart whenever he missed his dad. His mom left them both which kinda affected Nishimi a little, if not much and the absent of his father doesn't help much either.

Kawabuchi is the class delinquent. Everyone is afraid of him except Ritsuko who knows him since they were children. He isn't bad, he is just misunderstood by his peers and the people around him. For example, just look at the way he treated Nishimi. He might be rough but that is just his style. He is good with drums and I have a weakness for the person behind the drums. I mean, I fell for Ritsu, didn't I? Just like Nishimi, I too was very impressed with the way he plays the drum. I can't wait to see him and Nishimi start playing jazz together.

I have to say that I am loving the old style art and animation which of course fits perfectly with this show. I have never heard of Tezuka Production before but I have to give credits to them for making everything about this show so good from the arts, animation to the seiyuu and most importantly the story itself. Kudos to Shinichiro Watanabe for the excellent directing as well. Those angles and camera shots during Kawabuchi's fight and Kawabuchi playing the drums... well, suffice to say that it made me fapped. Then again, this is to be expected. He is the same director that directed Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo after all... and those are masterpieces.

I who usually don't give a shit about the OP and ED, is certainly giving a shit now, especially with that ED. For some reason it touches my heart and believe it or not, I shed tears the first time I listened to it. For a foreign song that I don't know the meaning of the words are to do just that... brilliant indeed.

noitaminA has certainly made up for what they were lacking for the past couple of seasons. I couldn't be more grateful and this show is definitely getting my approval. I don't care how fucking busy I am, I will make sure that I won't be missing these two shows from noitaminA.

art & animation 10/10
story 10/10
characters 10/10
sound 10/10
enjoyment 10/10
overall 10/10

Read More

First Impression: Ai no Kusabi (2012)

I can't remember the last time I watched yaoi. It has been a while. Since I've been working relentlessly for these past couple of months, I think I deserved a reward. Needless to say, I'm pretty stoked about this one right here. I have been waiting for it since last year but for some reason they canceled the plan to release it last year and only now did us fans finally manage to get the 2012 version of the legendary Ai no Kusabi. Yeah, if you think you are a fan of yaoi but have never watch the 1992 version, don't call yourself a fan.


The premise of the story is basically the same but with better animation, character design etc. Riki is still Iason's pet, since well... he has black hair and thus automatically made him a mongrel. The blondies are pretty much the men in power and each of them are allowed to take one mongrel from the slum to become their pet. I know... fucked up society is fucked up LOL

I found myself still a bit partial towards Iason. He's just so calm and collected. His behavior as Riki's master is something that I look forward to actually and he's the reason why I fap to this yaoi. Riki for me personally, is a one dimensional character. He's a rebel and that was it. I guess we just have to wait until he realized that he's nothing if he isn't Iason's pet to finally see the other side of his character, if any. This is because Iason has released him and allowed him to go back to the slum. He's a confident buttfucker though and he is just so sure that Riki will be his soon enough. I wish Iason nothing but the best :3

As expected, the animation is crisp and sharp, way better than the 90's version. It sort of reminded me of Togainu no Chi. At certain point, especially when Iason was whispering to Riki's ear as he teased him, I found the animation exceptional what with each of the characters' face expression. It sure is turning me on! If only we get to see more yaoi action... but hopefully good things will come for those who wait.

I like everything about Iason including his voice so I have to compliment Tooru Ookawa for the job well done. Itou Kentarou too is perfect for Riki because he has that rough edges to his voice that showcase the rebellious side of him. He also sounds pretty convincing when he's hot and horny. Heh.

I am currently downloading the second episode of this OVA and can't fucking wait for it to be done. The 2012 version of Ai no Kusabi does not disappoint except for the BL action part. I need to see more of that in my yaoi please...

art & animation 8/10
story 7/10
character 8/10
sound 7/10
enjoyment 9/10
overall 7.8/10

Read More

First Impression: Another - Horror done right

Episodes: 12
Producers: P.A Works
Genres: Horror, Drama, Mystery, School

Another is one of the two most look forward to anime for this season. One of the reasons for that is because I love horror in my anime (not in real life movie though - I can't handle it) and have always enjoyed horror theme anime like Mononoke or Ghost Hound. The other reason simply because the lackluster list of anime we have for the Winter. Compared to Fall, this season is like at the bottom of the pile of shit.

(c) pixiv id 1408036

Once the show started you knew you are in for a good ride. The story of Another managed to grab you on the get go. The whispering and gossiping about Masaki and the combination with various instrument playing for the BGM really set the mood for this show. It's not even 2 minutes yet but I am already singing praises for Another. That ought to mean that I am right about this gem.

This is a story of Misaki, a girl who died 26 years ago but still a living legend to this very day. Kouichi Sakakibara, our male protagonist just transferred to the town but is ill thus he couldn't attend school until May. He was visited by three of his classmates and they seemed like an odd bunch but for good reasons. They kept asking if he had stayed at Yomiyama before, which of course he has not. For some reasons he attracts supernatural shit, which of course in this case, Mei Misaki, the ghost of class 3 everyone talks about.

When he did finally go to school, there was actually Misaki in that class of his but one of his classmate that visited him was absent. Clearly something was amiss as the other classmates trying not to let him catching on to whatever it was they were trying to hide. It was clear that Class 3 was alienated. They didn't even share their PE class with any other classes. I also noticed that Kouichi classmates got hurt and has wounds. I suspect that it has something to do with Misaki... or not.

Misaki did tell Kouichi about his name that associates to death but that was all. It keeps us wondering and it definitely got me excited to find out.

Between scenes, we are assaulted by disjointed mannequin that could easily creeps you out. Then there is how the show was directed. That scene in the elevator was quite scary, is it not? The feeling was enhanced with the BGM that in my opinion is the thing that gels and makes this show having that edge for horror. They don't even showed us the face of Kouichi's grandparents and let it remains a mystery for us viewer at this stage.

Episode 1 of Another is somewhat perfect for me. I couldn't find anything to poke about. It has definitely meet and possibly exceed my expectation for the show. I am officially a fan now and will probably blogging this every week. This is possibly the best show of Winter season. So if you are complaining about how stupid the other anime are, then you will find satisfaction watching Another.

art & animation 9/10
story 10/10
characters 8/10
sound 10/10
enjoyment 10/10
overall 9.4/10

Read More

Le Chevalier D'eon

When I first saw this anime on Animax, I was sceptical. I didn't follow it through. The second time they showed it, I thought, why the hell not since there are no other anime worth watching on that channel anyway since I've seen most of it.

Oh boy I was in for a surprised. It turned out to be quite a saga for me.

D'eon De Beaumont
(c) gesshi

The creator, Tow Ubakata took the concept of the real Chevalier D'Eon who was discovered to be a man upon his death and turned it into a fantasy action novel that involved 'poet' and spells. Ubakata managed to retain the facts of the actual person history in the midst of supernatural flick that he created. I was impressed.

The story is about D'Eon de Beaumont who was set out to find the truth behind his sister's death/murder, Lia de Beaumont. The restless soul of her sister used his body as a vessel to seek revenge. He with three other friends become spies for French King, Louis IV. His majesty order is to regain the Royal Psalm and bring it back to Versailles. Along the way, he learned the truth about everything that makes him question his loyalty to the country.

In order to fully understand what is going on, you need to pay attention to the heavy dialogue, especially when it comes to the psalm which wasn't fully explained till the end. It was rather slow-paced in the beginning since it takes a while to get going but kicked ass when it does. The story is full of unexpected twists that will keep you on the edge till the end. Just brace yourself for the climax. There are some heartfelt moments in it too that makes watching this oh so worth it.

It took me a while to get fully acquainted with the characters because there are many with complicated names to boot. But I get the hang of it soon enough. Durand, Robin and Teillagory are the three friends that accompany D'Eon on his mission. The viewers will soon introduced to other characters like Maximilien Robespierre, an acquaintance of Lia and King Louis IV. I am rather fond of the sub-characters if compared to D'Eon. Apart from his love to his country and the people around him, D'Eon is pretty blah. Durand, Robin and Maximilien are my favorites due to their interesting characters. They gave out a sense complexity and mysteriousness.


I didn't know this series was produced by Production I.G, the same production studio that produced Ghost In The Shell until the third episodes when I did some research on the real D'Eon. So obviously, there are little faults to be found in the animation. They have done their research for the building, setting and characters designs which turned out to be very detailed, and managed to capture the feeling of monarchy. The swordfights are clean, swift and brutal, as expected of the knights in that era.

I like the OP and ED but I won't say that they are my favorites. I should say that the rich orchestral background music plays a role in this anime too. It further enhanced the atmosphere and added the element of suspense and drama. It was to be expected since it is from Michiru Ooshima, the same man that is responsible for Fullmetal Alchemist. I couldn't find any flaws with the voice acting either so they must have done a good job. Surprisingly, even the dubbed version is not that bad.

I really enjoyed watching this series and have no qualm what so ever to rewatch it. If you like to watch something with unique plot, this is definitely the one you should put on the list. However if you are those people who watch anime for the action or moe-ness, forget it. You'll be thoroughly disappointed.


Graphics 8/10
Sound 8/10
Storyline 8/10
Characters 9/10
Enjoyment 9/10
Overall 8.4/10

Read More

First Impression: Mashiro-Iro Symphony

ve heard a lot of crap regarding this show but I am feeling a bit generous today and will give this shit the benefit of a doubt. It is after all what a first impression post is supposed to be. Having said that, bear in mind that this show is a harem show which I usually ended up loathing unless they have strong characters line-up and a solid story/plot.


Mashiro-Iro Symphony is none of that. It was too stupid and full of the cliche that I fucking hate so much. Uryuu Shingo is the lucky son of a bitch for this harem. He wasn't exactly terribad but I rather see a character with personality who doesn't have some incestship going on with his sister. Taking a bath together when both of you is old enough to have babies is wrong unless you are characters from Yosuga no Sora. How did he happen to have a harem? He and few others from Kagamidai Private School have become the test students to attend Yuijo Private Academy that will soon open their gate for boys as well. Sena Airi, who Uryuu and Sakuno met a day before leads the anti-boys movement. Here comes the 'twist' though. She is obviously tsundere for Uryuu. Oh shit, 'conflict'!

Oh dear... I can pretty much tell how bad this is going to be. I want to drop this shit so bad but I found myself rooting for Airi to score with Uryuu. I want them making babies right away.

I'm all for these to happen!

Something is obviously wrong with me >_>

I guess I will watch a few more episodes and see if I would ended up with foaming mouth for raging too much. So for the time being I will watch this shit for Airi's sake.

arts & animation 6/10
story 4/10
characters 6/10
sound 6/10
enjoyment 5/10
overall 5.4/10

Read More

First Impression: Mirai Nikki

I read the manga once but I honestly can't remember the details of what the story is all about. It should be good otherwise I wouldn't have picked it up. After observing the aniblogsphere it seems like asread is doing a better job adapting this series that AIC did with Maken-ki!

Gasai Yuno
(c) pixiv ID 60436

Mirai Nikki is literally translated to Future Diary. In this case, it is in the form of cellphone. Since it's the "diary of a future", losing the diary means it is a dead end for the owner of the cellphone as well. Yukiteru Amano is one of the owners. He is a quite school boy who spend his time writing short entry of what he observed into his cellphone and it became his diary of some sort. Since he has no friend, he created an imaginary friend of his own called Deus Ex Machina, the God of time and space. Little did he know that his fugly friend is actually a real god. So without his consent, he was chosen as the owner of a Mirai Nikki and have to play the Survival Game with 11 other players (one who is a major stalker of him, Yuno Gasai). Killed or be killed. Poor kid is scared out of his pantsu.

I have never watched anything from fully produced by asread before but I have got to say that, despite how fugly Deus is, they have done a good job with the series. Maybe it was the blood and gruesome murders but yeah, I'm digging it nonetheless. They have also successfully portrayed Yuno as bat shit insane girl that she actually is, even more so than in the manga which makes this show so much fun to watch. Character designs wise, asread has done an exceptional job.
I do not know most of the casts for the main characters though but fear not because they are obviously professionals so no worries there either. Mirai Nikki series has a good story based to begin with and I'm just glad that asread didn't screw this one up. For the first time I think the anime was better than the manga.

Time flies when you are having fun and before I knew it, there's Murumuru showing us how she recruited the Third. She's cute. There I said it!

There are 25 more episodes to go and I hope the gore and blood will not just be a tease. I'm a fan.

arts & animation 8/10
story 8/10
characters 9/10
sound 8/10
enjoyment 10/10
overall 8.6/10

Read More

First Impression: Chihayafuru

To be honest, I have no idea what Karuta is. I don't think there are other similar anime out there so I am pretty excited knowing that this show has the potential of being a pioneer and original so here I am going to try and watch this show with an open mind *cross fingers that I won't get annoyed by the female protagonist*

(c) pixiv id 2873428

Heh, I should have not worry at all. I like Chihaya Ayase on the get go, which in my case is pretty spectacular. I just know then that this show will be different.

Chihaya Ayase is awesome. She's pretty but she never flaunts it. She is absent minded but not a bimbo and her attitude is what makes me likes her so much. She wants to create a Kurata club at her high school but no one is interested. Not even her childhood friend from elementary school, Taichi Mashima, who obviously has a hot for Chihaya. Chihaya on the other hand sort of admires another childhood friend of hers that makes her fell in love with Kurata: Arata Wataya. Arata was also the one who makes Chihaya realizes to have her own dreams.

It doesn't take long for me to like Arata either though Taichi is charming in his own way. However, I don't appreciate him for holding a grudge against Arata just because he is too coward to come clean with his feelings towards Chihaya.

Whoaa wait a minute Klux. Hold on to your horses. We are not that far in the story yet :P

I wanna shake the hands of Madhouse production crews for adapting and making anime of this series. I would not have known Chihayafuru otherwise because it is just my unspoken rule not to read shoujo. Though they are yet to explain what Kurata is, I found myself not give a damn anymore. This story of friendship, passion and dreams is well written and brilliantly directed. Damn, I'm already addicted.

Watching Chihayafuru makes me feels like I have found a new love. This show took me by surprise, pleasantly so. The feelings that it gives is just something that money can buy and thus why this has taken Kimi to Boku's first place for my favorite anime of the season so far.

arts & animation 10/10
story 10/10
characters 10/10
sound 10/10
enjoyment 10/10
overall 10/10

Read More

First Impression: Kamisama Dolls

Watching the first minute of the episode got me so confused. The distress that they want to portray definitely shines through for I do not know what the fuck is going on. Maybe because I don't expect to see mecha in this show. Blame me for ignoring the synopsis and other posts regarding this show to avoid spoilers.

(c) Robata

/distraction/ Damn have you seen the rack on Hibino Shiba? WTF with that melon. Naturally every males want to get their dick in between those things, including our protagonist, Kyouhei Kuga.

Kyouhei is from a small village that has some sort of mecha as their familiar. They called themselves Seki, those who share their heart with the mecha. Aki, was locked up after the massacre but when he knows that Kyouhei has moved to Tokyo, he escaped the village. Utao, their little sister comes to stop him but is no match. She ends up blowing the house to piece which forces Kyouhei to move with Hibino. Chance!

Aki has made me suspicious of the village, even more so when Kyouhei called himself their slaves even though he left it. It seems like the shrine is like where all the orders come from and they are absolute. I see why Aki is rebelling now.

They called the mecha as god (kamisama) and the person who controls it as dolls thus Kamisama Dolls.

Surprisingly I like this show a lot. It's not anything like I have expected.

I played this episode without any real expectation but the murder and blood has got me a tad excited. The fact that one of the family member massacred the village just pretty much sealed the deal.

(c) Pixiv ID 160278

I just have a thing for a white hair male character: Gin, Accelerator, Gintoki, Xerxes Break and Zero Kiryuu to name a few. Most of the time they are archetype of sinister yet cunning and sometimes emo characters. I will often turns to goo with such character presents.

art & animation 7/10
story 7/10
characters 7/10
sound 6/10
enjoyment 8/10
overall 7/10

Read More

First Impression: Blood-C

I was looking forward to this one but when I saw people's general reaction to this show, I started to have doubt. Can a show that promised blood and perhaps gore be that bad? Even more so when the protagonist is a smexy female with katana as weapon. That got me curious. What has gone wrong? Isn't this one produced by Producion I.G and is a collaboration with Clamp? Did they screw up? There's only one way to found out. So here I am, several weeks later, checking out the first episode of Blood-C. Let see if it's true what they said about this show or this show is just underrated for whatever reason. But being that I have a fetish for blood, I might probably be biased in the end ^^"

(c) Pixiv ID: 89556

Kisaragi Saya is the female protagonist that I talked about earlier. The fact that she wears a megane definitely helps me liking her right away. She's a shrine maiden and is a klutz who seems to be cheerful all the time. You wouldn't expect that from a vampire slasher now, do you? The Saya from Blood+ is all emo and shit.

Halfway through the episode, I get it why people are disappointed with Blood-C. It was all cutesy and smiley and stuff like that though some of the dudes in her class are pretty suspicious. I can't wait to see what roles are they playing. Are they the bad guys or the good guys? I am not that naive to believe that the questions will be answered straight away but I do hope that the other half of this episode will be gory and bloody, just like I like it.

It definitely gets more entertaining though as we see her performing her 'duty'. The pace of this show suddenly becomes perfect as it sets up the mood for the end. I was biting my nails in anticipation as Saya stands in thatt pool of water with seemingly a stone statue as her opponent. That was scary lol.

I can definitely see where does Clamp comes in, in term of production. The character designs definitely reminds me of XXXholic. The fact that the director, Tsutomu Mizushima is also the director for that show definitely gives off the same vibes. These are good in my book though because it is something that I am familiar with, and makes me hoping that this will be as good as XXXholic if not better. However, I can see why this might turned people off too.

Like I said, I'm pretty biased with things that I like. Blood-C is definitely my kind of thing and I am so going to watch this, among 50 other shows that I am watching. Orz

arts and animation 8/10
story 8/10
characters 9/10
sound 8/10
enjoyment 9/10
overall 8/10

Read More

First Impression: Sukisho

I first heard about this show when chronolynx mentioned it in her/his twitter. What got my attention however is the fact that s/he mentioned BL in the same sentence. Without delay I went looking for it. Basically what I am saying is I am watching this based on my trust in chronolynx and since it's BL I'm willing to tolerate it even if it turned out shit. I tolerated Junjou Romantica so this should be peachy.


Sukisho is obviously about two guys who is hot for each other but that is only the tips of the icebergs. Sora just got out of the hospital after falling down from the school window. He suffered from memory lost. During his absent, his old friend Nao returned and became his new roommate. Nao is bipolar or something. At night he called himself Ran but during the day he's known as Nao. Obviously this made Sora confused. What he doesn't know is, he has a bipolar personality as well named Yoru.

This story is not that simple it seems. They threw in many shits in the first episode and looks like the characters are more than just meet the eyes. At least I won't be disappointed with the characters development by the end of this show.

Sukisho was produced in Spring 2005 by Zexcs. Just with any other yaoi, I don't expect a strong plot or story line. However this show has provided more than what I have expected which is good. The quality of the art and animation were like the rest of the anime produced during those years. In my opinion, the character designs could be the biggest flaw of this show. The manga looks good but when it got animated, they look like just retards with weird hairdo. I don't like the fact that there are too many feminine looking male in the show either. I also think that the production team were trying too hard to make this show has the cuteness value by doing the chibi characters and all that. If you asked me, I would have instructed them to focus on the story instead of coming up with these useless tactics.

>=3

I am not that familiar with the seiyuu but Hikaru Midorikawa and Souuchirou Hoshi were not really outstanding with the characters. The OP was weak as well and I wasn't paying much attention to the BGM because it sounded the same as the other shoujo shit we heard. There's nothing creative about it. At least there was a slight improvement with the ED. I like how fast the track is.

Unless you are a hardcore BL fan like me, it would be wise for you to avoid this one. The only reason I'm going to continue watching this show is the prospect of this:

*squeals*

art & animation 6/10
story 6/10
characters 6/10
sound 7/10
enjoyment 6/10
overall 6/10

Read More

First Impression: Gosick

The OP of Gosick definitely got me excited. Looking at the characters designs, I was impressed and immediately like the male protagonist. This opinion, of course, will change immediately as well if he turns out to be a wuzz. I predict the goth girl to be a typical tsundere. Just throwing the idea out there.

The start of the episode shows some old whacked job lady sprouting some prophecy nonsense about a boy who will cause the end of the world. To stop this, she told the villagers to sacrifice 11 hares. So it was a pretty bloody and gore start for Gosick. I'm not complaining. This just might be my cup of tea.

That's two good points in a row.

(c) takeda hinata

Kujo Kazuya is the male protagonist that I referred to earlier. Everyone at school avoided him and called him a "dark reaper" for some reason. Apparently he's not from Saobure but was sent there to further his study. Guess what? I changed my mind because he did turn out to be a fucking wuzz. Damn it for false hope. I was right about the Victorique (that's the name of the goth girl) too.

They met in some sort of arboretum where they also met Grevil de Blois. A fitting name for a guy who has a giga drill breaker for a quiff. I almost forgot that this is the parody for Sherlock Holmes. It's hard to take this seriously with sidekick like Kujo, police officer like Grevil and an over-zealous teacher with megane as big as her boobs. Besides, when Grevil told the story of the murder, even I can conclude that the maid was the murderer even before Victorique told him so since the old lady obviously died from a gun shot to her left eye. Jeebus.

Thankfully the gore stuffs are pretty gore. I like that part a lot.

So... basically Kujo is boring, not meant to be a leader type of guy. He could used the lift but instead opt to climb thousand staircases instead. I called that dumb. Victorique is smart (duh) but totally unsociable and Grevil got all the credits from her hardwork of solving cases, not that she mind but Kujo won't let it slide and took it upon himself to interfere with her life. I guess she was thankful for that since thanks to him, she got to experience the outside world now. And thus the trio were created and the story started.

Aoi Yuuki is definitely suited for Victorique role. She has done many similar characters before: Mina Tepes, Murasaki Kuhouin, Korone and Noel Kannagi to name a few (I was surprised to find out that she did Shinra). As for the other seiyuu, I'm not really familiar with any of them. That's another word for me to say that they are forgettable.

The ED is kinda dark and mysterious to match the theme of the show. After a few minutes, I realized that I can't remember how it sounds like. Same with the OP though I do remember the MV so it wasn't so bad I guess, just forgettable, like the seiyuus. LOL

My verdict for the first impressions is this: it was average at best. There's nothing really stands out about the characters, animation, story and sound. Having said that, if you want an anime to watch, this is a trillion times better than Rio: Rainbow Gate! I might watch this or might dropped it after few episodes. We'll see.

art & animation 6/10
story 6/10
characters 5/10
sound 5/10
enjoyment 6/10
overall 6/10

Read More

Yosuga no Sora

(c) misaki kurehito

I did say in my first impression post that all the girls want to get into Haru's pantsu. I didn't mean it literally, just as a figure of speech but yeah, they totally did it. Holy fucking shit, they really fucking did it.

To be honest, this is the first time I saw an eroge anime. Sure I have seen hentai before but at least I was prepared to see the tactless sex shit. And here I thought the nudity was surprising. Clearly I was not aware of what was in store for me. The first time Haru fucked Ojou-sama, it totally took me by surprised.

The story was divided into several arcs. I was confused at first when Haru fucked the shrine girl right after he "declaring" his love to Ojou-sama the week before. Then someone pointed out that it was a different arc. It worked conveniently for Haru though since he didn't have to worry about the other girl murdering him. Lucky bastard.

So he fucked one girl after the other. He even fucked the maid in the skit at the end of every episodes which was amusing at first but quickly got old after the first episode.

These girls each have different stories that they wanted to get out of their chest. It was just purely luck on Haru side that they wanted to tell him about it while they fucked. Ojou-sama had to deal with her dad. The shrine maiden needed to know the truth about her mother. Class president simply doesn't have a fucking imagination while Nao raped Haru and deflowered him when he was barely 10 years old. In the end though it was all about Sora and Haru facing the demon of the world where twincest is taboo.

I want to say that I watched the show for the plot and and the "interesting" arcs, but then I would have been lying because the only reason I endured 9 episodes made of shit was because I want to see twincest happened. I think it was hot as fuck but that just me and my weird fetishes. I almost dropped this show after the first sex scene but as you can see my desire for twincest prevailed.

(c) hashimoto takashi

I got to say that I didn't know what to expect with the ending but they ended it brilliantly. It was so damn sweet and somehow relatable. I mean, it is true that you can't choose who you fall in love with. I am not exactly endorsing all the incestship out there but when a show done it right (unlike a certain imouto show), it is acceptable. Now don't go confusing real life with fiction though! The only gripe I have with the ending was the fact that I didn't get my tactless twincest sex scene. It's just not fair when the whore Nao got to do it with her back on a bark of a tree.

Besides the twincest, I also look forward to see all the different skies the animation had in every episode. One was much more beautiful than the last. The background crew really deserved a round of applause for their hard work. Same goes to the animation team. It was very fluid even with contrast between the background and character designs. Speaking of character designs, the girls may got their distinct looks but they were too cliche in my opinion.

(c) kyuri

My favorite characters for the show got to be Sora. I loved how she was so in control when Haru was in doubt. Haru was okay too before he started to fuck anything that walking and have tits. Oh well, at least he made the right decision at the end and that is all that matters. So I forgive him. You can probably tell what my thoughts are for the other characters so I will skip that part.

My thoughts about the seiyuus, OP and ED did not change though. So that's that.

I raged from episode 2 till 10 but the end kinda make up for it. So I guess I did enjoy it a lot despite me complaining about the whores. It was all part of the drama. Would I recommend it? Yes, just so that I can see what their reaction would be.

art & animation 9/10
story 8/10
characters 7/10
sound 8/10
enjoyment 8/10
overall 8/10

Read More

First Impression: To Aru Majutsu no Index II

I recently completed the first season just so I can remember some of the details from season one. This is another one of the fall anime that I look forward to see the most. I missed Misaka and even the whiny Touma.

Yes, Touma is very whiny for a male protagonist. The start of season 2, and he already whines about his unfinished homework. But I would complained a lot too if I have to live under one roof with Index who unfortunately is still as annoying as ever. Not to mention that she brings all sorts of trouble with her. She's bad luck. I like the fact that Touma acted like a normal high school student for once who worried about his homework and such.

In this episode, she is already being targeted by the enemy who used wind as his weapon. He wanted a volume of book from her memory. His reason? To save her beloved. Aww.... WHAT?! TOO FUCKING CLICHE!

Thank goodness Misaka is in this episode too, being all tsundere with Touma. I couldn't help but giggle at her. That's how I am with my boyfriend too. She makes all Index episodes OK whenever she's in it.

I also see familiar faces at the end of the episode, setting up for bigger plots, like how will he face the midget tomorrow without his homework *chuckles*

Oh btw, I like the OP but the ED? Not so much. Also, my initial thoughts about the characters remain as it is. I can't wait for Accelerator to make his comeback. And more Masaka/Touma please. GIMME MORE DETONATION!

J.C staff has done it again with Index. Congratulation.

art & animation 9/10
story 8/10
character 9/10
sound 9/10
enjoyment 9/10
overall 8.5/10

Read More