First Impression: Danganronpa Kibou no Gakuen to Zetsubou no Koukousei

I quickly judged that this show cannot deliver what it promised based on the studio and the plot that I read from the preview. However, I heard a lot of good things been said about this show on twitter so I guess I was wrong?

So naturally I'm looking forward to check this out.

(c) Mico

Well, the start of the show is definitely intriguing. You don't get to see that everyday. But it quickly goes down hill from there. The plot isn't actually original. How many times have we read/watch something similar where they gathered bunch of kids in one place and forced them to kill each other in order to survive, in this case, get out of the school.

The characters are not really special either. I feel like the anime is mocking me with the character designs. Some of the personalities are OK I guess but just take a look at the protagonist for example. He's weak as fuck and it is really annoying. One of the guy, the most meaty one at that, wears a girl's uniform. Just what the hell? Is this anime supposed to be funny or serious? It can't be both at the same time. Sadly though it seems like the studio can't decide to be which and just go with it.

Urgh I'm still mad that they chose someone that weak to be the protagonist.

Let's just hope that shit will get better with the upcoming episode. I'm sure one of them will snap and kill. Maybe then this show will appeal to me. You know, blood and all.

Episode: 13
Aired: Summer 2013
Producers: Lerche

arts & animation 6/10
story 5/10
characters 6/10
sound 7/10
enjoyment 5/10
overall 5.8/10

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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

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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

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First Impression: Tasogare Otome x Amnesia

I have my doubt about this series but Monroe said that it's worth watching. I still doubt it. For some reasons I am no longer interested in anime that has heavy dorama/romance in it. Maybe I am just envious but still, watching them often left me depressed Orz. I just think I can't handle the dorama as well as I used to. It might have something to do with personal experiences...

(c) pixiv id 1390856

 Anyway, Dusk Maiden of  Amnesia is about Yuuko who is already dead but lives on as ghost at her school. Only one boy can see her, and it's no big surprised that he is part of the paranormal activity club. I dislike Yuuko from the very beginning. She's dead so she should have stopped being all slutty with Niiya. Yuuko can't seem to remember anything about her life thus the title of the series so I figured that this show will be a chronicles of events that eventually lead to her remember her past, and hopefully be dead for real, though I doubt it >_>

Yuuko looks like typical Japanese hime character, with long jet black hair and crimson eyes and the designs for the other three characters aren't as bad either though Niiya kinda looks like one of the girls too in my opinion. I think he looks better in the manga. The animation too was average and that pretty much saying that this show has nothing much to offer for people like me.


They only introduced 4 characters so far and out of all four, I actually enjoyed Momoe's characters the most. She is also one of the members of that club and perhaps the only one who has no idea that Yuuko is there. If it wasn't for her I would have dropped the show halfway through. Well, I still dropped it after I watched the whole episode though.\

There were several moments where I found myself laughing thanks to the dense Momoe but my dislike for Yuuko just over-ride everything at the moment. Having said that, it won't be fair if I included this show in the anishit list for that reason alone. It wasn't particularly bad. It was just disappointing.

Towards the end, Niiya said something about being possessed and they showed a glimpse of shadow Yuuko. I thought that was the most interesting moment of the episode, since it's somewhat a promise that shit will eventually get interesting. Too bad it only lasted for less than 2 seconds Orz

art & animation 7/10
story 6/10
characters 6/10
sound 7/10
enjoyment 5/10
overall 6.2/10

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First Impression: Sankarea

I didn't pay any attention to Sankarea until Glo got mad at me in my preview for Spring anime, which consequently reminds me of his spasm post about the manga. Thanks to him, at least I get a basic idea of what this show s all about. Well, I really hope it is as good as he says it is. I said this because in MAL, it clearly says that this one falls under the ecchi category as well. As you all may know by now, ecchi and klux doesn't mixed too well.

(c) Akahito

The first thing that I notice about this show is the male protagonist's hair. For some reason, it really bothers me that his hair looks like neko ears. I wonder what kind of OCD I have for it to bothers me this much...

Anyhoo, Chihiro Furuya is a kid who is obsessed with zombies. He is like our otaku who is obsessed with 2D female characters and wish he could meet/marry one someday. It turns out that God is kind to him for he got his wish granted when he met Rea Sanka (get it?) during one of his zombie worshiping ritual to resurrect his dead cat Babu. Oh did I mention that Furuya has a female cousin whose name is Wanko? lols

I foresee a love triangle in the making >_>

And I must say that I don't like Rea much. She wasn't actually a zombie when Furuya first saw/met her. She was just an ungrateful brat who whines inside a well. She lets her dad took nude photo of her every year for her birthday... so yeah... Also, she keeps shoving her boobies in front of Furuya's face. What about that?

I do like Wanko though.

Rea offered to help Furuya with the resurrection potion. Since she is willing to do anything just so Furuya would keep her secrets, then Furuya asked her to be his guinea pig. I'm sure he'll be successful with it and used it to resurrect her too otherwise there won't be a show.

Thankfully there is hardly any ecchi that appalled me so I managed to at least enjoyed the episode without raging too much. Studio DEEN did good with the overall quality of the animation and art. Same goes for the seiyuu. As I am not exactly an expert about music, I just find the OP rather annoying. Or maybe I just like ballad song better which explains why I find the ED quite soothing for my ears.

So in the end, Sankarea wasn't bad at all though I wish we could see a little more details on Rea's innards at the end of the episode. The humor should be improved though. I hardly laugh at all throughout the episode. I did smile when Mero was introduced though. She's so moe - wait, what klux?

art & animation 7/10
story 7/10
characters 6/10
sound 7/10
enjoyment 6/10
overall 6.6/10

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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

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Mononoke

I was first acquainted with Kusuriuri when I saw him in Bakeneko arc (eps. 9-11) in Ayakashi ~ Japanese Classic Horror. When I learned that it will get it own series as a sequel, I made sure that I get hold of it.


You cannot talk about Mononoke if you do not talk about the art. Just like its predecessor, the animators, Toei Animation do not afraid to experiment with the art. It has its own distinct style of animation. It was part of the reason that got me hooked right away. It is very different, in a very good bold and imaginative kinda way. Seriously, it was tantalizing and gorgeously unique! They compensate the two dimensional, almost paper-cut appearance with vibrant and captivating colorful backgrounds, textures and designs. In a sense, it makes you feel like you are part of a very beautiful painting. They definitely used the art to its full potential to present and distinguished the stories. It also used a lot of camera movements to add suspense and with a well control pace it has successfully exact the desired tension.

Mononoke is composed of 5 different stories which are only related to Kusuriuri, the medicine seller, our mysterious protagonist. Each story takes 2-3 episodes which features a different supernatural, more often than not, evil spirit or most commonly known as mononoke. It was up to Kusuriuri (who is a total bishie by the way) to vanquish or exorcise the mononoke. In order to do so, he needs to uncover the Katachi (shape/form), Makoto (truth), and Kotowari (reason) of the spirit. However it isn't always about the dead. Each story delved deep to the heart of everything and it is not surprising when everything that occurred is related to the living.

Kusuriuri is the only constant character in the series. His attraction is definitely lies in his demeanour, which is very unique whichever way you look at it, not to mention mysterious. Very mysterious. Some of his deadpan sarcastic comments will certainly makes you laugh at the oddest of time. He is a character that you could not help but like. In my case, fell in love with. He is one of the unforgettable characters out there.

The other characters vary with each stories but still get a decent development due to the nature of the story despite being 2-3 episodes in length. These characters are not the typical type characters (as in do not expect good looking characters). They were designed with the story in mind and the ingenuity of it in my opinion, worked wonders.

The appropriate sound effects (or lack of it) enhance the whole eerie atmosphere. The silence in most scenes does most of the work to creep you out. The voice actors did a job well done too, especially with those screeches and screams of horror. As for the OP and ED, I don't find it interesting but I guess it fits right in with the weird tune of the whole show.

This is one of the anime that I won't get tired of watching again and again. I give it a 10 for enjoyment.

The enticing, attention-grabbing, well written stories and the excellent directing and editing makes Mononoke a masterpiece. A must watch to all anime lovers/appreciators. If that is not good enough reason for you to pick up this series, maybe a threat to shove a foot up your ass can convince you otherwise?

Graphics 10/10
Sound 10/10
Storyline 10/10
Characters 10/10
Overall 10/10

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First Impression: Hunter X Hunter (2011)

Another shounen that I'm pretty sure will be one of many backlogs that I have, like Fairy Tail, Beelzebub and Bleach. Either way, since I did promise Daniel that I will pick this up, here I am trying to fulfill that promise of mine, even if it only just one episode. lol why am I saying things as if I already give up on it?

(c) Mogmahiru

I shouldn't, really since of all the production studio, Madhouse actually picked this up. Although they suck at those Marvel adaptations, they are quite good at bringing horror to life. That is what they excel at in my opinion (the only reason I mentioned horror is because Daniel will never recommend me something that do not contain at least an ounce of horror).

But then again, with shounen, the level of horror would have been meek and judging from the character designs, I shouldn't expect this show to blow my socks off. It kinda feel too childish for me, and since I'm 30, maybe this show is a little bit too young for me too.

Oh well, who the fuck cares.

Hunter X Hunter (2011) is about hope, reaching dream of the unknown. Those who strive for it are called Hunters and one of them is our young protagonist Gon. Their mission is to hunt down all sorts of retarded monsters to achieve... whatever they want to achieve. But first they have to pass the Hunter Exam.

Though I think Gon is the most annoying 12 years old kid I have ever seen, there are other characters like Leorio that pique my interest and without me realizing it, I was actually enjoying the entire episode of this seemingly cliche story of adventure and dreams.

arts & animation 5/10
story 7/10
characters 6/10
sound 6/10
enjoyment 8/10
overall 6.4/10

p/s: That annoying green suit that Gon is wearing... how the fuck can anyone let that shit got away? Urgh...

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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

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First Impression: Ookamikakushi

Heh the opening scene show Isuzu attempting to rape Hiroshi, claiming that it was love at first sight. The pervert in me chuckled because they both look like they are in middle school or maybe that was probably me in denial.

Then they were being chased by CardCaptor Sakura with a scythe. She is the Hidden God or Ookamikakushi. I remember saying that this could turn out to be quite interesting after I saw it in the Chartfag's chart. Let see if I am right.

Hiroshi, his dad and his disabled sister moved to Jouga where he met Isuzu who immediately groped him at their first meeting. Being a healthy young boy, he was of course turned on by her show of affection. I found her rather annoying.

But of course, what is a story without some love triangle, right? Right. So we have the whole class, including the teacher, who wants to be in Hiroshi pantsu and said it was kinship in pretense. All except one: Nemuru Kushinada. You can probably guess who she is.

In case you couldn't tell, the one getting grope there is Hiroshi

Halfway of the episode, I can guess why Hiroshi is extremely popular all of a sudden. It wasn't so hard to decipher since he looked like a sacrificial lamb. It must be the air in the town. Even the moon looks eerie and ominous.

Kinda looks like the moon from 11eyes. ne?

Since Nemuru/Ookamikakushi has identified her victims (those who want to rape Hiroshi) at the school, she gets down to work at night. Once the victim has been taken care of, his/her existence would be erased from the face of the earth. Heh, not really. They just made up stories like he/she moved to other town etc.

There she is, the Ookamikakushi ^w^

It wasn't bad I guess. I might watch another couple of episodes before I decide whether or not I will commit to this.

The art aren't splendid but I like the blurred effect. The OP and ED are forgettable. The characters were so so. Besides the Ookamukakushi, I don't give a damn about the others. As for the story, it certainly is promising. Interesting indeed.

art 6/10
story 7/10
sound 6/10
character 6/10
enjoyment 7/10
overall 6/10

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First Impression: Dance in the Vampire Bund

This is the most awaited anime of Winter 2009 (for me personally) because the promised of carnage or at least bloodfest. I love bloodfest. Bloodfest is yummy ^w^

*chuckles*

Oh they tease us so! I was like WTF is going on LOL.

The show started in a studio for a television program called Astra Balance, to approve or disapprove the existence of vampires. During that little skit, a kid from Romania, obviously the bloody protagonist (or known as Her Highness) appeared as well as the Queen of Vampires. The reason? To trap the vampire that have been rampaging around killing up to 7 victims.

I lol'd hard as I shake my head when I saw the true nature of the lowly vampire. A fucking chameleon? WTF?!


I lol'd even more when two girls appeared to protect the Queen of Vampire. OMG a maid? Can't it be more cliche?


But the ending (kinda) make up for the lack of action in the three quarters of the episode. Her Highness revealed who she really is and apparently has her subordinate around for disposal. So her coming on TV is to let the humans know that the vampire will no longer be in hiding and will take some Tokyo's land to build a bund for the vampires.

loli-vampire is NOT attractive

*sigh* I expect some brutal action and bloodfest but there is none of that. She just commanded the Chameleon to die and he exploded. Meh. That's not how action should be done.

The art ain't splendid either. Well at least it does little to impress me.

I am really disappointed. Actually that was an understatement. Looks like I have to rely on Durarara!! and Katanagatari for (hopefully) more quality anime. Sheesh what the fuck is going on with 2009?

But all is not lost. Mina mentioned Kira's name and he's a bishie so at least there is a reason to continue watching Vampire Bund ^^

You better not disappoint

Maybe if I am a lolicon, I might actually enjoyed this? Did I mention that it has jiggling boobs? I dunno man... :(

art 6/10
story 4/10
sound 5/10
character 5/10
enjoyment 5/10
overall 5/10

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Ghost Hound

Whoa, it has been a long time since I update this region. No, I didn't mean my region. Sheesh!

I just wanna share this with you peeps about Ghost Hound.

If you love Jigoku Shoujo, you gonna love this one too. Personally I think it was better, in term of its art however to be fair they do have rather different story lines.

It is about three different kids who have suffered from different traumatic events; Makoto, Tarou and Masayuki. Because of that, they are now have the ability to traverse the “unseen world”. You might want to forgive the slow-paced few minutes of the first episode. Once the plots start to unravel though, it would not stop till the climax. The anime tells the story of trauma,mental disorders, possession, out-of-body experiences, the afterlife, etc. The people deal with all these circumstances differently based on what they believed in which allows us to see a few different point of views, either scientifically or spiritually. There will be question marks hanging above your head on several occasions, especially with the terminology shit but don't fret. It will becomes perfectly clear once explained. Just make sure you pay close attention to the details.

The characters are nicely designed, well rounded and will fascinate you with their vivid personalities. Everyone will find a bit of himself in some of them. Personally, I am a fan of Makoto but found myself more like Masayuki.

Oh here comes the best part.

Prepare to be creeped out because you definitely will. The appearance of the ghosts are so random, they'll fucking give you goosebumps. I watched the anime with the lights on. Even when I'm done with the episodes, I'm too scared to turned off the light. It just gave me the feeling like the ghosts were just waiting to pounce. That's how fucking downright creepy they are. The great sound effects do not help one bit either. It will certainly turns you into a paranoid for a 'lil while especially if the tune got stuck in your head, like it did with me.


So yeah, like I said, this anime is made of awesomesauce. Nothing is overdone and everything flows perfectly.

This anime is for people who loves and are very appreciative of horror, mystery and psychological series because if you are not you might think of it as a waste of time. It's your lost, dumbass.

Also as a reminder, this anime is definitely not for the weak-hearted.



Arts 9/10
Sound 8/10
Storyline 9/10
Characters 9/10
Overall 9/10

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