First Impression: Brothers Conflict

I may or may not like this. It is after all about incest. I don't care if they are from different mother/father. As far as I am concern, once you are siblings either by marriage or something else, that is incest. They are incest anime that I can't get enough of like Yasuga no Sora and then there's anime incest that I fucking hate like Aki Sora. So let see where would Brothers Conflict be.

(c) Sayaomu

Err yeah, after watching the episode, I still have no idea what to think about this show. I have expected some brotherly love that goes beyond the blood but when I saw it happening, especially with Kaname, I was grossed out. Then I was trolled with the twincest which made me somewhat mad. The fujoshi in me wants them to be together but we all know that both of the twin will eventually fall for Chii, just like the rest of them brothers.

Fuck. I hate Chii.

Well, maybe not. Maybe I'm just envious of her. I want to stay at a place full of males too. Wait... LOL what am I saying. I have been surrounded by males all my life!

So yeah, I hate her and her pet Juli.

The males are definitely pleasing on the eyes. They picked one hell of a cast for the seiyuus and if there's any reason why I would continue watching this show, it's because of them seiyuus.

Overall, it was okay. I just let my biased opinion gets in the way :P

Episode: 13
Aired: Summer 2013
Producers: Brains Base

arts & animation 8/10
story 5/10
characters 7/10
sound 8/10
enjoyment 6/10
overall 6.8/10

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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

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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

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First Impression: No. 6

One of the noitaminA anime for the Summer. It was released the last two weeks but I was too damn busy with shits that I have only got the time to watch it now. Better late than never I guess. I wonder if I ever going to manage checking out the remaining 15 anime of the Summer season =\

(c) Sarnath

No.6 is actually a name of a city that kinda reminds me of Fractale since it's supposed to be the ideal city but just like most place, there are always shits going on underneath the perfect facade. Chronos is the most luxurious part of the city where the most intelligent people resides. That's where Shion lives since he's proven to be a genius.

Though Shion life looks to be perfect on the outside, the show portrays that he might not be content at all. On his twelve birthday, a typhoon hits the city and on that fateful night, he met his fateful counterpart (I'm fulfilling my fantasies, ignore me :P), Nezumi, a boy his age who ran away from some sort of a military based operation. He was wounded so Shion treated him. He learned a few things or two from Nezumi, like No.6 is not really as peaceful as he thought it was.

Though the characters aren't as fluid or pretty as I hope it would be, they are still full of personalities and dare I say, soul. Credits to the seiyuus for making them come alive with their voices. In the preview, they looks like Allen and Yuu Kanda from D.Grayman but they don't look anything like them in this first episode. In fact, Shion hair color is brunette and not white. At least not yet anyway.

If noitaminA tag isn't enough to convince me to watch this show (which it is), the BL and yaoi fanarts scattered around the interweb sure does the trick. But No.6 is more than just appearance, everything else about it is engaging which is why I am so gonna follow this one, as I have stated in my Summer preview. I wonder if I should do an episodic review? Hmm...

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

p/s: I freaking love the ED ♥

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Level E

All Level E did was trolling but damn it I enjoyed all 13 episodes, some more so than others. The fact that I enjoyed the trolling kinda tells you that this show is good at what it does which is bringing you shounen comedy. I appreciate that and honestly we need more shows like this and less that of Rio or Dog Days.

http://www.pixiv.net/member.php?id=868573

Don't let the title deceived you. The seemingly average, nothing special title of Level E was just one of it's way of trolling. It makes you skeptical of the content, especially when you read the synopsis. Yukitaka is definitely just a supporting character and not the protagonist, like the first episode suggested. All that plot I wrote in that first impression post was misleading. I only got to know this when I watch the second episode. The trolling continued until the very last minute of the show and I took pleasure in it.

The story has no central point and it lacks complexity however it was cleverly written to give sometimes quite an unexpected twist on that simple stories, employing witty humor that caught you by surprise as well as flavoring it with various genres such as thriller/suspense, romance and of course comedy.

Now lets get on with the characters. The show would have phailed miserable if it's not for the characters who give such vibrant colors to this premise but you only needs to know one important character which is Prince Baka, or as I called him Ki, who is the highly intelligent alien protagonist and seems to outwit everyone with his mischievous agendas and games just to keep himself from getting bored. He is the thread or the anchor that holds the story together. Yes, the story pretty much evolve around this jerk. There is only one person, or more correctly an alien who managed to outwit him. If I reveal that character, it would be too big of a spoiler so you just have to watch it till the end to find out.

I am not familiar with the manga from Yoshihiro Togashi so I dunno how true it was to the original work. Having said that but thanks to the anime blogsphere I came to learn that Studio Peirrot has did an excellent job with the adaptation. It used strong visuals, detailed character designs, streamlined narrative, and witty dialogues to make it more suitable for TV viewers of today. They experimented and they have succeed. If you phailed to appreciate this, then you are missing out.

The studio has also cast the right seiyuus for the characters and the cast is HUGE! It goes to show that this project got quite a budget hence why they can experiment. The seiyuus delivered their punchlines naturally whenever it was needed which is important in a comedy show like this one. This is the second time I see Daisuke Namikawa works his magic (the other one through Yondamesu yo, Azazel-san) as Ki. He, Yoshimasa Hosoya (as Yukitaka) and Takehito Koyasu (as Kraft) deserved special mention for their excellent job. They not only bring those characters to life but they also make them one of the most recognizable characters in recent memory. You can say that they completed each other.

(c) kaden

Just like the characters, the OP and ED are very memorable too, especially the OP: Cold Finger Girl by Kuriyama Chiaki (famous for Kill Bill). The animation in the OP have that Men In Black vibe to it which is awesome. Like I said, memorable and one of the best OP I've heard in recent time. It is up tempo and sets the right attitude for the episodes. The ED is a classic JRock by ViVid that kinda completed the whole premise. Having said that, there is nothing special with the background music that is worth mentioning.



The randomness of plot twists and the lack of central direction might throw you off your track but that would be your loss. To sum-up, the ingredients that made Level E so entertaining are the right combination of witty comedy, strong visuals and charming characters. If you can learn to appreciate that you will eventually agree with me that this show is definitely not your average comedy anime. It gives me hope and satisfaction knowing that amidst the inclination of stupid fanservice and moe oriented anime, I can still rely on some of the production house to bring me something clever and funny at the same time without over do it with slapstick jokes.

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

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First Impression: Kaichou wa Maid-sama

I won't normally watch something like this but I promised myself that I'll check this out and form my opinion after I've watched it. Who knows that I might like it just like I did with Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou.

The story: Misaki is the bossy president of the student council. She is freaking poor. Ends up working as a maid waitress at a restaurant which forces her to become meek. She tried to keep it a secret from her school mate but Usui Takumi, the hottest guy in school (FUCKING CLICHE!!) saw her. She worried that he will tell the whole school about it, not knowing that Usui has taken an interest. Of course she'll pretend like she didn't notice it. Slut.


I seriously want to puke.


But Usui is kinda cute.

Dammit!

Why is it so damn predictable?!

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

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First Impression: Katanagatari

Besides Durarara!! and Vampire Bund, the other anime that I'm looking forward to this winter season is Katanagatari. Maybe it was because of the "katana" in the title or the poster that caught my eyes (the unusual art). Whether or not it will be like Durarara!! (which I freaking love) or Vampire Bund (which was a disappointment), we just have to find out by watching this almost 1 hour episode (49:59 minutes).


The first 2 minutes sets a really good mood. I guess my buddies would know why: murder. Seems like there is this dude who doesn't need a sword to decapitate people. How sick is that? But wait, didn't that defy the title of this show? =\

I guess they are trying to use the irony factor...

Yasuri Shichika is now Kyotouryuu head since his dad died a year ago. He is the descendant of that dude who doesn't need a sword to have a sword. Get it? I don't either but that's how it is. So I assumed Shichika must have learned the same technique. He lives in an island as an outcast with his sister (because of his father rebellion). He is really a simple dude and borderline moron. He's awesome when he gets mad though.

what's up with the maple leaf, man?

One day, Togame, a strategist, came to the island to seek the head of Kyotouryuu. I didn't expect her to be clumsy though. That's the only likeable thing about her imo. She didn't pay attention to what other people say and go on about what she has in mind. She also trying to convince Shichika to take over the world. lol wut?! But wait, listen to her reason of why Shichika should help her. It's because of love. She wants Shichika to fall for her so he won't be able to say no. Heh, gotta love a confident girl. Oh btw she has one badass katana with her despite that she really doesn't know how to use it. I want one exactly like that ^__^


Togame needs Shichika's help to find the last remaining 12 katana (believed to be evil) made by Shikizaki Kiki under the order of Shogunate because they feared the owners (who the shogunate sent to retrieve the katana but betrayed them once they get a hold of it) of those 12 katana would revolt.

One thing led to the other and in the end Shichika is in love? WTF? I headdesk.

The art style is something to get used to I guess. I mean Shichika's hair looks like mapple leaf most of the time. It may be his trademark look though considering he has it tattooed on his wrist. Also, the animator cheated. They used the same framing over and over again especially when it comes to Togame's turn to talk. The background was pretty though.

ever seen ninja wearing a clown suit? Now you have. And it has the most annoying laugh ever!

The narrator sounds like an old hag. It brings back the memory of watching Osshin with my mom when I was little (Osshin was a Japanese drama that aired when I was like 7 or 8 years old. It was the rage back then). Shichika's seiyuu, Yoshimasa Hosoya, wasn't really experience I guess if you look at the work he had done previously. Less than 10 anime. Togame's seiyuu, Yukari Tamura, on the other hand has quite a portfolio. Unfortunately I'm not really familiar with her work either. Having said that, I think they did a good job for both characters. Their personalities really stands out. Shichika the laid back protagonist and Togame, the obnoxious annoying female lead.

Part of that is because of the dialog. Most of the time, I chuckled when Shichika said something absolutely dull and unexpected that it turns out quite the funneh. But... the dialog also goes on and on and on! SHUT THE FUCK UP and get on with the action already!

This is what I'm talking about!

Well, it doesn't reach my expectation as a whole but it wasn't that bad either. Seems like this will be once a month release show so I expected it to end in December.

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

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