Asakomi

We’re entering non-episodic plotsville (I think!) and it’s awesome!! Yuri was the first to sense that something is really strange with the new transfer student, which makes me wonder how much of a role she’ll have to play as the series progresses. Up until now she’s been a fairly unimportant side character.

I love how Kekkaishi blends humour and seriousness. I love how Tokine is really starting to take notice of Sumimura’s growth. I love how I was completely fooled by the new transfer student. I thought he was going to be the typically obvious new baddy. Turns out he was sent by Yoshimori’s brother to watch over him. Ah, Asa, you’re not always so bright…

Anyway, we are also introduced to the fruity English teacher, Minou. He seems almost too happy-go-lucky and nice to be true. Maybe he has some connection to the bad guys. Shishio (Mr. Transfer Student) certainly seemed to be disturbed by him. But maybe I’m just being fooled again. >_>

Aggh, there’s just something about Kekkaishi though. I love it! I need more. :3

To be honest, I wasn’t initially interested in DMC, but I make it a habit to check out the first episode of most series that get subbed. I ended up enjoying episode one quite a bit, despite my initial reservations when I saw the cutesy blonde girl. I detest little whiny characters with high-pitched voices who do nothing but scream at their “onii-chans”. Her voice fit the fact that she’s a child, but her acting wasn’t over the top. What a relief…

As for the episode itself, I thought the animation was pretty solid, I liked the character designs, and that there was actual blood when people or demons were killed.

I’m definitely intrigued by the plot and want to see where this series is headed. I think DMC is based off of a game, isn’t it? I have no idea, which means I have no presumptions going into the series. So I’m just going to let it take me on its journey, and hopefully I’ll enjoy the trip.

I see a lot of people ragging on series like Jigoku Shoujo because of their episodic nature. I don’t think this is really fair. Don’t get me wrong, I love epic series with rich, continuous storylines as much as the next person. But I also enjoy the occasional episodic series as well.

If the characters are likeable and interesting enough, it’s fun just to watch them do their thing. Then, when something big happens, you feel like you’ve already been through a lot with them and it makes the event even more powerful. An example of this that comes to mind at the moment is Kekkaishi 11. At this point I’d definitely label Kekkaishi as episodic. I’d be pleased if at some point they developed a continuous plot, but I’m also okay if it stays episodic as episode 11’s confrontation absolutely blew me away.

If you still don’t agree with me, think about your childhood. What do you remember about the friends you had when you were growing up? I remember going to the pond, sitting in the long grass and listening to the crickets chirp as we wiled away lazy summer afternoons. I remember how content we were just to be together even if we didn’t speak for hours. Years later, when crisis hit, I was all the more devastated because I felt like something had come along and violated that very peace that encompassed my memories.

I don’t always need big action or flashy effects to be happy. The interactions between the characters are just as likely to give me goosebumps as any grand battle; those small things that you’d probably miss if you weren’t paying close attention. I can still remember the first time Mulder took Scully’s hand and gave it a little squeeze in The X-Files. Nowadays, holding hands isn’t a significant event, but in that moment, for those two, it was huge, and it said more than any passion-filled dialogue could even hope to express.

So that’s why I don’t mind episodic series. Ah, maybe I’m just easy to please…

On Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto:

If I may quote Hashihime, who I believe sums it up perfectly, “Animation at least as good as Kanon, if you can imagine it. So beautiful it brought tears to my eyes. Complex end-of-Edo-period plot involving swordsmanship and magic. “

I agree, one hundred percent! Now if only I could understand what was going on……..

My Enma Ai returns! I have so been looking forward to this second season of Jigoku Shoujo. Seriously. I know a lot of people were disappointed in the first season because they spent so much time on the episodic side of things and less on the overarching plot. But I have more forgiveness for it. I think there was a little nugget of information about Ai and her cohorts in every episode, and that was enough to keep me hooked.

This season picks up where the last one left off and we get to see Ai’s first meeting with the creepy spider. Then the episode pretty much follows the pattern of the previous season, with a few slight changes. I won’t go over them here, you’ll just have to go watch. :p Also, I’ve only watched this raw so I can’t really comment on much anyway XD.

There was no OP this time around, but the ED song was pretty with some absolutely stunning images of Ai. I love Ai. I think she’s absolutely beautiful, and I am always drawn to mysterious and melancholy characters. When I look at her eyes I just see this terribly deep sadness and my heart goes out to her. I often feel tears burning my eyes when I look at her and I truly wish to help take her pain away, help her find solace. I feel this way about many people in my real life.

I do hope that this season tells us more about the histories of the rest of her team, and her beginnings as Jigoku Shoujo. I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed for that.

P.S. Browsed Geegle lately? *chuckles*

I thought the OP song was pretty good, pretty catchy anyway though I’m not sure how I feel about the singer’s voice. She was great until she really started straining for some of those notes where she really tried to sound gritty/edgy. The animation sequence was very well done though.

The ED was incredibly cute. I’m not sure if I’d say it fits with the tone of the series. It doesn’t really seem to fit the first episode, which was more on the serious side. But on it’s own, very cute and catchy.

The narration directly following the OP sequence reminded me of Basilisk a lot. (Never a bad thing). Gonzo did a great job on the animation. I hope they can keep it up, and the character designs are very appealing.

Alice’s voice is very appealing. I’m glad it’s not too girly and high-pitched, and I really like her personality so far. Oland is definitely mysterious.

I am quite fascinated by the war-torn world in which the series takes place. I’ve spoken to some friends who have lived through wars to try and get a feel for what it’s like. Having been born and raised in peaceful Canada, such things are so out of my frame of reference that I can’t even begin to imagine how it would look and feel. To not know whether you’ll have food, or clean water, or whether the weapons will be guns, tanks, or the biological kind that you won’t know are there until it’s too late…

I really want to know what’s special about Alice and that feeling she gets at the back of her neck. It obviously will play an important role and I need to know just what that is! I want to know more about Oland too, especially after that intense confrontation towards the end!

You know, I didn’t really notice the music until that scene with Oland and the tank. It fit perfectly and really helped build the atmosphere.

This is a first episode that has definitely drawn me into its world and made me intrigued by its characters. I will definitely keep watching to find out more.

For more in-depth writeups and a schwack of screencaps, visit Mentar and Omni’s sites.

First of all I want to thank everyone for the warm welcome back to the anime blogging community. It’s great to be back! I’ve been thinking about how I’m going to do things from now on and have come to a couple of conclusions.

Since I don’t blog raw, people really can’t be dependent on my writeups to understand the series I talk about. Therefore, I don’t think it’s really necessary for me to talk about every single episode of a series.

Along that same line of thought, I often find it really tedious to post about each and every episode, and if I end up getting even a little bit behind I start to feel overwhelmed and even less motivated.

This certainly makes me respect those bloggers out there who are so dedicated to the series they follow. You guys amaze me!

So from now on, no matter what I’m watching, if an episode really stands out to me and gets me really excited for whatever reason, that’s what I’m going to write about. Hopefully my girlish gushing will be enough to get people interested in a series I’m watching and go check it out themselves. I guess we’ll see if that works. ^^

Let’s start things off with a list of fall shows that have piqued my interest.

Red Garden

A bunch of girls find out that they’re dead, or something like that. I’m not actually too sure what this series is about, but I liked the trailer I watched despite the fact that I couldn’t understand it. I just get a really mysterious vibe from this one. And I happily admit to loving Gonzo, so I will check out pretty much anything they put out there.

Jigoku Shoujo Ni Kago

More Enma Ai! *Squeals with glee* I really hope they explore more of her past, or more about her grandmother, and definitely more about her crew. But even if it’s episodic again I’ll still be happy because I just love Ai and her associates.

Kanon remake

Really, who isn’t excited about this? Not only do we get all of the horrid animation of the original series bumped up a million notches to the level it should have been, but we get 26 episodes for a more fleshed out story. I can’t wait!

Galaxy Railways 2

I <3 Leiji Matsumoto. That is all.

These three series have me the most excited. Others that I’m definitely going to check out include Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto, Death Note (though I’m praying it’s not gonna be long and drawn out like Bleach or Naruto or any of those series that go over 50 episodes), Black Blood Brothers (I’m a sucker - pun intended - for vampire shows, so sue me), and D. Gray Man.

So you can expect random posts about random episodes of any of the above series.