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Current Clannad: Fine. Last arc killed two birds with one stone, I guess, so now we’re on to Nagisa. Dragonaut: Yes, I’m still watching this, 21 episodes in. It’s so horrible, but it’s so bad it goes full circle and becomes good again. Ghost Hound: Each episode is well done, but as a whole it leaves a lot [...]
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Another terrific episode. I’m still surprised at how each episode starts pretty quietly, with usually a bunch of flashbacks, only for a few intense-plot-twists to happen in the second half. There’s nothing wrong with series that alternate between building-up and climax-episodes, but after Kaze no Shoujo Emily, Shion no Ou and Ghost Hound, I have [...]
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The romance drama true tears has passed Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei to become the most popular new-season show on 2channel, the Japanese forum site.true tears is on its 88th thread, having passed 87,000 posts. Zetsubou Sensei is on its 85th thread (84,000+ posts).A little over a month ago, Zetsubou Sensei was 50 threads ahead, but true tears has captivated fans both on 2channel in Japan, and also on the international English forum site AnimeSuki, where it has 2417 posts and rising fast, just behind Spice & Wolf (2559).On 2channel, threads have sprung up with names like "true tears -- godly anime" and "Compared to true tears, Clannad is a Worthless Harem Anime." And there is now a special thread for spoilers and speculation, as there is on AnimeSuki.true tears is by far my own favorite show of the new season, too, with Spice & Wolf next. The voice-acting in both is superb. Comparative newcomer Takagaki Ayahi (Feldt Grace in Gundam00) as Noe is outstanding, as is Iguchi Yuka (Sakura in Tokimeki Memorial) as Ai. That Nazuka Kaori (Eureka in Eureka Seven, Cossette in Les Miserables) is excellent as Hiromi is no surprise. One other performance that steals the show for me is Takahashi Rieko (Neviril in Simoun) as the hero's mother.Here are the current numbers of threads for all the new shows in the top 100 most recently posted about shows on 2channel:true tears 88Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei 85GUNSLINGER GIRL -IL TEATRINO- 28Spice and Wolf 27Yattaman 21Shigofumi 20Persona 17Rosario to Vampire 17Hakaba Kitaro 13KimiAru 12H2O～FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND～ 10Hakutenko Yuugi 10Major 5 5Noramimi 4Ayakashi 3Mnemosyne 2Porfy no Nagai Tabi 2Zenryoku Usagi 1And here are figures for shows continuing from last October:Minamike/Okawari 230 Shakugan no Shana II 167 Gundam00 150 CLANNAD 188 Kimikiss 136 Bamboo Blade 78 Gegege no Kitaro 37 Rental Magica 20 Nougami Neuro 18 Shion no Ou 9 Ghost Hound 7 Mokke 5 Some shows are missing because they were not among the last 100 shows posted about.
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[ Focus 13: For the Snark was a Boojum, you see. ] Well that was a rather unique episode. At least three-quarters of it was spent following Tarou in his OBE exploration. He goes from checking up on Miyako, to his memories of his sister, to a hospital where dead people live for eternity, to an [...]
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[ Focus 12: Homeostasis Synchronization ] Miyako going god/goddess mode in front of Tarou was pretty surprising. Sure they were talking about possession prior to it but I didn’t expect one to happen right then and there. Still, I find it intriguing how the god identified itself right off the bat. What I don’t quite understand [...]
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God, that was intense. I really love how this series has progressed so far, and this is another major episode. Makoto and Tarou finally meet Makoto’s mother, after her new husband introduces them to her. Makoto really was planning to stab her, though it seems that he didn’t realize what kind of mental efforts it [...]
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They seem to have lots of these. Eagerly awaiting romance subplot. Ghost Hound continues to please me; I think in some ways it’s a kind of more sinister Zettai Shounen: you’ve got the same glacial, relaxed pacing, mysterious events surrounding the main characters, and oddball background music (or, in Ghost Hound’s case, no music at all [...]
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My somewhat odd approach to viewing headscratcher stuff means that I probably won’t have a coherent review to do the storyline side of things justice until I’ve seen the whole lot through to the end more than once: I usually wind up too lazy to do much more than soak up the atmospherics and make [...]
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