Another year, another fresh new batch of anime, and another damn first impressions blog entry. This one promises to be absolutely nothing special! But I do feel a tiny urge to share my thoughts anyway, and so let's have the thought sharing begin~ No big splash titles standing out from the pack save for a few sequels of previously outstanding shows, but there has definitely been some interesting ones; but of course every new season will have its share of surprises. 01. Spice and Wolf (Okami to Koshinryou / 狼と香辛料)Based on an award-winning novel. Lead by a very solid core of seiyuu; Koshimizu Ami plays a wolf and harvest-goddess with a bold and straight-forward tongue and Fukuyama Jun plays her male travel companion. Add in Kaori Nazuka and you have a bit of a Code Geass reunion. I've always been intrigued by stories of the wolf and this is surely one of them.02. true tearsComing in a very, very close second was the most pleasant surprise of all the shows. I'm even more surprised at the abundance of positive reviews out there. It'd be very easy to dismiss this as a "boring" show; on paper it sounds like typical harem fare with generic characters. Truly not the case here because, see, if you hand the script to the likes of Nishimura Junji and Okada Mari (director and scrip-writer for Simoun respectively) they will turn mutton into lamb, water into wine. Indeed their magic has spread here. Show establishes a nice mood and feel and an intriguing premise, which is further accentuated with sharp performances from its seiyuu cast of Nazuka Kaori, Iguchi Yuka, and Takagaki Ayahi. This could very well be the "Blue Drop" of this season being it such an under-the-radar title with near impeccable voice acting. OP theme is quite possibly eufonius' best one yet.03. Minami-ke ~Okawari~ (みなみけ～おかわり～)The Minami sisters return for a second helping! Entire cast from the first season reprises their respective roles, but the look and feel is interpreted differently by a different studio and production staff. The chara-designs do take some getting used to, the humour is very much still there.04. Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (俗・さよなら絶望先生)No second helping of this SHAFT classic would have left me in despair.05. ARIA The ORIGINATION (アリア ジ・オリジネーション)Another season of this fantastic slice-of-life show that always puts a smile on my face and calms the heart. Junichi Sato really has a knack for these types of shows; a brilliant director, he is. An Akino Arai sighting, too! She performs the ED theme, and what a tune it is~06. H2O ~FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND~Koshimizu Ami performing the lead male role (rather convincingly, I might add) has rocked my soul~07. Rosario+Vampire (ロザリオとバンパイア) This is a show I really want to get into, but the last few minutes have left me questioning it. Mizuki Nana rarely gets a protagonist role, and what a sexy role it is. The rest of the female cast is totally fap-worthy, too. Quite a bit ecchi (that's a good thing) and quite a bit cheese (not a good thing). Manga was pretty insane, especially in later chapters. We will see how the anime will fare~08. Hatenkou Yuugi (破天荒遊戯)One of the most interesting sounding premises of all of the new season's shows. It opens up the possibilities for some twists and turns and possibly (romantic?) conflict amongst friends as the series progresses. Show is lead by the likes of Kobayashi Sanae, Miki Shinichirou, and Sakurai Takahiro. The former two have somewhat fallen off the radar in recent years, but nonetheless they bring solid performances to the table as always. I'm afraid however this will probably be one of those shows that the fansubbers will walk past and ignore. I'm hoping not, though~09. Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino-I wasn't much of a fan of its predecessor and it appears that it'll be the same deal with this one. A production that feels two steps behind from its previous work doesn't help matters. But damn does it has a pair of excellent OP and ED themes. The ED especially, performed by Lia, with writing and composition by none other than Maeda Jun! That's one hell of a recipe~10. Kimi ga Aruji de Shitsuji ga Ore de (君が主で執事が俺で)I'm usually fine with these sort of shows, but it didn't grip me all that tightly. It's a damn shame because it has such a sexy female seiyuu cast for a show consisting of a lot of ojou-sama/tsundere types. I'll keep an eye out for a couple more eps and we'll see~3 Favourite OP Themes: "Reflectia (リフレクティア)" by eufonius (true tears) [CDJapan | HMV ]"Tatta Hitotsu no Omoi (たった1つの想い)" by KOKIA (Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino-) [CDJapan | HMV ]"Tabi no Tochuu (旅の途中)" by Natsumi Kiyoura (Spice and Wolf) [CDJapan | HMV ]3 Favourite ED Themes:"Kin no Nami Sen no Nami (金の波 千の波)" by Akino Arai (ARIA The ORIGINATION) [CDJapan | HMV ]"Kazahane (カザハネ)" by Haruka Shimotsuki (H2O ~FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND~) [CDJapan | HMV ]"doll" by Lia & Aoi Tada (Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino-) [CDJapan | HMV ]
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

  Oh and don’t forget the rather generic dating-sim-turn-anime music, too. There are a lot of dating sim graphic novels with different themes. This show could very well be one of them…Wait a  minute! Isn’t this supposed to be the anime continuation of Gunslinger Girl, the often poignant, high production quality with emotional restraint and yet often hits [...]
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

Meh is indeed my overwhelming reaction to the new season of Gunslinger Girl. It’s not terrible, certainly, but I expected much better than mediocre from both Gunslinger Girl and from Artland.  The art style is noticeably similar to Mushishi (which Artland also animated), particularly the shading style and the way they favor simple, clean lines for [...]
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

Click to enlarge Now This is a disappointment. I wouldn't go as far as "disgrace to the first season" but wow. First I will have to point out the obvious. Below is the screencap from the first season DVD episode 1. Click to enlarge Can you see the diffe..글 전체보기
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

The show starts off with the usual GSG style, with guns, bombs and terrorists. There was also a lol scene of Henrietta and Jozé on a Vespa chasing the terrorists all over town, with Henrietta providing fire support. I’m actually displeased at that since the whole freaking section is supposed to be, erm, top secret? [...]
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

Strait Jacket Well, this OVA has been pretty dull so far. The biggest reason for this is a rather dull cast of characters. None of them really stands out, and they’re all rather stereotypical. On one hand, the creators want to be all serious and dramatic with gruesome deaths and killings, and on the other side [...]
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

So, I actually got around to watching the first series of Gunslinger Girl over the weekend. Surprisingly good show. There’s been a lot of talk about it being kind of squicky and overly exploitative, which certainly isn’t entirely untrue, but it’s largely the point I guess. I was actually quite impressed with how tastefully Madhouse [...]
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

Excerpt: As I mentioned earlier, I'm a little wary about Gunslinger Girl - Il Teatrino because it has a different voice cast and animation studio. The character designs depicted on the official website are also a little different compared to the first season as well as the manga. Henrietta and Rico look downright freaky, although Triela and Claes are not as changed.
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)