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Haruka Bancho! Haruka is awesome. She is awesome!!! I want to see more of Bancho Haruka.
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Reviewed this week: Baccano! 11, Clannad 4-5, Dennou Coil 20, Genshiken 2 5-6, Minami-ke 5-6, Moyashimon 3-4, Romeo X Juliet 22, SaiMono II 25-6, Shion no Ou 3-4 …and in manga: Tenshi Nanka Janai 29 Everything else to follow next week.
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  Minami-ke begins with Makoto freaking out about the level of homework given to them when he hears Chiaki and her friends talking about a homework party and he tries to get one of the girls to study with him. Then one of the other girls says why don’t you just join their group instead of [...]
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There is a slight update to the official Minami-ke website, which has included the alternate retelling of the story. The alternate, known as Minami-ke: Okawari is slated for a release in Jan 2008.
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*punch* [Overall Impressions] All this Ninomiya-kun “here and there” is getting more and more funny, every episode’s hilarity is reaching different heights and in this episode, we have the focus on Chiaki’s classmate - Mako-chan.
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[Posted @ 8:34PM]Please buy the manga when it's out next year!!!Disclaimer:As this series is licensed by Seven Seas Entertainment, LLC, please buy your own copy to show your support for the mangaka and Seven Seas so that they could licensed probably more shoujo-ai mangas for us =). I do not scan, so I don't claim credit for it, so please do not ask me where I got my scans. PLEASE.Click on the scans and a new window will open and bring you to the larger and clearer version.Please do not hotlink on forums, just paste my blog url and direct them to the Manga Page section, thanks. I really like Volume 2's cover, Haruna and Chika in embrace looks so sweet~ It seems to be a brand new school term as the girls were dressed in summer uniforms. Just then, a new character arrived with style via bike, attracting the attentions of the fangirls around. Akiho greeted Chika as they met but Chika seemed a little sadden, so Akiho teased Chika by apologizing for not being Haruna lol. Chika changed the subject by pointing them to the crowd swarming the new character. The new character amused by the mob, asked if they could bring her to the school office, sending the fangirls into a frenzy and knocked over the bike. Akiho noticed the bike falling and rushed over to hold it, along with the new character. The new character then asked Akiho to bring her to the school office, to the disappointment of the fangirls. The new character smiled and sent the fangirls into a frenzy once again by winking at the fangirls. As Akiho and Chika brought the new character to the school office, Akiho asked if the new character's the new relief teacher. The new character teased Akiho by stating that she's curious in her hm? Akiho agitatedly yelled that it's natural isn't it, if not the new character would not be allowed in school grounds, thus making the new character chuckle at Akiho's reaction. The new character moved her attention on the unsuspecting Chika, calling her cute and naive. Feeling a little pissed, Akiho walked off with Chika and told the new character to make her way to the school office which was around the corner herself as they had to go prepare for their classes. Chika wondered at Akiho's sudden actions which Akiho merely replied that she had an annoying feeling and didn't want to listen to a person as the new character talk lol. Akiho then advised Chika to be more cautious but Chika said that the new character's all smiles and friendly, looked to be a good person and added, cool too. Akiho apparently doesn't think so lol. Chika's surprised as it was quite rare that Akiho would comment that badly on a person. Akiho replied that a person like that new character's difficult to deal with lol. During lesson, the new character was introduced as their new relief English teacher, Hiiragi Touko-sensei lol. The girls in classes instantly began fangirls while Akiho and Chika were like, 'Ah! That person from that morning!' [Akiho called Touko as cheater though lol]. Chiori immediately stood up and reprimanded the girls for being rude, creating a din as the other girls commented that Chiori's bullying people again. Touko-sensei managed to stop the noise by making this pitiful? worrisome? looking expression wishing the cute girls will get along with each other, to which the fangirls with hearts in their eyes gladly listened. During lunch, Chika told Haruna about the new teacher, Touko-sensei, however Haruna said that she already knew about her, rumours spread fast about cool teachers lol. Chika too agreed, wondering why Akiho would say Touko-sensei to be a difficult person to deal with because she seemed to be a friendly and straight-forward person. Haruna listened with a grim expression on her face. Chika suddenly changed the topic by complaining to Haruna that she felt lonely that she didn't see Haruna that morning and she had wanted Haruna to be the first person to see her in summer uniform lol. Haruna grasped Chika's hands, apologized as she had duties that morning and went on to comment Chika looked cute in her summer uniform. Chika blushed and thank Haruna for the praise. In her mind, Chika told herself that even though Touko-sensei had called her 'cute' earlier, compared to Haruna calling her 'cute', this made her feel like she was bursting with joy. Although they had been through alot since they first met, to be able to enjoy sweet moments with Haruna in their secret garden, brought her the most happiness. As they were walking down the stairs, they noticed Touko-sensei in the centre of attention in the crowd like an idol. Suddenly, Chika missed a step and fell down the stairs, spraining her ankle. Touko-sensei noticed the commotion and went over to help by carrying Chika bridal-style to the infirmary. Haruna could only looked worriedly at Touko-sensei carried Chika there. Chika felt like a princess and very embarrassed being like that but later relaxed by Touko-sensei's soothing warmth. In the infirmary, Touko-sensei help bandaged Chika's ankle as the teacher in charge wasn't around. Haruna, with a worried expression on her face asked if Chika's alright. Not wanting to see that expression on Haruna's face, Chika bolted up on her two feet while trying to control her pain lol. Haruna then offered to assist Chika back to her classroom. As they were walking back, Haruna tried to explain probably her helplessness just now, but Chika said that the incident reminded her of the first time she met Haruna. Chika continued that she had fallen that day too and clumsy her brought much troubles to Haruna. However, Chika added, because of that day, she had met Haruna and be with her now. Haruna felt touched by Chika's words, smiled and agreed. Unknown to them, Touko-sensei heard their conversation and seemed to conclude something. After school, Chika felt agonized by the glares of Touko-sensei's fangirls lol. Touko-sensei made matters worse by coming over to offer Chika a lift home lol because it was her fault that she's too mesmerizing that Chika fell. Akiho then went to Haruna's classroom and told her that Chika went home already, no thanks for Touko-sensei. Akiho angrily added that Chika had wanted to walk home with Haruna but was forced away by Touko-sensei. Haruna smiled and remarked that it's rare to see Akiho so worked up lol. Akiho blushed and stammered that she's not angry, just that Touko-sensei's a difficult person to deal with and seemed to be a liar. Haruna didn't mention more and suggested that they go home then. Meanwhile, Chika was on Touko-sensei's bike, still attracting glares from fangirls and wondered she could spend her school days tomorrow normally lol. Touko-sensei told Chika to hold tight as they speed off. Chika thought to herself that she felt relaxed at Touko-sensei's soothing warmth like earlier spreading from her back and body with a girl's softness and she smells good too. Feeling her heart beating fast, Chika quickly stopped her thoughts lol, bringing a chuckle from Touko-sensei. Chika regretted going off with Touko-sensei as she felt like walking home with Haruna and her last thoughts were about Haruna ... - END of Chapter 6 -Hm, seemed like I was off when I stated that Akiho likes Chika romantically in Chapter 5. After this chapter and ... lol okay I was spoilt by the next 3 chapters that Akiho likes Chika only as a friend and likes Haruna alot haha. And no, Touko-sensei's not a bad person, she's just probably more realistic and trying to speed things up between Chika and Haruna which is good isn't it? Ahhhh, no more spoilers, await Chapter 7!Oh I'll be posting up the summary for Yuri Hime S #2, Honey Crush Chapter 2 this saturday!Random rants;I finally watched 'Blue Drop Tenshi-tachi no Gikyoku' today and ... I found Wakatake Mari's voice very familiar and it turns out that the seiyuu for Mari is the same as the seiyuu for Nohara Shinnosuke in Crayon Shin-chan LOL. I was constantly reminded of his witty lines in Mandarin [I watched the anime on VCDs in Mandarin], '呵呵，我没那么好啦!' and his '我是野原新之助，今年五岁!' pick-up lines lol. I also watched Minami-ke a few days ago, I skimmed through the manga first before watching the anime and episode 1 was totally hilarious lol. Especially the scene where Kana-chan tried to kiss Chiaki-chan and chased her around when she refused. I love episode 5 too, when Kana tied and hanged Chiaki to the pole and treated her as the Weather Doll LOL and later prayed at Chiaki, that was totally priceless! Okay, it got me interested cos of Mako-chan lol, the potential successor to the Best Trap Ever, Miyanokouji Mizuho hahahaha. Seriously, Haruka's really dense -.-||| but BURNINhotcute nevertheless. Hmm, HQ's and S's birthday parties fell on the same day [which is this coming saturday], so I had to make two trips since both of them came to my party, so it's polite to go to theirs. Not sure what to get for them, probably ... heh, I dunno lol. Oh yeah, I'm going to Genting Highlands next Monday~~ Miss the KFC and Pizza Hut there, yum and won't forget to scream 'I LOVE KFC' when on the Dragon ride lol.[Signing off @ 9:11 PM]
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It's a bit late to sum up all the anime currently airing for the fall 2008 season, especially considering the fact that I've already written a post evaluating a large amount of them.So instead it's time for more fluff as I share some biased opinions, some crackpot theories, and maybe even a few valid comments, about what we should expect from some of these shows as they pass their halfway (or quarter) mark. Feel free to share your own as well.Inspired by the recently released Myself;Yourself (PS2) OP, which in typical fashion dropped plenty of almost-hints about how the teacher is actually important, and that angry Nanaka is angry (and jealous), among other things. Also, that whoever this KAORI singer is (that did the anime OP as well), that she is very awesome.Place your bets after the jump.Myself;YourselfLet's lead off with said title, everyone's favorite Engrish pronoun nightmare, which has proven to be an interesting visual novel (pre-)adaptation that, while light-hearted, has dropped a lot of hints that it's about to be hit by the drama train very shortly. This has prompted some to call this the next School Days, which, although a bit of a stretch, could come scarily close in some regards...1:1 Nanaka wins. She's the chosen one hands-down, which is obvious in the show and in the promos. The question is how we'll get there; she's proven to be rather warm to Sana after an initial cold spell, but with impending plot coming, things might change.2:1 Grandma Kaji figures largely into Nanaka's / Asami's plot. Having gotten a few good minutes of 'crazy time' back in episode 5, it's shown that she is very mentally unstable, and could have something to do with the gone-missing bird of the nursing home. There was a good theory going around that she might try to drag Nanaka into her world as well, giving Sana a chance to shine. Asami, who helps at the home a lot, probably will have her story here. With M;Y being 1 cour, they have to hurry.4:1 Backstory elements to keep an eye on: Nanaka's a likely orphan (lives with uncle) due to her parent's house burning and killing them (flashback of fire). Either of these may be related to the fact that Sana probably tried to cut himself (watch, fear of blood), which may have something to do with what Shuu shouted at Sana in the first episode. Complex. It's something that Aoi / the twins seem to know of, given that they spontaneously go quiet at times.5:1 Something with clocks. Seriously, the opening is riddled with them. There has to be some theme of 'time' here but I can't figure out how it adds up, as there don't seem to be any astral projections in this bunch...250:1 Asami wins. 750:1 Aoi wins.1500:1 Hinako wins. Isn't it sad, non-Nanaka fans? Asami's too much of a 'chance meeting', Aoi's too friendly (and energetic, and racked, and awesome), and Hinako's the token loli. I would give similarly high odds to Shuu ending up with anyone, given that he's not a siscon and that Hinako's slanting toward Sana now. Luckily, this show seems to be more about the ride than the conclusion.KimiKiss Pure RougeAnother popular ren'ai conversion, KimiKiss has come under a lot of fire for coming across as more of a show aimed at girls than guys. Still, for fans of romance in general, there has been a lot to like with the triple storylines, each following one of the main character's search for love in high school.2:1 Kouichi gets with shy girl. C'mon. They're way love-love towards each other in that scared, shy way that only gutless high schoolers could pull off. Still, given that most of us went through that phase at one point or another so it's a coupling that likely will recieve a lot of fan support. This one's probably the couple that's the most locked of the main three.4:1 Mao ends up with Kai. This one's a bit more of a surprise; we have a childhood friend coming back for a reason other than to hook up with the main guy? No way! But at this point a Mao and Kouichi coupling is an outside bet, although highly in the realm of possible. But they're developing the whole "get Kai out of his cold exterior" thing too far for that to be likely.6:1 We get some relationship cross-fire. With this many important characters and relationships one would think that there would be some conflict between characters over personal property (people), but two of the three main characters seem pretty much on one track. If there's any conflict, it'll probably be imaginary.10:1 Kazuki ends up by himself. Kazuki, as the secondary male (although the balance of power is pretty equal), is a bit of question mark and has less of a shot than anyone else, and the fact that he's got the most action early doesn't help his cause. Another 'cold exterior' pairing (with genius girl) would just be redundant, he doesn't seem to have much towards the soccer girl, and so, since he's not a siscon (new catchphrase? sure.), that leaves...nobody. They can't all be winners, kid.40:1 Mad yuri loving between the frog girls.500:1 That I ever can manage to watch the OP fully. I saw it once and can't stand the song, for some reason. Lazy animation (visual novel style, with a bunch of stills that move) turns me off as well.Shakugan no Shana IIOne of the most-(melon)-panned shows of the new season, Shana II had a lot to live up to in terms of interesting action/romance hybrids, and failed to deliver on most of it, being a drama-fest that turned many people off. Still, I maintain faith that eventually, this show will improve. Will it be too late for the fanbase?1:1 Ike loses in the Yoshida battle.1:1 Yoshida loses in the Yuuji battle.1:1 Konoe loses in the Not-Being-Hecate battle.1:1 Shana wins in action battles, of which there will hopefully be more.1:1 Joint wins in the Oh-God-Shana-II-OP-is-hot battle.3:1 Yuuji wins in the Shana battle. Like M;Y, Shana isn't exactly meant to be a stumper on what characters will take who home, but the only thing that might stop a full-on relationship from forming between Yuuji and Shana by the end of this show is an open-ended conclusion. This is considering 1) the reset at the beginning of episode one, 2) the fact that the light novels haven't gone that far between the two, and 3) needs more Yoshida fight~!5:1 Ike drama gets pulled off well. Despite the flop of the jealousy-fest over Konoe (who I presume is dormant Hecate or something), Ike has been proven to be a level-headed character and I have faith it'll be interesting to see how he handles the Yoshida situation; especially considering that he's got to know that she's going after Yuuji.15:1 People will consider Shana II a 'good' show by the end of the series. A bet that's quickly becoming unprofitable, but I continue to fly the banner of 'it's just a really slow start', despite being one of the newer people to the Shana bandwagon.20:1 Wilhemina overtakes the Hisui & Kohaku tag-team in the 'most awesome maids' column, or at least passes Yoriko. (No, you have not stumbled upon AoMM.) A bit of a uphill feat, but she's actually a pretty nice side character in a show where the side characters (Margery, side students, etc) have proven to be relatively appealing and, well, sane.500:1 Odds that whoever the mature green-haired girl seducing Yuuji in the OP will NOT cause drama amongst Shana, Yoshida, and maybe Konoe...again.Da Capo IIActually, I still haven't watched this past 3, but given blog reactions:15:1 Koko. Yoshiyuki. All the way, Chris Berman, etc.; with all the shouts of "hurry up and move on already" that grow louder with each passing episode, I continue to hope that she can hold on in an epic upset for the perennial loser team in harem shows. I know I love me some underdog.10000:1 Nanaka win. Isn't it sad, Shirakawas?Gambling Apocalypse KaijiAn anime different from any other this season in that it features exactly zero females and zero moe. Instead, it's about a gambler down on his luck and some excellent mindgames that have led some (me) to call this the under-the-radar show of the season. Unfortunately, the blogging presence of the show reflects similar levels of under-radar-ness.2:1 Kaiji wins in the end and escapes with his debt relatively cleared. What do you think this is, Evangelion? (Note: I've never actually seen Eva.)4:1 Furuhata and Andou backstab Kaiji...again. They've been shown to be very cowardly in the past, and I think with the impending reshuffle, they'll turn tail once they get the chance. I wonder what the scheme behind the reshuffle is, I know Asshole Man has something up his sleeve, but can't determine what.7:1 Kaiji and co. are forced to buy stars and go further in debt to go to the next round. They may score one or two more stars, but I doubt that they'll be way in the green (gold). Kaiji seems the type of show where the main character digs himself an even deeper hole so they can climb even further back up.10:1 The last 20 minutes of game 1 will take at least 2 episodes. The first few hours of the game went pretty quick but now it might be time for some Anime Time Compression as Kaiji and co. beg for games or stars. While it may seem that I don't have a lot to say, it's mainly because either 1) I'm confused beyond belief (in a good way) or 2) the action has been relatively choreographed. It's a good mixture of both.Minami-keThe one slice-of-life show that's struck it big this season; it features three typically amusing slice-of-life character archetypes (the mature one, the crazy one, and the sarcastic one) that are close enough to reality to be believable, yet far enough away to be funny.5:1 Minami-ke continues to be a solid, funny show. There's been instances in the past where previously brilliant shows fell a little flat near the end, like Zetsubou Sensei. The mild fanservice set off little alarms of the latter; random hikikomori/teacher yuri may be hot for some, but for me it's distracting. Hopefully Minami-ke will keep away from Haruka's breasts. (Although if Kana can make some funny out of it...)15:1 Any of the two or three guys romantically involved with the three sisters gets anywhere with them. Slice-of-lives have been infamous for shutting down suitors or even locking guys out entirely, but I hope that Minami-ke will continue to break the norm (considering it even has these aspects) and let one or two of them get their foot in the door.20:1 Sensei and Ninooooooomiyaaaaa-kuuuuuuunnnn get a Good End. Here's how to do a good repeating gag - the video game adaption was gold.ClannadKyoAni's show turns out to be heavy hitter of the season as always, as another Key adaptation leaves many in despair (and amazement) again.1:1 Nagisa appears to be designated 'ending girl', although why I always mention this and then say "oh, it's not that that counts" is beyond me.4:3 Dead horse, sorry.3:1 Fuuko is really Ayu in disguise. I mean, seriously. There's an interesting aspect brought up at the end of episode 6, and I suppose 'sucking-drink-through-nose' is a new moe mode we haven't seen, but she's just not clicking (see previous rant).4:1 Chance for Kotomi to pull herself out of the same hole. I'm worried about her character, as we haven't seen enough interesting 'intelligent girls' (someone get Kotomi her pair of designated 'smart girl megane', alternatively) in anime recently. I'm all for the smart time, and I only hope that Kotomi doesn't end up being as socially braindead as she first came across as.4:1 Tomoya's father plays a key role later, perhaps in Nagisa's plot. Yeah, the whole "omg I haet you dad" thing was a bit melodramatic, but real family interaction (beyond the usual "parents are awesome, make funny jam, etc" deal) is another thing that files under the "sorely lacking" column...and in anime too! Kidding, kidding. Seeing more development between the male Okazaki's, and maybe of Nagisa's parents as well, would be nice.6:1 Dream world is related to Nagisa or possible stillborn sister of Nagisa (wild stab). Where'd it go recently? We've sure been focusing on Fuuko's plot a lot lately. This supernatural aspect is one of the more unrealistic parts of Clannad, yet one I want to learn more about.10:1 Tomoyo hit counter tops 10,000 by the end of the series. It's been two whole episodes without the hit counter. Seeing Sunohara get beat up is one of the best parts of the show. (OK, seeing what he does to get beat up is the good part.) Tomoyo's plot as a whole is still curious - we have her wanting to be accepted as a girl and not a running gag. She has potential.15:1 Bad Stuff happens to one of the Furukawa parents. I got a minor spoiler that one of the characters is going to bite it, and since then the paranoia meter has been off the charts. I apologize if this is a spoiler to you as well, but it's the kind of spoiler that makes the show more interesting, I believe, since there are no details. Back on topic, it seems that perhaps there needs to be something to test Nagisa's family relations as well. I'm not sure if Fuuko qualifies under this category or not, so I'm just expecting something tragic to happen to one of the main characters. It IS Key after all.50:1 Twin maids Ryou and Kyou make a dent into the 'most appealing maids' column (Last maid reference, I swear, officer.). Funnily enough that cafe scene in episode 6 really smacked of Tsukasa / Kagami instead of Hisui / Kohaku. I still maintain right to hail Ryou as the next Shiori and Tsukasa hybrid of awesome. She makes a good foil to Tomoya's jokes, at least.200:1 We figure out why Kyou has a pig and why it says 'Puhi' instead of 'Oink' or something resembling it.300:1 Mother Furukawa defeats TokiMemo's Bread Lady in a battle to the death of hilarious characters in anime who sells bread. Sorry, but the fact that you can get military-grade weaponry from the latter will seal the loss for the rice-cracker-bread alliance.Google:1 SUNOHARA ENDING for the lulz.-CCY
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This was a real exchange between Jeff Lawson and J. Valdez: Jeff Lawson: I watch a lot of slice-and-life shows. Jeff Lawson: And by “slice-and-life”, I mean “slice-of-life”. J. Valdez: Do you mind if I start calling shows like Higurashi no Naku Koro ni and School Days, “Slice-and-Life?” Fun times. I reserved the slice of life shows for [...]
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Three words; EPIC SHOUTA CROSSDRESS! Probably the best episode yet to date. I thought Teru-teru bouzu Chiaki was lulz enough, but Mako-chan takes the cake, for now. I swear, I almost died trying to hold back my laughter during this episode. I’d gladly crossdress for Haruka-neesama to touch my chest, although I’d probably be found [...]
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