Thoughts Episode 3 of ef memories was important because it revealed Chihiro’s memory loss. That episode was the first real hint we got of the emotional depth that the first season would go into.  One year later, we’re at the 3rd episode of ef melodies, and once again, we get our first major emotional extrema. Anyone questioning [...]
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There are just too many good anime this season.Here's my own watch-list of raws:Monday: Vampire Knight - Guilty, ef - a tale of melodies. (2)Tuesday: Kurozuka, Hakushaku to Yousei, Mouryou no Hako. (3)Wednesday: Toradora, Hyakko, Bounen no Xamdo. (3)Thursday: Chaos;Head, Tytania, Nodame Cantabile Paris, Clannad After Story. (4)Friday: no new anime I want to watch! Eve no Jikan every second month, Candy Boy every month and a half. (0)Saturday: Kannagi (at least twice). (1)Sunday: Skip Beat. (1)And there are other shows I am only phasing out gradually and somewhat reluctantly: Michiko to Hatchin, Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka, To Aru Majutsu no Index, Kemeko Deluxe, Kyou no Go no Ni, Macademi Wasshoi. And of course there are other shows that other people rate highly.Clearly, something has to give. Your selection may be different, but I imagine everyone is having the same trouble I am: what can I drop?The shows I will definitely not drop are: Kannagi, Vampire Knight, ef, Kurozuka, Mouryou no Hako (all outstanding), Hakushaku to Yousei (guilty pleasure), and Skip Beat (I love the manga, and I have to see how they do it).Anyway, I take an optimistic view of the anime industry. Despite the howls from companies about online viewing and file-sharing, the industry continues to pump out shows, at least as many shows in the past year than in any of the previous few years. They must be making money somehow. The shows cover a range of genres, and the quality is high and getting higher. Or at least that's how it looks to me.
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To call the opening couple of episodes of ef - a tale of melodies a slow-burner would probably be something of an understatement, given the series propensity to feed us only tiny parts of the story while preferring to dazzle us with its artistic merit - A plan which, as I mentioned last time around, will only ever take you so far. Thankfully, episode three finally starts to move us forward in a
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Things are progressing fast on the Kuze-Mizuki side of the series, so much so that it’s hard to believe that it’s only Episode 3. Indeed, for some reason it already feels like the endgame is closing in for the Kuze-Mizuki story, even as the Himura-Yuuko story feels like it is just beginning. ef ~a tale [...]
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Gee whiz, lolikit, the references are splurting out all over the place! So it looks like ef ~a tale of melodies~ is going to be the first in a long awaited new series of posts here on Miao on My Mind: A Certain Whoredom Index. Basically, what this means is that ef ~a tale of melodies~ [...]
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I wouldn’t wish illness on anyone but several days off work has allowed me to recharge my batteries a bit (despite living off canned soup and green tea for four days straight) and has done wonders for tackling my backlog. My two-episode rule still stands, which is a bit of a limitation: the subbers pull [...]
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Um, subs took forever to pop up, and I didn’t get around to watching it until Friday. I think I’ll try and figure out what day to blog this with Episode 3. At least it’s not hard to get RAWs for this show, they put them up on Wednesdays. :3 Too bad I massive fail [...]
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Though I knew that Makoto Shinkai had directed the openings of the ef games by minori, but I had thought that he didn't work on the Ef: A Tale of Memories anime series at all. Turns out, my research for the last post had me stumbling on IMDB crediting Shinkai for directing the openings of the series, and has him listed under "Series Second Unit Director or Assistant Director". Is this actually true? The style is very different from his usual work, though I do think it fits better with the series than what I tend to think of as his "signature" style. I've watched the series and thought it was worth watching. One day, I need to put up a post (or posts) with my thoughts on the anime I've watched this past season.
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After three episodes of most shows, 2channel has declared itself.The Japanese anime fans who post to that vast complex of message boards favor Clannad After Story and Gundam00 among new seasons of old shows.And among new shows, they like Toradora and Kannagi, with To Aru Majutsu no Index only a little behind.Threads for sequels tend to continue numbering from where the earlier series left off, so it is hard to tell how many posts a sequel really has. But in this case, Clannad and Gundam look to be far ahead, at 276 and 250 threads each (each thread holds a thousand posts), with ef - a tale of melodies at 46 and Rosario to Vampire 2 at 34.Among new shows, it is easier to see what's what, with Toradora and Kannagi in a virtual tie, at 27 and 26 threads, respectively. I myself think Kannagi is an outstanding moe comedy, with stunning animation, voice-acting, and storyboarding.To Aru Majutsu no Index has 21 threads and Kurogane no Linebarrels has 20, but that means that Linebarrels is sinking like a stone, since it had almost half that number before it aired. And Index is rising fast, probably due to its moe quotient, which is almost off the scale, especially for a show that involves fighting, as well.Ga-rei Zero, Hyakko, and Tales of the Abyss come in the next rank, at 12 and ten threads.Of course, TV ratings are quite different, as reported here, with the top-rated new shows being Nodame Cantabile Paris, Gundam 00 S2, Yozakura Quartet, Kuroshitsuji, One Outs, Mouryou no Hako, and Clannad.Here are the figures. Some shows are missing because I only report the hundred or so most recently posted-about shows:SequelsClannad After Story 276Gundam 00 250ef - a tale of melodies 46Rosario to Vampire 2 34Vampire Knight - Guilty 8Jigoku Shoujo 3 6Hokuto no Ken 3Nodame Cantabile Paris Chapter 2New ShowsToradora 27Kannagi 26To Aru Majustsu no Index 21Kurogane no Linebarrels 20Ga-rei Zero 12Hyakko 10Tales of the Abyss 10Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka 8Shirabane Hime Aka 8Chaos: Head 7Kyou no Go no Ni 7Kemeko Deluxe 6Mouryou no Hako 6Kuroshitsuji 4Skip Beat 4Tentai Senshi Sun Red 4Yozakura Quartet 4Casshern Sins 3Michiko to Hatchin 3Tytania 3Hakushaku to Yousei 2Kurozuka 2Macademi Wasshoi 2One Outs 2Bihada Ichizoku 1
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This is batch 3, the last and final batch of this fall 2008 season’s first impressions. In this batch: (1) ef - a tale of melodies; (2) Vampire Knight Guilty; (3) Nodame Cantabile Paris-Hen; (4) Hakushaku to Yousei; (5) Kurozuka; (6) Shikabane Hime Aka; (7) Tytania; (8.) Skip Beat; (9) Mouryou no Hako; (10) Chaos; [...]
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