a parade of first impressions

I picked up anime again a few weeks ago.  What propelled this strange occurrence since my hiatus to this blog and the anime/manga world since 2009 is the most random thing:  Netflix began uploading anime with dual language rather than simply uploading the English dubbed versions.  Now I can watch select few anime series and movies on Netflix in originality with subtitles.  It's kind of nice.

On that note, I began to think back on a lot of the anime I had yet to watch but had wanted to watch for a long time.  And somehow, that wall came down and now I'm watching lots.  It just so happened that I already had a Crunchyroll account too.  So I've been checking out a bunch of anime, new and old (some that are new to me, though way old for everyone else), as well as catching up on some anime I never finished (which will be a different post later).

So let the party begin.

Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
This is the first of my anime "first episodes" marathon, as the premise sounded kind of neat.  Not that it was extremely interesting or anything, but I was curious enough to pick it up.  I'm not entirely sure what the storyline is about, but it seems to follow a young boy and his djinn with a promise to return the magical creature back to his own people.

It seems like a cute and possibly exciting series so far with really pretty animation and lots of action and humor.  I'm thinking that my only complaint about it is the talk about boobies every few frames of the anime series.  And our boys are constantly groping the girls around them.  I'm not sure I feel too great about those parts, but then again, this is Japanese anime after all and we're always open to the "open pervertedness" of the anime culture, no?

After finishing up other series, I may come and pick up the rest of Magi as well as it's second season.

Log Horizon
As of the writing of this post, I've already decided to continue following Log Horizon to it's most recently aired episode.  With 25 episodes total and only around 16 available so far, I have a feeling I'll be doing quite a bit of waiting around nearing the end.

MMORPG to anime series have always been rather successful and tons of fun to watch if you've ever been someone who's spent hours upon hours stuck in a virtual world of adventure.  In the same line, series about MMORPG worlds are even more fun when accompanied by the futuristic "real body experience" virtual reality gaming where the MMO can be played as if you were really in the game rather than just watching the game play on a screen.

.hack was one of few of these types with a multi-series show from a couple years back.  Last year, we enjoyed the glorious story of Sword Art Online that included a rather intriguing, almost horrifying real world experience where players are stuck in the game and a game death would mean a real life death as well.

Log Horizon takes on a different style of "virtually stuck in a game".  I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that Elder Tales was a game that you would play the normal way at present: on a computer, staring at a screen for hours.  I'm going to assume that this isn't one of those fancy futuristic games where we use virtual reality gear to enter the game's world as if it were real.  But then due the new expansion of Elder Tales, the players somehow ended up being whisked into the game itself as if it were really a virtual reality game.

So the story taking place now pretty much follows our heroes as they try to figure out what to do with themselves in this game where, death leads to respawning and survivability is easy, and the law is so non-existent that people have come to take advantage of the system to truly become terrible, evil people.  After all, if you kill and steal from others in the game, those people will respawn anyway and you get to keep all their loot.  And best of all, there are no repercussions.  So why not go all out and do exactly what you want to do right?

I guess the entire basis of this series will follow the mystery of why players were forced into the virtual world as real people and why there is no escape from the game at all.  In the meantime, we simply follow along some mini-adventures with our heroes.

The concept of the series still seems a bit hard to grasp for me, but I'm enjoying the anime nonetheless.  There's enough MMO language, gaming excitement, character growth, and dry, yet spontaneous humor to keep me interested.  Also, running gags are pretty fun when done correctly -- Nice Job! Akatsuki-chan!

Magical Warfare
I'm a fan of anything fantasy, adventure and magic, so a series called Magical Warfare sounded like it would be interesting.  Especially when we start with a kid suddenly acquiring magic when he had none to begin with.  It's a typical hero story line with the main character gaining power and skills, joining with characters of "a whole different world".

However, I started getting bored of the action as the episode progressed.  Even though there was a lot of fighting and a lot of info being flung around, I found myself hard pressed to care about the events.  And then there was the one suspension of disbelief moment in the nurse's office when the magic girl, Mui, pulls a gun out.  Rather than freaking out that she has a gun on her person, our main guy seemed pretty darn calm about it.  The entire time I'm wondering, "Why isn't he questioning anything that's happening?  Why is he just going with it all?"  And in spite of his easy acceptance of these strange circumstances, he then ends up freaked out when his friends are exposed to magic and develop their own powers as well.

Realistic this series is not (as realistic as a magic genre can be, I mean).  However, as I've mentioned before in some other post, even within the logic of the series itself, things should make sense.  And somehow, it didn't really.  At least not for me.

In short, I may not be continuing this series at all with so many other series to watch and so many other things to do.

My Little Monster/ Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun
Here's another sweet little shoujo genre anime to add to my pile of rom-coms.  After finally finishing Kimi ni Todoke and then picking up another shoujo anime, Sukitte Ii na yo, it never hurts to have another one waiting for when I'm ready for another dose of fluff.  Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun is proving to be every bit as cute and unique as I expected, considering the fact that the main couple comprise of non-standard female and male types (if you compare with the typical shoujo characters seen regularly).

The girl is smart, academically successful, and she has a no-nonsense attitude about her.  She's realistic too, as she doesn't swoon at the cute guy clinging to her; and she also behaves appropriately around him.  When he's acting all angry, dangerous and creepy, she walks away.  This is normal behavior in the real world, because no matter how good looking a boy is, if he's exhibiting violent behavior, it's probably smart to stay away from him.

Of course, as any rom-com would have it, the boy, of course has a heart of mush as all he wants is to make friends.  He's cute AND angrily violent at the same time.  I'm... not sure how I feel about that combination.  Because the depressing and pathetic cute side of him makes you want to hang around so you don't make him cry...  But his violent side makes you just want to avoid him altogether so that you don't get hurt.

Conflicts of the dramatic, teenage world, no?

As a short series, I'll probably finish this one fairly quickly, but it'll hang for a while until I've watched some other series.  Because after this, I'll have to search for some more rom-com, shoujo-esque series to enjoy.

Tonari no Seki-kun
I can't not look away from this series for some reason.  I mean, it's seven minutes per episode of Seki-kun killing time while he's bored in class.  It's like... I'm really watching merely out of curiosity to see what he has planned next.

Which is strange considering there's really nothing else going on.  So it's probably a good thing that this series is only airing short seven-minute episodes.  And for a while there, I was wondering how they would fill 20 minutes with nothing but Seki-kun's bored feats.

Watching it as it releases an episode at a time on Crunchyroll.  This series is amusing at best, but aren't those usually the ones you end up enjoying?

Z/X IGNITION
I did not even finish the first episode.  Nothing in the story line was making sense, none of the characters made sense, and the show seemed to be another weird fantasy/Digimon/Pokemon/transformers/mecha... well, I'm not sure what this series is about and maybe I would have found out soon enough.  But I didn't have the patience to sit through 20 minutes of this series when I was starting to wander.

Definitely not going to be continuing this one.  That is all.

Wizard Barristers
This is a hard one to form an opinion on.  On the one hand, the artwork is shiny and pretty and the concept is unique.  On the other hand, the story line thus far (episode 1) was kind of boring and random.  And the world creation isn't really making much sense either.

For now, I'm just going to monitor and maybe watch a few more episodes before I make a decision on whether or not I want to continue watching this one.

There's office politics, real politics, magical politics, and some silly magical girl antics going on that doesn't quite do it for me.

Strange+
See my first impression post of Strange+.  That is all

***

So there you have it.  Several anime series that I've picked up and tried to pick up.  There are also several other ones I've begun watching as well, but that I don't have anything much to say about them.  Newer series includes Attack on Titan, which is visually and conceptually awesome, though it seems more like something my brothers would enjoy on a different level than I would.  I don't have many thoughts on it yet except for the fact that I'm enjoying it.  Other series include Fullmetal Alchemist, Soul Eater, and a continuation of Fairy Tail -- all three series of which are fun in a totally different way.  I have plans to start watching Gintama and maybe see to catching the first few episodes of One Piece... just because.

I've even been playing around with rewatching Sword Art Online, Samurai Champloo and D.Gray-man.

Otherwise, this is it for now.

first impression: Strange+ (anime)

I have absolutely no idea what the heck this anime is about, but I just... I can't... not look at it.  I'm even going to throw-in a #strange+ even though I'm pretty sure I'm not using the hash tag properly (and I still don't understand the concept anyway) and I don't have a twitter...

But hey, this series got me to actually publish a blog post on this long abandoned anime and manga blog.  I just... needed to express my opinion, because somehow, I'm just... well, I'm not quite sure what I'm trying to talk about... except that the character with the blue hair is the big brother...

Take a second to let that sink in.

Yea.  I thought so, too.

Anyway...

Now that my consciousness has returned...

This series wasn't what I was expecting and everything just kind of, "came out of left field" for the lack of a better description.  I watched the first episode as a tester just to see what the series was like.  After it sped by with the strangest rapid-fire dialogue, I realized it was only a 3 minute short and that nothing was really making sense.

I went on to watch the second episode out of some sort of morbid, twisted curiosity.  And it's not like I didn't have 3 minutes to spare, right?

And then:  "In the name of the moon, I will punish you!"

Yeah.  THAT happened; a dude said it (the tall dark dude on the left in the poster above).  It came out of nowhere completely.  I burst out in laughter.

And now I'm stuck.  Even though I have no idea what the heck is going on, I'm going to keep watching out of some twisted need to fulfill my morbid curiosity at what else will come flying out of nowhere... besides a bunch of shiny pink butts.

first impression: Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou (anime)

Natsume Takashi is a young boy who can see ayakashi-- a trait that other humans do not have. He inherited from his grandmother, Natsume Reiko, this ability to see ayakashi as well as the all-powerful Book of Friends. With the Book of Friends, Natsume Takashi is constantly being attacked and seeked out by various demons and spirits who either wish to have their names returned, or who just want to own the book for their own evil purposes.

This is a continuation-- the second season-- of Natsume Yuujinchou which ended on thirteen episodes during the 2008 fall season.

To be exact, this particular post is more for my own opinionated thoughts rather than for a first impression. As a first impression, it is more a way for me to compare the first season with the second season's beginning. In a way, Natsume Yuujinchou fans of the world will be given a chance to compare Natsume Yuujinchou's second season with the glory of its first season.

When I first picked out Natsume Yuujinchou from various other broadcasting anime in the fall, it was because I had been drawn to the advertised poster. This is all explained in first impression: Natsume Yuujinchou.

As the first season drew to a close and the anime loving community was informed of a second season, I was extremely ecstatic. After all, the first season was rather short and left much to be desired. While I had intended to draw up some hype on the soon-to-be-aired Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou, my busy schedule and loss of motivation sort of threw all of that into the dumpster.

But lo and behold, having finally gotten my hands on the first episode of the second season of Natsume Yuujinchou, I am thoroughly revived and ready to tackle my almost abandoned anime blogging once again.

And now back to the anime.

I remember why I liked this series so much. It's relaxing and it makes you really think about every situation and every scene and every dilemma. As I had described it in the end of series thoughts, instead of being an action packed, supernatural and fantasy adventure, Natsume Yuujinchou borders more on a serene, slice of life, drama-esque type of genre. Supernatural elements just happen to be its basis, used to better distinguish Natsume Takashi's growth and development and how he learns to deal with the world around him.

The second season starts off in very much a bit of a bang compared to how the first season had started. Of course, once again, our beloved hero is being chased by some greedy ayakashi out to get him for the Book of Friends, and again, Takashi-kun meets up with a danger to himself involving more dangerous ayakashi. The second season has Takashi tripping over yet another barrier and releasing yet another high level ayakashi from its seal. And then the story goes from there.

It feels less of a sequel and more like a continuation from the first season, exactly where it had left off. Little seems to have changed save for Takashi-kun's level up in emotional and mental quotients.

The anime is still aiming for the same feel and wonder as the first season.

The only difference I can filter out of it is that Natsume Takashi seems a bit livelier than he did from the first season. It could be because of a plethora of things, such as all the friends he had made from season one, and how much more secure he is feeling in his own home now. His sense of duty from accepting the presence of youkai has been amped up a few levels-- its as if he feels that, since he has the power to do so, he needs to play mediator between youkai and humans.

Otherwise, his personality still remains quite the same: he is a good kid with nice qualities and a penchant to think for other people's sakes. He's just a little less monotonous, more active, and less depressing-- not that he had been depressing in the first season at all.

The second season seems to be trying to bring up the comedy just a little more, but hopefully it will incorporate that element as the first season had done-- the first season had the perfect dosage of every genre it portrayed and hopefully the second season will remain as such.

I have to admit though that the first hit of comedy which involved Takashi-kun being smashed in the face with a soccer ball unawares as he is reminiscing was very classic. I jumped and then I gasped and then I laughed. The bit with Natsume Takashi's overpowering strength towards ayakashi is quite admirable-- and amusing-- when he is pissed off enough to take action instead of just relying on his unreliable feline/high-level ayakashi bodyguard.

On top of everything else, I think that I have become mesmerized everytime Takashi-kun does his little clap and blow bit when returning a name to the present ayakashi. Something about how he does it and the fact that he has proven to be quite the bishie and kind-hearted boy... it just makes me unhesitatingly add him onto my list of favorite bishounen males.


Natsume Takashi has become one of my favorite main anime characters. Hands down, he's great!

The theme song is more upbeat than the first season's, but I like it. It kind of synchronizes with Takashi-kun's personality as he continues through this serial anime journey. It took me two watches, but I had noticed that the first half of the theme song shows scenes without ayakashi and the second half shows those exact same scenes with the ayakashi. I feel like it's really significant in showing just how natural the presence of youkai are in the Natsume Yuujinchou world.

Overall, I will continue to look forward to watching the rest of Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou, although I know I'll be hard pressed not to compare it to its first season.

On an end note, the ending theme is not only animated beautifully with Takashi walking through snow and his friends joining him one by one, but it is also catchy and pretty. I will wait patiently for the full version of this song.

first impression: Kuroshitsuji (anime)

So my first impression of this anime after seeing the opening theme was: "Is this a bit... shounen-ai?" And for those of you who don't know what that means, don't ask, because it just means you haven't been exposed to anime and manga enough.

But I really think that the opening is simply misleading. Were this strictly a romance genre and were the two main characters romantically involved somehow-- despite the boy love ideals that I haven't been able to truly open up to yet-- the opening theme and sequence would have been perfect and very... well, "pretty."

Anyway, the premise to this series is about the Phantomhive family and the butler-- who is basically "super butler max". The story currently centers around Ciel Phantomhive, a young twelve year old master of his home and his business, and his butler Sebastian Michaelis.

The episode begins in a rather dramatic, morbid and twisted way. But as it progresses, the comedic antics and the incredible actions of the butler and the staff of the Phantomhive villa come into play. The story just centers around the devotion of Sebastian to his job as Ciel's butler and bodyguard. Everything Sebastian does, he does with ease and can probably do anything and everything ever tasked to him.

The first episode centers around a business contract and financial issues that need to be resolved by Ciel in order for a company to continue running. The staff, in an attempt to one-up Sebastian, take things into their own hands, but screw up immensely before the guest arrives at the mansion. Sebastian, with his demonic skills, fixes everything with ease and prepares the appearance of the villa, dinner, as well as all service for the guest's arrival.

During this time, Ciel receives the guest but seems to only be interested in playing games with him. As dinner progresses and their negotiations seem to be going nowhere, the guest is found talking about how he hasn't been able to procure the money he needs from the Phantomhive child and we learn that he is trying to cheat Ciel by running away from the factory after getting the money. But little does he realize that Ciel already knew of his betrayal and thus, the little boardgame they'd been playing ends up being reality when the guest loses his legs and is given a fiery demise in the end.

The whole concept of the series is supposed to have a creepy, horror-ish feel to it. And it is successful-- or rather it would have been successful if there weren't so many comedic antics thrown in. This is like an Addam's Family alternative, but without a family and simply a master and his staff.

But I have to admit that I enjoyed every bit of what I watched, even some of the lame attempts at hilarity. Maaya Sakamoto does wonders as a twelve year old child's voice actor-- her monotone and her boy's voice is excellent and as expected of such a versatile voice actor.

All in all, I think I may enjoy Kuroshitsuji, even if it doesn't become one of the best anime of the season. This is sort of like a secret delight for me. Kind of like Wagaya no Oinari-sama was, because even though the anime wasn't all that great, I still enjoyed it immensely.

I look forward to slowly easing through this series, because though good, it doesn't really have me hooked. Not just yet.

first impression: Nanaco Robin (manga)

So I worship the ground that Nakahara Aya-sensei walks on because I love her works and all. In fact, I even did a whole spotlight on her as the very first for this blog. Ever since, I've gotten my hands on all of the manga by her that I could, and while I haven't really written my thoughts on the ones I've read, I will in the near future.

Here today, however, is a current series by Nakahara-sensei which has one volume out so far (two chapters available to me in English) and hopefully more to come soon.

The story sets up the first chapter with Nako crashing a wedding and taking away the groom. It's quite the exciting opening for any story and we later find out that she has crashed this wedding not for her sake, but for her sister's sake. Because the marriage was arranged and her sister and the groom are in love, she helps them elope. Unfortunately, the younger, delinquent brother of the groom seems to have lost a place to live, she realizes that she is responsible for this and so her family takes him in wholeheartedly.

The premise of the story is a very good one with lots of potential. Seeing as how it's a romantic shoujo comedy, there are so, so many possibilities at hand with the male protagonist moving in with the female protagonists.

Also a part of the already known plot is that the little brother, Konatsu, is quite the "misunderstood" delinquent -- another one of those "bad boys with a heart of plate gold" types who can be nice sometimes even though he seems really rought. We find out as well that Nako had been in love with the man she helped to bring her sister together with and is currently recovering from that lost love.

The first chapter alone ends with the entire series' set up. Konatsu moves in with Nako's family, we meet all of the younger siblings within her family, we meet Nako's friends, and we also establish a first impression based relationship between Konatsu and Nako which is close to the classic "I don't even want to be in the same room as him/her" type.

Much has occurred within the second chapter including meeting Konatsu-kun's "best friend", and there is still more to come, I'm sure.

The personalities are still a little hard to distinguish, but Nako-chan is quite the strong-type female character as she can easily punch the living daylights out of Konatsu-kun. Konatsu is being an extreme brat, but he has his reasons, though that does no mean I will keep my self from throttling him. I love Nako's best friends, especially Bu-chan. Her siblings are interesting creatures too and I look forward to seeing all the comedic antics they provide.

This will definitely be a good series and wouldn't be surprised if it becomes popular in the future as it progresses. There are so many characters to work off of and the relations between the family and others (the customers who frequent Nako-chan's family store) seem to have good dynamics.

As far as my interest is concerned, I am completely looking forward to reading more of this series as it comes out by chapter. I love Nakahara-sensei's work and wouldn't miss any of it.

first impression: Skip Beat! (anime)

Oh, Kyoko-sama how I had yearned for thee...

I honestly thought that someone out there was horribly pissed at me and wanted to make me miserable. It took a good long while for me to find my beloved first episode of the Skip Beat anime adaptation of which I'd been looking forwad to since I first heard about there being an adaptation. When everyone else was blogging about the first and second episodes, I was still clinging to the edge of my seat in wait.

But, all of my waiting has come to a good result. I finally got my hands on the first episode and thoroughly enjoyed the heck out of watching Kyoko lose her sanity and unleash her silently brewing Kyoko-demons when Sho finally unveils his scheming, moronic, asshole of a personality of which could have only held Kyoko at his beck and call. Any other girl would have already dumped the jerk a long time ago rather than waiting for him to openly admit that he only really asked Kyoko to be with him so that she could do the cooking, cleaning, and worshipping and working her butt off to make sure he had a place to stay while he rose to stardom.

As any other person known to follow the Skip Beat manga religiously, I hate Shotaro's spoiled brat ass.

But anyway, it seems that the first episode of Skip Beat does well to cover the first act of the manga. We get to see how Kyoko slaves away to make her Sho-chan happy and be able to live royally. We get to see how anything and everything she does is for Shotaro (that bastard) and as much as I hate to admit it, the manga shows this aspect a little better than the anime does. We get to see everything that had to do with the old Kyoko and how she was such a kind, sweet, and caring person.


And then Pandora's box -- as the first episode title implies -- is opened and all hell is unleashed in the fury that is Kyoko's grudge demons. When Kyoko finds Sho telling his manager how he isn't the least bit happy with Kyoko's praises, how he only asked her to come with him to Tokyo to support as a live-in maid and not as a girlfriend, and how he was more interested in women such as his manager Shoko-san, Kyoko snaps.


For those who have digest the manga again and again, we all know that Kyoko doesn't cry and plead with Sho like a weak little girl. Instead, she rages with anger and declares that she wants revenge for everything that Sho has said and done to her. She's through with being a little underappreciated slave girl and she vows to make Shotaro grovel at her feet for forgiveness by beating him down at his own game. And when Sho invites her to join the industry so that she can do such a thing, as far as the manga goes, Kyoko takes up his offer with open arms.

But up to now we are only shown Kyoko's spirit and determination. After all, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," and Kyoko has had a horribly hard life even as a child -- all of this revealed in the manga and hopefully soon to be revealed in coming episodes. For those of you who haven't even glanced at the Skip Beat manga, Kyoko-sama has a long road ahead of her to travel if she wants to reach a height much further than that ass of a man Shotaro.

Kyoko-sama has probably always been quite creepy... she's just a lot cooler when she realizes her "demonic" potential.

As far as the anime goes, it is very fast paced and very accurate compared to the manga. I have a feeling that the anime will continue to follow exactly as the manga, but hopefully it won't loiter around privy details so that we can make it up to the filming of Dark Moon (or maybe that will be part of a sequel to Skip Beat's anime which would be fine by me as well).

I can't seem to grasp the voice that is Tsuruga Ren. Konishi Katsuyuki is a good strong male voice. But somehow, it doesn't seem to give off that same vibe that Ren has always given me. But due to the very few scenes that Ren appears in for this first episode, I may be jumping the gun by commenting on him.

As for Miyano Mamoru, he is doing exemplary excellent as Sho. I like it. He can pull off the moody, coolness that is Sho as well as the moronic secretive character that only Kyoko has ever seen. He sounds good as an asshole and I praise him well. Knowing that he can sing is a good thing too as Sho is supposedly a rising star in the singing industry and extremely popular and talented as well.

Inoue Marina is doing fine as Kyoko. Although I think I'll appreciate her more when she retains her "evil Kyoko" tone which she will have to have for a good few episodes to appease Kyoko's anger until her innocent and naive side comes back out.


All in all, the anime adaptation was not what I had been expecting. The animation isn't all that great and the character designs are carbon copies of the manga. The music is passably good, and as the anime is sticking with the original storyline, there is little to question about it.


I look forward to seeing the rest of the cast soon. As far as spoilers go, the next episode will be the infamous casting auditions and Kyoko meets Kotonami Kanae for the first time. I can't wait to see the interaction between Kyoko and her good friend Moko-san, and I definitely can't wait until Kyoko meets with Maria.

As a fan of shoujo manga, romances, and fun anime such as Skip Beat, even if the results are not what I expected, I know I will sure continue to watch it. After all, I followed Special A all the way to the end, there is no reason to pass up Skip Beat at all -- ugh... bad comparison, but you get the point.

first impression: Michiko to Hana (anime)

From the studio that created Samurai Champloo (which was created by the same guy who did Cowboy Bebop), I've long awaited another anime with similar style and adventure. Both were intensely action packed with unlikely bonds and friendships between strangers, both had hilarity and both had heart.

Michiko to Hatchin thus far, is about a woman named Michiko Malandra who broke out of prison and a young girl named Hana who was taken in by a priests' family but treated poorly on a regular basis. It's a hard way of knowing how these two girls tie together in the long run, but the premise, I assume contains a bit of adventuring between Michiko and Hana.

This first episode of the series begins with the Michiko prison break as well as her wandering around to "make" some money via bank robbery. We cut to Hana and the Berembowser Yamada family where Hana is basically our little Cinderella who wakes up early in the morning to cook and clean and take care of her "family." There's no other way to say it except for, her "family" is no better than a bunch of slave driving sadists.

While Hana usually keeps her mouth shut, plays the submissive adopted daughter who is no better than a slave in the house, her family receives funding for her daily necessities and build up their "good" reputation as a priests' family. Poor Hana is under the impression that since every day in her life thus far has been this cruel and fake, she will continue to live in this situation for the res tof eternity. And so she fantasizes that one day, someone will come for her and take her away from the cruel fate of living with such horrible people.

There is truly no other way to deal with people like the Berembowsers. You could beat them to a bloody pulp and they would still believe they are better than you and will make up excuses to make you look like the devil when it was them who had initiated a fight. Whatever it is they can get away with being horrible people for, they will do so.

And so what do you do? You either A) endure it, B) run away from it, or C) make sure that you can make their lives much more sufferable, much more horrifying, and much much worse than your own, and making them fear you for all eternity and grovel at your feet by doing something so drastic it will scar them for the rest of their lives.

Hana takes the second approach. She runs away.

Her plea for help seems to have been answered when Michiko Malandra calls up the Berembowsers and announces that she is Hana's mother who will be coming to pick her up later on. As far as the series and the situation goes, there is a 90% chance that Michiko is not Hana's mother, and maybe a slight 10% chance that she is. But if that's the case, then how did Michiko hear about Hana and why is she so adamant about taking Hana away with her?

There are so many possiblities to look forward to in this series as it seems that Michiko will be on the run from the authorities for a while, and Hana has absolutely no idea where she is going with this woman. So many questions arise already and I think the main ones would mostly like be, who are these two girls?

Michiko, as we've established after her prison break, is no ordinary woman. She went looking for Hana specifically-- she had a number, a baby picture... etc. Hana was abandoned and then adopted by her current false family and so her past is as much an enigma as Michiko's.

And thus this is what we look for in certain anime. This is something to look forward to, because not only is the storyline quite interesting, but it holds onto you at just the right places. While I haven't felt the comedic hilarity that made Cowboy Bebop or Samurai Champloo, I look forward to seeing it soon. The style and the mood and the music fit wonderfully and I just know that I'm going to enjoy this series.

And so while awaiting other anime eagerly, I may end up enjoying this one the most for this fall season.

Michiko to Hatchin seems interesting since the beginning. The storyline takes place in some hispanic area as Spanish keeps popping up in the form of names, places, and even the date and location of each scene. This will be fun series to dive into.

first impression: Tales of the Abyss (anime)

Another RPG turned anime is born with Tales of the Abyss. This is purportedly a part of the "Tales of..." franchise which would include such titles as Tales of Symphonia, Tales of Eternia... and then some. All of these are taken from role-playing games, and accordingly, the Tales of franchise is really not too bad as both of the above mentioned have gotten praise and Tales of the Abyss is causing lots of hype among fans.

The story starts out with the introduciton of Luke, a red-haired, hot-headed young spoiled prince who hates that he's being locked away in his own mansion. When he was a child he'd been kidnapped and returned with memories lost of his previous years before the kidnapping. He is friends with a servant named Guy, engaged to Princess Natalia, and is being trained in the art of the sword by his Van Sensei.

While practicing out in the court, Tear, a sorceress type girl enters the mansion and proclaims vengeance against Vandesdelca, Luke's Van Sensei, as she puts the rest of the people of the court into a sleep with her powers. Upon attacking Van, Luke intervenes and somehow a 7th Fonon reacts and the two are transported away from the mansion. From then, though having tried to take his Van Sensei's life, Tear turns out to be quite a generous and kind young girl who makes herself responsible for making sure Luke returns to his home safely.

The episode actually starts off with some form of prophecy which more than likely involves Luke and his being a 7th Fonon. The storyline sounds kind of complicated what with Yulia the creator who had learned the 7th Fonon arts, the planet called Outerlands which was made from the 7 Fonons which ended up divided, and the two factions divided Kimlasca and Malkuth. There is also the Lorelei religion which protects the Fonons and Yulia the creator.

The central theme of this series, I can surmise, is about the score created by Yulia and how our heroes will adventure in relation to it.

The first episode was a very mashed up debacle of events occuring one right after another. While I understand that sometimes jumping right into the point is good, I don't like it when too many things are narrated within five minutes and expected of the viewer to know what is going on. Of course, for others, maybe you already know what's happening in the storyline since your a fan of the Tales of franchise and have played every single game to death.

Me, I'm not too certain I can grasp the storyline since I haven't played the game. After all, it took me quite some time to understand what was going on with Final Fantasy VII's storyline. And I'm a proud squealing fangirl who worships Cloud-sama. Advent Children is thus far my favorite RPG turned animation adaptation. Even World Destruction has lost it's appeal for me, but I will devote myself to finishing it.

Back to Tales of the Abyss, I think I'll give it a shot. After all, I like action, adventure, and fantasy, and the Tales of franchise often boasts good adventure and fantasy with a slice of romance. We'll just see how this works out.

Except I know for a fact that I already don't like Luke, the spoiled brat from the Kingdom of Kimlasca who's supposedly part of the prophecy at the beginning and is the main protagonist of the series. He sounds like a spoiled brat and acts like one too. I don't know it that's to do with the character or the seiyuu of which I'm unfamiliar. I look foward to seeing more of Tear who seems like the cool and collected woman warrior-- she almost reminds me Morute except a lot nicer and a lot more competent, less hot-headed; she would make quite the nice foil for Luke as his counter personality.

If at all possible, I've come to like Yukana, the seiyuu of Tear who has also done the likes of Meiling Li from Cardcaptor Sakura, and Tenko-sama from Wagaya no Oinari-sama.

All-in-all, there is always the possibility that I will drop this series before it's over. It is scheduled for 26 episodes, much longer than any of the other Tales of series out in animation. This may be a long and bumpy ride.

first impression: Naisho no Tsubomi (anime)

When I first saw the summary of this anime, my thoughts were quite cruel. It was summarized about a little girl who was growing up and going through that phase of puberty where everything was completely foreign to her. Not only does she have to deal with her period coming soon, but she also had to deal with certain growing feelings of attraction towards a boy in her class. This is unfamiliar territory for Tsubomi.

Frankly, I wasn't really interested in it. A bunch of kids growing up. So what?

But then when I accidentally clicked to the title again not knowing what it was, for some wierd reason I decided that I might give it a try. After all, it's only 3 OVAs long and while the other two aren't available with subtitles yet, this first one might serve some minor entertainment. They're a bunch of kids, right? What harm could there be? Because in essence, I've learned that anything based off of shoujo manga has good endings, cute storylines, and nothing too heavily dramatized. Even angsty themes aren't too heavily traumatic.

I like good happy themes. And slice of life comedies with a twist of "girl growing up and learning to become a woman" kind of piqued my curiosity.

The advertisement of this short OVA series was no lie. Everything mentioned in the summary took place with Tsubomi meeting another girl in her class, Saya, who was much more mature and level-headed than she was. You wouldn't have guessed that Saya was just some snot nosed elementary school kid-- of course, upon further viewing, you learn that there is so much more to Saya and that there's something about her own life she may be hiding from Tsubomi. Otherwise, she's a very good source of mature information whenever Tsubomi seemed lost concerning her mother's pregnancy.

Of course, there was that friend who just had to point out that "Tsubomi's mommy and daddy did naughty things" and that's how babies are made. How cruel to make a little girl realize such a thing... Honestly, NO ONE likes to even think that their parents are doing it like a happy couple because it's just gross to think that way. Even if it is the truth.

In Tsubomi's case, "doing naughty things" such as having sex is definitely a no-no and her young and innocent little mind doesn't comprehend the whole situation. She only knows that it's bad. And so thanks to Saya's mature look on things, she is told to understand that, "it's okay since they're happily married and they love each other."

Is that really right? LOL Who knows nowadays.

The premise of Naisho no Tsubomi is interesting and cute. I wouldn't say it's original since a lot of movies and series have done these issues to death. After all, a girl advancing into the adolescent puberty stage is a natural element of life. The American movie, My Girl was all about a girl growing up and becoming a woman and falling in love... and things like that -- it was also quite popular back when I was growing up.

I'll have to admit, it was quite adorable to watch the girls discussing things such as sex and how babies are made like they were professionals in this matter. Amusing actually.

I'm not too stuck on this series, but I would like to see how things progress between Tsubomi and her friends as well as with the boy she's suddenly attracted to, Daichi. He's a nice kid who tries to help her and be there for her, so you may wonder whether or not he's already discovered his own mature-ness... if boys even really get to that point. Also the next episode preview makes mention that Daichi gets help from Saya as well after he and Tsubomi witness their friends kissing and start to see each other in a different light.

Geez... so young and innocent.

Honestly, in America, kids these days aren't as innocent as portrayed in this anime. They know a lot more things than you would expect them to know, and even more so than you would know yourself at the age of twenty-four and going. Sometimes, you don't even want to know what they know, because it could become a bit awkward. Maybe in Japan, despite their openness in the media about sex and whatnot, the kids are actually very innocent. Or maybe shoujo manga is just simply aimed at being completely innocent and fairy tale like.

Good ethics, maybe. I know we in America kind of lack that sense in a lot of places. Sadly.

first impression: Chocolate Underground (anime)

I have to laugh. I really have to laugh.

The premise of this online broadcasted anime is based on the children's novel Bootleg by the British author Alex Shearer.
- credit to crunchyroll

Basically the world has been turned into some sort of health revolution era. The "Good For You" party is an organization designed and created to make sure that people eat only foods that are, well, good for you. Sadly, these foods despite being good for the health are horrible for the taste buds. This gives a new twist on traditional thinking that anything that's good for you tastes like crap.

You know, I think parents and leaders of the world alike have gone through a lot of hardships already to convince kids that not all health foods have the same texture as cardboard.

And then this anime/story comes along and ruins it all.

Of course, I have to admit, the idea of having chocolate and sweets prohibited from society is an interesting detail. The first episode even boasts two innocent yet guilty people just trying to enjoy a nice bar of chocolate during their evening when their house gets torn down by an army of mecha troopers. And then the leader of this army claims that "Chocolate is evil" or something like that.

I think my heart stopped when he crushed the bar of chocolate. I think I laughed when the house got torn down though for something as petty as a chocolate bar. hehe

I've already seen the first five episodes available to me so this isn't so much a first impression as it is a first thoughts post. The anime in itself is short, lasting only about five minutes average per episode. There is no opening theme and there is a very short and sweet ending theme with preview spoilers for the next episode.

The characters are rather blunt and flat, except for Louise whom you meet first hand trying to tackle a television because it won't stop those silly "Good For You" infomercials that are both tacky and boring and probably annoying when you've seen them for the hundredth time in a day. It also doesn't help that Louise used to run a sweets shop and now has to run a health food shop.

As for Huntly and Smudger, our two little boy protagonists, they are quite typical of little boys except that they are also very curious little boys. They go as far as landing themselves in a secret chocolate production underground cave type of place and then enjoying themselves. More friends are made along the way and the story is supposed to veer into the actual bootlegging of chocolate so there is much more to look forward to.

Otherwise, it's just a cute little story to watch during free time and I'm quite interested in reading the book it's based off of now.

first impression: World Destruction (anime)

The idea behind World Destruction: Sekai Bokumetsu no Rokunin is a Final Fantasy-like RPG turned anime series. What drew me to consider this series in the first place was actually a very superficial reason: Maaya Sakamoto. I'm a fan of hers and I'm the type of person who will check out a specific series because of certain people. As the voice for the main protagonist of World Destruction, I couldn't help watching the trailers and then anticipating the series' release.

The gist of World Destruction seems pretty straight forward.

This is a world where there are humans and then there are beastmen. Humans are enslaved by beastmen at this time and have learned to fear them. Because of this, our protagonist, Morute comes into play as the heroine with a mission to "destroy the world." Due to this, Morute is continuously chased by the beastmen of the "World Savior Committie" who have conveniently dubbed Morute as the "World Destruction Committie." And she likes this name.

In her possession, after all, is an orb known as "Destruct Code" which Morute claims is an old human secret weapon that has the power to destroy the world.

Along comes Kirie in the first five minutes of the first episode, disguised as a beastman for the sake of survival, and then is abruptly revealed to be human when Morute tries to take him hostage. The two make their escape from the "World Savior Committie" and find themselves in yet another debacle when they take refuge in a small human village. Here, because the beastmen Boundary God has been angered, a human must be sacrificed, but the village doesn't want to give up one of their own and so attempt to replace their little girl with Morute. At this time, Morute has already left the village and so the humans have no choice but to use Kirie who is already drugged and very unconscious. Morute learns of this and returns to save her fellow human.

Enter Toppi, a beastman in the form of a teddy bear who claims to be a hero from a hero's guild. He had been hired at the behest of a boy from the village to save his big sister who had been the original human sacrifice. The "World Savior Committie" joins the scene and a whole big fight sequence takes its toll. Morute threatens to use "Destruct Code", trips and loses the orb which in turn rolls its way over to Kirie who picks it up innocently, thus somehow activating it bringing on a massive quake to the area.

By the end of the first episode, the official "World Destruction Committie" has been reluctantly established. Of the three, Morute seems to be the only one passionate about destroying the world with her power and Kirie wonders why they don't just try to be heroes and save people. Poor Toppi is stuck being mistaken as part of the "World Destruction Committie" and thus has nowhere else to go. And it seems that Kirie just might have something to do with being able to trigger "Destruct Code's" power.

My impression of this first episode is rather weak, to be honest. Maaya Sakamoto can prove to be a strong voice actor... or sometimes the wrong one. For some reason, I'm not feeling her as a hero -- not quite yet. Of course, I'm also not quite sure what Morute's whole business with destroying the world is yet either. Sakamoto holds her own very well, however because she has one of those versatile voices. She can either be extremely monotonous and manly, be cool and calm... and manly, or she can be really girly and cute. In here, it seems that she's going for a semi-manly and half-girlish tone. It's sort of working.

In contrast, her co-seiyu Miyano Mamoru -- who voiced Suou Tamaki of Ouran High School Host Club fame alongside Sakamoto -- did very well in conveying the almost ditzy, carefree, eccentric attitude of Kirie. He brings out the shine that is Kirie and tops it off nicely with his boyish attractive voice. He's almost like Tamaki without the princely smugness.

The characters are in the progress of being developed through the story and will probably continue to develop more as the adventure moves along. Morute holds a deeper, hidden mystery of her past; there are reasons why she feel so strongly about destroying the world and why she carries with her the one item that can do such a thing.

Kirie is kind of flighty and spastic; I assume he's alone and surviving alone. Right now he's a bit of a pansy and I hope he'll toughen up as the journey continues and doesn't end up hiding behind a rock everytime Morute fights, as the opening sequence suggests.

There he goes.
There he is.
Toppi is supposedly a hero even though he's tiny; I've seen very little of his abilities as of this first episode, but he'll probably grow on me. He's also really preachy.

Overall, the first episode is quite good. Imagery is good, graphics are good, the artwork is worthy of any RPG turned anime, and the storyline feels a little wacky what with the cats worshipping the Boundary God, and some of the funny looking beastmen. The character design is beautiful and sharp and the clothing is a good fit with each character. The theme music is catchy and I really enjoy the ending theme.

I will continue to give World Destruction a good viewing as it comes out, because I have a feeling it'll live up to my expectations.

first impression: Natsume Yuujinchou (anime)

When I watched the first episode of this series, it was because I thought the poster looked really entrancing. A boy is sitting on a branch barefoot with a flowered robe draped over his shoulder. He looked so peaceful and deep in thought as he is staring at his own reflection in the water below him. It is nighttime and a partial moon is lighting the dark sky amidst the dotted pin-pricks of stars; the entrance of a shrine can be seen in the background.

The only thing out of place was the "Fortune Cat" hanging on the branch right next to him, but that didn't really bother me.

Natsume Yuujinchou, I guess roughly translates to "Natsume Book of Friends" or something of the like -- everytime the cat says "yuujinchou" the subtitle reads "Book of Friends."

The first episode introduces the boy, Natsume Takashi and immediately allows us to know that he can see spirits and has been able to see spirits ever since he was a child. No one else around him has this same ability, and because of that, he very nearly freaked out his parents -- or guardians, or what have you -- when he pointed at spirits in corners claiming that someone is there. We learn later on that his grandmother, Natsume Reiko was also able to see spirits and that she possessed some form of power. All of these spirits that appear in the series are after the title item, "Book of Friends" or "yuujinchou" of which contains binding contracts between Reiko and the spirits -- basically by contracting their true names, the owner of the book has total control over that spirit. By the end of the first episode, Natsume becomes entangled in his grandmother's past mischiefs among the spirit world, and just as well, he is determined to free all of the spirits by dissolving the contracts. At his side is Nyanko-sensie, the Fortune Cat who could be on Natsume's side, or out to get the "Book of Friends" like every other evil spirit out there.

My impression of the beginning of the episode had been slightly on the serious side. A somewhat fantastical telling of a young boy bound to a mission brought upon him by a spirit, passed onto him by an ancestor or a family member no longer living. It sounded very adventurous. It sounded very magical. I figured it would be a wonderful watch.

And then the cat showed up and we are given some fairly forced comedic scatterings.

The boy himself is quite sardonic, though I'm sure it's not in his nature to try to be funny as he seems quite reserved and monotonous (when not faced with one-eyed hostile spirits chasing him across fields). His sarcastic nature comes out readily, however, as we can see when he points out that Nyanko-sensei is indeed a cat no matter how great of a spirit he claims to be. Overall, Natsume is not a joker -- and how can he be since he's been chased by spirits his whole life?

The comedic timing of this episode overall was rather one-sided, but I had a good laugh at the "cat-and-fuzz-on-a-stick" bit. The story and concept I rather enjoyed.

Instead of taking on some duty passed to him by someone, Natsume decides for himself what he will do with the "Book of Friends" and thus gives himself a mission to carry out for the sake of his own sanity, for the sake of the cat, and for the sake of other spirits' freedoms. In doing so, Natsume presents to us as viewers the side of him that I know we'll learn to love: mercy. Instead of trying to control the spirits by using the book, he is intent on helping them.

Natsume Takashi, I find, is somewhat different from some of the other male protagonists I've seen in anime lately. While most are a mysteriously quiet type with a hidden arrogance, or maybe a cheery, teasing, loud type, Natsume is quiet, reserved, and just... well, natural. He's not excessively moody or dark, he's not excessively melancholic. He's just the right dose of quiet. And on top of that, he's a good kid.

Anyway, by this point of the series, I began to wonder what kind of a woman Natsume Reiko had been during her time. She created these binding contracts to control so many spirits and her reasons seem rather inconclusive. For example, the first spirit to have her contract dissolved flashes back to show us that Reiko had created this contract for the sake of appeasing her own loneliness. But Reiko never called upon this spirit at all and thus the spirit was left lonely and confused. Were all the contracts all for fun, to shake her loneliness, or for other more significant reasons? Were some of the spirits at least evil enough to need to remain bound under Reiko's control?

And then, will this series delve into the past repeatedly to address Reiko's situation? For some reason, I don't see this series focusing mainly on Natsume and the cat. Reiko's youthful past is something of interest that I wouldn't mind learning about as a viewer. How did she cope with being able to see spirits and having such a power to overcome them? And how did she get this power? And why a "Book of Friends?"

With an almost slight "Wagaya no Oinari-sama" twist, the series almost gives off the same feel. Except, I have a feeling that this one may fair a bit better than the former as it has a more likeable protagonist and a less scattered plot device. I intend to keep watching.