Friday, July 12, 2013

Anime Mondays #26

It's been a pretty quiet month concerning anime.I just haven't had a whole lot of time at all to plow through anything.And if I don't have at least three shows to talk about, I'll hold it over for a week.This weekend, I went to visit some of my buddies up in Detroit (a good four hours away) and it was like being on another planet.Or, at least in South Jersey.Michigan lefts?Oh, no, those are Jersey U-turns.But driving woes aside, it was an awesome time.Plus, we went to the cupcake store.I pretty much want to live there.

All images are from , and there are spoilers listed up to the episodes below!


FULL METAL PANIC! - EPISODE 2

I'm still rightfully enjoying this series, even though it's a mech show.And we all know how much I loooove mech shows.Insert your shifty eyes here.Fortunately, this episode had very little to do with giant robots and more to do with the relationship forming between our two main characters.This show is FUNNY.It's not in your face comedy like SCHOOL RUMBLE or LUCKY STAR or anything, but it's just the right amount of laughs to make it work.And I was right, Monica Rial is the blue-haired girl's best friend and her voice is not annoying!It's a small miracle.Luci Christian is also pulling out a top notch performance as said blue-haired girl.Why can't we get English dubs like this anymore?Why does everything have to be a screechy mess?Anyway, when the Funimation Roku Channel works (which is becoming spotty again, ugh), this is what I turn on.

YU YU HAKUSHO - EPISODES 43-50

So we're still in this tournament.And I guess now I've hit the wall with it because I can't remember much about this string of episodes except they won.Yusuke did this intense training thing while everyone else is literally taking one for the team, and I really hope that they get to fight the main asshole guy who made them do this tournament in the first place soon because I'm about ready to turn in my HAKUSHO card for a DRAGON BALL one or something.I guess there really is a thing as too much tournament fighting.

ROZEN MAIDEN - EPISODES 1-2

I started a re-watch of this series because the new one is airing soon (did it already start?), and as my OCD dictates, I must watch everything in order.I bought the Sentai Complete Collection of this, even though I watched it the first time on the Geneon singles.Yes, I am kicking myself for not buying that velvet-covered art box, thanks for asking.This show goes dives into the world of creepy looking dolls that come to life to play this thing called The Alice Game, where the goal is to pretty much kill one another.They have to have a human to give them energy, and our main doll in charge picks one who completely hates life and spends all his time buying crap from the internet.The concept starts out amazingly, but as with 80% of anime, it goes downhill after a little while.However, the first two episodes set the show up nicely and add some unexpected comedic bits, like when Shinku says she'll take her tea in the bathroom.The main problem I have with this show is the audio, though.The English dub is pretty atocious, and most of the Japanese voices are completely annoying.Desu, anyone?I'm going to attempt to rush through this quickly so I can pick up the third season before too many episodes have come out.

ROSE OF VERSAILLES - EPISODES 16-20

I'm now officially halfway through this series, and it's still nothing short of amazing.A huge reveal happened in these episodes, as it turns out the streetrat whom Oscar has befriended because Madame Polignac killed her mother by running her over with her carriage is actually a noble and her real mother is the same woman who killed her adopted mother!THE DRAMA.Then, Madame Polignac's other daughter commits suicide because her mom wants to marry her off to this giant creeper.And, AND!OSCAR HAS FEELINGS FOR THE DUDE WHO IS IN LOVE WITH MARIE ANTOINETTE.And Fersen and Marie finally sleep together!I can't.I can't.This show is so great and so filled with Degrassi-esque drama and characters I love and characters I hate and love triangles and squares and I just want to marry it.Now, now, now.

CHIHAYAFURU 2 - EPISODES 16-25 (COMPLETED!)

With the final episode aired, I took the opportunity to marathon the shit out of my beloved CHIHAYAFURU 2and finish it and boy am I glad I did.I was honestly getting burnt out watching it weekly because I felt like it wasn't moving fast enough, but when I breezed through the last ten episodes in one day, I remembered why I love this show.Okay technically, it was nine episodes; I skipped 16 because it was a recap episode that was totally unnecessary.But here's the cliff notes version.CHIHAYA'S TEAM WON THE KARUTA TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP!!!Her biggest dream came true.She sobbed.I sobbed.We all sobbed.But then, she gets injured.And while she does compete in the individual tournament, she loses her third match to the Queen herself.All she wanted to do was play Arata, and that dream was shattered.So, I cried again.But Taichi Taichi WINS.HE WINS AND MOVES UP TO CLASS A.And instead of letting his win sink in for awhile, he immediately wants Chihaya to go watch the championship match for Class A, which is Arata vs. the Quen.He loves her so much.Arata wins, and it turns out that every class winner was someone who Chihaya cares deeply for.However, the show doesn't end there, oh no.Turns out Chihaya needs surgery on her finger, and while she is in the hospital, she has this epiphany where (here we go.I'm taking a deep breath now.This is so hard for me to say.)she realizes she loves Arata.Arata.Not Taichi.Um.AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT.Really?Really???I can't have this in my life.Everyone but Chihaya knows that Taichi is butt crazy in love with her, and they tell him to man the fuck up because she's not going to be oblivious to boys for much longer, and he agrees and goes with her to karuta training camp once her finger heals and that's where the series ends.UGH.There is an OVA confirmed, but I NEED ANOTHER SEASON.It did not end nicely like the first one did, and I am so unfulfilled, and WHAT IS THIS CHIHAYA/ARATA BULLSHIT?The manga needs to catch up, though.If we do get anything else, we'll be waiting awhile for it.B! ut man.MAN.I love this show.Even when I hate it, I love it.I rated it 9/10 on MAL because of the pacing problems.Marathon this, don't watch it an episode at a time, but I highly recommend you watch both seasons.I will miss you, my beloved Chihaya.

ATTACK ON TITAN - EPISODES 11-13

Much as the previous anime, ATTACK ON TITAN is best seen in marathoned form.Maybe that's just how a ton of shows are for me, but I can't stand the long gaps between episodes.I know what happens.I yell at the tv.And then I have to wait a week to yell some more and get even more frustrated.So Eren is a titan.And he can control his actions, but he can't.He saved everybody, but Armin had to literally stab the shit out of him to get him to remember who he was while he was in titan form.And now, he's going to join the Survey Corps to go back to his basement to get the key to the titans.Of course, this week is a recap episode, so that shit will be skipped since there's a giant bunch of recap in like every episode.The animation quality of this show as a whole sucks now.I know they're running out of money and time, but come on.Just because you make some nice titan battles does not mean you can recycle animation or use a bunch of panned still frames.Show's still good, though, definitely the only thing I kept up with i the spring 2013 anime season.

GETBACKERS - EPISODES 27-33

I'm almost done with this series.I AM ALMOST DONE WITH THIS SERIES.I must admit, I got thrown off when my rental service sent me something that I had listed above this in my queue that was a long wait.I actually went, "but my next GETBACKERS disc " and pouted.The next case was an art heist about the Venus de Milo actually having arms and the art thief from one of the previous arcs hired them to make sure the arms didn't end up on the statue.But, surprise!All the art stuff was a cover up for some drug smuggling.Wasn't expecting that, but it sure was a nice surprise.See, I like it when the arcs are short.That Makubex crap was just too much to handle.

ANOTHER - EPISODES 1-8

I started ANOTHER when it was airing in Japan and on Crunchyroll, and I thought the show had promise.However, when I found out it was licensed and getting a dub, I held off because the supernatural shows are a lot for me to handle while reading subtitles at the same time.And boy, am I glad I did.The first episode of this anime really isn't too terrible, but as it's going on, it's heading into HIGURASHI territory, which is making me so, so happy.This isn't a SHIKI-esque fake out, oh no, this is the real deal.The dub is surprisingly great, too, with Greg Ayres (I love him) and Monica Rial in another performance that's not at a pitch that only dogs can hear and JESSICA BOONE (what happened to her? I love her, too!).It also came out almost a month early from Right Stuf, so I've been watching it since I got back from Michigan.Can I just ask what the deal is, though, with putting nine episodes on one blu-ray disc and just four on another?Like, I want quality when I'm buying a blu-ray and cramming a million episode on one disc when they just as easily could have done half and half feels like they significantly compromised it.Oh well.I don't want to ruin the surprise of this show until I finish it, which will probably be as soon as I'm done with this post.Whoops.

Best of the Week: CHIHAYFURU 2, ROSE OF VERSAILLES, ANOTHER, FULL METAL PANIC

Love it or Leave It: GETBACKERS, ATTACK ON TITAN, ROZEN MAIDEN

Hope it Gets Better: YU YU HAKUSHO

It was definitely a good couple weeks!I'm glad I held off.What are you most looking forward to in the summer season, and what should I check out?Right now, I'm thinking about BLOOD LAD, ROZEN MAIDEN 3, FREE, and that show about Sundays the title is escaping me.Let me know in the comments if I'm missing anything worth not marathoning!
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