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+--- Thread: Summer 2011 Anime (/showthread.php?tid=6253)
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 9th August 2011
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 9th August 2011
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 12th August 2011
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 13th August 2011
Saiunkoku Monogatari 7-8 - Huh, seems decent. It's a fantasy ancient China series about a girl who wants to become a government official or something like that, and the various attractive guys around her. 78 episodes though... that's a lot. Still, I might watch it.
Saiunkoku Monogatari 9-11 - This is a really, really slow paced show. The episodes seem to take forever to finish... I don't mean that as an entirely bad thing though, the writing and stories are quite decent. I like the setting too, fantasy ancient China is a great setting that isn't used quite often enough in anime. :) It's also good because ancient China/Japan settings in anime are generally much, much less crazily inaccurate than fantasy ancient European stuff is... yes, the insanity of fantasy Medieval stuff is pretty annoying at times. Maybe they should do more things set in the East. You know, do more things you know... :p (But yeah, I know fantasy is popular. I like it too.)
Anyway, as for the show, apart from being really slow, it is of course a reverse harem series. There's the main girl, who's from a noble family, wants to break gender barriers by being the first woman official, and is really good at a lot of things, and then a bunch of guys around her, including the king, various high officials, etc. They are, of course, all bishounen. The series is quite slow and has lots of politics and talking, and only rare action. For a slow show the pacing is okay, and there are lots of episodes so it's not like it's going to run out of episodes anytime soon (something that would make a pace this slow more annoying; like, think of The Twelve Kingdoms, where the thing ended in the middle because they had a really slow pace and then ran out of episodes long before they ran out of story; sure it was 45 episodes, but that wasn't nearly enough.). The main character girl often is almost a side character, as there's lots of stuff with just the rest of the characters (all male) talking. The show's decent though, and I probably do want to watch more, even if with its pace it is a bit boring.
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 14th August 2011
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 16th August 2011
Summer 2011 Anime - Great Rumbler - 16th August 2011
Mawaru Penguindrum is the show of the season, by far. It's crazy, it's weird, and it's hilarious. It doesn't necessarily make much sense and the plot has a tendency not to move particularly fast, but there's a lot of visual creativity, controlled insanity, and such bizarre sensibilities that it's really hard not to just totally fall in love with it. Also avoids lots of modern tropes that make my brain hurt.
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 17th August 2011
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 18th August 2011
Bakatest 2 5 - This was a good episode, I'm liking this series more and more as it goes along. The first few episodes of this season were weak, but it's really recovered and is good now. The "mystery" here is fairly obvious -- I mean, it didn't suggest who did it, but it's not hard to guess -- but still, this is funny stuff.
I will say though, yeah, if Akihisa somehow doesn't know that those two girls like him it'd be almost impossible to believe...
Also, that none of the girls know how bad Himeji's cooking is is also impossible to believe. So we're supposed to believe that none of them have ever, even once, tasted any of her food? None? And she's never eaten her own cooking either or something? And when Akihisa passes out and almost dies immediately after trying her food none of the girls think anything of it? Oh come on, you can insult my intelligence some, but that's going way too far... it's at least as bad or maybe even worse than if Akihisa somehow doesn't know that those two girls like him.
Bakatest 2 6 - This episode was almost too stupid for words... so, Akihisa and the other guys continue trying to break into the girls' bath, so that they can try to figure out who the one blackmailing Akihisa and Yuuji is. They fail several more times in this episode. At least it's somewhat epic though, their encouragement scenes before each attempt are great stuff... :lol
Seriously though, once again this episode goes so far over the top with the stupid that I don't know if I even want to begin explaining how... but yes, partially despite and partially because of the incredible stupidity, it was often funny.
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 22nd August 2011
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 24th August 2011
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 25th August 2011
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 25th August 2011
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 30th August 2011
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 30th August 2011
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 30th August 2011
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 1st September 2011
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 3rd September 2011
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 4th September 2011
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 8th September 2011
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 10th September 2011
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 12th September 2011
Summer 2011 Anime - Dark Jaguar - 12th September 2011
Action Delivery Force: An amazing masterpiece of animation. 1980's anime truly is the greetest.
<table style='font:11px arial; color:#333; background-color:#f5f5f5' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='512' height='340'><tbody><tr style='background-color:#e5e5e5' valign='middle'><td style='padding:2px 1px 0px 5px;'><a target='_blank' style='color:#333; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;' href='http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/futurama/index.jhtml'>Futurama</a></td><td style='padding:2px 5px 0px 5px; text-align:right; font-weight:bold;'></td></tr><tr style='height:14px;' valign='middle'><td style='padding:2px 1px 0px 5px;' colspan='2'><a target='_blank' style='color:#333; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;' href='http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=396052&title=action-delivery-force-thrilling'>Action Delivery Force - Thrilling Space Battle</a></td></tr><tr style='height:14px; background-color:#353535' valign='middle'><td colspan='2' style='padding:2px 5px 0px 5px; width:512px; overflow:hidden; text-align:right'><a target='_blank' style='color:#96deff; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;' href='http://www.comedycentral.com/'>www.comedycentral.com</a></td></tr><tr valign='middle'><td style='padding:0px;' colspan='2'><embed style='display:block' src='http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:396052' width='512' height='288' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' wmode='window' allowFullscreen='true' flashvars='autoPlay=false' allowscriptaccess='always' allownetworking='all' bgcolor='#000000'></embed></td></tr><tr style='height:18px;' valign='middle'><td style='padding:0px;' colspan='2'><table style='margin:0px; text-align:center' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='100%' height='100%'><tr valign='middle'><td style='padding:3px; width:33%;'><a target='_blank' style='font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;' href='http://www.comedycentral.com/'>Comedy Central</a></td><td style='padding:3px; width:33%;'><a target='_blank' style='font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;' href='http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/index.jhtml'>Funny TV Shows</a></td><td style='padding:3px; width:33%;'><a target='_blank' style='font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;' href='http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/roast-charlie-sheen/index.jhtml'>Roast of Charlie Sheen</a></td></tr></table></td></tr></tbody></table>
Summer 2011 Anime - Great Rumbler - 12th September 2011
Awesome, but not as good as this:
<iframe width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/o2Q6AwrGUkQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Summer 2011 Anime - Dark Jaguar - 12th September 2011
....You and I are enemies now.
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 15th September 2011
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 17th September 2011
Nichijou 23 - Um, I'm not sure what to say about this episode. It was ... weird, that's for sure. Not many of the jokes this time were actually funny, I thought, they were more just bizarre, or strange but not laugh-out-loud funny. This was a very odd episode... I'm not sure whether it succeeded or failed, it mostly just leaves me wondering what their goal was this time.
There were some funny parts as usual, though. But a lot of it... I'm not sure.
On a somewhat different note, one of the things that makes Mai so creepy is that she never shows any emotion, and because she rarely speaks we never know whether the cruel jokes she constantly pulls on her "friends" are actually innocent, or whether she's just doing it all out of the meanness of her heart. I have no idea which it is, she gives us almost no clues...
Blood-C 10 - Um, huh. Yeah, that ending. That's kind of promising actually, anything else would be better than what's been going on in most of this show...
Other than that, this episode had about three minutes of action and about twenty minutes of nothing happening. Yeah. Clamp doesn't seem to understand the concept of "pacing", that's for sure.
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 18th September 2011
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 19th September 2011
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 20th September 2011
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 22nd September 2011
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 24th September 2011
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 27th September 2011
Summer 2011 Anime - Great Rumbler - 27th September 2011
Ika Musume season 2 - Episode 01
Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 3rd October 2011
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 4th October 2011
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 7th October 2011
Summer 2011 Anime - Great Rumbler - 7th October 2011
Evangelion 2.22: You Can [Not] Advance
I can't even being to imagine how things are going to go in the next two movies if the series is already this absolutely insane and epic at just the halfway point. It took the series 19 episodes to get this far into the story, leaving two whole movies to cover just to the last 7 episodes. EoE kind of set the high water mark for mind-rape, but it feels like they may be ramping up this four-part movie series for something even beyond that, which my brain literally can't comprehend.
So, yeah, good stuff. Looking forward to the next movie, due out in Fall 2012.
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 8th October 2011
I wrote a review of that after watching it some months ago, in a previous thread perhaps? I have ... mixed feelings ... about it, to say the least.
Also, apparently Last Exile Fam is going to be 25 episodes. That's great, it's the one show this season I'm definitely looking forwards to. :)
Summer 2011 Anime - Great Rumbler - 9th October 2011
Okay, I went and found your EVA 2.22 review and...well... you are SUCH an old curmudgeon, ABF. Seriously.
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 9th October 2011
How so? Because I didn't exactly love it?
Summer 2011 Anime - Great Rumbler - 9th October 2011
No, just your habit of complaining about the strangest things, like Asuka having an eye-patch and an irrational fear that the movie series will descend into harem-dom.
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 9th October 2011
Those are entirely valid complaints though!
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 10th October 2011
Ben-to 1 - I liked this, mostly. The characters are stereotypes, and for the most part the show seemed like it would be mediocre (I mean, how stupid is that concept...), but the show somehow worked. I think part of it was how completely absurd the concept is, it's just ridiculous... :lol
This is a harem show, but beyond that, the main draw is the absurd concept. So, apparently, there is this store which sells half price bento. There are a bunch of hungry (and presumably poor) people who fight bitterly over this half-price bento. Our hero, and three girls (so far), are among the crowds fighting over the bentos. In ep. 1 the MC gets beaten repeatedly in his attempts to get a bento, so he doesn't start out skilled. He can't resist trying anyway, though, he wants the food and can't resist the attempts despite knowing what will probably happen. Of the girls, one seems to like him for no apparent reason, another is called the "Ice Queen" and apparently rules that store or something, and the third is his class representative and has hit the MC several times when she saw him with the first girl, though we don't really know why yet.
Overall, this show is so absurd that it actually works, so far at least. The idea of people fighting bitterly over half-price cheap food is pretty silly, but that's part of what makes the show amusing, really. I wasn't expecting much from this, but it beats expectations for sure.
Majikoi Oh! Samurai Girls 1 - This has nothing to do with the other Samurai Girls, unfortunately. This show starts with action, as this entire episode is all action as the characters fight in a (no actual injuries) battle between two classes and their supporters. Anyway, thi is a harem show based on an H-game. As is common with such things, the H elements are gone (no pantyshots either, here). The game was a strategy H-game, so the MC is a strategist type who tells people their orders, and the girls are strong fighters. He has some minor fighting skills, but nothing impressive compared to them, or his ability to plan strategy. Oh, there are five main girls. One is a childhood friend who the MC had had a sister-like relationship with when they were younger, but now likes. He's confessed to her twice, but she rejected him both times.
Most of the episode, however, is taken up with the fighting between the two classes. Some bits here and there are good, but for the most part it was very generic. Dog Days this is not, let's just put it that way... this is a pretty underwhelming show, and I barely found it decent enough to keep watching. Not too good.
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 15th October 2011
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 17th October 2011
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 19th October 2011
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 22nd October 2011
Summer 2011 Anime - A Black Falcon - 23rd October 2011
Summer 2011 Anime - Great Rumbler - 23rd October 2011
Gonna blow through several shows really quick here:
Ika Musume season 2
It's more of the same, which is great because I really loved the first season. First episode of season 2 was a little weak, but the next three have just been great. No complaints from me.
Working season 2
First two episodes were a bit flat, just couldn't get into them, but episode 3 was really great and reminded me of what I liked about the first season. Episode 4 was pretty good too, the show looks to be on track now.
Ben-to
This reminded me, in a way, of Baka to Test. It should be absolutely terrible, but somehow it manages to be really fun and funny. Basically, this is a show about people who get into very violent battles on half-price food at convenience stores. Sounds strange? It is, but the show takes this very seriously, even going so far as to lay out a dearth of rules and terms that add a strategic angle to something inherently goofy. It's also relatively light on fanservice.
Persona 4
It's like watching someone play the game, but with most of the fighting cut out. Not necessarily a bad thing, but the first two episodes felt really flat, in large part because the main character just has no personality compared to the other characters. Episode 3 was the best so far and it really felt like the show might be on a upswing as it begins to carve out its own path. I'll give it a few more episodes to see if it can keep improving. Pretty good animation though, especially with the detail on the characters.
UN-GO
As a pure detective show it's just no good. Mysteries are solved far too quickly without enough setup and the introduction of supernatrual elements stretches credibility. However, there's an undercurrent that becomes more prominent in episode 2 about the control of information and how the government uses information to establish its own narrative with each mystery, covering up the truth for a convenient lie, that's becoming very intriguing and by far the more interesting aspect of the show. The ultimate success of UN-GO will rely on whether that aspect remains so.
I'll leave Guilty Crown, Mirai Nikki, and Last Exile for when I get watch past the first episode.