Everyone and their dog has already blogged this already, so I'm not going to bother with a synopsis. All I can say is...AHAHAHAHAHAHHA. SHAFT, you guys are amazing. I'm an unashamed fan of traps, and Maria is a great twist on the average pretty face. This is definitely a show for the more hardcore otaku, though. There's just too much going on for it to make much sense elsewise, and while it's not as edgy as a lot of stuff by SHAFT, it definitely takes a bit of a stomach. Animation is great, and I'm really liking the music (especially that lovely track where Maria kissed Kanako). The ending song is very strange, and now I'm really craving strawberries. Anyway, I'll probably watch more. Not sure if I like it enough to blog it yet.
Okay, I didn't get a catboy, but Amu did. More on that later. The guardians are enjoying their new year at the local shrine when they run into a couple of kids who are supposed to be doing entertainment. Rima takes entertainment very seriously and somehow winds up making everyone practice balancing balls on spinning umbrellas. Lulu appears and Amu happily introduces her to everyone else. To their surprise, Lulu is really tweaking good at the balancing balls on the umbrella thing. But before Lulu can have too much bonding time, she's called away by one of the idiots from Easter. While everyone else was having fun, Ikuto and Yoru were busy stealing his violin back. Lulu has to clean up the mess. She runs into Ikuto who seems very sick (possibly because his violin is infused with X-egg energy). She tells him to return the violin to Easter, but she's not really in the mood to fight, so she leaves him there. She finds the two kids from before and gives them the riddle egg jewels. They fight with the guardians, realize that they're really not as losery as they thought, and go on to great things (as usual). Amu returns home and leaps into bed only to find a sleeping Ikuto there. OH NOES.
Cute episode is cute, although the monster of the week thing is so tiring. Seeing Tadase and Amu all blushy over each other was cute, especially when Yaya and Rima started teasing them about it. Nagihiko looks very nice in that outfit. Of course, Ikuto fans should be pleased to see lots of Ikuto looking cool and smirking and finally sleeping all cutely like a cat. I can hear the screaming fangirls already. It looks like they've started to go back to the manga, but next week's episode looks like more filler with everyone playing in the snow. Seems as if they're going to follow the manga story veeery sloooowly. Oh well. I doubt most people will complain about Ikuto spending extra nights in Amu's room.
I Can't Sleep Alone. Eight shoujo horror stores = one satisfying read. I Can't Sleep Alone a collection of short horror stories by eight different manga-ka. As a shoujo collection, it deals with typical girl issues like family, falling in love, friendship, school, and beauty. But instead of the usual fluff, these stories have a much darker side. First love turns out very different from imagined, and girls fall prey to their own desperate vanity. The beautiful artwork only serves to make the story even more dark when the creeping danger manages to work its way into the cute artwork.
As with any anthology, some of the stories are much stronger than others. A couple turn out to be nothing more than cute shoujo stories that happen to have ghosts in them. The stronger ones with disturbing twists are definitely a better read. The first story about a girl unhappy with her life remains light throughout even though it has an ominous ending. Another story of a girl and the boy she fell in love with through text messaging stays away from the supernatural, but manages to bring in a pretty solid end. The final two stories are strikingly similar, but equally disturbing and a good ending to the collection. The collection is fairly old, so it's unlikely that any of these tales will bring about a surprise ending, as by now you've probably read something similar. However, that doesn't keep it from being interesting. And it doesn't hurt to be reminded that beauty isn't everything.
Overall, a nice collection. A good read for anyone who likes horror or it looking for something to read that actually has an end. You won't find anything new here, though, so if you're looking for horror that will keep you guessing, I guess you could read Doubt or something. Also, I didn't realize that black hair in twintail braids was considered plain, but apparently it is. Huh.
So uh...I animated something in Flash. It's not great, but since it's my first, I'm proud of it. ^_^;; It's just a couple seconds, and it probably doesn't make much sense, but I hope you guys think it's cute. It's based on a sketch by my brother, and voiced by the two of us.
Well, Funimation's new show a go-go finally announces a series not previously licensed in North America. I must confess, I'm surprised. From all the hints they hid around the site, none of them made me think that Nabari no Ou would be on the list. Most of the clues seem to be straightforward, but Nabari wasn't on it at all. Now I'm really curious to see what happens. Hopefully more new stuff. Would it be too much to hope for something as obscure as Dennou Coil? Probably...
Kyoko as Bo tries to exact revenge on Shou by putting him embarrassing situations, but he keeps finding a way to look cooler because of it. Through the show he starts to think that the chicken might be Kyoko since she's the only person who knows all his secrets and weaknesses. He tries to reveal her onstage and the two wind up in a fight. Kyoko is punished for it even thought Shou started the fight. She realizes that in the world of show biz, right and wrong are measured by how popular you are. While still dressed as Bo, she runs into a very depressed looking Ren. He asks to borrow her cell phone and when she asks why, he refuses to tell. She realizes that he needs help understanding a kanji in his script. The phrase is a Japanse idiom and Ren misinterprets it as a type of dance. Kyoko thinks it's hilarious that he's never heard that phrase before and she guesses that he grew up in the U.S. Rather than confirm or deny it, Ren acts like a stereotypical gaijin, and Kyoko gets angry, thinking he's making fun of her. In the end, Kyoko thinks that she hasn't seen Ren's honest side before, and he really isn't such a bad guy after all.
Yaaay~ Ren x Kyo scenes are the best, even if Ren doesn't know it's Kyoko. The Ren and Bo scene was great, and I loved Ren's impersonation of an arrogant American. Chibi Ren was also great. I'm glad that Kyoko is starting to warm up to Ren as a nice guy rather than the arrogant jerk she thought he was. Shou's still a total jerk, but I am disappointed that we don't get to hear him sing. I was actually really looking forward to hearing a song by him. ::sigh:: Either way, great episode (totally worth it for the second half). Next episode, Kyoko and Moko audition for a commercial. Let's wish them luck!
A long time ago, I had this idea of a cute story about an average guy who found an old soda bottle and it transformed into a magical girl named Soda. Except, in my mind the story wasn't made of FAIL like this was. I couldn't even make it through the first half of the episode. The story was dumb, overly cliched, and the animation and music didn't do much to make up the difference. It's obvious that quality isn't exactly the selling point here, but it's still pretty bad. I'm not gonna bother mentioning what little plot there is, since anyone who actually wants to watch this likely doesn't care about the plot. All I can say is, I'm incredibly disappointed. Even moreso because two of my favorite seiyuu are in this. Oh well.
Not much happened in the previous chapter. Kyoko learned from Hikaru (from Bridge Rock) that Chiori was already a childhood star who got trapped in one role and wound up not being able to advance her career because of it. Chiori is now trying to make it in acting again, but no one even recognizes her anymore. Meanwhile, Chiori is wondering why Kyoko hasn't been trapped in the same way. The Mio character is really strong, but somehow Kyoko has managed to escape with the character of Natsu. Chiori sees Kyoko walking down the hallway and wishes that Kyoko had fallen the same way she did. She pushes Kyoko down a staircase, but Kyoko manages to turn around as she falls.
In this chapter, Hikaru sees Kyoko falling and tries to catch her, but she rolls to the side and slams into the wall instead. Her hand hurts, but she tells Hikaru that it's fine and asks him to keep the incident a secret. She knows that Chiori pushed her, but she wants to deal with it herself. Hikaru is surprised by her Natsu-like aura and finds that he has an even bigger crush on her than before. Kyoko suddenly switches back to her old self and apologizes for dropping all the food that Hikaru paid for. The next day, Kyoko finds that her right hand hurts even more, and the director is worried that it might slow down filming, as it's weird if a character can't even move their right hand. However, Kyoko says that it should be fine, since Chiori's character can act as her right hand instead.
Chiori's pretty crazy. Of all the people Kyoko's faced before, none have been as vengeful or hateful not just towards Kyoko, but everyone around her. What an insane girl. Unfortunately, she seems like less of a threat than previous opponents. She pushed Kyoko down the stairs, which shows how far she's willing to go, but Kyoko seems to have taken it all in stride. The way she's turned the situation around is pretty cool, but I wonder how Chiori will react in turn. She's fully expected Kyoko to tell everyone that she was the one who pushed her, but instead Kyoko hasn't tried to rat her out. At least the story is getting really interesting now. I'd like to see Chiori's reaction. In the meantime, I kinda feel sorry for Hikaru. He doesn't have a chance against Ren, but he might generate a little bit of drama what with Kyoko telling him things that she'll probably try to hide from Ren. Dun dun DUUUN.
So today Funimation kicked off it's "New Show A-Go-Go" in which they'll be announcing ten new licenses in ten days. In what most people consider something of a disappointment, the first announcement is Ikki Tousen. However, there are still nine to go, and those who actually pay attention to anime out west are still trying to decipher the clues left behind. Funimation left clues scattered across the site.
The clues are vague and may or may not be bad puns. Of course, Funi has dropped other hints in the form of C&D letters (Eva 1.0, Soul Eater, Spice and Wolf, Seto no Hanayome, and Reborn!). I'm going to be very surprised if Soul Eater isn't one of these ten days.
Square Enix recently put out a very attractive trailer for the upcoming SO4 video game. While I do understand some of it, I'd be extremely grateful if someone with a greater knowledge of Japanese than I could take the time to translate the few lines of dialogue for me.
Christmas episode. Actually quite charming minus the ten worthless minutes near the end. Lulu's family is throwing a party, and Amu's family is invited (through Amu's mother's magazine connections). Lulu is shocked to see Amu at the party, but Amu doesn't know that Lulu is the one who's been causing all the riddle egg problems, so she's safe. Lulu even introduces her shugo chara to Amu. Lulu adores Christmas and misses the elegant parties that her family used to have, so she works hard to make the at-home party a success. She goes outside to decorate the tree, but the cold gets to her, so Amu and her charas come out to help. The two of them actually get along pretty well, and wind up being very friendly with each other by the end of the day. Lulu shows Amu a necklace she made for her mother, and Amu thinks it's gorgeous. Lulu wants to give it to her mom, but when she goes to her parents, she finds them dressed up in embarrassing Santa and Rudolph outfits entertaining the guests. She leaves, angry and embarrassed. In her anger, she targets a guy handing out gifts as Santa with her riddle egg powers and he turns into Santa Dream, sucking up everyone's Christmas gifts. Unfortunately, that includes the necklace that Lulu made. Amu beats Santa Dream and everyone gets their gifts back. Lulu returns home to find her parents dressed up elegantly like she remembers from the old days, and they welcome her home for a warm Christmas. And there were fuzzy feelings all around.
So, getting to know a little more about Lulu was nice. She seems a little spoiled, being so accustomed to the fancy dress parties and high life, but at least we know her better now. It's also cute how well she gets along with Amu. This would have been a pretty touching episode if it weren't for Lulu's temporary insanity in sending out another jewel to make a riddle egg. Suddenly a very cute episode turned into an episodic bore-fest. I was really hoping that Lulu would leap in and help Amu fight, but I guess that just wasn't to be. Of course, this makes me wonder why on earth Lulu is doing all of this in the first place. What is her motivation for working for Easter? The highlight of the episode was the sweet "Happy Christmas" insert song sung by Amu's seiyuu. It's really nice to listen to, and I hope they release the single (although it's doubtful). Next week is a New Years episode, but it looks like they'll be moving the manga plot along a little too.
I usually wouldn't do a double episode post, but I'm very behind, and episode 09 wasn't that spectacular anyway. Kyouko manages to turn around the improv situation by using Angel's lines and making Angel use her lines instead. However, partway through Maria interrupts and beings arguing with Kyouko instead. In the end, Maria finally realizes that her father still loves her, but the other girls don't accept Kyouko into the class, claiming that Maria's outburst made the challenge null. Lory asks Kyouko about her situation with her parents, and Kyouko says that her mother doesn't even care about where she is or what she's doing.
Depressed, Kyouko pulls out a blue stone and wishes away her sadness on it. Her manager finds her and surprises her, causing her to drop the stone down a stairwell. She chases after it desperately and runs into Ren at the bottom of the stairs. She says the stone came from someone very important from her past named Corn (O_o) and that it has the power to take away sadness. Ren asks if she used to live in Kyoto, and Kyouko is surprised that Ren knows about her past. He says that the blue stone is mined in Kyoto and she shouldn't be so naive, because someone might take advantage of her. He returns the stone to her and leaves. Alone in his car, he thinks that Kyouko has changed a lot since he last met her and gave her the blue stone (OH SNET). He then realizes that he's probably changed a lot more.
Moko has resolved not to make friends with Kyouko and do the best she can to destroy her career. However, Kyouko is deeply interested in finally having a female friend, so she's excited when the Love Me division is given the chance to act on a variety show. However, the role that needs to be filled is a giant chicken. Kyouko is stuck with the part, and she's even more horrified when the show's guest is Shou. However, she realizes that she's now in a position to humiliate Shou on live TV.
Episode 09 was slow and drawn out, and I feel like they spent a lot more on the Maria arc than necessary. However, I think they handled the blue stone scene with Ren really well. I've been looking forward to this revelation (although anyone who's paid attention would probably have figured out that Ren and Kyouko met in the past already). Ren is still something of a jerk, but he's a lot kinder to her now, and it seems he's really interested in Kyouko's career now. Ren x Kyo is WIN. Kitaaa~! Kyouko as Bo the chicken is hilarious, and I love the little demon chickens. The Bo arc has come along very nicely. Next episode, more Bo and more Ren x Kyo interaction. I'm very looking forward to it.
YES. Finally a worthwhile episode. That's the third one this season (the other two being 56 and 59). The guardians are cleaning up and they discover an old photograph with Nadeshiko in it. Rima is once again reminded that Nadeshiko and Amu are best friends, and she feels hurt. She's also threatened by Nagihiko's presence, as he's the "twin brother" of Nadeshiko. Amu notices that something is bothering Rima and tries to cheer her up by taking her on a Christmas shopping date filled with silly faces and gag jokes. Unfortunately, she also brings Nagihiko along, not realizing that that will tick Rima off even more. After a series of (literal) pitfalls, Rima finally smiles a bit, but she's still so stubborn that she tries to hide it. Amu invites them over to her house, and Amu's dad is shocked that Amu brought a boy over. Nagihiko ties his hair up and pretends to be Nadeshiko, and Amu's dad calms down. Rima is visibly unhappy at this turn of events. Surprisingly, Ami manages to break the ice, showing off pictures of little Amu and asking for the trio to make food for her. Nagihiko is unsurprisingly good at baking, and he even helps out Rima. The three head home with a large amount of tension still in the air. A bunch of X-eggs attack, and Amu and Rima transform. Nagihiko tells them how to round up the eggs, but Rima says she won't listen to a guy who can't even do his own character transformation. She winds up being attacked by the X-eggs, but Nagihiko blocks the blast. Rima finally agrees to listen to him and they purify the eggs. In the end, Nagihiko and Rima have accepted each other as rivals for Amu's attention, and poor Amu is stuck not knowing what to do.
What a cute episode. A lot of nice character development, and it was great having the focus on the Guardians for awhile. Rima is still unreasonably moody for the most part, although I suppose if your friend were suddenly taken away by THAT GUY, you'd have cause to be unhappy. And I'd definitely be ticked off if THAT GUY was masquerading as a girl to get into her bedroom. D: But Nagi really is a good kid and a perfect gentleman. Plus, Amu is working so hard to be good to Rima, I think Rima should just lighten up a bit. She'll probably be more open to him once his egg actually hatches. Man, I really enjoyed this episode, though. Totally worth the watch. And Nagi looks so good in that jacket. D: Next week is "Lulu's Perfect Christmas." I kinda forgot she existed, but I'm actually very interested in learning more about her rather than watch her boring self go around transforming people with riddle eggs. From the preview, she might even wind up on friendly terms with Amu. That would be interesting.
It's official. I'm behind on all anime this season. Partly due to my hectic job, and partly because I'm not as interested in what I'm watching. Shugo Chara is a good example of this. A new chara named Kiran appears and runs around doing good deeds to make people sparkle with happiness. The end. I wish I were making that up. It was a little cute at first, but it got old very quickly. I suppose I should at least be greatful we didn't have the requisite Lulu showing up with her riddle eggs. Thankfully, next week looks like something of an Amu x Nagihiko date with a very jealous Rima in between. Actual character development? No way! And for the record, Nagi looks pretty good in a suit.
So I've always liked figure skating, but I found Ginban Kaleidoscope a little bland. So with high hopes but no expectations, I took my first steps into chapter one of Ice Revolution. The lead, Masaki is the only girl in a dojo family. She's an expert in karate, winning one tournament after another, even though she's always competing among the guys. With a boyish personality and appearance, most people mistake her for a guy, and even those who know she's a girl rarely treat her as one. While she's a pretty laid back girl, she is sometimes frustrated that no one remembers who she really is. A chance encounter with a kind and cute boy increases her desire to be seen as a girl. She tries to track him down and finds herself at an ice skating rink where a beautful girl is practicing a routing for an upcoming competition. The coach lets Masaki onto the ice and is impressed by how quickly she learns. He asks if she wants to take up figure skating. Masaki is thrilled at the idea that she might one day be as graceful and beautiful as the girl she just watched, but like everyone else, the coach thinks she's a guy.
Well, the lead female is a manly man from a dojo family with amazing karate skills. However, unlike most, she's not content being such. She has a strong personality, but there's a little piece of her that wants to be a girl. And not the giggly kind with makeup and shopping, but just someone who is seen for who she is. I'm glad that she's proud of her abilities and usually pretty cool with her friends. I feel really bad that someone laughed at her for speaking in a feminine tone. There wasn't much ice skating in this chapter, so I don't know whether it will be good or not. But the small portions were pretty nicely drawn, so I'm looking forward to seeing more. Masaki's prince, Kaoru looks like the average nice guy, which is cool. I hope he manages to hold his own in terms of personality, though. Masaki, the other girl, and the coach all have pretty strong and interesting personalities, and I'd hate for Mr. Nice Guy to disappear behind them.
I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes. It looks like it'll be a coming of age story, which is nice. Masaki's family and the ice skating coach are hilarious, and I look forward to their antics. And here's hoping the actual figure skating parts are also worth the read.
Ice Revolution is scanned by Hanaji, and you can read it online here.
With a name like Pig Bride, it's hard not be curious as to the content of the story. Si-Joon is the spoiled son of a wealthy politician. Unfortunately, it seems that due to his lineage, he must break a curse by marrying a girl so ugly that she hides her face behind a pig mask. As a child, he was coerced into agreeing to the marriage, and now that he's turned sixteen, his pig bride has come to collect. The cast includes his cold yet brilliant roommate, the cutest girl in school, and the pig bride's stoic ninja sister. Hijinks guaranteed.
It's not uncommon for a childhood meeting to lead to a sudden bride as our hero comes of age. But in this case, the hero is a stuck up jerk rather than a bespectacled loser. And while the girl who shows up is preditably devoted, she's apparently so ugly that a mask would make her look better. The local princess is a cute and docile girl, but all the other girls seem completely terrified of her. There's a good chance she isn't the pretty princess that she pretends to be, which will definitely make this story a lot more fun. At this point in time, I care most about the pig bride's sister. Her cool demeanor and sword skills make her instantly my favorite, and Si-Joon's megane roommate is equally likeable. I hope the two of them hook up. So far, the story has been humorous and well-paced. The characters are easily recognizable, and the "wacky hijinks" they get into are quite amusing. Art is very lovely, blurred between the typical Korean style and Japanese shoujo. Anyone looking for a breath of fresh air into the shoujo genre would find Pig Bride a fun romp. Edit: Thanks to warpshadow for pointing out, this series is licensed by Yen Press, and you can read it in their magazine which actually has like a bajillion great series like Higurashi, Bamboo Blade, and Soul Eater as well. So seriously. It's totally worth owning.
