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May not look like much, but this is the replacement for those lengthy episode summary posts. That’s not to say I’ll stop doing episode summaries and analysis completely, but they will be scarce and random. Instead I’ve decided to employ a ranking system, it’s pretty self explanatory, series in the right column, episodes in the top row and rankings fill the cross sections. I’ve also included running averages and standard deviations, the latter being a measure of how tight the cluster of rankings are. Basically, the larger the number, the more inconsistent the ranking of the series.

[aside] I’ve heard many conflicting opinions on this fall season, some are saying it’s been excellent while others are cursing the mediocrity. Personally, I feel it’s been a decent season. Aside from heavy hitters the likes of Kanon and Death Note there have been a few diamonds in the rough such as Gift ~Eternal Rainbow~ and Asatte no Houkou. However, one thing that leads me to think this season isn’t doing so well is the speed of the fansubs. I have only been watching ongoing series for about a year – a year and a half (previously having just marathoned completed series) so I’m not entirely sure if this is normal. But this is the first season where I’ve noticed that more series that are lagging behind in terms of fansubs. Is this because fansubbers have lives as well and went through exams the same as the rest of us or is it that the popularity of the series and therefore anticipation of the subs is at a low? [/aside]

Hopefully someone has an answer to that, it’s been bugging me for a while. But I digress, onwards!

Kanon

The above image alone is enough to convince the majority of its awesomeness. The Kanon remake is one of the series I find myself anxiously anticipating each week, and having already watched the original that’s quite a feat. With multiple moe modes centered around the overlying theme of sad girls in the snow accompanied by KyoAni animation, how can you lose? On that note, despite living in Toronto, there’s been a serious lack of snow thus far. Plenty of sad girls though, sporting the “I just got wtfpwned by that exam” look.

Death Note

Extreme writing, extreme potato chip eating, extreme cell phone calls, and something about the rise of a God, Death Note has a lot going for it. The amount of intellectual fencing that goes on between Kira and L is what draws me to this show. Both risking their lives as they play a game of wit and tact where the slightest oversight could be fatal, one of the best plots I’ve seen since Monster. Too bad I’ve been spoiled multiple times by readers of the manga…bastards. The introduction of Misa in the latest ep was interesting, it’s sure to change the entire dynamic between Kira and L. She sounds too much like Haruhi though =\

Asatte no Houkou

This show surprised me, I hadn’t started watching until episode seven or so, I decided to dl it on a whim. I was taken aback at how much I liked it. The pacing and style reminds me of Honey and Clover, though the story is quite different, a slice of life drama with a twist of fantasy. The characters are what really draw me in though, while not being overly complex, they each have their own intricacies and interesting pasts. On a related note, this is one of the few series where I’m not rooting for the imouto, Shouko FTW! It may have something to do with the lingering loli image of Karada, I’m usually all for lolis but she had very little moe appeal. Kudos for charging head on into a life without her Hiro-nii though.

Gift ~ Eternal Rainbow ~

Ah, here’s my siscon fix for the season. Gift, in my eyes, ranks as the best original harem/love romance of the season. It’s what DCSS should have been, Riko has looks one step down of Kotori and a personality one step down of Nemu, great combo. Kirino can go die though, ffs she’s annoying, perhaps it’s because she has the same seiyuu as Aisia whom I also disliked, but I just can’t stand her. Though she is a catalyst for RikoXHaruhiko, so despite not liking her, I will admit that she is a necessity to the plot. If you aren’t watching this, give it a shot, if anything it’ll bring back happy memories of Da Capo…or incite murderous rage from Kotori fanboys.

Negima!?

Following neither the manga nor the previous Mahou Sensei Negima series, this show is all sorts of crazy. Much like PPD it’s filled with seemingly random, yet hilarious, arcs as well as the ever changing blackboards. Not the best show of the season, but it sure is a looker, the perfect anime if you’re looking to stave off boredom for half an hour. Ep 4-6 arc was made of pure winnage, though lacked SecchanXKonoka love =(

Tokimeki Memorial

Tokimemo started out as a off the wall school comedy reminiscent of School Rumble and while it retains some of that randomness, it becomes more predictable by the minute and in my opinion should have chosen to go full harem or full sukuran clone. What’s left is a decent story about your typical undeserving and indecisive male lead with three bishoujos competing for his love. The energetic sports bishoujo Tsukasa, the shy yet dedicated Mina and the composed ojou-sama/iinchou Sayuri. We seem to be heading for a Sayuri ending, which disappoints me because I’ve fallen into the Tsukasa camp. Tsukasa FTW! Though she seems to have a couple loose screws o.O

Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru

Psst. Mizuho, you’re covering the wrong area. Mizuho does not have a penis, cast those worries aside and fap with pride! I was expecting a Strawberry Panic replacement with OtoBoku, but alas, hopes of yuri have faded to nothing but a dream. That’s alright though, onwards to a Takako ending! That’s not a spoiler, just my hopeful victor.

Yoake Mae Yori Ruri Iro na Crescent Love

How did an inanimate green sphere get nominated for Saigar? Decent story, terrible animation, hyped ending, I’m still puzzled as why I continue watching Yoakena. I’ll attribute it to the “so bad it’s good” Train Wreck effect. There’s plenty of drama and angst, but the poor animation quality overshadows all good aspects and the overall effect is ruined. I have a very difficult time ranking this show, thus it has the highest standard deviation of the bunch.

Happiness

Watarse Jun. That is all.

Dropped:
- Kujibiki Unbalance (terrible characters)
- Lovedol (terrible everything, exempt: “I sing for revenge” lawl)
- Su(mo*6) (couldn’t get into it, possible revisit in the future)

Possible pick ups:
- Code Geass (something about pizza hut?)
- Pumpkin Scissors (despite the name…)
- Hatakari Man
- Souko no Strain
- Haruhi Live Action porn

Recommendations on these would be great. Other than that, I’m absolutely clueless as to what’s coming up in the winter season, anyone willing to fill me in on what looks to be good?

Til next time!
~ Shirukii ~

Haado gei!

Tokimeki is one of the few series this season whose quality has stayed relatively stable (excluding the heavy hitters Kanon and Death Note). Although, I’ll admit it is starting to get old and fast, they need to find some new jokes or this will end up as nothing but a weak imitation of Sukuran. That being said, I’m still enjoying it and it had me laughing a few times even with the overplayed jokes.

This ep is based around Aoba trying to return Yayoi’s handkerchief which she lent to him at the end of the last episode. Of course it would be too simple to just walk up to her calmly and return it, what kind of episode would that be, over elaborate schemes must be devised.

When Yuusuke and Icchi mistake Aoba’s simple gesture of returning a borrowed item for him trying to make a move on Yayoi, all hell breaks loose. Yuusuke seems to have a particular interest in what he calls “sports bishoujo”, that is: bishoujo who play sports, and makes it his goal to make Aoba and Icchi realize their greatness. This leads to the inevitable voyeur and stalking of various sports bishoujo, eventually leading to them being chased with a shinai wielding kendo coach.

Aoba takes the opportunity to split off from the two and use them as a diversion to clear out the pool so he can make his move on Yayoi. Shyly slipping in compliments and encouragements, Aoba has Yayoi melting in the palm of his hands. She asks him to be her motivational coach, and Aoba gets a free ticket into the haven that is the swimming club (he’s really there for Utsumi’s superior melon pan).

The rest of the episode is stuffed with filler, which in this case, isn’t that bad of a deal. We had to deal with Aoba meido and a random haado gei moment, but in exchange we got some random expected YakuChiki and a montage of “sports bishoujo”.

Thoughts

AOBA YOU FOOL! Tsukasa ftw! T_T Although we all know Yayoi is destined for heartbreak as well, it’s that damn Sayuri that will surely take the crown. I don’t see what’s so great about her =( Personally I’d like to knock her off her ojou-sama throne right about now. Although my opinion of her might change if she ditches the gakuen idol overlay and decides to grow a real personality anytime soon.

Ever since Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu I’ve been noticing that the archetypal male harem lead is in danger of extinction. Instead we’re starting to see more cocky and generally more confident leads. Ie. Saito from Tsukaima, Nomiya from HCII, Kyon’ichi from Kanon, et al. Even the more typical shows are beginning to feature leads that are a less useless than we’re used to, Tatsuya from Yoake and Aoba being the most notable. Was SHnY THAT influential, or is this just me not noticing what was already there until now?

Anyways, I digress, back to the episode. It was fairly well done, though as said before, the jokes beginning to get a little played out, I saw that YakuChiki moment coming from a mile away. But all things considered Tokimeki is holding its own, much better than Happiness or YoakeYori for that matter. I hope they’re able to pull of some more randomly hilarious surprises from here on, sadly YakuChiki seems to have lost his lol-inducing effect =(

As for plot progression, I’m not liking the episodic jumping from girl to girl, though they only have 13 eps so I guess it has to be done. But that doesn’t change the fact it ruins flow, I was beginning to like Tsukasa a lot, her energetic yet loyal persona was very lovable. Yayoi seemed like she was your typical shy and boring bishoujo, but I thought she was pretty cute when flustered. I don’t see much in Sayuri, but as she’s most likely to win, she’ll have to build up some sort of moe for it to be justified.

*EDIT* According to ANN, Tokimeki will run 26 episodes, I now change my fear that they don’t have enough time to focus on each character to a fear that they have too much time and unoriginal filler will ruin the show. I hope neither fear will be realized, but I think 26 eps of the current Tokimeki will have me ripping my hair out by the end.

So high hopes continue to carry me through Tokimeki, if not this season in general. Here’s hoping there’ll be more hilarity, drama, Tsukasa and less of everything else, ie. Sayuri history lessons (or as I call them: Flashbacks of lies!).

On a closing note: Two out of two bloggers for Ani-Ari agree, meido Aoba FTL!

No love for YakuChiki…?

*insert incredibly girlish squeal* …o_O

They’re almost as big as their heads O_O

…there we go

There is no justice in this world =(

~ Shirukii ~

YakuChiki KO’d!

Tokimeki Memorial continues to impress, though it seems to be going under the radar this season as I don’t see much mention of it, let alone other people blogging it. Summing up the content and style of this show, it would best be described as the love child of SHUFFLE! and Sukuran. Aoba is a slightly wimpier version of Rin (just as much a player though) and the randomness of the actual plot reminds me of Sukuran’s earlier days, minus the referenced puns.

Episode 2 and 3 began the harem competition. Aoba is clearly interested in Amamiya, but seems to have attracted the attention of Tsukasa and Yayoi. So let the battle royale begin!

The first half of ep 2 was a seemingly pointless mini-arc about the four major sports club heads trying to get Aoba to join their clubs. They challenge him to contests in their respective sports only to get beaten by some odd twist of fate every single time.

The real fun begins next morning when Tsukasa bumps into Aoba, in a blatant Kanon rip-off manner, and then proceeds to scold him as he repeatedly apologizes. Suddenly Tsukasa has a eureka moment and decides that her running face first in Aoba was destiny, and instantly declares him her boyfriend…much to the shock, then horror, then anger, then hate of the Tsukasa fanclub.

And so with her newly acquired boyfriend and no previous experience, Tsukasa asks her friend, Ayame, what couples usually do. Ayame lists off the typical, shoujo manga guide to relationships, list (talking on the phone, going on dates, sms/e-mail, homemade bentou, etc). Tsukasa loves the homemade bentou idea and decides to give it a shot…unfortunately she can’t cook and ends up almost killing Aoba and poor YakuChiki.

But not willing to admit defeat, Tsukasa goes to the home ec club and seeks guidance in making a proper bentou. After much practice she completes bentou ver 2.0 which is thoroughly enjoyed by Aoba. Victory!

But wait…what of Aoba’s opinion on Tsukasa’s sudden decision that they are dating? At first he is confused and unwilling due to the fact the two barely know each other and the death threats that pour in from her fanclub. But as the two get acquainted with each other and the death threats become less and less frequent he seems to develop a little crush on her.

However, this wouldn’t be much of a harem if the competition was over by ep 3. Aoba meets Yayoi, the dolphin lover from the library in ep 1, while taking shelter from the rain. The two talk for a bit until Yayoi is caught addressing Aoba by his name when they hadn’t introduced each themselves yet, she runs off in a panic, leaving Aoba with her name and that she is in the swimming club.

And of course Amamiya isn’t to be forgotten, still enchanting Aoba and the rest of the male student body. With Tsukasa as Aoba’s self proclaimed girlfriend, Yayoi showing obvious signs of affection and Amamiya being a lingering presence in his mind, the stage is set for some great drama.

Thoughts

This and OtomeKoi are running neck and neck for my favourite show after Kanon and Death Note. Although it has “generic harem” written all over it, it really isn’t. The slight differences and eccentricities from each girl coupled with the randomness of the plot makes it interesting enough that it doesn’t feel like a rehash of its 20 predecessors.

The three female leads seem to be fairly archetypal so far, each fitting into a number of your typical bishoujo types. Amamiya representing the “ojou-sama” type character as well as being the favoured school idol. Tsukasa seems to be the typical energetic tomboy, but deviates from the norm by her aggressive dating strategy. Last, but definitely not least is Yayoi, who looks to be the shy but loyal bishoujo. Personally, I’m rooting for either Yayoi or Tsukasa ftw.

Plot is holding up well, relationship development is going at a nice pace. And the show maintains a more upbeat tone through the random events and the episodic appearances of the YakuChiki.

Animation, sound and voice acting remains consistent, but aren’t spectacular by any means. There also seems to be a continuity error as I’m no longer seeing the _____-mimi headbands, though that might just be me not paying enough attention.

So far Tokimeki is proving to be an exceptional show that seems to be getting little attention, I don’t know why YoakeYori’s popularity is outdoing this clearly superior show. Probably the influence of Feena, FFF ftw XD.

Silly Tsukasa, you’re not Ayu

Quickest tsuntsun -> deredere evar

Emo facial distortion? Or bentou induced trip out? You decide

Yay for eyecatch!

After surfing through the list of fall anime via the “Who subs what” link on AniAri’s sidebar it dawned on me that I forgot about this show which was on my to do list the first time I saw the fall season listings.

At first glance Tokimeki looks like your average love-romance/school-comedy show, not that this is a bad thing, but it’s gotten a little old after watching so many. However, this particular series (or at least its opening ep) caught me off guard. It had me laughing particularily hard at certain parts, more on this in a second, and has me excited about a harem battle royale between the three main bishoujos introduced in the first ep and pictured in the eyecatch.

The base plot of Tokimeki is the story of your typical transfer student, Aoba Riku, who transfers into a not so typical high school. The melon-pan-errific secretary (who…I think it really a man) and array of eccentric teachers are just the beginnings of the oddities. The real weirdness is the awards for academic and athletic excellence which come in the form of headband accessories (neko-mimi band, usagi-mimi band, *insert animal*-mimi band…you get the point).

I won’t go too into plot because I’m not too sure I’ll be blogging this as my blogging schedule is already packed as it is.

On to the technicals. Animation? Topped only by Kanon (this season), I can’t compare it with Death Note as, stylistically, they are much too different. Audio, generic OP and ED but they match the overall feel of the anime. Voice acting, can’t be bothered to look up the cast, but the seiyuu/character match ups work well in my opinion. Plot and pacing, going well so far, I see a lot of potential for a drama heavy plot with dashes of school-comedy relief.

And if you need any other reason to watch Tokimeki…May I present Hiyoko-kun, the ninja chick (literally)

Have you ever seen a 5 inch tall baby chicken beat the sense out of a school bully? Case and point. Watch this, NAO!

With Tokimeki’s opener interesting me MUCH more than Negima!?, should the second episode of Negima!? fail to stun me, Tokimeki is taking over its spot. (Or if I have A LOT of spare time, I might do them both >_> who knows).

~ Shirukii ~