Mahou Meido Meganekko

Because I want to say something, but I’m not up to saying much.

Last Season in a Nutshell
Kannagi: Played up the teen hijinks, played down the supernatural angle after the first three episodes. Bad move. Kannagi spends the majority of the series acting like a self-centered selfish bitch.

Torou no Index: Talk, talk, talk. Yeah, some action, but too much talk. Premise was hard to buy. Index’s friends never consulted a doctor, only mages? Ridiculous. Also suffers from the fact that it’s a pastiche of multiple light novels; FMP had the same problem. Dropped it.

Macademi Wasshoi: Enjoyable and crazy little series. The character designs are a bit off-putting at first, but the writers clearly had lots of inspiration for one-off gags and such. What the hell was with the rocket though? Unless the philosophy espoused by it is going to play a role in the plot later on. Waiting on the rest to be fansubbed.

Akane-iro: Well, that’s different. Teen delinquent lives with sexy little sister and rich heiress fiancé, while his parents roam the world being daredevil secret agents. Big Spoiler: Show ▼

That’s all I followed for more than three episodes; the rest left me going, “Enh”. Which is an improvement over what this season is offering so far. Though I’ve only seen two series openers, unless KissuSissu is a series, and not just an OVA or pilot.

New Season in a Nutshell (so far):
Maria+Holic: I don’t like assholes, and “Maria” is a prize among assholes. Also, I don’t like shows that screw around with reality — Kanako rips a tree out of the ground when she’s upset over finding out her dream girl is a boy. Nobody notices or cares. There is a slim possibility that my crap-o-meter is mis-calibrated right now; I may give this series a second chance. Later. Much later.

Akikan!: Dear God in Heaven. I didn’t think it was possible to make Sekirei look like high quality entertainment, but this show does it. Excuse me while I scream.
AAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Thank you.

KissuSisu: “Nothing says loving like home cooking.” Wait, make that “nothing says loving like horny sisters.” This time, the (step-)sisters choose the brother. And they’re not shy about it. Dad’s all for it. The brother is not. Not as out there as Kanokon was, but it pushes the borders a bit. Is this a series, or a one-off OVA, or an advertisement for a hentai series?

February 22, 1930 — January 2, 2008
Requiscat in Pace, Mother.

Here’s hoping you get the chance to stand under the mistletoe with the catgirl of your choice!

FYI, no, there will not be an “Ubu Roi’s Worst of 2008.” Unless my mind just starts cranking out bad jokes. Under the circumstances, I’m just not feeling the snark this year. And I even started taking notes months ahead this year. God knows what I did with them, but I don’t….

For a few weeks, owing to a family issue, I’m suspending the activities that have absorbed most of my time. As a result, I’ve got a bit more time to blog, so the hiatus is temporarily on hiatus.

Not that I’m going to be posting a full schedule, or with my usual, um, verve.

Anyway, my order got in: Tenchi TV, which I’ve seen the first DVD of now. I remember the OVA’s better; this is close enough though. Quite silly.

Also watched the first DVD of Neo Ranga. It’s not as bad as I feared, but not as good as it should be. The first pair of 15-minute episodes were confusing and poorly paced. The second pair weren’t much better, but along about episode 5, the series started hitting what little stride it has, and…

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Hiatus, yadda, yadda, yadda. I think I’ll do a post every other week or so, just to keep a hand in. After all, I’m still watching anime, and that means I want to write about it. If I don’t do it here, I’ll flood someone’s mailbox.

Tench Muyo GXP: Stupid exploitive name, since Tenchi is mentioned only a few times and seen only in one episode. Not a bad series though. I had a back and forth discussion with Steven involving Seto’s comment in the next-to-last episode. She has Airi canvass all the girls for their opinion of Seina, Show ▼

As for fansubs, I’ve tossed my scruples to the winds and downloaded a couple more series, for the distraction. My wallet will regret this later. Shut up, Pete.

Kannagi (Crazy Shrine Maidens): Cute and fun for an episode or two, but the fundamental problems are two-fold. First, Jin is too accepting of the situation. He really should have been asking the questions from episode 10 back during episode 2; instead he was too much of a milksop. He’s growing a spine, but is it too late? Furthermore, it’s causing the series to turn somewhat dark because Show ▼

The second problem is much more fundamental: Nagi is a selfish, self-centered, egotistical little bitch. And Zange is even less sympathetic, given Show ▼

There have been some truly, truly funny moments along the way (especially in the middle episodes), but just as it started to hit its stride, it has tried to turn serious. I’m generally giving this series a thumbs-down because I can’t stand one of the protagonists and the other has been a passive idiot for too long. Even the childhood friend is in too much denial.

Toradora! Dropped after about four episodes, or maybe three and a half. Like I said before, all the girls are head jobs.

To Aru Majutsu no Index: Just shoot me. The pacing is just tedious, too much exposition, and I can’t believe that Touma could fake out everyone he no longer knows owing to his amnesia. I dropped it after episode 8 or so.

Akane-iro: It’s not been as funny as the first episode was to me, but it’s been passable. The interactions between Juunichi and Yuuhi have been fun to watch as she gradually has been falling for him despite herself — and vice versa. As of episode 10, Show ▼

Show ▼

Spoilers from the games: Show ▼

Chaos;Head: After a lackluster first episode, this series has been ratcheting up the tension, bit by bit, even as it slowly rolls out the answers. It’s got a plethora of cute girls; seven of them. But one’s apparently imaginary, and five of the other six are… strange. The protagonist isn’t exactly the most attractive hero ever. In fact, he’s a coward, a hikkimori, and about two steps shy of insanity. Takeya lives in a converted cargo container on the roof of an office building, spending his days playing computer games. Then he is sent a picture of a strange murder….the day before it happens. Soon, he has no idea what is real and what isn’t — and he may be both the cause and the victim… Show ▼

Macademi Wasshoi: Slipping badly since around episode 6, although 8 picked up a bit.

And that’s it for now.

So. I have a very large need for light distractions right now.

Code Geass bundle #2: Discs #3 and #4, taking me through episode 17. Obligation buy.
Tenchi (Original TV Series): Watching GXP recently got me interested in the original series again. I expect to be disappointed. I remember tearing my hair out over what seemed to be filler, thinking, “good lord, is this EVER going to go anywhere!” Of course, my expectations are different now. And hey, I originally dismissed GXP as a lame effort to cash in on the name with a spin-off, so who knows? (C’mon, three words: Tenchi in Tokyo. Tell me I wasn’t completely justified in thinking that GXP was a rip-off.)
Neo-Ranga Because Steven can’t find all the unknown gems! Or, uh, crap.

Ok. I’m back outta here now.

Ok, over the weekend, Dr. Heinous was in town, and he loaned me his copy of Tenchi Muyo GXP, which I quite enjoyed. He and I are now discussing which is our favorite, Ryoko or Amane. ( Poor Kiriko…. too ordinary. )

However, as a side effect of wondering exactly where Kiriko ends up Show ▼

something else occurs to me, which is also a spoiler, and goes below the fold, besides.

Edit: And I’m still on hiatus, dammit! This was, uh, just a hiatus from the hiatus… yeah, that’s right.

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