A Few Collected Thoughts

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, and upon seeing the results, she exclaims “they all turned me down?/they all backed out?” (Depending on the translation). It made me curious, because there wasn’t an explicit offer made to any of the women, except to continue on the Kamidake with him. Only that was before Airi did her little interrogation, during which each of them expressed a desire to do exactly that. So what was it being implied that they turned down? I reached the conclusion that she’d offered each of them a shot at a state marriage, but they all said no because none of them believed that he would leave the GP.

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 his questions have forced Nagi into the realization that she doesn’t have the answers that Jin is demanding; that what she thinks she knows…. she doesn’t. And where does that leave her “sister” goddess Zange? The second problem is much more fundamental: Nagi is a selfish, self-centered, egotistical little bitch. And Zange is even less sympathetic, given that she’s possessed a girl who can only sometimes exert her own will. 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, they have acknowledged their engagement, and everything looks peachy. Naturally, that means its time for the constantly hinted-at sis-con/bro-con sub-plot to kick in at full strength, and the writers are hinting that it could all end in a trainwreck. There’s either a head-fake or a possibility that Juunichi’s father has just been become KIA. Spoilers from the games: In the hentai game, there is, of course, a sis-con route. In the PS2 game, there is a sister route in which she turns out not to really be his sister, of course.

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… Takeya’s normal response to serious adversity is to curl up into a ball and scream, but he’s been slowly coming out of his shell. At the same time, the pressures and challenges are skyrocketing, and it’s anyone’s guess if he will overcome them, or vice versa. There’s a hint from the opening of the series that it could go very, very badly.

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

And that’s it for now.