What anime are you watching?

[Mithrandir]

Just finished Kamichu! It was awesome!

[Atria35]

Le Chevalier D'Eon 8-9 -- lovely. =) I am very much so enjoying the characters, and the story. It does, however, border on my "occult comfort" level.

You seriously need to look up the histories behind these people. You know that saying 'truth is stranger than fiction'? In this case, I think it's true. D'Eon was one strange fellow!

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

Just finished Kamichu! It was awesome!

Is it streaming anywhere legally, or did you just get the DVDs? That's one I really want to watch.

[mkalv]

I've watched a few more Kekkaishi on Adult Swim, and I recently saw the first two episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh GX on DVD. I also saw episode 1 of the .Hack//Liminality OVA. It was only okay; I prefer what happens in The World.

[blkmage]

Seconding Kamichu as a really great show.

First, some season wrapups.

House of Five Leaves was ultimately not a show for me. For one thing, it felt like it was meandering around for twelve episodes. I mentioned that it felt really subdued, but it was like that to the point where I felt it hurt the show. It turns out Masa isn't all that interesting. Ultimately, what broke it for me was that it had two shows that I was watching that made it extremely easy to contrast with. The first is Katanagatari, which is a much more dynamic samurai show written by Nisioisin.

The second show is the other noitaminA show, The Tatami Galaxy. It's compared to this for no other reason than they ran together during noitaminA. This was definitely the best show of the season. Yuasa is definitely something else to be able to create stuff like this. The Tatami Galaxy requires a lot of concentration and thinking to watch. The amount of stuff that happens and all of the connections that you get from piecing stuff together as you go along is staggering, which is in contrast to how little goes on in House of Five Leaves. I wouldn't say The Tatami Galaxy tops Kaiba for me, but you can tell the two have the same roots.

And another new show, this time Amagami SS, the first episode of which I can describe as Sad Protagonist in Snow. Right off the bat, we've got sad protagonist and his annoying little sister going NII-NII NII-NII all the time. The rest of the episode made it pretty clear that we were in for typical dating sim stuff. It felt oddly similar to KimiKiss and of course, after looking it up, the Amagami and KimiKiss games both had the same developer. What a surprise. I wouldn't expect anyone here to enjoy it, but I'll stick with it because others I know are.

[Htom Sirveaux]

I actually haven't watched any anime in quite some time, so as you can imagine, I've fallen way behind in terms of what's new and hot.

But I found the complete set of Eureka Seven at Best Buy and, since it was fairly cheap (around $30) I decided to give it a go.
Nothin' like a good mech series to remind me why I love anime.

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

And now I've finished the second show I've watched while it was airing, Durarara!!.

Durarara!! was something I highly anticipated. The first time I watched Baccano! was only a couple months before this. It did not disappoint, not one bit.

[Atria35]

Paranoia Agent 7-8- yes.... YES! New twists and characters add a whole new level of amazing to this show. I love it so much!

[Wyntre Rose]

Rewatching La Corda D'oro. Pretty, pastel fluff. I love it.

[the_wolfs_howl]

Watched episode 10 of Saint Tail, and episodes 62-63 of FMA: Brotherhood. For Brotherhood, just...wow. This show is amazing, and I love seeing the manga's wonderful ending animated and colored and voiced and everything. Romi Paku has been especially stellar, which is saying a lot because she's one of the best voice actresses I've ever heard. I'm really excited for the final episode!

[Wolf-man]

Just watched Brotherhood episode 4 last night. Yeah I'm behind but whatever. I am really liking this. I'm excited to get to the manga stuff that strays from the original series.

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

Bakemonogatari episode one.

Why have I never watched this before?

[blkmage]

NEW: Mitsudomoe is Minami-ke and Hanamaru Kindergarten put together with evil main characters and wildly inappropriate jokes. I'll stick around to see if insanity outweighs the terrible.

OLD: Mushi-shi is an episodic show that has an iyashikei vibe about creatures based loosely on Shinto concepts. Each story ranges from bittersweet to horribly depressing. Very excellent.

[Atria35]

Paranoia Agent 9-13- Complete. Satoshi Kon... http://rupyb.com/images/gallery/rupy/118_I-see-what-you-did-there.jpg

I'm still putting it together, but I think that this was one meta-symbolic morality tale about lying. I.... am impressed. It's a morality tale for adults about lying. It's like the original Grimm's Fairytales!

[Firebird3613]

Within the last couple of weeks, I've:
-finished FMA and the movie.
-Watched up to Episode 6 (or 7, I don't remember) of Brotherhood.
-Started Nabari no Ou (am on Episode 6).
-and I'm up to Episode 26 of D. Gray Man.

[Wyntre Rose]

Finished episode 13 of La Corda, watched episode 7 of Toradora, and started Full Metal Panic. Also saw the first episode of Avatar: the Last Airbender, though that one's technically not anime.

[Mithrandir]

FMP was a lot of fun. XD Hope you enjoy it!

Last night we finished Kamichu! and watched Sky Crawlers. Kamichu! was a nice, calm, fun one. Sky Crawlers was pretty much one big build up to an ending that I'm still not sure I caught. XD

[MightiMidget]

some select updates.

Le Chevalier D'Eon 10-11 -- @Atria, yes I know.. The friend I am watching it with has been giving me the "she was actually assassinated by so and so and he was one of so-and-so's many lovers historically" and I'm like...dude. Wow. xD it's so fun though to hear the history in contrast!

Enjoying it immensely, it has enough little light, comic moments to keep it from being a depressing black pit along with the historical figures being interesting (even though fictionalized a bit ), and the plot is still intriguing.

Jyu-Oh-Sei 1-6 -- I got this series box set at Big Lots! for $3, and am enjoying it greatly. Sci-Fi, killer plants? Two of my favorite things. The dub for the first half of it is rather painful, but now that I'm at the "everyone is older" point I'm enjoying it as well as sub. =) Though little things like "why is there a full-on gym, machine guns and hover scooters on a prison planet where the prisoners were abandoned to die?" never cease to make me crack up.

School Rumble 19-20 -- still as fun as ever! I love school comedy anime so, so much.

Air ep. 1 -- Not sure what I think about this quite yet, but I think I'll enjoy it. =)

[Wyntre Rose]

Jyu-Oh-Sei 1-6 -- I got this series box set at Big Lots! for $3, and am enjoying it greatly. Sci-Fi, killer plants? Two of my favorite things. The dub for the first half of it is rather painful, but now that I'm at the "everyone is older" point I'm enjoying it as well as sub. =) Though little things like "why is there a full-on gym, machine guns and hover scooters on a prison planet where the prisoners were abandoned to die?" never cease to make me crack up.

I should have known you'd love this show! I'm only sorry I never thought to recommend it to you. Glad you found it anyway. Yah, it's cheesy sci-fi, but it's pretty cheesy sci-fi. And there actually is, I guess, a reason the prisoners have the equipment they do, though the explanation opens up a host of other stuff. lol. In other words, you're gonna have a blast!

Air ep. 1 -- Not sure what I think about this quite yet, but I think I'll enjoy it. =)

Yes, I'm pretty sure you will.

Oh, and thanks, Mith! So far, I'm loving it. And I've been pleasantly surprised. Until I began, all I really knew about it was what I'd heard Vic say about his character, and what a perv he is, so I was expecting it to be a lot more fanservice-y than it's been so far. I mean, there's been some fanservice, sure, but not to the extent I had pictured in my head. lol

[blkmage]

And now to actually finish off the season, we've got FMA: Brotherhood and Durarara!!, two terrible shows that I can't recommend to anyone.

Overall, FMA: Brotherhood was a fine, solid show. The first bit may be a bit rushed, but once we get to previously non-animated manga material, it becomes as engaging as the manga was, and it never really stops. For me, it takes off even more once they reach Briggs. Subtract a point for Mustang's hilarious mustache at the end (anime only).

Personally, I enjoyed Durarara!! far more than Baccano!. I know a lot of people like the tight, frenetic pace and timeline jumping of Baccano!, but I enjoyed the more easy-to-follow pace and straightforward plotting of Durarara!! more, especially when we're working with large casts as he is want to do. Still my pick for best show of the year so far. We'll see what the next six months has to bring.

And with the season done, how about a mid-season progress report on the stragglers?

K-ON!! has actually been pretty good this season. My main criticism of its first season was its repetitiveness, which was really noticeable once they introduced Azusa. But the second season has had a number of interesting episodes where they actually examine the characters in a way that the 4-koma probably never could. For instance: the episode at the music festival, which (unlike most of the rest of the show) is actually reminiscent of the music festival arc from Beck.

Kaichou wa Maid-sama is, even with the chapter shuffling, a fairly straight adaptation of the manga. It's still in the opening chapters where they're just doing student council stuff, but if I'm right, it'll head towards well-travelled typical shoujo territory soon.

And now, for two new shows.

Highschool of the Dead is an anime zombie movie. This belief of mine was strengthened after watching some of my friends play L4D2 earlier today. However, it is heavy on the fanservice. I'd stay away unless you are okay with that sort of thing. Otherwise, yeah, L4D the anime.

Occult Academy is a comedy, I think. Unlike other shows where people conflate fake magic with actual real occult magic, this looks like it'll be more in line with the latter. I mean, I can't speak to the practices themselves, but they did throw in a reference to gnosticism and such, so take that as you will. Otherwise, it was a decent first episode for once for an Anime no Chikara project.

[Atria35]

Yeah, I know, two in one day, but I got some unexpected anime time....

Kino's Journey 2- My, oh, my, how cruel man can be... I have to say, the rabbit bit reminded me of the cats I skinned in Anat. and Phys. lab (they were already dead, people! I don't want hate messages about this....). The rest was pretty grim, but not unexpected for this show.

Highschool of the Dead 1- I hate to say this, but I think they may have added some fanservice to the anime. But then again, it's hard to tell... I mean, something that's still on a page for a shot may now be bouncing around and therefore far more noticable, for all I know. But if they had left it out entirely, I would totally buy this as a serious zombie anime. As it is.... Well, if the fanservice drops off in the next few eps, I'll stick with it because I really, really like the premise. And the best part? The hero is genre savvy!!!!

[MightiMidget]

Personally, I enjoyed Durarara!! far more than Baccano!. I know a lot of people like the tight, frenetic pace and timeline jumping of Baccano!, but I enjoyed the more easy-to-follow pace and straightforward plotting of Durarara!! more, especially when we're working with large casts as he is want to do. Still my pick for best show of the year so far. We'll see what the next six months has to bring.

I also enjoyed Durarara!! better than Baccano! I liked the somewhat twisted whimsicality (however you'd phrase that) of it over Baccano!'s buckets of gore. And although Nice and Jacuzzi still make my favorite couple? Shinra and Celty are a close second. =)

[blkmage]

But if they had left it out entirely, I would totally buy this as a serious zombie anime.

It seemed like it was going for camp more than serious.

I also enjoyed Durarara!! better than Baccano! I liked the somewhat twisted whimsicality (however you'd phrase that) of it over Baccano!'s buckets of gore.

Actually, whimsical is a pretty good way to describe Durarara!! (at least the first half). The antagonists in Baccano! are much more sinister and the stakes seemed a lot higher.

[Atria35]

It seemed like it was going for camp more than serious.

Maybe. All I know is that this seems a lot like 28 Days Later, but with a few of the cliches thrown in, and fanservice.

Of course, since virtually all things zombie are considered cliche, it's hard to find a zombie movie out there that can't be considered campy at this point.

Kino's Journey 3-5- Why haven't I watched this before? It's great! Kinda depressing, but good.

[Wyntre Rose]

Watched eps 7-13 of Toradora today. There's been a lot of hype about this one, and while I'm not sure that I think it's quite the masterpiece that I've heard it touted as, it certainly is a solid, entertaining and endearing series. The art is consistently good, the characters are all easy to sympathize with - even the really weird ones - and though it's pretty obvious who is going to end up with who, it's also entertaining to see it develop, and there have certainly been some bombshells along the way. A bit fanservicey to be able to just recommend across the board, but if you can handle that, I'd say it's definitely worth the time.

[TheSubtleDoctor]

Oh, looky there. Giant Robo ended up in my list of favorite anime. How'd that happen? Well...

In the future, the invention of the Shizuma drive, a perfect, clean source of energy, has revolutionized the world. However, many dark secrets surround the origin of this miracle resource. The tragic truth is revealed through the vehicle of a relevant conflict b/w international terrorist organization Big Fire and interpol's special agency, the Experts of Justice (whoo!). One of these Experts, Daisaku, is a twelve year old boy who happens to control the world's greatest robot: Giant Robo.

Giant Robo pretty much has what I'm looking for in an anime. High drama loaded with twists, wonderful characters, innovative and interesting fight scenes, thought-provoking themes (it asks what I consider to be one of the five most important human questions), an atmosphere teeming with not only the oh-so-manly anime trait "burning passion!", but also lots of (unforced) mysteries (which are resolved in a well-paced manner that makes sense), and a gorgeous, gorgeous soundtrack. GR feels like anime's epic poem or Greek tragedy. After it was over, I was like, "Wow. I really, really liked that." Later, when I began watching something else, I thought, "Hey, this isn't Giant Robo. I'd rather be watching Giant Robo!" I realized then that I loved, not liked, Giant Robo. It's the kind of show that I will watch over and over again.

FYI, this whole show is priced under 20 bucks. No excuses ppl!

[That Dude]

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood. I finished the series.

Just started, Le Chevalier D'eon...I found the series for $19 at Best Buy.

[blkmage]

The first Kure-nai OVA came out and it was pretty fun. Unfortunately, there is some prerequisite knowledge required from reading the manga or the light novel if you ever want to find out stuff like who Kirihiko is. Also, you might get bothered by the switch in art style (which is closer to the original style than the anime).

Also, proceeding in the burgeoning Ghibli mega-watch project, I watched Whisper of the Heart. Out of the four I've seen so far, it's easily my favourite. The story and characters are nice and not dumb or forced. Excellent.

[Atria35]

Re-watched a few eps of Baccano!, just to remember how good it is.....

[TheSubtleDoctor]

Birdy the Mighty Decode 02 Complete.

I did enjoy the show, despite its animation issues. The ending seemed a tad rushed, but there was a gratifying little twist at the very very last. Things seem open enough to continue this franchise, so I hope we get a Birdy 03.