Exclusive Insanity

I recently watched the anime series K. Originally this was going to be one of my workout anime, but I ended up just marathoning episodes. It was actually pretty good, and I ended up liking the main character more as it went along (he was kind of meh at first), although he got overshadowed by more interesting side characters IMO. Thirteen episodes was definitely not enough time to properly develop all of them, but I still found them likable, so good enough, I suppose. The various novel and manga prequels probably flesh some of them out more.

Speaking of manga, I went and read Memories of Red, because I like the Homra characters a lot, and goddamnit, now I totally ship Fushimi x Yata. Why is their angst so delicious? Fushimi acts like kind of a creepy psycho whenever he and Yata meet up in the anime, but in Memories of Red there was so much internal conflict. Those two just can't understand each other - it's almost painful to watch.

Also, I apparently decided to start watching this series at a really good time, because the Days of Blue manga is still ongoing, there's a manga adaption coming out for the Lost Small World novel (Fushimi x Yata backstory - more angst!), and the sequel movie, K: Missing Kings, is out in a month.

Here's hoping it all gets translated.

Random update, and I'll get the dull stuff out of the way first.

My sister emailed and apologized to me for the things she said. I'll be honest, I'd already forgiven her. I love my family a lot, even if I don't feel like I fit in well. I was thinking about emailing her, but I didn't know what to say. I didn't feel like I owed her an apology, so it felt like I'd be fishing for one from her. So I decided to wait and see what happened, and apparently that was the right way to do it. Anyway, the time between when she sent the original emails and when she sent the apology was about a month. It's the longest fight I have had with one of my sisters, but I don't feel like it created a gap between us. I'm known for holding grudges, but this time I wasn't really angry - mostly just sad. I was really happy to hear from her.

Cody and I started watching a series called To Aru Majutsu no Index (A Certain Magical Index), which is pretty decent at six episodes in. The world and setting are interesting and I found the storyline compelling. The main character is sympathetic enough that I want to continue watching to see what happens with him, although some of the secondary characters don't have me convinced yet. I've noticed a couple of issues with pacing and exposition, but that's mostly due to the sheer volume of knowledge you need to take in about this world and the powers and curious things going on. Most of the episodes I've watched have managed this without too much awkwardness, with one very, very glaring exception.

( Spoilers for episode four, in case anyone was planning on watching )

Anyway, aside from that episode, the series has been pretty okay. I'm enjoying it, anyway, and I'm kind of excited about the fact that it's got a lot of episodes (and I've heard that the side story to this one, which is also two seasons long, is actually better). Here's hoping we don't see any more awkward episodes like that one, though.

As usual, here are the opening and ending videos for the first half of season one if anyone's curious about this series:

OP: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQIzb72IATU
ED: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=choP8rCAJZY

Okay, seriously, Digimon fandom? This shit still matters? Really?

Besides, we all know that the true OTP of Adventure was Taichi/Yamato. The epilogue and any discussion around het pairings are all part of an elaborate cover-up, because the creators had to hide their true preference. And god knows we need the creators to state their intentions in order to validate our ships! Amirite?

In random other news, I'm thinking of maybe getting a tumblr. Anyone else active over there?

I watched the last episode of Tales of the Abyss today - finally. I'd been holding out because Cody and I were watching it together and he wanted to finish the game first, but enough is enough. I wanted to see the rest. So I watched it.

For a game adaptation, it was pretty darn good! Not genius - it had pacing problems that were somewhat similar to the ones I noticed in Sword Art Online, and the character arcs were a touch on the shallow side - but still very enjoyable and engaging. The characters themselves were very likeable, despite Luke being a putz at the start (although the fact that he was such a flawed character might have actually made him more likeable), and the plot was interesting. The action scenes, although a little short sometimes, were exciting and had a nice look to them, and I appreciated the use of spell/action names. Because this is based on an RPG, after all!

Overall, I really had a fun time watching it and would recommend it to anyone looking for a decent sword-and-sorcery anime.

( Cut for spoilers )

Off-topic: there's an open invitation to anyone familiar with the series to guess who my favorite character is. Just guess, you'll probably be right. I can be pretty predictable.

If you're interested in Tales of the Abyss, here is the OP video (incidentally, the same song used in the opening of the game, which is pretty cool). The OP is different for each episode because there's a little preview portion of the upcoming episode in it each time. I couldn't find the ED for some reason... too bad.

OP: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5UIJ4109uQ

So, Cody and I started watching Mirai Nikki, and basically put all other anime on hold while powering through that one.

Why? Same reason as the person who posted this video, pretty much.

Up until much later in the series, Yuno is by far the most interesting character in the whole thing. Not in a good way. In an omg-train-wreck-can't-stop-watching way.

Series contains many levels of psycho-ness and disturbing shit, including blood, gore, strongly implied rape, mass murder, and so much creepy stalker behaviour that it can't even be measured. Also, occasional moments of cutesy stuff? I... I don't understand, but this show does it. It's like "tee hee, they're on a date" and then "decaying bodies OMG!!!"

... I can't believe I like this shit, but holy fuck, it's good somehow.

In other news, snow is horrible and should be abolished. I've cleared my driveway twice already today and it's still going. I'm also making cookies, and tomorrow I'll be baking the usual cake for dessert on Monday. I have a week and a half off of work, thank god. That place is evil.

Looking forward to Christmas with the family!

I have only five episodes left of Mawaru Penguindrum now, and it's getting good! Looking forward to the finale - I have heard good things so I'm sure it won't disappoint.

I have some series lined up to try. The order I list them in here is the order in which I intend to watch them. If I don't like one, I'll drop it and move on to the next, but otherwise, the plan is to watch the whole thing before moving on.

1. Ano Natsu de Matteru (for the tie-in to Onegai Teacher)
2. Earl and Fairy (it's about fairies, come on)
3. Outlaw Star (giving it another shot)
4. Sands of Destruction (we bought the set this summer and I am starting to feel guilty about how many box sets we own that I haven't watched)

Cody and I are also going to watch some series together! So far we've watched two episodes of Sword Art Online, which seems to be pretty awesome and I think anyone who's a gamer and a fan of anime should definitely check it out. He also found a new series called Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic which also looks really neat. We'll be trying that one out tonight.

The fact that Magi's two top recommendations are Hunter X Hunter (the original) and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood gives me high hopes for it. We'll see if it lives up to those.

So, I finished watching Macross Frontier a couple of weeks ago. It was pretty good - decent enough plot, and lots of mecha fighting mixed with song and stage performance. Unfortunately, my set of subs would replace what characters were saying with the translation of the singing in the background in some places, which was kind of irritating. But it still really got you pumped when you were watching the combination of a huge battle with lots of explosions and the performance of a good song.

One of the things I'd heard about this series before watching it was that it had a love triangle (one guy, two girls) which never got any kind of resolution by the end, so I guess you were supposed to just imagine the ending with whichever pairing you preferred. I read into it a bit more, and found that there was supposed to be a resolution, but it was kiboshed at the last minute so that they could squeeze that much more money from viewers in the movie remakes by billing them as "resolving the love triangle". I haven't watched the movies, but I do know which girl "wins" based on triumphant shippers gloating over it, and... well. Let's just say I wasn't surprised, because the series might as well have had a resolution in my opinion. The other half of the triangle just felt completely one-sided.

( Spoilerific stuff under cut )

Anyway, the series is really good, and I think most people would probably enjoy it, because the music and the action are pretty awesome.

I'm now about 10 episodes into an anime series called Fantastic Children, which I originally thought was a fantasy-adventure story aimed at kids. Upon watching more than the first couple of episodes, I have come to the realization that this... is most definitely not a kids' show at all. It's pretty good so far, though.

So, I'm watching the new Hunter X Hunter anime, which is a redo of the original anime with spiffy new animation and colors and stuff. It also follows the manga more closely. Which means episodes 1-8 from the old series are now 1-4 in the new series. Lots of filler was cut. The new voice actors for the four main characters sound somewhat like the old voice actors, but you can tell the differences.

I stopped following the manga ages ago, because (in my opinion) it started to meander and just got annoying to read. I wonder if the new anime will animate some of the stuff the old one didn't cover. I'm not too keen on the chimera ants arc, which I thought was a huge waste of time. It went on forever, and it felt like the mangaka was just stalling because he couldn't think of how to properly continue any of his original storylines. Even now that it's over, from what I've heard they're just starting another new story that has nothing to do with anything, and introducing a whole lot of new characters.

Meh. Bring back Leorio and Kurapika, and then maybe I'll bother to give it another try.

This is a random anime-viewing post, just for the hell of it.

Two more OVA episodes of Baccano to watch! I was pretty happy to find a DVD box set of the whole thing when I was at Otafest. I'm thinking I'll re-watch it in English - especially since I want to share it with a friend who has trouble reading fast enough to make subtitled anime enjoyable for her.

I'm about halfway through Mahou Shoujo Tai Arusu right now. I have mixed feelings about that show, but want to see it through to the end. I'm not watching it that often at the moment, but I'll probably try to work it into my workout/viewing schedule at some point again.

When I was at Otafest, I bought a new series called Neo Angelique: Abyss, which is a reverse-harem set in a fantasy-style world. So far I've watched two episodes, and it seems like standard fair as far as reverse-harems go. It's nothing special at all, but it's not bad either, so I'll probably watch through all 12 episodes.

I've also decided to check out Durarara, so I read the 13 chapters of manga that are out. It's... a very strange series. I am currently in the process of watching the anime (one episode in). Kind of hoping it'll be as fucked up as the manga is in places, but I think they'll tone it down a bit for TV.

At some point in the last month, I watched an episode of Black Cat. Still kind of on the fence about that one, but it did look neat for a slightly older series.

I started watching Eureka 7, but only got three or four episodes in and I'm finding it kind of boring. For anyone who's seen the series, does it get any more interesting? Do the characters become less boring? Right now I'm on the verge of dropping it.

However, I am thinking of picking up Pandora Hearts again, which I had originally dropped after three episodes. I think I will give it another try. Apparently the manga is ongoing, so the anime probably diverts from it somewhere. Not really sure, though. I might try out the manga and see.

I need to finish Mouryou no Hako as well... I've probably forgotten what was even going on in that one by now. But it's too slow-paced to watch while working out, which is about the only time I watch anime any more unless Cody is watching with me. And he has zero interest in this one, so... yeah. It's been slow going.

This weekend at some point, I will probably be watching the Summer Wars movie, which is like the expanded and refined version of the second Digimon movie, Our War Game. I'm pretty psyched for that!

To go a bit off-topic... While I was out of town, I purchased a game called Trails in the Sky for the PSP. The main reason I bought it is because it is an anime-ish RPG with a female protagonist who plays as a melee. The story looked good and all, but yeah. You don't see main female melee characters that often in RPGs. I am currently addicted to this game. The story is good, the characters are fun, and I like the style of gameplay (turn-based fighting tends to be my favorite).

I especially like the feature it has where if you die in a boss battle and get a game over, it gives you the option to retry the fight instead of having to restart at your last save point (you can save anywhere outside of cut scenes and battles, which is also convenient). The best part of this feature is that it has an option that can be configured in the settings to make the fight a little bit easier each time you retry it.

For a lazy gamer like me who doesn't like grinding my characters, this option is brilliant. The fights aren't ridiculously difficult, though, so I've only had to use it three times so far. But the fact that it is there makes me feel a lot more confidant.

So, apparently Touya Akira (Hikaru no Go) and Okuzaki Akira (Mai-HiME) are voiced by the same person.

Not that there are any other similarities in the character designs or anything.

/geek