Progress has been rather lacking lately due to a busy work schedule. Still wondering what happened to the Futokoi Alt subbing, of course. However, here’s a rather brief look at what I liked:
Top Dogs
1. Full Metal Panic! TSR : This was a no-brainer. I do have a bone to pick with the series though; the ending was way too rushed (twincest was eliminated far too easily), and how the heck did Chidori suddenly appear out of nowhere to find Sousuke? Plus, there wasn’t really much development with the new leader-guy of Sousuke’s squad. Some episodes showing how he trains the team or whatnot would have gone a long way towards making me actually care about his presence. However, given its short 13-episode format, TSR does an amazing job of delivering the goods.
2. Gun X Sword : I’m still not sure why this pseudo techno-western series appeals to me so much, but it hits the spot every time. Even annoying brats like Joshua can’t keep me away! Feels a bit like Samurai Champloo in that it embodies the whole ‘it’s the journey, not the destination’ motto, but its fictional reality allows the writers to go rampant with their creative locales and situations (though that’s not to say the writers for SamCham didn’t take a few liberties as well…). The opening also wins the award for Best Use of Wood Flutes and Sooya since Naruto 1st season. I was hoping Shinsen Subs would get moving on this series, but they seem to have taken on newer projects instead.
3. Shakugan no Shana : Beats out the other slasher girl series because I’m not in the mood for heavy horror. A bit of an oddball due to the serious tone mixed with cutesy character designs. Also bears an eerie resemblance to Bleach in many aspects. Please, dont give Shana a bunch of power-ups. Instead, how about more melonbread?
4. Suzuka : The awful animation in the early stages almost turned me off, but luckily the animators stopped drawing with their off-hands. Maybe they were watching too much Princess Bride? Anyhoo, this breezy romance series keeps me hooked with its great character designs and angsty plot twists. But seriously, I am starting to agree with Zyl that Honoka and Suzuka should just ditch Yamato and go out with each other!
5. Battlefield 2 : Intense action elements combined with strong teamplay and squad-based action keep this entry on the leaderboards. I am seriously considering getting a joystick so that I can actually fly those insane jets. Still working on getting that defibrillator kill though…
In the Queue
1. ARIA: I am definitely planning to watch this at SOME point this month…just like I have been planning to start watching Monster for the past couple of years already. I need some slice of life to keep me sane! Speaking of which, I actually liked the ending to Honey and Clover; it seemed to fit the feel of the show perfectly. Of course, this is coming from someone who thought Haibane Renmei was exciting.
2. Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha Ass: Or at least, that’s what I think she’s trying to say. Kabitzin recommended that I watch it, and I know Matthew has been plugging its prequel ever since electricity was invented. However, watching this right off the bat would be like watching GS: Destiny before GS, a.k.a. blasphemy. This is, of course, setting aside the fact that GSD turned out to be a steaming pile of seahorse excrement at the end. But the real question is: why is Nanoha ‘lyrical’?
3. Paradise Kiss: Looks odd. Therefore, must see.
4. Noein: Dunno, it just looks cool.
The Iffy List
1. Ginban Kaleidoscope : I love anime that gets you the most bang for the buck. I also love series that pleasantly surprise me. Here’s to hoping Ginban will do both. The variety of expressions that the animators slip onto Tazusa’s face keeps me entertained, at least.
2. Black Cat: From what Kabitzin tells me about the manga, this series becomes so generic it almost transcends mediocrity. Or something like that. I always did love me some generic shounen fighting though.
This post was written by...
Ender – who has written 219 posts on Sea Slugs! Anime Blog.
One of the original founders, and the first to attempt a coups d'état.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
*nod nod* Yes, the ending seemed quite rushed (i.e. both Chidori and Gauron [omgwtfbbq] appeared in totally unexpected places to settle massive plot points) — I’d normally call foul / deux ex machina, but I’m just happy to see another season of FMP. Also, I’m quite happy about how they portrayed Tessa — she had a ton of awesome lines in the last two episodes ^_^
PS: Hehe, can’t wait to see BF2 as an anime — at the least, it’d be way more fun than Ragnarok
I think I can afford to say it now: I’m a little bit shocked how few bloggers covering TSR had mentioned how objectively horrible the entire background story was. Like, none really. Let’s face it, the entire background plot, which I knew by heart since I had read the novels 2-3 times, trying to make heads or tails out of it, was illogical and convoluted. And when they exhumed Gauron for his 10-minute appearance, I thought that I was reading a novel out of context while at least 12 braincells of mine died an agonized death.
Horrible storywriting. Just horrible.
However, I still enjoyed it immensely, because the rest was tops. The animation was outstanding. And the strong part of TSR in both anime and novel form was the character development of Sousuke, Chidori and Tessa.
Make a test: Without rewatching the episodes, try summing up the background plot in 4-5 sentences. What happened and why did it happen? See what I mean? Now try the same for the Sousuke, Chidori and Tessa dynamics. Should be quite easy.
Yeah for sure, the last 13 episodes didn’t have much of a coherent story.
But it still didn’t interfere with my enjoyment of the series. Like wow, Gauron’s back and totally connected to Twincest?! Neat, but minutes later they’re all dead! This proves that the Tessa Happy Dance has the power to make you forget, just like those flashes in Men in Black. Although the dance had no flashing. I think…
Strong execution with weak story is like totally the opposite of what happened with the Star Wars prequels =).
FMP!TSR> I’m just happy that FMP!TSR didn’t have lots of repeated stock footage, complete butchering of favourite characters from previous seasons and total lack of character development for the lead character… GSD may sorta pass the Mentar Test but it was still a “steaming pile of seahorse excrement”. >_<
Suzuka> Yuri is good. LOL
Actually considering how the first FMP felt so much like completely unrelated stories jumbled up together with absolutely no resolution and a bad guy that never died I thought TSR did an amazing job. Don’t get me wrong, the original FMP was one of my favorite shows of all time, but mostly for the action and the comedy antics. TSR managed to keep the action and the antics and actually managed to tell a somewhat coherent story for most of the 13 episodes which was pretty impressive.
I think I put it correctly when I did my review of TSR. TSR was all about characters interactions and Sousuke getting his groove back. Maybe the fourth series will be about the story for once.
You haven’t watched Monster yet!! You don’t know what your missing. Take it from me, this show might turn out to be your favourite anime of all time if you give it a chance. Just check the first 2 episodes and you will see what I mean (actually no, just check the first few seconds of episode 1 and you’ll be on a roll)
I should say that ARIA is one of the most entertaining slice of life shows this season (despite what others might say). It’s one of those “feel good” shows in the sense that it’s light, cheerful and laid back. Yes, there isn’t much of a plot but that’s just the point. It doesn’t need any plot just like Ichigo Mashimaro didn’t need any plot. Highly recommended.
By the way, did you check “Angel Heart”? This show might interest you.
I have Angel Heart sitting around on my HD, but predictably have not gotten around to it. Looks good though!
Also, I actually did watch the first episode of Monster back when it was first subbed, and I thought it was fantastic. However, its subbing had a fairly slow start as I recall, so I became distracted and moved onto other things. Now I have a huge backlog and it’s hard to get back into it again. But I will!
On a similar note, I bet that when Futakoi Alt finally gets finished, I’ll have no more desire to actually find out what happens in the end
I can’t blame you. The two groups that are subbing Monster faster than the others (Anime Kraze and Soldats) are currently stuck at episodes 65 and 62 respectively. You’re probably better off waiting until one of them finishes subbing the whole series (78 episodes I think) and then you can watch it in one go (relatively speaking of course). The same thing does apply to Futakoi Alternative. The subbing groups these days are really taking more than they can chew. They should form some sort of Union to coordinate between each other so that no group subs more than 2 shows each season and no 2 or more groups sub the same show.
Final thought: Honoka rules!! Yamato is a dope.
“PS: Hehe, can’t wait to see BF2 as an anime — at the least, it’d be way more fun than Ragnarok
”
I’m waiting for the DoW anime myself :p