It’s that time again. Where I live, it’s only about 3:30 in the afternoon, but it will soon be the new year. That means it’s time to celebrate the awesome (and not so awesome) anime series that I watched in 2006. Also, I didn’t look very hard, but I couldn’t find a good picture to use, so I decided to just stick with a wintery image from Kanon.

Without further adieu, here’s the list of 2006 series I watched at least in part(a.k.a. possible candidates)
*=continued from 2005, not eligible for awards

Winter-
Black Cat*
Fushigiboshi no Futago Hime*
Jigoku Shoujo*
Rozen Maiden Traumend*
Mai Otome*
Canvas 2*
Eikyuu Alice Rondo
Fate/Stay Night
Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora
Kage Kara Mamoru
Pretty Cure Splash Star

Spring-
Air Gear
Fushigiboshi no Futago Hime Gyu!
Inukami
Makai Senki Disgaea
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Ouran High School Host Club
Soul Link
Spider Riders
Utawarerumono

Summer-
Chokotto Sister
Demashitaa! Powerpuff Girls Z
Honey and Clover 2
Muteki Kanban Musume
Otogi-Jushi Akazukin

Fall-
Gift ~Eternal Rianbow~
Gin-iro no Olynssis
Death Note
D.Gray Man
Happiness
Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori
Kanon
Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku wo
Rozen Maiden Ouverture
Super Robot Wars Original Generation ~Devine Wars~

Best Series
1. Spider Riders- Who didn’t expect this to be my number one? I’ve only been rabidly obsessed with it since a certain mysterious purple-haired girl showed up in episode 4. I honestly expected this to be a bland, kiddy show but it turned out to be dark and full of unending mystery. Aqune is what hooked me to the show, admittedly, but I quickly grew attached to one of the most likable casts I’ve seen in a while. Despite being a joint project with Teletoon, this is definitely a Bee Train work.

2. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya- I only started watching this due to the rabid praise it was getting and expected that because everyone else loved it, I would hate it. Instead, I thought it was brilliant. It’s rare that a series like this becomes so loved, but this is one series that deserves the hype it gets.

3. Fate/Stay Night- I enjoyed this series thoroughly. While it wasn’t the most original series, it was thrilling. Even in its slow paced beginning, I found myself very hooked. In the second half, the tension was great. Of course, I also loved the characters.

Runner Up: Eikyuu Alice Rondo- Yeah, yeah, so the Earth’s populous knows this was a terrible show. The animation was hideous, the plot was fairly dull. Why did I love it so much then? The characters. This show proves that a fun cast can make a show really enjoyable to watch. Plus, there’s the “desu no.”

Best Male

1. Buguese- Spider Riders- Other than proving the men with antennae can still be sexy, Buguese is a really complex villain. I love villains with depth. He’s twisted and possessive to a fault, I couldn’t argue with that. However, one can’t help but pity him (especially in the Japanese version. The dub can be fairly screwed up.) We see that the Oracle, who’s so important to the good people in the Inner World, has done something terrible to his race for reasons he can’t fully understand. Of course, his ideals contradict strongly with those of the Spider Riders, especially when you add Aqune into the equation. It’s interesting for me to actually root for him, but when I think about it, he actually does have some positive qualities.

2. Archer- Fate/Stay Night- I don’t know how I became so attached to Archer. Other than the fact that he’s good looking, he has a very likable personality. Maybe it was a combination of those two. Regardless, I adore him. I was actually considering making him number one.

3. Tamaki- Ouran High School Host Club- Is there seriously anyone who doesn’t like Tamaki? He’s so over the top in every way and is one of the most fun characters I’ve ever seen. Despite him coming off as almost antagonistic at times, he was someone I had to pity, maybe because he was so hopeless in his quest to win Haruhi’s love.

Runner Up: Akito/Agito- Air Gear- Maybe I’m attracted to men with blue hair. Besides being hot, Akito/Agito added some necessary flair to Air Gear. Akito was adorable and made excellent comic relief. Agito on the other hand was insane and took some getting used to, but he turned out to be a complex character that I grew to sympathize with.

Best Female

1. Kisa- Eikyuu Alice Rondo- It’s all about the “desu no.” Seriously though, Kisa-chan is one of the most rabid fangirls I’ve ever seen. In real life, I can’t stand people like that, but in anime I love them. I knew she would interesting from episode one, but when I saw her making Kiraha-shaped cookies in the next episode and later her reaction to discovering Kiraha’s panty draw, I was completely in love with her character. I’ve even made a t-shirt in her honor, which I’ve worn to a few anime conventions. “Desu no!”

2. Aqune- Spider Riders- Aqune is really mysterious. That’s what makes her interesting. By this point of the series, we’ve learned a lot about her and she makes far more sense than she did when she first appeared, but her past is still unknown and I believe this will be an important factor for the story’s future. She’s been very intriguing so far and still is, for reasons besides her mystery.

3. Minori- Pretty Cure Splash Star- Minori somehow turned out to be a very interesting character, who was never really used to her full potential. To credit her, she did play an important role in the conversion of Kaoru to Mai and Saki’s side and she also found out the Pretty Cure’s secret. Unfortunately, she believed them when they told her it was a dream, but it makes sense that she’d trust in the people she idolizes. Minori is far from stupid, which is a great thing considering the miniscule brain capacities of most of the cast.

Runner Up: Rin- Fate/Stay Night- Rin was a very fun character. She was definitely overshadowed by Shirou and Saber, but got a fair enough share of development. Plus, she was cool. I don’t know why I was so awed by her ability to fire energy blasts from her fingers. Muwahaha! Go, finger blasts! Come to think of it, they rarely did much good.

Funniest Series

1. Ouran High School Host Club- There’s almost always something to laugh about in this show.

2. Pretty Cure Splash Star- What was intended to be funny in this series really isn’t that funny (though I do occasionally laugh at the jokes.) Often though, I’m laughing at the show, because it’s just so ridiculous at times. It’s also led to some very amusing in-jokes that my brother and I made.

3. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya- There’s plenty of serious parts to this show, but what’s meant to be funny is really done well.

Runner Up: Makai Senki Disgaea- Sure, this show could get pretty idiotic, but there were also enough funny things to keep me entertained.

Best OP

1. Destiny- Gin-iro no Olynssis- I loved this OP. It was kind of like a knock-off Gundam Seed OP, but hey, I loved the Gundam Seed OPs dearly. The song was great and I’ve listened to it repetitively. The animation was also really pretty and intriguing. I made sure to watch it each week, because it really put me in the mood to watch the show.

2. Screaming- Soul Link- The show was semi-ridiculous, but the OP had just about anything I could ask for in an opening theme. There was a catchy, upbeat song, which I’ve listened to more times than I can count. There was also a very appealing animation.

3. Disillusion- Fate Stay Night- Again, it was just a really pretty animation to an addicting, up-beat song.

Runner Up: The World- Death Note- There have been times when I didn’t really feel like watching Death Note, but the OP put me straight into the mood. It’s a unique animation, with the characters oddly miss-colored but I couldn’t think of anything more fitting.

Best ED

1. Hare Hare Yukai- The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya- Okay, who didn’t like this ED? There was a massive amount of parody fanart and videos released soon after it was shown. The dance is ridiculous, but it’s fun. That is… it’s fun to watch. I haven’t actually tried it.

2.Ganbarance de Dance- Pretty Cure Splash Star- Just another dance. It’s not as cute as the Haruhi one, but it’s still really cute. Even the monsters from Dark Fall participate. XD

3. View of Love- Spider Riders- It’s such a sad song and I find it far more fitting for the mood of the show than the first ED. Plus, it also may be giving some hints about the plot, from what it shows of Corona and Aqune as children.

Runner Up: Rainy Beat- Kage Kara Mamoru- It’s pretty catchy for an ED theme. Also, the animation is cute.

Most Annoying character:

1. Nanami- Soul Link- Does anyone have a muzzle? Nanami was cute in design, but not much else. I also know that I’m not alone in fans who would like to shoot her.

2. Rika- Honey and Clover II- I tried really hard to like her, since I love screwed up angsty characters. It didn’t work. Myself totally sympathizing with Yamada really didn’t help.

3. Mojo Jojo- Demashitaa! Powerpuff Girls Z- Darn, he was too persistent. Give the other villains a chance in the second season please!

Runner Up: Natsume- Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora- He grew on me as the series progressed, but the initial impression he made on me was not a good one. I don’t approve of doctors who beat up their patients.

Special Awards:

The “I can’t believe I didn’t drop this” award- Kage Kara Mamoru- This series was horribly dumb. It had to be the awesome tsunderes and that blasted banana song that kept me watching. Banana, Banana, Banana!

The “I kind of regret watching this wildly out of order and skipping episodes” award- Honey and Clover II- Yeah, this was awesome. I actually still have to watch the last episode, though I did read a summary of it.

The “Pleasant Surprise” award- Pretty Cure Splash Star- I watched this entirely at whim. I then fell in love.

The “Surprisingly Bad” award- Muteki Kanban Musume- This show had so much potential, but it just turned out to be annoying.

The “Deserves another season” award- Air Gear- It actually had a satisfying ending, but unfortunately there’s still a ton of manga material that could be animated.

The “surprisingly likable character” award- Light- Death Note- I couldn’t stand him for his ideals at first. Then I started rooting for him somehow, even though L is cuter.

The “best psychopath” award- Koichi- Gin-iro no Olynssis- Koichi was very, very insane. It made him amusing. Need I say more?

The “best developed character” award- Shirou- Fate/Stay Night- His character practically did a 360 by the ending. He went from utterly useless and unnaturally sexist to pretty darned kick-butt and a respectable equal to Saber.

The “most anticipated” award- Fate/Stay Night- I had played a little of the game before hand and thought it was cool. Of course, I was really anticipating the anime.

The “Even though your series is void for starting last year, you still deserve an award because you didn’t do much in the part airing last year and I fell in love with your character this year” award- Leon- Black Cat- He’s a fluffy blue-haired shouta. If that’s not reason enough, he’s also really screwed up, and thus that makes him interesting.

Best Start- Inukami- Unfortunately, this show got stupid after a while, but that first episode was like nothing I’d ever seen before. Seriously, I never would’ve expected so much male fanservice in a bishoujo series.

Best Finale- Canvas 2- Yes, I said that this was a void series, but due to the subject matter of this award, I think it would only make sense to include older series that ended in 2006. Canvas 2’s ending was a dream come true for an Elis fan. Such a beautiful plot twist.

As I did with the Makoto arc as it seemed to be approaching closure, I’ll just provide some opinions on the current plotline.

What pleases me most about this arc is that it doesn’t seem as dragged out as the previous one. The fact that there’s a lot more mystery in this one is probably part of the reason. Mai struck me as boring at first and to an extent, she still is. However, now I’m very curious about her story. Just how did she get involved in the whole spirit fighting thing? Is she going to turn out to not be human, similarly to Makoto? Sayuri also makes things interesting. It seems very likely that she’ll have a larger role to play. I was surprised by the simplicity of the story of how she and Mai became friends. If there is something more to her, then I’m guessing that will come to play in the present, because it seems that she had a fairly normal past. Mai, on the other hand, probably didn’t. This friend that she had in the past will probably be a key to figuring her out. It’s so difficult for me to stay away from spoilers, but I’m determined to keep doing so.

Also, I’m totally in love with the giant ant-eater plushie. I hope someone will make a real plushie of it.

I just love Christmas and have decided that as usual, I will be taking a brief hiatus. I’m sure it won’t last long (I think last year it lasted less than a day, due to an episode of Jigoku Shoujo calling me to blog about it) but I’d like to just relax and enjoy the holiday. I’ve got plenty of anime to watch though, such as the Christmas episodes of PPGZ and Pretty Cure Splash Star, as well as the finale to Rozen Maiden Ouverture. Now if only they’d finish downloading.

I highly doubt they celebrate christmas in the Inner World, but why not?

I tend to not summarize OAVs. Besides, I’m not certain about a major point and if I did write something I’m afraid I’ll screw it up. What I’m questioning is just where this takes place. Obviously, the flashbacks were pre-series, but I’m referring to the part in the present time. Because Hinaichigo and Souseiseki are still around, I don’t think this is post series, but Canaria’s presence is also a confusing factor. If anyone knows, please tell.

Dosn’t really matter to me where this is taking place though. I’m just overjoyed to get more Rozen Maiden. It’s weird because while I was certainly looking forward to this, I wasn’t particularly hyped. I just thought to myself, yeah I’ll watch this when it comes out… whatever. It wasn’t until when I actually saw the torrent up on Tokyo Tosho when I flipped. Rozen Maiden is back, one of the most awesome anime series in recent years. More importantly, this OAV is focusing on Suigintou, who is part of what makes Rozen Maiden so awesome. Once I actually started to watch this, seeing all the characters do their thing (Suigintou being a nice balance of tragic and psycho, Suiseiseki’s “desu,” Hina’s immortal cuteness in everything she does, etc.) just felt so reminiscent. It was just full of awesome. What really surprised me about this OAV is that despite the promoted Suigintou focus, she really didn’t get that much screentime. I’m half happy and half upset about it. I love getting to see so much of the other characters. However, I wanted to watch lots of Suigintou. I have a feeling the second episode will be able to grant my wish. Suigintou was definitely entertaining on the preview. I can’t wait to see it. Also, I really liked the OP animation and ED song. It’s a shame I don’t like the OP song and ED animation much. Now, it is time for pictures.

In a flashback, Tea sees her brother Koichi covered in blood and carrying a knife. She’s horrified by this, because he was always so kind. Koichi tells her how he wants to become Koichi. Tea argues that her brother is her brother, not Koichi. He tries to kiss her, but Tea hits him and jumps back. Though Koichi asks her to return to him she refuses, saying that she’s going to Earth. Koichi is angry, but Tea says farewell before falling backwards off a ledge. Koichi is unable to catch her, but he sees her fly back up with Silver Olynssis, which she takes to Earth. In the present Tea tries to get Koichi to stop fighting. Tokito realizes that he’s Koichi’s descendant. Misuzu is the only one who doesn’t get what’s going on, but Koichi electrocutes her. Tokito and Tea are very angry about this and attack, doing substantial damage. Meanwhile, Bryan helps Yousuke get into a space pod of sorts to go after Misuzu. Bryan heads to another, with Balfu. He finds this reminiscent. They have to evade something programmed to attack. Airi is working on the bridge for now. Yousuke eventually catches up to Silver and Gold Olynssis. He’s determined to save Misuzu, who at this point is beginning to disagree with Koichi. Koichi tries to attack him, but Tokito protects his friend by slashing the Gold Olynssis. Misuzu is shot out of it and caught by Yousuke’s ship. Tokito tells him to get her to safety. Koichi asks why Tea, that human and everyone else abandoned him and starts to cry. Tokito and Tea suggests that he end this, but Koichi just yells at them to shut up. He attacks Tokito again, stating that he’ll take away his life and his name. He’ll be the only Koichi Aizawa. Tokito fights back, saying that he’s not Koichi, he’s Tokito Aizawa. In the meantime, we find that Dara allowed Serena to go up to the sky door. Yousuke returns to the base, saying that he got Misuzu back. Airi is excited to hear this. Yousuke tells Misuzu that he won’t leave her again. Getting back to the main point, Tokito reaches for Koichi’s hand, but Koichi hits it away. Koichi asks Tokito why he’s always trying to be him. Tokito replies that he’s Tokito, but Koichi also isn’t Koichi. There is no longer a Koichi. He died years ago. Koichi should live as the person he is now. Koichi isn’t buying that though. He states that Tea was Koichi’s love so he needs to be Koichi. Now Tokito is Tea’s love, so this time Koichi will try to be Tokito. He tries to stab Tokito with a knife, but Tea protects him. She isbn’t hurt, because the knife hit her pendant. Tea also says that she doesn’t want Koichi and Tokito to come together. Koichi is in agony and returns to Gold Olynssis. Bryan and Balfu finally make it to their destination and Balfu watches in amazement and Bryan stops the attack program. He wants to put his vengeance aside. Once Bryan is done, he goes to leave but sees that Balfu has died. Bryan returns to the base alone, s the place where he left Balfu explodes. In Koichi’s insanity, he takes the upper hand in the fight again. Koichi then prepares to blow up the Olynssis generator and fires an energy blast at it. The explosion created is heard even at the base. Airi is concerned because not everyone has returned yet. They’re still alive though and the fight between Tokito and Koichi continues, However, Serena gets between them. A part of her Olynssis shatters and it becomes Silver Olynssis. Serena’s hair tie also breaks off, letting her hair flow down. She transports herself to Koichi’s Olynssis and transforms her body to that of Tea. It turns out that Serena was the Tea that Koichi loved and so she embraces him. As Tea (the one we know) flies away with the Silver Olynssis, Tokito is reluctant to leave Serena. The other Tea tells Koichi that she won’t ever leave him and that they’ll be with each other forever. The generator then explodes. At the base, it’s seen that Misuzu was given medical attention. Bryan, Yousuke and Airi take her back to Earth. Tea tells Tokito that they should return to where everyone is. Before then, Tokito tells Tea that he loves her. They then fly together into the strange flashing abyss created when the generator exploded. On Earth, the others visit Jin’s grave. They’re all sure that Tokito and Tea will soon return to them.

It could’ve been better, but I’m pretty satisfied by the ending. It seemed kind of rushed. Maybe, with one more episode it would’ve really worked. I should’ve seen this coming, because it happens all the time, but both my favorite characters (Serena and Koichi) died. Serena remained quite a mystery to the end of the series. I actually questioned the fact that she might be some version of Tea and it looks like I was right. It’s really great that she came back to Koichi in the end, because I found it so depressing that Koichi was always abandoned. Even Misuzu, who was kind of like a kindred spirit to him, disagreed with him in the end. It probably didn’t help though that he zapped her with electricity. Koichi is also a bit of a psycho, so maybe that’s why people always leave him. He took his love for Tea to such extremes that he was actually trying to become a different person. I knew he had snapped to the point of no return when he eventually declared that now he was going to become Tokito in order to have Tea. However, in the end he got Tea. That was a surprising development, but as someone who’s usually sympathetic to villains, I’m extremely glad that he got to be happy in the last moments of his life. As for the other death in this episode, I saw that one coming a mile away. Balfu was utterly creamed last week. He too got to be happy before he died, which was also sweet. There were a lot of good things in this ending, but one big problem I had. That was Misuzu’s rapid development. You can’t go from being insane and wanting to kill someone one minute to happily waiting for their return in the end. I understand her turning on Koichi, but I don’t think it makes sense that she likes Tokito and Tea again. Well anyway, that was a great series. Without a doubt, my favorite of the Fall ’06 premiers. I’m not counting on a sequel, but you never know. They did leave the fate of Tokito and Tea open to interpretation. I’m pretty certain that they’re alive, but they still have to return to their friends.

Preview: Once upon a time, an unsuspecting anime blogger decided to watch a show called Gift, because she likes cute romances based off hentai games. She was completely overwhelmed by the ugly animation and the clichéd plotline which ripped off Da Capo and Shuffle, so much that she fell in love. Then one day, the series got good. After several months, this good series that was still a knock off of other series ended. The ending was simplistic and predictable, but it was excellent. Happily, she took 100+ screenshots. Even after deleting them, there were still 60 that took an eternity to convert to JPEGs, far longer than the rainbow would exist in the sky. She wil probably never be tempted to take this many screenshots again, so consider it a sort of Christmas present.

(more…)

Choco gives Kakeru and Yurika invitations to a Christmas party. Kakeru accepts almost immediately, to the annoyance of Yurika. She denies the invitation. She can’t go, because she’s going out to dinner with her father on Christmas Eve. Although Yurika is excited about this, she still regrets not getting to go to the party with Kakeru a bit. However, she gets a phone call from her father, who tells her that he’ll unfortunately have to cancel their night out. Afterwards, she’s very upset. The next morning, a very drunken woman is woken up and also gets a call, telling her that she has to hurry and return home. She’s very angry to receive such demands. Meanwhile, Choco prepares for the party with Chitose, by making cupcakes and wrapping them in gift bags. Choco gives one to Chitose as a present. She also has a gift for Choco. It’s a red jacket, which Choco is very pleased with. Choco gives her next present to Makoto, from whom she receives a Santa hat and gloves. Once she leaves the house, Choco finds Yasuoka and gives a gift to him. He gives Choco the scarf he found at the grave in return. Of course, since this used to be Choco’s, she’s confused as to why she had it. She then gives presents to various people in the town. This includes the lingerie store and she receives a present there. She runs into Kakeru when leaving and reaches into the bag to give him a gift. He freaks out, thinking it’s some kind of underwear, but it’s not. We now get to see that Drunk Lady also has a gambling problem, as she goes to play slots. Meanwhile, Yurika tries to convince herself that she doesn’t mind being alone. Because of how she acted when she got the invitation, she doesn’t think that she can go to Choco’s party. Her maid knocks on the door, but she just ignores it. It starts getting annoying, so she yells at her to be quiet, but the maid replies that Choco is there. Yurika wants to know why Choco is there and Choco replies that she’s giving her a Christmas present, much to Yurika’s surprise. Haruma is seen working with Tamami at a cake shop, and is dressed as Santa. Tamami allows him to leave, but is still enthusiastic about working herself. Choco’s next present is for Kuro, despite the fact that he’s not there. She leaves a package in the house where he lived. Back at his home, Kakeru gets ready for the party by styling his hair. Drunk Lady goes and sits on the swing set, still mad at something. Choco gives her a present as well. She seems to know who Choco is. Choco finds Haruma next and he’s curious as to where Choco’s outfit came from. She explains that it was made from presents from Chitose and Makoto. She also explains that she’s delivering Christmas presents and tells Haruma al the people whom she gave them too. However, she gets upset when she realizes that she has none left now, so she can’t give her brother a present. Haruma doesn’t mind, saying his Christmas present is that they can be together again. They return home, where Chitose is cooking dinner. Kakeru rushes to the party, but on the way he sees Yurika on the swing set, looking depressed. He asks her what she’s doing and why she’s not at the restaurant with her father. She replies that her plans changed. Kakeru is excited that she can go to the party. Yurika replies that she can’t because of how cruel she was. Kakeru takes her hand and they run to the party anyway. Choco is of course excited to see her. Once they think everyone’s there, Odairi shows up, bringing music. Everyone does the Neko Nyan dance. Meanwhile, we see that Ayano is living happily with Kazuya. Tamami’s cosplay loving friend and some others decide to go to the hot springs for Christmas, but find that Midori is already there. Tamami is still attempting to sell Christmas cakes. Master is dating someone at a fancy restaurant. Yurika’s maid finds a Christmas present from Yurika in the garage (on her motorcycle) XD. In heaven, Yuki’s mother is looking for her, but she’s seen by a tree with Kuro. He somehow received his present and is giving it to her. Some kids are seen with their grandmother(who I could’ve sworn I’ve seen in this show before, but can’t remember who she is for the life of me), questioning if there really is a Santa. Finally, we see Drunk Lady again. After finishing her meal, she suits up. It turns out that she was the female Santa Claus. She sets out to deliver gifts. As Choco and Haruma sleep, we hear from Choco’s journal about how much fun the party was.

That wasn’t a bad episode by any standards. It was actually quite touching at points. However, it wasn’t much of a finale. I guess it was kind of neat that the series started and ended on Christmas, but I really wish they would’ve done something more conclusive. I don’t dislike open endings. They’re useful when a series is going to have a second season. However, there’s very little chance that a second season of Chokotto Sister will be made, so I’m just disappointed about how little was concluded. We did get to see Ayano again, so I’m glad they didn’t just forget about her existence. We also got to see the fate of Kuro. Those were both satisfying things. However, there was no answer to the Choco/Kakeru/Yurika love triangle and more importantly, Haruma didn’t get with Chitose. Sure, that’ll make the sis-cons happy, but I really wanted to see them get together. It was such an obvious pairing too. Grr… I want a second season or at least an OAV just for that. As a whole, this was a very enjoyable series. I kind of wish that more than 9 episodes of it were subbed so that more people could get to enjoy it. Secretly though, one thing I really enjoyed about this is that it was really easy to translate. I could probably sub it quicker than whoever’s doing it (except that I don’t know how to make fansubs, so there’s no way I’d actually do it.) Yep, great series, especially in it’s second half. Would’ve been 50x greater if Haruma and Chitose got together. Yurika added a ton of enjoyment to the show, so she quickly became my favorite character, even though she wasn’t in the first half at all. I liked the fact that she got a ton of development, probably more than anyone other than Choco and Haruma. With all the screentime she got, the second half of the series was practically The Yurika Show. ^_^ I wonder if people more interested in other characters appreciated that or not. Can’t think of much else to say, so that’s it. I’ve completed another series and that’s always a great feeling.

To summarize this briefly
-Trip to the zoo
-Michiru and Kaoru refuse to return to Akudaikan-sama
-Mizushitatare and Dorodoron are today’s enemies
-Dorodoron is defeated
-Minori is awesome throughout the episode. There hasn’t been this much Minori in a while. To celebrate, here are several pictures of the greatest character (although I’m really getting attached to Akudaikan-sama ) along with her latest work of art/attack on Saki. Also, it becomes increasingly obvious that Minori owns Kaoru ^_^

Christmas episode next time. Can’t wait. Also, the ending theme this week was weird as hell. It involved costume characters of Mai and Saki dancing with the kid from Crayon Shinchan.

I don’t feel like summarizing now. I actually only watched a few parts of this. I’m really not feeling well, both physically and emotionally. Having depression = not fun. >_< Maybe I'll get something up later. For now, just a few thoughts.

The Corona/Aqune freindship dynamic I really like. Those two are quite a bit alike. It's nice that despite the fact that Corona sees Aqune as a rival, she still treats her as a friend. I felt bad for Corona though, in the end. Now she sees it as her fault that they lost Aqune. There was really nothing she could do about it though. Oh and for the Hunter/Corona fans, there was still a bit of icksome Hunter/Aqune, but you might like this second image. I know I did.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh! I’m going to get nightmares from Aqune’s new mask. This picture dosn’t justify just how creepy it is. What was really creepy is seeing how it went on her. It literally sucked itself into her brain, I think. Looked painful too. This one’s probably going to be a bit more difficult to break. On the subject of Buguese, I think he went about the wrong way to getting Aqune back. Sure, force was going to be the only way to do it, but… I dunno. I’ve still got the creeps. He really was getting overly worked up about losing her and it’s already been proven that when he’s mad, he resorts to violence (episode 13, anyone?). In this case, taking Corona hostage. Still, I’m happy that Buguese referred to Aqune as “my dear” again, though not actually to her this time and for like a minute might have been hugging her, though it’s hard to tell. Uh Buguese… if you do like her (as if it wasn’t obvious) you might want to try being a little nicer next time. Maybe, convince her to come back rather than pulling out the brand new, Hideous Mask of Doom. (And no, that’s not really what it’s called. I just like the sound of it.) I never get anywhere when trying to snap sense into fictional characters, so I think it’s time I stop ranting.

Until next time (which won’t be for a while, since SR won’t be on on Christmas Eve) -TL-chan

The first episode was about Miyako’s eraser and pen coming to life, due to Him of course. Being a monster, the pen is evil and wreaks havoc in the town. The eraser wanted to be his friend, but since the pen declared his (or her? I couldn’t tell.) hate for him, he gets depressed. Eventually, they make up and get turned back to normal. Part two featured a flower who was bought to life(well, it was already alive, but you know what I mean) and got powers from Him. Because she’s lonely, she makes flowers appear all over the town, including on people. Sakurako is eventually able to stop it.

Very cute episodes, especially the second one. These were particularly funny too. I didn’t expect to see Sakurako back again, but I certainly don’t mind. She wasn’t as cute as in her first appearance though. The Great Michel also made a cameo appearance and was as gay as ever. He actually appreciated the flower thing. I’m really looking forward to next week’s episode, which will be the end of the first season. The preview was making me laugh already. It’s going to be a Christmas episode. That’s a fun way to end the series.