Out of boredom today, I was looking for a short series to marathon and I chose Hitohira. I had seen the first episode of this at AnimeNext and was planning on finishing it over the summer. Of course, I never got around to it and now it’s the fall. Either way, I definitely enjoyed this series and breezed right through it. I did have some issues with some things in it here and there, but it was a really different series from the usual types I enjoy, so I felt I was watching something thoroughly new and inventive. The story focused on a girl named Asai Mugi, who has an extreme lack of confidence and major stage fright. However, she somehow ends up becoming a member of the drama research society, a club dueling with the original drama club for the right to exist. It goes deeper than that though, as the presidents of the two clubs (Ichinose Nono and Sasaki Mirei respectively) are caught up in a personal conflict. The relationships between the various characters (some platonic and some romantic) are a major focus in this show. I really enjoyed that, because knowing more about the cast emotionally really made everyone more likable. This was good, as we were pelted with lots of drama and angst. It was very hard not to feel bad for most everyone at some point in the series. For instance, after episode nine, I was very moved by the scene where the drama research society had to disband permanently. Even though I saw it coming, I still had hope that just maybe they’d win, and so it still had an effect on me. So what didn’t I like about the show? First, the fact that the plot seemed to jump to something totally new after the club face-off was done with. It still felt like the same show, but it was weird to see Kayo, who was mostly a background character beforehand, be bought into the focus. I usually like when side characters get their time to shine, but dragging out two late episodes about her leaving to study photography(and Mugi’s reaction to it) after the main plot was over came off as a bit random to me. At least they did manage to tie it in with everything else, also focusing on the fact that Mugi still couldn’t deal with her leaving. Another thing that bothered me slightly (though I suppose it was more realistic that way) is that Mugi really didn’t change much until the very end. Her growth was supposed to be a focal point of the series, but she still remained very unconfident even throughout much of the last episode. Because of that, however, her sudden realization at the end seemed almost too sudden. Either they should’ve made her gradually change or not grow at all. My final complaint shall be about pairings. Yes, because that’s the most important thing in anime -_-; Katsuragi totally should’ve returned Kanna’s feelings, because her crush on him was adorable. Although, he did give her his button at the end, but that didn’t change the fact that he still loved Nono. Also, from the artwork and the first episode, I was half convinced that this was going to be a yuri series. Not that it matters to me, but I was surprised that it wasn’t.

Koyori wins a trip to a spa/amusement area called Kappa de Spoland. She and Mana later tell Yorito and Aono about this. Yorito will be joining them on the trip, but Aono won’t. Coincidentally, Takeshi also wins a trip to the same place. Yorito next informs Matsuri of the trip, but she doesn’t want to come. At Kappa de Spoland, Mana introduces Koyori to her friends. One takes an instant liking to her and Mana is villanized for how she treats her little sister. Sae is more interested in interrogating Yorito, but she’s dragged away from him. Soon, everyone heads for the pool, where Mana fails at impressing Yorito with her swimsuit. When Yorito gets some time alone to lounge, he meets with Takeshi, who instantly recognizes him as the boy who was with Matsuri. He starts to attack him, but eventually gives up when he realizes that Matsuri isn’t with him. Then Mayuko appears, who Yorito recognizes. This creates more trouble, which only escalates when Sae notices her as well. Back at the hospital, Aono starts modeling swimsuits in the mirror. Takeshi and Mayuko meet with the rest of Yorito’s group. Sae volunteers to become Mayuko’s mother, requiring her to be dragged away again. Later it’s time for everyone to enjoy the hot springs. Mana and Koyori start advertising the benefits of hot springs. One of Mana’s friends start to torture Mayuko, who counters by keeping her pinned underwater. Takeshi and Yorito are left on the men’s side to talk. However, they soon hear a scream. Takeshi is worried about Mayuko when he finds out that she passed out. He wants to kiss her for CPR, but Mayuko kicks him in the balls as a response and leaves with him. Eventually, Matsuri decides to come after all, and surprises Yorito by joining him in the hot springs. Unlike Mana, Yorito is attracted to her in a swimsuit, and Matsuri notices, pointing out that he’s having perverted thoughts. When it’s time for everyone to leave, they notice that Matsuri is now there, creating a little awkwardness. After they leave, Yorito goes to see Aono again, but comes in to see her in a school swimsuit, leaving her embarrassed.

It was a really pleasant surprise to find that a new episode of Sola was released. I knew there was going to be a 14th episode, but I thought it was going to be post-series. I wonder if they’re still going to make a later episode, because the ending still left some questions. This episode was quite amusing though, and not just because I got to see Takeshi in a swimsuit. That was very kind of them, though. Mana’s loli-loving friend was amusing, with her obsessing over Koyori and Mayuko. I also thought it was completely hysterical when Takeshi started attacking Yorito. I half expected him to pull out his sword. He did have darts with him, though. It was also funny to see them talking civilly afterwards. I felt bad for Takeshi though. :( Either way, there was more than enough T/M for my enjoyment. ^^ Also felt kinda bad for Mana, for a number of reasons. Of course, everything was just done for the sake of comic relief, so nobody gets too much sympathy. I liked how the whole episode was fluff. It’s quite a change from the depressing tone that the actual series had. Sola still remains the best series of 2007 for me. It’s almost time to find out if anything from the fall season will change this.

It’s finally here, or more rather, it aired 2 days ago, but in any case, I’ve been waiting to see this one in Japanese for some time. As usual, there’s no need to summarize what I already have, but I was tempted to do it anyway. My reason for not doing so is that I’m afraid it would be a totally biased and perhaps not entirely truthful summary. And that exemplifies my passionate obsession with this episode.

So anyway, there were quite a few changes this week. Some new dialogue towards the beginning, from the Nuumans and from Grey(Slate). My only guess as to why this was cut was due to time constraints or something, because I didn’t see anything wrong with it.

As for the important parts of the episode, the Mantid fight went basically the same, though the thing with Grasshop was a bit more serious. I found it amusing when Mantid actually referred to himself as “Mantid-sama.”

Then we have the romantic key scene where Buguese frees Aqune. Rather than Buguese doing a whole mental speech, there was mostly just dramatic silence. However, that made it seem really pretty. I was hoping they’d play better music (like that BGM from episode 40 that I really liked) but they did choose a fitting track. There really was almost a more romantic angle to the Japanese version, somehow, even if Buguese didn’t actually go out and admit his care for Aqune. I also liked the fact that Aqune too seemed to show some sort of feelings for Buguese, defintely more so than in the English version. One could say that her being concerned about him in the dub would’ve been the same she would’ve felt towards anyone, because that’s just the way Aqune is, but here when she said his name, it reminded me of all the times Corona said Hunter. It’d be hard to argue that in those cases, Corona didn’t sound like she loved Hunter. Ha! It’s love! I knew it! *gets shot*

So anyway, unless I find more B/A some kind of change of great significane in episodes 50-52, I probably won’t do anymore SR posts. Yes, those of you who read this blog for other things can celebrate now. I conclude this post with a bunch of screenshots sans Teletoon logo. Unfortuantely, I capped most of the episode when I watched the dub, but it’s fun to abuse my newfound power to take clean pictures. ^_^;

Note: I do NOT plan to blog this show on a regular basis (it’s way too cheesey), unless something really interesting happens again, so don’t ask.

I really wonder how I went from reviewing ecchi lolicon-fodder in my last entry to something like this. I really have strange taste. Ugh, hurry up and start, Fall season!
A boy named Tsuyoshi is quickly defeated in a fight by another boy, Koichi, and thinks afterwards that sometimes he hates Bakugan. Meanwhile, Dan and the others return home and somewhat normal life resumes. Runo continues her job as a waitress, but because Alice didn’t come into work, she’s rather annoyed that she has to do everything by herself. Alice happens to notice Tsuyoshi trying to throw his Bakugan into a pond. While trying to make him stop, she accidentally knocks him into the water. After drying him off, she learns of his dislike for Bakugan. She tries to teach him some things about the game. Tsuyoshi still doesn’t want to play again, hating to always lose, and tries to get Alice to do it in his place, but she says that he has to be the one. She adds that he should believe in his own Bakugan. In the meantime, Dan and Drago take a bath. Dan thinks that he’s forgetting about something important. Tsuyoshi is ready for a rematch with Koichi. He holds Alice’s hand, to take her into the field as well, but something strange happens. Much to Tsuyoshi’s distress, Alice doesn’t get to go inside. Instead, she stays in the regular world, but is able to move while the rest of time is frozen. Alice is concerned about this, but is more worried about Tsuyoshi. However, she realizes that she can still hear the battle and they can hear her. She tries to talk Tsuyoshi through it from the outside. Eventually, time starts moving again and Alice loses contact with Tsuyoshi. He’s able to remember Alice’s advice from before, and when he starts to believe in his Bakugan, he turtle-like creature, Juggernaut, speaks to him. Then he’s able to make a comeback. When the fight is over, Koichi is impressed by Tsuyoshi’s skill and wants to challenge him again. Tsuyoshi, who’s able to play on his own now, accepts this. Meanwhile, Dan remembers what he forgot… to eat. Runo, however, remembers something much more important. If Joe wasn’t the spy among their group for Masquerade, then somebody else is. She looks at a photo of her friends, wondering who.

Forgive me, sane people of the world. I just had the urge to review this episode. I’m so bored and sick. I still think this show reaches new levels of ridiculous, mostly due to the cheese factor and crazy amount of out-of-place angst in it, but it’s like a really bad drug. I’ve wondered for a while just what Alice’s purpose in the show was. I mean, she’s never played Bakugan, even though she found a card just like everyone else, and even though she seems to know the game very well. I suppose her knowledge of the game probably exists because of who she chooses to hang out with, but I still find it interesting. There was always something unusual about her and this episode just exemplifies it. I know she’s watches battles before, so it’s not like she can’t enter the fields. I just find it weird that in this instance, she stayed in the normal world. She found it weird too, so I’m guessing it’s the first time something like this has happened. The question is, why? It was interesting to see on the eyecatch this week that she was pictured with the white rabbit. It could just be an Alice in Wonderland reference, but maybe it means something more. Perhaps she has some kind of weird powers concerning time. There are definitely some very supernatural things in this show, such as the magic light that can revive the dead, so it’s not that out of the question that Alice could also possess a supernatural power. Another thing in this episode that really made it interesting was the realization in the end about the spy. I wonder if it really is one of Dan’s friends. I think Dan and Runo can easily be ruled out of the suspects, which leaves Marucho, Julie, Alice, Shun, or someone else entirely. I really can’t see why Marucho would work for Masquerade. He’s way too innocent, so I’d definitely rule him out. Julie is an interesting possibility, because she does seem to be obsessed with Dan. Maybe she had a reason to try and get close to him. Either way, I don’t want to pin it on her, because she definitely opposes Masquerade due to what happened with Billy. Shun has always been dark and mysterious, so with him, nobody knows. And as for Alice, she sometimes is all broody. Maybe there’s a reason for this. Unrelated to the rest of the rant, but Tsuyoshi is so cute. Hope this isn’t the last we see of him, but I bet he’s just a one-shot character.

Okay, I’ll start by saying I really enjoyed this, having little prior information on the series besides the most basic plot point and the fact that the manga stirred up a controversy. It was really ecchi, even a little more-so than I expected, but I’ve seen worse. The character relationships (or potential relationships if the three most perverted third graders I’ve ever seen get their way) are all amusingly warped. Rin, of course, has a crush on her teacher, and is completely convinced that they should be together. She just has some unusual methods of showing her love for him. In this episode, for instance, her birthday present for him included a photo of her naked except for the ribbons she wrapped around herself. Then she wrote him a message in front of the school calling him a lolicon and declaring her love for him. This guy could lose his job in an instant, especially because the female teacher who showed up at the end noticed him looking at the girls out the window. Aoki-sensei, the object of Rin’s affection, is treated as a rival by Rin’s friend Kuro, who’s in love with her. Of course, this means she has to have yuri fantasies and get excited over borrowing Rin’s pajamas. Next, there’s Mimi, a meganekko and the cutest character so far. I also had to check wikipedia to see if she was actually in third-grade after seeing her chest size. She’s in love with Rin’s guardian Reiji. She also seems to fit into the moe-blob category, being the shy and klutzy type. Or something like that anyway. I’ve avoided moe anime for too long, but I’m being reminded of how much fun it is. Throw in some lolicon for added win. Also, Little Non did the ED. More win.

LA: R.I.P.

Okay, so I knew this was coming, but it was still sad to see the most awesome rabid stalker go. I expected Ellis or Rosenberg to kill him, so having Ricardo be the one was an interesting twist. Honestly, I wasn’t sure whether Ricardo or LA would be the one to die when they went into battle, but I had a gut feeling that it was only going to end with one survivor. I’ve wondered for a while and still don’t really know if LA was meant to be a good or evil character. I certainly can’t excuse his frequent psychotic outbursts. Yet, there was something about him that made him very sympathetic. He definitely had a clear grasp on what he wanted in life, which was Ellis. Anyone who served as an obstacle to this, no matter who, was an enemy to him. So yes, that’s just added proof that he’d need to spend serious time in a mental institution if he were real. Still, there was evidence around that he wasn’t an all out evil person. There was the incident with the little girl selling flowers a few episodes back. Then there’s also the fact that he was being manipulated by Rosenberg. If not for what Rosenberg put him through, perhaps he might’ve become a more sane person. I think the strongest reason I sympathized with him, whether he was supposed to be a sympathetic character or not, was that he was constantly being rejected. Ellis had hated him from the start, so of course his pursuit of her was always going to be in vain. Then in the previous episode, the one time Ellis came to him, it didn’t end well either. However, he did get somewhat of a happy ending at least. Though it was actually Lilio, he thought it was Ellis that was smiling at him as he died, so I guess he can die believing that Ellis cared about him. I wonder exactly what that scene with Lilio meant anyway. It was probably just because LA was dying that he saw things differently, but it was weird that Lilio went up to him anyway. Lilio is still the most mysterious character in the show, so I hope in the last two episodes, they’ll at least explain something about her. Seems unlikely though, because Nadie and Ellis are the focus of course.

And there were so many revelations this week. Rosenberg’s motivations and plans were explained and it seems that Ellis did somehow kill the professor. Though probably, Rosenberg controlled her to do it. Wow, this guy’s more evil than I thought.