Smooth and Flat

Apparently, Kadokawa Channel on Youtube has the first episodes of these two new webcast series – The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi-chan and Nyoro~n Churuya-san.

Linked here are the subtitled versions.

…I’m not really going to express my opinion on it, though.

What the hell, Subaru? Stop stealing screen time from Nanoha, Fate and Hayate. That also goes for Teana! I don’t care how cool you are because despite all that cool roller-and-whatever-this-revolver-thing-is-actually-called fighting you’re still an annoying emo tomboy.

Also, got the Huge Box. I mean the Huge Box. Yagami Hayate – Meister des Nachthimmels by ALTER. This figure is awesome and also it kicks ass. Tiny Reinforce Zwei that comes along is cute, too.

Finished both series about a week ago but wasn’t in the mood to post about it.

Apparently, I probably wouldn’t finish GA-REI -zero-, as I wasn’t really impressed by the first four episodes. So I just uploaded the series to my PSP to watch it on my way to work & back. And then I had been absorbed by the series’ pace more and more as the story progressed.

I also think that the designs and animation in the series look a bit similar to Kamichu!, I don’t really know why but there’s this strange dynamics in the characters’ movements and facial expressions, something that makes them appear more lively and “real”. I’m seriously amused by the fact that one of the producers of the series is asread as they failed completely with Minami-ke Okawari and Okaeri animation while in GA-REI -zero- overall drawing and animation quality are on OVA or even movie scale – not like in typical TV series. I’d even say that Sunrise’s production like Gundam SEED or Gundam 00 can pretty much lose in that aspect to AIC Spirits & asread’s GA-REI.

Character development in the series is done nicely, the plot is solid, and there’s no falseness or excessive drama. They look pretty much like normal people… and that’s what makes you feel for them.

And I just love Kagura and Kiri.

Then after finishing that series I finally decided that I’ll spend two evenings on Mushi-shi.

Alas, I don’t think I’m able to describe how I enjoyed the series. I just can’t find the right words. I mentioned Kamichu! earlier – when speaking about animation and character designs – and Mushi-shi is similar to Kamichu! too, but not in these aspects. I’m talking about the setting in general – these series are about normal people living their lives. What I mean is, if in series like Mononoke, GA-REI -zero- or Shikabane Hime we see the lead character fight against supernatural, there’s no such thing in Mushi-shi. I can’t really describe it well; Ginko said a few times that mushi and “normal life” aren’t related at all – they just happen to exist in the same world and sometimes they interact. Those interactions happen not because of ill intent (or any intent at all). It’s just the co-existence of completely different kinds of “life”.

Overall, Mushi-shi is a masterpiece.

Finished School Rumble’s second season. I liked it even more than the first one – maybe because the stories became a bit deeper. However, the lack of any progress makes me a sad taiga.

Kurokami, a new series produced by Sunrise, has completely astounding animation in the first episode. Especially during fight scenes; and I really hope they will keep up the good work. I’ve already mentioned the series before, however; I thought the main character would be a geek as someone told me – but from episode 1 he looks like a pretty normal person.

Minami-ke Okaeri (the third season) is produced by asread, and there’s the so-called quality in the first episode. However, they finally got rid of stupid gradients used on various characters’ hair in Okawari.

In other news, I got ga-rei: zero encoded for PSP and seems like I’ll be finishing the series quite soon – I can watch it on my way to work and back.

Some screenshots from Kurokami follow.

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Boring.

Also, somehow Hirano Aya’s voice acting in this show annoys me greatly. Mizuki Nana does a much better job there.

Can’t really say much about the series, it’s just kind of boring and motionless, judging by the first episode.

That was awesome. 10/10. I can’t really understand why I didn’t watch it earlier.

This show is totally hilarious. And awesome. I can’t even find the words to express it.

It’s SHAFTilicious.

Well I don’t like Kanako, though.

She can go hang herself somewhere in the school gardens.

P.S. Now with Matsurika. Hush, Kaze.

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So I’ve finished ChäoS;HEAd. The show sucks. It has a Jesus Shinji. Do I need to say more? The last episode was a totally, completely stupid and pointless mindfuck. What the hell, Madhouse?

Finished the first season of School Rumble; I still like Yakumo and Eri the most, but I should also add Karen and Mikoto to the list. And Akira is kind of scary…

Still haven’t watched Gin’iro no Kami no Agito. Maybe will do so tomorrow.

Akane-iro and Kannagi have ended.

While the latter was entirely great (despite sudden change from comedy to a sort of drama in episodes 11-13), Akane-iro was average at best. It had some moments of its own, though. See below for a random screenshot.

I’ve also started School Rumble yet again – I guess it’s my 4th (or so) attempt at the series. This time, I’ve already watched 7 episodes (previously I couldn’t get past the first two). My favourite characters so far are definitely Yakumo and Eri.

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Finished Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A’s; it’s better than the first season – mostly because the storyline fires off immediately and there’s totally no stereotypical mahou shoujo genre stuff like it was with collecting shards in MSLN1. At first, I must admit, I didn’t like that gothic lolVita and Signum but by the end of the series I think I don’t consider Vita a butthurt spoiled kid and Signum isn’t as annoying as she was in the first episodes. Yuuno didn’t get much screen time (which makes me a bit sad).

Rating the series 10/10. Also: Fate’s transformation sequence and outfit easily beat Nanoha’s but is on par with Hayate’s.

Started watching Monster. It looks old-school yet somehow reminds me of LastEXILE and Witch Hunter Robin; a really nice example of a suspense/horror story – and nicely done in terms of the animation, screenplay, and voice acting. However I’m not sure if I’ll manage to watch it entirely – all 72 episodes – in a timely fashion, because I usually get scared and postpone such series for a month or two.