CJ and Janette’s New Year’s Special!

Consider this to be like one of those pointless anime episodes where lolis the characters celebrate a random holiday while reminiscing… or something…

Except, you know, we’re gonna be handing out awards.

12th Day of Christmas: Way To *spoilerspoilerspoiler*, Sunrise

A belated Merry Christmas to all! The previous 2 days I was a tad too busy doing homework partying to write about another anime moment, but if anyone’s still interested, I’ll rant about it today.

And it is a very important, spoilery, somewhat franchise-butchering moment indeed. Code Geass episode 25. Y’all probably know exactly what happens, but if not, then SPOILERS AHEAD.

11th Day of Christmas: That PIMP Takeuchi!

Okay, technically Yano’s even more of a pimp, but… seriously. Seriously, Takeuchi.

WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!? YOU…… STUPID……… PIMP!!

D.Gray-man North American Release Date Revealed – March 31 2009 [Updated]

No, FUNi’s official site didn’t reveal it first: Robert’s Anime Corner Blog has word that D.Gray-man’s first 13-episode box set will be coming stateside March of EDIT: March 31, 2009. According to the Corner Store’s page for the first box set, the box sets will contain English dubs, but there still doesn’t seem to be any certain word on the cast.

About time FUNimation gave us more on this release! The last we heard from them was in May, when the website launched with a release date of ‘2009′. I’d begun to fear that it would be later in 2009, perhaps around June, but I guess they got their act together.

And what’s this about a dub? Rumor had it we were getting one, but there’s been no confirmatory nod from FUNi, has there? ANN’s encyclopedia entry for DGM has a Mary Morgan listed as the sole English cast member, but that hasn’t been confirmed or denied elsewhere.

More details to come on this one as I scour the internet ’til bedtime or later. :D

~CJ

EDIT 2: FUNi has had the cast set for a while, but they claimed at NYAF they were gonna reveal the cast at a later date… Ugh, now I remember hearing about this. (Perhaps I even blogged about it?! xD) Hopefully they won’t pull the stupid Ouran dub cast build-up-craploads-of-stupid-suspense-lol BS with DGM.

10th Day of Christmas: Experimentation

In a sea of rehashes and sequels, occasionally you find something pretty unique.  For this year’s anime run, that series was Kaiba.  The animation style is far out of the norm.  A lot of anime relies on “hard lines” as it were; everything is very clearly defined, and it all runs along very smoothly.  Entering the world of Kaiba is very jarring then, because everything looks so abstract.  The motions have progressed beyond smooth; it’s almost like a liquid being disturbed by brush strokes.  It opened up a lot more room for playing with the animation, which is a joy to watch throughout.

9th Day of Christmas: When Plaid Was Popular Again

Running for over a year (60+ episodes) and still going is the magical Shugo Chara!, which was significant to me in being the new, modern staple of the mahou shoujo genre since Cardcaptor Sakura. Here the down-to-earth Amu just tries to live her life but is suddenly thrust into a world-saving mission. But the series also has to throw in romance, cute mascots, perils of school life, and fashion. And quite a fashion statement this series makes, but you can’t deny that it’s simply cool and spicy.

8th Day of Christmas: Simon Meets Nia

And my true love gave to me…

One of my favorite anime moments this year has to be hands down meeting Nia for the first time. It quite obvious I love Nia, she has the greatest facial expressions, and I love how strong she is and the strong faith she has despite everything. And more so, she’s just really cute.

7th Day of Christmas: HiguNi’s End and HiguKai’s Beginning

Higurashi was a hot topic in the aniblogging world. And why shouldn’t it be? The blend of light comedy and violently straightforward plot was nothing out of the ordinary…the distant settings and diverse character involvements, however, is definitely something you don’t see everyday. Granted, they tend to follow typical moe stereotype (Rena specifically), but there’s always something to balance it out. The quality that gives this anime its absolute best value isn’t in the gore, cute lil’ Rika, or even the explosive suspense. What makes it truly come to life is how the integration of every detail comes into place to make a stunningly surreal ending. Spoiler Warning, to all who care.

6th Day of Christmas: This is Why Some People Have Complexes When it Comes to Mirrors

I’ve already given Uta Kata a fair amount of praise, but its mindscrewy final TV episode, which I just rewatched, warrants some of its own.

EDIT: I’m aware of all the images still being fail-y. I’ll try to fix them later, but no guarantees; I really don’t know what’s wrong.

EDIT 2:  Seems fixed. Ha. We’ll see.

5th Day of Christmas: How Far We’ve Come

Much has changed over the past 13 years, anime notwithstanding. And Gainax has given us an excellent comparison of the artform in their retelling of the Evangelion story. In particular, I’m going to focus on just one of the angels, Ramiel. You might remember seeing this back in the day: