The Legend of the Legendary Heroes 5 – The Bird Man Cometh

In general, I wasn’t that impressed with this episode. It wasn’t that Ferris, Ryner, or any of the other main cast weren’t interesting (they were), but I just couldn’t force myself to care about any of the side plots. I mean, was I supposed to care that Fiole was murdered? The last time he had any real screen time was in the first episode and he was never going to be a main character anyways. I found myself even more apathetic when it came to the citizens of Imperial Nelpha.

Aside from Dango, it seems that sex is all she thinks about.

Ookami-san and Seven Companions 5 – Unmet Expectations

This episode sees the main plot, introduced in episode 2 but ignored since, return in a big way. Like the previous episode, the humor fell flat most of the time, and the fairy tale adaptation wasn’t anything to write home about either. At the same time, it introduces a couple interesting plot points that make me pause and rethink what I was expecting out of this show.

Sengoku Basara Two 03 – Blood and Water

Keiji has always bothered me.  I see him as the weak link in the chain.  He runs around all over the place, but never really succeeds in anything he does.  Sure, he got the leaders to unite against Nobunaga, but I think they would have done it without him.  He also seems to walk one-step behind absolutely everything in the series.  This week they give him his own episode.  Either my memory is foggy, or he seriously bucked up between seasons.  Since this is my post, I’m going to go with the latter, because it makes me feel better.

Man, even the foot soldiers can't be bothered with Keiji!

Amagami SS Haruka Arc – Idealistic Misogyny

Last week’s episode prompted me to post and to wonder (or perhaps to predict) if this show was going to be, as they call it, a train wreck. To be fair to the show, it’s only 1/6 of the way through, but that does mean that the first story arc is complete, and I can at least say that this story arc was an unqualified train wreck. That being said, I can’t help but grin from ear to ear as I write this. I have to give it credit. Plenty of shows have sucked and been unwatchable, but it’s rare for one to still make you want to keep watching.

[Review] Black Rock Shooter – Wait for it… wait for it… wait for it… OK, it’s over.

After much delay and, depending on where you hang around, much hype, the 50 minute OVA Black Rock Shooter was finally released yesterday, July 24. Despite the solid visuals and music, the poor pacing and storytelling make this an anime that I can’t recommend, even to die hard fans of Vocaloids or Supercell like myself. You’re better off just waiting for the soundtrack and seeing some of the highlights.

Giant Killing 17 – Power Struggle

I sprained my ankle one time.  If you’ve never done it before, I’ll tell you right now moving around is no fun at all.  You want to sit so you don’t have to deal with it, but then you want to get up because you don’t want to sit all day.  I can’t even imagine how restless Sera’s minor injury makes him.  Actually, I can, because we get a front row seat to his head for most of the episode.  By the end, it looks like he and everyone else is looking at the positive side of things for ETU.  Everyone except Tatsumi.

Dude, you're interrupting my mid-game brood.

The Legend of the Legendary Heroes 4 – A World Filled With Afternoon Naps

I know many of you probably don’t follow sports, but I’m going to throw a sport’s analogy at you all anyway. When a legendary coach leaves a team, like when Steve Spurrier left the Florida Gators or when Phil Jackson eventually leaves the Lakers, the guy after him, no matter how good, is never going to get the respect he deserves. Likewise, as good as this week’s episode was, it was never really going to match last week’s episode. But then again, this episode never really tried to match the level of last week’s. Instead, we got more of a stage setting episode that finally bridged the different time periods introduced, but it was still pretty interesting.

The subs for this show really make it too easy for yaoi jokes, but that might just be the case with all shows

Shiki 3 – Mysterious Shiny Outsiders

Woah, that was a pretty intense half-an-hour. Things are still progressing slowly in this series but that doesn’t stop events from being genuinely creepy. One of the things Shiki is proving to be very good at is creating atmosphere, and the show has been using that to its advantage; the consistently eerie mood it’s been building since the premiere has not only been maintained but heightened. In this episode, we were introduced to several new characters, all of whom were sinister or intriguing or both, and the foreboding was really laid on thick.

Believe it or not, this is his happy face.

Ookami-san and Seven Companions 4 – That Fairytale Where Everyone Becomes a Maid

Like last week’s episode, this one was about one of the seven companions, the maid Otsu Tsuruyaga in this case. That’s about all it had it common with that episode, though, or with the rest of the series, for that matter. Without a clear fairytale analogy to latch onto, it was an episode that could’ve been a part of any other show. Unfortunately, when this show isn’t standing out thanks to its gimmick, it’s downright plain and… boring.

OK, it was nice seeing Ryouko in this.

Top 10 Characters – Rakuen

Ghostlightning made an interesting post on favorite anime characters over at THAT Anime Blog.  I originally thought to post a comment in response, but then I decided it would be better as it’s own post.  Maybe you’re all interested in my choice of characters as well.  GL presents two categories: Complex and Admirable.  I would like to add Entertaining as well.  Let’s face it, sometimes you like a character because no matter what they do, they look awesome and steal the show.  This list does contain some spoilers.  So without any further ado, here is my top 10 list of favorite characters, and the reason for their selection.