The Legend of the Legendary Heroes 2 – With Ninjas!

Though the scene was definitely overkill, that dead dog (mafia style) near the beginning of this episode certainly set a much darker tone for this series, which is certainly an improvement considering the lackluster opener. As this episode would later go on to explain, it appears that many of young Sion’s problems are due to him being the son of a noble father who married a commoner. This, in turn, gives Sion the motivation to want to overturn the current order of the world due its corruption, etc, etc. While I certainly understand Sion’s motivation to become king, he better not continue blabbing on about his past and the corrupt way of the world, otherwise he may start entering Suzaku Kururugi territory. That type of behavior would be enough for me to drop this show just out of principle.

A sunrise is a perfect time to flirt.

Ookami-san and Seven Companions 2 – Wait, which fairy tale is this again?

I wrote briefly about this show in my first impressions post, but I’ve decided to start posting on it in earnest. I was skeptical of its high school romantic comedy aspects, and indeed, both episodes so far have felt weakest when focusing on the 2 main protagonists. Fortunately, the show has been about much more than them, and it has excelled in other aspects, not the least of which is the wonderful narrator.

It's a little odd to see Little Red Riding Hood being best friends with the Wolf.

Happy Birthday, Hitagi! Also, Tanabata

Today is July 7, which means it’s Hitagi Senjougahara’s birthday and also Tanabata in Japan, both of which the Bakemonogatari.com official site is celebrating. Besides offering a happy birthday picture for Hitagi, Shaft offers us what each of the main characters wished for on their tanzakus this Tanabata. I thought it would be neat to share them with you all.

The Legend of the Legendary Heroes 1 – Waiting for it

or Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu

I hope you’re not lactose intolerant, because this is apparently going to be one legendary show. Obligatory How I Met Your Mother reference aside, I decided to give reviewing this show a shot after watching its surprisingly decent trailer that raised my expectations. Despite its pretty stupid name that still may grow on me, I have read good things about the original novels. Even after one episode, I’m still not sure what to expect from this series. The trailers gave the impression that they were attempting to mix comedy with drama, which is a fine line to walk and if not done properly could doom this series. While I haven’t made any definitive judgments on that issue as of yet, this episode certainly didn’t make the best first impression.

[lvlln’s Take] Summer 2010 First Impressions – Ookami-san and the Seven Friends, Highschool of the Dead, et al.

Alright, the Summer 2010 anime season has started, and pretty much all the shows I’ve been keeping an eye on have had their 1st episodes air. I’ve already written on Amagami SS, which I found to be rather plain, but there are other shows I’ve been paying attention to that I’ve actually enjoyed a lot more.

Giant Killing 14 – Passion

Victory changes everything.  We spent the last four weeks of the series focusing on the one key game to get ETU on track for success.  They have a little downtime until the next game, but instead of resting on their laurels, everyone is working harder than ever.  The win over Nagoya has renewed a sense of passion, both in the fans and the team’s staff.  It might not be as exciting as watching a game, but rest assured, just as much can happen off the pitch.

Things like Sera taking a shower! Wait... what?

Mitsudomoe 1 – I will never think of Hamsters in the same way…

…which is made more regrettable given what this show compares them to.

Though I usually don’t make a point of watching anime focusing on 6th grade girls, I might make an exception for this show after a pretty good first episode.  To be honest, this show didn’t show up on my radar at all over the past few weeks as its description seemed rather bland and gave the impression that it might just be an endless parade of panty shots. Fortunately, this episode was able to keep those to a minimum while providing one of the funnier episodes from any series I’ve seen in a while.  What made it even better was that the show didn’t rely too much on fan service, but instead used the naiveté of sixth graders as its source of laughs.

Amagami SS 1 – It’s So… Ordinary…

So I’ll be blogging Amagami SS this season. For the uninitiated, this is a high school romance series based on a dating sim for the PS2 called just Amagami. A trailer for the show is available on YouTube. This is normally the type of show I avoid, as it’s very rare that something interesting comes out of a high school harem show. What caught my attention, though, was that the show will actually not be a harem, but rather feature separate stories for all the heroines, ala Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. So instead of one crappy harem story, I see the potential for 6 decent romance stories. We’ll see how that pans out. This episode didn’t do much for me, but it’s too early to tell.