neko's thinkbox

I believe summer should be all about watermelons, big melons, small melons, and mysterious purple cocktails.

I believe summer should be all about watermelons, big melons, small melons, and mysterious purple cocktails.

Okawari! Yep, I am not sated yet. With so many potentially good series this summer, it is hard to make a decision which series to effectively watch and perhaps even blog. So here’s to confirm or veto my first good impressions on the eight series I picked. Don’t worry, I will (try to) keep it short this time.

Of course, I hope to reduce that number to a strict minimum. After all, there still are plenty of long seasoners from spring (Basquash!, Cross Game, Phantom, Saki, Tears to Tiara, Valkyria Chronicles) I am currently watching and blogging, so I will have to limit my choices here. (Even if I rarely do episodical posts now anyway, but it still is a lot to watch and muse about.)

Quicklinks:

Aoi Hana — CANAAN — GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class — Princess Lover! — Sora no Manimani — Taishou Yakyuu Musume — Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 — Umineko no Naku Koro ni

Aoi Hana

I'm dazzled at Fumi's cuteness.

I’m dazzled at Fumi’s cuteness.

Ah, Fumi… you are so vulnerable… I just want to hug you… Erm. I mean, this episode was greatly executed. Fumi is such an interesting character, although sometimes you’d wish she was a little more independent. Though at some point I thought it would be just about perfect if Akira went to the Drama club (to become more refined like Fumi) and Fumi went to the Basketball club (to become more dynamic, like Akira), that would balance out their personalities and render them more alike. But it seems it will go down the drama road now. And the fact that another close-tied pair has appeared will probably make things more complicated for everyone. In any case, I liked this episode for its emotion and progress, and I’m sure I will like the rest of the series too.

Verdict: Definitely a keeper.^[1] Fulfilling the light tearjerker quota.
Blogging: Count on it.

CANAAN

ALERT! It's the ominous Caramelldansen virus!! U u ua ua~ (゚∀゚) *dances*

ALERT! It’s the ominous Caramelldansen virus!! U u ua ua~ (゚∀゚)*dances*

The progression in this episode was good. Since there is actually a lot I want to say about the current situation in this anime, I placed it in spoiler tags to save some precious tl;dr space. If you do read it, please correct me if I am wrong with any of my assumptions here below. show

We now know more about the Snakes: they are a terrorist organization, led by Alphard. Her reptile-like eyes are probably the origin of the organization’s name. Their associates would be the DAEDALA corporation, her little sister Liang Qi, and that younger guy with the old geezer who chased Canaan around the city in this ep. As for the goals of this organization, we don’t know much, apart from Alphard wanting to spy or launch an attack on some counter-terrorist meeting. And that she wants to end Canaan’s life, because the both of them share the same fate or so.
Canaan works for a group called Iron Strife, which aims to eliminate Alphard too. The precise reasons and goals seem unknown though, but it might be related to the Ua virus, which can kill people in half a day. I am pretty sure that the Snakes are responsible for creating and spreading that virus.^[2]

Random pic provided to you by ceiling Canaan-nyan.

Random pic provided to you by ceiling Canaan-nyan.

People infected by Ua are called Unblooms^[3] which I believe were the zombie-like characters roaming through the streets of Shanghai. The Iron Strife probably wanted to protect the Unblooms (Canaan being used to identify the good and the bad Unblooms) but the Snakes appear to be against that, and I have no clue why. In any case, the Snakes are also targeting Maria. They had kidnapped her in the past to infect her with Ua, and probably had her vehiculate and spread it throughout society. They probably fear now that she would reveal their whereabouts or so. Which makes it all the more interesting to know how she and Canaan got to know each other in this context.
There is also that one guy with that mute, green-haired woman called Hakko who appeared as a catgirl at the end of this episode (like, wtf?). In the first episode, their car got blown up by the Snakes, so I suppose they must’ve been in charge of protecting the Unblooms then? I wouldn’t say they were related to the Iron Strife though.

I also liked the few breathers throughout this episode: nikuman stuffed breastsI’d only look at the right one. I mean her left one. :3 (they’re definitely much better without the meat buns :3c), listening and singing to kitschy idol music during a car chase, what more can you possibly want? Fanservice? …Expect a nosebleed next ep. NyaaYeah, right. Cosplay in the middle of the night. In Shanghai. Where a cat is fine too..

Verdict: Good to go.
Blogging: Likely. I love conjecturing.

By the way, I just can’t believe that Mint is Canaan. Really. What the heck.

GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class

Anata wo, hannin desu.

Anata wo, hannin desu.

GA is simply great and funny. Many sketches here as well, the most funny ones being Kyojuu voicing two hens; Miki whispering into Tomokane’s ear while she’s sleeping, causing her to have a hilarious dream until the bell rang…ahahaha ^^;;; and power levels rising with 100% orange juice. Tomokane went 200% and turned into a Super GAOOOOOOORYAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

Plus the small educational bit about pencil hardnessWhich one do YOU prefer? and which pencil to use in which situation. Example: for a tissue boxPretty easy to draw… right?, corners should be drawn with hard pencils, while the soft pencils should be used for gradients. Of course, how NOT to do it: Tomokane only used hard pencilsBox is rectangular and has hard edges; but gradients are poor and grid-like, plus it’s hard to erase and that’s bad for the paper., and Kisaragi used only soft pencilsSmoother gradients and softer look of the paper, but the edges are round; the box looks like a sponge..

There was one reference I didn’t get though, the mage with that weird bat flying above their headNo clue.. …Huh?

Verdict: Definite keeper. Fulfilling comedy and moe quota.
Blogging: If needed. Would need lots of images.

And once again, I like GA more than Lucky Star. (And yes I am still biased against KyoAni, bite me. :P)

Taishou Yakyuu Musume

Chasing tsunderes must be so enjoyable.

Chasing tsunderes must be so enjoyable.

With this, they now got all their members! And even though I rarely react to such obvious (cheesy) outcomes, I just couldn’t help but smile. It was a dynamic and funny episode. From Anna-sensei’s violent pitching (knocking Koume out) to grabbing Tomoe’s hipsI wouldn’t mind grabbing them too. =3, Tomoe who by the way has yuri tendenciesTu quoque, Tomoe? but is restrained by overly jealous twin sister Shizuka, and a tsundere TamaI wouldn’t mind grabbing them too. =3, I think the general variety of characters, cuteness and humor made up for the lack of Koume’s singing we had in the first episode. I like! And I will watch more!

One question though, why must all the girls I like (in this case, Tomoe having the hots for Koume) swing that way? It’s mortifying! T_T

Verdict: Definitely a keeper, and this not only for the proper length of the girls’ skirts.
Blogging: In pairs, I guess.

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0

That was a close one. Mari saved Mirai's life... once again.

That was a close one. Mari saved Mirai’s life… once again.

Wow. These 22 minutes went in a flash. I really did not feel time passing at all. And here I thought that their research and simulations note at the beginning was only bluff, but the events look very realistic. For my part, I am really satisfied and impressed by what I am being offered here. Because not only do the events seem plausible, but the characters truly act in a human kind of way (and not in a generic anime chara kind of way). As such, emotions are so much more real and intense. Even through that plain character design you could discern the shock on Mirai’s expression. You could almost feel her despair. Heck, I even was all teary-eyed when Mirai finally found her brother.

I also really admire Mari for being such a great, caring person. Most people would simply pass by that little girl and ignore her completely; but she sees Mirai as if it was her own child, and thus protects her with her own life, without any pretention.
The next episodes will most likely be centered around our trio crossing the devastated city.

Verdict: Absolute keeper. Good job, Bones.
Blogging: Yup yup.

Umineko no Naku Koro ni

Did you say... omochikaeri? BECAUSE I THINK I HEARD YOU SAY OMOCHIKAAAAAAAAAEEEERIIIII...

Did you say… omochikaeri? BECAUSE I THINK I HEARD YOU SAY OMOCHIKAAAAAAAAAEEEERIIIII…

Watched episodes 2 and 3. And I have a problem this time. I have never played the VNs, so any attempt to conjecture here would be in vain. Neither can I offer any comparison between the two mediums.
Neverthefuckingless, I am greatly intrigued. Not only because of Maria’s SD faces^[4], but because of Battler’s reasoning skills. I also like his stance on the witch’s existence: he believes only what he sees with his own eyes, and if anything, he’d believe anything except witches. Although perhaps he’s a little too oblivious? Maria’s behavior is way too suspicious and creepy, and should at least have caught his attention… Oh well, he’s definitely not Shinichi level, but he could challenge Naruhodo-kun any time. At least he thinks logically enough to remain calm and conciliate the conflicting parties within the remaining… err… 18-6-2, makes 10 people left. The gore goes kinda fast, if you ask me. Especially Shannon’s death made me feel a little sad. In any case, with 10 ppl left, there are at least 7 more characters we can get rid of. And there will be plenty of occasions for Maria to show off her exceptionally evilJust how can a child distort her face like that? facial expressionsI mean, look at her eyes! Crud.. Gmodding TF2 face models is nothing against Mariyan.

Verdict: Mysteriously, yes. I’m slowly turning into a suiri otaku too. Not.
Blogging: In pairs, most likely.

Princess Lover! & Sora no Manimani

Unfortunately, these two series will be dropped for the time being. I simply couldn’t say no to the other series because there I was genuinely interested in watching those. I did not expect them all to pass my extremely rigorous *cough* test. But yeah 6 series now, plus 6 from the last season, this makes 12 series!! I really need to enforce a hard cap of 10 series now.

Which is why I will now apply rule 7 on Princess Lover, Sora no Manimani, and from the last season, Valkyria Chronicles and Phantom ~Requiem. Remember that rule?^[5]
Thou shalt not watch anime until thy series hath finished airing. In other words, batch marathon it once it’s finished.

Of course, odds are high that either of my co-bloggers would want to watch and perhaps blog these shows. Stay tuned for that.

End result: Aoi Hana, CANAAN, GA Art Design Class, Taishou Yakyuu Musume, Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, Umineko no Naku Koro ni

Guess JC Staff hit the jackpot this season.

1. Once again, I have not seen other shoujo ai shows so I have no references. All I know is, I like this series. Recommend me other shows if you think Aoi Hana is not good!! [↩]
2. Especially since there is a snake in the picture of Maria as the chief editor talks about her past Ua infection. [↩]
3. Ua meaning flower in Swahili, Unbloom would mean that the virus has not yet bloomed or proliferated in their bodies. [↩]
4. mind you, not Super Deformed, but Super Distorted [↩]
5. Not the 4chan one, you retard. [↩]