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ファイト／ステイナイト 
This fifth episode of the series should have been given a subtitle The Jealousy of Suzumiya Haruhi. The main focus of this episode, apart from Mikuru's revelation is the obvious jealousy that Haruhi has towards the other girls who get to spend private time with Kyon. This story, however, makes me wonder why they screened the baseball episode first because this one actually shows Haruhi's jealousy in a much subtler manner than the previous episode. The only explanation I can come up with is that last week's episode was used to speed up the pace a little bit. With that in mind, this episode continues right off from where that episode left off. I have to say that I like the use of white text on black screen shown in this episode. It reminds me of some scenes from Evangelion. Well, screenshots are updated. Try and see if you can spot a Mikuru easter egg in one of them. Hint: Mikuru doesn't want others to see her while she changes into her costume.
*Please do not direct link to the pictures or reproduced them elsewhere. If you want to link, link to this article instead.
The official pictures for the live action adaptation of Honey and Clover finally emerged in Japanese fashion magazine, Non-No. Now that the official pictures are out, people will undoubtedly going to start judging whether or not the actors live up to the way they see the characters. Personally, I think the actor who plays Takemoto, Sakurai Shou, doesn't look that similar to Takemoto. But that's probably because Takemoto is my favourite character and therefore I tend to be more critical of the actor who's going to play him. On the other hand, I think both Hagumi and Harada look very similar to their character. I also feel the same way about the actors who play Morita and Mayama but I've been told that many people disagree with this assessment. Last but not least, Shuuji looks a bit older in my opinion but I suppose the actor will do fine.
Well, this is not exactly what I had in mind for the arc but hopefully it'll progress to a much more interesting part later on. I did like the fact that the new enemy has an entirely different reason for participating in the battle. However, this was marred by the main battle featured within the episode, which looks a bit silly and badly animated. Right now, I'm just hoping that this new enemy will turn out to be a temporary one. Especially after the rather interesting angle that the end of this episode provides. Hopefully this is a sign that the writers are trying to take that particular character towards this new story direction. I think of all the characters in Fate/stay night, this character has the most potential to become an effective nemesis.
I don't get this series sometimes. From time to time, there are scenes that look really good but then they zoom out of that scene and we get the usual mediocre animation quality. It gives me the impression that the budget for this series must be rather limited. I find this to be rather unfortunate since the majority of the story in this series are quite interesting. Story-wise, this one also gets a little bit of modification here and there. Oh well, at least Yuuko actually looks a bit better this time around and in general, the animation is a lot more consistent. I just wish the animators can put a bit more colour and make the character design look better.
This episode basically concludes Hachi's part of the story while showing the first half of Oosaki Nana's past. Unfortunately, the transition from one girl's story to the other one is not that smooth. All that the anime used to indicate the two stories is just a simple black screen that stays for 2-5 seconds. I find this to be rather abrupt and would have preferred it if they had included a scene where Nana and Hachi are talking to one another. Having said that, I realised now why they left the last few minutes of Hachi's story in this episode. In comparison to Hachi's story, the majority of Nana's story mostly involves conversation with her and Ren and doesn't require as much animation. In fact, they had to pad out this episode with a rock concert by Nana and her band to ensure that they the end of the episode by the time the first half of Nana's story ends. This time around, however, they chose a right spot to end the story.
I'm sorry for the late review but my internet connection was down for a couple of hours and I can't post anything that I've typed. Thankfully I did my writing on a notepad so nothing got lost during the downtime. Anyway, as I said before, I really enjoyed this episode mostly due to Renge's presence. Her Medusa-like hair is something that looks better animated. Her obsession with dating sim game Uki Doki Memorial is also very amusing since I've never played dating-sim game before. I never said this before but I like the fact that as far as main character goes, Haruhi sometimes looks ridiculous and silly. Her incredulous look everytime she finds something about the Host Club is quite amusing to see no matter how many times the animators used it. I think the series wouldn't be as good if she's not affected by the silliness around her.
This episode basically moves forward a couple episodes after the previous one. It's a bit jarring at first because all of a sudden all of the SOS-Dan members present and they start to get to know Tsuruya-san and other students. And then halfway through the episode, the story starts to show flashback of what happened in between last week's episode and this week's episode. The reason for this is because this week's story is actually taken from volume 3 of the novel while last week's episode was taken from the first novel. That's quite a big jump of timeline. Because of this, some of the scenes that we will see in the future are technically past events since this baseball game has been presented first prior to any events that happened beforehand. Next week, however, seems to be a return to the time after Yuki's explanation to Kyon. Anyway, I must have gone mad obsessed because I've just changed the screenshots to a higher resolution ones just now.
What an insane episode! This one is full of various references to other anime series from Card Captor Sakura to Glass Mask. Animation-wise, I also like this one better than last week's episode simply because it actually has more colour and animation style. This one may not have as much action as last week's episode but in general, this feels more entertaining somehow. In addition to this, this week's episode is a lot funnier. Anyway, I'm excited with the fact that we're now gearing up towards the culture festival arc. I personally think that the arc is one of the most interesting arc in the series, especially since there are some story development which I really like. I still can't believe how fast this we get into that arc though. I guess the writers have a lot of materials to cover this time around.
To be honest, in comparison to other episodes, this seems like a relatively weak episode. It does not help that the main character is not a particularly sympathetic one. The subject at hand also involves little interference from the Mushi to the point that at first I was wondering when the Mushi will make an appearance. On the upside, the emotional pay-off halfway through the episode is quite good. It's also nice to see the Ginko's manipulative personality in this episode. Even though in general the guy is a nice person, he has to support his travelling in one way or another. Selling Mushi-related items, however, is his main source of income. As a result, more often than not, he can come off as someone who'll do anything to sell something including lying to the potential seller or buyer.
Well, that was okay I guess. I am not overly impressed with the animation which has too many blurry lines instead of proper animation. The storyline, however, seems to be heading towards a rather interesting direction. Having said that, I can't help but wishing that I get to see a parallel world where say, something like this happened. Given the amount of bickering and fights happening within Shirou's harem, I thought that would be amusing to see. Anyway, with only few more episodes before the series reaches its conclusion, I hope they pick up the pace a little bit. Especially since it looks like the writers are planning to include many sub-stories from the game. It'll be fun to see hwo many adversaries the writers think they can cram in the space of 8 episodes.
Tokito Ami - Sentimental Generation (42.3MB, for PSP/Quicktime)
Well, this looks like something that has been created for the meganekko fans. The song is basically the opening theme for School Rumble 2nd Term sung by Tokito Ami. In the PV, Tokito Ami wakes up in a class and finds herself in the middle of a school rumble between her classmates. This is because they all want to get that elusive Yakisoba pan (bread) from the school's cafetaria. A tough guy seems to be taking name as he beats up everyone who stands in his way. Unfortunately for him, he eventually loses his energy and gets defeated by a group of geeks. Tokito Ami then uses the opportunity to get the Yakisoba pan for herself before singing and dancing in front of other students in the class. The PV is not exactly artistic and the song wouldn't be mistaken as a 'classic' by any stretch of imagination. Having said that, I think the PV is in line with the kind of story that is often shown in School Rumble.
Suga Shikao - 19-sai (19.3MB, for PSP/Quicktime)
Lately I've been wondering about the appropriateness of 19-sai as an opening theme for xxxHOLiC. Sure, it provides a rather creepy tune for the opening animation but lyric-wise, it has a lot more to do with lovers than the story of xxxHOLiC. Well, the PV finally shows what the kind of imageries that Suga Shikao probably had in mind when writing the lyric. It's a rather revealing video, to say the least. It actually looks more like a soft-core porn than a normal PV. And since this was aired in Japan, it comes with the obligatory blurry spots during some of the more stimulating scenes. The story is basically about a guy who's obsesed with photographing butterfly but then his obsession turns into photographing a random female who's in the middle of pleasuring herself in her apartment. The two eventually proceeds to have sex with one another. If you're easily offended by this kind of material, then I recommend that you stay away from this PV.
Well, I think it's pretty much obvious now that the anime writers are hellbent on removing all sorts of Tsubasa reference from this series because once again, a cross-over scene which originally appeared in the manga has now been eliminated from this version. I am not too happy about this but since my main interest in following this series has nothing to do with Tsubasa, I figure it's not that big of a loss. I am a lot more concerned about any modification that the writers do on some of the darker storyline. Thankfully, this time around they seem to keep most things intact, Tsubasa nothwithstanding. As long as the series remains as dark and creepy as the original manga, I think I'll still be interested in it. Animation-wise, this week is a mark improvement over last week's episode. I'm also quite amused to see Chobits joke that is contained in this episode. It helps that Doumeki looks a bit like Hideki and there's a reference to A City With No People storybook here.
This is a rather strange episode because it doesn't exactly end the past story of Komatsu Nana but at the same time it looks as if next week's episode will start Oosaki Nana's story. Overall, however, the emotional impact of the episode is quite satisfying. As always, the soundtrack does a good job of conveying the atmosphere and the emotion that the characters supposed to have in each scene. There is one particular scene in a restaurant that I thought really captured the mood of the story. In general, voice acting is also stellar and at times it actually makes me dislike a certain character because of it. This time around, the animation seems far more traditional in the sense that the animators didn't try any experimental method to deliver the storyline like the still picture with baloon words in the second episode.
The episode is still as funny as usual and moreover, Tamaki finally get some kind of competition for Haruhi's attention. The problem that I can see with this series is that the same jokes have essentially been used three times now. They are still funny but I wonder how many times the writers can use the same joke over and over again before it stops being funny. Animation-wise, this is as solid as the first two episodes, which is a really good effort from BONES. I would have expected the quality to slide down a bit but that doesn't seem to be the case here. The best scene here is probably the one where Tamaki drives a line that seperate himself from the rest of the guy. In addition to this, some of the jokes here is a carried-over from last week's episode so there's a sense of continuity from the previous to this episode. Overall, this is another solid episode for the series. I'll be back to finish the summary later in the meantime, enjoy the screenshots.
Haruhi turns out to be a rather terrifying girl after all. I thought there is a limit to her madness but this episode shows that she will go far to achieve her aim. There are also some interesting development for both Mikuru and Yuki here. By now it's obvious that these two are not in the club because they enjoy Suzumiya Haruhi's presence but for something else entirely. Comedy-wise, there are some funny moments in this scene but I think the impact of the scene will vary from viewers to viewers. I personally don't enjoy seeing Mikuru being treated harshly by Haruhi. Having said that, there seems to be more to Mikuru than what appears on the surface right now. Overall, this is another solid episode for the series and one that actually sets up a new direction for the series to follow in the future. I am just hoping that Kyoto Animation will be able to maintain the quality of the storyline, animation, and music until the end.
Just like everyone else, I've been a bit obsessed with The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi and lately have been compiling everything that I know about the series onto this page. I ended up looking through a Japanese Wikipedia entry of Suzumiya Haruhi and decided to jot down a few points from there. Unfortunately, some of the Kanjis are more than I can handle. Moreover, since I haven't read the novel, I don't know if some of the info are correct or not. Because of this, if you have read the novel and notice any mistake, please let me know. But if you haven't read the novel and don't like to be spoiled, then you're better off skipping past the Character Informations and Glossary of Terms. Anyway, I'll update this page with more info as I learn more about the series. Once again I must emphasise that there is Major spoiler in the character information section.
This is a pleasant conclusion to the battle between class 2-C. There are some funny moments but I think my favourite scene has to be Nakamura's flashback story towards the end of the story. Admittedly, the joke is reaching juvenile level but I can't help but laughing upon seeing the 'punchline', so to speak. If you're a shipper for a particular pairing, I think this episode provides a lot of ammunition for some pairings. Much to my surprise, however, the biggest ammunition is actually given to Tenma and Karasuma's pairing. I certainly never expected this given the fact that Karasuma used to be a one note joke in the first season. In this season, however, attempts seem to have been made to give both him and Tenma a little bit more personality than usual. As a result, despite not being a fan of the pairing, I can see why Tenma is interested in Karasuma.
I thought I wouldn't be able to get the limited edition of the Fate/stay night DVD anymore since I ordered it really late. But after checking several online shops, I found out that there are still many copies of the first limited edition DVD left. Does this mean that TYPE-MOON prepared a lot of copy or does this mean that fans were disappointed with the anime and decided not to buy the limited edition after all? Either way, as far as limited edition goes, the extras are pretty basic here. All you get is just a usual sturdy box, a reversible cover, a trading card and a drink coaster. I haven't been able to check the extra content though since I barely even have the time to watch the new release series. But I'll update this page once I have the time to check the content. Now that I have the box, I don't have to rush over to buy the rest since there's nothing special about the limited edition ones.
The 'Limited Edition' DVD Box
Front cover featuring Emiya Shirou
Back cover showing screenshots
Opening Theme: 「太陽のかけら」 Taiyou no Kakera by Shiraishi Ryouko (16.6MB, for PSP/Quicktime)
This is not bad at all. While I don't really like the animation, I think the storyline is quite interesting and the conclusion of this particular episode has a sombre mood to it. I thought this would be one of those happy-go-lucky series but the writers decide to hammer down the fact that ninjas do need to make some difficult choices in their life and the girls are immediately presented with those choices in this episode. I'm pretty surprised at the turn that they decide to take. The best thing about this series, however, is the soundtrack. While the opening is nothing stellar, the ending sounds good and the background music is the most impressive of them all. Some of the background music used in this remind me of Fruits Basket's background music. It's unfortunate that the animation and the character design doesn't have the same charm as that other series.
Opening Theme: 「きらめく涙は星に」- Kirameku Namida wa Hoshi ni by タイナカ サチ (Tainaka Sachi) (14.7MB, for PSP/Quicktime)
Wow, I think we probably spoke way too fast about Archer's funeral ceremony last week. Because if the opening is any indication of future plot, maybe he's not gone. Yet. At any rate, if this is true, of course I'm looking forward to it. Unfortunately, the new opening is actually not as good as the old one. Maybe I'm just not used to it yet but I thought it's not as powerful as Disillusioned. This episode is also a bit of a mess with some bad-looking 3D effects being used in some of the scenes. I hope this is not an indication of the way the animation in future episodes will look. Despite this, I'm still looking forward to next week's episode in the hope that something super-exciting will happen to the story. I'm hoping a certain someone will finally take a centre stage and starts killing people left and right.
Opening Theme: Deep in Your Heart by Domoto Koichi (11.1MB, for PSP/Quicktime)
This is the new successor to the Noitamina screen time. I have to say that the storyline is quite interesting. At the moment, the series looks like a combination of Lord of the Flies, Battle Royale, as well as some intergallactic mystery films such as Planet of the Apes. The first episode itself has enough mystery and conflict to make the viewers intriqued, at the very least. Unfortunately, I am not a big fan of the character design, which reminds me a lot of Escaflowne. In other words, expect long, unusual-shaped nose for some of the characters. The opening theme is also attrocious, in my opinion. It sounds a lot like a typical Japanese boy band song but this one is the worst type ones. The ending theme is passable but it's nothing exciting either. Anyway, I think this is a promising title but for the moment I'm only on a watch and see position.
Well, this turns out to be a rather disappointing follow up to the first episode. To begin with, the animation is quite bad. The character design is inconsistent and becomes unproportional from time to time. The colours are also dull and unexciting. The writers also seem to be hellbent on removing any traces of link to Tsubasa Chronicle by altering the early scene involving Watanuki and Yuuko. In addition to this, I always get the impression that the ending of the manga is supposed to be darker than this but the anime decides to change this as well. Overall, I'm rather disappointed by it if it wasn't for the fact that the original storyline is still interesting. I really hope that next week's episode won't repeat the same dull and inconsistent character design because that will be really disappointing after the rather strong first episode.
This is another impressive episode for the series. I was a bit worried that we won't get to see Komatsu Nana's and Oosaki Nana's individual story prior to their meeting with each other. Thankfully that does not seem to be the case. This episode basically covers the first half of Komatsu Nana/Hachi's past. I am quite surprised to see this as I thought the anime writers will speed things up and show Hachi's and Nana's story in only one episode. But as it appears now, I think each girl will get at least 2 episodes to flesh out their background before the story will get back to their time together in Tokyo. The most notable part of this episode is probably the manga-like static scenes which show Hachi's experience as she fell in and out of love with various men. It was quite hilarious to see the first time around.
This is one of those times where I wonder about my obsession with certain series. I always knew that I like Hachikuro a lot but I realised that I've become obsessed with it when I decided to buy the movie ticket for a film that will be screened in Japan. This means I will have to travel all the way back to Japan again just to see the film. My rational mind told me that this is insane because the film will probably turn out to be bad. But that didn't stop me from asking my friend to buy it for me. I supposed it helps that you get this nifty little Hachikuro coins when you buy the ticket. But I also thought it'll be nice to go back to Japan again. Well, now that the ticket has arrived, I supposed there's no turning back. The tickets look so good and it came in this transparent paper bag. The coins are even better than the wooden one that Hagu got from Morita. There are two coin types. The first one is a gold-coloured with bee motif while the other is silver-coloured 4-leaves clover motif.
In movie-related news, the official site for the movie reported that Spitz will sing the film's main theme song while Suga Shikao and Arashi will provide the ending theme for the film. For the main theme, Spitz will create an all new song titled「魔法のコトバ」- Mahou no Kotoba. On the other hand, Suga Shikao will compose and write a lyric for the ending theme,「アオゾラペダル」- Aozora Pedal, which will then be performed by Arashi. This is the first time Spitz actually writes a theme song for a film. This is also the first time that Suga Shikao offers to write a new musical piece for a movie. Hmm, I thought he wrote the music for xxxHOLiC movie but maybe I'm wrong. The site states that the artist's collaboration work should be on sale this summer. Last but not least, the last volume of Hachikuro DVD will be on sale this April the 28th and will contain episode 22, 23, and 24 of the original TV broadcast. Anyway, here are scans of the movie ticket bag/coins:
Ticket bag, Front
Ticket bag, Back
The coins
This is another entertaining episode for the Host Club. Just like the first episode, however, there is nothing particularly serious as far as the plot goes. If anything, the focus on this week's episode is actually not on the Host Club member but rather on the guest characters of the week. Despite this, the main characters still get to deliver the majority of the jokes, especially Tamaki who's gone as over the top as usual, especially when it comes to Haruhi. Animation-wise, I think this episode is a lot more attractive than the first one simply because there are more colours being used and the animators seem to know how to mix them well. After seeing this episode for some reason I have a craving for fruit loops. Could this be some kind of a new subliminal advertising?
I realise that this is a rather late review but there's not much I can do since life's been kind of hectic in the past few weeks. It's rather unfortunate since this is probably the best episode out of all six episodes. I think there are at least two twists within the episode, both of which are equally pleasant to see. In addition to this, the ending is not only bittersweet but also has that touch of realism given to it. Overall, I have to say that I'm rather pleased with this series. It may not have great animation or out of this world plot, but I really like its languid, almost lazy pace that makes some of the episodes feel like they are slice-of-life stories. And when one thinks about it, death is indeed a part of life, albeit one that marks the end of the life itself. Anyway, if I have to choose three favourite episodes out of six, I'll probably say that this one, episode 3, and episode 2 are the ones that I like the most.
That was quite good although it's hard to be impressed with the animation after watching Suzumiya Haruhi beforehand. The comedy is still funny and I really dig the Battle Royale reference where a third party killed Madoka after the later killed Shigeo. It looks similar to the scene in Battle Royale where Mitsuko (Shibasaki Kou) wasted Kotohiki (Takayo Mimura) after the other girl killed Hiroki (Sousuke Takaoka) in a misunderstanding. Having said that, I have never been a fan of dark animation sequence and this one has a lot of it. I always think it's a cheap way of cutting the budget. I am also a bit annoyed that some of the action shots in this episode are reused from one character to another. I guess it can't be helped since this is supposed to be a gun battle but I can't help but wondering if it could have been done better.
Opening Theme: 「冒険でしょでしょ？」(Bouken desho, desho?) by 「平野綾] (Hirano Aya) - PSP format (16.5MB)
This is such an awesome series. I've always liked it from the start but the second episode simply seals the deal. I like the fact that the animation is so crips and clean. The opening theme, Bouken Desho Desho also happens to be a rather catchy tune which is pleasant to listen to. It's not as good as the ending theme but is still good nevertheless. This show also turns out to be one unusual series as far as the premise is concerned. While the plot does sounds kind of silly on a glance, when you actually watch the episode itself, you'll realise that it is actually an interesting and funny series. If you like high-school comedy like Genshiken, then I think the chances are high that you'll like this series as well. With its unique storyline, I think this series has the chance of becoming one of the better series that came out this season.
Opening Theme:「太陽のかけら」 Taiyou no Kakera by Shiraishi Ryouko
This turns out to be an entertaining first episode. I was actually a bit apprehensive when I first saw the trailer for the first episode. Thankfully this episode changed my mind. While the tone of the series is comedic, the series presents some interesting mysteries right off the bat. Himawari herself is an interesting character with mysterious background. I like the fact that she's not overly confident but is not completely and utterly useless either. She has a few tricks up her sleeve but needs to improve on others as far as Ninjutsu skill is concerned. I also like the main male character in the series. While on a glance he appears to be a Tenchi-like clone, he has some personality of his own and his background is also as mysterious as that of Himawari. Overall this is an entertaining first episode and I'm looking forward to the next one. As a side note, there is no ED theme yet and the opening theme only plays at the end with the scrolling credit.
Opening Theme: 「桜キッス」- Sakura Kiss by Kawabe Chieko (15MB, for PSP/Quicktime)
I've been wanting to watch this for a while now but work and other series that I was already planning to watch prevented me from doing so. Now that I've seen the episode, I think There's something about Haru is probably the more appropriate title for this episode instead of From now on, you're a host!!. Anyway, I think this is a very fun and entertaining first episode. Music-wise, I don't really like the opening theme that much. I thought it's rather forgettable especially in a season where there are more interesting anime opening theme around. Similarly, the ending theme also fails to leave any indelible impression on me. Thankfully the background music within the episode itself is quite good. The series uses mostly classic music composition to give the suggestion that the series does take place within a high school for rich students.
