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ローゼンメイデン 
October 31, 2006 | 
30 Comments
This is a satisfying episode although I'm a bit annoyed that the animators decided to end the episode before the big revelation. I guess cliffhanger is their way to maintain viewers' interest from episode to episode. The animation itself is pretty solid although I did notice one or two frames where the character model looks a bit off. These are mostly long shots though so it'll be hard to notice unless you happen to be pausing the episode to look for screenshots. As long as Madhouse maintain the quality at this level, I'll be quite satisfied. Moving on to other topic, I decided to read the ending to this series because the suspense was killing me. Much to my surprise it didn't disappoint me that much. I was a bit worried after all of the negative feedback about it. The situation included was a bit complicated and I thought it could use more twist than what was provided but overall, it was not a bad ending for the series.
October 31, 2006 | 22 Comments
For some reason this particular episode has better brightness/contrast setting. Maybe I got a better copy of the raw or maybe the producer have been getting similar complaints in Japan. Anyway, thanks to the proper brightness/contrast setting, I really enjoy this episode. The animation is quite fluid and some of Allen's power look quite amazing here. I am also glad that unlike other Shounen series, this particular battle doesn't drag longer than 2 episodes. I always hate it when a battle ends up taking 20 episodes just to complete. Thankfully so far this series prefer to show poignant storylines than power up battles. The ending for this arc is a good example of this. I am glad that the episode ends in a rather sombre mood. Even though the main characters win this battle, they don't have any reason to feel happy towards the end.
October 31, 2006 | 15 Comments
Sorry for the rather low-res quality of the images but hunting for raw has been a rather difficult experience today. This is why I haven't been able to create an entry for Kekkaishi episode 4. No matter how I tried, I can't seem to find a raw copy of the episode. However, I will post an entry for that episode as soon as I can secure a copy. I will also try to update the images for this episode once I get a better quality version of the raw. Anyway, this turns out to be a funny and nice little episode. It may not have the action from last week's episode but what it lacks it made up a lot in character development for the 4 main characters. This episode also reveals a little bit information in regards to Oland's past/origin. It'll be interesting to see how things go from here now that Pumpkin Scissors become interested in Invisible 9 and the secret behind those units.
October 30, 2006 | 24 Comments
I am pretty much sold on this series. When I started watching it, I was simply looking for something that is different from all of the anime that I cover here. I never thought that I will like the characters and their story so much. The thing is, I wasn't that enthused about the musical part of the story. I do like one or two classical musics but I wouldn't call myself a big fan. Having said that, sometimes I regret the fact that I wasn't serious about learning Piano when I was a kid because when I see a friend playing Piano so well, I wish I could have done the same thing. Speaking of classical music, I decided to rip the Ending theme if you haven't had the chance to see it. It's only in PSP/Quicktime format though since I haven't done proper compression on the AVi version. Anyway, the summary will be shorter this time around although I still haven't been able to figure out how to condense a one hour show into 12 paragraphs or less sentences.
October 29, 2006 | 22 Comments
This is slightly more enjoyable to watch because I feel that both the string-puller and the victim really do deserve to go to Hell. In addition to this, this episode also marks the first full appearance of the mysterious little girl from the opening theme. I have to say that I'm surprised to see the season arc starts so quickly in comparison to the first season. Maybe the writers have learned their lesson after season one or maybe this season is limited to 12/13 episodes and therefore, they have no choice but to feature the season arc as soon as possible. In general, I also enjoyed the second season a lot more possibly due to lesser expectation and also because each new episode feels a bit different from the one that preceeded it. I am also grateful for the weird and seemingly out of place comedic moments that are inserted in the story.
October 28, 2006 | 13 Comments
If you haven't seen it before, there is actually a trailer for the live-action Mushishi available at the official website. You can find this by clicking on the blue button on the right hand side of the screen and choosing the desired size. Unfortunately the quality is not that great but at least you can see a few snipets from the film, which includes the boy with the horn and Ginko facing off against the sound Mushi. I took a few screenshots from the trailer and put them at the end of this post if you're interested to see them. I've read some mixed reviews about the film and not too surprised about it since I don't think a live-action series can replicate the feeling that the manga and the anime managed to capture thus far. It's unfortunate since I was really excited about the live-action film. I'm just hoping the story is not radically changed.
I'm slightly disappointed with this episode mostly because there is a slight downgrade in the quality of the artwork. There are some instances where the characters look poorly drawn and at times, unproportional. This is especially noticeable in long shots and indoor shots. Thankfully the background drawing reminds as good as ever and close up shots are also still high in quality. The storyline also remains interesting and it doesn't look as if the horrifying plot will rear its ugly head. At least so far that has not happened yet. As a side note, the full OP theme has been released this week and it's even better than the TV version, which is quite good already. CD Japan also reported that the first DVD for the series will come out on the 26th of January next year. It seems textless OP and ED are going to be included as some of the extras.
October 27, 2006 | 21 Comments
It's a relief to know that at a time of imperial occupation, Pizza Hut is alive and in business. I mean, we don't want the poor people of Eleven to miss out on Pepperoni Pizza after all. Seriously though, the amount of in-show product placement is unusually high. This episode also shows a lot of CLAMP's influence either on the character design or part of its storyline. First, there is a shot of Tokyo Tower, a landmark in any CLAMP series. This episode also marks the first appearance of a Kurogane (of Tsubasa Chronicle) look-alike. Then there's the disturbing similarity between Suzaku and Shaoran of the same series. He even comes in kinky, collar-equipped clothing just like other CLAMP stable bishounen. And there is one scene here which looks like a shounen-ai fanfic material waiting to be written. Anyway, I hope you don't mind that I change my summary style to a less formal one for this episode. I just think this episode calls for it.
October 27, 2006 | 17 Comments
If you are waiting for Mushishi and Nodame Cantabile entries, I promise they'll get done in the weekend after Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori new entry. As for this episode, I feel it's a bit too slow in comparison to the last 2 episodes. This is basically a return to the first episode where the characters spend time doing menial chores like delivering lunch for someone or moving boxes. If you have played the game, are these 'slice-of-life' (for the lack of a better word) scenes included in the game as well? Or are they something that Kyoto Animation added to the storyline to pad the episode? I am mostly disappointed because we don't get to see the continuation of last week's cliffhanger with Mai and her sword. Thankfully, unlike the first episode, this one also contains a lot of foreshadowing and hints of future story.
October 25, 2006 | 22 Comments
Nightmare - Alumina (40MB, for PSP/Quicktime) | YouTube version
Between the two songs performed by Nightmare for Death Note TV series, I actually prefer the ED theme. There is some kind of melancholy note in this one that I think is far more appropriate for the series. The song is also a lot more pleasant to listen to than the WORLD. Unfortunately the PV is as bad if not worse than the PV for the WORLD. Maybe I'm just not the target market for this kind of PV but then again, I never like PV which mostly just shows the band performing the song. I mostly just lament the lost opportunity for the band to incorporate some Death Note imagery. Maybe a Shinigami or even an apple like in Manatsu no Yoru no Yume, Suga Shikao's PV for Death Note movie. Come to think of it, the band members here look a lot more like Akuma from D.Gray-man but I think I digress.
FLOW - COLORS (27MB, for PSP/Quicktime) | YouTube version
Yeah, I realise it's kind of late but with everything that happened during the weekend I could not find the time to insert an extra entry for this. In addition to this, I wasn't sure if I had enough bandwidth to spare for the month. Anyway, this is basically a PV for Code Geass OP theme. Unfortunately as far as PV goes, this is one of the least interesting ones I've seen lately. The only thing that entertains me is the antics of its two lead singers, Kohshi and Keigo, as they jump around from one area to another. I realise that this song has been criticised for its similarity to Days, but I think the two lead singers have really powerful vocals that make this song worth listening on its own. Between the two, I actually prefer Keigo's singing voice since I think it is far more refined and easier to listen to than Kohshi's voice. Having said that, the combination of their voice is the reason why their group stands out from other similar J-pop groups.
October 25, 2006 | 32 Comments
Woot! I just scored myself a copy of Death Note: How to Read 13. When I saw the ad I thought Shueisha, the publishers of Death Note, thinks that most of their readers can't read to save their life, thus, they release this strangely named box. As it turns out, 'How to read' book contains some interesting facts and figures about the series such as L's real name. It also comes with a box to house the entire 12 volumes of Death Note manga plus the new 'How to read' book (which is volume 13) and some weird looking figurines of Mello, Near, Kira, L, and Misa. When you're bored, you can take the manga out of the box and use the box as a diorama (background wallpaper provided). Anyway, I thought the box looks really cool and I'm happy I manage to score one for myself. Now, if only someone will release a figurine of Ryuk.
October 25, 2006 | 13 Comments
I think the pacing could have been a little bit better in this one but overall, I'm quite satisfied with the way the story unfolds. I think this is mostly due to the little gregorian song that Lala sings at the end of the episode. Yeah, I realised that the animation doesn't seem to synch with the song but I'm surprised to see this kind of extra being included in a shounen actioin series. I think it this sort of addition as well as the occasional stylistic drawing that appears in each episodes help to make the series feel different from other shounen series out there. Anyway, I've updated the screencaps. They are not exactly high quality but at least they are a lot better than what I originally had. Either way, the dark scenes are still unusually dark even after I ramped up the brightness a little bit.
October 25, 2006 | 32 Comments
Some of you are probably already aware of this but I thought I should write something about it to make it official. It's probably a good idea to do it now since people tend to bring a bunch of spoilers into Death Note, D.Gray-man, and Kanon entry. Anyway, here's the thing, I've recently managed to implement a spoiler tag for the site. Because of this, if you want to write a spoiler, please put them inside a spoiler tag like in the example I show below:
<spoiler>write your spoiler here</spoiler>
It's basically just a simple opening and closing HTML tag. And please notice that it's just "Spoiler" (singular) and not "Spoilers" (plural). The spoiler tag won't appear when you preview it and it looks like your spoiler is not contained in it. But if you do the tag correctly, then it should be executed once you post the message. Anyway, consider this entry your testing area. Give the tag a try so you'll get used to it.
In other site-related news, this week marks the release of Internet Explorer 7. As much as I prefer Firefox, it can't be denied that there are those who prefers to use IE and will make an upgrade to version 7. I have tested the site myself and there doesn't seem to be any problem since this site was designed to be XHTML 1.0 compliant and IE7 was designed to be the most CSS-compliant IE browser. Having said that, if you notice something that is out of place in that browser, please let me know. I'm just happy that this version is released because hopefully people will stop using previous version of IE.
October 24, 2006 | 17 Comments
If you were disappointed with the previous two episodes, I think this will make up for them. The action is slightly ramped-up and there are some interesting conspiracy abound in this episode. This episode also confirms that 901-ATT unit wasn't an invicible unit after all. I mostly just feel sorry for Oland because he always so willing to sacrifice his own life. I am glad to know that Alice starts having a mildly positive impact on his life but I am not sure if her presence is enough to get him away from his past, especially since there are factions who are keen on exploring his ability. Anyway, animation-wise, this episode slightly better than last week. In fact, I was quite impressed with the stylised artwork that the animators use to depict Oland's bloody past while he and his comrades mutter "Töten Sie" (Kill) while they march toward a few tanks.
October 23, 2006 | 12 Comments
Opening Theme: 「Sha la la - アヤカシ NIGHT」 (Sha la la - Ayakashi NIGHT) by 宇浦冴香 (Uura Saeka)
Download: AVI format | AVI mirror | PSP format (coming soon)
Well, 3 episodes into the series and the quality still holds up so I think this is going to be a good series to follow. The writers have also stop rushing through the story now and as a result, the pacing is considerably better. I think this will appeal to people who like Spirited Away or Inuyasha. Some of the creature designs in this series looks really good and seem to be based on old Japanese folklore monsters. The characters are also more developed now that the introduction is over. I like how the writers slowly reveal Yoshimori and Tokine's background and what actually happened between their family. As a side note, this week marks the appearance of the real OP. The OP is spoilery just like other Sunrise comedic shows like Yakitate!! Japan and features some characters which won't appear until later on in the story.
October 22, 2006 | 18 Comments
Wow, that was kind of messed up in more ways than one. Just like Ai and her associates, I ended up being confused by the time the story ends. I mean, the grudge is quite lame to begin with and everyone in the story is kind of messed up in one way or another. I think they need a good therapy and not one way ticket to Hell. Having said that, this episode proves that whatever Hellfiends that Ai and her associates work for are grudge-whores. It doesn't matter if the grudge is silly or bordering on ridiculous, they'll take all of them. There is no quality control on which grudge is worth their time and which one is not. I guess there are more than enough real estate space in Hell to accomodate every misguided souls. Anyway, summary will be slightly different in style this time around since I want to try something different for a change.
October 21, 2006 | 17 Comments
I'm sorry for the late entry but I had too much of a problem yesterday to be able to do any writing beyond the first 2 entries. To begin with, Nightmare host made it difficult for me to post anything and then I accidentally locked myself out of my house. At the end of that day, I was too tired to do anything else apart from finishing up Code Geass entry. Oh well, it's probably a good thing this way because I think I would have reacted to this new plot twist badly otherwise. I still have reservation about it and I hope the writers won't go there. Unfortunately, I think they will do this so I'll just have to see how they do it. As a side note, there is actually a Widescreen version of this series being aired 3 weeks later than the original version. This is similar to other TBS series like Rozen Maiden and xxxHOLiC. I've changed the screenshots in episode 1 and uploaded the Widescreen OP and ED in case you want to see the changes.
Opening Theme: 「光の季節」 (Hikari no Kisetsu) by Suara
Download: AVI Widescreen (25.5MB) | PSP Widescreen (14.2MB)
Ending Theme: 「スイートホームソング」 (Sweet Home Song) by Yuumao
Download: AVI Widescreen (21.5MB) | PSP Widescreen (9.9MB)
October 20, 2006 | 12 Comments
I'm impressed at the way the plot progress in this series. Last week I was thinking how problematic Lelouch's and Clovis' confrontation will have on future episodes. This is why I'm glad to see the series taking the brave and realistic outcome from the confrontation even though this is only the 3rd episode in the series. I also love how the writers conclude the possible stand off between Karen and Lelouch and the interesting revelation that emerges out of this. Top this off with the shocking ending and this becomes one hell of a thrill ride. The only criticism I have about the series is that the art starts to downgrade slightly here. It's nothing bad but the quality is not as good as the first and second episodes.
October 20, 2006 | 32 Comments
I'm sorry if you can't access the site for the past few hours. Nightmare host was down as usual. I'm trying to find a new host to move to at the moment but I haven't had much success. Anyway, episodes like this one is one of the reasons why Kyoto Animation is a studio that is worth watching for. The colour pallette used in this one is stunning and gives the series a dream-like impression. I am also glad that the story starts to become interesting now that most of the characters are already introduced. I do wonder about the scene towards the end of the episode though. Is that just a red-herring or will the show actually have some monster/supernatural-slaying element to it? I am not sure how the story went in the original version but I'm glad that Kyoto Animation decides to mix the story of the girls so that the viewers get variety type of story in one go as opposed to following one story before moving to another character's story.
October 19, 2006 | 33 Comments
Well, I've been wanting to see this ever since I saw the announcement for the series. Although I haven't read the manga, I know that it's one of the more popular shoujo series. I have to say that the first episode is quite unusual, so to speak. There are some weird visual clues like the monkey creatures swinging from right to left screen to reveal the next scene. In addition to this, the actions of the characters are highly exaggerated at times. Having said that, I enjoyed the first episode thanks to its characters and comedy. Although speaking of comedy, I regret my decision in googling the meaning of 'Scatologist'. I don't think I could ever see Mozart in the same way again now. Anyway, I think it's worth giving the series a look although I realise that most people won't be willing to waste 1.34GB on this episode alone.
October 18, 2006 | 11 Comments
Well, this is basically the second episode of the series but it was aired at the same time as the first one. While the first episode contains the OP theme, the second episode contains the ED theme. I personally think neither the OP nor the ED are that special but they are passable. Voice acting are okay as well except for Madarao the spirit dog. I was expecting a female VA not a male VA who tries to act like female. I am also apprehensive of the fact that the writers cut out some of the manga material. This makes me wonder if there is a limited amount of episode reserved for this series. Thankfully the art and animation make up for the above deficiencies. This is definitely one of the nicest-looking series I've seen this season. As a side note, I've updated the pictures for the first episode so that it'll have the correct aspect ratio.
October 17, 2006 | 29 Comments
I find it hard to believe that the anime already reaches this point in the story in the space of 3 episodes. Having said that, I think this is the right speed because the series seems to work better at a frenetic speed than a slow crawl one. I do wonder how much of the story will be covered in the anime though. It's been said that there will be a total of 37 episodes but I wonder if these are enough to cover the entire story up to its conclusion. I hope that the writers don't stop halfway through the series because that will just make some fans even angrier. Anyway, quality wise this episode is not as good as the first two but the drop in quality is barely noticeable. I'm glad that Madhouse gets to adapt this because while they have made some questionable choices with other series (Paradise Kiss for example), in general their production quality is quite high.
October 17, 2006 | 26 Comments
This series gets some surprisingly nice art style, cinematography, and direction. Maybe it's just specific to this episode but I noticed that a lot of thoughts have gone into framing each scenes so that they look unique and unusual. It also helps that the music is atmospheric and reminds me of Danny Elfman compositions. The animation studio responsible for this series is TMS Entertainment, a company which I've never heard of before. Having said that, I think they've done a great job so far and I hope this will continue in future episodes. The only complains that I have about the episode is that in some scenes, the dark scenes are too dark and I can barely see anything. Maybe I simply have a bad monitor setup but I had to strain my eyes to figure out several objects in the episode and at times I can't see anything. This is going to be a major problem next week since the bulk of the story will be a fight scene. It'll be hard to enjoy if I can't see a thing.
The episodes looks a bit bad but I suppose this is to be expected. I kind of wish that every animation studio know how to divide their budget like Kyoto Animation or at least find a trick that makes the series look good in general. Thankfully this is not as bas as say, episode 3 of Welcome to NHK!. I think the real problem with this episode, however, is the story, which was written specifically to show that Alice believes in the war relief program. However, I think the viewers already know about this right from the start. What I really want to know is what her supervisor thinks about these jobs. Do they see it as another paper to shove? Where it doesn't matter whether or not Pumpkin Scissors can solve the problem or not.
October 17, 2006 | 10 Comments
Opening Theme: 「Sha la la - アヤカシ NIGHT」 (Sha la la - Ayakashi NIGHT) by 宇浦冴香 (Uura Saeka)
Download: AVI format (21MB) | Download PSP format (coming soon)
This turns out to be a nice surprise. I kind of like the manga but I never expected the anime to look this good. It's a bit hard to see with this particular episode since I got a rather lousy raw for it. But you should be able to see how good the quality with the screenshots from the second episode. Another thing that I didn't expect was for the TV channel to screen 2 episodes at once. While I have no problem with the first episode, I do have small issues with the second episode which I'll talk about in the relevant entry. Anyway, the OP theme is included on the first episode but I don't think this is the real OP theme since it mostly just shows scenes from the first 2 episodes. I am hoping that next week's episode will show the true OP. I will update the screenshots once I find a better quality one. In the meantime, however, I hope these are good enough.
October 14, 2006 | 25 Comments
OP Theme: 「NightmaRe」by SNoW
Download: AVI format (NEW - 24.2MB) | PSP format (13MB)
Episode like this makes me slightly frustrated because I can see the potential but it's not fully realised because the writers refuse to change its focus from the victim of the week into something more intesting. Having said that, this is not a bad episode at all and I like the opening theme by SNoW. I think the song is a lot better than the 1st season OP theme, Sakasama no Chou. There is a lot more variation in its tone and less repetition in the lyric. The episode also features some hilarious scenes on Ai's expense. I think you should see the episode just to see the ball and the dog scene. Anyway, I've updated the screencaps with the high-res version. This time around, I included a shot of the girl in Ren's flashback since I didn't see that scene the first time I took the screencaps. Thank you to those who told me about it.
October 14, 2006 | 14 Comments
I'm impressed. This episode has at least alleviate one of my biggest worries about the series. Prior to watching this, I was afraid that the body change will facilitate some sort of silly, slapstick comedy. Thankfully the director made the choice to keep this as 'realistic' as possible within the confine of the magic wish. I think the reactions that the characters show in this episode are far closer to what would happen in reality if someone has to go through something similar. On the downside, the animation is quite minimal and even the dialogue is sparse. Having said that, what the episode lacks in both aspects, it makes up a lot in atmosphere. Now I'm just hoping that there won't be any kind of nasty surprises along the way. If the writers keep up the good work, I think this would be one of the best series this season.
October 13, 2006 | 18 Comments
Just like Kanon, the second episode of this series makes me want to see the series a bit more. It's probably because in comparison to the first episode, this one is very action-packed and filled with surprising revelations. There is one particular scene in this episode which reminds me a lot of Light and L's confrontation in Death Note. And although I am not interested in other Knightmare Frames, I think 'Lancelot' is quite a sexy piece of work. I like the fact that its movement is a lot more fluid and less robot-like in comparison to the other Knightmare Frames. This episode also give Suzaku a good character development, which I think will explain a lot of his action in the future. Overall, this is a good follow-up to the first episode and if the third episode is as good, I think I'll follow this regularly.
October 13, 2006 | 36 Comments
Maybe I'm just starting to get used to it but the second episode feels a bit better than the first one. It also helps that it introduces a few new characters that I like. The problem is, I don't think Yuuichi will end up with either of them. In addition to this, the animation quality is still as good as last week's episode. This is a good thing because there is a likelihood that the quality will remain consistent throughout the entire series. Besides, judging from other Kyoto Animation series, they don't usually have major quality issues halfway through the series. When they don't have budget, they'll just show a series of long shots and stills that last few minutes. :) Anyway, I've managed to re-written this entry as I promised the day before.
Opening Theme: 「働く男」- Hataraku Otoko by PUFFY
Download: AVI format (30.2MB)
Hmm, I'm not as impressed by this series. Of all the series that I've blogged so far, this is the one that I think is not as interesting. Maybe it's because I'm in the workforce as well, so watching this is similar to spending an extra hour at the office. I also don't like the characters that much except for Matsukata and Tanaka, the two competing editors. The opening theme and the ending theme are nothing extraordinary either. I will try to upload them once I get the chance. But I don't think you're missing anything from not seeing it. Anyway, I don't think I will blog this more than the first episode. I will also place this on the bottom of my priority since I have three other series that interest me today. I may change my mind if the second episode is good but in general, I'm not fond of the animation style and the story.
