What I am watching on the 2011 summer Season.

Summer Season!!

First impressions or something.

Here is all the anime for this season.

Hey everybody, the summer season of anime has just started and that means everyone is putting together lists of what they are watching and why. So I figured why not try it myself. Here is a list of the shows I have seen the first episode of from the 2011 summer season and my first thoughts of them. Once the season is over I will do a reflection of things and probably do a full on review of some of the shows. So here is what I saw!

Double-J. Double-J is a slice of life piece about two high school girls entering a strange club called The Cultural Activity Preservation Club. Basically it is a club filled with people who do strange and technically outdated forms of art. The first episode has to do with tooth pick carving. This is a strange show by any means, and with each episode only maybe four to five minutes long, it tries to cram as much of the crazy in as little a space as possible. The art and animation style admiringly looks like something you would find on the internet, as in one guy on You Tube who has an animation program. But I actually like the low budget look to it. It is different then the anything I have seen in quite a while, though I can see it grating on some people’s nerves. All in all, I plan on watching all of Double-J; it looks to be a fun time.

Yuru Yuri. Yuru Yuri is K-On! without the music. And I almost want to say without the charm. While I am not a huge fan of moe and will try not to watch a show that is only made up of moe themes, I will not completely avoid a show if it does have them. Yuru Yuri is pervy lesbian moe moe fun time. I can already see the attempted groping played for laughs. This show does have some creepy moments too. In the first episode we get to see into the room of the main character. It is filled with posters of her little sister, the main. It has the main’s panties on the floor. There is a love pillow with a picture of the main on it, with lipstick covering the mouth. It was a little creepy. And I assume will eventually be played for laughs. If you like moe and K-On! And all that stuff, you will enjoy this show. I plan on following it for a while, but it might be dropped pretty soon.

Kamisama Dolls. Kamisama Dolls is about a college student from a mysterious village where special people have robots and the village is a dictatorship. Or at least that is what I got out of it. The show actually reminds me of a much darker version of Shingu: Secret of the Stellar Wars, except Hajime has left the village. Even the style of the robots, from the one his sister uses to the one his old friend turned psychopath uses, all remind of this show. And I really like Shingu. I plan on watching this show, but a part of me feels it has some problem that will only show up later. I am not the biggest mecha fan, so that is where that might be coming from. I might drop it later, but I think I will be in for the long hall in this one.

Morita-san wa Mukuchi. This is another slice of life show with really short episodes, like Double-J. It is about a girl who thinks too much when talking to others. To everyone else, she is a silent, slightly weird girl who always staring directly into the eyes of who ever is talking to her. Everyone sees her as intimidating and silent, when really she is just following the rules her mother told her. She is silent because she is spending too much time thinking of the right thing to say in any situation. I actually like characters like this because I feel like I can relate to them. And because it is another really short episode series, I feel like I am not wasting my time by watching it. This is another show I plan on watching all the way through.

Nyanpire The Animation. Nyanpire might possibly be the cutest thing I have seen since Chi’s Sweet Home. And again, another short episode series. That makes three so far this season, which is impressive, if a bit telling about the budgets these studios’ have. Nyanpire is about a vampire kitty that lives with some non-faced woman. It is cute and is a good little distraction. Nyanpire himself is adorable and I really ant to watch the little adventures of this kitty of the undead. It is another show I plan on watching all the way through.

Usagi Drop. After the funeral of his grandfather, Daikichi finds out his grandfather had an illegitimate daughter who is only a little girl. No one in his family is willing to take care of the child, and no one expects Daikichi to take up the responsibility. But after seeing the girl, and seeing how much she truly loved her father, he is unable to except giving the child away and decided to take care of her. This anime is looking to be a good family drama, about a new inexperienced father and his strange at times adoptive daughter. The rest of his family seems interesting, if not completely annoying form the events of the first episode. The first episode actually reminded me of the movie Tokyo Story, by Ozu. The attitudes of the family and how the grandfather’s death is only seen as an inconvenience to the family. Another thing I liked from the first episode was how it showed how different Rin, the daughter of the grandfather, was from other children, by juxtaposing her with a bratty child of another family member. This anime looks great, and I plan on watching each episode with rapt attention.

Blood-C.  I’ll start by saying that Blood-C did not grasp out to me at all. Everything in the first episode felt forced to me. It was if they were consciously trying to create a dichotomy between the main characters everyday life and the deadly other worldly battle she has at the end of the episode. I mean, I know they were purposely doing such a thing, but it was done in such a way that it was too obvious. The entire first episode just felt cliché and like it had been done before. The art and animation is pretty ok though. CLAMP is usually pretty good; I like their art style once in a while. I feel like this will eventually become the new Code Geass, really popular, but not for me. I watched the first episode, but I am dropping it, it is just not for me.

Ro-Kyu-Bu!. It’s loli basketball. I am dropping it. I am staying far away from it. I am not going anywhere close to this anime. It is loli basketball. Enough. Said.

Kami-sama no Memo-chou. This is a NEET detective show. That alone is awesome enough for me to want to watch this show. Nerds solving mysteries has always been something I personally loved. But this show goes beyond just the initial theme and is actually good. The show is basically about a group of drop outs and weird-os, NEETS, who solve mysteries at the command of a young girl who almost never leaves her room. All the characters in this show are so individual, and so interesting, part of the reason I want to watch this show so much is just to find out more about these characters. Another reason though is the mysteries. If the first episode is anything to go by, the mysteries will be mature without going into the completely gore-tastic route that some other mystery shows will go. Also, the first episode is over 40 minuets long. This is just so different from what I usually see, and I hope it will keep up with that 40 minute run time. I believe that this will be one of the best shows this season, and I am completely looking forward to the rest of the series, and I highly recommend it.

Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu Ni!. This is the second season to last years Baka to Test, and I loved the first season. It seemed like a parody of all those harem, high school anime that are everywhere. And it does so brilliantly. I plan on doing a whole review of the first and now second season of the show in the future, so I will hold out giving a more detailed description here. If you are thinking of watching this show, but have yet to see the first season, I recommend you find season one. So far it seems season two is a direct continuation of the last season, which isn’t a bad thing, it just alienates some new views. I will defiantly be following this show.

Ikoku Meiro no Croisee. Ikoku Meiro no Croisee is about a young Japanese girl who is brought to France to live with a young shop owner and his Grandfather. It takes place in the late 19th century, during a time of great change going on in the world. This show is great. I love the style and feel of the late 19th century and this show brings it to life perfectly. It is a fish out of water story, which has been done a million times, but it is interesting to see how the main characters interact with each other and how they are both so accepting of each others cultures at times. I really like this show, and as long as it keeps up the quality it will be one of my favorite shows this season.

Kaitou Tenshi Twin Angel Kyun Kyun Tokimeki Paradise!!. This show is an anime from the 90’s. Or at least it should be. It has magical girls, long transformation scenes, cat girls, random enemy mecha, team rocket style villains, possibly lesbian protagonists, huge special energy beam type attacks, and some fan service thrown in to boot. I swear this anime is just made up of different anime from the past 20 or so years. If it stays what seems to be a parody of these over the top magical girl, action pieces, then I am really looking forward to watching this show. But I feel that it might go over a line at some point. Like it might become too fan service-y, or too ridicules with its villains, or just something that would make me not want to follow this series anymore. But until then I plan on watching this show, hopefully it will be enjoyable.

So, those are the shows I am watching this anime season. I plan on doing a final thoughts type thing when the season ends and to give some more comprehensive recommendations on what to watch. Enjoy the list and look forward to my next review.

First Review: Bartender

Ok, time for my first review. Lets see if I can do this right.

        Bartender is an episodic story of a bartender, short and sweet. It is the tale of Ryuu Sasakura, the young bartender of the bar Eden Hall. He is known for his ability to create the perfect drink, his "Glass of God". Each episode follows a different character who enters Eden Hall for whatever reason, hoping to have their problem fixed with Ryuu's legendary alcohol. None of the stories are told from the Ryuu's perspective though. All the stories are told second hand from the patrons of Eden Hall, reflecting on the events that brought them to this bar, and how one drink could change their life.
       
        I'm am going to say this now, I really like this show. A show like this has all the elements that make a great show for me. It is a slice of life show in very specific circles. It is about an alternative career, one which I wouldn't mind falling ass backwards into one day. The subject matter, meaning the alcohol and the drinks, are presented in such a positive way, a great counter argument to the whole anti-alcoholic sentiments you sometimes hear. The art is great, it looks beautiful at times and it really makes the drinks come to life. The opening theme is incredible, and I could listen to it for days. The ending theme is different in each episode, showing a real bartender making one of the signature drinks of the episode. The characters are interesting and their personal stories resonate with the audience. And just as the icing on the cake, each episode starts with the history of a drink or some type of alcohol. Personally I love this type of world building, it just adds that little bit to any show.
      
        Bartender is not something complicated, nor is it anything revolutionary. It is a simple, relaxing ride which I can understand some people not wanting to sit through. It can even feel slow at times. For someone who prefers mecha action, over the top, explosion-fests, then this is not the show for you. It is a slow ride, but it is a smooth god ride. If you want something to relax to, just some show that you can watch and wind down to, with maybe a glass of wine in hand, I highly recommend this show. I hope you check it out and enjoy it.

So.... how was that for a first try? Yeah, yeah, I know, not the best on the web. I promise I will improve by next review. If you have any suggestions feel free to comment. Thank you for reading!

My History with Anime

        Everyone has that story of how they got into anime. Some are long and convoluted, some are simple and obvious. Mine is more long and convoluted. I am telling you this story so that you know where I am coming from when I talk about anime. A little bit of back story can go a long way in understanding a character, and I think it could a long way in helping you understand me.
        It started watching anime forever ago. Like many people my age my first experience was from Cartoon Network's Toonami. I remember watching Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon, G Gundam, and Zoids. But at the time I had no clue that it was anime. Hell, I had no clue what anime was, I just thought it was all cartoons. I was kind of an idiot back then. Eventually I did learn the difference between western animation and Japanese animation, but I had yet to consider myself a diehard fan of anime. That all changed with two things, my discovery of manga, and my discovery of On Demand entertainment.
        I discovered manga on my last day of sixth grade, during the height of the Yu-Gi-Oh craze. I was really into it, as were all my friends. One of my friends came in with something none of us had seen before. It looked like a comic book, but it was thicker, and everything was backwards. It was Shonen Jump.
 

        Not the right one, but close enough.

      
One of the first few to be exact, as this was the first year Shonen Jump was around. None of my friends were really interested, the one who bought it only wanted it for the Yu-Gi-Oh connection, but I was automatically interested. The stories inside fascinated me. I saw that this was where anime came from. There was even a Rurouni Kenshin manga, and I use to love that show! I will always say that discovering manga became that significant turning point in my life. But it wasn't the last turning point.
        Shonen Jump got me into manga, but what made me the anime fan I am today was anime On Demand. For those who don't know, On Demand is a cable television service which allows you to watch what they put on when you want to. It has a decent amount of programing on it, but what was important was that it had anime. I discovered it and binged on all the shows that they had. That was a mistake. You see, anime On Demand was like a coin toss for good anime. While sometimes they had incredible shows, like BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad, Baccano, Super Gals, Azumanga Daioh and Abenobashi Magical Shopping Arcade, it also had Magikano, Gundam Seed Destiny, My-Hime, Cutey Honey and Abenobashi Magical Shopping Arcade.

Still don't know how to feel about this series.

        On Demand anime shaped my tastes in anime. It showed me the weird, the great, the terrible, the scaring and Magikano, a show I will forever hate. On Demand anime was the only place for me to get anime back in the day. I had no fancy computer to get my anime from. I did not have the money to buy anime. I was limited to what would be On Demand. This has effected me in strange ways. Mainstream shows have become something difficult for me to get into. The stranger the show the better it can be. And I am much more forgiving of shows that have overt over the top fan-service. That is not to say that I love the stuff, but I am more forgiving and I know that fan-service does not necessarily a make a bad show. It just usually does.

        Since my harrowing days of On Demand, anime has become much more accessible for me. I am in my school's anime club. I have become a fan of tokusatsu, or live action special effects shows like Kamen Rider and Super Sentai. I watch a myriad of different series from across the spectrum of anime, from sports shows to harems, from deep philosophical pieces to mindless fighting. I like anime. And now I hope you know a little bit about what I like, and how I see anime. I encourage you leave a comment telling your own story of how you got into anime. I look forward to reading them! 

I own nothing of any of the copy-written materials mentioned above. Thank you.

First Post And Introduction

        Hey Internet world! This is a little experiment of mine. I love anime, manga, tokusatsu, and all things nerdy. And I want to through my hat into the reviewer ring. I know, I know, another reviewer on the Internet, just another random dude whose opinion you are not forced to prescribe to. But, as the mantra of the Internet goes, I've gots opinions. They may not be groundbreaking or anything, but their mine, and I want to try sharing them with the world. 
        Now obviously, this is a review site, an anime review site if the name of the blog is anything to go by. I plan of reviewing what I want. Old anime, new anime, popular or unpopular, I will review the things that I watch, and hopefully be able to say something smart about it.
        I truly love anime and tokusatsu and everything fun about Japan. And I just want to share it with you all. I just hope that what I say will give you ideas on what to watch and what to avoid. Even if this only reaches one or two people, I still plan on doing this little experiment. What's the experiment exactly? To see if I can actually write decent reviews of the anime I love. So have fun, enjoy the eventual content, and I hope we can all get along!