OP: “Future Stream” by sphere – Eh, I don’t really like the OP. It’s really standard, and there’s just nothing that particularly stands out about it. I also wonder what it is with this new fad of creating group names for anime singles that are actually just sung by their seiyu.

Summary:

Arihara Ayumi, and the rest of her middle school friends Chikura Nao, Dobashi Rika, Bessho Koyoi, and Enomoto Kei, discuss the various hopes they have to one day be confessed to by their dream partners. Ayumi’s ideal person is that of a prince, that would carry her like a princess. While the girls carry on their conversation, they are shocked to run into the frightening high schooler Zaitsu Misao. The girls fear for their lives, but in reality, Zaitsu had simply come to give Ayumi a love letter. This causes both laughter and fright in the girls afterwards, mostly the latter, as Ayumi returns home in worry of what she should do. Ayumi seeks help from her brother Yuuji after dinner, but upon hearing Zaitsu’s name, Yuuji further implies the threatening reputation that Zaitsu has among students.

In the following days, Ayumi is further tormented by Zaitsu’s following her whenever he has the chance. This causes fear among all those around the two, as well as a lot of stress for Ayumi at school. When he sees that she is troubled in class, a boy named Mamoru volunteers to carry Ayumi to the infirmary. This makes Ayumi believe that Mamoru is the prince she has been looking for, but after being dropped off at the infirmary, her dreams are crushed upon learning that Mamoru is Zaitsu’s younger brother. Ayumi eventually decides that it would be best for her to properly turn down Zaitsu, but meeting him in the afternoon, the best she can do is to tell him to stop following her in tears.

Ayumi runs as fast as she can away from Zaitsu, wondering why someone like him had to fall for her, until running into another high schooler in the streets. This boy, along with the rest of his gang, capture Ayumi in order to draw Zaitsu to them. Ayumi doesn’t believe Zaitsu would come after what she had done to him, but to her surprise, he does. Despite Zaitsu’s wish to protect Ayumi, he is easily put at bay by the gang’s using Ayumi’s panties to blind him. This causes Zaitsu to suffer attacks from the gang, but when Ayumi reveals that she wasn’t tightly captured in the first place, he regains the ability to take down those around him. Afterwards, Ayumi delivers a finishing blow to Zaitsu, as a scolding for allowing her so much fear during the event. This makes the boys around realize that Ayumi is actually the strongest, and unknown to her, Mamoru had also seen this from outside the warehouse. As the days continue afterwards, Ayumi realizes that her love has just begun.

ED: “Hatsukoi limited (初恋 limited)” by marble – There’s something about marble and shows like this, huh? It’s kind of fun to see all the girls in various costumes, but otherwise, I’m not really for the ED either.

Preview: On to the high school girls.

Impression:

Kimikiss 2! Now with less Eriko.

Actually, this felt more like Kimikiss meets School Rumble… A lot of super duper anime experts are probably already familiar with Kawashita Mizuki’s Hatsukoi Limited, as it stems from the ever so popular Ichigo 100%. While I wasn’t a big fan of Ichigo in the slightest, I did like the first few chapters of Hatsukoi that I sampled. JC Staff actually managed to keep the humor that was in the first chapter, as well as add a slightly deeper theme of first loves (hence the title, I know) to the overall story. I enjoyed the first episode as much as I liked the first chapter of the manga, but as I haven’t read past chapter two at this point, I’m really not sure if I should expect the quality of the writing to go up or down from here on.

The casting is pretty strong overall, from the lovely Shizuka Itou to Mariya Ise (not as a boy this time) playing the lead protagonist. And while I was alerted earlier of budget saving techniques in missing backgrounds among other things, I didn’t find this aspect of the show distracting in the slightest after actually watching the episode. I can’t say the same about other aspects of the show, however, such as extremely SUBTLE shots of camel toe in the screen’s foreground. But eh, overall, I’m really looking forward to watching more Hatsukoi. I’m sure established fans will be even more enthusiastic.

OP: “Falling Down” by Oasis – Wow. Just wow. I absolutely love the OP. Contemporary rock track paired with modern graphic design influenced animation makes this easy on the ears and eyes.

Summary:

On her visit to Washington DC, Morimi Saki gets into trouble with local authorities for attempting to throw change into the White House’s fountain. She is saved by a strange naked man soon after, who is armed with an advanced phone and a pistol. Saki lends the man her coat after being left alone by the police, parting ways with him to reach the airport. When she realizes that her passport was in the jacket though, she begins chasing after him to regain it. The man meanwhile uses his phone to gain hints about who he is, eventually discovering where his current home is. Inside the apartment, the man is brought to believe that he is something of a terrorist. In his closet are large amounts of ammunition, as well as a good number of passports.

When Saki catches up to him, the man decides on the name Takizawa Akira because of the identity’s similar birth date to hers. The two are stopped by a police woman before they can leave the apartment, but Akira dodges this with his certain expertise. Akira and Saki make their way to the airport to return to Japan, but to their surprise, a bombing of Tokyo has been announced on the television.

ED: “Futuristic Imagination” by School Food Punishment – This is somewhat reminiscent of the Honey and Clover OPs, with the use of stop motion animation. I love it as much as the OP, especially stylistically.

Impression:

• Honey and Clover was, and still is the most influential anime I have ever watched. Umino Chika’s character designs will always be respected by me because of that, and they are a welcome addition to this show.
• I love Production IG, not for what I see as the highly overrated GitS, but for their consistent quality in shows like Moribito. This carries into this series, as it gives me somewhat of a Library Wars feel.
• Saori Hayami has been one of my favorite seiyu since Touka Gettan, showing such a high amount of talent despite her young age, and she is just as impressive in this production.

A lot of comparisons and obvious presumptions come with this anime, but despite that, I did end up loving the first episode of Eden of the East as much as I hoped I would. I would complain that things feel as if they are being forced, especially with so many ridiculously unrealistic situations happening at once, but we have to keep in mind that a movie will be following this 11 episode run. I certainly felt that this episode had the pacing of a film, and with that in mind, I put my minor complaints to the side.

With the main setting being in Washington DC, I was already cringing in expectancy of bad engrish as early as the first few scenes. Thankfully, IG had actually hired actual American voice actors for the show. While none of them were high profile people by any means, this at least made things a lot easier on the ears. I do love the attention to detail in that aspect as well, though it was awkward to see the Americans respond so readily to the Japanese being spoken to them.

I’m really liking the comedy and light mystery feel of this show overall. The nude jokes in this episode were too out there to relate to in this episode, but they remained hilarious none the less. I don’t expect them to come back after this episode, but who knows. I can’t say I know what to expect from the plot from here on, but I am liking the chemistry between Saki and Akira. I’m already expecting this to be one of the stronger series of 2009, so I can’t wait to see more.

On a personal side note, Akira and Saki both have the same birth year as me! That will make me relate to the story all the more. =)

OP: “Atashi dake ni kakete” by Omokage Lucky Hole – Is this going to be the first Shaft OP that I don’t absolutely love? While I don’t think it’s particularly terrible, I just feel like both the song and animation are a couple decades behind. This is probably intentional, but still….

Summary:

Arashi wakes Hajime for work, and after doing so, she learns of the special strawberry he has conjured. As Hajime explains, this is a strawberry filled with spices to use against his enemies. Hajime notices that there is currently only one strawberry, however, when there were supposedly three. As he and Arashi learn soon after, Hajime’s grandfather had suffered from one of them recently. Shortly after Hajime and Arashi reach their workplace to meet their usual coworkers, a shriek is heard from outside. This leads everyone except for the couple to check on the emergency. After getting changed, Hajime and Arashi serve their usual customer Hideo. As Hajime does not have a particularly good relationship with him, he asks Arashi of a favor – to take him back in time to retrive one of his strawberries. The two certainly do this, and in the end, it is the shop’s owner that causes Hajime’s plan to succeed against Hideo.

Hajime prepares to carry out his plan against his next foe, another regular customer named Takeshi, but he panics when one of the two cakes in the cooler is missing. As he learns that the cake eaten by Takeshi is not the one that contained his special strawberry, he and Arashi are forced to search for who had taken the other one. The two eventually learn that it was Kaya who did, but she has seemed to lose sight of the said cake as well. With this, Kaya searches enthusiastically for her beloved cake by traveling through time with Jun. At the same time, Arashi and Hajime do the same in order to prevent her from eating the rigged strawberry. Both couples suffer from complications of existence, due to their traveling back so close to the present that their two bodies cannot exist next to each other, but Kaya eventually succeeds in reaching her cake. Despite her happiness, of course, she actually suffers from the trap Hajime had laid for someone else.

ED: “Kirari Futari” by Ryoko Shiraishi – As simple as it is, I like the ED a lot more than the OP. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen live shots used with animation this way, and it kind of reminds me of Karekano.

Preview: The summer continues.

Impression:

Oh man. Welcome back, Shinbo. After the disappointment that Maria Holic was last season, this is the return to Shaft-ness that I needed after being spoiled by Zetsubou Sensei so many times in the past two years. It’s probably common knowledge by now that this series is being adapted from the Jin Kobayashi (of School Rumble fame) manga, and it certainly shows in the character design. While the designs themselves bothered me slightly while reading the manga, as I had actually hoped that Shaft would take their own liberties with them, they ended up being just fine after actually watching this episode. Shaft indeed did take their own liberties with other things, however, as this episode was nowhere close to being like the first few chapters of its source. I suspect that we will eventually get to the original plot at some point (episode titles hint at non-linear storytelling), but sending us straight into the fun stuff certainly helped to make me appreciate the series more (the first chapters of the manga are actually quite boring).

I’m already loving both Arashi and Kaya, as well as appreciating Hajime a lot more now than I did than while I was reading the manga. The high paced humor was just as great, as I felt like this was what The Girl Who Lept Through Time would have been if it was a comedy. I loved simple things like the comedic facial expresions, and while things like the SZS parody are overplayed, they remain hilarious none the less. Needless to say from a resident Shaft-tard, I can’t wait to see more.

OP: “Cagayake! GIRLS” by Aki Toyosaki with Yoko Hikasa, Satomi Satou and Minako Kotobuki – Huh…..cute high school girls and a really bad, yet slightly catchy song by the voice actresses. Where have I seen this formula before?

Summary:

On the first day of high school, Hirasawa Yui rushes to campus despite all obstacles. Upon reaching it, she is shrouded with several offers for her to join various clubs. As her friend Nodoka discovers, however, Yui cannot decide on any of them. Elsewhere, a girl named Tainaka Ritsu convinces her friend Akiyama Mio to help her form the light music club. When the two bring this up to the teacher Yamanaka Sawako, they discover that they need four members before they can start a club. Upon waiting for quite some time, the two girls coincidentally find a third member named Kotobuki Tsumugi.

Meanwhile, Yui decides to join the light music club upon hearing about it from Sawako. As she finally starts to approach the club though, she begins to fear that the club will not be what she initially imagined it to be. Yui is greeted by Ritsu all the same, and while the three current K-on members express their enthusiasm, Yui cannot bring herself to admit that she knows nothing about music. Yui eventually comes around to doing so, but the other girls refuse to give up hope. With Mio on bass, Ritsu on drums, and Tsumugi on keyboard, the girls perform a short piece for Yui. Touched by this, Yui decides to officially join the K-on club. Of course, as Nodoka soon observes, Yui still has no idea what she has gotten herself into.

ED: “Don’t say ”lazy”” by Yoko Hikasa with Aki Toyosaki, Satomi Satou and Minako Kotobuki – I like the ED a lot better than the OP, both song-wise and visually. The style reminds me a lot of Paradise Kiss, or even Red Garden, type stuff.

Preview: Getting started.

Impression:

Hyakko, Manabi Straight, Haruhi, Lucky Star….there are too many shows I could compare this one to. Yamada Hisako, animator gone director, had a part in both Lucky Star and Haruhi in the past, so I can’t call that a coincidence. And while I can agree with Aroduc’s saying that this looks more like an A-1 style production, I certainly didn’t think it looked as terrible as he described ( I love A-1 though; more so than Kyoani. *cough*). Despite feeling like I have seen so much of it before, the first episode of K-ON! was absolutely hilarious. There’s just something irresistible about girls as ridiculous as Yui, and I’ve always been a fan of light slice of life humor.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, I could feel a lot of Beck vibes coming from the show as well. While this series is nothing like the said anime, aside from the focus on music, I felt all kinds of nostalgia coming to me as soon as Mio started playing her bass. The guitarist jokes were a nice plus too, as a special bonus to those who are familiar with the ones mentioned. I can already see this series going into a Linda Linda Linda direction, and I’m ready for the ride. Just keep me away from those rabid Kyoani fans. No, Haruhi 2 is not out yet.

Look out, Kobe.

Summary:

In Rollingtown on the planet Earthdash, a boy named Dan JD terrorizes the city with the help of his two friends Bel and Ganz. After making money from parts stolen from the surrounding television monitors, Dan implies his distaste in the program that had been airing on the screens. This was the sport basketball, being played by the large robots known as Bigfoots. Using his reward, Dan purchases a small cat-like animal for his younger sister Coco. When she expresses her not needing of such a thing, however, the creature is soon eaten by Dan’s companion Spanky. Dan enters a local court to let out his frustration with basketball, becoming extremely annoyed with the nearby Bigfoots performing construction. Dan is soon met by a girl named Miyuki, who explains to him the various roles Bigfoots have in the current world. Miyuki sees that Dan does not like Bigfoots, but as Dan corrects, he simply does not like their playing basketball.

Having gotten wet because of one of her pranks, Dan follows Miyuki to her home that night. While she does his laundry for him, Miyuki introduces Dan to a particular Bigfoot. After getting caught up in piloting the robot, Dan quickly gains excitement. Reaching for the moon in a high jump, however, Dan’s night ends in a crash. Before he leaves, Miyuki offers Dan a set of tickets for a future basketball match. This brings Dan and his friends to the said event a few days later, though as they quickly learn, this does not turn out to be as exciting as what is put on broadcast. Dan begins to express his annoyance with the sport, and eventually, he realizes that Miyuki is the childhood friend that was once separated from him. Miyuki offers Dan the chance to pilot a Bigfoot once more, bringing him to do just that. Displaying what true basketball is to the fans around him, Dan again avoids the police to put on his amazing display of skill. Before he can make a finishing shot though, a certain player stops him in his tracks. After being released from confinement just a day later, Dan discovers that he has become a legend. In the streets surrounding him, citizens of Rollingtown have taken to playing basketball in Bigfoots.

ED: “free” by Yu Yamada – I didn’t like the song at first, but it did get pretty catchy after a few minutes. I also like the style of the animation, despite how typically simple it is. I’m much more looking forward to hearing the OP next week.

Preview: Let’s play some mecha b-ball!

Impression:

Uh oh, we be stompin’ in our Air Force Ones Bigfoots now!!! I’ve been pretty excited about this series ever since seeing some of its early promotional material a few seasons ago. (I mean, mecha and basketball? What’s not to like?) Add this to the ridiculous cast list and great production, and I’m already hooked after episode one. Of course, with Nike supporting the production, I couldn’t expect anything less.

The first episode was very fast paced, and felt very much like shows like Gurren Lagann or other high style animations that have aired recently. I absolutely loved this aspect of the show, as I never felt a terribly slow part. The concepts set off some of my artistic alarms just as quickly, with the play on futuristic drink bottles, the transitions, and the high focus on the moon in particular, being just a few of the things that caught my eye. I could go on about the cast for quite some time, but I’ll spare the essay. From Shizuka Itou to Kana Hanazawa, this show brings several of my favorite seiyu into one place. I can’t wait to see Hayami Saori’s debut, especially with the new group Eclipse performing the OP.

We only got hints of the overall plot so far, but I am loving what we’ve been shown. Dan’s distaste in what has become mainstream entertainment is such a contemporary theme to play on. The focus on the moon is fascinating as well, especially with how it supposedly plays in with the high technology city. I do have to give a few minor complaints though. While the sexual innuendos were humorous, Miyuki’s 20 second boob shot was just ridiculous. I also hate how she suddenly became the surprise childhood friend, which Japan simply can’t seem to get away from. Several other parts of this episode, mostly character and plot-wise, were extremely cliched too.

Still, overall, this series is turning out to be really fun. While not something I could consider particularly deep, I can definitely see myself enjoying it each week. Oh, and I’m totally thinking about buying the shoes Nike plans on releasing to tie in with the show. Oh yea!

OP: “RIDEBACK” by MELL – Yea! Mell is awesome! The animation for this is definitely fitting, but it’s honestly something I’d expect more in a video game intro rather than an anime. The credits are also in english; making me wonder if this is just for stylistic purposes, or if the series already has plans on being marketed overseas.

Summary:

In 2020, a group known as the GGP has taken control as a governing force in the world. Not without a cost, however, as severe conflict and suppression has been caused around the world because of their intervention. This did not matter to a girl named Ogata Rin, who only did as her mother instructed her to by growing up to become an exceptional ballet performer. During a particular performance though, she had an accident which would change her world. In the present, Rin and her friend Uemura Shouko get acquainted with the campus they will now be staying at. In her living quarters later, Rin gets into a conversation with her grandmother about previously stopping ballet. As usual, Rin confirms that she is fine with the decision. The next day, a girl named Uchida Suzuri approaches Rin while expressing how big of a fan she is of her ballet performances. Shouko attempts to change the subject when she sees how troubled Rin is, even giving her a chance to escape, then explaining the circumstances behind Rin’s quitting to Suzuri afterwards. Even though she probably had the ability to continue after her injury, Rin was not satisfied in her ballet. After all, her mother Miyuki was a renown performer.

While walking around campus, Rin takes notice of a man leaving a small warehouse on what appears to be a robotic motorcycle. Curiously entering the building, she is mistaken as a possible recruit by one of the current members named Hishida Haruki. Haruki welcomes Rin to the Ride Back club, then offering to let her try riding one of their vehicles. Rin is introduced to the motorcycle known as a Rideback, as well as the particular model Fuego. She learns that the Rideback also has some form of intelligent recognition, and as the rain outside stops, she is helped to take a test run. It is soon revealed that some of the controls on the Rideback aren’t functioning, causing Rin to speed through the campus on the vehicle. Rin is quickly attached to the Rideback, but as she continues to speed through the school grounds, the other Ride Back members begin chasing after her. The member Okakura Tenshirou eventually notes that Rin is heading towards a dangerous area, and though he barely fixes Fuego in time, Rin is still sent off a high ledge. Despite this, the only face Rin can put on is one of excitement. To her, the world had started to change.

ED: “Kioku” by Younha feat. GOKU – I initially didn’t like the slow song paired with what seemed like faddy graphic design inspired animation, but after the tempo picked up, I was fairly hooked.

Preview: A race with Tamayo.

Impression:

Let’s get maneuver! I’ve been secretly pumped about this show ever since I saw its pv a few weeks ago, as the style reminded me a bit of Initial D. I didn’t exactly come into the first episode with huge expectations despite this, and didn’t even plan on blogging it at first, but I was very pleasantly surprised after watching. This production obviously has some of Madhouse’s more talented animators behind it, as most all of this episode looked spectacular. I’m not typically a fan of heavy CG in anime, but this showed that several studios are certainly beginning to learn how to add it more seamlessly to their work.

I was hooked during the last few scenes of this episode, as Rin’s flying at the end even had me feeling the same way I did during parts of Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo. The focus of this series will obviously be on the “Rideback” vehicles, and Rin’s becoming involved with them, but it also seems like there will be several anti-government and protest themes mixed into the overall plot. With driving scenes that are simply fun to watch, a plot that has the potential to become quite powerful, and a lead being played by my favorite Nana Mizuki, I am now really looking forward to watching more Ride Back. (Don’t count on me covering it though, as I already have far too many other shows on my schedule at the moment.)

Notes:

• Hi, Miku.
• So, in a decade, we will have robotic motorcycles.
• Romi Paku still needs to go back to NANA.
• Ogata Rin in Ride Back, and Ogata Rina in White Album. Wow, Mizuki.
• I never knew ballet could be so engaging.

OP: “Ano hi Time Machine” by LONG SHOT PARTY – This song is a lot more lively than the previous OP’s, and the animation echos the same feeling. I dig it.

Summary:

Natsume recalls how he occasionally sees things that others can’t, yokai, but his thoughts are interrupted by a soccer ball being kicked in his direction by his friends. When Natsume goes to retrieve the ball, he is attacked by an ayakashi who is after the yujin-cho in his possession. Nyanko-sensei reveals himself while Natsume is in a dire situation, but refuses to help in favor of acting like he does not care. Natsume takes care of the ayakashi himself, then being reminded by Nyanko that he is only body-guarding him until he can take the yujin-cho for himself. After returning home and having dinner, Natsume seems to see Nyanko return in a very dirty state. Despite his cleaning him, however, the black appearance he has now dawned does not disappear. Further more, he refuses to speak back to him.

When Nyanko truly returns home, he reveals that his impostor is actually an ayakashi. It seems rather harmless at first, but when Natsume takes the yujin-cho from his bag as Nyanko requests, the black cat quickly takes it while escaping outside. Despite Natsume’s desperate attempt to catch the thief, Nyanko convinces him to pursue when it is not at night. To answer Natsume’s confusion, Nyanko expresses his belief that the ayakashi is not a harmful one. By chasing after it and revealing that his book of friends has been stolen though, more harmful spirits may appear to make things worse. The two soon see a light in the distance, which Nyanko sees is a kitsunebi. When some of the spirits attending sense a human scent, Nyanko transforms into Madara to hide Natsume.

An old acquaintance of Madara’s eventually appears, who is introduced as a woman named Beniyo. Mirroring an all too familiar reaction, she mistakes Natsume as Reiko. To avoid trouble though, Madara shuts her up before explaining the circumstances to her. Madara also asks Beniyo about the gathering from earlier, which she explains were spirits attending a nearby banquet. Beniyo further reveals that the black cat from earlier was near the gathering, causing Natsume to request to attend the banquet. Despite the possibility of being eaten, Natsume still suggests that he will go in disguise. On the way to the banquet, Natsume recalls when he first received the yujin-cho from his disturbed parents.

While the group attends the banquet, some of the spirits notice that Natsume smells of human. This leads them to the story of a spirit known as Nushi who was particularly attached to humans because of their kindness to him. The group also mentions that Nushi would have competition with Natsume Reiko. Natsume becomes obviously interested in this, but the conversation is interrupted by a challenge to the human world made by some of the spirits elsewhere. As they learned the location of Nushi’s containment, they would assault the humans for revenge. Natsume sees no reason to have an assault on humans for a single capture, and then reminds Beniyo that he can hear and see the yokai around him.

Natsume finally sees the black cat from earlier, and chasing him this time, he successfully retrieves the yujin-cho back. When Nyanko and Beniyo catch up to him, however, Natsume guesses that the cat purposely took the book in order to lure them to the banquet. Beniyo uses her powers to learn the cat’s objectives, and then guessing that it is in the form of a yorishiro, becomes shocked that the cat is none other than Nushi-sama. Wondering how Nushi was able to move despite being sealed, Natsume guesses that the rope he broke earlier in the day was what opened the barrier. The group remembers the conversation from earlier, about Nushi getting into competitions with Reiko, so Nyanko guesses that he may regain his powers back if his name was returned.

The spirits from earlier find Natsume and the others after being suspicious as to what they were doing, then clearly seeing that Natsume is a human. The spirits attack Natsume, but despite this, he does his best to listen for any spirit that knows of Nushi’s true name. He eventually hears that it is Riyo, and when Madara appears to save Natsume, he properly returns Riyo’s name. Breaking out of his appearance of a cat, Riyo embraces Natsume as an angel-like figure. Putting his forehead against his, Riyo shows Natsume the kind experiences he had with humans in the past. Riyo further explains that he visited Natsume’s home to find an old friend, but she had already passed away. Unable to do anything in his cat form, Riyo confirms that he stole the yujin-cho in order to lead Natsume to the banquet. Despite being sealed by humans, Riyo tells Natsume that he likes humans before disappearing.

With snow covering the city by the time Natsume and the others return home, Beniyo takes her leave. Despite her suggestion that Madara come with her, he decides to stay with Natsume. Recently, what has been troubling Natsume is the separations from people who he has had small encounters with. Of course, he wanted to keep all of these experiences precious.

ED: Another slow song, but I actually like this one a lot more than the first. The animation also has a bit more going on in it.

Preview: Snow bunnies!

Impression:

Hey guys, remember when I covered the first episode of the original series back in the summer? Well, my impression of the series really hasn’t changed since then. This was still as inspiring as every episode of the first season, leaving me wishing for more by the end. Natsume obviously needed a sequel, so I’m sure every fan of the show will be happy with the second production. Natsume Yujin-Cho is one of those stories that constantly has me close to tears and speechless, but as I have said before, it’s really one that I like to appreciate on my own time rather than trying to keep up with each week. I watched the first four episodes of the original series while they aired, but as for the rest of them…….well, I finished those last week. I’m almost certain that my second experience with the anime will follow a similar path, and combining the other selection of shows and lack of time I have, I’ll make the decision for the second time to pass on trying to write about this series.

I should probably talk a little about this episode though, in avoidance of leaving nothing but a rehash of what I said last time. There seems to have been a lot of improvements so far, with the OP and ED as I mentioned or otherwise. The name returning scene in this arc was very beautiful, and though the look could have been credited to the spirit that the cast was dealing with this week, it certainly avoided the typical display. As much as I loved the first series, we were clearly left with a lot of questions left about Reiko and her past. This episode seemed to suggest just a bit more about this, even revealing when Natsume received the book of friends. As usual, I also loved the several references to popular Japanese folklore. Looking up things like the kitsunebi and the meaning of nushi, I almost wanted to make a joke about anime being educational! It can only get better from here on, and I’m really anxious to see the return of old faces; all played by their underrated high profile seiyu.

OP: “Shinai (深愛)” by Nana Mizuki – Um, what? The animation is boriiiiiing……wait. OMG OMG NANA MIZUKI OMG……

Summary:

A boy named Fujii Touya wakes from a dream where he could not hear his girlfriend Morikawa Yuki over noise being projected from a nearby rock band. In the end, Yuki had left him in order to perform in front of the large crowd that was previously listening to the band’s act. When Touya wakes, he watches the TV to see Yuki talking about her experience with a more experienced idol named Ogata Rina. Touya soon realizes that he has waken up late, however, leaving his apartment before he can listen to any more. Touya eventually meets Yuki in the city, but he cannot get her attention as she is excited about the things she had just talked about on TV. Her manager Shinozuka Yayoi appears soon after to take her away too, leaving Touya without the ability to have a proper talk with Yuki.

Upon reaching his university, Touya meets his friends Nanase Akira and Sawakura Misaki. Misaki offers Touya a book to help him with his reports, and as she gets into a conversation with him afterwards, makes him realize that he needs to catch Yuki before they are able to see each other even less. While walking with Akira to help find his new workplace later, Touya brings up his obvious realization that Akira has been unable to express the feelings he has for Misaki for quite some time. The two meet a girl named Kawashima Haruka next, who wishes to spend some time with Touya. When Akira brings up a comment about playing tennis with him instead though, she takes off on her bike. Touya catches up, but only to hear from Haruka that it was thanks to her that he was able to meet Yuki earlier. When Akira meets back up with Touya, the two recall that Haruka had lost her sports playing brother some time ago.

On the train together later that afternoon, Touya mentions to Akira that Yuki had already moved to a new apartment decided by the agency, and that she is currently unable to make phone calls from it. With this, Akira obviously sees that she has truly entered the idol life. Elsewhere, Rina enters a dressing room before a performance to see that a group of idols had spilled coffee on Yuki’s dress. She offers her help, but Yuki decides to take care of the problem herself. Touya spends time at his new workplace with Akira, but when a man named Ogata Eiji enters and exits, he quickly follows him. After being unable to catch him, Akira tells Touya that they have been let off early. He also makes him realize that Yuki couldn’t have possibly been with Eiji just because of his position at the agency.

Touya watches Yuki and Rina’s performance on the TV that night, surprisingly getting a call from Yuki while it airs. As the two discuss what has happening with each other recently, it is revealed that Yuki had solved her earlier problem by transforming her dress into something that had a completely different image. Rina interrupts Yuki during her phone call, and when she learns that Yuki was talking to her boyfriend, she requests to meet him.

ED: “Maiochiru Yuki no Youni (舞い落ちる雪のように)” by Suara – I usually don’t have much of an opinion about Suara’s stuff, but I will say that this reminds me a lot of the ED that was used for Kimikiss. But eh, like that one, this song really isn’t something I can become attached to.

Impression:

So, what I found the most hilarious about this show by the end of this episode was that Nana Mizuki performed the OP, but Aya Hirano’s singing was nowhere to be found. I guess being a riot girl just wasn’t enough for the studio! I also love how this show is bound to become a hit for the season, even though it is just Lovely Idol 2 with more ridiculous drama and maybe slightly less terrible voice acting (thanks Nana-chan). Everything about this episode seemed to be from a badly stereotyped shoujo anime, and since we’ve all already been spoiled about Touya and Rina from the preview descriptions of the show themselves, I can only see more and more bad cliches emerging from here on out. Am I going to blog this? Not a chance. Besides, there are plenty of other people who will probably be more enthusiastic about covering this by saying, “OMG OMG AYA HIRANO SHE IS SO GUD. DID U KNO SHE WAS IN HAYROOHI???”

Next please.

OP: “Nisemono 「ニセモノ」” by Friends: Yuu Kobayashi, Asami Shimoda, MAKO, Satomi Akesaka, Youko Honda, Kana Asumi – I’m not liking the song that much, and the animation is standard flare. I don’t even remember the OVA’s OP that much, but I already know it was better.

Summary:

Ryouta Sato gets asked by his friend Aihara Kazumi to help her with work in the afternoon. Ryouta’s friends find this suspicious, but he denies that there is any special meaning to it. When he meets with her later, Ryouta finds that Kazumi is doing many strange things with her mouth. This includes butting her pencil up to it, as well as chewing on the same pencil once all of the lead has fallen out of it. Ryouta prevents Kazumi from doing the same to his pencil, then learning that she is actually trying to do things to remedy her irritated tooth. Ryouta gets a paper cut while Kazumi takes a break, but he soon finds that she has become interested in this. Kazumi sucks on Ryouta’s injury to disinfect it, but then proceeds to bite on it. While continuing to nibble on it, Kazumi explains that Ryouta’s finger is the thing that has calmed her the most out of all the things she has tried. When Ryouta pulls his finger out of Kazumi’s mouse, the tooth that has been bothering her falls out. With this, Kazumi simply thanks Ryouta for helping her.

Ryouta later visits a store to buy a bouncing ball with his friends. This soon makes his friend Imai Koji pull out his own ball, challenging him to see whose can bounce the highest. Kawai Tsubasa, the two’s other friend, fails in his attempt to stop them. The girls Hidaka Megumi, Asano Yuki, and Aihara Kazumi show up shortly after, but Megumi and Yuki become annoyed when the boys’ balls hit their heads. The two attempt to scold them, but the boys can only focus on their competition. The two girls panic when the balls cause their panties to exposed under their dresses, which the boys were not even paying attention to. While Yuki attempts to scold the boys further, she trips over a ball and kicks Ryouta in the nuts because of it. So, although the boys unknowingly did something unforgivable to the girls, she has seemingly done even worse damage.

On another day in Class 5-2, Hirakawa Natsumi and Koizumi Chika see that the boys are not helping them with cleaning. Ryouta and Koji, in their usual delusional states, pretend to play guitars with their brooms. The girls are finally convinced to say something to the boys after awhile, but to everyone’s surprise, a fascinated Chika asks if the “band” needs a vocalist rather than asking them to get to work.

Because the boys do not have umbrellas on a rainy day, they do their best to ask if they can borrow one from the girls after school. Natsumi and Chika agree to do so, but after becoming annoyed with the crowdedness, Koji and Tsubasa leave Ryouta behind while under the umbrella they were sharing. Chika and Natsume offer for Ryouta to come under their umbrella, but the girls also express their annoyance with Ryouta’s inability to keep both of them under it afterwards. This eventually leads to the girls wondering if Ryouta prefers one of them over the other, which Ryouta only becomes frustrated with. The two girls decide to grab onto Ryouta later, deciding that they should have done this in the first place. When the three look up, however, they see that the skies have already cleared.

ED: “secret base ~Kimi ga Kureta Mono~ 「secret base ～君がくれたもの～」” by Friends: Yuu Kobayashi, Asami Shimoda, MAKO, Satomi Akesaka, Youko Honda, Kana Asumi – Another typical ED, with a slow song by one of the seiyu. Fitting, but I don’t really have much of an opinion about it besides that.

Preview: Been there, done that.

Impression:

Wow, so the best Xebec was able to do with this episode was rehash what we’ve already seen in the previous OVA with a lower profile cast and worse animation. Congratulations. I also love how we got to watch two boys play air guitar for an entire fourth of the episode for no apparent reason. “Jajaja~” indeed. It’s pretty bad that I can actually count how little I laughed or smiled through this episode, even having lost interest in watching in favor of paying attention to some random chat in IRC at points.

But you know, I’m still kind of conflicted about this series. I loved Minami-ke, which was based on a manga by the same author of 5-2, as well as this series’ OVA. Even if my impression of Xebec has gotten extremely low lately, this was no where near as bad as To Love-Ru or Kanokon ever was. That could be credited to the source material, which is more like slice of life, but does that mean Xebec will only make it more boring? (We’ve already seen what they can do to action.) I can get past the new character designs and voice talents, but do I really want to sit through three or four episodes of stuff I’ve already seen to find out if this gets better?

This show is giving me more questions than answers right now, and it’s hard for me to be enthused about an adaption by a studio that has ruined three series for me throughout my blogging experience already. Sundays are fairly free for me at the moment, but maybe I’d rather bust my butt skateboarding or work on projects instead of write about a show that I’d typically watch with only half of my attention span. If worst comes to worst, I’d probably cover this if no one else is willing to do so consistently. It would probably end up making it to my list of series that I love to hate though, and that’s never a good sign.

OP: “PSI-missing” by Mami Kawada – This still reminds me of Shana so much. The visuals and Mami Kawada track just scream it. I really love the action this has though, as it hints towards what the show will be about.

Summary:

A boy named Kamijo Touma runs from a large mob, expressing how unfortunate his life typically is. Earlier in the night, he had attempted to prevent these men from approaching a girl named Misaka Mikoto. This is why he is currently being chased. Touma seemingly escapes after awhile, only to see Mikoto behind him. She explains that she had taken care of the mob, all to Touma’s prediction. It was not Mikoto that Touma was trying to protect, but the men who he knew would get hurt. Mikoto soon shows Touma the power of her rail gun ability, though she is surprised when the level zero Touma can defend against her level five attack. While preparing for his day the next morning in his apartment, Touma continues to describe the unfortunate things in his life. When he goes to lay out his futon on the veranda, he is surprised to see a young girl laying on its railing. The girl quickly expresses her hunger, and when Touma tests her by offering seemingly inedible food to her, he is shocked to find that she enthusiastically accepts it.

This girl later introduces herself as Index, explaining that she is being chased by sorcerers because of the magic book she is carrying. Touma doesn’t quite understand Index, because despite recalling that supernatural powers are quite common in his city, he has never heard anything about magic existing. This does make Touma express the strangeness of his right hand, however, which has the power to stop any supernatural attack against him. When he calls this a gift from god, Index can only laugh. Index continues to insist that magic truly exists, mentioning that her clothes have been generated through the use of it. When Index goes as far as to challenging the power of Touma’s hand, trouble is caused when he successfully degenerates her clothing with it. Though, this does confirm to Touma that Index has special powers. When Index finally repairs her clothing later, she decides to leave to prevent causing trouble for Touma. Before she parts with him, Touma tells Index to come back if she ever needed any kind of help.

Touma soon realizes that he needs to go to school, recalling the circumstances of the advanced city he lives in while heading there. In class, Touma and his usual acquaintances have idle chatter while their young teacher Tsukuyomi Komoe attempts to teach class. When Touma’s friends trick Komoe into thinking that he is not paying attention, then making her cry, Touma again thinks about how unfortunate he is. Touma is approached by Mikoto again in the afternoon, still wanting to settle her score with him. Touma ignores her as usual, but because of Mikoto’s actions during this threat, the two are forced to run from the nearby robots that have reacted to them. When Touma returns to his apartment, he is shocked to find Index bleeding in front of his door. Turning to a voice behind him, he finds that a sorcerer was the culprit.

ED: “Rimless~フチナシノセカイ~” by IKU – This song is quite catchy despite how slow it is. I would call the animation standard as usual, but it really has a nice look to it.

Preview: Style Magnus.

Impression:

Talk about an excellent start to a series. The first part of this episode was really badass, getting me very excited to see some of the fights that will be happening in this show. Index was cute as well, from her eating of nasty things to the childish expressions she puts on her face for Touma. For the most part though, this episode consisted of mainly introduction and exposition. I found it pretty funny when Touma and Index argued about the existence of supernatural powers, magic, and god, since this kind of stuff would be considered to be all in the same class in normal cultures. We also got to see enough of the supporting cast and antagonists to make us curious to learn more about them. The first episode has easily gotten me interested to see how everything turns out by the end, so I will definitely be watching this from now on. For future coverage though, turn to Aroduc. The combination of JC Staff and fighting anime makes it just as planned for him to be all over it, and I’ve got way too many other possibilities for Saturdays right now.

Notes that didn’t make it to the final draft:

• I’d let Mikoto rail gun me…..if you know what I mean.
• So, does Index’s existence technically make this a mahou shoujo anime?
• Komoe’s “O.K. desuka?” makes me giggle, and so does her crying.
• I want to see more of the sword/whip/something girl from the OP.
• Yes, this does remind me of Shakugan no Shana……a lot.
• Stop saying “unfortunate” already.