Valkyria Chronicles - Episode 4

After their impressive victory at Vasel, the reverberations of squad seven's achievements in that particular battle are still ringing in the ears of both sides of the war, with Gallia looking to take the initiative once again while the Empire look to regain the control that is in danger of slipping through their fingers. To this end, we get our first real glimpse of some of "the bad guys" as they roll out their big guns to tackle the issues that the reversal at Vasel has caused.

On Gallia's side of the coin however, Welkin and company have been drafted in to support a regular military assault led by one General Damon, a man who seems to have something of a chip on his shoulder when it comes to the Militia. Indeed, he outright refuses the assistance of Welkin's squad, instead choosing to go it alone - I'm pretty sure the rest writes itself from there, but needless to say that his efforts don't exactly result in a resounding success for his troops.

So, despite holding his tongue in the face of Damon's insults (or more likely simply not paying attention to them), Welkin gets his moment in the spotlight as the Militia are tasked with taking over the job of attacking the supply route and base at Kloden where the regular army left off. Can they succeed? Needless to say we'll find out next episode...


While this particularly build-up to episode five takes up a fair amount of the episode, quite a bit of time is spent upon building and moulding Alicia's relationship with Welkin, as well as throwing the more flamboyant Faldio into the mix too. Despite her complaints and reservations surrounding the way Welkin behaves, she clearly trusts him to do the right thing at a deeper level, and it's this kind of understanding which is obviously going to become a pillar of the series as it develops.

Beyond Alicia and Welkin's relationship, everything is really pretty run of the mill to the point of being cliched here - The Empire's big hitters are predictably evil in the way they sacrifice their men for the "greater good", while General Damon is similarly an archetype of the arrogant and selfish military general. Still, despite all of that a sense of fun continues to surround this episode, even if "fun" isn't really the ideal word to describe a series based around war. Even as I find myself shaking my head and laughing disapprovingly at the unrealistic portrayals of war I brought up in my synposis of the last episode, I have to hand it to you that Valkyria Chronicles is really enjoyable to watch. It's video game roots show through to the core in so many ways, yet that's yet to prove itself to be a bad thing, and thus far it's actually looking as though it may become something of a poster boy compared to the frequently rather weak and dull video game to anime adaptations we're used to.

Hatsukoi Limited - Episode 3

Another episode of Hatsukoi Limited means another girl gets the spotlight shone upon her for an instalment, and this time around (again closely shadowing the manga) Kei Enomoto is the focus - A girl who may only be fourteen, but who is generally thought of as being mature beyond her years, to the point of receiving marriage proposals from older men. The trouble is, she's also rather shallow, worrying entirely too much about looks and finances aside from a guy's personality.

Kei's other trouble (and one which I can sympathise with entirely) is that she's a bit of a perfectionist, and these various facets of her personality all come to the fore as she's forced to work with Kusuda (the perverted guy we were introduced to last episode) on arranging some cheerleading as part of the forthcoming school festival.


Naturally, the relationship between Kei and Kusuda is a largely fractious one, as the pair clash over... well, pretty much everything really - However, beyond all of that, and particularly as the episode progresses, a certain grudging respect and even admiration builds up wordlessly between them, as Kusuda proves to be more reliable than first meets the eye while Kei's hard work and determination accompanies her attractive looks quite nicely.

This kind of love/hate relationship has been done umpteen times before in anime, and particularly in high school anime, but I actually quite liked the way it was portrayed here. At least we finally got a more rounded view of Kusuda beyond the entirely negative portrayal last episode, while Kei arguably gets a less favourable airing as her stubborn streak bludgeons through any brief positive thoughts she has towards Kusuda. It isn't hugely funny and it certainly isn't ground-breaking, but as an episode of a slice of life series goes it wasn't too bad, keeping Hatsukoi Limited on its even if unspectacularly watchable keel.

Hetalia Axis Powers - Episode 14

A few comments during my coverage of Hetalia - Axis Powers thus far have left me realised that my knowledge of world history really isn't as hot as I perhaps thought, leaving my watching this series occasionally akin to sitting through Akira with your grandparents.


Still, episode fourteen worked well enough for me - After a brief segment featuring Italy escaping from Germany to go and chat up women, we enter a wonderful "German simulator" spoof advertisement, for a game that allows you to "enjoy" the frustrations of being a German in everyday life. In all honesty this simulator could have been subtitled "Why the European Union will never work", being as it was largely a broader coverage of pan-European foibles and stereotypes, including an appearance from Spain and Greece which left me complaining "that just isn't true" inbetween my giggles. "If you buy it now it comes with special shocking images for free!" was the icing on the cake that really cracked me up. If only every episode of Hetalia was like this, for this particular instalment was a thoroughly entertaining five minutes.

Shangri-la - Episode 4

Four episodes in, and Shangri-la appears ever more determined to be as irritating as humanly possible. If that is it's aim, then it has to be said that it delivers admirably.

After their return from Atlas last episode, Kuniko is still mulling over what she saw there, while meanwhile the whole carbon trading scam going on in the background becomes even more unstable as another party starts hacking around and adjusting things to their needs. But who else would have a computer powerful enough to perform such feats? Well, it looks like Kuniko's grandmother has a pretty hefty PC or two hidden away in her basement...


It's carbon trading of a more physical kind that's on Kuniko's mind however, as she decides that Metal-Age should trade in some of their huge graphite stockpile (methinks they've been taking carbon trading a little too literally) for some hard cash. Oh, and guns. Lots of guns. To complete this transaction, it's time for a trip to Akihabara, so that the series can offend as many otaku stereotypes as humanly possible while also creating an opening for at least one more transsexual gag (not that any further openings were needed, as that particular quote was fulfilled within the first two minutes of this episode).

You know, it's actually becoming increasingly painful to write out any kind of plot synopsis for this series, so ridiculous has it all become. Trading in graphite? Miiko as the new favoured lady-in-waiting of Mikuni when the rest of us would have killed her within seconds? Lady Ryoko naked again? Please, for the love of God, make it stop... Still, at least Kuniko seems to have got her attitude back again this episode, after turning into a stupid whining idiot last time around.

After watching the first episode of this, I discussed the even-handing approach the series seemed to be taking towards climate change issues. Well, I've changed my mind - This series is clearly encouraging us to pollute and destroy the planet by making all of its characters to utterly annoying.. Certainly, it would make me want to light fire to an oil field or two having to spend five minutes with Momoko or her terribly animated buddy Takehiko. I'm trying to think of a single redeeming feature to this series but I simply can't - It isn't even fun to watch in a "so bad it's good" kind of, it's just outright terrible. I was almost going to suggest that Shangri-la feels like it's been written by a teenager who has spent far too much time fretting about the environment and not enough time learning how to write, but that would be way too harsh on illiterate, environmentally-conscious teenagers.

Natsu no Arashi - Episode 4

Given the vast improvement in quality across the first three episodes of Natsu no Arashi, episode four of the series should probably be some kind of magnum opus. Of course, this isn't the case, but it does turn out to be a respectable little instalment.


After Arashi was invited to join a group trying to film their own movie in the last episode, so in this episode that offer is taken up, albeit not be Arashi herself but by the cafe's owner, who clearly sees an opportunity for a little fame and fortune (well, mostly fortune) for herself. It has to be said that Jun in particular looks rather striking wearing an Arashi-esque wig - He'd make for a good girl... Anyhow, the story being filmed just happens to be set in wartime, and filming also just happens to be located at Arashi's old school, giving her time to reminisce (while also getting to prove without any doubt that she is a ghost to a skeptical Jun) while also reveal that she isn't the only ghost in town.

While the last episode really thrived upon its jump back in time to World War II (which was excellently realised), this time around the time travel feels like something of an afterthough, with the mainstay of this episode really acting to prove that Arashi is in fact a ghost (as if proof were needed) while also introducing Kaja to the proceedings. Thus, the episode is unspectacular all things considered, getting by on account of being reasonably entertaining to watch while building up to more interesting things in future instalments on a number of counts. Regardless, it remains an improvement over those first two episodes, which is good enough for me for the time being.

Basquash! - Episode 4

It's pretty easier to tell lunar women apart from the rest of the crowd in the world occupied by Basquash! - It's all about... their earrings of course. You thought I was talking about that massive bosom, didn't you?

Anyhow, the appearance of this striking lunar women takes the series in an even more bizarre direction (if that were possible) - For starters, she's entirely fascinated by people's feet, all but raping Dan's as she sees their potential. It isn't just Dunk Mask that this person we later learn is a shoe designer from the moon is interested in, as she also soon taps up both Sela and Iceman Hotty, looking for a 1-on-1-on-1 rematch after their briefly epic contest last time around. Her motive is simple enough - She wants to kit out the three competitors Bigfoots with specially designed trainers (which will no doubt make series sponsors Nike very happy - Could you ask for better product placement?) as a promotional exercise.


Meanwhile, and just in time for this big rematch, Dan learns that there's more to winning basketball games than dunking, figuring out in the process that he in fact holds some far more precious talents that could allow him to turn the tide against his opponents...

Yes, Basquash! is becoming more bonkers by the week (although at least I'm starting to see where the show's name is coming from), but I can't help but love it all the more for its oddities. The character designs remaining as striking as ever (yes, even the ridiculously top-heavy Haruka), and every episode just oozes cool from beginning to end. The animation is still excellent even if the quality drops off slightly this episode, and the backdrops against which the series is set are as jaw-dropping as they ever were. It may not have the depth or ability to stimulate your brain like an Eden of the East, but for pure fancy-free entertainment Basquash! still can't be matched this season if you ask me from what it's offered up so far.

Saki - Episode 4

After three episodes of Nodoka getting annoyed with Saki and walking out in every instalment, the end of the last episode at least found some common ground between the pairing, meaning that episode four begins with this duo of leading characters on proper, friendly terms at last. Mind you, I can't help but think that Nodoka is getting a little too... well, "excited", about this new-found friendship.

Anyhow, that aside the club president announces that the Mahjon club have now officially been entered into the prefectural qualifying round of the national championships, an exciting prospect tempered with some words of warning regarding one of their prospective opponents. With that done, the president sends Nodoka and Saki off to help at a nearby cafe... A maid cafe of course, for this series would surely crumble without its weekly dose of "oh look, Nodoka has huge mammaries"-based fan service. Never mind the maid outfits though, because equally as unsurprising is the fact that this particular cafe has a Mahjong table.


After beating a couple of customers easily, Saki and Nodoka suddenly come across a ridiculous skillful opponent, who they later find is a professional Mahjong player called in as a favour by the club president to motivate the pair. Despite Saki almost going to pieces over the affair, this somehow works, leaving us with the prospect of a training camp episode next time around.

As always with this show, you can't help but laugh at Saki sometimes - Again we have the lightning bolts and sparks from the Mahjong tiles, but perhaps more amusingly this time around was Saki's ability to "sense" her opponents skill as soon as she walked into the cafe like some kind of Mahjong ninja. It also appears that professional Mahjon players have pretty oddball dress sense too, but oh well.... Despite being both patently ridiculous at times and entirely transparent at others (as soon as a cafe was mentioned I could see exactly where we were going with that particular plot device), it really is quite easy to get swept up in the Mahojng action despite the fact that I continue to have not a clue as to what is going on. Only the Japanese could make a board game seem so damn exciting, and to be honest this series really needs more Mahjong action not less, as this is the bread and butter that really works well for the series once you get past the fact that certainly aspects of it are entirely daft.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Episode 4

With the mysterious goings-on at Lior resolved, episode four of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood sees the Elric brothers head back to headquarters - It probably isn't the best time to be in the vicinity though, as a mysterious man with a scar etched into his forehead is going around murdering State Alchemists, with the Iron Blood Alchemist the latest victim of his attacks.


Meanwhile however, Ed and Al have found themselves a new avenue of research courtesy of Roy Mustang, who introduces them to the Sweimg-Life Alchemist, Shou Tucker. Mr. Tucker seems like a nice enough guy with a lovely daughter and a huge dog (well, huge if you're Edward anyway), as well as a wealth of knowledge regarding chimeras and biological transmutations - Just the kind of thing the Elric brothers could do with increasing their knowledge on. However, just what lengths will a man like Shou Tucket go to in order to keep his State Alchemist qualification?

While this episode once again covers (and in a more brief manner) material that many of us are plenty familiar with from the original series, it has to be said that this was by far the best episode of Brotherhood so far in my opinion. The introduction of Scar is, of course, an important point in the series, but the way Shou Tucker's disintegration from man into monster is handled here was simply excellent. To be fair it got a great treatment in the original series too, but even with prior knowledge the second half of this episode both creeped me out and made my skin crawl just as it was supposed to, making for some truly, deeply dark and disturbing stuff.

After my complaints about the handling of the last episode, this fourth instalment simply seemed to get everything right, blending everything together perfectly and in a sufficiently well-paced manner to make for a highly enjoyable and watchable episode. Now that Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood looks as though it might have found its feet, let's hope it can remain elevated upon them as we progress apace to pastures new.

Eden of the East - Episode 3

Eden of the East has already captured the imaginations of a lot of people from its opening couple of episodes, and in all honesty it's easy to see why. Episode three somehow manages to continue that prestigious start via the time-honoured tradition of answering some of our questions in such a way that only more subsequent questions arise.

Last episode, Akira was on his way back to where he believed his house was, with Saki following his lead. As they reach the location stored on Akira's phone it appears to be something of a slum however, and their search leads them to a padlocked warehouse-esque door, to which Akira just so happens to have the key... What do we find inside? A huge, upmarket shopping mall. At least now we know where a big chunk of Akira's 10 billion yen has gone, the guy went and bought himself an entire shopping mall to live in. How badass is that?! His room turns out to be a part of the multiplex cinema, which ties in nicely to his intimate movie knowledge.


However, it isn't all good news for Akira, as his search of the mall turns up some disturbing evidence to link him to his past, evidence which only becomes even more shocking as the episdoe develops - Is (or was) Akira really capable of that, and if so why did he do it? Careless Monday seems to be closer to home than he could possibly have imagined. Much of this information comes courtesy of the detective, Kondo, who catches up with Akira, beating him up and stealing his phone. Unfortunately, our man of the law doesn't seem to be very proficient when it comes to thinking things through - Did he really think he'd be able to just walk away with a phone with billions of Yen charged to it? Of course, in reality the whole thing is fingerprint-protected. The poor guy isn't very good at sending e-mails to the right people either...

I'm not sure what I can say about this episode of Eden of the East other than to mention how marvellous it is - Although Akira and Saki share a little less screen time together on this occasion, the time they do spend together is again sparkling in terms of both dialogue and chemistry. This is set aside however as we start to slowly piece together the "game" the Seleção (which means "selection" in case you were wondering) are being forced to play - It appears to have been sold as a way to save the country, but how exactly? Whatever is going on, the rabbit hole appears to be a pretty deep one, and I for one can't wait to explore it further.

Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya - Episodes 21-22

Time for another The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya double-bill, and this time around our double helping of insanity kicks off with a surprisingly action-packed little number.

Thanks to Tsuruya obtaining some free tickets to the "Supernatural battle show" (which is of course in no way a take on Power Rangers), and due to Yuki's enthusiasm towards it, the SOS Brigade get to enjoy a Sunday out. Of course, this being what it is the good and bad guys in this particular event are played by Mr. Arakawa and Miss Mori respectively, with the latter ending up in an epic battle with Tsuruya. Meanwhile, Kyon and Koizumi pass the courtesy of a 100,000 piece jigsaw (as you do), but even they aren't entirely immune to the side-effects of Tsuruya's big fight.


Meanwhile, episode twenty-two has Ryoko doing the housework, and very serious she is about it too. That's pretty much all there is to it apart from an obvious gag or two, which somehow makes it all the more amusing. You still can't beat Kyon's jigsaw puzzle despair in the previous episode though.


Never mind though, because Ryoko gets yet more screen time in the latest instalment of Nyoron Churuya-san, where she tries to remove her name from a test because Kyon had forgotten to write his, only he actually had. Thus, we're left with Ryoko and Churuyahaving to resit the exam. I won't spoil the rest of the gags (a number of which had me laughing out loud), but I'm sure you can guess at least a couple of them without even watching the episode. As usual, hilarious stuff.

K-ON! - Episode 4

You can't have an anime series without a beach episode, so of course K-ON! makes sure that it delivers such a necessity good and proper in episode four.

Strictly speaking, this is in fact supposed to be a training camp episode, after Mio finds a cassette of the previous light music club's performance at the school festival and becomes determined that they hold a gig of their own that at least matches them for musical proficiency, but of course trying to get Yui and Ritsu to train when they have a big beach-side villa to enjoy is nigh-on impossible.


Despite her best efforts, Mio ends up getting caught up in all the frivolities and arguably enjoying herself more than anybody else there, before finally coming to her senses and dragging the rest of the group in to practice no matter what.

Speaking of Mio, this series seems to be veering further and further towards becoming a vehicle to deify the poor girl, as we get close-up swimsuit shots, maid outfit shots, and countless other scenes which only seem to exist to make Mio look unbearably cute, with the other three girls barely getting a look in over the course of this episode. Still, despite the fact that even KyoAni appear to have caught the Mio bug which has been affecting almost every other online otaku for almost a month now, this remains a fun enough little episode with a few good laughs to be had. There's really little else to be said of this instalment of K-ON! - It's funny, it's cute, and in essence it's doing exactly what it set out to yet again, which makes it pretty difficult to fault. Of course, I'm going to have to buck the Mio-centric trend by making the sole image for this post one featuring... oh to Hell with it, have a picture of Mio.

Hetalia Axis Powers - Episode 13

Another episode of Hetalia Axis Powers means another pause for thought as I try to figure out what to write about regarding such a short episode.

I suppose Italy training by way of petting a cat and squeezing its paw was pretty noteworthy (and makes me thinking that maybe I should signed up for the armed forced myself, it all seems pretty fun), while England is trying to get his revenge on Germany by using magic, which I like to think is an homage to Paul Daniels. Not a lot, but I like it.


Oh, and of course there's the friendly faced Russia who appears to be some kind of psychopath beneath the surface - Perhaps one of the better caricatures that this series has put forward as it seems to represent the slightly schizophrenic assumptions and feelings towards modern-day Russia that the West holds rather well. So, this was another episode that didn't make me laugh out loud at all (and from my "outside looking in" perspective I'm stunned at the commissioning of a second season), but it was still relatively enjoyable so I can't complain about it too much.

Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo - Episode 15

After a couple of Earth-bound episodes, it was about time that the girl who leapt through space started... well, leaping through space again. Luckily, that's exactly what happens in episode fifteen of Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo.

Thanks to both a cunning plan and some help from Professor Fon, Akiha and company finally have an end in sight to their visit to Earth, using Nerval's "Pied Piper" to hitch a lift out of the atmosphere and back into space, at which juncture they're rather conveniently dumped from their makeshift taxi into space.


It's at this point however that all Hell breaks loose - Akiha spots Nami and goes after her, only to find out about her recent switch of allegiance, a state of affairs which sisterly love most certainly won't fix and leaving us with a major case of sibling rivalry. It isn't only Akiha finding herself engaged in emotional as well as physical conflict, as Honoka also finds herself torn as she comes across Kagura in battle. Just as things are looking dire however, a moment of miscalculation from Xanthippe inadvertantly saves them all - For the time being at least, although come the end of the episode things aren't looking too good for Leopard courtesy of Nami making the most of an opportunity to practice with the eight horse-boxes of the apocalypse known as Existence.

We're now fifteen episodes into this series, and yet Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo is somehow still managing to do it - Entertaining me with this space-bound bit of fluff. In recent episodes the action quotiant has really been ramping up to good effect, and the second half of this instalment was a great example of this, seemingly throwing everything at the viewer in a mass of goings-on yet still managing to make the whole thing work in a rather addictive fashion. No matter how much this series remains nothing more than an ordinary show on paper and in terms of its general story line, it still succeeds in being great fun to watch every single week, and once again I have to admit that I don't know or understand how Sunrise have done it.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Episode 3

With the important parts of the back story out of the way last time around, it's time for Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood to get on with the business of the start of the Elric brothers journey proper, as they make their way to Lior to investigate the strange goings-on there.

Of course, if you're familiar with the original series then you'll know this particular episode all too well - From "Father" Cornello, a man of miracles who promises that he can even resurrect the dead through to Rose (she of the gorgeous hair), one of his most devout followers in the hope that he can bring her dead lover back to life. Naturally, Ed and Al are most interested in how the Father performs his miracles, as it becomes clear that this is simply alchemy of some kind, but without a transmutation circle and seemingly without any equivalent exchange. In the brother's mind that can mean only one thing - This man possesses the Philosopher's Stone.


As it's been so long since I watched the original Fullmetal Alchemist series it could be my mind playing tricks on me, but it seemed that this new treatment of the whole Lior plot had a much more explicit focus on religion versus science than the original, arguably taking on an even more atheistic stance than its predecessor. That aside, the main check boxes of the story were all there as I remembered, although this time around the series seems far more happy to descend into comedy even at what would otherwise be more serious moments - A little light-heartedness is never a bad thing, but I can't help but worry that Brotherhood is overdoing it rather and losing some of the impact of its story-telling as a result. This comical turn also extends to the animation, which also frequently switches to a more comical styling which jars occasionally.

At this point in time it's still far too early to get a real handle on what Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is hoping to achieve in comparison to the original series, and watching it remains rather an odd experience as everything feels so different yet so similar much of the time. As of right now, I'll have to admit that if I had to choose between the two my vote would go for the original series, but then again it's always impossible to say whether I'm looking at that show through rose-tinted (or should that be Rose-tinted?) glasses. To me, Brotherhood is still feeling a little rushed in place and entirely to flippant in others, which is taking the sheen from what would otherwise have been a solid start to the series for me. I certainly don't want to write this show off, but I'll be the first to confess that my skepticism towards it is very slowly growing week on week.

Basquash! - Episode 3

Basquash! continues along its merry way in episode three, showing no signs of drifting away from its in your face street attitude and frequently breath-taking animation - And thank goodness it's sticking to its guns is all I can say.

After the appearance of the mysterious guy in his mecha who cut short Dan and Sela's street basketball session with his own terrifying abilities last episode, so this episode begins with the pair of them continuing to struggle to get to grips with this new arrival. In Dan's case this just plain pisses him off, while Sela finds herself caught between the agony of defeat and the ecstasy of finding a man who she wants to... ahem... share her genes with. I'll leave you to figure out what that means.


With both Dan and Sela's mechas laid up as a result of this conflict, they can initially do little as this mysterious man turns his attentions to other street basketball players, smashing them to bits one by one while maniacally shouting "Destroy!", a turn which innovatively earns him the nickname of Destroy. So, in the end it's time for Dan in his best Dunk Mask outfit and Sela (aka the Platinum Hurricane) to lure out and unmask Destroy, a plan which turns into an intense street basketball game that gets the whole city out of bed to watch, and also appears to have garnered some interest from farther afield too, not least in the form of the visiting princess Flora (voiced by Rie Kugimiya no less).

Three episodes in, you could probably start compiling evidence for Basquash! as a case of style over substance, but I'm not buying it - I get the impression that it knows exactly what it's doing, and when all is said and done it's rip-roaring stuff to watch. The street basketball scenes are perhaps a little clumsier than they might wish to be, but every episode is so filled with energy and panache, lust and passion that you can't help but be carried along on the rollercoaster upon which it offers you a seat up front, encouraging you to accept everything daft that it shows you in the same way as past classic anime shows like FLCL. If you can let reality take a back seat and give Basquash! full permission to run away with your imagination, then it's quite an experience.

Valkyria Chronicles - Episode 3

After their bitter-sweet escape from the Battle of Bruhl, which saw the town destroyed despite them escaping with their lives, by the end of the last episode of Valkyria Chronicles all of our heroes and heroines from that day were in training with the Militia to join their full-blown fighting force.

With that in mind, episode three wastes no time in assigning them all to their squads, with a selection process that seems to end up somewhat akin to picking a football team at school, with all of the new friends from Bruhl ending up teamed together under the charge of Welkin as commander of the newly formed Squad 7.


Given his lack of combat experience, it's no real surprise that he struggles to gain the respect of the older, more battle-hardy members of the squad, which becomes even more of the problem given the prescence of his adopted Darcsen sister in the squad. This comes to a head during the squad's first mission, to recapture, Vasel Town, leaving Welkin having to make a risky bet in an effort to gain the trust and respect of his subordinates. Of course, this gives way to some more awesome Edelweiss tank action, with Welkin's knowledge of nature and biology playing a decent part in the eventual success of their mission.

It feels a little weird to be referring to a series about a large-scale war as being "light-hearted fun", but that's exactly what Valkyria Chronicles is. Even when people are being shot and the body count is piling up, this show never seems to stop and dwell on that human tragedy, instead
just ploughing on and wallowing in heroic victory. Indeed, it's hard to remember that there's a war on at all during some sequences, as the birds sing and the sun shines while Welkin and Alicia sit on a grass bank just a few hundred meters away from an enemy that would surely be firing tank shells at them from over the water if they were the least bit competent.

So, Saving Private Ryan it ain't, but to be frank I can live with that when it comes to Valkyria Chronicles - As long as you're happy with the pleasant, undemanding action and dialogue and instead enjoy the generally pretty animation and likeable set of characters, then there isn't a great deal to complain about. War has never been so much fun, by the looks of it - answers on a postcard if you can name the video game that quote comes from, by the way.

Hatsukoi Limited - Episode 2

Hatsukoi Limited limited started off pretty well in its first episode, sticking to the first chapter of the manga almost religiously, and episode two follows on in a similar vein - Adding to and extending from what the manga covers slightly, while still well and truly retaining the overall feel of the source material.

This episode deals somewhat with the fallout from episode one, as rumours are rife around all and sundry that the man-mountain Misao was beaten up by a girl - Misao knows it, Ayumi (who was the culprit in the entire thing) knows it, and Misao's younger brother Mamoru knows it, but nobody is going to confess to such a scenario ever taking place in public.


Of course, Misao is still tortured by the fact that he hasn't had a proper answer to his confession from Ayumi (who seems to think that she has given him an answer, and she probably has something of a point), while Ayumi herself is more interested in Mamoru, who in turn is keeping his distance from Ayumi after seeing her defeat his brother. Talk about tangled webs and all that...

Indeed, this particular web is more tangled still, as Mamoru admits to a friend his feelings towards Misaki, his older next-door neighbour and friend of Misao. While Mamoru wants to get closer to Misaki, so she treats him like a little brother, giving us yet another dilemma of the heart to ponder.

I have to confess however that despite all these goings-on centred around emotion, the main drive of this particular episode seems to be fan service, as it features in abundance here. Again, I have to be fair in mentioning that it's hardly absent from the manga, but it does get ramped up her to a pretty large degree. That aside there are a couple of funny moments, although sadly the funniest section of this episode is made up entirely of Japanese plays on words, so it loses any real relevance in the translation to English no matter how you translate it.

From these opening couple of episodes, I really don't see Hatsukoi Limited becoming a classic amongst its kind - It's well animated and pretty to look at (and yes, I am saying that as a hot-blooded male and not just from some kind of pretentious arty perspective), and delivers its simple stories well enough thus far, but it doesn't really hold anything unique to make it stand out from the crowd, and that may well prove to be its downfall in the long term.

Shangri-la - Episode 3

Episode three of Shangri-la begins with Kuniko awakening from a nightmare, only to be plunged into a new one - The nightmare of being the star of such a clumsy anime series. Yes, this third instalment of the show may not quite have plunged the depth of awful anime that episode two managed, it doesn't seem to be from want of trying.


While Kuniko herself has been more or less the sole bright light in this series so far, even she manages to take a turn towards being intensely annoying this time around, with her constant whining questioning of everything (even when under intense gunfire) only matched by her near complete ineptitude when it comes to doing anything from standing in a train carriage to running away. What happened to the girl who was unafraid to show her distaste for her former captors with a final moment of defiance, or the girl happy to take on an armed tank armed with only a boomerang? More importantly, who is the shadow of that girl who has taken her place?

Much of this ineptitude springs from Kuniko's decision that she wants to see the inner workings of Atlas, the place normally only opened to lottery winners and rumoured to be a paradise of sorts (compared to the squalor of the rest of the outside world anyway) that everybody wants a place within. This privilege was of course bestowed upon Miiko at the end of the last episode, and this time around she gets her dream place within Atlas.... But all is not as it seems.

Beyond that, we get a few other generic pieces of evil people being evil, including a scene where Lady Ryoko has her naked body dried by a male subordinate, which.... well, doesn't seem all that evil to me. In fact, do you think they need any new subordinates for episode four?

In all fairness to this episode, the revelations surrounding Atlas and the lottery winners who get their place within it did actually catch me by surprise, but then again maybe I'm just being dim - It was a nice little twist in my book, but if only there were some likeable characters to care about then it might have had some more impact. That twist in the tale aside, Shangri-la just seems to be going through the motions - Badly animated action sequences, bad guys that can't shoot for toffee, "humorous quips" in dangerous situations, gay jokes, blah blah blah. In short, it's boring, and to give a longer appraisal of this episode, it's booooooooooooooooring.

Saki - Episode 3

Another episode of Saki sees Nodoka remaining as determined as ever to stay at the top of her game in the hope of toppling Saki, even if it means numerous late nights and admonishments from her father. Meanwhile, "training" is much easier for Saki herself, with a quiet snooze under a tree seemingly enough to prepare her for another session of wiping the floor with all and sundry in the school club.


However, once again Saki's old habits appear to die hard, as she racks up another ±0 in an attempt to placate Yuuki - A move which pisses of Nodoka considerably, causing her to walk out, with Saki predictably chasing after her... hasn't this happened every week so far? Anyway, at least this time the relationship between Nodoka and Saki seems to take a more balanced and hopefully long-standing turn for the better after some strong words are spoken, as Saki explains her sudden desire to want to compete in the national championships, stemming from what seems to be a messy divorce within her family. Can mahjong save the day? This is anime, so quite probably.

Speaking of said championships, we also see the club president signing up their school to the prefectural qualifying round, and as the draw for the first round is made we get to see a few of the prospective opponents in the making, taking in the usual cliches of mean opponents or snobby rich kids from private schools - No doubt we'll be seeing plenty of them in competition later on.

I suppose this was a pretty fun episode all in all, although my ability to take it even slightly seriously is being stretched to the limit by Saki herself trying to use mahjong to reunite a split and dysfunctional family, while Nodoka's mood swings and bitchiness are starting to grate at times - The again, when you're being used as the blatant fan service object in a series I suppose you have every right to be a little bitchy. I imagine the competition segments of this series will be what make or break it - It looks ready to descend into high cliche at that point, but then again the actual mahjong sequences have been fun to watch so far even though I don't have much of a clue about what's happening, so it could actually work in its own odd kind of fashion.

Natsu no Arashi - Episode 3

After a first episode that disappointed me, Natsu no Arashi managed to turn around my scepticism towards the series in episode two, and thankfully this third instalment puts my doubts to bed almost entirely by serving up another genuinely likeable slice of anime.

Much of this episode focuses on the growing friendship between Arashi and Hajime, as they seem to become more comfortable in one another's prescence, despite a warning from Jun that women aren't always what they may seem on the surface (an ironic statement coming from this particular character, as you may have already begun to fathom). Still, Jun's words do nothing to stop the pair thoroughly enjoying themselves at a nearby arcade (via a rather humorous skit about the deadly crane game to be found there) and thus cementing their bonds further.


True to form, it's at this moment that Arashi asks a favour of Hajime - She needs to travel through time to do something, and she can only do it with his help. So, off the pair are whisked to World War II Japan, with Arashi desperate to prevent a man and his child from their deadly fate - Who these people are and why Arashi is so centred upon stopping them we have no idea, but needless to say the entire endeavour puts both herself and Hajime in danger - Can their friendship last against a backdrop of asking such a huge favour?

As I've already mentioned, episode two of this series allowed the potential of Natsu no Arashi to begin to shine through, and following on from that episode three really seems to have nailed it down pretty nicely. In a way it's a bit of an odd episode in that nothing much particularly happens (and even Arashi's jump back in time feels almost like a brief, albeit important, aside), yet despite that it's enjoyable and entertaining from beginning to end - The animation is starting to make great use of those quirky little Shaft touches which always makes their output worthy of consideration, and the Arashi/Hajime dynamic is an oddly touching and gentle one which is growing in stature by the episode. There still appears to be a lot of room for growth in this show, and doubtless the bigger picture is still largely obscured at this exact moment in time, but to be honest Natsu no Arashi is proving to be perfectly watchable as it is judging by this instalment.

Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya - Episodes 19-20

It's Christmas! Well, it is in The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya world anyway. That can only mean one thing - A Christmas party for everyone... except Kyon of course.

Naturally, Kyon's job is to protect the SOS brigade from the threat of an evil Santa out to destroy them and their club, although given that thought Haruhi seems to be entirely too pleased when "Santa" actually appears. Mildly amusing stuff, and I got a kick out of how the arrival of "Santa" actually tied in to a much earlier episode.


Meanwhile, episode twenty fast forwards us to April Fool's Day, with mini-Ryoko and her balloon dog companion Kimidori (you know, when I type it like that I have to wonder what drugs the episode writers have been taking) trying to play a couple of pranks on Nagato. Naturally, Yuki is having none of it, coming back with an evil prank of her own, and giving us a brief dose of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya's ridiculous hilarity at its best.


Last but not least, do I really need to mention how hilarious is Nyoron Churuya-san is yet again? From trying to smoke some smoked cheese to getting lured into the Windows Recycle Bin with smoked cheese (which is officially the funniest thing I've seen all week), as per usual episode ten had me laughing long and hard.

Eden of the East - Episode 2

Although I had my reservations before I started watching it, the opening episode of Eden of the East managed to tick all of the boxes that enabled it to keep my interest and then some. Before you ask no, numerous scenes features a naked man wasn't a box that required ticking in case you were wondering.

While this second episode of the series starts to give us a few clues and snatches of information about exactly what is going on with "Akira", the overall plot and storyline remains veiled in plenty of intrigue and mystery. What we do learn however is that "Akira" has 8.2 billion Yen available on his phone which he apparantly has a "responsibility" to spend, and also that Juiz, the mysterious woman who he can call upon at any time, can do anything that he wishes. Juiz also refers to "Akira" as a messiah and a priviledged person - Well, with 8.2 billion Yen in his pocket she probably has a point.

The trouble is, it appears that "Akira" isn't the only one in this position, as we're also introduced in this episode to a detective with the same phone as our male protagonist, who appears to be having a few debt problems, and who certainly isn't afraid to use Juiz's help to the fullest of its abilities.



All of this occurs against the backdrop of a Japan that has recently suffered a fresh missile attack, one which has this time downed a plane, a far cry from the previous attack where ten missiles hit Japan but not a single person was killed - An event now known (in that wonderfully understated Japanese way) as "Careless Monday", and a rather eerie topic for this show in a month where North Korea has tested a missile with the ability to hit Japanese soil quite easily. Speaking of such things, Eden of the East also has no qualms about referencing 9/11 freely, even discussing the Freedom Tower which will replace the destroyed World Trade Centre towers thanks to its near-future setting.

Despite all of this intrigue and mystery however, where this episode really succeeds is in the dynamic which exists between "Akira" and Saki, which works brilliantly on so many levels. While "Akira" is the one with no memory, he frequently appears to be the more astute of the pairing, while despite having a complete and functioning memory Saki remains a bit of an enigma to us as viewers at the moment, which serves to create a real bond between the two of them, and as a result to us watching too. It's all pretty subtle, but it really works for me, adding the icing to the already fascinating cake that is Eden of the East. To be honest, I really can't wait to see some more of this show as I'm truly intrigued by where it's trying to take us.

K-ON! - Episode 3

Now that Yui is kitted out with her very own guitar, all that remains is for her to learn how to play the damned thing. At least, it would be all that was left for her to worry about if it wasn't for some pesky exams.


As you can probably imagine, Yui isn't exactly the most studious type, and couple that with the obvious distraction of her new guitar when it comes to trying to revise and you have a recipe for disaster, a recipe whose major ingredient is Yui having to retake the exam. To make things worse, she's barred from club activities until the resit is over, leaving the rest of the light music club hanging loose. Even with this pressure upon her Yui's study habits don't get any better, leaving Mio to step in to save the day (with a little help from Tsugumi's cake and Ritsu's... err... well, Ritsu is no help at all really) thanks to her excellent ability to drill facts into even the most stupid of people (which I believe is reason number 5,462,976 why everybody on the Internet who watches this show seems to be in love with Mio right now).

While music and the band may take a back seat for this instalment, this doesn't make episode three of K-ON! any less delightful, as (and yes, I am going to gush about this show again - sorry) it once again offers up a perfect mix of light-heartedness, fun, and some great splashes of humour - I laughed myself silly at the other girl's assumption about how Yui and her sister would act at home together, and Yui's bizarre dream made me chuckle as well.

In all honesty, "fun" is probably the only word I need to sum up this series so far, as that's exactly what it sets out to offer and it manages it by the shed-load. I can't really deconstruct the show any further than that, it's simply great to watch - No deep, hidden meanings or thought-provoking scenes, just a simple story brilliantly realised right down to the opening and ending songs which I find myself humming relentless to myself during the week.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Episode 2

After starting out with something almost completely unexpected to keep fans of the original anime series and manga happy, episode two of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood knuckles down and properly starts the show's "reboot" process.

Of course, this means taking us back to the very start of the story, something which Brotherhood does in a far more comprehensive fashion (to my memory at least) than the original anime series. Not only do we get to see a little of the Elric brothers learning their trade, we get an even more no holds barred account of the fateful night that they attempt human transmutation. This is undoubtedly a hugely important moment for the series right from the off, as it sets both the moral tone and the emotional crutch that haunts Ed and Al throughout, and to be honest I thought it was carried off very well here.


After spending so much time on those events, we seem to get far less time assigned to watching Ed's rehabilitation as he's kitted out with automail and trained up to use it, with the series again keeping its eye trained on the emotional over the visual by concentrating on the visit of State Alchemists Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye as they attempt (and obviously ultimately succeed) to convince the Edward to take the State Alchemist examination and become a "dog of the military", dangling the carrot of the research he'd be able to perform once he has taken up such a position.

All of this is set up as flashbacks as the brothers travel to Lior on their first real mission, which arguably disjoints things quite considerably, skipping over the State Alchemist examination to a pretty large degree in the process. The pacing of this episode certainly takes a little getting used to an I'm not entirely sure what to make of it, but what the instalment offered it did very well and in the manner that you'd hope from a new Fullmetal Alchemist series. In a similar vein I'm also in two minds about the animation quality, which feels more bold and pronounced than I remember the original series being - Something which again offers both positives and negatives depending on which way you look at it.

I suppose at the end of the day Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is always going to be a risky business - How do you reboot such an incredibly popular and successful anime and make it better without pissing off the fans? As of right now I'm not entirely sure that the series producers have the answer - Perhaps they're trying too hard to please everybody, but it would be unfair to judge until we see at least a few more episodes of the show so I'll hold fire on any real criticisms for now.

Kurokami: The Animation - Episode 13

The half-way point of Kurokami left us in a pretty cruel condition, with a handful of high profile deaths or severe injuries, some decidedly crazy goings on that seemed to be opening up a door to an alternate dimension or something, and all round chaos as a result of the titanic battle between Reishin and... well, pretty much everybody else really.

After all of that, episode thirteen of the series fast forwards through six months and into a very changed world. For starters, the Kaionji Group appeared to have achieved most of their goals - Master Roots are now in place ruling the roost across Japan, causing its economy to thrive, and with those fortunate individuals giving preference in every way over the rank and file who can't claim to hold Root status. Of course, this enviable state of affairs has given the Kaionji Group plenty of clout and control worldwide, even as far as stopping any attempts from The Noble Ones to unseat or imbalance their power.

Meanwhile, Kuro appears to be trekking around alone with no sign of Keita, while Akane is held prisoner by Sawamura due to her own Root status. However, we do soon find out about Keita's fate, and find ourselves looking at a trusty band of fighters willing to battle it out against the Kaionji Group's plans no matter what.


Thus, episode thirteen of Kurokamiis broadly split down the middle - The first half fills us in on everything that's been going on during the six months that we missed (and pretty concisely too might I add), while the second half turns into a big, fat action fest as our remaining motley crew of heroes find themselves up against a bunch of power Mototsumitama in the employ of the Kaionji Group - A state of affairs which leads almost inevitably to Kuro "levelling up" (in terms of both costume and her powers incidientally), but more importantly giving us plenty of Kurokami action sequences at their best.

The shake-up to the story line afforded the second half of this series is, at this juncture, really very refreshing, allowing the show to break and do some far more interesting things to decent effect. The tone is a little darker, the action is more passionate, and the whole thing feels a little like it's had a shot in the arm over the already improving first half of the series. It remains quite typical fare within the confines of its own genre, but it's quite happy to exist within those parameters while still proving to be entertaining, and that works for me quite frankly.

Shangri-la - Episode 2

The opening episode of Shangri-la was a strange old beast really - Sporting some potentially intriguing plot concepts and a girl capable of beating tanks with a boomerang (always a useful skill) on the one hand, but delivering some ridiculously contrived baddies on the other. Oh, and transsexuals.

For some reason this series really seems to be fixated on gender reassignment, not only making some of the major characters transsexual but also mentioning it at every opportunity, and when there isn't an opportunity then it'll somehow get brought up anyway. Now, I have nothing against any form of personal lifestyle choice, but talking about breaking the flow of the episode...


Then again, trying to detract from the "serious business" of the episode is probably about the best thing that Shangri-la can hope to do, because quite frankly it's pretty dire. I've already mentioned the contrived baddies, but Lady Ryoko is the most hilarious example of a generic evil woman, like some kind of out of control Darth Vader with lipstick. The Medusa side of the story seems far more interesting, but even this section brings shame upon itself. Imagine those wonderfully illustrated hacking scenes from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. Now imagine them recreated by a five year old with poor motor skills. And a Puff the Magic Dragon fixation. Congratulations, you've just imagined the "hacking section" of Shangri-la.

Amidst all this, Metal-Age and Kuniko are up to something following a vicious attack by some unknown entity, but by this point I was rather beyond caring, and the lazy and badly animated action scenes from this section of the episode didn't exactly help. Indeed, the animation as a whole has taken a real nosedive from its already just about average quality in the first episode - Range Murata must be wishing he was in his grave already so that he can go for a spin in it.

For all its faults on show in its opener, I really thought that Shangri-la might have some potential, but all of that seems to have been stripped away and replaced by cliche, farce and nonsense come episode two. I have a feeling it's only going to get worse too, which might potentially leave this series as my comic fall guy for this anime season. After all, it's been quite a while since I've made myself sit and watching anything truly terrible.

Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo - Episode 14

As Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo carried along its merry path, episode fourteen gives us many important and memorable moments, but I suppose my first mention must go to the return of Pizza Hut product placement to the world of Sunrise anime series... and how! For several minutes, the restorative powers of Pizza Hut's cuisine are given our full attention in what might as well have been a commercial for said food chain.

Anyway, moving swiftly on, the last episode of Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo left us with Honoka about to throttle some oddly dressed old man, with Akiha and company still well and truly stranded on Earth. Perhaps inevitably, it turns out that this man is Leopard's creator, Professor Friedrich Otto Noblemain, a man still fighting against Nerval in his own way but arguably not having a lot of success, although thankfully he does still have the odd trick up his sleeve.


Thanks in part to the introduction of the Professor to this episode, many of the dots that have been scattered throughout this series start to join, pulling previously disparate elements together to explain Nerval's desire to kidnap people, the origins of Honoka, the importance of Leopard to everything that is going on, and even just what's going on in those odd dreams Akiha has been having on occasionally.

Meanwhile, Tsutsuji and Benkei find themselves all but foresaken by Nerval, and Nami's importance back at the now occupied colony is being very talked up in this episode - Expect some interesting sibling rivalry in the next episode.

While I've often found myself "not sweating the big stuff" while watching this series, and instead letting it wash over me like some kind of bizarre sea made of inexplicably tasty pickles, now we're finally starting to get to the heart of the matter and figuring out exactly what the Hell is going on in the series, and it actually does its part to enhance rather than detract from the enjoyment I've derived from it so far. Sure, Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo is hardly looking likely to blaze new trails even now I know what's happening, but it remains an entertaining way to spend twenty minutes or so every week, and with enough likeable characters for me to at least somewhat care about their fate enough to continue watching with interest. This show thus remains a guilty pleasure for me, even though I'm not entirely sure what I'm feeling guilty about.

Hetalia Axis Powers - Episode 12

The various episodes of Hetalia Axis Powers thus far have generally left me either laughing out loud on occasion or (more frequently) scratching my head wondering if I'm missing something. Episode twelve of this series of short instalments sits somewhere between these two extremes, although thankfully closer to the former than the latter.


The "reconstruction" of France and England allying is mildly amusing to me as an Englishman (who probably doesn't hate the French as much as I'm traditionally supposed to), while rewinding back to World War II (wouldn't this series be better if it tried to keep some semblance of chronology?) I did chuckle slightly at Italy's answer to the question "What do you do if you see England?", which involved the use of white handkerchiefs and flags. A better episode than many prior instalments of Hetalia Axis Powers in other words, and at least it featured stereotypes than I can smile and nod at, but still not really a classic.

Chi's Sweet Home: Chi's New Address - Episodes 3-12

Some of the latest new episodes of Chi's Sweet Home get about as close as this series will probably ever come to powerful emotional drama - With the prospect of Chi being sent away to Hokkaido moving ever closer, Youhei's parents still haven't told him the bad news. Naturally, once he overhears this for himself he's more than a little upset, prompting him to try and run away with Chi.

Although he doesn't get far the emotions run high, and eventually his parents realise that there's only one way forward - To move to a new home where pets are allowed. And whaddya know, just at that moment they see a huge advertising hoarding for just such a place!


From here on in we enter more traditional Chi's Sweet Home territory, with Chi making the most of investigating and enjoying the boxes used to move the family, being terrified by the moving process, and finding her own way of settling down in her next (and it has to be said, rather awesome-looking) apartment. As always, it's adorable and amusing to watch - You can never have too much Chi's Sweet Home if you ask me.

Valkyria Chronicles - Episode 2

Come the end of the first episode of Valkyria Chronicles, we were all ready to steal a tank and invade Paris. Wait, sorry, wrong series... Come the end of the first episode of Valkyria Chronicles, Welkin and his sister Isara rolled out their secret weapon (and arguably the real star of the series) - A strapping great tank, which is always quite useful in a war I would say. Even more useful is the fact that Edelweiss (for that is the tank's name) is already loaded up with ammunition and with plenty of fuel... rather conveniently I must say, but then again given their military blood I suppose they'd always be prepared for much things.

Needless to say, making use of Edelweiss allows Alicia and company to escape their current predicament and make it back to Bruhl, but the relief is short-lived as the town soon comes under full-scale assault from the Imperial forces, killing numerous people and wounding many others as the local patrol's stabd-in commander makes a complete hash of things. The only obvious course of action from here is to retreat, but this can only be achieved if the Imperial forces are tied up on other business while the wounded and those left remaining escape. Thus, Alicia, Welkin and Isara are tasked with using Edelweiss to hold the entirety of the Imperial forces at bay while the everyone else retreats. Why, that almost sounds like the sort of mission you'd expect from some kind of video game...


While almost everything about this episode is utterly predictable from Edelweiss' huge hardware superiority (include the fact that other tank shells just bounce of it without a scratch) through to the incompetence of of the arrogant guy in temporary charge of Bruhl's forces, that doesn't mean that episode two of Valkyria Chronicles is anything but a whole bundle of fun. The main characters have already wormed their way into my heart via their idiosyncrasies, and to be quite honest watching Edelweiss charging around blowing up other tanks and people is hugely rewarding (and I'm guessing that actually playing the game would be even more so - Anyone want to donate me a PlayStation 3?). It's a bit like those good, old fashioned war movies where you know what's going to happen but still cheer when the plucky Brits blow up some Germans anyway.

Valkyria Chronicles certainly isn't going to be the most deep and introspective treatment of war in animated form (witness Alicia waxing lyrical about flowers near the end of this episode and you'll see what I mean), and that "sketched" effect really does annoy me incredibly, ruining some otherwise gorgeous animation, but get beyond that and you have yourself one enjoyable series so far.

Natsu no Arashi - Episode 2

Oh all of the series I've started watching for this Spring anime season, Natsu no Arashi seemed the most likely to be dropped based solely upon its first episode, which simply didn't impress me in any way, shape or form. Thank goodness then that episode two of the series acts rather more like a proper opener, succeeding to at least some degree of drawing me into the picture that it paints.


While episode one was some seemingly random episode thrown in at the beginning of the series for no real reason that I can fathom, episode two actually takes the time to introduce us to the major characters. For starters, we see Arashi arrive looking for work at the cafe at which she now works in the midst of a storm, before Hajime gets his proper introduction as a lost kid on his way to see his grandfather who enters said cafe and somehow ends up connected to (and "possessed by") Arashi, learning at least a little about her ghostly being. The owner of the cafe also gets her situation seemingly spelt out, so that we at least know what we're watching now, and thankfully it isn't all about jumping through time after strawberries this time.

While I'm still far from convinced by the show's animation and artwork, it is at least beginning to show some of those typical shaft glimmers to keep my interest from time to time, while also very briefly tipping its hat to Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei at one point and even bringing Tenma Tsukamoto and Harima from School Rumble into the cafe for a scene - If you get a kick out of this kind of thing, then that's another tick on the "reasons why episode two is better" check sheet for Natsu no Arashi.

Now that we have a story in place I have renewed hope that this series might not be such a dead loss after all - Yes, Hajime still gets on my nerves a bit, but with the background information that this episode provides I can at least see some potential storytelling diamonds shining from the rough start that this series provided. Whether those diamonds can be picked out by the show is another matter of course, but for now my patience has been refreshed so I'm willing to wait and see where Natsu no Arashi can take us next.

Hatsukoi Limited - Episode 1

It's probably fair to say that the slice of life, school-based series has been done to death by now, but that doesn't mean that we won't lap up more of the same when it's well done. With that in mind, along comes Hatsukoi Limited, a series based on a manga which tells the tale of a number of middle school girls and their lives and loves.

This opening episode follows the opening chapter of the manga pretty closely, focusing our attentions on Ayumi Arihara, a girl who dreams of being swept off her feet by a guy like some kind of princess - A dream world which extends to her idea that she's happily accept anyone at all who confesses to her as it would be such a wonderful moment in her life.


While this is a wonderful idea to be applauded in theory, real life doesn't quite work like that, as Ayumi soon discovers when she is confessed to by Misao Zaitsu, a high school student and a near-literal monster of a man - The kind of person who is more likely to terrify than impress the ladies when he walks by. So, Ayumi is left with a dilemma - Accept the feelings of this "beast" and be done with it or reject him and possibly face his wrath? This decision only becomes more difficult as he begins to follow her around everywhere, and worse Ayumi develops a crush on Misao's (far less monstrous) brother.

It's too early to sat too much about Hatsukoi Limited just yet, as from this single episode we've only really gotten to know a few characters, and only Ayumi of the main set of girls the series is based around has been given any real screen time. Still, despite all this what we have here is a pretty fun and solid start to the series - There's a lot to like about Ayumi in her own way (fan service aside), and the story for this first episode had enough laughs and general amusement to hold my interest as well as the manga managed, which seems like a good starting point. I very much doubt this is going to become some kind of seminal slice of life series, but with any luck it'll make a better fist of it than the likes of Hyakko, and it certainly appears to have stronger source material to build upon from what I've seen.

Basquash! - Episode 2

The first episode of Basquash! quite simply blew my mind, seemingly snatching the best bits of various series from Eureka Seven through to Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and doing it all in a beautifully polished and compelling fashion. Making an impressive opener is the easy part though, so can the series continue to hold my attention?

After destroying the local stadium, and pretty much putting an end to the bankability of Big Foot Basketball as a whole, "Dunk Mask" has served his year of jail time and is a free man at last. What a difference a year makes though, as Dan finds himself walking into a much-changed world. For starters, he's become a legend thanks to his shenanigans, swamped by adoring fans looking for an autograph while Big Foot Street Basketball has become the sport of the moment. Even the girls are after him... Well, one girl in particular, serving him up with a bunch of flowers upon his release.


However, being a legend won't pay the bills, and boy does Dan have a hefty bill to pay, with the total damage he caused to the stadium and corporate interests adding up to more zeros than you can throw a giant basketball at. There's only one thing for it - Dan is going to have to suck up his legendary status and get a job. The work comes easily enough for him though courtesy of Miyuki, who sets up a home delivery Bigfoot service that becomes hugely popular after some initial teething troubles that adds to Dan's debt. However, like all good ideas others quickly catch on to it, and Dan soon has some serious rivalry in terms of both home delivery and his own street cred - Competition from a surprising quarter to boot...

It would be unfair to expect episode two of Basquash! to live up to the first, but once again the first thing that becomes apparent about the series is that it oozes polish, from the excellent use of CG through to the fantastic backdrops and artwork (with a passing nod to Fallout 3 at one point I thought). Plot-wise, things carry on moving at an excellent pace, keeping things interesting by delving into the injury which has crippled Coco and why Dan is so desperate to reach the Moon as well as giving us a tiny glimpse of Miyuki's past. Even without these flashbacks to fill in the blanks, the story remains compelling, blending humour, action and half-decent dialogue to keep this series is running as one with both savvy and attitude in equal measure. How this will pan out over twenty-six episodes I have no idea, but I continue to have a very good feeling about this series as a potential big hit - If you haven't check it out already, it really is well worth watching.

Saki - Episode 2

The opening episode of Saki certainly did a good job of demonstrating the protagonist of this series' talent, as we saw Saki herself ratcheting up a number of ±0 against all the odds. Unfortunately, the series did less of a good job in helping me figure out how the Hell you play Mahjong - The again, that isn't really the point of the series, so it is duly forgiven.

Anyway, in order to obtain access to some books that she wants, and against her will, Saki has agreed with the club's president to play another game of Mahjong, except this time the very same president plays a bit of a sneaky trick on her, asking her to imagine that she's playing with a points handicap against all of the other players. She duly does this, and once again pulls off some near-impossible moves to end up with ±0, at which point the bombshell is dropped - The president asked her to imagine she was playing with a points handicap, not to actually play with one. Recalculate the scores and we find that Saki has won by a handsome margin.


This state of affairs sends ripples of emotion through both Saki herself (who comes to realise that winning can be enjoyable) and Nodoka, who can't stand to be beaten, not least by someone who previously confessed to not even liking the game. Conflicted feelings all around as a result of this then, but it isn't enough to prevent Saki from catching the Mahjong bug, and come the end of this episode she becomes an official member of the club. What will this mean for the Saki-Nodoka relationship?

There's something eminently amusing about the way Saki handles itself, from the Mahjong titles that spark and shoot lightning to the magical girl-esque moment between Saki and Nodoka, all of which is topped off by the straight faced drama that the series somehow manages to bring forth from what basically amounts to a board game. Yet, no matter how much I tell myself how ridiculous the whole thing is, I can't deny that it's actually quite enjoyable to watch. Yes, I don't know how the actual games of Mahjong work, but seeing a game in progress is oddly compelling, and Saki herself has a kind of mysteriously likeable quality to her which keeps the show ticking over in this episode. This can't quite be said for Nodoka however, who aside from being a bad loser also suffers the ignomony of being top-notch fan service fodder - Yes Gonzo, we have noticed that she has huge mammaries, we don't need them shoved in our face every other frame.

Pointless fan service aside, Saki could well end up as an unlikely hit with me - It isn't too demanding, and despite its attempts at drama it all remains pretty bright and breezy to keep me entertained thus far. It's probably better than spending half an hour actually learning to play Mahjong, that's for sure.

Shikabane Hime: Kuro - Episode 12 (Completed)

As the start of the last episode of Shikabane Hime: Kuro looked to bring the time of the Shikabane Hime themselves to an end, so the end of that very same episode brought them redemption, as those with a close enough bond with the world and their contracted priests found their energy and abilities restored, allowing them to fight on.


This state of affairs of course turned the tide quite substantially against Shichisei, with some of them defeated within minutes of this final instalment, leaving Akasha and Hokuto (now Akasha's own Shikabane Hime) leading the line in their ever-decreasing hope of victory. While this pairing look to be about to beat Makina and Ouri, so the arrival of Sadahiro turns the tide, as they turn their attentions to Akasha's real weak point - His heart. By attacking his former, now entombed, Shikabane Hime, and reminding him of his love for her as a result, Akasha's bond to Hokuto is broken, leaving her alone and none too happy about it. Hokuto does, however, manage to escape, albeit not for long...

From here, this final episode tidies up a few lose ends, settles the question of Makina and Ouri's future plans, and then leaves us with oddly unsatisfying ending, as Makina takes on Hokuto once again. Does she win? Does she die? Do they all give up and decide to go to McDonalds instead? Who knows, thanks to the open-ended closing scene of the show, but the suggestions seems to be that this is a battle that won't end any time soon.

So, Shikabane Hime has come to end, with its Kuro-labelled second half both suffering and impressing in many of the same ways as Aka did. Having done so much to build up the story in the first half of the show as a whole, I was expecting a faster start to Kuro than that which eventually manifested itself, as things became rather ponderous for a while, but once it got into the swing of its major storyline then it delivered far more consistently in terms of action and pacing. While the horror potential of the series often (disappointingly in my book) took a back seat, when it did come to the fore it was often excellently done, with episode nine in particular getting all of its ducks in a row to offer up one of the best individual episodes of anime I've watched in the past year. It's highlights like that which perhaps make you realise that this series wasn't all that it could and indeed should have been, but come the end of it all Shikabane Hime remained engaging enough to be watchable and, more importantly, enjoyable throughout. It was no classic, but were I to drop dead tomorrow I wouldn't be coming back as a Corpse based upon the regret of having watched this series.

Eden of the East - Episode 1

I think it's fair to say that Saki Morimi is having one of those weird days. A trip to Washington DC to take a look at the White House looks set to turn into a disaster as she's spotted throwing something onto the Presidential lawn by a couple of cops, but the next thing she knows she's been rescued by a gun-toting naked man. If that doesn't qualify as weird, then I don't know what does.

In return for saving her, Saki lets said naked guy borrow her jacket, only to realise that she's left her passport in there, meaning that she has to chase after him to retrieve it. After catching up with him, she ends up (via the Japanese embassy) at the airport ready to fly home to their native country - But just what is going on back in Tokyo?


Meanwhile, our aforementioned naked guy is having a bit of a crisis of his own, suddenly finding himself naked with a gun but no memory. Thankfully the location of his home is programmed into his phone, but upon his arrival there it appears to be some kind of terrorist hideout. Well, the guy certainly thinks like a terrorist, disposing ingeniously of some fake passports and evading some police questioning in an... err.... irregular fashion.

So goes the first episode of Eden of the East, and I have to admit that it seems quite strangely compelling from this opener. Production values of the series seem high from this first glimpse (well, it is a Production I.G. show) from the use of Oasis on the opening theme through to the employment of proper American voice actors to portray the Americans within this episode. That aside, the story itself has plenty of room to be intriguing thanks to our mystery man, as we're already thick with questions surrounding who he is and who he was working for. Despite all the questions, this episode doesn't lose its light-hearted touch either though, with some nice little set pieces to give you a laugh away from the pure, simple absurdity of it all.

Overall then, like so many series Eden of the East (or Higashi no Eden if you want to use the Japanese title) could swing either way as far as its quality and interest level goes at this juncture, but from this opener it's looking like a keeper if you ask me - There's plenty to like from episode one.

Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya - Episodes 17-18

The blossoming of cherry trees is always a time of peaceful introspection and wonder at the beauty of nature... Unless you're Haruhi that is, in which case chances are you'll start pondering the possibilities of burying bodies under said blossoming cherry trees.


So goes these latest two episodes of The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya, with a blossom viewing party turning more into a "let Kyon dig a big hole while we enjoy ourselves" party. Luckily for him, Kyon gets some assistance with his hole-digging (albeit unwittingly), but there appears to be more ominous forces at work, between Tsuruya's behaviour and the discovery of some mysterious gem...

There isn't all that much funny stuff on show in these two episodes, I hjave to admit, but who knows maybe it's building up to something glorious next time around as the end of episode eighteen seems to suggest.


No such problems for Nyoron Churuya-san however, which manages to be as funny as ever. This time around it's school sports day, and needless to say having such a diminiutive height can be quite an issue when it comes to most athletic events. Churuya's attempt at the three-legged race was priceless, although I actually felt a little cruel for laughing at Kyon deliberately throwing balls at her head. Nyoron....

K-ON! - Episode 2

After a solid start last week, K-ON! really gets into the swing of things this time around. Well, in terms of episode quality at least, as for much of this episode we're still left with a guitar-less Yui.

Obtaining said guitar is, of course, the focus of this instalment, with Yui setting her heart on a guitar that's way out of her price range - Indeed, it's amazing that she makes it to the guitar shop at all given her easily distracted nature. At this point, things actually deviate from the manga for a bit, with the light music club's foursome deciding to get jobs to help pay for the object of Yui's desire, carefully picking a jobs that won't conflict too much with Mio's shy and sensitive nature.


It may not be part of the manga, but the segment showing the girls at work counting traffic was definitely an excellent and humorous addition to the story, while still allowing us to return to walk the manga's path again when it comes to the crunch, with Tsumugi making the most of her connections to exhibit some awesome bargaining skills. That leaves us with all four girls kitted up with the equipment they need - Now, how to get Yui to stop admiring how she looks with a guitar in her hands and actually start practising with it...

From setting the scene quite nicely last time around, this second episode of K-ON! really hit the spot with me - It was fun, it was funny and it was cute in all the right measures, blending together into pretty much exactly what I was hoping the series would be. Its story-telling may be simple, but that simplicity allows both the main characters and those amusing little slice of life moments (Ritsu "drumming" on her car counting machine and Yui unplugging her guitar from the amp without turning the volume down spring to mind) to shine through, leaving you laughing and/or nodding in remembrance of having done similar things yourself. At the risk of sounding too much like a KyoAni fanboy, this really is the kind of thing they do best, and it shows.

Happy Easter from Hanners' Anime 'Blog!

Religious or otherwise, Easter is undoubtedly a good thing, whether it's for resurrections and stuff or chocolate and a couple of extra days off work it can't be a bad thing. So, with that in mind, allow me to wish you all a Happy Easter from myself, complete with entirely appropriate (or entirely inappropriate, depending on how you look at it) recreation of Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei style...

Have a good one everybody!

Hidamari Sketch x365 - DVD special

You know, sometimes I find myself dreaming of a perfect world - A place of world peace, no hunger or famine, and most importantly of all a brand-new, top notch episode of Hidamari Sketch every single day. Thus far, this dream hasn't been fulfilled, but until then at least we have another episode of Hidamari Sketch x365 to tide us over, courtesy of a special episode released on the final Japanese DVD volume of the series.

This particular episode covers a holiday for the quartet at Hidamari apartments, giving them plenty of time to goof off and have some fun - An opportunity that presents itself perfectly thanks to Sae's purchase of a Polaroid camera, and let's face it we all know how much fun they can be. No, I don't mean taking those kinds of photo, get your minds out of the gutter.


Anyway, we go from the general amusement of taking photos of one another unaware or sleeping to dressing up, changing hairstyles and trying something different for the occasion, which gives us such wonders as Yunocchi dressed in punk girl, Miyako with pigtails and Sae with hair extensions. Oh, and Miyako with a Hitler moustache.

Meanwhile, Yoshinoya is having entirely too much fun at karaoke, turning the event into some kind of mini-concert for herself... Until the principal arrives and takes over the stage that is, bringing us the hilarity of his enthusiastic singing. Is this a good time to admit that my addiction to all things Hidamari Sketch extends to owning the principal's character CD? No, I thought not.

As I think I've already made clear, I can never have too much Hidamari Sketch in my life, and rather than feeling like some kind of rushed stop-gap this bonus DVD episode was another fantastic instalment of x365, with some big laughs mixed in with the relaxed feeling of spending a day at Hidamari apartments. This blend of humour and gentle, lilting reality is what makes the series what it is, and I can't think of any better way to wind down after a long day at the office.

Hetalia Axis Powers - Episode 11

Sometimes the things that go on in Hetalia Axis Powers are simply beyond me, and I think this is just one such time. It got me beginning to wonder if someone had spiked my tea, that's for sure.

Ignoring the ever unamusing Chibitalia section (the existence of which baffles me more by the week), the main chunk of this mini-episode seems to involve England tripping out and seeing imaginary things - Flying rabbits, unicorns and so on.


Surely World War II is a little early for British rave culture? Or even the Summer of Love? Oh well, I suppose by now I shouldn't really expect Hetalia to make any semblance of sense to me...

Valkyria Chronicles - Episode 1

If you're reading this 'Blog for my take on Valkyria Chronicles based entirely upon my experiences with the PlayStation 3 game then, seeing as it's only the two of us here (unless there's someone sat next to you in which case - What on Earth are they wearing?!), allow me to let you in on a little secret... I haven't actually played the game, nor do I own a PlayStation in any way, shape or form. Shocking, I know. So, please bear in mind that I don't have a clue what I'm talking about when it comes to this series. Yes, I know I know, what else is new?

Anyhow, Valkyria Chronicles introduces us to the country of Gallia, and more specifically the town of Bruhl, a normally quite place caught up (or rather, soon to be caught up) in the ravages of war. This conflict is being fought over a vital resource called Ragnite, between the Atlantic Federation (of which Gallia is a part) and the clearly evil East European Imperial Alliance - Let's face it, when did something good last come out of a faction with "Imperial" in the title?

In this opening episode we see the show's protagonist, Alicia, assisting with the evacuation of civilians from Bruhl as a precaution. Alicia is normally a baker, but is almost an armed and dangerous member of the Bruhl town watch - A little too dangerous you could say, as she apprehends a supposed "spy" who is commiting the heinous crime of sketching trout. Alicia's attempts to keep said "spy" under control is offset against the news that the Imperial Alliance are on the brink of invading the town, and these two priorities collide for the poor girl in spectacular circumstances as she finds herself caught up in battle sooner than even she must have been expecting.


It has to be said that even without prior knowledge of the Valkyria Chronicles game, this was a pretty good opening gambit for the series - The backstory is simple and concise, Alicia is an instantly likeable protagonist in all sorts of ways, and the visual aesthetic of the episode is gorgeous, despite my finding the "sketch filter" used by the animators throughout both tacky and annoying. Yes, I know it's there in the game so its inclusion has a good reason behind it, but that doesn't make it look any less pants. Although war stories such as this are pretty old hat by now, somehow Valkyria Chronicles actually feels quite fresh from this first episode, perhaps because it's so light and breezy despite taking place in a country at war. Saving Private Ryan this ain't, with Alicia joking about rumbling stomachs and bread even with gunfire ringing out all around her. Such blase reactions to war should probably disappoint me greatly, but in this particular scenario it really doesn't, so all is well thus far, leaving me looking forward to seeing what the next episode holds.

Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo - Episode 13

After the last episode saw Leopard and company plunging towards the Earth's surface, by the start of this instalment they've landed with a bump. Still, at least it's a sunny day...

Thus, once the group have all found one another and regrouped, it's time for Itsuki to break out the bikinis for herself and Akiha, which I suppose was inevitable really given the fan service we've seen from the series thus far. If you can tear your eyes away from that however, it's Leopard that steals a lot of the screen time with his usual over the top reactions and slapstick moments to make up most of the comic value of the episode. Meanwhile, Benkei and his assistant have also crash-landed on Earth, although we only see some brief glimpses of this pairing as they look to make themselves at home.


The whole "crash landing on a ruined Earth" concept has been done to death before, so it's no surprise that much of what this episode serves up feels a little tired - Derelict buildings, technically illiterate savages littering the place (feel free to make a joke about your parents here) and so on. Still, beyond that this episode sees fit to throw plenty of other stuff at us, from a glimpse or two of a Kirkwood seemingly entirely under Nerval's control, as well as a brief visit by his minions to try and snatch away some Earth-goers - An abduction attempt that Akiha almost falls straight into.

As per usual, I'm not entirely sure whether everything in this episode actually made sense to me, but as with most of this series I'm just going with the flow and nodding sagely, while quizzically admiring the fact that this series continues to be fun even when it's looking for excuses to get Akiha undressed and putting together some pretty uninspiring plot points together. Quite simply, I still can't put an exact finger on why I like Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo (beyond Leopard's continued "incompetent Lelouch vi Brittania" turn anyway), yet I keep on coming back week on week, and even at its weaker moments (such as this episode) I can't find it within myself to really complain too much.

Shangri-la - Episode 1

Having seen the plot synopsis for this series, I was all but ready to declare Shangri-la as "Captain Planet for the 21st century". However (and perhaps thankfully so) things aren't quite that simple.

The series opener begins with the release from prison after two years of Kuniko - We aren't told the reason for her imprisonment at this stage, but we can pretty much guess from her action's throughout the rest of the episode, as she proves to be a rather hyperactive kid with little interest in her heritage or responsibilities, and with something of a loud mouth to boot. It transpires that Kuniko is supposed to be the successor to the Metal-Age group, a bunch of people who I get the impression aren't exactly anti-environmentalist per se, but they want to be able to use technology and modern means to progress, something that appears to be nigh-on impossible in the world we're presented here, one dominated by carbon taxes and credits.


Yes, that's right, there is very much a heavy political presence to this series from the off surrounding its environmental issues, but in all fairness to it we don't get the usual "pollution bad, green things good" rhetoric here, but rather a more balanced equation that seems to be decrying rampant environmentalism (particularly when politicised or turned into a profit-making exercise) while also suggesting some level of marvel at the beauty of nature.

However, it has to be said that much of these points are lost in the midst of the more general good and bad points of this first episode. On the positive side of the coin, Kuniko is already quite the lead female character, an entertaining blend of teenage bravado and clumsiness that could prove a winner in this series. Oh, and her boomerang is pretty awesome too - You never saw Rolf Harris slicing the barrel off an armoured tank, I bet.

On the negative side, Kuniko's "mother" is straight out of The Birdcage, putting in a cringe-worthy performance that is really painful to watch. This is perhaps only bettered by Lady Ryoko, who is clearly one of the villains of the piece and as a result seems to be surrounded by plenty of sterotypical villaneous paraphenalia and cronies, while also exhibiting the kind of perpetual bad mood that only evil people can muster.

With all of this in mind then, it's a bit of a mixed bag for Shangri-la thus far - Range Murata's input on character design doesn't seem to have had much of an effect that I can see thus far, and that aside we have some potentially interesting characters and situations mixed in with horrifyingly annoying or cliched ones. Which side of that conflict will win out in this series? I suppose I'm going to have to check out a few more episodes to find out...

Basquash! - Episode 1

I won't lie to you - I was attracted to Basquash! solely on account of its trailer, and more precisely its depiction of mecha playing basketball - Surely it goes without saying that's a tremendously cool concept without any additional effort required?

Given my reasons for picking up this show, I was more than a little surprised to find that its protagonists hates these "Bigfoots", and even more so hates the way they play basketball. The reason for Dan's disdain quickly becomes clear on two fronts - On one hand, Bigfoot Basketball (or BFB as it's known) is in someway responsible for his sister being wheelchair-bound, and on the other Dan is clearly quite the basketball player himself, proving to be fast, nimble and a million miles away from any lumbering old machine. To this end, Dan has himself an alter-ego - "Dunk Mask", a smasher of televisions to prevent anyone from watching the BFB, which also allows him and his "crew" a handy sidelining in selling spare parts from said TVs.


However, in this fast-paced opener things change for Dan in numerous ways, as he meets a rather strange (and top heavy) girl who shows him a Bigfoot which at least somewhat changes his opinion of them, while some free tickets to the BFB prove his disdain for the sport to be well-founded, and thus causing him to create so much chaos that the end of the episode all but introduces us to an entirely new world.

If there's one thing that can be said about Basquash!, it's that it's a visual tour de force - The world (named Earthdash) that the series presents us with is a sumptuously messy and deliciously urban one, all dust and disrepair yet stunningly detailed for the viewer. Up above the surface of Earthdash is its moon, a rather Cybertronian looking effort which acts as a source of hope and drive for pretty much everyone on the planet. This "reach for the stars" ambition which is displayed here pretty much sums up this show, which holds its head high and looks you in the eye with the brazen attitude of Gurren Lagann, while its anti-establishment roots also have a touch of Eureka Seven about them.

Putting any comparisons aside however, this first episode of Basquash! is an absolutely grade A viewing experience - After those gorgeous visuals and excellent character designs (if you can get past the fan service that actually feels oddly appropriate), you'll find yourself spun around over and over again by the crazy ever-shifting camera angles, and the actual story doesn't have time to allow you to pause for breath either, throwing characters at the screen left and right, flashing through their back stories at the speed of light, yet leaving you in no doubt as to who they are and what they represent. I can't call a series genius after a single episode, and I've been burned before by show's that start so well yet fall flat so quickly - From this first glimpse of Basquash! however, I've been blown away... As of the moment of writing this, it's placed itself as my favourite show of the season thus far. Now, please don't let me down...

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Episode 1

If you're looking to pinpoint one big hitter for this new anime season, it is quite clearly Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, a reboot of the hugely popular original series which is, supposedly, going to follow the manga far more closely this time around. As I haven't actually read the manga at all, sadly I'm not going to be able to comment on that as this series progresses.

What I can say however is that even I was surprised at my own delight when it came to seeing all of these familiar characters once again, from (of course) the Elric brothers themselves through to the likes of Roy Mustang and Maes Hughes. It's a lot like meeting up with some old friends, but finding that they're even better looking now thanks to a bigger animation budget. Actually hang on a second, friends don't have animation budgets do they?


Anyhow, with that "reboot" tag hanging over it, I was more than a little surprised to find us starting not at the beginning of the story, but some way into it, with Ed already in place as a state alchemist and thus fighting alongside his colleagues within the military. Their mission on this occasion is to capture and/or defeat the Ice Alchemist, a former state alchemist with a nasty habit of boiling people alive, or conversely freezing them and letting them shatter into tiny little pieces. As with so many things in the Fullmetal Alchemist universe, events at Ishbal seem to have been the catalyst for his defection, leading us into a battle against this man intent on striking at the heart of the military.

If nothing else, this gives us the opportunity for plenty of action, all of which is handled with plenty of style, and the kind of "cool factor" you'd expect from the series. As per the original series, this is also sprinkled with a fair amount of humour, frequently revolving around Edward's diminiutive size. Again, this particular blend feels much like seeing an old friend.

If there's one thing that this opening episode of Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood seems to have made clear, it's that the cost of entry is at least some familiarity with either the original series or (and I'm guessing preferably from some of the references) the manga - While it looks like episode two will at least take us back to the very beginning to some extent, this instalment made a lot of assumptions of its viewers, so I can only imagine that anyone new to the franchise was left thinking "Well that seemed cool, but what the Hell just happened?". If I'm honest, even my brain didn't manage to join some of the dots.

Assuming you did manage to keep up however, this was an enjoyable dose of Full Metal Alchemist - A real reminder of what we've been missing since the original series closed with that slightly odd movie. For anyone familiar with the story its sewn plenty of seeds for what is to come, but if you're new to it all I'd urge you to take a deep breath, be patient, and hope that all the gaping holes and questions left by this first episode will be answered in due course. I have a definite feeling that your patience will be duly rewarded if that is the case.

Natsu no Arashi - Episode 1

Despite its appallingly bad, rushed ending, I was a big fan of the School Rumble anime, and it was for this reason that I found myself wanting to check out the adaptation of another Jin Kobayashi in the form of Natsu no Arashi, as the new anime season in Japan continues apace.

Natsu no Arashi introduces us to Hajime, our protagonist, and his friend Sayoko - A seemingly normal guy and girl who oversleep (well, Hajime does) and work in a local coffee shop. So far, so normal - Except that Sayoko (and indeed Kaja, another girl who works in the cafe) have some literally rather ethereal properties, not least the ability to travel through time. So, we have the hook for this series (and time travel is always a good one), so what does the first episode of Natsu no Arashi do with it?


An episode about strawberries, that's what. No, I'm not kidding. Now, mixing time travel with the mundane is no bad thing - The Girl Who Leapt Through Time managed to do so fantastically, but to be quite honest this opener to Natsu no Arashi is the exact opposite of that. It's animation style is pretty ugly to look at, its characters hardly leap out at you in neither design nor behaviour, and the stories which make up this first episode are incredibly tedious viewing. Indeed, the only kick I got out of the episode was the very brief visual nod to Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei.

So, with all of that in mind this series is already in serious danger of being dropped - I'm going to give it another episode or two as it would be unfair to drop any show on the basis of a single episode, but at this particular moment in time I can't see anything which may bring redemption to this show in my eyes. I can only hope that I'm proved wrong though.

Saki - Episode 1

It's funny the kind of odd foibles and almost obsessive-compulsive habits your family can breed into you, isn't it? Such is the case with Saki, the star of... err... Saki. This high school girl hates the game Mahjong on account of playing it as a child - She'd be told off for winning too often, but wouldn't get any sweets if she didn't winning, leaving her conflicted to the point where she somehow ended up with the near-impossible ability to ratchet up a ±0 score in every single game.

This ridiculous yet impressive talent lays dormant until Saki's friend Kyou invites her to the Mahjong club of which he is a member - At first, her unspectacular play and results seem pretty normal, until the school council president (and another member of the club) realises that something is afoot, and ends up devising a plan to test her theory once and for all.


If this opening episode of Saki taught me one thing, it's that I don't have a clue about how to play Mahjong. If it's taught me two things, it's that not only do I have no clue how to play it, it appears to be so fiendishly complex that the mere thought of playing it now terrifies me. With all of the jargon being flashed around by this episode, I would wager than my complete lack of knowledge of this game is something of a handicap while watching this series, making me look stupid as well as feeling it.

That aside, it's difficult to get a handle on where this series is headed - From its opener, it seems to be playing its plot in a rather straight-faced fashion despite its occasional jokes, some cutesy behaviour from the characters and (this being anime) sparks coming off the tiles as they're thrown atop the table. Now, I don't know much about Mahjong, but I'm guessing a typical set doesn't have tiles that spark. Indeed, this episode even seemed to try and pull some heartstrings slightly with the behaviour of the reigning Mahjong expert Nodoka, which seemed slightly incongrous for a series about a board game.

Still, I can't help but be somewhat intrigued by this series - I may not have a clue what's going on when they're actually playing, but Saki and her "disorder" have roused a strange curiosity in me, and if nothing else I just want to see where the show plans to head next. I think I might need to read a book about Mahjong to avoid smoke spewing forth from my brain by the end of the series however....

Viper's Creed - Episode 12 (Completed)

By the end of the penultimate episode of Viper's Creed, we were left with virtually everyone except Saiki seemingly dead, giving us what looked to be an epic, episode-long battle between himself and Ulla. Except Ulla wipes the floor with Saiki within two minutes of the start of this episode, with the latter saved only by Sakurako's rather excellent use of a rocket launcher against Ulla. Yes, it was implausible, but somehow seeing her kick ass in this fashion was most satisfying, and trust me, you had to take ever meagre drop of satisfaction you could find in this episode.

So, Saiki and Sakurako (not forgetting Ageha of course) live to fight another day, but with Saiki badly injured and blinded how can they possibly fight on any further? By Saiki using Sakurako as his eyes, of course, tying neatly into the question he asked her in the opening episode.


Now, this is all well and good, but how does a blind man continue to move their vehicle with the extreme precision that Saiki does? How does he manage to at least somewhat hold his own against Ulla's powerful mecha? Most importantly of all, how the fuck does Saiki know that his Maneuver-Roid's main camera has been disabled, and more so why the fuck does he switch to a backup camera when he can't see anything?! Sakurako doesn't tell him the camera has failed, there's no audible alarm for this, and yet not only does he know he switches to another camera that he can't use! This isn't just a plot hole, this is an inter-planetary rift in space sized plot hole - In short, the whole "Saiki is blind" plot point was a farce of the highest degree.

If that wasn't enough to make my eyebrows raise clean up above my head, we then find that after Saiki is defeated, the video files he was attempting to take to the broadcasting company are already there anyway. Why did you even bother Saiki?! "It was a decoy" won't fly with me either, which gives us ridiculous plot point number two.

Finally, the ending simply left me shouting, astonished, at the screen; "What?! What?!?!?!". Because, yes, that's right boys and girls, Haruki is still alive. Yet nobody thought to tell us over the past few episodes while everyone was boo-hooing over him? Whoever wrote this script is not just an utter bastard, but an utterly incompetent one to boot. What were you thinking??

It's a shame really, after pulling itself away from those pretty horrible filler episodes, Viper's Creed looked set to finish up as at least an average yet action packed series that could boast a certain mindless entertainment factor. But, that was before the abomination which it is final episode was served up onto my plate, which (as you can probably tell from the above) has reduced me to a gibbering, ranting wreck of a 'Blogger. Viper's Creed isn't the worst series of all time by a long shot, but this has to be right up there as one of the worst anime endings I've ever seen - It's the kind of thing that should be studied by future generations to prevent such atrocities from ever occuring in the name of Japanese animation ever again.

Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya - Episodes 15-16

No week is complete without a double bill of The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya, which if nothing else allows us to put aside our questions about whether we'll be seeing a second season of the show proper soon or not.

If you're looking from a distraction from such thoughts, then episode fifteen delivers it in spades with possibly the most hilarious couple of minutes of this series so far. Using the balloons procured last episode, Yuki tries her hand at making balloon animals in her own inimitable style, with impressive (yet at the same time terrifying) results. The episode ends with another of those great pieces of comedy whose inevitability doesn't diminish the fact that it's just downright laugh out loud funny.


Next up is some kind of Haruhi-led cooking show - "These aren't just instant noodles, these are The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya cooked for fifty hours noodles..." It has to be said that Haruhi's cooking skills are somewhat outdone by Nagato's skill with a sword, although she does appear to be cheating by programming it into "homing mode" - Something which gives Kyon confidence to give it a try, with slightly more painful results.


Finally, where would we be without another instalment of Nyoron Churuya-san, which could probably be subtitled "Tsuruya is entirely too short". Too short to fish and too short for a group photo - Nyoron.... Again, we can close with a classic line from this episode; "I want to become a shell". Funny stuff, as usual.

K-ON! - Episode 1

Yui Hirasawa isn't exactly the kind of girl you'd automatically associate with being a great musician - She's clumsy, struggles to co-ordinate her feet let alone her hands, and is hardly the kind of person you'd call motivated. Oh, she is pretty handy with some castanets though...

However, this opening episode of K-On! brings us to a turning point in Yui's life - Her first day at high school. She's determined to join an after-school club for the first time ever, but what club does a girl with no real talents join?

Meanwhile, Ritsu Tainaka has already set her heart on joining the light music club, dragging her friend Mio Akiyama with here. The trouble is, all the existing members of the club have graduated, meaning that the club will be closed unless it can find four members by the end of the month. You can probably see where this is headed....


After somehow press-ganging Tsumugi Kotobuki (a girl so posh she's never eaten fast food before), someone initially looking to join the choir into joining, Yui ends up becoming the final piece in the light music club's puzzle, finally deciding to join after the others employ a number of persuasive techniques with varying degrees of success. So, the stage is set for my most personally anticipated series of the year.

It's always suicide to judge a series by its first episode, so as always I'm certainly not going to do that, but all things considered K-on! managed a pretty passable opener - Setting the scene, introducing us to the characters, and pulling out all the manga's best jokes and moments at its disposal to create an episode that, if nothing else, shouts out "fun". In short, it did everything that it needed to, no more and no less. Thus, while it hasn't somehow managed to exceed my expectations from the very start, it has at least matched them, and that's good enough for me - Besides, let's face it, if nothing else girls with guitars are invariably cute.

Kurokami: The Animation - Episode 12

After languishing for so long, in recent episodes Kurokami seems to have slowly come to the realisation that it doesn't need to over-complicate itself or drown the viewer in the finer points of the Master Root system - All we're here for is to watch various characters beating seven bells out of one another in a suitably entertaining and spectacular style.

The last episode seemed to be the first to really catch onto this, and now episode twelve follows suit by barely pausing from breath and instead throwing plenty of thick and fast action at us - First with Kuro and Keita taking on the former's brother, Reishin, before Excel and Steiner take over the battle once Keita can no longer continue. It's all pretty gripping stuff in its own slightly mindless way, with colourful and entertaining visuals supplemented nicely by a soundtrack that, I must confess, is growing on me.


Away from the pure action, we did get some insight into the difference in goals between Reishin and Sawamura, although even this is flipped over relatively briefly to give the episode chance to blow up lots of stuff, while also opening up a wormhole to an unknown and foreign place (which I assume is known only as "the second half of Kurokami").

Anyway, now that this series seems to have got a lot of its plot building out of the way, and has finally stopped Keita from being such a miserable git all of the time, it's really starting to grow in entertainment value. Yes, it's as cliche as it gets when it comes to action series, following the tried and trusted route we've seen a million times before (from Naruto, Bleach et al), but you know what - That formula works for a reason, and that reason is that a show like this can be fun to watch. From its languid beginnings, Kurokami is finally staking a claim upon tha fun factor without so much as disturbing a brain cell, and to my mind that's fine for what it's aiming to achieve.

Shikabane Hime: Kuro - Episode 11

The last episode of Shikabane Hime: Kuro looked set to bring a swift and unavoidable end to the Shikabane Hime themselves, with the source of the "En" which connected them to their Contracted Priests irreparably and violently terminated. Hang on though, we've still got two episode left to go, so surely there's still a twist in this tale...

In fact, never mind one twist, for there are several present in this penultimate episode of the series, although for twists they're mighty predictable. For starters, once the Shikabane Hime appear to be out of the way, Akasha's first move is to contract to Hokuto as his Shikabane Hime, making for what looks on paper like an unstoppably powerful combination which also allows our betrayer priest to turn against Shichisei.


However, it isn't quite time to assume that Akasha is going to get things all his won way, as Ouri and Makina arrive on the scene (despite the loss of their "En"), vowing to put a stop to whatever he's plotting. At this point comes twist (that probably isn't to anyone who took note of the episode title) number two, as Akasha relates the story of his original Shikabane Hime and exactly what happened to her - A far cry from the story propagated by the Kougon cult.The biggest twist in this episode however is left until the end, offering up renewed hope for "the good guys" (although it is difficult to call anyone good per se in this series) as we move into the show's final episode.

Despite the telegraphing of the episode's shocking revelations, this was another pretty good instalment of Shikabane Hime: Kuro - The animation quality has definitely been on the up of late, Akasha's story of his Shikabane Hime and her fate was really excellently portrayed and handled, and even what could have been a pretty cheesy ending to the episode slotted in quite well to the overall feel of things to leave me eagerly awaiting the grand finale with more interested than I would have expected myself holding come the half-way point in Kuro. Much like a Shikabane Hime, this show seems to have roused itself from the dead in recent weeks...

Minami-ke Okaeri - Episode 13 (Completed)

So, the third season of Minami-ke comes to a close, and quite really uses this opportunity to focus on the Minami sisters themselves.

Also in keeping with this choice of focus, much of the content of this episode is saccharine sweet rather than downright funny, although it did prove to be mildly amusing in places. The episode starts out with Haruka seemingly worried about something, which in turn makes Chiaki and Kana worry about her. This then makes Haruka worry about Chiaki and Kana, and... well, you get the idea. In true Minami-ke style, this cycle is broken by everyone pulling faces at one another. No, really.


Following on from this is perhaps the most adorable segment of Minami-ke to date - Chiaki has a nightmare where Kana leaves and never returns, which leaves her being enormously clingy towards her sister from that point onwards. This cycle also completes itself with Kana later dreaming of a world where Haruka disappears, leaving her clinging to her big sister while Chiaki still holds on to her. Daft though it may be, it still got a big, fat "Awwwwww" from me, and upset Kana is unbearably cute somehow.

Finally, Chiaki's dream looks, for a brief time, as though it may be about to come true, with Kana seemingly leaving a suicide note after claiming that's she's going out to buy some bread and milk. Naturally, this turns out to be perhaps the most enormous Japanese wordplay joke I've ever seen, as it turns out that her scrawling is missing a couple of kanji (which slipped onto another piece of paper), which turns this supposed suicide note into a wish to give up chocolate for Tanabata. I'm always one for a bit of good wordplay, so I got a kick out of this particular one.

After that the reall rather good first series, followed by the largely disatrously dull second, Minami-ke Okaeri ended up straddling these two levels of quality. It never quite regained the joys and humour of the original series, but it did provide far more in the way of laugh out loud moments than the second to make for a far more entertaining prospect, which overall marks it as worthy of the Minami-ke name in my book. While Okawari failed in almost every respect, Okaeri gets a lot right, from rebalancing the relationship between Kana and Chiaki to feel more natural (while retaining its humour) to relying on more than Touma and Mako's gender confusion antics. After this, who would bet against a fourth series - Minami-ke Tadaima perhaps?