Author Archives: Josh

Josh’s Anime Blog Returns (again)

As people might have seen, I went on a rather long hiatus from the blog this time (with a brief come back over Christmas break), which was probably the longest in my blog’s history.  I think I went an entire month without a post (February 2010) for the first time in the blog’s history.

This was mainly caused by getting more interested in a few other things than I was in anime, and thus doing those things went higher on my priority list, and I basically didn’t have time for anime anymore while I was doing those things.  However, I believe I am back on track as far as doing anime things again so, hopefully, I’ll be back for a while.

Over the next 3 to 4 days, I’ll be catching up on my blogging (10 to 11 episodes of Kobato plus an episode of Shana S), so pardon the slew of posts of old episodes during this week.  As far as blogging series in the Spring season – I haven’t decided yet.  On the one hand, I’m afraid of going straight into blogging something right after coming back from such a long hiatus, but on the other hand, if I don’t blog something…I’m not sure what I’ll write about, and thus possibly risk going back into a hiatus again.  I’ll probably make a decision sometime next week after I investigate what series are airing in April.

Also, as you may have seen, I’ve once again updated the design of the site.  I thought I probably should to help launch me out of a hiatus (and, heck, if I have the time/energy to redesign the site and catchup on 12 or so episodes of blogging, hopefully that’s a sign that I am actually back).  This is version 8.0 of the blog (yes, there have been that many) and I hope people like it.

Winter 2010 Anime Watchlist

I didn’t even have an idea of what was airing in the Winter 2010 season until most of the new shows already started airing, so I’m having to make decisions about what I want to watch based on less information and time thinking than I usually do.

From the Fall Season, Kimi ni Todoke, Fullmetal Alchemist, Kobato, Railgun, and Letter Bee are all continuing, so I’m looking for 3 to 4 shows to replace the shows that have finished up.  Here are some quick thoughts on some of the series airing in the fall.  I’ll skip anything that looks too kiddie or which is a sequel to something I haven’t seen:

Chu-Bra!!

A show about a middle school student starting an “underwear club” to spread the merits of wearing sexy underwear.  Um, double triple quadruple super duper duper hell no.

Sora no Woto

So basically, this looks like it’s like K-ON!, except worse, because they’re in the middle of a war.

Ladies vs Butlers!

I’m not even sure what to think about this series.  It definitely looks like a harem, and it’s along the “girls go wild over young-looking-boys” type.  I guess that’s better than the young-looking-girls shows. Maybe.

Omamori Himari

Another orphaned-boy-taken-in-by-neighbor-girls-parents story.  Except this time the magical girl who pops up is a cat girl. And the boy is allergic to cats.  This at least sounds mildly interesting.  At least far more interesting than any of the shows so far.

Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu

This kind of sounds like Special A, except in reverse.  I’m not sure about the summoning creatures part of this show though.

Dance in the Vampire Bund

I’m not really one for Vampire shows, but this show actually looks (visually) interesting, and it’s done by SHAFT, which definitely helps it.

Durarara!!

Basically sounds like gangs looking for a mythical head of a headless motorcycle rider.  Mmmm…not the worst show I’ve seen this season but I still think there are better things to watch.

Ookami Kakushi

This is a show based off of a game made by the people who did Higurashi.  I’ve never seen any of those series, but I’ve been curious about them.

Seikon no Qwaser

A show about people who can manipulate iron and who draw power from breast milk fighting each other.  That sounds like there is too much that can go bad here.

Hanamaru Kindergarten

This is by GAINAX which, of course, means this show won’t have a proper ending.

Katanagatari

An actually somewhat decent looking Edo-era sword fighting show.  I’ll have to see if it ultimately makes my cut or not, though.

So, My Watch List Is…

I wasn’t planning on picking up another series to blog this season unless there was just something that looked fantastic, and there isn’t, so I’ll only add shows to watch.  I think this time, I’ll only add 3 shows.  I felt like I was going to add either 3 or 5, and I didn’t want 5 new shows, so I went with my top 3, and they are:

Dance in the Vampire Bund
Omamori Himari
Ookami Kakushi

Top 10 Anime Openings of 2009

As I did last year, here is the list of what I thought the top 10 anime OPs of 2009 were. Enjoy!

10. “Aoi Hana” by Kukikodan - Sweet Blue Flowers OP

This is a nice little song to start off the countdown.

9. “Super Driver” by Aya Hirano – The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya OP2

While the ED was the good song from the first season, the OP was the good song from the second season of Haruhi.

8. “Kimi ni Todoke” by Tanizawa Tomofumi – Kimi ni Todoke OP

Another nice soft rock song that I think is pretty good and matches the show pretty well.

Get the Flash Player to see this content.

7. “Kimi Shinitamō Koto Nakare” by May’n – Shangri-la OP

I wasn’t too sure about this OP to start with, but it kind of grew on me after a while

6. “HANAJI” by Yu Kobayashi – Maria Holic OP

Rather ecchi, but how can one not like this OP?

5. “Karma” by KOKIA – Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom OP1

KOKIA once again makes the list, this time for her excellent, if not eerie, OP for Phantom.

Get the Flash Player to see this content.

4. “Parallel Hearts” by FictionJunction – Pandora Hearts OP

This OP just stuck on me from the very start.  I think it’s pretty good, anyway

3. “Oyasumi Paradox” by Etsuko Yakushimaru – Natsu no Arashi! Akinai-chū OP

I didn’t watch this show, but I love this OP.

2. “Falling Down” by Oasis – Eden of the East OP

One of the very best OPs of the year, if not for the past few years. And being sung in English (being that it’s sung by Oasis) probably doesn’t hurt either.

1. “kiseki” by NIRGILIS – Birdy the Mighty DECODE 02 OP

However, the #1 OP of the year goes to a show from all the way back in the winter season.  It was a tough choice between #1 and #2, but I thought this one just won out.

Kobato – Episode 12

It’s Kobato episode 12, and we end up hearing a lot about the world Ioryogi is from and why he is helping Kobato.

kobato12-00002 kobato12-00005 kobato12-00008
kobato12-00015 kobato12-00020 kobato12-00023

Read More »

Top 10 Anime Endings of 2009

As I did last year, here is the list of what I thought the top 10 anime EDs of 2009 were. Enjoy!

10. “Kimi ni, Mune Kyun” by Yu Kobayashi, Asami Sanada and Marina Inoue – Maria Holic ED

This was kind an odd ED, though it probably fit the series in that regard.  It kind of grew on me, though, after a while.

9. “Hajimari no Asa ni Hikari Are” by midori – Shangri-la ED

I’m kind of surprised this landed as low as it did.  I guess it says something about the quality of the EDs this past year.

8. “Transparent” by KOKIA – Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom ED2

Like KOKIA’s OP for the same series, this one is somewhat eerie, and as a result, fits the series well

7. “Zetsubou Restaurant” by Zetsubou Shoujotachi – Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei ED1

This is kind of a funny ED.  I’ve never seen any of these series, though it kinda almost makes me want to

6. “Link” by angela – Asura Cryin’ ED1

Another good song by angela.  Many of the songs for this show were good, and this was the best one, but the only one to make the lists.

5. “Koi no Uta” by Haruka TomatsuShinkyoku Soukai Polyphonica Crimson S ED

This is kind of a nice, soft but feel-good-like song, with interesting animation to add to it.

4. “BACCHIKOI!!!” by DEV PARADE – Naurto Shippuden ED8

Yes, I even check out OPs and EDs for shows like Naruto when doing this list.  For once, they had one which was not only good enough to make a list, but high on the list.  This ED is just hilarious to me, even though I’ve never watched the show.

Get the Flash Player to see this content.

3. “Blue sky, True sky” by Aira Yuhki – Tears to Tiara ED1

This was a tough choice for the #3 spot, but I think this song was, overall, a bit better quality.

Get the Flash Player to see this content.

2. “Don’t say ”lazy”” by Yoko Hikasa with Aki Toyosaki, Satomi Satou and Minako Kotobuki – K-ON ED

This song was a pretty easy choice for #2.  The show might not have been that great, but it did have some good music.

1. “Hikari to Yami to Toki no Hate” by Ceui – Sora wo Miageru Shoujo no Hitomi ni Utsuru Sekai ED

I melt whenever I hear this.  This was a no-brainer as #1 on my list.

  • Visit These Websites

  • Blogged Series

  • Categories

  • Series Tag List

  • Pages

  • Archives

  • Calendar

    March 2010
    S M T W T F S
    « Jan    
     123456
    78910111213
    14151617181920
    21222324252627
    28293031