Death’s Notes and Thoughts

Archive for the ‘anime’ Category

The summer of a man’s boyhood memories continue. Still on the cusp between childhood and being a man, he has linked with the ghost of a young woman from the World War 2 era. She, and the ghosts of other young ladies from that time, continue adventures alongside their linked partners, learning more about each other and travelling through time via their supernatural connection. While he struggles to see his crush on her come to fruition, meanwhile his friend- a girl his age, pretending to be a boy- seeks his attention as well. [taken from ANN] Well, to say it in short words they go on where S1 left off. Hajime still fails hard to realise that Jun is a girl. Even after seeing her basically naked he still fails… the is so bold. Poor Hajime. But there is even more to laugh and a lots of new parodies on older animes everyone knows. And as far as I can tell we probably get also here a S3 since the summer dont end with this season. But also we get to see chibi Arashi, she is so cute <3. If u enjoyed S1, you will definitly luv S2.

Opening

Source: YouTube

Ending

Source: YouTube

Have fun,

-Death

Kanuu and Chouhi’s group rescue a mysterious girl, who is actually the real Ryuubi, her name and heirloom sword stolen after the events of the last season. The group sets off to recover Ryuubi’s sword. At the same time, a group of street performers, the three Chou Sisters, are given a mysterious magic book that may be more trouble than they think. (taken from AnimeNewsNetwork) It’s bascially a continuation of the ways and the story that begins in S1. In this one we get a hint that we get a S3, since pretty early the introduce a character we see later again and that truns out to be evil, but not getting beaten in the end. Well, if they keep it like that I don’t mind to see more. They gave us more boobies, more sexy scenes and a lot of fun scenes again… I liked the episode with the boob-contest the best^^. I mean I dont remember any other animes where they tried to catch eels with their… oh well, I shouldn’t spoil the fun. So, if you like ecchi, and enjoyed S1, go for it. I dont have really much more to say^^.

Shin Koihime Musou OP

Source: DailyMotion

Shin Koihime Musou ED (uncut)

Source: DailyMotion

As far as I can tell, the difference between the 2 versions of the ED is that the cut have a row of houses behind the chibi’s. Dunno, I liked it better that way. Have fun with Koihime~.

-Death

Well first lets start with the music videos, the first one I came across when searching something but beats me what it was again… I just marked it since I liked it. The rest comes from a YouTube session together with my friend Marcus.

[AMV] SC & ToraDora – Ring Ding Dong

Source: DailyMotion

Anime Mix – Evacuate the Dancefloor

Source: YouTube

The Author said that the video isn’t perfect due some masking errors but dunno, I like it as it is. The next 2 videos are also from that author at youtube. The rest of the uploader wasn’t my thingie, too much naruto… (I don’ t like it)

Lucky Star ~Waka Laka

Source: YouTube

I like the funny song combined with some funny ownage moments from Lucky Star.

Suzumiya Haruhi-Just the way i am

Source: YouTube

A video truly benefitting Haruhi. It nicly show her “own” ways accomplished by a perfectly matching song. Its sad that her ways aren’t too strong shown in the anime compared to the novel. Oh well, thats it for now. I hope you enjoy those little videos like I did.

-Death

Based on a shounen manga by Takashi Shiina, serialised in Shounen Sunday. In the future, people with ESP are becoming more widespread. The Japanese government has hired three of the most powerful ESPers in Japan to work for B.A.B.E.L. (Base of Backing ESP Laboratory), but all three are ten year old girls with questionable attitudes. [taken from AniDB] Well, what should I say, it was kinda entertaining but the end sucked for me since it leaves pretty much all open like there should be a new season, but they didn’t got that far until now, so uguu~…. The chars are definitiv have potential for fun. Kaoru is our telekinesis specialist, and also make very often use of that power. Often to punish not only the bad guys but also Minamoto (their guardian and supervisor), pressing that poor fellow into the next wall or throwing him across the room. To add some funfactor to her already pretty much impulsive behavior she acts like an old man when it comes to girls/womans, means she is kinda perverted. Groping and pantsu watching is nothing unusual for her (poor Oboro-san). Next in line comes Aoi-chan (my favorite), she have a bit more refined behavior then Kaoru and has the ability to teleport herself and also things around her. She has a  kansai flavored way of speech which u can reconise from her characteristic habit of using -han instead of -san when she speaks of Minamoto, but that makes her just cuter. Dunno, but her voice is just wonderful and quite a good match for her character, its kinda outstanding thats why I write about it here. She thinks more then Kaoru and isn’t that impulsive like her, rather a bit cautious. But she let get herself often dragged along with the others. Yea, and there is our lil’ evil Shiho-chan. Her ability is named psychometry, means she can read thoughts from things human touched aswell as read your throughts when she touched you. She has that habit to dive into the dark of the human soul, and in some episodes she even tortures her opponent with that a bit. Also she always tend to have the most weird weapons like needles or a teaser at hand, through quite often she also makes use of a pistol to defend herself. Coming from her ability to read thoughts she can get quite forceful on others since “she have the knowlage”^^. Since the girls keep together like a team, you can imagine what comes out from that. What bugged me in the later  course of the series is that we first get one (evil?) organisation, named PANDORA. Ok, here we have our bad guys, lead by our major. So far so good, and they stay the bad guys (most the time, sometimes they also help The Children cause the major have a liking for some reason in Kaoru). But then around 12-14 episodes before we come to the end another even more evil organisation appears, named Black Phantom. What sucks about that is that cause of the 2nd evil organisation they never come far enough to make an end to the whole thing that makes sense. Thats whats bugging me, when the series end no of both organisations is destroyed. Ok, PANDORA is laying low at the end but still… also that idea that they age around 2(?) years at the end, or more specific in the last episode also was kinda fail. I mean first u get to know them when they’re around 10 years, and they keep more or less that look during the series. But then suddently in the last episodes they look at least 2 years older, and suddently graduate. It even more feels like a provoked preparation for a new season. And speaking of provokation, I can’t help myself but some of the jokes in the series are quite lame and very provoked. They lack the suprise moment and u can see them pretty well coming, which rob me of some funfactor. Still it’s a series dealing with a esper scenartio in a good way and providing some nice ideas about such, so its not that bad either. Thats why I said earlier I found it entertaining but it lacks some essential points to get a “good” rating from me. If you’re not sure if it suits your intrests, give it a try and watch at least 10 episodes, then u should know if u want to go on or not. Yea… and if you dont like the loli topic too much, u should let it be since they play with that at some ends quite much.

Zettai Karen Children Opening 1

Source: YouTube

Zettai Karen Children Opening Live Version PV

Source: YouTube

Since I didn’t found a version of the ED but came across a live variant of the OP I added this instead for the lulz. If u like the live version, digg a bit on youtube and u come across a full length pv.

-Death

Based on a shoujo manga by PEACH-PIT, serialised in Nakayoshi. Everybody at Seiyo Elementary thinks that stylish and super cool Hinamori Amu has it all: But nobody knows the real Amu, a shy girl who wishes she had the courage to truly be herself. Changing Amu’s life is going to take more than wishes and dreams–it’s going to take a little magic! One morning, Amu finds a surprise in her bed: three strange little eggs. Each egg contains a Guardian Character, an angel-like being who can give her the power to be someone new. With the help of her Guardian Characters, Amu is about to discover that her true self is even more amazing than she ever dreamed. [taken from AniDB] The Description is from the first season, cause the so called “2nd” season is basically a seamless continue, so I consider them as one and also review them here as one long series. First of all, I must say I was kinda surprised that the anime isn’t as low and stupid like I first thought when  a friend of mine, Asakomi, said to me I should give it a try since I could like it. It too a few episodes until it begun to unleash it’s fun potential, but then it definitely catched me. At first it seems it’s the usual kids series that run later on your local station at lunch time to entertain the kids, but for people who knows their anime is a lot to see present. Also unlike other series that follow this stereotyp I descriped here our characters undergo a development in behavior and feelings. It’s not like often that in the start she is having a crush on him but never during the series there comes a conclusion to it, no, sure here is nothing final yet as the manga still continues but still one gets a good idea whats coming up. Also she is quite tricky, maybe not intended but the result is what counts, when it comes to men. I mean later on she have a kind of harem around her, just that she don’t take the big advantage of that fact^^. It’s fun to see the harem-game in a different variant from the usual. But well, lets not forget about her lil’ fellows that aren’t bad either. Ran (red/heart)) is her sporty and a bit hyperactive self, causing our dear Amu often problems since she is quite impulsive and so takeover her every now and then. Then we got Miki (blue/spade), the artistic self, through she tries to act a bit reserved later on she melts and gets more social/livly. Also she is a bit of a collector when it comes to male shugo chara’s, kinda the Amu of the shugo chara’s^^. I mean during the series so far (up to episode 102) she had a crush on nearly every male char, and did collect a lot of pictures of them. Then there is our parodie shugo chara, at least I would title her like that, Sue (green/clover). Those of you, who saw Rozen Maiden, may agree that she is a friendly parodie variant of Sueseseki, her looks kinda remind me, also her habit of always adding “-desu” and her clumsyness. It’s just that she is the counterpart of Sueseseki in terms of behavior, as she is friendly with friend and foe. Dunno, she was often a reason for me to lol a lot. It has definitly a reason why she have a kind of repair ability ;p. But yea, there are also the fellow characters of Amu, with their own Shugo Charas. First she meets the so called “Guardians” which are her first fellows, and begin to fight the evil X-Characters. But intrestingly here we don’t kill our enemy but rather put them in a corner and then pyschologically finish them off. The X-char result from a depressed and lost heart, so she have to make them believe in their dream again. I like this alternative way of solution a lot, since often they have to kinda “kill” the enemy but here they clean them. But then again, when I think over it, the main reason to watch it for me was the funfactor the shugo chara’s produce, since they hit often the bulls eye with their comments on Amu’s behavior, make her going angry (which is kinda cute), and also the fact the character’s develop. Also a positive aspect was that here it don’t play out the school life/scenario card. Often you also see the bunch in private clothes (and those change!, a rare ocassion), and during their free time. I must say I took a liking in Amu’s style which I would descripe as “light gothic”, through she also sometimes wear more “normal” clothes. Another thing which surprised me was how they integrated the trap-topic (trap => a boy dressed up perfectly as a girl or other way round). It’s not giving me those eerie feeling like other series did, for example Happiness!, which I call for a reason rather Trappiness! *creepy~*. Also this series have a rather positive message that gets delivered to the viewer during watching, like “Continue to believe in your dream!” and “Go for your dream!”. All together I had much fun, and also didn’t felt like they filled up somewhere (through they probably did as they’re ahead of the manga, hence that Shugo Chara Party crap running now), since all fall into it’s place, it may take time until one see it, but then it gets visible. So give it a try and have lots of fun like me!

I picked some op’s and ed’s from the ones, otherwise it would get too much. Why the weird border is present, beats me, but those where the only HQ variants of the OP i came across…

Shugo Chara Opening 2

Source: YouTube

Shugo Chara S2 Ending 2

Source: Youtube

Shugo Chara S2 Ending 1

Source: YouTube

Enjoy!

-Death

The Yomota family is small and typical: father Kinekuni (42), mother Tamiko (38), and son Inumaru (17). One day, a beautiful girl appears at their front door, calling herself “Maroko Yomota,” granddaughter of Inumaru who travels back in time with a time machine to visit her ancestors. Even with Tamiko’s strong objection, Kinekuni and Inumaru welcome her to stay with them, and the structure of a happy family has begun to collapse. [coming from AnimeNewsNetwork] Well, where should I begin? It’s a really weird anime. The motivation to watch this OVA at first was that it features Kenji Kawaii aswell as Mamoru Oshii, both are people that brought us numerous great animes including Ghost In The Shell, Patlabor, Avalon, and more… But after the first episode it got me and I because curious how it goes on. Before it was looking really weird and I was kinda unsure but it dragged me into its world. It begins with that weird time machine storyline and then later envolve into some kind of family drama where the family falls apart. But later on as if this move was just to confuse the viewer they let the family merge again and live on until a point where Maruko vanish again. Its not done at that point and still goes on for a bit. So far I understand it as parody of some sort spice with some hints to think about the concept of family and bloodrelations that gets served with a drop randomness. I definitly think I have to watch this one serveral times to fully get it or at least get a further idea about the intent of the creator. Also intresting was the way they made it up, hence the title of the entry. They made it up like a theater piece, a piece with just a handful of actors. It’s not that much present in the first episode but later on it gets more clear, when u have scenes in a very theater like manner with spotlight on a character and the others around in the dark (or complete not visible). Also u have that songs inserts made up in a funny and sometimes dramatic made up, which also remind me much on a theater. Another fact the viewer might figure is that the characters seems to have “joints”, not fully drawn out but indicated as if they’re puppets. It gives an additional intresting feeling to the whole thing which develops pretty hasty but gains from the speed and the confusion it sometimes causes. Also people who knows Kenji Kawaii’s works from other animes can hear out very nice his “flavor” out of the background music pieces, it was something I noted with joy as I personally like Kenji Kawaii’s works very much, and this one is definitly a one of his. I probably stated this earlier but he has this great ability to deepen the mood the scene bring with his music and to give it a unique touch I dont find in other animes/movies/series. I wouldn’t go too much in the story and the chars as the description gave u a fair idea of them and to go into the story may spoil it. Also anothe r reason is to me that I’m not sure yet to have it fully understood, but if you like a animes that is a bit different with an intresting fully setup this is one for you. Also I was wondering alone with a friend (Marcus), if they got payed for the constant advertising of Coca Cola, since u have in every single episode multiple appearances of Cola cans, sign and other stuff. Also one can note other big brands. I think after all its meant as some parody on them, but I’m not entirly sure. Maybe it is just that we’re very used to them obfuscate the brands, like making McWonalds out of McDonalds or Risa out of Visa (through one still can figure the original most the times when its international stuff). Kinda reminds me on Black Lagoon, where they changed Heineken (a beer brand) to Heireken, but kept the original can design and all^^. Anyway, enough of those memorys, if u liked my description of it, or found it at least intresting, pay Frostii a visit and grab your copy to watch it. Just keep in mind that u should watch it when u have time so u can think about it afterwards.

Opening

Source: YouTube

I was lucky to find this one, the rest of the “videos” on tube just consists of the music from the individual episodes.

-Death

Anime adaptation of Chunsoft’s visual novel mystery game 428 ~Fuusa Sareta Shibuya de~. Two years ago, Shibuya was ravaged by a biological terrorist attack using the deadly Ua virus. Maria Osawa was saved when her father inoculated her against the virus, but is left with partial amnesia from the shock. Now working as a cameraman, she reunited with her friend Canaan in Hong Kong. Canaan is an assassin gifted with synesthesia, and she’s being targeted by the terrorist squad Snake. Meanwhile, numerous groups converge on Hong Kong, all after either Canaan or Maria. [taken from AnimeNewsNetwork] It was a good one. The anime may use some scenario points the regular anime watcher may already reconise but still they manage to give it a fresh and new touch as they found a pretty intresting explanation of the way things started. Sure one can argue we had already viruses and biological weapons (Venus VS Virus, Black Cat, and many more) but yet I liked the way this one works and what its side-effects are. Its was enough to get me into a good mood and the anime kept the promise of beeing intresting through sometimes I got a bit lost in the specific types of the “affected people”, also it also take a while until they fully explain things. But thats not the main point the anime wanna get on, its just a mark on the way to the real point which they kept good until the last 2 episodes. Some may figure out the deal earlier then those but I don’t think it will have a bad effect on the overall experience. Also the anime was also pretty sarcastic in some way which I would descripe as pretty harsh but still we shouldn’t forget it’s not your daily school girl anime but a rather violent (but not overly) one. It says what it means through non-sugarcoated pictures, a point which I also liked about it. Especially since latly I often feel like they over-/missuse violence and sex appeal to cover that the story and scenario behind is extreme weak. Something I find rather discuthing so this one was compared to those a refreshing one. It wasnt too long and not taking side walks to fill gaps in the storyline. Another rare thing I found in this one was the really good drawn picture of the psychotic submissive follower thats so blinded by her love for her “nee-san” that she fail to see the reality anymore. Unlike other animes did she kept it up until the very end, even going as far as enjoying to get killed by her loved. Thats a point where most other animes let the char turn love into hate as they feel betrayed. Thats something that is one possiblity but it got overused and so as for me lost impact. Here I was rather suprised that his didn’t happend and I must say it was a match. The character was perfectly acting out his ill-love along with the sardistic tribes. It made me reminding Perfect Blue somehow, where they also drew the picture of the psychotic sardistic stalking lover. All together I must say I liked it, through like stated earlier it was for me a bit confusing at some points of the storyline.

Trailer

If someone wonder why it says music video, its the offical promo trailer for the Comic Market 75. Source: YouTube

Opening

Source: YouTube

Ending

Source: YouTube

-Death

Here is some great piece of anime done by an independant author. I found it on Sankaku Complex and took a liking in it. It’s very simple storywise but sometimes like u can see here the less can be the more aka very funny. The clips also enjoys very high attention currently on YouTube and Nico Nico Druga. Without further words, here is the fun:

Source: YouTube

For those who want more, you can find some storyboards and concept arts on the authors webpage found here.

Have much fun with it, and thanks to the author. We look forward to more :).

-Death

[Via Sankaku Complex]

The Summer of “Anu”: In a summer once every five years, demons in the mysterious Tower of Druaga lose their powers due to the magic spell cast by a god named “Anu”. King Gilgamesh, ruler of the kingdom Uruk, uses the appearance of demons as an excuse to invade the tower and find out the construct’s secrets. As 80 years passed, the Uruk army managed to fight back the demons and built a fortress city and safe haven on the very first floor of Druaga – Metz Kier. Thus begins the story of a warrior named Gil who, finding companions along the way, embarks on a quest for the fabled Blue Crystal Rod, a powerful artifact rumored to be in the highest floor of Druaga. However, other competitors, including the kingdom of Uruk itself, want the treasure, all for their own reasons. [stolen from ANN] (if u wanna know the desc of the 2nd series too look it up here) I will write down here the impression on the complete series instead of the individual parts as they should be watched together now that u can grab both. I must say i enjoyed this series. It was a good mix out of parodie parts, some more or less comedical parts and some good old action parts with epic fights. Sure probably the the hardcore fantasy fan will say that this series suck as it have too much “side stuff” from his point of view, but that was something I liked since it made the series lighter. Lighter in a manner that a non-hardcore fan can also have fun at it. Also I liked how the story was turning unexpected sometimes since ppl was changing sides, just in the 2nd series it got a bit confusing *yare yare*. But thats one of the less points where I say “meeh”, another is maybe the sometimes bad implented 3D cgi action. But on the other hand it gives it a slight game feeling which is also enjoyable in its own way, right ? Dunno, it entertained me so I tend to see things positive. One of the best jokes was still the episode which Jil beeing the “figure” in a arcarde like fantasy automat. Man, that was made me lulz a lot. Also fun is the joke they made with ep 1, make sure to grab the alternative version and watch it later on. They also didnt overused the usualy “god” topic like some other series tend to do. I mean this series goes around a god myth so there is influence by god figures but in a moderate manner. Dont wanna go deeper into this otherwise I spoil. Hm, I say for the casual fantasy fan its a good one, for the hardcore it can be good or not, depends on his individual expections I think. Make your choice ;).

Opening S1

I should say here, the op’s are a bit missleading since they show the chars in a School/Daily Life like enviroment. Through the op of s1 is a kinda crossover, while the op of s2 have not that feature. But it is a fantasy anime, dun worry, no school/romance one ;).

Opening S2

Ending S2

Have fun,

-Death

Yuusuke was just a normal kid going to high school. Then one day, the cute and behaloed Noelle fell, quite literally, into his life, naked as a baby and every bit as innocent. Before he can even fathom what’s just happened, Yuusuke is inducted into a rather odd family of otherworldly beings straight out of The Munsters. Papa is a Frankenstein monster with a taste for calisthenics. Mama is a gorgeous lady with a penchant for “round objects” — really! The eldest sister, Sara, is literally invisible; the brother, Gabriel, is a teenage vampire with an attitude problem; and the youngest sister, Ruka, loves inventing things. There’s a disapproving Grandma, who’s a witch to the nth degree, and her vulture familiar. All Yuusuke wanted was for the beautiful Natsumi to even notice his attention, but now he has an angel-in-training to follow him wherever he goes. And Noelle, too, has a guide on her path to being an angel, the mysterious Michael (or Kaeru-san). [from Animenfo.com] Well, it was fun until like 6 episods before the end where the anime started implenting a very weird, selfcentered logic without any explanations “why” things happens. Another angel related anime, namely “Ah! My Goddess TV” tended to explain to the viewer why things happens like they do. But if u get along with that fact and annoying logic, go and read further. The chars in this one are quite a out of the normal bunch as we got a bunch of “daemon” class chars. A witch, a vampire, a cat daemon, a girl with the ability to get invisible, an other witch with her weird bird companion and more. I personally took a liking in Miruru, the neko daemon. She is like u want your catgirl but just a bit… well, wicked at some times. Also she goes damn hot for the poor Gabe who have his probs with her love as he is allergic to cats^^. But those two arent our main chars, those are Noelle and Yuusuke (god… i cant hear that name anymore). No, this is not a harem anime, even if some might smell harem here. I agree he hangs between two girls in the later story but thats it. And two I dont call harem. Whats annoying about Noelle is her constant screaming of Yuusuke’s name. After like 10 episodes you wanna erase the name from the anime, I kinda think of rewatching it with doing a count of how often she screams his name. Her childish and “i trust them all” behavior is for a while fun but then it also looses a bit its impact as you get used to it a bit much. What I more found intresting since it was giving this weird and dark feeling off since u dont understand it until a certain point is the side stuff with Dispel-sama and Silky. I dont wanna go too deep into this as I would end up spoiling a part of the story. But Dispel was definitly an intresting fellow in terms of beeing the evil dude that takes the angel to the darkside (hmm, describing it this way make me kinda wanna say “Luke, I’m your father. Join the dark side!”). Oh well, Also fun was the enemy the face later on, Muse-chan. That lil one is trying really hard but faces always the problem that she is too shy and always seems to regret her actions fast, which give her a own “i dont have trust in myself” charm. Like u just wanna cuddle her and say “It’s all ok”. Also its every time again fun to see into what she transforms next, just to fail short after it again. Man, thinking over it afterall it maybe wasnt so bad, but I disliked that non-explained and with selffish irrlogic soaked end of it. That and Noells constant “Yuusuke” screaming. But like I said in the beginning, who can get along with it, go and watch it. You will like it.

Opening

Source: Youtube

Ending

Source: Youtube

To watch or not to watch, thats the question for you ;).

-Death