Currently Watching Anime (Feb. 2013)

So it’s finally March which means…SPRING BREAK!!! I will be going to Mexico with some family and friends this coming week so don’t expect any anime posts for the duration. So far this anime season has provided some surprises and I am proud to say that I have not dropped anything…yet (I don’t count Initial D Fifth Stage because of its weird release dates). Here is what I am currently watching:

Kotoura-san 9 out of ?
Sasami-san@Ganbaranai 8 out of ?
Mondaiji-Ji-tachi ga Isekai Kara Kuru Sou Desu yo? 8 out of ?
Chihayafuru 2 8 out of ?
Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi go Shuraba Sugiru 9 out of ?
Maoyuu Maou Yuusha 9 out of ?
Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT 8 out of ?
Little Busters! 21 out of ?
Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo 20 out of ?
Da Capo III 9 out of ?
Initial D: Fifth Stage  

"Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT" Episode 4 Thoughts IT'S NOT A TRAP

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING POST CONTAINS A HUGE SPOILER RETAINING TO THE CAST OF BOKU WA TOMODACHI GA SUKUNAI. IF YOU ARE NOT ON THE NEWEST SEASON OF THE ANIME PLEASE DO NOT READ 

Yay now I won't feel awkward watching this scene.

Let me start out this post by saying I F#@%ING KNEW IT. We have had males who look like females (Ryuunosuke Akasaka, Terumi Minamoto, ext.) and a Hideyoshi but ever since I was introduced to Yukimura in Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai I just couldn’t believe that he/she/it was a male. The anime world can make some unbelievable things a reality but Yukimura just couldn’t be a male. Well in this week’s episode the cat was let out of the bag after the bathroom scene. No longer do we have to write Yukimura off the list of potential candidates for Kodaka; Kodaka x Yukimura!

Episode four was pretty interesting to watch; the whole club ended up going to a theme park to enjoy a day off from school. Sena, Kodaka, and Kobato ended up going to a show where thanks to Sena’s help Kobato was able to participate in and win a prize. Since Sena and Kodaka were mistaken as a married couple, we saw Sena talking to herself about how they would have to start dating before anything like that would occur. After the show was over however, a contest between Yozora and Sena erupted. Both of them would not back down on who could ride the “Black Dragon” roller coaster the most (even though they both are scared of either roller coasters and/or heights). What resulted from their contest was both of them losing their lunch all over Kodaka (gross). The gang ended up going to a spa area to wash his clothes. In the meantime while the group was enjoying the bath facilities at the location, Kodaka accidently sneaks a peak at Yukimura where load and behold the truth is finally out.

Hey! Important stuff is finally happening in this season’s show. We have had a marriage proposal by Sena’s father, a (almost) kiss between Sena and Kodaka, and we found out that Yukimura is indeed a super cute girl (a reverse trap?). For a show only four episodes in I have to say that I judged it harshly at first. The comedy aspect, the witty (and sometimes perverse) conversations, and character development are still intact in this show. We have seen Yozora become quite defensive as Sena and Yukimura become closer and closer to Yukimura which is a good thing because at the rate this show is going the history between Kodaka and Yozora will most likely prevail. 

There is not as much character growth as the first season but with eight episodes left I am sure that we will see some of the characters mature. It’s not my favorite anime of this season but it’s still pretty awesome. Pick it up if you like slapstick comedy.

"Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT" (Anime) Episodes 2-3 Thoughts

Wait a second...this is supposed to be the other way around...

So Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT so far has been something its predecessor wasn’t; averagely funny. Now don’t take averagely in a negative way because this show is by no means boring to watch or has poor quality. The reason I used average as my way of explaining the show is because this season feels too much like the previous one and not really an improvement. Now some may argue that a follow up season should feel exactly like the first and I would agree 90% of the time. The problem I have with Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT at the moment though is that there really hasn’t been any funny skits or events in the first three episodes. So far all that has happened is a “king” game that almost ended with a kiss, the club sponsor spending the night at Kodaka’s house, and well…that’s it. The first season had some epic and funny episodes like when the club ventured into the Monster Hunter like video game and had to defeat the final boss or when the club went to the beach and Yozora treated Sena like dirt. This new season has not struck any overly funny notes with me so far and I really hope it improves. In my honest opinion it has kind of wasted the first three episodes on things that could have been well…not included (minus the king game which has repercussions heading into episode four). I mean it’s still enjoyable to watch; just seems to be a notch off of its previous season. I am looking (and hoping for the best) forward to the coming episodes; I haven’t read the source material so I am anxiously awaiting who will end up with Kodaka (I hope its Yozora…).

Was this scene really needed...?

"Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru", "Maoyuu Maou Yuusha", and "Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT" Initial Episode(s) Thoughts

Well I had quite a surprised feeling after finishing the first episode(s) of Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru, Maoyuu Maou Yuusha, and Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT (these anime names are getting longer and longer…). Never had I been so excited and anxious for the next release for the next episode to air the following week. Let’s talk about Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru first:

Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru is from what I can tell a light drama/slice of life that revolves around the fake relationship of Masuzu and Eita. What has me so interested in this particular series is the character Masuzu. She is bold, unique, manipulative, and a whole bunch of other things. She sets the premise of the show by asking out Eita to be her fake boyfriend so that the other boys at her school will stop bothering her. At first Eita declines the invitation but when she presents a long lost book of Eita’s he quickly changes his mind. The character interactions between these two characters are so fun to watch that the episodes fly by so quickly. When you enter Chiwa (Eita’s childhood friend) into the equation you receive a very fun looking love triangle in the works. The initial two episodes do a great job of setting up the plot and introducing the characters and their intentions. I am looking forward to this anime’s future releases.

Maoyuu Maou Yuusha kind of caught me off guard because I actually stumbled upon it on accident. When looking for another episode of another anime, I found this series and thought “Well one more anime couldn’t hurt”. The plot of the show starts out with the Hero confronting the Demon King. He shortly finds out though that the Demon King is actually a very beautiful and normal looking female that wants to bring peace to the world. After telling the Hero her goals, they decide to mutually help each other out. The initial premise of the show first made me think that this might be another boring adventure anime. There were also hints of early romance being instigated by the Demon King with the Hero missing a couple bites. What I found out after two episodes though is that this anime does have some good quality points. They go into detail on why the humans and demons wage war so that countries without a food source will receive financing from the government. They go into great detail on how these countries would starve and die without war. The Demon King (or should I say queen) is very knowledgeable of many useful things such as the state of the war and agriculture. She plans on helping a small village thrive in order to start her conquest of peace. I have to say that Maoyuu Maou Yuusha has started out very well and I am eagerly awaiting next week’s episode.

Finally we have Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT, an anime that I have somewhat been waiting for since finishing up its first season. Its predecessor was by no means a masterpiece but was still entertaining to watch. This season starts off pretty much where the first one left off; Kodaka, Sena, Yozora, Rika, and Yukimura are all part of a club that meets after school each day. Their club’s goal is to make friends and although you can say they are all friends, many strange events happen between each character. For one thing, one reason the show is enjoyable to watch is because each character is essentially socially awkward. Each character is either putting on a fake personality, used to being alone, ore is just plain weird. The interactions that follow are amusing to watch because the characters are always playing pranks on each other or doing something strange in public. The back and forth conversations between Sena and Yozora are especially entertaining to watch because they both are very close to being on the same wavelength. Overall the first episode follows the same flow as the previous season so basically if you want to know if you would like this show, just watch the first season first. If you skip the first season you might be a little lost.

All three of these shows started out great; I do not really know what else to add so I’ll say only this, “GO WATCH THEM NOW”.

Coming Soon: "K" and "Oda Nobuna no Yabou" (Anime) Reviews

Just a heads up reviews of K and Oda Nobuna no Yabou are coming as soon as I go back to school next week. I picked both of these series up on a whim a week or so ago and decided to finish them off before I leave. I was surprised at how much I ended up liking Oda Nobuna no Yabou and was astonished at the visual presentation and amazing sound of K. I have also been looking at the currently airing anime to see what might be worth picking up and so far the only ones I have decided to invest my time in are Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT, Initial D: Fifth Stage, and Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru. I am also thinking of picking up Da Capo III but I have heard a lot of negativity about its previous installments.

Currently Watching Anime (Jan 2013)

It's the new year which means new anime!! So far the only new anime I have picked up is Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru (man what a mouth full) but I will be researching the other newly airing anime. Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo, Initial D Fifth Stage, and Little Busters! are all continuing on (looking forward to Initial D and Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo but I am not sure about Little Busters though...). I have picked up Dog Days and Guilty Crown due to some recommendations by some users on Anime-planet. Hopefully they turn out to be worth the time.

Kotoura-san 3 out of ?
Sasami-san@Ganbaranai 3 out of ?
Chihayafuru 2 3 out of ?
Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi go Shuraba Sugiru 3 out of ?
Maoyuu Maou Yuusha 4 out of ?
Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT 3 out of ?
Initial D Fifth Stage 4 out of ?
Little Busters! 16 out of ?
Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo 15 out of ?
Da Capo III 4 out of ?
Seto no Hanayome 10 out of 26
Guilty Crown 22 out of 22 FINISHED!!!
Dog Days 13 out of 13 FINISHED!!!
K 13 out of 13 FINISHED!!!
Oda Nobuna no Yabou 12 out of 12 FINISHED!!!
Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun 12 out of 12 FINISHED!!!
To Love-Ru: Darkness 12 out of 12 FINISHED!!!

Edit: I have now also picked up K (no idea how I missed this one last anime season...) and Oda Nobuna no Yabou which is surprisingly fun to watch.
Edit 2: Finished K, Oda Nobuna no Yabou, and Dog Days. I enjoyed all three and plan on reviewing them. Also picked up Seto no Hanayome because a lot of people have said it is uniquely funny. Kind of stalling on Guilty Crown but I intend on watching some more over the coming weekend. Just a heads up school is starting up again so there might be periods of time where I will not be able to get content out. Don't hate!
Edit 3: Just picked up Kotoura-san and Sasami-san@Ganbaranai; both look like they will be very interesting to watch. Kotoura-san especially got me hooked within the first ten minutes.