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.

Currently Watching Anime (December 2012)

This past month has been absolutely hectic with finals finishing up. Not only did they mess up my anime posts but also my life in general. I have had barely any time to work on music, play TOR, or even hang out friends -___-. But hey with 5 weeks off from classes coming up I cannot complain. Here is what I am watching at the moment:

Initial D Fifth Stage 2 out of ?
Little Busters! 10 out of ?
To Love-Ru: Darkness 9 out of ?
Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun 11 out of ?
Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo 12 out of ?
Sword Art Online 24 out of ? Finished!!!
Onii-chan Dakedo Ai Sae Areba Kankeinai yo ne 12 out of ? Finished!!!
Kamisama Hajimemashita 6 out of ? Stalled
K 1 out of ? Stalled
Haiyore! Nyaruko-san 1 out of ? Stalled

Sword Art Online is starting to get a little...ehhh along with Little Busters. I have still yet to know what the main focus of Onii-chan Dakedo Ai Sae Areba Kankeinai yo ne is and where the hell did Initial D Fifth Stage go!!?? Oh by the way Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun and Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo are amazing so go watch them now.

"Initial D Fifth Stage" (Anime) Episode 1 Thoughts

Ahh after a very lengthy wait, Initial D is back hoping to keep its main protagonist Takumi moving on up in the drift racing world. I spent a lot of my very early anime watching days on all of the Initial D seasons because while it wasn't the best looking anime, it was by far one of the most enticing ones. Never have I been so glued to the screen so excited for the next race to start. With the limitations they had with animation during the late 90's they made this anime one of the best action/car racing shows in existence.

I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people have not heard of Initial D since it is a late 90's anime that didn't have overwhelming visuals and sound. The premise of Initial D follows Takumi Fujiwara as he strides to become the best drift racer in Japan. Along his way he runs into Keisuke and Ryousuke Takahashi who over the course of the various seasons from a racing team that takes on all challengers. If you truly want to enjoy this anime I strongly encourage you start from the beginning and work your way up to this current season because other than a very short and vague into, you will not be brought up to speed on what happened in the previous seasons. This show starts guns blazing right after the Battle Stages as a direct continuation of the main story.

What really set me back during this first episode was the animation style the show is continuing to sport. While it isn't horrible, the character models remain very similar to the previous works of the anime. They have been of course overhauled and look much better than say the first and second stages (seasons) but the overall look of the show stays intact. Usually when we see a show make its way back to tv after a lengthy break, the animation will look much different and more refined. What Initial D has shown is that you can have a show retain older characteristics while still making it appealing to the audience. Keep in mind though that this anime will not be the best animated work that you will see. Unlike today's anime that tries to make each male and female lead as attractive as possible to the opposite sex, the characters in this anime have a much more real look to them. No fancy smancy character models; just typical looking Japanese people. Not a whole lot of driving was showcased in this first episode but where it was present was pretty decent. It is by far a HUGE step forward compared to the previous seasons as the cars flow much nicer between frames.

This first episode seems like the typical, "Ok this is what the season's goals are and let’s introduce some new characters". Overall all that it ends up getting reveled in this episode is that Takumi is still on the racing team and he still only wants to further his skills. The team in general still has a mission statement of proving that they are the best downhill and uphill racing team in Japan. It is unclear if they (the animation studio) will introduce a new plot device as the whole “We are going to so and so region to kick some teams butts. Then we are going to so and so to do the same thing again.” is getting a little boring.

 I am very much looking forward to this season as I hope it continues to showcase some amazing car battles along the roads of Japan's most dangerous mountain passes.