Summer 2012

*Includes spoilers. All media credits go to their owners. All pictures from ANN.*

 I didn't watch a whole lot of anime out of the ones that premiered 2012 summer and to be honest, I haven't looked into the ones premiering in October a lot either. There's a couple out of the new ones that I will have a look at - this Btooom seems interesting, maybe Zetsuen no Tempest. But I'll look into those more when a couple of episodes have aired.
Today I'll go over the ones that I did watch from the summer season and what I thought about them. Don't expect full reviews - you can get those in ANN or wherever on teh Internetz. But beware of spoilers!

The first one I watched and the only one I managed to follow through is Natsuyuki Rendezvous. The first episode was SO intriguing that I just could not wait for the next week. Finally a show that isn't about horribly embarrassing and blushy teenagers who know nothing of relationships - or sex. And it had a very nice tempo - up until like episode 5 or 6. After that it was a great sea of melancholy and depressive memories. It did get better at around episode 10 again, but all in all the anime had great potential of becoming one of the most iconic works in the field of life-after-school-anime, similarly to Clannad: After Story, and it blew it. Badly. The flashbacks showing Rokka's life with Shimao were enough for emphasizing how terrible it must have been for the husband to remain there as a ghost and seeing her with a new man - did the show really have to take it to a level of emo and self-pity?
For me, one of the greatest disappointments compared to the potential it had, but for the sake of that potential, I'll give it 6/10

Chouyaku Hyakunin Issu: Uta Koi or just Uta Koi for short takes us to a whole different setting - although similarly to Natsuyuki, it addresses the more subtle and adult love... just (approximately) during the Heian period. The imperial court matters, sending poems for love letters and the actions that the people of the period were able to take form up a magnificent dance between hierarchy, strict rules and flowing emotions. Even the smallest events that would probably mean nothing to us these days are given huge meanings in this anime. The most insignificant things become the foundation of life long love or regret. And conveniently, the complicated emotions and affairs are explained to us peasants. And there's humor - which is refreshing since otherwise it could get a tad depressing.
I haven't quite finished it yet, but so far it's my favourite out of the season. 8/10

Then there's Hagure Yuusha no Aestetica, which is just completely mental. At episode 6 I found myself asking: what the hell is this anime about? There are heroes and epic fantasy, there are massive boobies, lesbian action and peeing in your pants, and there's high-tech machines and an uber-kakkoii protagonist. Seriously, sometimes there are real battles, sometimes the battle takes place in a lingerie shop dressing room where the hero has to find the perfect bra for his 'sister'.
Crazy, weird - but amusing if you like the type. I personally couldn't watch it any further, but I'm sure there are people who think it's awesome.

I haven't watched .hack, but judging by the couple of first episodes that I did see, Sword Art Online seems to be executed a bit better. Not claiming I know for sure though. SAO seems to be on a permanent level of: 'Hey, that's pretty cool', not going up or down a lot. I haven't finished this one either, although it probably deserves to be followed through. It looks promising. As far as I can see, there are 25 episodes announced on ANN and I'm glad, because 12 would've been disappointingly short. I haven't read the manga (because I just don't read manga :P) but I've heard that the real action only begins after the two year time leap in the series. So when I get the time to watch all the released episodes, I hope it will be good enough to fill all 25 with some decent action.

The last three i have basically only glimpsed at. I knew Arcana Famiglia was shoujou, but after watching the first episode, I kinda thought it wouldn't be so bad. It seemed rather epic. Of course, I was proven wrong by episode 2. After the fifth I just stopped watching. Not saying it was horribad, but the topic was not my cup of tea.
 
 Then I watched an episode - or maybe two, can't remember - of Oda Nobuna no Yabou and regretted it immediately. I used to study Japanese Language and Culture in my last university and although it didn't end all that well, I still remember bits and pieces of the history of Japan. And loud school girls with huge boobs was just raping it. Next thing we know, Queen Himiko will be a party-loving onee-san, who likes to collect cute lock-shaped charms. I'm guessing some people (and by people I mean horny boys) will love it, but as far as I'm concerned, this anime should be burned and buried.

And Dakara Boku wa H ga Dekinai was just sooooooo embarrassing. I quit like 5 minutes into the first episode as soon as the main character was done commenting about the girls wet T-shirts out loud. Oh. My. Goodness. Hazukashii!

I hope you all enjoy the new season and lets keep our fingers crossed that there will be something really good!


I have more grains to spill next Friday. In the meanwhile - which anime did you enjoy most and which ones are you looking forward to?

Surprise, yaoi!

*Includes spoilers. Includes objectionable content. NSFW. All media credits go to their owners. *

I don't know about you guys, but when I like an anime I tend to browse pictures and extra info about it. I mean I can't help it - I just really really want to see if the male and female leads end up as a couple or if there are epic battle pictures about. Heehee :x
Sure, it has gotten me into a lot of trouble too, especially when I open a wikia of an anime that I haven't finished yet. I often find out things that I shouldn't for like another 100 episodes. And not all forums have spoiler alerts so sometimes I curse myself for even googling anything at all.

But nothing compares to when I end up on something very unexpected. Like yaoi. Surprise yaoi.

I mean I don't mind yaoi, I've even seen a few of them. They're different and refreshing in a way, although I would not watch them all the time. Buuuuuut, if I'm browsing Naruto pictures and something like this comes up:

Sasuke and Naruto

Then I definitely go like: AMAGAD, my eyes! They burn!!!! Why would you do this????

Ok. Phew. Breathe.
So then I calm down and figure: "Hey, okay. I mean I guess if I wish for Naruto and Hinata to be together (Yessir, I sure do. Go find your Sasuke, you horrible whiny bastard Sakura) then there might be people who would genuinely wish for the two main male characters to be together, right?"

But there are entirely different levels of yaoi that you can stumble upon and yes, you guessed it - I'm going to share a few of these with you today. Since I do not wish to transform this blog into an erotic yaoi heaven, I'll just stick to who are on the pictures, not how they're on the pictures. You can find the latter in Google.

The expected.

Vegeta and Goku

So when browsing general anime pictures, I guess it's not too big of a surprise if the main characters show up in peculiar situations. I may not always like it but if they're close friends in the anime or at least rivals or enemies, then it's bound to invoke some kind of attention and yaoi-fans like to be all over that. Let's say we have a girl and a guy character who always fight - people instantly think there's something more going on. So yeah, I suppose the same logic could work for the same gender. Naruto and Sasuke, Ichigo and Renji, Kira and L and so on. I mean if they turned out to be gay, I'm pretty sure those would be the partners they would choose, right? Be that as it may, the typical main-char combo is to be expected, so no reason to be shocked. Much.

Yumichika and Ikkaku

The possible.

This is the one where you're happily browsing pictures when you notice them two boys together, it catches your eye and you stare at it for a couple of minutes. Then you think to yourself: "Well I'll be... that would actually make sense." 
To be honest, I had already thought about the possibility you can see on the picture before I found it. Ikkaku and Yumichika are always hanging out together, Yumichika is very fond of his looks and feminine side - and Ikkaku lets such a guy hang out with him. Coincidence? I think not! The example here might be very shounen, but generally these are the guys that appear together very often. There was prince Schneizel el Britannia and Kanon Maldini in Code Geass, which was very freely hinted. But mainly it's noticable with almost any bishounen-harem style anime male characters.

The not-so-bad.

Iruka and Kakashi

Alright, let's get straight to the example picture. 
Hmm. Well this is unexpected. One is the very much epic Kakashi and the other Iruka, who some people call Naruto's honorary older brother. But it definitely falls under the category of: I've-never-seen-them-with-a-woman-so... 
I personally would never ever have thought of it, but now that it's here before my eyes, I'm thinking - that's not such a bad solution. Have you ever seen Kakashi with a woman? I've heard there was this ex-teammate of his, Rin, but she's dead, so... Who knows, he actually might be reading some yaoi from his little book. And what about Iruka? 
I've also seen Aizen-Grimmjow, Renji-Byakuya, Sanji-Zoro... I mean Sanji bleeds from his nose when he sees hot women, right? Well, boy, do I have a solution for you!

The how-the-hell-did-this-happen?

Hitsugaya and Ichimaru

So now we're getting to the part where you find a picture and it really stops making any sense whatsoever. Random characters have been pulled out of context and shoved into a yaoi scene where they would just never ever end up on their own. Sure - it may be possible in the way that it's possible for nerdy gamer-boy to date a hot actress or for me to pump into a billionaire who wants to invest into my business project. It's not impossible, but.... 

Coming to the picture (lol, no pun intended), lets talk about the Hitsugaya and Ichimaru relationship. Yeah, that's right. There is nothing to talk about. Exactly how does this make sense at all? Because they had a confrontation in the beginning? Because they're both prodigies? I'm pretty sure that if Hitsugaya has strong negative feelings for anyone, it's mostly Aizen. The other random couple beyond the reach of my tiny little brain is Rock Lee-Gaara. The rest of them kind  of blur into the next category....

Al and Ed

The double-u-tee-ef

But, but, but... they're brothers! And Ed marries Winry... And Al will eventually marry May... right? Right?! My world cannot shatter here.... 
Which is what I think every time I stumble upon something extremely wrong. Like Ciel and Sebastian from Kuroshitsuji. I even had a picture to post here but that was just horribad - pedophilia is pedophilia weather the little boy was willing or not -.- So stop that, dear yaoi fanatics. As well as incest. 
"Incest Brothers was a Swedish punk rock band formed in September 1978 in Järfälla." - Says Wikipedia. So how about we keep it that way and let the poor FMA heroes enjoy their newly retrieved bodies in a more traditional way, kk??

I have more grains to spill next Friday. In the meanwhile, what do you think about surprise yaoi?

Epic anime women

*Includes spoilers. All media credits go to their owners.*

Over the years I've seen quite a few animes and wether they're shoujo, shounen, slice of life, romance, drama or any other genre, there is this one thing that has always bothered me. The lack of powerful women. Sure, there are a few that have neat tricks up their sleeves or they provide strong support. But as for being actually strong on equal terms to male characters, there are very very few.

First, lets make it clear: powerful does NOT equal headstrong or tsundere. Powerful in the sense of having physical (or mental if the anime is about that particular feat) strength of their own - that does not revolve around kicking boys in the head and causing nose bleeds
The second prequisite is that there have to be some, but at least one, male characters of equal strength. Why? Because it's not really any kind of competition if there are only women, now is it? Wether we women like it or not, men are physically stronger, so if it's only females battling it out then there is always room for "A strong man could've beaten them all!"
Third, the woman has to be - if not human - then at least organical. If they're already modified with electrical gadgets and metal, well, it doesn't really count as fair play anymore. Also, it leaves room for: "She only beat him cause she's a cyborg."
And finally - no guns. I mean I don't mind girls with guns, but how would I count it as a strength? Are women stronger when they have guns? Sure, I guess. But aren't men? Yeah, they are. But how do I calculate this as a strength? Was Yoko from TTGL strong? I mean I guess she was - she had to carry that massive thing around. Was it equal to Simon and Kamina...? How about Riza Hawkeye from FMA? And Seras Victoria from Hellsing? I mean she was a vampire so she was obviously strong, but can we compare it to Alucard? I don't know and I'm no expert regarding guns so I'm leaving them out. End of story.

Now a little explanation of why I'm interested at all. Since women are naturally weaker, it's only logical to give them other kind of strengths and tools. They can be healers, supporters and tamers of their men, mental guides - anything that involves nurturing and caring. It seems that especially Japanese people value women by their grace and gentleness. 
And that's fine. I don't mind characters like Nagisa from Clannad, who tries hard to grow on her own and be there for Tomoya; Winry from FMA - the mental and mechanical support of Ed and Al; Mayuri from Steins;Gate who with her simple and gentle personality helps lift everyone to their potential and bind the group together; and the classical Tomoe from Rurouni Kenshin working as a sheath to Kenshin's sword. Many others as well, I'm sure everyone has their own favourites.

But then in other end of that Japanese grace are the loud obnoxious female characters that hide their weaknesses behind a hurricane of emotion and farce. Mostly they make me want to smash their stupid faces into brick walls. 
Like Sakura from Naruto. Yeah? So you decided you'd go after Sasuke to finish him on your own, failed miserably and had to be saved by the man whose feelings you keep ignoring? Or Asuka from NGE. So your mommy doesn't recognize you, how about you take it out on poor Shinji, eh? Even Saber from FS/N. Of course it's Shirou's fault that she's not at her full power, but that doesn't change the reality of how her runs in and gets beaten up all the time. God dammit, woman! Stop that!
I'm sure not everyone agrees on these particular characters, but imagine there's that one character you find annoying. And then there's dozens and dozens of these characters - they appear to be stronger than average but get themselves in trouble all the time just the same.

So when watching a shounen or anime similarly filled with action, it's like a fresh breeze when some anime women turn out to be pretty worthy on their own. For a change, you don't have to think: 'Dammit, why did she show up? She's only going to get in the Hero's way' and instead you can actually catch yourself going: 'Hell yeah, backup! She's gonna come kick some serious butt!'

So you can imagine how happy it makes me, to finally be able to actually look up to someone.

I have compiled a short list of the epic anime females, that make me smile.

5. Natsume Maya

Natsume Maya

Maya is treading on the edge of my criterias. She never actually managed to beat the beautiful Takayanagi Mitsuomi nor her incest-oriented brother Shin, but she was still portrayed good enough to train the Hero, Souichiro Nagi, as well as the younger Takayanagi brother. Her methods were refined, her style unquestionable. It was a great choice by the creators that she often walked around in her child-form, drawing the attention off her ridiculously "feminine" shape and giving room for some genuine wisdom and respect. Even if she wasn't truly all that strong, I'm glad there is a full-time female mentor character out there.

4. Kirigakure Shura

Pupil of the previous strongest exorcist and kind of a senpai to Rin and Yukio, Shura is displayed as a real crowd pleaser. Barely covered, fond of drinking and video games, Shura also comes with a mysteriously dangerous past. What's there not to like, right? Right?

3. Shihouin Yoruichi

Shihouin Yoruichi

Compared to the other candidates, this one stands out due to the normal size of her chest. Rare sight. I'm guessing bigger boobs in anime are supposed to remind us that this is after all a woman and not a strong man in disguise...
Now, if I had the ability to turn into a cat... well, purr. 
Although Yoruichi might lose a bit edge as the show evolves, at least in the first saga she makes a pretty meaningful appearance. She isn't shown to take on Byakuya entirely, but then again she isn't afraid to snatch Ichigo right from under his nose. It is a little disappointing that when the Arrancarr saga starts, she needs to be saved by Urahara during her fight with Yammy. But at the end of the day - she was a captain, the inventor of shunko and the Goddess of shunpo. Also, if Urahara treats her as an equal.... *wink wink*

2. Hamyuts Meseta

Hamyuts Meseta

If you've ever watched Tatakau Shisho - the Book of Bantorra, you're bound to remember this name forever. Mainly because of how the meats constantly repeated it. Hamyutsu Meseta o korose! Something of the like anyway.

But I'm guessing her chest, bunny-embroidered white shirts and godlike abilities with a sling will contribute to the purpose quite nicely. It's true that she was programmed to behave like she did in order to kill Ruruta, however throughout the series we are shown bits of her that are still very much human. The ending and Matt's feelings for her only highlight it and prove that she is one awesome woman!

As a sidenote: Aaaahh, what a nice grown-up relationship - no nosebleeds, no embarrassment. 

1. Erza Scarlet

Erza Scarlet

Erza, the beautiful scarlet goddess of magic and armor. Among the five that I mentioned, this one fits the job description best. Finally, FINALLY there is one epic woman that brings hope and strength with her. When watching Fairy Tail, you just know, that if Natsu or the others are in trouble and if Erza finally shows up, hope has returned. She fights Laxus and his thunder palace, Midnight, Azuma, one of the toughest enemies to beat - herself in Edolas form, not to mention Jellal, the man he loves. And many others. Erza carries pride, righteousness and amazing conviction with her head held high making her definitely the most desirable anime woman to look up to.

Go go, Erza! Beat them all in the hopefully-upcoming-magic-tournament-after-starry-heavens-arc!

P.S. Don't tell me what happens in the manga!

I have more grains to spill next Friday. In the meanwhile you can share your opinion  - which female characters do you find epic?

The Hero

*Includes spoilers. All media credits go to their owners.*

Before I start, lets make it clear what I mean by 'The Hero'. Since this is an animeblog, the topic here is obviously not DC and Marvel superheroes. And although I'm sure there are lots and lots of awesome male leads in short animes, this time I'm addressing the more popular shounen ones - which leads us to the creation of 'The Hero'.

The Hero

Notice how there isn't a Goku in there? Yeah. It's because he's the daddy of all epicness. Competing against him would be futile. End of that story.

Anyway, in most shounen animes we follow the male lead through his ups and downs, victories and defeats, training and battles - you get it. This continues up to a point where the entire anime is actually about this one boy/man and we start seeing everything from his point of view. So when I think of Bleach, I automatically form the connection in my head: 'Ok, this is Ichigo's story'. It becomes rather hard distinguishing the hero from the anime in general. Like: there would be no Naruto, the anime, without Naruto, the hero - the boy who carries Kyuubi inside him.
While that seems clear and natural - 'Yea of course this particular anime is about this particular hero, what's your point?' - it becomes a little bit disturbing when I start thinking about character compilation in these stories.

I already know what I'm getting for the hero: lean guy, ridiculously ripped for his age (I mean really - the others - okay maybe. But Ichigo is 15? Being currently almost 10 years older, I feel like I'm on the borderline of pedophilia here, looking at his massive abs), never gives up, soul of the group, cares for his friends, wants to protect and/or be the best. So the main lead kind of blurs into the anime - you obviously have to like the protagonist or you wouldn't be watching it at all. 
Based on this deduction, what makes up the rest of the story are the characters gathered around the Hero. Let's say you take Edward out from FMA and stick him into Bleach. He'd probably go protecting his town and family and saving Rukia all the same, with a few minor variations compared to Ichigo (hihi, he'd probably marry Rukia afterwards, eh?). In that meaning, the rest of the characters make up the entire environment of the anime, determine the style of it. Wether it's Sakura-Kakashi-Jiraiya, Mustang-Armstrong-Winry, Rukia-Urahara-Renji or any other combo.
Right? Sense, it's making it.

And so, when someone asks which characters I like in animes, this typical setup automatically makes me skip the hero and think of other, more memorable personalities. I'll give a few examples.
"Do you watch Naruto?" "Yeah, sure!" "Which character you like best?" "Well Kakashi is awesome!"
Or similarly:
"Who do you like in Once Piece?" "Zoro!"
Do I think the main characters aren't good enough? No. It's just so apparent that it's not even worth mentioning.
Maybe it's just me, I don't know.

But now, I'll try to set my usual mindset aside and actually look at the Hero. You will not see this happening very often as I'm way more likely to rant on about magnificent supporting characters, who are usually more interesting - or less mainstream.
When I do think about them one by one, I guess the heroes are pretty amazing. Strong-willed, powerful, skilled. But today I'll set aside the regular reasons - since everyone already knows how well they fight and how fast they learn.
Today, I'm approaching from a female perspective.
Let's pretend for a moment that we're actually in a setting with 'the Hero' - and within a reasonable age difference. Seriously. None of us wants to get locked up over this.
Would we fall for the hero? I think we would. And when I say that I mean we would even if there are other very eligible candidates around. Even if we don't find him to be the most interesting or intelligent one. Sorry other nice and awesome guys.

I mean, he's passionate, strong, probably saves us a few times... Even if he is silly, eats like a horse and rushes head first into the dumbest situations. Of course at the same moment we'd be doomed, since 'the Hero' has no such feelings to return (with the exception of Edward and maaaybe Naruto). What would probably make matters worse is that when normal guys realize a girl likes them and they don't feel the same, they'll start avoiding the girl. 'The Hero' would probably be just as kind and awesome as he has always been - and so wrap us in deeper and deeper. And there's very little we could do about it too, since there would probably either be another female character ahead of us or if not, he could just completely ignore our efforts.
So keeping that in mind, which one would you choose? And how would you handle it?

 I'm guessing my choice would be:

Natsu

Why? I'm not entirely sure.
Maybe it's because he is portrayed through Lucy's journey and that gives him a wholesome character instead of becoming blurred in with the anime. Although he is the living representation of the Fairy Tail spirit, he also has a dynamical connection to the female lead Lucy, and together they manage to pave a wider than usual path into the story. He may be oblivious to the emotional part of life, but he did have a make believe family with Lisanna and he treats Lucy as his partner. So where the other heroes are shown to be very narrow-minded, Natsu dislpays a wider range of probable evolving directions while maintaining the carefree image of a young hero.
Or maybe it's cause he's the son of a friggin' dragon. And he breathes fire. GG.

How would I handle it? Uhhh... I really feel sick even thinking about it. I think there would be nothing else to do than to keep my mouth shut and remain very good friends. I mean even if I were to confess, it'd likely have no effect at all. If he at some point discovers that he's not a child anymore and/or becomes interest - great! If not, well... then I guess I'm not the heroine of this story.

I have more grains to spill next Friday. In the meanwhile you can share your opinion  - who would you choose and how would you handle it?