Anime I'm Currently (Trying) To Watch

Last blog was dedicated to Fall 2013. This blog's dedicated to Winter 2014. Because of the move, the ones I listed in the last blog, I am still trying to catch up with them and my internet's not that great at the moment.

I added two titles to the lineup. One is subbed and the other is both being shown as sub and a dub. I'm not sure if this was ever done before, but it's a big feat nonetheless and I wish more anime companies would do this kind of thing more often.

Sakura Trick: Haruka Takayama and Yuu Sonoda were inseparable during middle school, but upon entering high school, they end up being seated on opposite sides of the classroom. Having to spend time with more friends, the two decide to do something to make their relationship special.

This was very cute.  I like Yuri anime and they're not shoving the ship(s) down your throat.  Haruka's my favorite out of the two, she's kinda like me: a bit shy and tends to stay with one close friend.

Rating: 9/10

Canon Paring: HarukaxYuu
Crack Paring: Haven't decided on one yet

Space Dandy: The series follows Dandy, an alien hunter who is "a dandy guy in space", in search for aliens with his robot assistant QT and a space cat named Meow.

This is awesome.  This is the first time (in my anime history anyway) that a simulcast was both subbed and dubbed at the same time and I like what I see so far and wondering why more anime companies aren't doing this.  Ian Sinclair is perfect for this role, I can't see anyone else doing this.  I love Dandy and all his misadventures.  J. Michael Tatum as Dr. Gel is also perfect.  That man can read any script and make it gold.  Also, Boobies.  There needs to be a franchise like that...oh wait.

Rating: 10 /10

Canon Paring: DandyxHoney
Crack Paring: QTxMeow

Anime synopsis provided by Wikipedia and Anime News Network
Next Blog: My Little Pony New Episode Review

Anime I've Watched: Fall 2013

Last blog, I talked about what I watched last summer. This blog's dedicated to the ones I've watched during the 2013 Fall season. A lot of these titles that I've watched are (to the best of my knowledge) still currently airing. With the move, I haven't kept up with most of them. Once I get a better internet connection, I'll be able to catch up in no time.

This season I picked up about 9 titles, including Aikatsu's second season. That's a lot more than I did during summer. There will be spoilers for these shows. Ratings will be out of 10. And for you shippers reading this, I'll include my favorite canon and crack pairings for the shows.

Aikatsu!: Season 2 premiered in October and is currently airing. Ichigo, having returned from America to continue her Idol training, discovers the sudden appearance of Dream Academy, or DreAca for short. There seems to be a friendly competition between the two schools and with Ichigo and her friends. Each Brand (all the cards have "brand name" labels) has to come up with dresses that fit a theme. And this year's theme? Constellations.

Rating: 10/10 (I'll do a in-depth analysis of this season at the halfway point and again when it ends)
Canon Pairing: IchigoxSeira
Crack Pairing: IchigoxAoi

Ace of Diamond: This season premiered in October and is currently airing. Eijun Sawamura is a pitcher who joins an elite school with a brilliant catcher named Kazuya Miyuki. Together with the rest of the team, they strive for Japan's storied Koushien championships through hard work and determination.

The last sports anime I watched was 2007's Big Windup! and I wanted the same, more or less. The main character is a little overenthusiastic about baseball and it sometimes could be a good thing. But in Sawamura's case, it comes off as cocky and he doesn't gain the respect of the coaches and the players. But it's his determination to become the school's ace, that really sells this series.

Rating: 8/10 (Will give this a better rating when I see the rest of the episodes)
Canon Pairing: SawamuraxBaseball
Crack Pairing: SawamuraxMiyuki

Golden Time: Banri Tada is a newly admitted student at a private law school in Tokyo. Due to the after-effects of an accidental fall from a bridge shortly after high school graduation, he lost all his memories from before then. At the time of the accident, Banri's soul had escaped from his body, and the "Spirit of Banri Tada" came into being, carrying his memories from before his mishap.

Banri finds himself completely lost after the opening ceremony, trying to find his way to the freshman orientation. At that moment, he runs into another lost freshman from the same school, Mitsuo Yanagisawa, and they hit it off at once. Somehow arriving at their intended goal just on time, there appears in front of them a beautiful girl holding a bouquet of roses, who hits Mitsuo across the face with them and hands the flowers over to him. This stylish, well dressed, and perfect woman is his childhood friend Kōko Kaga. As children, they had promised to marry each other one day, fulfilling their dreams. In order to escape from her, Mitsuo had gone out secretly and taken the examination for this well-known private college, but she also took the law school entrance examination, catching up with him there. She meets Banri Tada and many other new friends. But as her friendship with Banri Tada is increasing, Banri Tada confesses to her, much to her shock. But eventually, she falls for him and they become a couple.

There are times where Koko, is just a bitch to...well, everyone. I don't really like girls like that, but after awhile, she makes up for it and she becomes one of my favorite characters.

Rating: 9 /10
Canon Pairing: BanrixKoko
Crack Pairing: BanrixMitsuo

Outbreak Company: Shin'ichi Kanō is a young secluded otaku who is offered a job thanks to his vast knowledge of anime, manga and video games and just after meeting his new employer, he is kidnapped, awakening in an alternate world with a fantasy setup. Shin'ichi then is informed that he was in fact selected by the Japanese government to help improve his country's relations with this new world by establishing a company to spread the unique products of the Japanese culture to this new, unexplored market.

I like this concept. The biggest nerd on the planet is tasked with teaching Final Fantasy-like characters the ways of the otaku. Shin'ichi even takes his maid (Myucel) to a Maid Cafe. That scene was the most adorable scene in the history of anime. I also like how the elves and the dwarfs fight over which otome game is better.

Rating: 10/10
Canon Pairing: Shin'ichi and Myucel
Crack Pairing: Shin'ichi and Garius (The ruler's cousin and a knight)

Kill la Kill: Kill la Kill is set at Honnouji Academy, a fictional high school in Tokyo Bay set in post-apocalyptic Japan that is dominated by its fearsome student council, led by Satsuki Kiryuin. The council members wear special uniforms called Goku Uniforms that grant them superhuman abilities, which they use to oppress the rest of the school's students and staff. Ryuko Matoi, a student wielding half of a scissor-shaped longsword, transfers to Honnouji Academy in search of the owner of the other half of the scissor blade, the person who killed her father. Defeated by the council after interrogating Satsuki over the killer's identity and whereabouts, Ryuko comes across a sentient sailor uniform she names Senketsu, who puts himself on Ryuko. Using Senketsu's special abilities, Ryuko stands up against Satsuki and her henchmen, the Elite Four, to liberate Honnouji Academy from their iron grip and find out the truth behind her father's murder.

I really can't give a rating or a analysis of this because I only saw the first episode. It's not right judging a whole series based on a first episode. I really don't know who everyone is to say who my ships are.

Rating: /10
Canon Pairing:
Crack Pairing:

Meganebu!: The plot focuses on Akira Souma, a glasses fanatic at the rural Himaraya Third Technical School. Akira's great love for glasses causes him to form the "Glasses Club" at his school and he somewhat forces his classmates and glasses wearers Takuma Hachimine, Yukiya Minabe, Mitsuki Kamatani, and Hayato Kimata to join. The series follows the activities of the Glasses Club and the antics resulting from their shared passion for eye-wear.

Like Kill la Kill, I can't properly give this a rating and analysis being that I only saw the first episode. I can give my shipping choices though.

Rating: /10

Canon Pairing: Souma and his perfect X-ray glasses
Crack Pairing: Souma and Yukiya

Miss Monochrome: In order to be more in the eyes of the public, Miss Monochrome begins working to become a top-selling idol. Spacey Miss Monochrome once again runs around the idol show biz world, being tossed around by others.

This show is 5 minutes and it's packs enough story in but, it feels like 25 minute episode at times. That assistant's a good con artist if she convinced a robot to give her the robot's ENTIRE fortune. You'd have to be pretty gullible to fall for something like that.

Rating: 9/10
Canon Pairing: Miss Monochrome and her agent/manager
Crack Pairing: Miss Monochrome and that Idol she wants to surpass

Walkure Romanze: Walkure Romanze's story revolves around Takahiro Mizuno, a student studying at an academy with jousting as its main focus for sport. Takahiro acts as an advisor to the riders of the sport. Takahiro goes through each day tediously until the time of the annual competition draws near. Due to some odd circumstances, his childhood friend Mio Kisaki is enrolled into the competition. As she has never even rode a horse once in her life, Takahiro senses the fear in his friend and becomes Mio's coach.

I wanted to watch this because their outfits looked cool and jousting, to me, isn't a sport, but I guess it is. I don't know. I like how both Mio and her horse are named after the same flower. They even mention this in the first episode. Celia's a badass. And I also like that chick who's in love with her, Mio's best friend. Akane, I think her name is.

Rating: 8/10

Canon Pairing: Mio and Takahiro
Crack Pairing: Mio and Celia

Yowamushi Pedal: Sakamichi Onoda is an otaku, an anime obsessive, who has just entered high school and plans to join the anime club. In middle school Onoda did not have any friends with whom he could talk about anime, games, Akihabara and other otaku things and is hoping he can make such friends in the anime club, but he finds out it has been disbanded. In order to reestablish the club he tries to find 4 other people who would like to join.

Since he was a little boy, Onoda has ridden his mamachari ("City Bike" AKA "Mommy Bike" in the anime) – a bulky bicycle with a step-through frame mainly used for short rides, such as for casual fun, to pick up groceries or to go to Akihabara every week to check out or buy otaku things. His fellow freshman, Shunsuke Imaizumi, a cyclist, while training, notices Onoda riding his mamachari up a steep road.

Shōkichi Naruko, visit Akihabara to get some Gundam plastic models for his younger brothers and he meets Onoda, who caught his attention because of the his cycling skill on the mamachari and later finds out they go to the same school. Later on, both Naruko and Imaizumi try to convince him to join the bicycle racing club, but will he?

This first episode alone is what sets the tone for the rest of the series. The "race" between the two is pure awesome.

Rating: 9/10
Canon Pairing: Onoda and Akihabara
Crack Pairing: Naruko and his damn bike

Anime synopsis provided by: Wikipedia and Anime News Network (I would have butchered it otherwise)

Next Blog: Anime I'm Currently (Trying) To Watch

Anime I've Watched: Summer 2013

So this past summer, I decided that I'd watch more subbed anime.  Last simulcast that I watched was 2012's Say I Love You and Yuru Yuri and I liked the experience.  So, this season I had three anime titles that I followed: 2 new (new to me anyway) and one from the 2012 Fall season.  I'll start with the 2 new ones and save the (still) currently airing one for last.  There's spoiler warnings for these shows for those of you who have not seen them.  Ratings will be out of 10. And for you shippers reading this, I'll include my favorite canon and crack pairings for the shows.

Free!: Aired between July and September, Free! starts with four boys—Haruka, Makoto, Nagisa and Rin—before graduating from elementary school. They had all participated in a swimming tournament and gained victory but later parted ways. Years later, Haruka, Makoto and Nagisa reunite when they enroll into high school. Not long after, Rin, who was thought to be in Australia, turns up and challenges Haruka to a race and wins. Afterward, Nagisa mentions creating a swimming club and cleaning up the run-down outdoor pool to use. Haruka, Makoto, Nagisa and, later on, Rei, form the Iwatobi High School Swimming Club and work together in making the club a success. Rin's victory over Haruka means nothing to him as he realizes that Haruka has stopped swimming competitively and is not in top shape. He claims that he cannot get over the fact until Haruka competes against him for real. The members of the revived Iwatobi Swim Club later enter a swimming competition against Rin.

My interest in this was mainly because of the fantastic marketing that they did.  The more I saw of it, the more I wanted to watch it.  That and because of the HUGE yaoi potential.  So it came, and I loved it immediately.  The interactions between the boys (and later characters) didn't seem forced.  Kou/Gou (whatever you wanna call her) is every fangirl in every fandom, EVER!!  Her lines about the boys muscles are exactly what I was thinking every time.  As of this writing, there hasn't been a mention of a second season, so this fangirl hopes and prays there's another season.

Canon Pairing: RinxHaru (Sort of)
Crack Pairing: NagisaxRei 

If you like funny parodies, check out 50% Off.

Rating: 10/10

Attack on Titan:  The series follows the story of Eren Yeager, his adopted sister Mikasa Ackerman, and their friend Armin Arlert. After the outermost Wall is breached by Titans, including the 60-meter tall skinless Colossus Titan and the abnormally intelligent Armored Titan, and his mother dying in the resulting destruction, Eren vows revenge against the Titans and later enlists in the military, accompanied by Mikasa and Armin. Years later during his first battle against the Titans, Eren discovers that he has the ability to transform into a Titan at will. Seen as a threat to mankind by some, and as a ray of hope by others, Eren joins his companions in a desperate fight to protect what remains of their society while looking for answers to the mysteries surrounding the Titans, the Walls, and his own existence as well.

I had to catch up on this because it was already on episode 19 when I picked it up.  This apparently was a Spring anime airing from April 2013 to September 2013.  This anime isn't the type of anime I usually watch.  I stick to the more slice of life types and the occasional magical girl show, but my furry friend insisted that I watch it.  The fact that Eren can turn into a Titan scared the crap outta me.  So if he wants to kill the beings that killed his mother wouldn't he have to kill himself in the end??  That was the biggest question I had for awhile. Then came the arrival of the Female Titan, which up to that point hadn't been seen before and it raised more questions, some of which I won't post the answer to for spoiler's sake.  I also hope that we get more questions answered if and when it continues. As of this writing, there hasn't been a mention of a season season.

Rating: 8/10

Cannon Pairing: I don't think there was one established, please correct me if I'm wrong.
Crack Pairing: ErenxLevi

Aikatsu!: The series takes place at Starlight Academy, a prestigious school with both middle and high branches, where girls train to become idols and take part in various auditions. such as modeling, singing, and dancing. To participate in these auditions, players use Aikatsu cards, special cards which contain digitalised dresses and accessories from various manufacturers that are used in their auditions. How well they succeed is often dependent on choosing the right combination of cards. The video games cast players in the role of a new student, who must train to become an idol and reach the top.

The anime series follows a girl named Ichigo Hoshimaya, who becomes inspired by a performance by top idol Mizuki Kanzaki and enrolls in Starlight Academy alongside her best friend, Aoi Kiriya. Along with their classmate, Ran Shibuki, Ichigo Hoshimaya and Aoi Kiriya spend each day training for auditions and aiming to become top idols.

The series's first season aired from October 2012 to September 2013.  The second season started in October 2013 is currently airing and features a new Idol Academy, new friends and new cards.

I can't really say what I think of the second season here, that'll be save for the next blog.

The first season really focused on Ichigo's journey into the fantastical world of Idols and her relationships with everyone she came in contact with an how, through her (either directly or indirectly), her friends and family became better Idols, family members, friends, etc.

I wanted to watch this because, I had loved Pretty Rhythm: Aurora Dream and I wanted more of something like that.  I was on a Idol Kick for awhile.  It was on Anime News Network's Spotlight for that year.  It's made me want to start a fandub for it.

Rating: 10/10 

Canon Pairing: There isn't one to the best of my knowledge.

Crack Pairing: IchigoxAoi

Anime synopsis provided by: Wikipedia (I would have butchered it had I tried to explain it)

Next blog: Anime Fall 2013

A very short update of things

So since I last posted, which was 7 months ago, some stuff happened.  Went to Matsuricon (in Ohio) and had the time of my life, I'm also moving (almost done) and I like my new place.

So in my next blog, I'll talk about some of the anime I've watched over this past summer and fall and what I'm (trying to anyway) watching now.  I gotta learn to make longer posts. :D