September Hiatus

Ugh, school is not giving me enough time to put towards the blog, especially since it's senior year. Between the hours of AP homework, looking at colleges, work, and keeping touch with my friends I barely have enough to watch anime, let alone write about it. I'm sure once this first annoying month is over and I'm used to the workload I'll have more time to put towards the blog, but priorities. Yeah.

If I have time over the weekends I'll probably do some weekly summary posts, that sounds like it could work for now. (=

Mawaru Penguindrum 08: Delusions

They probably deserved it.

No .... nononono. I will not accept what happened this episode. Fyi, this post is spoilerific, so read at your own discretion.

I finally got around to starting Steins;Gate ...

And after watching episode 12 I am at a complete lose for words about what happened. I can say though that so far this is one of the most amazing series I've ever watched. Very few anime make me so curious that I search things like "John Titor" and "Time Travel", so shocked that I spend at least an hour after watching thinking about everything that happened, so fearful of the building atmosphere that I even had to minimize my window in episode 11 ... just in case, and so interested in every single character, even one who says "nyan". All the while also occasionally making me laugh, when just moments before things felt so intense.

Maybe I'm exaggerating, I tend to do that a lot, but it's just so amazing and I can't wait to continue on with the rest of the series ... but it's 1 AM and I'm really tired heh.

But first a question for you, have any anime series (or manga, or any form of media I suppose) impressed you so much that it lingered with you for hours, or even days, after? I guess for me the biggest example would be Grave of the Fireflies, which really struck me the first time I watched it, and even today I always think back to the initial feelings I had afterwards.

And I fully support the endorsement of Dr. Pepper, the greatest drink that ever was.

NO.6 09: Manhunt

Well, that was unexpected.

Something about this episode felt rushed, but if it wasn't I don't think it would have had the same effect on me. After last week's episode being a bit disappointing, I'm glad they decided to let actions speak for themselves. I was in shock at what happened and how quickly and out-of-nowhere it was, but at least now the brutality and cruelness of No.6 is more obvious to Shion. This post will probably have a lot of spoilers.

Ikoku Meiro no Croisée The Animation 09: Beauty and the Blacksmith

The picture says a lot about Camille and her situation.

The "lady and the tramp" type scenarios are pretty common in movies and shows, and to be honest I kind of get tired of them, but at least Ikoku Meiro didn't have the usual romantic cliches that make them (sometimes) unbearable. I suppose Claude isn't exactly a "tramp", but he is pretty far down the ladder as opposed to Camille, if the "stray cat" references didn't make that obvious. The show did a nice job of wrapping up this chapter of the story without becoming redundant (another episode solely on the two would have been pushing it I think), and now I'm about ready to move on and see what else Ikoku Meiro has to offer.

The iDOLM@STER 08: Wandering Azusa

Just Azusa. No unwitty caption for you.

Well that was different. If I was to describe this episode in three words I'd say exaggerated, pointless, and yet lots of fun. Okay, the last one's more of a statement, but you get my point. Though the entire thing was over-the-top (like the midair fight sequence and the raging crowd of people), it was pretty enjoyable. It's not like I'm watching anime for "realistic" anyway. I would say though that I wish there was more interaction between the characters rather then 23 minutes of Azusa, and pretty much every other character, running aloof. It felt like one big wild-goose chase that in the end only really concerned a couple throwaway characters we'll probably never see again.

NO.6 08: Deception

Dream team.

This post is going to be stupidly short, the VMAs are about to start and I'm honestly pretty excited to watch. (Adele, woo!) Anyway, I'm sort of iffy on this episode. It wasn't the most enjoyable episode, but it did squeeze in 20 minutes worth of solid story developments to move the plot along into it's final quarter. I'm not sure what to think of the direction the show is now going in, but I'm sure all this Elyurias business will sink in later. I'm not a big fan of "plot dump" episodes, but I guess this was the best way for the show to fill in the audience.

Mawaru Penguindrum 07: Eggchanting!

Fabulous Max~ had to

Watching Penguindrum in the middle of a hurricane was pretty thrilling, but thank the anime gods my power didn't go out half way through. (And here's to hoping the blogging gods will let me finish this post!) Ahem. Episode 7 was just as, if not more, crazy as the past few and I'm starting to wonder when this Ringo ordeal will end. It's not that I don't like her or the story surrounding the diary, but I'm much, much more interested in Kanba and Masako.

Went to my First Concert

And it was more then I expected it to be. I've gone to plenty of musicals and whatnot, but never a concert. I've always felt "why go to a concert when you can just listen to the music on your iPod". I was totally wrong. It's a completely different experience and something that I want to do again asap. Gavin Degraw opened the show, but it wasn't until Maroon 5 started that I got into it. My friends and I sang along to all the songs we knew, danced like freaks, and just had the best time of the Summer. It rained during the final performances of Train, but we were so excited to just be there that it didn't bother us.

If I did have one complaint it be that the churros sucked.

(Also, NO.6 and Mawaru Penguindrum posts will be out today, maybe IM@S if I have time to watch it!)

Ikoku Meiro no Croisée The Animation 08: Cornered Mouse

Guess which one is the mouse.

I was really looking forward to this episode and it didn't disappoint me at all. Just as I expected, if it wasn't obvious already, Claude and Camille have a history that goes back as far as their childhood when they were close friends. Oscar made it sound like they were also in a relationship at some point and based on Claude's indifference towards her something must have happened. What is was? Well, it seems like we'll have to wait until next episode's continuation to find out.