彩云国物语 动画第一/二季 Saiunkoku Monogatari

I've finally finished watching this 2 part series. The actually story is still in progress, but the anime has ended. I've to say I'm very satisfied with the development of Shuurei's character and how the plot brings all the characters together and against each other. It can be quite boring at times, but a little patience from the viewers will reap rewards, certainly.

I have to say though, the main male leads are quite boring and dull. I have no idea why the emperor's popularity is so high... I'm totally with Reishin (Shuurei's 2nd uncle) and Sho Taishi, that he is so immature and stupid. The only thing I have with this story is that Shuurei is bound to end up with this idiot sooner or later. Fine. Given he is inexperienced and pampered, but the whole story kept emphasizing that he is so lonely the more he learns to be the highest one up there in the heirachy, it becomes so irritating! Grow up and start to manage your govt already!

Seiran was interesting in the first season, but in the 2nd he kinda disappeared... I also dunno wat to say abt him....

I think the 2 antagonist in the first season was more interesting than all the guys added together... 茶太保and 茶朔洵. The first seemingly plotted to overthrow the emperor, but in actual fact wanted the emperor to use this as an excuse to eradicate the corrupted Sa family and free 茶州. How brilliant.
The latter, a very eerily intelligent guy who even outsmarts Seiran... And he fell for Shuurei. If only he lived a little longer...Because I thought he was actually succeeding in courting Shuurei's heart... How she cried for him...

And talking about Shuurei's love life.... There are so many pairings for her, but mostly the king or Seiran. However, I'm actually inclining towards Ensei. But for heaven's sake, there has only been ONE fanfic on them, and Kirin acutally has more than him! 都不知道他们怎么把两个人扯到一起...

Why I support Ensei X Shuurei?










Just look at the love!
Shuurei has never. NEVER. flung herself onto anyone, ANYONE, (ok...maybe kirin, but that was due to fear), before, with such joy and exuberence!
And in the 2nd half of the 2nd season, when she lets him out of jail, their reunion was so cute! Even tantan couldn't help commenting how loveydovey they were. Shuurei hugged his head, AND, let him get so close!
ALL THESE MUST MEAN SOMETHING AND IT DEFINITELY IS NOT JUST BROTHERLY-SISTERLY LOVE!



Just look how gentle he is....And ya, I know that Shuurei's ans is yes to the question... Heh ^_^




Tantan is always the insightful one. But still, at the end of it all, he still does not admit it. Sigh...

Basilisk Review

This is not a new anime. My interest surfaced because of a recommendation by a friend.

Short synopsis of the story (from Wiki):
The story takes place in the year 1614. Two ninja clans, Tsubagakure of the Iga and Manjidani of Kouga, battle each other to determine which grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu will become the next shogun. The deadly competition between 10 elite ninja from each clan unleashes a centuries-old hatred that threatens to destroy all hope for peace between them.

Just by reading this synopsis, I know the ending won't be what I would like. But still, since this friend likes it so much, I gave it a try.

The first ep was not shy in giving me an intro to what is installed in this 24 ep story. The hard lines, the ugly faces, the crude fighting ways. I was appalled. But the ending of the first ep had me intrigued. Throughout the fighting scenes between the two youngsters, there were scenes of a young couple from progressed from loving, to discovering betrayal, to hatred and finally, loss. The ending of the first ep was the start to the competition and the head of both clans wasted no time in killing each other. But what shocked me was that, they were that young couple who turned foes. Seeing their aged form drifting away on the lake had that emotional impact on me. And i could foresee that the 2 main characters fate would be something similar...

So after this first ep, the story unfolded at super speed. The two clans wasted no time wiping out the names of the enemy of the namelist. At ep 10, Kouga clan had 5 people and Iga clan had 7 (one blind). My my...what hatred. And they don't know why they can't stand the others's existence. But as the story progress, their reasons pile up. Comrades, lovers, family killed by the enemy. What other stronger reason do they need to seek blood... Such a vicious cycle they have let themselves slip into...(But I have to admit the fight scenes were good. I knew they were all gonna die, but I didn't know who was going to die first. So that was a big luring factor that kept me hooked.)

And throughout all these...what were the 2 main characters doing? Gennosuke was quick to take up the responsibility of head of the clan. Given, when he knew about this shit, 5 comrades had already been killed. It would be unacceptable to not avenge their deaths. Oboro...er...well...with no power, she obviously would not be able to control them...especially Tenzen.

But I thought I saw a difference. While Gennosuke was quick to resign himself to fate, Oboro tried to resist (no matter how futile it was). Hence, it was easy to see what their choices would be. No pity for either sides though. - -

Now on the side characters...
IMO, Iga's pple left a more lasting impression than Kouga's. They had irritating people like Koshiro, downright scumbags like Tenzen, and the oh so lovely Akeginu (but her death was so stupid it is infuriating - -). And of course, egoistic Nenki and the useless Hotarubi...

It's so fascinating how crazy the female characters can be when they know of their lovers death. So much so that they were tricked and killed by the enemy. I couldn't care less about Hotarubi, who had numerous chances to expose the enemy's trick. But my dear Akeginu (always looking so hot in a kimono and without it =P ) ...

Sigh...

What Gender Is Your Brain?

Your Brain is 73% Female, 27% Male

Your brain leans female You think with your heart, not your head Sweet and considerate, you are a giver But you're tough enough not to let anyone take advantage of you!

What Gender Is Your Brain?

Hmmmm... i thought i've done this before...seems like I've become more feminine (internally = =)

Heroic Age

A 26 ep animation produced by the same crew that gave us fafner..that is, assuming my guess is correct. The art, the music is so similar I had to assume. I had to try out this space genre that is becoming so rare. And I didn't regret it.

The story setting may be a little ambitious and the character designs(from the same person who did GS/D) is getting a little boring, but the art, the music blew me off in the first ep. Giant monsters fighting each other, celestial-like beings being all celestial/godlike, a main char that is almost indestructable and a Hime with that wierd power. Sounds cliche. But it was actually neatly done.

The chemistry between Age and the Princess was so pure it was so cute. No lame romantic plots or damsel always in distress thing. I think, ironically, the two being apart most of the time made this couple seem more attractive than if they had spend the whole 26eps together trying to create "moments". But. Of course. They had their few moments. And because it was few, it was great.

Ok. About the plot. Hmmm... trying to resolve a universal war by travelling in a spaceship from place to place. And the hime is a guide? O_o HA! Sounds good at first but they became draggy in the middle. The prolonged battles between the 5 heroic tribe members wasn't helping. Reused footage, dumb roaring yadda yadda yadda... But at least the scriptwriters knew how to use the golden tribe as a mystery hence though sidetracked now and then, the story stayed on course, which thankfully, was to a wonderfully executed ending leaving much questions answered, yet adding alittle doubts here and there, but just enough to satisfy the casual viewer.

I like the music, I like the characters and I liked the ending. The story was about the journey of seeking truth and what a ride it was for me. Thumbs up!

Claymore

No. I'm not addicted to this anime just bcos of Teresa. But I gotta admit, this story of Claire's (not sure abt spelling) road of vengeance got me hooked after she appeared. lol~~

After Ep10 i just gave up resisting the manga!!! Its just amazing how the author manages to come up with more and more new and not uninteresting characters, death after death of the older ones. What's more the main lead has her own luring factor.

Everytime Claire encounters new counterparts, new enemies, I always can't help but wonder how nice it would be if Teresa was still alive...but then i will remember that Claire's a claymore because Teresa's dead...so the timeline doesn't work out ... and i sigh. Yet, as much as I miss Teresa, the characters taking over aren't that bad themselves. And that's whats so good about this story. It has sufficient substance to make characters exit stage right (or left) and still make it full of opportunities.

I need more Claymore!

Hitohira 初瓣 Ep1-7

I don't know where to start with this anime, but I just must blog about this. I guess I should do a general gist of the show.

Synopsis from AnimeNfo:
A transferred student Asai Mugi is a painfully shy girl. She is so shy that she can’t speak when she becomes seriously nervous. However, for some reason, she is spotted and recruited as a member of drama club.

My addition:
This drama club is actually called the drama research club founded by Ichinose Nono. By some twist of fate, she got to know that Mugi actually has a really loud and nice (i beg to differ) voice. So she gets Mugi to join and prepares her for the upcoming main drama performance of the year. This event is very important as it is a competition with the original drama club of the school. To put it more simply, it is a duel between Nono and her (ex?) best friend Sakaki Mirei, now chairperson of the drama club. The two fell out because Nono actually has a problem with her voice box, and Mirei, concerned, vehemently objects to her continuing with drama. But Nono, insists on continuing. Hence...


As usual, i can't seem to keep my focus on Mugi, the main lead. The chairpersons of the two drama clubs have stolen it all. = =a From their little bickering to Nono's small childish duels, the story shows comically, the camaraderie of the two despite the big fall out. And its just pure good entertainment to see how these two and the people around them respond to such situations. And with ep7, Mirei finally pouring her heart out, and that hug that just made me go ..."awww.....", I think they really have a wonderful friendship.



A simple story with a good direction and great naration of the interaction between the various characters.

Negima 2

Finally finished this 2nd installment of the series which tells a totally different story from the 1st. I thought it started off quite well with its better animation and very strong depiction of the 1st few characters. For example, Setsuna Konoka, Asuna and especially Evangeline. The show withered at the middle, though. Just trying to make fun out of nothing and getting Negi to make pactios with the rest of the class. Getting trapped in the magical world didn't seem to bother this class much as they still went round having fun, Asuna, disappointingly, being the lamest of all... = = It was around the 22 ep that things picked up, things involving the star-crystal finally coming to light. And all's well ends well I guess.

Just that I wasn't quite satisfied with how they tried to dump all the rescuing on Negi. Takahata, Evangeline or even his sister had more power than him, but somehow they were rendered useless so that he could do what a main lead is supposed to do. Could they have been a little less obvious?

Just one more comment on how cute Evangeline was. Quite simply, for me, she stole the show. Nobody can look so cute when she's pissed~~ lol~

And one final thing i need to scream:
Not enough Setsuna X Konoka emotional scenes!!! Plain foolin around dun cut it!!! Grhhh

Murder Princess Ep01

Come April and wala~~we have a new barrage of animes. Murder princess being one of them. This exchanging bodies thing is kinda funny, so i think i'll continue watching this.

I have yet to comment about October/November's release, but well...i'm lazy. Anyway's except for Code Geass, Soukou no Strain, Negima and Primo Passo (which i have been hot over heels over their game... XD) there were not many that were worth commenting... hmmmm....

This sucks~

"There are three signs of a hypocrite: when he speaks he speaks lies, when he makes a promise he breaks it, and when he is trusted he betrays his trust. "
Muhammad (570 - 632)
Source: Sayings of Muhammad. by Prof. Ghazi

I was naive. I still am. I was a fool. I still am.
That said,
Absentminded, I am not. Neither am I too dumb to hurt.

Maybe it's because you have friends who support you, who close an eye to what you do.
Maybe it's me who's too idealistic, too petty to let go of what you have done.

But, to trust you is something that I will never do again.

Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me.

GSD Special 3 - some pics

The only amended part i noticed. Cagalli's present when Athrun wakes up.

Sweet exchange between them. Athrun looks like he's saying "tadaima". "I'm home." =D

And again, the SP's ending always have nice Asucaga pics...