Title: Hanasaku Iroha Genre: Comedy, Drama Summary:
When her mother runs off with her latest boyfriend, Ohana Matsumae is sent to live with her grandmother, who she has never met nor spoken to. Her grandmother is not pleased to find Ohana on her doorstep, and sets her to work at her Taisho-era (1920s) hot springs inn. It's not a lifestyle that Ohana would have chosen, but she decides not to be discouraged and to make the most of her difficult circumstances. Read more »
Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai.–First Impression
Title: Ano Hana Genre: Drama
Summary:
Five childhood friends grow apart after the death of Meiko Honma, close playmate of them all. Jinta Yadomi, leader of the group when they were kids, neglects high school and lives as a shut-in when he unexpectedly starts seeing the ghost of Meiko, who can only interact with him and no one else. She has returned to ask Jinta to fulfill the forgotten wish she made as a kid. Read more »
Title: Dog Days Genre: Adventure, Fantasy Summary:
In the land of Fronaldo, the Republic of Biscotti has been aggressively attacked by the Lion Kingdom of Galette. Facing potential defeat, Princess Millhiore summons a hero who can save the country. What she gets is Izumi Shinku, a middle-school boy from Japan. Awaiting him in Fronaldo is the task of becoming hero enough to defeat his enemies while learning the peculiar rules of battle in this strange new world. Read more »
Title: Yondemasu Yo Azazel-san! Genre: Comedy, Supernatural Summary:
Akutabe is a detective who summons devils to solve the troubles of his clients. One day, a low class devil Azazel Atsushi is summoned by Akutabe and is used harshly by him and his assistant Rinko. Read more »
Title: Steins;Gate Genre: Sci-Fi, Thriller Summary:
Steins;Gate is set in the summer of 2010, approximately one year after the events that took place in Chaos;Head, in Akihabara.
Steins;Gate is about a group of friends who have customized their microwave into a device that can send text messages to the past. As they perform different experiments, an organization named SERN, who has been doing their own research on time travel, tracks them down and now the characters have to find a way to avoid being captured by them. Read more »
Title: Sengoku Otome: Momoiro Paradox/Battle Girls: Time Paradox Genre: Action, Comedy Summary:
Hideyoshino is an average girl who always seems to find trouble wherever she goes. One day Hideyoshino visits a local shrine to pray in order to pass her upcoming test. However Hideyoshino sees a blue light coming from inside the Shrine and looks inside to find a mysterious person performing a magic spell. Hideyoshino in a stroke of bad luck trips on a small bell and crashes into the shrine prompting the stranger to catch her. However upon catching Hideyoshino the magic spell spirals out of control and sends Hideyoshino back in time to the Sengoku Era.
Hideyoshino then encounters Akechi Mitsuhide and Oda Nobunaga. But unlike what really happened during the era, Hideyoshino realizes that everyone in the world is female. She then decides to help Oda Nobunaga find the Crimson Armor which is said to allow the person wearing the armor to conquer all of Japan.
Title: Deadman Wonderland Genre: Action, Horror, Sci-Fi Summary:
Ganta Igarashi has been convicted of a crime that he hasn't committed, and sent to a new, privately owned and operated prison, where the inmates are the main attraction in a modern day twist to the gladiatorial coliseums of ancient times. Throw in a healthy dose of weird little girl, some new-found super powers, and a little conspiracy theory, and you have Deadman Wonderland. Read more »
Title: Ao no Exorcist/ Blue Exorcist Genre: Action, Comedy, Drama, Supernatural Summary:
Humans live in the world of Assiah, demons in Gehenna. The two dimensions are not meant to interfere with each other, but demons still possess creatures in Assiah in spite of this. The humans who can fight these demons are known as exorcists. Rin Okumura is a boy who bears the curse of being Satan's illegitimate son. His foster father sacrificed himself to save him from demons. To avenge his foster father's death as well as to prove himself, Rin decides to follow the path of an exorcist. Read more »
Summary: GOSICK takes place in 1924 in a small, made-up European country of Sauville. The story centers on Kazuya Kujo, the third son of a Japanese Imperial soldier, who is a transfer student to St. Marguerite Academy, where urban legends and horror stories are all the rage. There he meets Victorique, a mysterious yet beautiful and brilliant girl who never comes to class and spends her days reading the entire content of the library or solving mysteries that even detectives can't solve.
"MOON SIGNAL" by Sphere I love the opening sequence since it features characters we'll meet but the song is just so-so
Impression:
Of all the shows coming from J.C. Staff this season, this one's my favorite ever since I started watching it.Honestly, I don't have any idea where this series is headed and I can't even understand the summary found in my season preview so my anticipation level of this series is low but heck when I watched it, I was just blown away with the interesting story, quirky characters, beautiful character design, stunning animation and of coursethe superb voice acting. Somehow, I got the feeling that this series will be one of those awesome shows by J.C. Staff and currently it is one of my favorite shows this season.
The series was set in the Meiji period where humans and spirits try to co-exists together. During those times, there is a continuous westernization of Japan and because of that the once respected spirits are now being driven away out of their homes and are being shunned by the terrified humans. In order to help maintain the harmony between the two races, the government has set up a Ministry of Youkai where three really attractive soldiers from the army are being paired up with half-youkai/spirit girls. I really, find the setting of the story interesting and engaging. It has that mysterious air to it that makes you watch the next episode in order to unravel the story behind Zakuro but also to watch how the characters interact with each other.
Another interesting thing about this series is it's characters and from the first two episodes the characters are nicely fleshed out and I like how they played at their dialogue so it's nice to know that J.C. Staff is not wasting their time in fleshing out the story and the characters. The characters are really lovable, we have Zakuro who is quiet impulsive and assertive (and also a tsundere to boot) and was able to be swooned over by Agemaki Kei during their first introduction but after learning that Kei is scared of spirits and such a wuss her impression of him worsen and always end up getting pissed at him. Agemaki Kei is such a funny character, he reminds me of Tamaki of Ouran Highschool Host Club but he also has his serious side specially when it comes with Zakuro. We also have a shy spirit girl named Susukihotaru who finds her partner really big and scary so Riken Yoshinokazura even though he is a stoic, straight faced kind of guy, when he over heard that his partner is scared of him he later helped her reach something on a high shelf and crouched down and asked if he is still scary (that scene made me go "Awwwwww"). The last threesome is composed of cheerful twin half-spirit named Bonbori and Hozuki who likes to tease their partner Ganryu Hanakiri who talks big but is actually the youngest (and smallest) of thesoldiers.
I think the animation was beautiful, I like what they did to the lighting it makes the surroundings look breathtaking. The character design on the other hand is nicely done by the mangaka, she was able to hit two birds with one stone since the guys are really handsome and the girls are such a beauty with their Kimono and they just look so elegant. Oh I have to commend the opening scene of the first episode, with that very bewitching song and then Zakuro slays that demon with her knife/sword and just from that I have a feeling that it's a good thing I decided to watch the series since it was really worth my time.
The OP and ED song on the other hand are just so-so. It's like your typical anime song but somehow the song that was sung by Bonbori and Hoozuki in the ED of the episode 2 is much nicer to the ears.
So far I'm still enjoying the series (specially with Agemaki around) and I want to know the back story of Zakuro and who is the guy with the mask in the OP?
Let's see and find out…
Until then…
~ja
"Hatsukoi wa Zakuro-iro (初戀は柘榴色)" by Mai Nakahara and Takahiro Sakurai This one is just so-so, didn't really like itbut heck the stills are just gorgeous
"Junjou Masquerade (純情マスカレイド)" by Aki Toyosaki, Yui Horie and Yuuki Kaji I really prefer this one than the first ending that was featured though it's not that catchy
That's out Agemaki in action lol He never fails to make me laugh XD This scene is one of my favorite so far
Yep, I'm bewitched When I saw this is scene I immediately thought that I'm gonna love this show
