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Archive for December, 2009

I can’t believe I finished watching this. “Noto-sama no tame ni!!!” I guess?

Seriously, this sequel was pretty much crap in execution, story, character development and, sometimes, even fanservice. They pretty much ignored the whole basic concept of the series and turned in to another cliché-filled rom-com rehash. I mean, for god’s sake, they just pretty much affirmed the status quo of Yuuto and Haruka’s relationship throughout the show. And all their intimate scenes are just painful to watch too.

Don’t even get me started on the side characters, which just felt they were thrown in to make up the numbers. Shiina, for one, should be pretty much cognizant of Yuuto x Haruka the most, but she still thinks she’s got a chance. Of course, Yuuto and Haruka themselves NEVER admit they’re an item, expecting everyone to pretty much know it just by looking at them, which just actually makes me feel sad for Shiina. Too bad girl, “next week” is never gonna come! (watch the final episode)

Well not all of them were bad. Himemiya Milan at least came out looking pretty damn good when she flat-out told Yuuto at her concert to buck the hell up and admit his feelings for Haruka before she gets enraptured by the entertainment industry. But needless to say, trying to emulate WHITE ALBUM is never a good thing in the first place.

Liked: No
Rewatch: Hell no.
3rd Season?: For the love of god, NO MORE.

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

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Nagi’s Crowning Moment of Heartwarming continues on in this chapter…. and Hayate finally makes his decision!

Well, “protect” doesn’t mean the same as “love” right? But the Nagi camp still scores a big win here.

And… another big win here too. I wonder if Hayate’s this bold because he still thinks of Nagi as a child though. I certainly can’t imagine this being done if it was someone older.

And Hayate heads out to save A-tan. I certainly can’t wait for the next chapter now! Damn, Hayate’s getting way more serious business.

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

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Goddamnit, the production team sure is hitting us hard with this penultimate episode of SoraOto. Nymph-chan ;A;

I don’t think this is accurate anymore since they’ve been mixing up so much stuff post-dechaining timeline-wise in to the anime.

Feels weird they squeezed the date chapter in to this part, after reading the manga chapters. I’m a lil’ disappointed the Obama cameo wasn’t put in ._.

Idk why I put this in. I just thought Nymph was pretty cute in this one.

Nymph….. ;A;

Is that Astraea in the next episode announcement?!

Also, I really loved the ED this week, a cover of 「Akai Hana Shiroi Hana」 by Hayami Saori. Add in with the visuals of Nymph’s happy moments… it just kinda hits you hard right where it counts. Next week better be awesome!

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

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Whoa, fuck. The AIM Burst battle scene was waaaaaaaaaay more epic than in the manga. I can sure see where all the budget went to! Not that I’m saying the previous episodes lacked in quality…. but if we see a degradation next week, we’ll all be sure to know what happened!

And… d’aaaaaaawwwwwwwwwww, Saten-san recovered.

Glad to see her “hobby” in a while too!

I hope the Sisters will be animated too! Has it been confirmed? Does anyone know?!

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

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And thus, ends the black sheep show of the season as well as one of the most enjoyable so far.

Seitokai is really one of those shows that people either love it or hate it to bits, depending on how much of the jokes they can get. Overall I’d say if you have more than 3 years experience of watching anime, you would love it since it pokes fun at a lot of shows, conventions and tropes in Japanese modern visual culture in a extremely fresh and, more importantly, not self-depreciating manner.

The writing is constantly fun and light-hearted, while still managing to insert in some serious moments without detracting from the experience much. The chemistry between the characters are extremely well-done as well, each complementing each other perfectly, resulting in a on-screen experience that doesn’t feel too forced nor too fake. You just naturally melt in to the atmosphere, as if you are part of the show. I think it is these two elements that make this show for me.

Seitokai no Ichizon is, to me, iyashii-kei anime done right, and I’m extremely sad to see it end already. This is one show I wouldn’t mind seeing more of.

Liked: Very much.
Rewatch: Definitely.
Second Season?: Yes, I would like one very much please.

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

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Man, Kouidiot sure is channelling Touma a bit too much at the ending. I guess him making that jigyaku-neta about him looking alike with Touma came true hurr hurr hurr.

Another one of those really average shows that aren’t too QUALITY or quality, Nyan Koi served pretty much as a wasting-time show for me over its run. Thanks to gg for actually subbing it too, so that I cared to follow it. Overall, I’d say it was a pretty fun show at times, especially with the twins (horribly lacking in screen time sigh), but the rest of it was pretty mediocre, giving off a feeling of trying too hard not to look trying too hard.

Liked: So-so, mainly the twins.
Rewatch: No.
Second Season?: Hell why not? If it actually comes out that is.

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

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Welcome to the role-reversal time-wasting fanservice episode, where the dolls are the girls and the girls are the dolls.

Nana licking Noto’s ears….

Oh gg, you HAD to use that meme. Fitting anyways.

….. seriously?! I don’t know what to say.

Well, that was an utterly time-wasting episode, after the crap ending last week.

Liked: Shizuku, until the ending.
Rewatch: Unlikely unless forced to.
Second Season?: Likely, will watch for Shizuku if happens.

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

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(大空テラス少女 by hoppang)

On the 13th of December my true love sent — rather, I turned 1/4-of-a-century old, a ‘Quarter Centurian’ according to j1m0ne. Might not be much, but it’s still zOMG 25 freaking years living on Planet Earth! Just another 25 years and I’ll be an obaasan! (or a MILF, we’ll see) Hello quarter-life crisis?

Birthday, by itself, isn’t anything special. Bluntly and unpoetically speaking, it’s just ‘the day you got expelled from the birth canal’, in Leonard of Big Bang Theory’s words. But year after year we celebrate it. What’s the deal? Is it because our parents are soooo happy to have given birth to us? Is it because we are soooo awesome, and that our very existence is enough of a reason to celebrate? Whatever the reason might be, growing old has certainly changed my perspective on birthday. More than just the ‘time I get a birthday cake and gifts from my parents, aunts and uncles’, it has now become my Annual Life Checkpoint.

Each year, we grow older; ideally, not simply age-wise but holistically. One year would’ve passed since our last birthday (with the exception of Feb29 people), and what exactly happened since then? Did anything exciting happen? Did we get to achieve our dreams, short-term and/or long-term goals? Did we make someone happy? Did we grow in wisdom?

Have you ever taken some time off, just to look back at life, count your blessings, see that Awesome Power at work (I consider it His fingerprints, but that would differ depending on our beliefs) through the circumstances that happen in your life, discover the gem that lies in the sh*ttiness of circumstances? Looking back allows you to see things from a different perspective, and in the end make you realize, that indeed, everything happens for a purpose. Let’s do a ‘What Ifs’ / ‘A Series of (Un)Fortunate Events Looking Back’ exercise, shall we?

(遺言 by mercre)

Had I not entered the company I’m working in up until present, then I wouldn’t have met Seleria. If I hadn’t met Seleria, then I wouldn’t have gotten into blogging at Scrumptious. If I hadn’t gotten into blogging, then I wouldn’t have met all these wonderful bloggers and readers and become part of this awesome community. I also wouldn’t have realized that I can actually write, and be read!

But then somewhere along the way I lost contact with Seleria, and if I hadn’t drifted apart from her, then perhaps I wouldn’t have gotten close to this one guy. Had I not gotten close to that guy, then I wouldn’t have experienced how it was like to have a really close male friend who I can even call my ‘best friend’. But, as they say, there’s no such thing as a platonic friendship between a guy and a girl.

Had I not burst my bubble and acknowledged the possibility of turning the said friendship to something more, then we wouldn’t have been sorta coulda ambiguously MU (stands for ‘mutual understanding’, probably only used in the Philippines). Had we not been sort-of MU, then I wouldn’t have gotten hooked into this game, and started acting as if I’m in a relationship when I wasn’t really in one.

Had I not started acting relationship-y, then things probably wouldn’t have turned sour. Had things not turned sour, then I wouldn’t have realized that it wasn’t meant to be, he wasn’t into me and obviously wasn’t meant for me, and I deserve something much better. Had I not realized that, then I probably wouldn’t have opened the door for another guy to come into my life. Had I not not gotten close to that guy, then I wouldn’t have gone out on a date with him. Had I not gone out on the said date, then I wouldn’t have realized that I’ve been seeking my own selfish ways up until then, not seeking guidance from people who should know better, and ultimately realizing that I wasn’t where I want to be in (and that I need the Almighty Father’s guidance). I personally thanked guy #1 for breaking my heart after this realization, and actually thought we were OK again, that the friendship was restored.

Had I not been in Cebu when this happened, then I wouldn’t have found my way back into church and the fellowship. Had I not been part of the fellowship and met my friends in church, then I wouldn’t have joined the Christian Youth camp this year. Had I not joined the said camp, then I wouldn’t have had a Spiritual Revival and meet even more wonderful people who share my belief.

Had I not joined the Camp this year, then I would’ve been sent to Japan for Hell Work and I wouldn’t have had enough time to prepare for JLPT1. Had I been in Japan for that business trip, I wouldn’t have been transferred to another project group, from whom I learned of the Japan Bridge Engineer seminar which I’m attending now.

As for ye ol’ personal life… Had I not convinced myself that me and guy #1 are good, chums like before but without the ‘more than friendship’ feelings complicating things, then I wouldn’t have had the painful slap of reality and realize that “no, things can never be the same again, woman. it’s difficult to restore the close friendship after all that happened (especially when you’re still not on the same wavelength; balance is still disrupted and all that). and you shouldn’t continue giving him the opportunity to hurt you more, BAKA”. Had this not happened, then I wouldn’t have been completely freed from the chains around my heart. Couldn’t have felt lighter and stronger like I do now! His existence is right where it should be, back to the background of my life. “Never make somebody a priority if they only consider you an option” …and balance is restored in the universe~!

So many what ifs, the ‘little changes in a series of events that can change the entire course of our lives’, as my friend says. But I don’t want to live in What Ifs, in that Woulda Coulda Shoulda Alternate Universe. I’m right here, right now, ‘this is real, this is me, this is where I’m supposed to be’ Whatever happened in my life, both good and bad (and even the unfortunate ones turn out fortunate if you look at it from another angle) shaped me as I am now. Had all these not happened, I wouldn’t be here talking about this right now

Life is too short to be taken for granted, look back and see the wonders of life at work! 2009 was quite a roller-coaster ride for me, Life’s Ups and Downs, boy. But thanks to that, I grew in wisdom, much more than I expected (no pain, no gain).

Thank you dear friends, readers, those who were part of the series of (un)fortunate events in my life, from the catalysts to positive changes in my life to the cause(s) of my misery. Thank you for being part of my life and allowing me to grow.

Related posts:

1. Life Goes On… with Honey and Clover

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This episode was not as epic as I thought it would be.

Even Sugata’s in to doing this shit hurrrrrrrr

New World of Women’s Public Bath.

Obviously we all know how it’s gonna end…..

While this was one of the more mindfuckingly LOL chapters of the manga, I think they tried a bit too hard with the anime adaptation of Tomoko. Mostly because they made “her” go to school and do all those cliched stuff like running with bread in her mouth and the overtly fake clumsiness. That shit is NOT Moe™ if you ask me.

Of course, Nymph-chan is still the best…… nyan~

Only one more episode left! I sure hope they make it great!

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

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You’re a kitty! (click for comic)

So after plot for two episodes I guess I wasn’t really expecting this to be the greatest episode but here I am, standing corrected. I was wrong this episode was FANTASTIC! I love kitties. If you don’t love kitties you must have just missed the fact that they’re cute, fluffy, and adorable and you might want to check out some of these tiny cats to jog your memory of why we should worship their adorable fluffiness.

Aside from that I don’t think anything really happens in this episode except that Kobato finds a kitty and then attempts  to find a home for it. If that’s not cute enough Chiho and Chise also spend time with Kobato looking for a good owner. That’s over 5 parsecs of cute per second! Unbelievable!

Even if you’re probably mythical creature and not a dog, you still hate cats huh?

This episode starts off with Kobato finding a kitty in a box. She loves it on first sight! The box says the owner can no longer take care of it so Kobato decides its lonely.

“Now we’re all homeless! Ehe~”

Kobato says she’ll sit in the box and wait with the cat to help it get picked up by a new owner.

Iroyogi-san politely disagrees about this course of action.

Iroyogi-san thinks she should actively try to look for a owner so she goes home to see if anyone will take him there.

Fuijmoto doesn’t seem to like cats either.

When Fujimoto sees her coming in with the cat he makes some oh so snide remarks about the kitty. When it starts pawing Kobato she realizes it’s hungry but since she doesn’t eat (not proven yet!) she goes to Chiho and Chise to help her.

Cute: It’s over 9000!

This is by far the cutest thing that happens. When Kobato asks for food by bursting into their house the Chii sisters both pony up their candy. Kobato says it isn’t for her, and she shows them in cat in her bag. They get really excited and ask to go to Kobato’s room.

Checking for evil spies around the house is SERIOUS BUSINESS.

They give the cat some milk and check around the house. Apparently someone had a dog in these apartments some time ago and now no one is allowed to have any pets. Kobato freaks out but the girls are more interested in naming the cat.

“He’s white so we should call him Whitey! Tee hee”

They end up calling him “Milk” because he white and drinks milk – just like many many many other cats. I would have named him something a little more epic (like Berserker or something) but I guess Milk is a cute name.

“Can I pull its tail!?” < number one question of people 7 and under.

Kobato takes it to the nursery to see if Sayaka-sensei will be able to keep it there and for a while that seems like a really good idea. Lots of people to love and care for Milk there! Perfect!

and then this kid goes and ruins everything.

Turns out one of the kids is allergic so they can’t keep Milk around or he’ll die. What a pansy. Suck it up kid, that cat is cute enough for an upper respiratory condition!

The cat is actually tickling him.This is not rape.

Also this is happening in Kobato’s bag. Kobato decides to canvas the streets to try and find Milk a home!

Because there wasn’t enough cute before Kobato will be joined by the Chii twins.

Chiho and Chise show up at the nursery wanting to play with Milk so Sayaka tells them Kobato is out looking for an owner for the kitty. They decide to join forces (for good) and help her.

What is your problem old man?!

Apparently knocking on doors and asking people to take a cat is offense to everyone ever. They get chased, yelled at and turned down at every house.

You should take the cat, you live alone and all.

Domoto bumps into them and promises to help out:

a) because he’s a doormat

b) because he’s hot for Kobato

c) because he likes cats

d) because he thinks it will get him closer to Fujimoto who he is also possibly hot for.

If you anwsered e) all of the above, congrats. Give yourself a cookie.

Fujimoto sees what I did thar (but I can’t tell if he liked it or not).

Fujimoto does a pretty scary drive-by shot in his adorable pizza scooter with his Piffle Princess helmet. I like to think he gets some weird happiness in seeing Kobato fail. I might be projecting my feelings though. Oh well.

NIGHTTIME IS NOW.

They call it a day once it gets dark even after asking people they actually know instead of just strangers no one could take Milk in. They all are very discouraged but they want to ask the apartment owner one more time if they can keep the cat. They buy the cat food because it’s hungry.

Milk is grateful that Kobato is trying her best.

Woah hey, episode continuity!

They bump into the old woman whose baby Kobato sang for way back in the first episode. Turns out some nice pizza man *winkwink* asked her if she liked cats. She takes Milk but only after Kobato makes sure that her grandson isn’t allergic to cats. Kobato seems really happy but the Chii twins look all bummed out.

Still dislike Kobato’s weak voice : (

Kobato tells the girls the story of how she met the old woman and then sings to them just like in the story. I fast-forwarded through this part because Kobato’s voice still bothers me.

She also drugged them – I kid, I kid!

Her singing puts them to sleep and Chitose comes and takes them home.

“Hey, thanks for not being a jerk this episode.”

Kobato tries to thank Fuijmoto but he really doesn’t care. He was projecting all his abandonment issues on the cat anyway so not having it around helps him keep his barrier between him and the world anyway.

Wait! I have to close a slight plot hole!

Kobato also remembers suddenly that Domoto is probably still looking for a cat owner. She slams her self into the wall trying to keep the door open. Fujimoto lends her his phone and she calls Domoto. I don’t see an alligator in his room writers. *shakes head*

All is well that gets two candies for the price of one.

Kobato is as confused as I am to see two new shiny “candies” in her jar. Apparently she cheered up the Chii twins. With her singing. I guess I’ll accept that.

“but I had to touch a cat so you get a 0!”

Final  Thoughts:

-For the wacky plot fest we endured for two whole episodes I was surprised how this didn’t move the plot along at all. Not one inch forward but at least we didn’t seem to go backwards at all.

-Even though we learned about Fujimoto’s “stray cat” feelings I don’t think this will amount to much whenever his back story is revealed.

-CATS ARE CUTE.

-I finally got my copy of the ending song in the mail. You guys, you should buy it. The c/w song (Hi no Ataru Heya) is really good too! *puts it on endless repeat*

Looking forward to the next episode!~

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