Sayonara Toppa, Vanikawa Is Leaving Home..

But hey don’t worry, my very few dedicated readers, I have good news in store for you. This actually won’t be the last you hear from me, I’m moving out to another well-established blog. If you already know about this deserted place, then you should probably be familiar with the name Desu ex Machina. That’s where I’ll be staying from now on! =D

I started voting for Anime Power Rankings there when it was formed last year, and I became a fan of the site ever since. I was kinda surprised when Kevo approached me and asked if I’m interested to be recruited, but I became filled with excitement as well! So yeah, you can still follow my writings there. And I’m willing to be more regular than I am here, which means you’ll get even more of what you liked from Vanikawa. *which by the way I’m still wondering about since most of you guys were silent stalkers lol*

Alright then, sayonara to Vanikawa Toppa..

And welcome to Desu ex Machina!

Summer 2012 Potential Watchlist

First, let’s see how accurate Spring Potential Watchlist was:

1. Accel World (Watching Potential: Average)

2 AKB0048 (Watching Potential: Average)

3. Eureka Seven AO (Watching Potential: High)

4. Fate/zero (Watching Potential: Guaranteed)

5. Ginga e Kickoff! (Watching Potential: Low) > DROPPED

6. Hyouka (Watching Potential: High)

7. Jormungand (Watching Potential: Guaranteed)

8. Kuroko no Basket (Watching Potential: Average)

9. Medaka Box (Watching Potential: High) > DROPPED

10.Natsuiro Kiseki (Watching Potential: Average)

11.Ozuma (Watching Potential: High)

12.Saint Seiya Omega (Watching Potential: Low) > DROPPED

13.Sakamichi no Apollon (Watching Potential: Guaranteed)

14.Saki: Achiga-hen (Watching Potential: Low) > DROPPED

15.Shining Hearts: Shiawase no Pan (Watching Potential: Low) > DROPPED

16.Tsuritama (Watching Potential: Guaranteed)

17.Uchuu Kyoudai (Watching Potential: Average)

18.Zetman (Watching Potential: High) > DROPPED

Also, shows I didn’t care for pre-season but still picked up after the hype:

1. Lupin III: Mine Fujiko to iu Onna

2. Sankarea > DROPPED

That turned out pretty accurate I think, except for Medaka Box and Zetman which were huge let downs. I was barely able to sit through the first episode of Zetman, and didn’t even bother to finish that of Medaka Box. Lupin III: Fujiko was kind of a surprise to me since I wasn’t even aware of its existence before my Twitter Timeline became oversaturated with rants over Fujitits the night first episode aired hahaha. Sankarea, eh, was only watchable till the end of episode 3 and then went falling downhill from there.

So yeah, looks like it was worth doing so I’m making another potential watchlist for upcoming Summer season this time:

1. Joshiraku

Producers: J.C. Staff

Genres: Comedy, Slice of Life

A group of girls discusses random things and usually reaches an unusual or humorous conclusion that’s far from the initial discussion topic.

(Source: MAL)

Watching Potential: Low

2. Binbou-gami ga!

Producers: Sunrise

Genres: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Magic, Supernatural

Sakura Ichiko is a 16-year-old girl who leads a charmed life and is blessed with beauty, brains, and health. She has an abundance of “Happiness Energy”, which can make people happy, but at the cost of absorbing all the Happiness Energy from her surroundings. She has caused the energy balance of the world to become unbalanced and because of this, she becomes the target of a Poverty God named Momiji. Momiji goal is to remove Ichiko’s power of absorbing other people’s Happiness Energy and to return all the energy she has taken to its rightful place.
(Source: Akiba-station)

Watching Potential: Low

3. Kokoro Connect

Producers: Silver Link

Genres: Comedy, Slice of Life

The “love and teen pentagonal comedy” follows the strange phenomena at the Yamahoshi Academy’s Culture Club, starting with the five male and female club members switching bodies with each other.

(Source: MAL)

Watching Potential: Low

4. Arve Rezzle

Producers: Zexcs

Genres: Action, Adventure, Mystery, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller

A cyber battle sci-fi. In 2022, the technology of quantum computing has greatly advanced and many people have transfered their mind into the cyber space.

Remu’s sister-in-law, Shiki, skipped grades and entered a high school in the academic city “Okinotori-island Mega Float City (OMFC)” when she was 14. One day, Shiki confessed to her brother via Skype that she was talking to him directly from the cyber space and her real body had been kept in a water tank filled with a culture medium. It’s called “Body pool” and Shiki connected to the network by nanomachines implanted in her brain.

Remu was surprised but he accepted her decision until an accident called “Early Rupture” happened. The network server got overloaded and users’ minds were lost in cyber space leaving soulless living bodies in the Body Pools. In order to bring Shiki’s mind back, Remu visits her apartment in OMFC and there meets Shiki escaped from the hospital. But the girl tells him that she is not Shiki and she happens to haven taken over Shiki’s body.

When Remu tries to figure out the situation, a violent attack strikes the apartment.

(Source: MAL)

Watching Potential: Low

5. Sword Art Online

Producers: Aniplex, A-1 Pictures, Genco

Genres: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Game, Romance

The only way to escape is to ‘clear’ the game. Death in game means actual ‘death’ —-

The ten thousand who have logged onto the as of yet mysterious game ‘Sword Art Online’ using their Nerve Gear have been forced into this perilous death game and are trapped inside.

Protagonist Kirito, one of the many gamers, has greeted this ‘truth’.
He plays as a solo player in the giant castle that is the stage for this game —- ‘Aincrad’.

To meet the conditions of clearing the game and leaving this twisted virtual world, he must get through all 100 floors. Will Kirito have what it takes to clear the game, or will he die trying?

(Source: Mangafox)

Watching Potential: Average

6. Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita

Producers: AIC A.S.T.A., Marvelous AQL

Genres: Fantasy, Seinen

It’s been several centuries since human beings declined due to the steep drop in birthrates. The most prosperous species on the Earth are “Fairies”, 10 cm tall creatures with high intelligence. I became a UN arbitrator between the humans and the fairies and returned to my hometown to help my grandfather. I thought my job would not be a tough one and visited one of the fairies’ habitats to say hello to them but…

(Source: MAL)

Watching Potential: Average

7. Chouyaku Hyakuninisshu: Uta Koi

Producers: TYO Animations

Genres: Historical, Josei

Uta Koi tells the “super-liberal interpretation” of the Hyakuninisshu anthology compiled during Japan’s Heian period of 100 romantic poems from 100 different poets such as The Tale of Genji’s Murasaki Shikibu.

(Source: MAL)

Watching Potential: High

8. Tari Tari

Producers: P.A. Works

Genres: School

The story centers around five Japanese high school students who are too young to be called adults, but who no longer think of themselves as children.

Wakana Sakai once took music lessons, but she withdrew from music after losing her mother. Konatsu Miyamoto is a positive-thinking girl who loves singing and spends time after school at the vocal music club. Sawa Okita is a spirited archery club member who dreams of becoming a horse rider. Daichi Tanaka is a chronically late badminton team member who lives with his college student sister. “Wiin” just transfered into Wakana’s class after 12 years abroad in Australia.

Music brings Wakana, Konatsu, Sawa and the others together into an ensemble during their last summer in high school.

(Source: ANN)

Watching Potential: High

9. Moyashimon Returns (noitaminA)

Producers: Telecom Animation Film, Shirogumi

Genres: Comedy, School, Supernatural

Second season of Moyashimon.

Watching Potential: Guaranteed

10. Natsuyuki Rendezvous (noitaminA)

Producers: Dogakobo

Genres: Drama, Romance, Supernatural, Josei

A young man with poor eyesight named Hazuki works part-time in a flower shop and falls hard for the shop-owner Rokka. But what happens when he discovers that residing in her apartment is the spirit of the man she can never forget?

(Source: Stiletto Heels)

Watching Potential: Guaranteed

EXTRA: Summer 2012 Anime Visual Chart v.1 by @animucharts

Crowning Moments Of DokiDoki: Spring 2012 Week 7

3. Fate/zero 20:

Weak Kawaisou Kiritsugu

Now just imagine that the previous two episodes never happened, I believe this scene would’ve worked so much better then and I might’ve actually sympathized with *awww kawaisou* Kiritsugu. So yeah yet again I’m using these entries to rant about this stuff, and I bet you got tired of it already.

2. Natsuiro Kiseki 8:

Sold on kawaii girls doing kawaii things

Seriously, watching these girls having fun on their trip felt so refreshing, it cheered me up when I didn’t expect it. This episode of Natsuiro Kiseki was able to draw the biggest smile on my face, when it also had its share of serious, saddening moments. This might actually be the biggest reason behind the heartwarming flavor of this show, it isn’t about random moe stereotypes acting cute toward each others, rather than that the close friendship these girls share seems real. They have their respective lives, their internal conflicts, their personalities, and the way they affect each others involve themselves as whole individuals. That’s why when we see them worried we know some issue needs to be attended, and when we see them joking around we appreciate how precious these moments are. Also, man I love how proudly they act according to their age, every silly stuff they do brings nostalgia to me. The goofy posing, bedtime stories, gatherings under blanket, heck even water balloon fights, oh my bringing wacky all childhood feels.

1. Sakamichi no Apollon 7

Jazz Nakama Stole The Show!

Am I repeating myself when I praise Sakamichi no Apollon whenever  a spectacular performance is delivered? Not really, or so I think. I mean this show keeps presenting wonderful examples of music speaking louder than words, with the latest one in school festival being best so far. Oh man, I had an urge to stand up on my toes myself when Kaoru jazzed the heck out of the last part in that song. I can never convey all the feelings that were brought to us in mere words, I guess it’s better watch/rewatch the thing itself to truly appreciate it. And now I’m wondering if them Jazz Nakama can bring us even better stuff later on.

Readers DokiDoki Spring 12 Week 5:
Anger and Regret

~Spring Season Watchlist~

1. Accel World

2. Eureka Seven AO

3. Fate/zero

4. Hunter X Hunter

5. Jormungand

6. Kuroko no Basuke

7. Lupin III: Mine Fujiko to iu Onna

8. Natsuiro Kiseki

9. Sakamichi no Apollon

10.Tsuritama

11.Uchuu Kyoudai

12.Hyouka

13.AKB0048

Crowning Moments Of DokiDoki: Spring 2012 Week 6

Entries have been reduced to three this week. I’m studying for my saigono saigo- *ahem* I mean last finals in uni during the next few weeks, so even when I force myself to think about something to write I get weird blocks and inspiration wouldn’t come. I didn’t want to get on hiatus for a whole month, so I thought it was best to just do what I can handle at this time without interrupting my other activities whatever they are. Plus nothing really gave me inspiration to write last week, so that got me thinking that I might end up having permanent reduction in entries when other seasons will hardly have as many good shows as the ones I’m enjoying right now. Anyways unsorted thoughts aside, here we go:

3. Fate/zero 19:

Kiritsugu Fuzakenna! FUZAKERUNA BAKAYAROU!!

CHARA-DEVELOPMENT = PHAIL ! Nope that didn’t work quite as well as it did with Homura Akemi, so better luck turning your mysterious characters into psychos next time, Urobuchi. *looking on the bright side, oh my the hilarity of that scene lolol*

2. Sakamichi no Apollon 6:

Anger and Regret

Getting extremely irritated and acting upon it when someone triggers that feel, most of us have been there. Whether the trigger was intentional or not, the result will most likely be the same. We might end up doing the most ridiculous meaningless acts assuming that it would relieve our stress and maybe let others have a taste of what we have inside. Only to find out that what we did in that state caused more awkwardness rather than solving anything, and the feelings of regret start building up from that moment onward. Now thank god Kaoru is tame enough not do anything more than throwing all the clams that he collected himself haha, although that meant a lot to him on the emotional level. It looked like as if Kaoru was trying to throw this friendship and all the times he spent with Sentarou, he seemed unaware of that at first so he started regretting it when he realized how childish it was later on. And thank god again Sentarou isn’t a deep thinker like Kaoru, he would never take it to heart *might also be due to the fact that he experienced anger himself countless of times* so a simple apology from Kaoru could solve everything. I doubt that Sentarou even needs an apology, he’s still the bestest jazz nakama so he will go after Kaoru and work out everything himself.. YEP SHIPPING KAORU X SENTAROU ALL THE WAY GODDAMN YOU FANG KUN MUSHROOM HEAD!!

1. Eureka Seven AO 6:

Never let children die!!

I didn’t understand the reasons behind that deep attachment of team Goldilocks with Bruno at first, especially Chloe who is the youngest pilot in the group. News about his death came and I felt indifferent, it was still like that until the moment Ao went to his place and looked at one of the mission summaries he had pinned to the wall. I saw the handwritten “Never let children die!!” and then it hit me, he was the one adult in Generation Bleu most sympathetic toward the children putting their lives on the line piloting IFOs. I admit that Bruno hugging Ao felt kinda silly to me in the last episode, but I see the meanings behind it now. I also admit that looking at his handwritten message made me squeeze my heart and lose some tears *sobs*.

Readers DokiDoki Spring 12 Week 5:
The Pendulum of DokiDoki

~Spring Season Watchlist~

1. Accel World

2. Eureka Seven AO

3. Fate/zero

4. Hunter X Hunter

5. Jormungand

6. Kuroko no Basuke

7. Lupin III: Mine Fujiko to iu Onna

8. Natsuiro Kiseki

9. Sakamichi no Apollon

10.Tsuritama

11.Uchuu Kyoudai

12.Hyouka

13.AKB0048

Crowning Moments Of DokiDoki: Spring 2012 Week 5

5. Fate/zero 18:

Fate/zero of the Dead

To be honest, I couldn’t buy all this “zOMG TRAGEDY IN PEACEFUL VILLAGE” happening because it felt like a forced asspull to create “the shitty evil despicable daddy and the traumatized clueless son” trope, which didn’t work for me by the way. I felt a little bit sorry for his dad, and was baffled by what Kiritsugu did. When Kiritsugu was a cool mysterious character before, he could be thought of as a grownup version of some messed up kid now. That’s such an undesirable chara-development which was used a bit too much in shows like the 1st Naruto, therefore I suggest for it to be included in a list of what could be called “chara-development cliches”. Ahem, enough ranting anyway, let us pretend that was a valid excuse to bring one of the better animated zombie rising productions in recent memory. *lol totally ignoring the purpose of this post lol*

4. Lupin III: Mine Fujiko to iu Onna 6:

Fujiko/We Having a Gothic Nightmare

I was hearing a goddamn distressing noise and I thought there was something wrong with the sound, then I remembered I was watching arty Rupan Sansei haha! It wasn’t just bizarre fragments of Fujiko’s memories this time, I mean this flashback scene was indeed bizarre but also very, very, VERY disgusting which ended up being extremely disturbing to watch. Owl-men examining young Fujiko ojousama was sure creepy as hell, but it’s the image of defenseless loli!Fujiko with her mouth opened and drooling saliva coming out that will remain unpleasantly stuck in my mind.

3. Natsuiro Kiseki 6:

How It Feels Seeing Your Own Mistakes

“Maybe” non of us will ever experience such thing in reality, but that doesn’t mean we can’t relate to the kind of  frustration Natsumi felt as she was watching her other-self doing mistakes she learned how to avoid. On the contrary, we all should be able to relate. I mean, didn’t you ever watch a video of yourself and was like “shit I shouldn’t have embarrassed myself like that”? Or once looked at your exam paper and regretted how stupid your mistakes were? Or even worse, as you just got out of an oral/discussion exam and you started remembering all the things you shouldn’t have said, or forgot what you knew you should’ve said? Damn that upsetting feel, I kind of envy Natsumi for having a chance to yell at herself like that..

2. Sakamichi no Apollon 5:

The Bittersweet Onigiri Of Love

Man, that scene was just like 10 seconds and it was still my favorite part in this episode. Have you ever tasted a food that made you feel unreasonably happy and then the moment you realized reality couldn’t be that sweet you saw your falling tears? I bet those were exactly Kaoru’s thoughts when he tasted the onigiri made by his unrequited love interest, Ritsuko. And I must give credit to the brilliant direction here, the hums in background, the starry night sky, and the reflection of Kaoru’s face all set the most perfect mood for such moment to break.

1. Hyouka 3:

The Pendulum of DokiDoki

The epitome of dokidoki! I know I should change the site banner to this SYMBOLIC pendulum now if I weren’t lazy to do so. Oh really no kidding, I couldn’t get enough of the intro scene in the latest episode of Hyouka! The atmosphere felt fluffy and pinkish, the speed of swinging pendulum matched that of heartbeats, and the direct gaze upon Chitanda’s feminine figure brought everything to a stop. The pendulum stopped, and Houtarou skipped a heartbeat. Dammit, how that delivered! Time moved with faster pace afterward, Houtarou was anticipating a confession from Chitanda yet acting as he couldn’t care less, but it was obvious! The awaited moment was drawing close. Suddenly, atmosphere turned back gray, and pendulum was altered circular instead of heart-shaped as before. Looking at Chitanda again, Houtarou woke up from his sugary daydream, and I think I was more disappointed than he was. I hereby declare myself an official shipper of Houtarou x Chitanda to the end, very end, very very end.

Readers DokiDoki Spring 12 Week 4:
Every Minute Counts!

~Spring Season Watchlist~

1. Accel World

2. Eureka Seven AO

3. Fate/zero

4. Hunter X Hunter

5. Jormungand

6. Kuroko no Basuke

7. Lupin III: Mine Fujiko to iu Onna

8. Natsuiro Kiseki

9. Sakamichi no Apollon

10.Tsuritama

11.Uchuu Kyoudai

12.Hyouka

13.AKB0048

Crowning Moments Of DokiDoki: Spring 2012 Week 4

5. Eureka Seven AO 4:

That Awkward Feel

When you praise someone for being such a nice person, and in the next moment you find out he/she was selling you out all along. Ao’s face is my face when that happened here, I would’ve even wanted to vomit the food they just fed me. Still, Ao did a pretty good job not saying a word after that. He just left the bowls on table and left. I believe silence sometimes has the ability to send heavier messages than screaming to your heart’s content. Silence was indeed very effective in this situation as it overburdened Ms. Two-Face with extreme frustration. So yeah, I had to bring it up here since I had emotional cramps myself watching this scene.

4. Lupin III: Mine Fujiko to iu Onna 5:

Dueling in Style

I had no previous exposure to Lupin III franchise before, so I ended up liking Jigen and Lupin most from their appearances in the past episodes. It was awesome to see them again, up against each others starring in one episode this time. That was like a double dose of awesome for our viewing pleasure. I tried but I couldn’t choose any particular moment to talk about, only because every line of witty dialogue they exchanged was so exciting to sit through! This could be an excuse for me to get away with it without failing miserably at explaining what an excellent episode of Lupin III this was, but must be a valid excuse nevertheless. :p

3. UN-GO 0 Inga-ron:

Paradoxical Truth

I think it’s a pain to talk about UN-GO because of how crammed with ideas it is. You can take a single scene and form a whole post out of it, and it might not make sense if you didn’t bring up other stuff from other scenes to link them together and make your point. Now despite what I just said, I think I’ll end up doing that here. If you had commited a crime, then you claimed that you have supernatural powers which, unless a person has contradictory evidence in his mind, make whatever you say becomes the truth. And so you accused another person of committing that crime. Then you ordered that the true criminal be shot down. Who will take the bullet then?……. I know how quite difficult it is to come up with the answer, and I’m not ready to spoil it for you. It’s really the biggest part of UN-GO’s charm solving these types of complicated mysteries in a way that makes perfect sense, only after messing up *so much* with your head.

2. Natsuiro Kiseki 5:

Every Minute Counts!

I have no choice but to adore Natsukise for how lighthearted it is. This episode had the simplest premise so far, and with that alone it was still able to amaze me in an unexpected way. It was when Natsumi, Saki, and Rinko were sitting on a bench worrying about not getting in contact with Yuka for days because of her cold. Just when they realized how precious every moment they spend together is, they immediately started running to the magical rock to wish for Yuka’s cure: “Let’s wish on the big rock that Yuka’s cold will go away!” “Every day she’s sick is less time we can spend together!” “And that’s a wasted time!”. For me, that wasn’t brilliant just because it fleshed out how really close to each others these four are, but also because it touched the subject of how important time is. Especially the time that you can spend with your special ones is irreplaceable. Now I admit being a maniac when it comes to time, I consider every minute of my life countable even miserable ones *lol* so I appreciated it when the girls went as far as seeking the supernatural to make better worth of just a few days of their summer time.

1. Sakamichi no Apollon 4:

Regrettable Prejudice

Well, it might be kind of extreme to go as far as crying when you regret something you said, but it’s so like Kaoru to do that haha! Just kidding here, I don’t think that’s what made Kaoru cry, it was actually how Sentarou replied to his unfair accusations with sincere kindness. Which is totally like Sentarou by the way! It was an overwhelming mixture of embarrassment and happiness among many other unsorted feelings, that can make anyone with a living heart cry. I liked the way Sentarou sighed that he said too much and stopped sharing more sad memories of himself, that kind of blunt honesty is also a part of what makes him such a charming individual. It was adorable how Kaoru immediately sorted out his feelings and started playing the organ with Sentarou afterward, it was well portrayed how they were pictured as their childhood selves practicing music together, and it was so touching. I know, I’m not planning to hide it, I was very terribly moved. ;-;

Readers DokiDoki Spring 12 Week 3:
“Kisamara! You feel no shame at all?!”

~Spring Season Watchlist~

1. Accel World

2. Eureka Seven AO

3. Fate/zero

4. Hunter X Hunter

5. Jormungand

6. Kuroko no Basuke

7. Lupin III: Mine Fujiko to iu Onna

8. Natsuiro Kiseki

9. Sakamichi no Apollon

10.Tsuritama

11.Uchuu Kyoudai

12.Hyouka

13.AKB0048 -NEW-

14.Sankarea -DROPPED-

Crowning Moments Of DokiDoki: Spring 2012 Week 3

Ah, what’s the point of setting deadlines if I don’t meet them? Yeah I know, I guess it confirms me being an “M” since it’s such a torturing feel when you get past them, and I do that more often than I should. Oh wait, even before that, isn’t assigning the task of blogging about anime to yourself considered a bigger act of masochism? So even if you disguise yourself as the most despicable elitist you should still have the heart of an “M” when you blog animu. man, this logic.

LOL whatever, just forget the prior jumble. Last week has been the most active ever for Vanikawa Toppa, and so I’m more enthusiastic about wasting precious time doing this sort of stuff now, even if I still complain every once in a while haha! I’m tricking myself into thinking that getting a total of 22 votes in the poll last week is some kind of achievement, even though I’m not getting any comments from voters lol. Oh well, I’m happily living with that:

5. Hyouka 1:

Jorougumoé

For better or worse, context is almost irrelevant to how striking this scene was. I mean, the main trio were having a rather dull argument about locked door mystery at the time but that didn’t matter one bit. I was almost yawning and just then, the screen started getting overflowed with countless filters making it feel like a photoshop session on time-lapse was going on! It was one of those delicious eye-candy moments and it tasted really nice, I was having one idea in mind as I was looking at the screen captured above: “oh, this could look fantastic as a desktop paper right?”

credit: I learned about Jorougumo upon reading this excellent post by Marina (Anime B&B), you all should go and have a look already!

4. Natsuiro Kiseki 4:

Love needs no magic, magic ruins love..

Gotta say this scene wouldn’t have had the same effect if it wasn’t for the great acting in it. I mean, it was straightforward climax to a body-swap story, the moment where mixed feelings get sorted together in front of the love interest. It seemed as if Yuka didn’t really realize that she was borrowing a body that doesn’t belong to her until the instant when the one who owns that body, Saki,  seemingly got a bit closer to her crush, Takashi, all thanks to Yuka herself carelessly acting on her, Saki’s, behalf. *err explanation didn’t go as straightforward as I hoped ww* So then a reality check slapped Yuka in the face and she started crying. It was touching because it felt sincere, and it also reminded me that even the most cheerful in the gang can get their feelings hurt sometimes..

p.s. in case someone didn’t know calling your classmate of opposite gender by first name is some serious romantic development in Japan lolz

3. Fate/zero 16:

“Kisamara! You feel no shame at all?!”

Ok that marks the most horrible death in Fate/zero so far. *dammit Urobuchi you sadist* It was gruesome and full of despise, kinda uncomfortable to watch even. I wasn’t the biggest Lancer/Diarmuid fan but I couldn’t help feeling extremely sorry for the way he was forced to commit suicide, he was unfortunate to have a pathetic excuse for a master but he was also miserable that he could never rebel against the feeble wish of such master. It was amusing yet upsetting how Lancer even gazed at clueless Saber with a spiteful look during his last moments of rage, that felt really heavy and it helped that we weren’t shown his face as he did.

2. Sakamichi no Apollon 3:

Anime Bestest Jazz Nakama

The romance segment of Apollon is doing a great job with decent development each week, yet it should be obvious that it’s not the main attraction of the show. Instead, every time I start playing an episode of Apollon I see myself anticipating the part where all of us (both audience and performers) forget about the drama and let jazz tickle our souls. I loved how this feel was explicitly apparent when Kaoru and Sentarou were having a fight and the atmosphere kept getting awkward, it was still awkward till the moment they started hittin’ jazz notes together. Kaoru resisted the urge to smile at first, but it only took him few more seconds to burst in laughter. Seriously, it’s enough for me to board Apollon hype train as long as we keep getting quality jazz sessions of this kind.

1. Eureka Seven AO 3:

“Let’s do some effing justice…”

So yeah, I guess it would defy justice if I didn’t bring up the most passionate speech we had in any of the airing shows last week here in this post. Really, it was admirable to see the younger generation of Okinawa finally accepting Ao as a fellow resident of the island and standing up against the cowardice of their parents, especially Gazelle here. I mean hey, if his regretful words burning with shounen justice didn’t make your kokoro go all dokidoki then I wonder what else might will. This should go without saying, Gazelle wins bro moment of the week yo!

Readers DokiDoki Spring 12 Week 2: Excalibur!

~Updated Spring Season Watchlist~

1. Accel World

2. Eureka Seven AO

3. Fate/zero

4. Hunter X Hunter

5. Jormungand

6. Kuroko no Basuke

7. Lupin III: Mine Fujiko to iu Onna

8. Natsuiro Kiseki

9. Sakamichi no Apollon

10.Tsuritama

11.Uchuu Kyoudai

12.Sankarea -NEW-

13.Hyouka -NEW-

Eureka Seven/Eureka Seven AO Terminology Guide for Noobs

I complained about this before, so I did some search to look for what all these abbreviations in Eureka Seven means (and ate a major spoiler in doing so but oh well). If I come across anything I missed, I’ll add that in the list as well. Hopefully, making sense of the dialogue will be less frustrating from now on:

Scub Coral: raw energy source

Trapar: Transparence Light Particle (clean energy source)

Compac Drive: ?amplifiers enabling humans to interact with machines?

LFO: Light Finding Operation (the name given for E7 mecha)

Nirvash: unique LFO (Nirvash TypeZERO shown above)

SOF: Special Operations Force

KLF: Kraft Light Fighter (military LFO)

Coralians: ??????

-Eureka Seven AO exclusives-

IFO: Intellligent Flying Objects (successors of LFO)

FP: Flying Platform

SDF: Special Defense Force = JAF: Japanese Armed Forces

Loploss: Low Orbit Strategic Locating Satellite

Triton: Air Assault Landing Ship

ZOA: Zone Out of Action

Scub Burst: a destructive phenomenon initiated by the Secret when it has available Scub Coral outcropping

Quartz: the center nucleus of a Scub Coral outcropping*

Coralians: G-Monsters = The Secret??

*By removing the Quartz, the Trapar waves in the surrounding area plummet and the Secret that is seeking out the Scub Coral to initiate a Scub Burst will disappear. It is one of Team Pied Piper’s missions to collect Quartzes. (Source: wikipedia)

Crowning Moments Of DokiDoki: Spring 2012 Week 2

So here we have another awesome week of Spring season. Both Goemon’s godly samurai techniques and Mutta’s embarrassing romance bits didn’t make the cut for me to talk about them this week, compared to when I struggled to find stuff to fill my posts with in the past Winter season. Yo keep it up animu!

Oh by the way, a few readers voted in the poll last week and it did the trick of making me believe in the slightest chance that some of you are actually reading my babble haha. Hereby I decided to keep the trend going until who knows when:

5. Hunter X Hunter 27:

ZUSHIIIII!!

I admit that I didn’t take chibi martial artist Zushi seriously before this moment, but then as he was readying himself for this stance I instantly got impressed! Atmosphere felt heavy, Killua became frightened, and I was anticipating what comes next… “ZUSHI!!!” broke that tension. I kinda wish it didn’t, but part of me was glad that it did. *cuz also didn’t want Killua to fall behind Gon again otherwise ugly bloodshed was gonna happen there :p*

4.  Eureka Seven Ao 2:

WELCOME BACK EUREKA

Alright, I’ll take this opportunity to complain first. So what the heck are all these abbreviations/vocabs in Eureka Seven about? FP? LFO? IFO? SFO? typeZERO? Trapar? Bahh at least now I know what Scub Coral looks like, and that it’s kind of natural explosive I guess. Yes, I’m a total no0b when it comes to mecha so I don’t appreciate it when a show like Eureka Seven/Ao tries to shove all its technobabble down my throat. Anyway all that aside, the battle between what looked to be a Nirvash *I can use this term here right? :p* and  the Secret *Ah, Mugann look-alike* was still brilliant! I think I already prefer Ao over E7 if only for the improved visual feast it offers, so that’s understandable right? Pfff I can’t stand being ignorant anymore that I’m starting to dig E7 for whatever reason now, I guess there’s some homework to be done then.

3. Tsuritama 2:

Akira Agarkar Yamada

I’m fascinated by this show, and among the many weird things that fascinates me about it Indian dude with a goose is alluring on a whole different level! I know that Sugita Tomokazu acting the role has something to do with his charm, but that’s just one of many reasons which makes Agarkar stands out. There is this eccentric charisma he has, which even creeped Haru out. And then the goose.. Also man, Agarkar theme OST when? =(

2. Fate/zero 15:

Excalibur!

Budget-burning moment of the week? Seriously, it was all the details in Saber’s water-walk and sword-strike which made this scene as breathtaking as it turned out! It was supposedly the first time we get to see the true worth of Saber’s heroic spirit so it had to make an impact, and yeah ufotable succeeded in making that, even if it was done by the assistance of burnt cash haha! The conversation between Gilgamesh and Iskander was a great follow up/closure as well, it added needed substance to the pretty outer shell afterward.

1. Jormungand 2:

Jonah LULZ

In a supposed-to-be-depressing settings of war, I find myself loving the smirky spirit Jormungand has. That elated anti-climatic moment where Koko orders her men to empty their weapons and surrender felt awkwardly fun! And then she gives another order Engrish-style as if she’s mocking that moment even more, “Minna DASSHU!!” *lolol* I would be bursting in laughter as well if I was there, damn it looked hella fun! Gotta agree with the soldier too, Koko is a lucky girl to have such an understanding team to command, errr I mean KOKO WA RAKKII GARU w w w

Readers DokiDoki Spring 12 Week 1: Love Noir

Crowning Moments Of DokiDoki: Spring 2012 Week 1

I’m giving a shout like everyone else, Spring 2012 is shaping up to be one of the best seasons for anime! I’m stuck with the biggest watchlist since I started watching anime weekly, and it seems more diverse than ever. So then comes crossing my fingers that we don’t get disappointed halfway, but I’m also pretty optimistic now. Having big list of shows gave me troubles picking up the moments I really wanted to share, and I might have messed up a little and cheated by choosing the stuff that doesn’t require me to think about what to write haha! Oh and I kinda felt like experimenting to tempt more people to skim through these posts, so I added a poll this week just because. :p

As silly as this sounds, let’s dokidoki now:

5. Fate/zero 14:

“Matte, Maiya!…”

I’m surprised at how much I missed that grim tone of Kiritsugu, I can keep listening to the way he says “Maiya!..” for hours without getting bored haha!

4. Mirai Nikki 25:

SUDDENLY BERSERK ACTION *GASP*

I dunno how I feel about the way the plot is progressing right now, and I find myself disliking Murmur since she became relevant to it, but all that aside I still immensely enjoyed the fight scene with Ninth! Seeing such fluidity in each movement reminded me of the rare occasions in good old Naruto anime where a special team was called to animate the important battles in a ridiculous “kneading” style, or that’s how I like to imagine how it was haha.. *gotta thank Asread for wasting all their budget on that*

3.  Kuroko no Basuke 1:

“I will be your shadow.”

Because the stronger the light, the darker its shadow. It’s simple, get it? YEP THAT SHOUNEN LOGIC THAT I LOVE. Just keep making sense of stuff that doesn’t make sense and I’ll keep getting hyped for you Kuroko!

2. Sakamichi no Apollon 1:

Feel them drums!!!

Was it the jazz itself? Or was it that dynamic percussion animation that had me drop my jaw in awe? Add to that Sentarou being such a fascinating individual so him on drums brought further flavor of charm, and then I could not resist.

1.  Lupin III: Mine Fujiko to iu Onna 2:

Love Noir

I was torn between the moment in the coffin and the moment with the empty gun. I ended up choosing the scene where Jigen got confused when all the emotions he kept suppressing abruptly slipped through to the surface. I could see everything in the sudden change in his expressions, and my god that was fantastic! Plus the great BGM that was playing, and *ahem* Jigen’s shockingly handsome smile. The ice-breaking moment of suicidal romance couldn’t fit in any better place other than a coffin for the dead, and the way it rolled was just damn perfect!

EXTRA:

~Spring Season Current Watchlist~

1. Accel World

2. Eureka Seven AO

3. Fate/zero

4. Hunter X Hunter

5. Jormungand

6. Kuroko no Basuke

7. Lupin III: Mine Fujiko to iu Onna

8. Natsuiro Kiseki

9. Sakamichi no Apollon

10.Tsuritama

11.Uchuu Kyoudai

12.Ozuma *err so tempted to drop this*