pre-spring rant

Since it's already too late, I'll just wrote my brief impression toward series I watched that ended before Spring 2009. Maybe I should start alphabetically this time.

Akikan [my rating: 6.0/10]

number of episodes: 12

It's not everyday you see a story with this kind of concept - drink can turning into girl and need to fight each other. Sometimes the humor really made me laugh hard (albeit a bit dirty), but most of the time, it was dented by horrible animation. If only Brain Base could improve this part just a little, then I might have enjoyed this show a bit more. And I totally cannot understand the inclusion of episode 10..

Asu no Yoichi [my rating: 6.5/10]
number of episodes: 12

An anime adapted from manga with the same title. The story stays close with the original story although there are slight alteration/addition as we would expect from most adaptations. Nice animation quality, okay OP/ED songs. But since they doesn't take the anime that far as far as the manga concern (yes, until the appearance of that wimpy Ukyou which is far off befitting a role of final obstacle) , this somehow disappoint me a little.

Clannad ~After Story~ [my rating: 8.5/10]
number of episodes: 24

Definitely one of the better show I enjoyed before the Spring. It's already been accepted on where the story would go since the beginning, so I have no qualms about the lack of Kyou, Tomoyo, Kotomi and others' appearance; as long as there's still humor every now and then. Can't argue about episode 22 and 23 as the best episodes of the series. Then again, although it end as expected, I still am not happy with the ending. Yes, it has all been planned that those lost will be returned, but isn't it just too easy to happen, with all those miracle happening in a glimpse of the eye, and then all those miseries were then treated as a mere nightmare of Tomoya.

Maria†Holic [my rating: 9.0/10]
number of episodes: 12

Best Winter show in my book :D Yuri might turn me off, but seeing how briliant SHAFT studio divert this element into something worth laughing at in each and every episodes is just incredible. As expected from the producer of Zetsubou Sensei :3

Minamike: Okaeri [my rating: 7.0/10]
number of episodes: 13

third season. Just as I thought season 2 has the best ending, they continued with Okaeri. Well, as long as it's comedy slice of life, I don't mind watching it. Overall Okaeri provides satisfaction to me with their randomness and humor. There is however one noticeable irregularities in animation in one of the episode though. Nevertheless having at least one more season won't hurt I guess, since there are still characters that I want to have more screentime, like Hitomi :3

Munto TV [my rating: 6.5/10]
number of episodes: 9

aka Sora wo Miageru Shoujo no Hitomi ni Utsuru Sekai. What a long ass name. The first 5 episodes are completely negligible to those who have watched the movie, since it's almost the exact copy of the movie. And this series has only 9 episodes, so basically we enjoy new thins in like.. 3 and a half episode (since new stuff started by the end of episode 6). Very short, and I barely understand the philosophy used throughout the series - except common things like protecting one's future, importance of friendship blablabla..

Shikabane Kuro [my rating: 7.5/10]
number of episodes: 12/13

Sequel of Shikabane: Aka. TBH I never thought I would follow this until the end of Kuro, since the voice acting were utterly horrible. On the plus side, the story of Kuro has become more interesting compared to season 1, with more twists and turns involved like Kagami's real identity, Keisei's death, as well as confrontation with Shichisei. On paper the series indeed ended at episode 12, but in actual there will be 13th episode coming this August which would be the real ending (I suppose)

ps: I just know that Yui Horie played 3 roles in this series. I noticed about the cat and the woman at the orphanage, but doesn't quite noticed her when she voiced Kamika :3


Tales of the Abyss [my rating: 8.0/10]
number of episodes: 26

I absolutely love the ps2 game, and seeing this as a video game adaptation, at first I don't really put much expectation in the series. But ToA never disappoint me till the end. Abyss's strength, compared to other games adaptation lies in the simplicity of the story with little plotholes (unlike Vesperia, for example). Which is why even without playing the game, a regular watcher won't have much trouble understanding the terms used in Tales of Abyss. Some people might get disappointed with the ending, but it can't be helped since that's exactly how the game ended :(
And, AbyssChronicle sub rawks! I love how they use the game's font whenever the character use their artes : D

To Aru Majustu no Index [my rating: 8.5/10]
number of episodes: 24

Another top ranked series in my book. Well adapted, great animation and music, good use of special effects during battles. Plus adorable characters too. The ending have sequel written all over it, and I certainly can't wait for it. In the meantime, I guess we can sit back and wait for a certain scientific railgun's arc :3

Toradora [my rating: 7.5/10]
number of episodes: 25

As mentioned in my Fall rant, I don't really favor the way JC Staff design the characters in Toradora compared to what they looked like in the LN/manga. But the series itself give a good impression to me, with what considered as good ending. Well sometimes I do have the urge to punch someone in the series because of various things (stubbornness? idiocy? un/selfishness?), too bad they didn't exist.

Tower of Druaga: Sword of Uruk [my rating: 7.5/10]
number of episodes: 12

Sequel from the title aired back then in Winter 2008. This time the story is more serious than the prequel, so there is no random episodes as seen in season 1. Nothing much to comment, it still retained a bit of funny moments especially in the early part of the series, but totally went into serious mode in the latter half. Good ending, though I could say I don't really grasp the ending quite well, especially regarding Neeba's true motive to wage war agaisnt the god.

Viper's Creed [my rating: 6.5/10]
number of episodes: 12

Talk about Higurashi end. Overall Viper's Creed is average at best, although things got a little better in the final 4 episodes. I admit though, they got me when I thought an important character like Haruki died far too early. The story itself have many thing left untold, like Saiki's past which has not been described in detail, unlike other Viper unit member which got their own episode.

I never thought that I watched this much animu D: