Winter 09/10 Anime List

TV SERIES

• Rose O'Neill Kewpie
• Ladies vs Butlers!
• Hanamaru Kindergarten
• Nodame Cantabile Finale
• Sora no Woto
• Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu
• Durarara!!
• Ookamikakushi
• Hidamari Sketch×☆☆☆
• Omamori Himari
• Chu-Bra!!
• Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 3: Owari Naki Unmei
• Seikon no Qwaser
• Katanagatari
• Dance in the Vampire Bund

OVA/OAD

• Tokimeki Memorial 4 – The First Finder (OAD)
• Denpa teki na Kanojo - vol 2
• Aki Sora (OAD)
• Kanokon ~Manatsu no Daishanikusai~ (OVA)
• AIKa ZERO (OVA) - vol 2
• Utawarerumono (OVA) - vol 2
• HELLSING (OVA) - vol 7
• Boku, Otaryman. (OVA)
• Halo Legends (OVA)

FILM/MOVIE

• ONE PIECE FILM Strong World (Film)
• Uchuu Senkan Yamato Fukkatsu-hen (Film)
• Aoi Bungaku: No Longer Human Director’s Cut (Film)
• Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva (Film)
• Yona Yona Penguin (Film)

*List is not complete and subject to changes.

sauce - various

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This winter (or summer for me) might be another free time for me, or not depending on my Honours Degree application. Nevertheless for this winter, series that I'm looking forward to and almost certainly, definitely went into my watchlist are Ookamikakushi, Durarara (from the creator of Baccano!), Vampire Bund, and Seikon Qwaser (lmao "milk" power - the manga was quite nice).
Then there's OVA too. There's OVA's like Utawa and Aika Zero that I've been waiting for. And especially, Denpateki na Kanojo vol 2!!! :DD Need more batshit girl :3

Preview - End of Eternity/Resonance of Fate

Resonance of Fate, known in Japan as End of Eternity (エンド オブ エタニティ), is an upcoming console role-playing game developed by tri-Ace and published by Sega for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Its release date is currently set for January 28 2010 in Japan, and sometime in 2010 in North American and European markets.

End of Eternity on Wikipedia

End of Eternity@Sega Official

The gameplay video, along with 2 teaser videos were shown during recent Tokyo Game Show. My first impression on the video - wow, fukken awesome. The graphic, I mean. I can't comment much about the gameplay unless I tested it myself, but from the look of it, the gameplay seems to share a lot of similarity with recent Playstation 3/Xbox360 game, WET. The stylish use of gun to fight acrobatically rather than conventional sword/lance/magic etc seems enticing, and added to that is WET/Matrix-like slow-mo element which allows player to move swiftly while shooting.
The gameplay looks cool enough, as Tri-Ace fan, this game is a must for me. I just hope the aiming system and camera angle are easy to control. Can't wait for next year's release :D

The gameplay and Trailer can be downloaded here
TGS Trailer #1
TGS Trailer #2
TGS Gameplay
(credit to Gekkostate)

ps: End "fo" Eternity lulz

RD's selected replay #3

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Fall 09, how much? [part 3]

Finally the last part. Was meant to post this earlier, but as usual got some stuff to attend to.
Part 1
Part 2



The Sacred Blacksmith
MAL/official

comments: This is one of the Fall show that I like, and has long been in my to-be-watched since its announcement. Maybe because I'm quite fond with the setting of Medieval world fused with supernatural element, and Seiken no Blacksmith definitely fit into the description. Who doesn't get awed by Luke's magical technique to forge a new katana right in the middle of battle? Animation quality is rather average, which is kinda unexpected because I admire the visual novel's art a lot. OP and ED are okay, just that I thought it doesn't quite fit qith the theme of this anime. And also not playlist material I'd say. Regardless whether Toyosaki Aki voiced Lisa or not, somehow the character's expression remind me a lot to K-ON's. Don't ask me why lol.

verdict: **** - In my watchlist



Seitokai no Ichizon
MAL/official

comments: I have to say the introduction in the first episode was nicely done, it impressed me more than others and got me laughing over the parodies mentioned (Dragon Ball/Evolution, Haruhi, Lucky Star, Death Note, Higurashi and many more). The story focus on a group of students in Student Council who were selected based on popularity (Sugisaki must be one of the luckiest bastart in the world with such brain of his and the time he had in Student Council), do their everyday jobs, and every episode seems random (Lucky Star rings the bell), which was fine with me but I do hope they would go deep in plot but at the same time maintain the jokes and parodies like in episode 1. I'm all in for the laugh anyway. Over time I do find the comedy looks rather repetitive and like Fairy Tail, somehow lost its comedy value if no refreshing things were added. Generic harem character design, the animation are nice nonetheless.

verdict: *** - still watch this.



Sora no Otoshimono
MAL/official

comments: Another comedy romance anime on the list. Things looks serious at first when Sakurai discovered a winged angel fell from the sky and decide to save her. But then things turned completely the opposite - the Angel, Ikaros become his servant and will grant any of his wish. From then on it's all in your imagination on what's happening between him, Ikaros, his childhood friend Mitsuki and their 2 upperclassmen (panties meteor made me laugh hard lol). Generic comedy and fanservice in each episode looks fun, but again, I wish to see deep plot involved. Wishful thinking maybe, seeing how Sakurai's senpai suspected something not right with Ikaros's ability, and the fact that Ikaros suddenly fall from the sky together with piles of debris. Can't based my opinion from the first three episodes, I guess. The animation quality is fairly good, often complemented by Sakurai's chibi form to made things looks funnier (but sometimes kinda gone absurd).

verdict: *** - still going to watch.



Tatakau Shisho: the Book of Bantorra
MAL/official

comments: Another Fall show that I like because it offers something that a lot of Fall series doesn't - maturity in plot. The story take place in a unique world where the dead will turn into some sort of stone artifact which stores all their memories, and it is the job of tatakau Shisho, i.e. Armed Librarian to keep these artifact safe. To be honest I don't quite understand what the story try to deliver in the first two episodes, not until the first arc end in episode 4. I was first led to think that Colio is one of the main character lol, until episode 4 ends which justify my thought on the course of the story. IMO The specific terminology used in the series need to be explained (at least by TL's effort) early in the episode (Meat, True Man, Mock Human, Dragon's Pneumonia..). A lot of actions and fighting involved, sometimes looks a little exaggerate.
ps: the people's name in this show is veeeery weird.

verdict: **** In my watchlist.



To Aru kagaku no Railgun
MAL/official

comments: OP song: 10/10, "Only My Railgun" is definitely one of my favorite fall song this year along with 11eyes's. Story: As To Aru majutsu no Index's spinoff, we would expect that Misaka would get a lot more attention this time, which she obviously does. Together with Kuroko, this pair creates some good laugh especially watching Kuroko's obsession toward Misaka as she always been. And then there's Uiharu and Saten, and the ever-"reliable" Judgement to add to the story. We need more Touma though (he's the only male lead ffs), too bad he's just a support character and only appear seldom in the manga, which tells that...

verdict: *** - In my watchlist.

Umineko dojin [part 3]

more Umineko dojins that I dig recently
others:
Part 1
Part 2

Click me to view

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Mio over muh desktop

I noticed this things up on Toshokan a few weeks ago but never really had a thought of downloading it. Turn out that this thing looks cool putting on desktop, although it consumes quite a bit of memory (130M, wtf). The Cagayake Girls song that they sing can be changed, and without a second though, I immediately change this to Don't Say Lazy :3

Features: 3 choices of costume+nekomimi, options to adjust frame rate/size/transparency/visual quality, and it seems like even the dialogue can be changed. Too bad most of the emotions appeared randomly and we can only control 3 emotions (one which made her pick her bass and sing) by right clicking her head. Her joints (head/hands/legs) can also be movedand rotated but it's fairly hard to do because the angle seems quite limited.

Direct Download: [MU]

Fall 09, how much? [part 2]

Let's continue from part 1 on what I think about the Fall shows
part 1



Kobato.
MAL/official

comments: Another CLAMP's work adapted into anime. This looks to be a mix of Chobits and... Tsubasa Chronicle perhaps? The story looks okay after watching the first two episodes, some funny scenes to crack me up especially watching Kobato's total naivety about the world (god knows what kind of world she's in before). Animation art is classy and Hanato Kobato is finely designed, just as expected from Madhouse studio. Some peeps compared this with Chobits, but for me I didn't really see any similarity between the two, except both were by CLAMP's creation, and Kobato/Chii's naivety.
verdict: ** dropped. I'm a huge fan of Chobits, unfortunately Kobato looks average for me thus far and I didn't really plan to extend my watchlist with this show. Not my kind of show I suppose.

Tegami Bachi - Letter bee
MAL/official

comments: In term of concept, my first though upon watching episode 1 is that this was some sort like the male version of Shigofumi. But on the basis of story, that's definitely different. If Shigofumi deals with the dead's letter, Letter Bee deals with the living, where anything can be considered as letter (even human being), and added with that is the addition of partial supernatural elements with the use of mystic gun and the existence of "armored" bug to cause chaos in the middle of the night. Despite not watching the OVA or reading the manga yet, I didn't find much difficulty to understand the story based on episode 1 alone, and further 2 episodes continued to attract me into watching the show, especially after Niche's introduction in ep3. Great, clean animation, one of the better for this season in my list.
ps: I have to say that I've grown attached to Miyuki Sawashiro's voice (aka Cal Devens/Shinku/Tsugumi/Shibasaki etc :3)
verdict: **** - in my watchlist.

Nogizaka haruka no Himitsu Purezza
MAL/official

comments: When I saw season 2 coming, I really hope that the story won't be as linear as season 1 with lame comedy and shallow romance. After watching 3 episodes of season 2, it doesn't seem to me that anything has changed that much compared to season 1 - still typical comedy romance story, some misunderstanding here and there, and still the same old stuff between Yuuto and Haruka, both still being shy to each other, and what's surprisingly is the fact that they didn't even know (or, trying to deny) what they are to each other. The OP and ED song are nice, although I prefer season 1's OP, and especially the catchy ED which season 2 lacks.

verdict: ** - will probably put this show on hold and marathon everything in a go.



Nyan Koi
MAL/official

comments: Cats, cats, cats, cats, cats, cats. lolwut? Having watched the first 3 episodes, the story doesn't sound that bad - Curse of cats to a boy who is allergic to cats because he broke a cat deity statue's head, and he need to do good deeds to cats to redeem himself. Along the way is the usual harem comedy romance you expect would happen for a high school student, surrounded by a girl he admired, a brute osana najimi, a delivery girl, and more girls to come. First episode was less entertaining than I expected, good thing it improved a bit in the next 2 episodes, more funny and enjoyable. OP and ED are kinda boring for me, worth skipping. On a side note, I notice some sort of similarities in term of character design with FMA, maybe it's just me. In term of animation and style, it shares a lot with Seto no Hanayome which is pretty much due to the studio.

verdict: *** Will try a few more to judge.



Queen's Blade 2: Gyokuzawo Tsugu Mono
MAL/official
comments: oh lawl, it's Queen's Blade. wtf
verdict: ** - watching for lulz, as always.

garena random #1

despite being so f***ing busy with school projects in the last few months, I simply can't neglect my nightime duty, playing dota on garena. Used to play with pubs a lot, but now we mostly played with friends and less pubs, which is... more fun! I have to admit that those first year juniors are quite skilled compared to the 2nd and 3rd years people, which is a good thing nonetheless because it send me the air of competitiveness even though we're just playing among friends. Too bad so far we have not have the chance to play Captain Mode yet, I obvioudly quite eager to play the mode : D

Talk about the recent dota version of 6.64, overall I'm quite satisfied with most of the changes, except maybe Syllabear. Bear used to be my trademark hero (my friend even banned me from using that D :), but comes 6.64, I'm not even sure whether to pick Bear anymore. I particularly quite concerned with the nerf to huge leash range (~1500 to fawking 900, wtf). Well maybe I'm just being pessimistic, since I've never actually tried this new Bear. The Treads and Phaseboot changes are welcomed, I really prefer this (and pre-6.63) treads compared to 6.63's treads.

A few days ago, I am quite fortunate, and surprised to see 2 Asian top teams, StarsBoba and EHOME players entered and played in the room we often played in, the Aussie's Cybergamer Room. More like we're the one who bargin in the room lawl, since that room actually served as clanwar room, but nobody really use the room.

btw some things to sahre, for those who often find it difficult when they have more than 10 friends playing: Dota Allstars v6.64 6v6.
download - [RS] - credit to dota-addiction.

Fall 09, how much? [part 1]

never thought that I actually still manage to watch this many animu comes Fall season. because about a month ago I can't even get a good sleep due to college stuff. Good thing I've finished my uni projects and all that left is another major report, and final exam. Ok, to my usual's not-so-first impression.

11eyes
MAL/official

comments: holy...the songs, that's all I can say. Yes, the very thing that I want to compliment about the show, really is the OP and ED songs, which are as awesome as the game's. I really love the mix of Ayane's usual pop music with Atelier Iris's-like intro for the OP (just as awesome as her Lunatic tears for the game), and not to mention Asriel's ED. Not saying that the story is not good, in fact I enjoy the dark, Night Wizard-esque theme with supernaturals element involved, although it's kinda vague even after 2 episodes - Red Night? Towers? Transfer student?

verdict: **** - in my watchlist.



Asura Cryin 2
MAL/official

comments: Since this is the 2nd season, I can pretty much expect the content - the involvement of first world and Natsume's "brother", and more troubles revolving Asura machina. That aside, overall I'm being neutral to this show - the animation doesn't change, all you see in the first season still present in the sequel; the OP/ED still sticks with Angela (I prefer Angela's song for the first season though). Not my most anticipated show overall.

verdict: *** - will I be able to watch this weekly, or will I wait until it ends and marathon?



Fairy Tail
MAL/official

comments: I swear I've read the manga a bit long ago, but I can't recall my memory of it for some reason, maybe because I got it confused too much with Rave. So I kinda would treat the story as something new. Anyway, as expected the animation is less grand than I would expect, the fighting scenes are okay but still not extravagant. I would like it better if they reduce the random jokes, because over time it's becoming repetitive and lost its comedy value. The BGMs especially are actually nice to listen though. Oh yeah, Kugimiya as Happy and Hirano as Lucy, I kinda lol for some reason.

verdict: ** - Honestly I'm not a fan of one piece/rave/shonen and this one is no different. Will probably drop this show. Sorry kugyuu D :



Kampfer
MAL/official

comments: Gender bender. If 11eyes is about the songs, then for me Kampfer is probably about the seiyuus lol. This show sure has list of delicious seiyuus - Yukari Tamura, Yui Horie, Marina Inoue, Nana Mizuki.. and they even parodied themselves in the series itself for the lulz. Although Marina Inoue also voicing male Natsuru kinda sounds just wrong to me. The concept of the story is fine at best although I'd probably get tired of the typical theme of fighting for the sake of...unknown reason. Nevertheless I'd still watch it for the laugh, from Natsuru's complicated gender situation to Akane's subtle perversion. That aside, I just can't help but wondering (yeah I know logic is useless in this kind of anime) - surely the school doesn't care that much when the library, doors and walls were smashed because of Kampfer's fight?

verdict: **** In my watchlist



Kimi ni Todoke
MAL/official

comments: wow, I never thought this day would come where I would actually watch and enjoy a shoujo show. Met Sadako (er..I mean Sawako), a girl who has a hard time interacting with people due to people's wrong impression toward her. She admired a boy in her class named Kazehaya because of his refreshing nature...and the rest is history. Truth be told I don't favor the generic shoujo artstyle, but Mamiko Noto really amuse me in this show with her personification as Sawako.

verdict: *** - I'd watch as long as Sadako continues to amuse me :3

Saimoe 2009 Conclusion

• 1位　1332票　Taiga Aisaka @ Toradora!
• 2位　1278票　Yui Hirasawa @ K-ON!

Got a call from my friend this morning about 2009 japanese Saimoe. Oh yeah I almost forgot that it has reach its final stage. Kinda surprising to me because the last time I take a look at the tournament chart (like 2 months ago), I swear two-third of the block finalists were Saki's, and yet none of them even reach the final, not even Nodotit? I smell conspiracy lulz.
But nonetheless it's a Treble for Taiga, taking home all sort of this year's Moe tournament so congrats to her (tbh that surprised me). Despite overwhelming influence of Saki in this tournament, she stays strong untill the end.

11eyes OP Single - Arrival of Tears [Ayane]

Title: 11eyes OP Single - Arrival of Tears
Artist: Ayane
Street Release Date: October 21, 2009

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Tracklist:

1. Arrival of Tears
2. Shinjitsu he no Chinkonka
3. Arrival of Tears (Off Vocal)
4. Shinjitsu he no Chinkonka (Off Vocal)

direct download: [MU]

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I was totally awestruck by Ayane's Lunatic Tears and recently Endless Tears for the original 11eyes game singles, and this one is no different, definitely one of my favorite song thus far for the fall show.

ps: can't find the scan for this single, so deal with it.

Umineko no Naku Koro ni Character Song CD Vol.1 - Jessica Ushiromiya & Maria Ushiromiya

Umineko no Naku Koro ni Character Song CD Vol.1 - Jessica Ushiromiya & Maria Ushiromiya [Marina Inoue & Yui Horie]

tracklist:

01 Dokkyun Heart
02 Happy Halloween MARIA
03 Anthology Drama ''Yamaika Noroika, Nekomimi no Kai''
04 Dokkyun Heart off vocal
05 Happy Halloween MARIA off vocal

direct download: [MU]
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Everyone will remember the first song being the one that Jessica sang during school festival in episode 6 of the anime, in relation to 2nd Chapter, Turn of Golden Witch. The 2nd song by Maria, I would have thought it would be similar to "Happy Maria" as in the OST, but apparently it's not. Especially with the "uuuuuuuuu~"... I kinda lol.