A new depression...

I've been feeling very very low recently, to the point I even had to take a day off work.

Haikyuu!!

 

 My favorite sports anime since Captain Tsubasa...

---

 I've started watching entire series again, rather than mainly following currently airing shows.  So that means I didn't discover Haikyuu!! when it was being simulcast, but only a full season later.  And what a treat I was saving for myself.  

There seems to be trend recently for long breaks between anime seasons.  As far as I'm concerned that's good if it means production values remain high: after all we can't expect the standards Madhouse applied to HxH on every long running series.  

What just happened to my Crunchyroll queue?

So last weekend I was in Paris, and during a quiet moment to myself, when I had access to WiFi, I thought I'd continue to catch up with HunterxHunter.  So I logged into the Crunchyroll app...

HunterxHunter - the Chimera Ant arc

Words are not enough to describe this.  This anime series is without a doubt the best I have ever seen. And the wonderful thing is that it is not over yet.

Re: Hamatora

I was hoping that this series would be a guilty pleasure this season.

Baby Steps eps 1-8

Why did I wait so long to start watching this? 

So far this week...

I've watched more M3, Baby Steps and Daiya no A.  I'm really enjoying M3 - it's dark, well produced, and after the pretty slow first episode it's been moving along at a good pace.  Is it great anime?

Space Dandy returns! Episode 14

Wow as good as ever!  This episode contained so many anime references, I wasn't able to catch all of them, but I did get Dragon Ball, Attack on Titan, City Hunter..

Tokyo Ghoul first impressions

I've just watched the first two episodes of Tokyo Ghoul.  I will definitely keep up with this series for the summer - I am already bought into the journey that Kaneki will undertake.

Free! Eternal Summer

I watched the first two episodes of this on my commute home yesterday. Perfect after work fare - light, breezy, joyful. I much prefer the character of Rin this time round.  He has more depth now that he is no longer all about beating Haruka in the pool.  And check out that sexy dance in the ED... Maybe a new favorite?

More Baby Steps, and Love Stage!

So I watched the first episode of Love Stage!

Statement of intent!

Well, I only followed one series for Spring 2014...  And I think it was all because I was too conscious of trying to blog the anime I was watching here.  Too much pressure for myself! 

Tonari no Seki-kun ep 20

My first reaction at the beginning of this episode was shock: Seki-kun is studying!  But of course he wouldn't do anything as mundane as that...

Yokoi is critical again of wasting time - so she wastes her time examining what her neighbour is doing. How does she square this with herself? She is very much aware of her fascination with Seki-kun and his pass times. Is her criticism directed at him or at herself? Or is she trying to find an excuse for herself: at least she recognises that he is wasting time in class?

As always Seki comes prepared with everything he needs, including some serious looking headphones. 

Yokoi hides her curiosity from both her friends and from Seki. How much of this could be because of growing feelings for Seki?

At the end of this episodestill don't get to hear his voice :) but we have learnt more about him.

Brynhildr in the darkness first impressions

Well this was fun.  I thought the pacing of the episode was really well managed, with enough plot development during the present day scenes and the flashback being interspersed throughout rather than all in a block.

We definitely got enough material here to allow us to form a connection with the main character (though I've forgotten his name - oops - but I am writing this up 4 days later). I feel that there is a real darkness within him - he definitely seemed ready to die when he made his decision at the Observatory.

I have enough questions after this first episode to keep me watching- for instance who is on the other end of the radio? Who was Akane San?

I wonder how much of the OP is exposition. The song hasn't registered much, either for this or the ED. The animation in the case of the later reminds 

me most of the Gin no saiji ED ☺️ all that walking...

Tonari no Seki-kun ep 19

I love this series. Couldn't give up my 10 minutes of joy even to marathon Bleach.  This episode continued the development of the relationship between Yokoi and Seki we saw last week.  Yokoi has now fully entered into Seki-kun's world, and openly (or as openly as possible in the middle of class) participates. Seki is accepting her participation without question too. But why did Yokoi expect him to wear the glasses afterwards? Surely she should have known this was just another way to pass the time? 

Last week - more Bleach ep 311-320

So last week I continued trying to finish watching Bleach, before I really start trying to get into any new series.  But there's only so much Orihime I can take, so I think from now on I'll be sprinkling some Spring 2014 episodes into the mix.

Anyway I must mention that I liked the way Kon got to be a little bit more than just comic relief at the beginning of the Regai arc. I also enjoyed the direction of ep 219, with some inventive angles on shots, and some good animation.

But one thing puzzles me: at this stage doesn't everyone know that Ichigo's Dad is/was a Shinigami? And a captain at that? So why are they still squeezing into Ichigo's room? I'm especially surprised at Rangiku and Toshiro. 

Bleach ep 307-310

The last few episodes of the Arrancar arcs, and perhaps some of the better episodes of the series.  The animation was up to scratch, the pacing excellent, and despite one last big power-up for Ichigo there was no disbelief introduced - it took him time to achieve (almost three months), it left him facing the total loss of his powers, and he still wasn't able to kill Aizen. 

And I really liked the resolution of Gin's story. His character made sense, finally. I wondered if the ring Rangiku has on her necklace was from him, but she said at the end he hadn't left her anything.

Kamigami no Asobi ep 5

 

More of the same this week, though perhaps with a touch more romance between Yui and the guy of the week, Takeru. 

Pacing is good, the story is OK, and the characters oh so easy on the eye. At least Yui's interactions with the guys in her reverse harem aren't always the same, and she has some definitive traits such as her passion for iaido.

I noticed that there are a lot of close ups: maybe to better show off how gorgeous they are? Ha ha

Bleach ep 306

Just a quick note to say I really really like the OP for this arc: the animation is beautiful, and this is one I'm not fast forwarding through. 

 

Tonari no Seki-kun ep 18

Go Seki-kun! This is the first episode where Seki is actively looking for Yokoi's participation in his game.  Is this pay-back for all those occasions when she has forced her scenario to play out rather than his? She puts up a good fight and tries to ignore him as much as possible, but Seki gets her to crumble eventually.  I really enjoyed the interplay between her inner dialogue and the sounds Seki was making. Perhaps not the most laugh out loud episode of the series, but a good one nonetheless for how it advances the relationship between the characters.

Ace of Diamond ep 30

Another episode of Daiya no A that just flew by.  I enjoy the team dynamics in this series.  In this episode the focus was strongly on the opposing team though - Akikawa.  Shun is without a doubt the strongest member of his team, and while this gives him a chance to shine, together they can't beat Seido. 
This is another strong point about this series - it feels like a realistic portrayal of high school baseball in Japan, which doesn't gloss over the hard work or the difficulties that the young athletes must overcome.  It also portrays the disappointments that a lot of these must face - after all only one team can make it through to Koshien!