The List of New Anime This Fall Season

noein ~mou hitori no kimi e~ ep.5

Haruka's transcendental power as "Ryu no Toruku" (Dragon's Torque) begings to blossom. She shows a special power to restore the status of the area just like Flame Haze from Shakugan no Shana 😛

The structure of ep.5's plots is complex and well-constructed. The script and storyborad of ep.5 is really solid and skillful enough to become textbook examples of how to make anime. For example;

1) it should be noted in ep.5 that Haruka is forcibly teleported from one place to another three times. Why did they do it three times? The reason is that 'Haruka's disappearance' is the strongest theme of ep.5. And further, it's an introduction into ep.6, because the place where the story is set in would be changed in the next episode.

2) The last scene of Haruka's ribbon falling to the ground is also used with a clear purpose. If they didn't use her ribbon in this scene, the connotation of the scene would be totally different. It emphasizes a sad feeling of a separation between Haruka and Yuu.

Canvas2 ep.7

Ellice is engaged in a war against Kiri at present. But the series still has 19 episodes, so the other heroines have a chance to win Hiroki's heart. I hard to understand why Kiri refused to kiss Hiroki. Showing one brief flashback scene, it doesn't make any sense.

Mushishi ep.4

The scene of a very large flock of Mushi flying across a vast reed bed in Yume no Kayoiji (a path linking dreamworld and real world) is really beautiful and horrifying. The viewers are going to observe developments of the disastrous incident. Ep.4 has high levels of the story, animation quality, music, screen-directing, background art and color design.

Spoiler:
Ginko ends up failing to save the blade-sharpener. After the incident he's falling gradually into madness, and finally he kills himself with a sword. People say he was always scared of sleeping.

capeta ep.7

The character design of elementary school arc is a positive disadvantage in popularity competition, but it seems they intend to adapt most of elementary school arc of the original manga into anime. Setting it aside, it was fun to watch ep.7. Cappeita and his friend give us the impression that they're a ture elementary shool child, as contrasted with Nanoha from Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha or Ami from Animal Yokocho.

Ginban Kaleidoscope ep.6

The script of ep.6 is well written. Though the animation of skating scene is a little poor, the show is still enjoyable. I can't help giggling at Tazusa wearing figure skating suit exactly similar to a maid costume.

Akagi ep.7

Akagi puts an end to the draining duel with Ichikawa. It's really worth seeing that there is the fierce exchange of dangerous exploits are extremely intellectual and strategic between the two. Akagi is more than just a gambler, he is a demonic genius. To me this show is fantastically interesting, and truly awesome!

Lamune ep.6

Ken-chan and Nanami have a so deep bond of love that there is no chance that other heroine will steal Nanami's boyfriend. This kind of plot development is fairly rare in bishoujo anime based on bishoujo PC game. This show has an easygoing and peaceful atmosphere for that reason. They laugh at the drop of a pin, cry at the drop of a pin, rejoice at the dorp of a pin and anger at the dorp of a pin. It might sound silly, but this is good.

Rozen Maiden traumend ep.4

What I like best about ep.4 is the scene where Jun reads the math textbook to Suiseiseki. Suiseiseki usually plays the bear, but she is actually quite fragile. She is incredibly cute at this scene.

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's ep.7

I'm sure the second season is more exciting than the first season. This show is getting more interesting since episode 4. In ep.7 Nanoha tells Veeta "I think I could be of assistance to you", then in the same breath she fires shattering Divine Buster at Veeta unmercifully What she does has little correspondence with what she says.

Spoiler:
Probably the identity of the mysterious mask man would be Crono's father.

ARIA The Animation ep.7

ARIA is a so-called iyashi-kei anime (healing anime), there is no fan service in the show. And so I couldn't take my eyes off Aika's stockingless leg protruding from Undine costume to kick the wall in order to pilot a gondola 😛 Ironically this scene is far more titillating than a conventional fan service.

Animal Yokocho ep.13 and 14

Kenta never takes off his muffler, even if he stays in a heated room. Why does he always wear his muffler? Iyo answers such a question that Ami is harboring. She tells Ami a long, touching anecdote about his muffler. Hey! Wait a minute. Her story is true? I'm really curious to know whether it is true or not.

Solty Rei ep.7

The title of ep.7 is "Koakuma no Houmon" (The Visit of The Selfish Chick). But I want to change the title to "Roy's Most Unlucky Day." Roy has a run of bad luck all day in this episode. Furthermore Solty causes major economic losses to the city purse by just making a dash on the road. Poor Roy. I have a little moe feeling for Roy lately.

Beet The Vandel Buster -Excerion- ep.7

Beet just has to get tridaily sleep to go about his normal daily activities. If he were a man of today, he would be the best person for the job of a long-haul truck driver. Beet and Rion have a public lovers' spat in the forest at late-night (well, this is one-sided interpretation from a yaoi-tic perspective).

BTW, Kugimiya, popular Japanese seiyuu, is currently doing the voice acting of both Rion and Shana from Shakugan no SHANA. And so he sometimes looks like to me Shakugan no Rion, especially when he activates his special power.

Gaiking ep.2

I enjoyed watching epsode 2. This anime makes me feel exhilarating. I laughed at Gaiking's rocket punch. Once his arm is launched, it can't come back.

Ruru: You shouldn't have launched it without my advice on how to use the rocket punch.
Daiya: What?! The launched arm is supposed to buzz back, isn't it?

As Pyuria, the pilot of Stinger that is the large mainstay fighter of Daiku-Maryu, can't stand by and watch any longer, so she picks his arm up off the ground with operating her fighter and brings it to Gaiking.

Jigoku Shoujo ep.7

The script of episode 7 is well-written. The story line in the first half of the episode reminds me of Glass Mask, the biggest-selling shoujo manga of all time. Ep.7 has some unexpected twists. It's fun to see Enma Ai hanging head down from a branch of a tree. The ending leaves a bit bad taste as usual.

Rockman.exe Beast (Megaman Beast) ep.8

Yami-taro still need more training, though he performed cold water ablutions by a fall. There is very little hope that he will break a bad habit (of course, his peeping Tomism). The mysterious green-eyed girl emerges as a disquieting presence in this episode. I don't get the slightest idea who she is.

Idaten Jump ep.8

There are three shows dealing with a sports race in this fall--Idaten Jump (mountain bicycle race), IGPX (robot race) and capeta (cart race). I find Idten Jump is more like shounen adventure anime than MTB race one. Makoto finally gets her own MTB. She shows off her prowess as a MTB rider.

Happy Seven ep.6

Probably very few people would say Happy Seven is a great show. That's true, but this series is good enough to create a joyous mood. I like the ED animation, chibi characters look lively and cute. 'Happy Seven' are seven persons who have inherited the properties of seven deities of good fortune, nonetheless, they're rather poor. I can't help wondering it. In ep.6 Nami&Mina twins are spotlighted on. The twins clone emerges from the monster of the mirror. It's really confusing.

Mushishi ep.5

Wow, very impressive! Episode 5 is well constructed, well written, well drawn and well done. Dr. Adashino debuts in the anime series, who is one of a few regular members of Mushishi. Ginko comes upon the living lake has a mysterious atmosphere in the deep mountain. He finds Io who is living with the 'lake' at the shore. Her wet, green hair is really beautiful.

Mushi is a superrational entity, beyond demarcation of good and evil. Some of them live longer than several tens of thousands years. It's interesting to hear Ginko talk about Suiko (literal translation: Water Mushi) that way at near the last scene.

Cluster Edge ep.7

This is a recap episode. Maybe animation staff took measures to cool down the feelings of viewers who are dizzy after seeing an outrageous plot development up to the first sex episodes I felt anew there appeared lots of pretty boys/awesome-looking guys in the show. The story of the next episode would be set in the Cluster E.A. again.

Gunparade Orchestra ep.7

Episode 7 is neither very good nor very bad. Almost all of the 4th Company members go to work on a holiday voluntarily. They made a quick change from a robber team of ep.6 into an exemplary troops 😛

Ginban Kaleidoscope ep.7

As I mentioned before, this anime project has some production problems, especially the budget shortfall. The fault lies with Hakuhodo, the second biggest ad agency in Japan. They failed to acquire morning/evening airtime for this anime because of their serious mistakes. The majority of prospective sponsors/investors called off participating in the project for this reason. The production condition got worse. Shinji Takamatsu, the director of the show, virtually resigned as director in protest of it. Take notice of his name on the title credit of the show, it's written in not kanji but katakana. I have a bit sympathy with animation staff because I know their situation.

As is always the case, ep.7 also has a little poor animation quality and well-written script. The scene of Tazusa's performance in Japan Figure Skating championships is highlight of the original novel vol.1, but that of the anime version looks like a comical scene. Yoko (Tazusa's younger sister) in a miniskirt is really cute, and has a good personality as opposed to her older sister.

Jigoku Shoujo ep.7

All I can say about it is that Enma Ai and her members seem to have some flexibility to meet their client's request, because they're a little more mischievous than I thought. At near an end of ep.7 Enma Ai exhibited her showmanship in the scene of her entrance on stage.

noein ~mou hitori no kimi e~ ep.6

This is a really substantial episode. Changing the setting for the story, the plot develops rapidly. I was intrigued by Hakodate's situation of the future world. The animation of characters' movements is well drawn. The background art has elaborate details. Haruka shows an outstanding ability to adapt to a new environment.

Spoiler:
Haruka is abducted by Karasu and transferred to Lacrima. She eats up caterpillars meal without any hesitation. Cheating Lacrima's guardian of the crystal key, she succeeds in escaping from the underground facility.

This time I'd like to talk about not only 2005 fall's new anime but also all ongoing TV anime series in Japan.

What is the most popular anime that is the currently ongoing TV series in Japan? For answering this question, it's necessary to categorize people into three types (otaku, casual anime fans and common people). These three groups of people have completely different likes and tastes in anime, and have totally different stances towards anime. The rankings of the following list are determined on the basis of my own information and judgment, and so you don't need to take it too seriously.

Top 6 anime for popularity (among currently ongoing TV series in Japan)

Group A. Otaku or Hardcore anime fans

1. Pani Poni Dash!
2. Rozen Maiden traumend
3. Mai-Otome
4. Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's
5. Gun Sword
6. Eureka Seven

Group B. Casual anime fans

1. ONE PIECE
2. Pretty Cure
3. Naruto
4. BLEACH
5. Konjiki no Gashbell!
6. Eyeshield21

Group C. Common people

1. Sazae-san
2. Chibi Maruko-chan
3. Crayon Shin-chan
4. Detective Conan
5. Doraemon
6. Black Jack

Needless to say, there is a difference between popularity of shows and value of those.

Akagi ep.8

This show always gives me a high degree of satisfaction. The mah-jong game in every episode keeps us in breathless suspense, and contains a lot of innovative ideas in it. I'm struck by the anime's tremendous originality (by the original manga, to be more exact). Episode 8 is a prelude to the next big duel. Akagi showed a truly dominating presence, even though he didn't have a match in this episode. I'm really looking forward to epsode 9.

Angel Heart ep.7

Epsode 7 is okay. To me Glass Heart looked a little attractive for the first time since the start of the series. Maybe AH finally is getting more interesting.

capeta ep.8

Ep.8's storytelling style is rather redundant, though the story is not so bad in itself. The animation quality is good as usual. They've often emphasized that Team Capeta had an empty purse since the first episode, but it's surprising there is no money for painting their cart.

Canvas2 ep.8

This is a rather serious episode. Ellice is tormented by jealousy and is steeped in suspicions. She definitely comes into conflict with Kiri. She's gradually pushed to the wall. Ep.8 has a cliff hanger ending.

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's ep.8

Administrative Bureau is fairly shrewd and calculating. They usually dispatch a mercenary (Nanoha) and subcontract soldiers (Fate and Aluf) to the front lines of battle, and they retain their war potential 😛 Anyway, Nanoha has the highest level of fighting capability on the all-time magical girl list.

Spoiler:
Fate was injured by the masked man's surprise attack, but there was no threat to her life. Hayate is being rapidly eroded by Yami no Sho (The Book of Darkness). Black Hayate would be getting close to appearing in the show.

Gaiking ep.3

Daiya bids good-bye to his mother and his friend, but he faces stiff opposition from them. He goes against the opposition of them and he makes choice of becoming a member of the Daiku-Maryu team.

At the risk of oversimplification, it can be generalized that most of super robot anime in the 1970s had hot-blooded protagonists who joined the fight on their will and responsibility. As contrasted to that, most of real robot anime in 80s or later have younger protagonists who were involved in the battle by accident or outside factors irrelevant to their will. In the new Gaiking TV series they emphasize that Daiya took part in the fight in accordance with his own will. He's the 70s-super-robot-anime type of protagonist.

ARIA The Animation ep.8

The protagonist of ep.8 is Aria-shacho, the president cat of Aria Company. Akari and Alicia are busy with the year-end cleaning all day. Aria-shacho tries to help them, but his effort doesn't bear fruit. He goes for a long walk dispiritedly... This anime is always about a minor affair and a little happiness in every episode. The soothing anime like Aria helps us relax.

Cluster Edge ep.8

The miracle done by Agete can exert a positive impact on anything? He has created miracles for the plane crash, concentrated gunfire, gambling, motorboat race, Cluster E.A. Student Council President Election and walking on water. If he were a real person, I would definitely want to make friends with him

Animal Yokocho ep.15 and 16

Ep.15 is hilarious. How many special powers does Iyo have? I have never seen the rabbit like her since my birth. Kenta tried to bite back his tongue, but to no avail. In ep.16 they play 'Aniyoko last and first' game. The game is really outrageous. I'd say it's miraculous that everyone survived the game events.

Beet The Vandel Buster -Excerion- ep.8

Harden vs Beet team. There appear a number of eccentric vandels in the second season, Harden is also one of them. He ranks as the very poweful, elite vandel having Six Stars, but I'm surprised at his extraordinary rational thinking. Another surprising thing I found in ep.8 was Beet refuted Grifus's argument in a logical way. I never thought Beet had such a capacity to think logically.

Lamune ep.7

Misora, the girl who loves to drive a motorbike, appears in the show. Her motorbike suddenly breaks down while it's moving on the road near the country town Nanami and Kenji live in. She has no alternative but to try rolling her bike to the town. It's a boiling hot day, so she feels very thirsty...

I gave a loud laugh at the scene where Misora asks for a glass of water from Nanami in her vegetable garden.

Misora: Mi, mizu... (Give me a glass of water...)

Nanami: Eh? Aa! (Okay!)

Nanami is headed to somewhere.

Misora: Mizu, mizu... (Water, water...)

Namami is back.

Nanami: Hai. (Here you are)

Nanami holds out mimizu (an earthworm) to Misora.

It's like this every episode in Lamune

Paradise Kiss ep.7

Ai Yazawa, the author of the original manga, is good at portraying a bit old-fashioned character like Yukari in the manga. In episode 7 I liked the scene where Yukari was interviewed by Shimamoto who is the female president of the fashion model agency. I can't help but be amused at Yukari's bewildered look. You see not a few businesswomen like Shimamoto in the entertainment industry. Anyway, I still can't believe Mikako is 36 years old.

noein ~mou hitori no kimi e~ ep.7

They also did fruitful work in episode 7. I admire the animation staff's efforts. The quality of the show is still kept at the high level. As a matter of course, this series has some flaws too, but nothing is ever perfect. If you look for high quality anime, noein and Mushishi would be worth trying.

Ginban Kaleidoscope ep.8

Tazusa is the target of a barrage of malicious questions from the press. They accuse severely her of committing a wrongful act, disgracefully dragging in her domestic issue irrelevant to her performance at figure skating. Tazusa is very tough at other times, but she becomes discouraged this time.

Episode 8 is fairly good. It's impressive that Tazusa gets together with Pete to overcome adverse conditions. They're becoming a good combination. Yoko is still really cute. How about the animation quality? Don't ask me that.

Akagi ep.9

Akagi is provoked by fake Akagi. Fake Akagi has amazing mahjong skills, but he didn't realize true Akagi is an unimaginable monster... This episode is worth watching any number of times until you understand perfectly what Akagi was doing. If you understand it completely, you would realize how great this anime is. The original manga created by Fukumoto is truly outstanding, it's one of my most favorite seinen manga (manga for young adults). The anime version is also awesome. It would be safe to say Akagi is the most enjoyable show among all new anime programs in the autumn of 2005.

Happy Seven ep.9

Episode 9 gave me a little different impression from the previous ones. Amano challenged Happy Seven members' opinion in unusually strong language, reacted rather sharply against even Kikunosuke's words. She had been always overwhelmed by the surrounding circumstances until recently, but she clearly expressed her own opinion in ep.9. The rift between Amano and Happy Seven would be growing increasingly in the future episodes (We know she's the "Key to open the Gate"😉. Nevertheless, this series probably wouldn't end up to be a tragic ending, because the title of the show is Happy Seven 😛

BLOOD+ ep.8

The Okinawa arc ended, now the Vietnam arc has begun. Saya wearing ao dai (Vietnamese traditional dress) is pretty charming. The animation of the fight scene in episode 8 is better than that of former episodes, though it's fairly short. To be frank, I didn't find much amusement in the first seven episodes except for epi.1, but I could enjoy ep.8. Aya and her side had been standing on the defensive throughout the entire Okinawa arc. They finally got off the defensive near the end of ep.7, then changed to the offensive for the first time at the beginning of the new arc.

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's ep.9

This has been the most eventful episode of the series so far. The problems are urgent and already in a time of crisis. Nanoha is becoming fit for the role of villain. Let me give you an example of that from epsode 9.

Veeta: Akuma me! (You're the devil!)

Nanoha receives a direct hit from the lethal blasting-hammer-attack by Veeta, but she emerges intact from the flames (Shakugan no Nanoha?).

Nanoha: Akuma de iiyo... (You may call me the devil...)
Nanoha: Akuma rashii yarikata de hanashi o kiite morau kara! (I'm going to make you mark my words in a devil-like way!)

She uses menacing language, so she doesn't look that much like a knight in shining armor

Spoiler:
All Wolkenritters (Veeta, Cygnum, Shamal and Zapheera) are wiped out by two masked men. Yami no Sho (The Book of Darkness) finally gets put together. Hayate is completely eroded by Yami no Chikara (the cumulative dark force), then she mutates into Black Hayate. Black Hayate is a silver-haired girl having red eyes and black wings. She reminds me of Suigintou from Rozen Maiden.

Shakugan no SHANA ep.6, 7 and 8.

Episode 6

I was really disappointed at episode 6. That ruined everything they have done so far. Since the first five episodes were well-done and the script was well-written, I was expecting ep.6 a lot.

The decisive battle between Friagne and Shana & Yuji is one of the high-light of the novel series. In the novel Friagne makes full use of a diverse range of clever tactics and powerful Hougu (treasure tools), it's really exciting. But I didn't find any clever tactics in the battle of episode 6. To my utter surprise, they didn't give the viewers any explanation about the special power of Trigger Happy, one of Hougu owned by Friagne. Trigger Happy is a key component of his battle plan against Shana. If the viewers don't know the ability of Trigger Happy, the fight between them makes no sense. And the top of that, I can't figure out why they plunged Margery Daw into direct involvement in the battle between Friagne and Shana. That made this battle seem pointless.

Episode 7 and 8

Fortunately ep.7 and 8 are fairly good. Shana with an iron will is really cool. There is little problem in the plot development as compared with the novel version. The fight scene is neither very good nor very bad. The background music sounds nice.

Gunparade Orchestra ep.9

Episode 9 is okey. It has a modestly decent script. The 4th Company looked like relatively normal troops to me for the first time since the start of the series. The White arc was concluded in ep.9. The Green arc is going to start at the next episode, The 10th Company (dragoons) will appear in the show. The Green arc seems to be more interesting than the White arc.

capeta ep.9

Nice episode. I want to change the title of episode 9 from "Course record" into "How to turn a corner at speed". Cappeita tremendously advances in driving skill without instruction in an incredibly short time. I got a lot of fun to see it.

Karin ep.5

In the original manga the story was going to be interesting since Kenta learned Karin's secret. They're going to share the secret about her identity as a form of bonding. Probably the same can be said for the anime version, because TV series is fairly faithful to the original manga. I hope they will adapt the manga vol.7 into anime, it's pretty touching.

Gaiking ep.4

Episode 4 is enjoyable. Daiku-Maryu tries entering the DCP (Death Cross Point) from over the Indian Ocean. DCP is a very dangerous different-dimension-corridor linking between the earth and the entrance into Darius Universe in the earth interior. Just in case you didn't know, there is not Darius Universe in the earth interior, but there's only the entrance into DU in it. The part of DU's space and the earth interior overlap each other. Big four generals of Garius troops fully appear in the show. Sasupeiji (aka. Suspage) the Southern General is really wacky.

ARIA The Animation ep.9

To learn the secret of becoming a topnotch undine, Akari, Aika and Alice visit the legendary gondola pilot who is called Grandmother by all undines in a remote village. The landscape is hilly and very beautiful. They meet Grandmother and ask for her instructions, but she's going to have them do what they never thought... As always, episode 9 is also heartwarming and peaceful. I would very much like to ride a gondola piloted by Akari or Alicia.

The King of Fighters: Another Day ep.1

STAFF

Director: Masaki Tachibana
Script: Fumio Asanuma
Character Design: Hajime Simomura
Art Director: Yusuke Takeda
Sound Director: Kazuhiro Wakabayashi
Special Effect: Masahiro Murakami
Production Studio: Production I.G

CAST

Athena Asamiya: Haruna Ikezawa
Kyo Kusanagi: Masahiro Nonaka
Iori Yagami: Kunihiko Yasui
Mai Shiranui: Akoya Sogi
Maxima: Katsuyuki Konishi
Ash Crimson: Sounosuke Nagayo
Billy Kane: Seijiro
Rock Howard: Hideshi Takemoto
Terry Bogard: Satoshi Hashimoto
Ralf: Monster Maezuka
Clark: Yoshinori Shima
K': Yuki Matsuda
Alba Mailer: Yuki Sato

This show is an anime adaption of The King of Fighters (KOF), the bestselling game released by SNK. Old and new characters in each version of KOF is goint to appear in the show. The story is set on the South Town where is familiar to KOF fans. This short series will be 4 episodes in total, each one has roughly 10 minutes. The animation quality is okay, music is average. The character design is neither very good nor very bad. As for the story, it's too short to make a judgment about it. All I can say is that I recognized anew Mai Shiranui has really big, bouncy boobs 😛

Animal Yokocho ep.17 and 20

Ep.17: Yamanami-san is mortally injured O_o; Kenta keeps losing card games, finally he's sucked into a card and goes missing. Ami has survived, she's an iron little girl.

Ep.20: Wow, it's very hilarious! Iyo stumbles across Yamanami's dead body right beside Ami's bed in her room. Her ears grows upright in horror and crashes through a ceiling. The Yamanami Murder Case has occurred! Ami, Kenta, Issha and Iyo determine to find the person who killed Yamanami. They draw some unbelievable deductions, so things get a bit out of control. Ep.20 has a volley of brisk jokes, a lot of unexpected twists, pretty good animation quality and an unlikely surprise ending. It's really awesome.

Shakugan no SHANA ep.9

'Cute girls in a swimsuit' episode is the traditional pleasures of bishoujo anime. Shakugan no SHANA isn't typical bishoujo one, but it still contains considerable moe elements in both the novel and anime. When it comes to a poolside episode, I much prefer to see anime rather than to read the novel counterpart (That reason goes without saying 😛). Kazumi has a better figure than I expected. Shana is really flat-chested...but she's cute.

Ginban Kaleidoscope ep.9

The original of Ginban Kaleidoscope is a real sports novel series aimed at both males and females, but the anime version targets girls as its primary audience. Episode 9 is the most shoujo-anime-tic one so far.

Spoiler:
Tazusa's winning Olympic berth turns her into a magnet for gossip columnists. She is assailed with groundless gossip. At last the stories about her having an affair with Nitta are reported sensationally in the media. Futhermore her figure skating coach, Takashima, confesses the unexpected to her.

Gunparade Orchestra ep.10

It's the first episode of the Green arc. Shibamura, the 7th Company commander, is an interesting character. Watching him, I noticed a thing that was lacking the White arc. There appeared no character like Shibamura who made his presence felt in the previous arc. Does GPO's army have a tradition of each company's having some soldiers who ignore the order? Even so, the 7th Company is better than the 4th Company. Because Shibamura is an enigmatic, tough commander, and dragoons look cool.

WARNING: This article includes some explicit words, and so you avoid reading this if you hate such a thing.

MAID iN HEAVEN SuperS vol.1 Chokyo Site Site Hen

STAFF

Director: Kurige Katsura
Character Design: Masahide Yanagisawa
Art Director: Ami Yuzushima
Sound Director: Chiaki Saegusa
Production Studio: Shinkukan

CAST

Nagisa: Ami Dainamaito
Yusuke Matsudo: Kazuya Ichijo
Takuhaibin Otoko: Shabu Taro

Synopsis

Nagisa has been devotedly attached to Yusuke since her childhood. Lately she finally succeeded in living with Yusuke. But actually he's really hentai, so he try to make her do perverted act. He tells her to call him "my master" and orders her to become his maid. Bewildered by his request, she accepts it because she loves him deeply and knows he keeps her close to his heart. She's getting hooked on hentai sexual practices.

What is 'chokyo'?

This hentai OVA is an anime adaptation of hentai PC game 'MAID iN HEAVEN SuperS' released by Stone Heads. Stone Heads is well known as a game publisher who created SEXFRIEND, one of the most outstanding hentai PC game in 2003. There are lots of different types of subgenres in a hentai genre-- ‹S’{Œn (Kichiku-kei, a cruel protagonist havin brutal nature), ƒˆ¤Œn (Junai-kei, pure love story), SM (sadomasochism), ’²‹³ (Chokyo, training), scatology, lolita, shota, yaoi, yuri, incest, zooerastia, “ŽBE”`‚« (Tousatsu/Nozoki, sneaking shots/peeping Tomism) and so on. MAID iN HEAVEN SuperS (MiHSS) game/anime belongs to a so-called "’²‹³ chokyo" (breaking or training) subgenre. The motto of this subgenre is "the best horse needs breaking, and the cutest woman/girl/guy/boy needs training for sex." And further, MiHSS belongs to a cosplay-sex subgenre (a maid cosplay in this case).

Impression

Yusuke is a relatively normal guy for a protagonist of the chokyo subgenre, most of chokyo games/anime have more abnormal leading characters than that of MiHSS. The character design is decent, Nagisa's design has a good balance between cuteness and sex appeal. The animation quality is fairly good. The opening theme sung by Piruko Minami is catchy. The depiction of sexual acts and hentai practices is not so extreme as compared with average chokyo anime. MiHSS vol.1 contains the scenes of an oral sex, bukkake (spilling semen on the face), a neighborhood shopping while keeping a vibrator inserted into the vagina, —‡ƒGƒvƒƒ“ (hadaka epuron, wearing nothing but an apron) and cosplay-sex. This anime is relatively softcore hentai, and so hardcore hentai fans might feel it's not enough. I think MiHSS is for softcore hentai fans who don't like an extremely violent or perverted shows.

MAJOR (the 2nd season)

STAFF

Director: Kenichi Kasai
Series Composition: Michihiro Tsuchiya
Character Design: Kenichi Ohnuki, Kouichi Usami
Art Director: Toshiyuki Tokuda
Music: Noriyuki Asakura
Sound Director: Hajime Takakuwa
Production Studio: Studio Hibari

CAST

Goro Shigeno: Shotaro Morikubo
Toshiya Sato: Seiichi Morita
Momoko Shigeno: Junko Noda
Kaoru Shimizu: Yuko Sasamoto
Daisuke Komori: Kouki Miyata
Ryota Sawamura: Hiroshi Nojima
Yamane: Hideki Hagiwara

Synopsis

Goro lost his mother when he was a little boy. He brought up by his father who was a professional baseball player. He had strong aspirations to be a pro baseball player in the majors because he adored his father a lot.

Spoiler:
Unfortunately, his father dropped dead from the unintentional damage during the game. Momoko, a kindergarten teacher whom Goro was attached to, adopted him as her son. He was losing his dream, but he got back on his feet with Momoko's help. He joined the little league team Mifune Little and developed his exceptional talent for baseball, and then he became a leading player of the team. His team enters the national little league tournament for a crowning victory.

Impression

The first TV series of MAJOR was based on the Elementary School arc of the populer manga series created by Takuya Mitsuda. The second TV series is an anime adaptation of the High School arc (and a part of Junior High School arc). In original manga series, the High School arc is far more interesting than the Elementary School arc. The same thing might be going to happen in the anime series. I watched all 26 episodes of the first season. To put it simply, it's a good shounen sports anime and I could enjoy it, but it was a bit short of punch in baseball game scenes because the characters were elementaly shool children. Probably this wrinkle will be pressed out in the second season.

I prefer the character design of the 2nd season rather than that of the 1st season. Episode 1 has a good pace in plot progression. The beginning of the story starts off with Goro coming back to Mifune Town after an absence of four years. Shimizu is still cute, and furthermore, her chest has decently swelled Komori has not changed a bit, he looks like an elementary school boy. If you already finished watching the first season, you could enjoy episode 1 of the 2nd season. I think the 2nd TV series is considerably promising.

There appeared many new characters in this season again. For better or for worse, the following characters are impressive for me.

Female characters

1. Suigintou (Rozen Maiden traumend): Hurrah for the resurrection of Suigintou!

2. Nanoha Takamachi (Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's): the strongest magical girl ever. Must see ep.11

3. Shana (Shakugan no SHANA): I like her Enpatsu Shakugan (flaming hair and burning eyes)

4. Akari (ARIA The Animaton): the best healing heroine in this season

5. Iyo (Animal Yokocho): This can't be happening! But Iyo can do it...

Next mark: Elis (Canvas2), Tazusa and Yoko (Ginban Kaleidoscope), Renzu (Mushishi), Shinku and other Rozen dolls (Rozen Maiden traumend), Karin (Karin), Enma Ai (Jigoku Shoujo), Tomoe (Mai-Otome)

Male characters

1. Akagi (Touhai Densetsu Akagi): The best of the best. He has an overwhelming presence.

2. Ginko (Mushishi): cool and collected

3. Shibamura (Gunparede Orchestra: Green arc): He's the most enigmatic person among all characters in this fall's new shows.

4. Beryl Jasper (Cluster Edge): ice bishounen having a heart of gold

5. Roy (Solty Rei): brusque, lovable middle-aged guy

Next mark: Beet (Beet The Vandel Buster Excerion), Ryo Saeba (Angel Heart), Kenta (Animal Yokocho), Akame (Ginga Densetsu WEED), Daiya (Gaiking)

Itsudatte My Santa!

STAFF

Director: Noriyoshi Nakamura
Script Writer: Kouichi Taki, Katsuichi Sato
Character Design: Masahide Yanagisawa
Conceptual Character Design: Ran Ayanaga
Animation Director: Takashi Shiokawa
Art Director: Toshihiro Kohama
Sound Director: Yota Tsuruoka
Production Studio: TNK

CAST

Mai: Aya Hirano
Santa: Jun Kamei
Maimai: Yukari Tamura
Sharrie: Yuu Kobayashi
Noel: Tomo Sakurai

Synopsis:

He was given the name of Santa after his birthday on Christmas Eve, and for that reason he really hates Christmas. His parents are away on business trip every year, he has always spent joyless Christmas in solitude. On Christmas Eve night this year he meets Mai, the girl who declares herself Santa Claus. She tells him, "you will be happy if you go out with me through the night." but...

Impression:

This OVA comes in two volumes. Vol.1 is based on Ken Akamatsu's one-shot manga that appeared in the Weekly Shounen Magazine in 1998. Vol.2 is a new story, which is the sequel to the original. Itsudatte My Santa! (which loosely translates to "You're My Santa Claus, Now and Forever"😉 is the only one-shot story Akamatsu has ever created. He's one of the most popular manga creator of the day, so an anime adaptation of this short manga has been wanted by a legion of his fans for a long time.

I was a bit disappointed at vol.1. They failed to re-create the atmosphere of the original manga, it's more lighthearted and has more tender affection than the anime version. The animation quality is average for OVA. The character design is a matter of personal preference, however, the anime's characters have a rather different feel from the manga's ones. They added some new scenes to the anime, but it definitely doesn't work so well. Maybe Akamatsu's fans will find vol.1 unsatisfactory, though non-Akamatsu's fans might think it's enjoyable if they never read the original manga.

There is a bigger problem in vol.2. I can't get the creators' intention behind the work. Is it a gag episode or a lighthearted romance or both? Either way, it's neither fish nor flesh. Mai, the heroine of the show, has been overshadowed by the appearance of new characters, Sharrie and Maimai. Most of show's time is devoted to the depiction of Sharrie's action, there is a little delineation of Mai's feelings in it. And so the climactic scene didn't strike a chord with me at all. The animation quality of last few scenes is good. I might think it's okay if it were a TV episode, but it's not enough to satisfy me, as OVAs go nowadays.

Beet The Vandel Buster Excerion ep.12

All of "four sages" are off-the-wall guys. They seem to be more powerful than the Beet team. If so, they would be right persons for the mission to bring an end to the darkest periods.

AIRA The Animation ep.12

Very good. This is an unusual episode for ARIA TV series, it's not a 'slice of life' episode. What's a bridge? The bridege commonly connects two areas, but only occasionally it links between the present and the past. Akari is fascinated with an old roofed bridge she found it by accident on a snowy day. She puts her foot into the bridge... The bridge scene near the end is pretty touching.

Mahu Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's ep.11 and 12

Episode 11: In a way, ep.11 is probably the pinnacle of battle animation in magical girl genre (Animation quality is not what I'm trying to say).

Episode 12: Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Hayate has finally appeared! All characters are firing their strongest surefires, final blows and ultra-special-attacks throughout the show.

Akagi ep.12

Akagi vs Urabe. Urabe is a very high-powered pro marjong player, but Akagi's demonic energy is steadily crippling the mind of Urabe. Ep.12 is really outstanding and extraordinary enjoyable. In this series the cause of both victory and defeat is described very logically, while Akagi's monstrous personality that ordinary people can't imagine is shown in a compelling way. Akagi is a truly great show.

capeta ep.12

Getting off to a shaky start, Cappeita tries to overtake other cars. He was pretty sure it felt so good to pass a car, but the reality proved different... Ep.12 is enjoyable, and some scenes where dealing with a technical thing are interesting to me.

Ginban Kaleidoscope ep.11

I have to write the same thing againg. The story is good in itself, but animation of figure skating scenes is rather poor. Hakuhodo bears grave responsibility (See my previous post).

MAJOR (2nd season) ep.2

The truth of Goro's enigmatic behavior comes out. The plot is progressing faster than I expected. Shimizu is still cute, she's becoming my favorite character.

Canvas2 ep.11

The scene of ŽØ‚蕨‹£‘ˆ (karimono kyosou, 'borrowed' race) at PE festival is fairly funny. I wonder If Elis could have picked up the order sheet written as D‚«‚È‚Ð‚Æ (suki na hito, your loved one).