This is going to be my longest Aime Times to date. There was a lot of good anime ending, a lot of new anime starting, and long running Jump anime that is at its finest this week.
Ao no Exorcist – 25 (END) [spoiler]
This was one anime that I did not want to see go. The series decided to take an anime only ending route and I must say, that even though I want more, I actually liked the ending quite a bit. There were a few things that I really liked about this episode and the ending. I loved the insert song that first played. I also loved the apocalyptic feeling it had. It gave the ending a much bigger since of emergency and seeing all of them work together to fix everything was pretty cool. I liked how Rin and Yukio combined their powers to destroy the gate. It was like a moment of awesome that really made my hairs stand on end. I am glad that they didn’t go the route of Soul Blade and decided for them to take on the strongest enemy in his full form. It leaves Satan out there and gives the show a reason to come back. A movie has been green-lit, but we don’t know what kind of movie it is going to be, but the opening did allow for much more Ao no Exorcist, so more could be on the way if the movie is successful. For now I have been convinced to take on the manga. It is only just starting so there is plenty more Exorcist if you are still craving it.[/spoiler]
Datalian no Shoka – 12 (END) [spoiler]
All I can say is WTF?! I knew there was going to be a clashing of the Lolibraries, which I thought was pretty funny, but what was going on with Hughy was strange and perplexing. To be honest, I don’t quite fully understand the ending. I did think it was unique how it combined the two worlds and Hughy trying to rescue both Dalians, but the story itself felt strange. Coming back to life and destroying all of the Zombies while Hal shows up and destroys the Newspaper books. It just felt like there was something missing or that the episode needed more time to expand on what was going on. Maybe I was just expecting a much bigger clash between the three than what happened. The story was also left open ended. I expected the ending to be somewhat open ended, but they didn’t even finish the story with Kyoju and Rasiel. They just walked away in the end. It kind of makes me want more of this show just so I can finish the story off. They still have a lot left open. They never got back to the Magician nor did they give any of the back story to the other pairs of Libraries and Guardians.[/spoiler]
Where is this Kamisama Dolls? I want this!!
Kamisama Dolls – 13 (END?) [spoiler]
Screw this anime. It didn’t even try to end. I mean it was fairly obvious a couple of episodes ago that there was no way in hell that any ending would be good. There was just too much left to be done, but I can’t believe that it just showed us kickass footage of what is to come, which looked far cooler than anything that we have seen before. Season 2 of Kamisama Dolls should be fantastic, but not knowing when or if there will even ever be a season 2, all we are left with is a series that never was. This anime was the biggest cock tease of 2011. I just pray that more is on the way and very soon.[/spoiler]
Note to self, never play tag with Nyanko-sensei.
Natsume Yuujinchou San – 13 (END) [spoiler]
The ending was very peaceful and nothing really came out of it, but it was a pretty great ending none the less. I will say that this season really didn’t live up to the previous seasons. I felt like I wanted more, but got less. It kind of felt like this entire season was just about how Natsume now has a home and people he cares about. There wasn’t much growth in his character like in previous seasons. Also the over arching back story that was building up to from seasons 1 and 2 just didn’t pan out. We did get a couple of episodes with Seiji, the leader of the Matoba Clan, but I honestly don’t think there was much of an outcome to it. Natsume was already on the radar of the Matoba Clan after what he did during the exorcist meeting and those two episodes just really confirmed that he is. It is great that season 4 has not only already been announced, but is planned for release in Winter of 2012. I am really excited about that and am hoping that they dip more into the back story of the series. Right now is a great time to get your friends into the anime if they haven’t seen it yet because they are missing one of the best series around. I will be writing up a review on the season later since I did one fore seasons 1 and 2 already.[/spoiler]
Amuro might ask, "Why Boner?," but I know why... I know why.
Mawaru Penguindrum – 12 [spoiler]
Episode 11 was the series was building up to, but after seeing episode 12, I am not sure what exactly to expect next. Finding out that their father was involved in some kind of terrorist attack just makes me more confused than ever. I don’t know who these Penguin people are anymore. I had my theories, but they all seem obsolete now. The most shocking ending to date would have to be episode 12. I didn’t really expect that Himari would die although I have my doubts that it is for good. I suspect that the Pink Haired Bishounen will offer them a way to save Himari and that will fuel the Takakura brothers and Ringo for the final half of the series, but what they will have to do is still a mystery to me. I am kind of hoping that it won’t turn into a battle anime. It would be great to see them having to solve puzzles and what not. Even still, Himari’s death was far more impacting watching Kanba’s reaction to it all. It was painful to watch him offer up some of his life, which apparently he has already done, which begs even more questions, but not being allowed to. I can’t wait to see where this series heads from here on.[/spoiler]
For some reason I have a strong urge to kill Ussop... Why is that?
One Piece – 517 [spoiler]
OH MY GAWD! TIME SKIP IS FINALLY HERE! Ohz, Nami is hawt, Robin is sexsey, and Franky looks…. idiotic.
Like the manga, nothing has made me more excited than the crew finally getting back together after the longest time apart. Plus we get a time skip, which means new looks, new moves, and a new world. I feel like I would be repeating my self too much, from EXT 002, if I got into how they look, but what I can say is that I found it funny who was voicing the fake Straw Hat crew. If you didn’t catch it, the ones I recognized easily was that Franky’s VA was voicing fake Sogeking, Nojiko’s VA was voicing fake Nami, and Sanji’s VA was voicing fake Luffy. Just an amusing side note. Anyway, I am really excited to see more of the time skip stuff, I am just a little concerned that they jumped into it so soon. The manga isn’t that far ahead of it so I am expecting filler soon after the series starts. I wouldn’t be surprised if they have to spend a few extra days in Shabaody.[/spoiler]
Sket Dance – 26 & Gintama – 227 [spoiler]
This week we have two special crossover episodes between these two anime. Getting started, I only made it through the first 8 episodes of Sket Dance before I just couldn’t keep going. It was interesting to find out after watching Sket Dance 26 that the mangaka who writes it actually use to be an assistant artist on Gintama. Makes a lot of sense why the two series feel a lot alike, except Sket Dance isn’t as crude, which makes it less funny in my opinion. I will say that I was almost fooled into watching the series again. I was laughing quite a bit during the episode and thought to myself why I ever dropped this anime in the first place, however, it was Yorozuya’s presence that made the episode good so I’ll stick with Gintama. I did like the reference to Steins;Gate. Hearing Tomokazu Sugita go “Do do ru~” was hilarious.
The Gintama crossover was a lot funnier in my opinion. It was great to watch them parody One Piece and Toriko in such an obvious way. Having their dicks transform into an actual hammer was as ridiculous as it was funny. I do hope that Gintama has some more crossover episodes in the future. It would be great to see Gintama dirty up another show. Maybe we can get them on Naruto next time.[/spoiler]
Hunter x Hunter – 01 [spoiler]
This was the series that I was most excited about coming out the fall season and I am glad that it took over Nichijou’s time slot so I can have a new show to watch on Saturday nights. The first episode was actually quite shocking to me. It wasn’t so much the new voice actors, but I will get to that, it was the pace of the show. I guess they expected that most people were already fans of the series or they just decided to trim the fat, but they covered the first 3 episodes of the original series in one episode. I don’t know if I am behind that decision 100% yet because they took out some pieces of the story that was important to the anime. I am sure they will get back to it sooner or later, but I felt somewhat cheated out of it. I also am not sure about how they changed Gon’s house. They turned what use to be a really cool looking house with a tree growing in it to a normal looking one. It was those kinds of touches that make Hunter x Hunter a wonderful series. It makes the world much more mystical and intriguing. As for the voice actors, I think that I can get use to them quickly. Gon’s new VA sounds a lot like his old one, but with a little less gravel in his voice. I will say that I HATE Mito’s new voice. She sounds like an old woman… Just doesn’t fit her character at all. Overall I am interested to see how they trim the fat off of the series from here on in. I do love the original series for what it is, but I do think that it takes some time, like most shounen series, to get good. So the faster pace should work well for the beginning.[/spoiler]
C³ – 01 [spoiler]
It was obvious from the start that this was a Silver Link anime, which is the same studio that brought us Baka to Test. This anime however lacks the charm of series it tries to mimic. A combination of many moe-esque anime that involve a girl with a special power, ability, or origin having to move in with a boy that is far too kind and has a childhood friend who is obviously in love with him, but he has no clue of that. This time instead of the plethora of other saying this loli likes to tell people she will curse people and that is this series shtick. Instead of monsters, aliens, crime, or lolibraries, we get what I’d assume to be curses and black magic. I will say that even though it doesn’t have the charm it has peaked my interest because I did find myself amused at times, but more than anything it has something that caught my attention right away and that was the music. The music of C³ is absolutely marvelous! It isn’t something that I have heard in quite some time. It has been increasingly popular to have orchestrated music in anime, which I love, but this has much more of a unique flair to it and if it keeps that up then I will watch the series even if it gets painfully bad.[/spoiler]