Podcast Appearance

I am appearing on the 12/30 episode of Bakacast, courtesy of Project Haruhi, which I also write for. I will be discussing MM! and the rest of the fall 2010 season with the rest of the PH guys. There's a link to the site on the front page, and the podcast will be embedded into the blog.

Project Haruhi

Fall 2010 Season Review

I won't lie. I had really low expectations for this season after the crapfest known as Summer 2010. As such, I wasn't expecting much from the fall shows. Man, oh man. I would be proven wrong in a heartbeat. I ended up finishing 4 series this fall, out of 7 that I started. Not too bad, if I do say so myself.

It was certainly progressive, but I initially picked up a single show: Shinryaku! Ika Musume. I think I can safely say it was the best show of the season. The mix of gag comedy and heartwarming moments created a unique show, without creating extreme mood whiplash.



The other 2 shows I picked up shortly after starting Ika Musume were MM! and The World God Only Knows. I would be sorely disappointed by MM! in the end, but TWGOK was a unique show with a character-heavy plot. That is, it was divided into "character arcs" of 2 to 3 episodes each.

The last show I picked up, about halfway through the season, and finished was Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt. This show was... unique, to say the least. The characters were bizarre, as was the premise: a sex-craving slut and a sugar-addicted goth loli come to the surface world to fight Ghosts. Did I mention that these two are angels?

As great as this season was, there were a few disappointments. One was My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute, or OreImo for short. A mid-season pick up, I enjoyed the show at first, before one of the characters started to get on my nerves. I ended up not finishing OreImo, dropping it after 10 episodes.

Another disappointment was the aforementioned MM!. A show about sadomasochism? Well, I like twisted humor, so sign me up! This was another show I enjoyed at first. Unfortunately, the show started to derail into a cliched romantic comedy, even putting in the Pocky kissing game.



There were 2 other show I started, but did not finish: Star Driver, and Princess Jellyfish. I didn't watch enough to really get interested, so I can't give an honest opinion here.

All in all, a great season. Winter looks to be pretty good. Expect reviews of Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica throughout winter season, as well as a review of Dirty Pair Flash, when ever the last tape decides to come.

Just a quick note/plug

I will be appearing on the December 16th episode of the Otaku in Review podcast. I'll join the regular hosts and discuss MM!, as well as Panty and Stocking. Please tune in, or better yet, subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, or at www.otakuinreview.com. Also, the MM! review will be a bit late this week, due in part to final exams and late subs.

Review MM! 9

I've been watching MM! for several weeks now, and I am impressed that the show has not gone stale by now. The writers continue to bring in good ideas, which is good for a show with the kind of idea that they're going with, that idea being a show about trying to cure a masochist.

MM! tells us the story of Tarou Sado, a “hella masochist”, Mio Isurugi, a girl with a god complex, and Yuuno Arashiko, an androphobe. It also relates their activies in the Second Volunteering Club, whose sponsor is, amusingly enough, a sadist. The fact that these three are even in the same room together is a bit frightening, because the androphobe might kill the masochist, who'd creep out the god complex girl. No matter, on with the review!

It's finally time for the school festival, filled with fun and games, but with some twists and character development thrown in. Seems the writers decided to switch it up and focus on developing Mio Isurugi a bit, which isn't a bad thing. We have a threatening letter from an unknown entity, which the Second Volunteering Club, namely Tarou and Mio, decide to investigate.

The nice thing about this show is the many different options the writers have. One option, which we've already seen quite a bit, is the mindless comedy centered around Tarou's masochism. Another option, which we've seen a couple times, is the character-centric episodes that provide most of the character development. This time we got a character episode, focused on one of the other girls, Mio Isurugi. I wasn't exactly laughing this time around, but that's expected, given the focus on Mio, rather than the masochist. It was very well-written, as usual, and the interesting plot twist of the threatening letter kept me interested, though it was a bit easy to figure out. The change of pace to a character episode was a welcome relief from the M comedy of the last few episodes Mio's character-centric episode reveals that she is, in fact, afraid of cats, and cannot go to a maid cafè filled with cats as a result of said fear, which I found rather amusing. But aside from Mio, it was a standard-fare school festival episode with nothing special happening, aside from Tarou's incestuous family trying to win a date with him.

Overall, I'd say this one was pretty good. Not great, but pretty good. With no redeeming events other than the character development, it was average for the series. However, this is not an episode to skip, by any means. It's worth watching for the psuedo-date between Tarou and Mio.

Plot Advancement: 3.5/5
Comedy: 2/5
Episode Plot: 4.5/5
Character Development: 5/5

Overall: 4/5

Winter 2011 Season Preview

Well, fall season's already almost over. Guess time flies when you're actually watching anime, eh? Of course, the end of fall means winter season's right around the corner. Let's see what's in store for the holidays!

Winter seems to be a mix of new shows and continuing shows. Among the continuing shows are Kimi ni Todoke (2nd season), Suite Precure (8th season in the franchise), and Mitsudomoe (2nd season). New shows include Beelzebub, Is This A Zombie?. OVAs and Specials include Queen's Blade, and MM!: SS!, a set of 6 DVD specials that I had considered watching initially, but given the recent developments, or lack thereof, in the MM! anime, I will not be watching them.

Wandering Son, looking at the description, looks rather interesting. A feminine boy sits next to a boyish girl. Sounds like a comedy to me, so I'll add it tentatively. Another interesting (for me, at least) show is Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica, a magical girl anime about a girl who can grant wishes. Hmmm... Animated by Studio SHAFT...

Speaking of Crunchyroll, I'll wait to see what they pick up. After all, they have 3 of the 4 shows I'm watching this fall.

I have Dirty Pair Flash coming on VHS by the new year. I'm likely to review it, so stay tuned!

Otaku in Review
Winter 2011 chart