Anime Review: Dirty Pair (1985)

This... is not the best of the two.

I was paging through some older reviews on this blog, and I noticed something: I've reviewed everything related to the Dirty Pair anime... except for the TV series. I should rectify that and finish it off. Not sure why I didn't review this back then, but whatever.  So let's turn back the clock to 1985!

Spoilers after the jump? Yeah, sure, why not?

Breaking It Down: Kei + Yuri

Hello, and welcome to the latest installment of Breaking It Down! Today, we're going to look at not one, but two characters. These particular characters are rarely, if ever, seen apart. They're quite (in)famous in their trade for causing collateral damage, earning them the nickname of The Dirty Pair. Yes, today, we're going to look at The Lovely Angels themselves, Kei and Yuri.

Spoilers(?) beyond this here jump.

Haruhi Suzumiya and the Battle for Space!

(WARNING: For those who have not watched "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya," it is highly recommended that you do so before reading this article. While there aren't many spoilers, you will be expected to know who some of the characters are in order for this article to really make sense. So please, watch the series!)

The beauty of anime is its ability to give even mundane events a certain spectacular feel to them. It's different from a real-world film or television series in that the developers don't need a massive special effects budget to create jaw-dropping audio-visual manifestations. Kyoto Animation, the animators of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, saw fit to encapsulate this fact in the first season's thirteenth episode: "The Day of Sagittarius."

In this episode, the SOS Brigade is challenged to a duel by the school Computer Club. The challenge is a 5v5 team deathmatch in the computer club's real time tactics game "The Day of Sagittarius 3." The SOS Brigade has one week to figure out the controls and tactics which can be utilized in gameplay; however, each attempt to defeat the practice AI ends in catastrophic failure for them. On the day of the duel, all hope seems lost until Yuki Nagato finds a way to level the playing field.

What We Saw: As it was developed by high schoolers, the game interface was relatively bland and simplistic. White gridlines overlayed a gray backdrop and could be used as a reference to determine how far away a particular target was, as well as that target's direction. Scouting ships were noted as red dots, while the flagship was denoted as a large colored triangle with the reserve ship count listed above it.

All of this seems rather boring. Therefore, to spice things up, Kyoto Animation opted for a visual representation of what that playing field would really look like. And well, see for yourself.

The playing field is embedded into the dashboard of a massive ship command room contained in each character's flagship. The ships themselves travel through space delivering light shows of energy weapons which lord down on target after target. It's all stunning and exciting and really keeps the viewer interested.

Why It Matters: In 2011, Video Game High School received $273,000 in crowdfunding contributions, and in 2013, its second season received an astonishing $808,000 in contributions. This clearly demonstrates that people find the idea of watching videogames to be exciting.

Critics argue, however, that the reason videogame spectating has not become mainstream in the real world is because videogame competitions lack "narrative," something which would have happened in TMOHS if not for the epic visual representation of a great conquest by two unyielding forces. Onlookers wish to attach themselves to the combatants, an empathy which can only flourish when those combatants are subjected to some sort of danger, fear, doubt or other adrenaline-inducing rush.

Creating an atmosphere which induces danger and the like is especially important in driving the narrative. Yu-Gi-Oh! for example would never have been as popular if not for the characters being physically injured in some way every time the card game was played. Pokemon has also made steps to emulate that feeling of danger over the past two decades sometimes missing the mark but other times hitting the proverbial bullseye.

The Application: The final thing to note here is that the students were not playing this game for the sake of entertainment; there were real stakes on the line. The computer club risked four laptops on the deal, while the SOS brigade risked a desktop computer and two of their brigade members. That said, it was a clever way to diffuse the tensions which had grown between the two groups over that year.

The problem is, if there is one things high schools have a lot of, it's tension. Currently, there are very few means of relieving that pressure other than talking it out (which sadly, does not work often). Fights break out with growing intensity because the tension simply boils over.

Duels serve as a means to channel all of that aggression into a game of sport, a test of skill pitting two evenly matched sides against one another for dominance and definitive conflict termination. Virtual battlefields lead to some creative challenges, but traditional battlefields (paintball, laser tag, obstacle course races, etc.) would work just as well. It's important to remember that there must be a narrative in order for people to feel that the fight matters and is actually relevant to something. Otherwise, it kind of does come off as a bit ridiculous.

(For those who don't know me, my name is Maddy Koller, and I run a blog called WLIA: Where Life Imitates Art. This is a sounding board of sorts where some friends and I analyze various elements of artistic media for their technological, sociocultural, political and economic benefits when applied to real life. If you enjoyed the above article, I highly encourage you to check out WLIA, as we've done analyses for many great works such as Madoka Magica, Kill La Kill, Ghost in the Shell, Code L.Y.O.K.O., and Evangelion. Thank you for reading!)

Breaking It Down: Kamui Senketsu

We all wish we had someone looking out for us. Hi, and welcome to the latest installment of Breaking It Down. Today, we're not going to look at a person. Rather, we're looking at a school uniform who looks out for his owner. Yes, today, I'm discussing the black and red sailor uniform who looks out for Ryuko Matoi, Kamui Senketsu.

Super-duper spoilers beyond this point. Turn back now if you don't want to be spoiled or burn up in the atmosphere.



Senketsu was created by Dr. Isshin Matoi at least 6 months prior to Kill La Kill's story, and was hidden in the rather spacious basemant of the Matoi mansion until Ryuko's wound woke him up and he put himself on Ryuko.  And so begins the tale of Kamui Senketsu, who would go through 3 wearers before the story ends. However, due to this, he has limited interactions with characters, only 2 of which can actually hear him.  That said, let us look at his interactions with other characters.


Senketsu's primary interactions are with Ryuko, and this is where we really see the protective side of Senketsu come out. Senketsu attempts to assist Ryuko in every facet of her life, from learning to fly in order to fight Nonon, to tracking her BMI, which Ryuko is NOT appreciative of.  In the early fights, he would inform Ryuko how much time she would be able to spend transformed.  As the series went on, Senketsu evolved both as a Kamui, and as a character, achieving true synchronization with Ryuko. Later on, after Ryuko ripped Junkestu off, Senketsu would achieve their ultimate synchronization in the form of Senketsu-Kisaragi.


Although relatively brief, Senketsu synchronized with Satsuki Kiryuin, with the common goal of stopping the Junketsu-fused Ryuko.  While not true synchronization, it was enough to bring her defenses down to let Mako Mankanshoku, with Senketsu, enter Ryuko's memories and snap her out of her funk and bring her to her senses.  Satsuki also revealed, near the very end, that she had been able to hear Senketsu speaking, though it is unclear how long that had been going on.


Even briefer than Senketsu being with Satsuki was his being with Ryuko's best friend, Mako Mankanshoku. The two characters able to get to Ryuko were indeed Mako and Senketsu, showing that it may be impossible for anyone to "truly wear" Junketsu, perhaps always requiring Life Fiber Override. There isn't much else to say here, so let's move on.

So we've seen how he interacts with others. But who is Kamui Senketsu as a person? The constant protection could peg him as a guardian angel of sorts for Ryuko, and quite possibly the entire world.  However, his perishing in the atmosphere could put an end to that. Constantly looking out for Ryuko and studying the opposition at times allowed Senketsu to change and adapt to what was needed to conquer a challenge, ultimately costing him his life.  Thus, he could be viewed as either a guardian or a martyr.

As mentioned above, I view Senketsu as Ryuko's guardian angel, and that is definitely true within the show.  From the minute he put himself on Ryuko, he was determined to protect her and guide her to her goal, whatever that may be.  Yet, his shortcoming could be that he doesn't always think outside the box, as each time he evolved, it was at Ryuko's prompting. He never acted without orders for the most part. Essentially, Kamui Senketsu is much more than a sentient sailor uniform, yet has his own limits on what he will do to protect Ryuko.

Breaking It Down: Tsuruya-san

We all know that one person, that boundless bundle of energy. What's this have to do with anime, you ask? Well, this time on Breaking It Down, I'm going to cover such a character by the name of Tsuruya-san, from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

Spoilers abound, nyoro!

Anime Review: Kämpfer

We all have that one anime or movie that we secretly, or sometimes not so secretly, enjoy the living shit out of. For me, Kämpfer is that anime. And that's this week's review. Read the rest after the jump.

Spoilers beyond here.

Breaking It Down: Mikoto Misaka

You do NOT want to piss her off. Just a thought.

If you know me even remotely well, then it's no secret that I love A Certain Scientific Railgun, or just Railgun. I love it with a passion. I can safely call it my favorite anime.  And I'm here today to discuss the protagonist of Railgun, Tokiwadai's Ace and the 3rd-strongest Level 5 in Academy City, Mikoto Misaka.

Heavy spoilers beyond this point. You have been warned.



How do I begin to describe Mikoto? That's what we're here to find out, isn't it? On the surface, she seems like a perfectly normal girl who happens to be one of the strongest espers in Academy City. So what else could there possibly be to this girl? There's quite a lot, actually. Let's look at how she interacts with others first.

Well, the interaction we see the most with Mikoto is with her roommate and presumably her best friend, Kuroko Shirai.  Kuroko is certainly... friendly, to say the least, going to great lengths to protect and assist her, even in the toughest of situations, as we see during the Daihaisei arc, when she comes to assist Mikoto during a hostage situation, despite having her memories tampered with by Misaki Shokuhou. Kuroko would easily put her life on the line to protect her Onee-sama, and Mikoto would do the same for Kuroko.  To Mikoto, Kuroko is a friend and confidant, especially after the events of the Sisters story arc, where Mikoto would stubbornly refuse outside help.

Another frequent interaction seen involving Mikoto is those with Ruiko Saten, a Level 0 friend of Kazari Uiharu.  Like Kuroko, Ruiko is a source of comfort for Mikoto and one of her friends, willing to sacrifice herself despite her lack of an esper ability.  Ruiko learned about working hard from Mikoto during the Level Upper story arc, and Mikoto was reminded of the hard work she had to put in to get to Level 5. Both girls seems to motivate each other throughout the story.

With such positive interactions, there are most certainly negative interactions, the most obvious of which is her brief interactions with the strongest esper of them all, Accelerator.  Accelerator famously was put through a project in which he was set to fight 20,000 Level 2 clones of Mikoto. To this day, this disturbs Mikoto greatly, because it was her naivete at a young age that led to the creation of said clones. Her brief interaction with Accelerator during the Sisters arc was a combination of fear and anger, and this interaction lead to her finally accepting Touma Kamijou's assistance.

Mikoto's interactions with the clones otherwise known as the Sisters is interesting, because her feelings toward them began as regret and hatred, but evolved into the same sort of defensive care she would engage in for Kuroko or Ruiko. She's shown to be particularly defensive of #10032, otherwise known as Misaka Imouto. It's yet to be made particularly clear why #10032 gets such love from Mikoto, but perhaps it could be because 10032 was the first clone to survive her experiment.

Interactions alone do not make a character, so let's dig deeper into Mikoto herself.

Mikoto is a Level 5 electromaster, and is not afraid to make it clear to you. She'll take out the city's power grid if it means frying your ass for pissing her off. Another one bites the dust, as they say. Her favorite intentional target of her power seems to be her rival, Touma, whom she has yet to beat as of manga volume 9. Another frequent target is her friendly roommate Kuroko, often punishing her for trying to be close, to keep it PG. However, the latter usually incurs the wrath of the Dorm Inspector, who straight-up instills fear in even the toughest people.

Now that we've looked at the girl herself, let's summarize everything I've discussed.

Overall, Mikoto is the badass oujo-sama archetype, but with very few of the tropes that accompany the oujo archetype. She's shown to like extremely girly and childish clothing and hobbies, something Kuroko chastises her for multiple times. She's also shown to be very brash, which is, y'know, not exactly lady-like. And then there's the shorts she wears under her skirt. She claims it's so her panties don't show, but Kuroko ain't buying that.  She's deeply motivated to fight once her friends are involved, which, since 2 of her best friends are in the Judgement task force, is rather often. All in all, Mikoto is usually just a girl who wants justice to be served and won't let anything stand in her way to make that happen, as she would presumably have made Kuroko her enemy in order to shut down the Sisters project.  This makes her a very interesting character, and probably relateable to some, which is a key part of a well-written character.

Review: Black Rock Shooter 4

Black Rock Shooter Episode 4: another episode, another Kid freaking out.

So, this episode opens in the Human world. The setting? Kagari's first day at school. Well, everyone seems to like her, And she's gained a few new friends. Our little Kagari is no longer insane~

Just one problem... Yomi doesn't seem to like it. And this only adds onto the stress that she's not spending as much time with Mato. Can she handle all of this? Nope. She just can't take that her only two friends are hanging out with others, this could be the effect of Black Gold Saw taking away Dead master from Chariot and Black Rock Shooter (Not so much chariot as she is now at the bottom of a canyon).

Anyway, Dead Master is now incased in her own chains, causing her to lose who she really is, and attack Black Rock. This will definately cause some disruptions in the real world.

Now for the technical stuff...

Quality of the show has dropped a bit, but it could just be me, I didn't really see that much going on in terms of plot advancement until we got to the end. Not gonna spoil it for you, but I kinda liked it. Now As for music, I feel sad to say this but I didn't really hear anything new in the show music wise... But I will give them props for the music that plays in the final scene.

Overall, not a very satisfying episode.

Characters: 2.5/5

Plot Advancement: 3/5

Creepy Children: 5/5

Sword Use: 1/5

Animation quality: 3/5

Overall: 3/5

Review: Black Rock Shooter 3

This show just keeps getting weirder.

Okay, so, third installment of the Black Rock Shooter Anime, in which we find... that Mato has weird dreams?

It's been about a week since the incidents with Chariot (Mutated kagari), and Black Gold Saw has captured Dead Master.  What is so important about Dead Master, and why is everyone trying to keep her from Black Rock Shooter? More questions, still needing to be answered as BRS fights her way through the world.

On the human side of things, Mato has been asked to go on a trip with the rest of the Basket ball team, and Yomi doesn't seem too happy about her spending so much time with Yuu.

Another thing... That counselor really freaks me out, especially when she is talking to Captain. I'm getting really suspicious with her, as she OBVIOUSLY knows something about the events going on in the realm of BRS.

I think it's official that Black Rock Shooter and the rest are not going to get Voice actors. Unless they are just going to wait until the end. Odds are, they may just use the voice actors from the Video game. The music was done well as usual, and I have no problems with that.

The animation still has not gone down in quality, and probably won't.

The names for the dimensional doubles have been released, and have been confirmed as:

Black Rock Shooter (Mato)

Dead Master (Yomi)

Strength (Yuu)

Chariot (Kagari)

and Black Gold Saw.

Black gold saw, I have yet to figure out who she is the Darkened Persona for, but it appears that she may be the DP for Counselor.

Characters: 4/5

Plot Advancement: 4/5

Creepy Children: 2/5

Sword Use: 2/5

Animation Quality: 4/5

Overall: 3/5

Black Rock Shooter: The Series Episode 2

More is revealed as the Black Rock Shooter Series continues. Giving us more as to who Black Rock Shooter Really is, and more answers to questions previously asked.

As the heat turns up in The realm of BRS, the sun goes down as Mato invites Yomi to The festival.

Unfortunately, Kagari doesn't like this, and prevents Yomi from going, even though yomi tells kagari that she wants to. It seems that Kagari was Yomis childhood friend, and through an accident that happened at a young age, Kagari cannot seem to do anything without the help of yomi.

The same applies in the realm of BRS. As Black rock shooter continues the fight against Mutated Kagari, Dead witch shows up and assists in the fight against BRS. Dead Witch as we all know from the OVA, is Yomi's Dimensional Double, utilizing her chains to hold down BRS while Kagari does some serious damage. However, It seems Dead Witch is doing it against her will.

Still no sign of a voice for BRS. She may become a silent protagonist, but it seems that none of the other 3 Dimensional Doubles have a voice either, making it seem that they might just not give any of them voices. It seems that the animation was cut down from the first episode, though that is normal, considering how much time it would take for each individual sequence to take place if the swords and guns were all formed as detailed as in the first episode.

Something I found interesting is BRS's ability to transform her gun. I found this to be unique since not many characters lately, can transform their weapon from a cannon to a turret in a 6 second transformation. Once again the music was done well, I don't particularly like the ending song, but that's just me. The Opening which was the ending in the first episode, was obviously a remixed version of the song "Black Rock Shooter" sung by what sounds like Miku Hatsune Append. One thing I didn't like, is that they have yet to release proper names for the Dimensional Doubles. Now, they may release them outside of the show, like they did with Black Rock Shooter, Dead Witch, and Black Gold Saw, But I don't care for it to be done that way. I would Prefer if they gave them name In-show.

Characters: 5/5

Plot Advancement: 4/5

Creepy Children: 5/5

Sword use: 5/5

Animation Quality: 4/5

Overall: 4.5/5

Black Rock Shooter: The Series Episode 1

Black Rock Shooter was released a while back as an OVA, that raised more than a few questions that were not answered. Well, here comes The Series, which provides answers to more than a few of the questions that the fans have been asking.

What's the difference between laughably bad and terrible anime?

Isn't she cute? No way her show could be bad... right?

Over the last few months or so, I've developed a reputation, it seems, for watching a lot of bad anime. But how does one differentiate between "so bad, it's good" anime and just plain terrible anime?  Stick around, and I'll tell ya!

Is it bad? Is it good? Is it both? Find out after the break!

Yuri's Summer 2011 Season Preview

Well, spring almost over, and we all know what comes after spring: summer.  And, as many fans became well-aware last year, summer is often just a buffer season for fall, which is why I'm not getting my hopes up.  That said, there are a few interesting things on the chart for the summer days.  Let's see what will entertain me when I'm NOT at the baseball stadium, shall we?

Ah, hell. Might as well get the terribad show out of the way first.  Manyuu Hikenchou.  The concept: a ninja clan can help people grow big boobs, which equate to power.  I'm hoping this will be so bad it's good, like Kampfer was.  But odds are, it'll be Highschool of the Dead bad.  Ah, well. Not everything can be Squid Girl, after all.  Hell, if I can watch Nic Cage's version of The Wicker Man and not suffer a stroke, I can watch this.  Not reviewing it, though.

Next up is Mayo Chiki, a show about a boy? who works as a butler... until it's revealed that "he" is actually a girl.  Yet another "trap/reverse-trap" show.  Yeah, it's of the reverse variety, but that doesn't stop it from being completely unoriginal on paper.  Potential upside is merely that it's not a standard Hideyoshi trap and that the writer was the writer for Tokyo Mew Mew.  Otherwise, a rather bland show.  Watching, no review.

Third on my list is Ro-Kyu-Bu!.  The coach of a high school basketball team falls in love with an 11-year-old girl.  Now, there's the first and biggest potential issue of this show.  The lolicon aspect of this show may be a major turn-off for fans, depending on how it is handled.  Second, it's yet another show about a club in danger of being dismissed. Think with me for a sec.  K-ON! had the Light Music Club in danger of being dismissed.  Haruhi had the Literature Club in peril of dismissal.  This is so far from an original idea.  The only unique part is the basketball club aspect.

Next, we have GAINAX's newest creation, Dandelion no Shoka.  Since this IS the same studio that gave us Evangelion, Gurren Lagann, and Panty & Stocking, I'll let myanimelist.net explain:

Hugh Anthony Disward inherits an old mansion and a personal library from his grandfather. In the basement of the mansion, he meets a mysterious girl Dalian. She is a Dantalian and a gateway to "Dantalian's bookshelf", which stores the prohibited books of the demons.

"Gensho (Illusory Books)", the prohibited books, endanger the balance of the world but people are fascinated by the taboo. Huey and Dalian solve the cases involving Gensho with their ability to access the Dantalian's bookshelf.

Yeah.  GAINAX is filled with geniuses, so I have hope that this will be the summer's diamond in the rough.  The concept, while a bit confusing, shows some promise, and that's better than a lot of things on the chart.  I'll watch this, and probably give it some reviews, too.

The kiddy show I'm watching this season is Nyanpire.  The premise is simple: a cat is infused with a vampire's blood, and now has vampiric qualities.  Nothing too confusing.  It'll definitely be a mellow-down show.  Oh, and did I mention that GONZO is doing this one?  Watching, no reviews.

I just watched this, as of this writing, and I really should have finished the TV series first, but I was immediately drawn in by the Kore wa Zombie desu ka? OVA episode.  I guess I'll write a mini-review for it here.  Let me say this first: this had absolutely no relation to the main plot of the TV series.  Good thing, too.  Not sure how you relate a summer festival to where I left off in the TV series.  The characters where noticeably pervier, and that irked me a bit.  Bright side: great animation.  Downside: derailed characters, and predictable writing.  Watched, reviewed.


Overall, summer doesn't look promising.  But what should I expect, after what last summer spit out?  I guess, if nothing else, I'll have Steins;Gate.  Because hearing Mayushii go "Tuturuu~!" never gets old.  Ah, well.  Look towards fall, pretty much.  I hear there's a new Shana anime...

Review: Kampfer fur die Liebe

I recall mentioning that Kampfer is something of a guilty pleasure for many.  And, for some reason, I got excited when I saw the PV for Kampfer: fur die Liebe, which is rough German for "Warrior: Fight for Love".  And there was a whole lotta love in the TV series.  While these are listed as continuations of the plot, I'm puzzled by one thing: How do you go about continuing the BS ending from the TV series?  And, for that matter, what plot?  The TV series was 75% lesbianism.  Will it continue here?

Boobs and aliens after the break!

Bakacast - Three Angry Men

Bakacast - Three Angry Men



As of late, I have been appearing on Project Haruhi's podcast, Bakacast, quite often.  Here's my latest appearance, where I boldly do what no idiot has done since the first week of the season: give Battle Girls a rather high score.  Also discussed is my issue with sparkling.  Thank you, Hanasaku Iroha.

Review: The World God Only Knows II 3

At your service.

Last week's rushed arc conclusion did not sit well with me, resulting in low hopes for this week's episode.  Not exactly the best first impression ever.  I was expecting more of the same from the first season, and I got that.  However, I was also promised a new demon.  And I'm hoping said demon is introduced soon.

 Upon starting the episode, we see Elsie trapped in a detention bottle, with someone lecturing her.  Finally, that promised demon, Hakua/Haqua du Lot Herminium, depending on who you ask. (For the purposes of this review, I'll be using Crunchyroll's spelling: Haqua.)  It seems Haqua and Elsie were classmates at... I guess you'd call it demon school.  Haqua sees the kind of person Keima is, and promptly calls him "incredible".  Turns out that Haqua has captured no loose souls, despite being a Section Chief, while Elsie has captured 5 in the last 14 episodes, or 2 months.

I was thoroughly amused by Keima's antics with his PSP PFP throughout the episode, particularly when he was up on the balcony where Haqua was, claiming there was great reception... while his PFP made dial-up noises. Um, DSL doesn't work that way, but whatever.  Speaking of Haqua, I'm glad she was introduced here.  It will be a nice relief from Elsie's mildly grating voice.  Hopefully.

As mentioned above, PSPs do not make dial-up noises when they connect to the internet.   As a slight computer nerd, this irked me a bit, and I confirmed my thoughts with actual PSP users.  That aside, there really weren't any flaws in the episode that I noticed.

Overall, another great outing.  The beautiful animation, off-beat humor, and well-written dialogue add up to a great episode.  It's not up to the level that the first season was, but it's decent on its own.  Despite that, this show is on thin ice, along with a few other shows.  It needs to really impress in the next couple weeks, or it will be dropped.


The World God Only Knows II 3

Animation Quality: 4.5/5
Episode Plot: 3.5/5
Comedy/Character Introduction: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
Plot Advancement: 3/5

Overall: 4/5

Review: Moshidora

I've really made it no secret that I love baseball and anime. 2 things result when the two mix: this blog, and Moshidora. I was rather eager when I saw Moshidora on the chart, and I wanted to check it out. Originally scheduled to start March 31, which, coincidentally, was Major League Baseball's Opening Day, Moshidora was heavily delayed by the earthquake in Japan. Scheduled to air daily, Moshidora is easily my highlight of the season so far. After all, this show had me at "baseball".

More innings after the jump!



This is the story of a high school baseball manager who buys Peter Drucker's Management, and takes her team to the summer nationals. Such a simple concept, yet the possibilities are endless. As mention above, Minami Kawashima is the interim manager of her high school's baseball team while her friend Yuki is in the hospital, and, ironically, Minami hates baseball. At least, that's what she claims. After all, she's managing a team. In any case, antics abound as the star pitcher never comes to practice, which isn't good since Minami is trying figure out what the players want from the team, as its "customers". The team is filled with its fair share of oddballs, including the coach and the manager.

Aside from the obvious baseball theme, I really enjoyed the mere concept of using a business book to manage a baseball team. It's very unique and unorthodox, and injects a nice twist on an otherwise ho-hum anime. Minami is extremely quirky, and shows it when she's learning the ropes of the clubhouse. Additionally, I have never seen a book that's traditionally used to start a business be used to manage a baseball team. I can think of several Major League clubs that could benefit from that approach.

From the first frame, I noticed that most of the characters have the exact same eye color, which is a tad lazy. That said, I could find few things wrong with this show. If it weren't for the Drucker inclusion, this would likely just be another baseball anime, telling the story of a team trying to get to Koshien. Even with the Drucker link, the show is inconsistently paced, rushing through the fall tournaments, then plodding along with practice.

This is a show that is aimed squarely at baseball fans like myself. Moshidora takes the baseball-Drucker mashup and runs with it. The animation is downright beautiful, with incredible detail being put into even the idle cicadas. The dialogue is well-written, and some baseball terminology is used, while twisting it to fit with Drucker's business lingo. However, it takes a baseball fan to be able to tolerate Moshidora's inconsistent pacing. The show tries to use an inconsistent pace to reflect the 'baseball' side of the show, to varying results. A decent effort, despite its shortcomings.


Moshidora

Animation Quality: 3.5/5
Comedy/Sports/Drama: 3/5
Plot Advancement: 3.5/5
Writing Quality/Dialogue: 4.5/5
Characters: 2.5/5

Overall: 3.5/5

Review: [C] The Money of Soul 1&2

I would, if you ever started explaining yourself!

As much as I’d like to get to watching the other anime this season about massive gambles and the eeevil of money, I did promise I’d watch NOTAMINA’s latest anime, known as “C” for short. . . and I did. Now I’m not sure what to think about anything anymore. I was expecting something akin to Death Note meets ECON 101. What I got was that, The Wealth of Nations, PersonaPersonaPersona, and something I don’t even know what it was. 

Anyways, more unwitting protagonists getting suckered into deals with the devil, after the jump! 

Review: The World God Only Knows II 2

Was blushing madly like the tsundere you are part of the plan, too?

Another week, another loose soul to capture. Such is the life of Keima Katsuragi, the "Capturing God".  After last week's antics, who knows what Keima will do to finish this job.  While I wait for Madoka to resume, I might as well get this episode reviewed.  Who knows, it might be a total surprise.

It's not like there's a jump here because I like you or anything!

Review: The World God Only Knows 2nd Season 1

I have no words for how awesome this is.

I wasn't terribly blown away by the first season of The World God Only Knows,  but I did enjoy it.  And when I saw that there was to be a second season, I was somewhat excited.  I did write a short write-up of TWGOK for Project Haruhi, so I'm not entirely cold on this series.  But enough about that. I have a review to write!

Spirits and demons, all after the break.