Summer 2009 - Don't Say You're Lazy Zzeroparticle

Last time I was late, and no one seemed to be complaining. Why now?

Uhhh right, so Spring season was kind of meh for me, but hopefully, the summer season will pick up quite nicely with a better serving of quality this time around. I'll probably overload myself yet again, but ehhh... Anyhow, my anime diet will be as follows:

Umi Monogatari ~ Anata ga Ite Kureta Koto ~: because of the Junichi Sato factor. It's also a firm reminder that I need to get around to watching Kaleido Star since I have the DVDs, but have yet to find any time. Bigblah and Styphon liked it a lot, but Gechmir didn't, not that we care about his opinion since he refused to play the excellent Cave Story (and I still don't know if he's played it yet).

Umineko no Naku Koro ni: Well, like the description says, it's the spiritual successor to Higurashi. Obvious hit right there.

Element Hunters: This is an iffy one. The only reason this caught my interest is because Toshihiko Sahashi is behind the soundtrack.

Aoi Hana - FUCK YESSS KASAI IS BACK!!!

Spice and Wolf II - More moe economics. Sure winner right there.

Bakemonogatari - FUCK YESSS MORE SHINBO + SHAFT

Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei - I'm actually very iffy on this franchise (if I may call it that since it looked like they were running out of steam with Goku Sayonara Zetubou Sensei, Michael Jackson's appearance notwithstanding).

CANAAN - Well, it is Type Moon. I've been suckered into their stuff. Loved Kara no Kyoukai (what I've seen of it so far), enjoyed Tsukihime (screw the haters), and totally despised Fate/Stay Night. This one could be good, but I'll just keep my expectations low... just in case.

GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Class - pleasepleasepleaseplease let this be like Hidamari Sketch and/or Sketchbook. That's all I ask and I'll follow it to the ends of the earth.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Took me awhile to get to the three episode mark for most of the stuff this season, but I'm quite pleased with what I've seen so far:

Aoi Hana
Meeting expectations though I'm having a hard time following it week by week since this is a show that's better when watched in chunks. I can't really identify with Fumi all that well, but Akira's energy is always refreshing when she does appear. How they'll seal the yuri relationship is a big question, but that's a wait and see sort of deal.

Bakemonogatari
A lot of people have looked upon this show unfavorably because of all the dialogue, little amount of action, but I've found Hitagi's speeches/lectures to be interesting because of her skill in the use of nuance as well as her flirtatiousness. The visual Shinbo-isms have been rampant but are definitely fun to watch, the OPs are excellent, and overall, my favorite show from Summer.

GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Class
Can't talk about this one much since I've seen only one episode, but what I have seen was definitely good. I like the manic pacing as it makes no attempts to betray its 4-koma roots while delivering details that you'd get out of an art class. Take Hidamari Sketch, remove the day-to-day life stuff, and inject art lessons and you've got this show in a nutshell.

Spice and Wolf II
The end of episode 3 just showcased a brilliant performance by Ami Koshimizu. Needless to say, watching Lawrence and Horo interact continues to be enjoyable as the two show off a good amount of on-screen chemistry. Not too much on the economics side aside from a small bit on contracts and the economics of fads, but that's about it.

Taishou Yakyuu Musume
I was sold when this happened:

YouTube Video

Everything else about it is peachy though as I can't help but feel charmed by what the girls are trying to do. Music is also pretty awesome.

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0
Second best show of the season in my opinion. Mari has been the driving force behind why this series is so uplifting in spite of the tragedy. I'm tempted to say that this portrayal of reality is pretty convincing since the show doesn't skimp on displaying familial problems (overworked parents, trying to maintain a semblance of the idealized family life in the face of economic realities). Characters also have a lot of development potential, making this yet another solid offering.

Umi Monogatari ~Anata ga Itekureta Koto~
I'm not ready to write this one off yet, but it sure is tempting to call it crappy. I guess the problems are on my end in that I went into this show expecting an ARIA-esque atmosphere but instead, I get saddled with a magical girl show. That's not a bad thing per se, but Kanon's personality is irritating as all hell and unlike Mirai from Tokyo Magnitude, she really deserves a solid bitchslapping. At this point, I'm only watching this for Muramatsu's soundtrack.

Umineko no Naku Koro ni
I got what I expected from this. It's probably on par with Higurashi in bringing out that tension even if they overdo it a bit by making Maria simultaneously creepy and annoying as all hell. Still very much enjoyable at this stage in the game.

Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
Got what I expected out of this one as well. Each episode has its moments and it goes to show that there's no shortage of phenomena that one can make fun of when taken to its logical extremes.

There's nowhere I can't reach.