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Charlotte-Episode 10

These last two episodes have been really interesting. I'm glad they finally broke from the formula they were getting in. I wonder how they're going to end it, I would have thought saving Ayumi would have been the end game but there are still 2 or 3 episodes left.

Yu-Gi-Oh GX (Subbed)-Episode 24

Himoutou! Umaru-chan-Episode 9

An enjoyable episode. I never really realised how much I liked Kirie until now. She really reminds me of Tomoko from Watamote. I also enjoyed the Phoenix Wright parody towards the end.
 
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My Love Story/Ore Monogatari Episode 23.

The show has had at least two previous love rivals but, while they were handled exceptionally well, could they really introduce another one and keep up the quality? Yes, yes they could.

I have to admit, I wasn't really sure to begin with but I was completely convinced by the end of the episode. There are a number of more obvious and less interesting ways the story could be handled but, of course, Ore Monogatari doesn't go with those options. It has something much more clever in mind and even manages to make the story a genuinely insightful look at the way our characters think. Despite the "unreality" of a lot of the surface content, this show does a great job of bringing up and examining realistic issues.

I suspect the new character might be unpopular but I have to admit that I found them quite likeable. I may have been reading too much (or perhaps the wrong things) into little details but it seemed like they're actually a decent person and they just have a bit of difficulty with social interaction/expectations. They seem to be "ignorant" of what others think and expect so that probably contributes to them coming across badly at times. That said, they did also seem to be aware enough to realise that certain things may be upsetting so I think it was less that they were being inconsiderate and more that they were trying to do what they thought was best. I'm not sure I'm explaining what I mean very well without the specifics.

Essentially (trying to explain with more specific spoilers):
Ichinose seemed to genuinely believe it would be best for everyone if he and Yamato were together, he couldn't understand that Yamato and Takeo could be happy together. There wasn't any malevolence or ill feeling towards Takeo personally, just a lack of understanding. Even Takeo admitted that he wasn't sure Ichinose was wrong, since some of the points he made seemed like they could make sense (though only on the surface).

I also felt that the reason Ichinose seemed unpopular with the other workers was that it simply never occurred to him that he might be coming across as cold and distant. You could certainly argue that his ignorance crosses a line and he does deserve some blame but I felt he didn't seem to actually change in personality with Yamato around so much as find a way to express himself better.

Still, that's just my interpretation. To be fair, it probably doesn't matter too much if you like Ichinose or not because the story isn't really about him (or even him and Yamato, as such).
So anyway, it was another great episode. I'm very interested to see how they'll resolve the current storyline (and it could go a number of ways, which seems to be a theme with quite a few of these stories). It's a shame the next episode is the last one though, I do feel that another episode might have been good (well, several more seasons might be good too). I'm really not sure they'll be able to resolve the current story and end the series in a way that feels totally satisfying at the same time. Still, Ore Monogatari has surprised me before so you never know.

I also watched Non Non Biyori Repeat Episode 10.

Another Renge-centric episode with a nice dose of Kaede and some interesting moments with Konomi. I did particularly like the moment when Konomi discovered a particular skill of Renge's. I could see Natsumi trying to exploit that for gain at some point in the future, maybe in casinos or something.

I'm not sure if this episode would work quite as well for everyone but I loved it. It wasn't as blatantly emotional as some and the story itself was quite simple and understated but there were a lot of subtle moments that just worked really well for me. I suppose it could also be because I just really like Kaede (and especially the Renge/Kaede team) but then that's at least partly because of the great stories and character development so even then I think it's worthy of credit.

Even for people that didn't get as much out of it as I did, I think there's still a lot to like here.

The next episode previews in this show tend to be a bit crazy but I think the one in this episode is one of the craziest. It's going to be interesting to see what the actual episode is like.

Himouto! Umaru-chan Episode 10.

Another enjoyable episode. I might have liked to see Umaru dealing with being ill for longer but what we got instead was probably at least as good. I did think that Umaru's plans might have been a little over the top but it was nice to see the contrast between what she might have claimed to feel and how she really felt.

The glimpse into Onii-chan and co's past was fun. I don't think they needed that big arrow though, I felt it slightly undermined things and was odd since the show often tends to be more subtle. I wonder if I really have just been misreading things and the times when it seemed the show was being subtle in a good way may have been accidental. I guess it technically doesn't matter but it's interesting.

Wakakozake Episodes 7-10.

You know, I actually find that I quite like this show. It's only two minutes long so it's tough to really say much about it but I find it surprisingly pleasant to watch.

Sort of related, I don't like to watch anime while I'm in a bad mood because I'm worried that I won't enjoy the show properly and it'll ruin the experience (which would just upset me more). I was in a bad mood the other day but I decided to risk watching anime anyway. I started with Wakakozake because it's short and it actually did a really good job of relaxing me and getting me in the mood for watching things. Realistically, there's a good chance that just watching anything I like would have cheered me up but it was nice to have a "low risk" option. I'm not sure that's a complement to the show as such but I mean it in the nicest way.

To be fair, I suspect I could watch this show for much longer periods and still enjoy it. It's probably mostly down to Wakako's voice, I do like the voice actress's other work but Wakako's voice is particularly well done in a way that makes it relaxing and pleasant to listen to. Maybe that's just me, though.
 
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Hunter x Hunter-Episode 98 (Again)

So after about 2 weeks of hiatus, I've returned to Hunter x Hunter. I didn't take a break by choice, I didn't have the internet for a week, then I had all of the simulcasts to catch up on so it's taken me a while to get back to watching it but now I've (mostly) caught up on Simulcasts I'm going to dive right back into the show tomorrow. Today, I decided to watch the last episode I watched again just as a bit of a refresher in addition to reading up a summary of the arc to where I'm up to on the HxH Wikia page. There is one thing I am wondering now that I hope someone who has seen the show in it's entirety can answer.
How can the King still produce soldiers? I was under the impression that only a Queen can birth new ants so without a Queen, so where are the new Chimera Ants such as the Bat and Owl coming from?
 
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Prison School (Japanese audio) - Episode 10
Food Wars (Japanese audio) - Episode 23
Classroom☆Crisis (Japanese audio) - Episode 11

Prison School is hilarious as usual.

As for Food Wars, with one episode left I am pretty concerned about the state of the storyline. Since I haven't read the manga I have no idea what's going to happen next but judging by the current situation there seems to be two options left in this situation:
- Soma ends up succeeding in a place for the next round. But we won't be able to find out what happens next because it's a cliffhanger/read the manga end. If the sales are good we might get a second season.

- Soma fails to get a place into the next round and thus he's out of the game. Some shonen series does this at times just to show that the main character isn't always the best. Examples of this have occurred in two particular sport anime shows, for spoiler reasons I won't specify which one.

Classroom Crisis had a lot going on in this week's episode. So many twists and turns.
 
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I might be wrong, by isn't the case that all the ants have already been born by that point, they just haven't all been introduced? Or that the ants were lain as eggs that hatched separately from the Queen itself?

I might be wrong though, I can't really remember the details in that respect too well.
 
Rampo Kitan - Game of Laplace - Episodes 07-10

Whilst this probably isn't the best show of the season, I think it now qualifies as my favourite. It's fun, bizarre, screwed up and never takes itself too seriously, but it's a show that clearly cares about it's characters and always tries to give depth and understanding to them, even though the entire show is about theatricality and surface. I wouldn't know, but I hear it's a faithful attempt at replicating the ero guro nansensu movement, so I may end up doing some research into that at some point.

It's also great to see a show that directly addresses it's central gay crush with the two main characters, and then goes for it even more directly next episode, with the third lead all but explicitly professing his love for a supporting character (and not in a way that's played for humour either), instead of trying to dance around it. Although I should probably note that the show never explicitly confirms either relationship, but it's so clear what's going on you couldn't really say it was just implied. It plays almost like they were told they couldn't have an explicit relationship, so they did everything but confirm it, and from what I've heard about Japan's current attitude towards homosexuality it wouldn't surprise me if that were the case. It's also nice to see something that avoids the usual situation where one or both of the pair completely oblivious to it (although I suppose depending on how you interpret the scene you could argue Kobayashi is oblivious to it).

I was pleasantly surprised to see the second scene, which later becomes a catalyst for the events of the entire series, because there are some suggestions online that Kobayashi underwent a last minute gender swap to play up the yaoi aspect, so it's nice to see the show was always aiming to be this direct and progressive with it's relationships and it wasn't just an unintended consequence of a gender swap.

Also, this show consistently has some of the most interesting and creative blocking and staging I've seen in an anime. It's great to see a studio that maybe doesn't have the resources available to do this show traditionally (Lerche has three shows currently ongoing) overcome it's problems creatively, without resorting to just using excessive amounts of CGI, and both Lerche and director Seiji Kishi deserve a lot of credit for that.

For me personally, I think "A Desire for Transformation" (episode 10) will probably be one of the best episodes of the year, but I don't think anyone else will reciprocate that view. Also, that ending was a massive surprise and I can't wait for the finale next Thursday (although I am disappointed it's only 11 episodes long - damn you Fuji :p )...
 
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Wolf Children - Well that was bloody wonderful. I couldn't sleep so decided to finally watch this, had the BD since it came out which I think was almost 2 years ago now. :? Glad to have finally watched it, enjoyed it immensely.
 
Hunter x Hunter-Episodes 99 and 100

Episode 99: Good episode, seeing Gon take on two Chimera Ants by himself was fun but I think some of the more political stuff is going over my head a little in regards to the Hunter's Association. I'm also not really sure which Ants are with the King and which aren't.

Episode 100: I don't know why but I really liked that the Sniper Ant sang all his lines. Also, with this episode, I'm now two thirds into the series. Home stretch now.
 
Silent Mobius - Episode 22

More than 2 years since I pre-ordered it, I finally got confirmation that my 009 ReCyborg Set has finally been posted to me, can't wait to see it in 3D!
 
Watched up to episode 21 of From the New World. The 2nd act dragged a little but it has put in to motion everything that is happening in the excellent third act. Cannot wait to finish this show tomorrow!
 
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