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Kobato 09-10-11: Not Dead Yet

By Mabdese | Published: January 10, 2010

vlcsnap-10621729 A dreaded three headed cute monster has appeared!

Doing the dreaded triple review of episodes to catch up. I’ve been really tied up through the holidays and I know there’s even more episodes out and the new stuff is starting to pop up around the interwebs but you’ll have to take it at my pace. After two great episodes I wasn’t surprised by Episode 9’s absolute snore fest of mediocrity. If you waited, and had great determination to get past episode 9, at least episode 10 was enough reward to keep going as Fujimoto’s background story was cute and sad and happy. In Episode 11 it just occurs to Kobato to get a part-time job. And my CLAMP radar only goes off about twice. Please join me for these three episodes (and maid outfits!) after the jump.

Posted in Anime, Kobato | 5 Comments

Armored Trooper VOTOMS 05-06: Breaking Out, Breaking In

By Crusader | Published: January 10, 2010

His god perhaps, but Zeus still lives.

With Chirico’s capture the Chief of Police takes him to the local priest who is also a corrupt bastard to try and use God to ascertain the nature of Chirico’s mission. I have to had in to them that they are trying to get information out ofChirico using drugs and religion before using beatings and whippings. The Thieves are quite through in covering their tracks but once they find that Chirico has no support they decide to do away with him. Fortunately before the execution order is carried out Chirico’s friends hatch a plan to rescue him, Vanilla would have done it on his own had Coccona not ratted him out to Gotho for one gildan. For three people who bicker as much as they do they seem to work well enough together and they did manage to cut a few holes in the police station. The rescue is rather quick but it tips off the Thieves that Chirico does have friends and they set up a Real Battle for 50 million Gildan to lure them out. Gotho tries to delay the fight but Chirico seems to pick up quick that something is rotten. While Chirico is the only pilot I like how they were able to work as a team during the fight with Oriya where Vanilla creates a damn fine decoy. Oriya seems to have been one of Chirico’s former COs so I guess that makes Oriya another Red Shoulder, but given how Oriya and Chirico didn’t recognize each other before the operation he might have just been Chirico’s basic training instructor. If Oriya was a Red Shoulder then he was a pretty bad one wince there are many ways to do things, but no single right way to do anything military.
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Posted in VOTOMS | 3 Comments

Kampfer 12 (Final Thoughts): Turnabout Furry (SUGOI Late)

By Crusader | Published: January 9, 2010

WTF? Indeed…

Yeah I know this is pretty damn late in the game but duty calls and I am still trying to make up for all that lost time. Well the final episode of Kampfer was an unrelated extra episode, but it was nonetheless enjoyable as role switching revealed how Hara-kiri Taiga had been coming up with a wardrobe change for Natsuru Girl-type, glad to see that it did not all go to waste. I don’t have much else to say about since it was pretty over the top visually and it had its moments. The only thing that really stuck out was Natsuru’s selfcest and the continued AWESOMENESS of Capitalism from the class president, VP, and accountant. It was pretty stupid but I laughed here and there.

Posted in Kampfer | 11 Comments

Sora no Woto 01 – LISTEN TO MY TRUMPET!

By Crusader | Published: January 8, 2010

Well it looks like we have a post war situation here…

So while Sora no Woto has earned the ire of many as being K-On, other than the character design it seems different enough. Besides unlike your average scum sucking self serving self righteous Jihad-kun type protagonist Kanata has one thing that makes her so much more likable. No it’s not her hair which is rather stylish despite not being within regs, but because she is one of the rare select few that volunteer for military service in an age where Singaporean males have to be dragged to the barracks for national service. In any case as a show about Soldaten I see that it already has some potential though in my case it serves nicely as a study of what a more whimsical garrison post would be like. Say what you will about Kanata, but she might well be the heir of Noe given that hair cut, and besides she’s probably more physically fit than the lot of you and no doubt kids these days don’t travel in boxcars and sleep on hard wood. Despite the lack of small arms Kanata is part of the poor infantry and that alone makes her worthy, plus she’s not bitching and moaning with every other step she takes. While not much was mentioned about the principle cast they did manage to do a good job of giving the setting some character. It may be a pastiche of things but at least they have drinking in public which in itself is pretty damn awesome. I like how they mentioned the local customs and myths it’s nice to see the town have a bit of culture, even if some of the customs seem rather quaint, though it basically is a wet t-shirt festival if you think about it…

Posted in Sora no Woto | 16 Comments

Kimi ni Todoke episode 13 – Shock and DAAAWWWW

By ExecutiveOtaku | Published: January 7, 2010

SENSITIVE INTELLIGENCE REPORT – RESTRICTED DISSEMINATION

SUBJECT: 1. KURUMI ATTACK THWARTED BY SWIFT KAZEHAYA RESPONSE.

……………2. NEW SOURCES CORROBORATE INTEL ON PREVIOUS KURUMI ATTACKS.

DATE: EARLY JANUARY 2010.

1. THE ANTICIPATED SPORTS FESTIVAL OPERATION AGAINST ALLIED ASSETS WAS INEFFECTIVE DUE TO A QUICK COUNTER-OPERATION BY KAZEHAYA. SENSING A DANGEROUS SITUATION, HE QUICKLY MOVED SAWAKO TO SAFETY. FURTHERMORE, PROGRESS WAS MADE AFTER THE ATTACK ON FORMALIZING ROMANTIC TIES.

2. AYANE AND CHIZU, THE TDY TEAM FOR INTEL COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS OF THE KURUMI CELL, BEGAN INTERVIEWS WITH THOSE AFFECTED BY THE RUMOR ATTACKS AND RECEIVED REPORTS FROM TRUSTED SOURCES CONFIRMING OUR SUSPICIONS ABOUT KURUMI INTRODUCING THE DISINFORMATION. KURUMI WAS CONFRONTED WITH THIS EVIDENCE PRIVATELY AND BEFORE SAWAKO.

Posted in Kimi ni Todoke | 7 Comments

First Impressions (Liveblogging format) – Baka to Test to Shoukanjyuu, Ladies vs Butlers, and Sora no Woto

By ExecutiveOtaku | Published: January 7, 2010

Winter seasons this year is, shall we say, not the most widely anticipated season ever. But with that said, there are some shows that looked like they could have promise back during preview time. With a couple first episodes out (and the Baka to Test Christmas Special short), I thought I’d take a look at the first three that I got my hands on and see for myself. In this post I’ll be taking a look at Baka to Test to Shoukanjyuu (Christmas Special short), Ladies vs Butlers, and Sora no Woto in a ‘liveblogging’, stream of consciousness style. Comments are as I wrote them down on a notepad while watching each episode, so they may change as more info became available later in each episode. Let me know if you like or dislike this style, it’s a bit of an experiment. (Full credit for influencing to me to use the format goes to the Democracy in America blog on The Economist’s website, for the multi-commenter liveblogging they did of the primary and general election debates and later presidential speeches. I’m sure others have done it, but DiA is where I saw it first.)

Posted in Assorted Anime Reviews | 8 Comments

Macross Zero episode 01 – In the Beginning

By ExecutiveOtaku | Published: January 6, 2010

The year is 2008 and the Unification Wars continue to rage between the U.N. and Anti-U.N. forces. In the face of evidence of advanced alien lifeforms in the form of the crashed ship that would one day become the SDF Macross, a movement to unite the Earth under one government begins so that humanity can be prepared for what may come. But there are many on the wrong side of history, who would rather fight to defend their petty interests even in the face of interplanetary warfare, and war has been ongoing for nearly eight years. And now, both sides are deploying a revolutionary new fighter, capable of transforming from fighter to intermediate to humanoid forms. In the middle of this conflict, Shin Kudo, a U.N. carrier fighter pilot, is shot down by one of these new aircraft and washes up on an island where the people worship strangely colored statues called ‘birdmen’. Here we are at the earliest series in the Macross saga, a prequel that predates the original series events by a year and promises to reveal much about the background of Protoculture involvement in Earth’s history, the development of the first Valkyries, and something of the past of characters, their relations, and ancestors of those aboard the future human colony ships. So here comes retroblogging project #3, venturing further into the Macross saga by starting at its chronological beginning. Veterans, newbies, and fellow newly minted fans, join me for another journey into the Macross universe!

Posted in Anime, Macross Zero, Retroblogging | 31 Comments