In Review: Juuni Kokuki

The 36th review item, after 3 years of blogging, is Juuni Kokuki.

Fall 2009 Anime Brief Impressions

Here we go again, it’s the new season.  Picked a few shows to check out based on Omni’s list.  Avoided anything with harem, moe-looking pics and stories, and continuations of old series I dropped or purposely didn’t watch.  (Yup, I didn’t finish Darker than Black and currently have no intention of doing so.)  Others just didn’t catch my attention.

Almost there

Three more episodes to go and my ‘taste-test’ of fall 2009 anime will be over.   I only sampled a few shows but there might be some worth watching till the end.   少々お待ち下さい。

On the other hand, I forgot to update my watchlist.  The last update was in April!  Looking back, it’s not really surprising since it was around that time that my work life turned ‘hellish’.  I can still feel the effects of those days lingering, like I’ve been damaged for life. 

Though I hope that’s not true hehehe.

So now it’s finally updated.  And it looks like I will breach the 15-show mark if some of the fall anime were to finish early (at 12 or 13 eps).  I’m now reconsidering if I will make the year-end rankings with 15 or less shows finished.  Hmm.

Till next, ja!

Out of Touch?

With the current season, maybe.  But I’m still watching anime, FYI.

I don’t want to talk long about the mundane stuff that’s bothering me right now.  But the good news is, 1) I bought a new laptop, and, 2) the live-action action fever that swept me (Heroes marathon, How I Met Your Mother marathon, Orange Days marathon, etc) is over now.

S’mores…yummy…er…Wakaba-chan?

And on to the post title.  Yes, folks, baseball anime fever has still not subsided.  I am now plowing through Touch.  If I don’t get lazy, expect another post sometime this month when I’m done with it.  I recommend this to those who are looking to soothe their Cross Game cravings.  But be careful.  Don’t hurry too much or you’ll run out of episodes!  Hahaha!

And that’s it for ‘I’m still alive’ the update!  Ja! 

Sad state of the proxy

I’m formally declaring the hiatus now.  My PC has been having problems since June, and now it hasn’t turned on since last week.  I haven’t yet bought a laptop.  I’ve been brainstorming for weeks on what to get, and combine that indecision with a small budget it’s really not a wonder to me why I still don’t have a laptop.

Anyway, I will come back when these two criteria have been satisfied:

1)  I have a brand-new laptop.

2)  My enthusiasm for blogging returns.

Until then, it’s ja!  

And so it’s time for the 2009 summer anime…

And as usual, doesn’t look like there’s a lot of promising shows.

I’m checking out only the following shows:

• Aoi Hana – Hmm, shoujo-ai?  But it’s directed by Kenichi Kasai, and I enjoyed even KimiKiss.  So will watch.

• Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 – Bones.  Gave us Bounen no Xamdou.  Ouran.  Etc.  Will watch.

• Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou – It’s comedy, and it’s been some time since I’ve seen some (Hayate 2 just disappointed me).

• Canaan - The only anime in my list with some fighting action in this line.  (It’s safe to assume there’s probably gonna be lots of action, right?)

• Taishou Yakyuu Musume – I think I’ve had an overdose of baseball, but if I get bored with Major S2 I’ll probably turn to this.

As usual, my source is hashihime.

The mecha fan in me is drooling…

I wanna go back to Odaiba now!!

Link:  Mainichi

Something Major has happened

Rants aside, this an anime blog.  So let’s talk about anime!

Looking for my Ristorante Paradiso

Should I say ‘Tadaima’?

For those who have cared to read my whinings here I have been in sort of a ‘crisis’.  Last year it was about self-improvement.  Now it’s worse:  I’m beginning to hate my job.  But where does Ristorante Paradiso fit in?

Lately, while watching episodes of this soothing series, I’ve become envious of the fact that the guys (and gal) at Casetta dell’Orso have this not so stressful working environment.  The lives they live are unhurried, something that contrasts to the deadline-infested place where I work.  I’m not saying they don’t have problems.  I’m just saying that I like the seemingly slower pace of the work.  Their working time starts and ends clearly.  I want the leisure time to do the other things that I like, or want to do.  When I started blogging, anime was the only major thing that interested me.  Three years later, I’ve found other interests (though some are still related to anime).  However, the demands of work and the things I want to do are clashing.  (I know I shouldn’t really be complaining because other people have lost their jobs in this global recession, but still I know the daily stress will have its effects later on.)

I’ve come to the point where I’m seriously considering the alternatives to my line of work.  As I am in the IT industry I know it will always be hectic;  it’s the nature of the industry to be fast-paced.  But Ristorante Paradiso shows me there’s another kind of life.

It’s just unfortunate though that there’s probably nothing like Ristorante Paradiso in the Philippines.

This post is brought to you by Insomnia Inc

It’s funny how too much overtime leads to a post.

So basically since I’ve been going home at 12 midnight and sleeping at 2 AM almost everyday for 2 weeks now, I’m finding it hard to go back to the usual sleeping time at 12.   But how is the anime-watching progress?  It’s suffering but of course there should be time for it no matter how small, right?

Hayate no Gotoku!!

Dropped.  It isn’t as funny as the first season.

Fullmetal Alchemist 2

Plodding on.  Not really on my priority list

Hanasakeru Seishounen

Dropped.  The fact that I didn’t like the drawing style added to the dislike of the show.

07-Ghost

Same as FMA 2.

Ristorante Paradiso

I haven’t progressed because of the lack of subs and the lack of time.

Eden of the East (Higashi no Eden)

I wrote a post about it yesterday (the first post born out of insomnia this month).  I’m not really positive about the direction the series is heading but as long as there are ’scenic’ moments I’m happy. 

Cross Game

Saved the spring season from being a total disappointment.  This is the no. 1 priority on my watchlist right now.    Meanwhile, usagijen is struggling pimping it.  With other shows, just adding the description ‘moe’ would immediately generate interest.  Cross Game, on the other hand, is wholesome.  I like the story better than Ookiku Furikabutte’s.

In other news…

Or not so new news.  psgels, unlike me, has a lot of time in his hands.   (I envy you!)  He has been watching shows like Maria-sama ga Miteru and Macross.  These are two of my most favorite shows and it’s good to read his comments about it.  He even writes about ‘Anime is dying‘ doom scenarios.  As for me, the biggest enemy of the studios are probably not the pirates.  It’s the dwindling number of kids who are their primary customers, the next generation of anime-watchers.  A lot of people outside of Japan will not pay (or are not capable of paying) for their pricey DVDs.

tj_han writes about American comics.  As for me, I got introduced to American comics way before I even learned about the existence of manga.  And I have very fond memories of it.  I was mainly into Marvel Comics.   Oops, not really me;  just that the boys around me were.  I really didn’t have the means to buy comics then;  now that I have a job I seem to have outgrown my fascination for American comic books, particularly those from Marvel.  And with staff rotation, I have to slightly disagree on that.  Sure it has its drawbacks, but if there was no staff rotation, I wouldn’t be able to admire the art of Joe Madureira.  I was just drooling over it back then.

Now to prevent me from drooling at work due to sleepiness, that’s it for this update.  Ja!