Some Updates

Some updates regarding pending reviews.

Area no Kishi is dropped from reviews since I've fallen too far behind. There's just not much to write about when it comes to sports anime. This is the one important lesson I took out of this.

No, I haven't forgotten about the Ano Natsu de Matteru review. It is still a work in progress. I just haven't found the time and motivation to finish it. I'll try and complete it when I catch up with everything else.

Currently awaiting GetWet to release the last few episodes of Senki Zesshou Symphogear. As of today (May 10th, 2012), they have released up to Episode 11, which I will review soon. Other than that, I'll just have to play the waiting game. Hopefully, the last two episodes are released before this season ends.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more reviews~

Area no Kishi - Episode 12

Stop looking at your jersey and watch the sunset, Kakeru!

After a season's worth of episodes, I'm starting to feel that Area no Kishi will continue to drag on for a while. Each episode is more or less the same; it's either a match or characters talking to each other. There isn't anything that's unexpected. While the target of the soccer club is most likely to win at the national level, everything in between is more or less predictable. There'll be ups and downs, wins and losses, drama and heartbreak. Keeping this up for around 50ish episodes will definitely result in the loss of fans, especially those who aren't into soccer in the first place. This repetitiveness is starting to get to me too, as it's hard to think of something interesting and unique to blog about since all the episodes are similar to each other. While I am enjoying the anime, I am thinking of dropping it on the blog. But until I do make a decision, please note that the reviews may get shorter and shorter.

Area no Kishi - Episode 11

Sparkles in a shōnen anime!? What has the world come to?

It's no surprise that the soccer club's team chemistry is beyond bad; combining two teams who have gone through totally different styles of training and practising will undoubtedly cause conflicts to arise between the two sides. And so, division is imminent. I personally feel it's better this way since a small team of average players who can play as a cohesive unit is much more valuable than a larger team of skilled players who are always at each other's necks. With that being said, I'm quite sure that a solution to the current problem will be reached sometime soon.

Area no Kishi - Episode 10

The height difference is amusing.

It turns out I was wrong about the game between Nadeshiko Japan and SF Frankfurt lasting more than one episode. In fact, it only took up half the episode. The game itself was almost like a two-woman show. Aside from Nana and Mina, the other players seemed like they were there to be humiliated by the aforementioned pair of stars. I found it especially lame when one of the Japanese players dribbled the ball up to Mina and just stopped there, like she was waiting for the tall, German girl to steal the ball. Similarly, Nana evades her opponents like they're not even there. If the games continuously feature only one or two players, then I'm pretty sure they will get boring down the stretch, especially since this series doesn't look like it's going to end soon. On the bright side, the Engrish was as funny as ever.

Area no Kishi - Episode 9

Plenty of Nana in this episode.

When the Japanese attempt to speak Engrish in anime, it never ceases to amuse me. This time was no different. Portraying Americans (or other foreigners for that matter) as ugly seems to be a recurring pattern in anime. Whether it's their facial features or physical appearance that's distorted, it's always interesting to see how the Japanese view others. It's slightly egotistical, if you ask me. The switch between using Engrish and Japanese during the game really bothered me. I doubt there's any group of people, or anyone for that matter, in the world that uses two different languages during everyday conversation. I personally would've preferred having just the Engrish since it's amusing for me to listen to and emphasizes that the players are indeed American.

Area no Kishi - Episode 6, 7, 8

As you can probably tell from the screenshots used, I have resorted to watching HorribleSubsRips' release for Area no Kishi. It is unfortunate that Oyatsu has decided to drop the series since I felt their subs were much easier to read and follow than HS's. Nonetheless, with no other competent group subbing the show, I'll continue Area no Kishi with CruncyRoll's subs. Also, given that this is a three-episode review, it may be less detailed than usual.

Area no Kishi - Episode 5

Mind = Blown

This was more or less a introductory episode to the new arc. A bunch of new characters were introduced, along with the surprising appearance of Kōta. None of them are really interesting or memorable, aside from Araki Ryūichi. His relationship with Suguru, back when he was still fit, still remains a mystery. One flashback depicts them as seemingly good friends while another shows Suguru criticizing Ryūichi. But whatever the true nature of their relationship might have been, the reason why Ryūichi gave up on soccer, and in the process put on some weight, is apparently because of Suguru.

Area no Kishi - Episode 4

キラ☆キラ? o__o"

With the heart transplant giving Kakeru his brother's personality, I'm glad that there was at least an attempt to explain this unrealistic phenomenon. Although the justification for this strange happening was a bit farfetched, from the point of view of someone who is not experienced in medical practices, I can't say for sure that it is invalid. Aside from that questionable issue, I felt this episode worked well as a wrap-up for the "Suguru arc" (I refer to it as that since it seems like Kakeru has finally stopped dwelling on the past and his brother's death).

Area no Kishi - Episode 3

Kakeru, why so serious?

Did I enjoy this episode? Yes. Was I satisfied with it? Not really. True, the flashbacks and drama were great throughout. I was smiling at some parts, while others brought tears to my eyes. Looking at it from a subjective viewpoint, this episode was very well executed. However, a review is incomplete without the mention of very noticeable flaws/issues. Normally, I either overlook or miss minor/questionable events that happen. But when they're not unimportant enough, to the point where they are hard to miss, then there's a problem.

Area no Kishi - Episode 2

Kyon Aizawa no Imōto~

What the... Just when the relationship between the two brothers started to improve, the ending had to ruin it. I totally did not expect it to happen but I do believe that it will be useful for Kakeru's character development. But I think that it's not just Kakeru who'll be affected by unfortunate turn of events; the whole team will now need to find a way to move forward due to the absence of their highly-skilled leader. It can be said that the story has now just begun, with this episode and the last being a solid, attention-grabbing prologue.

Area no Kishi - Episode 1

\/ (^ o ^) \/

Finally, an actual fansub group picked this show up!
I was really impressed with the first episode of Area no Kishi. It worked great as an introductory episode since the characters and the main story were both introduced with quite some detail. I'm still not too fond of the whole soccer idea but that may change over time. I appreciate the fact that this anime seems to be taking a realistic approach to the sport (unlike other soccer anime where superpowers are unnecessarily given to the protagonist) and I hope it stays this way. The episode was wrapped up well with a cliché but fitting cliffhanger line, which gives viewers something to think about.

Area no Kishi - Preview

Soccer isn't really my thing so when I first heard about Area no Kishi (shortened to AnK), I didn't really consider it as something I would watch. After carefully scanning through the Winter 2012 lineup one last time before the start of the season, I decided to pick up AnK since it would add to the variety of shows I planned to watch this season. Aside from the soccer terminology that I may or may not understand, I'm expecting AnK to have a decent amount of drama and some romance. And if I do stick with it to the end, I may learn a thing or two about soccer; it would be a nice educational bonus considering the fact that it's an anime I'm watching.

Winter 2012

A new year means lots of changes and that is exactly what I have planned for my blog this year. Gone are the days of one-paragraph reviews followed by a wall-of-text summary; they are replaced by short paragraphs of pure reviewing and thoughts. I think this will enable me to pick up more shows and make it easier and more interesting for people to read. I'd like to thank everyone for supporting my blog by just reading it (the increase in pageviews recently has been encouraging) and I hope that this year will be a great one.

I've decided to blog about several shows this season. I may add or remove some depending on my schedule and preferences. For now, the list of shows I plan to watch for the Winter 2012 season are below.