Kami-sama no Memo-chou - Review

Another extremely late review. Will try to finish Ikoku Meiro no Croisée after this, if I have time, that is.

Imagine a riding a rollercoaster. It starts off by building up your excitement as you are slowly ascending the tracks while, at the same time, speeding up. The rest of the ride then consists of ups and downs, loops and turns, and random spins, before ending with a final surge of exhilarating speed. That is how I felt when watching Kami-sama no Memo-chou. The first episode made the series seem promising but it eventually failed to deliver, despite having a decent ending. Let's see how it fared in the usual four categories of art, character, sound and story.

Kami-sama no Memo-chou - Episode 12

A cryptic love letter?

Episode Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ (4/5)

Well, I've got to hand it to J.C. Staff; they didn't totally kill this adaption thanks to this decent episode. Although I felt the whole episode itself was slightly rushed, the touching ending made up for it. It's good to know that everything is solved and that Ayaka ended up surviving that fall. I especially liked it when Alice toyed with Hakamizaka and caused him to suffer, knowing full well that an angel would not be coming to take him away. Overall, the whole show has been a bunch of ups and downs; good first and last episodes with mixed feelings in between. Would I like a season two? Probably not. Would I mind one? No, and I'll probably end up watching, too, since I already finished this one. The ending was a bit of a cliffhanger with Ayaka waking up so a season two is by all means possible.

Summary incomplete. Please check back later.

Kami-sama no Memo-chou - Episode 11

ohithere, can i haz some Angel Fix?

Episode Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ (5/5)

I liked this episode. Well, at least I think I did. Not sure if it's because I pity J.C. Staff's lack of success when it comes to LN adaptions or because it was actually interesting. Back to the episode at hand, the plot twist turns out to be less of a twist (don't want to spoil anything but I'm not even sure if that makes sense) which is relieving, in a way. And because of this, two cases are merged into one mystery, with the crazy, glasses-wearing scientist seemingly behind everything. It's hard to imagine that J.C. Staff will wrap things up well in the next and final episode but I'll just have to see. Story-wise, I'm looking forward to it.

Summary incomplete. Please check back later.

Kami-sama no Memo-chou - Episode 10

In order to not spoil anything, here's a picture of some nice flower petals...

Episode Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ (5/5)

*episode ends*   "..."
What the hell was that plot twist for!!
And just when I thought this show was getting more boring by each passing episode, this "event" happens. I totally didn't expect something this big to happen, and for it to happen to semi-main character makes the impact even bigger. In a reviewer's point of view as opposed to a regular viewer, the build-up to the climatic scene was done quite well. There was enough details given for viewers to understand "why" this happened, but not too much so that the shock would be suppressed. To top it all off, placing the "event" at the end of the episode serves as a cliffhanger, useful in this case as it allows one to wonder about what lies ahead for the other characters. It's been a while since I've actually enjoyed an episode of Kami-sama no Memo-chou this much but I've got a bad feeling about the last two episodes, in terms of interesting content and how they're going to wrap up the series, that is. Like I've said many times before, I hope J.C. Staff doesn't embarrass themselves once again with a poor LN adaption.

Summary incomplete. Please check back later.

Kami-sama no Memo-chou - Episode 9

Heliophobia?

Episode Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ (3/5)

Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko's final episode was quite disappointing...
Oh, wait. This is Kami-sama no Memo-chou. Now why did I think I was watching another anime...
Anyways, sarcasm aside, this was a pure filler episode where the character participated in a game of baseball. There were no plot twists or character development throughout the whole episode. However, I, for some strange reason, found it quite entertaining, despite already knowing that the outcome of the game was not going to be surprising. Maybe it's because I'm a bit of a baseball fan myself, or maybe I was just really bored before watching this and tried my best to enjoy it no matter how lame it was. Who knows? Apart from the uneventful episode, the end provide an epic cliffhanger - hinting the appearance of Ayaka's brother - which may cause things to get more interesting in the next episode. J.C. Staff, I am slowly losing the little amount of hope I have for your adaption of this show. Please prove me wrong...

Kami-sama no Memo-chou - Episode 8

Oh, the embarrassment!

Episode Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ (5/5)

And with this, we reach the end of another arc. Even though the revelation of "Hison = Yoshiki-san" was really obvious, it seemed that Renji and Narumi were too stupid to figure it out. It almost makes Alice seem "average" since many viewers out there could already figure this out. It was also obvious that The Fourth was not going to die from the attack. If I went on to talk about the other "obvious" events, I could talk for hours and still have things to say (*cough* exaggeration *cough*). Anyways, a good ending to a story always satisfies me, and this episode was no different. The start of a new arc next episode or a filler?

Kami-sama no Memo-chou - Episode 7

If this is not obvious enough, I don't know what is

Episode Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ (5/5)

Maybe it's because the past few episodes were utter garbage, but I really enjoyed this one. Even though everything was quite predictable halfway through, it was surprisingly still entertaining. As of now, if I were to choose between Victorique from GOSICK and Alice from Kami-sama no Memo-chou, I would definitely pick Victorique for being able to quickly solve and explain a mystery. It's quite annoying to have to wait several episodes for a case to be resolved. Also, there's probably going to be one or two more mysteries before this underachieving series finishes. Hopefully, during that span, things will improve. Overall, I'm quite disappointed with this show considering the fact that it had a surprisingly good first episode. But I guess I'll finish it since I'm more than halfway through already.

Kami-sama no Memo-chou - Episode 6

More info on Minerva can be found here

Episode Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ (4/5)

Quite an interesting episode although it was quite heavy on dialogue. I'm still not sure whether to think of Renji as an antagonist or not. On one hand, he seems to be nice towards Narumi while, on the other hand, The Fourth and Alice describe him as some kind of savage human being. Overall, this episode was a good build-up to what looks to be an exciting episode next time as the two former friends go head to head. Hopefully, this is the start of a new beginning for the show as the past few episodes lead me to believe that this adaption was going to be another J.C. Staff fail.

Kami-sama no Memo-chou - Episode 5

The result of putting a stuffed bear in a washing machine

Episode Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ (3/5)

This episode wasn't necessarily "boring", but it was definitely not as interesting as I would have liked it to be. Sure, we get the introduction of two new characters, one who looks like a delinquent and the other who seems very feminine. But, the lack of a case/mystery was disappointing. Many things could've been done to improve the overall episode. After finishing it, I couldn't help but think that this adaption is going to end up being horrible. On the other hand, the episode preview gave me some hope. Things look to get interesting as The Fourth interacts with the Renji.

Kami-sama no Memo-chou - Episode 4

Rage

Episode Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ (3/5)

Oh, great... A filler episode. This show is already short enough at 12 episodes but to add a filler episode really is discouraging to viewers who want to see more of the better mysteries. On the other hand, I assume this episode is used to bring in those who are looking for fanservice. Ever since the double-length first episode, Kami-sama no Memo-chou has been slowly going downhill for me. Hopefully, the future episodes will change that.

Kami-sama no Memo-chou - Episode 3

No homo. Just a ritual to initiate Narumi into The Fourth's group

Episode Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ (4/5)

Narumi really showed how much of a man he is in this episode; from joining The Fourth's group to still being able to stand after getting beat. Though a bit confusing, I'm glad the case is finally solved. The last scene with Meo and her father was very heartwarming; makes me feel glad that I can see my parents everyday. No hints about the next case from the episode preview but maybe since Min fanservice?

Kami-sama no Memo-chou - Episode 2

Sawatdee!

Episode Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ (4/5)

After the storm of characters in the first episode, we get another new character, this time in the form of a half-Japanese and half-Thai girl named Meo. For most of the episode, I found that the mystery took a backseat to the introduction of Meo and the minor development of her character. On the outside, she looks cheery but I think that she is in a lot of pain because of what her father is doing. As a viewer, I think that Meo is more moe than Alice right now; her voice and 'naisu body' were the deciding factors. With everything starting to build up now, the next episode should be interesting.

Kami-sama no Memo-chou - Episode 1

Alice-sama no Kuma-chan

Episode Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ (4/5)

A nice introduction to a promising anime for the Summer 2011 season. With this episode being double the length of a typical episode, there was plenty of time to give the viewer a sense of what this anime is going to be like. After watching this episode, I can't help but think this is going to be like a modern version of GOSICK. The small mystery in this episode was interesting and I can see the potential for lots of moe in this episode after seeing Alice's interactions with everybody. The tiny bit of comedy increased my enjoyment. Overall, it left a good impression and I will most likely continue to watch Kami-sama no Memo-chou.

Kami-sama no Memo-chou - Preview

Judging from the synopsis, I find that Kami-sama no Memo-chou(shortened to KnM) bears a striking resemblance to GOSICK - an isolated smart girl who gets the help of an ordinary high school boy. While I am currently in the middle of watching GOSICK, I have enjoyed the first half of it. I'm hoping that KnM is like another GOSICK except with a different characters. Looking forward to seeing how this turns out.

Summer 2011

Below is the list of shows I plan to watch for the Summer 2011 season (subject to change):