Ending the show, at this point was a pretty bad call, had they managed to squeeze one more arc, a few things would have been answered and others hinted at.

At this point not even the manga has the answers to all of that, one downside of the heroes losing often, is that well... you really don't get much done.

I guess I'll just watch episode 25 when the new season is released, I feel like I've wasted enough time on this show as is. Back to toku I go!

I think this also marks the end of my interest in anime. I used to be a HUGE anime fan, but I've not watched anime properly for years, this is the first show I've bothered to keep up with in probably about five years and all it's done has disappointed me. I've got enough great shows to watch already, to be disappointed again by animes awful storytelling and subpar animation.

You should check it out, at least for completist sake.
It's only 20 minutes anyways, plus there's a pretty cool twist at the end.

I'll just wait for Attack on Titan to be Dubbed. :I

The show has wasted my time enough. I'm not interested in watching a final episode to a show that doesn't even have a middle, let alone an ending.

Fair enough.

Right there with you buddy. :lol

right my one piece combination with its manga continues i am now on the punk hazard arc due to finshed fishman island arc through manga and skipped the fillers that are all skipper able and i am now on episode 592

So I decided to give one of my childhood favorites a re-watch after all these years, Inuyasha... it's been almost a decade since I've seen that show and it still kicks ass! :D

Watching that right now with the Girlfriend. Inuyasha is one of those shows where you hear the premise, and then are surprised when it turns out to be something awesome. Sesshomaru is a really good anti-hero through the series.

Oh yes. Sesshomaru needs all the love he can get. :D

Yes he does!

Decided to try some new anime after I cooled off about Shinkgeki's ending.

So out of the ones released this winter, I'm gonna try Kyoukai no Kanata, Samurai Flamenco, Strike the Blood, Sekai de Ichiban Tsuyoku Naritai!, Machine-Doll wa Kizutsukanai and Coppelion.

I'll let you know my thoughts and feelings and whether I want to stick with it or drop it as I watch them. And yes, I'm basing it on a single episode, deal with it.

Still watching Angel Beats! and all of a sudden a grown man was crying on his knees because of Clothespins. Seems legit. :I

Starting with Samurai Flamenco...it was pretty good, honestly. The animation was kinda cheap, but it played out like a Japanese version of Kick Ass, without the brutal violence. It is by no means as good as Kick Ass, I think Kick Ass understood itself better (if that makes sense) but it was still a lot better than I was honestly expecting.

As to whether I'll stick with it? Eh, it depends on the other shows more, honestly. I did enjoy this episode, a lot, but I watch animation because it's free from the trappings of reality. To see something so low-key, so drama focused, seems a waste of the animation medium and it doesn't really feel worth continuing with, unless all the other shows are atrocious.

Next up! Machine-Doll wa Kizutsukanai.

This was...surprisingly bad. It was basically lots of anime just smashed together, it takes real skill to make something like this work...and here it just didn't. It had the potential to be awesome, instead it was just bland. I guess I'll just stick with Samurai Flamenco after all.

Next up Sekai de Ichiban Tsuyoku Naritai!

This was actually utter trash and yet...I kinda liked it? I dunno man, I'm not a big fan of sports but something about these kinds of sports animes I really like. Eyeshield 21 is one of my all time favourite mangas - a manga I miss, but a genre I have given up on. And Hajime No Ippo was one of my favourites, when I first got into anime (that I probably need to rewatch) so although I dunno whether I'll be up for this for the long haul, I am for now interested in Sakura's rise from Idol to Professional Wrestler.

Although, isn't professional wrestling is fake, so where are the scripts? Why are they just beating the shit out of each other? They would have scripted this so the idol wins.

Actually, I believe Japanese pro wrestling is completely legit in most cases.

Oh really? They said something like 'Drawing the line between entertainment and professionalism' when referencing this specific gym of wrestlers, which implied from the explanation that it was all fake, but their fitness wasn't.

Next up, Strike The Blood!

Now THIS is more like it! Urban Fantasy is a genre I really love, but I also feel it's a genre best done in novels, as the TV shows have always left something to be desired Yes, this even includes shows like Buffy and Angel. About the closest thing I've seen to truly satisfying Urban Fantasy show is GARO and there the mythology is such a garbled mess, half the charm of the genre is lost.

So to see it done here with huge, stunning anime action sequences in a modern day setting that functions around this kind of thing being commonplace was really enjoyable for me.

I also like how they used their budget as well, the fight scene was gorgeously animated, while the rest of the episode was...less so. I'm happy they save their money for the fighting, rather than the whole thing being done with the same bland, ugly style like the other three shows I watched.

I also really liked the protagonist, I thought they were going for that generic goofball but badass guy and tsundere bitch combo but they actually made the girl really nice, and really badass and I enjoyed the episode a lot more because of that.

My only worry with this show, is the pace. This episode moved at a nice swift pace, for the most part, but a lot of random shit was placed on the table without much explanation and if this ends up suffering from anime snail pace disease, it's gonna become frustrating, fast.

Next up is Kyoukai no Kanata.

This and Strike The Blood are two very similar shows, about the only difference is what the story telling is focusing on. And honestly, I like Strike The Blood's focus more, but this had much, much better animation.

The animation is kind of the biggest strength, and the greatest weakness, of this show. I mean it just seems a waste for such a gorgeous looking show, to put the action in the backseat and to focus largely on some kind of quirky high school drama romance business thing about two supernatural loners. That is why I struggled to get into a lot of the 'classics' like Bakemonogatari or really anything by Shaft.

I don't think I'll bother sticking with both of them, so I'll give them both another episode, to see which one I stick with. Honestly though I think I might end up dropping this one.

Okay, final show Coppelion!

The only thing I was left by the end of this, was a question, the question 'why?'. Why to any of this. Like it makes perfect sense to genetically engineer humans to handle the radiation, if you can accept that internal logic, but why would they make them three high school girls? Including one who doesn't follow orders, one who needs glasses and one who is to busy having an existential crisis to do her job - and complains when she does it anyway. Wouldn't you want someone big, loyal, brave, strong and fit? It just comes across as unnecessarily goofy in an otherwise super serious show.

And I know someone is probably gonna bitch for complaining about something like this in an anime of all things, but just because it's a trope doesn't mean it isn't shit. I thought this was awful, and the animation sucked.

Time for Locke's super epic urban fantasy rematch post to see what the final show is that I pick up!

Strike The Blood's second episode was a weird one, as it managed to be in some ways more focused and yet in many ways way more unfocused... I have to say though, goofy scenes in the hardware store and all, I much prefer the central duo in this show than I do in Kyoukai. Plus, it seems to have set everything in motion for the fact that way more is in play here than we realised.

Probably my only disappointment with episode two was the animation, the fight was big and flashy enough to still be enjoyable but it still felt very cheaply animated full of QUALITY frames and stiff movement. In the first episode the animation was inconsistent for great effect, here it was just...inconsistent.

Overall though, this was a great episode!

Kyoukai 2 goes right in with the action, and what gorgeous action it is! It had a really fun context as well, when she was willing to let it go but when remembering that she has real life responsibilities, she carried on the battle. Even the superheroes have bills to pay!

In seriousness though, watching tokusatsu where brutally murdering the villain of the week is something classed as heroism, it was really fun to see a hero who was reluctant to take the monsters life, simply because it's a monster. It feels even more progressive if you think that she didn't actually need a man to bail her out either, just a man to remind her to pay her bills! :lol

I love this shows attitude in general, honestly, it has such a grounded outlook on life, which only makes the goofball weird comedy sections all the more laugh out loud hilarious.

Honestly, I'm just so much more excited to discover this shows world, I may find Strike The Blood's world more interesting, but I prefer this shows outlook. I think we have a clear winner here. I did enjoy Strike The Blood a lot though, so I might wait until the season has finished and watch it all in together.

C-c-c-c-combo breaker!!!!!!

A grown man on his knees and crying.... because of clothespins :I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0trTcXyeRw

Episode 2 of Badly Animated Softcore Porn: The Wrestling Anime.

It was only really memorable in that they turned your typical training montage episode, into basically a series of sexual poses and moves, vaguely masked as training moves. And the show really isn't sexy as I think it thinks it is. Sakura is surprisingly badass though, maybe a little too much...

What I will say is I love how they just get the fuck on with it, some anime will turn training into its own arc, so it was refreshing that the first ten minutes of the episode covered three months of training. And they managed to fit her debut match in there as well, rather than leave it on a cliffhanger!

Sadly, the downright shit animation lets down more than the sex appeal, in principle the idea of the Hell Throw thing is pretty cool but it just looked absolutely horrible in practice and was pretty boring to watch. Her debut match was better, but still had no real sense of style about it.

I just hope that the later, more crucial matches get better animation because honestly this is a show with pretty decent storytelling for something that is basically an excuse for jiggling breasts.

Still, I am kinda glad Sakura lost, they were hyping her up so bad she was becoming flatter by the second, so the fact that she basically lost because she was a naive wimp and the show openly admitted she is a long way off from a victory, really grounded her character and pulled her down a peg. I'm grateful for that.

Third episode of Kyoukai.

Thanks to the Hollow thing coming, this episode seemed to use this as an excuse to plod about, so minus a brief but visually impressive action sequence this was just a long episode of people stood around being 'quirky' and 'animenese' before it all kicked off for ready for the next episode.

Sometimes the conversations would vaguely steer towards on topic, dropping vague and minute hints at the world of this show at large, but for the most part it just involved a guys incestuous feelings that Japan for some reason plays as gags in anime shows.

About the only positive I have to say about this manner of storytelling is dialogue feels surprisingly natural. A big problem with shows like this, is you have a LOT of internal mythology to convey to the audience and getting across that information is always difficult, feed to much at once and it just feels like characters are dumping exposition feed too little and all you do is frustrate your audience. This show strikes a good balance, with the heroes flipping to on topic conversations which are descriptive enough to allow us to understand what is being said, without it feeling like the characters are just dropping fact sheets on the audience.

The same goes for their abilities. In a visual medium, we can see what their powers do, so unless the animation and direction is just balls, we don't need lengthy explanations for their powers. So seeing them just use them as naturally as they would be for their characters was refreshing.

Sadly, the characters abilities are about the only original bone in this shows body. None of the clichés in play here are bad ones, and the show does them really well, but it's still kinda hard to get into something that is so generic beyond its gorgeous animation. Maybe I made the wrong decision after all...

Clannad After Story episode 14.

That ending, it killed me. :lol

Oh, and to Tomoya and Nagisa: CONGRATULATIONS!!! :D

P.S. You're dead! :lolol

Gundam 00 second season episodes 1-4

This shit starts off depressing. But the plot gets moving along later. This is so good, Double 0 Gundam rocks, the new designs are sick and more mysteries are revealed.

Between G Gundam episodes 1-4 and this, I gotta say this has a better start although, its a continuation of an previous Gundam season.

Episodes 5-7

This shit is even more depressing then the end of last season. Saji being selfish ending up that hundreds or soilders are mudered due to his acts, Allelujah's backstory, and Louise.

Similarly to how Gundam 00 season 1 was a very post 9/11 story focusing on the terror of war, this flips the perspective to the evil government side of things once the terroist bad guys were wiped out. The immoral things that soliders comitted due to the government allowing above the law action to be done (IE the turrets killing innocents) and the emotional uncomfort the federation soliders express when doing this, but the emotionless dickhead leaders said they have to.

Also, the ending of episode 7 is happy unlike the depression and sadness experienced before. Alleujah makes out with Marie which is cool. So I think every Gundam meister except Terria has kissed a hot sexy lady . But Terria's story arc that might be episode, as it might involve clones.

Gundam 00 has some really good symbolism. I hope the show can keep up this level of quality storytelling.

Started watching Hajime No Ippo again. Just watched the first two episodes. It may have been like seven years since I watched it, but I'm still digging it. This is how I think sports anime/manga should be done, grounded enough in the techniques and rules of the real world sport, but stylised enough that it actually warrants watching this...and not just real boxing.

The animation is great as well, this show may be old as hell, but I guess they actually had money for anime those days, unlike now, where pretty much everything looks like total shit. It isn't just well animated either, it's well directed, and it makes a big difference.

I really like Ippo as a protagonist too. He's competent without being 'LOOK HOW BADASS I AM' or just a massive Gary Stu like so many other protagonists wearing similar shoes.

Really my only complaints is this is SLOOOOOW. His first sparring match doesn't start until the end of this episode and across the next, I know it doesn't matter for me, but if you were watching this weekly back in the day it must have been frustrating waiting so long for boxing in your boxing anime.

Clannad After Story Episode 16:

That was... um... well I uh... Hold on I-I just need to... :cry

Clannad After Story episode 17.

Ushio is so cute! :D She reminds me so much of her... of her m... :cry

Stay strong man, stay strong!

*sniffle* ... I can try. :(

Clannad After Story, episode 18.

You know that episode of an anime that makes you so teary eyed you can't speak? This is that episode. :(

Clannad After Story, episode 19.

This show. I have no idea how I'm going to be able to... FUKO'S BACK!!! :D

So as neither the third episode of Gaim subs or Megaforce's newest episode have made it onto the internet yet, let's watch....the third episode of Strike The Blood. I know I said I was dropping this but Kyoukai's third episode underwhelmed and as it's early days, I still have time to make the wrong decision.

So this is basically just a battle monster show then? With all the combat coming from people summoning familiars, despite everyone being a monster already? Eh... It was also a weird choice to focus more on the aftermath of the action, than the action itself. Still, the choice to end the episode with the protagonists head getting lopped off was certainly a cheeky way to try and make you come back for me.

The rest of the episode, wasn't any better. The goofball comedy that the show seems to think is hilarious, isn't and although I like the central duo, here they just seemed to be shouting exposition at one another in every scene, shouting out details in public that they should be keeping quiet.

I guess I didn't make the wrong decision after all.

Samurai Flamenco 02.

This show really has its heart in the right place, and I really dig that. Yeah he targets really small, stupid crimes, but rather than the show laughing at him, the cops actually agree and side with him. And instead the show pokes fun of people's perceptions of him instead. I dig that attitude. I can see this show being a lot of fun.

Hajime No Ippo 3.

It may have taken a long time getting here, but what a thrilling match, and it was just sparring! I dunno, there is nothing unique or really special about this show, but it's just so well animated and just has so much energy and heart, it's just impossible not to get swept up in it all.

About the only weird thing about this episode was Ippo's Mum. She doesn't know he's boxing, so I don't get why she'd watch her son sleep with a smile on her face (in the first place) when he's laying there with his face smashed in.

Clannad After Story, episode 22.

That was... so beautiful. :(