Majime na Lolikit

And in the last week, I happen to have watched quite a bit of it.

Here’re some comments…

NHK ni Youkoso (episodes 5+6)
Eh, I’m really not a fan. Kind of like how Bleach fails at parody and Lucky Star fails at not failing, NHK ni Youkoso fails at not being what it depicts. Sure, it says bad things about hikikomori and NEETs and so on and so forth, but all the while it’s bombarding the viewer with stuff aimed at those in similar positions to Satou. The fanservice is pretty exceptional for a show the summary of which is not “girls blow eachother’s clothes off.” It’s enjoyable, I guess, but I’m not hurrying to finish the show.

Honey & Clover II (all)
For the longest time, I refused to download the first season, calling others “h&cfags” and writing this show off as overrated. And I continue to think that it’s overrated, even as I’ve seen both seasons. That is to say, I don’t think it’s the best show ever. It does amazing things most anime I’ve seen doesn’t, but—and perhaps this is just me—it fails to meet certain aesthetic criteria to be my favorite. That said, it’s fucking amazing. I almost cried at the honey sandwiches at the end, for all they symbolized and all, and it feels like that scene from season one where they searched for the clover has been burned into more pairs of eyes than the characters’ alone. I’m glad I finished this show after so long (almost a year since I was first told to love it).

Rozen Maiden Traumend (all) (because I can’t be assed to find the entity for umlauts)
The second best episode was episode one because it had the funny. The best episode was the last because it was the last episode. Every moment of Kanaria was agony; it was bad enough that she ruin countless minutes of the show’s airtime with her unfunny/unintelligent antics, and then she had to go get the best character killed? Also, I have problems with Souseiseki going down the way he did in episode 8. In season one, he was pretty meh. But in season two, he proved that not only was he an okay person (unlike, say, Jun or Kanaria) but that he was intelligent (unlike… everyone in the show) and that all went down the drain when he died. That actually managed to upset me, so I guess some of the series’ pathetic appeals worked despite Kanaria’s shittiness. Finally, the 10 seconds of fight between Shinku and Bara in which they used all the dolls’ powers were epic. It’s pretty distressing; if the producers can create an intelligent, well-paced fight, why don’t they do something similar for every fight preceeding it?

Mahoraba ~Heartful Days~ (episodes 3-6)
I like how Tamami is Suiseiseki. If you don’t get it, you aren’t worthy of anything good.

Binbou Shimai Monogatari (episodes 5-7)
Oh yes. I did in fact re-GET this, and am in fact attempting to slog through it. It’s really same old, same old, though. You know, cute fluffy happiness with superficial adversity and a hint at yuri undertones.

Galaxy Angel Z (all)
I cannot stress how awesome this show is :3
I was only disappointed by this season once or twice; hell, even season one threw me a few nasty surprises. Milfeuille’s unlucky day was awesome. As was the esper episode. And a number of others (pissed Nomad is piiiiiiiissed).

Sola, Strikers (episode 6)
Still watching these two shows and enjoying them as best I can. Anything I could say about Strikers I’ve said before (and countless others have, and countless times, at that) but I’ll say it again: season one is ult. As for Sola, I’m still waiting for it to burst into awesomeness. Episode 6 did a good job at combining some humor with some plot and not being too slow, and setting the show up for amazing. Also, moving origami and throat-slitting for the win.