we're finally notdotq anymore

I called it from day one. No, I can’t prove that—I wasn’t blogging in January. But I swear I called it, if only via proxy of my distaste for Noe’s brand of insanity.

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So, fellow anime bloggers, I’m going to be asking for some help/advice
over the next few days as I try to get this site running smoothly again.

Today’s problem is that I’m not watching any bloggable shows. At least, I’m not watching anything that’s suitable for blogging on this site. ARIA is wonderful and all but praising it really doesn’t fit my trollikitsune image. Other shows I’m watching are… well, I just finished Spice and Wolf (semi-bloggable). I’ve got one episode left of True Tears, making it not really feasible blogging material. And I’m watching Kimi Kiss (only because it has an episode entitled "Rainy Blue"), which, though it does sort of lend itself to ridicule, regrettably makes me way too emo to post effective lulz.

SO.

I need recommendations, especially since there’s a new season starting up (right? spring anime? or was that last month? I’m so out of the loop). What terrible shows are airing? What good shows that I need to make fun of? Is Kyoto Animation doing anything? Are we on Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Season 4 yet? And what about Zero no Tsukaima?

Refresh me, update me, and let me know what to watch for the sake of destruction.

OR—should I forget about watching anime and finally become the anime blog blog that I’ve always wanted to be? Jason Miao isn’t the only good target.

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.

I watched more than 30 minutes of anime this week, as it turned out. Those thirty minutes were, as someone in the comments accurately guessed, Lucky Star. I don’t know why I keep coming back to that show—probably out of obligation. Or maybe because I secretly love the ogre. Oh well.

Anyway, I’m also watching Naruto and Bleach on a weekly basis with my older brother who’s a fan of such series. Finally, on my own initiative, I’m watching Sola and Strikers. Sola because I’m a soraphile, Strikers because Kurogane prescribed me Nanoha a few months back and it’s simply become a part of what I do. Apologies to Shirukii for my lack of Sola posts; I’ve been kind of avoiding anime and blogging and such things, and that happens to be a side effect (you know, the whole avoidance of blogging thing). It’s not that I view Sola in the destructive “anti-inferior-things” light that I’m viewing Lucky Star, Kyoto Animation, and the anime blogging community in general in, I’m just really not into this whole notdotq thing right now.

But special things deserve special mention, and I watched more than just the aforementioned episodes this week.

Majime na Lolikit

I downloaded a batch for Venus Versus Virus and watched episodes 4-12 in one go instead of sleeping Saturday night. I figured it had decent theme songs and a decent amount of pseudo-yuri in it, and was thusly worth my time, so I consumed it. And I enjoyed the ending. While not as closing as it could have been, it depicted a very clear image of “what happens” and “why it happens”—two elements missing in great quantities from… oh, shows like Kiddy Grade or Zero no Tsukaima. (And then there’s Lucky Star—”wait, something happened?”)

My other feat was watching Rozen Maiden with my onii-tama. We’ll be tackling Traumend next weekend, and I’m looking forward to it for one reason: rule 41. Onii-tama and I kept gauging our progress by watching snippets of the “desultimate 527 death combo” video on YouT, and from the looks of it Traumend starts off strong. Suiseiseki, you’re a doll of a little girl and you don’t turn me on, but you’re so incredibly adorable~

(Also, Jun is a fucking asshole to the same degree that Maebara Keiichi is a fucking moron. Unbearable in a show with no redeeming values. Note that this makes Keiichi unbearable—Rozen Maiden has desu.)

Welcome to StrikerS. We will light you on fire now.

WE CAN’T STOP HERE. THIS IS FIRE COUNTRY.

The series starts pretty well, with shit on fire. I like fire. It burns, you know?

There’s also a little girl. She’s not on fire.

MIKURU BEEEEEEEEEMU!

And wait, now there are lasers and more shit blowing up!? This show wins, clearly.

So now the little girl is all grown up and ready to kick ass. Or something. Skates-tan clearly knows the value of stretching. Otherwise she’d get cramps, ya? And everyone knows cramps suck. Shooty-tan will get cramps. She’s not stretching.

I’M NOT STRONG ENOUGH! LEAVE ME TO DIE!

So they break through the window just in time for angst. Because it’s like… the same building that got lit on fire, right? So Skates-tan is all, “Unh! Life story!” Yeah, whatever. That shot is too damn blue, bitch. Save it for the ocean.

AIN’T GOT TIME FOR THIS SHI–

FUCK, CRAMPS. DON’T SAY I TOLD YOU SO, ‘CAUSE YOU DIDN’T.

Man, I hells of knew that the lack of stretching on Shooty-tan’s part would fuck her over. She tries to be all stoic and shit, but her legs give out on her. She drops to her knees and is all, “Unh! Support casting!” Way to be useless. YOU HAVE A GUN. USE IT FROM LONG RANGE. God, what a slacker.

UNNNNH! I CAN’T DO IT! DEATH NOTE 25 WAS JUST TOO MUCH!

The episode ends with Nanoha herself showing up again to comfort the still-angsting Skates-tan. I had been hoping for some seriously GAR tough love or shit, but NO. The episode ended on a lameass sappy note.

I mean, come on, Death Note 25 wasn’t that depressing.

Get over yourself, bitch!

Next episode better be less angsty.

And more laserysplody.

_lolikappa

This one’s a bit of a shocker, so make sure you’re not standing/eating/drinking/wearing pants as you click that “continue” link…

Drumroll, please?

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BECK (14) – I began watching this because Shirukii rated it a 10/10. I figured his tastes had to be alright—after all, he rated AIR 10/10. That’s a man I can respect. So, I grabbed this show off my brother’s computer and have been watching it maybe 3, 4 episodes a night for a couple days. It’s pretty fun. I’m not sure if it’s excellent, and it frustrates me with the bullying (something I simply can’t stand for some reason), but it’s fun. I find the OP to be rocking and the amount of engrish kind of lawlworthy. Watching the show with French subs has so far been an incredibly interesting experience, actually. For one thing, I’m learning lots of French slang I didn’t know (in particular, slang) and my association between Japanese and French is only becoming stronger. When I try to remember certain lines characters just said in Japanese, I think of them in French. This may be a good thing, it may be a bad thing. Either way, it’s damn interesting.

Bleach (115) – I restarted the show at episode 110, where filler left off. I’m not a huge fan of the show (and have been known to rant against it) but I’m enjoying this “part two” of sorts. The daddies are kickass and Ichigo’s an emo bitch. Too bad Renji just showed up… I can’t wait for them to start yelling at eachother like two retarded morons.

Death Note (17) – this series is that with the best pacing of all time. Each episode amazes me. Now, excuse me whilst I browse Danbooru with my right hand, write Kyousora content with my left hand, and—MASTURBATE TO PICTURES OF SAYU.

Fruits Basket (14) – this show shouldn’t really be tagged “watching” seeing as it’s closer to my “on hold” category. I don’t have a lot to say at the moment since it’s been a loooong time since I watched episode 14. I guess… I’m watching the series with my brothers, one of whom moved away recently, and am waiting for that one to come back before watching more. By the way, girls with issues and girly guys with issues = winning description.

Kanon 2006 (20) – I went into this having seen Toei’s Kanon. I went into this with the knowledge that Kanon’s “plot,” being the trend-setter for a generation of crappy anime, is, well, for lack of better words, shitty. I went into this with the knowledge that Kyoto Animation is win, and that’s what kept me going for the first bit. Yuuichi suddenly became funny, and the show became tolerable. Counting “uguu~”s also became a favorite pastime. The animation quality exceeded my expectations and I found myself watching episodes three, four times a piece. I’ve converted all of l33t-raws’ 1024-pixel-wide HQ releases to the highest quality h264 for my ipod. I realize the truth: the magic that is beauty has taken hold of me, as it did with AIR. Of course, I prefer Summer to Snow, and this show’s OST can’t compete with Natsukage, but the facts are as they are. I’ve begun to like Kanon.

Kyou no Go no Ni (3) – Weird that this is in “watching” seeing as there have been three episodes in the last 12 months. It’s not exactly the most time-intensive anime I’m following. I need to write a post about episode 3, which was amazingly disgusting. By that I mean the loli fanservice I expect of this OVA series was present in abundance.

Kyoushito to Towa no Sora (6) – Well, you all know what I think about this one, yes?

Maria-sama ga Miteru OVAs (2) – god that second one was pure win. It’s the best anime can get; it’s the “AAAAAAAAAARGH~! THEY TOOK MY DICK!!” of animation. I can’t get over the beauty of the comedy, both intentional and unintentional. Yumi going Suzumiya Haruhi, the people around her preparing to rape her, “that’s profoundly scary, Onee-sama,” and the face-touching porn. Maria-sama ga Miteru is love.

Suzumiya HaYumi
Gonna get Raped
Onee-sama, I… came…
“That’s scary, Onee-sama.”

Naruto Shippuden (2) – a rocking start to the second half. I have to say I was quite impressed with this double episode. Of course, it’s to be expected of the show with one of the best first episodes ever. Even Konohamaru was bearable all of a sudden. The comedy, while recycled, was refreshing, and the production quality was omfgwtfnowai high compared to during filler. Overall, I’m extremely pleased. Only qualm? Kyuubi looks like a motherfucking totoro.

Nana (35) – this show never ceases to amaze me. At least it hasn’t ever since it switched to Osaki’s (is that her name? I just think of her as Nana…) perspective. The “am I weird?” thing and “not knowing what a real friend is” or how to act around them… I guess there’s something to her mindset that rings familiar with me, and watching this show has become a sick thrill. It’s good. It’s really good.