So. My first thoughts when they were showing us the “history” segment were “lolol Code Geass” because you have the same thing: some self-righteous bastards have some new technology that they’ve somehow managed to develop completely in secret, and that technology is humanoid robots on wheels, and they use this technology to take over the whole damn world.

For the record, “lolol Code Geass” is not the same as “lolol this is ripping off Code Geass”—I’m well aware of which work was first conceived in the chronology of creation. It’s more like… “lolol this turned out so well last time an anime did this.”

Psst. Sarcasm.

But I digress. The next thing I thought—still in that scene with the rideback drop pods carriers—was “… Innocent Venus.”

For those not in the know (IV is shit, so it might be obscure), Innocent Venus features a cool Yousei Teikoku OP, a cast of shitheads, and rollerblade mechs the armaments of which are too inaccurate to deal with infantry. Obvious parallels here…

… but then, in reading some post somewhere, I realized: Outlaw Star! These are grappler motorcycles. Yep. Hella original, RITE?!

Discuss.

Oh also, if I could say “typical” over nine thousand times in a row, that might almost describe this show.

You recently wrote a short post called “Will we get better comments?” to which I responded in a troll-ish manner here. With Impz penning his thoughts on team blogging referencing you, I would like to give my opinion on your blog in general.

You should get rid of the registration thing. You situate your blog in the public sphere, but really, when you effectively disable comments, you’re positioning it in a private sphere meant for IRL friends. Anitations and Ani-Nouto are different because they exist in a different paradigm of the sphere – the metaverse. Essentially, and not to offend, your blog seems like a contradiction – why exist on twitter when you have no interaction with those bloggers? I know it’s not hard to register (I just did), but people are so lazy they won’t even click on an RSS feed to subscribe to a blog. Have faith in people but realize they are lazy and unappreciative.

Best,
lelangir

p.s: your forums are down I think…

One half of the lead character binary is Kanako: lesbian, tall, tomboy, deretsun for Maria; only becoming insecure (tsun) once her homosexuality is put into question. Her character design and personality remind me of a cross between Yakumo and Tenma. Her external side is amiable, unconfident, pretty darn moe; her internal side is yuri. She contains both the lady-like grace of Yakumo and the horribly klutzy comical antics of Tenma. Her internal/external tendencies can reflect both Maria’s “split” personality and that pleasant Tenma/Yakumo proportion. Maria in fact breaks the fourth wall and calls her out for her lack of verbosity.

The other half of the duo is Maria, the trap. Without drawing needless parallels to Eri Sawachika, it seems established already that Maria is the seme and Kanako the uke. Maria’s façade is humorous enough now that the entire universe has been spoiled of the secret, though it’s the masculinity that is paradoxically accentuated by the feminine appearance, making him much more conniving and serpentine. In some ways he reminds me of Light – not overbearingly GAR but with enough boyishness to possess “best” (or worst?) of both gender.

What’s significant is that the viewer experiences the anime through Kanako – we see her internal monologues. By positioning the viewer “outside” of Maria, [s]he is effectively transformed into the incrementalist, the character that is revealed bit by bit. Reaction porn for some hopeful action porn? I think what this means in the long run is, unless SHAFT starts dealing out paradigm shifts and situating the viewer within Maria’s soliloquies, it will be expected of the viewer to find humor (1) in that incremental revealing of Maria’s secrets and (2) Kanako’s predictable reactions – all the super deformation is reserved for her. The anime, replete with Kanako-colored lenses, establishes a sort of Unlimited Poetic Justice Works: since all of Kanako’s yuri actions are laced with guilt, it’s only natural that we expect Maria to backlash with hypocritical masochism (HUH?).

Anyway, this show is really hilarious! Its comedy does not downplay at all the yuri, and even if you DO NOT WANT trap, you’re basically forced to temporarily forget about it because we’re observing Maria via Kanako. Kanako the flaming lesbian.

Final verdict: if you liked the characterizations in School Rumble, the yuri/catholic(?) themes in Strawberry Panic, and SHAFT’s crazyness, you will definitely enjoy Mariaholic. [note: I did not catch a lot of marimite in here - marimite isn't really even indirectly satired.]

BTW, 100^th post, dedicated to lolikitsune, mai dear waifu.

Yet these hands will never know KIRA~☆

Kaioshin Sama of internet infamy (mostly due to his trollish appearance, which in turn is mostly due to the fact that he has taste and a brain) has issued a challenge to me in the comments of one of RABURI RABURI ghostlightning-chan’s suteki My Hometown-style hippie anti-war pro-love posts. **I move away from the mic to breathe in** The post had been about how people shouldn’t mindlessly hate things, and I had sort of “derailed” (har har) the comments by my introducing my belief that love should be justified just as much as hatred, and that people should always be able to back up their evaluations of shows (and studios).

While we were on the topic of thinking and challenging oneself to be more critical, Kaioshin said:

And if you are looking for a challenge I have one for you. Find me something good that Jason Miao did in terms of blogging……..ever. I have a feeling that I’ve sent you on a wild goose chase, but this could prove interesting nonetheless.

I could point at the sky walls of this blog and yell “Who the hell do you think I am?!” but, as some shrewd observers might observe, the Jason Miao love evident on this site is merely high-level mendacity in its most convoluted form. I have no love for Jason Miao. I am not his biggest fanboy. I cannot point at his forced memes and say “BEHOLD!” while crushing Kaioshin’s challenge in his face.

Two drills, of hand and tail combined—the unison of Vindication, Loli-Kitsu!!

Well, I could. But shouldn’t there be some limit to how sarcastic I can be?

Having decided to take Kaioshin’s challenge seriously, I shall now present unto the aniblogosphere the two and a half good things Jason Miao has done “in terms of blogging,” which I take to mean both “behavior helpful to anibloggers” and “spectacularly legendary blog posts that stimulate the ‘sphere.”

2.5 – Jason Miao liberated Sixten

Were it not for Jason Miao, aniblogosphere illustrator-commenter extraordinaire Sixten would not be the appreciable source of lulz he currently is. Yes, in order to unleash Sixten’s Miao Diary upon the world Jason first had to indenture the poor guy and give him one hell of a complex. Check out this quote:

I am not taking commissions right now, except from family members or Jason Miao (who can always get work from me for free if they ask nicely). – Sixten, Artists are cheap

My interpretation? This guy is whipped.

In any event, it is fact that Sixten was bound to Jason and it is fact that Jason set him free. This is perhaps the best thing Jason has done character-wise; it reflects well on him. I wouldn’t say it’s the best thing he’s done in terms of blogging (hence this point only being ranked #2.5), but it’s pretty good. The Sixten we know today is breaking people everywhere while producing and sharing enjoyable artwork. He’s a positive force in the aniblogosphere, using his art to comment on developments in the community.

It’s good to have the present-day Sixten, and for that, I thank Jason Miao.

1.5 – Jason Miao ran Blogsuki horribly

Because Jason was an elitist prick and Blogsuki was nothing more than Jason Miao’s personal feed reader masquerading as a service to the aniblogocircle, there was room for Hung to come on stage, create Animeなの, and weave a basket from the lonely reeds.

Had Jason run Blogsuki well, the aniblogosphere would have evolved very differently. It’s a good thing he fucked up.

What? “How did he fuck up,” you ask?

Well, riddle me this. Can you load Blogsuki? Fuck off.

It’s good to have the present-day ‘sphere, and for that, I thank Jason Miao.

0.5 – Jason Miao is the aniblogosphere’s Virgin Mary

I always pin my genesis as an aniblogger on Fred Gallagher, because one of his Megatokyo rants got me to watch AIR, and that was around the time I was a regular poster on the AnimeSuki forums, through which I encountered Lovely Kitsune. And this is with good reason, for were it not for Lovely Kitsune I would have no idea what anime blogs are. He was also the one to introduce me to blogrolls (I remember he hated bluemist for placing him on his blogroll) and AIM blocks (I hero-worshipped him because I didn’t know better).

From my first post regarding the 2008 Anime Blog Awards:

Lovely Kitsune blogged epic on AIR, and it’s arguable that without him I would not have started anime blogging, and that without that, ANO’s IRC channel would have never been created, and that without that, the ANO community might never have come together, and well… the possibilities run wild from there. But basically, Jason Miao would still run the aniblogosphere.

But all that said, Lovely Kitsune merely gave me awareness. The one who propelled me into creating “notdotq, seriously!” and the lolikitsune persona was none other than Jason Miao. Thanks to his hard work creating this post, singularity was avoided and the present we know is the true and correct present.

I’ll have you notice a few things about this post of his: first, it’s tongue-in-cheek, second, it’s funny, and third, it’s mostly useful. Unbelievable, right? I mean, this is Jason Miao we’re talking about!

… it’s high time I check my quality rating again.

But I digress! Back on the topic of hand, that post got me to begin blogging anime. Now, I ask that you look around you. Were it not for me, would Animeなの’s community have developed as it did? Take a moment to chew on that one. Would Dr. Japes and Hinano be getting married? Would Os have cycled through four team blogs or would he have given up when his friends in KonOSono bailed on him? Would Owen have ever begun blogging? Would he have formed the ABC? Would I have met Author and Sixten? Would I be making a crappy visual novel?

THAT would not have been formed.
Riex would not have joined THAT.
Riex would not have been unhappy with THAT.
Riex would not have launched Oi, Hayaku!
ghostlightning would not have started his blog.

All these “what ifs” build on each other’s shoulders. Really, it’s a circle jerk of hypotheticals, and I could ramble in Aozora Loops about the possibilities, but I think that there are some fairly simple chains of events leading from that one post of Jason’s in early 2006 to the aniblogosphere we frolic around in daily as 2008 comes to a close.

I’m not trying to say that I’m the central pillar of the EL aniblogging community (though I might if I were being less serious). I’m just pointing at the fact that Jason Miao set great things in motion, albeit unintentionally.

So I’d like to be the Raigyo to Jason’s white-haired children, and say this:

“Look at the seed you planted in me. Look how well I took care of it.”

I like the baby monsters given birth to by AoMM’s Echidna, and for that, I thank Jason Miao. Awwww yeah, I just went Greek mythology on your asses. What? You want the good ol’ Bible Bitchslap? Fine. Fuckin’ “monotheists.” Well, buckle up and brace for impact because I’m about to e-jaculate all over your keyboards:

Jason Miao is the Virgin Mary to my Jesus Christ, and for that, I thank him.

Hopefully, the above picture and the one right before it help illustrate the differences between Christianity and Greek mythology: Christianity got rid of the furries and taught people to be ego-centric. Who the fuck needs siblings? Not Jesus Christ.

Well, I’d say I’ve thanked Jason Miao enough. *retches*

Now I’d like to thank Kaioshin Sama for giving me the opportunity to give thanks where thanks were due. I can now return to hating Jason Miao to my Heart’s Content!

P.S. YES I AM THE MOTHER-FUCKING ANIBLOG MESSIAH.

P.P.S.

Bin Laden didn’t blow up the projects
It was U Jason
Tell the TRUTH Jason
Miao knocked down the towers
Tell the TRUTH Jason
Miao knocked down the towers

P.P.P.S. IN B4 “TOO SOON”

October 24th, 2008

BERKELEY, CA—Miao on My Mind, an anime blogging and anime blog blogging site, has been launched to the public today by enthusiastic admin and gold-winning satirist lolikitsune. Already, it has been the target of much fanfare and many rotten oranges tweets. It is both a bitter day for the aniblogosphere and a sweet day for the aniblogosphere; in essence, it is a bittersweet day for the aniblogosphere.

It is a bitter day, because the birth of Miao on My Mind signals the death of notdotq, an aniblog and aniblog blog previously run at the same URL by the same admin. Many long-time readers will be shocked to see their favorite site mysteriously missing when they load their only bookmark.

“I’m not worried ’bout dat,” said lolikitsune, who prefers to go by the more intimate monicker of lolikit, when he was questioned about the issue of reader loyalty, expectations, and potential betrayal. “If a long-time reader looks around with the critical eye I have trained my readers to have, he or she will notice that all the old content is still intact, and that all new content follows in the footsteps of the old.”

When we asked him about the aforementioned “training,” he likened it to a high school education.

“I keep throwing nonsense and utter bullshit at them, you see,” he patiently explained. “Eventually they learn how to cut away that bullshit and get to the heart of things.”

He went on to add, “of course, there isn’t always a heart. Aniblogging is heartless business. But that’s the point, you know? There’s no real substance, anywhere. A true notdotq reader won’t be disappointed by the new shell—the same old lack of meaning is still pervasive.”

Miao on My Mind promises to be “the same old shit” in a “refined package.” The fifteen-day redesign shows lolikit’s hard work in the field of CSS, especially.

“[lolikitsune] learned how to create classes the names of which mean nothing,” said a noted expert from the World Wide Web Consortium. “This is no mean accomplishment. We at the W3C are all very impressed with how far he’s come since he learned HTML 4 in the ninth grade.”

One contact in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Communications Department revealed that the W3C was in fact so impressed with lolikit’s abominable coding habits that plans to file three different lawsuits were currently occupying two entire 1.5TB hard drives. When asked for further details, our contact—who asked to remain anonymous—said that the rest was “classified information.” She also sent us an animated .gif file of a red-haired anime character winking.

But the W3C aren’t the only ones taking notice of—or offense at—lolikit’s latest shenanigans.

“It’s atrocious,” stated Impz of THAT Animeblog [@] and the Anime Blog Awards [@] Committee. “Simply atrocious.”

Owen S. of Cruel Angel Theses [@] concurred with Impz, adding that “lolikitsune is an unthinking douche, and should be removed from the internet with post haste.”

Some, like Shirukii of Anime Blog ga Arimasu [@], merely shrugged when we asked them about the news. “lolikit’s an old friend,” Shirukii said when we pestered him. “I can forgive him for liking flat chests more than <ul> tags.”

Others are on the other side of the love/hate spectrum.

“I think the jasonisms are totally out of hand,” said CCY of Mega Megane Moe [@], in reference to the fact that lolikit’s XHTML stopped being very semantic with the redesign. “But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, you know? lolikitsune has always been an out-of-hand kind of guy. And he’s doing something 100% original, bringing a new style of anime blog to the table.”

100% original, it might be noted, so long as you count “recycling the memes of others” as original. To lolikit’s credit, most anime bloggers recycle crowd memes (see: 4chan) or their own memes, and the reuse of other anime bloggers’ memes is a rare practice. Devoting a site to this is an even rarer practice, and indeed lolikit’s efforts might be the first in the field.

The new genre of website that Miao on My Mind purports to be—”aniblog, aniblog blog, and aniblogger shrine”—may sit stagnant for months or even years before lolikit sees new neighbors joining him, rushed studies show. Only 1 in 17 anime bloggers even recognize the term “aniblog” as official jargon in the aniblogosphere, and only about 1 in 25 read other anime blogs. With those numbers, it is extremely unlikely that anyone will be joining Miao on My Mind anytime soon.

“I did quick studies of my own,” admitted lolikit when we asked him about this. “Ran some quick simulations through Technorati, converted the results into some pleasing graphs, and quickly discovered that the most likely candidate to start up another site like Miao on My Mind in the next two years is yours truly. Now THAT is Web 2.0!”

We appreciated lolikit’s jovial tone, but we noted the despair in his eyes. He’s a true pioneer.

When asked about the future of Miao on My Mind, lolikit lightened up significantly.

“Oh, it’s going to be awesome!” he declared. “The site looks different, but behind the scenes, nothing’s really changing. Working on notdotq was almost always fun, so Miao on My Mind will be a barrel of monkeys as well, I’m sure.”

We asked him to be more specific about his plans.

“Well, at some point I’m going to have to acknowledge those Oi, Hayaku! guys. Riex has been clutching onto my epenis for dear life. He’s even stalking me on Facebook. I feel like the guy from LME in Skip Beat—if I don’t satisfy this fellow, he’ll follow me to the grave. That aside… I guess I’m going to be blogging some anime this season, Mouryou no Hako, and whatever else catches my fancy. As for aniblog blogging, I’m long overdue for some good Versus posts. Expect to see the following before the year is out: Baka-Raptor.com VS. LovelyKitsune.com, Natsuneko VS. TheBigN, and the big one that everyone’s been waiting for, anime|otaku VS. Cruel Angel Theses.”

In short, lolikit’s spirits are wavering back and forth like Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni‘s per-episode quality, and his ambitions are soaring like the proverbial (and actual) paper airplanes of noted symbolism anime ef. It will be interesting to see what comes of this transformation, and where Miao on My Mind goes from here.

In the meantime, we can satisfy our hunger for lolikit’s obscenities by examining the various new pages of information that he has set up around the site, including, but not limited to, a fresh page about the admin in question himself, a new page of frequently asked questions, and a page about blogging awards.

Lastly, lolikit expressed his desire to thank selected members of the aniblogosphere. We have published his message along with our article, and you can read it just below.

FUCK JASON MIAO!

Thank you, lolikit.

lolikitsune, also known as Flak, is a first-year student at the University of California, Berkeley, where he will begin exploring the fields of Cognitive Science, Rhetoric, and Legal Studies in January. He spends half his time working in the Communications Department at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and in his free time he enjoys writing stories—such as Miao on My Mind’s featured Night Switch—and maintaining websites, both activities he’s pursued for several years now. You can learn more about him at his main site, Dreams of the Quill.

The former notdotq was part of the second generation of anime blogs, rearing its little head around the same time as other now-notable anime blogs, including the award-winning Minaide! Hazukashii… and the award-winning RIUVA (recipients of Bronze and Silver in the 2008 Anime Blog Award’s Satire section, respectively). notdotq has come and gone four times in the last three years, appearing and disappearing with the seasons and lolikitsune’s mood swings.

This was two days ago, now, and there’s no way I’m going to reread that post, so I unfortunately cannot tell you why I picked what I did. I like to think I tended to polarize at the two ends of the fail spectrum (you know, fail, and less fail) and went with shows I thought I’d either like or hate, but no guarantees. The “resource” wasn’t too resourceful and I ended up making some wild guesses. Anyway, expect at least one post each on all of these shows, and expect at least half of those to be scathing:

ChäoS;HEAd
ef – a tale of melodies
Akane Iro ni Somaru Saka
Kurogane no Linebarrel
Toradora!
Skip Beat
Shikabane Hime: Aka
Clannad ~After Story~
Michiko to Hatchin
Kannagi
Tales of the Abyss

With any luck I’ll be blogging regularly this fall. I don’t see any reason why I shouldn’t be. Other than, you know, having a job (or two, or three). And maybe trying my hand at NaNoWriMo. Anyway, there should be some free time in there which I can dedicate to bashing shit.

In less well news, I’m down a weapon from my arsenal.

… graphs.

And why am I down graphs?

Because fucking Steve fucking Jobs and fucking Apple fucking broke fucking Photoshop fucking 7 in fucking Leopard.

Thankfully, Google, in classic Athena-senpai style, is still pretending to be an ally of mine:

I shall learn this Google Charts thing, and I shall use it well.

So I just the other day made a post announcing my intention to run a rigorous campaign for the Anime Blog Awards. In case you’re all completely incompetent and unable to detect things like this, that post was a joke. YHBT etc. Do I actually want to run a campaign? Fuck no. I don’t have time or money for that shit. Do I actually want to win votes? NO.

Because see, I know.

I know that no one actually thinks this site is good in any way. I know that any vote for me is just a joke, a troll as it were. Every vote for me is a thorn in my side, put there to vex me. Anyone who votes for me—whether they know it or not—is only furthering the DL Plan.

And so I beseech you—those of you who didn’t realize that my last post was a joke—not to vote for me.

Yes, Hirano-fags, I will give you your weeaboo visual AIDs.

In the long run, Lolikit’s rage is independent of fluctuations in voting, and the maximum number of Lolikit fanboys hovers around eight or nine. If he gets ~20E50 votes, voters are voting overtime (cheating, dynamic IPs, multiple computers and networks, personal armying, etc.) and he still loses to Hinano (who secured like, >9000 nominations). Equilibrium for the loliconomy is currently at forty tons of rage and zero votes, because a bit of rage is good and natural. If Lolikit becomes better-natured, the Votes Demanded curve may shift to the right, bringing votes up to potential.

Now that we’ve got THAT abomination out of the way, maybe we can all live happily ever after, in a sort of me = 40 tons of rage, you = subservient bitches kind of way.

Fuck voting.

I just want to be your friend.

I’m so unsure that I have time for this shit that watching and blogging it made me recall a term from AIR: ‘hima-hima seijin.’

I’ve now subjected myself to seven of the Spring 2008 shows. I can’t wait for Holic subs. I also finished Darker than Black for a second time last night, and for some reason, the ending STILL doesn’t make any sense. Everything that had been unexplained was suddenly explained with NEW METAPHYSICS that made no sense and weren’t explained. It was well-executed and classy, yeah, but substance-wise, it was absolutely nonsensical.

Itazura na Kiss

Itazura na Kiss looks AWESOME. AWESOME like Bokura ga Ita. I might be the only person on Earth to like the Bokura ga Ita anime, though, so maybe Itazura na Kiss will suck. At least while some jerks hate, someone seems hopeful. Oh, and someone else, too. I don’t actually know if I’m going to follow this. It seems like it’ll be fun but I really am strapped for time.

And now I need to praise this show, and not for any strengths on its part. I told Impz once before that I had forgiven him for [the terrible things he subjected me to in the past] but this… this is different. Impz has gone above and beyond the call of duty because of this show, writing an EPIC blog post that has secured itself a place forever in my hall of aniblogging legends. He may not know it… his readers probably don’t… but he has said something, because of Itazura na Kiss, that has made me fall head over heels for him.

Ladies and gentlemen, Impz.

I don’t think anymore needs to be said.

Kanokon

I’d pull my “there are no words” thing again, but I think it’s getting old, and who wants to read a blog the entire contents of which sum up to “I have no content?” Yeah, no one. Sooooo, thoughts. Well, it pissed me off like to-love-ru did. The foxgirl’s brother(?) was a total cock-blocker, too. Too bad he didn’t die when he got defenestrated (“defenestrated” is used here loosely—there were no windows involved, just COLD FIRE and walls); the two leads won’t get another good chance to lose their virginities. The rest of the show is going to go something like this:

Introduce new girl. New girl falls in love with Kouta for no fuggin’ reason. Foxgirl tries to have sex with Kouta. New girl interferes.

So yeah, gg hot hot sex. The kissing was pretty good, though. Also…

… is that some Skitch?

Two paths of shota and foxboobs intertwining… the union of trap…

And yes, I will be watching this show for at least one more episode. Color me Kouta.

P.S.—when you can enjoy something only by making fun of it with fellow animebloggers (read: the scum of the Earth), it’s pretty fuckin’ terrible.

Amatsuki

Yeeeeah, no. Sorry. The OP brought Kannazuki no Miko to mind with its sequence that screamed “this is the show’s plot!!” but failed to follow up with delicious yuri. It also doesn’t seem to have a character that can be nicknamed ‘USSR.’ These things are important and so this show is not. Good night, Amatsuki.

Also going against this show… according to Tenka Seiha’s Aroduc:

Druaga

For the first time in far too long, I agree with Kurogane on something. Druaga is absolutely amazing so far. I’m kind of afraid that they might lose a bit of their momentum, though, and there’s always the unfortunate possibility of becoming another Lucky Star if references are not kept in check.

The only downside of this show thus far is that I may be forced to hate it by a blogosphere that adores way too easily.

Wait, what?

From Cinnamon Ass:

I may be forced to hate the show by it actually being bad. :(
On the other hand, we’ve got some judgment from Josh of Josh’s Anime Blog:

I think today’s a day for “first in a long time”s as I find myself disagreeing with Shirukii about something other than the quality of Shakugan no Shana and Da Capo He says he’s not brimming with excitement. Whether or not the show turns out to be good is just one more thing to be making noise about! Now is the time to be excited, because with thirteen episodes, it’s now or never.

Majime na Lolikit

Itazura na Kiss is standard fare that doesn’t seem to be particularly interesting or terrible. Kanokon is total shit, as admitted by its strongest supporters (they’re total shit as well). Amatsuki I can’t honestly judge right now and I don’t suppose I’ll ever take the time to change that. Tower of Druaga is definitely the most interesting of the shows I’ve taken a look at so far this season, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it will unfold.

Quick note: I’ve been writing this post for 13.5 hours.

First, I’ll say this: preview posts used to be my savior back when I scheduled 35 watches per season. Next I’ll say this: after retiring from anime blogging the first time (meaning, in November 2006), I sort of stopped watching as much anime, and used previews even less. Finally I’ll say this: I’ve maybe read one (1!) post entitled “Spring 2008 Preview.”

So I’m sort of plunging head-first into a dangerous world.

I’ve watched three first episodes: Bus Gamer, Chi’s Sweet Home, and To-LOVE-ru. I went into the first two not knowing what to expect. I can’t quite say the same for the third (and not because I read the linked post; I had the distinct misfortune of reading some large quantity of the manga). Overall, I was actually pleasantly surprised.

Now, when I (as lolikitsune with my -2 deviation) say that I’m pleasantly surprised, I’m not actually saying a whole lot. I sort of expect crap at every turn with anime these days. And while I get crap at almost every turn (2 out of 3 times according to the aforementioned sample) sometimes it’s crap that’s less crappy than the crap it could be. Yes, I am insatiable.

I’m not going to blog any of these three shows, for the record.

Chi’s Sweet Home

So, the one that wasn’t utter crap was Chi’s Sweet Home. In fact, it was good. I really like what Sasa said about it, but uh… I’m not going to watch more of it. I understand its good points, but the first episode—seemingly a rehash of “Are you my mother?”—kind of turned me off. I might continue downloading it and then open it up if I’m feeling down, but it’s not really the kind of thing I wanna be following. It’s just… not my thing? (Says the Ariafag.)

Bus Gamer

Bus Gamer is set for three episodes and there’s of course (as has been mentioned) no way it’s going to tell a cohesive and complete story based on its premise in that time. For one thing, we need fourteen fights in the remaining two episodes to get up to our goal of 1,000,000,000¬•. Though, I haven’t read the manga—maybe they all die in their first fight. I think that’s the only way for the pacing to work out. And yeah, I’m a stickler for pacing. You all might remember my praise for Death Note?

To-LOVE-Ru

And now we get to the meat: To-LOVE-Ru. Ohhhhhh boy.

And I do mean boy. Rito’s a kid. So should Lala and Haruna be, yeah? Something’s not adding up. I think it might be the fact that Lala looks positively fuckable. I don’t mean that in this way. I mean that in … actually, I’m going to stop talking now. In my defense I’ll just say that she is definitely not DFC. I think anyone would agree with me on that count.

Now this is going to sound incredibly dumb—and maybe, as a result, fitting—but my one (1!!) qualm with this show is not among the qualms I see expressed in various places. Mine go something like this: why do you pretend to have a story you fucking dumb slut? I want twenty-four minutes of Peke raping Lala. Yes, that’s my problem with the show. It’s not what I want it to be.

And now for some gems:

Straight from the words of an author at the oh-so-prestigious THAT Animeblog:

Bitches don’t know. Costume rape has never before been so literal.

Next, from Subculture Anime Blog:

Good job Totali, if this was intentional humor you’re awesome and if it wasn’t then you’re even more awesome.

Majime na Lolikit

Chi’s Sweet Home is cute and refreshing. Bus Gamer has major potential but its room to grow has been limited to nothing from the beginning. To-LOVE-Ru is absolute shit. As they say, leave it to Totali to blog the show. It’s the one show of three mentioned in this post that I’ll be watching, and unless you want the same vitriol weekly, you don’t want me blogging it.

EDIT: retroactive trackbacks, フォオ！