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Thanks to zaitcev, I finally watched and finished Starship Operators. I did remember watching the first episode when it first aired but I got turned off by the idea of selling broadcasting rights so I never did follow up. When zaitcev mentioned it, I was bored and I remember having the DVD versions, so I took them out and watched.

Surprisingly, it was good and felt real enough to feel that the kids were being thrown in to a hopeless situation at the behest of some rather idealistic or unscrupulous people for their own ends, and it is kept that way until the end, despite some rather unfavourable odds stacked up.

One of the characters I quite liked was the producer, Peter, who might be seen as a selfish person intent of using the kids as much as he can but he redeems himself just right enough at the series end to make me actually feel sad for him.

Seiyuu performances in the show are good, with a mix of recognizable names and unknowns. Itou Shizuka does well at her part but it feels cookie-cutter rather than unique. Perhaps because I am too used to hearing her as Hinagiku. Ayako Kawasumi and Noto Mamiko felt a bit underutilized, but understandable given the number of characters.

Overall, it feels like an incomplete series though, as the end is rather ambigiously done. It would have probably fared better if they animated the rest of the novels which deal with the crew’s fate afterwards, from what I heard. In any case, it’s not a bad show and well worth watching for fans of space political drama.

Liked: Yes.
Rewatch: If they produce a second season.

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

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Better than I expected. I thought it was gonna be a low-budget thing, but it turns out to have one of the best animation quality of the Fall ‘09 season so far. AIC is doing a great job, but I hope they don’t run out of budget by the 3rd or 4th episode.

Plus it has Hayamin in a prime role as Ikaros and I miss her a lot. Additional plus is that she’s singing the OP and ED with Ayahi Takagaki Yoshida Hitomi under the group name blue drop. OP was left out, but the ED sounds very nice.

No doubt some people (I’ll admit the raw’s volume was a bit too loud for some reason) aren’t gonna like the formula, but I’m personally impressed with the show. Then again, I’ve been following the manga, and people who enjoyed Watashi no Messiah-sama would be pleased to know it’s by the same artist.

Liked: Yes.
Watching: Hayamin no tame ni!

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

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Fuck YEARRRRR KUROKO!

Fuck YEARRRRR KUROKO!

Fuck YEARRRRR KUROKO!

I am noticing a disturbing (or welcoming?) trend in the “To Aru…” series. The supporting characters are more interesting than the supposedly main ones. Am I the only one to think of this?

As for the general impressions, started off pretty well I think. Good exposition to the setting + characters, acceptable amounts of action and badassery by Kuroko and Mikoto, and most importantly, unbridled yuri fanservice by Kuroko.

only my railgun sounds pretty good too. Nanjou Yoshino (SUGOI! SUGOI!) might have a good career as a singer.

Liked: Yes
Watching: I already made a fucking category for it.

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

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Negi goes berserk. He really is pretty frightening now with the Magia Erebea power-up.

Dark Negi is…..

…. dark. (Whoaaaaaaa what’s with that demonic transformation?!)

Thankfully, Nagi (indirectly) intervenes and stops Negi.

And Chisame deals the final blow to stop Negi from staining his hands. Negi truly made a good choice by picking her to come.

Wow, Asakura getting mad. That’s a first.

After this chapter, I think the theory is that Godel was inciting Negi to murder him (or attempt to) so that he could give his bosses a legitimate reason to execute Negi. Considering all the factors and revelations, it does seem the Megalomesembrian Council is hiding something very dangerous about Arika, possibly one that could overturn Mundus Magicus, until it became desperate enough to try and erase Negi when he was young, but unfortunately failed.

But of course, I don’t think his intentions are as clear-cut as that, and there’s always the possibility he is genuinely trying to help Negi as he used to be part of Ala Rubra (indirectly) and that he is seemingly wasting so much time with Negi by inviting him to the ball, revealing everything about the attack and intentionally inciting Negi to kill him.

In any case, next chapter should see some interesting revelations.

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

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Dear KyoAni,

FOUR FUCKING YEARS TOO LATE.

Love,
Kuro.

P.S. Please don’t start the movie with ?????,????.

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

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FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

Oh my god Senjougahara what is this I don’t even *splurts*

Anyways…err, back to Suruga.

Honestly, I half thought so.

?( >??< )? AHAHA AHAHA AHAHAHAHA. Opens up lots of 3P possibilities man.

Wow, Suruga really loves Senjougahara.

LOL “uke to your seme” LOL.

Yes, I’ve noticed.

Whoa…. that’s straightforward. By the way, I’m in the boxers camp.

?( ?_?)?… wait WHAT!

HOLY SHIT.

?(????)…. well, err.. err… errrrrrr…..

I kinda agree with Araragi here.

God damn dubious answer ffffffff (? ???)!

Loli vampire spotted!

Oh shi….! Someone’s yuri radar got tripped.

A lesbian AND a lolicon. Awesome combination.

Oh man, Suruga’s a pretty intense girl isn’t she. I personally think that this so far is the most enjoyable episode of Bakemonogatari for the all the dirty talk in this episode. Yeah, girls in real life love to talk dirty too don’t they?

©2009 Kurogane’s Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

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Y’know, if Pixar continues with this, I might really need to stop going to the cinemas to watch their movies because crying in public is kinda embarrassing.

But yeah, I just watched Up and this is the second Pixar movie since The Incredibles that I am really liking. Last year’s WALL-E was a tour-de-force in raising awareness of environmental issues and really giving a good addition to the really small sci-fi animation movie genre. Up really continues the Pixar ball rolling and tells of a touching tale without being too sappy yet in a very much escapist fantasy manner. Really, it’s not everyday you see a whole house floating on balloons.

The part I really like about the movie is the first fifteen minutes with the long exposition of Carl’s life from his childhood to marrying his wife, Ellie and their trials and tribulations ending with her untimely death. It expertly grounds the movie in the reality and gives Carl a much more human side to him as we get to know from the start of the movie of why he becomes a ‘grumpy old man’. It also serves to really connect the audience instantly to Carl and makes them more forgiving for the actions he takes later on.

The rest of the movie then goes on to the present ‘grumpy’ Carl and the introduction to Russell, the active, slighly overweight but enthusiastic Wilderness Explorer. Russell’s character provides a very good foil to the wizened and cynical Carl with his energy, which can seem to be annoying in the beginning. But despite that, Russell’s intentions are all well-meant which is a realistic, albeit slightly over-optimistic view of kids nowadays, made even more poignant when framed against the revelation later on that Russell only just wants to see his father, who is divorced already, again.

The main antagonist of the movie is Charles Muntz, Carl’s childhood hero, and it’s where some of the realism of the movie escapes. It’s quite hard to believe that there’s a 92 year old man surviving in the jungles of South America for 70 years, even more so when its shown that he’s managed to train a whole army of dogs that do everything for him, from cooking to piloting fighter planes. Undeniably, it does provide a level of excitement to the movie with the battles between our heroes and his dogs.

I guess I won’t spoil it anymore for readers who haven’t watched it yet, but suffice to say, this a movie well-worth your ticket price. Definite shoo-in for best animated feature of the year.

©2009 Kurogane’s Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

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???????????????????angela

HOLY SHIT WHAT IS THIS I DON’T EVEN.

???????????/?????+manzo

Oh lol Momoi singing this song in a duet?

????????????????????????/????
??????????????????/????

I really want to know how did ‘Miku’ appear on stage. But BLACK ROCK SHOOTER? Holy shit, it’s a bloody official now.

???????????????/????+???? ????????????(???)?????? !!!!

Hocchan + Minorin duet but HAPPY MATERIAL?

?( >?< )? AHAHA AHAHA AHAHAHAHA
?( >?< )? AHAHA AHAHA AHAHAHAHA
?( >?< )? AHAHA AHAHA AHAHAHAHA
?( >?< )? AHAHA AHAHA AHAHAHAHA
?( >?< )? AHAHA AHAHA AHAHAHAHA
?( >?< )? AHAHA AHAHA AHAHAHAHA
?( >?< )? AHAHA AHAHA AHAHAHAHA
?( >?< )? AHAHA AHAHA AHAHAHAHA
?( >?< )? AHAHA AHAHA AHAHAHAHA
?( >?< )? AHAHA AHAHA AHAHAHAHA
?( >?<)? AHAHA AHAHA AHAHAHAHA

Oh dear now I can’t wait for the DVD/BD.

P.S. No, I did not go for Animelo 09 in person. Just getting second hand reports from 2ch and friends who are there

P.P.S Official song list for Day 1 has been uploaded: http://pc.animelo.jp/rebridge/whatsnew/?p=090822_set
WTF so fast! But FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF I WANT TO WATCH THE CRUEL ANGEL THESIS DUET.

©2009 Kurogane’s Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

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… is probably a more appropriate title for this episode. Poor thing had to go through so many embarrassing moments in the episode ;_;. Even worse was how much I enjoyed it, ?( >?< )? AHAHA AHAHA AHAHAHAHA…… (;´??)(;´??)(;´??)(;´??)

Well, seeing Mikuru in her waitress outfit was all ????????(???)?????? !!!!! for me. Feels good, man.

©2009 Kurogane’s Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

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SPOILER ALERT!!! People still following the anime but not the manga should avoid this post.

Hinagiku! In her evening dress! Looking fabulous! Woot!

Oh, how nostalgic this is. Hina’s phobia of heights quirk is sure being used well by the author.

That said… I’ll have to say that recent chapters of Hayate have been extremely darker in tone. Mostly to do with Hayate’s unveiled past with A-tan and the current Greece arc seems to be heading in to very dramatic end, depending on how things play out. I actually do think that it may end with a lot of heartbreak amongst the Ayasaki lovers, quite possibly beginning with poor Hinagiku.

So far, the last 4 chapters have been really focused on Hayate’s growing depression after reuniting with A-tan and Hinagiku’s decision to confess probably couldn’t have come at a worse time or better timed for additional drama effect. Ah, I can’t wait for chapter 238 to see what happens…

©2009 Kurogane’s Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

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