Aquarion Evol - promising winter mecha anime!

After watching the first special almost-an-hour long first episode, I loved the anime right away. The anime is full of CGI but it was great nevertheless. 4 years ago, I was not a big mecha anime fan and I loved Code Geass which had mecha stuff in it although it was not really the main part of the anime. Then my boyfriend did a lot of convincing to make me watch Gundam 00 and when I did, it was the beginning of a newfound interest in mecha anime. From then on, I started watching Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny, went on to watch Gundam Wing then the most recent one was Eureka Seven. Now, Aquarion Evol came into the picture and I am certainly loving it. Hope the story buildup would be excellent.

Aquarion Evol is all about Amata Sora who had a special power of levitation but hid it because he received a lot of hate because of it from when he was young. One day, he met a girl named Mikono and spent the whole day with her when suddenly villains appeared and attacked the city. Both of them were in danger so he used his power to save Mikono and himself. When he released his power, he unknowingly awakened Aquarion, a legendary weapon and they were able to save the city, beat the bad guys and stuff.
This is just a way too general synopsis but that's basically how the anime is. You have to watch the anime itself to know what I am raving about. The best thing in this anime for me is the soundtrack! I definitely love the opening song and I am going to download it once it is released. Here's the anime's opening theme.

I am really looking forward to watching the whole season! Don't waste any more of your precious time looking for some great anime to watch! Start watching this anime, NOW!

Area no Kishi - great sports anime for this year!

I just watched the first two episodes of this anime and I might be reading the manga if I have the time but so far it's a pretty good anime. The last time I watched a sports anime was Major and the last time I read one was Kuroku no Basket and New Prince of Tennis both of which have an anime aired this year.

Area no Kishi is about Kakeru who half-heartedly quit playing soccer but still became the team's manager nevertheless. His older brother who is famed to be Japan's under-15 ace has really high hopes for Kakeru and still believes that he has the ability to be the best striker of Japan. The title Area no Kishi means "Knight in the Area" which meant per the anime that in a soccer game if Kakeru's brother was the midfield king then Kakeru is the striker knight. Area here means the box that you see on a soccer field just right where the goal is. Kakeru was supposed to be a very skillful soccer player but was paranoid at using his left leg when it caused someone to be injured when he kicked the ball using it. His brother still hasn't given up on his hopes though so one day during a practice match, he made Kakeru his team's striker. Will Kakeru admit that he still loves playing soccer or will he still remain as a manager? Will he be up for the challenge to become Japan's best? Just watch and find out!

Guilty Crown - lovin' it!

I've been looking forward to watching this new anime series ever since I found its PV quite interesting and I also loved the song along with that PV as well. I had the time to watch it yesterday and I have to say, it was a bit boring or dragging during the first half but by the last 5 minutes of the episode, it was truly a roller-coaster ride and I do hope it stays that way. Not that I am looking for a fast-paced anime but a shonen anime in the action genre doesn't really fit a slow pace plot development. Nevertheless, I'll go ahead and watch the rest of this series and I hope it won't disappoint me.

After the outbreak of the unidentified virus "Lost Christmas" in 2029, Japan has been under the control of a multi-nation organization called GHQ. Ohma Shu is a 17 year old boy who has a psychic power in his right hand. He can use the power "Ability of King" to extract tools or weapons from his friends. He has been avoiding making trouble for others but his life changes when he meets a girl Yuzuriha Inori, a member of a resistance guerrilla group called "Undertaker", whose members pilot mecha weapons to fight against the government. (AnimeNewsNetwork)
Basically, I can't really give a synopsis from what I just watched since I didn't even understand what was going on yet so I just borrowed one from ANN. So there it goes, pretty much interesting and a bit cliched as well but the graphics were just great! I found the songs unique and the background music was good too.
Overall, it's something worth watching for this fall season. I hope you find it interesting too!

Persona 4 - an interesting find

Persona 4 is an anime adaptation of a popular video game with the same title. It's actually, basically, about a guy Narukami who just transferred in. He seems like someone who is just plain bored with life. He became friends with his classmates, Chie, Yosuke and Amagi. One day, they were discussing about a famous TV reporter's murder in their place and with it came up the rumor about a mysterious channel turning on at midnight.

Narukami who just happened to be stuck in his living room at midnight encountered the reality of the rumor and saw the mysterious midnight channel and found himself being sucked in to the television. Fortunately, he escaped from being sucked in since the television was small for him to fit in. He told Yosuke and Chie about his experience. They had mixed reactions of what happened but were interested at the same time. When they were talking about Narukami's experience, they were at Yosuke's family's business establishment that was selling household appliances and they were in front of a television. Suddenly, the next thing they knew, the 3 of them were sucked in to a different dimension with a lot of weird creatures and Narukami summoning something to fight them off. So what now?
I'm not really familiar with this video game franchise simply because I don't play video games but I decided to watch it anyways. Everything was good but not really exceptional. Nothing really that great. The biggest letdown for me was their uniform though. It was annoying and it was really bugging me. I felt uncomfortable watching those weird uniforms.
I don't have much to say about this anime since I'm not even sure if I'll watch this for long because it really didn't leave that much impact but I might be watching for the next 2 or 3 episodes and see how it goes. But for you guys who like fighting anime stuff, this one is good for you. I want to find out a deeper plot and if it is good, I might love this series eventually.

Kimi to Boku - Pure Laidback Humor

This post's title doesn't really make any sense, does it?
Anyways, I watched Kimi to Boku out of curiousity. If you ask me, slice-of-life anime doesn't really interest me that much although I do read some shoujo slice-of-life mangas but this anime was shonen to boot. That was not really my thing. INITIALLY. To my surprise, I enjoyed it quite more than I expected. I thought that watching the first 5 minutes would be enough to make me hit the close button on the page but I lingered and that next thing I knew, it was over and I wanted more! WOW!
So, basically, as what I just mentioned Kimi to Boku is a slice-of-life shonen anime about 4 childhood friends. The story revolves around their friendship and their everyday lives as high school students. The 4 of them have totally different personalities but despite that they remain friends and still hang out even if they are in different classes. I haven't read the manga so I don't know much yet but from what I read in many synopsis, there will be a guy who would join this circle of friends and would bring some change.
I dare say that that summary doesn't sound a least bit interesting to me but you just have to see it to know what I mean. I never was a fan of the slice-of-life genre and I have to say, if I'm not mistaken, this is the first slice-of life anime that I have watched. Really.
What I love about this anime is, of course, the characters and the bond they have -- their friendship. Watching the anime makes me think and wonder how totally different people actually become friends for a long time especially when they even have few similar interests at all. The friendship that the characters portray is very evident even when you are just listening to their ordinary conversations.
Forgive me for this review because I know that you might just say, "That's what a slice-of-life genre works, right?" Well, I'm new with this stuff so please bear with me.
Kudos to the voice actors for making me hook with this anime even after just one episode. Each of the character's personality were portrayed well, thanks to them. I love all of them and I can't wait for the other guy's appearance and see what he will bring.
I love the subtlety and the simplicity of the anime because when the animation is simple, other important things become clear such as seiyuus, conversations, facial expressions, etc unlike action anime that would simply highlight the action scenes more.
Well, as far as I know, I enjoyed watching the first episode. I can't wait for the next one, next week!
So for y'all who wants a refreshing anime who feel tired watching the same old action animes, you can add Kimi to Boku in your must-watch anime every week! It will run for 12 episodes only so just squeeze it in to your hectic schedules and I'm sure you'll have a good time, like I did. Hopefully, you do enjoy it or you'll blame me for wasting all your time. :-)

THEY ARE BACK! - Hunter X Hunter (2011)

 

Let's face it, almost every person out there who watches anime have already heard about Hunter X Hunter and most of them probably watched the original series, their OVAs included. Anyhow, it seems that most people are still pretty psyched and excited, at the same time anxious, of this remake. This anime is a remake of the 1999 anime which is an adaptation of the still running manga of the same title. 

For you guys who haven't watched or read Hunter X Hunter, I believe a brief and simple introduction is a must. Basically, Gon, the main protagonist decides to become a hunter to search for his dad who is a hunter as well. Before becoming a hunter, one has to take the hunter examination which consists of lots of difficult tasks. Here, Gon meets his companions, Killua, Kurapika and Leorio. 

Not much spoiler there for other people's benefit. Nevertheless, I have to say, watching the first episode was quite something because I think it would take a lot of getting used to with all the new seiyuus and stuff but it was good. There are still some things that they left out though since it was a pretty much fast-paced episode. It was like squeezing the first 3 episodes in the original anime to fit into just one episode. Makes you think of FMA: Brotherhood. Moving on, personally, I think meeting Kaito (Kite) the hunter was an important part to show but they didn't and that's one chunk missing for those who don't know Hunter X Hunter. Mito's voice actress sounds a little old than what she looks like, it was creepy. I had a bit of goosebumps there. Gon sounds extra cuter which is a bit weird but no complaints. I love Leorio so far. Kurapika was good but nothing special really. I can't wait for Killua's appearance since he's my favorite HxH character and how he would be portrayed would, I think, make or break this series. 

As for the music, it was pretty decent. It was good but I have to say, I loved Ohayou before. I read in the anime forums that the background music sucks but I don't see how although it was nothing great as well. 

There's still lots of things to take into account but the animation, especially with the modern technology and everything, is great compared to an anime made 10 years ago. I mean, come on, obviously. 

Let's just watch how this remake would turn out. I heard that this will run for 45+++ episodes. What happens by then would determine if they would continue doing HxH until the end. 

Kudos to Madhouse for a good remake. I hope it gets better. :-)

Ao NO EXoRCist!!! - unexpectedly flabbergasting!

First off, it's been approximately 7 months or so since I last made a review. Well, that has something, wait, no, EVERYTHING to do with LAW SCHOOL! It's been a month since summer break started and I still a month more to enjoy the rest of this blissful vacay. If you're asking why I just made a review now, that would be because I was busy reading manga and the only anime I watched this summer so far was Ao no Exorcist. I did watch the first episode of Deadman Wonderland which I just recently finished reading the manga till the last update before the first ep was released. I just hate to tell you this but it was rather a bit disappointing so I haven't watched any episodes after it. The other anime released at the same time the first episode of Deadman Wonderland came out was Ao no Exorcist. I was a bit hesitant to watch it because the trailer was good but not really enough to get me interested but I watched it anyway and I was totally flabbergasted! I didn't expect the anime to be so good and I haven't read the manga by then, really!

Ao no Exorcist (aka Blue Exorcist) tells the story of Rin Okumura who after some unfortunate events lead him to go on a journey to become the most powerful exorcist and beat the hell out of Satan who happens to be his father. Confused? I just told you the general concept of the whole story. The whole story is about the whole world is divided into two dimensions where humans live in a world we call Assiah and demons live in Gehanna. Interference between these two dimensions is not allowed but despite all this demons still interfere in Assiah by possessing creatures or objects. Exorcists exist solely to maintain peace and order in Assiah by exterminating these demons. The ambitious Satan wanted to dominate Assiah and to realize this, Rin bore the curse of being Satan's illegitimate son who possesses a body that of Assiah and a soul that of Gehanna. Rin's foster father, who is an exorcist, sacrificed himself to save Rin and his death made Rin want to take the path of being an exorcist and beat Satan.

Well, that was interesting enough. After watching the 2nd episode, I read the whole manga until its recent chapter. I have to say, Ao no Exorcist is one of the few anime series that won't disappoint you after reading the manga. You know, I have this flaw, when I start reading the manga, I lose interest in watching the anime or that I am not so enthusiastic in watching it. I just watch it for the sake of watching it. Well, most of the times that is. Ao no Exorcist won't disappoint you and the seiyuus are very amazing! The songs? SUPERB! Come on, Uverworld as opening and 2pm, a good korean band, as ending, NICE! READY READY READY for the TAKE OFF! :-)

Ao no Exorcist is one of the best anime so far this 2011! :-)