Hunter x Hunter – Awesome x Kickass

Leorio gets top pic, because he’s a boss despite being the comic relief character who receives the least development of the main characters. I believe, Leorio! I believe!

For the past month or so (maybe more; can’t remember exactly when I started), I’ve slowly made my way through the original Hunter x Hunter series, mainly because I wanted to watch it before the Madhouse remake begins. Now, I’ve been informed that for the most part the original series is roughly 90 percent faithful to the manga, so seeing this is not a requirement by any means if one plans to watch the remake. My main interest is seeing how it was done before so that I can note any different approaches Madhouse takes to the material. But I do believe the original series is worth watching, and it’s not just because of the solid foundation the manga provides!

God’s Dolls 13 – A Desperate Plea (END)

Sept. 27, 2011

Occupant
The Internet

Dear Occupant,

Hello! From our research, you have been watching our latest anime, Kamisama Dolls! Thank you for tuning in! While our best and clearly most talented people went to work on Mawaru Penguindrum and Natsume Yuujinchou San this season, that doesn’t mean we neglected Kamisama Dolls in any way!

Sister Princess Saturday Report! No. 8 – Walk Like a Cannibal

(Author’s note: This image really has nothing to do with the content of this post. It is just derpy as fuck. Back to the story!)

When the rain poured hard on Promised Island, Marie’s cravings intensified.

On the surface, Marie appeared to be a perfectly normal, sickly young girl. Her main companion was her dog, Michael, whose name was not pronounced the proper way, but rather in some vaguely Soviet way that was clearly evil. Unfortunately, Wataru, being an uncultured heathen and an utter disappointment in every way, was unable to pick up on the hints of evil evident in the bizarre way Marie addressed her dog. Anyway, Marie’s “sickness” was far from normal: She did not suffer from any sort of virus or bacterial illness.

No, Marie’s sickness was different, for when she was wracked with pangs, nothing could satisfy them but the succulent meat of human flesh.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Terribad

As we know from the past, anime is not adverse to destroying childhoods. So when I sat down to watch the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles OVA, I of course expected something awful. But what I actually got was . . . man, I don’t know how to describe it other than it’s SO ANIME.

God’s Dolls 12 – I Liked It Better When it Was Kuukosama Dolls

Hey, look, once again the only good parts of this series are the bits where Kuuko acts like a nutter. So, of course, she gets roughly a minute or two of screen time, and then she’s gone again. Kuuko’s like the wind, baby.

Kuuko’s not really a great character in the traditional sense of the term — like just about every character in this series, she has little depth at all. But she’s enjoyable because she actually injects a sense of chaotic fun into the series. Who else can you count on to smack rapists with golf clubs, shoot major politicians and run away hand-in-hand with almost-rapists? Everything in this series is so god damn dour, which is fine when it’s actually pulled off well — but week after week, the show tries to cash in chips it hasn’t earned, and it does so with cheap, stupid drama.

Sister Princess Saturday Report! No. 7 – Mawwidge!

On Promised Island, marriage was not a symbol of devotion to one’s soulmate. At least, not among the Sisters.

Marriage was the final step for a Sister to present a sacrifice to the Sister Princess. The goddess could only be satiated by a virgin sacrifice whom had grown romantically attached to one of the Sisters; the Sister Princess got off on the tragedy. Truthfully, I believe the Sister Princess wanted Wataru to fall in love with Marie, because she had a crippling disease. That would add an extra layer of delicious tragedy.

No. 6 11 – So that was a Thing (END)

My face while watching this episode probably could have been plastered in this screenshot just fine . . .

I’ll say that while I don’t think this ending is particularly great, it does at least fit in the grand tradition of anime having absolutely bonkers endings. It seems like the two most generic ends are “life goes on” or “wtf”. Personally, I usually prefer the latter to the former, because it can be great fun to go wtf every so often.

God’s Dolls 11 – And So Ends Another Episode of Wasting Time with God’s Dolls

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.

Two writers walk into a bar. They sit down and order some drinks. One writer says, “Man, we’re so close to the finale! There are so many plot threads to tie up — we haven’t even touched the evil village elders since a few episodes ago. I’m not even sure what the point of this story is anymore! How are we going to deliver a satisfying conclusion to the few people left who are actually watching this show unironically?”

The other writer sits down, takes a sip of his drink and puts the glass down. Then he says, “Why worry about that shit when we’ve got TITTIES?!”

Sister Princess Saturday Report! No. 6 – Making It Up As We Go Along

Occasionally the Sisters needed to stretch their creative wings; however, they rarely had the time to do so, because their main work was preparing sacrifices, even though they even more rarely did that. But they did do it eventually, so I suppose I should not judge too harshly.

Getting back to the topic at hand: One day Wataru was walking with a few of his sisters when they heard an announcement. Apparently a new park would be opening, and as a dedication, there would be an “entertainment event” where the winners of a vague contest would receive a “luxury prize”. It all sounds so truly exciting. Wataru was less than enthusiastic about the prospect of actually doing something that would require thinking on his part, but the Sisters were eager to do something that would temporarily absolve them of their duties.

No. 6 10 – Rushing the Plot Forward with Awesome Animation

Have to say, whatever I or anyone else may think about No. 6 right now, we can all agree that this brief fight scene is awesome, right? The animation style reminds me a lot of Hironori Tanaka (thanks to Digiboy for jogging my memory with his name), who did several of the big fights in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (Greedling vs. Wrath comes to mind immediately as particularly representative of his style), but looking up the credits at ANN, it doesn’t appear as if he is working on this series. It’s an awesome scene regardless, and far ahead of any other animation I’ve seen in the series thus far. Guess BONES really broke the bank on this episode to hammer down the dramatic impact of that scene.

Did it work for me? Yes and no. The animation absolutely sells the drama. There’s a tension and sense of weight that great animation shows that nothing else can really replicate, so in that sense, I bought into what is being sold by No. 6. But the writing is a bit too hurried, like it’s trying to keep pace with the animation but moves just a bit too quickly for its own good.