Oy, it's been way too long since my last anime update. I always think I shouldn't post right after the last time and only list two or three anime, but then I forget and have to search to find which ones I have watched since the last time. Anyway, here goes:
Minami-ke reminded me of several other slice-of-life/comedy anime, in good ways that is. Lucky Star, Hidamari Sketch and Azumanga Daioh come to mind. Minami-ke has its own style though.
There is a lot of juvenile comedy that comes very close to fanservice/ecchi territory at times, but it doesn't become unbearable. The art is crisp, and the characters all have enough personality to make their interactions interesting, especially Chiaki and Kana. Haruka is a bit of a Nadeshiko by contrast.
Minami-ke: Okawari - It's awfully obvious that this season wasn't made by the same company who did the first season. Haruka is suddenly more assertive, but all the other characters had their personality reduced to a bland average. Chiaki and Kana are just two annoying kids now, and the rest of the extensive cast is only distinguished by looks. Speaking of looks, it seems all the girls got bigger breasts too this season. Not something I'd normally notice, but the jokes rather focus on it. The art is still decent, but not as detailed as the first season. On all counts Okawari is like a cheaper imitation of the first Minami-ke.
Koihime Musou - The 'yuri' theme looks interesting, but the 'ecchi' theme probably negates that. The first episode makes me think it might be like Utawarerumono a little: warriors banding together to overthrow some (yet unknown) oppressor. Lots of fanservice indeed. Don't anime makers realize breasts that large make jumping around painful? The fight between Kan'u and Lin Lin looked rather fake, like one of those silly shounen anime. Oh well, it's only 12 eps., so let's just watch it.
Hmm. The story didn't really get much better, and the fanservice turned really ecchi several times. It is indeed like Utawarerumono in that it is based on a strategy game. I guess you can never really make a good story out of something like that because it depends too much on the battles.
Pretty Cure Splash☆Star - MFTGX has subbed eps.1-23 and the movie, but no one else seems interested in picking this up.
Same good old fun as Pretty Cure, but a little different. The characters of Nagisa's mom and Akane seem to have merged into Saki's mom, but otherwise most of the cast seem to have counterparts in Splash☆Star. Cures Bloom and Egret's attacks seem more magical than Black and White's rather physical approach to battle.
Or could it be that Asuka is going to be Akane's counterpart?
And.. that's it for now. I've finished the 23 eps. that have been subbed. A little bit of a cliffhanger, but not too much. I so hope that someone will finish subbing this anime. It's even better than Pretty Cure and Max Heart.
Pretty Cure Splash☆Star Tick-tack Kiki Ippatsu! - This is set later in the anime's timeline I think. Flappi and Choppi's gadget forms and Egret and Bloom's transformed outfits look different, and there are two spirits called Muupu and Fuupu. The animation and art are top-notch though. I guess a movie has more work put into it than a TV series. A nice short sidestory.
The Twelve Kingdoms - Highly recommended for two reasons. One, a really admirable and kick-ass woman for the main character, and two, a very elaborate and deep fantasy setting. Everyone loves (or should) the former, but if you have trouble learning a lot of new words and concepts then you might find The Twelve Kingdoms a little hard to get into. Youko is totally worth watching this anime for though.
Not all of the original light novels were adapted into the anime, and the author is still writing new (short) stories, so I hope there'll be a second series some day.
Kannazuki No Miko was reported to have real lesbian romance, so I was very eager to see this. At the same time it was the last anime like that on my to-watch list, so I wanted to savor it for a while.
This anime is very high pace. Characters are introduced with just a few lines each, the plot starts with several mysterious events and mecha. It feels as if they took a 26 ep. series and cut out half of it. Not that the story would make much more sense then, but at least we'd be able to understand what is going on.
The story had some interesting bits in it, Chikane's half-unrequited love for Himeko in particular. The part about her going mad and the 'we can't be together but I'll always remember you' part were classic 'lesbians are bad' clichés though, barely negated by the very last scene. Overall, the whole thing is rushed way too much, and all the mecha fights and Oogami just get in the way of the story. Considering the lack of lesbian stories in anime this isn't exactly bad, but not as good as I was led to expect, and not as good as it could have been.
Rozen Maiden - I finished the game Rhapsody a short while ago, so the premise of dolls coming to life and fighting seemed very interesting and cute and cool.
It's nice to see an anime that's suitable for everyone again. No annoying fanservice. The casual comedy contrasts a bit with the more serious Alice Game, but not too harshly.
Rozen Maiden: Ouvertüre fits into Träumend about half way. It's just a little background on Shinku and Suigintou.
Rozen Maiden: Träumend - More fun with the Rozen Maiden dolls. Two more dolls show up for the Alice Game, and Suigintou somehow comes back too. The comedy is just as cute, but the Alice Game fighting becomes more grim towards the end of this series. The ending I found a little disappointing. It's partly a reset ending, but adds some unanswered questions. It doesn't look like there'll be another series either
Hidamari Sketch × 365 - Yay, it's finally finished subbing. More cuteness! ^_^
A very nice second season, that somehow covers the same year as the first. I wonder what it would be like if you put all the episodes of Hidamari Sketch, the special, and × 365 in proper date order. My gaydar pinged at Sae and Natsume a few times.
That's all for this update. Quite a lot, wasn't it?
I'm now getting Black Lagoon and Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha. I've been told Black Lagoon is good, and has strong female characters. Recently I saw some short clips from it that looked interesting too. Nanoha is another anime with a fun title. It got a rather bad (as in negative), but rather bad (as in badly written) review the other week, so I'm curious to see for myself what it's like.