Spring 09 anime and Avenue Q
07-Ghost - First episode begins with an amnesiac hero in a military school who's like the best fighter in his class because he'd been a slave before and taught how to fight. Blah blah pretty boys blah blah homoerotic best friend subtext including sleeping in the same bed the night before graduation blah blah high-ranking official killed his father who was king of another nation blah blah attempted murder of said official and then jail time blah blah subsequent escape to become a fugitive. It's bland story and character-wise because almost every character looks like they were made to fill a particular archetype. Animation's pretty, and I might keep watching. I'm pretty sure I'll be bored to tears within a few more episodes.
Basquash! - You know, from what I'd heard, I was really ready to not like this series at all. However, the spunky kid hero and the overall feel-good mood of it won me over. Basketball and mecha aren't usually my thing, but well, they work together. Plus, once the kid gets a hold of one, the "Big Foot" moves a lot more fluidly than most of the others. That's something that also helped. Mecha just kill me when they move slowly and fire guns at each other, but when they have more human-like movement and do something along the lines of this or G Gundam? I'm totally in. The ending theme is great and the whole sequence is well put together with characters dribbling in time to the music.
Valkyria Chronicles - Despite the opening and ending themes being good, this seems like a kinda bland show as well. Having not played the video game, I don't have anything to really compare it to, but one of the characters already kills me. There's a girl in the Town Watch who constantly faints whenever she thinks about fighting and stuff. It was annoying the first time, and the second time I was all, "Someone please just tell her that this isn't the place for her. Please?" Apparently it will happen in the next episode as well. The main characters have some interesting chemistry and the main guy has some interesting quirks. I'm not just not sure I'll find it that entertaining.
Dragon Ball Kai - This remake of DBZ is actually more likable than DBZ itself so far, but it seems rather pointless. The story's been told, and sure the extra bits with the family are nice, but it's really just... Why? I might pay a little attention to this just to see if it fixes the ridiculousness of the Freiza saga. I do have to say that 1. the opening and ending songs are fun and 2. GODDAMN IS GOKU'S VOICE ANNOYING
Sengoku Basara - Okay. Okay. It's generic shounen based on some video games with all the light shows you can handle and it probably mangles the Warring States period's history horribly. That still doesn't stop me from wanting to see more. Although, I do think that Stripper Ninja Chick needs some more clothes. And uh. That hair's a little weird. I do like the opening and ending themes, though.
To watch:
Phantom - Requiem for the Phantom
Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Tears to Tiara
Guin Saga
Shangri-La
Eden of the East
I have a feeling that I'm going to drop most of the ones on the "to watch" list except for FMA and Eden of the East.
Also I saw Avenue Q on stage last night, and it was fantastic. The handing off of the puppets was especially interesting. Overall, it was well-performed and had me laughing quite a lot. The only part that I couldn't laugh through was "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist." Too many times I've seen the lyrics used to shut down conversations on racism, and really, it's all about the puppet equivalent of a white man educating the others (mostly people with no privilege) that they're just as racist as he is and those people immediately agreeing with him without a second thought. There are a lot of problematic parts to the song, and I honestly don't know whether it's supposed to be interpreted literally or ironically, and so I can't laugh.
Basquash! - You know, from what I'd heard, I was really ready to not like this series at all. However, the spunky kid hero and the overall feel-good mood of it won me over. Basketball and mecha aren't usually my thing, but well, they work together. Plus, once the kid gets a hold of one, the "Big Foot" moves a lot more fluidly than most of the others. That's something that also helped. Mecha just kill me when they move slowly and fire guns at each other, but when they have more human-like movement and do something along the lines of this or G Gundam? I'm totally in. The ending theme is great and the whole sequence is well put together with characters dribbling in time to the music.
Valkyria Chronicles - Despite the opening and ending themes being good, this seems like a kinda bland show as well. Having not played the video game, I don't have anything to really compare it to, but one of the characters already kills me. There's a girl in the Town Watch who constantly faints whenever she thinks about fighting and stuff. It was annoying the first time, and the second time I was all, "Someone please just tell her that this isn't the place for her. Please?" Apparently it will happen in the next episode as well. The main characters have some interesting chemistry and the main guy has some interesting quirks. I'm not just not sure I'll find it that entertaining.
Dragon Ball Kai - This remake of DBZ is actually more likable than DBZ itself so far, but it seems rather pointless. The story's been told, and sure the extra bits with the family are nice, but it's really just... Why? I might pay a little attention to this just to see if it fixes the ridiculousness of the Freiza saga. I do have to say that 1. the opening and ending songs are fun and 2. GODDAMN IS GOKU'S VOICE ANNOYING
Sengoku Basara - Okay. Okay. It's generic shounen based on some video games with all the light shows you can handle and it probably mangles the Warring States period's history horribly. That still doesn't stop me from wanting to see more. Although, I do think that Stripper Ninja Chick needs some more clothes. And uh. That hair's a little weird. I do like the opening and ending themes, though.
To watch:
Phantom - Requiem for the Phantom
Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Tears to Tiara
Guin Saga
Shangri-La
Eden of the East
I have a feeling that I'm going to drop most of the ones on the "to watch" list except for FMA and Eden of the East.
Also I saw Avenue Q on stage last night, and it was fantastic. The handing off of the puppets was especially interesting. Overall, it was well-performed and had me laughing quite a lot. The only part that I couldn't laugh through was "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist." Too many times I've seen the lyrics used to shut down conversations on racism, and really, it's all about the puppet equivalent of a white man educating the others (mostly people with no privilege) that they're just as racist as he is and those people immediately agreeing with him without a second thought. There are a lot of problematic parts to the song, and I honestly don't know whether it's supposed to be interpreted literally or ironically, and so I can't laugh.