Wednesday, May 2, 2007

   Summer Appears
I said all I wanted to, though I'm going to revise one thing from my previous post: Kekkaishi is nowhere near done. Ignore what I said. We'll see.

On to other things, I'm now going to ramble about the summer anime coming out right now. Torrents are awesome. Sadly, downloading once I get home is not an option, so I won't be able to see the ends of these until I get back to school and find someone with them.

Darker than Black
Premise: something fell from space (I think), and ever since then weeiiirrd crap's been going down. They built a wall around Japan so no one can see what's going on. I mean a WALL. Bigger than skyscrapers. They have a fake sky, too. In this world, there are a couple new kinds of people, too - dolls and contractors. Dolls are basically just that - fake people who have their own kinds of power, sometimes, and sometimes don't have any power. Contractors do have power - and after using it they have to do some kind of ritual, or else they lose control of that power or pass out. I believe what they have to do is completely random - one guy eats flowers, another puts stones in a grid pattern, another eats, and another has to break his fingers. And another sings. Totally random. Not a lot has been revealed, yet, and the plot so far is basically about individual people, though we do have a main character and whatnot, who's pretty cool.
Music: Opening is awesome. I haven't been paying attention in the middle of the episodes, so sorry, but can't say much about that.
Animation: Awesome. Bones is doing it. That equals good automatically.
Story: Like I said, we don't have a lot yet.
Rating: so far, 8

Seirei no Moribito
Premise: The youngest son of the Emperor has been possessed by a water demon(ish). As such, the Emperor, in his hate for taint, has been trying to kill his son - mainly by causing accidents and whatnot. The son has managed to evade them, but his mother wishes him to be safe. To this end, she hires a woman bodyguard to protect him and take him far away.
Animation: Done by the same company that did Blood+ and Stand Alone Complex = Production IG. They do movies, mainly. So when I say Production IG, expect bloody good animation.
Music: Nothing too special, but enjoyable.
Story: Pretty nice so far. They go pretty far making characters believable. Don't look here for humor though - it's more or less a real-life kind of feel to it, so any humor that's there is subtle.
Overall: 9

Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpuchou
Premise: The release of a demon has released a great deal of power into the world's Dragon Veins (think power lines...I guess...). This awakens power within a group of high-schoolers. Some people go nuts with this power, some don't - all the while the demon and his friend are trying to find the person who has the Buddhavitsatva Eye, so they can use that person to wreak havoc and do what they want to do (it has the ability to rework reality). Of course, this person must be one of our main characters...
Animation: Pretty good. The company is AIC Spirits and BeStack, neither of which I've heard of before, but whatever. It's still pretty good.
Music: Opening is awesome. I don't think I've ever sit through the ending. In-episode music is good, but nothing special.
Overall: 8.5 or 9 (depends on how the ending turns out)

Nodame Cantabile
Premise: Music students. Our main character wishes to be a conductor, though at the moment he is merely a piano student. He meets an oddball of a pianist (Nodame) who decides to stick to him.
Animation: Done by the people who did Honey and Clover - JC Staff. Decent, never crappy, but nothing amazing, either. They throw in some random 3d, too, which sometimes looks amazing and sometimes looks odd. =__=
Music: As a show about music, one would hope it's music wouldn't suck, and it doesn't! Amazing. But yeah, the opening and ending songs are great, and the in-episode music is pretty good too.
Story: Amusing. Nothing strenuous, nothing complicated, but amusing and fun to watch.
Overall: 8

Lucky Star
Premise: Four high-schoolers in their daily life. Think.....Azumanga Daioh.
Animation: Good to great. (hah, I'm rating like chocobos from 7 now...) No, it's done by Kyoto Animation - Air and Kanon. The style has change from them, though - it's a lot simpler, not as beautiful as Kanon...
Music: The opening....oh, the opening.... (otherwise, average)
Story: Non-existent..? Kinda. In the way Azumanga Daioh has no story. It's really funny, though.
Ovearall: 8.5

Claymore
Premise: Men and women get possessed and turn into Yoma (demons). However, while men turn immediately into demons, some women can hold it off. They remain half-human, half-demon, called Claymores, and hunt the Yoma. They do eventually turn into Yoma, but for a while they aren't. Our main character is one of these Claymores (haha, no duh, eh?)
Animation: niiice. Done my Madhouse.
Music: meh.
Story: Is gonna be gooood.
Overall: 8

Hayate no Gotoku (Hayate the Combat Butler)
Premise: A poor high schooler who's parents don't work gets stuck with his parent's Y156,804,000 debt after they borrow money from some 'very nice people' (aka Yakuza). He temporarily decides to be a kidnapper and use the ransom for this, but then goes 180 and saves the chick he was going to kidnap from other kidnappers. And becomes her butler, because she promised him some kind of favor in return for saving her.
Animation: Average to good.
Music: meh.
Story: Meant to be funny. To me, it wavers between amusing and not...
Overall: 7

Romeo and Juliet
Premise: Totally not the original. The Capulets were killed off by the Montagues (Juliet's family by Romeo's) because they were both in line for the throne. Juliet survived, as did vassals of the Capulets, but her family died. She grew up with some of those vassals not knowing who she is, though she pretends to be a guy in public named Odin (haha - it's pronounced Japanese-way, though, so it's Odeen...?) and knows how to fight with a sword. She's also a kind of vigilante. The king (Romeo's dad) is kinda a tyrant. Then one day, on one of these escapades, she gets saved by Romeo and his friend. Then later, she goes to a ball, and meets Romeo in a garden....and love strikes! Of course. However, her vassals have a plan for her - to take back the throne and get rid of the Montagues..!
Animation: Pretty sweet. Done by Gonzo, and is their own original story. Hopefully their end will not be crappy.
Music: Nice.
Story: Again, totally original. Heck, there are pegasi in this series. The city floats in the sky. This is not the original in any way shape or form. However, it seems pretty interesting so far.
Overall: 8

That's all I got. Remember, these scores are all "so far" kind of scores. What I think they will be when they're done. They're definitely not concrete.

Later!
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