Spring anime

[Sugami]

I find this one really funny as this is actually based on quite a big social problem in Asia, and even in Europe I see signs of this with some of the people I know.
A lot of men in Japan in their 30's have indeed never been with a woman before, and that number is only growing.
Most of them prefer 2D girls (Anime/Game/Comic characters) and completely go Rajesh Koothrappali when they have to talk to real women.

Yeah the sex doll industry is booming If I remember correctly 30-sai is only in 12min episodes, another reason why I didn't bother with it or maybe I just didn't bother with it because the file size was small... can't remember There's another one like it called Hem Zemi or something, about a sex god trying to help a young man have sex. The first episode only seemed to censor male parts and a sex doll so... not really interested in that. Short episodes too.

Big Bang Theory FTW!

Do not want indeed

Pretty Rhythm - Aurora Dream - this one doesn't seem to be on that list, dunno if it's old or what but FFFpeeps picked it up which is the only reason I gave it a chance. You can guess by the name it's a very girly anime and not really funny enough to keep me interested. Basically about girls ice skating and there's some nice use of cel-shaded CG for the ice skating parts.

[Sugami]

Thought I'd point out a couple episodes of Ore No Imouto have been shown, they continue after the "true end" of the series with the final final episode coming soon.

Moshidora - Or the full title "Moshi Koko Yakyu no Joshi Manager ga Drucker no Management o Yondara" which translates to "What If a Female Student Manager of a High School Baseball Team Reads Drucker's "Management"?" (or something similar) just got picked up by gg, not sure if the anime was delayed or anything. Anyways to expand on the story given by the picture; this girl (Minami) decides to be the manager of the baseball team because her friend (Yuki) is ill and can no longer be manager. Minami used to play baseball when she was young but for a yet to be explored reason she now hates it. She bought the book on management by accident when looking for book related to managing baseball teams, since she bought it she decided to read it anyway and is trying to apply it to managing a baseball team.
The first episode just seems to set the story and introduce characters, it is quite funny and despite being about a baseball manager there was little baseball involved though I have a feeling that'll change. I get the impression the main focus will be on Minami's relationship with the players and how she motivates them to perform better rather than the baseball itself but that's yet to be seen I suppose. I wouldn't be surprised if a little romance is thrown in as well As you can see by the picture the artstyle is quite cute.

[Sugami]

Moshidora has now finished, rather short at 10 episodes long. There was some real heart string tugging moments in the last two episodes. I imagine some people would say it was rather formulaic and predictable but I found it an enjoyable series and would recommend it to anyone who likes that sort of thing. If not a baseball fan I wouldn't let it bother you, it's not your typical sports anime where everyone seems to have super powers, nor does it have in depth strategies and such like Big Windup. Best way to describe it would be a fun, funny fell good anime with some tear-jerking moments thrown in at the end.

[Sugami]

Okay so most series are like 6+ episodes now so I can update my "reviews" of them.

A-Channel - I was pretty much on the money with this one, kinda like Lucky Star or K-ON! where it's just about the daily lives of these 4 school girls. There's no real plot to it so people who prefer anime with an over-arching story or whatnot will probably get frustrated by this but it's a very fun, light-hearted and funny anime. It's a must see for people who really liked Lucky Star or K-ON! otherwise it'd be lower down on your priority list.

Ano Hana - Yeah can't be bothered to write out the full name My opinion hasn't really changed, it's a somewhat sad story that's both interesting and moving. If it's your kind of anime then it's well worth a watch, still worth a watch for anyone else but won't be as high up on the priority list.

Ao no Exorcist - Again no opinion change, it's got all the trade marks of DBZ, One Piece, Naruto and Bleach i.e. super shounen anime. They try to inject emotion into it but it's so formulaic it doesn't really effect me. If you're into this kind of crap then you'll most likely enjoy it but otherwise it's a rather average anime.

Astarotte's Toy - I think "cute" is the best way to describe it, they've done a good job making all the sexual material more TV friendly but there's one thing they couldn't really cover up... that's a 20-something having a 10yr old daughter, that's just f-ed up. I thought she was adopted or something at first but later there's a pretty big reveal and well... yeah.

Battle Girls - Time Paradox - Not as perverted as I originally thought, it is true that there's a fair amount of big breasted women wearing not very much but there's very little panty-shots or excessive boob jiggling. It's a fun anime with an interesting take on the warring state era, pretty funny too. The plot has only just started to get interesting though.

C - Yeah not going to write the full title out again Plot's got a lot more interesting lately and it already started off pretty interesting so I'm going to stick to my guns and say it's a must watch.

Deadman Wonderland - Pretty gruesome but there's an interesting plot so it's not just mindless violence, I'd recommend it.

Denpa Onna - It's not about aliens and don't really know why it's listed as sci-fi. It's a pretty interesting story with some rather comedic moments thrown in and a cutesy art-style, I'm quite fond of this anime The girl who proclaims to be an alien, isn't. Turns out she first started by saying she was abducted by aliens then changed her story to actually being one then something happens and she's forced to accept being a human.

Dog Days - Cute and fun with a bit of fan service thrown in. Plot has just started to get interesting.

Dororon Enma-kun Meramera - Art style may be cutesy but it definitely seems aimed at a more mature audience considering there's a character who seems to get stripped in every episode among other things happening. Still it's rather fun and amusing and has kind of grown on me a little.

Hanasaku Iroha - Could call it a "slice of life" anime, story's really grown on me

Hidan no Aria - Seems to have died down a little after the first episode but still rather fun and enjoyable. Oh yeah, Aria is Shelock Holmes the 4th

Hoshizora e Kakeru Hoshi - Pretty standard date-sim turned anime; funny, perverted and overly cute art-style.

Maria Holic Alive - Turning out to be one of my favourite anime; silly, funny, random and perverted and the characters are great. Must see if you've seen the first series, I'd still highly recommend watching the first series then this too. Just a shame the only rip has horrible subs (ugly looking).

Nichijou - This is like Azumanga Diaoh 2, absolutely hilarious and completely random. Some of you might remember Azumanga Diaoh's cooking bit with Chiyo-chan, Nichijou has rock paper scissors instead http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlUwQXW1WdE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdHxnv5Iy8k&NR=1 XD Anyways it's a must see if you like comedies and if you dont' watch it anyways!

Ore-tachi Ni Tsubasa wa Nai - Not your average date-sim turned anime, get past the perverted parts and there's a really interesting story going on behind the scenes. I recommend it for the story.

SKET Dance - Very fun and funny, 'nough said really

Soft Tennis - Not quite as random and off the wall as Nichijou and throw in some pervertedness and you have this. Still very funny

Steins Gate - First episode is a little slow but get past it and you're rewarded with a really interesting story and some rather fun and humorous characters.

The World God Only Knows 2 - Very funny with a somewhat interesting story, must see if you've seen the first season.

Tiger & Bunny - Great art-style and CG, great take on the "superhero" concept, funny and interesting characters and story. Highly recommend it

X-Men - Think it's the best of the three (apparently going to a 4th after this series), great artwork and animation, must see for Marvel and X-men fans or just watch it anyways

Yondemasu yo, Azazel-san! - I forgot to mention these are only ~12min episodes. Must have been so funny I didn't notice

There you have it

[Sugami]

Recently found out Ao no Exorcist has like 10 bazillion volumes so I'm dropping this one before I get too invested, I don't need another Naruto or Bleach.

[Shirai]

Recently found out Ao no Exorcist has like 10 bazillion volumes so I'm dropping this one before I get too invested, I don't need another Naruto or Bleach.

Yeah, that's JC (Jump comics) for ya.
A lot of their animated titles are long running series of which most are still ongoing which means you'll get a shitload of filler episodes like with indeed Naruto and Bleach.
Or the other option which is just as bad, alternate endings like the first Fullmetal Alchemist series and Hellsing.

[Sugami]

Guess I should be thankful they stopped fansubbing FMA halfway through but I think that series has actually finished (besides movies and OAVs), it was getting pretty stupid towards the end anyways. Naruto and Bleach should have ended 200 episodes ago, Naruto is 90% filler, flashbacks and pointless back story where Bleach just adds entire filler arks right in the middle of plot arks. Bleach should have ended after they beat Aizen >.> Guess I've only seen the good version of Hellsing though I can't remember if I saw the whole thing

[Shirai]

Guess I should be thankful they stopped fansubbing FMA halfway through but I think that series has actually finished (besides movies and OAVs)

The first series deviated from the manga, so they remade it.
Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood made up for it by following the manga precisely as far as I know.

Guess I've only seen the good version of Hellsing though I can't remember if I saw the whole thing

Hellsing Ultimate is the one you want to see, that one follows the manga from start to end, although it isn't finished yet.
(The anime that is, the manga is done. Episode 8 (of 10 I think just like the number of manga volumes) is still in the making)
(Now I also remember where a big part of my resentment of Gonzo came from! Hellsing TV was done by them. *Deliberately coughs up a hairball*)

[Sugami]

Wow they're sure taking their time with the anime, pretty sure some Hellsing Ultimate DVDs have been around for quite a while now

Also funny thing about FMA, the guy who voiced the brother (forget his name) couldn't continue with it because he's like 18 now and started it when he was 13 so his voice is too different

[Shirai]

The Japanese have a good solution for voice acting young boys, female voice actresses.
Most of the young boys you see in anime are played by female VA's Alphonse Elric is a good example of that, but so is Naruto.

[Sugami]

Same is true for the American dubs mostly, Naruto is voiced by a female as well. Whatshisface was just an exception I guess, I know he had a role in Ouran High School Host Club when he was around 17 and in the commentary they were joking how he longer is competition for some of the other VAs

[Sugami]

Holy crap there's a sex scene in Ore-tachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai Of course it's censored (2/3 screen is white'd out) but it's obvious what's going on, I didn't think they could do that stuff on TV

"Oh noes, I got cut by a poisoned blade!"
"Never fear, we all know the best way to remove poison is ejaculation!" ...

I don't care if it is a dream sequence, that's just stupid

[Sugami]

So Ore-Tachi Ni Tsubasa wa Nai recently finished, I have a feeling that no one else bothered watching it but with the last episode the plot finally makes a whole lot of sense.

WARNING SPOILERS

There's three main characters; Takashi Hanada, a high-school student who seems to have a somewhat weak constituion. Shuusuke Chitose, works as a book reviewer and recently started working at a bar. Hayato Narita, seems to be a handy-man of sorts as well as being quite outwardly rude and awkward but obviously has a good heart.

At the end of the first episode Takashi admits to being an alien (albeit to himself) and later around episode 5 it becomes apparent that these three share the same body with Takashi having it during the day, Shuusuke during the late afternoon and Hayato during the evening. To us, the viewers, the all have their own separate appearance but in the story there's no physical change when one person takes over the body so they're all perceived the same. There's also two more people hiding inside that body, one of which (Karura Itami) is also the narrator and surfaces once when things get very violent and takes over for about a day. The other is only briefly mentioned until the end (Youji Hanada). It's also apparent that everyone but Takashi knows about everyone else, it seems that whenever Takashi has trouble due to his weak constitution he escapes to his fantasy world that he believes he's a part of, hence he thinks he's an alien. This fantasy world is exactly that, it's a world he made up from playing an old SNES game.

Blar blar blar they all have own "events" so-to-speak and we finally come to the last couple of episodes. Takashi has an episode and escapes to his fantasy world right in front of his girlfriend (Asuka Watarai), Shuusuke has to pick up the pieces but Asuka's not buying it and immediately asks who he is and where her boyfriend is. Shuusuke explains at least some of it to her and tells her not to tell Takashi, however later she does confront him about and Takashi has another episode. Last episode Takashi is finally aware that his fantasy world doesn't exist and has a chat with Shuusuke and Hayato.

So here's the big plot "twist" and some of this is my interpretation since they never really specify exactly what's going on but it makes more sense than "aliens" None of these people actually exist other than the one that's barely been mentioned, Youji Hanada. When he was young he went through a very traumatic event with his mother going nuts on him and his sister (Kobato) and since then he locked himself away in "the abyss", which I guess is basically his psyche. He created another personality, Takashi, but he was mentally flawed and thus Shuusuke and Hayato had to be created for more "stability". Karura was probably a product of his anger manifested. So there you have it, Youji has Dissociative Identity Dissorder, he comes to terms with the past and finally surfaces to take control of his life again. Now he looks just like Takashi but has a different voice (to represent his original character I suppose), he has to wrap up all the loose ends that his other personalities had and that's the end.

Very interesting plot for what was originally an H-game. Though I found out that Kaboto is one of the girls you could pursue in the game, she's his sister, that's kinda nuts...

[Sugami]

X-men just finished but it looks like there's plans on a second season