July 30, 2010
Amagami SS Ep5: Hello My Friend
The “childhood friend” shtick. You’d be hard pressed to imagine a shounen or shoujo series where there wasn’t at least one character who filled these shoes. Male or female this character gives something of a social root for the lead character, as through this person we can see the lead for what he was in the past and how he grew to be who he is now. The childhood friend is usually a foil to bounce the lead off of, allowing us to learn more about the lead and see him in contrasting lights.
That said, you’d probably also be hard pressed to find a shounen and shoujo series that uses the childhood friend shtick as a romantic subplot and uses it “well”, and by well I mean setting it apart from all the generic childhood friend romances we’ve seen before.
Will Kaoru be any different?
Ookami-san to Shichinin etc. Ep5: Demon Hunting
An episode far, far removed and far, far more involved than the previous one.
I’m sure the story of Momotaro isn’t something us Western viewers would be familiar with. I myself have only heard about it once not too log ago playing Okami, and honestly beyond the demon fighting I really didn’t know much about it. Since this is story time in kindergarten, the basic premise of Momotaro is that of a boy, born from a peach, who befriends a bunch of animals and goes of to do what badasses oft do. That is to say, kick evil ass in the form of demons. He goes of to the Island of Demons, beats them into submission, returns home and lives happily ever after.
The thing is, at least for our dear Wolf, this isn’t a happy ever after. At least not yet.
July 26, 2010
HotD Ep4: Boobs and the Moral Collapse
When you think about it, utter chaos doesn’t actually last forever, especially when there’s really no one left to do it. When the initial frenzy has gone and the dust has settled, you’re left with much of the aftermath in disturbing silence. What chaos would ensue when most of everyone’s already either dead or a zombie? There’s no chaos without an established society, and when that’s gone, when all everyone cares about is their own needs and survival, it becomes “Me, myself and I”. In the end you still need to look out for number 1, even if it means you’d be doing things you’d never have thought of doing just the day before. There’s no longer anyone to judge you for it.
But does that make it “right”?
July 23, 2010
Amagami Ep4-Final: Haruka GET! (Arc review)
Yes that’s a miserably unoriginal title but considering we’ll be getting this type of closure with every multiple of 4 episodes might as well get used to the fact that we’ll have some degrees of closure every 28 days.
Consider this also a review for the Haruka route, so I’ll after the episode itself I’ll just break it down by section.
Since this is the first arc of Amagami we can’t actually compare it to those yet animated, but as it stands, for something that was only 4 episodes, I can say that her story is generally good.
Ookami-san to Shichinin etc. Ep4: Returning Favors
Eh… at some point I was expecting that when I started blogging, there would be at least one episode that I really won’t like so much so that I can’t even make a proper blog post about it.
I didn’t like this episode. It felt flat 2/3 of the time, which is sad because the comedy and the character interactions were what propelled this show beyond the cliches and the stereotypes. Maybe it’s because I didn’t like Ootsume. She comes off as a really flat, one dimensional character. Even with her background I just found myself very disinterested at her predicament and her obsessive-compulsive need to render service to everyone who does something for her.
At least two things were good in this episode:
1. So far the best narration in the series. While the narration was one of the only funny things in this episode, the narration actually manages not to be obtrusive the entire time and still deliver. I wish the narration becomes like this for the rest of the series.
2. 
July 19, 2010
HotD Ep3: Megalomania
If you’ve seen or read any post-apocalyptic tale of humanity, you tend to notice that the breakdown of social norms tend to show both the unrestrained heroism of some people, as well as the suppressed sociopathic tendencies of others. Naturally with society in chaos the rules of social graces and socially acceptable behaviors become an afterthought, because it becomes a time when life and death can be decided by a decision involving a questionable act. It doesn’t mean of course that rules of common decency and of morality no longer apply, but with government all but gone, the Id quite easily subverts the Ego and the Superego.
And from that point, High School of the Dead has it’s own example of the breakdown of social controls.
So enter Shidou Koichi, Megalomaniac extraordinaire.
July 17, 2010
Amagami SS Ep3: Ooohh Fetish!
Oh yeah fetish. Everyone wants their fetishes. Not only is it facepalm inducing embarrassment and comedy, but it also helps put a bit of perspective into the relationship between two individuals. It wasn’t long ago that Junichi was a love struck little doggy clinging to the heals of school idol Haruka but now he’s… literally kissing them.
July 15, 2010
Ookami-san to Shichinin etc. Ep3: The Hare and the Hare
While it is traditional for a series like this to explore its side characters at some point, it’s a bit surprising that they decided to do it rather early in the series. Granted I can’t remember right now how many episodes this series will run, but it’s always interesting to see the supporting cast get their time in the spotlight, especially with a bizarre supporting crew such as this. For this episode, we get Touru and Otohime.
July 12, 2010
HotD Ep2: The Eye of the Shitstorm
What’s a Zombie Killer without his crew? As a general rule of the Zombieland, going lone wolf is usually not a good idea, especially if you’re not the type who has all the necessary skills and abilities covered. Naturally no one can do everything, we all have certain specialties that set us apart from everyone else. Some have medical skills like moi, some are good with melee fighting,some are good with guns, some are tactical thinkers, etc. You’d likely want to form a group composed of people who have something useful they can do to benefit the group. If you don’t have one, well you better learn something and fast because the Zombie apocalypse is inevitable (IT WILL COME ONE DAY I TELLS YOU!!).
July 9, 2010
Amagami SS Ep2: Rejection Isn’t Always Final
Many, if not most, of us have probably felt rejection first hand. The reaction to rejection is as diverse as human personalities are, so really no two people will likely ever react to it in the same way. While I was sort of expecting Junichi’s emotional collapse considering the supposed weight of his scars that he has to carry, I was surprised that Haruka’s rejection didn’t devastate him as much as I would have expected. Okay sure he’s a half conscious shell of a man, but at least most biological functions still work. I’ve seen people collapse into horrid piles of humanity in lesser scenes.
Medical Student vs. Anime 