AniFriday pt6 (December 13th 2013)

 

Man, it has been a tiring week.  It’s not easy for me to keep up with all this anime.  And I can’t help but think I’ve brought this upon myself.  I mean, if I would actually not f*ck around and watch everyone of these shows consistently every week, then I wouldn’t have to worry about these long tiring “catch up” sessions.  Then again, there’s something to be said about the joy of watching a show in spurts like this, as if I were renting an anime DVD from Blockbuster or the old local video rental place back at home.  Ah!  Memories!

For now, I hope you guys appreciate the effort and attention to detail I’ve put into watching and analyzing these shows.  At this point in the season, and the year, I’m really learning to appreciate what has been a very interesting year of anime.  A surprising year.   And maybe even in this post here, that only covers mediocre to average anime I’m currently watching could have moments that are memorable, or that perhaps will last and reverberate forever throughout anime history.  It’s unlikely as hell, but it could happen.

This week I’ll be shaking up things a bit by adding manga to this AniFriday post, because… well because “why not?”  The name AniFriday doesn’t really mean anything, I can barely get these out on time, and I’m pretty damn sure someone’s already using the name Manga Monday somewhere.

Here are the series I’ll be covering in order of appearance:

• Valvrave eps 18 – 21
• Ms. MONOCHROME ep11
• Tokyo Ravens ep10
• Coppelion ep11
• Naruto ch657 & 658
• One Piece ch729 – 731
• Bleach ch560 & 561

If anyone knows a way for me to link to different sections within a blog post to make this quicker, I’d appreciate it.  For now, enjoy the presentation!

AniFriday pt3 (November 8th 2013)

I’m expanding AniFridays and making a few changes as well.  Ars Nova will get the weekly single blog post treatment from now on (hope I don’t regret that), while Valvrave is now joining the AniFriday group.  Also I’m adding Hajime no Ippo: Rising and Gundam Build Fighters (since people keep asking me if I’m watching it) to the group as well.  Hope you guys enjoy.

This week’s anime in order of appearance.

• Valvrave ep16
• Tokyo Ravens ep5
• Ms. MONOCHROME ep6
• Coppelion ep6
• Arpeggio of Blue Steel: Ars Nova ep5

Valvrave ep15: because my problems are more important than your’s

I don’t know why I’m such a stickler for military discipline in my anime, especially when the medium thrives on stupid kids not following orders. But it still irks me when the writers decide to strip a character of any sense to drive home a dramatic point. Oh wait, we’re talking about Haruto here. He’s never had any sense to begin with!

Valvrave ep14: My Little Sister Can’t Be This Justified in Hating Me

*groans*

I will admit that this isn’t nearly as bad as slogging through Rinne no Lagrange, but sometimes an episode just wears on me. I mean, there’s just stuff that can make you like an episode, like having a character you like get more screentime, or an episode that is more focused on an aspect of the plot or setting that you find interesting. But then again sometimes stuff is just kinda stupid and fails to capture your imagination. That’s this episode.

Check-in Station: Valvrave ep13 (to Earth! Vampire Illuminati Earth!)

It’s okay buddy.  It’s just a pinch, a little blood sucking, DNA changing pinch!  MWUAHAHAHAHAHAAA!

Check-out Station: Valvrave ep12 (a fun waste of time)

Well, what did I expect? The series started off an incomprehensible mess, of course it’s gonna end in a swirling storm of nonsense, shenanigans, convenient contrivances and an ending scene that places it firmly atop bullsh*t mountain. Now I have to reflect on this episode and see if I can still standby previous comments about it being “stupid but fun”.

Valvrave ep11: how deep is your bag of stupid?

…..

I believe the words intelligent and dumb both apply here. Though I’m loathe to admit that there’s a shred of intelligence in this bloody show. *sigh* Welcome to episode eleven of Valvrave.

Valvrave ep10: it really could have been worse

My head. My head is swollen and full of – stuff, right now.  That said, you people overhyped this episode of Valvrave.  You think this episode was terrible?  You think it was terribad?  I could give you twenty series with episodes worse than this.  This isn’t Valvrave at its lowest.  This is Valvrave ALL THE TIME! You need thick skin for something this ridiculous.  Let’s get this over with.

Valvrave ep9: protect and punish

So begins the first test of L-Elf and Haruto’s alliance to keep everyone safe and defeat the Dorssian fleet.  And things seem smooth in the beginning, as most things do in anime before they go to sh*t. The real conflict in the beginning is the internal one within Kyuuma.  He so desperately wants the power of the Valvrave, and he wants it in order to avenge his never-girlfriend Aina, who by the way, is having one hell of a wake online.  It’s a nice, but shallow gesture in my opinion.  But I won’t be too hard on the people who did it, because she was just a young girl, and there’s no other way to express remorse for her death in war time.

Valvrave ep8: to many more bittersweet victories

While I can’t say I completely understand the overall view of Valvrave the Liberator, I can say that episode by episode, I can tell what message they’re trying to get across. The overall theme seem to be getting things to mix, or work well together. Which is a welcome theme for this show, because it has so many interesting elements that I’ve been waiting to see come together.