Check-in Station Year in Review: 2013 (Summer)

There are some anime seasons that are just good.  There are seasons that are memorable.  And then there are seasons that are legendary.  The Spring 2006 season saw the debut of the most influential anime since Evangelion, Haruhi.  On top of that, it had Higurashi, Ouran High School Host Club, Gintama and Aria!  The Fall 2006 season aired the beginnings of Death Note and Code Geass, two juggernaut series at the same time!  Fall 1995 saw the debut Neon Genesis Evangelion and the first Ghost in the Shell movie.  And yet, I look at this Summer 2013 season and wonder – does this rank as one of the best seasons of anime ever?!  It’s insane to think about how low the expectations were going into this season.  My own expectations were near rock bottom.  When it came to what hype I had, it was all regarding the two returning series and nothing else.  Even then, Bakemonogatari‘s second sequel was getting a lot of hype from the anime community because of the mixed reactions Nisemonogatari received (I loved it).  And there was no telling if Symphogear G was going to be able to live up to the hype,pacing and expectations set by the first season.  But what we got this season was an ever rolling, ever growing ball of quality, memorable anime.

Summer 2013 was the little engine that could.  It was the nerdy kid turned super star.  Summer 2013 was the best of 2013!  And I’m proving it here!

Check-in Station: Monogatari S2 eps 17 – 20 (more mature, more lonely; less naive and less divine)

This arc has left me thinking, while the previous ones have left me in awe.  It’s a thought that makes you wonder what you’re doing here on Earth, and are you using that time wisely?  Are you being true to yourself?  Are you contributing to the world?  And if not, is their punishment for squandering gifts from god?  A divine retribution for the liars, the cons, the sloths, the fugitives, the cheats; imagine if your natural talents were out on loan, and to not turn a profit is to forfeit everything, including your life.  And this has nothing to do with good or evil.  If you’re a murderer, you had best continue to kill people.  If you’re a whore, you had best continue to sell your body.  If you’re a thief, houses must continue to be robbed.  If you’re a truck driver, then you can’t go around driving buses, or taxis because its easier.  You are what you are until the day you expire, and those tasks associated with your lot in life are to be done for as long as you walk the living worth.  That seems to be the world of oddities and demons.  You are to be who you are; nothing more and nothing less.  For if you are not, there is divine retribution.

This is information and perspective I did not have before this arc, that I am now knowledgeable of now.  I’m also a bit sadder, as well.

Check-in Station: Monogatari S2 eps12 – 15 (goodbye Nadeko Sengoku)

How did things come to this? I leave the Monogatari series for just a little bit and the formerly cute, formerly disturbingly sexy Nadeko has become a monster!

Scratch that.  The Nadeko we know isn’t a monster, she’s dead and something else is in her place.  Either that, or this is her true form, and we’ve been fooled all along.

Check-in Station: Monogatari S2 ep7 – 10 (to save a girl, to save a world)

Well this turned out to be an interesting arc.  What seemed to be the start of something intensely focused on Mayoi, turns out to be an arc just as much about Shinobu and her connection to Koyomi.  And I started out not too terribly excited about this arc, since I’m generally not a fan of time travel stories, plus the fact that at times the Monogatari franchise can be impenetrable for some people and complicating it with this concept can only make it worse.  So going into this arc I wondered if this latest story would not get too busy and complicated for viewers to understand, let alone follow.  And I also wanted it to do what all good story arcs in this franchise do; I wanted it to make me the love between Koyomi and all the girls in this show, because in the end we can’t deny that this crazy show is a harem at its core.

DKJ’s Top 20 Hottest Anime Chicks pt4 (5-1)

So here we go!  My list of who I think are the five hottest women in anime.  Yes, I realize ahead of time that this likely will have some huge omissions for some of you.  But this is my damn list!  And my damn choices, tastes and rules!  If you have a problem with it, then send me a comment and tell me who I missed or who you’d prefer.  Or write your own damn blog post and send me a link.  Because from here, to the end of this blog post, it’s nothing but eye candy!  So shut up, and soak in the sexy!

Check-in Station: Monogatari S2 ep5 (accepted feelings, rejected feelings)

The conclusion of the White Tiger/White Hanekawa arc.  I’ve enjoyed this payoff.  And the amount of patience and restrained this season has shown so far has been impressive.  But let me not get ahead of myself.  There’s much to discuss.  Does this arc end in happiness or tears?

Monogatari S2 ep4: wrath, lust, jealousy; wise to your own ignorance

With a new day dawning, it’s naturally Hanekawa who greets us as the episode starts. She’s quite aware that something isn’t right anymore when she wakes from her sleeps. And she’s also quite used to seeing the signs of Black Hanekawa’s arrivals. Though the clues are there clear enough now, they’re different clues compared to the ones she’s seen before. The rules are different, the circumstances are different.

Monogatari S2 ep3: two sides of the same apparition

So. I guess the normal rules of Monogatari don’t apply anymore?  From the beginning this series has been more “weird” than normal.  Not to say anything in Monogatari universe is normal to begin with.  Any normal in it has been a matter of perspective.

Monogatari S2 ep2: what makes you tick? Or do you tick just because?

Interesting how this episode used the maximum amount of wordage to get its point across. Though it still adds enough flavoring to make it palatable, to me at least.

Check-in Station: Monogatari Season 2 ep1 (my spirit animal is actually a spirit animal!)

Senjougahara! Welcome back! Hanekawa! Welcome back! Even you Mayoi! Welcome back! Araragi- Araragi? Araragi? Hey! Where the hell is the main character?! We’re starting a series here!