Yaho … still alive da yo … ^_^ been ‘sort of’ busy for the past few weeks (or is it months already? @_@) *fades away* … anyway, to minimize the impact or better yet, to avert a possible ‘state of withdrawal’ due to long periods of anime deprivation, I figured a slow consumption of three titles in parallel (well, sort of parallel) will suffice as some kind of life-support for the hard times ahead :p. Now I can say that it worked out fine ^_^*. Although the ‘Busy Season’ may not yet be over, I see smooth sailing ahead.

Back to topic, I started watching these titles in this order; Ergo Proxy -> Claymore -> Seirei no Moribito. And since there are three titles in this ‘Quick Thoughts’ post, here is what I can ‘quickly’ say:

Lol … that simple? :p … although I am comparing apples to oranges to peaches here, my basis for judgement is the same for all three: the overall enjoyment factor.

But enough of the comparisons, here are the individual quick thoughts:

Ergo Proxy … the first thing that came to mind when I first heard of the title is a computer-based sci fi. I don’t do much background checks on the titles I pick so I never had any idea what to expect of this show. All I know is that this was sci-fi and to a person with sci-fi interests, it was enough for a go signal.

Set in a pseudo-dystopian-utopian future, Ergo Proxy is a psychological show with a theme centering on raison d’etre or purpose of existence. In this story, there is a level of control/rules and with control comes regulations and with these regulations come the imposition of tasks and duties on the characters that give rise to the purpose-of-existence motif.

The story is deep but even with the mental/psychological aspect put in plus some dark undertones, it was still a light watch for me. The characters are cool and likeable (with one of them turning out to be verrryyy likeable that I am a self-professed ‘Pino-fan’. As to who Pino is, you would need to find out for yourselves. All I can tell you is that I consider her a special charcter of the series). In addition, I see no annoying aspects whatsoever and with regards to the story, I can say that it unfolds nicely up to the climax culminating into a satisfactory end.

As for who will this be good for, I am not really sure. This is a good sci-fi anime and it can sometimes toy a little bit with your mind so this might work well with sci-fi and thriller story enthusiasts. But for the general viewership, if ever you would get to try this, I suggest you watch at least 4 episodes to see if this will strike a tune within you. :)

Claymore … now this one is a first for me, a bloodbath anime (The last time I watched something close-to-“similar” was Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill Vol.1 :p). The story is simple in nature; world is farm for ‘yoma’ with humans as the ‘livestock’, yoma-fused humans called claymores hunt down these yoma. Main character for this story is a certain claymore named Clare and a oh-no-I-think-this-kid-will-turn-out-to-be-annoying-in-the-future lad named Raki in what would follow in the standard formula of soon-to-be-symbiotic-support-pair (even though one is seen to be very/clearly useless in all other aspects ;)).

Anyway, I have heard a lot of negative feedbacks about this anime but those are mostly a result of being compared to the Claymore manga from which this anime adaptation comes from. However, I haven’t read yet the manga so my comments are all based on taking the anime at face value. For me, it is ok as a whole. Decent enough to be enjoyed if you are ok with the mindless hack and slash (I was even concerned for the weapons used as to when they will break :p) … or perhaps more than decent as I really did enjoy the show anyway. The story is ok too, glad Raki didn’t turn out to be ‘that’ annoying and looking at his total air time ;), I’d say a thumbs up for that aspect (well not only that but I could say the same for the whole show as well :D).

That’s it for a quick rundown of the anime, now I just have to find some opportunity to pick up the manga as I get a lot of recommendations for it.

Seirei no Moribito … now we’re talking :D. This is a very nice show. The story goes like this, Balsa, a bodyguard expert in the spear is asked to protect Chagum, a royal prince who seems to be harboring a doomsday spirit, from assassins while at the same time trying to learn more about the condition.

The story is very enjoyable deriving some of its charm from three of the main characters namely Balsa, Chagum and Tanda, the herbalist friend of Balsa. At first I thought that Chagum, being of the royalty, will show some annoying traits but there was none of that. He actually turns out to be a very strong fellow and that is good and like the rest of the cast, is very likeable. The action scenes while few, are nicely done and are notable that is it stays closely within the limits of human parameters (not exhibiting superhuman characteristics of which a lot of shows usually have :p).

Overall a wholesome show I consider a gem among the usual moe, fanservice laden titles out there. A nice watch I would never mind suggesting to any anime enthusiast. (^_^)=b

With Aria being one of my most beloved series, it is but eventual that I would develop an aspiration extending beyond the anime. And it has lead me now to a desire to collect at least 1 figure of each member of the cast.

However, figures are rare in this country of mine and I am sort of not inclined to order from the net (as of now) so the only way for me to acquire some figs would be to ask for the help of others who are in Japan. Luckily, I have some friends/acquaintances who share general interests in anime that were willing to extend that much help.

Then it wasn’t long before I got my very first Aria figure. A friend of mine tried one of those random dispenser machines (He calls them ‘gacha2x’) and got Akari-chan :D. The figure in itself is nicely done imho and I like the fact that this pose has Akari-chan holding a paddle. I especially like the way the face has been done. :3

 
That was a few months before and the count is 1 out of 6 .. still a long way to go yes?. But not anymore because just recently, my wish has been granted. Another friend of mine was able to acquire the other characters. :D.

But I’m not one to complain. One of each is one of each :). But I fear that I may have opened a dangerous ‘Pandora’s box of wanting’ as I now also want to collect the other figures in the Alicia set. T_T. All in good time my dear Hinode .. All in good time.

There is just one thing amiss with this collection though. Care to guess? President Aria Pokoteng is not present D: … unfortunately, he was supposed to come along with the winter set Alicia-san. Guess I have a new fan-goal … secure President Aria *contacts the secret service*.

On a sidenote:
Along with the the Aria figures I was given by another friend a chibi figure of Shiraishi from Lucky Star. It just happened to pop into my mind to take a shoot of him along with the gang and it turned out quite lol :p.

My friend apparently liked the idea so she quickly made this post using an earlier take lol. I do like to point out though that I did not/was not/is not flaunting my precious Aria cast in the office as this and that pic was taken discreetly so as not to illicit any unwanted attention :D.

It has been quite some time since this site started. Fresh out of the box it was and is still is as of now tsk tsk. So for this site’s first (and probably the only) goal for 2008:

Now I hope I can find time to actually achieve this goal. There’s a need to add some navigation features here and there, proper categorization and arrangement of categories which basically means proper layouting and design. In short, a total makeover ^_^*. Have a lot of work ahead of me.

Now I’m in gotta-catch-em-all mode :D. All I need is a source and the means to collect it. Totally looking forward to watching this anime.

Tsk tsk tsk .. This is bad .. from what has been a nice start in my anime watching year, work has now finally picked up some steam, couple it up with other miscellanous contingencies and we now have a reduced watching time :(.

For some visual, heres’ a hastily constructed chart showing the Work-Watch relationship with Work as the blue line and Watch as the pink/magenta line. As you can see, the reduction of the anime watching pace is logarithmic decrease :(.

As a consolation however, I just received a small-token-of-achievement certificate for passing JLPT lvl 4. The level is the lowest though, but I am still happy for the small incentive that comes along with it. It may not be much but you know what they say, one-small-step/one-giant-leap :D. Next plan is to continue studying in hopes of passing the the next lvl (3). Till next time :).

Here’s another little gem I enjoyed. It might be kiddy or perhaps kind of cliché’d to some but I didn’t see it as such. One thing, Yoshinaga-san’chi no Gargoyle is the first anime I watched with a gargoyle as part of the main cast and with that I’d like to say that this show rocks! (pun intended). ^_^

For starters, the show’s foundation is simple with the premise of a gargoyle statue staying with the Yoshinaga family (lol that’s what the title is). Gar-kun, as what the gargoyle is eventually called, initially starts of as the family gatekeeper then on to being loved by the townspeople along with other alchemic (uuh, did I mention there’s a little bit of alchemy in here?) misfits adding some life to a simple town. But I’d just like to point out that that is just in the general sense as there are really a lot of stories being shown (sort of not being linear).

Although it may not look appealing to some people, it is special in my book. It has that certain charm that gave me a good feeling when watching it. Further reasons that I like it is that it is one of those uncommon shows that (1) don’t have situations that I can’t stomach (or have a hard time doing so) and (2) don’t have characters that I get annoyed with. ^_^ So if ever you get yourself into a lull in your watching schedule, Yoshinaga-san’chi no Gargoyle is a worthy try.

Putting it nicely as one Kanon character mentioned, I’m still ‘basking in the afterglow’ ^_^ of Kanon 2006. Hence this simple express compilation of thoughts which has nothing much to say except that in a nutshell, this is one amazing series re-adaptation that, I consider, is just as good as the original.

Although I felt a very slight lesser ‘stirring’ effect with this version, I just attributed it to the main reason that I have already watched the first. But even if it was so, it still felt as something new :).

Overall, Kanon 2006 was still a wonderful, enjoyable and time-worthy watch. I like the ‘visual style’ that was utilized and it was good to be able to meet those adorable characters again. Truly another one for my favorites list ^_^.