Anime Pilgrimage RTT

The Conspiracy of Time Off

Apparently in the wake of exams, I’ve been hit by a three month overdue bout of fatigue. As such I haven’t had the motivation to watch anime as I need to be in a state slightly better than braindead to process the goings on and to write about them.

I hope to be back in shape by Saturday. Although next week I’m getting my wifi router and you’ll never see me again, unless you see me racin’ a kart.

(Also I’ve already updated 20 times this month, it’s not like I’m starving you or anything).

Ramune – episode 1

“The Hermit Crab and the Straw Hat”

If I continue to watch this, I’m not even going to bother writing about it. I’ll offer one image per episode and maybe a perfunctory statement of events (to be honest the hardest part of this site is the image preparation. When I know what I want to say, that’s damned easy).

The reasons I chose to watch Ramune (released as “Lamune”, but Ramune is my personal leaning) are threefold:

This is essentially about Kenji and Nanami, two students who have been neighbours for ten years. Nanami farms for her mother’s restaurant, and it’s clear that the two are supposed to get together … but along the way there are shots of girls who Kenji has never talked to in his life who you just know are going to try and claim his heart. This show is based on a “game”, after all.

It’s very slow, but I like the atmosphere; the ramune and summer island atmosphere was what I liked most about RahXephon. The sound is mixed incredibly poorly, the performances are lackluster and Kenji looks very bland.

If I really wanted to watch a summer anime, I’d watch NieA_7; if I really want to watch summer farming, I’d watch Only Yesterday; if I wanted to have my ramune memories, I’d go back to Melbourne.

Being Australian, November is the perfect time of year for me to be watching this; however, it’s Winter in Japan. What is with this scheduling? The atmosphere of Ramune may be ruined by improbable “romance”, but I’ll give it a little push.

Just don’t expect any effort on my part.

Karin – episode 2

“My preference is embarassing!”

“Mutant vanpire Karin: the fang aims at an unhappy person.”
In this episode we learn more about how these particular vampires work.
Continue reading Karin – episode 2…

Paradise Kiss – episode 4

“George”

Mixed messages equal wild romance. Everyone is right when they say that George isn’t a very nice character; he’s got that odd charisma about him but he really is quite the selfish bastard. As the script says, logic takes a holiday …
Continue reading Paradise Kiss – episode 4…

Ginban Kaleidoscope – episode 2

“The Keyword is Tomato”

Fact: not going to the toilet for several days can prove fatal.
Continue reading Ginban Kaleidoscope – episode 2…

Black Cat – episode 5

“A Determined Cat”

This episode focuses on Black Cat and leaves Sven to the wayside, and the conclusion is a huge cliché. This is perfectly acceptable because it is revealed that Creed is a psychopath with homoerotic leanings! Score!
Continue reading Black Cat – episode 5…

Bleach – episode 57

There is some good, worthy material in this episode, but more than half of it is a pace killer, and one quarter is utterly, utterly pointless.
Continue reading Bleach – episode 57…

Mushishi – episode 3

“Tender horns”

I’m surprised how effectively SD faces can work for this series. Another great episode, which disappointingly focuses on yet another child after dealing with a whole village; maybe I should expect Ginko to deal with children and be done with it.
Continue reading Mushishi – episode 3…

Black Cat – episode 4

“A smiling cat”

I’m quite surprised, because now I really like the character of Sven. This episode brings the story to a great head.
Continue reading Black Cat – episode 4…

Karin – episode 1

“Overflow is embarrassing!”

Vampire comedy from the man who brought you Sugar, Burn Up Excess and other, less enjoyable shows!
J.C. Staff sure knows how to pick them.
Continue reading Karin – episode 1…