Clannad After Story - 03

Kawaii! Mei-chan was so cute this episode. It was hilarious watching her cling onto Sanae and apologizing for her brother being so lame.

On the other hand, Sunohara was also funny in his own goofy way.

I liked his swordfish hero skills, very entertaining. His antics reminded me of Jun Kitagawa from Kannon and his elvis dance routine.

However, I kind of felt like Tomoya was being a dick to him this episode. He should have told him that Sanae was Nagisa's mother when he started developing feelings for her. Not sure why he would purposely set him up like that. However, I was even more surprised when Sanae agreed to go out with him again. Scandalous!

Onee-chan! I didn't know Tomoya was into that brother-sister roleplaying thing. It was really funny to see him get so excited whenever Mei-chan called him Onee-chan.

Especially, when those three found out about it and ran away like he was some sex-crazed pervert. The dropping of the ice cream was a great touch. Genius, genius, genius!

I can only suppose Sunohara is so down at the end because Sanae dumped him. That would explain why he didn't argue with Tomoya dating Mei-chan. However, I think it was still a dick move for Tomoya to butt in like that and make up that fake story. Way to kick a man while he's down, jerk! Hopefully, the next episode will be as entertaining, but from the look of it, I think it will be more drama oriented than comedy oriented which may or may not be a bad thing.

Toradora - 03

Barely a minute into the episode and we already have Kugimiya, Rie uttering her famous "Urusai, urusai!" line. Funny? A little, maybe. Irritating? Yeah, it's getting there... I liked her character in Shakugan no Shana but I hope we won't have to hear her say this line every episode. I think it's becoming the japanese equivalent of the bud light wassup guys.

I think I'm getting used to the opening song already. Originally, I didn't really like the techno like beat but it's too catchy for it's own good.

This episode revolved around Ryuuji's crush, Minori and her various jobs. They did a good job of fleshing out her character so we can understand a little bit why he likes her. She's a bit tom-boyish and energetic but at this point it seems like Minori and Ryuuji's personalities clash.

Ryuuji seems like a dependable guy (albeit shy) and Minori seems like the kind of girl who can stand on her own (or at least wants to). Maybe later on they will show Minori's weak side but she doesn't really seem like a believable love interest.

Over on Taiga's side, she is really overworking the tsundere angle. I think she's way too hard on Ryuuji for liking Minori. It just doesn't make sense for Taiga to try to help him get Minori and then beating him up whenever he thinks about her. I know the tsundere angle is an important comedic element, but they could use it better or at least lighten up a bit.

Wow, there was definite cupping! I like the way that old guy thinks... Hilarious!

Overall, the episode wasn't anything special but it was decent. I hope they can start moving the story along a little faster though, some of the parts seemed to drag on forever and go nowhere. Particularly the scene where Ryuuji and Minori are locked in the shed. Normally, situations like that would be more romantic and tension filled but I felt like it was too early for this scene since nothing happened to the two of them while they were alone. Hopefully, things will heat up next week.

Kannagi - 01

Wow, what an awesome opening! The song is so catchy and fun and the dancing animation is top notch. This show holds a lot of promise although at this point I'm not really sure where the show is going. Basically, the male lead, Jin, carves a goddess out of a tree trunk and goes around purify impurities that come out of the land. Surprisingly, Jin is okay with all of this and is very hospitable to the goddess despite her arrogant and commanding nature.

Jin seems like a very reliable and aimiable male lead. His reactions to the Nagi (the goddess) are always entertaining.

Nagi is one of the funniest female leads ever. Her innocent arrogance and sense of humor make her a lovable and cute character. I think at the end of the series she will end up being one of my favorites along with Suzumiya, Haruhi and Nodame.

Together, I think the two have such a great dynamic and they easily carry the episode despite being the only characters at this point in time.

However, I could do without the male nudity which reminds me of Inukami. There are a lot of other funny moments in this episode like when Jin turns on the TV and sees a lingerie commercial so it's nice to see they don't discriminate.


Overall, I think this episode is definitely worth a watch and this series may end up being one of the best brand new series of Fall 2008.

Nodame Cantabile Paris Chapter - 01

Having been a huge fan of the first series, I expected a lot from the second season. Thankfully, the first episode does not disappoint. The series follows Chiaki and Nodame as they study music in Paris and is only elven episodes long which makes me curious about the pacing of the story. The first series was 23 episodes but every episode was fantastic and meaningful. I hope they don't end up hurrying the production because Nodame has always been a relaxing anime to watch; especially during the long orchestral pieces.

The opening for the Paris Chapter was not nearly as good as the first season's opening, but I could see it grow on me as the season progresses. The music selection was still fun to listen to and you got to feel fuzzy and nostalgic hearing Nodame playing the piano once again.


It's nice to see that Nodame and Chiaki are neighbors again and that Nodame is still hopelessly in love with Chiaki. However, Chiaki does seem a little put off by it which seems to irritate me a bit seeing as how he's the one who asked her to come with him. Hopefully the two will actually hit it off despite Chiaki saying they weren't a couple (Honestly, what is he thinking???).

At least we see moments that lead us to believe his actions and words don't match up.

I'm not a big fan of the new characters as Frank seems more like a side character than a rival for Nodame and Tanya seems like a stereotypical blonde fan service character.

On a positive note, we finally get to see Viera-sensei in action. Chiaki wants to wait until he can prove he's worthy of being Viera's new pupil so I wouldn't expect to see him again for awhile. Perhaps as the OP indicates, we will be seeing more of Stresemann-sensei first which wouldn't be a bad thing since I loved him in the first series. His perversion has a stark contrast to Chiaki's serious nature and it's fun to see Stresemann get Chiaki into ecchi situations.

There were a couple of really funny moments in this episode, like when Nodame tells the waiter she is being raped. For the most part, it seems like the dynamic between Nodame and Chiaki provides the bulk of the humor that was present in season one. Their realtionship really carries this show despite the loss of many great characters from season one.

Overall, it looks like a good start for the series and I'm looking forward to the next episode.