This country has already hit 80+ degrees in May. Spring isn’t quite over yet and the shows I’m watching have only reach eps 6, but I feel like reviewing anyway. So here goes:
Claymore – the plot picked up after eps 5, before that it dragged a little bit. I got the chance to read a little bit of the first volume of manga and I discovered that Clare was on her own a little bit longer before she was joined by Lucky (I know, I know, I won’t go there, but his name is such a easy joke target). I thought the drawing in the manga wasn’t very impressive and looked rather like sketches in someone’s notebook, just cleaned up :P. Back to the show. The appearance of Teresa really moves things along and the story turns up a big notch. Waiting to see how this arc ends. the women seiyuus are awesome.
Reideen – Yes, this is a giant robot story, which I vowed I would never touch, but I needed to be inspired by heroics, so I’ve been watching it. It’s interesting and I can see some similarities with Rahxephon, but Rahxephon was trying to be a type of Eva but not a clone of it, whereas Reideen is a story on its own. I’ve watched up to eps 9, it’s episodic so far, and I’m still waiting to find out about Mishima Reika…uh hum, I mean Midorina Akira. The main character, Saiga Junki, isn’t as clueless as Kamina Ayato, and is certainly nothing like that bitching and whiny Shinji (but hey, I went through that once). The plot is slow paced, but the animation and the battles are realistic physically and quite nice for CG. However, I do like Rahxephon’s battles better, being unrealistic and all.
El Cazador – What can I say? It’s really not an action series, and I feel like I’m being fooled into staying on board because of the beginning sequence, but I’m getting more and more disappointed. I think Nadi is a decent character and her background story in eps 6 certainly adds more depth to her character, but I can’t say it was really all that interesting. As for the younger girl, she’s rather typical clueless and worry-less airhead (maybe I’m missing something here), and even if she isn’t an airhead, she kind of doesn’t do that much except for comic relief. The reason I’m particularly harsh on this is because this basically tells me it’s an action story by its intro sequence, but it really isn’t, and yet it was introduced as drama, but part of the “Girls wit Guns” series, which reads like action. So far I’m not impressed in either the action department or drama department.
Combat Butler Hayate – now here’s a sincerely funny show that doesn’t try too hard most of the time, but it’s funny anyway. The only thing I find slightly annoying is the narrator. His snide comments isn’t said in British, hence it’s not as funny as if someone said it in British, ala the newest Q before the mistake called Casino Royale was released. All the references are nicely placed and I’m certainly having enough laughs here (Lord knows we can all use a lot of these). The seiyuus are top notch.
Ikkitousen – is this even count as the Spring selection? Anyway, T&A with an decent plot about power and control. Good for fans of the Romance of the three Kingdoms who don’t mind the fact that a lot of the famous male heroes are turned into women, also good for the fan who liked the previous effort (and the manga). Good watch when one needs a large dose of fan service.
Nodame Cantabile – funny, funny, and funny…and I know nothing about classical music and I’m no shojo fan, so I’ll leave it there. But a good watch for both men and women (thank God there isn’t a bunch of bishonen in this show, and Kawasumi Ayako’s Noda Megumi is so cute and funny).
Will update with part 2 and pics tomorrow. It’s 12:33 AM in Taiwan time right now.
You thought the new Casino Royale was a mistake?? I liked it a lot! It wasn’t perfect–it was too long–but I liked how they tweaked the Bond formula quite a bit. The opening chase scene was awesome! Granted, it’s no “Goldfinger” but it’s definitely the best Bond movie in quite a few years.
I love Nodame, and Hayate–and I’m fairly sure it will get nominated and chosen again in our club’s next meeting.
……Well, I just think the Hayate is a little bit boring….. The Manga is good,and beat the TV edition by miles……囧