We all saw this coming, I’ve moved to AnimeBlogger.net.

Took almost a whole day to set the blog up (modifying its themes, setting up a SFTP client, etc. Unlike the Pool theme I use here, the one that’s being used on AB.net doesn’t support widgets, so it took a while to customize the sidebar), but it’s finally… finished enough for me to start posting in it (^^;;).

Update your blogrolls, people. (;

It’s not a Haruhi infomercial – it’s a FOOD infomercial.

FOOD.

(Haruhi says it turns your B-cup into an F-cup. SO BUY NOW!)

Tsukasa wants some too.

ZOMG LUCKY STAR IS REAL! It’s funny how I can relate so much to this show. I mean, similiar to Tsukasa, I’m always tempted to want to eat some great looking food on Food Network…

… But like Konata said in this episode, usually the food we see in those shows are specialties from places that are too far from our grasp. Like the Habanero Burger (The World’s “Hottest Burger”) in the old famous Prince O’ Whales at San Mateo, where you sign a release form in order to order one and then get a bumper sticker saying you “survived” it after you’re done (because it’s THAT hot). And you know what? Now that whole ordeal is GONE… ):

… Err, back on topic: Lucky Star.

Konata has a good point there: Dating sims wouldn’t be dating sims if most of the girls have boyfriends. I found it amusing that she basically answered the long-lived question on why the Lucky Star girls don’t have boyfriends though, it wouldn’t be much of an anime if they did. ^^;;

“It seems a friend from middle school has a boyfriend and she asked me what gift she should get for his birthday. But I had no idea…“

And it looks like they never had one.

… Or will if all their parents act up like THIS. ;P

“Otaku say they’re interested in girls that have the same interest as them on message boards, despite the fact that it seems female otaku never say the same things about them.“

I bet all the male otaku that heard this while watching this episode felt pretty degraded. :laugh: Don’t worry, you’ll find love… someday.

Luring mosquitoes in, flexing your muscles, and making mosquitoes explode due to the amount of blood they’re taking in? I’ll pass. I basically do the same thing as Yutaka (so cute…) when mosquitoes get on me, move my arms around or try blowing them away. If that doesn’t work, then I go the manly way – smashing them between the wall and my arm. Of course, then I’d have to wash away all the disgusting guts that would be left behind, which kills the whole purpose of not wanting to slap them in the first place.

Seeing the cast in yukata again was a real treat too. Of course, these sort of festivals that take place at night always come with a cost, being preyed on by mosquitoes. (;

This was a cute scene, Yukata resting on Minami’s lap. ^^;; To those who think that the relationship that Yukata and Minami share will eventually lead to shoujo-ai, I fortunately don’t share that opinion. Being Asian myself, seeing this kind of close relationship between girls is pretty normal for me.

“白石君…? 白石君!”

Ono Daisuke, FTW! Akira sure gets a lot of animated voice actors for assistants.

Speaking of seiyuu… Anyone else share my opinion that Misao has one of the best sounding voices in the show? One thing I like about Lucky Star: the voice cast. A pretty amazing selection.

What is it that you fear the most? Truth or lie, it will continue to torment you…

Looks like the Medicine Seller did make himself look like a suspect for his own amusement. A light subject that was brought up by Kayo; which “side” is the Medicine Seller on? In my opinion, even if he doesn’t even save a single life when slaying spirits, his ultimate goal is to slay spirits (which he would accomplish). Doesn’t really make him an enemy just because he didn’t save anyone in the end. As I suspected, one of the monks changed their course (because I was thinking outside the box (;).

The symbolism in what illusion the umizatou gave each of the characters was probably the most impressive thing that was presented in this episode. All the characters (even the Medicine Seller himself) were shown an illusion when answering their fears, all except the two monks. From what I gather, the “fears” that all the others held were either abstract or just weren’t present at the moment. The umizatou didn’t have to show Sougen his “greatest fear” Genkei because he was already there, and them being in the Ayakashi Sea, the utsurobune was sort of already present due to it being in the Ayakashi Sea.

Looks like we see the spirit of Genkei’s sister in the next episode (and looking at the preview in the ED theme, Genkei doesn’t exactly *enjoy* it).

As I noticed that school is approaching, so is September – the month where the leaves turn red and start to fall, which also means autumn is approaching. I already have my eyes on some of the upcoming shows which I’ll definitely watch, most probably know which one I’m looking forward to the most (hint: above).

Notable series that I’ll watch – after the jump.

Updated list can be found on moetron ☆萌えトロン.

CLANNAD (Air date: October 4th)

Kyoto Animation does another Key visual novel adaption, all of which I liked. Ever since Haruhi II was announced, there was speculation on whether not they would push CLANNAD’s air date to 2008, air them together, or just air CLANNAD first. Pushing CLANNAD into 2008 really didn’t make any sense to me because they already had promos for it – and to air Haruhi, which didn’t have any promotional material at all beside a school “vandalism”, instead of CLANNAD just didn’t seem right to me. They couldn’t air them together either because KyoAni is known for working on one project at a time, and for them to work on both of them at the same time would downgrade their quality.

And would you look at that? I was right! Go ahead and shoot me, Haruiists. You’re only killing your own kind. Personally, I look forward to playing the visual novel English fan patches.

Here’s a PV from TBS Anime Festa. I still can’t stop listening to the music. ^^;;

Kodomo no Jikan (Air date: September 12th)

People should know about this one by now, am anime adaption of the infamous manga that “caters to the lolicons”. I think the opposite though – it pokes fun at the fantasies of lolicons rather than cater to them. What I like about this title is that the teacher, Daisuke Aoki, is basically just a normal person, not reciprocating (a third grader) Rin’s advances and refuses to in order to keep his job. So it’s actually pretty funny, in a sick sort of way.

Genshiken II (Air date: October ??)

Okay, I admit – I never actually finished this series. I was cut off at episode 6, right when it was licensed and never got around to buying the R1 release. But nonetheless, it was awesome. I’ll watch this regardless of the high probability of me being clueless about some stuff.

Myself;Yourself (Air date: October ??)

From what I gather, it’s based on a visual novel for the PS2 (which hasn’t been released yet, so it’ll basically air before its source material…) and it seems to have a tad bit of romance in it. It’s about a boy (Hidaka Sana) who returns to his childhood town after 5 years and meets an old friend and his childhood love during highschool… So yeah, me being me, it’s natural that this would be on my list.

Prism Ark (Air date: October ??)

Eh, what I know about this one right now is that it’s based on an eroge, and from what I hear – a very good one at that.

Here’s some background info taken from the thread on AnimeSuki:
The world of Prism Ark takes place in the equivalent of our world’s Crusade era in Western Europe. The geography is a little changed and there are stuff like magic and dragons.

The main players are Wind Land, Viella, and the Sablum Empire. Viella of Victaly is equal to Rome of Italy, and the Sablum Empire is equal to the Byzantine Empire. Sabus is the god of Islam and Rerihion is the god of Christianity. Like our world’s Christianity, Viella serves as the headquarters of the Pope and believers of Rerihion.

Wind Land is where the Holy Roman Empire would be. In Wind Land, it is always spring, and the greeting is “Good wind” instead of “Good morning”.

Prior to the events that begin in Prism Ark, Viella has already called several crusades in the name of Rerihion to reclaim the Holy Land. However this was completely stopped after awhile and Rerihion and Sabus believers lived in peace and harmony from that day.

The game begins with the King and Queen making a journey to Viella to get their one year daughter, the Princess of Wind Land, baptized. However, their escort was suddenly attacked by the Sablum Empire, who were supposed to be their good allies. At this battle was the first appearance of the Angels, a imposing being with wings and halo, whose height easily doubled men’s, and came wielding never before seen power.

Afterwards, the King, the Queen, and the Princess were all missing and were assumed either killed from the ambush, or in hiding. Outraged, the Pope immediately re-established the Crusades and ordered one to invade Sablum. From then on, Wind Land and the Sablum Empire were in war. However, this war has not ended years after years and continues on to this day, and still, there are no King or Queen ruling Wind Land…

Finally getting the acceptance notice, Hyaweh travels to the Isle of Rozenberg, which is holded by the Rozenberg Family, the most powerful family in Wind Land, second to the absence Royal Family. In there is the best school for knights wannabes, privately funded by Duke Kizarov Rozenberg, the number one Knight in Wind Land.

However, as it turns out, Hyaweh is actually two whole weeks late and from there on spirals his wacky journey to knighthood in the midst of a devastating war taking place, which will hit home closer than what anyone could’ve imagined.

Shugo Chara! (Air date: October 6th)

This one’s based on a shoujo manga that I never got around to reading. ^^;; An anime adaption is coming out, so why not?

Sketchbook ~full color’s~ (???)

Doesn’t look as cute as Hidamari Sketch, but it looks good.

Speaking of Hidamari Sketch, two specials are gonna air on BS-i some time on October. Can’t wait!

… And the DVD for the movie.

Since the original series stopped at around novel 8, Shana II will definitely take place after that. Haven’t read that far into the novels, so this’ll all be new to me.

Now I really can’t wait for Shana II! It’s probably the anime I’m looking forward to the most this fall. Perhaps it’s the only reason I’m trying to stay not dead in 2007…

And there I go, jinxing it. ^^;; Here’s to hoping to see more of our favorite loli, who’s literally “HOT” with FLAMING HAIR AND BLAZING EYES.

I just finally got around to watching Potemayo and I’m left wondering… What in the world is that thing?

Okay, this series is based of a yonkama about a mysterious creature, who a boy named Sunao Moriyama finds and names “Potemayo” (after a snack that he ate). Potemayo soon follows him everywhere and she starts to get popular with his classmates. Another strange creature with a scythe, which one of Moriyama’s classmate names “Guchuko”, appears and more weirdness ensues.

Apparently Potemayo is very protective of Moriyama and proclaims that he is hers in her strange, strange language – even going as far as attacking a girl named Mikan Natsu, who has a crush on Moriyama. She has like some sort of bat-like sonar that detects whenever Mikan talks about Moriyama with a “doki doki”-ish tone.

Strangely, I thought of Kazumi from Shakugan no Shana when I saw and looked at Mikan. Maybe because she has the same voice actress? Or is it because of the hair?

A whatever-ever-it-is violently cutting stuff up and taping them back together with masking tape? Imagine real villains making a dramatic entrance and then doing that. Strange, yet amusing.

And it can shoot laser beams?! Seriously, WHAT ARE THESE THINGS?! ^^;;

We also get a very nice scene of a chicken taking a little poop. With sound-effects too. Is that not amazing?

This show seems to be surprisingly cute and funny! And at the same time: equally strange. It’s totally random at times like that dead pig appearing in the classroom. (; All in all, good show. Not laugh-inducing, but it did give me a smirk or two (I mean, Potemayo wet the bed while Moriyama was sleeping. Pretty funny stuff.).

Hiyori is awesome (the cosplay pic reminds me of something; we need another Fullmetal Alchemist anime: this time one that follows the manga all the way until the end).

If you watched the episode closely, interestingly, there’s some neat stuff that happens when Kuroi-sensei is punching Konata, here and here. I guess KyoAni wanted to throw those in for the viewers who have good eyes. ^^;;

Why, look what we have here… I spot Ju-on: The Grudge. :O Much scarier than its American remake, The Grudge (no, seriously. Was anyone actually scared of The Grudge?).

Like Tsukasa, I don’t really do scary movies at night… but do them anyway. ^^;;

I find it amusing that Konata points out that being clumsy is cute in anime/manga, but is irritating in real life… when they are in an anime/manga. Kagami acting out the part was totally funny.

By the way, I got an animated gif of this scene from the imageboard. (;

There has been some speculation of who Tsukasa was so eager to get a reply from while texting on her cellphone. Some people say it’s Shiraishi. NO! JUST NO!

Another morning at the Hidamari apartments… Oh wait, wrong anime. (;

Hiyori shows more of her awesomeness when avoiding the falling impact on her drawing hand (of course, she sacrificed her back…). I’ve heard of “dying for your art”, but she takes it to a whole another level (I mean, she just tripped. Just imagine if it were a life and death situation… Hmm…).

The cars below are getting a pretty good view, huh? (;

This would’ve flew right passed my head if it wasn’t for AnimeSuki.

Wow, the way Konata’s dad reacted, I thought Konata was running around naked or something at first. o_O;

Gyakuten Saiban 4 / Ace Attorney 4 reference! More proof of Hirori’s awesomeness.

Akira sending Shiraishi off to die in the forests near Fuji… harsh…

“What is yaoi?”

Aw man… Yukata’s DEFINITELY one of the most cutest characters in Lucky Star, next to Tsukasa.

Yeah, this episode was great as usual. I like it how recently the anime has split screentime from the main group and Yukata’s friends (who are dying for a spinoff).

Some quick thoughts on the episode.

You know, it’s funny how Makoto suddenly starts to realize that ignoring Kotonoha is wrong after he sees her drenched clothes showing her boobs. Sure, showing some guilt after doing what he’s done would have knocked some points out of my hate-meter for him, but he never once mentions feeling bad for her until he saw the goldmine.

… Okay, maybe I’m being too hard on him, I guess I should knock some points off just for him actually showing guilt. But it really seems like fake guilt just for him to get under Kotonoha’s skirt. Besides, he was willing to go on and have sex with Sekai after faking the headache so Kotonoha would leave. He’s still the two-timing jerk, and him prolonging his break-up with Kotonoha (which never happened) only made things worse.

Hehehehehe. I don’t mind. Taking care of Makoto is the only reason I have for living.(8

I can see the small signs of Kotonoha having a break down. What I don’t get is why she continues to deny that Makoto isn’t the nice guy that loves her like she thought he was. It seems like she really loves him, which is a big mistake. But I can’t really fault her for that because it seems like all the girls in this anime have very bad taste in guys (I know that this isn’t very credible seeing as this is coming from a guy, but I know most of the girls here will agree with me).

Seems she’s actually taken a little bit of action at the end giving Sekai a firm b@#c3$lap. ;P (Should’ve did that to Makoto though, he deserves it more.)

Next to Makoto, Taisuki’s getting to be one of my most hated male characters ever. The guy’s driven by hormones – he’s desperate. This is supported by the fact that he’s going after Kotonoha just after he heard that his best friend had broken up with her (which wasn’t really… true), which would mean he had his dirty eyes on her way before he had heard of it. I certainly wouldn’t want a friend who has his eyeballs on my girlfriend (and who I really suspect to have indecent thoughts about her)…

But what makes me hate him more is that he takes advantage of Kotonoha and rapes her at one point in the game. Yes, Makoto made friends with a rapist – I’m not surprised. I’m hoping that this won’t happen in the anime seeing as it would imply that the path won’t lead to Makoto dying anymore (that, and I feel sort of sorry for Kotonoha).

… Well, at least he played a role.

Oh, quit your crying. You hooked them up in the first place and then you ruin it. If you wanted to be with the jacka** so badly, then you shouldn’t have set them up in the first place and given him your body right there and then (I bet he would’ve liked that…). But I guess then, the story wouldn’t really be interesting.

She’s lucky that Kotonoha didn’t go “WHOEVER STEALS MAKOTO-KUN AWAY FROM ME DESERVES TO DIE” on her Kaede-style. Instead, she’s given a loud slap.

And Setsuna… Wow, she’s forceful. ^^;; But I guess she meant well, even though it sort of made things worse.

A ship finds itself trapped in a sea of Ayakashi. Which passenger is the culprit that has sent them off-course?

I did a little research, and it seems that this episode has much more of a connection to Bakeneko than the last two episodes. A character that was in that arc of Ayakashi (Kayo) is in this arc of Mononoke. She also briefly mentions the events that happened in Bakeneko. There’s also an encounter with an Ayakashi (a very malicious spirit).

Anyhow, here’s a quick rundown of some passengers on board:

Druggist/Drug Merchant/Medicine Merchant (Man, I should really find that one consistent term for him…)

As badass as always. He also gives us a display of some good use of gunpowder (but not in a normal way… (;).

Yanagi Genyousai

Seems to be some sort of bard that has some knowledge of spirits. He reminds me of some other character from another anime that’s currently missplaced in my mind…

Sasaki Hyouhei

A very creepy-looking samurai. If someone first watches this episode and makes a guess at who the culprit is, this guy will most likely be it. He just seems like the type of character you’d make that sort of judgement on when you first look at him.

Interestingly, and this is probably only coming from me – Kenshin (Rurouni Kenshin), a very calm-looking samurai, popped into my head when I heard his voice. Pretty amusing.

And then we have these two honorable monks, who obviously didn’t do it… or did they?

The episode ends in suspense. It looks like the Medicine Merchant purposely made himself sound like a suspect for his own amusement. o_O

To quote what a talented fellow artist told me: Tsukasa is obedient like a dog, but her sister is lonely like a bunny!

Kona-chan, what does “moé” mean?

Does it not make you melt when you know who’s asking this particular question?

Anyway, I agree Konata. Anyone who knows the “true” meaning of “moé” is likely to be an otaku or the human confusing-Japanese-words almanac (which brings forth another question: Do almanacs really carry that kind of information?).

):

I was sort of amused when Konata said that boys have no shame going into the rain because they don’t have to worry about their shirts getting transparent and having their bras show. While I agree that is such a precise reasoning, I always figured that whenever we forgot our umbrellas, we either:

1) Refuse to wait and share an umbrella just because we didn’t bring one.
2) Refuse to share an umbrella with a female to avoid misunderstandings.
3) Refuse to share an umbrella with a guy because it’ll give people the impression that we’re pairing up.
4) We just don’t care about getting wet?

If you watched this scene and the words “SUPER ROBOT WARS DS” popped into your head, then congratulations. You’re a hardcore gamer. And an anime fan. A hardcore gamer and anime fan… Get some fresh air, man! (; Kidding, kidding.

Other than Konata and Patty, we get another otaku (this time, a dojin artist): Hiyori. Unlike the way Konata shares her otakuism with others, Hiyori is a little… less open about it. This is noticeable when she gets all uneasy when they discover her sketchbook.

I find it funny how she sometimes imagines her friends in yuri-type situations. ^^;;

Such as this one. I have to admit, she draws pretty well. But if I were her friends (who were actually oblivious to the whole thing), I would feel pretty uncomfortable hanging out with her. ^^;;

By the way, I’m entranced at Yukata’s cuteness just as much as Tsukasa’s right now. Which reminds me, “Yukata’s” goes through the spellchecker and “Tsukasa’s” doesn’t? WHAT IS THIS?! _|￣|○

When the shit hits the fans.

The dodge ball scene had me in stitches. I’m glad I haven’t encountered anyone who has an arm like that in real life.

SEMPAI

Seriously speaking, I’ve had enough with people treating their seniors as if they were gods.

i like Misao. i like fang ppl.

I actually heard the above somewhere before. Made me laugh for some reason…

Anyway, 5 second rule at home = fine. 5 second rule on public floors = What? I agree with Misao all the way.

Seems like I’m at the point where I’m demanding a spin off of these first-year characters after CLANNAD and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya II have finished their run. I can see it now, they just seem so much like the next generation in my eyes.

Lastly, Shiraishi in a wedding dress. Campy dancing and singing parodies? Great. But I draw the line at crossdressing.