And April is nearly over already. The spring-season proved to already be quite good in its first month, with some series that you don’t want to miss. For this entry, I tried to experiment a bit more. The previous format may have been a bit too static, and it began to bore me.

+ Quick ranking of the Spring-season so far +
Okay, so one month after the spring-season started, how are the different shows doing so far? Well, fairly well if I say so myself. There are some really great series in the bunch, and there’s a lot of potential. But will it be able to turn out better than last year’s spring-season? Anyway, here’s a list with a small blurb of my opinion about them. Some of them were dropped after episode 1, while I managed to see more episodes from others.

#38: Overdrive - Deserves to get the title of “worst show of the season” because it was the only anime to have aired and nearly put me to sleep out of boredom.
#37: Saint Beast - Also came close to achieving this.
#36: Hayate the Combat Butler - Just isn’t funny, not to mention that it has too many non-sensical events and annoying characters.
#35: Keitai Shoujo - Two words: just pointless.
#34: Kaze no Stigma - Seriously needs some better scriptwriters.
#33: Kaibutsu Ojou - Boy gets to live in house full of bishoujo, where did I hear this before?
#32: Sola - Is just boring.
#31: Kono Aozora ni Yakusoku wo - On second thought, this series is bad. Period.
#30: Shinkyoku Soukai Polyphonica - Mediocrity, anyone?
#29: Nagasarete Airantou - Okay, it does have humour, but also one of the most annoying main characters ever.
#28: Idol Master Xenoglossia - I seriously forgot what this anime was about.
#27: Koutetsushin Jeeg - Someone, please tone down the testosterone-level of the scriptwriters.
#26: Blue Dragon - Could become good later on, but I don’t feel like finding out.
#25: Seto no Hanayome - Has its funny moments here and there, but there are definitely better comedies out there.
#24: Koutetsu Sangokushi - I know that I praised this one, but the second and third episode showed some horrible animation and scriptwriting.
#23: Gegege no Kitarou - On second thought, the cases just aren’t interesting enough.
#22: Kamichama Karin - Definitely not the best mahou shoujo out there. Filled with Deus ex Machina.
#21: Lovely Complex - I’ll perhaps watch this at a later time, when my Japanese level is high enough to pick up the hilarity of Kansai-ben.
#20: Ookiku Furikabutte - Perhaps I’ll watch this later when I have more time.
#19: Touka Gettan - Very confusing, will finish once summer holidays start due to busy schedule.
#18: Hitohira - I’ll also finish this one later, when the subs have picked up a bit.
#17: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann - The third and fourth episodes weren’t as good as the first two. It also needs a bit of realism, don’t you just love how in this world, bullets never seem to run out?
#16: Darker than Black - I honestly can’t see why this series is praised so much. Sure, it has potential, but the first three episodes only featured lots of blood and gore and a guy who keeps hitting on girls in order to protect them.
#15: Heroic Age - The premise is good, but that’s the problem. The premise is the only thing worthwhile about this series so far.
#14: Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha Strikers - The first few episode were predictably not that good. I want to see that antagonist arrive!
#13: Lucky Star - Finally an actually watchable show from KyoAni, nice one.
#12: Murder Princess - A nice little show.
#11: Romeo x Juliet - Someone tell me how people can survive a jump in the water from a huge tower without any scratch, and how three specially trained palace guards can’t even defeat a sixteen-year old girl? The romance-elements are good, though.
#10: Kishin Taisen Gigantic Formula - Okay, so the girl is the only one who can translate for the Gigantic, and she picked the boy. That’s good enough for now. What’s not good enough is how a little girl can be the head of the technical department.
#9: Wellber no Monogatari - Sure, it has a lot of bad points, but it’s fun, and the serious scenes definitely have potential.
#8: Engage Planet Kiss Dum - Quite good, I never expected this series to turn out the way it did.
#7: Claymore - So far, a solid start, but I want to see Terese
#6: El Cazador - The individual cases are pretty interesting, there’s lots of symbolism, lots of mystery, the plot doesn’t move awfully slow and Ellis is just too cute at times. What more could you want?
#5: Seirei no Moribito - Incredibly solid and detailed, episode 3 was a treat. Now let’s hope that the awesomeness won’t just limit itself to the climaxes.
#4: Ooedo Rocket - Hilarious and a good story? Definitely the biggest surprise for this season.
#3: Kaze no Shoujo Emily - A heart-warming story about so many conflicting interests. But yeah, it’ll never become popular.
#2: Bokura no - The huge cast of unique and different characters makes this anime so worthwhile.
#1: Towards the Terra - When talking about the overall best up till now, then for me it has to be Toward the Terra. With probably the best soundtrack of the season, great-looking character-designs and animation, a great setting and concept and very interesting characters, I really enjoyed this one.

+ Top 10 Anime +
One thing I do have to say is that April was a tad disappointing. Sure, there were good series, but when compared to other months, there were less awesome and memorable series. I don’t blame the newly arrived series, as it’s only natural for them not to live up to their full potential after only one month, but it’s more the older series. The fall-season just was worse than usual, and while Bakumatsu, Ayakashi and Red Garden were very interesting to see, they just didn’t live up to material like Simoun or Noein of previous seasons. Now that it’s ended, this really becomes clear. My favourite month so far in my time of blogging remains July 2006, with so many awesome series hitting their peaks. I’m hoping that the current summer will be able to trump this month.

#10: Seirei no Moribito

Like mentioned above, this definitely is the most solid and detailed anime to air in the spring-season. The fight-scene in episode 3 also was a real treat.

#9: Ooedo Rocket

Definitely the funniest anime to air in the spring-season. I love the mystery, different characters and the style of it all.

#8: Kaze no Shoujo Emily

Characters that complement each other perfectly. The introduction is finished, now I’m hoping for the anime to get really started.

#7: Jigoku Shoujo

Jigoku Shoujo currently holds the record of most posts dedicated to one series, the series to be blogged by me for the longest time (ignoring the sporadic ones like Ayatsuri Sakon and Popolocrois) and one of the first series I started blogging in the first place. Heck, after Mahou Shoujotai, it was one of the more important reasons for me to start blogging. That said, I’m sad to see this one finally go.

#6: Death Note

Death Note has been a strange little fellow over the past month. While it definitely had its annoying moments, other moments were just awesome, in a strange sort of way.

#5: Bokura no

Definitely the best promise of the shows in the spring-season. The characters have already shown to be really interesting. And that with so many of them.

#4: Towards the Terra

Like I mentioned above, when looking at the total package, Toward the Terra is my favourite series of the spring-season.

#3: Tenpou Ibun Ayakashi Ayashi

You know, in the final arc, Atl sortof sucked and was sortof unnatural, but everything else rocked! We can only wonder what this series would have done with its final 26 episodes.

#2: Les Miserables - Shoujo Cosette

Especially episode 13 and 14 were really heart-warming. It’s interesting to see that the Thenardiers are gone now, though.

#1: Chevalier

Chevalier has become even better in this month. The past number of episodes has been a real treat, and I just love the final antagonist. I’m so glad that this anime turned out amazingly well.

+ Random Notes +
- Power Puff Girls Z 36 probably was the best episode of the series yet when it comes with its own interpretation of the octi-episode. I also loved the art-style.
- Gintama had probably one of the best recaps ever at episode 25.
- I wonder if The Amazing Lives of the Fast Food Grifters will ever be noticed enough to get subbed, and I’m also eagerly awaiting Toki wa Kakeru Shoujo’s subtitled version. I don’t know what it is, but I have more trouble than usual when following raw movies, so I decided to wait for the subbers to do their magic.
- Less than two weeks left for Dennou Coil, and less than two months left for Tales of Symphonia and Tetsuko no Tabi. Yay!
- Share seems to have problems downloading Futago Hime. I don’t know why, but with every single file, it just stops downloading when about half of the episode has been downloaded. I’m not liking this, rawr!
- I think someone needs to tell the raw-providers that Kekkaishi started again. There hasn’t been any new release on Tokyo Toshokan, even though it’s been two weeks since episode 19 aired.

+ Newly Announced Anime +
Goshusho-sama Ninomiya-kun

Summary: “Next up is Goshuusho-sama Ninomiya-kun, which translates vaguely to “My Condolences, Ninomiya-kun.” Mamoru Ninomiya is the victim of his family, which includes two parents and four older sisters, all of whom are vagrants wandering around the globe - leaving poor Mamoru living all alone in a very large house. And what do you do with an empty house? Fill it - with a pair of sisters who find themselves in Mamoru’s debt. Wait a sec, why the condolences?” - (taken from animeonline)
Thoughts:Oh golly, what have we here? Talk about bad premises. It starts out great, though. Parents and their daughters who are wandering around the globe. Unfortunately, instead of focusing on these interesting characters, this anime decides to focus on the loser-son who stays home and gets to live with two beautiful girls. Seriously, when will these generic concepts stop?

Moetan
Summary: “Moetan is a series of English language study aid published by SansaiBooks in Japan. Targeted at otaku, it attempted to teach English words using examples drawn from computer games and anime.” - (taken from Wikipedia)
Thoughts:Just when I thought that an anime-title couldn’t get any more obvious, this one comes around. It’ll be just an excuse to show some cute girls without substance to the otaku.

Rental Magica

Summary: “In the story, Isuki is a high school student who inherits a magicians’ employment agency from his missing father.” - (taken from Anime News Network)
Thoughts:I admit, it does have potential. If the cases that have to be solved with the rental service are serious and imaginative enough, this could turn out interesting. But why do I feel that this is going to turn into one of those usual moe-series?

Sketchbook ~full colors~

Summary: “Based on a 4-panel manga. Like its 4-koma-into-anime predecessors Azumanga Daioh and Lucky Star, Sketchbook appears to follow a group of female high school students. However, this time the central character is the shy Sora Kajiwara, who is unsure of what club to join…until she gets dragged into the wacky art club, of course.”
Thoughts:If I had to guess, then this anime will combine Hidamari Sketch, Hitohira and Lucky Star. The shy girl could be interesting, but school-based anime have never really been my thing.

Druaga no Tou
Summary: “Players take control of Prince Gilgamesh on his quest to rescue his love, Ki, from the vicious Druaga.” - (taken from IGN)
Thoughts:Very interesting, Druaga no Tou, or the tower of Druaga is actually an old game-classic. Gonzo has decided to turn this into an anime, and I really wonder what they’re going to do with this concept, simply because of the lack of story in the original game. Really, how can you turn a game in which you have to travel through mazes in a strange tower to save your girlfriend into a fully fledged anime? Something tells me Gonzo’s going to pull another Romeo x Juliet on this one.

Ride Back

Summary: “After the United Nations dismantling and a large earthquake disaster happening in Tokyo, etc, the counter government motion by japanese students students again becomes active in 2020. One girl entered in the Musashino liberal arts university which is one of the bases base for the student movement. Her name is Ogata Rin. The “Rin” which has the talent of the dance which becomes type rare encounters with the human type bicycle robot ride back entrance first day. That, the opportunity which reforms the world is with, everyone’s one person there was no reason which is known….” - (taken from babelfish and edited a bit, though some sentences were impossible to transform to correct English)
Thoughts:Ride Back is another manga-adaptation from the Ikki-magazine. Quite frankly, I really enjoyed the various adaptations from that magazine, Narutaru was great, Bokura no is promising to become amazing and Tetsuko no Tabi, which is coming in June, is also looking to be quite interesting. Because of that, I’m quite looking forward to this one, though the concept seems a bit generic, featuring a girl piloting a small mecha in a dystopian Japan, 13 years into the future. Ah well, I’ve got hope for this one, we’ll see where this one goes.

Miyori no Mori

Summary: “The series follows Miyori, a girl who daydreams of escaping her tough everyday life. When Miyori enters the woods, she experiences many mysterious phenomena, including the discovery that the woods are also home to spirits and ghosts.” - (taken from Anime News Network
Thoughts:Yes! Yes! Another mystery-series got announced. With mystery being one of my favourite genres, I’ll definitely be anticipating this series.

+ Top 5 Episodes +
Deltora Quest - 07
Now that I think back on it, I keep getting more and more convinced how good that fight against Thaegan was. Short but sweet definitely is fitted for it. This episode definitely was one to remember if you combine it with the backgrounds of the different characters, abducted by the witch.

Seirei no Moribito - 03
Probably one of the most detailed fight-scenes ever. I’ve yet to see anyone to actually dislike this episode, and with good reason.

Jigoku Shoujo - 52
The end of the series I’ve been blogging for the longest period of time, and what an ending it is.

Saiunkoku Monogatari - 39
This has to be one of the most nostalgic episodes I’ve ever seen. This episode was basically enough to release the inner-fanboy within me.

Chevalier - 19
I won’t spoil what happened in here, but it was BEAUTIFUL.

Le Chevalier d’Eon tells the brilliant story of the years before the French Revolution, during the reign of Louis XV in a setting with fantasy-elements. It follows d’Eon de Beaumont, a chevalier in service of the king (hence the title), who suddenly discovers the death of his famous sister, whom he admired.

If you’re interested in politics, realism, cross-dressers, historical anime, battle tactics or compassionate characters, then look no further as Chevalier brings a compelling combination of these elements. The storyline is incredibly detailed. Characters act because of complex reasons, and in most of the cases these reasons are explained as well. Through the course of the anime, the countries of France, England and Russia show a bit of their political system they used during the timeline in which the series takes place. And some of the characters get fleshed out incredibly well.

The second half of this series is a pure delight because of this. Starting from episode 15, there isn’t even one bad episode, and each one delivers, with four or five absolutely amazing episodes. Unfortunately, though, the first half is just too slow at times, and it spends perhaps a bit too long on building up. There are a few climaxes, but they weren’t really that special when compared to the second half, and I can imagine that they cost this anime quite an amount of viewers because of it.

The music is good, but forgettable. The graphics however, shine. Not literally, but characters are drawn incredibly detailed, and they’re greatly animated. Battle-scenes also are greatly choreographed as well. But the thing that really made this anime was its cast of characters. I probably won’t be able to forget the charming Durand soon, or the naive Robin, or the knightly Teillagory. Each of them was so worth to watch. It’s a shame you don’t hear so much about this anime, as it’s really the highlight of last year’s summer-season.

Short Synopsis: It’s Masaru’s father, and only now the concept of Bokura no really becomes clear.
Good: Wow… just wow…
Bad: Certain characters didn’t get any lines at all.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8.5/10

Oh boy… I may have misunderstood this part, so correct me if I’m wrong, but in this episode, it becomes clear that whoever pilots Zearth, will definitely die. Seriously, I knew that characters would die quite often, but I never expected it to be an actual RULE to this game. That’s why Kokopeli never appeared again, he wasn’t controlling everything from behind the scenes at all, he just died after he demonstrated how to pilot Zearth! The reason Takashi died also was because of this, and Jun had to take the blame.

This time, it’s Masaru’s turn. And really, his case was so good. His brother (whom I previously mistook for his father) hates his father, but Masaru loves him. It’s a typical case in which a parent favours one of his children above the others. Usually in anime, the focus is on the neglected one, but this time, it’s the total opposite. The reason Masaru has turned so cold was because of his father, who doesn’t seem to have any mercy as well. It seems that the only one he’s nice to is Masaru himself, who in turn loves him as well. Notice the chair he uses in Zearth isn’t his own chair, but his father’s.

During his turn in piloting, he indeed demonstrates that he’s rather merciless, when he doesn’t care what kinds of homes he’ll destroy or people he’ll kill. Because of this, he accidentally kills his own father when he falls down, due to carelessness. He goes berserk after that, which ends up killing the enemy mecha, and himself as well.

This definitely was a Masaru-episode. The others didn’t get much development, aside from knowing that they’re all going to die. Because of this, I’m looking forward to the next episode a LOT. Especially the one who’s going to pilot next time will be interesting, now that he or she knows that fighting means dying.