Shigofumi

Ever since the past spring-season, Saturday has by far been my busiest day in terms of blogging, and it doesn’t look like the Winter-Season is going to change this, with yet another excellent series. Even though we’re only halfway the season yet, I’m pretty sure that Shigofumi has the best episode of all the new shows that have aired. It’s only the first episode, and it kept my interest throughout the entire episode with some excellent storytelling (and a very nice twist at the end. ^^;). Shigofumi turned into an excellent combination of Shinigami no Ballad and Jigoku Shoujo, and grabbed the best elements of them. The main character for this episode would have been better if he was a bit smarter (what idiot fires off an amateur-rocket in the middle of a city anyway?), but overall, we’ve got ourselves an gem here.

They are our Noble Masters

Well… at least it doesn’t take itself seriously, unlike the abominations of Rosario to Vampire and H2O, though something makes me suspect that some kind of melodramatic element will appear in the semi-final episode or something. In any case, instead of bad, They are our Noble Masters is just boring. There are lots of stereotypes and fanservice, but at least the plot doesn’t seem to be written by a whiny twelve-year-old who’s just hit puberty. Nearly everything about this series is just mediocre, though at least there is chemistry between the characters that kept me from falling asleep. Overall, this series will never become memorable, though at least it’s not the worst this season’s had to offer.

Porfy no Nagai Tabi

Okay, I know that this is rather useless, but please, someone sub this series, and don’t let it get horribly ignored like what happened with Les Miserables. There’s a very good reason why this is a series that’s part of the World Masterpiece Theatre-series: there’s no moe, no forced climaxes, no stereotypes, and instead it’s got genuine and detailed storytelling. Like expected, the big earthquake that separates Porfy from his sister has yet to happen, and I can imagine how the creators decided to use the first few episodes to flesh out the two of them and their mother, and already it has been an excellent slice-of-life series. Sure, this is definitely going to be the slowest series of the entire season, but it’s going to be worth it when the drama kicks in. To add to that: this series also has the best background-art of the entire season. It looks absolutely gorgeous and life-like. The music also is excellent, just like what you’d expect after Les Miserables (the Greek influences really work). Unfortunately, a lot of people will probably not give this series a chance, but you can be sure that I’m going to be blogging it from beginning to end. This definitely is one of the most promising series of the season.

Card Captor Sakura, when it was aired on the Dutch TV, was basically along with Gundam Wing and Digimon the series to really make me interested in anime. Looking back, it was really the best amongst these three. It was like Jigoku Shoujo: repetitive, but a great premise with great execution. I also saw the first movie a few years ago, though I never got around watching the second one until now. Turns out that this is the conclusion of the series, even though I ended up only watching the first half of it (blame the Dutch broadcasting-companies who’d rather show Sailor Moon than this gem). Still, I figure that anyone who got to the first major climax of the series will have no problems following the second movie.

First up, I must congratulate this movie for reminding me what made the series so great. Especially the first half has an excellent combination between light-hearted quirky characters and serious scenes. The cast for Card Captor Sakura is a really memorable one, and I especially loved Tomoyo, one excellent supporting character.

Then the second half kicks in, and the comedy takes a step back for the story. Overall, it formed a very nice ending for the series, though unfortunately there were quite a few convenient plot-holes, including a deus-ex-machina-ending. Something also tells me that the creators overestimated the acting- and singing-abilities of mere grade-schoolers. ^^;

Still, despite this, The Sealed Card is a must-watch for any fan of the original series. While the first movie was basically a glorified filler, the second movie gives a nice conclusion, and it has enough elements of what made the original series great. Surely, this is along with xxxHolic the best of what I’ve seen from Clamp.