Once upon a time there was this pony named Pony.
But this was no regular pony, you see for it was a dreamer.
It ran like the wind but it also had a dream.
It wanted to surf. This is its story.

Oh, it longed for.
But it wasn’t always like this. No, it wasn’t. Unfortunately it wasn’t.
For many decades and as old as time they all believe ponies couldn’t surf they were not allowed.
It was foolish and trite to consider.
- so everyone thought.

Why would a pony surf when they could run?
Why would a pony see what it shouldn’t?
Why should a pony experience what it shouldn’t?
You see, that’s what they told the young Pony from day one,
And quickly it was engraved in its mind forever.
But it always questioned this belief,
why can’t I surf?

Years went by and the little pony continued to believe in its dream,
just never dared to do anything about it.

“Will I be able to learn to surf one day?”
“Will I drown?”, “Is the sea breeze as flesh as they say?”
I can only dream – Pony thought.

“I can only dream” – It thought.

 One day Pony got separated from its group while they were roaming the grassy fields,
on that day Pony met another pony which would change this mammal’s life forever.

This pony wasn’t like the other ponies.
It was different,
but Pony couldn’t put place it.
There was something special about this character.

It wasn’t long before our Pony started to come to that place regularly just to see this pony.
Always looking at It from afar.
It was a particular experience, but always melancholic.

It always looked like the grey pony was yelling something,
But Pony couldn’t hear it.
The next day the same thing happened and the next day the same happen again,
But Pony couldn’t hear it.
A whole week went by and the same scenario would repeat as if in a time loop scenario.
Pony couldn’t hear its voice.

Same time, same place. It would repeat again.
The grey pony would go up to that hill and open its mouth as if saying something inaudible.
But Pony couldn’t hear it.

The scene left pony so distraughted that the image was stuck on its mind for days.
It finally asked one of its fellow ponies.
“Who is that pony? What is it trying to do?”
The other phony looked at Phony in the eye and told it to never speak of it again,
It also told it to never speak with any of the other phony either.
“Why?” – said Phony. “It’s forbidden” – said the pony.

Despite the warning Pony asked the rest of the group the same question to no avail.
Pony received the same answer no matter where it went,
they were filled with cold stares and disdain,
much like a bad sequel or a bad movie.
Soon Pony ran out of ponies to question.
Alas, it was pointless as no one would answer its question.
They weren’t wired to think any other way.

It wasn’t so soon before the very same ponies would shun Pony severely and permanently.
Pony was forced to leave its home and roam the vast fields by itself.
Every time It would find a new group the same thing happened,
He was soon shunned when they realized It was the rebel Pony from that village.
But Pony could not forget about that Grey Pony,
and why one day it stopped coming altogether.
Pony could never ask it what it was saying.
What was its message?

Pony wandered the fields for years.
Its limbs were no longer in top shape.
Its body was no longer sturdy.
No longer did its coat shone like the sun that made all the ponies envious.
What kept Pony going was the promise, the rumor, that it had heard from other ponies:

“I hear there’s a hill that looks like a wave.”

Age was significant taking a toll on Pony and reaching the sea would be nearly impossible.
You see no one told Pony that in its world the sea was far away,
that it’d take years to reach it on its own.
Yet, Pony dreamed of riding that wave even if it was a hill.
It dreamed just like It did when It was young and agile.

 The next months were specially taxing on its body which it had taken a turn for the worse.
Finally its contract with life was about to be expire in the next days.
Tired as a mule and beat up, it was about to be over for Pony,
When It spotted a peculiar hill with one of its remaining still working eyes.

 It was it.
The Hill that looked like a wave.

It was as if Pony had been fatally wounded.
But It had to go on. Pony was so close!
It mustered the last of its strength and marched to the top of that hill,
as if its very life depended on it.
In the very last moments its legs stopped working, organs started to fail,
Its eyesight left the creature several times,
but it kept going until it reached it.

Pony had reached its destination,
It had reached the Hill that looked like a wave.

It started at it for a few minutes then it turned its head around.
Pony saw the same grey pony that was so many times on that hill on that day.
Pony asked the mysterious creature with its dying breath,

“What were you trying to say on that hill?”
But the pony said nothing.

“What were you trying to say on that hill?”
But the pony said nothing.
“What were you trying to say on that hill?”
But the pony said nothing.
“What were you trying to say on that hill?”

Finally, the pony spoke as if it with all its strength to tell its tale,
at that moment Pony was finally able to hear the message,
but no sound came out of the other pony’s mouth,

There was only,

-

(absolutely nothing was coming out from its mouth.)

With its last breath all life was drained from its body and it completely expired on the ground.

The next day a traveler and his young son passed down that road and spotted the creature.

“What is that over there, dad?” – The son asked.
“You mean that?” – said the father.
“What do you call them? Sheep, right?” – said the son.
“We don’t call them sheep, son. We call those ponies” – the father said.
“But it does look like a sheep.” – said the son.
“That is no sheep my boy. It may have looked like a sheep but it sure lived like a pony, son. It sure lived like a pony.”

Today they come for a group then they’ll come for the others the next time.
Fuck off censorship. Fuck off.

      [In memory of a Pony]

The anime world can be thought as a series of accepted set of rules consistent with its world and the medium. Ano Natsu happens to be breaking them.

I was watching Ano Natsu de Matteru while getting some serious AnoHana vibes (let’s not get into the name or animation) and thought it was going to be a highly drama centric show like the former. So it catches my attention the show’s particularity and what it defines as rare in its own universe. Rare meaning something that is found to be surprising as it isn’t common. The major scene is the one where everybody  stares at the redhead in the train making her feel awkward, just like those stories foreigners read about how Japanese people find foreigners’ features to be intriguing.

Because you’re a redhead that’s why

Leaving reality aside and getting back to the anime world and its rules which disregard common rules and sometimes common sense, we assume that while a story accepts and follows its own laws and rules they’re in harmony with the audience for they’ve been explained in some way to be accepted and consistent.

From the regular anime fan’s perspective it is perfectly normal to assume that all hair color choices are plausible for men and women in a story. Similarly, it is also assumed that no character in the story ought to be shocked by oddities in such worlds or stories as they are consistent with its universe. This is the type of rule that overrides normally asked questions of what constitutes a regular reality, what is odd in its own universe, that is, as long as no one questions it it is valid.

I bet there’s probably 30 or more people in that train and not one of them have a fancy hair color.

Notice how no one in the train has fancy hair color. The reason behind it is simple – none of them are part of the main or supporting cast, having a fancy hair color separate them from regular characters making them stand out much like a status symbol. Therefore characters who aren’t part of the cast only have regular hair color. From that point of view it makes sense because they are regular people, non-key players to call it that, and no special attention is paid to them as they aren’t part of the story.

The incongruity of a show like Ano Natsu de Matteru is that even if the non-characters (aka referred to as the background people) aren’t part of the cast they shouldn’t be surprised at the sight or idea of seeing anyone with a fancy hair color in its universe. After all, that would be considering something that is normal to be rare, while considering something that is supposed to be rare to be normal.

Remember a character being specifically complimented on his/her hair color? Chances are you haven’t because it is considered normal.

The incongruity of it is finding to be rare something that is commonly normal. I’d get where they’d be coming from if everybody had regular hair colors, then it would be plenty reasonable to find characters to be shocked or surprised by anyone in the show having an odd hair color. Because there’s something that exclusively separates wild anime colors from natural colors, that is, wild anime colors are universally accepted by the presented and accepted rules of its world as being one of the many possible variations. There won’t be anyone questioning the validity of blue or green hair any time soon because they’re considered to be normal in their world.

It comes down to balance and  incongruity in stories making something normal appear unusual in which it was previously assumed to be normal in the medium.

So it ends a discussion on normality equaling rarity and a short discourse on hair color as status symbols in a story. Blue hair is the standard, redheads are rarity. Who really knew.

There is a time when bloggers don’t update for ages but they still have entries that never went live. Of course, they exist. They’re bits and bits of disorganized ideas and quick thoughts that didn’t make it into a full posts. This is one of those outdated and opinionated posts everybody loves about your old shows from last year that everybody finished but me.
I know. I know the Fall is so last year and  Keikakudoori is a lazy blogger who goes MIA for months and keeps the fun to himself. Jerk.

In which we count how many times Yozora calls Meat Meat because Hagani reached the point where her nickname had completely overshadowed her real name (go figure) and the validity of her name was in the same tier as Osaka’s. What was that one again? It’s the no one really cares anymore type of deal.
Say, imagine that one day everyone starts calling you by a nickname then very soon no one remembers your real name. Now when somebody else asks about you all they tell that person your given nickname instead of name. Hey, what’s that guy called again? I don’t know!
The humanity.

What I learned from Haganai is that you can overuse a nickname to death, that it partially restore my faith, that not all male lead in harems are wimps or bleed profoundly from everything, and that mechas are sensual for some reason.
Don’t ask me they just are.
And why could forget that Yozora just looks that much better with long hair.
I know not what you were thinking Haganai.

The bottom line is that the most satisfactory and intriguing twist for Haganai is making both Yozora and Meat run away together in a lesbian frenzy while they leave the lead hanging about what happened to his harem ending. Look at the OP. Look at the chemistry. Look at the tension between them. That’s right. No good harem inconclusive ending for you, sir.

I thought Haganai about a harem and its lead getting haremettes friends at his local school like every self respecting harem lead. Little did I know that it was about babysitting the young because of lack of day care center, responsible parents, or because of following the trend of parents-are-gone-for-whatever-reason in anime. Sure let’s just dismiss the possibility that there is a huge issue to be solved here when a little sibling acts like she’s heroine from a Shaft show and let’s go along with it. Problems tend to be solved if left them alone. Never mind, that’s never true, let’s just ask Yukiteru and why everyone Future Diary for Yuno other any of the other #’s.

In which it is self-explanatory because Yukiteru simply sucks. He sucked in the manga version he’ll continue to suck in the animation version given that I can hear his voice on top of it. If he were to reincarnate guess what, he would still suck again. There’s a perfectly good reason why Future Diary and the fanbase is religiously Yuno-centric and why Yuno makes all other yandere’s obsessions in anime, manga, VN, and any other type of medium feel like your average puppy love. It’s like this: You either like Yuno or you like Yuno. It’s Yuno-country in Future Diary.

Did I forget to mention why I like Future Diary?
I don’t think it included Yuki. I really don’t think it includes Yuki.

Because they kinda are if you ask me.  Look for fanart for any anime you’ll find that there is more fanart of anime characters than there is about manga characters. Realistically it makes a lot of sense as more attention = more artists and let’s not forget that everybody loves watching flashy and shiny anime. This even applies to Future Diary that despite being so popular it only had a couple of fanarts over the years. This easily changed when the anime came out and now there’s a decent amount of Mirai Nikki fanarts out there.

Yet we have a large abundance of pics of a psychotic at the same time aroused girl with hands on her face out of many fanarts there could be. Tired meme has gotten old. But wait, it’s anime so it’s totally new and cool right?  Sure is, especially if we consider said image that has been around since 2006 to be new in any way.
Thanks world for catching up with the rest of us.
*black screen* 5 years later.

Because I firmly believe that there is a blogger who’s made a list of Guilty Crown top moments of anime logic and it is arranged from A to Z and managing not to skip a single letter of how absurd the show can be at times. One of the big categories would be Gai explaining how impossible the character is. Taking out a mecha by myself? No problem. Purposely risking the lives of dozens of people without knowing for sure a plan would work? Sure thing bring those missiles and I’ll block them with I-guess-we-will-find-out-soon-after-I-try-it-for-the-first-time. It’s pure mystery how the Undertakers had managed to survive this long other than they’re dealing with the likes of Prince Clovis.

In which it is self explanatory for anyone who had watched Guilty Crown in the Fall. In which Shuu still sucks because having crappy character “man up” in an anime is risky move because it actually needs other good and likeable characters to babysit the lead until he gets where he should be.

I’m still looking for Guilty Crown’s edge. What should we look for? Is it deep? Mindless entertainment? Good characters? Guilty Crown has what, Gai? the cat girl? Granted I’m still three episodes behind but nothing I hear makes me be interested in the show again. I don’t think everything I hear is 100% right but they aren’t wrong either. GC had proven to be lackluster in my book. In my case I wouldn’t give GC so much crap if the producers would drop the illusion of a deep and serious show and just say they’re parodying Code Geass. Hey, I can get into that any day.

So professional. Much like the interview.

Because despite liking it, over the past episodes while I was still watching it Chihayafuru had turned into a show of “let’s indulge the bishoujo” more than anything where everybody is Chihaya’s lackey or have an inferiority complex towards the glasses guy.

Not this guy.

The Karuta god.

I think Chihayafuru would work better if Chihaya would be more like the Chihaya from the first episode. I think it’d work better if I would really see that everybody really likes the game because they like the game and not because of the cute girl approves (Taichi anyone?) I think would reeeally like Chihayafuru better if they would lay off some of the drama and focus on the lighter parts of the show.

Chihayafuru reminds me of Iroha without the mean old lady and the slapping. It also reminds me of shows where initially I like them then midway I start to lose interest once the actual stories don’t grab me anymore. I’m still more than a couple eps behind and I’m still that close to dropping it.

Because I want to believe there are still good mystery anime out there and not those cheap mysteries that are crap from start to the finish in which the audience bashes their heads when the culprits are revealed due to pure silliness. I’m (still) stuck on the 2nd episode because F/Z had monopolized my time and I couldn’t watch much of anything.
I just know that a good mystery is supposed to take more than one episode to be great and I think Un-Go was onto something. Based on some mixed quick reviews I’d say that Un-Go is worth picking up again just to find out whether it turns out to be good or bad. It can’t be worse than Gosick, can it? Can it?

Now, I can’t end this entry without saying it.
Dude looks like Seto Kaiba.

Because I’m intrigued and I have no idea regarding to whatever happened in Mawaru Penguin after I put it on hold back in the Fall. It was fun. It was weird. It had crazy transformation. It had Destiny. It had Survival Strategies. It had Rock over Japan.  Whatever else do you need? Not much but time to watch it.

The general consensus is that it was great even if I hear about a weird endings but that’s still probably enough to guarantee a possible chance of picking it up again. So what, it made no sense? Was it as deep as it tried to be? Did everything the show try to do made sense? Will I ever get tired of the flashy and fabulous transformation sequences? Am I just a Rock ‘n’ Roll Man? Big questions here, everyone. BIG questions here.

At the end of the day and for all eternity if that’s the case I may not know any details pertaining the rest of the show until I spoil myself or watch the show, but I know this much for sure: Penguindrum had the best ED Theme of the Season and sometimes it’s just right to IMAGINE for the hell of it.

That Kuma is unbearable but enough that. Compared to Chihayafuru Persona went from dull to a hilarious piece of work that I looked forward to each week. How does it do it? Why is it good? It just is. And come to think of it, am I seriously watching a school anime without romance, student councils, or clubs which isn’t purely a comedy either? I know. The world just got weirder all of the sudden.
I think this show just guaranteed me getting the game this year.

Somehow it made me think the following “Can YOU help Saber guess Lancer’s identity?” only in Dora the explorer’s voice, but that is seriously beside the point.

F/Z had been picking up slowly but I’m no action nut and easily through long dialogues provided they are interesting, informative and they don’t try to make them into documentaries. I dig how F/Z made simple fights seem overly epic, and that’s a compliment here though it may not sound that way. What am I to expect? Servants to be defeated in the first episode? To Saber to lose so early? Fate Zero knew what it was doing and it was clearer in each episode.

I specially liked how secretive they were of their identities. They sure knew how to conceal them. Not like this guy.

Fate/Zero best show of the Fall season. Best show of the season.
Keikakudoori, what a lazy jerk.

A memorable day, or celebration, a special occasion should not be passed by and right now I have the mission of ensuring that it is paid tribute to the valued companion that in the past two months have recently expired. An associate, to call it that, that we’re familiar with.I know it’s been more than two months, more nine weeks that in internet time that is a large amount of time. But who is really counting and this entry isn’t about me, it is about something else. One that you might have heard of it. But who is this certain obscure yet popular entity you may be asking? I know I know it well and I know you know it too. Really you must’ve heard of it.

This much is true and I hope I’m not being hastily presumptuous on this matter for what I gather all of us know it well.  I’m talking about them. I’m talking about It. It is one that changes names and differ in capabilities depending on its personal background.  It is one that behaves differently depending on age. It is, from what I can tell, one from which counsel and value are far from dispensable.

It is there, for it is often there more than not.

But a name, a name is nothing without having meaning to it because it is difficult to really grasp the meaning unless we know who the subject is. I can tell you that a name is irrelevant in this situation. This isn’t to diminish neither its position nor its value but because we could be talking about same subject yet they would all still could have different given names. Yet we have to agree that they all are essentially one.

Oh, yes, the mechanical associate that for the past years we’ve worked together side by side, to be technical about it, one in front of the other but I rather not sweat the small details. And I believe it is right there with you. Know that there is no need to look around or to the sides for it is in front of you as I speak.

Let’s amicably call it “Computer” and I’m positive it will find it an agreeable code name.  Let’s talk about it. Let’s reminisce about how it and its greatness, how it was more than often reliable and eager to help in all situations. How fearless and almost tireless and was one that had as many pockets as one could hope to imagine to store everything I threw at it. And believe me there were many things I threw at it. But Computer could easily take it for it was one that depending on the free space it could store unimaginably large amount of data as if it were a bottomless drawer.  Computer was a stand-up guy, a no-nonsense, a real silent type, a type of entity who chose to itself to pop up window and making electronic noises whenever an action was done or something unexpected of concern had happened. Computer was complex yet a practical associate and I respect practicality as well as complexity. But Computer did the most challenging possible it knew how to keep both worlds balanced not minding the small details, sticking to practicality and most urgent notice of something gone right or wrong and sometimes one more than the other.

Even those blinding bright blue screens were A-ok in my book every now and then for all of what Computer had done.

The truth and the very truth is that Computer knew how to get things done, stir me the right way and when unsure how to respond it will swiftly respond.  Computer was intrepid and would not walk out of a horrible movie unless you would and wouldn’t get scared of the world’s scariest flick! Computer would enjoy both the best and worst musicians any day of the week. You aren’t hearing it wrong, Computer was all that and given the right equipment Computer was unstoppable.

Therefore of all this, therefore it is paid tribute to Computer. Therefore it is paid tribute to an instrument of technological advances, work, and of formal and informal researching. It is my honor to offer appreciation to Computer for it was one that allowed concepts and countless ideas from many to come to life in front of a screen. As previously mentioned, I say of all of this because its departure will be missed and in retrospect I will not let this chance pass me by to tell of its tales.

Yes, for they should be known if they aren’t already to world. To tell the several moments forever engraved over the years and a history that not many might pay attention otherwise, yet they are ones we all share.  My mission today is to convey from its heroic to lesser one. From the plain moments to the thrilling ones. To tell the story of certain one in the modern age that was Always There.

The Tales of Computer are many but I will start this regardless. Though the beginning is always difficult. I know this right now, once again, Computer Was There.

Let’s start with the basics. When you first heard about K-Lite and the like packs and Computer was let’s do it and all for it. It was there.

When you were checking out Youtube comments and scrolled down looking for @ message to someone just got majorly thumbed down but could never find. It was there.

When It had a feud with 10-bit videos and didn’t respond to properly to them. It was there.

When you had to opt for 480p videos because regretfully It couldn’t play 720p or 1080p videos without lagging.  It was There.

When you first got Applocale and had to idea how to make it work. It was there.

When typing those draft that never made it live. It was there.

When It remembered the last location where you saved those files but it didn’t a minute later so you have to go back to that folder. It was there.

When you watched a Vevo video but soon closed the page because it was the censored version yet they call themselves the Music Evolution Revolution.  It was there.

When similarly you skipped the ads after the 5secs were over because no one cares about ads. It was there.

When there were only a few  days remaining in your Norton trial but you had MaCfee uninstalled anyway. It was there.

When it was there when you were left with the task of updating the iTunes library once you moved to a new one and lost your files.  It was there.

When you chucked at a recently installed program because it tried to talk you into installing Bing and decided to unchecked that box because you already have a Google bar. It was there.

When you know you have 40 days remaining in Winrar and that message buy it now never goes away. It was there.

When dll. was missing and it just goes to show that one should go legit or take some chances. It was there.

When Danbooru told you that there was ‘nobody here but us chickens!” though they were metaphorical chickens. It was there.

and It somewhat rejoiced at Noimatamia shows because they’re quality 75% of the time and let’s forget about the other 15%. It was there.

Before I continue let me remind you Computer was there

It was there when you switched to Firefox because IE wasn’t cutting it anymore.  It was there for the installation.

And who could forget how many times it endured like a valiant soldier every lackluster show scoring less than 7 rating even by MAL standards. It was there.

and when users have found a review helpful without reading said review. It was There.

When your anime batch of the week have all downloaded and you opened it from the recently downloaded list instead of the original location. It was there.

When you thought it was totally plausible that every song out there was or would be sang by Hatsune Miku. It was There.

When Adobe Reader had an update for the 99th time as you opened it and the improvements weren’t that noticeable. It was there.

When you torrented a video off NyanTorrents because of the waiting was killing you and it turned out to be fake. It was There.

When you said you’d punch your monitor and let’s hope you didn’t. It was There.

When you read a first! comment and really wondered why people do this. It was There.

And for gamers when you went to GameFaq looking for some advice on your latest game because let’s face it only a few still buy strategy guides anymore.  It was there.

When you went to Baka-Tsuki project page and saw that the VN’s translation progress hasn’t moved that much. It was There.

When you knew signing that online petition wasn’t going to bring that game, anime, or platform to your continent. It was there.

When you weren’t so sure if you were interested and aloofly said, Not sure if want. It was there.

When you got that RE: e-mail from people you didn’t know and never opened the message. It Was There.

When as a blogger you got an e-mail from a company wanting to write for them in return for goods such as clothing. It was there.

And when you got an online offer to enlarge body parts, uh, let’s leave it at that. It was still there.

When you told yourself that Blu-ray quality was overkill and that GB space was too much. It Was There.

When you leeched and not seeded after you were done like internet people. It was there.

When you wondered if there was an anime that wouldn’t have a Caramelldansen video. It was There.

When It reminded you there was only 15 minutes remaining on your battery that it’d be smart to recharge it. It Was There.

When the only thing to be found in Mangafox was “this manga has been licensed” though they still don’t sell it where you live. It was there.

When you actually knew That Feel when someone said That Feel. It Was There.

When you learned about the latest news from the internet before that in the papers. It Was There.

When you similarly wondered why the OP in a post didn’t Google the question or term before asking. It was there.

When you already knew very well what the answer was when Dracula made the rhetorical question, what is man? It was there.

When someone Objected to an Objection with the accusatory fingers because we all like objections otherwise it’d be boring. It was there.

When you got tired of Linkin Park AMV aeons ago. It was there.

Why, consequently, when you wished for The Bodies to stop Hitting the Floor for once. It was there.

Why, why. Consequently, when you muted a video or just moved on. It was There.

When you had to concur Guile’s Theme does go with everything. It Was There.

When you were in the weird part of the internet yet once again.

When an error occurred and please try again. It was there.

In your moments of confusion when you were to Nico Nico Douga but had no idea how to make anything work. It was There

And when they said “Please don’t read this” and you really didn’t because it is undoubtedly a chain spam.

When Internet connection errors ate your comment. It was There.

When you couldn’t read a message because the comment was removed by the original author. It was There.

When user was deactivated. It was There.

When you realized years ago that arguments over the internet were serious business taken with as much seriousness as reality TV and we’re all for the spectacle. It Was There.

What other moments do you recall computer asks. Respected Ladies and Gentlemen, I assure you of one thing for certain out the many things, of the many tales of Computer. The truth is that Computer was there.

Just as Planned welcomes a new year with a requiem to Computer.  I can tell you this much out of all things said here. Computer Will Be There.
Here is to all of them.

Mystery shows don’t often believe in making great first impressions because they don’t tend to gradually build up to it. If I were in charge of a mystery adaptation I’d put some thought on thinking up ways to avoid massively focusing on a mystery and all the investigating procedures from the get-go because as an opener these method hardly works.

The difference between the books and the adaptations is an immense gap, a race to fit everything into a 25 minute show where the reader becomes a watcher connected to the story mostly visually and where only the most crucial, rudimentary information is provided. UN-GO is another mystery that falls prey to other similar mystery anime adaptations that had similar lackluster first episodes and sometimes similarly eventually becoming lackluster series – they do poorly what they’re supposed to do best – handling mysteries. They do poorly more than often by putting their flimsiest mystery as openers for their series and thus failing to get the viewer’s attention.

Picking an average mystery of the week episode as a full opener isn’t the best way to go no matter how mystery centric the story is unless one knows for sure how to make it interesting. Sure, having the detective not act the detective part might be the same as having a fish out of its element – you don’t know what they should be doing, but regardless a story needs to build a proper strong start before they can surprise their audience with how ingenious the story and the lead is. When the show starts from the get-go with an unimpressive mystery it simply shows how cliche the story is and similarly how unimpressive all the characters of the show are, even if that is not case. When the train of thought is something along the lines of : “Maybe I should be learning about characters in the story or something entirely different instead of watching this mystery” is not a good sign. The problem with this type of poorly executed approach is that its only concern in the first episode and also in next ones is making the lead look good instead of giving depth to the overall story by “solving” (to call it that) unimpressive mysteries which does more harm than good. That’s why these overused and poorly executed approach are unsuccessful in drawing in the audience. Because they want to show you how interesting their stories are by not showing you how interesting they are.

[Right about now we should all be impressed]

Having a poorly constructed mystery as an opener for the first episode is a bad decision, not to mention very overused. We’re just learning about the characters, that is, we don’t know who they are and what they are like and because we hardly know them we aren’t as interested as we can be of them. How we learn more of them is based on what the story tells the audience and based on the first mystery that story provides the audience with, in which in most cases it turns out to be a painfully watered-down mystery solved in a couple of minutes after several chances at facepalming. That ties into the weakest part of (ironically) a mystery show is that the first mystery of the show isn’t as engaging as it could be. We get hit hard again when said less than stellar mystery we stumble upon in the first episode is the typical “recent murder” of some character we hardly knew and probably won’t remember their names after the first episode because of how rushed the mystery was. I get it. You’re a deduction skills are superb lead, however having a forgettable and dull mystery as your big debut does not impress anyone. Take a bow, anyway.

From my experience what I’ve noticed is that the more I know about the characters the more I care about the mysteries they are in. That’s one of the poor points that series like Gosick score hard. It takes dull main characters lump them with more uninteresting characters to create a story. On the other hand, the more the audience knows the characters the more they’ll naturally grow interested in them and when the times comes for the actual mystery and detective procedure part they will be ready. When we get the mystery throw to the face before we even realize there was one to being with, any possible chance to make a strong impact is gone. Mystery, or to be more precise mystery anime adaptations, hear me out, it’s not only about having characters being in a mystery but also having a story building up to this goal, to this point.

UN-GO is an anime that really *really* tells us to watch the next episode because they have more in store. There is no better way to say it. The first episode follows the typical “easy” mystery and ‘meh content’ because of it. Not to completely judge a full series based on the first episode but first impressions do matter and what impression the show is giving the audience. Having run-of-the-mill mysteries as openers hardly work because they lose the opportunity to wow the audience with a strong mystery instead of a weak one and a strong character introductions by resorting to dull the “10-minute mysteries”, that is, one that takes five minutes to tell it and another 5 to solve it. Or a full twenty five-minute mystery taking one minute to tell it, fifteen minutes of people minus the detective acting dumb, and less than four minutes for the clever lead to solve it. In the end, no one really cares about either of them because of how unimaginative and poorly constructed they were. Mystery shows tend to make poor first impressions because they start out very poorly by not gradually build up to it.

UN-GO isn’t up to a bad start as much as it is to a weak start where the most interesting part of the first episode was  *this* scene included in the first minute of the show.  I wouldn’t mind an UN-GO, and similar mystery series, which is not strictly mystery centric but a more flexible UN-GO. I wouldn’t mind an UN-GO that takes its time to develop a mystery rather than be a predictable mystery of the week anime. What I want is an UN-GO whose greatness foe is boredom, cliché, and dull scenarios. I want an UN-GO that is as clever as the main characters of the mystery shows they portray  – I want an UN-GO and similar mystery shows to play it smart.

Persona.
*Puts on sunglasses*
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!

There’s no denying that high expectations of a series are based on how outstanding its other titles are. There is so much I’ve come to expect of Atlus after I became an avid SMT with DS, SJ, and Nocturne, continuously open to dive deeper into their world.  The Fall comes and Persona 4 anime is announced and there comes the moment when the biggest decision is to watch or not watch an adaptation of a game you hadn’t touched before. After some thinking I said to myself why not? Let’s just watch this.

Originally I had my own plans for the Persona spin offs, but with so many months before that I’m more than open to watching the anime before that.  Similarly originally I was also shy about getting into the Persona series after being unsure how I would like the different take it has compared to SMT.  With so many months to wait and the chance to have a broad view of the series the Persona 4 the anime comes at the right time for me.

The Good :

+ The TV adaptation is based on a popular franchise. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time but I’m almost as excited as those who actually played the Persona series. There is a decent/great story to back up the series no matter what path the anime takes from here. Everything will be up to the adaptation to make it work.
+ Staying close to the original. I read the description, watched a couple of clips about Persona 4 months before the anime was announced out of curiosity and I can see they kept some of the nice details of the game. Personally I’m digging the calendar marking the days seen in the anime. Just seeing an adaptation keep some of the small details of a game would make any gamer happy.
+ Nice OP/ED themes and music. The BGs weren’t as strong as I expected them to be in the first ep, they were there but they weren’t prominent as much they could. I want a Persona that is sassier than that.
+ It’s a guaranteed to be a 22+ episodes show. For a game of such magnitude and story there is no better option than giving it a decent amount of episodes.

The Meh:

- I’m a bit put off by the animation. I realize there is some strong resemble to the original designs that but there’s something about seeing them in anime that doesn’t always click right. My expectations of Persona 4 was that it was going to be a bit more upbeat in some ways.
- Lastly, the first episode was a bit rushed. Looking forward to Persona 4 the animation fixing that issue and getting the pacing right for the remaining episodes.

Compared to the lackluster and forgettable Persona : Trinity Soul anime which was confusing, Persona 4 is already a promising show. Knowing the high caliber of the SMT series first hand and expecting the Persona series to be in a similar league I’m more than ready to see Persona the Animation be another massive hit this season. Persona.

and we’re entering the realm of self-deprecating titles.

Good thing they have a sense of humor. It’s an odd feeling when a light novel doesn’t always act like it is a light novel adaptation. That’s the vibe I get from them as of late. Some story, a point to make, moderate doses of fanservice, no imouto, no bentou making involved,  not too forced slapstick comedy, no lead who talks himself more than he should,  no cardboard characters. Color me surprise latest LN adaptation. You’re mad, Haganai. Mad I say.

Quick question. Are we so sure this not a prequel to Denpa Onna, huh? Never mind, BokuDachi’s artist is the same of Denpa Onna thus the similarities. That aside Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai sounded like another anime to skip this season. Totally. Yet another “make-a-club” anime centered around 3-4 students and their high school antics gets boring after a couple of times and is thought to be yet another LN adaptation coming from the far east.

All is good and just the same Haganai jumps back into the cute girls eye candy show. Don’t get me wrong Haganai was a better show that I expected it to be. Aside from the eye candy appeal of the show I was expecting it to be less inspired, dull, and plenty of cliches to go around. Hagani had its fair shares, but what it still came out was a more positive result of than said adjectives.

What otherwise could be no more referred to an anime that sells like hot pancakes, Haganai has a resonable chance to become more interesting, that is, to become a fun ride. Character interactions are king and how deeper this story goes, and Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai is still in the process of doing that. For what we’ve seen AIC knows its craft and knowing they how handle these type of shows they’re sure to put another hit under their belt.

And to the revolution in “eye candy art style”" thanks to Buriki, I say help me out here I’m getting Shaft, Silver Link and AIC mixed up, oy.