Oh, Funimation; you really have done me good on this winter break. Aside from Darker Than Black, I've had the chance to watch a few more series, not in their entirety, but close enough. Let's go over them, shall we?
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Welcome to the NHK.
Excuse me for one moment.
*Riotous laughter is heard from the distance*
Holy SHIT, this show is funny! This is officially the third anime series I've ever seen that's made me laugh my ass off! Although dramatic at times, (Satou's social anxiety is portrayed in a scaringly realistic manner) it is mostly a comedy, and even the drama is well done, too. Sadly, only the first 7 episodes are available; I may have to buy this on DVD.
Oh, also, here's the crazy part: the English dub is by ADV, and it's really good.
Okay, so why now is ADV doing a good dub? Oh, it doesn't matter; Chris Patton and Greg Ayres are my new heroes for nailing Satou and Yamazaki so well.
Yay! I don't hate the anime division of ADV anymore! Isn't that great!?
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Kanon, the KyoAni version.
This show is . . . moderately adequate. It's a character study about a young man named Yuuichi who returns to a snowy town to live with his aunt and cousin. He used to live there during his childhood, but he can't seem to remember anything from back then. He meets a number of characters, most of them beautifully illustrated girls, and slowly pieces together his past. Unfortunately, only the first four episodes were available, and ep. 4 ends just as things started getting interested.
The show is infamous for having a bunch of moe girls in it . . . I don't know if moe is the right phrase. Only Ayu comes across as moe to me. The characterization is pretty good, but the series is not an action-packed one; it's a slow and deliberate series, and it's not for everyone. That said, the art and animation is gorgeous, and the English dub (again, by ADV, oddly enough) is spot on. Pertaining to the last example, Jessica Boone and Tiffany Terrell are my new heroines for playing Nayuki and Makoto so effectively. By the way, Makoto is so kee yeute! ^_^ Hey, someone had to say it.
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Soul Eater.
If this aired on tv when I was a teenager, not only would I have watched it, it would've been really popular, too. This has every recipe for a successful shonen series, and ya know what? The first four episodes were good!
This show is wacky; the hometown of the protagonists looks like Halloween Town, the characters are eccentric beyond belief, and it is just plain silly. The artwork doesn't try to be strikingly beautiful, but instead opts to look cool. I love it. The animation is great, and it's a lot of fun to watch. Also, it's really funny at times. I saw episodes in Japanese and in English; I actually prefer the English dub, for the characters sound even wackier in English. (Huh. DTB sounds better in Japanese, but SE sounds better in English. What do ya know?) If I can, I'll see about watching more episodes in English.
Lastly; Death the Kid. He is hilariously awesome.
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All this watching of anime got me interested in finally signing up for myanimelist.com.
My profile!
Keep in mind, my lists only show anime and manga I can properly score. Anyone who's read this blog knows that I've watched (or tried to watch) Cowboy Bebop, Kurokami, Hellsing, and Kiddy Grade, among others, but I would need to research some of those shows more to properly review them. And as for CB and Kurokami . . . how can you say "I liked some episodes, but hated others"? Oh well.
My lists though . . . they definitely look like something I would make. Be sure to check the comments, too; some of them have comments only I would write. Heh.
I go back to school in two days. So don't expect as many entries by then.
LATE EDIT: Which is funny, when you consider that I now have CB and Kurokami scored on my MAL list. I still can't decide how much I dislike Hellsing Ultimate (yes, it was Ultimate I sampled) or Kiddy Grade, though.