sickVisionz (Level 24)

Taking an idea from one of my fellow Vicer ( JJOR64) and his ( Super Duper Mini Reviews), I decided to try my hand at chronicling the anime that I watch throughout the week with a small write up.  These won't really be a review of the episode though, just a super short summary and things that I liked or disliked and special recognitions at the end. 
 
I caught a pretty rough cold this week which made my eyes too sore to read, so this week was pretty light on anime watching.  When I got better, I ended up playing   Civilization 5  and lost two days in that.

WARNING SPOILERS BELOW 

Saturday (2/12)

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Season 2 #10

Summary:  The school festival is coming up and Haruhi decides that the SOS Brigade should make a movie
 
Pros

• I got more laughs from this episode than any of the other ones in Season 2 and it reminded me of what I enjoyed when I watched the first season.
• If this movie turns out as awesomely terrible as the one from last season this should be pretty good.

Cons

• The more I watch the more I start to realize that Haruhi is kinda an arrogant self-righteous bitch, which makes her slightly less funny.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Season 2 #11

Summary:  The SOS Brigade starts filming their movie.

Pros

• The crowd gathering around the SOS while they were filming were saying and doing a lot of things that made me laugh.
• Like episode #10 I’m reminded of what I enjoyed about the series when I first saw it years ago, but....

Cons

• … every scene is giving me deja vu from season 1 and I feel like I’ve seen this exact episode and these exact jokes years ago.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Season 2 #12
Summary:  During the SOS’ film shoot, an unexpected occurence takes place which causes everyone to worry.

Pros

• Haruhi shot up an old man at a temple with a BB gun, which I found hilarious
• I stopped bitching about another possible Endless 8 and could enjoy this a lot more.
• Asahina actually shooting lasers from her eye was pretty cool.
• Someone finally put Haruhi in her place a little bit.

Cons

• I can’t think of anything.

Random

• The show is lighthearted, but I like to think that off camera everyone is struggling with their existence and are emotional train wrecks, possibly even near suicidal.

Sunday

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Season 2 #13

Summary:  Kyon and Haruhi have a falling out over the direction that the movie is going

Pros

• There were a lot of dark things in this episode (drugging, bullying, near domestic violence) that made it interesting for me.
• There’s a shot of a drunk Asahina on her knees reaching up to Kyon’s waste... I’m sure this was used in many a blog picture.
• Haruhi getting put in her place is always good to see

Cons

• Shaking my head at Kyon doing a hardcore cock block of the esper guy.
• Kyon being forced to apologize or possibly face banishment from reality was a bummer.

Random

• I’ve completely convinced myself that everyone one is on the verge of a complete mental and emotional breakdown.  Asahina cries herself to sleep at night, Koizumi smiles hide a troubled and tortured soul, and Nagato has had to kill her emotions or else she’d crack under the stress that Haruhi puts her through.

Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Season 2 #14
Summary:  The SOS Brigade finishes their film and everything returns to “normal.”

Pros

• Everything about the talking cat was great, from his philosophical conversation to the fact that was constantly sliding off of Nagato’s shoulder the entire time.
• They didn’t last long, but there were a couple of scenes with some pretty slick animation.
• I felt like my feelings about how everyone is behind the scenes was kinda sorta a little bit confirmed.

Cons

• This episode didn’t really feel like a final episode to me.

Monday

Dragonball Kai #93

Summary:  Gohan unlocks his full potential and takes on Cell and his Cell Jrs.

Pros

• A lot of people got their heads punched off or kicked in half
• The new animation blended in more seamlessly than it usually does

Cons

• I thought the Cell Jr. combat went on for a bit long, but that’s a minor quibble.

Tuesday

Bleach #309

Summary:  Aizen’s battle against Ichigo reaches its conclusion.

Pros

• Lots of slick animation
• Good music
• Ichigo has a decent battle against Tensa Zangetsu

Cons

• Tensa starts crying in the middle of the episode and drops a cheesy “touching” line
• Aizen Sousuke, easily my favorite bad guy in any medium, is no more.

Random

• Aizen’s blood explosion transformation and all of the crosses at the end reminded me of Evangelion 2.0.

 
Dragon Crisis! #6
Summary:  Ryuji, Rose and Eriko attend a Society gala where they meet Ai, a Lost Precious thief.

Pros

• A well animated action sequence
• The introduction of a character who may be able to give Kai a run for her money when it comes to combat.
• There are tons of super cute Ai shots in this episode.
• Rose’s floating and jealousy are adorable.

Cons

• A new character is introduced and there is a kidnapping and theft... again.  They’re starting to loop story arcs like Bleach canon.

Thursday

Naruto Shippuden #199

Summary:  The Five Kages head out for their summit.

Pros

• Seeing Konahamaru & Naruto interact always brings a smile to my face.
• More Danzo = more better
• Seeing the Raikage jump out of his window made me lol.

Cons

• Danzo’s sharringan reveal wasn’t as cool as it seemed in the manga.
• Actually hearing Chojuro talk makes him come off as even more of a loser than just seeing his actions and a text bubble.
• Outside of Danzo, this whole episode was super goofy and jokey like One Piece.

Star Driver #1

Pros

• Really, really, really good animation
• There’s a high level of ridiculousness
• Somebody did a teleport punch that was cool

Cons

• The character designs look straight out of some crappy  collect stuff and fight with it  kids show like Yu-Gi-Oh, Beyblade and a billion others, with clothing design by Colonel Zechs from Gundam.
• It’s the type of cute that comes off as annoying to me.
• The pink haired girl at the chalk board annoys me and I think she’ll be a major side character.
• I hate the mech design.
• I don’t like any of the characters, not even the bad guys... and I always like bad guys.

Random

• I can usually tell whether I’m going to take a show seriously or not after an episode or at least how I feel about it, but this one left me puzzled on both accounts.