xAwakeAlivex's Anime List | xAwakeAlivex's Manga List

xAwakeAlivex's Profile

DARRRRLIIIIIIIING!I miss youuuuuu! TT i just know in this site, they have a comment box. stupid what i am xD how are you? i miss you a lot TT

I missed talking to you too^^ But don't worry, I won't stay this long without replying again. At least not until the round two of university entrance exams (10-30 June). And even then I'll try to make some time^^
And the F/Z novels are obviously way more important than my health. It's even rude of you to imply otherwise. I'm now deeply offended.
xD

Ao no Exorcist - Is that so? I also think I enjoy watching a series a lot more if it's already finished. However, that also makes all the flaws more apparent, since you're actually linearly following the plot without interruption. So in case the series has some plot holes, watching it in a run only detracts from my enjoyment. Well, hope you enjoy your rewatch, though^^

Darker Than Black - Sure thing^^ I'm always eager to know your impressions on potentially cool stuff. If you do get to read it, fill me in.

Fate/Zero - I... actually didn't write all I wanted at the time. But I was really tired of writing. I mean, physically tired, as in my wrist was acting up (which is rare, given how much I type a day). But I was really happy to see you gave me quite the detailed answer in this topic too^^
Anyway, I've obviously already finished it by now and it was AWESOME. Actually, the build-up is really well constructed since not only is the story never boring, as it actually gets better steadily but surely with each volume. The 4th being the best. You can't imagine how eager I am to see some of the battles animated. (Saber vs. Rider is the best, by the way. But there's also the inevitable Kiritsugu vs. Kirei, which is pretty awesome as well.) And surprisingly, there are three dialogs I'm looking forward to as much or even more than the battles to see animated. I won't go on on that, since it'd be too spoilerish. But they're really good and watching them complete with voice acting will be great. I challenge you to spot those three when it airs.
Anyway, the ending is... a serious trouble for me to avoid telling. But I really liked it. On to the characters.

I actually agree more with Saber's position in that debate (and no, it's not because she's my favorite), though I do think she's wrong in taking all the responsibility onto her shoulders. I mean, I find her way of ruling to be the correct one, yet I think she was too inflexible with herself - she didn't have to sacrifice everything but she wanted to take that ideal way of ruling to its fullest, yet pretty much impossible state. I also have to agree with Rider that trying to undo what happened to her kingdom is denying the effort of all those who once stood beside her. On the other hand, I truly understand her strife for perfection, her guilt for her mistakes and her wish to undo them. And actually, she also knows that Rider is correct in this point, but she still holds on to that ideal, because the determination of fulfilling it is the only thing that keeps her from despairing over it (as well as the only thing she can do as of now - as you'll be explained in the final episodes). That internal struggle is one of the reasons I really like her character.
Anyway, I'm really glad you like her and find her interesting, since I know plenty of people who won't stop complaining about how boring she is as a character.

Don't worry, you'll see more of Lancer^^ Though not necessarily for the better... *sigh* Sorry, can't say much more. But he's awesome and he'll have two pretty good moments in the fight with sea demon/Caster.

Gilgamesh is... A character I'd truly love to kill. And also the most overpowered character in the story of anime. The guy is intelligent, sharp, handsome and has a certain ridiculously powerful Noble Phantasm. I see where you come from, as I've also obviously noticed the resemblance with Izaya from Durarara!!. Yet while I love Izaya, I hate Gilgamesh with a passion. The main reason being how he treats Saber.
And you say a mild connection with the snake from Adam and Eva's legend? I see signs all over the place. From his pupils to his demeanor, his awesome manipulative skills, the relic used to summon him, and even his Noble Phantasm. I still think of him as a very good character, despite hating him, since I acknowledge his intelligence and the way everything that happened was basically a stage set by him for his own entertainment. He sees other as mere puppets, yet he seems to do so so rightfully. I still hate him though. (How I feel towards him is pretty much like how I feel towards Kyuubey.) So I see why you like him. He's definitely a good character.

As for the other characters, there are some who'll get a real boost in development in the later half (and very rightfully so). That would be Kiritsugu, who finally gets his much deserved fair share of development and actually becomes one of my favorites (he did had a bit more of development in the first two novels than in the first half of the anime, mostly because monologues and introspection are hard to convey in non-written media, but even in the novels, most of his development is depicted in the second half), Waver who is also pretty awesome, and Irisviel, who surprised me even more with her sharpness in understanding other people (pretty impressive for a homunculus, huh?) and endeared me with her dedication.
I'm looking forward to see the rest of it animated! Please ufotable, don't disappoint me, please... (I'm pretty confident they won't, though^^)

Mirai Nikki - Ah, this turned a bit too nonsensical for my taste, I don't even feel like talking about it. I admit that these latest twists were actually well done since they were properly foreshadowed and they're actually good. However, I feel like the characters actions and motives are all over the place, and Yukiteru's behaviour has finally become unbearable to me (and I used to like him in the beginning!). It's not bad, and never ceases to entertain, but I just don't feel that spark for the show anymore. It feels like they crammed too many ideas together, deviating a lot more than they should from the initial stage of things.

Guilty Crown - A bad show with good animation and gorgeous music is... still a bad show. The plot seemed made up as they were going, it has got only two consistent characters who are Ayase and Shu and I won't be talking about the ending because you're still a lot behind but... it was bad. A lot was left unexplained. Not to mention that Suichirou's genius plan was... starting something that can be fully explained with the words all anime fans know: the Human Instrumentality Project. Yep, lame.

I decided to watch Chihayafuru. I won't be doing it exactly now but I will eventually get to it. Right now my plan is to watch Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai just for the sake of ISML voting, and then the promised 07-Ghost. (Don't fall of your chair again!)

D.Gray-man - Hey, hold it girl! No need to get so enthusiastic xD I'm glad that you're glad that I watched it, though^^ I'm also surprised you actually guessed Lavi would be my favorite. Well, seems like you do know my tastes quite well. Those last few times haven't been just a fluke ;)

Do it. It's a really good watch, imo. It's just a shame that it probably won't be getting a second season since it had quite low sales. And it was just starting to get so good too... When you do watch it, don't forget to tell me your opinion^^

Heck, that's like, my dream guy. (Don't worry, I'm too far to steal him xD Not like that'd ever be my intention anyway. *evil grin*) No, but really, it's awesome that you're dating a fansubber. So yeah, glad that you're happy. I'm also glad that you haven't changed your opinion on that subject (since that's one of the many things that make you awesome).
Speaking of which, I'm also starting a fansubbing project. Actually, I'm doing it more for myself, since there aren't many Portuguese fansubs and for some reason they rarely pick good shows... (Can you believe that not one single group picked up Madoka Magica nor Fate/Zero? And that the guy who picked up Steins;Gate only subbed the first episode and doesn't show any signs of continuing the project even though he didn't set it as dropped and has continued translating other less interesting shows?) Anyway, I'm doing a quality over quantity thing and will only translate the Blu-Rays of series I really like that haven't been subbed yet. And I'm doing it because my parents are actually getting into anime, yet I feel that my father isn't appreciating Steins;Gate as he could (we're watching it together) due to not being used to reading English subtitles (thus not catching everything, according to him) and my mother can't even read English. Thus I have of now translated 24 mins of the first episode of Fate/Zero (only started yesterday!), since my mom asked me to watch with me once the Blu-Rays for the second half are out.

And you know? I'm totally sick and tired of the guy who offered me that candy. Let's see... He's really kind and nice, so I don't want to hurt his feelings (even if I can't avoid being somewhat cold at times... why am I like that...) but he's also pretty bland, personality-wise, and he won't leave me alone for a bit at school, which is actually the worst part. I don't know if I ever told you, but I'm quite an independent person and I love to have my moments alone (which has had me labeled as anti-social several times) just listening to some music or simply thinking. Actually, if i counted and compared the breaks I spend alone with those I spend with friends, it'd be about 60%-40%. But the thing is that of late I can do neither, since no matter what unusual place I go, he'll search through the entire school just to find me (the only place where I managed to spend a break without him bugging me was in the girls WC - for obvious reasons). And then, if I'm speaking to someone, he'll interrupt and demand attention. I just hate this kind of guys... I hate being rude but it seems like he won't take any clues so I might have to resort to being totally blunt.

---And once again, my wrist is acting up. Well, this is not the first huge reply I'm writing now but I may actually be building up a tendinitis...---

I've planned on watching Eureka Seven for a long time now. But... I always like to leave bigger titles for vacation time (I was gonna watch Juuni Kokuki this Easter vacations but a deep cleaning to the house got in the way...). I'm a lot more confident on trying it out though, since I have your 'quality seal' as a guarantee^^

Interesting... I actually took Blood+ of my PTW list after reading your reply, but I've just noticed you actually gave it a 9/10. Which kinda contradicts your previous claim that it's "ridiculous". Care to elaborate?

Another - It was actually my favorite anime of this season. I thought the mood was really well set, I loved the atmosphere and specially the sound direction, which is the bigger responsible from the awesome creepy and disturbing feeling which is the best thing in this series. I don't think Misaki was overdramatized at all, even if I'm not a huge fan of her anyway. I still claim that the characters were pretty much realistic and likable, but I do admit that besides the two mains (and Akazawa to some extent), they were really underdeveloped. I loved the retro-feeling I got from this anime, despite the top-notch artwork (though the animation could use a bit of improvement). I just didn't like the ending that much, specially since the mystery was revealed through supernatural means (even though it can fully be resolved rationally - it's even quite easy to do so) and because a certain character's attitude felt unreasonable to me.

Brave 10: I didn't like it. It's all I have to say. Totally average plot, bad characters (I liked Sasuke - because I like his character archetype - and Anna. Everyone else was damn annoying.) and bad ending. Average music, average animation...

Black Rock Shooter - Solid plot for a show with only 8 episodes, but the character reactions were too exaggerated for them to be any likable. Really, it was way too melodramatic for my taste, even if the concept and the message they tried to convey was actually good. I didn't like the fighting scenes all that much either.

Zero no Tsukaima - Yeah, well it's Zero no Tsukaima xD I thought the ending was bellow its standards, though. I mean, the first arc with Joshua was way more exciting than they fighting a random natural threat that had only been mentioned recently which actually had no motives what so ever, only acting on instinct. That's not a good finale for a 49 episode series.

Nisemonogatari - Worse than its prequel, imo. Heavier on the fanservice and pointlessness and less Senjougahara. She's the one who made the series for me in Bakemonogatari... I do like Karen though, and there were some really good dialogs that are a staple of this series, like Araragi's discussion with Hatchikuji (which I greatly enjoyed) and the last episode of Karen's arc, in which he and Senjougahara go talk to Kaiki. The finale was also pretty good, but as a whole, this series was inferior to its predecessor and, as such, somewhat of a disappointment to me, despite being one of the best I've watched this season (a really weak season to me). I also disliked the unrealism of the fighting scenes. The show is still pretty good on artistic terms (it's SHAFT, for god's sake - how could it not be good?!) but that kinda throws me off quite a bit.

Oh, I just noticed I forgot to address your paragraph on the music. The only Asian stuff I've listened to besides Anime OP/ED are songs by Kalafina, because I really love their songs. That aside, I only have favorite composers, not bands, as I truly am not a huge fan of Asian music. Still, I did went ahead and listened to some of the stuff you mentioned, including Love Again by your "super bias" xD Unfortunately, I haven't liked any of it, but worry not, I would never think about mocking your taste^^ All in all, nice thing you found a new interest!
I've also read the synopsis for "71: Into the Fire" and well, war movies are always nice, especially if they're based on real happenings, so I might actually give it a try one of these days. I won't forget to tell you what I think then.
Akin to your newfound deeper interest in Asian music, I've also taken a step towards delving in their culture - though in quite a different spectrum. I am... Trying Asian cuisine^^ I just made cabbage leaves stuffed with apple curry the other day and I simply loved it, as did my parents, despite the fact it didn't turn out as spicy as I had hoped. I've also made a couple of other stuff and I have other recipes waiting to be tried out. Now, if I only I could find a larger range of needed ingredients somewhere...

As for your offer for talking about the remaining anime of this season, I'm not really interested in too much, but I'd like to hear your opinion on Mouretsu Pirates, Inu x Boku SS (because I've heard good things about it) and Shakugan no Shana III and how it compares to the previous seasons.

And lastly, I'd like to talk about two of the anime I've watched lately. Or more accurately, about the two best anime I've watched since the first half of Fate/Zero. It's interesting how I spent three months watching 2 anime a week and not giving a single rating above 8/10, to then watch two shows, one after the other, which received a 10, and the highest 9 I've ever given. (Yep, because I have an objective rating system in an excel spreadsheet which gives me the score with two decimal cases when I enter scores from 0 to 100 in the following parameters: Story (30%), Characters (25%), Art & Animation (15%), Music (10%), Enjoyment (20%).)

The 10/10 was Mawaru Penguindrum, but I'm not gonna go into details on this one because my wrist won't handle it because I'd truly like to know your opinion on it first (don't worry, my wrist is now perfectly fine, since it has had a good night of rest - I started writing this yesterday night). Of course, you ought to be as honest as you always are, despite of my love for the series.

The 9/10 was Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom. I had good expectations for it, since dark tales are my type of thing, but it managed to go way beyond what I had accommodated to expect from this kind of mafia series, even surpassing Darker Than Black (which I truly enjoyed, as you already know). I liked how this was more character driven than plot driven, or rather, how the plot was centered around the characters. We don't really get much about Inferno besides it's primary goal of uniting and instilling rules on the underworld, but that doesn't matter at all. What matters are the personal plans of each of its involved parties, and how it affects our main characters, and that's where the anime truly shines, as it exposes the threads of deceit and betrayal in a masterful yet clear manner, never failing to make the viewer comprehend the most intricate conspiracies of (particularly) Claudia and Scythe Master. The psyche of the characters is also really well explored, imo, as their emotions and motivations are completely coherent with both their personalities and their circumstances. It's a rather cruel and despairing, yet fascinating portrayal of how you can gain something precious while in a despairing situation in which your will played no part in getting involved and yet lose it all due to your own wrong actions.
And seriously, people say Urobuchi's weakness are the characters he creates. I couldn't disagree any more there. And I guess that after reading Fate/Zero and watching Madoka and Phantom, I do have the grounds to judge for myself. I think what people don't like in the characters is that they're not the ideal 2D characters they're used to. What I mean is, the characters he creates are always inherently flawed, as opposed to idealistically portrayed. There's no clear black and white, everyone makes questionable moral decisions, yet that makes them feel more human. And they are, indeed, quite complex. That's a huge accomplishment to me, as I can related to them more, and they feel more alive and memorable to me. Fate/Zero has a huge amazing cast, Madoka is shorter, but it still has some pretty good characters, especially Homura and Sayaka (not to mention the awesome unconventional antagonist in the form of Kyuubey) and Phantom's cast is also pretty good, especially Ein and Zwei, who have a lot of depth and are among the best characters I've seen lately.
Well, that aside, Phantom is a truly great tale of tragedy and regret and I absolutely loved watching it.

Another great thing I've watched (it was actually in the last week Fate/Zero was still airing) was Bokurano, to which I also gave a 9/10. It wasn't as good as Phantom, due to not giving as much of a chance to get attached to the characters, as they'd mostly only get any development in the episode of their fight and subsequent death. It was still a very good anime, which had quite the nice plot that got better as it went on, but was, above all, a great collection of short tales about "what you'd do if you knew you had one day to live". Seriously, it made me think about that. Would I want to spend it in peace? Would I want to correct or settle some matters? Would I get into despair and simply cry and beg for my life? This tells the stories of apparently normal children with more or less common problems and how the knowledge that the fate of the world is in their hands, yet they have to handle the unfairness that they'll die whether they succeed or not. If anything, while it won't allow us to get too attached to the characters, it gives us a clear and interesting insight into their psyche, and for that, it was also pretty good.

And now it really is ending xD So, are you gonna pick up everything again this season? You seem to have fallen behind on Winter 2012, can you really keep that up? xP
Well, I'm picking up Fate/Zero (obviously), Kuroko no Basuke (as I'd already told you, I love basketball), Zetman (seems like a wonderful dark tale - really enjoyed the first episode, albeit finding it a bit rushed), Tasogare OtomexAmnesia (nice premise plus one of my favorite artistic directors), Sakamichi no Apollon (because the poster looks great), and probably either Jorgamund (more mafia anime) or Accel World (though I heard mixed opinions on the first two episodes).

Thank you, for your second event participation, in One Divine's Valentine Bash! We hope for those who participated, enjoyed it to it's full extent, but unfortunately, yet again, some users did not receive gifts because of the some who did not feel like taking 5-10 minutes out of their life to actually do what they signed up. No animosity here, just pointing out something ♥ Now with that over, we will head on to new and different things. For now, we introduce a new game brought out by one of our members; JustRad. Name a Flaw, the details to this game will be seen here! I would also like to announce that we will soon be holding something brought back from the dead, though should be one of the most enjoyable of all activities in One Divine; One Divine's Art Competitions will soon be held in the club, and we would love to witness the artistic abilities of you all! So when the time comes, please check out the details and participate for a chance to have your work displayed and a nice award banner to boot!

First things first, I'm gonna get the apologies out of the way. I could go and say I once again didn't have time and all, but that'd be hypocritical as hell, and if there's something I hate is people like that so I ain't gonna lump myself with them. It's not like I wasn't busy, but I did have time to reply, except after a more than one week without anime I would pretty much dedicate all of my free time to it, thus neglecting my dear online friends (since the real-life ones hardly get any of my time anyway xD). So yeah, while I do keep my promises, I'm hopeless when it comes to deadlines. Anyway, I'd say you're free to yell at me and stuff like that, except that'd be kind of impossible... And I'm taking too long with this so I'll just leave it at that: I'm sorry, but you do get your lengthy boring reply bellow xD

Must have been a nice trip^^ I'm kinda jealous since I'm in the last year of highschool and I haven't been in a school trip since the 7th grade! Anyway, sadly I'll probably have to skip on the finalists trip this year, since I'm in a tough spot when it comes to funds for the university. Though if I manage to correctly exert my persuasive capabilities (which aren't many, to be honest) with my grandpa, he'll probably pay for it^^ So not all hope is lost for me.
Oh, seems like I found someone else who's favorite part of the trip is actually the 'trip' itself. I also always seem to like the road part the best xD Anyway, glad you had fun.

On to the anime stuff? This will be endless xD

Ao no Exorcist - Yeah, I remember that. Still, I didn't exactly thought it'd be for the worse. Oh, I see, so the later half was all filler... Then that's the reason... Well, it's a shame it turned out that way. Especially if the manga is actually good as you say. I might end up reading it too.
And yeah, every typical shounen protagonist should have a guy like Bon to open their eyes with such a speech. But my guess is most of them wouldn't let their eyes be opened, if you know what I mean. They're incorrigible xD By the way, have I told you I totally loved the OVA with Blacky? (Best character in Ao no Exorcist)

Darker Than Black - You know what? I ended up watching the second season and Gaiden two weeks ago. And I though they were pretty good. Especially as I'm not the kind of viewer who gets impatient when things start out confusing. Instead, slowly understanding what happened and what's happening is actually quite stimulating and enjoyable for me. Therefore, I guess I ended up loving the second season almost as much as the first one (perhaps a bit less, probably since I didn't really like Suou). The story was once again great, albeit having again a quite confusing ending. The good thing about it is, what happens inside the gate is, by default, purely unfathomable. And that gets pretty much clear from watching the anime - we're not the only ones struggling to understand the events that happen there, as the characters have the same problem themselves. That wouldn't make it ok if the plot was still incoherent, but you can grasp most of the significance if you carefully think about it, which makes it good instead of bad. As for the OVA, it was pretty good as well, since it both provides a bridge between the events of the first and second season and pretty much ties all the loose ends of the later.

Fate/Zero - I should probably put away my pride and finally admit that I'm fangirling for this series as well. Besides, I've started reading the books a while back (started the 3rd one today - I plan on finishing the 4th next weekend, or at worst until Wednesday) and I just LOVE it. There's no other word to express how good it is besides "epic". Also, now that I've already read everything covered by the anime, I can testify that they made quite the faithful adaptation. In fact, one of the most faithful I've seen. My only qualm with it lies in something that's intrinsic to the medium: light novels can have as much narrating as they want, which translates in a lot of introspection that provides most of the character development for characters such as Kiritsugu and even Saber and (less importantly) Kayneth and Sola. That means characters whose development comes mostly from the dialogue between them (like Waver and Rider) get better characterization. Kirei also gets ton of introspection in the novel, but the anime is making a great job regarding the conversations with Gilgamesh, so it doesn't really matter, unlike what happens with Kiritsugu. However, the anime counterpart does have its advantages too. While the battle scenes are written in a griping way (like, you really can't take your eyes of the damn book), it doesn't compare to watching the awesome animation ufotable presented us. It really was a feast for the eyes. In fact there are only two scenes which I thought that should have been made better: The battle with Kirei in the forest, which was pretty much flawless (they put all the moves described in the book without changing a thing!) if not for the fact that it didn't show Maiya's state clearly, to the point that many argued she should have just shot him. Thing is, she had several ribs broken and was really struggling to even keep concious, let alone get up. She really tried to, though; And the conversation between Kairya and Aoi when he saves Rin. In the book, that scene got me to tear up, because of the clear contradiction in what he said, the conviction in which he said it and how painful it must have been to Aoi. I mean, he clearly implied that he'd kill Tokiomi, yet he did so without even realizing that the fact that he was in the Holy Grail War, the fact that he took the mission of saving Sakura upon himself, meant that either Aoi's husband or her dear childhood friend would get killed in the end. They cut a lot of that conversation, which wasn't that long in the book either, so I think they could have made that the focus of the episode rather than Rin (I did enjoy the episode though, I'm just sad that one of my favorite conversations from the novel was cut.) I'd say the same about the banquet, but they fixed that with the extended version of episode 11, which was had pretty much everything from the novel, word by word. Anyway, I'm so looking forward to the rest of the anime (I've only read up to the battle with Caster and (spoiler in white) Kairya vs. Tokiomi, which is awesome, albeit one-sided.) And well, I could keep talking about one of the best book series I've read in my life (and yeah, I'm saying that without having finished, so it might as well become my favorite one ever) for pages but I'll keep it here or I won't have time to read before going to bed. Not to mention that you're not the only one I urgently have to reply to.

As for the characters, yes, Rider is a pretty simple-minded guy, but he's also pretty intelligent, which is a powerful combination despite what it might seem. He understands the world through a straightforward view, which is arguably the best way to perceive it. Overthinking will lead to dead-ends because human understanding can only reach so far, and that'll lead to frustration. By being mature enough to accept life for what it is without giving up on his own goals, while keeping up that friendly, simple mood, Rider built a charisma that's pretty much incomparable. I find him a great character indeed. As for Gilgamesh, I actually think he's way better in Fate/Zero. He's not just the annoying big-boss, rather, while he's even more of a big-boss (seriously, Kirei is the evil mastermind behind pretty much every tragedy in FSN but here we see who derailed him into the path of sadism - Gilgamesh is the root cause for most events in both F/Z and FSN), he's not simply a arrogant shiny poser, but a really intelligent, sharp and persuasive man, whose views on entertainment and way to perceive the world never cease to amaze me.

Although, my favorite characters have to be Saber, Lancer and Kairiya. Saber must be no surprise for you, since she's been in the top of my favorite characters list since way before we've started talking. And I must say I actually like her better in Fate/Zero than in Fate/Stay Night. I like pretty much everything about her, by the way. From her cold demeanor and knightly manners, to her foolish overvaluing of pride and honor in a era where those are easily cast aside and her internal struggle over her unreachable ideals, her strive for being perfect and her regret for not having been able to do so. Yes, she's walking a self-destructive path (that has a good end in FSN), but that's part of why I really like her character, not to mention I identify a lot with her.

Then there's Lancer, who's reason of participating in the Holy Grail War is not to obtain the Grail, but the act of participating in itself. The guy only wants a second chance at doing what the circumstances didn't allow him to during his own life. Except his tragic story repeats all over again. His problem is that he just wants to please and he's too believing of others' good nature. He's still awesome though, I simply love his sarcastic remarks. Or maybe it's just because of the mole. Rationally, I should hate Sola by now (and I do!) but I still can't help but side with her whenever her thoughts about Lancer are described (her actions are totally centered on him, like totally, I don't think she even wants the Grail - she just wanted Lancer to go to the Mion River and defeat Caster to get back the used Command Seal so her "spiritual connection with Lancer would be perfect again" - how insane is that?!).

And at last, but not least, Kairya. His motive for participating in the Holy Grail War is perhaps the most noble one, and the sacrifice he had to make just to have a chance at it was the greatest. However, he never had a chance to win. The thing is, he doesn't realize this. Or maybe he subconsciously does but doesn't want to admit it. Much like how Homura kept going back in time to save Madoka, even if the outcome was worse each time in MSMM, because admitting defeat would mean falling into despair to never return. For Kairiya, it's just the same. He's punishing himself for having ran from the Matou household, for not having confessed to Aoi when she told him she'd marry Tokiomi and for not being around when Sakura was taken to the Matou's. He's doing it out of love, but the state of his body contributes to weaken his mind, and the line between love and revenge blurs everytime there's a scene with him. His suffering, his contradictory words and the hopeless quest he's undertaken make me really care for him. Why did such a good person fell to circumstances? The darkness that grows both around him and inside him makes me sad, but also makes me love his character. Tragic stories always get me.

What do you think about these three characters so far, by the way?

I respect people's tastes and opinions a lot but... while in arts there's no work of which the analysis can be void of subjectiveness, there are, and will always be some clearly objective points. And ironically, of the reasons one can have for disliking Fate/Zero, they pointed out the most wrong ones. The art is not anything special? I challenge anyone to find a TV series with more beautiful and detailed background art and better and more fluid animation than this. If they can find more than two or three, I'll give in to their argument. And overrated characters? They're underrated if anything! Between internal conflicts and contradicting character traits, you got of everything in Fate/Zero's cast. Also, no one is intrinsically good or evil, as all have traits that can be placed in either spectrum. You've got the guy who wants to play honorably and clean, but who's distorted and egocentric view of the world makes a totally arrogant bastard, you've got the guy with unreachable ideals who dreams of a happy utopia but uses the most hellish means to reach it, since he believes that to be the right thing to do, you've got two of the most interesting psycho characters I've seen, who's philosophical views are actually rather interesting and well thought-out, despite the moral difficulty of people like us viewers to even consider such thoughts, you've got someone who feels empty and whose search for a life-purpose brought him to religion, holding to faith as his stepping stone, accepting the dogmas because he has nothing else to hold on to, you've got a manipulating guy who sees the world as the perfect place for entertainment and life as the best soap opera ever, one that he's free to mold in the fashion of an interactive viewer... I could go on and on and speak about Irisviel and what it really means to be a human (I could actually write an entire paragraph just on her - and I like her a lot, actually), but my point is - there's not one single character in Fate/Zero that you can unreservedly call "good" or "evil", since they all have their different motives and beliefs, which are just as valid, even if at times mistaken, let alone any character you could hope to call stereotypical. How such a cast is overrated is beyond me. But yeah, perhaps such people should just enjoy the shallowness of their beautiful characters and shoujo romances. I don't really blame them. But if someone you know (not just random people) says that, feel free to show them my mini-essay xD I'd even be willing to argue with them on the subject if they'd like to.

Mirai Nikki - Still a 9/10 for me. And crap, how great were the last two episodes? I feel like the anime has just picked up a notch. That scene in which Yukki decided he'd murder Yuno and become god. Her reaction to it was simply great. It was what I'd expect from her, but was executed in such a masterful way... Oh, and I really, really want to know who the third skeleton belongs. I hate her design, I hate her voice, and yet I love her character. How that's possible is still somewhat beyond me but... Yuno FTW!

Guilty Crown - What do you say about Gai being a born leader after that flashback? Circumstances, it's all about choices and circumstances. Anyway, I really think that Guilty Crown has taken a turn for the better, despite still tending for the over-the-top and ridiculous. It won't obviously be a 10/10 for me, more like walking on the line between 7 and 8, more close to 8 as things stand now. I can't really say anything about the rest of your comments since the answers for all that were pretty much given already. The questions now are about Inori's seeming blood-thirsty actions, what's the will of Shu's father Haruka is betraying her own son to carry on, what the hell happened with Suichirou, since I thought he'd been killed by Yuu (or what the hell IS Suichirou), and how Shu will develop from now on. Shu wasmy favorite character from the beginning, and his development has been fulfilling my expectations, to be honest. His turning "evil" was quite cliche, yet not incoherent, and I like it that they show his moments of insecurity that, in fact, he's still the same old Shu, he's just putting on a facade to meet people's expectations, which is on par with his weak character. All-in-all, I think that despite everything, and despite having been quite a roller-coaster, Guilty Crown could still reach the 9 level if the story turns out to be coherent and well-thought in the end. I doubt it, but would like to see so.

Un-Go -Hell yeah, episode 10 of Un-Go was great. I really loved all the mystery and how it was later resolved and explained. There was just so much foreshadowing, like Shinjirou standing against a inexistent wall, yet I didn't notice most of it at all. In the end, Un-Go was quite a gem, portraying views and ideals in an impartial way, while giving proper arguments for both sides and not depicting the protagonists view as the right one, but rather giving us everything in a gray light. I enjoyed it quite a lot.

Toradora! - Agreed, that was probably the best shoujo I've watched. Not that I've watched many, but at least it was way more than just a stupid romance since it had strong side characters who got as much development as the protagonists. In fact, it was more about friendship, distinguishing your emotions and growing up than it was about romance. And I liked that a lot. Ryuuji was a good lead, and I was particularly surprised with Ami, whom I first hated, but turned out to be my favorite character in the show. Keeping up a mask, hiding your bad quirks is bound to make you hope for an escape for them, hence her awful manners when she was first introduced. When I understood that her true personality was somewhere in between, I really started to like her, especially since she could read others so well, and all she wanted was to help her friends, but had such a sarcastic way to do so. She was quite cool. And yeah, the ending of Toradora! was pretty much perfect, just as you say.

I'm a genius, hum? That's quite cheering^^ (hehe, your flattering always gets me) So, Chihaya is like Ohana, personality wise? That sucks, as I've heard (more like read though) many people saying she's a great character and what-not... I was expecting to like her. Anyway, how is Chihayafuru now? Still pretty good and worth watching or not too much? Worry not, if anything surpasses (or just equaling would be enough) the quality of the drama in Clannad-AS, it'd take me totally by surprise. So it's not like I'm having unrealistic expectations for Chihayafuru. Since I'm not expecting that to happen at all. And I can't really imagine it either... It does seem an interesting anime though, especially judging by the questions you said it raises. I'll be looking forward to your current opinion of it.

----little break on the specific anime topic----

What do you mean you "haven't seen anything 'good' lately"?! You haven't watched Madoka that long ago (from the time I received your reply, I mean). By the way, why haven't you rated it? It's not like I'm gonna get mad at you if you don't give it a 10/10^^ (I can't guarantee your safety from any unexpected accidents, though...)
Anyway, I do get your point, which is why I try not to watch too many stuff at a time. Well, my grades never suffered from my anime-watching habits, but then again, that's pretty much all I do in my free time so... Well, get at it whenever you want, I might just have a good recommendation for you, actually... You'll see in a bit when I get back to the "specific anime" topic.

You know what, I've always thought I wouldn't like sports anime, but the week before Christmas vacation I went to a marriage on the capital (2:30 hours from my town) and needed something short to put on my PSP and watch on that day. So I scanned my PTW list and ended up selecting Moshidora. What wasn't my surprise when I really enjoyed that little baseball anime! Pretty good drama which actually made me tear up at some points, along with some really exciting baseball play in the last few episodes (even if it did start out slow). Being a baseball lover (well, basketball > handball > baseball > everything else, for me), I thought I couldn't pass on sports anime like that anymore and proceeded to add some more stuff to my PTW list. Right now I'm watching Ookiku Furikabutte. I'm only on the 8th episode, but I'm enjoying it so far. Next season I guess I'm totally gonna follow Kuroko no Basket^^ (Or maybe I'll wait until it's finished... I always seem to enjoy them better that way... Who knows...)

----back on the specific anime topic----

D.Gray-Man - I promised to tell you about it when I watched it, and I did so during my Christmas vacation. I wasn't terribly impressed by it, though. Rather, I was damn annoyed at it, not for being bad, but for being way worse than it could have been. Let me get started on it. The premise and setting were both great, and the plot wasn't anything to laugh at either, since it was actually pretty well-crafted with interweaving events and plenty of symbolism which was actually meaningful, rather than being just there for the sake of giving of the impression of "depth" (*cough* Serial Experiments Lain *cough*). On the other hand, the execution was pretty weak, especially pacing wise. A good start, which got even better in the Miranda arc was put to waste by the incredibly boring 35 episodes or so that followed, in which the plot went anywhere as the characters got slowed down but every imaginable reason and entity and went back-and-forth for pitiful motives when they supposedly had such an important mission. Fortunately, it picked up speed on the second half, becoming actually really good as the stuff about the Noah and the Earl's intentions got more and more pieces revealed.

The arc in which they get trapped inside the ark, though (no pun intended), was somewhat boring for me. But that was probably because I felt the battles were dragged out too much (you know I'm not a fan of lengthy fights) and I didn't really care for the characters who were involved in them (I found Crowley so annoying I'd actually be happy if he was indeed dead and I didn't care for Kanda so his death was pretty much indifferent to me too). It does have its redeeming parts too, as Lavi's fight with himself inside Road's dream, which was not only really enjoyable, but also quite an important piece of character development.

As for the information that got revealed in that arc, it was pretty good and important. And that's when things achieved "awesome" status. Tyki Mikk's awakening and the revelation about the stigmata raised some important questions as to whether the Earl is simply using the Noah's without their consignment and the reason for 14th's betrayal.
The following arc with the invasion of the Black Order was also really, really good, as it finally concretely revealed the darkness within the Order and that not everything is as simple as it seems. Religious parallels are also pretty well thought out and laid upon us, like the symbolism behind the evolution of the demons, which is quite concealed in the beginning, but comes to light later: first they're irrational, then they gain the ability to talk and think for themselves. As they evolve, they get more and more alike humans, and level 4s have undeniable similarities to angels. The other thing that can be noted is that their evolution definitely brings them power, yet not necessarily for the good. That can also be compared yo human nature itself, since more power means easier corruption by it and the will to get more and more of it. There's also the issue with the Order itself, when they get in their mind that Allen might betray them since he had Mana's memories implemented in him. Their internal pressures and inflexibility, as well as the secrecy and concealment of their true intentions is really similar to how religious orders have functioned throughout the ages.

Anyway, the problem is, while appreciating this last part of the anime on a symbolic level is definitely possible, doing so from a plot analyzing point of view is a way harder task. Indeed, it answers some questions, but even more are raised as I ended up feeling even more curious about the Earl's plan as well as about the demon's evolution purpose and the Innocence's true nature (especially with that little something that happened to Lenalee's, which evolved into a parasitic type - I loved that battle by the way, that's how you do a team-up battle). That's to say, the fact that it got no conclusion sucks.

As for the characters, I remember you telling me you could guess who my favorite character would be, yet you refused to tell me before I watched. I have quite the feeling you were wrong though. Tell me if it's otherwise after I give you my take on them.

That said, the characters were also on of the things I found to be wrong with D.Gray-Man. With so many episodes, it'd be expected that I'd be able to care for at least the main cast in the end. Wrong. I've watched plenty of way shorter anime with better character characterization over a considerable cast (that made me even care for insignificant characters) than this one manages to achieve. That's not to say there aren't any good characters, because truth be said, there are. It just that the development is way to scarce for a huge part of the even bigger cast.

Allen is, without any doubt, the better character in terms of both characterization and development, which is to be expected since... well, he's the protagonist after all. He's also likable personality wise and is not a over-powered and over-confident arrogant bastard nor a self-pitying, passive wimp. He almost feels like what you'd call a "normal" person. Yet the development he undergoes is nothing short of awesome. Starting by how he perceives others and the role other people have in his life and also how he perceives himself and comes to realize his strengths and weaknesses, to the information he learns about himself and the Order and the position in which that places him.

My personal favorite would be Lavi though. He's pretty much a flat character with a pretty cool personality throughout the first half (though his cheerful ways almost bordered the "annoying" at times) but he does get a good amount of development later, which culminates in the awesome struggle with himself I've already referred to. There, his history comes to light, and we manage to fully understand, not only the contradiction between his human-detached mission and his usually cheerful and highly sociable mood, but the way he sees that contradiction himself, how he feels about it, how deeply it affected him throughout everything, and how he came to terms with it.

Then there's Lenalee, who I thought I'd hate but ended up really liking a lot (fortunately, her voice wasn't annoying as I thought it's be, and I can live with her design since her Innocence is actually quite cool). It was great that she wasn't just the nice one who cared for her friends more than anything for no reason at all, but actually had a past that made her think of her friends as the most important thing in he world, since it was indeed a scary place. Her development was also pretty good, and I think she's the one who gets more development after Allen. Her battle with the level 3 demon was really, really good too, both visually and emotion-wise, but afterwards, while there was a good piece of development for her with the earrings thing and stuff, the writers made her annoying as hell in the period in which she couldn't use her Innocence. Really, that almost ruined her character for me. She was always "but I want to protect them!". Damn it! I got it at first girl! No need to repeat it ten times during the Noah's Ark arc (once again, no pun intended), especially if followed by some really dumb, impulsive reaction. Not from someone who usually carried a healthy amount of common sense. The following arc redeemed that about her though. For once, her desperation was totally realistic and understandable during the Black Order invasion arc and the scene in which she asks God for power, while also showing her resentfulness towards Him is really well done, and one of the best scenes in the entire anime. (For me it was that and the scene in which Tyki Mikk opens a hole in Allen's heart.)

Then there are characters like Kanda, who don't appear for god knows how long, scarcely showing up in filler episodes and then you're supposed to care for their deaths. Seriously, there are plenty of hints toward his past, but I still don't get anything about him and for that reason, his "I can't die yet" could only be perceived as nonsense for me. And Crowley, who was annoying right from his very first appearance and whose only meaningful development was regarding Elaine. It was fine at first, but seriously, don't reuse the topic that much!
(I liked Miranda though, I really loved her design and power, even if she didn't get that much development either. Her low-self esteem was also quite a cool trait in the way it was portrayed.)
Then there were the secondary characters, for whom I couldn't care at all. In fact, when that fat guy became one of those skull heads and the glasses one tried to save him, it felt like his actions were just a pitiful excuse to get that demon to evolve to level 4. Because I couldn't care for the death of a guy who got two lines in the entire series, not for one who behave stupidly for reasons that I don't understand since they were never explained. In fact, that's my only qualm with the last arc. That aside, not even Komui, for instance, gets any reasonable amount of development. That's a weakness in D.Gray-Man. (Same thing with the villains, by the way. Scar gets a rushed flashback which is great information-wise but does nothing for his character and the others are pretty much flat. With the exception of Tyki though. He's better developed than some of the main characters, actually. And I like him a lot too, by the way.)

To sum it up, D.Gray-Man fails into three categories: pacing, development of side characters and conclusion (lack of it, to be specific). With its inconsistence, I couldn't give it any more than a 8/10. More specifically it would have been: Beginning (up to when they first meet Road) - 9; Rest of first half - 6; Beginning of second half - 8.5; Noah's Ark arc - 7 (9 to the last few episodes of that arc); Black Order invasion arc - 9-10. That, coupled with the inconclusive ending, leads to my rating. I still found it an enjoyable ride though, and the last arc would be a masterpiece in my books, if only it wasn't the last, that is (lack of conclusion = annoying).

Shakugan no Shana II - I finally got around to watch it. I actually only did so because my interest on the series was renewed once I came across the spoiler that Yuuji somehow becomes evil in the third season (I don't know any details, so please don't give them to me either). Anyway, I'm glad I did watch it, because it was way better than the first season, both character wise and plot wise. The plot isn't as convoluted and nonsensical as in the first season. In fact, there are actually some explanations regarding what happened in the end of the first season (regarding the Serei-den thing). Besides the better plot, Shana was also less annoying (She only said "urusai!" six times during the whole season, which considering she always spouts it in bunches of three ("Urusai! Urusai! Urusai!"), means there were only two instances in which she used it! That's quite some development, don't you think? xD - I'm being ironic here, but I was indeed relieved that she didn't annoy me nearly as much this time around.) and Yuuji actually becoming useful was quite an interesting turn of events. The fact that my two favorite characters got plenty of screen-time / development was also quite agreeable - Whihelmina got some great fight scenes, and Satou had the best character development out of everyone this season. If it wasn't for the soap opera-like start (it was way too slow, despite providing some really interesting character development for the main characters), it could have been even better. I expect good things for the 3rd season. At least that it keeps this 8/10 level of the 2nd one.

Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu - Here's the last thing I want to talk about, and also my recommendation (since it at least doesn't seem to be on your list). So, "The Legend of Legendary Heroes". Ridiculous titles, ridiculous outfits and shoujo-like character designs. How much did I expect from this? I can assure you I had no expectations. But that was soon turned around in a couple of episodes. Instead of the lighthearted fantasy setting and comedic quirks, I was presented with a much darker tale, full of political intrigue and character study. Yes, there was comedy, sure, but it wasn't the focus of the show and it actually tones down throughout it when things start to get more serious.
Anyway, as I've already said, you've got lots of political intrigue, the portrayal of how easily power brings corruption, a realistic characterization of war, the reasons some hate them and the reasons some love them and also the reasons why it ends up being unavoidable. You've got the pursue for ideals, the pressure over a king who'd like to make everyone happy but has to balance every dangerous person besides him. You come to understand how it's way harder to rule fairly, since if someone opposes your wrong actions, you can just oppress them and keep up your evil ruling. But if someone opposes your just kingdom, the only measures you can employ to stop them rely on more questionable means. Keeping up that balance is a challenge one of the main characters, Shion, struggles with through the entire anime, and you slowly see him breaking under that pressure. There's also a realistic portray of human nature: the prejudice that comes from ignorance and fear, the shutting of determination and loss of the meaning of life due to loneliness, the fear of being hurt, the fear of hurting others, the twisting of moral ideals to fit one's greed and selfishness in order to keep one's conscience clear. You've got loads of interesting characters, and good insight into each one of them. Even the villains have a kind of depth many main characters would hope for.

The plot is mostly character driven, but not in a bad, boring way. Since it's the governors actions that move countries and war, it's only natural that their psyche is directly connected to the big events that happen. The thing is, the characters are not controlled by the plot, and do not simply act in function of it. Rather, they are the ones to advance the plot forward. As for the plot itself, it is, at first, a rather heterogeneous blend of fantasy and political intrigue, in such a way that the fantasy part seems way too irrelevant and uninteresting when compared to the political build-up (which some people deem as "boring", by the way - I found it pretty interesting and enjoyable though), but later both parts tie in pretty much perfectly, as we're somewhat explained the well-thought mythology behind those links. The second half is pretty much amazing.

Sadly, Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu is not without its flaws. The biggest one being the lack of conclusion. Being an adaptation of a light novel series, it serves more the purpose of an introduction, and judging by what I've read about the sales, it doesn't seem they're gonna be adapting the rest anytime soon. Which is unfortunate, since it ended just when things were getting to the best stage. One other flaw (besides the art and the first OP/ED combo, which is pretty bland and forgetful, unlike the awesome second OP) as to lie in the comedy part. It's not all that funny, and there's mostly one joke being reused over and over. It's not a too prominent part of the series though, so it's easily overlookable.

All in all, it was an excellent series from which I'd love to see more and I only regret not having watched it earlier. If you've already watched it (but forgot to put on your list on MAL as it wouldn't be the first time), then I'm sorry for both recommending it, and not analyzing several aspects better, as I'd love to have referred some specific examples to things I mentioned but didn't for the sake of avoiding spoilers. If you haven't, I think you should definitely give it a try.

End of the specific anime topic. (You must be thanking god for that right now^^'')

So, besides that... I have some news as well. I'll probably be able to read manga some more from now on, since I've finally bought a smartphone. A Samsung Galaxy W, with which I'm really, really happy with. Bought it with my hard-earned money too^^ (having a part-time job comes in handy at times, even if I'm saving up most of the money for getting into university next year). Anyway, now I have a manga-reading app that comes in really handy to read a chapter a day during the school breaks. Seems like I'll finally catch up with Soul Eater, Toaru Kagaku no Railgun and Pandora Hearts soon. (I'm using the breaks for reading Fate/Zero now though xD)

Also, today's the 14th February, right? For a girl who's never got a single card or whatever in her entire life, it was quite an eventful day. A guy I've got to know about a month ago (And I got him into anime too! He loved Fate/Zero^^) gave me... - don't laugh - ...a candy... xD Well, he kinda blushed and told me "I remembered you." And I was like, "Ok, thank you very much." with a totally serious face. And then he kinda stopped talking. Quite a stupid scene to be honest. Whatever... Anyway, after some other talking today (since he now goes looking for me every single break, which annoys me at times since I love being alone), he told me I remembered him of Saber. Best thing being that he doesn't know she's my favorite character. Never I felt so flattered. Hit a soft spot there. Well, seems like a got a new friend. And my circle of real-life friends grows from 1 to 2. You should congratulate me on such a meaningful achievement! xD
And then... in the evening, I got a call from a number I didn't know. It was another guy, someone with whom I'd only talked once or twice for a couple of minutes. How he got my number is beyond me, but thing is, he asked me on a date... Seriously, even though I don't really care for any of them, I feel kinda good that for the first time, there were people who kinda... noticed me? Who cares, I won't bother you with my silly little day anymore, I think the anime stuff was more than enough.

And, I'd love to talk about this Fall season's anime, from which I'm following Nisemonogatari, Brave 10, Zero no Tsulaima, Another and Black Rock Shooter, but it seems like I've already far surpassed my word-count record. So you tell me what are your impressions from this season (no spoilers about stuff I'm not watching, please though!). Hope you're doing fine and you can forgive me from the late reply^^

Word count: 6791; Previous record: 3467 in a reply to Jyoze

Hope this can somewhat make up for my lack of life-signs lately. Though it might have been boring as hell for you to read this (still increasing the word count?)... Anyway, here are 3 hours of my life. Please take this humble offer I present upon you.