JLS's Blog - MyAnimeList.net

JLS' Top 25 Anime Series of All Time (2010-2011)

Fri, 07 May 2010 21:16:28 -0700

Each year for the last few, I've been doing one of these. Top 25 Anime (2008-2009)

Top 25 Anime (2009-2010)

My Top 25 Anime of All Time (2010-2011) 1. Hajime no Ippo 2. Texhnolyze 3. Millennium Actress 4. Toward the Terra 5. Aria the Origination 6. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time 7. Rurouni Kenshin Tsuiokuhen 8. Cat Soup 9. Haibane Renmei 10. Ghost Hound 11. Le Portrait de Petit Cossette 12. Seirei no Moribito 13. Ookiku Furikabutte 14. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann 15. Top wo Narae! 2 16. Top wo Narae! 17. Giant Robo 18. Baccano! 19. Macross, Super Dimension Fortress 20. Sword of the Stranger 21. 5 Centimeters Per Second 22. Irresponsible Captain Tylor 23. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni 24. Le Chevalier D'Eon 25. Planetes

My R1 (North America) License Wish List [Updated 09/15]

Fri, 22 May 2009 08:06:42 -0700

1. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai 2. OverDrive 3. Umineko no Naku Koro ni 4. Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 5. Bakemonogatari 6. Guin Saga 7. Ring ni Kakero 1 8. Kara no Kyoukai -the garden of sinners - 9. Kuroshitsuji 10. Kaiba 11. Familiar of Zero Season 2 12. Rebuild of Evangelion 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 13. Shakugan no Shana II 14. Pandora Hearts 15. Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS 16. School Rumble 3rd Term

JLS' Top 25 Anime Series - 1 Year Later

Wed, 06 May 2009 23:19:08 -0700

I did this a year or so ago, so I decided to do a follow-up, also I'm bored. Previous Top 25

My Top 25 Anime of All Time - 2009 1. D.Gray-Man 2. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann 3. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time 4. Clannad 5. One Piece 6. Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's 7. Freedom 8. Baccano 9. Hellsing Ultimate 10. Black Lagoon / Black Lagoon The Second Barrage 11. Evangelion 1.0 - You Are [Not] Alone 12. Five Centimeters Per Second 13. Top wo Nerae! / Top wo Nerae! 2 14. Giant Robo 15. Macross, Super Dimension Fortress 16. Kaleido Star 17. Kanon 2006 18. Le Chevalier D'Eon 19. Zero no Tsukaima 20. R.O.D. TV 21. Aria the Natural 22. Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo 23. Shakugan no Shana 24. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 25. The Third: Girl With The Blue Eye

Feb-Apr 2010 Anime Planned Purchases

Sun, 22 Feb 2009 13:07:25 -0800

(*) - Christmas (P) - Pre-Ordered Aria the Natural Collection 2 (*) D.Gray-man: Season 1, Part 2 (*) Hayate the Combat Butler Part 3 (*) Honey and Clover Collection #2 (*) Yu Yu Hakusho Season #3 (*) Yu Yu Hakusho Season #4 (*) Hayate the Combat Butler Vol.#4 | March 2, 2010 (P) My Neighbor Totoro | March 2, 2010 (P) Ponyo | March 2, 2010 (P) Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn Blu-Ray | March 12, 2010 (P) Already Released: D.Gray-Man Season 2, Part 1 D.Gray-Man Season 2, Part 2 Tears to Tiara Collection #2 February 2010 The Tower of Druaga: Sword of Uruk | February 23, 2010 March 2010 Aria the Origination + Arietta OVA Complete Collection | March 2, 2010 Evangelion 1.11 You Are Not Alone Blu-Ray | March 9, 2010 Honey and Clover II Complete Collection | March 16, 2010 April 2010 Hidamari Sketch x365 Complete Collection | April 6, 2010 May 2010 Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei Vol.#1 | May 25, 2010 Future Series My Bride is a Mermaid! Season 1, Part 1 My Bride is a Mermaid! Season 1, Part 2 Eden of the East Complete Collection FLCL Complete Collection

Christmas 2008 List

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 20:16:01 -0800

The following I will be getting for Christmas 2008 and January 2009: - Aria The Animation (Sub-Only) - Aria The Natural, Part 1 (ep.1-13) (Sub-Only) PREORDER - Baccano Vol.#1 + Artbox PREORDER - Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage Vol.#3 - Buso Renkin BoxSet #2 (ep.14-26) - Darker than Black Vol.#1 - Emma, A Victorian Romance Season 2 (Sub-Only) - Ghost Hunt Part #2 (ep.14-25) - Kanon 2006 Vol.#6 - Lyrical Nanoha Complete Collection - Lyrical Nanoha A's Complete Collection PREORDER - School Rumble 2nd Term, Part 1 (ep.1-13) - School Rumble 2nd Term, Part 2 (ep.14-26) - Utawarerumono Vol.#3 - Utawarerumono Vol.#4 - Utawarerumono Vol.#5 - Utawarerumono Vol.#6 - Yu Yu Hakusho Season 2 (ep.29-57) and last, but not least... - New DVD Shelf Now it's just a matter of waiting 22 days. :)

Nov/Dec/Jan Anime DVD Purchase List

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 11:25:49 -0800

I did one for Aug/Sept/Oct, so now one for Nov/Dec/Jan. Already Released: - Tweeny Witches Vol. #3 - Gurren Lagann Vol. #3 - Lucky Star Vol. #2 Limited Edition - Lucky Star Vol. #3 Limited Edition - One Piece DVD Collection #2 - Toward the Terra DVD Collection #2 - Buso Renkin DVD Collection #2 - Kanon 2006 Vol. #6 - School Rumble 2nd Term DVD Collection #1 - Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage Vol. #3 - Yu Yu Hakusho Season 2 November -- - Emma: A Victorian Romance DVD Collection #2 | November 11, 2008 - Lucky Star Vol. #4 Limited Edition | November 11, 2008 - Yu Yu Hakusho Season 3 | November 11, 2008 - Ghost Hunt Complete Series Part #2 | November 18, 2008 - The Girl Who Leapt Through Time Limited Edition | November 18, 2008 December -- - Toward the Terra DVD Collection #3 | December 2, 2008 - Lyrical Nanoha Season 1 Complete Collection | December 9, 2008 - School Rumble 2nd Term DVD Collection #2 | December 16, 2008 - Claymore Vol.#2 | December 16, 2008 January -- - Lucky Star Vol.#5 Limited Edition | January 6, 2009 - Ghost in the Shell 2 Innocence Blu-Ray | January 13, 2009 - Yu Yu Hakusho Season 4 | January 13, 2009 - Lyrical Nanoha A's Season 2 Complete Collection | January 13, 2009 - One Piece DVD Collection #3 | January 20, 2009 - Baccano! Vol.#1 + Artbox | January 27, 2009

Fall 2008 Breakdown

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 07:06:57 -0800

Fall 2008: Not Many Diamonds, Lots of Unsterilized Needles Every so often, I'll find a handful of series which I find myself strangely liking and I can't explain it - a good example of this is Macademi WAsshoi, Black Butler and Today in Class 5-2 (TV 2008). After the "weird, why am I watching them" series, I have the "meh, I don't care either way" series. Shikabane Hime AKA occupies the "meh" section. I haven't really been sold on either one of them yet. Shikabane can hold my interest and its kinda the middle show. Then I'll have the diamonds themselves of the season - Mouryou no Hako, Michiko to Hatchin and Linebarrels of Iron. The last one, Linebarrels of Iron, is an interesting case. I didn't go in expecting Code Geass like 90% of everyone else, I enjoyed it. It had some redeeming qualities but it truly became a diamond with episode 4 and 5, I can only expect great things from here on. I've only seen 1 episode of Michiko to Hatchin, but as long as it maintains the first episode quality, I expect it to remain a diamond. Lastly, you have Mouryou no Hako. I will declare Mouryou no Hako is the only CONSISTENTLY good series this season and is probably my favorite of the season, easily. The casualties of the season are the following; Toradora, Magical Index, Tales of the Abyss, Yozakura Quartet, Chaos;Head, Tytania, Ga-Rei Zero, Kurozuka, Earl and Fairy, Skip Beat, Kannagi, Hyakko, AkaneSaka. Most series failed to provide a convincing hook to keep me watching and others I just got tired of how slow it was going. I like things to move just a little bit faster than a turtle. It was not only the hook, but it required to be all-around visually appealing - characters, CG and various other factors and the like. EDIT: Casshern Sins has become the next casualty. I've dropped 13 Fall 2008 shows, which is pretty sad. I still have 8 Fall 2008 shows left to watch, but I expect that will fall soon as I continue to knock out the waste of time series. Now to look forward to Winter 2009 season... it looks great.

My New Grading System for Anime Series, Movies and OVAs

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 22:46:26 -0700

So I can weed out all those terribly bad series or series I don't have a liking too, this new grading system will be effective for the Fall 2009/Winter 2010 season, when I preview various shows. My Point Scale: 0-5 Points, Character Designs (are they nice and memorable, or sloppy and forgettable?) 0-5 Points, Setting/Scenary Designs (is it beautiful, vibrant? does it flow with the show?) 0-5 Points, Use of CG properly (is it done neatly? or messy?) [If no CG is present, it gets all 5 points] 0-5 Points, The sound/tone of the OST/BGM and OP/ED Songs (are they catchy? are they annoyingly bad?) 0-5 Points, Animation Studio Credits (what exactly has this studio done in the past? did I like any of it?) 0-70 Points, Enjoyment (did I like it?) 0-70 Points = Fail 71-100 Points = Pass 1-20 = 1 21-30 = 2 31-40 = 3 41-50 = 4 51-60 = 5 61-70 = 6 71-80 = 7 81-90 = 8 91-94 = 9 95-100 = 10

Sept/Oct/Nov Anime DVD Purchase List

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 22:39:45 -0700

This is just a key to help me keep track of my planned purchases... just incase I lose the list somewhere, feel free to comment if you want -- I don't care, just be nice and courteous is all I ask. Already released, haven't bought yet -- - Lucky Star Vol. #2 Limited Edition - Tweeny Witches Vol. #3 - Black Lagoon Vol. #3 - Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage Vol. #2 - Gurren Lagann Vol. #3 - Lucky Star Vol. #3 Limited Edition September -- - One Piece DVD Collection #2 | September 23, 2008 - When They Cry Vol. #3 | September 30, 2008 - When They Cry Vol. #4 | September 30, 2008 - Aria the Animation (Season 1) | September 30, 2008 October -- - Toward the Terra DVD Collection #2 | October 7, 2008 - Buso Renkin DVD Collection #2 | October 7, 2008 - Claymore Vol. #1 + Artbox | October 14, 2008 - Kanon 2006 Vol. #6 | October 14, 2008 - School Rumble 2nd Term DVD Collection #1 | October 14, 2008 - Emma: A Victorian Romance DVD Collection #2 | October 28, 2008 - Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage Vol. #3 | October 28, 2008 November -- - Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit Vol. #1-2+Artbox | November 4, 2008 - Lucky Star Vol. #4 Limited Edition | November 4, 2008 - When They Cry Vol. #5 | November 11, 2008 - Lyrical Nanoha Season 1 Complete Collection | November 11, 2008 - The Girl Who Leapt Through Time Limited Edition | November 18, 2008 - Maria Watches Over Us: Season 2 | November 25, 2008 Another one shall come with December at the appropriate time.

Rant: Bandai Entertainment USA's Treatment of Code Geass, Gurren-Lagann, Other Series (Part 2)

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 08:33:47 -0700

Good morning all, Since late 2007, I have encountered atleast 12 defective discs from Bandai Entertainment (BEI). I will now share my experiences and why I'm very slowly going to abandon them if it keeps up. I'm sure you guys remember the big recall back in January. With My-Otome Vol.#4, Eureka Seven Vol.#12, Flag Vol.#2 and I coulda sworn there was a 4th one. Anyways, I'm hopeful you guys got good discs and didn't have to go through the tortures I've endured. I'm sure you've probably had to deal with defective discs like the Gundam Seed collections, Cowboy Bebop collections, the list goes on of issues plaguing BEI. Zegapain Vol.#1 is defective. I contact BEI customer service about it. I orginally pay $19.99 for the DVD at Best Buy. I pay for S/H to ship the disc and information to BEI, it costs $4.98. 11 weeks later, I receive my replacement DVD. It is also defective. I contact BEI again, get the correct forms and information. I mail the disc off again, $4.98 in S/H costs. 5-6 weeks later, I receive the replacement for my replacement. It is also defective. Rinse and repeat 3 more times before I give up on it. 5 discs, 25 weeks and $25 more later, I give up and I'm pissed as all hell. BEI customer service was more than excellent to me. I was hoping they'd use new replicators or authoring for the future discs and series. I have since dropped Zegapain and I have moved on with other series from other, more reliable companies. I buy The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Vol.#1 LE in May. I watch it twice. The third time, in the same player "Error: Cannot Read Disc". It's not just Vol.#1, it's all of them. None of my Haruhi discs work now. After I've paid upwards of $225 for the entire series. Damn straight I'm gonna be pissed. After the Zegapain mess, I wasn't going to waste my time or funds on it. I watched it on a much smaller but much more inferior TV, it worked however. It pissed me off that BEI's discs seem to have a mind of their own. I still consider the discs defective, since I can't play them on my preferred player of choice. I had gotten Lucky Star Vol.#2 LE last week. Go figure, it was also defective. It stopped playing in the last 10 minutes of the disc. I contacted customer service and no such response has been given, instead I got the error that the address didn't exist. I didn't feel like going through all that red-tape crap again. I returned it for $40. Nothing is sacred anymore. Not even my beautiful Tsukasa. Needless to say, I weeped. I begrudgingly bought Code Geass Part 1 (Regular) and guess what? NEITHER disc plays. Although on my inferior setup, disc 1 gets 15 minutes into episode 1 before it dies. Disc 2 plays 5 minutes, gets to the menu and dies at that point. I didn't feel like screwing around with it again. I returned the set and got my $30 back. I'm done with that series now too. I planned to support it - since I did watch it all in fansubs(it's a personal policy of mine to buy series I watch 4+ episodes of), but its not worth the time and stress. It's just not worth it. I break my own personal policy, the first time ever. Right now, my opinion of BEI is in the gutter. It always has been, to be honest. Gurren-Lagann and Toward the Terra are the only ways they can restore a little of my faith in them. For every defective disc I get, I'm dropping 1 of these -- Hayate no Gotoku, Sword of the Stranger, TokiKake, Gundam 00 and GitS 2 Innocence. I can't support flawed releases nor can I take even a risk anymore - it's just past that point and its just made me extremely bitter, I'm taking a risk on GL and Terra as is. With Geass out of the way, Ouran is looking mighty nice right now. The only ones to benefit from BEI's continued mistakes will be Geneon, FUNi, MB, Nozomi and ADV. 08/01/08 -- Code Geass dropped after receiving defective discs for the series itself. I'll just watch R2 fansubs when I get the chance. 08/07/08 -- Hayate no Gotoku has been dropped (until I get the time to watch fansubs) after receiving Gurren-Lagann Vol.#2 with a defective disc 4.