D-Densuke?!

K-KAGURA??!

What a BAMF.

Oh Minna, how I've missed you.

As you may or may not know, I’m 100% against ecchi anime.  I think they are dumb and stupid and moron.  The very concept of panties flashing on screen more than once is ridiculous and only funny/interesting if it’s Zetsubou Sensei.

Also, as you may or may not know, I’m a huge, HUGE fan of Strike Witches.

Put two and two together, and hopefully that clears away some of the “omg ecchi shitservice anime!!!111one” spam about Strike Witches.

I assure you, I'm not watching it for this.

The first season of Strike Witches really appealed to me.  I [metaphorically] fell in love with the characters.  Each episode brought me closer to a single character, and the ending that tested the characters’ bonds made me realize how much I loved every single one of the Witches (though Minna is clearly superior to the rest).  The fanservice was at times prominent, but never was it distracting.

Yuck. Ew. Gross.

Now you may think, “Wow, what a build up.  You’re probably going to take the rest of the post to describe how Strike Witches 2 failed to meet any of your expectations.”

Well, you’re wrong.  WRONG.

Because Strike Witches 2 (afaik) is just as good as Strike Witches 1.  The lovable characters are back, and I’m going to keep on loving them!

P.S.: Yes, I know that I’m in the incredibly small minority here.  I just visited an anime forum and the post about Strike Witches 2 was titled “Pantsu Witches.”  Most of you sick bastards watch this show for the ecchi, or at least trick yourself into thinking that you do because nobody ever talks about anything else when it comes to Strike Witches.  Nobody… except for me, of course.  Now go out and enjoy this series for what it is: a brilliant example of good character, themes, plot, and everything else… with some ecchi on the side.

P.P.S.: The OP and ED are disappointing.  Nothing close to the first season’s catchy songs.  Just putting that out there.

Ookami-san

Fuck you, narrator. So damn annoying…

There are five ways an anime can end: Ugh Bang, Ugh Fizzle, Planetes Bang, Planetes Fizzle, and no ending.  (Note: In this context, Planetes means “good” because Planetes had the best ending ever.)

You’d think that the Ugh Bang and Planetes Fizzle types are very rare, but that certainly wasn’t the case this season.

The finale of Angel Beats was reminiscent of the last episode of Air.  Air finished its mediocre run with a final episode that was confusing, stupid, and confusingly stupidly tear-jerking.  I had no idea what I was feeling sad about because it simply did not make sense.  Angel Beats made a bit more sense, but any idiot could tell that P.A.Works was reaching real, real far for the drama.  Trashing Kanade’s entire character, giving Otonashi some lame romance crap (Hinata was a hell of a lot cooler), and inserting some last-minute, out-of-place comic relief all for some fake tears on the audience’s part?  Give me a break.  This may have been a hell of a finale, but it was a hell of a finale.

Of course, that’s not to say that the entire series was good.  No, no, no.  the entire series sucked.  In a nutshell, it was too many characters, too little time, and too much shit humor.

On the other side of the scale lies Arakawa Under the Bridge, a masterpiece of a show.  Yes, the last episode may have been a gag-filled episode, but hey, that’s good enough for a gag-filled series.  I’m still not sure what Arakawa has been trying to say (as in, the themes).  Shinbo and Nakamura (original creator, who’s actually female.  How cool is that?) may not be trying to say anything in particular, but something in the show resonates deeply with me.

When it comes to shows I love, it’s really hard to write anything meaningful, so I’ll leave it at that.  Arakawa for Best Anime of 2010~

When Durarara!! first aired, I criticized it for being nothing close to Baccano!.  And with this severely disappointing finale, I stand by that.  Durarara!! had too many characters for its own good.  By the end, it became impossible to fit them all in and claim that they were all more or less important.  That traffic cop showed up twice, Simon didn’t do anything, and in the end all we got was some stupid fistfight sparked by a minor character whose most distinguishing trait is that he sits in the passenger seat of a van.  I sat in a passenger seat of a pickup before.  How come I’m not important?  Does it have to be a van?  I wonder if the color of the van matters…

FMA:Brotherhood was all HELL YEAH, AWESOME material until episode 63.  True, it is hard to justify any win over “God” other than by some sappy power of ______ (friendship, spirit, soul, humanity, etc.), but I’d’ve liked to see a real battle with Father.  Where’s the total GAR-osity of episodes 50-60?  give that back!  I want my action back!

Arakawa for Best Anime of 2010~