So late!! Everything is already on episode 2. Dx Anyways, first impressions on the Winter season. Tbh, no shows really impressed me. I’m not hooked on any show. I’ll follow a few because they seem like they’ll get better, but no real one to squeal about. I’ll probably continue to follow the Fall shows. However, the one thing that does appeal to me this season are the numerous amounts of wonderful BGM. So I’ll be looking forward to tons of OSTs. :D

Hanamaru Kindergarten

It was definitely a cute and hilarious light hearted series. It was a lot more enjoyable then I expected (because I expected to just plain dislike it, haha). I have to say sometimes Anzu sometimes annoys me but I guess it’s inevitable. I love her friend Hii-chan (too lazy to remember her whole name). She’s just so calmly cool, and her neko costume is adorable. The different EDs are also very nice, and the main guy isn’t that bad. He doesn’t get on my nerves, so…he’s okay in my book.

So-Ra-No-Wo-To

I have to admit I was going to first say I was plain bored with it and didn’t like it. However, after I decided to watch the rest today (I watched it yesterday with distractions), I have to say it’s actually interesting so far! I like it so far. It has a different vibe than usual and it has a very interesting concept to it. Though I still think there are some K-On! rip offs, it’s already a lot more interesting than K-On!. I’m not a slice of life kind of person, because it usually bores me, but so far it seems like there’s more to it. Also, the BGMs are absolutely beautiful. I love the French BGM. The art for the landscape is also done impressively.

Dance in the Vampire Bund

Hmm…because I’ve never read the manga so far, I’m at a clean slate with it. I have to admit the beginning was boring with the game show, but it started getting interesting when I saw Mina. I’d like to see what’s going to happen in the future. It looks somewhat interesting…However, I’ve heard that it’s straying from the manga, so I’m afraid if that’ll be for the worse or for the better. I have a feeling it’ll be the former, but I guess we’ll have to wait? It was categorized as romance, so I hope to see some romance soon. Even though by the looks of it, it’ll be some boring romance.

Durarara!!

Uwah, one of the most anticipated by the season and I’m sure it doesn’t disappoint. I was searching so much for it, but I finally just watched it on crunchyroll. My favorite music of the season no doubt. As for the series, it has that mysterious feel and pulls off the urban feel really well. I really hope to see more revealed because right now I have no idea what to expect and what’s going on. XD But it looks good, and that’s good enough for me to continue. The characters are likable, and Kida is really a great friend character at the moment. So far Mikado seems quite the average character, so I hope to see lots of development. Overall, it’s really good, filled with awesome, and could possibly be one of my favorites for this season as well.

Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu

Surprisingly enjoyable. Um…one of my favorite first impressions? I’d hate to admit that it’s one of my favs this season and I don’t know why. It just kept my attention the whole way through and it was pretty interesting and funny. So I liked it. It has an interesting concept that reminds me of a video game, though not quite. The chibis are so adorable! >w< The characters aren’t special, but they don’t get on my nerves either. Traps are awesome, pervert is hilarious, and I guess it’s just plain fun to watch. So maybe now I know why I liked it so much.

Ookami Kakushi

Lol this is exactly why I want to push her off a cliff. Is she rubbing her butt on him?

One of the biggest disappointments this season. Hiro is plain boring. I’d like to slap Isuzu off a cliff for being such a w***e. And the only characters I’m actually okay with are Nemuru (actually, she’s pretty awesome), the God which I’m pretty sure is Nemuru, and Kaname. Everyone else…blergh. The class is way too happy it’s suspicious as well. The only interesting thing was when over-happy-guy died. XD

–

Anyways, I’m most likely going to follow Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu, Durarara!!, and Sora no Woto. I’ll also occasionally check out Hanamaru Kindergarten. So I’ll catch up on my Fall series when I can to follow more. I don’t know if I’ll blog any of these series, I’ll probably just go back to Kimi ni Todoke and try to blog YumePati once I catch up. And if any Winter shows I find are worth blogging I will. Or I’ll do random episodes that I want to blog. XD I’m still pretty unorganized.

Best. Show. This. Season! Kyaa~ I love it already. I expected it to be good, but it went past my expectations! :D I just hope I don’t get disappointed later like Maria+Holic (oh yes, I’m too lazy to get the cross). But anyways, I love it. Sorry the post is late, but I was waiting for subs…that didn’t come out when I started the post. -_- Anyways, I had to get this post in before my excitement for the show begins fading with waiting. No…I don’t want that! Anyways, love it~ I even started reading the manga. :D Just saying though, it might be biased because I love the series already! XD It is probably my favorite show this season so far.

(Yeah, I’m putting this post before Monthly Mania. I’m such a procrastinator, but this show is that awesome!)

And sorry the layout is sort of messy….since I made the character part a little different than usual, just for this series. Again, sorry! Dx

Story & Plot

The episode starts off with a flashback. Akeno Mihoshi, is a star-enthusiast, who drags Ooyagi Saku, a bookworm, everywhere she goes. This tortures him, because she always takes his books as hostage when he just wants to read. She takes him one night to look at the stars, and shows him a special necklace her dad gave her. She decides to climb up a tree, but ends up slipping, while Saku dives to catch her. Saku wakes up, realizing it is a dream, also hitting his elbow. He’s on his way to school, while his mother causes a ruckus for him tieing his ties, etc.

When he arrives at school, he sees paper stars falling from the sky. A girl from the school roof is promoting the astronomy club. Saku looks up, and realizes it’s Mihoshi, the girl who terrorized him when he was little. He says her name too loudly, and so she hears him. She realizes it’s Saku, and chases after him when he runs away. He tries to deny who she says he is, even though it’s true. After she finally catches him, her other friends save Saku. Her friend asks if Saku was a friend, and she says yes, but Saku says no. Mihoshi also asks Saku to join the astronomy club. The student council president comes and is upset by the chaos that Mihoshi caused. Afterwards, rumors start flying around about a first-year (Saku) and second-year (Mihoshi). Mihoshi continuously goes to Saku’s class to see him, only to find him each time missing. She finally finds him at the library, which scares Saku. Mihoshi asks if Saku remembers the memories they had together, even bringing out the necklace, but he says he doesn’t. She asks why he doesn’t remember the wonderful memories they had together, only angering Saku more. He tells her that they were wonderful to her, but torture to him. He even broke his arm after diving to catch her. He says that she wasn’t even there when he moved, but she rebuts saying that she was hospitalized. This leads to Saku remembering that whenever someone brought up Mihoshi, he wouldn’t listen to the rest of it. He apologizes to her, and admits that he remembers her and everything. He even joins the Astronomy Club. This makes Mihoshi happy and she dives to hug Saku once again.

Mihoshi shows Saku around the Astronomy Club’s room. Later on they begin to promote the Astronomy Club. However, it seems like they don’t have a uniform, so Mihoshi writes on Saku’s back. The club leader is willing to have his shirt written on, but he coughs up blood first. The Student Council president comes and sees that they have another member. Later on, Saku notices that she is in the Literary Club. This leads to a little blush-blush moment since Saku loves books, also causing Mihoshi to panic from the good atmosphere between them. Later on, Mihoshi explains that she wants to share the stars in the sky for everyone to see, like how her father did. This small monologue makes Saku surprised about her words. Mihoshi decides to get the binoculars to do a project with the sun. However, when the two arrive, it begins to rain. It’s later nighttime, and they are able to see the full night sky.

I don’t plan to write out summaries for all of the episodes, since I think it would just ruin my enjoyment of the series. But anyways, the story seems like a nice slice-of-life story. I sort of get that Toradora atmosphere though, but I love Toradora, so it’s okay. xD But anyways, even though it’s not the most original thing in the world, it’s still a nice storyline and is executed well. It’s just that nice, fluffy, refreshing story that just makes me happy watching it. It’s cute, fluffy, fun, and hilarious. I just love every element of it. And the astronomy part makes it nice and is actually getting me interested in astronomy. :D I guess it just clicks so perfectly with all of my tastes that I just love it (or maybe I should phrase it as, “It  hit all of the right spots”).

Characters

Ooyagi Saku:

Saku…Saku’s voiced by Tomoaki Maedo, who just does so well voicing him which I’m glad he gets a better role since he also voiced the White Album guy. Anyways, Saku is an awesome main character, and is one of those rare main guy characters that I actually like. I just love his RAGE~ and chibi-fied rage~ It’s just so fun to watch. I don’t know why, but I seem to lol whenever it shows him with a broken arm as a little kid. xD Anyways, his anger and variation just makes me like him. And then when he blushes~ Kya! It’s cute seeing his face fully red. Anyways, win! Saku gets my approval for main guy character!

Akeno Mihoshi:

Mihoshi!!!~ Meet Mihoshi, my favorite character already, who is voiced by Kanae Ito-san. In fact, she’s starting to become one of my favorite characters of all time already. I seriously should wait awhile, but reading the manga and watching it has kept my love for her going on. At first I was worried that I would only think about Amu whenever I heard Kanae Ito’s voice, but she made her voice work perfectly for Mihoshi. And her name totally fits for having “hoshi” in it. Anyways, Mihoshi is such a fun, lovable, cute character=more than awesome. Sure she’s hyperactive, but I love it. I think that’s what makes her so cute and adds to her charm. She’s hilarious, and I love all of the expressions she makes. In fact, I made a gif of some of them. But it sucks. xD So no showing. X) But anyways, I just love her already! Her glomps on Saku are win! Not much to elaborate on her, but like Saku, she is win~ I already made her my icon! xD

Others:

Gah, I forgot everyone else’s name. xD Lol, the guy who coughs up blood a lot is hilarious. I like him, he’s just so funny (like most of the characters), especially in that scene when he was ready to write on his back, but then suddenly coughs up blood and faints. xD It’s hilarious (but my explanation may not make it sound so). But I like him so far. The other girl with blue hair is also cool, since she seems to mediate Mihoshi’s hyperactive-ness. She also seems like the mature one out of the group. x) Saku’s mom is also fun to watch, since she acts oh-so melodramatic. xD Eh, the student council president is the only person I’m iffy on. I just don’t like her because she wants the astronomy club to fail or something. And also because she’s getting in the way of Saku x Mihoshi! Gar! But does anyone else think she has a big forehead?

—

Overall, so far I find the main characters lovable, and the main two are just…great! I just love them! Again, I think the chemistry and everything between the characters is my favorite part about the show. They make the show stand out from the rest of the other shows. So yes, love the characters! More characters are going to be introduced later though, but so far, loving most of the characters!

Music

OP: Super Noisy Nova by sphere

The opening was an okay I guess. :/ I didn’t find it spectacular, but just normal. The scenes are cute, just like a typical opening. I loved the Saku x Mihoshi shots. It’s just…cute! Especially when they were little, that was a great scene. For once Saku actually looked like he was interested when he was little. The group shots are cute when they were all lying down looking at the stars. But the animation for the opening totally fits, and so I guess it’s fine.

The song was okay. It wasn’t that catchy, but again, it fits. The title is kind of funny though. xD But not much to say on it. I guess it’s a typical, sort of upbeat song.

ED: Hoshikuzu no Surround by CooRie

I don’t know why, but I guess I really find the ending song appealing. I guess it’s one of those songs that I just find surprisingly nice and again, hits the spot. The song fits with the show well, and I just love the tune of it. I liked how the song was inserted into the episode, but I’m kind of hoping for the official ending (so I don’t have talking). But again, I really like the ending song much more compared to the opening song. I guess it’s sort of a relaxed, nice feel to it?

Animation

Didn't know what image to use. >_<

The animation was average. It wasn’t special, but I guess it “fits” the show’s style. It’s average. Nothing outstanding. I guess the stars and the paper stars look really pretty though. But everything else…meh. But it’s decent and livable. I mean, I am so glad that we did not get some CG thing or something. That’s not livable. But anyways, onto Sora no Manimani. The chibis were animated well, which makes me glad. I’m able to look at it, and it’s simplicity makes it at least nice. It doesn’t repulse me, so we’re good. :]

(Also, apologies for the poor quality screencaps, it was best quality video I could find)

Preview

Looks like we’ll be introducing the next character. I forgot her name from the manga. x_x But I remember not liking her that much, even though she’s pretty. Ah well, I might like her later on. Anyways, it still looks interesting, especially since we’re still going to get some of Mihoshi’s awesome expressions. XD Yay! Anyways, the preview’s pretty short, but I’m still looking forward to the next episode. :D

Umi Monogatari ended up being a pretty decent, cute, and fun anime for the first episode. Um, a little…dare I say it fanservice? Erm, I’m still going to say it, they need more clothes! Anyways, it isn’t a terrible beginning, and so I’ll watch a couple more episodes to give it a chance. I think it’s a pretty good start for the season. A nice, calm(-ish) show to start out with. ^^

I’m still trying to figure out how to format my first impression posts though, so it might be a bit messy. :/

Story & Plot

Episode 1 summary:

The episode starts off with a ring that fell into the ocean. Sister Marin and Urin find the ring, and decide to go to the “sky”, which is the land, to go find the owner. While looking around, they garner some attention. They also listen to a girl sing, in which someone tells them that listening to ancient island songs could tell them of the island’s history. Then we see Kanon, whose mother does readings for people. She asks Kanon to take her place. She hears Marin and Urin calling out for a lost ring. After hearing a description, Kanon gets up and dashes to the sisters. It turns out the ring was hers, but she tossed it after her ex-boyfriend broke up with her. She throws it to the ground again. After seeing her ex with another girl, she begins to exude an evil aura and throws it far away once again, shocking the sisters. The two sisters begin looking around for the ring, when they split up by accident. The fireworks show begins to start and both of them are scared. Urin is so scared that she begins running into a forest. Marin remembers that her sister would be scared, and begins to look for her with Kanon. However, they are unable to find her. Urin finds herself at a place where she is able to find the ring, but unable to reach it. She begins pushing the tomb that it is between, and finally grabs it while using a stick. Urin notices the tomb, and tries to open it. After moving it a bit, dark, mysterious smoke begins coming out and circling the island, and also touches the ring. A storm brews up, and Urin sits down afraid, while Marin and Kanon are still searching for her. And thunder strikes a dinosaur-looking rock, causing it to glow.

Well, not much is revealed yet, but so far it seems like a typical mahou shoujo series. So far nothing stands out, but it isn’t bad. I like it, but I’ll need to watch a couple more episodes to really tell. But whatever is coming up seems pretty interesting. It’s not unique, but a cute light and fluffy show. I enjoy the chibi-ness, which makes it more fun to watch. The comedy is pretty funny and cute too. Not much to say on it though. :/

Characters

Marin: She seems like the usual, dense heroine for the series. There really isn’t that appealing about her yet, nor is there anything that special about her. I mean…the only thing that stands out about her is the many shots of her looking for the ring bending over and not wearing much. -___- I’m serious, if she’s going to be walking around on land, I demand more clothes on her. But anyways, besides from what I’ve said, she seems again, like the usual heroine, and is kind to everyone and adventurous. It’s pretty cute though how she can be clueless about some obvious things though, it’s just simply innocence that I just find pretty adorable. I’ll have to admit that. Plus, she loves everyone…that’s not bad at all either.

Urin: Aww, I just want to cuddle her. She’s so cute, and such a nice sister. Seeing her scared of the fireworks makes me really want to hug her. She’s so cute!~ Heh…I like her more than Marin. xD She’s just so cute in every way, being younger, cute voice and everything, being dragged along by her sister. :3

Kanon: Kanon is win~ Seriously! Ah, I love her already. She’s just so awesome being such an animated character (by animated I mean overreactive). I love how she can change so quickly to so many different moods. It’s so fun to watch her and her evil aura. I have a feeling I’ll be liking her a lot. It’s just so fun to watch her.

Others: Sam…ok. I only have one thing to say about him. Why the heck is he wearing such a short top for a guy? I mean, I understand a girl, but for a guy wearing that it makes it seem a bit girly? If you catch my drift there…>_> The glasses ex-boyfriend reminds me so much of Kitamura from ToraDora. -_- But I wonder why the two broke up and what’ll happen then. :/ Oh and Kanon’s mom does not look like her mom, not even close. Adopted maybe? I don’t know, but she looks the same age as Kanon and looks totally different.

—

The characters aren’t bad so far. I’ll be hoping for them to elaborate on more characters in the future.

Music

OP:

It’s called violet by marble. I already included this in my Blossom Blabber post. But anyways, seeing it with the anime, I think it fits well. It’s just so relaxing and fits the “sea” theme to it. Yeah, not much to say since I already did on Blossom Blabber. But I think I like it more seeing it now with the rest of the show. Ah, I love how the title appears, it’s just so nice. I hope we get to see everyone from the introduction sequence soon though. Lol, there’s a turtle. xD Oh great, one of my screenies got ruined by moving text…please just ignore that.

ED:

Called T?mei na Inori by Masumi It?. Aww…it’s a cute ending theme. Kya~ The chibis are so adorable, and I love how Urin keeps showing so many different expressions throughout the different parts of the story telling. It was a sweet ending theme, and I think it’s actually a good ending theme. I think it was sweet how Urin was crying and how Marin comforted her. I think that was the scene where I liked Marin the best (gosh, not even a scene in the episode >_>). xD I guess she seems like such a sweet onee-chan in there. Anyways, really cute. And it’s even telling the story of Little Mermaid, so that’s also a bonus. ^^  The song is quite nice and relaxing too.

—

Overall, I like the music for the series. It’s pretty good and fitting. I also like the atmosphere it creates. It’s all so relaxing. Ah~ So yes~ the music is good.

Animation

Not much to say about the animation. But it is really fun to watch. I give the show credit for that. Kanon is so fun to watch change so much. And the background is so pretty. Like what everyone has said, the animation is so nice~ I really like it. It’s not overkill. Just simple, basic, clean, and immediately liked. Nothing that stands out to make me not like it. So yes, very pretty animation.

Preview

Bad preview picture...O_O

Hmm, things seem to be getting more interesting~ Ooh. I wonder who is that girl. For some reason I keep thinking it could be Urin infected from that black smoke and turned older and sinister. O_o I’m pretty sure I’m wrong though. xD

Ooh cool, they also have a did you know thing in the preview. Lol, that’s actually a pretty interesting fact, and when I looked it up, it was pretty much true. xD The did you know was, “Did you know that the Turritopsis Nutricula can’t die? It turns into a baby when it gets old.” Well, it’s pretty much true, just stated a little generically. Wikipedia has it here. Anyways, I like learning new things, so just thought that was pretty interesting.

The spring season barely has anything good, but it’s okay, I have a couple unexpected shows that I’m following, and are good-looking. And unexpected shows I’m not going to follow (or at least not get excited over). Sorry it’s a late post, but I just finished watching everything I wanted to watch. So it’s just a blurb on all of the anime I watched for Spring. But Spring is making me turn to more mangas. >_>

On a bonus note…April. Oivei. Anyways, this month I have huge tests to study for and all the posts I had planned are probably b e postponed. :( These two months are sooo busy. -_- May will, I hope, be better.

In whatever order…

I was too lazy to upload the images, so yes, images taken off the internet. I provided the link to where I found it. I don’t like doing that, but the computer I’m currently using is jam-packed. It’s already taking 15 minutes to start up. O.o Um, and I tried recycling images…oh how lazy can I get??

Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~

Yes, I was lazy enough to use the same picture...

Super long name. And the word Phantom got so repetitive! Anyways, this show wasn’t actually that bad, it kept my attention the whole way through. Of course, there were some scenes that were brought up randomly. I got lost a lot trying to figure out what was the past, present, or whatever. The animation wasn’t great, but wasn’t terrible (we all know it could be worse). The music fits well with the show, and so it isn’t that bad. But the animation for the opening and ending I found was pretty…I don’t know what word would fit. But he was walking on the ceilings. O.o It’s supposed to be cool, but to wrap it up, I didn’t really like the animation for the OP and ED. Let’s see, for the characters, apparantly the guy is supposed to have lost his memory. Ein is pretty cool, as an emotionless, assassin. She’s probably my favorite character. Um…that’s about it for now. So I think I’ll watch it a little more, to see how it is. It hasn’t turned me away yet.

K-On!

Everyone seems to love this show, and it seems to be the favorite for the season for a lot of people. I enjoyed this show a lot, and it is an extremely cute show. I liked Lucky Star, so I guess that’s why I liked this show more. It’s just a slice-of-life, so it’s good to watch for relaxing. Sometimes I went -_- and others I smiled. KyoAni never gives me trouble on the animation, need I say more? This show is about music, and so far the music is pretty good. The opening isn’t bad, but the ending is probably the best thing about this series. It’s awesome! It’s one of my favorite endings now. :D The outfits are sort of out there, but the rest is so catchy that I gotta love it! Mio is freakin’ awesome, Yui is moe-full, Tsumugi is your extremely polite and nice ojou-sama, and Ritsu’s the dramatic one. Overall, it’s not a bad cast of characters. I’m going to keep watching this too, even though I originally didn’t plan to, it’s a cute show.

Gokujou!! Mecha Mote Inchou

From MAL...

Omg. Worst. Anime. Of. The. Season. I’m depressed. Seriously, if the animation wasn’t 3-D, the show would have been fine. Then again, I went -_-||| too on how the main girl acted towards the main guy, since she seemed like an obsessed fangirl. But the animation. My god. I wish I never would have had to see those sticks. It reminds me of those Barbie movies, but even those were more fluid (don’t ask how I know). I wanna cry! So moving on. The characters would have been pretty good looking. The main guy was pretty cool, and the main girl seemed pretty nice, but I guess I can’t really acknowledge that anymore. So yes, I am officially dropping this (And I really wanted to see that hamster…has it popped up yet? I dropped the episode within 5 minutes).

Valkyria Chronicles

I didn’t plan on watching this show, but I heard it was a good show, so I did watch it and it was good. :D I enjoyed watching it, and it has a hint of everything that I love. Awesome action, romance, etc. The music’s mediocre, but I liked it still. I’m able to pay attention more on the show. The animation is decent I guess, I like it. It fits well, and the sketch effect is unique, in a good way. The characters are great. Alice is awesome! And her hair is awesome as well, I love her pigtails! She seems like a cute tsundere, especially around Welkin. And then there’s Welkin, he’s the easy-going guy. Haha, I feel sorry for him with all of the confusion, but he’s likable. And his sister is awesome too, my second favorite character just because she’s so cool handling her weapons. Tank, shooting the soldier, etc. This show totally caught my attention, so I’m definitely following.

07-Ghost

Oh look, more laziness...

One of my favorite expected-to-be shows of the season! Kyaa~Ah I love the story for it, I love the character relationships, and I love the voice acting. The animation is loyal to the manga, and a great adaptation in terms of character design, etc. Sometimes I get confused by the story a little, but I’ll try to manage. They didn’t kill it or anything. Mikage reminds me so much of Tamaki, and that’s one reason why I like him. I love how he is so great to Teito, and so genki it makes me smile. Teito is cool, but there are other characters that outshine him more. Looking forward to the introduction of all the characters…But I am definitely watching and continuing as well.

Pandora Hearts

When things looked awesome for the anime

It’s…very sad. A very sad, sad adaptation. I barely wanted to finish the first episode. It’s boring. I know that people are complaining about how the animation quality isn’t good, but I can live with it. I’m going to watch a couple more episodes to see if it’s just a bad first impression, because I don’t want to lost hope. This was one of the shows I was looking forward to the most. For my opinion on the animation, not bad. It isn’t as good as I thought it’d be, but I can live with it. As for the characters…eh. I’m hoping to make Alice my favorite character, since she looked awesome in the promo pics, but in the episode, I guess the evil-like laugh kinda turned me off. Oh well, I’ll leave it to the next couple episodes to get a proper impression. But my first impression, not good.

Eden of the East

lolwut? Random…I liked this show despite it’s…awkwardness. xD It was quite…interesting. It was interesting but I liked it. An actual show where they got English voice actors for once. It can get bothersome when they try to get someone to speak English but they have a terribly thick accent, so I acknowledge them for their effort. The animation reminded me of a North American show though…but it’s still decent. I’m not a big fan of it though. And I don’t get their noses. Oh well, I can manage. I like the opening, it’s really cool, especially the animation for it. The second anime I’ve seen where they’ve used an English song. The characters are pretty funny. Especially Akira. The nakedness was…random. O.o He flashes too much though. O.o Um…he bribes people off of doing that or what? And Saki is a likable character as well, especially her reactions. She seems pretty calm for seeing a naked man. -_-I’ll be following this to see where this is heading…

—

I still need to watch Tears to Tiara and Asura Cryin’. Oh well, it’s low on my priority list. So now I’ll be going back to reading/watching Lovely Complex (never got back to it since last year). And my friends are pressuring me to read Kitchen Princess. Also note that these are my impressions for the FIRST episodes, so…even though it may be different for the second episode, it’s only considering the first.

Ah, Maria†Holic. And my first anime post! *ahem* Moving on. I have to admit that I was really skeptical of this at first, but after hearing how good it is from everyone else, I just had to watch it. So now I can say that I can agree with what everyone has said. It really does look good, and I can see what all the hype is about. Now I am one of those people who try to convince everyone it really is a good anime/manga, and trying to get everyone to watch it. But I guess that’s my first impression of it, so I guess we’ll have to wait and see if it is as good as it begins. So far, it’s my favorite for the holiday season. ;D

Story & Plot:

When I started reading the summary, I thought, “Oh great, is it a yuri?” I guess you can say I’m not much of a yuri or yaoi fan, it’s kind of awkward to me. But as I read the rest of the summary, my mind had changed to trap and maybe-not-so-yuri. So here is a general summary of the first episode, since it is already subbed, I suppose an in-dept one is unnecessary.

The episode begins with Kanako Miyamae who arrives to an all-girls school, determined to find her destined parter, just like her parents. (Humorously, it begins with a monologue about how girls should have a maiden heart.) Lost at this new school, she accidentally arrives at Maria Shidou’s family grounds, being greeted by her maid, Matsurika who calls her a pig lady. Maria introduces herself, and Kanako is also enthralled in her beauty and looks, calling Maria her type of girl.  Kanako accidentally slips out how she is looking for her destined mate at this school. She also notes how any contact with a boy produces HIVES, and that guys are dirty and scary. Hearing this, Maria smirks and kisses Kanako, much to her surprise. Kanako goes to the girl’s dorm and Maria goes to Archery Club. Kanako begins talking to the dorm leader, a cute little girl with cat ears and her dog. Kanako also meets her roommate, Ryuuken Ishima in which Kanako also begins blushing around. Kanako goes back to the Archery Club to look for Maria who told her she’d show Kanako around the school. Much in awe, Kanako accidentally comes in when Maria is changing with the help of her maid. As they walk around the school, Kanako suddenly pulls out a tree and throws it (scary…O.o) telling Maria, “Do not make a fool of me!” Maria plays dumb and Kanako er…grabs “that” to verify that Maria is a guy. Since Maria doesn’t want his secret out, he blackmails her. Kanako ends up giving in, and when she walks back to her dorm, she finds that Maria is there as well. And Maria tells her he will be watching her 24/7, to make sure his secret does not come out, even if she promised. (Argh, it ended up longer than I expected)

I really think the plot is quite original, for being somewhat a parody to the yuri genre. I mean, “Girl who is trying to find her destined yuri partner finds out her hopeful mate is actually a sadistic guy,” hopefully I worded that correctly. Honestly though, it sounds quite amusing to watch, and it really is. Maria†Holic is really something that is enjoyable, and something unique to me. By the looks of it, it will probably be all of the antics between Kanako, Maria, and Matsurika. I honestly think that somehow Maria and Kanako will somehow form a relationship…

Characters:

I think that is the strong point of the series: the characters. They are just so entertaining to watch, and the voice actors did their job superbly. It really is impressive, and I already love the characters in this series.

Kanako: She is a pretty good heroine for this series. She prefers the title “yuri”…huh. I guess I’m just not very fond of her being scared of guys so easily. Another thing that makes me wonder is why does she break out in HIVES after touching guys? I know she has some trauma in her childhood, but still, I wonder if she will always have it. I hope not. Kanako is somehow quite entertaining to me, I guess it’s her chibi thoughts, and her weird thoughts that just make me laugh. The voice actress did really well with Kanako as well, and I think it fits her nicely, especially when she has to switch from being polite to crazy.

Maria: He is the spotlight character! I would have been so fooled by Maria, I mean, he really looks like a girl. XD I enjoy how his personalities as well. He is really good as acting as a polite, sweet girl, but I wonder why he has to dress up as a girl…it makes me curious! >:< The voice actress, Yuu Kobayashi, is just so great being a polite young lady and then becoming a sadistic boy in like, 10 seconds. Her voice really fits both sides well, and I could’ve been fooled that that was a real boy voicing her if I didn’t know any better.

Matsurika: A very entertaining maid indeed. ^^ Matsurika is so fun to watch, because of how emotionless, she can be, yet talks bad but still follows Maria. I think my favorite part of the episode is when she says (according to the subs), “A play? You shitty bastard,” and “One or two broken ribs won’t kill you.” And in the manga, when she talks back as well. Yet she still follows what Maria tells her to do, as a loyal maid. Marina Inoue did well, and I realized she can be pretty versatile, because I would’ve never guessed that she voiced Kyoko from Skip Beat! if someone didn’t point it out.

Comedy:

Ah, Maria†Holic really is something enjoyable, and its intentions are to make me laugh. It did. I guess since it makes fun of yuri, it’s just funny. Kanako’s chibi’s thoughts, Maria’s sadistic personality, Matsurika’s attitude to Maria, it all is just funny. I really don’t have much to say, but yes, it is funny. Also, I read the manga, and the chapters have been funny as well. Sadly, there’s only 4 chapters (and 2 & 3 are really short) so it’s probably going to all be in episode 2. Most of the comedy will probably be Kanako’s torture from Maria. Ah, this should be exciting.

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All in all, I loved the first episode, and I really think that it has good potential. I’m excited to see the next episode! I recommend this anime, and the manga, so go ahead, and watch or read away! :D