Without further ado, here’s batch 2 of the this spring season’s quick first impressions.
In batch 2: (1) Special A; (2) Allison and Lillia; (3) Wagaya no Oinari-sama; (4) Nabari no Ou; (5) Kyouran Kazoku Nikki; (6) xxxHolic Kei.
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(1) Special A
More info – Official Site
– Special A is an elite group of students in their school, only the Top 7 make it. Since Hikari met Kei when they were kids, she has always been second place to him in all things, so she considers him his rival and does everything she can to be first place. Watching the first episode reminded me of a few other series: It somehow reminds me of Ouran, HanaKimi and Shugo Chara’s “guardians” group, where everyone else in school think so highly of them and has a fanbase xD. Megumi reminds me of Shion from Shion no Ou since she also uses a notepad to communicate. Kei reminded me of Irie from Itazura na Kiss since Kei came across as obnoxius to me as well (but Kei looks much prettier than Irie, character design-wise ;P). Tadashi reminds me of Morita from Honey and Clover , he’s so funny! Him and Akira remind me of Otani and Koizumi’s antics in Lovely Complex. Akira + Tadashi = hilarity. I love those two! They’re the ones who made me laugh the most throughout the episode xD. Oh, and I like Ryuu! I was almost getting annoyed with Kei for being an obnoxius git around Hikari, but I changed my mind when he came running to Hikari’s side and did the tag team pro-wrestling act together. I loved the last part when Kei got all flattered when Hikari remembers it’s his birthday then got all shocked when she says she’d like to celebrate it with everyone in SA class. LOL. That was a priceless look on his face. I don’t follow the manga, so I won’t have any idea where this series is going or if it’s straying from the storyline. Among the Gonzo series this season, I think this is the one I’ll be watching. After hearing not-so-good things about them, here’s to hoping they don’t screw this one up.
- Watch it? Yep!
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(2) Allison and Lillia
More info – Official Site: Anime, Light novels
– The OP [“Tameiki no Hashi” by by the Kuricorder Quartet and Shione Yukawa] was not your typical upbeat sort of song for th eopening. It came across to me as a song with a traditional Japanese-music sort of feel to it. I thought it was fitting for this series. The BGM’s were pretty nice too, complimenting the scenes. I think this is a period piece sort of series, set in the a fictional place in the future (year 3287), although the setting and technology feels like it’s in the 1930’s to 40’s. Wil tells us the story of his adventures with his good friend Allison. Wil is a cautious, intelligent guy (good at shooting too) while Allison is an easygoing, headtsrong and impulsive girl. Their adventure starts when an old man that they recently met tells them of a secret treasure that can be the key to the end of the war between Roxche and Sou Beil. The old man gets abducted soon after, so Allison and Wil set forth to save him. Based on Wiki, the first half of this series chronicles Allison’s and Wil’s adventure as they go to rescue the old man. It covers the story from the Allison light novels for the first half of the series, and switches to the story from the Lillia and Treize light novels for the second half.
- Watch it? Though I’m really not into war sort of themes (it depresses me T_T), I think I’ll watch it. The story sounds promising and it seems to have some lighthearted moments too. Hopefully, it won’t become too dramatic.
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(3) Wagaya no Oinari-sama
More info – Official Site
– The story doesn’t take too long to start. We learn that one of the brothers’ life is in danger, specifically the younger one, Touru. They come from a family who uses the Water Ki and ward off demons. Their grandma explains that somehow, Touru seems to attract the demons since the blood of their ancetsry runs deeper in his veins (or something like that) so he is being targeted by evil spirits. Since their family’s power is not as strong as it was and their miko is fairly young, grandma reckons it’ll be best to ask help from their guardian fox spirit, Tenko. Since she has been a spirit for a long time, she says she can’t remember her real gender, so she can transform into a guy as well. I’m curious why Tenko is attached to Noboru and Toru’s mother, Miyako. There must be a backstory on the way. Kou (the miko) is cool and along with Tenko, they’re quite funny. I love the relationship of the two brothers. So close and caring, they think of each other’s well being. Family matters. I found this series surprisingly fun to watch too.
- Watch it? Yes, it’s fun!
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(4) Nabari no Ou
More info – Official Site
– The OP [“Crawl” by Veltpunch] has a catchy beat and a nice melody… I really like it! It’s all about the world of ninjas, called Nabari. Miharu turns out to be a powerful being in that world since he has the hijutsu (hidden tehcnique) inside him. His classmate and a teacher in their school (Kouichi and Kumohira, respectively) turns out to be ninjas too and have sworn to protect Miharu against the clutches of the evil ninja clans. Creepy writings seem to appear scrolling on Miharu’s body when the hijutsu gets stirred. Kumohira wishes for Miharu to become the king of Nabari (hence the title). So many ninja terms, I get lost in the vocabulary @_@. There are some nice fighting moves when the action starts, though. Bring it on!
- Watch it? Sure, why not? Ninja = win.
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(5) Kyouran Kazoku Nikki
More info – Official Site
– It seems that Ouka is assigned to a mission wherein he has to look out for the Children of Enka, who originated from the Enka the being who wanted to destroy the world. Before she was killed way back when, she cursed that her children will avenge her and bring destuction. We find out that in the present day, these children have been traced and it’s Ouka’s mission to find out who among them is the evil one who’d bring about the end of the world. For this to work, they are forced into “Operation Cozy Family” where Ouka will be the dad, Kyouka (who’s also a child of Enka) will be the mom, then the rest of the children as, well, their kids. It seems like a random sort of series, but it does seem to have a central theme anyway. It’s quite a weird family they have and Kyouka is aggressive and bossy. Poor Ouka.
- Watch it? I wonder who the evil child is, but I don’t think I’ll be following this one.
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(6) xxxHolic: Kei
More info – Official Site
– There are no coincidences. There is only fate.
I haven’t actually seen the first episode of xxxHolic Kei, but I’m loving the first season which I’m currently almost done watching. I was saving the series for later, but knowing there was a second season prompted me to start watching the first one now xD. The OP [“Nobody Knows” by Suga Shikao] is good, as always. Like Totali, I’ve become fond of Suga Shikao ever since hearing a bunch of his songs in Honey and Clover. I love his voice and his catchy melodies. I can’t get enough of Watanuki’s antics and his bickerings with Doumeki. LOL. I want to see if Watanuki and Zashiki-warashi will eventually get together. Um, so basically, I just included xxxHolic here because I want to ;P and I’m looking forward to watching this second season real soon. Yuuko’s enigmatic words enthrall me. xxxHolic‘s mysterious world attracts me. **Edit: I’ve seen the first 3 episodes. Loved it. The spider grudge arc was a great way to start off the 2nd season! I’m so proud of Watanuki. He has grown so much and was really impressive on this arc. Of course, his antics with Yuuko and Doumeki are still as funny as ever! The Watanuki x Zashiki-warashi moment was pure win. ^^
- Watch it? Somehow, I have been drawn into Yuuko’s shop too. She said it was fate. I am SO watching this.
LOL, I decided to drop xxxHolic and Kyouran Kazoku Nikki looks interesting enough to watch the 2nd episode. I liked Wagaya no Oinari Sama, Allison and Lilia was okay to me and Special A? I can’t stand another CLAMP artwork! ><“
@blissmo: I guess SA seems to look like CLAMP because of the long legs, LOL. I’m not exactly a CLAMP fan, the only of their stuff I’ve seen is xxxHolic and Magic Knight Rayearth ages ago. Heh, I find xxxHolic a bit addictive.
CLAMP haters!?!? lol I, however; like their stuff especially X tv and Tsubasa Chronicles.
(1) Special A – i like it so far, i’ve seen ep.2 and uh…hope they come up with new material
(2) Allison and Lillia – this anime feels like something out of Studio Ghibli, i love it, it has adventure written all over it, wish the animation was more updated tho
(3) Wagaya no Oinari-sama – not bad
(4) Nabari no Ou – watched a few episodes, might drop it
(5) Kyouran Kazoku Nikki – kinda whack, probably drop it
(6) xxxHolic Kei. – love it, want more~
xxxHOLIC kei is really good. I think that the second season is actually better than the first. You should watch it ASAP. ^^
@Yaomang: LOL, nope I’m not a CLAMP hater, I just don’t follow most of their work. I saw Rayearth when I was about 11, totally loved that one. I’m now a xxxHolic addict.
Now that you mention it, Allison and Lillia does remind me somewhat of Studio Ghibli too. Their adventure is fun to watch and Wil and Allison are pretty solid characters as well. =)
@saranaufogus: I’m now in the last 3 episodes of xxxHolic (it’s on pause in my other browser window as I write) then I’ll be watching the movie before I proceed to Kei. 😉